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diff --git a/old/dfre610.htm b/old/dfre610.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..32d7bd0 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/dfre610.htm @@ -0,0 +1,26170 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<title>New File</title> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<style type="text/css"> +<!-- +body {margin:10%; text-align:justify} +blockquote {font-size:14pt} +P {font-size:14pt} +--> +</style> +</head> +<body> +<p>The Project Gutenberg Etext of History Of The Decline And Fall +Of The Roman Empire Volume 6</p> + +<p>#2 in our format series by Edward Gibbon, Esq. With notes by +the Rev. H. H. Milman<br> +<br> +</p> + +<p>Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to +check</p> + +<p>the copyright laws for your country before posting these +files!!<br> +</p> + +<p>Please take a look at the important information in this +header.</p> + +<p>We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping +an</p> + +<p>electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove +this.<br> +<br> +</p> + +<p>**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic +Texts**<br> +</p> + +<p>**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since +1971**<br> +</p> + +<p>*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and +Donations*<br> +</p> + +<p>Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, +and</p> + +<p>further information is included below. We need your +donations.<br> +<br> +</p> + +<p>History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire Volume +2<br> +<br> +</p> + +<p>by Edward Gibbon, Esq. With notes by the Rev. H. H. Milman<br> +</p> + +<p>April, 1997 [Etext # 895]<br> +<br> +</p> + +<p>The Project Gutenberg Etext of History Of The Decline And Fall +Of The Roman Empire Volume 6<br> +</p> + +<p>*****This file should be named dfre210.txt or +dfre210.zip******<br> +</p> + +<p>Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, +dfre611.txt.</p> + +<p>VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, +dfre6a.txt.<br> +<br> +</p> + +<p>Scanned, proofed and converted to HTML by David Reed. 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If you</p> + +<p>don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are</p> + +<p>payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon</p> + +<p>University" within the 60 days following each</p> + +<p>date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare)</p> + +<p>your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return.<br> +</p> + +<p>WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE +TO?</p> + +<p>The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, +time,</p> + +<p>scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, +royalty</p> + +<p>free copyright licenses, and every other sort of +contribution</p> + +<p>you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project +Gutenberg</p> + +<p>Association / Carnegie-Mellon University".<br> +</p> + +<p>*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN +ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END*<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<p>This is the sixth volume of the six volumes of Edward Gibbon's +History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire. If you find +any errors please feel free to notify me of them. I want to make +this the best etext edition possible for both scholars and the +general public. I would like to thank those who have helped in +making this text better. Especially Dale R. Fredrickson who has +hand entered the Greek characters in the footnotes and who has +suggested retaining the conjoined ae character in the text. +Haradda@aol.com and davidr@inconnect.com are my email addresses +for now. Please feel free to send me your comments and I hope you +enjoy this.</p> + +<p>David Reed</p> + +<p align="center"><strong>History Of The Decline And Fall Of The +Roman Empire</strong></p> + +<p>Edward Gibbon, Esq.</p> + +<p>With notes by the Rev. H. H. Milman</p> + +<p>Vol. 6</p> + +<p>1782 (Written), 1845 (Revised)</p> + +<p><strong>Chapter LIX: The Crusades.</strong> <strong><em>Part +I.</em></strong></p> + +<p>Preservation Of The Greek Empire. -- Numbers, Passage, And +Event, Of The Second And Third Crusades. -- St. Bernard. -- Reign +Of Saladin In Egypt And Syria. -- His Conquest Of Jerusalem. -- +Naval Crusades. -- Richard The First Of England. -- Pope Innocent +The Third; And The Fourth And Fifth Crusades. -- The Emperor +Frederic The Second. -- Louis The Ninth Of France; And The Two +Last Crusades. -- Expulsion Of The Latins Or Franks By The +Mamelukes.</p> + +<p>In a style less grave than that of history, I should perhaps +compare the emperor Alexius ^1 to the jackal, who is said to +follow the steps, and to devour the leavings, of the lion. +Whatever had been his fears and toils in the passage of the first +crusade, they were amply recompensed by the subsequent benefits +which he derived from the exploits of the Franks. His dexterity +and vigilance secured their first conquest of Nice; and from this +threatening station the Turks were compelled to evacuate the +neighborhood of Constantinople. While the crusaders, with blind +valor, advanced into the midland countries of Asia, the crafty +Greek improved the favorable occasion when the emirs of the +sea-coast were recalled to the standard of the sultan. The Turks +were driven from the Isles of Rhodes and Chios: the cities of +Ephesus and Smyrna, of Sardes, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, were +restored to the empire, which Alexius enlarged from the +Hellespont to the banks of the Mæander, and the rocky +shores of Pamphylia. The churches resumed their splendor: the +towns were rebuilt and fortified; and the desert country was +peopled with colonies of Christians, who were gently removed from +the more distant and dangerous frontier. In these paternal cares, +we may forgive Alexius, if he forgot the deliverance of the holy +sepulchre; but, by the Latins, he was stigmatized with the foul +reproach of treason and desertion. They had sworn fidelity and +obedience to his throne; but <strong><em>he</em></strong> had +promised to assist their enterprise in person, or, at least, with +his troops and treasures: his base retreat dissolved their +obligations; and the sword, which had been the instrument of +their victory, was the pledge and title of their just +independence. It does not appear that the emperor attempted to +revive his obsolete claims over the kingdom of Jerusalem; ^2 but +the borders of Cilicia and Syria were more recent in his +possession, and more accessible to his arms. The great army of +the crusaders was annihilated or dispersed; the principality of +Antioch was left without a head, by the surprise and captivity of +Bohemond; his ransom had oppressed him with a heavy debt; and his +Norman followers were insufficient to repel the hostilities of +the Greeks and Turks. In this distress, Bohemond embraced a +magnanimous resolution, of leaving the defence of Antioch to his +kinsman, the faithful Tancred; of arming the West against the +Byzantine empire; and of executing the design which he inherited +from the lessons and example of his father Guiscard. His +embarkation was clandestine: and, if we may credit a tale of the +princess Anne, he passed the hostile sea closely secreted in a +coffin. ^3 But his reception in France was dignified by the +public applause, and his marriage with the king's daughter: his +return was glorious, since the bravest spirits of the age +enlisted under his veteran command; and he repassed the Adriatic +at the head of five thousand horse and forty thousand foot, +assembled from the most remote climates of Europe. ^4 The +strength of Durazzo, and prudence of Alexius, the progress of +famine and approach of winter, eluded his ambitious hopes; and +the venal confederates were seduced from his standard. A treaty +of peace ^5 suspended the fears of the Greeks; and they were +finally delivered by the death of an adversary, whom neither +oaths could bind, nor dangers could appal, nor prosperity could +satiate. His children succeeded to the principality of Antioch; +but the boundaries were strictly defined, the homage was clearly +stipulated, and the cities of Tarsus and Malmistra were restored +to the Byzantine emperors. Of the coast of Anatolia, they +possessed the entire circuit from Trebizond to the Syrian gates. +The Seljukian dynasty of Roum ^6 was separated on all sides from +the sea and their Mussulman brethren; the power of the sultan was +shaken by the victories and even the defeats of the Franks; and +after the loss of Nice, they removed their throne to Cogni or +Iconium, an obscure and in land town above three hundred miles +from Constantinople. ^7 Instead of trembling for their capital, +the Comnenian princes waged an offensive war against the Turks, +and the first crusade prevented the fall of the declining +empire.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 1: Anna Comnena relates her father's conquests in +Asia Minor Alexiad, l. xi. p. 321--325, l. xiv. p. 419; his +Cilician war against Tancred and Bohemond, p. 328--324; the war +of Epirus, with tedious prolixity, l. xii. xiii. p. 345--406; the +death of Bohemond, l. xiv. p. 419.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 2: The kings of Jerusalem submitted, however, to a +nominal dependence, and in the dates of their inscriptions, (one +is still legible in the church of Bethlem,) they respectfully +placed before their own the name of the reigning emperor, +(Ducange, Dissertations sur Joinville xxvii. p. 319.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 3: Anna Comnena adds, that, to complete the +imitation, he was shut up with a dead cock; and condescends to +wonder how the Barbarian could endure the confinement and +putrefaction. This absurd tale is unknown to the Latins. *</p> + +<p>Note: * The Greek writers, in general, Zonaras, p. 2, 303, and +Glycas, p. 334 agree in this story with the princess Anne, except +in the absurd addition of the dead cock. Ducange has already +quoted some instances where a similar stratagem had been adopted +by <strong><em>Norman</em></strong> princes. On this authority +Wilken inclines to believe the fact. Appendix to vol. ii. p. 14. +-- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 4: 'Apo QulhV in the Byzantine geography, must mean +England; yet we are more credibly informed, that our Henry I. +would not suffer him to levy any troops in his kingdom, (Ducange, +Not. ad Alexiad. p. 41.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 5: The copy of the treaty (Alexiad. l. xiii. p. +406--416) is an original and curious piece, which would require, +and might afford, a good map of the principality of Antioch.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 6: See, in the learned work of M. De Guignes, (tom. +ii. part ii.,) the history of the Seljukians of Iconium, Aleppo, +and Damascus, as far as it may be collected from the Greeks, +Latins, and Arabians. The last are ignorant or regardless of the +affairs of <strong><em>Roum</em></strong>.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 7: Iconium is mentioned as a station by Xenophon, +and by Strabo, with an ambiguous title of KwmopoliV, (Cellarius, +tom. ii. p. 121.) Yet St. Paul found in that place a multitude +(plhqoV) of Jews and Gentiles. under the corrupt name of +<strong><em>Kunijah</em></strong>, it is described as a great +city, with a river and garden, three leagues from the mountains, +and decorated (I know not why) with Plato's tomb, (Abulfeda, +tabul. xvii. p. 303 vers. Reiske; and the Index Geographicus of +Schultens from Ibn Said.)]</p> + +<p>In the twelfth century, three great emigrations marched by +land from the West for the relief of Palestine. The soldiers and +pilgrims of Lombardy, France, and Germany were excited by the +example and success of the first crusade. ^8 Forty-eight years +after the deliverance of the holy sepulchre, the emperor, and the +French king, Conrad the Third and Louis the Seventh, undertook +the second crusade to support the falling fortunes of the Latins. +^9 A grand division of the third crusade was led by the emperor +Frederic Barbarossa, ^10 who sympathized with his brothers of +France and England in the common loss of Jerusalem. These three +expeditions may be compared in their resemblance of the greatness +of numbers, their passage through the Greek empire, and the +nature and event of their Turkish warfare, and a brief parallel +may save the repetition of a tedious narrative. However splendid +it may seem, a regular story of the crusades would exhibit the +perpetual return of the same causes and effects; and the frequent +attempts for the defence or recovery of the Holy Land would +appear so many faint and unsuccessful copies of the original.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 8: For this supplement to the first crusade, see +Anna Comnena, Alexias, l. xi. p. 331, &c., and the viiith +book of Albert Aquensis.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 9: For the second crusade, of Conrad III. and Louis +VII., see William of Tyre, (l. xvi. c. 18--19,) Otho of +Frisingen, (l. i. c. 34--45 59, 60,) Matthew Paris, (Hist. Major. +p. 68,) Struvius, (Corpus Hist Germanicæ, p. 372, 373,) +Scriptores Rerum Francicarum à Duchesne tom. iv.: Nicetas, +in Vit. Manuel, l. i. c. 4, 5, 6, p. 41--48, Cinnamus l. ii. p. +41--49.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 10: For the third crusade, of Frederic Barbarossa, +see Nicetas in Isaac Angel. l. ii. c. 3--8, p. 257--266. Struv. +(Corpus. Hist. Germ. p. 414,) and two historians, who probably +were spectators, Tagino, (in Scriptor. Freher. tom. i. p. +406--416, edit Struv.,) and the Anonymus de Expeditione +Asiaticâ Fred. I. (in Canisii Antiq. Lection. tom. iii. p. +ii. p. 498--526, edit. Basnage.)]</p> + +<p>I. Of the swarms that so closely trod in the footsteps of the +first pilgrims, the chiefs were equal in rank, though unequal in +fame and merit, to Godfrey of Bouillon and his +fellow-adventurers. At their head were displayed the banners of +the dukes of Burgundy, Bavaria, and Aquitain; the first a +descendant of Hugh Capet, the second, a father of the Brunswick +line: the archbishop of Milan, a temporal prince, transported, +for the benefit of the Turks, the treasures and ornaments of his +church and palace; and the veteran crusaders, Hugh the Great and +Stephen of Chartres, returned to consummate their unfinished vow. +The huge and disorderly bodies of their followers moved forward +in two columns; and if the first consisted of two hundred and +sixty thousand persons, the second might possibly amount to sixty +thousand horse and one hundred thousand foot. ^11 ^* The armies +of the second crusade might have claimed the conquest of Asia; +the nobles of France and Germany were animated by the presence of +their sovereigns; and both the rank and personal character of +Conrad and Louis gave a dignity to their cause, and a discipline +to their force, which might be vainly expected from the feudatory +chiefs. The cavalry of the emperor, and that of the king, was +each composed of seventy thousand knights, and their immediate +attendants in the field; ^12 and if the light-armed troops, the +peasant infantry, the women and children, the priests and monks, +be rigorously excluded, the full account will scarcely be +satisfied with four hundred thousand souls. The West, from Rome +to Britain, was called into action; the kings of Poland and +Bohemia obeyed the summons of Conrad; and it is affirmed by the +Greeks and Latins, that, in the passage of a strait or river, the +Byzantine agents, after a tale of nine hundred thousand, desisted +from the endless and formidable computation. ^13 In the third +crusade, as the French and English preferred the navigation of +the Mediterranean, the host of Frederic Barbarossa was less +numerous. Fifteen thousand knights, and as many squires, were the +flower of the German chivalry: sixty thousand horse, and one +hundred thousand foot, were mustered by the emperor in the plains +of Hungary; and after such repetitions, we shall no longer be +startled at the six hundred thousand pilgrims, which credulity +has ascribed to this last emigration. ^14 Such extravagant +reckonings prove only the astonishment of contemporaries; but +their astonishment most strongly bears testimony to the existence +of an enormous, though indefinite, multitude. The Greeks might +applaud their superior knowledge of the arts and stratagems of +war, but they confessed the strength and courage of the French +cavalry, and the infantry of the Germans; ^15 and the strangers +are described as an iron race, of gigantic stature, who darted +fire from their eyes, and spilt blood like water on the ground. +Under the banners of Conrad, a troop of females rode in the +attitude and armor of men; and the chief of these Amazons, from +her gilt spurs and buskins, obtained the epithet of the +Golden-footed Dame.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 11: Anne, who states these later swarms at 40,000 +horse and 100,000 foot, calls them Normans, and places at their +head two brothers of Flanders. The Greeks were strangely ignorant +of the names, families, and possessions of the Latin +princes.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: It was this army of pilgrims, the first body of +which was headed by the archbishop of Milan and Count Albert of +Blandras, which set forth on the wild, yet, with a more +disciplined army, not impolitic, enterprise of striking at the +heart of the Mahometan power, by attacking the sultan in Bagdad. +For their adventures and fate, see Wilken, vol. ii. p. 120, +&c., Michaud, book iv. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 12: William of Tyre, and Matthew Paris, reckon +70,000 loricati in each of the armies.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 13: The imperfect enumeration is mentioned by +Cinnamus, (ennenhkonta muriadeV,) and confirmed by Odo de Diogilo +apud Ducange ad Cinnamum, with the more precise sum of 900,556. +Why must therefore the version and comment suppose the modest and +insufficient reckoning of 90,000? Does not Godfrey of Viterbo +(Pantheon, p. xix. in Muratori, tom. vii. p. 462) exclaim?</p> + +<p>---- Numerum si poscere quæras,</p> + +<p>Millia millena militis agmen erat.</p> + +<p>1]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 14: This extravagant account is given by Albert of +Stade, (apud Struvium, p. 414;) my calculation is borrowed from +Godfrey of Viterbo, Arnold of Lubeck, apud eundem, and Bernard +Thesaur. (c. 169, p. 804.) The original writers are silent. The +Mahometans gave him 200,000, or 260,000, men, (Bohadin, in Vit. +Saladin, p. 110.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 15: I must observe, that, in the second and third +crusades, the subjects of Conrad and Frederic are styled by the +Greeks and Orientals <strong><em>Alamanni</em></strong>. The +Lechi and Tzechi of Cinnamus are the Poles and Bohemians; and it +is for the French that he reserves the ancient appellation of +Germans. He likewise names the Brittioi, or Britannoi. *</p> + +<p>Note: * He names both -- Brittioi te kai Britanoi. -- M.]</p> + +<p>II. The number and character of the strangers was an object of +terror to the effeminate Greeks, and the sentiment of fear is +nearly allied to that of hatred. This aversion was suspended or +softened by the apprehension of the Turkish power; and the +invectives of the Latins will not bias our more candid belief, +that the emperor Alexius dissembled their insolence, eluded their +hostilities, counselled their rashness, and opened to their ardor +the road of pilgrimage and conquest. But when the Turks had been +driven from Nice and the sea-coast, when the Byzantine princes no +longer dreaded the distant sultans of Cogni, they felt with purer +indignation the free and frequent passage of the western +Barbarians, who violated the majesty, and endangered the safety, +of the empire. The second and third crusades were undertaken +under the reign of Manuel Comnenus and Isaac Angelus. Of the +former, the passions were always impetuous, and often malevolent; +and the natural union of a cowardly and a mischievous temper was +exemplified in the latter, who, without merit or mercy, could +punish a tyrant, and occupy his throne. It was secretly, and +perhaps tacitly, resolved by the prince and people to destroy, or +at least to discourage, the pilgrims, by every species of injury +and oppression; and their want of prudence and discipline +continually afforded the pretence or the opportunity. The Western +monarchs had stipulated a safe passage and fair market in the +country of their Christian brethren; the treaty had been ratified +by oaths and hostages; and the poorest soldier of Frederic's army +was furnished with three marks of silver to defray his expenses +on the road. But every engagement was violated by treachery and +injustice; and the complaints of the Latins are attested by the +honest confession of a Greek historian, who has dared to prefer +truth to his country. ^16 Instead of a hospitable reception, the +gates of the cities, both in Europe and Asia, were closely barred +against the crusaders; and the scanty pittance of food was let +down in baskets from the walls. Experience or foresight might +excuse this timid jealousy; but the common duties of humanity +prohibited the mixture of chalk, or other poisonous ingredients, +in the bread; and should Manuel be acquitted of any foul +connivance, he is guilty of coining base money for the purpose of +trading with the pilgrims. In every step of their march they were +stopped or misled: the governors had private orders to fortify +the passes and break down the bridges against them: the +stragglers were pillaged and murdered: the soldiers and horses +were pierced in the woods by arrows from an invisible hand; the +sick were burnt in their beds; and the dead bodies were hung on +gibbets along the highways. These injuries exasperated the +champions of the cross, who were not endowed with evangelical +patience; and the Byzantine princes, who had provoked the unequal +conflict, promoted the embarkation and march of these formidable +guests. On the verge of the Turkish frontier Barbarossa spared +the guilty Philadelphia, ^17 rewarded the hospitable Laodicea, +and deplored the hard necessity that had stained his sword with +any drops of Christian blood. In their intercourse with the +monarchs of Germany and France, the pride of the Greeks was +exposed to an anxious trial. They might boast that on the first +interview the seat of Louis was a low stool, beside the throne of +Manuel; ^18 but no sooner had the French king transported his +army beyond the Bosphorus, than he refused the offer of a second +conference, unless his brother would meet him on equal terms, +either on the sea or land. With Conrad and Frederic, the +ceremonial was still nicer and more difficult: like the +successors of Constantine, they styled themselves emperors of the +Romans; ^19 and firmly maintained the purity of their title and +dignity. The first of these representatives of Charlemagne would +only converse with Manuel on horseback in the open field; the +second, by passing the Hellespont rather than the Bosphorus, +declined the view of Constantinople and its sovereign. An +emperor, who had been crowned at Rome, was reduced in the Greek +epistles to the humble appellation of +<strong><em>Rex</em></strong>, or prince, of the Alemanni; and +the vain and feeble Angelus affected to be ignorant of the name +of one of the greatest men and monarchs of the age. While they +viewed with hatred and suspicion the Latin pilgrims the Greek +emperors maintained a strict, though secret, alliance with the +Turks and Saracens. Isaac Angelus complained, that by his +friendship for the great Saladin he had incurred the enmity of +the Franks; and a mosque was founded at Constantinople for the +public exercise of the religion of Mahomet. ^20</p> + +<p>[Footnote 16: Nicetas was a child at the second crusade, but +in the third he commanded against the Franks the important post +of Philippopolis. Cinnamus is infected with national prejudice +and pride.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 17: The conduct of the Philadelphians is blamed by +Nicetas, while the anonymous German accuses the rudeness of his +countrymen, (culpâ nostrâ.) History would be +pleasant, if we were embarrassed only by +<strong><em>such</em></strong> contradictions. It is likewise +from Nicetas, that we learn the pious and humane sorrow of +Frederic.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 18: Cqamalh edra, which Cinnamus translates into +Latin by the word Sellion. Ducange works very hard to save his +king and country from such ignominy, (sur Joinville, dissertat. +xxvii. p. 317--320.) Louis afterwards insisted on a meeting in +mari ex æquo, not ex equo, according to the laughable +readings of some MSS.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 19: Ego Romanorum imperator sum, ille Romaniorum, +(Anonym Canis. p. 512.) The public and historical style of the +Greeks was Rhx . . . <strong><em>princeps</em></strong>. Yet +Cinnamus owns, that 'Imperatwr is synonymous to BasileuV.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 20: In the Epistles of Innocent III., (xiii. p. +184,) and the History of Bohadin, (p. 129, 130,) see the views of +a pope and a cadhi on this +<strong><em>singular</em></strong>toleration.]</p> + +<p>III. The swarms that followed the first crusade were destroyed +in Anatolia by famine, pestilence, and the Turkish arrows; and +the princes only escaped with some squadrons of horse to +accomplish their lamentable pilgrimage. A just opinion may be +formed of their knowledge and humanity; of their knowledge, from +the design of subduing Persia and Chorasan in their way to +Jerusalem; ^* of their humanity, from the massacre of the +Christian people, a friendly city, who came out to meet them with +palms and crosses in their hands. The arms of Conrad and Louis +were less cruel and imprudent; but the event of the second +crusade was still more ruinous to Christendom; and the Greek +Manuel is accused by his own subjects of giving seasonable +intelligence to the sultan, and treacherous guides to the Latin +princes. Instead of crushing the common foe, by a double attack +at the same time but on different sides, the Germans were urged +by emulation, and the French were retarded by jealousy. Louis had +scarcely passed the Bosphorus when he was met by the returning +emperor, who had lost the greater part of his army in glorious, +but unsuccessful, actions on the banks of the Mæander. The +contrast of the pomp of his rival hastened the retreat of Conrad: +^! the desertion of his independent vassals reduced him to his +hereditary troops; and he borrowed some Greek vessels to execute +by sea the pilgrimage of Palestine. Without studying the lessons +of experience, or the nature of the war, the king of France +advanced through the same country to a similar fate. The +vanguard, which bore the royal banner and the oriflamme of St. +Denys, ^21 had doubled their march with rash and inconsiderate +speed; and the rear, which the king commanded in person, no +longer found their companions in the evening camp. In darkness +and disorder, they were encompassed, assaulted, and overwhelmed, +by the innumerable host of Turks, who, in the art of war, were +superior to the Christians of the twelfth century. ^* Louis, who +climbed a tree in the general discomfiture, was saved by his own +valor and the ignorance of his adversaries; and with the dawn of +day he escaped alive, but almost alone, to the camp of the +vanguard. But instead of pursuing his expedition by land, he was +rejoiced to shelter the relics of his army in the friendly +seaport of Satalia. From thence he embarked for Antioch; but so +penurious was the supply of Greek vessels, that they could only +afford room for his knights and nobles; and the plebeian crowd of +infantry was left to perish at the foot of the Pamphylian hills. +The emperor and the king embraced and wept at Jerusalem; their +martial trains, the remnant of mighty armies, were joined to the +Christian powers of Syria, and a fruitless siege of Damascus was +the final effort of the second crusade. Conrad and Louis embarked +for Europe with the personal fame of piety and courage; but the +Orientals had braved these potent monarchs of the Franks, with +whose names and military forces they had been so often +threatened. ^22 Perhaps they had still more to fear from the +veteran genius of Frederic the First, who in his youth had served +in Asia under his uncle Conrad. Forty campaigns in Germany and +Italy had taught Barbarossa to command; and his soldiers, even +the princes of the empire, were accustomed under his reign to +obey. As soon as he lost sight of Philadelphia and Laodicea, the +last cities of the Greek frontier, he plunged into the salt and +barren desert, a land (says the historian) of horror and +tribulation. ^23 During twenty days, every step of his fainting +and sickly march was besieged by the innumerable hordes of +Turkmans, ^24 whose numbers and fury seemed after each defeat to +multiply and inflame. The emperor continued to struggle and to +suffer; and such was the measure of his calamities, that when he +reached the gates of Iconium, no more than one thousand knights +were able to serve on horseback. By a sudden and resolute assault +he defeated the guards, and stormed the capital of the sultan, +^25 who humbly sued for pardon and peace. The road was now open, +and Frederic advanced in a career of triumph, till he was +unfortunately drowned in a petty torrent of Cilicia. ^26 The +remainder of his Germans was consumed by sickness and desertion: +and the emperor's son expired with the greatest part of his +Swabian vassals at the siege of Acre. Among the Latin heroes, +Godfrey of Bouillon and Frederic Barbarossa could alone achieve +the passage of the Lesser Asia; yet even their success was a +warning; and in the last and most experienced age of the +crusades, every nation preferred the sea to the toils and perils +of an inland expedition. ^27</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: This was the design of the pilgrims under the +archbishop of Milan. See note, p. 102. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !: Conrad had advanced with part of his army along a +central road, between that on the coast and that which led to +Iconium. He had been betrayed by the Greeks, his army destroyed +without a battle. Wilken, vol. iii. p. 165. Michaud, vol. ii. p. +156. Conrad advanced again with Louis as far as Ephesus, and from +thence, at the invitation of Manuel, returned to Constantinople. +It was Louis who, at the passage of the Mæander, was +engaged in a "glorious action." Wilken, vol. iii. p. 179. Michaud +vol. ii. p. 160. Gibbon followed Nicetas. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 21: As counts of Vexin, the kings of France were the +vassals and advocates of the monastery of St. Denys. The saint's +peculiar banner, which they received from the abbot, was of a +square form, and a red or <strong><em>flaming</em></strong> +color. The <strong><em>oriflamme</em></strong> appeared at the +head of the French armies from the xiith to the xvth century, +(Ducange sur Joinville, Dissert. xviii. p. 244--253.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: They descended the heights to a beautiful valley +which by beneath them. The Turks seized the heights which +separated the two divisions of the army. The modern historians +represent differently the act to which Louis owed his safety, +which Gibbon has described by the undignified phrase, "he climbed +a tree." According to Michaud, vol. ii. p. 164, the king got upon +a rock, with his back against a tree; according to Wilken, vol. +iii., he dragged himself up to the top of the rock by the roots +of a tree, and continued to defend himself till nightfall. -- +M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 22: The original French histories of the second +crusade are the Gesta Ludovici VII. published in the ivth volume +of Duchesne's collection. The same volume contains many original +letters of the king, of Suger his minister, &c., the best +documents of authentic history.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 23: Terram horroris et salsuginis, terram siccam +sterilem, inamnam. Anonym. Canis. p. 517. The emphatic language +of a sufferer.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 24: Gens innumera, sylvestris, indomita, +prædones sine ductore. The sultan of Cogni might sincerely +rejoice in their defeat. Anonym. Canis. p. 517, 518.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 25: See, in the anonymous writer in the Collection +of Canisius, Tagino and Bohadin, (Vit. Saladin. p. 119, 120,) the +ambiguous conduct of Kilidge Arslan, sultan of Cogni, who hated +and feared both Saladin and Frederic.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 26: The desire of comparing two great men has +tempted many writers to drown Frederic in the River Cydnus, in +which Alexander so imprudently bathed, (Q. Curt. l. iii c. 4, 5.) +But, from the march of the emperor, I rather judge, that his +Saleph is the Calycadnus, a stream of less fame, but of a longer +course. *</p> + +<p>Note: * It is now called the Girama: its course is described +in M'Donald Kinneir's Travels. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 27: Marinus Sanutus, A.D. 1321, lays it down as a +precept, Quod stolus ecclesiæ per terram nullatenus est +ducenda. He resolves, by the divine aid, the objection, or rather +exception, of the first crusade, (Secreta Fidelium Crucis, l. ii. +pars ii. c. i. p. 37.)]</p> + +<p>The enthusiasm of the first crusade is a natural and simple +event, while hope was fresh, danger untried, and enterprise +congenial to the spirit of the times. But the obstinate +perseverance of Europe may indeed excite our pity and admiration; +that no instruction should have been drawn from constant and +adverse experience; that the same confidence should have +repeatedly grown from the same failures; that six succeeding +generations should have rushed headlong down the precipice that +was open before them; and that men of every condition should have +staked their public and private fortunes on the desperate +adventure of possessing or recovering a tombstone two thousand +miles from their country. In a period of two centuries after the +council of Clermont, each spring and summer produced a new +emigration of pilgrim warriors for the defence of the Holy Land; +but the seven great armaments or crusades were excited by some +impending or recent calamity: the nations were moved by the +authority of their pontiffs, and the example of their kings: +their zeal was kindled, and their reason was silenced, by the +voice of their holy orators; and among these, Bernard, ^28 the +monk, or the saint, may claim the most honorable place. ^* About +eight years before the first conquest of Jerusalem, he was born +of a noble family in Burgundy; at the age of three-and-twenty he +buried himself in the monastery of Citeaux, then in the primitive +fervor of the institution; at the end of two years he led forth +her third colony, or daughter, to the valley of Clairvaux ^29 in +Champagne; and was content, till the hour of his death, with the +humble station of abbot of his own community. A philosophic age +has abolished, with too liberal and indiscriminate disdain, the +honors of these spiritual heroes. The meanest among them are +distinguished by some energies of the mind; they were at least +superior to their votaries and disciples; and, in the race of +superstition, they attained the prize for which such numbers +contended. In speech, in writing, in action, Bernard stood high +above his rivals and contemporaries; his compositions are not +devoid of wit and eloquence; and he seems to have preserved as +much reason and humanity as may be reconciled with the character +of a saint. In a secular life, he would have shared the seventh +part of a private inheritance; by a vow of poverty and penance, +by closing his eyes against the visible world, ^30 by the refusal +of all ecclesiastical dignities, the abbot of Clairvaux became +the oracle of Europe, and the founder of one hundred and sixty +convents. Princes and pontiffs trembled at the freedom of his +apostolical censures: France, England, and Milan, consulted and +obeyed his judgment in a schism of the church: the debt was +repaid by the gratitude of Innocent the Second; and his +successor, Eugenius the Third, was the friend and disciple of the +holy Bernard. It was in the proclamation of the second crusade +that he shone as the missionary and prophet of God, who called +the nations to the defence of his holy sepulchre. ^31 At the +parliament of Vezelay he spoke before the king; and Louis the +Seventh, with his nobles, received their crosses from his hand. +The abbot of Clairvaux then marched to the less easy conquest of +the emperor Conrad: ^* a phlegmatic people, ignorant of his +language, was transported by the pathetic vehemence of his tone +and gestures; and his progress, from Constance to Cologne, was +the triumph of eloquence and zeal. Bernard applauds his own +success in the depopulation of Europe; affirms that cities and +castles were emptied of their inhabitants; and computes, that +only one man was left behind for the consolation of seven widows. +^32 The blind fanatics were desirous of electing him for their +general; but the example of the hermit Peter was before his eyes; +and while he assured the crusaders of the divine favor, he +prudently declined a military command, in which failure and +victory would have been almost equally disgraceful to his +character. ^33 Yet, after the calamitous event, the abbot of +Clairvaux was loudly accused as a false prophet, the author of +the public and private mourning; his enemies exulted, his friends +blushed, and his apology was slow and unsatisfactory. He +justifies his obedience to the commands of the pope; expatiates +on the mysterious ways of Providence; imputes the misfortunes of +the pilgrims to their own sins; and modestly insinuates, that his +mission had been approved by signs and wonders. ^34 Had the fact +been certain, the argument would be decisive; and his faithful +disciples, who enumerate twenty or thirty miracles in a day, +appeal to the public assemblies of France and Germany, in which +they were performed. ^35 At the present hour, such prodigies will +not obtain credit beyond the precincts of Clairvaux; but in the +preternatural cures of the blind, the lame, and the sick, who +were presented to the man of God, it is impossible for us to +ascertain the separate shares of accident, of fancy, of +imposture, and of fiction.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 28: The most authentic information of St. Bernard +must be drawn from his own writings, published in a correct +edition by Père Mabillon, and reprinted at Venice, 1750, +in six volumes in folio. Whatever friendship could recollect, or +superstition could add, is contained in the two lives, by his +disciples, in the vith volume: whatever learning and criticism +could ascertain, may be found in the prefaces of the Benedictine +editor.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Gibbon, whose account of the crusades is perhaps +the least accurate and satisfactory chapter in his History, has +here failed in that lucid arrangement, which in general gives +perspicuity to his most condensed and crowded narratives. He has +unaccountably, and to the great perplexity of the reader, placed +the preaching of St Bernard after the second crusade to which i +led. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 29: Clairvaux, surnamed the valley of Absynth, is +situate among the woods near Bar sur Aube in Champagne. St. +Bernard would blush at the pomp of the church and monastery; he +would ask for the library, and I know not whether he would be +much edified by a tun of 800 muids, (914 1-7 hogsheads,) which +almost rivals that of Heidelberg, (Mélanges tirés +d'une Grande Bibliothèque, tom. xlvi. p. 15--20.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 30: The disciples of the saint (Vit. i<sup>ma</sup>, +l. iii. c. 2, p. 1232. Vit. ii<sup>da</sup>, c. 16, No. 45, p. +1383) record a marvellous example of his pious apathy. Juxta +lacum etiam Lausannensem totius diei itinere pergens, penitus non +attendit aut se videre non vidit. Cum enim vespere facto de eodem +lacû socii colloquerentur, interrogabat eos ubi lacus ille +esset, et mirati sunt universi. To admire or despise St. Bernard +as he ought, the reader, like myself, should have before the +windows of his library the beauties of that incomparable +landscape.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 31: Otho Frising. l. i. c. 4. Bernard. Epist. 363, +ad Francos Orientales Opp. tom. i. p. 328. Vit. i<sup>ma</sup>, +l. iii. c. 4, tom. vi. p. 1235.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Bernard had a nobler object in his expedition +into Germany -- to arrest the fierce and merciless persecution of +the Jews, which was preparing, under the monk Radulph, to renew +the frightful scenes which had preceded the first crusade, in the +flourishing cities on the banks of the Rhine. The Jews +acknowledge the Christian intervention of St. Bernard. See the +curious extract from the History of Joseph ben Meir. Wilken, vol. +iii. p. 1. and p. 63. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 32: Mandastis et obedivi . . . . multiplicati sunt +super numerum; vacuantur urbes et castella; et +<strong><em>pene</em></strong> jam non inveniunt quem +apprehendant septem mulieres unum virum; adeo ubique viduæ +vivis remanent viris. Bernard. Epist. p. 247. We must be careful +not to construe <strong><em>pene</em></strong> as a +substantive.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 33: Quis ego sum ut disponam acies, ut egrediar ante +facies armatorum, aut quid tam remotum a professione meâ, +si vires, si peritia, &c. Epist. 256, tom. i. p. 259. He +speaks with contempt of the hermit Peter, vir quidam, Epist. +363.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 34: Sic dicunt forsitan isti, unde scimus +quòd a Domino sermo egressus sit? Quæ signa tu facis +ut credamus tibi? Non est quod ad ista ipse respondeam; parcendum +verecundiæ meæ, responde tu pro me, et pro te ipso, +secundum quæ vidisti et audisti, et secundum quod te +inspiraverit Deus. Consolat. l. ii. c. 1. Opp. tom. ii. p. +421--423.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 35: See the testimonies in Vita i<sup>ma</sup>, l. +iv. c. 5, 6. Opp. tom. vi. p. 1258--1261, l. vi. c. 1--17, p. +1286--1314.]</p> + +<p>Omnipotence itself cannot escape the murmurs of its discordant +votaries; since the same dispensation which was applauded as a +deliverance in Europe, was deplored, and perhaps arraigned, as a +calamity in Asia. After the loss of Jerusalem, the Syrian +fugitives diffused their consternation and sorrow; Bagdad mourned +in the dust; the cadhi Zeineddin of Damascus tore his beard in +the caliph's presence; and the whole divan shed tears at his +melancholy tale. ^36 But the commanders of the faithful could +only weep; they were themselves captives in the hands of the +Turks: some temporal power was restored to the last age of the +Abbassides; but their humble ambition was confined to Bagdad and +the adjacent province. Their tyrants, the Seljukian sultans, had +followed the common law of the Asiatic dynasties, the unceasing +round of valor, greatness, discord, degeneracy, and decay; their +spirit and power were unequal to the defence of religion; and, in +his distant realm of Persia, the Christians were strangers to the +name and the arms of Sangiar, the last hero of his race. ^37 +While the sultans were involved in the silken web of the harem, +the pious task was undertaken by their slaves, the Atabeks, ^38 a +Turkish name, which, like the Byzantine patricians, may be +translated by Father of the Prince. Ascansar, a valiant Turk, had +been the favorite of Malek Shaw, from whom he received the +privilege of standing on the right hand of the throne; but, in +the civil wars that ensued on the monarch's death, he lost his +head and the government of Aleppo. His domestic emirs persevered +in their attachment to his son Zenghi, who proved his first arms +against the Franks in the defeat of Antioch: thirty campaigns in +the service of the caliph and sultan established his military +fame; and he was invested with the command of Mosul, as the only +champion that could avenge the cause of the prophet. The public +hope was not disappointed: after a siege of twenty-five days, he +stormed the city of Edessa, and recovered from the Franks their +conquests beyond the Euphrates: ^39 the martial tribes of +Curdistan were subdued by the independent sovereign of Mosul and +Aleppo: his soldiers were taught to behold the camp as their only +country; they trusted to his liberality for their rewards; and +their absent families were protected by the vigilance of Zenghi. +At the head of these veterans, his son Noureddin gradually united +the Mahometan powers; ^* added the kingdom of Damascus to that of +Aleppo, and waged a long and successful war against the +Christians of Syria; he spread his ample reign from the Tigris to +the Nile, and the Abbassides rewarded their faithful servant with +all the titles and prerogatives of royalty. The Latins themselves +were compelled to own the wisdom and courage, and even the +justice and piety, of this implacable adversary. ^40 In his life +and government the holy warrior revived the zeal and simplicity +of the first caliphs. Gold and silk were banished from his +palace; the use of wine from his dominions; the public revenue +was scrupulously applied to the public service; and the frugal +household of Noureddin was maintained from his legitimate share +of the spoil which he vested in the purchase of a private estate. +His favorite sultana sighed for some female object of expense. +"Alas," replied the king, "I fear God, and am no more than the +treasurer of the Moslems. Their property I cannot alienate; but I +still possess three shops in the city of Hems: these you may +take; and these alone can I bestow." His chamber of justice was +the terror of the great and the refuge of the poor. Some years +after the sultan's death, an oppressed subject called aloud in +the streets of Damascus, "O Noureddin, Noureddin, where art thou +now? Arise, arise, to pity and protect us!" A tumult was +apprehended, and a living tyrant blushed or trembled at the name +of a departed monarch.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 36: Abulmahasen apud de Guignes, Hist. des Huns, +tom. ii. p. ii. p. 99.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 37: See his <strong><em>article</em></strong> in the +Bibliothèque Orientale of D'Herbelot, and De Guignes, tom. +ii. p. i. p. 230--261. Such was his valor, that he was styled the +second Alexander; and such the extravagant love of his subjects, +that they prayed for the sultan a year after his decease. Yet +Sangiar might have been made prisoner by the Franks, as well as +by the Uzes. He reigned near fifty years, (A.D. 1103--1152,) and +was a munificent patron of Persian poetry.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 38: See the Chronology of the Atabeks of Irak and +Syria, in De Guignes, tom. i. p. 254; and the reigns of Zenghi +and Noureddin in the same writer, (tom. ii. p. ii. p. 147--221,) +who uses the Arabic text of Benelathir, Ben Schouna and Abulfeda; +the Bibliothèque Orientale, under the articles +<strong><em>Atabeks</em></strong> and +<strong><em>Noureddin</em></strong>, and the Dynasties of +Abulpharagius, p. 250--267, vers. Pocock.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 39: William of Tyre (l. xvi. c. 4, 5, 7) describes +the loss of Edessa, and the death of Zenghi. The corruption of +his name into <strong><em>Sanguin</em></strong>, afforded the +Latins a comfortable allusion to his +<strong><em>sanguinary</em></strong> character and end, fit +sanguine sanguinolentus.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: On Noureddin's conquest of Damascus, see extracts +from Arabian writers prefixed to the second part of the third +volume of Wilken. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 40: Noradinus (says William of Tyre, l. xx. 33) +maximus nominis et fidei Christianæ persecutor; princeps +tamen justus, vafer, providus' et secundum gentis suæ +traditiones religiosus. To this Catholic witness we may add the +primate of the Jacobites, (Abulpharag. p. 267,) quo non alter +erat inter reges vitæ ratione magis laudabili, aut +quæ pluribus justitiæ experimentis abundaret. The +true praise of kings is after their death, and from the mouth of +their enemies.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LIX: The Crusades. -- Part +II.</em></strong></p> + +<p>By the arms of the Turks and Franks, the Fatimites had been +deprived of Syria. In Egypt the decay of their character and +influence was still more essential. Yet they were still revered +as the descendants and successors of the prophet; they maintained +their invisible state in the palace of Cairo; and their person +was seldom violated by the profane eyes of subjects or strangers. +The Latin ambassadors ^41 have described their own introduction, +through a series of gloomy passages, and glittering porticos: the +scene was enlivened by the warbling of birds and the murmur of +fountains: it was enriched by a display of rich furniture and +rare animals; of the Imperial treasures, something was shown, and +much was supposed; and the long order of unfolding doors was +guarded by black soldiers and domestic eunuchs. The sanctuary of +the presence chamber was veiled with a curtain; and the vizier, +who conducted the ambassadors, laid aside the cimeter, and +prostrated himself three times on the ground; the veil was then +removed; and they beheld the commander of the faithful, who +signified his pleasure to the first slave of the throne. But this +slave was his master: the viziers or sultans had usurped the +supreme administration of Egypt; the claims of the rival +candidates were decided by arms; and the name of the most worthy, +of the strongest, was inserted in the royal patent of command. +The factions of Dargham and Shawer alternately expelled each +other from the capital and country; and the weaker side implored +the dangerous protection of the sultan of Damascus, or the king +of Jerusalem, the perpetual enemies of the sect and monarchy of +the Fatimites. By his arms and religion the Turk was most +formidable; but the Frank, in an easy, direct march, could +advance from Gaza to the Nile; while the intermediate situation +of his realm compelled the troops of Noureddin to wheel round the +skirts of Arabia, a long and painful circuit, which exposed them +to thirst, fatigue, and the burning winds of the desert. The +secret zeal and ambition of the Turkish prince aspired to reign +in Egypt under the name of the Abbassides; but the restoration of +the suppliant Shawer was the ostensible motive of the first +expedition; and the success was intrusted to the emir Shiracouh, +a valiant and veteran commander. Dargham was oppressed and slain; +but the ingratitude, the jealousy, the just apprehensions, of his +more fortunate rival, soon provoked him to invite the king of +Jerusalem to deliver Egypt from his insolent benefactors. To this +union the forces of Shiracouh were unequal: he relinquished the +premature conquest; and the evacuation of Belbeis or Pelusium was +the condition of his safe retreat. As the Turks defiled before +the enemy, and their general closed the rear, with a vigilant +eye, and a battle axe in his hand, a Frank presumed to ask him if +he were not afraid of an attack. "It is doubtless in your power +to begin the attack," replied the intrepid emir; "but rest +assured, that not one of my soldiers will go to paradise till he +has sent an infidel to hell." His report of the riches of the +land, the effeminacy of the natives, and the disorders of the +government, revived the hopes of Noureddin; the caliph of Bagdad +applauded the pious design; and Shiracouh descended into Egypt a +second time with twelve thousand Turks and eleven thousand Arabs. +Yet his forces were still inferior to the confederate armies of +the Franks and Saracens; and I can discern an unusual degree of +military art, in his passage of the Nile, his retreat into +Thebais, his masterly evolutions in the battle of Babain, the +surprise of Alexandria, and his marches and countermarches in the +flats and valley of Egypt, from the tropic to the sea. His +conduct was seconded by the courage of his troops, and on the eve +of action a Mamaluke ^42 exclaimed, "If we cannot wrest Egypt +from the Christian dogs, why do we not renounce the honors and +rewards of the sultan, and retire to labor with the peasants, or +to spin with the females of the harem?" Yet, after all his +efforts in the field, ^43 after the obstinate defence of +Alexandria ^44 by his nephew Saladin, an honorable capitulation +and retreat ^* concluded the second enterprise of Shiracouh; and +Noureddin reserved his abilities for a third and more propitious +occasion. It was soon offered by the ambition and avarice of +Amalric or Amaury, king of Jerusalem, who had imbibed the +pernicious maxim, that no faith should be kept with the enemies +of God. ^! A religious warrior, the great master of the hospital, +encouraged him to proceed; the emperor of Constantinople either +gave, or promised, a fleet to act with the armies of Syria; and +the perfidious Christian, unsatisfied with spoil and subsidy, +aspired to the conquest of Egypt. In this emergency, the Moslems +turned their eyes towards the sultan of Damascus; the vizier, +whom danger encompassed on all sides, yielded to their unanimous +wishes, and Noureddin seemed to be tempted by the fair offer of +one third of the revenue of the kingdom. The Franks were already +at the gates of Cairo; but the suburbs, the old city, were burnt +on their approach; they were deceived by an insidious +negotiation, and their vessels were unable to surmount the +barriers of the Nile. They prudently declined a contest with the +Turks in the midst of a hostile country; and Amaury retired into +Palestine with the shame and reproach that always adhere to +unsuccessful injustice. After this deliverance, Shiracouh was +invested with a robe of honor, which he soon stained with the +blood of the unfortunate Shawer. For a while, the Turkish emirs +condescended to hold the office of vizier; but this foreign +conquest precipitated the fall of the Fatimites themselves; and +the bloodless change was accomplished by a message and a word. +The caliphs had been degraded by their own weakness and the +tyranny of the viziers: their subjects blushed, when the +descendant and successor of the prophet presented his naked hand +to the rude gripe of a Latin ambassador; they wept when he sent +the hair of his women, a sad emblem of their grief and terror, to +excite the pity of the sultan of Damascus. By the command of +Noureddin, and the sentence of the doctors, the holy names of +Abubeker, Omar, and Othman, were solemnly restored: the caliph +Mosthadi, of Bagdad, was acknowledged in the public prayers as +the true commander of the faithful; and the green livery of the +sons of Ali was exchanged for the black color of the Abbassides. +The last of his race, the caliph Adhed, who survived only ten +days, expired in happy ignorance of his fate; his treasures +secured the loyalty of the soldiers, and silenced the murmurs of +the sectaries; and in all subsequent revolutions, Egypt has never +departed from the orthodox tradition of the Moslems. ^45</p> + +<p>[Footnote 41: From the ambassador, William of Tyre (l. xix. c. +17, 18,) describes the palace of Cairo. In the caliph's treasure +were found a pearl as large as a pigeon's egg, a ruby weighing +seventeen Egyptian drams, an emerald a palm and a half in length, +and many vases of crystal and porcelain of China, (Renaudot, p. +536.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 42: <strong><em>Mamluc</em></strong>, plur. +<strong><em>Mamalic</em></strong>, is defined by Pocock, +(Prolegom. ad Abulpharag. p. 7,) and D'Herbelot, (p. 545,) servum +emptitium, seu qui pretio numerato in domini possessionem cedit. +They frequently occur in the wars of Saladin, (Bohadin, p. 236, +&c.;) and it was only the <strong><em>Bahartie</em></strong> +Mamalukes that were first introduced into Egypt by his +descendants.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 43: Jacobus à Vitriaco (p. 1116) gives the +king of Jerusalem no more than 374 knights. Both the Franks and +the Moslems report the superior numbers of the enemy; a +difference which may be solved by counting or omitting the +unwarlike Egyptians.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 44: It was the Alexandria of the Arabs, a middle +term in extent and riches between the period of the Greeks and +Romans, and that of the Turks, (Savary, Lettres sur l'Egypte, +tom. i. p. 25, 26.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: The treaty stipulated that both the Christians +and the Arabs should withdraw from Egypt. Wilken, vol. iii. part +ii. p. 113. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !: The Knights Templars, abhorring the perfidious +breach of treaty partly, perhaps, out of jealousy of the +Hospitallers, refused to join in this enterprise. Will. Tyre c. +xx. p. 5. Wilken, vol. iii. part ii. p. 117. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 45: For this great revolution of Egypt, see William +of Tyre, (l. xix. 5, 6, 7, 12--31, xx. 5--12,) Bohadin, (in Vit. +Saladin, p. 30--39,) Abulfeda, (in Excerpt. Schultens, p. 1--12,) +D'Herbelot, (Bibliot. Orient. <strong><em>Adhed</em></strong>, +<strong><em>Fathemah</em></strong>, but very incorrect,) +Renaudot, (Hist. Patriarch. Alex. p. 522--525, 532--537,) Vertot, +(Hist. des Chevaliers de Malthe, tom. i. p. 141--163, in 4to.,) +and M. de Guignes, (tom. ii. p. 185--215.)]</p> + +<p>The hilly country beyond the Tigris is occupied by the +pastoral tribes of the Curds; ^46 a people hardy, strong, savage +impatient of the yoke, addicted to rapine, and tenacious of the +government of their national chiefs. The resemblance of name, +situation, and manners, seems to identify them with the +Carduchians of the Greeks; ^47 and they still defend against the +Ottoman Porte the antique freedom which they asserted against the +successors of Cyrus. Poverty and ambition prompted them to +embrace the profession of mercenary soldiers: the service of his +father and uncle prepared the reign of the great Saladin; ^48 and +the son of Job or Ayud, a simple Curd, magnanimously smiled at +his pedigree, which flattery deduced from the Arabian caliphs. +^49 So unconscious was Noureddin of the impending ruin of his +house, that he constrained the reluctant youth to follow his +uncle Shiracouh into Egypt: his military character was +established by the defence of Alexandria; and, if we may believe +the Latins, he solicited and obtained from the Christian general +the <strong><em>profane</em></strong>honors of knighthood. ^50 On +the death of Shiracouh, the office of grand vizier was bestowed +on Saladin, as the youngest and least powerful of the emirs; but +with the advice of his father, whom he invited to Cairo, his +genius obtained the ascendant over his equals, and attached the +army to his person and interest. While Noureddin lived, these +ambitious Curds were the most humble of his slaves; and the +indiscreet murmurs of the divan were silenced by the prudent +Ayub, who loudly protested that at the command of the sultan he +himself would lead his sons in chains to the foot of the throne. +"Such language," he added in private, "was prudent and proper in +an assembly of your rivals; but we are now above fear and +obedience; and the threats of Noureddin shall not extort the +tribute of a sugar-cane." His seasonable death relieved them from +the odious and doubtful conflict: his son, a minor of eleven +years of age, was left for a while to the emirs of Damascus; and +the new lord of Egypt was decorated by the caliph with every +title ^51 that could sanctify his usurpation in the eyes of the +people. Nor was Saladin long content with the possession of +Egypt; he despoiled the Christians of Jerusalem, and the Atabeks +of Damascus, Aleppo, and Diarbekir: Mecca and Medina acknowledged +him for their temporal protector: his brother subdued the distant +regions of Yemen, or the happy Arabia; and at the hour of his +death, his empire was spread from the African Tripoli to the +Tigris, and from the Indian Ocean to the mountains of Armenia. In +the judgment of his character, the reproaches of treason and +ingratitude strike forcibly on <strong><em>our</em></strong> +minds, impressed, as they are, with the principle and experience +of law and loyalty. But his ambition may in some measure be +excused by the revolutions of Asia, ^52 which had erased every +notion of legitimate succession; by the recent example of the +Atabeks themselves; by his reverence to the son of his +benefactor; his humane and generous behavior to the collateral +branches; by <strong><em>their</em></strong> incapacity and +<strong><em>his</em></strong> merit; by the approbation of the +caliph, the sole source of all legitimate power; and, above all, +by the wishes and interest of the people, whose happiness is the +first object of government. In <strong><em>his</em></strong> +virtues, and in those of his patron, they admired the singular +union of the hero and the saint; for both Noureddin and Saladin +are ranked among the Mahometan saints; and the constant +meditation of the holy war appears to have shed a serious and +sober color over their lives and actions. The youth of the latter +^53 was addicted to wine and women: but his aspiring spirit soon +renounced the temptations of pleasure for the graver follies of +fame and dominion: the garment of Saladin was of coarse woollen; +water was his only drink; and, while he emulated the temperance, +he surpassed the chastity, of his Arabian prophet. Both in faith +and practice he was a rigid Mussulman: he ever deplored that the +defence of religion had not allowed him to accomplish the +pilgrimage of Mecca; but at the stated hours, five times each +day, the sultan devoutly prayed with his brethren: the +involuntary omission of fasting was scrupulously repaid; and his +perusal of the Koran, on horseback between the approaching +armies, may be quoted as a proof, however ostentatious, of piety +and courage. ^54 The superstitious doctrine of the sect of Shafei +was the only study that he deigned to encourage: the poets were +safe in his contempt; but all profane science was the object of +his aversion; and a philosopher, who had invented some +speculative novelties, was seized and strangled by the command of +the royal saint. The justice of his divan was accessible to the +meanest suppliant against himself and his ministers; and it was +only for a kingdom that Saladin would deviate from the rule of +equity. While the descendants of Seljuk and Zenghi held his +stirrup and smoothed his garments, he was affable and patient +with the meanest of his servants. So boundless was his +liberality, that he distributed twelve thousand horses at the +siege of Acre; and, at the time of his death, no more than +forty-seven drams of silver and one piece of gold coin were found +in the treasury; yet, in a martial reign, the tributes were +diminished, and the wealthy citizens enjoyed, without fear or +danger, the fruits of their industry. Egypt, Syria, and Arabia, +were adorned by the royal foundations of hospitals, colleges, and +mosques; and Cairo was fortified with a wall and citadel; but his +works were consecrated to public use: ^55 nor did the sultan +indulge himself in a garden or palace of private luxury. In a +fanatic age, himself a fanatic, the genuine virtues of Saladin +commanded the esteem of the Christians; the emperor of Germany +gloried in his friendship; ^56 the Greek emperor solicited his +alliance; ^57 and the conquest of Jerusalem diffused, and perhaps +magnified, his fame both in the East and West.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 46: For the Curds, see De Guignes, tom. ii. p. 416, +417, the Index Geographicus of Schultens and Tavernier, Voyages, +p. i. p. 308, 309. The Ayoubites descended from the tribe of the +Rawadiæi, one of the noblest; but as +<strong><em>they</em></strong> were infected with the heresy of +the Metempsychosis, the orthodox sultans insinuated that their +descent was only on the mother's side, and that their ancestor +was a stranger who settled among the Curds.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 47: See the ivth book of the Anabasis of Xenophon. +The ten thousand suffered more from the arrows of the free +Carduchians, than from the splendid weakness of the great +king.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 48: We are indebted to the professor Schultens +(Lugd. Bat, 1755, in folio) for the richest and most authentic +materials, a life of Saladin by his friend and minister the Cadhi +Bohadin, and copious extracts from the history of his kinsman the +prince Abulfeda of Hamah. To these we may add, the article of +<strong><em>Salaheddin</em></strong> in the Bibliothèque +Orientale, and all that may be gleaned from the Dynasties of +Abulpharagius.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 49: Since Abulfeda was himself an Ayoubite, he may +share the praise, for imitating, at least tacitly, the modesty of +the founder.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 50: Hist. Hierosol. in the Gesta Dei per Francos, p. +1152. A similar example may be found in Joinville, (p. 42, +edition du Louvre;) but the pious St. Louis refused to dignify +infidels with the order of Christian knighthood, (Ducange, +Observations, p 70.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 51: In these Arabic titles, +<strong><em>religionis</em></strong> must always be understood; +<strong><em>Noureddin</em></strong>, lumen r.; +<strong><em>Ezzodin</em></strong>, decus; +<strong><em>Amadoddin</em></strong>, columen: our hero's proper +name was Joseph, and he was styled +<strong><em>Salahoddin</em></strong>, salus; <strong><em>Al +Malichus</em></strong>, <strong><em>Al Nasirus</em></strong>, rex +defensor; <strong><em>Abu Modaffer</em></strong>, pater +victoriæ, Schultens, Præfat.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 52: Abulfeda, who descended from a brother of +Saladin, observes, from many examples, that the founders of +dynasties took the guilt for themselves, and left the reward to +their innocent collaterals, (Excerpt p. 10.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 53: See his life and character in Renaudot, p. +537--548.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 54: His civil and religious virtues are celebrated +in the first chapter of Bohadin, (p. 4--30,) himself an +eye-witness, and an honest bigot.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 55: In many works, particularly Joseph's well in the +castle of Cairo, the Sultan and the Patriarch have been +confounded by the ignorance of natives and travellers.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 56: Anonym. Canisii, tom. iii. p. ii. p. 504.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 57: Bohadin, p. 129, 130.]</p> + +<p>During his short existence, the kingdom of Jerusalem ^58 was +supported by the discord of the Turks and Saracens; and both the +Fatimite caliphs and the sultans of Damascus were tempted to +sacrifice the cause of their religion to the meaner +considerations of private and present advantage. But the powers +of Egypt, Syria, and Arabia, were now united by a hero, whom +nature and fortune had armed against the Christians. All without +now bore the most threatening aspect; and all was feeble and +hollow in the internal state of Jerusalem. After the two first +Baldwins, the brother and cousin of Godfrey of Bouillon, the +sceptre devolved by female succession to Melisenda, daughter of +the second Baldwin, and her husband Fulk, count of Anjou, the +father, by a former marriage, of our English Plantagenets. Their +two sons, Baldwin the Third, and Amaury, waged a strenuous, and +not unsuccessful, war against the infidels; but the son of +Amaury, Baldwin the Fourth, was deprived, by the leprosy, a gift +of the crusades, of the faculties both of mind and body. His +sister Sybilla, the mother of Baldwin the Fifth, was his natural +heiress: after the suspicious death of her child, she crowned her +second husband, Guy of Lusignan, a prince of a handsome person, +but of such base renown, that his own brother Jeffrey was heard +to exclaim, "Since they have made <strong><em>him</em></strong> a +king, surely they would have made <strong><em>me</em></strong> a +god!" The choice was generally blamed; and the most powerful +vassal, Raymond count of Tripoli, who had been excluded from the +succession and regency, entertained an implacable hatred against +the king, and exposed his honor and conscience to the temptations +of the sultan. Such were the guardians of the holy city; a leper, +a child, a woman, a coward, and a traitor: yet its fate was +delayed twelve years by some supplies from Europe, by the valor +of the military orders, and by the distant or domestic avocations +of their great enemy. At length, on every side, the sinking state +was encircled and pressed by a hostile line: and the truce was +violated by the Franks, whose existence it protected. A soldier +of fortune, Reginald of Chatillon, had seized a fortress on the +edge of the desert, from whence he pillaged the caravans, +insulted Mahomet, and threatened the cities of Mecca and Medina. +Saladin condescended to complain; rejoiced in the denial of +justice, and at the head of fourscore thousand horse and foot +invaded the Holy Land. The choice of Tiberias for his first siege +was suggested by the count of Tripoli, to whom it belonged; and +the king of Jerusalem was persuaded to drain his garrison, and to +arm his people, for the relief of that important place. ^59 By +the advice of the perfidious Raymond, the Christians were +betrayed into a camp destitute of water: he fled on the first +onset, with the curses of both nations: ^60 Lusignan was +overthrown, with the loss of thirty thousand men; and the wood of +the true cross (a dire misfortune!) was left in the power of the +infidels. ^* The royal captive was conducted to the tent of +Saladin; and as he fainted with thirst and terror, the generous +victor presented him with a cup of sherbet, cooled in snow, +without suffering his companion, Reginald of Chatillon, to +partake of this pledge of hospitality and pardon. "The person and +dignity of a king," said the sultan, "are sacred, but this +impious robber must instantly acknowledge the prophet, whom he +has blasphemed, or meet the death which he has so often +deserved." On the proud or conscientious refusal of the Christian +warrior, Saladin struck him on the head with his cimeter, and +Reginald was despatched by the guards. ^61 The trembling Lusignan +was sent to Damascus, to an honorable prison and speedy ransom; +but the victory was stained by the execution of two hundred and +thirty knights of the hospital, the intrepid champions and +martyrs of their faith. The kingdom was left without a head; and +of the two grand masters of the military orders, the one was +slain and the other was a prisoner. From all the cities, both of +the sea-coast and the inland country, the garrisons had been +drawn away for this fatal field: Tyre and Tripoli alone could +escape the rapid inroad of Saladin; and three months after the +battle of Tiberias, he appeared in arms before the gates of +Jerusalem. ^62</p> + +<p>[Footnote 58: For the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, see William +of Tyre, from the ixth to the xxiid book. Jacob a Vitriaco, Hist. +Hierosolem l i., and Sanutus Secreta Fidelium Crucis, l. iii. p. +vi. vii. viii. ix.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 59: Templarii ut apes bombabant et Hospitalarii ut +venti stridebant, et barones se exitio offerebant, et Turcopuli +(the Christian light troops) semet ipsi in ignem injiciebant, +(Ispahani de Expugnatione Kudsiticâ, p. 18, apud +Schultens;) a specimen of Arabian eloquence, somewhat different +from the style of Xenophon!]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 60: The Latins affirm, the Arabians insinuate, the +treason of Raymond; but had he really embraced their religion, he +would have been a saint and a hero in the eyes of the +latter.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Raymond's advice would have prevented the +abandonment of a secure camp abounding with water near Sepphoris. +The rash and insolent valor of the master of the order of Knights +Templars, which had before exposed the Christians to a fatal +defeat at the brook Kishon, forced the feeble king to annul the +determination of a council of war, and advance to a camp in an +enclosed valley among the mountains, near Hittin, without water. +Raymond did not fly till the battle was irretrievably lost, and +then the Saracens seem to have opened their ranks to allow him +free passage. The charge of suggesting the siege of Tiberias +appears ungrounded Raymond, no doubt, played a double part: he +was a man of strong sagacity, who foresaw the desperate nature of +the contest with Saladin, endeavored by every means to maintain +the treaty, and, though he joined both his arms and his still +more valuable counsels to the Christian army, yet kept up a kind +of amicable correspondence with the Mahometans. See Wilken, vol. +iii. part ii. p. 276, et seq. Michaud, vol. ii. p. 278, et seq. +M. Michaud is still more friendly than Wilken to the memory of +Count Raymond, who died suddenly, shortly after the battle of +Hittin. He quotes a letter written in the name of Saladin by the +caliph Alfdel, to show that Raymond was considered by the +Mahometans their most dangerous and detested enemy. "No person of +distinction among the Christians escaped, except the count, (of +Tripoli) whom God curse. God made him die shortly afterwards, and +sent him from the kingdom of death to hell." -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 61: Benaud, Reginald, or Arnold de Chatillon, is +celebrated by the Latins in his life and death; but the +circumstances of the latter are more distinctly related by +Bohadin and Abulfeda; and Joinville (Hist. de St. Louis, p. 70) +alludes to the practice of Saladin, of never putting to death a +prisoner who had tasted his bread and salt. Some of the +companions of Arnold had been slaughtered, and almost sacrificed, +in a valley of Mecca, ubi sacrificia mactantur, (Abulfeda, p. +32.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 62: Vertot, who well describes the loss of the +kingdom and city (Hist. des Chevaliers de Malthe, tom. i. l. ii. +p. 226--278,) inserts two original epistles of a Knight +Templar.]</p> + +<p>He might expect that the siege of a city so venerable on earth +and in heaven, so interesting to Europe and Asia, would rekindle +the last sparks of enthusiasm; and that, of sixty thousand +Christians, every man would be a soldier, and every soldier a +candidate for martyrdom. But Queen Sybilla trembled for herself +and her captive husband; and the barons and knights, who had +escaped from the sword and chains of the Turks, displayed the +same factious and selfish spirit in the public ruin. The most +numerous portion of the inhabitants was composed of the Greek and +Oriental Christians, whom experience had taught to prefer the +Mahometan before the Latin yoke; ^63 and the holy sepulchre +attracted a base and needy crowd, without arms or courage, who +subsisted only on the charity of the pilgrims. Some feeble and +hasty efforts were made for the defence of Jerusalem: but in the +space of fourteen days, a victorious army drove back the sallies +of the besieged, planted their engines, opened the wall to the +breadth of fifteen cubits, applied their scaling-ladders, and +erected on the breach twelve banners of the prophet and the +sultan. It was in vain that a barefoot procession of the queen, +the women, and the monks, implored the Son of God to save his +tomb and his inheritance from impious violation. Their sole hope +was in the mercy of the conqueror, and to their first suppliant +deputation that mercy was sternly denied. "He had sworn to avenge +the patience and long-suffering of the Moslems; the hour of +forgiveness was elapsed, and the moment was now arrived to +expiate, in blood, the innocent blood which had been spilt by +Godfrey and the first crusaders." But a desperate and successful +struggle of the Franks admonished the sultan that his triumph was +not yet secure; he listened with reverence to a solemn adjuration +in the name of the common Father of mankind; and a sentiment of +human sympathy mollified the rigor of fanaticism and conquest. He +consented to accept the city, and to spare the inhabitants. The +Greek and Oriental Christians were permitted to live under his +dominion, but it was stipulated, that in forty days all the +Franks and Latins should evacuate Jerusalem, and be safely +conducted to the seaports of Syria and Egypt; that ten pieces of +gold should be paid for each man, five for each woman, and one +for every child; and that those who were unable to purchase their +freedom should be detained in perpetual slavery. Of some writers +it is a favorite and invidious theme to compare the humanity of +Saladin with the massacre of the first crusade. The difference +would be merely personal; but we should not forget that the +Christians had offered to capitulate, and that the Mahometans of +Jerusalem sustained the last extremities of an assault and storm. +Justice is indeed due to the fidelity with which the Turkish +conqueror fulfilled the conditions of the treaty; and he may be +deservedly praised for the glance of pity which he cast on the +misery of the vanquished. Instead of a rigorous exaction of his +debt, he accepted a sum of thirty thousand byzants, for the +ransom of seven thousand poor; two or three thousand more were +dismissed by his gratuitous clemency; and the number of slaves +was reduced to eleven or fourteen thousand persons. In this +interview with the queen, his words, and even his tears suggested +the kindest consolations; his liberal alms were distributed among +those who had been made orphans or widows by the fortune of war; +and while the knights of the hospital were in arms against him, +he allowed their more pious brethren to continue, during the term +of a year, the care and service of the sick. In these acts of +mercy the virtue of Saladin deserves our admiration and love: he +was above the necessity of dissimulation, and his stern +fanaticism would have prompted him to dissemble, rather than to +affect, this profane compassion for the enemies of the Koran. +After Jerusalem had been delivered from the presence of the +strangers, the sultan made his triumphal entry, his banners +waving in the wind, and to the harmony of martial music. The +great mosque of Omar, which had been converted into a church, was +again consecrated to one God and his prophet Mahomet: the walls +and pavement were purified with rose-water; and a pulpit, the +labor of Noureddin, was erected in the sanctuary. But when the +golden cross that glittered on the dome was cast down, and +dragged through the streets, the Christians of every sect uttered +a lamentable groan, which was answered by the joyful shouts of +the Moslems. In four ivory chests the patriarch had collected the +crosses, the images, the vases, and the relics of the holy place; +they were seized by the conqueror, who was desirous of presenting +the caliph with the trophies of Christian idolatry. He was +persuaded, however, to intrust them to the patriarch and prince +of Antioch; and the pious pledge was redeemed by Richard of +England, at the expense of fifty-two thousand byzants of gold. +^64</p> + +<p>[Footnote 63: Renaudot, Hist. Patriarch. Alex. p. 545.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 64: For the conquest of Jerusalem, Bohadin (p. +67--75) and Abulfeda (p. 40--43) are our Moslem witnesses. Of the +Christian, Bernard Thesaurarius (c. 151--167) is the most copious +and authentic; see likewise Matthew Paris, (p. 120--124.)]</p> + +<p>The nations might fear and hope the immediate and final +expulsion of the Latins from Syria; which was yet delayed above a +century after the death of Saladin. ^65 In the career of victory, +he was first checked by the resistance of Tyre; the troops and +garrisons, which had capitulated, were imprudently conducted to +the same port: their numbers were adequate to the defence of the +place; and the arrival of Conrad of Montferrat inspired the +disorderly crowd with confidence and union. His father, a +venerable pilgrim, had been made prisoner in the battle of +Tiberias; but that disaster was unknown in Italy and Greece, when +the son was urged by ambition and piety to visit the inheritance +of his royal nephew, the infant Baldwin. The view of the Turkish +banners warned him from the hostile coast of Jaffa; and Conrad +was unanimously hailed as the prince and champion of Tyre, which +was already besieged by the conqueror of Jerusalem. The firmness +of his zeal, and perhaps his knowledge of a generous foe, enabled +him to brave the threats of the sultan, and to declare, that +should his aged parent be exposed before the walls, he himself +would discharge the first arrow, and glory in his descent from a +Christian martyr. ^66 The Egyptian fleet was allowed to enter the +harbor of Tyre; but the chain was suddenly drawn, and five +galleys were either sunk or taken: a thousand Turks were slain in +a sally; and Saladin, after burning his engines, concluded a +glorious campaign by a disgraceful retreat to Damascus. He was +soon assailed by a more formidable tempest. The pathetic +narratives, and even the pictures, that represented in lively +colors the servitude and profanation of Jerusalem, awakened the +torpid sensibility of Europe: the emperor Frederic Barbarossa, +and the kings of France and England, assumed the cross; and the +tardy magnitude of their armaments was anticipated by the +maritime states of the Mediterranean and the Ocean. The skilful +and provident Italians first embarked in the ships of Genoa, +Pisa, and Venice. They were speedily followed by the most eager +pilgrims of France, Normandy, and the Western Isles. The powerful +succor of Flanders, Frise, and Denmark, filled near a hundred +vessels: and the Northern warriors were distinguished in the +field by a lofty stature and a ponderous battle-axe. ^67 Their +increasing multitudes could no longer be confined within the +walls of Tyre, or remain obedient to the voice of Conrad. They +pitied the misfortunes, and revered the dignity, of Lusignan, who +was released from prison, perhaps, to divide the army of the +Franks. He proposed the recovery of Ptolemais, or Acre, thirty +miles to the south of Tyre; and the place was first invested by +two thousand horse and thirty thousand foot under his nominal +command. I shall not expatiate on the story of this memorable +siege; which lasted near two years, and consumed, in a narrow +space, the forces of Europe and Asia. Never did the flame of +enthusiasm burn with fiercer and more destructive rage; nor could +the true believers, a common appellation, who consecrated their +own martyrs, refuse some applause to the mistaken zeal and +courage of their adversaries. At the sound of the holy trumpet, +the Moslems of Egypt, Syria, Arabia, and the Oriental provinces, +assembled under the servant of the prophet: ^68 his camp was +pitched and removed within a few miles of Acre; and he labored, +night and day, for the relief of his brethren and the annoyance +of the Franks. Nine battles, not unworthy of the name, were +fought in the neighborhood of Mount Carmel, with such vicissitude +of fortune, that in one attack, the sultan forced his way into +the city; that in one sally, the Christians penetrated to the +royal tent. By the means of divers and pigeons, a regular +correspondence was maintained with the besieged; and, as often as +the sea was left open, the exhausted garrison was withdrawn, and +a fresh supply was poured into the place. The Latin camp was +thinned by famine, the sword and the climate; but the tents of +the dead were replenished with new pilgrims, who exaggerated the +strength and speed of their approaching countrymen. The vulgar +was astonished by the report, that the pope himself, with an +innumerable crusade, was advanced as far as Constantinople. The +march of the emperor filled the East with more serious alarms: +the obstacles which he encountered in Asia, and perhaps in +Greece, were raised by the policy of Saladin: his joy on the +death of Barbarossa was measured by his esteem; and the +Christians were rather dismayed than encouraged at the sight of +the duke of Swabia and his way-worn remnant of five thousand +Germans. At length, in the spring of the second year, the royal +fleets of France and England cast anchor in the Bay of Acre, and +the siege was more vigorously prosecuted by the youthful +emulation of the two kings, Philip Augustus and Richard +Plantagenet. After every resource had been tried, and every hope +was exhausted, the defenders of Acre submitted to their fate; a +capitulation was granted, but their lives and liberties were +taxed at the hard conditions of a ransom of two hundred thousand +pieces of gold, the deliverance of one hundred nobles, and +fifteen hundred inferior captives, and the restoration of the +wood of the holy cross. Some doubts in the agreement, and some +delay in the execution, rekindled the fury of the Franks, and +three thousand Moslems, almost in the sultan's view, were +beheaded by the command of the sanguinary Richard. ^69 By the +conquest of Acre, the Latin powers acquired a strong town and a +convenient harbor; but the advantage was most dearly purchased. +The minister and historian of Saladin computes, from the report +of the enemy, that their numbers, at different periods, amounted +to five or six hundred thousand; that more than one hundred +thousand Christians were slain; that a far greater number was +lost by disease or shipwreck; and that a small portion of this +mighty host could return in safety to their native countries. +^70</p> + +<p>[Footnote 65: The sieges of Tyre and Acre are most copiously +described by Bernard Thesaurarius, (de Acquisitione Terræ +Sanctæ, c. 167--179,) the author of the Historia +Hierosolymitana, (p. 1150--1172, in Bongarsius,) Abulfeda, (p. +43--50,) and Bohadin, (p. 75--179.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 66: I have followed a moderate and probable +representation of the fact; by Vertot, who adopts without +reluctance a romantic tale the old marquis is actually exposed to +the darts of the besieged.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 67: Northmanni et Gothi, et cæteri populi +insularum quæ inter occidentem et septentrionem sitæ +sunt, gentes bellicosæ, corporis proceri mortis +intrepidæ, bipennibus armatæ, navibus rotundis, +quæ Ysnachiæ dicuntur, advectæ.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 68: The historian of Jerusalem (p. 1108) adds the +nations of the East from the Tigris to India, and the swarthy +tribes of Moors and Getulians, so that Asia and Africa fought +against Europe.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 69: Bohadin, p. 180; and this massacre is neither +denied nor blamed by the Christian historians. Alacriter jussa +complentes, (the English soldiers,) says Galfridus à +Vinesauf, (l. iv. c. 4, p. 346,) who fixes at 2700 the number of +victims; who are multiplied to 5000 by Roger Hoveden, (p. 697, +698.) The humanity or avarice of Philip Augustus was persuaded to +ransom his prisoners, (Jacob à Vitriaco, l. i. c. 98, p. +1122.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 70: Bohadin, p. 14. He quotes the judgment of +Balianus, and the prince of Sidon, and adds, ex illo mundo quasi +hominum paucissimi redierunt. Among the Christians who died +before St. John d'Acre, I find the English names of De Ferrers +earl of Derby, (Dugdale, Baronage, part i. p. 260,) Mowbray, +(idem, p. 124,) De Mandevil, De Fiennes, St. John, Scrope, Bigot, +Talbot, &c.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LIX: The Crusades. -- Part +III.</em></strong></p> + +<p>Philip Augustus, and Richard the First, are the only kings of +France and England who have fought under the same banners; but +the holy service in which they were enlisted was incessantly +disturbed by their national jealousy; and the two factions, which +they protected in Palestine, were more averse to each other than +to the common enemy. In the eyes of the Orientals; the French +monarch was superior in dignity and power; and, in the emperor's +absence, the Latins revered him as their temporal chief. ^71 His +exploits were not adequate to his fame. Philip was brave, but the +statesman predominated in his character; he was soon weary of +sacrificing his health and interest on a barren coast: the +surrender of Acre became the signal of his departure; nor could +he justify this unpopular desertion, by leaving the duke of +Burgundy with five hundred knights and ten thousand foot, for the +service of the Holy Land. The king of England, though inferior in +dignity, surpassed his rival in wealth and military renown; ^72 +and if heroism be confined to brutal and ferocious valor, Richard +Plantagenet will stand high among the heroes of the age. The +memory of <strong><em>Cur de Lion</em></strong>, of the +lion-hearted prince, was long dear and glorious to his English +subjects; and, at the distance of sixty years, it was celebrated +in proverbial sayings by the grandsons of the Turks and Saracens, +against whom he had fought: his tremendous name was employed by +the Syrian mothers to silence their infants; and if a horse +suddenly started from the way, his rider was wont to exclaim, +"Dost thou think King Richard is in that bush?" ^73 His cruelty +to the Mahometans was the effect of temper and zeal; but I cannot +believe that a soldier, so free and fearless in the use of his +lance, would have descended to whet a dagger against his valiant +brother Conrad of Montferrat, who was slain at Tyre by some +secret assassins. ^74 After the surrender of Acre, and the +departure of Philip, the king of England led the crusaders to the +recovery of the sea-coast; and the cities of Cæsarea and +Jaffa were added to the fragments of the kingdom of Lusignan. A +march of one hundred miles from Acre to Ascalon was a great and +perpetual battle of eleven days. In the disorder of his troops, +Saladin remained on the field with seventeen guards, without +lowering his standard, or suspending the sound of his brazen +kettle-drum: he again rallied and renewed the charge; and his +preachers or heralds called aloud on the +<strong><em>unitarians</em></strong>, manfully to stand up +against the Christian idolaters. But the progress of these +idolaters was irresistible; and it was only by demolishing the +walls and buildings of Ascalon, that the sultan could prevent +them from occupying an important fortress on the confines of +Egypt. During a severe winter, the armies slept; but in the +spring, the Franks advanced within a day's march of Jerusalem, +under the leading standard of the English king; and his active +spirit intercepted a convoy, or caravan, of seven thousand +camels. Saladin ^75 had fixed his station in the holy city; but +the city was struck with consternation and discord: he fasted; he +prayed; he preached; he offered to share the dangers of the +siege; but his Mamalukes, who remembered the fate of their +companions at Acre, pressed the sultan with loyal or seditious +clamors, to reserve <strong><em>his</em></strong> person and +<strong><em>their</em></strong> courage for the future defence of +the religion and empire. ^76 The Moslems were delivered by the +sudden, or, as they deemed, the miraculous, retreat of the +Christians; ^77 and the laurels of Richard were blasted by the +prudence, or envy, of his companions. The hero, ascending a hill, +and veiling his face, exclaimed with an indignant voice, "Those +who are unwilling to rescue, are unworthy to view, the sepulchre +of Christ!" After his return to Acre, on the news that Jaffa was +surprised by the sultan, he sailed with some merchant vessels, +and leaped foremost on the beach: the castle was relieved by his +presence; and sixty thousand Turks and Saracens fled before his +arms. The discovery of his weakness, provoked them to return in +the morning; and they found him carelessly encamped before the +gates with only seventeen knights and three hundred archers. +Without counting their numbers, he sustained their charge; and we +learn from the evidence of his enemies, that the king of England, +grasping his lance, rode furiously along their front, from the +right to the left wing, without meeting an adversary who dared to +encounter his career. ^78 Am I writing the history of Orlando or +Amadis?</p> + +<p>[Footnote 71: Magnus hic apud eos, interque reges eorum tum +virtute tum majestate eminens . . . . summus rerum arbiter, +(Bohadin, p. 159.) He does not seem to have known the names +either of Philip or Richard.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 72: Rex Angliæ, præstrenuus . . . . rege +Gallorum minor apud eos censebatur ratione regni atque +dignitatis; sed tum divitiis florentior, tum bellicâ +virtute multo erat celebrior, (Bohadin, p. 161.) A stranger might +admire those riches; the national historians will tell with what +lawless and wasteful oppression they were collected.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 73: Joinville, p. 17. Cuides-tu que ce soit le roi +Richart?]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 74: Yet he was guilty in the opinion of the Moslems, +who attest the confession of the assassins, that they were sent +by the king of England, (Bohadin, p. 225;) and his only defence +is an absurd and palpable forgery, (Hist. de l'Académie +des Inscriptions, tom. xv. p. 155--163,) a pretended letter from +the prince of the assassins, the Sheich, or old man of the +mountain, who justified Richard, by assuming to himself the guilt +or merit of the murder. *</p> + +<p>Note: * Von Hammer (Geschichte der Assassinen, p. 202) sums up +against Richard, Wilken (vol. iv. p. 485) as strongly for +acquittal. Michaud (vol. ii. p. 420) delivers no decided opinion. +This crime was also attributed to Saladin, who is said, by an +Oriental authority, (the continuator of Tabari,) to have employed +the assassins to murder both Conrad and Richard. It is a +melancholy admission, but it must be acknowledged, that such an +act would be less inconsistent with the character of the +Christian than of the Mahometan king. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 75: See the distress and pious firmness of Saladin, +as they are described by Bohadin, (p. 7--9, 235--237,) who +himself harangued the defenders of Jerusalem; their fears were +not unknown to the enemy, (Jacob. à Vitriaco, l. i. c. +100, p. 1123. Vinisauf, l. v. c. 50, p. 399.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 76: Yet unless the sultan, or an Ayoubite prince, +remained in Jerusalem, nec Curdi Turcis, nec Turci essent +obtemperaturi Curdis, (Bohadin, p. 236.) He draws aside a corner +of the political curtain.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 77: Bohadin, (p. 237,) and even Jeffrey de Vinisauf, +(l. vi. c. 1--8, p. 403--409,) ascribe the retreat to Richard +himself; and Jacobus à Vitriaco observes, that in his +impatience to depart, in alterum virum mutatus est, (p. 1123.) +Yet Joinville, a French knight, accuses the envy of Hugh duke of +Burgundy, (p. 116,) without supposing, like Matthew Paris, that +he was bribed by Saladin.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 78: The expeditions to Ascalon, Jerusalem, and +Jaffa, are related by Bohadin (p. 184--249) and Abulfeda, (p. 51, +52.) The author of the Itinerary, or the monk of St. Alban's, +cannot exaggerate the cadhi's account of the prowess of Richard, +(Vinisauf, l. vi. c. 14--24, p. 412--421. Hist. Major, p. +137--143;) and on the whole of this war there is a marvellous +agreement between the Christian and Mahometan writers, who +mutually praise the virtues of their enemies.]</p> + +<p>During these hostilities, a languid and tedious negotiation +^79 between the Franks and Moslems was started, and continued, +and broken, and again resumed, and again broken. Some acts of +royal courtesy, the gift of snow and fruit, the exchange of +Norway hawks and Arabian horses, softened the asperity of +religious war: from the vicissitude of success, the monarchs +might learn to suspect that Heaven was neutral in the quarrel; +nor, after the trial of each other, could either hope for a +decisive victory. ^80 The health both of Richard and Saladin +appeared to be in a declining state; and they respectively +suffered the evils of distant and domestic warfare: Plantagenet +was impatient to punish a perfidious rival who had invaded +Normandy in his absence; and the indefatigable sultan was subdued +by the cries of the people, who was the victim, and of the +soldiers, who were the instruments, of his martial zeal. The +first demands of the king of England were the restitution of +Jerusalem, Palestine, and the true cross; and he firmly declared, +that himself and his brother pilgrims would end their lives in +the pious labor, rather than return to Europe with ignominy and +remorse. But the conscience of Saladin refused, without some +weighty compensation, to restore the idols, or promote the +idolatry, of the Christians; he asserted, with equal firmness, +his religious and civil claim to the sovereignty of Palestine; +descanted on the importance and sanctity of Jerusalem; and +rejected all terms of the establishment, or partition of the +Latins. The marriage which Richard proposed, of his sister with +the sultan's brother, was defeated by the difference of faith; +the princess abhorred the embraces of a Turk; and Adel, or +Saphadin, would not easily renounce a plurality of wives. A +personal interview was declined by Saladin, who alleged their +mutual ignorance of each other's language; and the negotiation +was managed with much art and delay by their interpreters and +envoys. The final agreement was equally disapproved by the +zealots of both parties, by the Roman pontiff and the caliph of +Bagdad. It was stipulated that Jerusalem and the holy sepulchre +should be open, without tribute or vexation, to the pilgrimage of +the Latin Christians; that, after the demolition of Ascalon, they +should inclusively possess the sea-coast from Jaffa to Tyre; that +the count of Tripoli and the prince of Antioch should be +comprised in the truce; and that, during three years and three +months, all hostilities should cease. The principal chiefs of the +two armies swore to the observance of the treaty; but the +monarchs were satisfied with giving their word and their right +hand; and the royal majesty was excused from an oath, which +always implies some suspicion of falsehood and dishonor. Richard +embarked for Europe, to seek a long captivity and a premature +grave; and the space of a few months concluded the life and +glories of Saladin. The Orientals describe his edifying death, +which happened at Damascus; but they seem ignorant of the equal +distribution of his alms among the three religions, ^81 or of the +display of a shroud, instead of a standard, to admonish the East +of the instability of human greatness. The unity of empire was +dissolved by his death; his sons were oppressed by the stronger +arm of their uncle Saphadin; the hostile interests of the sultans +of Egypt, Damascus, and Aleppo, ^82 were again revived; and the +Franks or Latins stood and breathed, and hoped, in their +fortresses along the Syrian coast.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 79: See the progress of negotiation and hostility in +Bohadin, (p. 207--260,) who was himself an actor in the treaty. +Richard declared his intention of returning with new armies to +the conquest of the Holy Land; and Saladin answered the menace +with a civil compliment, (Vinisauf l. vi. c. 28, p. 423.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 80: The most copious and original account of this +holy war is Galfridi à Vinisauf, Itinerarium Regis +Anglorum Richardi et aliorum in Terram Hierosolymorum, in six +books, published in the iid volume of Gale's Scriptores Hist. +Anglicanæ, (p. 247--429.) Roger Hoveden and Matthew Paris +afford likewise many valuable materials; and the former +describes, with accuracy, the discipline and navigation of the +English fleet.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 81: Even Vertot (tom. i. p. 251) adopts the foolish +notion of the indifference of Saladin, who professed the Koran +with his last breath.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 82: See the succession of the Ayoubites, in +Abulpharagius, (Dynast. p. 277, &c.,) and the tables of M. De +Guignes, l'Art de Vérifier les Dates, and the +Bibliothèque Orientale.]</p> + +<p>The noblest monument of a conqueror's fame, and of the terror +which he inspired, is the Saladine tenth, a general tax which was +imposed on the laity, and even the clergy, of the Latin church, +for the service of the holy war. The practice was too lucrative +to expire with the occasion: and this tribute became the +foundation of all the tithes and tenths on ecclesiastical +benefices, which have been granted by the Roman pontiffs to +Catholic sovereigns, or reserved for the immediate use of the +apostolic see. ^83 This pecuniary emolument must have tended to +increase the interest of the popes in the recovery of Palestine: +after the death of Saladin, they preached the crusade, by their +epistles, their legates, and their missionaries; and the +accomplishment of the pious work might have been expected from +the zeal and talents of Innocent the Third. ^84 Under that young +and ambitious priest, the successors of St. Peter attained the +full meridian of their greatness: and in a reign of eighteen +years, he exercised a despotic command over the emperors and +kings, whom he raised and deposed; over the nations, whom an +interdict of months or years deprived, for the offence of their +rulers, of the exercise of Christian worship. In the council of +the Lateran he acted as the ecclesiastical, almost as the +temporal, sovereign of the East and West. It was at the feet of +his legate that John of England surrendered his crown; and +Innocent may boast of the two most signal triumphs over sense and +humanity, the establishment of transubstantiation, and the origin +of the inquisition. At his voice, two crusades, the fourth and +the fifth, were undertaken; but, except a king of Hungary, the +princes of the second order were at the head of the pilgrims: the +forces were inadequate to the design; nor did the effects +correspond with the hopes and wishes of the pope and the people. +The fourth crusade was diverted from Syria to Constantinople; and +the conquest of the Greek or Roman empire by the Latins will form +the proper and important subject of the next chapter. In the +fifth, ^85 two hundred thousand Franks were landed at the eastern +mouth of the Nile. They reasonably hoped that Palestine must be +subdued in Egypt, the seat and storehouse of the sultan; and, +after a siege of sixteen months, the Moslems deplored the loss of +Damietta. But the Christian army was ruined by the pride and +insolence of the legate Pelagius, who, in the pope's name, +assumed the character of general: the sickly Franks were +encompassed by the waters of the Nile and the Oriental forces; +and it was by the evacuation of Damietta that they obtained a +safe retreat, some concessions for the pilgrims, and the tardy +restitution of the doubtful relic of the true cross. The failure +may in some measure be ascribed to the abuse and multiplication +of the crusades, which were preached at the same time against the +Pagans of Livonia, the Moors of Spain, the Albigeois of France, +and the kings of Sicily of the Imperial family. ^86 In these +meritorious services, the volunteers might acquire at home the +same spiritual indulgence, and a larger measure of temporal +rewards; and even the popes, in their zeal against a domestic +enemy, were sometimes tempted to forget the distress of their +Syrian brethren. From the last age of the crusades they derived +the occasional command of an army and revenue; and some deep +reasoners have suspected that the whole enterprise, from the +first synod of Placentia, was contrived and executed by the +policy of Rome. The suspicion is not founded, either in nature or +in fact. The successors of St. Peter appear to have followed, +rather than guided, the impulse of manners and prejudice; without +much foresight of the seasons, or cultivation of the soil, they +gathered the ripe and spontaneous fruits of the superstition of +the times. They gathered these fruits without toil or personal +danger: in the council of the Lateran, Innocent the Third +declared an ambiguous resolution of animating the crusaders by +his example; but the pilot of the sacred vessel could not abandon +the helm; nor was Palestine ever blessed with the presence of a +Roman pontiff. ^87</p> + +<p>[Footnote 83: Thomassin (Discipline de l'Eglise, tom. iii. p. +311--374) has copiously treated of the origin, abuses, and +restrictions of these <strong><em>tenths</em></strong>. A theory +was started, but not pursued, that they were rightfully due to +the pope, a tenth of the Levite's tenth to the high priest, +(Selden on Tithes; see his Works, vol. iii. p. ii. p. 1083.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 84: See the Gesta Innocentii III. in Murat. Script. +Rer. Ital., (tom. iii. p. 486--568.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 85: See the vth crusade, and the siege of Damietta, +in Jacobus à Vitriaco, (l. iii. p. 1125--1149, in the +Gesta Dei of Bongarsius,) an eye-witness, Bernard Thesaurarius, +(in Script. Muratori, tom. vii. p. 825--846, c. 190--207,) a +contemporary, and Sanutus, (Secreta Fidel Crucis, l. iii. p. xi. +c. 4--9,) a diligent compiler; and of the Arabians Abulpharagius, +(Dynast. p. 294,) and the Extracts at the end of Joinville, (p. +533, 537, 540, 547, &c.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 86: To those who took the cross against Mainfroy, +the pope (A.D. 1255) granted plenissimam peccatorum remissionem. +Fideles mirabantur quòd tantum eis promitteret pro +sanguine Christianorum effundendo quantum pro cruore infidelium +aliquando, (Matthew Paris p. 785.) A high flight for the reason +of the xiiith century.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 87: This simple idea is agreeable to the good sense +of Mosheim, (Institut. Hist. Ecclés. p. 332,) and the fine +philosophy of Hume, (Hist. of England, vol. i. p. 330.)]</p> + +<p>The persons, the families, and estates of the pilgrims, were +under the immediate protection of the popes; and these spiritual +patrons soon claimed the prerogative of directing their +operations, and enforcing, by commands and censures, the +accomplishment of their vow. Frederic the Second, ^88 the +grandson of Barbarossa, was successively the pupil, the enemy, +and the victim of the church. At the age of twenty-one years, and +in obedience to his guardian Innocent the Third, he assumed the +cross; the same promise was repeated at his royal and imperial +coronations; and his marriage with the heiress of Jerusalem +forever bound him to defend the kingdom of his son Conrad. But as +Frederic advanced in age and authority, he repented of the rash +engagements of his youth: his liberal sense and knowledge taught +him to despise the phantoms of superstition and the crowns of +Asia: he no longer entertained the same reverence for the +successors of Innocent: and his ambition was occupied by the +restoration of the Italian monarchy from Sicily to the Alps. But +the success of this project would have reduced the popes to their +primitive simplicity; and, after the delays and excuses of twelve +years, they urged the emperor, with entreaties and threats, to +fix the time and place of his departure for Palestine. In the +harbors of Sicily and Apulia, he prepared a fleet of one hundred +galleys, and of one hundred vessels, that were framed to +transport and land two thousand five hundred knights, with their +horses and attendants; his vassals of Naples and Germany formed a +powerful army; and the number of English crusaders was magnified +to sixty thousand by the report of fame. But the inevitable or +affected slowness of these mighty preparations consumed the +strength and provisions of the more indigent pilgrims: the +multitude was thinned by sickness and desertion; and the sultry +summer of Calabria anticipated the mischiefs of a Syrian +campaign. At length the emperor hoisted sail at Brundusium, with +a fleet and army of forty thousand men: but he kept the sea no +more than three days; and his hasty retreat, which was ascribed +by his friends to a grievous indisposition, was accused by his +enemies as a voluntary and obstinate disobedience. For suspending +his vow was Frederic excommunicated by Gregory the Ninth; for +presuming, the next year, to accomplish his vow, he was again +excommunicated by the same pope. ^89 While he served under the +banner of the cross, a crusade was preached against him in Italy; +and after his return he was compelled to ask pardon for the +injuries which he had suffered. The clergy and military orders of +Palestine were previously instructed to renounce his communion +and dispute his commands; and in his own kingdom, the emperor was +forced to consent that the orders of the camp should be issued in +the name of God and of the Christian republic. Frederic entered +Jerusalem in triumph; and with his own hands (for no priest would +perform the office) he took the crown from the altar of the holy +sepulchre. But the patriarch cast an interdict on the church +which his presence had profaned; and the knights of the hospital +and temple informed the sultan how easily he might be surprised +and slain in his unguarded visit to the River Jordan. In such a +state of fanaticism and faction, victory was hopeless, and +defence was difficult; but the conclusion of an advantageous +peace may be imputed to the discord of the Mahometans, and their +personal esteem for the character of Frederic. The enemy of the +church is accused of maintaining with the miscreants an +intercourse of hospitality and friendship unworthy of a +Christian; of despising the barrenness of the land; and of +indulging a profane thought, that if Jehovah had seen the kingdom +of Naples he never would have selected Palestine for the +inheritance of his chosen people. Yet Frederic obtained from the +sultan the restitution of Jerusalem, of Bethlem and Nazareth, of +Tyre and Sidon; the Latins were allowed to inhabit and fortify +the city; an equal code of civil and religious freedom was +ratified for the sectaries of Jesus and those of Mahomet; and, +while the former worshipped at the holy sepulchre, the latter +might pray and preach in the mosque of the temple, ^90 from +whence the prophet undertook his nocturnal journey to heaven. The +clergy deplored this scandalous toleration; and the weaker +Moslems were gradually expelled; but every rational object of the +crusades was accomplished without bloodshed; the churches were +restored, the monasteries were replenished; and, in the space of +fifteen years, the Latins of Jerusalem exceeded the number of six +thousand. This peace and prosperity, for which they were +ungrateful to their benefactor, was terminated by the irruption +of the strange and savage hordes of Carizmians. ^91 Flying from +the arms of the Moguls, those shepherds ^* of the Caspian rolled +headlong on Syria; and the union of the Franks with the sultans +of Aleppo, Hems, and Damascus, was insufficient to stem the +violence of the torrent. Whatever stood against them was cut off +by the sword, or dragged into captivity: the military orders were +almost exterminated in a single battle; and in the pillage of the +city, in the profanation of the holy sepulchre, the Latins +confess and regret the modesty and discipline of the Turks and +Saracens.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 88: The original materials for the crusade of +Frederic II. may be drawn from Richard de St. Germano (in +Muratori, Script. Rerum Ital. tom. vii. p. 1002--1013) and +Matthew Paris, (p. 286, 291, 300, 302, 304.) The most rational +moderns are Fleury, (Hist. Ecclés. tom. xvi.,) Vertot, +(Chevaliers de Malthe, tom. i. l. iii.,) Giannone, (Istoria +Civile di Napoli, tom. ii. l. xvi.,) and Muratori, (Annali d' +Italia, tom. x.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 89: Poor Muratori knows what to think, but knows not +what to say: "Chino qui il capo,' &c. p. 322.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 90: The clergy artfully confounded the mosque or +church of the temple with the holy sepulchre, and their wilful +error has deceived both Vertot and Muratori.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 91: The irruption of the Carizmians, or Corasmins, +is related by Matthew Paris, (p. 546, 547,) and by Joinville, +Nangis, and the Arabians, (p. 111, 112, 191, 192, 528, 530.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: They were in alliance with Eyub, sultan of Syria. +Wilken vol. vi. p. 630. -- M.]</p> + +<p>Of the seven crusades, the two last were undertaken by Louis +the Ninth, king of France; who lost his liberty in Egypt, and his +life on the coast of Africa. Twenty-eight years after his death, +he was canonized at Rome; and sixty-five miracles were readily +found, and solemnly attested, to justify the claim of the royal +saint. ^92 The voice of history renders a more honorable +testimony, that he united the virtues of a king, a hero, and a +man; that his martial spirit was tempered by the love of private +and public justice; and that Louis was the father of his people, +the friend of his neighbors, and the terror of the infidels. +Superstition alone, in all the extent of her baleful influence, +^93 corrupted his understanding and his heart: his devotion +stooped to admire and imitate the begging friars of Francis and +Dominic: he pursued with blind and cruel zeal the enemies of the +faith; and the best of kings twice descended from his throne to +seek the adventures of a spiritual knight-errant. A monkish +historian would have been content to applaud the most despicable +part of his character; but the noble and gallant Joinville, ^94 +who shared the friendship and captivity of Louis, has traced with +the pencil of nature the free portrait of his virtues as well as +of his failings. From this intimate knowledge we may learn to +suspect the political views of depressing their great vassals, +which are so often imputed to the royal authors of the crusades. +Above all the princes of the middle ages, Louis the Ninth +successfully labored to restore the prerogatives of the crown; +but it was at home and not in the East, that he acquired for +himself and his posterity: his vow was the result of enthusiasm +and sickness; and if he were the promoter, he was likewise the +victim, of his holy madness. For the invasion of Egypt, France +was exhausted of her troops and treasures; he covered the sea of +Cyprus with eighteen hundred sails; the most modest enumeration +amounts to fifty thousand men; and, if we might trust his own +confession, as it is reported by Oriental vanity, he disembarked +nine thousand five hundred horse, and one hundred and thirty +thousand foot, who performed their pilgrimage under the shadow of +his power. ^95</p> + +<p>[Footnote 92: Read, if you can, the Life and Miracles of St. +Louis, by the confessor of Queen Margaret, (p. 291--523. +Joinville, du Louvre.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 93: He believed all that mother church taught, +(Joinville, p. 10,) but he cautioned Joinville against disputing +with infidels. "L'omme lay (said he in his old language) quand il +ot medire de la loi Crestienne, ne doit pas deffendre la loi +Crestienne ne mais que de l'espée, dequoi il doit donner +parmi le ventre dedens, tant comme elle y peut entrer' (p. +12.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 94: I have two editions of Joinville, the one +(Paris, 1668) most valuable for the observations of Ducange; the +other (Paris, au Louvre, 1761) most precious for the pure and +authentic text, a MS. of which has been recently discovered. The +last edition proves that the history of St. Louis was finished +A.D. 1309, without explaining, or even admiring, the age of the +author, which must have exceeded ninety years, (Preface, p. x. +Observations de Ducange, p. 17.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 95: Joinville, p. 32. Arabic Extracts, p. 549. *</p> + +<p>Note: * Compare Wilken, vol. vii. p. 94. -- M.]</p> + +<p>In complete armor, the oriflamme waving before him, Louis +leaped foremost on the beach; and the strong city of Damietta, +which had cost his predecessors a siege of sixteen months, was +abandoned on the first assault by the trembling Moslems. But +Damietta was the first and the last of his conquests; and in the +fifth and sixth crusades, the same causes, almost on the same +ground, were productive of similar calamities. ^96 After a +ruinous delay, which introduced into the camp the seeds of an +epidemic disease, the Franks advanced from the sea-coast towards +the capital of Egypt, and strove to surmount the unseasonable +inundation of the Nile, which opposed their progress. Under the +eye of their intrepid monarch, the barons and knights of France +displayed their invincible contempt of danger and discipline: his +brother, the count of Artois, stormed with inconsiderate valor +the town of Massoura; and the carrier pigeons announced to the +inhabitants of Cairo that all was lost. But a soldier, who +afterwards usurped the sceptre, rallied the flying troops: the +main body of the Christians was far behind the vanguard; and +Artois was overpowered and slain. A shower of Greek fire was +incessantly poured on the invaders; the Nile was commanded by the +Egyptian galleys, the open country by the Arabs; all provisions +were intercepted; each day aggravated the sickness and famine; +and about the same time a retreat was found to be necessary and +impracticable. The Oriental writers confess, that Louis might +have escaped, if he would have deserted his subjects; he was made +prisoner, with the greatest part of his nobles; all who could not +redeem their lives by service or ransom were inhumanly massacred; +and the walls of Cairo were decorated with a circle of Christian +heads. ^97 The king of France was loaded with chains; but the +generous victor, a great-grandson of the brother of Saladin, sent +a robe of honor to his royal captive, and his deliverance, with +that of his soldiers, was obtained by the restitution of Damietta +^98 and the payment of four hundred thousand pieces of gold. In a +soft and luxurious climate, the degenerate children of the +companions of Noureddin and Saladin were incapable of resisting +the flower of European chivalry: they triumphed by the arms of +their slaves or Mamalukes, the hardy natives of Tartary, who at a +tender age had been purchased of the Syrian merchants, and were +educated in the camp and palace of the sultan. But Egypt soon +afforded a new example of the danger of prætorian bands; +and the rage of these ferocious animals, who had been let loose +on the strangers, was provoked to devour their benefactor. In the +pride of conquest, Touran Shaw, the last of his race, was +murdered by his Mamalukes; and the most daring of the assassins +entered the chamber of the captive king, with drawn cimeters, and +their hands imbrued in the blood of their sultan. The firmness of +Louis commanded their respect; ^99 their avarice prevailed over +cruelty and zeal; the treaty was accomplished; and the king of +France, with the relics of his army, was permitted to embark for +Palestine. He wasted four years within the walls of Acre, unable +to visit Jerusalem, and unwilling to return without glory to his +native country.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 96: The last editors have enriched their Joinville +with large and curious extracts from the Arabic historians, +Macrizi, Abulfeda, &c. See likewise Abulpharagius, (Dynast. +p. 322--325,) who calls him by the corrupt name of +<strong><em>Redefrans</em></strong>. Matthew Paris (p. 683, 684) +has described the rival folly of the French and English who +fought and fell at Massoura.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 97: Savary, in his agreeable Letters sur L'Egypte, +has given a description of Damietta, (tom. i. lettre xxiii. p. +274--290,) and a narrative of the exposition of St. Louis, (xxv. +p. 306--350.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 98: For the ransom of St. Louis, a million of +byzants was asked and granted; but the sultan's generosity +reduced that sum to 800,000 byzants, which are valued by +Joinville at 400,000 French livres of his own time, and expressed +by Matthew Paris by 100,000 marks of silver, (Ducange, +Dissertation xx. sur Joinville.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 99: The idea of the emirs to choose Louis for their +sultan is seriously attested by Joinville, (p. 77, 78,) and does +not appear to me so absurd as to M. de Voltaire, (Hist. +Générale, tom. ii. p. 386, 387.) The Mamalukes +themselves were strangers, rebels, and equals: they had felt his +valor, they hoped his conversion; and such a motion, which was +not seconded, might be made, perhaps by a secret Christian in +their tumultuous assembly. *</p> + +<p>Note: * Wilken, vol. vii. p. 257, thinks the proposition could +not have been made in earnest. -- M.]</p> + +<p>The memory of his defeat excited Louis, after sixteen years of +wisdom and repose, to undertake the seventh and last of the +crusades. His finances were restored, his kingdom was enlarged; a +new generation of warriors had arisen, and he advanced with fresh +confidence at the head of six thousand horse and thirty thousand +foot. The loss of Antioch had provoked the enterprise; a wild +hope of baptizing the king of Tunis tempted him to steer for the +African coast; and the report of an immense treasure reconciled +his troops to the delay of their voyage to the Holy Land. Instead +of a proselyte, he found a siege: the French panted and died on +the burning sands: St. Louis expired in his tent; and no sooner +had he closed his eyes, than his son and successor gave the +signal of the retreat. ^100 "It is thus," says a lively writer, +"that a Christian king died near the ruins of Carthage, waging +war against the sectaries of Mahomet, in a land to which Dido had +introduced the deities of Syria." ^101</p> + +<p>[Footnote 100: See the expedition in the annals of St. Louis, +by William de Nangis, p. 270--287; and the Arabic extracts, p. +545, 555, of the Louvre edition of Joinville.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 101: Voltaire, Hist. Générale, tom. +ii. p. 391.]</p> + +<p>A more unjust and absurd constitution cannot be devised than +that which condemns the natives of a country to perpetual +servitude, under the arbitrary dominion of strangers and slaves. +Yet such has been the state of Egypt above five hundred years. +The most illustrious sultans of the Baharite and Borgite +dynasties ^102 were themselves promoted from the Tartar and +Circassian bands; and the four-and-twenty beys, or military +chiefs, have ever been succeeded, not by their sons, but by their +servants. They produce the great charter of their liberties, the +treaty of Selim the First with the republic: ^103 and the Othman +emperor still accepts from Egypt a slight acknowledgment of +tribute and subjection. With some breathing intervals of peace +and order, the two dynasties are marked as a period of rapine and +bloodshed: ^104 but their throne, however shaken, reposed on the +two pillars of discipline and valor: their sway extended over +Egypt, Nubia, Arabia, and Syria: their Mamalukes were multiplied +from eight hundred to twenty-five thousand horse; and their +numbers were increased by a provincial militia of one hundred and +seven thousand foot, and the occasional aid of sixty-six thousand +Arabs. ^105 Princes of such power and spirit could not long +endure on their coast a hostile and independent nation; and if +the ruin of the Franks was postponed about forty years, they were +indebted to the cares of an unsettled reign, to the invasion of +the Moguls, and to the occasional aid of some warlike pilgrims. +Among these, the English reader will observe the name of our +first Edward, who assumed the cross in the lifetime of his father +Henry. At the head of a thousand soldiers the future conqueror of +Wales and Scotland delivered Acre from a siege; marched as far as +Nazareth with an army of nine thousand men; emulated the fame of +his uncle Richard; extorted, by his valor, a ten years' truce; ^* +and escaped, with a dangerous wound, from the dagger of a fanatic +<strong><em>assassin</em></strong>. ^106 ^! Antioch, ^107 whose +situation had been less exposed to the calamities of the holy +war, was finally occupied and ruined by Bondocdar, or Bibars, +sultan of Egypt and Syria; the Latin principality was +extinguished; and the first seat of the Christian name was +dispeopled by the slaughter of seventeen, and the captivity of +one hundred, thousand of her inhabitants. The maritime towns of +Laodicea, Gabala, Tripoli, Berytus, Sidon, Tyre and Jaffa, and +the stronger castles of the Hospitallers and Templars, +successively fell; and the whole existence of the Franks was +confined to the city and colony of St. John of Acre, which is +sometimes described by the more classic title of Ptolemais.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 102: The chronology of the two dynasties of +Mamalukes, the Baharites, Turks or Tartars of Kipzak, and the +Borgites, Circassians, is given by Pocock (Prolegom. ad +Abulpharag. p. 6--31) and De Guignes (tom. i. p. 264--270;) their +history from Abulfeda, Macrizi, &c., to the beginning of the +xvth century, by the same M. De Guignes, (tom. iv. p. +110--328.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 103: Savary, Lettres sur l'Egypte, tom. ii. lettre +xv. p. 189--208. I much question the authenticity of this copy; +yet it is true, that Sultan Selim concluded a treaty with the +Circassians or Mamalukes of Egypt, and left them in possession of +arms, riches, and power. See a new Abrégé de +l'Histoire Ottomane, composed in Egypt, and translated by M. +Digeon, (tom. i. p. 55--58, Paris, 1781,) a curious, authentic, +and national history.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 104: Si totum quo regnum occupârunt tempus +respicias, præsertim quod fini propius, reperies illud +bellis, pugnis, injuriis, ac rapinis refertum, (Al Jannabi, apud +Pocock, p. 31.) The reign of Mohammed (A.D. 1311--1341) affords a +happy exception, (De Guignes, tom. iv. p. 208--210.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 105: They are now reduced to 8500: but the expense +of each Mamaluke may be rated at a hundred louis: and Egypt +groans under the avarice and insolence of these strangers, +(Voyages de Volney, tom. i. p. 89--187.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Gibbon colors rather highly the success of +Edward. Wilken is more accurate vol. vii. p. 593, &c. -- +M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 106: See Carte's History of England, vol. ii. p. +165--175, and his original authors, Thomas Wikes and Walter +Hemingford, (l. iii. c. 34, 35,) in Gale's Collection, tom. ii. +p. 97, 589--592.) They are both ignorant of the princess +Eleanor's piety in sucking the poisoned wound, and saving her +husband at the risk of her own life.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !: The sultan Bibars was concerned in this attempt +at assassination Wilken, vol. vii. p. 602. Ptolemæus +Lucensis is the earliest authority for the devotion of Eleanora. +Ibid. 605. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 107: Sanutus, Secret. Fidelium Crucis, 1. iii. p. +xii. c. 9, and De Guignes, Hist. des Huns, tom. iv. p. 143, from +the Arabic historians.]</p> + +<p>After the loss of Jerusalem, Acre, ^108 which is distant about +seventy miles, became the metropolis of the Latin Christians, and +was adorned with strong and stately buildings, with aqueducts, an +artificial port, and a double wall. The population was increased +by the incessant streams of pilgrims and fugitives: in the pauses +of hostility the trade of the East and West was attracted to this +convenient station; and the market could offer the produce of +every clime and the interpreters of every tongue. But in this +conflux of nations, every vice was propagated and practised: of +all the disciples of Jesus and Mahomet, the male and female +inhabitants of Acre were esteemed the most corrupt; nor could the +abuse of religion be corrected by the discipline of law. The city +had many sovereigns, and no government. The kings of Jerusalem +and Cyprus, of the house of Lusignan, the princes of Antioch, the +counts of Tripoli and Sidon, the great masters of the hospital, +the temple, and the Teutonic order, the republics of Venice, +Genoa, and Pisa, the pope's legate, the kings of France and +England, assumed an independent command: seventeen tribunals +exercised the power of life and death; every criminal was +protected in the adjacent quarter; and the perpetual jealousy of +the nations often burst forth in acts of violence and blood. Some +adventurers, who disgraced the ensign of the cross, compensated +their want of pay by the plunder of the Mahometan villages: +nineteen Syrian merchants, who traded under the public faith, +were despoiled and hanged by the Christians; and the denial of +satisfaction justified the arms of the sultan Khalil. He marched +against Acre, at the head of sixty thousand horse and one hundred +and forty thousand foot: his train of artillery (if I may use the +word) was numerous and weighty: the separate timbers of a single +engine were transported in one hundred wagons; and the royal +historian Abulfeda, who served with the troops of Hamah, was +himself a spectator of the holy war. Whatever might be the vices +of the Franks, their courage was rekindled by enthusiasm and +despair; but they were torn by the discord of seventeen chiefs, +and overwhelmed on all sides by the powers of the sultan. After a +siege of thirty three days, the double wall was forced by the +Moslems; the principal tower yielded to their engines; the +Mamalukes made a general assault; the city was stormed; and death +or slavery was the lot of sixty thousand Christians. The convent, +or rather fortress, of the Templars resisted three days longer; +but the great master was pierced with an arrow; and, of five +hundred knights, only ten were left alive, less happy than the +victims of the sword, if they lived to suffer on a scaffold, in +the unjust and cruel proscription of the whole order. The king of +Jerusalem, the patriarch and the great master of the hospital, +effected their retreat to the shore; but the sea was rough, the +vessels were insufficient; and great numbers of the fugitives +were drowned before they could reach the Isle of Cyprus, which +might comfort Lusignan for the loss of Palestine. By the command +of the sultan, the churches and fortifications of the Latin +cities were demolished: a motive of avarice or fear still opened +the holy sepulchre to some devout and defenceless pilgrims; and a +mournful and solitary silence prevailed along the coast which had +so long resounded with the world's debate. ^109</p> + +<p>[Footnote 108: The state of Acre is represented in all the +chronicles of te times, and most accurately in John Villani, l. +vii. c. 144, in Muratori, Scriptores Rerum Italicarum, tom. xiii. +337, 338.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 109: See the final expulsion of the Franks, in +Sanutus, l. iii. p. xii. c. 11--22; Abulfeda, Macrizi, &c., +in De Guignes, tom. iv. p. 162, 164; and Vertot, tom. i. l. iii. +p. 307--428. *</p> + +<p>Note: * After these chapters of Gibbon, the masterly prize +composition, "Essai sur 'Influence des Croisades sur l'Europe, +par A H. L. Heeren: traduit de l'Allemand par Charles Villars, +Paris, 1808,' or the original German, in Heeren's "Vermischte +Schriften," may be read with great advantage. -- M.]</p> + +<p><strong>Chapter LX: The Fourth Crusade.</strong> +<strong><em>Part I.</em></strong></p> + +<p>Schism Of The Greeks And Latins. -- State Of Constantinople. +-- Revolt Of The Bulgarians. -- Isaac Angelus Dethroned By His +Brother Alexius. -- Origin Of The Fourth Crusade. -- Alliance Of +The French And Venetians With The Son Of Isaac. -- Their Naval +Expedition To Constantinople. -- The Two Sieges And Final +Conquest Of The City By The Latins.</p> + +<p>The restoration of the Western empire by Charlemagne was +speedily followed by the separation of the Greek and Latin +churches. ^1 A religious and national animosity still divides the +two largest communions of the Christian world; and the schism of +Constantinople, by alienating her most useful allies, and +provoking her most dangerous enemies, has precipitated the +decline and fall of the Roman empire in the East.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 1: In the successive centuries, from the ixth to the +xviiith, Mosheim traces the schism of the Greeks with learning, +clearness, and impartiality; the +<strong><em>filioque</em></strong> (Institut. Hist. +Ecclés. p. 277,) Leo III. p. 303 Photius, p. 307, 308. +Michael Cerularius, p. 370, 371, &c.]</p> + +<p>In the course of the present History, the aversion of the +Greeks for the Latins has been often visible and conspicuous. It +was originally derived from the disdain of servitude, inflamed, +after the time of Constantine, by the pride of equality or +dominion; and finally exasperated by the preference which their +rebellious subjects had given to the alliance of the Franks. In +every age the Greeks were proud of their superiority in profane +and religious knowledge: they had first received the light of +Christianity; they had pronounced the decrees of the seven +general councils; they alone possessed the language of Scripture +and philosophy; nor should the Barbarians, immersed in the +darkness of the West, ^2 presume to argue on the high and +mysterious questions of theological science. Those Barbarians +despised in then turn the restless and subtile levity of the +Orientals, the authors of every heresy; and blessed their own +simplicity, which was content to hold the tradition of the +apostolic church. Yet in the seventh century, the synods of +Spain, and afterwards of France, improved or corrupted the Nicene +creed, on the mysterious subject of the third person of the +Trinity. ^3 In the long controversies of the East, the nature and +generation of the Christ had been scrupulously defined; and the +well-known relation of father and son seemed to convey a faint +image to the human mind. The idea of birth was less analogous to +the Holy Spirit, who, instead of a divine gift or attribute, was +considered by the Catholics as a substance, a person, a god; he +was not begotten, but in the orthodox style he +<strong><em>proceeded</em></strong>. Did he proceed from the +Father alone, perhaps <strong><em>by</em></strong> the Son? or +from the Father <strong><em>and</em></strong> the Son? The first +of these opinions was asserted by the Greeks, the second by the +Latins; and the addition to the Nicene creed of the word +<strong><em>filioque</em></strong>, kindled the flame of discord +between the Oriental and the Gallic churches. In the origin of +the disputes the Roman pontiffs affected a character of +neutrality and moderation: ^4 they condemned the innovation, but +they acquiesced in the sentiment, of their Transalpine brethren: +they seemed desirous of casting a veil of silence and charity +over the superfluous research; and in the correspondence of +Charlemagne and Leo the Third, the pope assumes the liberality of +a statesman, and the prince descends to the passions and +prejudices of a priest. ^5 But the orthodoxy of Rome +spontaneously obeyed the impulse of the temporal policy; and the +<strong><em>filioque</em></strong>, which Leo wished to erase, +was transcribed in the symbol and chanted in the liturgy of the +Vatican. The Nicene and Athanasian creeds are held as the +Catholic faith, without which none can be saved; and both Papists +and Protestants must now sustain and return the anathemas of the +Greeks, who deny the procession of the Holy Ghost from the Son, +as well as from the Father. Such articles of faith are not +susceptible of treaty; but the rules of discipline will vary in +remote and independent churches; and the reason, even of divines, +might allow, that the difference is inevitable and harmless. The +craft or superstition of Rome has imposed on her priests and +deacons the rigid obligation of celibacy; among the Greeks it is +confined to the bishops; the loss is compensated by dignity or +annihilated by age; and the parochial clergy, the papas, enjoy +the conjugal society of the wives whom they have married before +their entrance into holy orders. A question concerning the +<strong><em>Azyms</em></strong> was fiercely debated in the +eleventh century, and the essence of the Eucharist was supposed +in the East and West to depend on the use of leavened or +unleavened bread. Shall I mention in a serious history the +furious reproaches that were urged against the Latins, who for a +long while remained on the defensive? They neglected to abstain, +according to the apostolical decree, from things strangled, and +from blood: they fasted (a Jewish observance!) on the Saturday of +each week: during the first week of Lent they permitted the use +of milk and cheese; ^6 their infirm monks were indulged in the +taste of flesh; and animal grease was substituted for the want of +vegetable oil: the holy chrism or unction in baptism was reserved +to the episcopal order: the bishops, as the bridegrooms of their +churches, were decorated with rings; their priests shaved their +faces, and baptized by a single immersion. Such were the crimes +which provoked the zeal of the patriarchs of Constantinople; and +which were justified with equal zeal by the doctors of the Latin +church. ^7</p> + +<p>[Footnote 2: ''AndreV dussebeiV kai apotropaioi, andreV ek +sktouV anadunteV, thV gar 'Esperiou moiraV uphrcon gennhmata, +(Phot. Epist. p. 47, edit. Montacut.) The Oriental patriarch +continues to apply the images of thunder, earthquake, hail, wild +boar, precursors of Antichrist, &c., &c.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 3: The mysterious subject of the procession of the +Holy Ghost is discussed in the historical, theological, and +controversial sense, or nonsense, by the Jesuit Petavius. +(Dogmata Theologica, tom. ii. l. vii. p. 362--440.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 4: Before the shrine of St. Peter he placed two +shields of the weight of 94 1/2 pounds of pure silver; on which +he inscribed the text of both creeds, (utroque symbolo,) pro +amore et <strong><em>cautelâ</em></strong> orthodoxæ +fidei, (Anastas. in Leon. III. in Muratori, tom. iii. pars. i. p. +208.) His language most clearly proves, that neither the +<strong><em>filioque</em></strong>, nor the Athanasian creed were +received at Rome about the year 830.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 5: The Missi of Charlemagne pressed him to declare, +that all who rejected the <strong><em>filioque</em></strong>, or +at least the doctrine, must be damned. All, replies the pope, are +not capable of reaching the altiora mysteria qui potuerit, et non +voluerit, salvus esse non potest, (Collect. Concil. tom. ix. p. +277--286.) The <strong><em>potuerit</em></strong> would leave a +large loophole of salvation!]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 6: In France, after some harsher laws, the +ecclesiastical discipline is now relaxed: milk, cheese, and +butter, are become a perpetual, and eggs an annual, indulgence in +Lent, (Vie privée des François, tom. ii. p. +27--38.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 7: The original monuments of the schism, of the +charges of the Greeks against the Latins, are deposited in the +epistles of Photius, (Epist Encyclica, ii. p. 47--61,) and of +Michael Cerularius, (Canisii Antiq. Lectiones, tom. iii. p. i. p. +281--324, edit. Basnage, with the prolix answer of Cardinal +Humbert.)]</p> + +<p>Bigotry and national aversion are powerful magnifiers of every +object of dispute; but the immediate cause of the schism of the +Greeks may be traced in the emulation of the leading prelates, +who maintained the supremacy of the old metropolis superior to +all, and of the reigning capital, inferior to none, in the +Christian world. About the middle of the ninth century, Photius, +^8 an ambitious layman, the captain of the guards and principal +secretary, was promoted by merit and favor to the more desirable +office of patriarch of Constantinople. In science, even +ecclesiastical science, he surpassed the clergy of the age; and +the purity of his morals has never been impeached: but his +ordination was hasty, his rise was irregular; and Ignatius, his +abdicated predecessor, was yet supported by the public compassion +and the obstinacy of his adherents. They appealed to the tribunal +of Nicholas the First, one of the proudest and most aspiring of +the Roman pontiffs, who embraced the welcome opportunity of +judging and condemning his rival of the East. Their quarrel was +embittered by a conflict of jurisdiction over the king and nation +of the Bulgarians; nor was their recent conversion to +Christianity of much avail to either prelate, unless he could +number the proselytes among the subjects of his power. With the +aid of his court the Greek patriarch was victorious; but in the +furious contest he deposed in his turn the successor of St. +Peter, and involved the Latin church in the reproach of heresy +and schism. Photius sacrificed the peace of the world to a short +and precarious reign: he fell with his patron, the Cæsar +Bardas; and Basil the Macedonian performed an act of justice in +the restoration of Ignatius, whose age and dignity had not been +sufficiently respected. From his monastery, or prison, Photius +solicited the favor of the emperor by pathetic complaints and +artful flattery; and the eyes of his rival were scarcely closed, +when he was again restored to the throne of Constantinople. After +the death of Basil he experienced the vicissitudes of courts and +the ingratitude of a royal pupil: the patriarch was again +deposed, and in his last solitary hours he might regret the +freedom of a secular and studious life. In each revolution, the +breath, the nod, of the sovereign had been accepted by a +submissive clergy; and a synod of three hundred bishops was +always prepared to hail the triumph, or to stigmatize the fall, +of the holy, or the execrable, Photius. ^9 By a delusive promise +of succor or reward, the popes were tempted to countenance these +various proceedings; and the synods of Constantinople were +ratified by their epistles or legates. But the court and the +people, Ignatius and Photius, were equally adverse to their +claims; their ministers were insulted or imprisoned; the +procession of the Holy Ghost was forgotten; Bulgaria was forever +annexed to the Byzantine throne; and the schism was prolonged by +their rigid censure of all the multiplied ordinations of an +irregular patriarch. The darkness and corruption of the tenth +century suspended the intercourse, without reconciling the minds, +of the two nations. But when the Norman sword restored the +churches of Apulia to the jurisdiction of Rome, the departing +flock was warned, by a petulant epistle of the Greek patriarch, +to avoid and abhor the errors of the Latins. The rising majesty +of Rome could no longer brook the insolence of a rebel; and +Michael Cerularius was excommunicated in the heart of +Constantinople by the pope's legates. Shaking the dust from their +feet, they deposited on the altar of St. Sophia a direful +anathema, ^10 which enumerates the seven mortal heresies of the +Greeks, and devotes the guilty teachers, and their unhappy +sectaries, to the eternal society of the devil and his angels. +According to the emergencies of the church and state, a friendly +correspondence was some times resumed; the language of charity +and concord was sometimes affected; but the Greeks have never +recanted their errors; the popes have never repealed their +sentence; and from this thunderbolt we may date the consummation +of the schism. It was enlarged by each ambitious step of the +Roman pontiffs: the emperors blushed and trembled at the +ignominious fate of their royal brethren of Germany; and the +people were scandalized by the temporal power and military life +of the Latin clergy. ^11</p> + +<p>[Footnote 8: The xth volume of the Venice edition of the +Councils contains all the acts of the synods, and history of +Photius: they are abridged, with a faint tinge of prejudice or +prudence, by Dupin and Fleury.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 9: The synod of Constantinople, held in the year +869, is the viiith of the general councils, the last assembly of +the East which is recognized by the Roman church. She rejects the +synods of Constantinople of the years 867 and 879, which were, +however, equally numerous and noisy; but they were favorable to +Photius.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 10: See this anathema in the Councils, tom. xi. p. +1457--1460.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 11: Anna Comnena (Alexiad, l. i. p. 31--33) +represents the abhorrence, not only of the church, but of the +palace, for Gregory VII., the popes and the Latin communion. The +style of Cinnamus and Nicetas is still more vehement. Yet how +calm is the voice of history compared with that of polemics!]</p> + +<p>The aversion of the Greeks and Latins was nourished and +manifested in the three first expeditions to the Holy Land. +Alexius Comnenus contrived the absence at least of the formidable +pilgrims: his successors, Manuel and Isaac Angelus, conspired +with the Moslems for the ruin of the greatest princes of the +Franks; and their crooked and malignant policy was seconded by +the active and voluntary obedience of every order of their +subjects. Of this hostile temper, a large portion may doubtless +be ascribed to the difference of language, dress, and manners, +which severs and alienates the nations of the globe. The pride, +as well as the prudence, of the sovereign was deeply wounded by +the intrusion of foreign armies, that claimed a right of +traversing his dominions, and passing under the walls of his +capital: his subjects were insulted and plundered by the rude +strangers of the West: and the hatred of the pusillanimous Greeks +was sharpened by secret envy of the bold and pious enterprises of +the Franks. But these profane causes of national enmity were +fortified and inflamed by the venom of religious zeal. Instead of +a kind embrace, a hospitable reception from their Christian +brethren of the East, every tongue was taught to repeat the names +of schismatic and heretic, more odious to an orthodox ear than +those of pagan and infidel: instead of being loved for the +general conformity of faith and worship, they were abhorred for +some rules of discipline, some questions of theology, in which +themselves or their teachers might differ from the Oriental +church. In the crusade of Louis the Seventh, the Greek clergy +washed and purified the altars which had been defiled by the +sacrifice of a French priest. The companions of Frederic +Barbarossa deplore the injuries which they endured, both in word +and deed, from the peculiar rancor of the bishops and monks. +Their prayers and sermons excited the people against the impious +Barbarians; and the patriarch is accused of declaring, that the +faithful might obtain the redemption of all their sins by the +extirpation of the schismatics. ^12 An enthusiast, named +Dorotheus, alarmed the fears, and restored the confidence, of the +emperor, by a prophetic assurance, that the German heretic, after +assaulting the gate of Blachernes, would be made a signal example +of the divine vengeance. The passage of these mighty armies were +rare and perilous events; but the crusades introduced a frequent +and familiar intercourse between the two nations, which enlarged +their knowledge without abating their prejudices. The wealth and +luxury of Constantinople demanded the productions of every +climate these imports were balanced by the art and labor of her +numerous inhabitants; her situation invites the commerce of the +world; and, in every period of her existence, that commerce has +been in the hands of foreigners. After the decline of Amalphi, +the Venetians, Pisans, and Genoese, introduced their factories +and settlements into the capital of the empire: their services +were rewarded with honors and immunities; they acquired the +possession of lands and houses; their families were multiplied by +marriages with the natives; and, after the toleration of a +Mahometan mosque, it was impossible to interdict the churches of +the Roman rite. ^13 The two wives of Manuel Comnenus ^14 were of +the race of the Franks: the first, a sister-in-law of the emperor +Conrad; the second, a daughter of the prince of Antioch: he +obtained for his son Alexius a daughter of Philip Augustus, king +of France; and he bestowed his own daughter on a marquis of +Montferrat, who was educated and dignified in the palace of +Constantinople. The Greek encountered the arms, and aspired to +the empire, of the West: he esteemed the valor, and trusted the +fidelity, of the Franks; ^15 their military talents were unfitly +recompensed by the lucrative offices of judges and treasures; the +policy of Manuel had solicited the alliance of the pope; and the +popular voice accused him of a partial bias to the nation and +religion of the Latins. ^16 During his reign, and that of his +successor Alexius, they were exposed at Constantinople to the +reproach of foreigners, heretics, and favorites; and this triple +guilt was severely expiated in the tumult, which announced the +return and elevation of Andronicus. ^17 The people rose in arms: +from the Asiatic shore the tyrant despatched his troops and +galleys to assist the national revenge; and the hopeless +resistance of the strangers served only to justify the rage, and +sharpen the daggers, of the assassins. Neither age, nor sex, nor +the ties of friendship or kindred, could save the victims of +national hatred, and avarice, and religious zeal; the Latins were +slaughtered in their houses and in the streets; their quarter was +reduced to ashes; the clergy were burnt in their churches, and +the sick in their hospitals; and some estimate may be formed of +the slain from the clemency which sold above four thousand +Christians in perpetual slavery to the Turks. The priests and +monks were the loudest and most active in the destruction of the +schismatics; and they chanted a thanksgiving to the Lord, when +the head of a Roman cardinal, the pope's legate, was severed from +his body, fastened to the tail of a dog, and dragged, with savage +mockery, through the city. The more diligent of the strangers had +retreated, on the first alarm, to their vessels, and escaped +through the Hellespont from the scene of blood. In their flight, +they burnt and ravaged two hundred miles of the sea-coast; +inflicted a severe revenge on the guiltless subjects of the +empire; marked the priests and monks as their peculiar enemies; +and compensated, by the accumulation of plunder, the loss of +their property and friends. On their return, they exposed to +Italy and Europe the wealth and weakness, the perfidy and malice, +of the Greeks, whose vices were painted as the genuine characters +of heresy and schism. The scruples of the first crusaders had +neglected the fairest opportunities of securing, by the +possession of Constantinople, the way to the Holy Land: domestic +revolution invited, and almost compelled, the French and +Venetians to achieve the conquest of the Roman empire of the +East.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 12: His anonymous historian (de Expedit. Asiat. +Fred. I. in Canisii Lection. Antiq. tom. iii. pars ii. p. 511, +edit. Basnage) mentions the sermons of the Greek patriarch, +quomodo Græcis injunxerat in remissionem peccatorum +peregrinos occidere et delere de terra. Tagino observes, (in +Scriptores Freher. tom. i. p. 409, edit. Struv.,) Græci +hæreticos nos appellant: clerici et monachi dictis et +factis persequuntur. We may add the declaration of the emperor +Baldwin fifteen years afterwards: Hæc est +(<strong><em>gens</em></strong>) quæ Latinos omnes non +hominum nomine, sed canum dignabatur; quorum sanguinem effundere +penè inter merita reputabant, (Gesta Innocent. III., c. +92, in Muratori, Script. Rerum Italicarum, tom. iii. pars i. p. +536.) There may be some exaggeration, but it was as effectual for +the action and reaction of hatred.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 13: See Anna Comnena, (Alexiad, l. vi. p. 161, 162,) +and a remarkable passage of Nicetas, (in Manuel, l. v. c. 9,) who +observes of the Venetians, kata smhnh kai jratriaV thn +Kwnstantinou polin thV oikeiaV hllaxanto, &c.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 14: Ducange, Fam. Byzant. p. 186, 187.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 15: Nicetas in Manuel. l. vii. c. 2. Regnante enim +(Manuele) . . . . apud eum tantam Latinus populus repererat +gratiam ut neglectis Græculis suis tanquam viris mollibus +et effminatis, . . . . solis Latinis grandia committeret negotia +. . . . erga eos profusâ liberalitate abundabat . . . . ex +omni orbe ad eum tanquam ad benefactorem nobiles et ignobiles +concurrebant. Willelm. Tyr. xxii. c. 10.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 16: The suspicions of the Greeks would have been +confirmed, if they had seen the political epistles of Manuel to +Pope Alexander III., the enemy of his enemy Frederic I., in which +the emperor declares his wish of uniting the Greeks and Latins as +one flock under one shepherd, &c (See Fleury, Hist. +Ecclés. tom. xv. p. 187, 213, 243.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 17: See the Greek and Latin narratives in Nicetas +(in Alexio Comneno, c. 10) and William of Tyre, (l. xxii. c. 10, +11, 12, 13;) the first soft and concise, the second loud, +copious, and tragical.]</p> + +<p>In the series of the Byzantine princes, I have exhibited the +hypocrisy and ambition, the tyranny and fall, of Andronicus, the +last male of the Comnenian family who reigned at Constantinople. +The revolution, which cast him headlong from the throne, saved +and exalted Isaac Angelus, ^18 who descended by the females from +the same Imperial dynasty. The successor of a second Nero might +have found it an easy task to deserve the esteem and affection of +his subjects; they sometimes had reason to regret the +administration of Andronicus. The sound and vigorous mind of the +tyrant was capable of discerning the connection between his own +and the public interest; and while he was feared by all who could +inspire him with fear, the unsuspected people, and the remote +provinces, might bless the inexorable justice of their master. +But his successor was vain and jealous of the supreme power, +which he wanted courage and abilities to exercise: his vices were +pernicious, his virtues (if he possessed any virtues) were +useless, to mankind; and the Greeks, who imputed their calamities +to his negligence, denied him the merit of any transient or +accidental benefits of the times. Isaac slept on the throne, and +was awakened only by the sound of pleasure: his vacant hours were +amused by comedians and buffoons, and even to these buffoons the +emperor was an object of contempt: his feasts and buildings +exceeded the examples of royal luxury: the number of his eunuchs +and domestics amounted to twenty thousand; and a daily sum of +four thousand pounds of silver would swell to four millions +sterling the annual expense of his household and table. His +poverty was relieved by oppression; and the public discontent was +inflamed by equal abuses in the collection, and the application, +of the revenue. While the Greeks numbered the days of their +servitude, a flattering prophet, whom he rewarded with the +dignity of patriarch, assured him of a long and victorious reign +of thirty-two years; during which he should extend his sway to +Mount Libanus, and his conquests beyond the Euphrates. But his +only step towards the accomplishment of the prediction was a +splendid and scandalous embassy to Saladin, ^19 to demand the +restitution of the holy sepulchre, and to propose an offensive +and defensive league with the enemy of the Christian name. In +these unworthy hands, of Isaac and his brother, the remains of +the Greek empire crumbled into dust. The Island of Cyprus, whose +name excites the ideas of elegance and pleasure, was usurped by +his namesake, a Comnenian prince; and by a strange concatenation +of events, the sword of our English Richard bestowed that kingdom +on the house of Lusignan, a rich compensation for the loss of +Jerusalem.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 18: The history of the reign of Isaac Angelus is +composed, in three books, by the senator Nicetas, (p. 228--290;) +and his offices of logothete, or principal secretary, and judge +of the veil or palace, could not bribe the impartiality of the +historian. He wrote, it is true, after the fall and death of his +benefactor.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 19: See Bohadin, Vit. Saladin. p. 129--131, 226, +vers. Schultens. The ambassador of Isaac was equally versed in +the Greek, French, and Arabic languages; a rare instance in those +times. His embassies were received with honor, dismissed without +effect, and reported with scandal in the West.]</p> + +<p>The honor of the monarchy and the safety of the capital were +deeply wounded by the revolt of the Bulgarians and Walachians. +Since the victory of the second Basil, they had supported, above +a hundred and seventy years, the loose dominion of the Byzantine +princes; but no effectual measures had been adopted to impose the +yoke of laws and manners on these savage tribes. By the command +of Isaac, their sole means of subsistence, their flocks and +herds, were driven away, to contribute towards the pomp of the +royal nuptials; and their fierce warriors were exasperated by the +denial of equal rank and pay in the military service. Peter and +Asan, two powerful chiefs, of the race of the ancient kings, ^20 +asserted their own rights and the national freedom; their +dæmoniac impostors proclaimed to the crowd, that their +glorious patron St. Demetrius had forever deserted the cause of +the Greeks; and the conflagration spread from the banks of the +Danube to the hills of Macedonia and Thrace. After some faint +efforts, Isaac Angelus and his brother acquiesced in their +independence; and the Imperial troops were soon discouraged by +the bones of their fellow-soldiers, that were scattered along the +passes of Mount Hæmus. By the arms and policy of John or +Joannices, the second kingdom of Bulgaria was firmly established. +The subtle Barbarian sent an embassy to Innocent the Third, to +acknowledge himself a genuine son of Rome in descent and +religion, ^21 and humbly received from the pope the license of +coining money, the royal title, and a Latin archbishop or +patriarch. The Vatican exulted in the spiritual conquest of +Bulgaria, the first object of the schism; and if the Greeks could +have preserved the prerogatives of the church, they would gladly +have resigned the rights of the monarchy.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 20: Ducange, Familiæ, Dalmaticæ, p. 318, +319, 320. The original correspondence of the Bulgarian king and +the Roman pontiff is inscribed in the Gesta Innocent. III. c. +66--82, p. 513--525.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 21: The pope acknowledges his pedigree, a nobili +urbis Romæ prosapiâ genitores tui originem traxerunt. +This tradition, and the strong resemblance of the Latin and +Walachian idioms, is explained by M. D'Anville, (Etats de +l'Europe, p. 258--262.) The Italian colonies of the Dacia of +Trajan were swept away by the tide of emigration from the Danube +to the Volga, and brought back by another wave from the Volga to +the Danube. Possible, but strange!]</p> + +<p>The Bulgarians were malicious enough to pray for the long life +of Isaac Angelus, the surest pledge of their freedom and +prosperity. Yet their chiefs could involve in the same +indiscriminate contempt the family and nation of the emperor. "In +all the Greeks," said Asan to his troops, "the same climate, and +character, and education, will be productive of the same fruits. +Behold my lance," continued the warrior, "and the long streamers +that float in the wind. They differ only in color; they are +formed of the same silk, and fashioned by the same workman; nor +has the stripe that is stained in purple any superior price or +value above its fellows." ^22 Several of these candidates for the +purple successively rose and fell under the empire of Isaac; a +general, who had repelled the fleets of Sicily, was driven to +revolt and ruin by the ingratitude of the prince; and his +luxurious repose was disturbed by secret conspiracies and popular +insurrections. The emperor was saved by accident, or the merit of +his servants: he was at length oppressed by an ambitious brother, +who, for the hope of a precarious diadem, forgot the obligations +of nature, of loyalty, and of friendship. ^23 While Isaac in the +Thracian valleys pursued the idle and solitary pleasures of the +chase, his brother, Alexius Angelus, was invested with the +purple, by the unanimous suffrage of the camp; the capital and +the clergy subscribed to their choice; and the vanity of the new +sovereign rejected the name of his fathers for the lofty and +royal appellation of the Comnenian race. On the despicable +character of Isaac I have exhausted the language of contempt, and +can only add, that, in a reign of eight years, the baser Alexius +^24 was supported by the masculine vices of his wife Euphrosyne. +The first intelligence of his fall was conveyed to the late +emperor by the hostile aspect and pursuit of the guards, no +longer his own: he fled before them above fifty miles, as far as +Stagyra, in Macedonia; but the fugitive, without an object or a +follower, was arrested, brought back to Constantinople, deprived +of his eyes, and confined in a lonesome tower, on a scanty +allowance of bread and water. At the moment of the revolution, +his son Alexius, whom he educated in the hope of empire, was +twelve years of age. He was spared by the usurper, and reduced to +attend his triumph both in peace and war; but as the army was +encamped on the sea-shore, an Italian vessel facilitated the +escape of the royal youth; and, in the disguise of a common +sailor, he eluded the search of his enemies, passed the +Hellespont, and found a secure refuge in the Isle of Sicily. +After saluting the threshold of the apostles, and imploring the +protection of Pope Innocent the Third, Alexius accepted the kind +invitation of his sister Irene, the wife of Philip of Swabia, +king of the Romans. But in his passage through Italy, he heard +that the flower of Western chivalry was assembled at Venice for +the deliverance of the Holy Land; and a ray of hope was kindled +in his bosom, that their invincible swords might be employed in +his father's restoration.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 22: This parable is in the best savage style; but I +wish the Walach had not introduced the classic name of Mysians, +the experiment of the magnet or loadstone, and the passage of an +old comic poet, (Nicetas in Alex. Comneno, l. i. p. 299, +300.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 23: The Latins aggravate the ingratitude of Alexius, +by supposing that he had been released by his brother Isaac from +Turkish captivity This pathetic tale had doubtless been repeated +at Venice and Zara but I do not readily discover its grounds in +the Greek historians.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 24: See the reign of Alexius Angelus, or Comnenus, +in the three books of Nicetas, p. 291--352.]</p> + +<p>About ten or twelve years after the loss of Jerusalem, the +nobles of France were again summoned to the holy war by the voice +of a third prophet, less extravagant, perhaps, than Peter the +hermit, but far below St. Bernard in the merit of an orator and a +statesman. An illiterate priest of the neighborhood of Paris, +Fulk of Neuilly, ^25 forsook his parochial duty, to assume the +more flattering character of a popular and itinerant missionary. +The fame of his sanctity and miracles was spread over the land; +he declaimed, with severity and vehemence, against the vices of +the age; and his sermons, which he preached in the streets of +Paris, converted the robbers, the usurers, the prostitutes, and +even the doctors and scholars of the university. No sooner did +Innocent the Third ascend the chair of St. Peter, than he +proclaimed in Italy, Germany, and France, the obligation of a new +crusade. ^26 The eloquent pontiff described the ruin of +Jerusalem, the triumph of the Pagans, and the shame of +Christendom; his liberality proposed the redemption of sins, a +plenary indulgence to all who should serve in Palestine, either a +year in person, or two years by a substitute; ^27 and among his +legates and orators who blew the sacred trumpet, Fulk of Neuilly +was the loudest and most successful. The situation of the +principal monarchs was averse to the pious summons. The emperor +Frederic the Second was a child; and his kingdom of Germany was +disputed by the rival houses of Brunswick and Swabia, the +memorable factions of the Guelphs and Ghibelines. Philip Augustus +of France had performed, and could not be persuaded to renew, the +perilous vow; but as he was not less ambitious of praise than of +power, he cheerfully instituted a perpetual fund for the defence +of the Holy Land Richard of England was satiated with the glory +and misfortunes of his first adventure; and he presumed to deride +the exhortations of Fulk of Neuilly, who was not abashed in the +presence of kings. "You advise me," said Plantagenet, "to dismiss +my three daughters, pride, avarice, and incontinence: I bequeath +them to the most deserving; my pride to the knights templars, my +avarice to the monks of Cisteaux, and my incontinence to the +prelates." But the preacher was heard and obeyed by the great +vassals, the princes of the second order; and Theobald, or +Thibaut, count of Champagne, was the foremost in the holy race. +The valiant youth, at the age of twenty-two years, was encouraged +by the domestic examples of his father, who marched in the second +crusade, and of his elder brother, who had ended his days in +Palestine with the title of King of Jerusalem; two thousand two +hundred knights owed service and homage to his peerage; ^28 the +nobles of Champagne excelled in all the exercises of war; ^29 +and, by his marriage with the heiress of Navarre, Thibaut could +draw a band of hardy Gascons from either side of the +Pyrenæan mountains. His companion in arms was Louis, count +of Blois and Chartres; like himself of regal lineage, for both +the princes were nephews, at the same time, of the kings of +France and England. In a crowd of prelates and barons, who +imitated their zeal, I distinguish the birth and merit of Matthew +of Montmorency; the famous Simon of Montfort, the scourge of the +Albigeois; and a valiant noble, Jeffrey of Villehardouin, ^30 +marshal of Champagne, ^31 who has condescended, in the rude idiom +of his age and country, ^32 to write or dictate ^33 an original +narrative of the councils and actions in which he bore a +memorable part. At the same time, Baldwin, count of Flanders, who +had married the sister of Thibaut, assumed the cross at Bruges, +with his brother Henry, and the principal knights and citizens of +that rich and industrious province. ^34 The vow which the chiefs +had pronounced in churches, they ratified in tournaments; the +operations of the war were debated in full and frequent +assemblies; and it was resolved to seek the deliverance of +Palestine in Egypt, a country, since Saladin's death, which was +almost ruined by famine and civil war. But the fate of so many +royal armies displayed the toils and perils of a land expedition; +and if the Flemings dwelt along the ocean, the French barons were +destitute of ships and ignorant of navigation. They embraced the +wise resolution of choosing six deputies or representatives, of +whom Villehardouin was one, with a discretionary trust to direct +the motions, and to pledge the faith, of the whole confederacy. +The maritime states of Italy were alone possessed of the means of +transporting the holy warriors with their arms and horses; and +the six deputies proceeded to Venice, to solicit, on motives of +piety or interest, the aid of that powerful republic.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 25: See Fleury, Hist. Ecclés. tom. xvi. p. +26, &c., and Villehardouin, No. 1, with the observations of +Ducange, which I always mean to quote with the original +text.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 26: The contemporary life of Pope Innocent III., +published by Baluze and Muratori, (Scriptores Rerum Italicarum, +tom. iii. pars i. p. 486--568, is most valuable for the important +and original documents which are inserted in the text. The bull +of the crusade may be read, c. 84, 85.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 27: Por-ce que cil pardon, fut issi gran, si s'en +esmeurent mult li cuers des genz, et mult s'en croisierent, porce +que li pardons ere si gran. Villehardouin, No. 1. Our +philosophers may refine on the causes of the crusades, but such +were the genuine feelings of a French knight.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 28: This number of fiefs (of which 1800 owed liege +homage) was enrolled in the church of St. Stephen at Troyes, and +attested A.D. 1213, by the marshal and butler of Champagne, +(Ducange, Observ. p. 254.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 29: Campania . . . . militiæ privilegio +singularius excellit . . . . in tyrociniis . . . . prolusione +armorum, &c., Duncage, p. 249, from the old Chronicle of +Jerusalem, A.D. 1177--1199.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 30: The name of Villehardouin was taken from a +village and castle in the diocese of Troyes, near the River Aube, +between Bar and Arcis. The family was ancient and noble; the +elder branch of our historian existed after the year 1400, the +younger, which acquired the principality of Achaia, merged in the +house of Savoy, (Ducange, p. 235--245.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 31: This office was held by his father and his +descendants; but Ducange has not hunted it with his usual +sagacity. I find that, in the year 1356, it was in the family of +Conflans; but these provincial have been long since eclipsed by +the national marshals of France.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 32: This language, of which I shall produce some +specimens, is explained by Vigenere and Ducange, in a version and +glossary. The president Des Brosses (Méchanisme des +Langues, tom. ii. p. 83) gives it as the example of a language +which has ceased to be French, and is understood only by +grammarians.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 33: His age, and his own expression, moi qui ceste +uvre <strong><em>dicta</em></strong>, (No. 62, &c.,) may +justify the suspicion (more probable than Mr. Wood's on Homer) +that he could neither read nor write. Yet Champagne may boast of +the two first historians, the noble authors of French prose, +Villehardouin and Joinville.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 34: The crusade and reigns of the counts of +Flanders, Baldwin and his brother Henry, are the subject of a +particular history by the Jesuit Doutremens, (Constantinopolis +Belgica; Turnaci, 1638, in 4to.,) which I have only seen with the +eyes of Ducange.]</p> + +<p>In the invasion of Italy by Attila, I have mentioned ^35 the +flight of the Venetians from the fallen cities of the continent, +and their obscure shelter in the chain of islands that line the +extremity of the Adriatic Gulf. In the midst of the waters, free, +indigent, laborious, and inaccessible, they gradually coalesced +into a republic: the first foundations of Venice were laid in the +Island of Rialto; and the annual election of the twelve tribunes +was superseded by the permanent office of a duke or doge. On the +verge of the two empires, the Venetians exult in the belief of +primitive and perpetual independence. ^36 Against the Latins, +their antique freedom has been asserted by the sword, and may be +justified by the pen. Charlemagne himself resigned all claims of +sovereignty to the islands of the Adriatic Gulf: his son Pepin +was repulsed in the attacks of the +<strong><em>lagunas</em></strong> or canals, too deep for the +cavalry, and too shallow for the vessels; and in every age, under +the German Cæsars, the lands of the republic have been +clearly distinguished from the kingdom of Italy. But the +inhabitants of Venice were considered by themselves, by +strangers, and by their sovereigns, as an inalienable portion of +the Greek empire: ^37 in the ninth and tenth centuries, the +proofs of their subjection are numerous and unquestionable; and +the vain titles, the servile honors, of the Byzantine court, so +ambitiously solicited by their dukes, would have degraded the +magistrates of a free people. But the bands of this dependence, +which was never absolute or rigid, were imperceptibly relaxed by +the ambition of Venice and the weakness of Constantinople. +Obedience was softened into respect, privilege ripened into +prerogative, and the freedom of domestic government was fortified +by the independence of foreign dominion. The maritime cities of +Istria and Dalmatia bowed to the sovereigns of the Adriatic; and +when they armed against the Normans in the cause of Alexius, the +emperor applied, not to the duty of his subjects, but to the +gratitude and generosity of his faithful allies. The sea was +their patrimony: ^38 the western parts of the Mediterranean, from +Tuscany to Gibraltar, were indeed abandoned to their rivals of +Pisa and Genoa; but the Venetians acquired an early and lucrative +share of the commerce of Greece and Egypt. Their riches increased +with the increasing demand of Europe; their manufactures of silk +and glass, perhaps the institution of their bank, are of high +antiquity; and they enjoyed the fruits of their industry in the +magnificence of public and private life. To assert her flag, to +avenge her injuries, to protect the freedom of navigation, the +republic could launch and man a fleet of a hundred galleys; and +the Greeks, the Saracens, and the Normans, were encountered by +her naval arms. The Franks of Syria were assisted by the +Venetians in the reduction of the sea coast; but their zeal was +neither blind nor disinterested; and in the conquest of Tyre, +they shared the sovereignty of a city, the first seat of the +commerce of the world. The policy of Venice was marked by the +avarice of a trading, and the insolence of a maritime, power; yet +her ambition was prudent: nor did she often forget that if armed +galleys were the effect and safeguard, merchant vessels were the +cause and supply, of her greatness. In her religion, she avoided +the schisms of the Greeks, without yielding a servile obedience +to the Roman pontiff; and a free intercourse with the infidels of +every clime appears to have allayed betimes the fever of +superstition. Her primitive government was a loose mixture of +democracy and monarchy; the doge was elected by the votes of the +general assembly; as long as he was popular and successful, he +reigned with the pomp and authority of a prince; but in the +frequent revolutions of the state, he was deposed, or banished, +or slain, by the justice or injustice of the multitude. The +twelfth century produced the first rudiments of the wise and +jealous aristocracy, which has reduced the doge to a pageant, and +the people to a cipher. ^39</p> + +<p>[Footnote 35: History, &c., vol. iii. p. 446, 447.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 36: The foundation and independence of Venice, and +Pepin's invasion, are discussed by Pagi (Critica, tom. iii. A.D. +81), No. 4, &c.) and Beretti, (Dissert. Chorograph. +Italiæ Medii Ævi, in Muratori, Script. tom. x. p. +153.) The two critics have a slight bias, the Frenchman adverse, +the Italian favorable, to the republic.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 37: When the son of Charlemagne asserted his right +of sovereignty, he was answered by the loyal Venetians, oti hmeiV +douloi Jelomen einai tou 'Rwmaiwn basilewV, (Constantin. +Porphyrogenit. de Administrat. Imperii, pars ii. c. 28, p. 85;) +and the report of the ixth establishes the fact of the xth +century, which is confirmed by the embassy of Liutprand of +Cremona. The annual tribute, which the emperor allows them to pay +to the king of Italy, alleviates, by doubling, their servitude; +but the hateful word douloi must be translated, as in the charter +of 827, (Laugier, Hist. de Venice, tom. i. p. 67, &c.,) by +the softer appellation of <strong><em>subditi</em></strong>, or +<strong><em>fideles</em></strong>.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 38: See the xxvth and xxxth dissertations of the +Antiquitates Medii Ævi of Muratori. From Anderson's History +of Commerce, I understand that the Venetians did not trade to +England before the year 1323. The most flourishing state of their +wealth and commerce, in the beginning of the xvth century, is +agreeably described by the Abbé Dubos, (Hist. de la Ligue +de Cambray, tom. ii. p. 443--480.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 39: The Venetians have been slow in writing and +publishing their history. Their most ancient monuments are, 1. +The rude Chronicle (perhaps) of John Sagorninus, (Venezia, 1765, +in octavo,) which represents the state and manners of Venice in +the year 1008. 2. The larger history of the doge, (1342--1354,) +Andrew Dandolo, published for the first time in the xiith tom. of +Muratori, A.D. 1728. The History of Venice by the Abbé +Laugier, (Paris, 1728,) is a work of some merit, which I have +chiefly used for the constitutional part. *</p> + +<p>Note: * It is scarcely necessary to mention the valuable work +of Count Daru, "History de Venise," of which I hear that an +Italian translation has been published, with notes defensive of +the ancient republic. I have not yet seen this work. -- M.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LX: The Fourth Crusade. -- Part +II.</em></strong></p> + +<p>When the six ambassadors of the French pilgrims arrived at +Venice, they were hospitably entertained in the palace of St. +Mark, by the reigning duke; his name was Henry Dandolo; ^40 and +he shone in the last period of human life as one of the most +illustrious characters of the times. Under the weight of years, +and after the loss of his eyes, ^41 Dandolo retained a sound +understanding and a manly courage: the spirit of a hero, +ambitious to signalize his reign by some memorable exploits; and +the wisdom of a patriot, anxious to build his fame on the glory +and advantage of his country. He praised the bold enthusiasm and +liberal confidence of the barons and their deputies: in such a +cause, and with such associates, he should aspire, were he a +private man, to terminate his life; but he was the servant of the +republic, and some delay was requisite to consult, on this +arduous business, the judgment of his colleagues. The proposal of +the French was first debated by the six +<strong><em>sages</em></strong> who had been recently appointed +to control the administration of the doge: it was next disclosed +to the forty members of the council of state; and finally +communicated to the legislative assembly of four hundred and +fifty representatives, who were annually chosen in the six +quarters of the city. In peace and war, the doge was still the +chief of the republic; his legal authority was supported by the +personal reputation of Dandolo: his arguments of public interest +were balanced and approved; and he was authorized to inform the +ambassadors of the following conditions of the treaty. ^42 It was +proposed that the crusaders should assemble at Venice, on the +feast of St. John of the ensuing year; that flat-bottomed vessels +should be prepared for four thousand five hundred horses, and +nine thousand squires, with a number of ships sufficient for the +embarkation of four thousand five hundred knights, and twenty +thousand foot; that during a term of nine months they should be +supplied with provisions, and transported to whatsoever coast the +service of God and Christendom should require; and that the +republic should join the armament with a squadron of fifty +galleys. It was required, that the pilgrims should pay, before +their departure, a sum of eighty-five thousand marks of silver; +and that all conquests, by sea and land, should be equally +divided between the confederates. The terms were hard; but the +emergency was pressing, and the French barons were not less +profuse of money than of blood. A general assembly was convened +to ratify the treaty: the stately chapel and place of St. Mark +were filled with ten thousand citizens; and the noble deputies +were taught a new lesson of humbling themselves before the +majesty of the people. "Illustrious Venetians," said the marshal +of Champagne, "we are sent by the greatest and most powerful +barons of France to implore the aid of the masters of the sea for +the deliverance of Jerusalem. They have enjoined us to fall +prostrate at your feet; nor will we rise from the ground till you +have promised to avenge with us the injuries of Christ." The +eloquence of their words and tears, ^43 their martial aspect, and +suppliant attitude, were applauded by a universal shout; as it +were, says Jeffrey, by the sound of an earthquake. The venerable +doge ascended the pulpit to urge their request by those motives +of honor and virtue, which alone can be offered to a popular +assembly: the treaty was transcribed on parchment, attested with +oaths and seals, mutually accepted by the weeping and joyful +representatives of France and Venice; and despatched to Rome for +the approbation of Pope Innocent the Third. Two thousand marks +were borrowed of the merchants for the first expenses of the +armament. Of the six deputies, two repassed the Alps to announce +their success, while their four companions made a fruitless trial +of the zeal and emulation of the republics of Genoa and Pisa.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 40: Henry Dandolo was eighty-four at his election, +(A.D. 1192,) and ninety-seven at his death, (A.D. 1205.) See the +Observations of Ducange sur Villehardouin, No. 204. But this +<strong><em>extraordinary</em></strong> longevity is not observed +by the original writers, nor does there exist another example of +a hero near a hundred years of age. Theophrastus might afford an +instance of a writer of ninety-nine; but instead of ennenhkonta, +(Prom. ad Character.,)I am much inclined to read ebdomhkonta, +with his last editor Fischer, and the first thoughts of Casaubon. +It is scarcely possible that the powers of the mind and body +should support themselves till such a period of life.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 41: The modern Venetians (Laugier, tom. ii. p. 119) +accuse the emperor Manuel; but the calumny is refuted by +Villehardouin and the older writers, who suppose that Dandolo +lost his eyes by a wound, (No. 31, and Ducange.) *</p> + +<p>Note: * The accounts differ, both as to the extent and the +cause of his blindness According to Villehardouin and others, the +sight was totally lost; according to the Chronicle of Andrew +Dandolo. (Murat. tom. xii. p. 322,) he was vise debilis. See +Wilken, vol. v. p. 143. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 42: See the original treaty in the Chronicle of +Andrew Dandolo, p. 323--326.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 43: A reader of Villehardouin must observe the +frequent tears of the marshal and his brother knights. Sachiez +que la ot mainte lerme plorée de pitié, (No. 17;) +mult plorant, (ibid.;) mainte lerme plorée, (No. 34;) si +orent mult pitié et plorerent mult durement, (No. 60;) i +ot mainte lerme plorée de pitié, (No. 202.) They +weep on every occasion of grief, joy, or devotion.]</p> + +<p>The execution of the treaty was still opposed by unforeseen +difficulties and delays. The marshal, on his return to Troyes, +was embraced and approved by Thibaut count of Champagne, who had +been unanimously chosen general of the confederates. But the +health of that valiant youth already declined, and soon became +hopeless; and he deplored the untimely fate, which condemned him +to expire, not in a field of battle, but on a bed of sickness. To +his brave and numerous vassals, the dying prince distributed his +treasures: they swore in his presence to accomplish his vow and +their own; but some there were, says the marshal, who accepted +his gifts and forfeited their words. The more resolute champions +of the cross held a parliament at Soissons for the election of a +new general; but such was the incapacity, or jealousy, or +reluctance, of the princes of France, that none could be found +both able and willing to assume the conduct of the enterprise. +They acquiesced in the choice of a stranger, of Boniface marquis +of Montferrat, descended of a race of heroes, and himself of +conspicuous fame in the wars and negotiations of the times; ^44 +nor could the piety or ambition of the Italian chief decline this +honorable invitation. After visiting the French court, where he +was received as a friend and kinsman, the marquis, in the church +of Soissons, was invested with the cross of a pilgrim and the +staff of a general; and immediately repassed the Alps, to prepare +for the distant expedition of the East. About the festival of the +Pentecost he displayed his banner, and marched towards Venice at +the head of the Italians: he was preceded or followed by the +counts of Flanders and Blois, and the most respectable barons of +France; and their numbers were swelled by the pilgrims of +Germany, ^45 whose object and motives were similar to their own. +The Venetians had fulfilled, and even surpassed, their +engagements: stables were constructed for the horses, and +barracks for the troops: the magazines were abundantly +replenished with forage and provisions; and the fleet of +transports, ships, and galleys, was ready to hoist sail as soon +as the republic had received the price of the freight and +armament. But that price far exceeded the wealth of the crusaders +who were assembled at Venice. The Flemings, whose obedience to +their count was voluntary and precarious, had embarked in their +vessels for the long navigation of the ocean and Mediterranean; +and many of the French and Italians had preferred a cheaper and +more convenient passage from Marseilles and Apulia to the Holy +Land. Each pilgrim might complain, that after he had furnished +his own contribution, he was made responsible for the deficiency +of his absent brethren: the gold and silver plate of the chiefs, +which they freely delivered to the treasury of St. Marks, was a +generous but inadequate sacrifice; and after all their efforts, +thirty-four thousand marks were still wanting to complete the +stipulated sum. The obstacle was removed by the policy and +patriotism of the doge, who proposed to the barons, that if they +would join their arms in reducing some revolted cities of +Dalmatia, he would expose his person in the holy war, and obtain +from the republic a long indulgence, till some wealthy conquest +should afford the means of satisfying the debt. After much +scruple and hesitation, they chose rather to accept the offer +than to relinquish the enterprise; and the first hostilities of +the fleet and army were directed against Zara, ^46 a strong city +of the Sclavonian coast, which had renounced its allegiance to +Venice, and implored the protection of the king of Hungary. ^47 +The crusaders burst the chain or boom of the harbor; landed their +horses, troops, and military engines; and compelled the +inhabitants, after a defence of five days, to surrender at +discretion: their lives were spared, but the revolt was punished +by the pillage of their houses and the demolition of their walls. +The season was far advanced; the French and Venetians resolved to +pass the winter in a secure harbor and plentiful country; but +their repose was disturbed by national and tumultuous quarrels of +the soldiers and mariners. The conquest of Zara had scattered the +seeds of discord and scandal: the arms of the allies had been +stained in their outset with the blood, not of infidels, but of +Christians: the king of Hungary and his new subjects were +themselves enlisted under the banner of the cross; and the +scruples of the devout were magnified by the fear of lassitude of +the reluctant pilgrims. The pope had excommunicated the false +crusaders who had pillaged and massacred their brethren, ^48 and +only the marquis Boniface and Simon of Montfort ^* escaped these +spiritual thunders; the one by his absence from the siege, the +other by his final departure from the camp. Innocent might +absolve the simple and submissive penitents of France; but he was +provoked by the stubborn reason of the Venetians, who refused to +confess their guilt, to accept their pardon, or to allow, in +their temporal concerns, the interposition of a priest.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 44: By a victory (A.D. 1191) over the citizens of +Asti, by a crusade to Palestine, and by an embassy from the pope +to the German princes, (Muratori, Annali d'Italia, tom. x. p. +163, 202.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 45: See the crusade of the Germans in the Historia +C. P. of Gunther, (Canisii Antiq. Lect. tom. iv. p. v.--viii.,) +who celebrates the pilgrimage of his abbot Martin, one of the +preaching rivals of Fulk of Neuilly. His monastery, of the +Cistercian order, was situate in the diocese of Basil.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 46: Jadera, now Zara, was a Roman colony, which +acknowledged Augustus for its parent. It is now only two miles +round, and contains five or six thousand inhabitants; but the +fortifications are strong, and it is joined to the main land by a +bridge. See the travels of the two companions, Spon and Wheeler, +(Voyage de Dalmatie, de Grèce, &c., tom. i. p. 64--70. +Journey into Greece, p. 8--14;) the last of whom, by mistaking +<strong><em>Sestertia</em></strong> for +<strong><em>Sestertii</em></strong>, values an arch with statues +and columns at twelve pounds. If, in his time, there were no +trees near Zara, the cherry-trees were not yet planted which +produce our incomparable +<strong><em>marasquin</em></strong>.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 47: Katona (Hist. Critica Reg. Hungariæ, +Stirpis Arpad. tom. iv. p. 536--558) collects all the facts and +testimonies most adverse to the conquerors of Zara.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 48: See the whole transaction, and the sentiments of +the pope, in the Epistles of Innocent III. Gesta, c. 86, 87, +88.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Montfort protested against the siege. Guido, the +abbot of Vaux de Sernay, in the name of the pope, interdicted the +attack on a Christian city; and the immediate surrender of the +town was thus delayed for five days of fruitless resistance. +Wilken, vol. v. p. 167. See likewise, at length, the history of +the interdict issued by the pope. Ibid. -- M.]</p> + +<p>The assembly of such formidable powers by sea and land had +revived the hopes of young ^49 Alexius; and both at Venice and +Zara, he solicited the arms of the crusaders, for his own +restoration and his father's ^50 deliverance. The royal youth was +recommended by Philip king of Germany: his prayers and presence +excited the compassion of the camp; and his cause was embraced +and pleaded by the marquis of Montferrat and the doge of Venice. +A double alliance, and the dignity of Cæsar, had connected +with the Imperial family the two elder brothers of Boniface: ^51 +he expected to derive a kingdom from the important service; and +the more generous ambition of Dandolo was eager to secure the +inestimable benefits of trade and dominion that might accrue to +his country. ^52 Their influence procured a favorable audience +for the ambassadors of Alexius; and if the magnitude of his +offers excited some suspicion, the motives and rewards which he +displayed might justify the delay and diversion of those forces +which had been consecrated to the deliverance of Jerusalem. He +promised in his own and his father's name, that as soon as they +should be seated on the throne of Constantinople, they would +terminate the long schism of the Greeks, and submit themselves +and their people to the lawful supremacy of the Roman church. He +engaged to recompense the labors and merits of the crusaders, by +the immediate payment of two hundred thousand marks of silver; to +accompany them in person to Egypt; or, if it should be judged +more advantageous, to maintain, during a year, ten thousand men, +and, during his life, five hundred knights, for the service of +the Holy Land. These tempting conditions were accepted by the +republic of Venice; and the eloquence of the doge and marquis +persuaded the counts of Flanders, Blois, and St. Pol, with eight +barons of France, to join in the glorious enterprise. A treaty of +offensive and defensive alliance was confirmed by their oaths and +seals; and each individual, according to his situation and +character, was swayed by the hope of public or private advantage; +by the honor of restoring an exiled monarch; or by the sincere +and probable opinion, that their efforts in Palestine would be +fruitless and unavailing, and that the acquisition of +Constantinople must precede and prepare the recovery of +Jerusalem. But they were the chiefs or equals of a valiant band +of freemen and volunteers, who thought and acted for themselves: +the soldiers and clergy were divided; and, if a large majority +subscribed to the alliance, the numbers and arguments of the +dissidents were strong and respectable. ^53 The boldest hearts +were appalled by the report of the naval power and impregnable +strength of Constantinople; and their apprehensions were +disguised to the world, and perhaps to themselves, by the more +decent objections of religion and duty. They alleged the sanctity +of a vow, which had drawn them from their families and homes to +the rescue of the holy sepulchre; nor should the dark and crooked +counsels of human policy divert them from a pursuit, the event of +which was in the hands of the Almighty. Their first offence, the +attack of Zara, had been severely punished by the reproach of +their conscience and the censures of the pope; nor would they +again imbrue their hands in the blood of their fellow-Christians. +The apostle of Rome had pronounced; nor would they usurp the +right of avenging with the sword the schism of the Greeks and the +doubtful usurpation of the Byzantine monarch. On these principles +or pretences, many pilgrims, the most distinguished for their +valor and piety, withdrew from the camp; and their retreat was +less pernicious than the open or secret opposition of a +discontented party, that labored, on every occasion, to separate +the army and disappoint the enterprise.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 49: A modern reader is surprised to hear of the +valet de Constantinople, as applied to young Alexius, on account +of his youth, like the <strong><em>infants</em></strong> of +Spain, and the <strong><em>nobilissimus puer</em></strong> of the +Romans. The pages and <strong><em>valets</em></strong> of the +knights were as noble as themselves, (Villehardouin and Ducange, +No. 36.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 50: The emperor Isaac is styled by Villehardouin, +<strong><em>Sursac</em></strong>, (No. 35, &c.,) which may be +derived from the French <strong><em>Sire</em></strong>, or the +Greek Kur (kurioV?) melted into his proper name; the further +corruptions of Tursac and Conserac will instruct us what license +may have been used in the old dynasties of Assyria and +Egypt.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 51: Reinier and Conrad: the former married Maria, +daughter of the emperor Manuel Comnenus; the latter was the +husband of Theodora Angela, sister of the emperors Isaac and +Alexius. Conrad abandoned the Greek court and princess for the +glory of defending Tyre against Saladin, (Ducange, Fam. Byzant. +p. 187, 203.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 52: Nicetas (in Alexio Comneno, l. iii. c. 9) +accuses the doge and Venetians as the first authors of the war +against Constantinople, and considers only as a kuma epi kumati, +the arrival and shameful offers of the royal exile. *</p> + +<p>Note: * He admits, however, that the Angeli had committed +depredations on the Venetian trade, and the emperor himself had +refused the payment of part of the stipulated compensation for +the seizure of the Venetian merchandise by the emperor Manuel. +Nicetas, in loc. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 53: Villehardouin and Gunther represent the +sentiments of the two parties. The abbot Martin left the army at +Zara, proceeded to Palestine, was sent ambassador to +Constantinople, and became a reluctant witness of the second +siege.]</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding this defection, the departure of the fleet and +army was vigorously pressed by the Venetians, whose zeal for the +service of the royal youth concealed a just resentment to his +nation and family. They were mortified by the recent preference +which had been given to Pisa, the rival of their trade; they had +a long arrear of debt and injury to liquidate with the Byzantine +court; and Dandolo might not discourage the popular tale, that he +had been deprived of his eyes by the emperor Manuel, who +perfidiously violated the sanctity of an ambassador. A similar +armament, for ages, had not rode the Adriatic: it was composed of +one hundred and twenty flat-bottomed vessels or +<strong><em>palanders</em></strong> for the horses; two hundred +and forty transports filled with men and arms; seventy +store-ships laden with provisions; and fifty stout galleys, well +prepared for the encounter of an enemy. ^54 While the wind was +favorable, the sky serene, and the water smooth, every eye was +fixed with wonder and delight on the scene of military and naval +pomp which overspread the sea. ^* The shields of the knights and +squires, at once an ornament and a defence, were arranged on +either side of the ships; the banners of the nations and families +were displayed from the stern; our modern artillery was supplied +by three hundred engines for casting stones and darts: the +fatigues of the way were cheered with the sound of music; and the +spirits of the adventurers were raised by the mutual assurance, +that forty thousand Christian heroes were equal to the conquest +of the world. ^55 In the navigation ^56 from Venice and Zara, the +fleet was successfully steered by the skill and experience of the +Venetian pilots: at Durazzo, the confederates first landed on the +territories of the Greek empire: the Isle of Corfu afforded a +station and repose; they doubled, without accident, the perilous +cape of Malea, the southern point of Peloponnesus or the Morea; +made a descent in the islands of Negropont and Andros; and cast +anchor at Abydus on the Asiatic side of the Hellespont. These +preludes of conquest were easy and bloodless: the Greeks of the +provinces, without patriotism or courage, were crushed by an +irresistible force: the presence of the lawful heir might justify +their obedience; and it was rewarded by the modesty and +discipline of the Latins. As they penetrated through the +Hellespont, the magnitude of their navy was compressed in a +narrow channel, and the face of the waters was darkened with +innumerable sails. They again expanded in the basin of the +Propontis, and traversed that placid sea, till they approached +the European shore, at the abbey of St. Stephen, three leagues to +the west of Constantinople. The prudent doge dissuaded them from +dispersing themselves in a populous and hostile land; and, as +their stock of provisions was reduced, it was resolved, in the +season of harvest, to replenish their store-ships in the fertile +islands of the Propontis. With this resolution, they directed +their course: but a strong gale, and their own impatience, drove +them to the eastward; and so near did they run to the shore and +the city, that some volleys of stones and darts were exchanged +between the ships and the rampart. As they passed along, they +gazed with admiration on the capital of the East, or, as it +should seem, of the earth; rising from her seven hills, and +towering over the continents of Europe and Asia. The swelling +domes and lofty spires of five hundred palaces and churches were +gilded by the sun and reflected in the waters: the walls were +crowded with soldiers and spectators, whose numbers they beheld, +of whose temper they were ignorant; and each heart was chilled by +the reflection, that, since the beginning of the world, such an +enterprise had never been undertaken by such a handful of +warriors. But the momentary apprehension was dispelled by hope +and valor; and every man, says the marshal of Champagne, glanced +his eye on the sword or lance which he must speedily use in the +glorious conflict. ^57 The Latins cast anchor before Chalcedon; +the mariners only were left in the vessels: the soldiers, horses, +and arms, were safely landed; and, in the luxury of an Imperial +palace, the barons tasted the first fruits of their success. On +the third day, the fleet and army moved towards Scutari, the +Asiatic suburb of Constantinople: a detachment of five hundred +Greek horse was surprised and defeated by fourscore French +knights; and in a halt of nine days, the camp was plentifully +supplied with forage and provisions.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 54: The birth and dignity of Andrew Dandolo gave him +the motive and the means of searching in the archives of Venice +the memorable story of his ancestor. His brevity seems to accuse +the copious and more recent narratives of Sanudo, (in Muratori, +Script. Rerum Italicarum, tom. xxii.,) Blondus, Sabellicus, and +Rhamnusius.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: This description rather belongs to the first +setting sail of the expedition from Venice, before the siege of +Zara. The armament did not return to Venice. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 55: Villehardouin, No. 62. His feelings and +expressions are original: he often weeps, but he rejoices in the +glories and perils of war with a spirit unknown to a sedentary +writer.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 56: In this voyage, almost all the geographical +names are corrupted by the Latins. The modern appellation of +Chalcis, and all Euba, is derived from its +<strong><em>Euripus</em></strong>, +<strong><em>Evripo</em></strong>, +<strong><em>Negri-po</em></strong>, +<strong><em>Negropont</em></strong>, which dishonors our maps, +(D'Anville, Géographie Ancienne, tom. i. p. 263.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 57: Et sachiez que il ni ot si hardi cui le cuer ne +fremist, (c. 66.) . . Chascuns regardoit ses armes . . . . que +par tems en arons mestier, (c. 67.) Such is the honesty of +courage.]</p> + +<p>In relating the invasion of a great empire, it may seem +strange that I have not described the obstacles which should have +checked the progress of the strangers. The Greeks, in truth, were +an unwarlike people; but they were rich, industrious, and subject +to the will of a single man: had that man been capable of fear, +when his enemies were at a distance, or of courage, when they +approached his person. The first rumor of his nephew's alliance +with the French and Venetians was despised by the usurper +Alexius: his flatterers persuaded him, that in this contempt he +was bold and sincere; and each evening, in the close of the +banquet, he thrice discomfited the Barbarians of the West. These +Barbarians had been justly terrified by the report of his naval +power; and the sixteen hundred fishing boats of Constantinople +^58 could have manned a fleet, to sink them in the Adriatic, or +stop their entrance in the mouth of the Hellespont. But all force +may be annihilated by the negligence of the prince and the +venality of his ministers. The great duke, or admiral, made a +scandalous, almost a public, auction of the sails, the masts, and +the rigging: the royal forests were reserved for the more +important purpose of the chase; and the trees, says Nicetas, were +guarded by the eunuchs, like the groves of religious worship. ^59 +From his dream of pride, Alexius was awakened by the siege of +Zara, and the rapid advances of the Latins; as soon as he saw the +danger was real, he thought it inevitable, and his vain +presumption was lost in abject despondency and despair. He +suffered these contemptible Barbarians to pitch their camp in the +sight of the palace; and his apprehensions were thinly disguised +by the pomp and menace of a suppliant embassy. The sovereign of +the Romans was astonished (his ambassadors were instructed to +say) at the hostile appearance of the strangers. If these +pilgrims were sincere in their vow for the deliverance of +Jerusalem, his voice must applaud, and his treasures should +assist, their pious design but should they dare to invade the +sanctuary of empire, their numbers, were they ten times more +considerable, should not protect them from his just resentment. +The answer of the doge and barons was simple and magnanimous. "In +the cause of honor and justice," they said, "we despise the +usurper of Greece, his threats, and his offers. +<strong><em>Our</em></strong> friendship and +<strong><em>his</em></strong> allegiance are due to the lawful +heir, to the young prince, who is seated among us, and to his +father, the emperor Isaac, who has been deprived of his sceptre, +his freedom, and his eyes, by the crime of an ungrateful brother. +Let that brother confess his guilt, and implore forgiveness, and +we ourselves will intercede, that he may be permitted to live in +affluence and security. But let him not insult us by a second +message; our reply will be made in arms, in the palace of +Constantinople."</p> + +<p>[Footnote 58: Eandem urbem plus in solis navibus piscatorum +abundare, quam illos in toto navigio. Habebat enim mille et +sexcentas piscatorias naves . . . . . Bellicas autem sive +mercatorias habebant infinitæ multitudinis et portum +tutissimum. Gunther, Hist. C. P. c. 8, p. 10.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 59: Kaqaper iervn alsewn, eipein de kai Jeojuteutwn +paradeiswn ejeid?onto toutwni. Nicetas in Alex. Comneno, l. iii. +c. 9, p. 348.]</p> + +<p>On the tenth day of their encampment at Scutari, the crusaders +prepared themselves, as soldiers and as Catholics, for the +passage of the Bosphorus. Perilous indeed was the adventure; the +stream was broad and rapid: in a calm the current of the Euxine +might drive down the liquid and unextinguishable fires of the +Greeks; and the opposite shores of Europe were defended by +seventy thousand horse and foot in formidable array. On this +memorable day, which happened to be bright and pleasant, the +Latins were distributed in six battles or divisions; the first, +or vanguard, was led by the count of Flanders, one of the most +powerful of the Christian princes in the skill and number of his +crossbows. The four successive battles of the French were +commanded by his brother Henry, the counts of St. Pol and Blois, +and Matthew of Montmorency; the last of whom was honored by the +voluntary service of the marshal and nobles of Champagne. The +sixth division, the rear-guard and reserve of the army, was +conducted by the marquis of Montferrat, at the head of the +Germans and Lombards. The chargers, saddled, with their long +comparisons dragging on the ground, were embarked in the flat +<strong><em>palanders</em></strong>; ^60 and the knights stood by +the side of their horses, in complete armor, their helmets laced, +and their lances in their hands. The numerous train of sergeants +^61 and archers occupied the transports; and each transport was +towed by the strength and swiftness of a galley. The six +divisions traversed the Bosphorus, without encountering an enemy +or an obstacle: to land the foremost was the wish, to conquer or +die was the resolution, of every division and of every soldier. +Jealous of the preeminence of danger, the knights in their heavy +armor leaped into the sea, when it rose as high as their girdle; +the sergeants and archers were animated by their valor; and the +squires, letting down the draw-bridges of the palanders, led the +horses to the shore. Before their squadrons could mount, and +form, and couch their Lances, the seventy thousand Greeks had +vanished from their sight: the timid Alexius gave the example to +his troops; and it was only by the plunder of his rich pavilions +that the Latins were informed that they had fought against an +emperor. In the first consternation of the flying enemy, they +resolved, by a double attack, to open the entrance of the harbor. +The tower of Galata, ^62 in the suburb of Pera, was attacked and +stormed by the French, while the Venetians assumed the more +difficult task of forcing the boom or chain that was stretched +from that tower to the Byzantine shore. After some fruitless +attempts, their intrepid perseverance prevailed: twenty ships of +war, the relics of the Grecian navy, were either sunk or taken: +the enormous and massy links of iron were cut asunder by the +shears, or broken by the weight, of the galleys; ^63 and the +Venetian fleet, safe and triumphant, rode at anchor in the port +of Constantinople. By these daring achievements, a remnant of +twenty thousand Latins solicited the license of besieging a +capital which contained above four hundred thousand inhabitants, +^64 able, though not willing, to bear arms in defence of their +country. Such an account would indeed suppose a population of +near two millions; but whatever abatement may be required in the +numbers of the Greeks, the <strong><em>belief</em></strong> of +those numbers will equally exalt the fearless spirit of their +assailants.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 60: From the version of Vignere I adopt the +well-sounding word <strong><em>palander</em></strong>, which is +still used, I believe, in the Mediterranean. But had I written in +French, I should have preserved the original and expressive +denomination of <strong><em>vessiers</em></strong> or +<strong><em>huissiers</em></strong>, from the +<strong><em>huis</em></strong> or door which was let down as a +draw-bridge; but which, at sea, was closed into the side of the +ship, (see Ducange au Villehardouin, No. 14, and Joinville. p. +27, 28, edit. du Louvre.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 61: To avoid the vague expressions of followers, +&c., I use, after Villehardouin, the word +<strong><em>sergeants</em></strong> for all horsemen who were not +knights. There were sergeants at arms, and sergeants at law; and +if we visit the parade and Westminster Hall, we may observe the +strange result of the distinction, (Ducange, Glossar. Latin, +<strong><em>Servientes</em></strong>, &c., tom. vi. p. +226--231.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 62: It is needless to observe, that on the subject +of Galata, the chain, &c., Ducange is accurate and full. +Consult likewise the proper chapters of the C. P. Christiana of +the same author. The inhabitants of Galata were so vain and +ignorant, that they applied to themselves St. Paul's Epistle to +the Galatians.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 63: The vessel that broke the chain was named the +Eagle, <strong><em>Aquila</em></strong>, (Dandolo, Chronicon, p. +322,) which Blondus (de Gestis Venet.) has changed into +<strong><em>Aquilo</em></strong>, the north wind. Ducange +(Observations, No. 83) maintains the latter reading; but he had +not seen the respectable text of Dandolo, nor did he enough +consider the topography of the harbor. The south-east would have +been a more effectual wind. (Note to Wilken, vol. v. p. +215.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 64: Quatre cens mil homes ou plus, (Villehardouin, +No. 134,) must be understood of <strong><em>men</em></strong> of +a military age. Le Beau (Hist. du. Bas Empire, tom. xx. p. 417) +allows Constantinople a million of inhabitants, of whom 60,000 +horse, and an infinite number of foot-soldiers. In its present +decay, the capital of the Ottoman empire may contain 400,000 +souls, (Bell's Travels, vol. ii. p. 401, 402;) but as the Turks +keep no registers, and as circumstances are fallacious, it is +impossible to ascertain (Niebuhr, Voyage en Arabie, tom. i. p. +18, 19) the real populousness of their cities.]</p> + +<p>In the choice of the attack, the French and Venetians were +divided by their habits of life and warfare. The former affirmed +with truth, that Constantinople was most accessible on the side +of the sea and the harbor. The latter might assert with honor, +that they had long enough trusted their lives and fortunes to a +frail bark and a precarious element, and loudly demanded a trial +of knighthood, a firm ground, and a close onset, either on foot +or on horseback. After a prudent compromise, of employing the two +nations by sea and land, in the service best suited to their +character, the fleet covering the army, they both proceeded from +the entrance to the extremity of the harbor: the stone bridge of +the river was hastily repaired; and the six battles of the French +formed their encampment against the front of the capital, the +basis of the triangle which runs about four miles from the port +to the Propontis. ^65 On the edge of a broad ditch, at the foot +of a lofty rampart, they had leisure to contemplate the +difficulties of their enterprise. The gates to the right and left +of their narrow camp poured forth frequent sallies of cavalry and +light-infantry, which cut off their stragglers, swept the country +of provisions, sounded the alarm five or six times in the course +of each day, and compelled them to plant a palisade, and sink an +intrenchment, for their immediate safety. In the supplies and +convoys the Venetians had been too sparing, or the Franks too +voracious: the usual complaints of hunger and scarcity were +heard, and perhaps felt their stock of flour would be exhausted +in three weeks; and their disgust of salt meat tempted them to +taste the flesh of their horses. The trembling usurper was +supported by Theodore Lascaris, his son-in-law, a valiant youth, +who aspired to save and to rule his country; the Greeks, +regardless of that country, were awakened to the defence of their +religion; but their firmest hope was in the strength and spirit +of the Varangian guards, of the Danes and English, as they are +named in the writers of the times. ^66 After ten days' incessant +labor, the ground was levelled, the ditch filled, the approaches +of the besiegers were regularly made, and two hundred and fifty +engines of assault exercised their various powers to clear the +rampart, to batter the walls, and to sap the foundations. On the +first appearance of a breach, the scaling-ladders were applied: +the numbers that defended the vantage ground repulsed and +oppressed the adventurous Latins; but they admired the resolution +of fifteen knights and sergeants, who had gained the ascent, and +maintained their perilous station till they were precipitated or +made prisoners by the Imperial guards. On the side of the harbor +the naval attack was more successfully conducted by the +Venetians; and that industrious people employed every resource +that was known and practiced before the invention of gunpowder. A +double line, three bow-shots in front, was formed by the galleys +and ships; and the swift motion of the former was supported by +the weight and loftiness of the latter, whose decks, and poops, +and turret, were the platforms of military engines, that +discharged their shot over the heads of the first line. The +soldiers, who leaped from the galleys on shore, immediately +planted and ascended their scaling-ladders, while the large +ships, advancing more slowly into the intervals, and lowering a +draw-bridge, opened a way through the air from their masts to the +rampart. In the midst of the conflict, the doge, a venerable and +conspicuous form, stood aloft in complete armor on the prow of +his galley. The great standard of St. Mark was displayed before +him; his threats, promises, and exhortations, urged the diligence +of the rowers; his vessel was the first that struck; and Dandolo +was the first warrior on the shore. The nations admired the +magnanimity of the blind old man, without reflecting that his age +and infirmities diminished the price of life, and enhanced the +value of immortal glory. On a sudden, by an invisible hand, (for +the standard-bearer was probably slain,) the banner of the +republic was fixed on the rampart: twenty-five towers were +rapidly occupied; and, by the cruel expedient of fire, the Greeks +were driven from the adjacent quarter. The doge had despatched +the intelligence of his success, when he was checked by the +danger of his confederates. Nobly declaring that he would rather +die with the pilgrims than gain a victory by their destruction, +Dandolo relinquished his advantage, recalled his troops, and +hastened to the scene of action. He found the six weary +diminutive <strong><em>battles</em></strong> of the French +encompassed by sixty squadrons of the Greek cavalry, the least of +which was more numerous than the largest of their divisions. +Shame and despair had provoked Alexius to the last effort of a +general sally; but he was awed by the firm order and manly aspect +of the Latins; and, after skirmishing at a distance, withdrew his +troops in the close of the evening. The silence or tumult of the +night exasperated his fears; and the timid usurper, collecting a +treasure of ten thousand pounds of gold, basely deserted his +wife, his people, and his fortune; threw himself into a bark; +stole through the Bosphorus; and landed in shameful safety in an +obscure harbor of Thrace. As soon as they were apprised of his +flight, the Greek nobles sought pardon and peace in the dungeon +where the blind Isaac expected each hour the visit of the +executioner. Again saved and exalted by the vicissitudes of +fortune, the captive in his Imperial robes was replace on the +throne, and surrounded with prostrate slaves, whose real terror +and affected joy he was incapable of discerning. At the dawn of +day, hostilities were suspended, and the Latin chiefs were +surprised by a message from the lawful and reigning emperor, who +was impatient to embrace his son, and to reward his generous +deliverers. ^67</p> + +<p>[Footnote 65: On the most correct plans of Constantinople, I +know not how to measure more than 4000 paces. Yet Villehardouin +computes the space at three leagues, (No. 86.) If his eye were +not deceived, he must reckon by the old Gallic league of 1500 +paces, which might still be used in Champagne.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 66: The guards, the Varangi, are styled by +Villehardouin, (No. 89, 95) Englois et Danois avec leurs haches. +Whatever had been their origin, a French pilgrim could not be +mistaken in the nations of which they were at that time +composed.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 67: For the first siege and conquest of +Constantinople, we may read the original letter of the crusaders +to Innocent III., Gesta, c. 91, p. 533, 534. Villehardouin, No. +75--99. Nicetas, in Alexio Comnen. l. iii. c. 10, p. 349--352. +Dandolo, in Chron. p. 322. Gunther, and his abbot Martin, were +not yet returned from their obstinate pilgrim age to Jerusalem, +or St. John d'Acre, where the greatest part of the company had +died of the plague.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LX: The Fourth Crusade. -- Part +II.</em></strong></p> + +<p>But these generous deliverers were unwilling to release their +hostage, till they had obtained from his father the payment, or +at least the promise, of their recompense. They chose four +ambassadors, Matthew of Montmorency, our historian the marshal of +Champagne, and two Venetians, to congratulate the emperor. The +gates were thrown open on their approach, the streets on both +sides were lined with the battle axes of the Danish and English +guard: the presence-chamber glittered with gold and jewels, the +false substitute of virtue and power: by the side of the blind +Isaac his wife was seated, the sister of the king of Hungary: and +by her appearance, the noble matrons of Greece were drawn from +their domestic retirement, and mingled with the circle of +senators and soldiers. The Latins, by the mouth of the marshal, +spoke like men conscious of their merits, but who respected the +work of their own hands; and the emperor clearly understood, that +his son's engagements with Venice and the pilgrims must be +ratified without hesitation or delay. Withdrawing into a private +chamber with the empress, a chamberlain, an interpreter, and the +four ambassadors, the father of young Alexius inquired with some +anxiety into the nature of his stipulations. The submission of +the Eastern empire to the pope, the succor of the Holy Land, and +a present contribution of two hundred thousand marks of silver. +-- "These conditions are weighty," was his prudent reply: "they +are hard to accept, and difficult to perform. But no conditions +can exceed the measure of your services and deserts." After this +satisfactory assurance, the barons mounted on horseback, and +introduced the heir of Constantinople to the city and palace: his +youth and marvellous adventures engaged every heart in his favor, +and Alexius was solemnly crowned with his father in the dome of +St. Sophia. In the first days of his reign, the people, already +blessed with the restoration of plenty and peace, was delighted +by the joyful catastrophe of the tragedy; and the discontent of +the nobles, their regret, and their fears, were covered by the +polished surface of pleasure and loyalty The mixture of two +discordant nations in the same capital might have been pregnant +with mischief and danger; and the suburb of Galata, or Pera, was +assigned for the quarters of the French and Venetians. But the +liberty of trade and familiar intercourse was allowed between the +friendly nations: and each day the pilgrims were tempted by +devotion or curiosity to visit the churches and palaces of +Constantinople. Their rude minds, insensible perhaps of the finer +arts, were astonished by the magnificent scenery: and the poverty +of their native towns enhanced the populousness and riches of the +first metropolis of Christendom. ^68 Descending from his state, +young Alexius was prompted by interest and gratitude to repeat +his frequent and familiar visits to his Latin allies; and in the +freedom of the table, the gay petulance of the French sometimes +forgot the emperor of the East. ^69 In their most serious +conferences, it was agreed, that the reunion of the two churches +must be the result of patience and time; but avarice was less +tractable than zeal; and a larger sum was instantly disbursed to +appease the wants, and silence the importunity, of the crusaders. +^70 Alexius was alarmed by the approaching hour of their +departure: their absence might have relieved him from the +engagement which he was yet incapable of performing; but his +friends would have left him, naked and alone, to the caprice and +prejudice of a perfidious nation. He wished to bribe their stay, +the delay of a year, by undertaking to defray their expense, and +to satisfy, in their name, the freight of the Venetian vessels. +The offer was agitated in the council of the barons; and, after a +repetition of their debates and scruples, a majority of votes +again acquiesced in the advice of the doge and the prayer of the +young emperor. At the price of sixteen hundred pounds of gold, he +prevailed on the marquis of Montferrat to lead him with an army +round the provinces of Europe; to establish his authority, and +pursue his uncle, while Constantinople was awed by the presence +of Baldwin and his confederates of France and Flanders. The +expedition was successful: the blind emperor exulted in the +success of his arms, and listened to the predictions of his +flatterers, that the same Providence which had raised him from +the dungeon to the throne, would heal his gout, restore his +sight, and watch over the long prosperity of his reign. Yet the +mind of the suspicious old man was tormented by the rising +glories of his son; nor could his pride conceal from his envy, +that, while his own name was pronounced in faint and reluctant +acclamations, the royal youth was the theme of spontaneous and +universal praise. ^71</p> + +<p>[Footnote 68: Compare, in the rude energy of Villehardouin, +(No. 66, 100,) the inside and outside views of Constantinople, +and their impression on the minds of the pilgrims: cette ville +(says he) que de toutes les autres ere souveraine. See the +parallel passages of Fulcherius Carnotensis, Hist. Hierosol. l. +i. c. 4, and Will. Tyr. ii. 3, xx. 26.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 69: As they played at dice, the Latins took off his +diadem, and clapped on his head a woollen or hairy cap, to +megaloprepeV kai pagkleiston katerrupainen onoma, (Nicetas, p. +358.) If these merry companions were Venetians, it was the +insolence of trade and a commonwealth.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 70: Villehardouin, No. 101. Dandolo, p. 322. The +doge affirms, that the Venetians were paid more slowly than the +French; but he owns, that the histories of the two nations +differed on that subject. Had he read Villehardouin? The Greeks +complained, however, good totius Græciæ opes +transtulisset, (Gunther, Hist. C. P. c 13) See the lamentations +and invectives of Nicetas, (p. 355.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 71: The reign of Alexius Comnenus occupies three +books in Nicetas, p. 291--352. The short restoration of Isaac and +his son is despatched in five chapters, p. 352--362.]</p> + +<p>By the recent invasion, the Greeks were awakened from a dream +of nine centuries; from the vain presumption that the capital of +the Roman empire was impregnable to foreign arms. The strangers +of the West had violated the city, and bestowed the sceptre, of +Constantine: their Imperial clients soon became as unpopular as +themselves: the well-known vices of Isaac were rendered still +more contemptible by his infirmities, and the young Alexius was +hated as an apostate, who had renounced the manners and religion +of his country. His secret covenant with the Latins was divulged +or suspected; the people, and especially the clergy, were +devoutly attached to their faith and superstition; and every +convent, and every shop, resounded with the danger of the church +and the tyranny of the pope. ^72 An empty treasury could ill +supply the demands of regal luxury and foreign extortion: the +Greeks refused to avert, by a general tax, the impending evils of +servitude and pillage; the oppression of the rich excited a more +dangerous and personal resentment; and if the emperor melted the +plate, and despoiled the images, of the sanctuary, he seemed to +justify the complaints of heresy and sacrilege. During the +absence of Marquis Boniface and his Imperial pupil, +Constantinople was visited with a calamity which might be justly +imputed to the zeal and indiscretion of the Flemish pilgrims. ^73 +In one of their visits to the city, they were scandalized by the +aspect of a mosque or synagogue, in which one God was worshipped, +without a partner or a son. Their effectual mode of controversy +was to attack the infidels with the sword, and their habitation +with fire: but the infidels, and some Christian neighbors, +presumed to defend their lives and properties; and the flames +which bigotry had kindled, consumed the most orthodox and +innocent structures. During eight days and nights, the +conflagration spread above a league in front, from the harbor to +the Propontis, over the thickest and most populous regions of the +city. It is not easy to count the stately churches and palaces +that were reduced to a smoking ruin, to value the merchandise +that perished in the trading streets, or to number the families +that were involved in the common destruction. By this outrage, +which the doge and the barons in vain affected to disclaim, the +name of the Latins became still more unpopular; and the colony of +that nation, above fifteen thousand persons, consulted their +safety in a hasty retreat from the city to the protection of +their standard in the suburb of Pera. The emperor returned in +triumph; but the firmest and most dexterous policy would have +been insufficient to steer him through the tempest, which +overwhelmed the person and government of that unhappy youth. His +own inclination, and his father's advice, attached him to his +benefactors; but Alexius hesitated between gratitude and +patriotism, between the fear of his subjects and of his allies. +^74 By his feeble and fluctuating conduct he lost the esteem and +confidence of both; and, while he invited the marquis of +Monferrat to occupy the palace, he suffered the nobles to +conspire, and the people to arm, for the deliverance of their +country. Regardless of his painful situation, the Latin chiefs +repeated their demands, resented his delays, suspected his +intentions, and exacted a decisive answer of peace or war. The +haughty summons was delivered by three French knights and three +Venetian deputies, who girded their swords, mounted their horses, +pierced through the angry multitude, and entered, with a fearful +countenance, the palace and presence of the Greek emperor. In a +peremptory tone, they recapitulated their services and his +engagements; and boldly declared, that unless their just claims +were fully and immediately satisfied, they should no longer hold +him either as a sovereign or a friend. After this defiance, the +first that had ever wounded an Imperial ear, they departed +without betraying any symptoms of fear; but their escape from a +servile palace and a furious city astonished the ambassadors +themselves; and their return to the camp was the signal of mutual +hostility.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 72: When Nicetas reproaches Alexius for his impious +league, he bestows the harshest names on the pope's new religion, +meizon kai atopwtaton . . . parektrophn pistewV . . . tvn tou +Papa pronomiwn kainismon, . . . metaqesin te kai metapoihsin tvn +palaivn 'RwmaioiV ?eqvn, (p. 348.) Such was the sincere language +of every Greek to the last gasp of the empire.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 73: Nicetas (p. 355) is positive in the charge, and +specifies the Flemings, (FlamioneV,) though he is wrong in +supposing it an ancient name. Villehardouin (No. 107) exculpates +the barons, and is ignorant (perhaps affectedly ignorant) of the +names of the guilty.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 74: Compare the suspicions and complaints of Nicetas +(p. 359--362) with the blunt charges of Baldwin of Flanders, +(Gesta Innocent III. c. 92, p. 534,) cum patriarcha et mole +nobilium, nobis promises perjurus et mendax.]</p> + +<p>Among the Greeks, all authority and wisdom were overborne by +the impetuous multitude, who mistook their rage for valor, their +numbers for strength, and their fanaticism for the support and +inspiration of Heaven. In the eyes of both nations Alexius was +false and contemptible; the base and spurious race of the Angeli +was rejected with clamorous disdain; and the people of +Constantinople encompassed the senate, to demand at their hands a +more worthy emperor. To every senator, conspicuous by his birth +or dignity, they successively presented the purple: by each +senator the deadly garment was repulsed: the contest lasted three +days; and we may learn from the historian Nicetas, one of the +members of the assembly, that fear and weaknesses were the +guardians of their loyalty. A phantom, who vanished in oblivion, +was forcibly proclaimed by the crowd: ^75 but the author of the +tumult, and the leader of the war, was a prince of the house of +Ducas; and his common appellation of Alexius must be +discriminated by the epithet of Mourzoufle, ^76 which in the +vulgar idiom expressed the close junction of his black and shaggy +eyebrows. At once a patriot and a courtier, the perfidious +Mourzoufle, who was not destitute of cunning and courage, opposed +the Latins both in speech and action, inflamed the passions and +prejudices of the Greeks, and insinuated himself into the favor +and confidence of Alexius, who trusted him with the office of +great chamberlain, and tinged his buskins with the colors of +royalty. At the dead of night, he rushed into the bed-chamber +with an affrighted aspect, exclaiming, that the palace was +attacked by the people and betrayed by the guards. Starting from +his couch, the unsuspecting prince threw himself into the arms of +his enemy, who had contrived his escape by a private staircase. +But that staircase terminated in a prison: Alexius was seized, +stripped, and loaded with chains; and, after tasting some days +the bitterness of death, he was poisoned, or strangled, or beaten +with clubs, at the command, or in the presence, of the tyrant. +The emperor Isaac Angelus soon followed his son to the grave; and +Mourzoufle, perhaps, might spare the superfluous crime of +hastening the extinction of impotence and blindness.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 75: His name was Nicholas Canabus: he deserved the +praise of Nicetas and the vengeance of Mourzoufle, (p. 362.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 76: Villehardouin (No. 116) speaks of him as a +favorite, without knowing that he was a prince of the blood, +<strong><em>Angelus</em></strong> and +<strong><em>Ducas</em></strong>. Ducange, who pries into every +corner, believes him to be the son of Isaac Ducas Sebastocrator, +and second cousin of young Alexius.]</p> + +<p>The death of the emperors, and the usurpation of Mourzoufle, +had changed the nature of the quarrel. It was no longer the +disagreement of allies who overvalued their services, or +neglected their obligations: the French and Venetians forgot +their complaints against Alexius, dropped a tear on the untimely +fate of their companion, and swore revenge against the perfidious +nation who had crowned his assassin. Yet the prudent doge was +still inclined to negotiate: he asked as a debt, a subsidy, or a +fine, fifty thousand pounds of gold, about two millions sterling; +nor would the conference have been abruptly broken, if the zeal, +or policy, of Mourzoufle had not refused to sacrifice the Greek +church to the safety of the state. ^77 Amidst the invectives of +his foreign and domestic enemies, we may discern, that he was not +unworthy of the character which he had assumed, of the public +champion: the second siege of Constantinople was far more +laborious than the first; the treasury was replenished, and +discipline was restored, by a severe inquisition into the abuses +of the former reign; and Mourzoufle, an iron mace in his hand, +visiting the posts, and affecting the port and aspect of a +warrior, was an object of terror to his soldiers, at least, and +to his kinsmen. Before and after the death of Alexius, the Greeks +made two vigorous and well-conducted attempts to burn the navy in +the harbor; but the skill and courage of the Venetians repulsed +the fire-ships; and the vagrant flames wasted themselves without +injury in the sea. ^78 In a nocturnal sally the Greek emperor was +vanquished by Henry, brother of the count of Flanders: the +advantages of number and surprise aggravated the shame of his +defeat: his buckler was found on the field of battle; and the +Imperial standard, ^79 a divine image of the Virgin, was +presented, as a trophy and a relic to the Cistercian monks, the +disciples of St. Bernard. Near three months, without excepting +the holy season of Lent, were consumed in skirmishes and +preparations, before the Latins were ready or resolved for a +general assault. The land fortifications had been found +impregnable; and the Venetian pilots represented, that, on the +shore of the Propontis, the anchorage was unsafe, and the ships +must be driven by the current far away to the straits of the +Hellespont; a prospect not unpleasing to the reluctant pilgrims, +who sought every opportunity of breaking the army. From the +harbor, therefore, the assault was determined by the assailants, +and expected by the besieged; and the emperor had placed his +scarlet pavilions on a neighboring height, to direct and animate +the efforts of his troops. A fearless spectator, whose mind could +entertain the ideas of pomp and pleasure, might have admired the +long array of two embattled armies, which extended above half a +league, the one on the ships and galleys, the other on the walls +and towers raised above the ordinary level by several stages of +wooden turrets. Their first fury was spent in the discharge of +darts, stones, and fire, from the engines; but the water was +deep; the French were bold; the Venetians were skilful; they +approached the walls; and a desperate conflict of swords, spears, +and battle-axes, was fought on the trembling bridges that +grappled the floating, to the stable, batteries. In more than a +hundred places, the assault was urged, and the defence was +sustained; till the superiority of ground and numbers finally +prevailed, and the Latin trumpets sounded a retreat. On the +ensuing days, the attack was renewed with equal vigor, and a +similar event; and, in the night, the doge and the barons held a +council, apprehensive only for the public danger: not a voice +pronounced the words of escape or treaty; and each warrior, +according to his temper, embraced the hope of victory, or the +assurance of a glorious death. ^80 By the experience of the +former siege, the Greeks were instructed, but the Latins were +animated; and the knowledge that Constantinople might be taken, +was of more avail than the local precautions which that knowledge +had inspired for its defence. In the third assault, two ships +were linked together to double their strength; a strong north +wind drove them on the shore; the bishops of Troyes and Soissons +led the van; and the auspicious names of the +<strong><em>pilgrim</em></strong> and the +<strong><em>paradise</em></strong> resounded along the line. ^81 +The episcopal banners were displayed on the walls; a hundred +marks of silver had been promised to the first adventurers; and +if their reward was intercepted by death, their names have been +immortalized by fame. ^* Four towers were scaled; three gates +were burst open; and the French knights, who might tremble on the +waves, felt themselves invincible on horseback on the solid +ground. Shall I relate that the thousands who guarded the +emperor's person fled on the approach, and before the lance, of a +single warrior? Their ignominious flight is attested by their +countryman Nicetas: an army of phantoms marched with the French +hero, and he was magnified to a giant in the eyes of the Greeks. +^82 While the fugitives deserted their posts and cast away their +arms, the Latins entered the city under the banners of their +leaders: the streets and gates opened for their passage; and +either design or accident kindled a third conflagration, which +consumed in a few hours the measure of three of the largest +cities of France. ^83 In the close of evening, the barons checked +their troops, and fortified their stations: They were awed by the +extent and populousness of the capital, which might yet require +the labor of a month, if the churches and palaces were conscious +of their internal strength. But in the morning, a suppliant +procession, with crosses and images, announced the submission of +the Greeks, and deprecated the wrath of the conquerors: the +usurper escaped through the golden gate: the palaces of +Blachernæ and Boucoleon were occupied by the count of +Flanders and the marquis of Montferrat; and the empire, which +still bore the name of Constantine, and the title of Roman, was +subverted by the arms of the Latin pilgrims. ^84</p> + +<p>[Footnote 77: This negotiation, probable in itself, and +attested by Nicetas, (p 65,) is omitted as scandalous by the +delicacy of Dandolo and Villehardouin. *</p> + +<p>Note: * Wilken places it before the death of Alexius, vol. v. +p. 276. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 78: Baldwin mentions both attempts to fire the +fleet, (Gest. c. 92, p. 534, 535;) Villehardouin, (No. 113--15) +only describes the first. It is remarkable that neither of these +warriors observe any peculiar properties in the Greek fire.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 79: Ducange (No. 119) pours forth a torrent of +learning on the <strong><em>Gonfanon Imperial</em></strong>. This +banner of the Virgin is shown at Venice as a trophy and relic: if +it be genuine the pious doge must have cheated the monks of +Citeaux.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 80: Villehardouin (No. 126) confesses, that mult ere +grant peril; and Guntherus (Hist. C. P. c. 13) affirms, that +nulla spes victoriæ arridere poterat. Yet the knight +despises those who thought of flight, and the monk praises his +countrymen who were resolved on death.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 81: Baldwin, and all the writers, honor the names of +these two galleys, felici auspicio.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Pietro Alberti, a Venetian noble and Andrew +d'Amboise a French knight. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 82: With an allusion to Homer, Nicetas calls him +enneorguioV, nine orgyæ, or eighteen yards high, a stature +which would, indeed, have excused the terror of the Greek. On +this occasion, the historian seems fonder of the marvellous than +of his country, or perhaps of truth. Baldwin exclaims in the +words of the psalmist, persequitur unus ex nobis centum +alienos.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 83: Villehardouin (No. 130) is again ignorant of the +authors of <strong><em>this</em></strong> more legitimate fire, +which is ascribed by Gunther to a quidam comes Teutonicus, (c. +14.) They seem ashamed, the incendiaries!]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 84: For the second siege and conquest of +Constantinople, see Villehardouin (No. 113--132,) Baldwin's iid +Epistle to Innocent III., (Gesta c. 92, p. 534--537,) with the +whole reign of Mourzoufle, in Nicetas, (p 363--375;) and borrowed +some hints from Dandolo (Chron. Venet. p. 323--330) and Gunther, +(Hist. C. P. c. 14--18,) who added the decorations of prophecy +and vision. The former produces an oracle of the Erythræan +sibyl, of a great armament on the Adriatic, under a blind chief, +against Byzantium, &c. Curious enough, were the prediction +anterior to the fact.]</p> + +<p>Constantinople had been taken by storm; and no restraints, +except those of religion and humanity, were imposed on the +conquerors by the laws of war. Boniface, marquis of Montferrat, +still acted as their general; and the Greeks, who revered his +name as that of their future sovereign, were heard to exclaim in +a lamentable tone, "Holy marquis-king, have mercy upon us!" His +prudence or compassion opened the gates of the city to the +fugitives; and he exhorted the soldiers of the cross to spare the +lives of their fellow-Christians. The streams of blood that +flowed down the pages of Nicetas may be reduced to the slaughter +of two thousand of his unresisting countrymen; ^85 and the +greater part was massacred, not by the strangers, but by the +Latins, who had been driven from the city, and who exercised the +revenge of a triumphant faction. Yet of these exiles, some were +less mindful of injuries than of benefits; and Nicetas himself +was indebted for his safety to the generosity of a Venetian +merchant. Pope Innocent the Third accuses the pilgrims for +respecting, in their lust, neither age nor sex, nor religious +profession; and bitterly laments that the deeds of darkness, +fornication, adultery, and incest, were perpetrated in open day; +and that noble matrons and holy nuns were polluted by the grooms +and peasants of the Catholic camp. ^86 It is indeed probable that +the license of victory prompted and covered a multitude of sins: +but it is certain, that the capital of the East contained a stock +of venal or willing beauty, sufficient to satiate the desires of +twenty thousand pilgrims; and female prisoners were no longer +subject to the right or abuse of domestic slavery. The marquis of +Montferrat was the patron of discipline and decency; the count of +Flanders was the mirror of chastity: they had forbidden, under +pain of death, the rape of married women, or virgins, or nuns; +and the proclamation was sometimes invoked by the vanquished ^87 +and respected by the victors. Their cruelty and lust were +moderated by the authority of the chiefs, and feelings of the +soldiers; for we are no longer describing an irruption of the +northern savages; and however ferocious they might still appear, +time, policy, and religion had civilized the manners of the +French, and still more of the Italians. But a free scope was +allowed to their avarice, which was glutted, even in the holy +week, by the pillage of Constantinople. The right of victory, +unshackled by any promise or treaty, had confiscated the public +and private wealth of the Greeks; and every hand, according to +its size and strength, might lawfully execute the sentence and +seize the forfeiture. A portable and universal standard of +exchange was found in the coined and uncoined metals of gold and +silver, which each captor, at home or abroad, might convert into +the possessions most suitable to his temper and situation. Of the +treasures, which trade and luxury had accumulated, the silks, +velvets, furs, the gems, spices, and rich movables, were the most +precious, as they could not be procured for money in the ruder +countries of Europe. An order of rapine was instituted; nor was +the share of each individual abandoned to industry or chance. +Under the tremendous penalties of perjury, excommunication, and +death, the Latins were bound to deliver their plunder into the +common stock: three churches were selected for the deposit and +distribution of the spoil: a single share was allotted to a +foot-soldier; two for a sergeant on horseback; four to a knight; +and larger proportions according to the rank and merit of the +barons and princes. For violating this sacred engagement, a +knight belonging to the count of St. Paul was hanged with his +shield and coat of arms round his neck; his example might render +similar offenders more artful and discreet; but avarice was more +powerful than fear; and it is generally believed that the secret +far exceeded the acknowledged plunder. Yet the magnitude of the +prize surpassed the largest scale of experience or expectation. +^88 After the whole had been equally divided between the French +and Venetians, fifty thousand marks were deducted to satisfy the +debts of the former and the demands of the latter. The residue of +the French amounted to four hundred thousand marks of silver, ^89 +about eight hundred thousand pounds sterling; nor can I better +appreciate the value of that sum in the public and private +transactions of the age, than by defining it as seven times the +annual revenue of the kingdom of England. ^90</p> + +<p>[Footnote 85: Ceciderunt tamen eâ die civium quasi duo +millia, &c., (Gunther, c. 18.) Arithmetic is an excellent +touchstone to try the amplifications of passion and +rhetoric.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 86: Quidam (says Innocent III., Gesta, c. 94, p. +538) nec religioni, nec ætati, nec sexui pepercerunt: sed +fornicationes, adulteria, et incestus in oculis omnium +exercentes, non solûm maritatas et viduas, sed et matronas +et virgines Deoque dicatas, exposuerunt spurcitiis garcionum. +Villehardouin takes no notice of these common incidents.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 87: Nicetas saved, and afterwards married, a noble +virgin, (p. 380,) whom a soldier, eti martusi polloiV onhdon +epibrimwmenoV, had almost violated in spite of the entolai, +entalmata eu gegonotwn.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 88: Of the general mass of wealth, Gunther observes, +ut de pauperibus et advenis cives ditissimi redderentur, (Hist. +C. P. c. 18; (Villehardouin, (No. 132,) that since the creation, +ne fu tant gaaignié dans une ville; Baldwin, (Gesta, c. +92,) ut tantum tota non videatur possidere Latinitas.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 89: Villehardouin, No. 133--135. Instead of 400,000, +there is a various reading of 500,000. The Venetians had offered +to take the whole booty, and to give 400 marks to each knight, +200 to each priest and horseman, and 100 to each foot-soldier: +they would have been great losers, (Le Beau, Hist. du. Bas Empire +tom. xx. p. 506. I know not from whence.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 90: At the council of Lyons (A.D. 1245) the English +ambassadors stated the revenue of the crown as below that of the +foreign clergy, which amounted to 60,000 marks a year, (Matthew +Paris, p. 451 Hume's Hist. of England, vol. ii. p. 170.)]</p> + +<p>In this great revolution we enjoy the singular felicity of +comparing the narratives of Villehardouin and Nicetas, the +opposite feelings of the marshal of Champagne and the Byzantine +senator. ^91 At the first view it should seem that the wealth of +Constantinople was only transferred from one nation to another; +and that the loss and sorrow of the Greeks is exactly balanced by +the joy and advantage of the Latins. But in the miserable account +of war, the gain is never equivalent to the loss, the pleasure to +the pain; the smiles of the Latins were transient and fallacious; +the Greeks forever wept over the ruins of their country; and +their real calamities were aggravated by sacrilege and mockery. +What benefits accrued to the conquerors from the three fires +which annihilated so vast a portion of the buildings and riches +of the city? What a stock of such things, as could neither be +used nor transported, was maliciously or wantonly destroyed! How +much treasure was idly wasted in gaming, debauchery, and riot! +And what precious objects were bartered for a vile price by the +impatience or ignorance of the soldiers, whose reward was stolen +by the base industry of the last of the Greeks! These alone, who +had nothing to lose, might derive some profit from the +revolution; but the misery of the upper ranks of society is +strongly painted in the personal adventures of Nicetas himself +His stately palace had been reduced to ashes in the second +conflagration; and the senator, with his family and friends, +found an obscure shelter in another house which he possessed near +the church of St. Sophia. It was the door of this mean habitation +that his friend, the Venetian merchant, guarded in the disguise +of a soldier, till Nicetas could save, by a precipitate flight, +the relics of his fortune and the chastity of his daughter. In a +cold, wintry season, these fugitives, nursed in the lap of +prosperity, departed on foot; his wife was with child; the +desertion of their slaves compelled them to carry their baggage +on their own shoulders; and their women, whom they placed in the +centre, were exhorted to conceal their beauty with dirt, instead +of adorning it with paint and jewels Every step was exposed to +insult and danger: the threats of the strangers were less painful +than the taunts of the plebeians, with whom they were now +levelled; nor did the exiles breathe in safety till their +mournful pilgrimage was concluded at Selymbria, above forty miles +from the capital. On the way they overtook the patriarch, without +attendance and almost without apparel, riding on an ass, and +reduced to a state of apostolical poverty, which, had it been +voluntary, might perhaps have been meritorious. In the mean +while, his desolate churches were profaned by the licentiousness +and party zeal of the Latins. After stripping the gems and +pearls, they converted the chalices into drinking-cups; their +tables, on which they gamed and feasted, were covered with the +pictures of Christ and the saints; and they trampled under foot +the most venerable objects of the Christian worship. In the +cathedral of St. Sophia, the ample veil of the sanctuary was rent +asunder for the sake of the golden fringe; and the altar, a +monument of art and riches, was broken in pieces and shared among +the captors. Their mules and horses were laden with the wrought +silver and gilt carvings, which they tore down from the doors and +pulpit; and if the beasts stumbled under the burden, they were +stabbed by their impatient drivers, and the holy pavement +streamed with their impure blood. A prostitute was seated on the +throne of the patriarch; and that daughter of Belial, as she is +styled, sung and danced in the church, to ridicule the hymns and +processions of the Orientals. Nor were the repositories of the +royal dead secure from violation: in the church of the Apostles, +the tombs of the emperors were rifled; and it is said, that after +six centuries the corpse of Justinian was found without any signs +of decay or putrefaction. In the streets, the French and Flemings +clothed themselves and their horses in painted robes and flowing +head-dresses of linen; and the coarse intemperance of their +feasts ^92 insulted the splendid sobriety of the East. To expose +the arms of a people of scribes and scholars, they affected to +display a pen, an inkhorn, and a sheet of paper, without +discerning that the instruments of science and valor were +<strong><em>alike</em></strong> feeble and useless in the hands +of the modern Greeks.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 91: The disorders of the sack of Constantinople, and +his own adventures, are feelingly described by Nicetas, p. +367--369, and in the Status Urb. C. P. p. 375--384. His +complaints, even of sacrilege, are justified by Innocent III., +(Gesta, c. 92;) but Villehardouin does not betray a symptom of +pity or remorse.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 92: If I rightly apprehend the Greek of Nicetas's +receipts, their favorite dishes were boiled buttocks of beef, +salt pork and peas, and soup made of garlic and sharp or sour +herbs, (p. 382.)]</p> + +<p>Their reputation and their language encouraged them, however, +to despise the ignorance and to overlook the progress of the +Latins. ^93 In the love of the arts, the national difference was +still more obvious and real; the Greeks preserved with reverence +the works of their ancestors, which they could not imitate; and, +in the destruction of the statues of Constantinople, we are +provoked to join in the complaints and invectives of the +Byzantine historian. ^94 We have seen how the rising city was +adorned by the vanity and despotism of the Imperial founder: in +the ruins of paganism, some gods and heroes were saved from the +axe of superstition; and the forum and hippodrome were dignified +with the relics of a better age. Several of these are described +by Nicetas, ^95 in a florid and affected style; and from his +descriptions I shall select some interesting particulars. +<strong>1.</strong> The victorious charioteers were cast in +bronze, at their own or the public charge, and fitly placed in +the hippodrome: they stood aloft in their chariots, wheeling +round the goal: the spectators could admire their attitude, and +judge of the resemblance; and of these figures, the most perfect +might have been transported from the Olympic stadium. +<strong>2.</strong> The sphinx, river-horse, and crocodile, +denote the climate and manufacture of Egypt and the spoils of +that ancient province. <strong>3.</strong> The she-wolf suckling +Romulus and Remus, a subject alike pleasing to the +<strong><em>old</em></strong> and the +<strong><em>new</em></strong> Romans, but which could really be +treated before the decline of the Greek sculpture. +<strong>4.</strong> An eagle holding and tearing a serpent in his +talons, a domestic monument of the Byzantines, which they +ascribed, not to a human artist, but to the magic power of the +philosopher Apollonius, who, by this talisman, delivered the city +from such venomous reptiles. <strong>5.</strong> An ass and his +driver, which were erected by Augustus in his colony of +Nicopolis, to commemorate a verbal omen of the victory of Actium. +<strong>6.</strong> An equestrian statue which passed, in the +vulgar opinion, for Joshua, the Jewish conqueror, stretching out +his hand to stop the course of the descending sun. A more +classical tradition recognized the figures of Bellerophon and +Pegasus; and the free attitude of the steed seemed to mark that +he trod on air, rather than on the earth. <strong>7.</strong> A +square and lofty obelisk of brass; the sides were embossed with a +variety of picturesque and rural scenes, birds singing; rustics +laboring, or playing on their pipes; sheep bleating; lambs +skipping; the sea, and a scene of fish and fishing; little naked +cupids laughing, playing, and pelting each other with apples; +and, on the summit, a female figure, turning with the slightest +breath, and thence denominated <strong><em>the wind's +attendant</em></strong>. <strong>8.</strong> The Phrygian +shepherd presenting to Venus the prize of beauty, the apple of +discord. <strong>9.</strong> The incomparable statue of Helen, +which is delineated by Nicetas in the words of admiration and +love: her well-turned feet, snowy arms, rosy lips, bewitching +smiles, swimming eyes, arched eyebrows, the harmony of her shape, +the lightness of her drapery, and her flowing locks that waved in +the wind; a beauty that might have moved her Barbarian destroyers +to pity and remorse. <strong>10.</strong> The manly or divine +form of Hercules, ^96 as he was restored to life by the +masterhand of Lysippus; of such magnitude, that his thumb was +equal to his waist, his leg to the stature, of a common man: ^97 +his chest ample, his shoulders broad, his limbs strong and +muscular, his hair curled, his aspect commanding. Without his +bow, or quiver, or club, his lion's skin carelessly thrown over +him, he was seated on an osier basket, his right leg and arm +stretched to the utmost, his left knee bent, and supporting his +elbow, his head reclining on his left hand, his countenance +indignant and pensive. <strong>11.</strong> A colossal statue of +Juno, which had once adorned her temple of Samos, the enormous +head by four yoke of oxen was laboriously drawn to the palace. +<strong>12.</strong> Another colossus, of Pallas or Minerva, +thirty feet in height, and representing with admirable spirit the +attributes and character of the martial maid. Before we accuse +the Latins, it is just to remark, that this Pallas was destroyed +after the first siege, by the fear and superstition of the Greeks +themselves. ^98 The other statues of brass which I have +enumerated were broken and melted by the unfeeling avarice of the +crusaders: the cost and labor were consumed in a moment; the soul +of genius evaporated in smoke; and the remnant of base metal was +coined into money for the payment of the troops. Bronze is not +the most durable of monuments: from the marble forms of Phidias +and Praxiteles, the Latins might turn aside with stupid contempt; +^99 but unless they were crushed by some accidental injury, those +useless stones stood secure on their pedestals. ^100 The most +enlightened of the strangers, above the gross and sensual +pursuits of their countrymen, more piously exercised the right of +conquest in the search and seizure of the relics of the saints. +^101 Immense was the supply of heads and bones, crosses and +images, that were scattered by this revolution over the churches +of Europe; and such was the increase of pilgrimage and oblation, +that no branch, perhaps, of more lucrative plunder was imported +from the East. ^102 Of the writings of antiquity, many that still +existed in the twelfth century, are now lost. But the pilgrims +were not solicitous to save or transport the volumes of an +unknown tongue: the perishable substance of paper or parchment +can only be preserved by the multiplicity of copies; the +literature of the Greeks had almost centred in the metropolis; +and, without computing the extent of our loss, we may drop a tear +over the libraries that have perished in the triple fire of +Constantinople. ^103</p> + +<p>[Footnote 93: Nicetas uses very harsh expressions, par +agrammatoiV BarbaroiV, kai teleon analfabhtoiV, (Fragment, apud +Fabric. Bibliot. Græc. tom. vi. p. 414.) This reproach, it +is true, applies most strongly to their ignorance of Greek and of +Homer. In their own language, the Latins of the xiith and xiiith +centuries were not destitute of literature. See Harris's +Philological Inquiries, p. iii. c. 9, 10, 11.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 94: Nicetas was of Chonæ in Phrygia, (the old +Colossæ of St. Paul:) he raised himself to the honors of +senator, judge of the veil, and great logothete; beheld the fall +of the empire, retired to Nice, and composed an elaborate history +from the death of Alexius Comnenus to the reign of Henry.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 95: A manuscript of Nicetas in the Bodleian library +contains this curious fragment on the statues of Constantinople, +which fraud, or shame, or rather carelessness, has dropped in the +common editions. It is published by Fabricius, (Bibliot. +Græc. tom. vi. p. 405--416,) and immoderately praised by +the late ingenious Mr. Harris of Salisbury, (Philological +Inquiries, p. iii. c. 5, p. 301--312.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 96: To illustrate the statue of Hercules, Mr. Harris +quotes a Greek epigram, and engraves a beautiful gem, which does +not, however, copy the attitude of the statue: in the latter, +Hercules had not his club, and his right leg and arm were +extended.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 97: I transcribe these proportions, which appear to +me inconsistent with each other; and may possibly show, that the +boasted taste of Nicetas was no more than affectation and +vanity.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 98: Nicetas in Isaaco Angelo et Alexio, c. 3, p. +359. The Latin editor very properly observes, that the historian, +in his bombast style, produces ex pulice elephantem.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 99: In two passages of Nicetas (edit. Paris, p. 360. +Fabric. p. 408) the Latins are branded with the lively reproach +of oi tou kalou anerastoi barbaroi, and their avarice of brass is +clearly expressed. Yet the Venetians had the merit of removing +four bronze horses from Constantinople to the place of St. Mark, +(Sanuto, Vite del Dogi, in Muratori, Script. Rerum Italicarum, +tom. xxii. p. 534.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 100: Winckelman, Hist. de l'Art. tom. iii. p. 269, +270.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 101: See the pious robbery of the abbot Martin, who +transferred a rich cargo to his monastery of Paris, diocese of +Basil, (Gunther, Hist. C. P. c. 19, 23, 24.) Yet in secreting +this booty, the saint incurred an excommunication, and perhaps +broke his oath. (Compare Wilken vol. v. p. 308. -- M.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 102: Fleury, Hist. Eccles tom. xvi. p. +139--145.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 103: I shall conclude this chapter with the notice +of a modern history, which illustrates the taking of +Constantinople by the Latins; but which has fallen somewhat late +into my hands. Paolo Ramusio, the son of the compiler of Voyages, +was directed by the senate of Venice to write the history of the +conquest: and this order, which he received in his youth, he +executed in a mature age, by an elegant Latin work, de Bello +Constantinopolitano et Imperatoribus Comnenis per Gallos et +Venetos restitutis, (Venet. 1635, in folio.) Ramusio, or +Rhamnusus, transcribes and translates, sequitur ad unguem, a MS. +of Villehardouin, which he possessed; but he enriches his +narrative with Greek and Latin materials, and we are indebted to +him for a correct state of the fleet, the names of the fifty +Venetian nobles who commanded the galleys of the republic, and +the patriot opposition of Pantaleon Barbus to the choice of the +doge for emperor.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LXI: Partition Of The Empire By The French +And Venetians. -- Part II.</em></strong></p> + +<p>Partition Of The Empire By The French And Venetians, -- Five +Latin Emperors Of The Houses Of Flanders And Courtenay. -- Their +Wars Against The Bulgarians And Greeks. -- Weakness And Poverty +Of The Latin Empire. -- Recovery Of Constantinople By The Greeks. +-- General Consequences Of The Crusades.</p> + +<p>After the death of the lawful princes, the French and +Venetians, confident of justice and victory, agreed to divide and +regulate their future possessions. ^1 It was stipulated by +treaty, that twelve electors, six of either nation, should be +nominated; that a majority should choose the emperor of the East; +and that, if the votes were equal, the decision of chance should +ascertain the successful candidate. To him, with all the titles +and prerogatives of the Byzantine throne, they assigned the two +palaces of Boucoleon and Blachernæ, with a fourth part of +the Greek monarchy. It was defined that the three remaining +portions should be equally shared between the republic of Venice +and the barons of France; that each feudatory, with an honorable +exception for the doge, should acknowledge and perform the duties +of homage and military service to the supreme head of the empire; +that the nation which gave an emperor, should resign to their +brethren the choice of a patriarch; and that the pilgrims, +whatever might be their impatience to visit the Holy Land, should +devote another year to the conquest and defence of the Greek +provinces. After the conquest of Constantinople by the Latins, +the treaty was confirmed and executed; and the first and most +important step was the creation of an emperor. The six electors +of the French nation were all ecclesiastics, the abbot of Loces, +the archbishop elect of Acre in Palestine, and the bishops of +Troyes, Soissons, Halberstadt, and Bethlehem, the last of whom +exercised in the camp the office of pope's legate: their +profession and knowledge were respectable; and as +<strong><em>they</em></strong> could not be the objects, they +were best qualified to be the authors of the choice. The six +Venetians were the principal servants of the state, and in this +list the noble families of Querini and Contarini are still proud +to discover their ancestors. The twelve assembled in the chapel +of the palace; and after the solemn invocation of the Holy Ghost, +they proceeded to deliberate and vote. A just impulse of respect +and gratitude prompted them to crown the virtues of the doge; his +wisdom had inspired their enterprise; and the most youthful +knights might envy and applaud the exploits of blindness and age. +But the patriot Dandolo was devoid of all personal ambition, and +fully satisfied that he had been judged worthy to reign. His +nomination was overruled by the Venetians themselves: his +countrymen, and perhaps his friends, ^2 represented, with the +eloquence of truth, the mischiefs that might arise to national +freedom and the common cause, from the union of two incompatible +characters, of the first magistrate of a republic and the emperor +of the East. The exclusion of the doge left room for the more +equal merits of Boniface and Baldwin; and at their names all +meaner candidates respectfully withdrew. The marquis of +Montferrat was recommended by his mature age and fair reputation, +by the choice of the adventurers, and the wishes of the Greeks; +nor can I believe that Venice, the mistress of the sea, could be +seriously apprehensive of a petty lord at the foot of the Alps. +^3 But the count of Flanders was the chief of a wealthy and +warlike people: he was valiant, pious, and chaste; in the prime +of life, since he was only thirty-two years of age; a descendant +of Charlemagne, a cousin of the king of France, and a compeer of +the prelates and barons who had yielded with reluctance to the +command of a foreigner. Without the chapel, these barons, with +the doge and marquis at their head, expected the decision of the +twelve electors. It was announced by the bishop of Soissons, in +the name of his colleagues: "Ye have sworn to obey the prince +whom we should choose: by our unanimous suffrage, Baldwin count +of Flanders and Hainault is now your sovereign, and the emperor +of the East." He was saluted with loud applause, and the +proclamation was reechoed through the city by the joy of the +Latins, and the trembling adulation of the Greeks. Boniface was +the first to kiss the hand of his rival, and to raise him on the +buckler: and Baldwin was transported to the cathedral, and +solemnly invested with the purple buskins. At the end of three +weeks he was crowned by the legate, in the vacancy of the +patriarch; but the Venetian clergy soon filled the chapter of St. +Sophia, seated Thomas Morosini on the ecclesiastical throne, and +employed every art to perpetuate in their own nation the honors +and benefices of the Greek church. ^4 Without delay the successor +of Constantine instructed Palestine, France, and Rome, of this +memorable revolution. To Palestine he sent, as a trophy, the +gates of Constantinople, and the chain of the harbor; ^5 and +adopted, from the Assise of Jerusalem, the laws or customs best +adapted to a French colony and conquest in the East. In his +epistles, the natives of France are encouraged to swell that +colony, and to secure that conquest, to people a magnificent city +and a fertile land, which will reward the labors both of the +priest and the soldier. He congratulates the Roman pontiff on the +restoration of his authority in the East; invites him to +extinguish the Greek schism by his presence in a general council; +and implores his blessing and forgiveness for the disobedient +pilgrims. Prudence and dignity are blended in the answer of +Innocent. ^6 In the subversion of the Byzantine empire, he +arraigns the vices of man, and adores the providence of God; the +conquerors will be absolved or condemned by their future conduct; +the validity of their treaty depends on the judgment of St. +Peter; but he inculcates their most sacred duty of establishing a +just subordination of obedience and tribute, from the Greeks to +the Latins, from the magistrate to the clergy, and from the +clergy to the pope.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 1: See the original treaty of partition, in the +Venetian Chronicle of Andrew Dandolo, p. 326--330, and the +subsequent election in Ville hardouin, No. 136--140, with Ducange +in his Observations, and the book of his Histoire de +Constantinople sous l'Empire des François.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 2: After mentioning the nomination of the doge by a +French elector his kinsman Andrew Dandolo approves his exclusion, +quidam Venetorum fidelis et nobilis senex, usus oratione satis +probabili, &c., which has been embroidered by modern writers +from Blondus to Le Beau.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 3: Nicetas, (p. 384,) with the vain ignorance of a +Greek, describes the marquis of Montferrat as a +<strong><em>maritime</em></strong> power. Dampardian de oikeisqai +paralion. Was he deceived by the Byzantine theme of Lombardy +which extended along the coast of Calabria?]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 4: They exacted an oath from Thomas Morosini to +appoint no canons of St. Sophia the lawful electors, except +Venetians who had lived ten years at Venice, &c. But the +foreign clergy was envious, the pope disapproved this national +monopoly, and of the six Latin patriarchs of Constantinople, only +the first and the last were Venetians.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 5: Nicetas, p. 383.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 6: The Epistles of Innocent III. are a rich fund for +the ecclesiastical and civil institution of the Latin empire of +Constantinople; and the most important of these epistles (of +which the collection in 2 vols. in folio is published by Stephen +Baluze) are inserted in his Gesta, in Muratori, Script. Rerum +Italicarum,, tom. iii. p. l. c. 94--105.]</p> + +<p>In the division of the Greek provinces, ^7 the share of the +Venetians was more ample than that of the Latin emperor. No more +than one fourth was appropriated to his domain; a clear moiety of +the remainder was reserved for Venice; and the other moiety was +distributed among the adventures of France and Lombardy. The +venerable Dandolo was proclaimed despot of Romania, and invested +after the Greek fashion with the purple buskins. He ended at +Constantinople his long and glorious life; and if the prerogative +was personal, the title was used by his successors till the +middle of the fourteenth century, with the singular, though true, +addition of lords of one fourth and a half of the Roman empire. +^8 The doge, a slave of state, was seldom permitted to depart +from the helm of the republic; but his place was supplied by the +<strong><em>bail</em></strong>, or regent, who exercised a +supreme jurisdiction over the colony of Venetians: they possessed +three of the eight quarters of the city; and his independent +tribunal was composed of six judges, four counsellors, two +chamberlains two fiscal advocates, and a constable. Their long +experience of the Eastern trade enabled them to select their +portion with discernment: they had rashly accepted the dominion +and defence of Adrianople; but it was the more reasonable aim of +their policy to form a chain of factories, and cities, and +islands, along the maritime coast, from the neighborhood of +Ragusa to the Hellespont and the Bosphorus. The labor and cost of +such extensive conquests exhausted their treasury: they abandoned +their maxims of government, adopted a feudal system, and +contented themselves with the homage of their nobles, ^9 for the +possessions which these private vassals undertook to reduce and +maintain. And thus it was that the family of Sanut acquired the +duchy of Naxos, which involved the greatest part of the +archipelago. For the price of ten thousand marks, the republic +purchased of the marquis of Montferrat the fertile Island of +Crete or Candia, with the ruins of a hundred cities; ^10 but its +improvement was stinted by the proud and narrow spirit of an +aristocracy; ^11 and the wisest senators would confess that the +sea, not the land, was the treasury of St. Mark. In the moiety of +the adventurers the marquis Boniface might claim the most liberal +reward; and, besides the Isle of Crete, his exclusion from the +throne was compensated by the royal title and the provinces +beyond the Hellespont. But he prudently exchanged that distant +and difficult conquest for the kingdom of Thessalonica Macedonia, +twelve days' journey from the capital, where he might be +supported by the neighboring powers of his brother-in-law the +king of Hungary. His progress was hailed by the voluntary or +reluctant acclamations of the natives; and Greece, the proper and +ancient Greece, again received a Latin conqueror, ^12 who trod +with indifference that classic ground. He viewed with a careless +eye the beauties of the valley of Tempe; traversed with a +cautious step the straits of Thermopylæ; occupied the +unknown cities of Thebes, Athens, and Argos; and assaulted the +fortifications of Corinth and Napoli, ^13 which resisted his +arms. The lots of the Latin pilgrims were regulated by chance, or +choice, or subsequent exchange; and they abused, with intemperate +joy, their triumph over the lives and fortunes of a great people. +After a minute survey of the provinces, they weighed in the +scales of avarice the revenue of each district, the advantage of +the situation, and the ample on scanty supplies for the +maintenance of soldiers and horses. Their presumption claimed and +divided the long-lost dependencies of the Roman sceptre: the Nile +and Euphrates rolled through their imaginary realms; and happy +was the warrior who drew for his prize the palace of the Turkish +sultan of Iconium. ^14 I shall not descend to the pedigree of +families and the rent-roll of estates, but I wish to specify that +the counts of Blois and St. Pol were invested with the duchy of +Nice and the lordship of Demotica: ^15 the principal fiefs were +held by the service of constable, chamberlain, cup-bearer, +butler, and chief cook; and our historian, Jeffrey of +Villehardouin, obtained a fair establishment on the banks of the +Hebrus, and united the double office of marshal of Champagne and +Romania. At the head of his knights and archers, each baron +mounted on horseback to secure the possession of his share, and +their first efforts were generally successful. But the public +force was weakened by their dispersion; and a thousand quarrels +must arise under a law, and among men, whose sole umpire was the +sword. Within three months after the conquest of Constantinople, +the emperor and the king of Thessalonica drew their hostile +followers into the field; they were reconciled by the authority +of the doge, the advice of the marshal, and the firm freedom of +their peers. ^16</p> + +<p>[Footnote 7: In the treaty of partition, most of the names are +corrupted by the scribes: they might be restored, and a good map, +suited to the last age of the Byzantine empire, would be an +improvement of geography. But, alas D'Anville is no more!]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 8: Their style was dominus quartæ partis et +dimidiæ imperii Romani, till Giovanni Dolfino, who was +elected doge in the year of 1356, (Sanuto, p. 530, 641.) For the +government of Constantinople, see Ducange, Histoire de C. P. i. +37.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 9: Ducange (Hist. de C. P. ii. 6) has marked the +conquests made by the state or nobles of Venice of the Islands of +Candia, Corfu, Cephalonia, Zante, Naxos, Paros, Melos, Andros, +Mycone, Syro, Cea, and Lemnos.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 10: Boniface sold the Isle of Candia, August 12, +A.D. 1204. See the act in Sanuto, p. 533: but I cannot understand +how it could be his mother's portion, or how she could be the +daughter of an emperor Alexius.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 11: In the year 1212, the doge Peter Zani sent a +colony to Candia, drawn from every quarter of Venice. But in +their savage manners and frequent rebellions, the Candiots may be +compared to the Corsicans under the yoke of Genoa; and when I +compare the accounts of Belon and Tournefort, I cannot discern +much difference between the Venetian and the Turkish island.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 12: Villehardouin (No. 159, 160, 173--177) and +Nicetas (p. 387--394) describe the expedition into Greece of the +marquis Boniface. The Choniate might derive his information from +his brother Michael, archbishop of Athens, whom he paints as an +orator, a statesman, and a saint. His encomium of Athens, and the +description of Tempe, should be published from the Bodleian MS. +of Nicetas, (Fabric. Bibliot. Græc. tom. vi. p. 405,) and +would have deserved Mr. Harris's inquiries.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 13: Napoli de Romania, or Nauplia, the ancient +seaport of Argos, is still a place of strength and consideration, +situate on a rocky peninsula, with a good harbor, (Chandler's +Travels into Greece, p. 227.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 14: I have softened the expression of Nicetas, who +strives to expose the presumption of the Franks. See the Rebus +post C. P. expugnatam, p. 375--384.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 15: A city surrounded by the River Hebrus, and six +leagues to the south of Adrianople, received from its double wall +the Greek name of Didymoteichos, insensibly corrupted into +Demotica and Dimot. I have preferred the more convenient and +modern appellation of Demotica. This place was the last Turkish +residence of Charles XII.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 16: Their quarrel is told by Villehardouin (No. +146--158) with the spirit of freedom. The merit and reputation of +the marshal are so acknowledged by the Greek historian (p. 387) +mega para touV tvn Dauinwn dunamenou strateumasi: unlike some +modern heroes, whose exploits are only visible in their own +memoirs. *</p> + +<p>Note: * William de Champlite, brother of the count of Dijon, +assumed the title of Prince of Achaia: on the death of his +brother, he returned, with regret, to France, to assume his +paternal inheritance, and left Villehardouin his +"<strong><em>bailli</em></strong>," on condition that if he did +not return within a year Villehardouin was to retain an +investiture. Brosset's Add. to Le Beau, vol. xvii. p. 200. M. +Brosset adds, from the Greek chronicler edited by M. Buchon, the +somewhat unknightly trick by which Villehardouin disembarrassed +himself from the troublesome claim of Robert, the cousin of the +count of Dijon. to the succession. He contrived that Robert +should arrive just fifteen days too late; and with the general +concurrence of the assembled knights was himself invested with +the principality. Ibid. p. 283. M.]</p> + +<p>Two fugitives, who had reigned at Constantinople, still +asserted the title of emperor; and the subjects of their fallen +throne might be moved to pity by the misfortunes of the elder +Alexius, or excited to revenge by the spirit of Mourzoufle. A +domestic alliance, a common interest, a similar guilt, and the +merit of extinguishing his enemies, a brother and a nephew, +induced the more recent usurper to unite with the former the +relics of his power. Mourzoufle was received with smiles and +honors in the camp of his father Alexius; but the wicked can +never love, and should rarely trust, their fellow-criminals; he +was seized in the bath, deprived of his eyes, stripped of his +troops and treasures, and turned out to wander an object of +horror and contempt to those who with more propriety could hate, +and with more justice could punish, the assassin of the emperor +Isaac and his son. As the tyrant, pursued by fear or remorse, was +stealing over to Asia, he was seized by the Latins of +Constantinople, and condemned, after an open trial, to an +ignominious death. His judges debated the mode of his execution, +the axe, the wheel, or the stake; and it was resolved that +Mourzoufle ^17 should ascend the Theodosian column, a pillar of +white marble of one hundred and forty-seven feet in height. ^18 +From the summit he was cast down headlong, and dashed in pieces +on the pavement, in the presence of innumerable spectators, who +filled the forum of Taurus, and admired the accomplishment of an +old prediction, which was explained by this singular event. ^19 +The fate of Alexius is less tragical: he was sent by the marquis +a captive to Italy, and a gift to the king of the Romans; but he +had not much to applaud his fortune, if the sentence of +imprisonment and exile were changed from a fortress in the Alps +to a monastery in Asia. But his daughter, before the national +calamity, had been given in marriage to a young hero who +continued the succession, and restored the throne, of the Greek +princes. ^20 The valor of Theodore Lascaris was signalized in the +two sieges of Constantinople. After the flight of Mourzoufle, +when the Latins were already in the city, he offered himself as +their emperor to the soldiers and people; and his ambition, which +might be virtuous, was undoubtedly brave. Could he have infused a +soul into the multitude, they might have crushed the strangers +under their feet: their abject despair refused his aid; and +Theodore retired to breathe the air of freedom in Anatolia, +beyond the immediate view and pursuit of the conquerors. Under +the title, at first of despot, and afterwards of emperor, he drew +to his standard the bolder spirits, who were fortified against +slavery by the contempt of life; and as every means was lawful +for the public safety implored without scruple the alliance of +the Turkish sultan Nice, where Theodore established his +residence, Prusa and Philadelphia, Smyrna and Ephesus, opened +their gates to their deliverer: he derived strength and +reputation from his victories, and even from his defeats; and the +successor of Constantine preserved a fragment of the empire from +the banks of the Mæander to the suburbs of Nicomedia, and +at length of Constantinople. Another portion, distant and +obscure, was possessed by the lineal heir of the Comneni, a son +of the virtuous Manuel, a grandson of the tyrant Andronicus. His +name was Alexius; and the epithet of great ^* was applied perhaps +to his stature, rather than to his exploits. By the indulgence of +the Angeli, he was appointed governor or duke of Trebizond: ^21 +^! his birth gave him ambition, the revolution independence; and, +without changing his title, he reigned in peace from Sinope to +the Phasis, along the coast of the Black Sea. His nameless son +and successor ^!! is described as the vassal of the sultan, whom +he served with two hundred lances: that Comnenian prince was no +more than duke of Trebizond, and the title of emperor was first +assumed by the pride and envy of the grandson of Alexius. In the +West, a third fragment was saved from the common shipwreck by +Michael, a bastard of the house of Angeli, who, before the +revolution, had been known as a hostage, a soldier, and a rebel. +His flight from the camp of the marquis Boniface secured his +freedom; by his marriage with the governor's daughter, he +commanded the important place of Durazzo, assumed the title of +despot, and founded a strong and conspicuous principality in +Epirus, Ætolia, and Thessaly, which have ever been peopled +by a warlike race. The Greeks, who had offered their service to +their new sovereigns, were excluded by the haughty Latins ^22 +from all civil and military honors, as a nation born to tremble +and obey. Their resentment prompted them to show that they might +have been useful friends, since they could be dangerous enemies: +their nerves were braced by adversity: whatever was learned or +holy, whatever was noble or valiant, rolled away into the +independent states of Trebizond, Epirus, and Nice; and a single +patrician is marked by the ambiguous praise of attachment and +loyalty to the Franks. The vulgar herd of the cities and the +country would have gladly submitted to a mild and regular +servitude; and the transient disorders of war would have been +obliterated by some years of industry and peace. But peace was +banished, and industry was crushed, in the disorders of the +feudal system. The <strong><em>Roman</em></strong> emperors of +Constantinople, if they were endowed with abilities, were armed +with power for the protection of their subjects: their laws were +wise, and their administration was simple. The Latin throne was +filled by a titular prince, the chief, and often the servant, of +his licentious confederates; the fiefs of the empire, from a +kingdom to a castle, were held and ruled by the sword of the +barons; and their discord, poverty, and ignorance, extended the +ramifications of tyranny to the most sequestered villages. The +Greeks were oppressed by the double weight of the priest, who +were invested with temporal power, and of the soldier, who was +inflamed by fanatic hatred; and the insuperable bar of religion +and language forever separated the stranger and the native. As +long as the crusaders were united at Constantinople, the memory +of their conquest, and the terror of their arms, imposed silence +on the captive land: their dispersion betrayed the smallness of +their numbers and the defects of their discipline; and some +failures and mischances revealed the secret, that they were not +invincible. As the fears of the Greeks abated, their hatred +increased. They murdered; they conspired; and before a year of +slavery had elapsed, they implored, or accepted, the succor of a +Barbarian, whose power they had felt, and whose gratitude they +trusted. ^23</p> + +<p>[Footnote 17: See the fate of Mourzoufle in Nicetas, (p. 393,) +Villehardouin, (No. 141--145, 163,) and Guntherus, (c. 20, 21.) +Neither the marshal nor the monk afford a grain of pity for a +tyrant or rebel, whose punishment, however, was more unexampled +than his crime.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 18: The column of Arcadius, which represents in +basso relievo his victories, or those of his father Theodosius, +is still extant at Constantinople. It is described and measured, +Gyllius, (Topograph. iv. 7,) Banduri, (ad l. i. Antiquit. C. P. +p. 507, &c.,) and Tournefort, (Voyage du Levant, tom. ii. +lettre xii. p. 231.) [Compare Wilken, note, vol. v p. 388. -- +M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 19: The nonsense of Gunther and the modern Greeks +concerning this <strong><em>columna fatidica</em></strong>, is +unworthy of notice; but it is singular enough, that fifty years +before the Latin conquest, the poet Tzetzes, (Chiliad, ix. 277) +relates the dream of a matron, who saw an army in the forum, and +a man sitting on the column, clapping his hands, and uttering a +loud exclamation. *</p> + +<p>Note: * We read in the "Chronicle of the Conquest of +Constantinople, and of the Establishment of the French in the +Morea," translated by J A Buchon, Paris, 1825, p. 64 that Leo +VI., called the Philosopher, had prophesied that a perfidious +emperor should be precipitated from the top of this column. The +crusaders considered themselves under an obligation to fulfil +this prophecy. Brosset, note on Le Beau, vol. xvii. p. 180. M +Brosset announces that a complete edition of this work, of which +the original Greek of the first book only has been published by +M. Buchon in preparation, to form part of the new series of the +Byzantine historian. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 20: The dynasties of Nice, Trebizond, and Epirus (of +which Nicetas saw the origin without much pleasure or hope) are +learnedly explored, and clearly represented, in the Familiæ +Byzantinæ of Ducange.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: This was a title, not a personal appellation. +Joinville speaks of the "Grant Comnenie, et sire de +Traffezzontes." Fallmerayer, p. 82. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 21: Except some facts in Pachymer and Nicephorus +Gregoras, which will hereafter be used, the Byzantine writers +disdain to speak of the empire of Trebizond, or principality of +the <strong><em>Lazi</em></strong>; and among the Latins, it is +conspicuous only in the romancers of the xivth or xvth centuries. +Yet the indefatigable Ducange has dug out (Fam. Byz. p. 192) two +authentic passages in Vincent of Beauvais (l. xxxi. c. 144) and +the prothonotary Ogerius, (apud Wading, A.D. 1279, No. 4.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !: On the revolutions of Trebizond under the later +empire down to this period, see Fallmerayer, Geschichte des +Kaiserthums von Trapezunt, ch. iii. The wife of Manuel fled with +her infant sons and her treasure from the relentless enmity of +Isaac Angelus. Fallmerayer conjectures that her arrival enabled +the Greeks of that region to make head against the formidable +Thamar, the Georgian queen of Teflis, p. 42. They gradually +formed a dominion on the banks of the Phasis, which the +distracted government of the Angeli neglected or were unable to +suppress. On the capture of Constantinople by the Latins, Alexius +was joined by many noble fugitives from Constantinople. He had +always retained the names of Cæsar and BasileuV. He now +fixed the seat of his empire at Trebizond; but he had never +abandoned his pretensions to the Byzantine throne, ch. iii. +Fallmerayer appears to make out a triumphant case as to the +assumption of the royal title by Alexius the First. Since the +publication of M. Fallmerayer's work, (München, 1827,) M. +Tafel has published, at the end of the opuscula of Eustathius, a +curious chronicle of Trebizond by Michael Panaretas, (Frankfort, +1832.) It gives the succession of the emperors, and some other +curious circumstances of their wars with the several Mahometan +powers. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !!: The successor of Alexius was his son-in-law +Andronicus I., of the Comnenian family, surnamed Gidon. There +were five successions between Alexius and John, according to +Fallmerayer, p. 103. The troops of Trebizond fought in the army +of Dschelaleddin, the Karismian, against Alaleddin, the Seljukian +sultan of Roum, but as allies rather than vassals, p. 107. It was +after the defeat of Dschelaleddin that they furnished their +contingent to Alai-eddin. Fallmerayer struggles in vain to +mitigate this mark of the subjection of the Comneni to the +sultan. p. 116. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 22: The portrait of the French Latins is drawn in +Nicetas by the hand of prejudice and resentment: ouden tvn allwn +eqnvn eiV ''AreoV ?rga parasumbeblhsqai sjisin hneiconto all' +oude tiV tvn caritwn h tvn ?mousvn para toiV barbaroiV toutoiV +epexenizeto, kai para touto oimai thn jusin hsan anhmeroi, kai +ton xolon eixon tou logou prstreconta. [P. 791 Ed. Bek.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 23: I here begin to use, with freedom and +confidence, the eight books of the Histoire de C. P. sous +l'Empire des François, which Ducange has given as a +supplement to Villehardouin; and which, in a barbarous style, +deserves the praise of an original and classic work.]</p> + +<p>The Latin conquerors had been saluted with a solemn and early +embassy from John, or Joannice, or Calo-John, the revolted chief +of the Bulgarians and Walachians. He deemed himself their +brother, as the votary of the Roman pontiff, from whom he had +received the regal title and a holy banner; and in the subversion +of the Greek monarchy, he might aspire to the name of their +friend and accomplice. But Calo-John was astonished to find, that +the Count of Flanders had assumed the pomp and pride of the +successors of Constantine; and his ambassadors were dismissed +with a haughty message, that the rebel must deserve a pardon, by +touching with his forehead the footstool of the Imperial throne. +His resentment ^24 would have exhaled in acts of violence and +blood: his cooler policy watched the rising discontent of the +Greeks; affected a tender concern for their sufferings; and +promised, that their first struggles for freedom should be +supported by his person and kingdom. The conspiracy was +propagated by national hatred, the firmest band of association +and secrecy: the Greeks were impatient to sheathe their daggers +in the breasts of the victorious strangers; but the execution was +prudently delayed, till Henry, the emperor's brother, had +transported the flower of his troops beyond the Hellespont. Most +of the towns and villages of Thrace were true to the moment and +the signal; and the Latins, without arms or suspicion, were +slaughtered by the vile and merciless revenge of their slaves. +From Demotica, the first scene of the massacre, the surviving +vassals of the count of St. Pol escaped to Adrianople; but the +French and Venetians, who occupied that city, were slain or +expelled by the furious multitude: the garrisons that could +effect their retreat fell back on each other towards the +metropolis; and the fortresses, that separately stood against the +rebels, were ignorant of each other's and of their sovereign's +fate. The voice of fame and fear announced the revolt of the +Greeks and the rapid approach of their Bulgarian ally; and +Calo-John, not depending on the forces of his own kingdom, had +drawn from the Scythian wilderness a body of fourteen thousand +Comans, who drank, as it was said, the blood of their captives, +and sacrificed the Christians on the altars of their gods. +^25</p> + +<p>[Footnote 24: In Calo-John's answer to the pope we may find +his claims and complaints, (Gesta Innocent III. c. 108, 109:) he +was cherished at Rome as the prodigal son.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 25: The Comans were a Tartar or Turkman horde, which +encamped in the xiith and xiiith centuries on the verge of +Moldavia. The greater part were pagans, but some were Mahometans, +and the whole horde was converted to Christianity (A.D. 1370) by +Lewis, king of Hungary.]</p> + +<p>Alarmed by this sudden and growing danger, the emperor +despatched a swift messenger to recall Count Henry and his +troops; and had Baldwin expected the return of his gallant +brother, with a supply of twenty thousand Armenians, he might +have encountered the invader with equal numbers and a decisive +superiority of arms and discipline. But the spirit of chivalry +could seldom discriminate caution from cowardice; and the emperor +took the field with a hundred and forty knights, and their train +of archers and sergeants. The marshal, who dissuaded and obeyed, +led the vanguard in their march to Adrianople; the main body was +commanded by the count of Blois; the aged doge of Venice followed +with the rear; and their scanty numbers were increased from all +sides by the fugitive Latins. They undertook to besiege the +rebels of Adrianople; and such was the pious tendency of the +crusades that they employed the holy week in pillaging the +country for their subsistence, and in framing engines for the +destruction of their fellow-Christians. But the Latins were soon +interrupted and alarmed by the light cavalry of the Comans, who +boldly skirmished to the edge of their imperfect lines: and a +proclamation was issued by the marshal of Romania, that, on the +trumpet's sound, the cavalry should mount and form; but that +none, under pain of death, should abandon themselves to a +desultory and dangerous pursuit. This wise injunction was first +disobeyed by the count of Blois, who involved the emperor in his +rashness and ruin. The Comans, of the Parthian or Tartar school, +fled before their first charge; but after a career of two +leagues, when the knights and their horses were almost +breathless, they suddenly turned, rallied, and encompassed the +heavy squadrons of the Franks. The count was slain on the field; +the emperor was made prisoner; and if the one disdained to fly, +if the other refused to yield, their personal bravery made a poor +atonement for their ignorance, or neglect, of the duties of a +general. ^26</p> + +<p>[Footnote 26: Nicetas, from ignorance or malice, imputes the +defeat to the cowardice of Dandolo, (p. 383;) but Villehardouin +shares his own glory with his venerable friend, qui viels home +ére et gote ne veoit, mais mult ére sages et preus +et vigueros, (No. 193.) *</p> + +<p>Note: * Gibbon appears to me to have misapprehended the +passage of Nicetas. He says, "that principal and subtlest +mischief. that primary cause of all the horrible miseries +suffered by the <strong><em>Romans</em></strong>," i. e. the +Byzantines. It is an effusion of malicious triumph against the +Venetians, to whom he always ascribes the capture of +Constantinople. -- M.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LXI: Partition Of The Empire By The French +And Venetians. -- Part II.</em></strong></p> + +<p>Proud of his victory and his royal prize, the Bulgarian +advanced to relieve Adrianople and achieve the destruction of the +Latins. They must inevitably have been destroyed, if the marshal +of Romania had not displayed a cool courage and consummate skill; +uncommon in all ages, but most uncommon in those times, when war +was a passion, rather than a science. His grief and fears were +poured into the firm and faithful bosom of the doge; but in the +camp he diffused an assurance of safety, which could only be +realized by the general belief. All day he maintained his +perilous station between the city and the Barbarians: +Villehardouin decamped in silence at the dead of night; and his +masterly retreat of three days would have deserved the praise of +Xenophon and the ten thousand. In the rear, the marshal supported +the weight of the pursuit; in the front, he moderated the +impatience of the fugitives; and wherever the Comans approached, +they were repelled by a line of impenetrable spears. On the third +day, the weary troops beheld the sea, the solitary town of +Rodosta, ^27 and their friends, who had landed from the Asiatic +shore. They embraced, they wept; but they united their arms and +counsels; and in his brother's absence, Count Henry assumed the +regency of the empire, at once in a state of childhood and +caducity. ^28 If the Comans withdrew from the summer heats, seven +thousand Latins, in the hour of danger, deserted Constantinople, +their brethren, and their vows. Some partial success was +overbalanced by the loss of one hundred and twenty knights in the +field of Rusium; and of the Imperial domain, no more was left +than the capital, with two or three adjacent fortresses on the +shores of Europe and Asia. The king of Bulgaria was resistless +and inexorable; and Calo-John respectfully eluded the demands of +the pope, who conjured his new proselyte to restore peace and the +emperor to the afflicted Latins. The deliverance of Baldwin was +no longer, he said, in the power of man: that prince had died in +prison; and the manner of his death is variously related by +ignorance and credulity. The lovers of a tragic legend will be +pleased to hear, that the royal captive was tempted by the +amorous queen of the Bulgarians; that his chaste refusal exposed +him to the falsehood of a woman and the jealousy of a savage; +that his hands and feet were severed from his body; that his +bleeding trunk was cast among the carcasses of dogs and horses; +and that he breathed three days, before he was devoured by the +birds of prey. ^29 About twenty years afterwards, in a wood of +the Netherlands, a hermit announced himself as the true Baldwin, +the emperor of Constantinople, and lawful sovereign of Flanders. +He related the wonders of his escape, his adventures, and his +penance, among a people prone to believe and to rebel; and, in +the first transport, Flanders acknowledged her long-lost +sovereign. A short examination before the French court detected +the impostor, who was punished with an ignominious death; but the +Flemings still adhered to the pleasing error; and the countess +Jane is accused by the gravest historians of sacrificing to her +ambition the life of an unfortunate father. ^30</p> + +<p>[Footnote 27: The truth of geography, and the original text of +Villehardouin, (No. 194,) place Rodosto three days' journey +(trois jornées) from Adrianople: but Vigenere, in his +version, has most absurdly substituted <strong><em>trois +heures</em></strong>; and this error, which is not corrected by +Ducange has entrapped several moderns, whose names I shall +spare.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 28: The reign and end of Baldwin are related by +Villehardouin and Nicetas, (p. 386--416;) and their omissions are +supplied by Ducange in his Observations, and to the end of his +first book.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 29: After brushing away all doubtful and improbable +circumstances, we may prove the death of Baldwin, 1. By the firm +belief of the French barons, (Villehardouin, No. 230.) 2. By the +declaration of Calo-John himself, who excuses his not releasing +the captive emperor, quia debitum carnis exsolverat cum carcere +teneretur, (Gesta Innocent III. c. 109.) *</p> + +<p>Note: * Compare Von Raumer. Geschichte der Hohenstaufen, vol. +ii. p. 237. Petitot, in his preface to Villehardouin in the +Collection des Mémoires, relatifs a l'Histoire de France, +tom. i. p. 85, expresses his belief in the first part of the +"tragic legend." -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 30: See the story of this impostor from the French +and Flemish writers in Ducange, Hist. de C. P. iii. 9; and the +ridiculous fables that were believed by the monks of St. Alban's, +in Matthew Paris, Hist. Major, p. 271, 272.]</p> + +<p>In all civilized hostility, a treaty is established for the +exchange or ransom of prisoners; and if their captivity be +prolonged, their condition is known, and they are treated +according to their rank with humanity or honor. But the savage +Bulgarian was a stranger to the laws of war: his prisons were +involved in darkness and silence; and above a year elapsed before +the Latins could be assured of the death of Baldwin, before his +brother, the regent Henry, would consent to assume the title of +emperor. His moderation was applauded by the Greeks as an act of +rare and inimitable virtue. Their light and perfidious ambition +was eager to seize or anticipate the moment of a vacancy, while a +law of succession, the guardian both of the prince and people, +was gradually defined and confirmed in the hereditary monarchies +of Europe. In the support of the Eastern empire, Henry was +gradually left without an associate, as the heroes of the crusade +retired from the world or from the war. The doge of Venice, the +venerable Dandolo, in the fulness of years and glory, sunk into +the grave. The marquis of Montferrat was slowly recalled from the +Peloponnesian war to the revenge of Baldwin and the defence of +Thessalonica. Some nice disputes of feudal homage and service +were reconciled in a personal interview between the emperor and +the king; they were firmly united by mutual esteem and the common +danger; and their alliance was sealed by the nuptials of Henry +with the daughter of the Italian prince. He soon deplored the +loss of his friend and father. At the persuasion of some faithful +Greeks, Boniface made a bold and successful inroad among the +hills of Rhodope: the Bulgarians fled on his approach; they +assembled to harass his retreat. On the intelligence that his +rear was attacked, without waiting for any defensive armor, he +leaped on horseback, couched his lance, and drove the enemies +before him; but in the rash pursuit he was pierced with a mortal +wound; and the head of the king of Thessalonica was presented to +Calo-John, who enjoyed the honors, without the merit, of victory. +It is here, at this melancholy event, that the pen or the voice +of Jeffrey of Villehardouin seems to drop or to expire; ^31 and +if he still exercised his military office of marshal of Romania, +his subsequent exploits are buried in oblivion. ^32 The character +of Henry was not unequal to his arduous situation: in the siege +of Constantinople, and beyond the Hellespont, he had deserved the +fame of a valiant knight and a skilful commander; and his courage +was tempered with a degree of prudence and mildness unknown to +his impetuous brother. In the double war against the Greeks of +Asia and the Bulgarians of Europe, he was ever the foremost on +shipboard or on horseback; and though he cautiously provided for +the success of his arms, the drooping Latins were often roused by +his example to save and to second their fearless emperor. But +such efforts, and some supplies of men and money from France, +were of less avail than the errors, the cruelty, and death, of +their most formidable adversary. When the despair of the Greek +subjects invited Calo-John as their deliverer, they hoped that he +would protect their liberty and adopt their laws: they were soon +taught to compare the degrees of national ferocity, and to +execrate the savage conqueror, who no longer dissembled his +intention of dispeopling Thrace, of demolishing the cities, and +of transplanting the inhabitants beyond the Danube. Many towns +and villages of Thrace were already evacuated: a heap of ruins +marked the place of Philippopolis, and a similar calamity was +expected at Demotica and Adrianople, by the first authors of the +revolt. They raised a cry of grief and repentance to the throne +of Henry; the emperor alone had the magnanimity to forgive and +trust them. No more than four hundred knights, with their +sergeants and archers, could be assembled under his banner; and +with this slender force he fought ^* and repulsed the Bulgarian, +who, besides his infantry, was at the head of forty thousand +horse. In this expedition, Henry felt the difference between a +hostile and a friendly country: the remaining cities were +preserved by his arms; and the savage, with shame and loss, was +compelled to relinquish his prey. The siege of Thessalonica was +the last of the evils which Calo-John inflicted or suffered: he +was stabbed in the night in his tent; and the general, perhaps +the assassin, who found him weltering in his blood, ascribed the +blow, with general applause, to the lance of St. Demetrius. ^33 +After several victories, the prudence of Henry concluded an +honorable peace with the successor of the tyrant, and with the +Greek princes of Nice and Epirus. If he ceded some doubtful +limits, an ample kingdom was reserved for himself and his +feudatories; and his reign, which lasted only ten years, afforded +a short interval of prosperity and peace. Far above the narrow +policy of Baldwin and Boniface, he freely intrusted to the Greeks +the most important offices of the state and army; and this +liberality of sentiment and practice was the more seasonable, as +the princes of Nice and Epirus had already learned to seduce and +employ the mercenary valor of the Latins. It was the aim of Henry +to unite and reward his deserving subjects, of every nation and +language; but he appeared less solicitous to accomplish the +impracticable union of the two churches. Pelagius, the pope's +legate, who acted as the sovereign of Constantinople, had +interdicted the worship of the Greeks, and sternly imposed the +payment of tithes, the double procession of the Holy Ghost, and a +blind obedience to the Roman pontiff. As the weaker party, they +pleaded the duties of conscience, and implored the rights of +toleration: "Our bodies," they said, "are Cæsar's, but our +souls belong only to God. The persecution was checked by the +firmness of the emperor: ^34 and if we can believe that the same +prince was poisoned by the Greeks themselves, we must entertain a +contemptible idea of the sense and gratitude of mankind. His +valor was a vulgar attribute, which he shared with ten thousand +knights; but Henry possessed the superior courage to oppose, in a +superstitious age, the pride and avarice of the clergy. In the +cathedral of St. Sophia he presumed to place his throne on the +right hand of the patriarch; and this presumption excited the +sharpest censure of Pope Innocent the Third. By a salutary edict, +one of the first examples of the laws of mortmain, he prohibited +the alienation of fiefs: many of the Latins, desirous of +returning to Europe, resigned their estates to the church for a +spiritual or temporal reward; these holy lands were immediately +discharged from military service, and a colony of soldiers would +have been gradually transformed into a college of priests. +^35</p> + +<p>[Footnote 31: Villehardouin, No. 257. I quote, with regret, +this lamentable conclusion, where we lose at once the original +history, and the rich illustrations of Ducange. The last pages +may derive some light from Henry's two epistles to Innocent III., +(Gesta, c. 106, 107.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 32: The marshal was alive in 1212, but he probably +died soon afterwards, without returning to France, (Ducange, +Observations sur Villehardouin, p. 238.) His fief of Messinople, +the gift of Boniface, was the ancient Maximianopolis, which +flourished in the time of Ammianus Marcellinus, among the cities +of Thrace, (No. 141.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: There was no battle. On the advance of the +Latins, John suddenly broke up his camp and retreated. The Latins +considered this unexpected deliverance almost a miracle. Le Beau +suggests the probability that the detection of the Comans, who +usually quitted the camp during the heats of summer, may have +caused the flight of the Bulgarians. Nicetas, c. 8 Villebardouin, +c. 225. Le Beau, vol. xvii. p. 242. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 33: The church of this patron of Thessalonica was +served by the canons of the holy sepulchre, and contained a +divine ointment which distilled daily and stupendous miracles, +(Ducange, Hist. de C. P. ii. 4.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 34: Acropolita (c. 17) observes the persecution of +the legate, and the toleration of Henry, ('Erh, * as he calls +him) kludwna katestorese.</p> + +<p>Note: * Or rather 'ErrhV. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 35: See the reign of Henry, in Ducange, (Hist. de C. +P. l. i. c. 35--41, l. ii. c. 1--22,) who is much indebted to the +Epistles of the Popes. Le Beau (Hist. du Bas Empire, tom. xxi. p. +120--122) has found, perhaps in Doutreman, some laws of Henry, +which determined the service of fiefs, and the prerogatives of +the emperor.]</p> + +<p>The virtuous Henry died at Thessalonica, in the defence of +that kingdom, and of an infant, the son of his friend Boniface. +In the two first emperors of Constantinople the male line of the +counts of Flanders was extinct. But their sister Yolande was the +wife of a French prince, the mother of a numerous progeny; and +one of her daughters had married Andrew king of Hungary, a brave +and pious champion of the cross. By seating him on the Byzantine +throne, the barons of Romania would have acquired the forces of a +neighboring and warlike kingdom; but the prudent Andrew revered +the laws of succession; and the princess Yolande, with her +husband Peter of Courtenay, count of Auxerre, was invited by the +Latins to assume the empire of the East. The royal birth of his +father, the noble origin of his mother, recommended to the barons +of France the first cousin of their king. His reputation was +fair, his possessions were ample, and in the bloody crusade +against the Albigeois, the soldiers and the priests had been +abundantly satisfied of his zeal and valor. Vanity might applaud +the elevation of a French emperor of Constantinople; but prudence +must pity, rather than envy, his treacherous and imaginary +greatness. To assert and adorn his title, he was reduced to sell +or mortgage the best of his patrimony. By these expedients, the +liberality of his royal kinsman Philip Augustus, and the national +spirit of chivalry, he was enabled to pass the Alps at the head +of one hundred and forty knights, and five thousand five hundred +sergeants and archers. After some hesitation, Pope Honorius the +Third was persuaded to crown the successor of Constantine: but he +performed the ceremony in a church without the walls, lest he +should seem to imply or to bestow any right of sovereignty over +the ancient capital of the empire. The Venetians had engaged to +transport Peter and his forces beyond the Adriatic, and the +empress, with her four children, to the Byzantine palace; but +they required, as the price of their service, that he should +recover Durazzo from the despot of Epirus. Michael Angelus, or +Comnenus, the first of his dynasty, had bequeathed the succession +of his power and ambition to Theodore, his legitimate brother, +who already threatened and invaded the establishments of the +Latins. After discharging his debt by a fruitless assault, the +emperor raised the siege to prosecute a long and perilous journey +over land from Durazzo to Thessalonica. He was soon lost in the +mountains of Epirus: the passes were fortified; his provisions +exhausted; he was delayed and deceived by a treacherous +negotiation; and, after Peter of Courtenay and the Roman legate +had been arrested in a banquet, the French troops, without +leaders or hopes, were eager to exchange their arms for the +delusive promise of mercy and bread. The Vatican thundered; and +the impious Theodore was threatened with the vengeance of earth +and heaven; but the captive emperor and his soldiers were +forgotten, and the reproaches of the pope are confined to the +imprisonment of his legate. No sooner was he satisfied by the +deliverance of the priests and a promise of spiritual obedience, +than he pardoned and protected the despot of Epirus. His +peremptory commands suspended the ardor of the Venetians and the +king of Hungary; and it was only by a natural or untimely death +^36 that Peter of Courtenay was released from his hopeless +captivity. ^37</p> + +<p>[Footnote 36: Acropolita (c. 14) affirms, that Peter of +Courtenay died by the sword, (ergon macairaV genesqai;) but from +his dark expressions, I should conclude a previous captivity, wV +pantaV ardhn desmwtaV poihsai sun pasi skeuesi. * The Chronicle +of Auxerre delays the emperor's death till the year 1219; and +Auxerre is in the neighborhood of Courtenay.</p> + +<p>Note: * Whatever may have been the fact, this can hardly be +made out from the expressions of Acropolita. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 37: See the reign and death of Peter of Courtenay, +in Ducange, (Hist. de C. P. l. ii. c. 22--28,) who feebly strives +to excuse the neglect of the emperor by Honorius III.]</p> + +<p>The long ignorance of his fate, and the presence of the lawful +sovereign, of Yolande, his wife or widow, delayed the +proclamation of a new emperor. Before her death, and in the midst +of her grief, she was delivered of a son, who was named Baldwin, +the last and most unfortunate of the Latin princes of +Constantinople. His birth endeared him to the barons of Romania; +but his childhood would have prolonged the troubles of a +minority, and his claims were superseded by the elder claims of +his brethren. The first of these, Philip of Courtenay, who +derived from his mother the inheritance of Namur, had the wisdom +to prefer the substance of a marquisate to the shadow of an +empire; and on his refusal, Robert, the second of the sons of +Peter and Yolande, was called to the throne of Constantinople. +Warned by his father's mischance, he pursued his slow and secure +journey through Germany and along the Danube: a passage was +opened by his sister's marriage with the king of Hungary; and the +emperor Robert was crowned by the patriarch in the cathedral of +St. Sophia. But his reign was an æra of calamity and +disgrace; and the colony, as it was styled, of New France yielded +on all sides to the Greeks of Nice and Epirus. After a victory, +which he owed to his perfidy rather than his courage, Theodore +Angelus entered the kingdom of Thessalonica, expelled the feeble +Demetrius, the son of the marquis Boniface, erected his standard +on the walls of Adrianople; and added, by his vanity, a third or +a fourth name to the list of rival emperors. The relics of the +Asiatic province were swept away by John Vataces, the son-in-law +and successor of Theodore Lascaris, and who, in a triumphant +reign of thirty-three years, displayed the virtues both of peace +and war. Under his discipline, the swords of the French +mercenaries were the most effectual instruments of his conquests, +and their desertion from the service of their country was at once +a symptom and a cause of the rising ascendant of the Greeks. By +the construction of a fleet, he obtained the command of the +Hellespont, reduced the islands of Lesbos and Rhodes, attacked +the Venetians of Candia, and intercepted the rare and +parsimonious succors of the West. Once, and once only, the Latin +emperor sent an army against Vataces; and in the defeat of that +army, the veteran knights, the last of the original conquerors, +were left on the field of battle. But the success of a foreign +enemy was less painful to the pusillanimous Robert than the +insolence of his Latin subjects, who confounded the weakness of +the emperor and of the empire. His personal misfortunes will +prove the anarchy of the government and the ferociousness of the +times. The amorous youth had neglected his Greek bride, the +daughter of Vataces, to introduce into the palace a beautiful +maid, of a private, though noble family of Artois; and her mother +had been tempted by the lustre of the purple to forfeit her +engagements with a gentleman of Burgundy. His love was converted +into rage; he assembled his friends, forced the palace gates, +threw the mother into the sea, and inhumanly cut off the nose and +lips of the wife or concubine of the emperor. Instead of +punishing the offender, the barons avowed and applauded the +savage deed, ^38 which, as a prince and as a man, it was +impossible that Robert should forgive. He escaped from the guilty +city to implore the justice or compassion of the pope: the +emperor was coolly exhorted to return to his station; before he +could obey, he sunk under the weight of grief, shame, and +impotent resentment. ^39</p> + +<p>[Footnote 38: Marinus Sanutus (Secreta Fidelium Crucis, l. ii. +p. 4, c. 18, p. 73) is so much delighted with this bloody deed, +that he has transcribed it in his margin as a bonum exemplum. Yet +he acknowledges the damsel for the lawful wife of Robert.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 39: See the reign of Robert, in Ducange, (Hist. de +C. P. l. ii. c.--12.)]</p> + +<p>It was only in the age of chivalry, that valor could ascend +from a private station to the thrones of Jerusalem and +Constantinople. The titular kingdom of Jerusalem had devolved to +Mary, the daughter of Isabella and Conrad of Montferrat, and the +granddaughter of Almeric or Amaury. She was given to John of +Brienne, of a noble family in Champagne, by the public voice, and +the judgment of Philip Augustus, who named him as the most worthy +champion of the Holy Land. ^40 In the fifth crusade, he led a +hundred thousand Latins to the conquest of Egypt: by him the +siege of Damietta was achieved; and the subsequent failure was +justly ascribed to the pride and avarice of the legate. After the +marriage of his daughter with Frederic the Second, ^41 he was +provoked by the emperor's ingratitude to accept the command of +the army of the church; and though advanced in life, and +despoiled of royalty, the sword and spirit of John of Brienne +were still ready for the service of Christendom. In the seven +years of his brother's reign, Baldwin of Courtenay had not +emerged from a state of childhood, and the barons of Romania felt +the strong necessity of placing the sceptre in the hands of a man +and a hero. The veteran king of Jerusalem might have disdained +the name and office of regent; they agreed to invest him for his +life with the title and prerogatives of emperor, on the sole +condition that Baldwin should marry his second daughter, and +succeed at a mature age to the throne of Constantinople. The +expectation, both of the Greeks and Latins, was kindled by the +renown, the choice, and the presence of John of Brienne; and they +admired his martial aspect, his green and vigorous age of more +than fourscore years, and his size and stature, which surpassed +the common measure of mankind. ^42 But avarice, and the love of +ease, appear to have chilled the ardor of enterprise: ^* his +troops were disbanded, and two years rolled away without action +or honor, till he was awakened by the dangerous alliance of +Vataces emperor of Nice, and of Azan king of Bulgaria. They +besieged Constantinople by sea and land, with an army of one +hundred thousand men, and a fleet of three hundred ships of war; +while the entire force of the Latin emperor was reduced to one +hundred and sixty knights, and a small addition of sergeants and +archers. I tremble to relate, that instead of defending the city, +the hero made a sally at the head of his cavalry; and that of +forty-eight squadrons of the enemy, no more than three escaped +from the edge of his invincible sword. Fired by his example, the +infantry and the citizens boarded the vessels that anchored close +to the walls; and twenty-five were dragged in triumph into the +harbor of Constantinople. At the summons of the emperor, the +vassals and allies armed in her defence; broke through every +obstacle that opposed their passage; and, in the succeeding year, +obtained a second victory over the same enemies. By the rude +poets of the age, John of Brienne is compared to Hector, Roland, +and Judas Machabæus: ^43 but their credit, and his glory, +receive some abatement from the silence of the Greeks. The empire +was soon deprived of the last of her champions; and the dying +monarch was ambitious to enter paradise in the habit of a +Franciscan friar. ^44</p> + +<p>[Footnote 40: Rex igitur Franciæ, deliberatione +habitâ, respondit nuntiis, se daturum hominem Syriæ +partibus aptum; in armis probum (<strong><em>preux</em></strong>) +in bellis securum, in agendis providum, Johannem comitem +Brennensem. Sanut. Secret. Fidelium, l. iii. p. xi. c. 4, p. 205 +Matthew Paris, p. 159.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 41: Giannone (Istoria Civile, tom. ii. l. xvi. p. +380--385) discusses the marriage of Frederic II. with the +daughter of John of Brienne, and the double union of the crowns +of Naples and Jerusalem.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 42: Acropolita, c. 27. The historian was at that +time a boy, and educated at Constantinople. In 1233, when he was +eleven years old, his father broke the Latin chain, left a +splendid fortune, and escaped to the Greek court of Nice, where +his son was raised to the highest honors.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: John de Brienne, elected emperor 1229, wasted two +years in preparations, and did not arrive at Constantinople till +1231. Two years more glided away in inglorious inaction; he then +made some ineffective warlike expeditions. Constantinople was not +besieged till 1234.--M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 43: Philip Mouskes, bishop of Tournay, (A.D. +1274--1282,) has composed a poem, or rather string of verses, in +bad old Flemish French, on the Latin emperors of Constantinople, +which Ducange has published at the end of Villehardouin; see p. +38, for the prowess of John of Brienne.</p> + +<p>N'Aie, Ector, Roll' ne Ogiers</p> + +<p>Ne Judas Machabeus li fiers</p> + +<p>Tant ne fit d'armes en estors</p> + +<p>Com fist li Rois Jehans cel jors</p> + +<p>Et il defors et il dedans</p> + +<p>La paru sa force et ses sens</p> + +<p>Et li hardiment qu'il avoit.</p> + +<p>11]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 44: See the reign of John de Brienne, in Ducange, +Hist. de C. P. l. ii. c. 13--26.]</p> + +<p>In the double victory of John of Brienne, I cannot discover +the name or exploits of his pupil Baldwin, who had attained the +age of military service, and who succeeded to the imperial +dignity on the decease of his adoptive father. ^45 The royal +youth was employed on a commission more suitable to his temper; +he was sent to visit the Western courts, of the pope more +especially, and of the king of France; to excite their pity by +the view of his innocence and distress; and to obtain some +supplies of men or money for the relief of the sinking empire. He +thrice repeated these mendicant visits, in which he seemed to +prolong his stay and postpone his return; of the five-and-twenty +years of his reign, a greater number were spent abroad than at +home; and in no place did the emperor deem himself less free and +secure than in his native country and his capital. On some public +occasions, his vanity might be soothed by the title of Augustus, +and by the honors of the purple; and at the general council of +Lyons, when Frederic the Second was excommunicated and deposed, +his Oriental colleague was enthroned on the right hand of the +pope. But how often was the exile, the vagrant, the Imperial +beggar, humbled with scorn, insulted with pity, and degraded in +his own eyes and those of the nations! In his first visit to +England, he was stopped at Dover by a severe reprimand, that he +should presume, without leave, to enter an independent kingdom. +After some delay, Baldwin, however, was permitted to pursue his +journey, was entertained with cold civility, and thankfully +departed with a present of seven hundred marks. ^46 From the +avarice of Rome he could only obtain the proclamation of a +crusade, and a treasure of indulgences; a coin whose currency was +depreciated by too frequent and indiscriminate abuse. His birth +and misfortunes recommended him to the generosity of his cousin +Louis the Ninth; but the martial zeal of the saint was diverted +from Constantinople to Egypt and Palestine; and the public and +private poverty of Baldwin was alleviated, for a moment, by the +alienation of the marquisate of Namur and the lordship of +Courtenay, the last remains of his inheritance. ^47 By such +shameful or ruinous expedients, he once more returned to Romania, +with an army of thirty thousand soldiers, whose numbers were +doubled in the apprehension of the Greeks. His first despatches +to France and England announced his victories and his hopes: he +had reduced the country round the capital to the distance of +three days' journey; and if he succeeded against an important, +though nameless, city, (most probably Chiorli,) the frontier +would be safe and the passage accessible. But these expectations +(if Baldwin was sincere) quickly vanished like a dream: the +troops and treasures of France melted away in his unskilful +hands; and the throne of the Latin emperor was protected by a +dishonorable alliance with the Turks and Comans. To secure the +former, he consented to bestow his niece on the unbelieving +sultan of Cogni; to please the latter, he complied with their +Pagan rites; a dog was sacrificed between the two armies; and the +contracting parties tasted each other's blood, as a pledge of +their fidelity. ^48 In the palace, or prison, of Constantinople, +the successor of Augustus demolished the vacant houses for winter +fuel, and stripped the lead from the churches for the daily +expense of his family. Some usurious loans were dealt with a +scanty hand by the merchants of Italy; and Philip, his son and +heir, was pawned at Venice as the security for a debt. ^49 +Thirst, hunger, and nakedness, are positive evils: but wealth is +relative; and a prince who would be rich in a private station, +may be exposed by the increase of his wants to all the anxiety +and bitterness of poverty.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 45: See the reign of Baldwin II. till his expulsion +from Constantinople, in Ducange, Hist. de C. P. l. iv. c. 1--34, +the end l. v. c. 1--33.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 46: Matthew Paris relates the two visits of Baldwin +II. to the English court, p. 396, 637; his return to Greece +armatâ manû, p. 407 his letters of his nomen +formidabile, &c., p. 481, (a passage which has escaped +Ducange;) his expulsion, p. 850.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 47: Louis IX. disapproved and stopped the alienation +of Courtenay (Ducange, l. iv. c. 23.) It is now annexed to the +royal demesne but granted for a term +(<strong><em>engagé</em></strong>) to the family of +Boulainvilliers. Courtenay, in the election of Nemours in the +Isle de France, is a town of 900 inhabitants, with the remains of +a castle, (Mélanges tirés d'une Grande +Bibliothèque, tom. xlv. p. 74--77.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 48: Joinville, p. 104, edit. du Louvre. A Coman +prince, who died without baptism, was buried at the gates of +Constantinople with a live retinue of slaves and horses.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 49: Sanut. Secret. Fidel. Crucis, l. ii. p. iv. c. +18, p. 73.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LXI: Partition Of The Empire By The French +And Venetians. -- Part III.</em></strong></p> + +<p>But in this abject distress, the emperor and empire were still +possessed of an ideal treasure, which drew its fantastic value +from the superstition of the Christian world. The merit of the +true cross was somewhat impaired by its frequent division; and a +long captivity among the infidels might shed some suspicion on +the fragments that were produced in the East and West. But +another relic of the Passion was preserved in the Imperial chapel +of Constantinople; and the crown of thorns which had been placed +on the head of Christ was equally precious and authentic. It had +formerly been the practice of the Egyptian debtors to deposit, as +a security, the mummies of their parents; and both their honor +and religion were bound for the redemption of the pledge. In the +same manner, and in the absence of the emperor, the barons of +Romania borrowed the sum of thirteen thousand one hundred and +thirty-four pieces of gold ^50 on the credit of the holy crown: +they failed in the performance of their contract; and a rich +Venetian, Nicholas Querini, undertook to satisfy their impatient +creditors, on condition that the relic should be lodged at +Venice, to become his absolute property, if it were not redeemed +within a short and definite term. The barons apprised their +sovereign of the hard treaty and impending loss and as the empire +could not afford a ransom of seven thousand pounds sterling, +Baldwin was anxious to snatch the prize from the Venetians, and +to vest it with more honor and emolument in the hands of the most +Christian king. ^51 Yet the negotiation was attended with some +delicacy. In the purchase of relics, the saint would have started +at the guilt of simony; but if the mode of expression were +changed, he might lawfully repay the debt, accept the gift, and +acknowledge the obligation. His ambassadors, two Dominicans, were +despatched to Venice to redeem and receive the holy crown which +had escaped the dangers of the sea and the galleys of Vataces. On +opening a wooden box, they recognized the seals of the doge and +barons, which were applied on a shrine of silver; and within this +shrine the monument of the Passion was enclosed in a golden vase. +The reluctant Venetians yielded to justice and power: the emperor +Frederic granted a free and honorable passage; the court of +France advanced as far as Troyes in Champagne, to meet with +devotion this inestimable relic: it was borne in triumph through +Paris by the king himself, barefoot, and in his shirt; and a free +gift of ten thousand marks of silver reconciled Baldwin to his +loss. The success of this transaction tempted the Latin emperor +to offer with the same generosity the remaining furniture of his +chapel; ^52 a large and authentic portion of the true cross; the +baby-linen of the Son of God, the lance, the sponge, and the +chain, of his Passion; the rod of Moses, and part of the skull of +St. John the Baptist. For the reception of these spiritual +treasures, twenty thousand marks were expended by St. Louis on a +stately foundation, the holy chapel of Paris, on which the muse +of Boileau has bestowed a comic immortality. The truth of such +remote and ancient relics, which cannot be proved by any human +testimony, must be admitted by those who believe in the miracles +which they have performed. About the middle of the last age, an +inveterate ulcer was touched and cured by a holy prickle of the +holy crown: ^53 the prodigy is attested by the most pious and +enlightened Christians of France; nor will the fact be easily +disproved, except by those who are armed with a general antidote +against religious credulity. ^54</p> + +<p>[Footnote 50: Under the words +<strong><em>Perparus</em></strong>, +<strong><em>Perpera</em></strong>, +<strong><em>Hyperperum</em></strong>, Ducange is short and vague: +Monetæ genus. From a corrupt passage of Guntherus, (Hist. +C. P. c. 8, p. 10,) I guess that the Perpera was the nummus +aureus, the fourth part of a mark of silver, or about ten +shillings sterling in value. In lead it would be too +contemptible.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 51: For the translation of the holy crown, &c., +from Constantinople to Paris, see Ducange (Hist. de C. P. l. iv. +c. 11--14, 24, 35) and Fleury, (Hist. Ecclés. tom. xvii. +p. 201--204.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 52: Mélanges tirés d'une Grande +Bibliothèque, tom. xliii. p. 201--205. The Lutrin of +Boileau exhibits the inside, the soul and manners of the +<strong><em>Sainte Chapelle</em></strong>; and many facts +relative to the institution are collected and explained by his +commentators, Brosset and De St. Marc.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 53: It was performed A.D. 1656, March 24, on the +niece of Pascal; and that superior genius, with Arnauld, Nicole, +&c., were on the spot, to believe and attest a miracle which +confounded the Jesuits, and saved Port Royal, (uvres de Racine, +tom. vi. p. 176--187, in his eloquent History of Port +Royal.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 54: Voltaire (Siécle de Louis XIV. c. 37, +uvres, tom. ix. p. 178, 179) strives to invalidate the fact: but +Hume, (Essays, vol. ii. p. 483, 484,) with more skill and +success, seizes the battery, and turns the cannon against his +enemies.]</p> + +<p>The Latins of Constantinople ^55 were on all sides encompassed +and pressed; their sole hope, the last delay of their ruin, was +in the division of their Greek and Bulgarian enemies; and of this +hope they were deprived by the superior arms and policy of +Vataces, emperor of Nice. From the Propontis to the rocky coast +of Pamphylia, Asia was peaceful and prosperous under his reign; +and the events of every campaign extended his influence in +Europe. The strong cities of the hills of Macedonia and Thrace +were rescued from the Bulgarians; and their kingdom was +circumscribed by its present and proper limits, along the +southern banks of the Danube. The sole emperor of the Romans +could no longer brook that a lord of Epirus, a Comnenian prince +of the West, should presume to dispute or share the honors of the +purple; and the humble Demetrius changed the color of his +buskins, and accepted with gratitude the appellation of despot. +His own subjects were exasperated by his baseness and incapacity; +they implored the protection of their supreme lord. After some +resistance, the kingdom of Thessalonica was united to the empire +of Nice; and Vataces reigned without a competitor from the +Turkish borders to the Adriatic Gulf. The princes of Europe +revered his merit and power; and had he subscribed an orthodox +creed, it should seem that the pope would have abandoned without +reluctance the Latin throne of Constantinople. But the death of +Vataces, the short and busy reign of Theodore his son, and the +helpless infancy of his grandson John, suspended the restoration +of the Greeks. In the next chapter, I shall explain their +domestic revolutions; in this place, it will be sufficient to +observe, that the young prince was oppressed by the ambition of +his guardian and colleague, Michael Palæologus, who +displayed the virtues and vices that belong to the founder of a +new dynasty. The emperor Baldwin had flattered himself, that he +might recover some provinces or cities by an impotent +negotiation. His ambassadors were dismissed from Nice with +mockery and contempt. At every place which they named, +Palæologus alleged some special reason, which rendered it +dear and valuable in his eyes: in the one he was born; in another +he had been first promoted to military command; and in a third he +had enjoyed, and hoped long to enjoy, the pleasures of the chase. +"And what then do you propose to give us?" said the astonished +deputies. "Nothing," replied the Greek, "not a foot of land. If +your master be desirous of peace, let him pay me, as an annual +tribute, the sum which he receives from the trade and customs of +Constantinople. On these terms, I may allow him to reign. If he +refuses, it is war. I am not ignorant of the art of war, and I +trust the event to God and my sword." ^56 An expedition against +the despot of Epirus was the first prelude of his arms. If a +victory was followed by a defeat; if the race of the Comneni or +Angeli survived in those mountains his efforts and his reign; the +captivity of Villehardouin, prince of Achaia, deprived the Latins +of the most active and powerful vassal of their expiring +monarchy. The republics of Venice and Genoa disputed, in the +first of their naval wars, the command of the sea and the +commerce of the East. Pride and interest attached the Venetians +to the defence of Constantinople; their rivals were tempted to +promote the designs of her enemies, and the alliance of the +Genoese with the schismatic conqueror provoked the indignation of +the Latin church. ^57</p> + +<p>[Footnote 55: The gradual losses of the Latins may be traced +in the third fourth, and fifth books of the compilation of +Ducange: but of the Greek conquests he has dropped many +circumstances, which may be recovered from the larger history of +George Acropolita, and the three first books of Nicephorus, +Gregoras, two writers of the Byzantine series, who have had the +good fortune to meet with learned editors Leo Allatius at Rome, +and John Boivin in the Academy of Inscriptions of Paris.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 56: George Acropolita, c. 78, p. 89, 90. edit. +Paris.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 57: The Greeks, ashamed of any foreign aid, disguise +the alliance and succor of the Genoese: but the fact is proved by +the testimony of J Villani (Chron. l. vi. c. 71, in Muratori, +Script. Rerum Italicarum, tom. xiii. p. 202, 203) and William de +Nangis, (Annales de St. Louis, p. 248 in the Louvre Joinville,) +two impartial foreigners; and Urban IV threatened to deprive +Genoa of her archbishop.]</p> + +<p>Intent on his great object, the emperor Michael visited in +person and strengthened the troops and fortifications of Thrace. +The remains of the Latins were driven from their last +possessions: he assaulted without success the suburb of Galata; +and corresponded with a perfidious baron, who proved unwilling, +or unable, to open the gates of the metropolis. The next spring, +his favorite general, Alexius Strategopulus, whom he had +decorated with the title of Cæsar, passed the Hellespont +with eight hundred horse and some infantry, ^58 on a secret +expedition. His instructions enjoined him to approach, to listen, +to watch, but not to risk any doubtful or dangerous enterprise +against the city. The adjacent territory between the Propontis +and the Black Sea was cultivated by a hardy race of peasants and +outlaws, exercised in arms, uncertain in their allegiance, but +inclined by language, religion, and present advantage, to the +party of the Greeks. They were styled the +<strong><em>volunteers</em></strong>; ^59 and by their free +service the army of Alexius, with the regulars of Thrace and the +Coman auxiliaries, ^60 was augmented to the number of +five-and-twenty thousand men. By the ardor of the volunteers, and +by his own ambition, the Cæsar was stimulated to disobey +the precise orders of his master, in the just confidence that +success would plead his pardon and reward. The weakness of +Constantinople, and the distress and terror of the Latins, were +familiar to the observation of the volunteers; and they +represented the present moment as the most propitious to surprise +and conquest. A rash youth, the new governor of the Venetian +colony, had sailed away with thirty galleys, and the best of the +French knights, on a wild expedition to Daphnusia, a town on the +Black Sea, at the distance of forty leagues; ^* and the remaining +Latins were without strength or suspicion. They were informed +that Alexius had passed the Hellespont; but their apprehensions +were lulled by the smallness of his original numbers; and their +imprudence had not watched the subsequent increase of his army. +If he left his main body to second and support his operations, he +might advance unperceived in the night with a chosen detachment. +While some applied scaling-ladders to the lowest part of the +walls, they were secure of an old Greek, who would introduce +their companions through a subterraneous passage into his house; +they could soon on the inside break an entrance through the +golden gate, which had been long obstructed; and the conqueror +would be in the heart of the city before the Latins were +conscious of their danger. After some debate, the Cæsar +resigned himself to the faith of the volunteers; they were +trusty, bold, and successful; and in describing the plan, I have +already related the execution and success. ^61 But no sooner had +Alexius passed the threshold of the golden gate, than he trembled +at his own rashness; he paused, he deliberated; till the +desperate volunteers urged him forwards, by the assurance that in +retreat lay the greatest and most inevitable danger. Whilst the +Cæsar kept his regulars in firm array, the Comans dispersed +themselves on all sides; an alarm was sounded, and the threats of +fire and pillage compelled the citizens to a decisive resolution. +The Greeks of Constantinople remembered their native sovereigns; +the Genoese merchants their recent alliance and Venetian foes; +every quarter was in arms; and the air resounded with a general +acclamation of "Long life and victory to Michael and John, the +august emperors of the Romans!" Their rival, Baldwin, was +awakened by the sound; but the most pressing danger could not +prompt him to draw his sword in the defence of a city which he +deserted, perhaps, with more pleasure than regret: he fled from +the palace to the seashore, where he descried the welcome sails +of the fleet returning from the vain and fruitless attempt on +Daphnusia. Constantinople was irrecoverably lost; but the Latin +emperor and the principal families embarked on board the Venetian +galleys, and steered for the Isle of Euba, and afterwards for +Italy, where the royal fugitive was entertained by the pope and +Sicilian king with a mixture of contempt and pity. From the loss +of Constantinople to his death, he consumed thirteen years, +soliciting the Catholic powers to join in his restoration: the +lesson had been familiar to his youth; nor was his last exile +more indigent or shameful than his three former pilgrimages to +the courts of Europe. His son Philip was the heir of an ideal +empire; and the pretensions of his daughter Catherine were +transported by her marriage to Charles of Valois, the brother of +Philip the Fair, king of France. The house of Courtenay was +represented in the female line by successive alliances, till the +title of emperor of Constantinople, too bulky and sonorous for a +private name, modestly expired in silence and oblivion. ^62</p> + +<p>[Footnote 58: Some precautions must be used in reconciling the +discordant numbers; the 800 soldiers of Nicetas, the 25,000 of +Spandugino, (apud Ducange, l. v. c. 24;) the Greeks and Scythians +of Acropolita; and the numerous army of Michael, in the Epistles +of Pope Urban IV. (i. 129.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 59: Qelhmatarioi. They are described and named by +Pachymer, (l. ii. c. 14.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 60: It is needless to seek these Comans in the +deserts of Tartary, or even of Moldavia. A part of the horde had +submitted to John Vataces, and was probably settled as a nursery +of soldiers on some waste lands of Thrace, (Cantacuzen. l. i. c. +2.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: According to several authorities, particularly +Abulfaradj. Chron. Arab. p. 336, this was a stratagem on the part +of the Greeks to weaken the garrison of Constantinople. The Greek +commander offered to surrender the town on the appearance of the +Venetians. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 61: The loss of Constantinople is briefly told by +the Latins: the conquest is described with more satisfaction by +the Greeks; by Acropolita, (c. 85,) Pachymer, (l. ii. c. 26, 27,) +Nicephorus Gregoras, (l. iv. c. 1, 2) See Ducange, Hist. de C. P. +l. v. c. 19--27.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 62: See the three last books (l. v.--viii.) and the +genealogical tables of Ducange. In the year 1382, the titular +emperor of Constantinople was James de Baux, duke of Andria in +the kingdom of Naples, the son of Margaret, daughter of Catherine +de Valois, daughter of Catharine, daughter of Philip, son of +Baldwin II., (Ducange, l. viii. c. 37, 38.) It is uncertain +whether he left any posterity.]</p> + +<p>After this narrative of the expeditions of the Latins to +Palestine and Constantinople, I cannot dismiss the subject +without resolving the general consequences on the countries that +were the scene, and on the nations that were the actors, of these +memorable crusades. ^63 As soon as the arms of the Franks were +withdrawn, the impression, though not the memory, was erased in +the Mahometan realms of Egypt and Syria. The faithful disciples +of the prophet were never tempted by a profane desire to study +the laws or language of the idolaters; nor did the simplicity of +their primitive manners receive the slightest alteration from +their intercourse in peace and war with the unknown strangers of +the West. The Greeks, who thought themselves proud, but who were +only vain, showed a disposition somewhat less inflexible. In the +efforts for the recovery of their empire, they emulated the +valor, discipline, and tactics of their antagonists. The modern +literature of the West they might justly despise; but its free +spirit would instruct them in the rights of man; and some +institutions of public and private life were adopted from the +French. The correspondence of Constantinople and Italy diffused +the knowledge of the Latin tongue; and several of the fathers and +classics were at length honored with a Greek version. ^64 But the +national and religious prejudices of the Orientals were inflamed +by persecution, and the reign of the Latins confirmed the +separation of the two churches.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 63: Abulfeda, who saw the conclusion of the +crusades, speaks of the kingdoms of the Franks, and those of the +Negroes, as equally unknown, (Prolegom. ad Geograph.) Had he not +disdained the Latin language, how easily might the Syrian prince +have found books and interpreters!]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 64: A short and superficial account of these +versions from Latin into Greek is given by Huet, (de +Interpretatione et de claris Interpretibus (p. 131--135.) Maximus +Planudes, a monk of Constantinople, (A.D. 1327--1353) has +translated Cæsar's Commentaries, the Somnium Scipionis, the +Metamorphoses and Heroides of Ovid, &c., (Fabric. Bib. +Græc. tom. x. p. 533.)]</p> + +<p>If we compare the æra of the crusades, the Latins of +Europe with the Greeks and Arabians, their respective degrees of +knowledge, industry, and art, our rude ancestors must be content +with the third rank in the scale of nations. Their successive +improvement and present superiority may be ascribed to a peculiar +energy of character, to an active and imitative spirit, unknown +to their more polished rivals, who at that time were in a +stationary or retrograde state. With such a disposition, the +Latins should have derived the most early and essential benefits +from a series of events which opened to their eyes the prospect +of the world, and introduced them to a long and frequent +intercourse with the more cultivated regions of the East. The +first and most obvious progress was in trade and manufactures, in +the arts which are strongly prompted by the thirst of wealth, the +calls of necessity, and the gratification of the sense or vanity. +Among the crowd of unthinking fanatics, a captive or a pilgrim +might sometimes observe the superior refinements of Cairo and +Constantinople: the first importer of windmills ^65 was the +benefactor of nations; and if such blessings are enjoyed without +any grateful remembrance, history has condescended to notice the +more apparent luxuries of silk and sugar, which were transported +into Italy from Greece and Egypt. But the intellectual wants of +the Latins were more slowly felt and supplied; the ardor of +studious curiosity was awakened in Europe by different causes and +more recent events; and, in the age of the crusades, they viewed +with careless indifference the literature of the Greeks and +Arabians. Some rudiments of mathematical and medicinal knowledge +might be imparted in practice and in figures; necessity might +produce some interpreters for the grosser business of merchants +and soldiers; but the commerce of the Orientals had not diffused +the study and knowledge of their languages in the schools of +Europe. ^66 If a similar principle of religion repulsed the idiom +of the Koran, it should have excited their patience and curiosity +to understand the original text of the gospel; and the same +grammar would have unfolded the sense of Plato and the beauties +of Homer. Yet in a reign of sixty years, the Latins of +Constantinople disdained the speech and learning of their +subjects; and the manuscripts were the only treasures which the +natives might enjoy without rapine or envy. Aristotle was indeed +the oracle of the Western universities, but it was a barbarous +Aristotle; and, instead of ascending to the fountain head, his +Latin votaries humbly accepted a corrupt and remote version, from +the Jews and Moors of Andalusia. The principle of the crusades +was a savage fanaticism; and the most important effects were +analogous to the cause. Each pilgrim was ambitious to return with +his sacred spoils, the relics of Greece and Palestine; ^67 and +each relic was preceded and followed by a train of miracles and +visions. The belief of the Catholics was corrupted by new +legends, their practice by new superstitions; and the +establishment of the inquisition, the mendicant orders of monks +and friars, the last abuse of indulgences, and the final progress +of idolatry, flowed from the baleful fountain of the holy war. +The active spirit of the Latins preyed on the vitals of their +reason and religion; and if the ninth and tenth centuries were +the times of darkness, the thirteenth and fourteenth were the age +of absurdity and fable.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 65: Windmills, first invented in the dry country of +Asia Minor, were used in Normandy as early as the year 1105, (Vie +privée des François, tom. i. p. 42, 43. Ducange, +Gloss. Latin. tom. iv. p. 474.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 66: See the complaints of Roger Bacon, (Biographia +Britannica, vol. i. p. 418, Kippis's edition.) If Bacon himself, +or Gerbert, understood <strong><em>some</em></strong>Greek, they +were prodigies, and owed nothing to the commerce of the +East.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 67: Such was the opinion of the great Leibnitz, +(uvres de Fontenelle, tom. v. p. 458,) a master of the history of +the middle ages. I shall only instance the pedigree of the +Carmelites, and the flight of the house of Loretto, which were +both derived from Palestine.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LXI: Partition Of The Empire By The French +And Venetians. -- Part IV.</em></strong></p> + +<p>In the profession of Christianity, in the cultivation of a +fertile land, the northern conquerors of the Roman empire +insensibly mingled with the provincials, and rekindled the embers +of the arts of antiquity. Their settlements about the age of +Charlemagne had acquired some degree of order and stability, when +they were overwhelmed by new swarms of invaders, the Normans, +Saracens, ^68 and Hungarians, who replunged the western countries +of Europe into their former state of anarchy and barbarism. About +the eleventh century, the second tempest had subsided by the +expulsion or conversion of the enemies of Christendom: the tide +of civilization, which had so long ebbed, began to flow with a +steady and accelerated course; and a fairer prospect was opened +to the hopes and efforts of the rising generations. Great was the +increase, and rapid the progress, during the two hundred years of +the crusades; and some philosophers have applauded the propitious +influence of these holy wars, which appear to me to have checked +rather than forwarded the maturity of Europe. ^69 The lives and +labors of millions, which were buried in the East, would have +been more profitably employed in the improvement of their native +country: the accumulated stock of industry and wealth would have +overflowed in navigation and trade; and the Latins would have +been enriched and enlightened by a pure and friendly +correspondence with the climates of the East. In one respect I +can indeed perceive the accidental operation of the crusades, not +so much in producing a benefit as in removing an evil. The larger +portion of the inhabitants of Europe was chained to the soil, +without freedom, or property, or knowledge; and the two orders of +ecclesiastics and nobles, whose numbers were comparatively small, +alone deserved the name of citizens and men. This oppressive +system was supported by the arts of the clergy and the swords of +the barons. The authority of the priests operated in the darker +ages as a salutary antidote: they prevented the total extinction +of letters, mitigated the fierceness of the times, sheltered the +poor and defenceless, and preserved or revived the peace and +order of civil society. But the independence, rapine, and discord +of the feudal lords were unmixed with any semblance of good; and +every hope of industry and improvement was crushed by the iron +weight of the martial aristocracy. Among the causes that +undermined that Gothic edifice, a conspicuous place must be +allowed to the crusades. The estates of the barons were +dissipated, and their race was often extinguished, in these +costly and perilous expeditions. Their poverty extorted from +their pride those charters of freedom which unlocked the fetters +of the slave, secured the farm of the peasant and the shop of the +artificer, and gradually restored a substance and a soul to the +most numerous and useful part of the community. The conflagration +which destroyed the tall and barren trees of the forest gave air +and scope to the vegetation of the smaller and nutritive plants +of the soil. ^*</p> + +<p>[Footnote 68: If I rank the Saracens with the Barbarians, it +is only relative to their wars, or rather inroads, in Italy and +France, where their sole purpose was to plunder and destroy.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 69: On this interesting subject, the progress of +society in Europe, a strong ray of philosophical light has broke +from Scotland in our own times; and it is with private, as well +as public regard, that I repeat the names of Hume, Robertson, and +Adam Smith.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: On the consequences of the crusades, compare the +valuable Essay of Heeren, that of M. Choiseul d'Aillecourt, and a +chapter of Mr. Forster's "Mahometanism Unveiled." I may admire +this gentleman's learning and industry, without pledging myself +to his wild theory of prophets interpretation. -- M.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Digression On The Family Of +Courtenay.</em></strong></p> + +<p align="center">The purple of three emperors, who have reigned +at Constantinople, will authorize or excuse a digression on the +origin and singular fortunes of the house of Courtenay, ^70 in +the three principal branches: I. Of Edessa; II. Of France; and +III. Of England; of which the last only has survived the +revolutions of eight hundred years.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 70: I have applied, but not confined, myself to +<strong><em>A genealogical History of the noble and illustrious +Family of Courtenay, by Ezra Cleaveland, Tutor to Sir William +Courtenay, and Rector of Honiton; Exon. 1735, in +folio.</em></strong> The first part is extracted from William of +Tyre; the second from Bouchet's French history; and the third +from various memorials, public, provincial, and private, of the +Courtenays of Devonshire The rector of Honiton has more gratitude +than industry, and more industry than criticism.]</p> + +<p>I. Before the introduction of trade, which scatters riches, +and of knowledge, which dispels prejudice, the prerogative of +birth is most strongly felt and most humbly acknowledged. In +every age, the laws and manners of the Germans have discriminated +the ranks of society; the dukes and counts, who shared the empire +of Charlemagne, converted their office to an inheritance; and to +his children, each feudal lord bequeathed his honor and his +sword. The proudest families are content to lose, in the darkness +of the middle ages, the tree of their pedigree, which, however +deep and lofty, must ultimately rise from a plebeian root; and +their historians must descend ten centuries below the Christian +æra, before they can ascertain any lineal succession by the +evidence of surnames, of arms, and of authentic records. With the +first rays of light, ^71 we discern the nobility and opulence of +Atho, a French knight; his nobility, in the rank and title of a +nameless father; his opulence, in the foundation of the castle of +Courtenay in the district of Gatinois, about fifty-six miles to +the south of Paris. From the reign of Robert, the son of Hugh +Capet, the barons of Courtenay are conspicuous among the +immediate vassals of the crown; and Joscelin, the grandson of +Atho and a noble dame, is enrolled among the heroes of the first +crusade. A domestic alliance (their mothers were sisters) +attached him to the standard of Baldwin of Bruges, the second +count of Edessa; a princely fief, which he was worthy to receive, +and able to maintain, announces the number of his martial +followers; and after the departure of his cousin, Joscelin +himself was invested with the county of Edessa on both sides of +the Euphrates. By economy in peace, his territories were +replenished with Latin and Syrian subjects; his magazines with +corn, wine, and oil; his castles with gold and silver, with arms +and horses. In a holy warfare of thirty years, he was alternately +a conqueror and a captive: but he died like a soldier, in a horse +litter at the head of his troops; and his last glance beheld the +flight of the Turkish invaders who had presumed on his age and +infirmities. His son and successor, of the same name, was less +deficient in valor than in vigilance; but he sometimes forgot +that dominion is acquired and maintained by the same arms. He +challenged the hostility of the Turks, without securing the +friendship of the prince of Antioch; and, amidst the peaceful +luxury of Turbessel, in Syria, ^72 Joscelin neglected the defence +of the Christian frontier beyond the Euphrates. In his absence, +Zenghi, the first of the Atabeks, besieged and stormed his +capital, Edessa, which was feebly defended by a timorous and +disloyal crowd of Orientals: the Franks were oppressed in a bold +attempt for its recovery, and Courtenay ended his days in the +prison of Aleppo. He still left a fair and ample patrimony But +the victorious Turks oppressed on all sides the weakness of a +widow and orphan; and, for the equivalent of an annual pension, +they resigned to the Greek emperor the charge of defending, and +the shame of losing, the last relics of the Latin conquest. The +countess-dowager of Edessa retired to Jerusalem with her two +children; the daughter, Agnes, became the wife and mother of a +king; the son, Joscelin the Third, accepted the office of +seneschal, the first of the kingdom, and held his new estates in +Palestine by the service of fifty knights. His name appears with +honor in the transactions of peace and war; but he finally +vanishes in the fall of Jerusalem; and the name of Courtenay, in +this branch of Edessa, was lost by the marriage of his two +daughters with a French and German baron. ^73</p> + +<p>[Footnote 71: The primitive record of the family is a passage +of the continuator of Aimoin, a monk of Fleury, who wrote in the +xiith century. See his Chronicle, in the Historians of France, +(tom. xi. p. 276.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 72: Turbessel, or, as it is now styled, Telbesher, +is fixed by D'Anville four-and-twenty miles from the great +passage over the Euphrates at Zeugma.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 73: His possessions are distinguished in the Assises +of Jerusalem (c. B26) among the feudal tenures of the kingdom, +which must therefore have been collected between the years 1153 +and 1187. His pedigree may be found in the Lignages d'Outremer, +c. 16.]</p> + +<p>II. While Joscelin reigned beyond the Euphrates, his elder +brother Milo, the son of Joscelin, the son of Atho, continued, +near the Seine, to possess the castle of their fathers, which was +at length inherited by Rainaud, or Reginald, the youngest of his +three sons. Examples of genius or virtue must be rare in the +annals of the oldest families; and, in a remote age their pride +will embrace a deed of rapine and violence; such, however, as +could not be perpetrated without some superiority of courage, or, +at least, of power. A descendant of Reginald of Courtenay may +blush for the public robber, who stripped and imprisoned several +merchants, after they had satisfied the king's duties at Sens and +Orleans. He will glory in the offence, since the bold offender +could not be compelled to obedience and restitution, till the +regent and the count of Champagne prepared to march against him +at the head of an army. ^74 Reginald bestowed his estates on his +eldest daughter, and his daughter on the seventh son of King +Louis the Fat; and their marriage was crowned with a numerous +offspring. We might expect that a private should have merged in a +royal name; and that the descendants of Peter of France and +Elizabeth of Courtenay would have enjoyed the titles and honors +of princes of the blood. But this legitimate claim was long +neglected, and finally denied; and the causes of their disgrace +will represent the story of this second branch. +<strong>1.</strong> Of all the families now extant, the most +ancient, doubtless, and the most illustrious, is the house of +France, which has occupied the same throne above eight hundred +years, and descends, in a clear and lineal series of males, from +the middle of the ninth century. ^75 In the age of the crusades, +it was already revered both in the East and West. But from Hugh +Capet to the marriage of Peter, no more than five reigns or +generations had elapsed; and so precarious was their title, that +the eldest sons, as a necessary precaution, were previously +crowned during the lifetime of their fathers. The peers of France +have long maintained their precedency before the younger branches +of the royal line, nor had the princes of the blood, in the +twelfth century, acquired that hereditary lustre which is now +diffused over the most remote candidates for the succession. +<strong>2.</strong> The barons of Courtenay must have stood high +in their own estimation, and in that of the world, since they +could impose on the son of a king the obligation of adopting for +himself and all his descendants the name and arms of their +daughter and his wife. In the marriage of an heiress with her +inferior or her equal, such exchange often required and allowed: +but as they continued to diverge from the regal stem, the sons of +Louis the Fat were insensibly confounded with their maternal +ancestors; and the new Courtenays might deserve to forfeit the +honors of their birth, which a motive of interest had tempted +them to renounce. <strong>3.</strong> The shame was far more +permanent than the reward, and a momentary blaze was followed by +a long darkness. The eldest son of these nuptials, Peter of +Courtenay, had married, as I have already mentioned, the sister +of the counts of Flanders, the two first emperors of +Constantinople: he rashly accepted the invitation of the barons +of Romania; his two sons, Robert and Baldwin, successively held +and lost the remains of the Latin empire in the East, and the +granddaughter of Baldwin the Second again mingled her blood with +the blood of France and of Valois. To support the expenses of a +troubled and transitory reign, their patrimonial estates were +mortgaged or sold: and the last emperors of Constantinople +depended on the annual charity of Rome and Naples.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 74: The rapine and satisfaction of Reginald de +Courtenay, are preposterously arranged in the Epistles of the +abbot and regent Suger, (cxiv. cxvi.,) the best memorials of the +age, (Duchesne, Scriptores Hist. Franc. tom. iv. p. 530.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 75: In the beginning of the xith century, after +naming the father and grandfather of Hugh Capet, the monk Glaber +is obliged to add, cujus genus valde in-ante reperitur obscurum. +Yet we are assured that the great-grandfather of Hugh Capet was +Robert the Strong count of Anjou, (A.D. 863--873,) a noble Frank +of Neustria, Neustricus . . . generosæ stirpis, who was +slain in the defence of his country against the Normans, dum +patriæ fines tuebatur. Beyond Robert, all is conjecture or +fable. It is a probable conjecture, that the third race descended +from the second by Childebrand, the brother of Charles Martel. It +is an absurd fable that the second was allied to the first by the +marriage of Ansbert, a Roman senator and the ancestor of St. +Arnoul, with Blitilde, a daughter of Clotaire I. The Saxon origin +of the house of France is an ancient but incredible opinion. See +a judicious memoir of M. de Foncemagne, (Mémoires de +l'Académie des Inscriptions, tom. xx. p. 548--579.) He had +promised to declare his own opinion in a second memoir, which has +never appeared.]</p> + +<p>While the elder brothers dissipated their wealth in romantic +adventures, and the castle of Courtenay was profaned by a +plebeian owner, the younger branches of that adopted name were +propagated and multiplied. But their splendor was clouded by +poverty and time: after the decease of Robert, great butler of +France, they descended from princes to barons; the next +generations were confounded with the simple gentry; the +descendants of Hugh Capet could no longer be visible in the rural +lords of Tanlay and of Champignelles. The more adventurous +embraced without dishonor the profession of a soldier: the least +active and opulent might sink, like their cousins of the branch +of Dreux, into the condition of peasants. Their royal descent, in +a dark period of four hundred years, became each day more +obsolete and ambiguous; and their pedigree, instead of being +enrolled in the annals of the kingdom, must be painfully searched +by the minute diligence of heralds and genealogists. It was not +till the end of the sixteenth century, on the accession of a +family almost as remote as their own, that the princely spirit of +the Courtenays again revived; and the question of the nobility +provoked them to ascertain the royalty of their blood. They +appealed to the justice and compassion of Henry the Fourth; +obtained a favorable opinion from twenty lawyers of Italy and +Germany, and modestly compared themselves to the descendants of +King David, whose prerogatives were not impaired by the lapse of +ages or the trade of a carpenter. ^76 But every ear was deaf, and +every circumstance was adverse, to their lawful claims. The +Bourbon kings were justified by the neglect of the Valois; the +princes of the blood, more recent and lofty, disdained the +alliance of his humble kindred: the parliament, without denying +their proofs, eluded a dangerous precedent by an arbitrary +distinction, and established St. Louis as the first father of the +royal line. ^77 A repetition of complaints and protests was +repeatedly disregarded; and the hopeless pursuit was terminated +in the present century by the death of the last male of the +family. ^78 Their painful and anxious situation was alleviated by +the pride of conscious virtue: they sternly rejected the +temptations of fortune and favor; and a dying Courtenay would +have sacrificed his son, if the youth could have renounced, for +any temporal interest, the right and title of a legitimate prince +of the blood of France. ^79</p> + +<p>[Footnote 76: Of the various petitions, apologies, &c., +published by the princes of Courtenay, I have seen the three +following, all in octavo: 1. De Stirpe et Origine Domus de +Courtenay: addita sunt Responsa celeberrimorum Europæ +Jurisconsultorum; Paris, 1607. 2. Representation du +Procedé tenû a l'instance faicte devant le Roi, par +Messieurs de Courtenay, pour la conservation de l'Honneur et +Dignité de leur Maison, branche de la royalle Maison de +France; à Paris, 1613. 3. Representation du subject qui a +porté Messieurs de Salles et de Fraville, de la Maison de +Courtenay, à se retirer hors du Royaume, 1614. It was a +homicide, for which the Courtenays expected to be pardoned, or +tried, as princes of the blood.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 77: The sense of the parliaments is thus expressed +by Thuanus Principis nomen nusquam in Galliâ tributum, nisi +iis qui per mares e regibus nostris originem repetunt; qui nunc +tantum a Ludovico none beatæ memoriæ numerantur; nam +<strong><em>Cortini</em></strong> et Drocenses, a Ludovico crasso +genus ducentes, hodie inter eos minime recensentur. A distinction +of expediency rather than justice. The sanctity of Louis IX. +could not invest him with any special prerogative, and all the +descendants of Hugh Capet must be included in his original +compact with the French nation.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 78: The last male of the Courtenays was Charles +Roger, who died in the year 1730, without leaving any sons. The +last female was Helene de Courtenay, who married Louis de +Beaufremont. Her title of Princesse du Sang Royal de France was +suppressed (February 7th, 1737) by an +<strong><em>arrêt</em></strong> of the parliament of +Paris.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 79: The singular anecdote to which I allude is +related in the Recueil des Pieces interessantes et peu connues, +(Maestricht, 1786, in 4 vols. 12mo.;) and the unknown editor +quotes his author, who had received it from Helene de Courtenay, +marquise de Beaufremont.]</p> + +<p>III. According to the old register of Ford Abbey, the +Courtenays of Devonshire are descended from Prince +<strong><em>Florus</em></strong>, the second son of Peter, and +the grandson of Louis the Fat. ^80 This fable of the grateful or +venal monks was too respectfully entertained by our antiquaries, +Cambden ^81 and Dugdale: ^82 but it is so clearly repugnant to +truth and time, that the rational pride of the family now refuses +to accept this imaginary founder. Their most faithful historians +believe, that, after giving his daughter to the king's son, +Reginald of Courtenay abandoned his possessions in France, and +obtained from the English monarch a second wife and a new +inheritance. It is certain, at least, that Henry the Second +distinguished in his camps and councils a Reginald, of the name +and arms, and, as it may be fairly presumed, of the genuine race, +of the Courtenays of France. The right of wardship enabled a +feudal lord to reward his vassal with the marriage and estate of +a noble heiress; and Reginald of Courtenay acquired a fair +establishment in Devonshire, where his posterity has been seated +above six hundred years. ^83 From a Norman baron, Baldwin de +Brioniis, who had been invested by the Conqueror, Hawise, the +wife of Reginald, derived the honor of Okehampton, which was held +by the service of ninety-three knights; and a female might claim +the manly offices of hereditary viscount or sheriff, and of +captain of the royal castle of Exeter. Their son Robert married +the sister of the earl of Devon: at the end of a century, on the +failure of the family of Rivers, ^84 his great-grandson, Hugh the +Second, succeeded to a title which was still considered as a +territorial dignity; and twelve earls of Devonshire, of the name +of Courtenay, have flourished in a period of two hundred and +twenty years. They were ranked among the chief of the barons of +the realm; nor was it till after a strenuous dispute, that they +yielded to the fief of Arundel the first place in the parliament +of England: their alliances were contracted with the noblest +families, the Veres, Despensers, St. Johns, Talbots, Bohuns, and +even the Plantagenets themselves; and in a contest with John of +Lancaster, a Courtenay, bishop of London, and afterwards +archbishop of Canterbury, might be accused of profane confidence +in the strength and number of his kindred. In peace, the earls of +Devon resided in their numerous castles and manors of the west; +their ample revenue was appropriated to devotion and hospitality; +and the epitaph of Edward, surnamed from his misfortune, the +<strong><em>blind</em></strong>, from his virtues, the +<strong><em>good</em></strong>, earl, inculcates with much +ingenuity a moral sentence, which may, however, be abused by +thoughtless generosity. After a grateful commemoration of the +fifty-five years of union and happiness which he enjoyed with +Mabe his wife, the good earl thus speaks from the tomb: --</p> + +<p>"What we gave, we have;</p> + +<p>What we spent, we had;</p> + +<p>What we left, we lost." ^85</p> + +<p>But their <strong><em>losses</em></strong>, in this sense, +were far superior to their gifts and expenses; and their heirs, +not less than the poor, were the objects of their paternal care. +The sums which they paid for livery and seizin attest the +greatness of their possessions; and several estates have remained +in their family since the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. In +war, the Courtenays of England fulfilled the duties, and deserved +the honors, of chivalry. They were often intrusted to levy and +command the militia of Devonshire and Cornwall; they often +attended their supreme lord to the borders of Scotland; and in +foreign service, for a stipulated price, they sometimes +maintained fourscore men-at-arms and as many archers. By sea and +land they fought under the standard of the Edwards and Henries: +their names are conspicuous in battles, in tournaments, and in +the original list of the Order of the Garter; three brothers +shared the Spanish victory of the Black Prince; and in the lapse +of six generations, the English Courtenays had learned to despise +the nation and country from which they derived their origin. In +the quarrel of the two roses, the earls of Devon adhered to the +house of Lancaster; and three brothers successively died either +in the field or on the scaffold. Their honors and estates were +restored by Henry the Seventh; a daughter of Edward the Fourth +was not disgraced by the nuptials of a Courtenay; their son, who +was created Marquis of Exeter, enjoyed the favor of his cousin +Henry the Eighth; and in the camp of Cloth of Gold, he broke a +lance against the French monarch. But the favor of Henry was the +prelude of disgrace; his disgrace was the signal of death; and of +the victims of the jealous tyrant, the marquis of Exeter is one +of the most noble and guiltless. His son Edward lived a prisoner +in the Tower, and died in exile at Padua; and the secret love of +Queen Mary, whom he slighted, perhaps for the princess Elizabeth, +has shed a romantic color on the story of this beautiful youth. +The relics of his patrimony were conveyed into strange families +by the marriages of his four aunts; and his personal honors, as +if they had been legally extinct, were revived by the patents of +succeeding princes. But there still survived a lineal descendant +of Hugh, the first earl of Devon, a younger branch of the +Courtenays, who have been seated at Powderham Castle above four +hundred years, from the reign of Edward the Third to the present +hour. Their estates have been increased by the grant and +improvement of lands in Ireland, and they have been recently +restored to the honors of the peerage. Yet the Courtenays still +retain the plaintive motto, which asserts the innocence, and +deplores the fall, of their ancient house. ^86 While they sigh +for past greatness, they are doubtless sensible of present +blessings: in the long series of the Courtenay annals, the most +splendid æra is likewise the most unfortunate; nor can an +opulent peer of Britain be inclined to envy the emperors of +Constantinople, who wandered over Europe to solicit alms for the +support of their dignity and the defence of their capital.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 80: Dugdale, Monasticon Anglicanum, vol. i. p. 786. +Yet this fable must have been invented before the reign of Edward +III. The profuse devotion of the three first generations to Ford +Abbey was followed by oppression on one side and ingratitude on +the other; and in the sixth generation, the monks ceased to +register the births, actions, and deaths of their patrons.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 81: In his Britannia, in the list of the earls of +Devonshire. His expression, e regio sanguine ortos, credunt, +betrays, however, some doubt or suspicion.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 82: In his Baronage, P. i. p. 634, he refers to his +own Monasticon. Should he not have corrected the register of Ford +Abbey, and annihilated the phantom Florus, by the unquestionable +evidence of the French historians?]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 83: Besides the third and most valuable book of +Cleaveland's History, I have consulted Dugdale, the father of our +genealogical science, (Baronage, P. i. p. 634--643.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 84: This great family, de Ripuariis, de Redvers, de +Rivers, ended, in Edward the Fifth's time, in Isabella de +Fortibus, a famous and potent dowager, who long survived her +brother and husband, (Dugdale, Baronage, P i. p. 254--257.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 85: Cleaveland p. 142. By some it is assigned to a +Rivers earl of Devon; but the English denotes the xvth, rather +than the xiiith century.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 86: <strong><em>Ubi lapsus! Quid feci?</em></strong> +a motto which was probably adopted by the Powderham branch, after +the loss of the earldom of Devonshire, &c. The primitive arms +of the Courtenays were, <strong><em>Or</em></strong>, +<strong><em>three torteaux</em></strong>, +<strong><em>Gules</em></strong>, which seem to denote their +affinity with Godfrey of Bouillon, and the ancient counts of +Boulogne.]</p> + +<p><strong>Chapter LXII: Greek Emperors Of Nice And +Constantinople. <em>Part I.</em></strong></p> + +<p>The Greek Emperors Of Nice And Constantinople. -- Elevation +And Reign Of Michael Palæologus. -- His False Union With +The Pope And The Latin Church. -- Hostile Designs Of Charles Of +Anjou. -- Revolt Of Sicily. -- War Of The Catalans In Asia And +Greece. -- Revolutions And Present State Of Athens.</p> + +<p>The loss of Constantinople restored a momentary vigor to the +Greeks. From their palaces, the princes and nobles were driven +into the field; and the fragments of the falling monarchy were +grasped by the hands of the most vigorous or the most skilful +candidates. In the long and barren pages of the Byzantine annals, +^1 it would not be an easy task to equal the two characters of +Theodore Lascaris and John Ducas Vataces, ^2 who replanted and +upheld the Roman standard at Nice in Bithynia. The difference of +their virtues was happily suited to the diversity of their +situation. In his first efforts, the fugitive Lascaris commanded +only three cities and two thousand soldiers: his reign was the +season of generous and active despair: in every military +operation he staked his life and crown; and his enemies of the +Hellespont and the Mæander, were surprised by his celerity +and subdued by his boldness. A victorious reign of eighteen years +expanded the principality of Nice to the magnitude of an empire. +The throne of his successor and son-in-law Vataces was founded on +a more solid basis, a larger scope, and more plentiful resources; +and it was the temper, as well as the interest, of Vataces to +calculate the risk, to expect the moment, and to insure the +success, of his ambitious designs. In the decline of the Latins, +I have briefly exposed the progress of the Greeks; the prudent +and gradual advances of a conqueror, who, in a reign of +thirty-three years, rescued the provinces from national and +foreign usurpers, till he pressed on all sides the Imperial city, +a leafless and sapless trunk, which must full at the first stroke +of the axe. But his interior and peaceful administration is still +more deserving of notice and praise. ^3 The calamities of the +times had wasted the numbers and the substance of the Greeks; the +motives and the means of agriculture were extirpated; and the +most fertile lands were left without cultivation or inhabitants. +A portion of this vacant property was occupied and improved by +the command, and for the benefit, of the emperor: a powerful hand +and a vigilant eye supplied and surpassed, by a skilful +management, the minute diligence of a private farmer: the royal +domain became the garden and granary of Asia; and without +impoverishing the people, the sovereign acquired a fund of +innocent and productive wealth. According to the nature of the +soil, his lands were sown with corn or planted with vines; the +pastures were filled with horses and oxen, with sheep and hogs; +and when Vataces presented to the empress a crown of diamonds and +pearls, he informed her, with a smile, that this precious +ornament arose from the sale of the eggs of his innumerable +poultry. The produce of his domain was applied to the maintenance +of his palace and hospitals, the calls of dignity and +benevolence: the lesson was still more useful than the revenue: +the plough was restored to its ancient security and honor; and +the nobles were taught to seek a sure and independent revenue +from their estates, instead of adorning their splendid beggary by +the oppression of the people, or (what is almost the same) by the +favors of the court. The superfluous stock of corn and cattle was +eagerly purchased by the Turks, with whom Vataces preserved a +strict and sincere alliance; but he discouraged the importation +of foreign manufactures, the costly silks of the East, and the +curious labors of the Italian looms. "The demands of nature and +necessity," was he accustomed to say, "are indispensable; but the +influence of fashion may rise and sink at the breath of a +monarch;" and both his precept and example recommended simplicity +of manners and the use of domestic industry. The education of +youth and the revival of learning were the most serious objects +of his care; and, without deciding the precedency, he pronounced +with truth, that a prince and a philosopher ^4 are the two most +eminent characters of human society. His first wife was Irene, +the daughter of Theodore Lascaris, a woman more illustrious by +her personal merit, the milder virtues of her sex, than by the +blood of the Angeli and Comneni that flowed in her veins, and +transmitted the inheritance of the empire. After her death he was +contracted to Anne, or Constance, a natural daughter of the +emperor Frederic ^* the Second; but as the bride had not attained +the years of puberty, Vataces placed in his solitary bed an +Italian damsel of her train; and his amorous weakness bestowed on +the concubine the honors, though not the title, of a lawful +empress. His frailty was censured as a flagitious and damnable +sin by the monks; and their rude invectives exercised and +displayed the patience of the royal lover. A philosophic age may +excuse a single vice, which was redeemed by a crowd of virtues; +and in the review of his faults, and the more intemperate +passions of Lascaris, the judgment of their contemporaries was +softened by gratitude to the second founders of the empire. ^5 +The slaves of the Latins, without law or peace, applauded the +happiness of their brethren who had resumed their national +freedom; and Vataces employed the laudable policy of convincing +the Greeks of every dominion that it was their interest to be +enrolled in the number of his subjects.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 1: For the reigns of the Nicene emperors, more +especially of John Vataces and his son, their minister, George +Acropolita, is the only genuine contemporary; but George Pachymer +returned to Constantinople with the Greeks at the age of +nineteen, (Hanckius de Script. Byzant. c. 33, 34, p. 564--578. +Fabric. Bibliot. Græc. tom. vi. p. 448--460.) Yet the +history of Nicephorus Gregoras, though of the xivth century, is a +valuable narrative from the taking of Constantinople by the +Latins.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 2: Nicephorus Gregoras (l. ii. c. 1) distinguishes +between the oxeia ormh of Lascaris, and the eustaqeia of Vataces. +The two portraits are in a very good style.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 3: Pachymer, l. i. c. 23, 24. Nic. Greg. l. ii. c. +6. The reader of the Byzantines must observe how rarely we are +indulged with such precious details.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 4: Monoi gar apantwn anqrwpwn onomastotatoi basileuV +kai jilosojoV, (Greg. Acropol. c. 32.) The emperor, in a familiar +conversation, examined and encouraged the studies of his future +logothete.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Sister of Manfred, afterwards king of Naples. +Nic. Greg. p. 45. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 5: Compare Acropolita, (c. 18, 52,) and the two +first books of Nicephorus Gregoras.]</p> + +<p>A strong shade of degeneracy is visible between John Vataces +and his son Theodore; between the founder who sustained the +weight, and the heir who enjoyed the splendor, of the Imperial +crown. ^6 Yet the character of Theodore was not devoid of energy; +he had been educated in the school of his father, in the exercise +of war and hunting; Constantinople was yet spared; but in the +three years of a short reign, he thrice led his armies into the +heart of Bulgaria. His virtues were sullied by a choleric and +suspicious temper: the first of these may be ascribed to the +ignorance of control; and the second might naturally arise from a +dark and imperfect view of the corruption of mankind. On a march +in Bulgaria, he consulted on a question of policy his principal +ministers; and the Greek logothete, George Acropolita, presumed +to offend him by the declaration of a free and honest opinion. +The emperor half unsheathed his cimeter; but his more deliberate +rage reserved Acropolita for a baser punishment. One of the first +officers of the empire was ordered to dismount, stripped of his +robes, and extended on the ground in the presence of the prince +and army. In this posture he was chastised with so many and such +heavy blows from the clubs of two guards or executioners, that +when Theodore commanded them to cease, the great logothete was +scarcely able to rise and crawl away to his tent. After a +seclusion of some days, he was recalled by a peremptory mandate +to his seat in council; and so dead were the Greeks to the sense +of honor and shame, that it is from the narrative of the sufferer +himself that we acquire the knowledge of his disgrace. ^7 The +cruelty of the emperor was exasperated by the pangs of sickness, +the approach of a premature end, and the suspicion of poison and +magic. The lives and fortunes, the eyes and limbs, of his kinsmen +and nobles, were sacrificed to each sally of passion; and before +he died, the son of Vataces might deserve from the people, or at +least from the court, the appellation of tyrant. A matron of the +family of the Palæologi had provoked his anger by refusing +to bestow her beauteous daughter on the vile plebeian who was +recommended by his caprice. Without regard to her birth or age, +her body, as high as the neck, was enclosed in a sack with +several cats, who were pricked with pins to irritate their fury +against their unfortunate fellow-captive. In his last hours the +emperor testified a wish to forgive and be forgiven, a just +anxiety for the fate of John his son and successor, who, at the +age of eight years, was condemned to the dangers of a long +minority. His last choice intrusted the office of guardian to the +sanctity of the patriarch Arsenius, and to the courage of George +Muzalon, the great domestic, who was equally distinguished by the +royal favor and the public hatred. Since their connection with +the Latins, the names and privileges of hereditary rank had +insinuated themselves into the Greek monarchy; and the noble +families ^8 were provoked by the elevation of a worthless +favorite, to whose influence they imputed the errors and +calamities of the late reign. In the first council, after the +emperor's death, Muzalon, from a lofty throne, pronounced a +labored apology of his conduct and intentions: his modesty was +subdued by a unanimous assurance of esteem and fidelity; and his +most inveterate enemies were the loudest to salute him as the +guardian and savior of the Romans. Eight days were sufficient to +prepare the execution of the conspiracy. On the ninth, the +obsequies of the deceased monarch were solemnized in the +cathedral of Magnesia, ^9 an Asiatic city, where he expired, on +the banks of the Hermus, and at the foot of Mount Sipylus. The +holy rites were interrupted by a sedition of the guards; Muzalon, +his brothers, and his adherents, were massacred at the foot of +the altar; and the absent patriarch was associated with a new +colleague, with Michael Palæologus, the most illustrious, +in birth and merit, of the Greek nobles. ^10</p> + +<p>[Footnote 6: A Persian saying, that Cyrus was the +<strong><em>father</em></strong> and Darius the +<strong><em>master</em></strong>, of his subjects, was applied to +Vataces and his son. But Pachymer (l. i. c. 23) has mistaken the +mild Darius for the cruel Cambyses, despot or tyrant of his +people. By the institution of taxes, Darius had incurred the less +odious, but more contemptible, name of KaphloV, merchant or +broker, (Herodotus, iii. 89.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 7: Acropolita (c. 63) seems to admire his own +firmness in sustaining a beating, and not returning to council +till he was called. He relates the exploits of Theodore, and his +own services, from c. 53 to c. 74 of his history. See the third +book of Nicephorus Gregoras.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 8: Pachymer (l. i. c. 21) names and discriminates +fifteen or twenty Greek families, kai osoi alloi, oiV h +megalogenhV seira kai crush sugkekrothto. Does he mean, by this +decoration, a figurative or a real golden chain? Perhaps, +both.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 9: The old geographers, with Cellarius and +D'Anville, and our travellers, particularly Pocock and Chandler, +will teach us to distinguish the two Magnesias of Asia Minor, of +the Mæander and of Sipylus. The latter, our present object, +is still flourishing for a Turkish city, and lies eight hours, or +leagues, to the north-east of Smyrna, (Tournefort, Voyage du +Levant, tom. iii. lettre xxii. p. 365--370. Chandler's Travels +into Asia Minor, p. 267.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 10: See Acropolita, (c. 75, 76, &c.,) who lived +too near the times; Pachymer, (l. i. c. 13--25,) Gregoras, (l. +iii. c. 3, 4, 5.)]</p> + +<p>Of those who are proud of their ancestors, the far greater +part must be content with local or domestic renown; and few there +are who dare trust the memorials of their family to the public +annals of their country. As early as the middle of the eleventh +century, the noble race of the Palæologi ^11 stands high +and conspicuous in the Byzantine history: it was the valiant +George Palæologus who placed the father of the Comneni on +the throne; and his kinsmen or descendants continue, in each +generation, to lead the armies and councils of the state. The +purple was not dishonored by their alliance, and had the law of +succession, and female succession, been strictly observed, the +wife of Theodore Lascaris must have yielded to her elder sister, +the mother of Michael Palæologus, who afterwards raised his +family to the throne. In his person, the splendor of birth was +dignified by the merit of the soldier and statesman: in his early +youth he was promoted to the office of +<strong><em>constable</em></strong> or commander of the French +mercenaries; the private expense of a day never exceeded three +pieces of gold; but his ambition was rapacious and profuse; and +his gifts were doubled by the graces of his conversation and +manners. The love of the soldiers and people excited the jealousy +of the court, and Michael thrice escaped from the dangers in +which he was involved by his own imprudence or that of his +friends. I. Under the reign of Justice and Vataces, a dispute +arose ^12 between two officers, one of whom accused the other of +maintaining the hereditary right of the Palæologi The cause +was decided, according to the new jurisprudence of the Latins, by +single combat; the defendant was overthrown; but he persisted in +declaring that himself alone was guilty; and that he had uttered +these rash or treasonable speeches without the approbation or +knowledge of his patron Yet a cloud of suspicion hung over the +innocence of the constable; he was still pursued by the whispers +of malevolence; and a subtle courtier, the archbishop of +Philadelphia, urged him to accept the judgment of God in the +fiery proof of the ordeal. ^13 Three days before the trial, the +patient's arm was enclosed in a bag, and secured by the royal +signet; and it was incumbent on him to bear a red-hot ball of +iron three times from the altar to the rails of the sanctuary, +without artifice and without injury. Palæologus eluded the +dangerous experiment with sense and pleasantry. "I am a soldier," +said he, "and will boldly enter the lists with my accusers; but a +layman, a sinner like myself, is not endowed with the gift of +miracles. <strong><em>Your</em></strong> piety, most holy +prelate, may deserve the interposition of Heaven, and from your +hands I will receive the fiery globe, the pledge of my +innocence." The archbishop started; the emperor smiled; and the +absolution or pardon of Michael was approved by new rewards and +new services. II. In the succeeding reign, as he held the +government of Nice, he was secretly informed, that the mind of +the absent prince was poisoned with jealousy; and that death, or +blindness, would be his final reward. Instead of awaiting the +return and sentence of Theodore, the constable, with some +followers, escaped from the city and the empire; and though he +was plundered by the Turkmans of the desert, he found a +hospitable refuge in the court of the sultan. In the ambiguous +state of an exile, Michael reconciled the duties of gratitude and +loyalty: drawing his sword against the Tartars; admonishing the +garrisons of the Roman limit; and promoting, by his influence, +the restoration of peace, in which his pardon and recall were +honorably included. III. While he guarded the West against the +despot of Epirus, Michael was again suspected and condemned in +the palace; and such was his loyalty or weakness, that he +submitted to be led in chains above six hundred miles from +Durazzo to Nice. The civility of the messenger alleviated his +disgrace; the emperor's sickness dispelled his danger; and the +last breath of Theodore, which recommended his infant son, at +once acknowledged the innocence and the power of +Palæologus.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 11: The pedigree of Palæologus is explained by +Ducange, (Famil. Byzant. p. 230, &c.:) the events of his +private life are related by Pachymer (l. i. c. 7--12) and +Gregoras (l. ii. 8, l. iii. 2, 4, l. iv. 1) with visible favor to +the father of the reigning dynasty.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 12: Acropolita (c. 50) relates the circumstances of +this curious adventure, which seem to have escaped the more +recent writers.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 13: Pachymer, (l. i. c. 12,) who speaks with proper +contempt of this barbarous trial, affirms, that he had seen in +his youth many person who had sustained, without injury, the +fiery ordeal. As a Greek, he is credulous; but the ingenuity of +the Greeks might furnish some remedies of art or fraud against +their own superstition, or that of their tyrant.]</p> + +<p>But his innocence had been too unworthily treated, and his +power was too strongly felt, to curb an aspiring subject in the +fair field that was opened to his ambition. ^14 In the council, +after the death of Theodore, he was the first to pronounce, and +the first to violate, the oath of allegiance to Muzalon; and so +dexterous was his conduct, that he reaped the benefit, without +incurring the guilt, or at least the reproach, of the subsequent +massacre. In the choice of a regent, he balanced the interests +and passions of the candidates; turned their envy and hatred from +himself against each other, and forced every competitor to own, +that after his own claims, those of Palæologus were best +entitled to the preference. Under the title of great duke, he +accepted or assumed, during a long minority, the active powers of +government; the patriarch was a venerable name; and the factious +nobles were seduced, or oppressed, by the ascendant of his +genius. The fruits of the economy of Vataces were deposited in a +strong castle on the banks of the Hermus, in the custody of the +faithful Varangians: the constable retained his command or +influence over the foreign troops; he employed the guards to +possess the treasure, and the treasure to corrupt the guards; and +whatsoever might be the abuse of the public money, his character +was above the suspicion of private avarice. By himself, or by his +emissaries, he strove to persuade every rank of subjects, that +their own prosperity would rise in just proportion to the +establishment of his authority. The weight of taxes was +suspended, the perpetual theme of popular complaint; and he +prohibited the trials by the ordeal and judicial combat. These +Barbaric institutions were already abolished or undermined in +France ^15 and England; ^16 and the appeal to the sword offended +the sense of a civilized, ^17 and the temper of an unwarlike, +people. For the future maintenance of their wives and children, +the veterans were grateful: the priests and the philosophers +applauded his ardent zeal for the advancement of religion and +learning; and his vague promise of rewarding merit was applied by +every candidate to his own hopes. Conscious of the influence of +the clergy, Michael successfully labored to secure the suffrage +of that powerful order. Their expensive journey from Nice to +Magnesia, afforded a decent and ample pretence: the leading +prelates were tempted by the liberality of his nocturnal visits; +and the incorruptible patriarch was flattered by the homage of +his new colleague, who led his mule by the bridle into the town, +and removed to a respectful distance the importunity of the +crowd. Without renouncing his title by royal descent, +Palæologus encouraged a free discussion into the advantages +of elective monarchy; and his adherents asked, with the insolence +of triumph, what patient would trust his health, or what merchant +would abandon his vessel, to the +<strong><em>hereditary</em></strong> skill of a physician or a +pilot? The youth of the emperor, and the impending dangers of a +minority, required the support of a mature and experienced +guardian; of an associate raised above the envy of his equals, +and invested with the name and prerogatives of royalty. For the +interest of the prince and people, without any selfish views for +himself or his family, the great duke consented to guard and +instruct the son of Theodore; but he sighed for the happy moment +when he might restore to his firmer hands the administration of +his patrimony, and enjoy the blessings of a private station. He +was first invested with the title and prerogatives of +<strong><em>despot</em></strong>, which bestowed the purple +ornaments and the second place in the Roman monarchy. It was +afterwards agreed that John and Michael should be proclaimed as +joint emperors, and raised on the buckler, but that the +preeminence should be reserved for the birthright of the former. +A mutual league of amity was pledged between the royal partners; +and in case of a rupture, the subjects were bound, by their oath +of allegiance, to declare themselves against the aggressor; an +ambiguous name, the seed of discord and civil war. +Palæologus was content; but, on the day of the coronation, +and in the cathedral of Nice, his zealous adherents most +vehemently urged the just priority of his age and merit. The +unseasonable dispute was eluded by postponing to a more +convenient opportunity the coronation of John Lascaris; and he +walked with a slight diadem in the train of his guardian, who +alone received the Imperial crown from the hands of the +patriarch. It was not without extreme reluctance that Arsenius +abandoned the cause of his pupil; out the Varangians brandished +their battle-axes; a sign of assent was extorted from the +trembling youth; and some voices were heard, that the life of a +child should no longer impede the settlement of the nation. A +full harvest of honors and employments was distributed among his +friends by the grateful Palæologus. In his own family he +created a despot and two sebastocrators; Alexius Strategopulus +was decorated with the title of Cæsar; and that veteran +commander soon repaid the obligation, by restoring Constantinople +to the Greek emperor.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 14: Without comparing Pachymer to Thucydides or +Tacitus, I will praise his narrative, (l. i. c. 13--32, l. ii. c. +1--9,) which pursues the ascent of Palæologus with +eloquence, perspicuity, and tolerable freedom. Acropolita is more +cautious, and Gregoras more concise.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 15: The judicial combat was abolished by St. Louis +in his own territories; and his example and authority were at +length prevalent in France, (Esprit des Loix, l. xxviii. c. +29.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 16: In civil cases Henry II. gave an option to the +defendant: Glanville prefers the proof by evidence; and that by +judicial combat is reprobated in the Fleta. Yet the trial by +battle has never been abrogated in the English law, and it was +ordered by the judges as late as the beginning of the last +century. *</p> + +<p>Note *: * And even demanded in the present. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 17: Yet an ingenious friend has urged to me in +mitigation of this practice, 1. <strong><em>That</em></strong> in +nations emerging from barbarism, it moderates the license of +private war and arbitrary revenge. 2. +<strong><em>That</em></strong> it is less absurd than the trials +by the ordeal, or boiling water, or the cross, which it has +contributed to abolish. 3. <strong><em>That</em></strong> it +served at least as a test of personal courage; a quality so +seldom united with a base disposition, that the danger of a trial +might be some check to a malicious prosecutor, and a useful +barrier against injustice supported by power. The gallant and +unfortunate earl of Surrey might probably have escaped his +unmerited fate, had not his demand of the combat against his +accuser been overruled.]</p> + +<p>It was in the second year of his reign, while he resided in +the palace and gardens of Nymphæum, ^18 near Smyrna, that +the first messenger arrived at the dead of night; and the +stupendous intelligence was imparted to Michael, after he had +been gently waked by the tender precaution of his sister Eulogia. +The man was unknown or obscure; he produced no letters from the +victorious Cæsar; nor could it easily be credited, after +the defeat of Vataces and the recent failure of Palæologus +himself, that the capital had been surprised by a detachment of +eight hundred soldiers. As a hostage, the doubtful author was +confined, with the assurance of death or an ample recompense; and +the court was left some hours in the anxiety of hope and fear, +till the messengers of Alexius arrived with the authentic +intelligence, and displayed the trophies of the conquest, the +sword and sceptre, ^19 the buskins and bonnet, ^20 of the usurper +Baldwin, which he had dropped in his precipitate flight. A +general assembly of the bishops, senators, and nobles, was +immediately convened, and never perhaps was an event received +with more heartfelt and universal joy. In a studied oration, the +new sovereign of Constantinople congratulated his own and the +public fortune. "There was a time," said he, "a far distant time, +when the Roman empire extended to the Adriatic, the Tigris, and +the confines of Æthiopia. After the loss of the provinces, +our capital itself, in these last and calamitous days, has been +wrested from our hands by the Barbarians of the West. From the +lowest ebb, the tide of prosperity has again returned in our +favor; but our prosperity was that of fugitives and exiles: and +when we were asked, which was the country of the Romans, we +indicated with a blush the climate of the globe, and the quarter +of the heavens. The divine Providence has now restored to our +arms the city of Constantine, the sacred seat of religion and +empire; and it will depend on our valor and conduct to render +this important acquisition the pledge and omen of future +victories." So eager was the impatience of the prince and people, +that Michael made his triumphal entry into Constantinople only +twenty days after the expulsion of the Latins. The golden gate +was thrown open at his approach; the devout conqueror dismounted +from his horse; and a miraculous image of Mary the Conductress +was borne before him, that the divine Virgin in person might +appear to conduct him to the temple of her Son, the cathedral of +St. Sophia. But after the first transport of devotion and pride, +he sighed at the dreary prospect of solitude and ruin. The palace +was defiled with smoke and dirt, and the gross intemperance of +the Franks; whole streets had been consumed by fire, or were +decayed by the injuries of time; the sacred and profane edifices +were stripped of their ornaments: and, as if they were conscious +of their approaching exile, the industry of the Latins had been +confined to the work of pillage and destruction. Trade had +expired under the pressure of anarchy and distress, and the +numbers of inhabitants had decreased with the opulence of the +city. It was the first care of the Greek monarch to reinstate the +nobles in the palaces of their fathers; and the houses or the +ground which they occupied were restored to the families that +could exhibit a legal right of inheritance. But the far greater +part was extinct or lost; the vacant property had devolved to the +lord; he repeopled Constantinople by a liberal invitation to the +provinces; and the brave <strong><em>volunteers</em></strong> +were seated in the capital which had been recovered by their +arms. The French barons and the principal families had retired +with their emperor; but the patient and humble crowd of Latins +was attached to the country, and indifferent to the change of +masters. Instead of banishing the factories of the Pisans, +Venetians, and Genoese, the prudent conqueror accepted their +oaths of allegiance, encouraged their industry, confirmed their +privileges, and allowed them to live under the jurisdiction of +their proper magistrates. Of these nations, the Pisans and +Venetians preserved their respective quarters in the city; but +the services and power of the Genoese deserved at the same time +the gratitude and the jealousy of the Greeks. Their independent +colony was first planted at the seaport town of Heraclea in +Thrace. They were speedily recalled, and settled in the exclusive +possession of the suburb of Galata, an advantageous post, in +which they revived the commerce, and insulted the majesty, of the +Byzantine empire. ^21</p> + +<p>[Footnote 18: The site of Nymphæum is not clearly +defined in ancient or modern geography. But from the last hours +of Vataces, (Acropolita, c. 52,) it is evident the palace and +gardens of his favorite residence were in the neighborhood of +Smyrna. Nymphæum might be loosely placed in Lydia, +(Gregoras, l. vi. 6.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 19: This sceptre, the emblem of justice and power, +was a long staff, such as was used by the heroes in Homer. By the +latter Greeks it was named <strong><em>Dicanice</em></strong>, +and the Imperial sceptre was distinguished as usual by the red or +purple color.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 20: Acropolita affirms (c. 87,) that this "Onnet was +after the French fashion; but from the ruby at the point or +summit, Ducange (Hist. de C. P. l. v. c. 28, 29) believes that it +was the high-crowned hat of the Greeks. Could Acropolita mistake +the dress of his own court?]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 21: See Pachymer, (l. ii. c. 28--33,) Acropolita, +(c. 88,) Nicephorus Gregoras, (l. iv. 7,) and for the treatment +of the subject Latins, Ducange, (l. v. c. 30, 31.)]</p> + +<p>The recovery of Constantinople was celebrated as the æra +of a new empire: the conqueror, alone, and by the right of the +sword, renewed his coronation in the church of St. Sophia; and +the name and honors of John Lascaris, his pupil and lawful +sovereign, were insensibly abolished. But his claims still lived +in the minds of the people; and the royal youth must speedily +attain the years of manhood and ambition. By fear or conscience, +Palæologus was restrained from dipping his hands in +innocent and royal blood; but the anxiety of a usurper and a +parent urged him to secure his throne by one of those imperfect +crimes so familiar to the modern Greeks. The loss of sight +incapacitated the young prince for the active business of the +world; instead of the brutal violence of tearing out his eyes, +the visual nerve was destroyed by the intense glare of a red-hot +basin, ^22 and John Lascaris was removed to a distant castle, +where he spent many years in privacy and oblivion. Such cool and +deliberate guilt may seem incompatible with remorse; but if +Michael could trust the mercy of Heaven, he was not inaccessible +to the reproaches and vengeance of mankind, which he had provoked +by cruelty and treason. His cruelty imposed on a servile court +the duties of applause or silence; but the clergy had a right to +speak in the name of their invisible Master; and their holy +legions were led by a prelate, whose character was above the +temptations of hope or fear. After a short abdication of his +dignity, Arsenius ^23 had consented to ascend the ecclesiastical +throne of Constantinople, and to preside in the restoration of +the church. His pious simplicity was long deceived by the arts of +Palæologus; and his patience and submission might soothe +the usurper, and protect the safety of the young prince. On the +news of his inhuman treatment, the patriarch unsheathed the +spiritual sword; and superstition, on this occasion, was enlisted +in the cause of humanity and justice. In a synod of bishops, who +were stimulated by the example of his zeal, the patriarch +pronounced a sentence of excommunication; though his prudence +still repeated the name of Michael in the public prayers. The +Eastern prelates had not adopted the dangerous maxims of ancient +Rome; nor did they presume to enforce their censures, by deposing +princes, or absolving nations from their oaths of allegiance. But +the Christian, who had been separated from God and the church, +became an object of horror; and, in a turbulent and fanatic +capital, that horror might arm the hand of an assassin, or +inflame a sedition of the people. Palæologus felt his +danger, confessed his guilt, and deprecated his judge: the act +was irretrievable; the prize was obtained; and the most rigorous +penance, which he solicited, would have raised the sinner to the +reputation of a saint. The unrelenting patriarch refused to +announce any means of atonement or any hopes of mercy; and +condescended only to pronounce, that for so great a crime, great +indeed must be the satisfaction. "Do you require," said Michael, +"that I should abdicate the empire?" and at these words, he +offered, or seemed to offer, the sword of state. Arsenius eagerly +grasped this pledge of sovereignty; but when he perceived that +the emperor was unwilling to purchase absolution at so dear a +rate, he indignantly escaped to his cell, and left the royal +sinner kneeling and weeping before the door. ^24</p> + +<p>[Footnote 22: This milder invention for extinguishing the +sight was tried by the philosopher Democritus on himself, when he +sought to withdraw his mind from the visible world: a foolish +story! The word <strong><em>abacinare</em></strong>, in Latin and +Italian, has furnished Ducange (Gloss. Lat.) with an opportunity +to review the various modes of blinding: the more violent were +scooping, burning with an iron, or hot vinegar, and binding the +head with a strong cord till the eyes burst from their sockets. +Ingenious tyrants!]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 23: See the first retreat and restoration of +Arsenius, in Pachymer (l. ii. c. 15, l. iii. c. 1, 2) and +Nicephorus Gregoras, (l. iii. c. 1, l. iv. c. 1.) Posterity +justly accused the ajeleia and raqumia of Arsenius the virtues of +a hermit, the vices of a minister, (l. xii. c. 2.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 24: The crime and excommunication of Michael are +fairly told by Pachymer (l. iii. c. 10, 14, 19, &c.) and +Gregoras, (l. iv. c. 4.) His confession and penance restored +their freedom.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LXII: Greek Emperors Of Nice And +Constantinople. -- Part II.</em></strong></p> + +<p>The danger and scandal of this excommunication subsisted above +three years, till the popular clamor was assuaged by time and +repentance; till the brethren of Arsenius condemned his +inflexible spirit, so repugnant to the unbounded forgiveness of +the gospel. The emperor had artfully insinuated, that, if he were +still rejected at home, he might seek, in the Roman pontiff, a +more indulgent judge; but it was far more easy and effectual to +find or to place that judge at the head of the Byzantine church. +Arsenius was involved in a vague rumor of conspiracy and +disaffection; ^* some irregular steps in his ordination and +government were liable to censure; a synod deposed him from the +episcopal office; and he was transported under a guard of +soldiers to a small island of the Propontis. Before his exile, he +sullenly requested that a strict account might be taken of the +treasures of the church; boasted, that his sole riches, three +pieces of gold, had been earned by transcribing the psalms; +continued to assert the freedom of his mind; and denied, with his +last breath, the pardon which was implored by the royal sinner. +^25 After some delay, Gregory, ^* bishop of Adrianople, was +translated to the Byzantine throne; but his authority was found +insufficient to support the absolution of the emperor; and +Joseph, a reverend monk, was substituted to that important +function. This edifying scene was represented in the presence of +the senate and the people; at the end of six years the humble +penitent was restored to the communion of the faithful; and +humanity will rejoice, that a milder treatment of the captive +Lascaris was stipulated as a proof of his remorse. But the spirit +of Arsenius still survived in a powerful faction of the monks and +clergy, who persevered about forty-eight years in an obstinate +schism. Their scruples were treated with tenderness and respect +by Michael and his son; and the reconciliation of the Arsenites +was the serious labor of the church and state. In the confidence +of fanaticism, they had proposed to try their cause by a miracle; +and when the two papers, that contained their own and the adverse +cause, were cast into a fiery brazier, they expected that the +Catholic verity would be respected by the flames. Alas! the two +papers were indiscriminately consumed, and this unforeseen +accident produced the union of a day, and renewed the quarrel of +an age. ^26 The final treaty displayed the victory of the +Arsenites: the clergy abstained during forty days from all +ecclesiastical functions; a slight penance was imposed on the +laity; the body of Arsenius was deposited in the sanctuary; and, +in the name of the departed saint, the prince and people were +released from the sins of their fathers. ^27</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Except the omission of a prayer for the emperor, +the charges against Arsenius were of different nature: he was +accused of having allowed the sultan of Iconium to bathe in +vessels signed with the cross, and to have admitted him to the +church, though unbaptized, during the service. It was pleaded, in +favor of Arsenius, among other proofs of the sultan's +Christianity, that he had offered to eat ham. Pachymer, l. iv. c. +4, p. 265. It was after his exile that he was involved in a +charge of conspiracy. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 25: Pachymer relates the exile of Arsenius, (l. iv. +c. 1--16:) he was one of the commissaries who visited him in the +desert island. The last testament of the unforgiving patriarch is +still extant, (Dupin, Bibliothèque Ecclésiastique, +tom. x. p. 95.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Pachymer calls him Germanus. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 26: Pachymer (l. vii. c. 22) relates this miraculous +trial like a philosopher, and treats with similar contempt a plot +of the Arsenites, to hide a revelation in the coffin of some old +saint, (l. vii. c. 13.) He compensates this incredulity by an +image that weeps, another that bleeds, (l. vii. c. 30,) and the +miraculous cures of a deaf and a mute patient, (l. xi. c. +32.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 27: The story of the Arsenites is spread through the +thirteen books of Pachymer. Their union and triumph are reserved +for Nicephorus Gregoras, (l. vii. c. 9,) who neither loves nor +esteems these sectaries.]</p> + +<p>The establishment of his family was the motive, or at least +the pretence, of the crime of Palæologus; and he was +impatient to confirm the succession, by sharing with his eldest +son the honors of the purple. Andronicus, afterwards surnamed the +Elder, was proclaimed and crowned emperor of the Romans, in the +fifteenth year of his age; and, from the first æra of a +prolix and inglorious reign, he held that august title nine years +as the colleague, and fifty as the successor, of his father. +Michael himself, had he died in a private station, would have +been thought more worthy of the empire; and the assaults of his +temporal and spiritual enemies left him few moments to labor for +his own fame or the happiness of his subjects. He wrested from +the Franks several of the noblest islands of the Archipelago, +Lesbos, Chios, and Rhodes: his brother Constantine was sent to +command in Malvasia and Sparta; and the eastern side of the +Morea, from Argos and Napoli to Cape Thinners, was repossessed by +the Greeks. This effusion of Christian blood was loudly condemned +by the patriarch; and the insolent priest presumed to interpose +his fears and scruples between the arms of princes. But in the +prosecution of these western conquests, the countries beyond the +Hellespont were left naked to the Turks; and their depredations +verified the prophecy of a dying senator, that the recovery of +Constantinople would be the ruin of Asia. The victories of +Michael were achieved by his lieutenants; his sword rusted in the +palace; and, in the transactions of the emperor with the popes +and the king of Naples, his political acts were stained with +cruelty and fraud. ^28</p> + +<p>[Footnote 28: Of the xiii books of Pachymer, the first six (as +the ivth and vth of Nicephorus Gregoras) contain the reign of +Michael, at the time of whose death he was forty years of age. +Instead of breaking, like his editor the Père Poussin, his +history into two parts, I follow Ducange and Cousin, who number +the xiii. books in one series.]</p> + +<p>I. The Vatican was the most natural refuge of a Latin emperor, +who had been driven from his throne; and Pope Urban the Fourth +appeared to pity the misfortunes, and vindicate the cause, of the +fugitive Baldwin. A crusade, with plenary indulgence, was +preached by his command against the schismatic Greeks: he +excommunicated their allies and adherents; solicited Louis the +Ninth in favor of his kinsman; and demanded a tenth of the +ecclesiastical revenues of France and England for the service of +the holy war. ^29 The subtle Greek, who watched the rising +tempest of the West, attempted to suspend or soothe the hostility +of the pope, by suppliant embassies and respectful letters; but +he insinuated that the establishment of peace must prepare the +reconciliation and obedience of the Eastern church. The Roman +court could not be deceived by so gross an artifice; and Michael +was admonished, that the repentance of the son should precede the +forgiveness of the father; and that +<strong><em>faith</em></strong> (an ambiguous word) was the only +basis of friendship and alliance. After a long and affected +delay, the approach of danger, and the importunity of Gregory the +Tenth, compelled him to enter on a more serious negotiation: he +alleged the example of the great Vataces; and the Greek clergy, +who understood the intentions of their prince, were not alarmed +by the first steps of reconciliation and respect. But when he +pressed the conclusion of the treaty, they strenuously declared, +that the Latins, though not in name, were heretics in fact, and +that they despised those strangers as the vilest and most +despicable portion of the human race. ^30 It was the task of the +emperor to persuade, to corrupt, to intimidate the most popular +ecclesiastics, to gain the vote of each individual, and +alternately to urge the arguments of Christian charity and the +public welfare. The texts of the fathers and the arms of the +Franks were balanced in the theological and political scale; and +without approving the addition to the Nicene creed, the most +moderate were taught to confess, that the two hostile +propositions of proceeding from the Father by the Son, and of +proceeding from the Father and the Son, might be reduced to a +safe and Catholic sense. ^31 The supremacy of the pope was a +doctrine more easy to conceive, but more painful to acknowledge: +yet Michael represented to his monks and prelates, that they +might submit to name the Roman bishop as the first of the +patriarchs; and that their distance and discretion would guard +the liberties of the Eastern church from the mischievous +consequences of the right of appeal. He protested that he would +sacrifice his life and empire rather than yield the smallest +point of orthodox faith or national independence; and this +declaration was sealed and ratified by a golden bull. The +patriarch Joseph withdrew to a monastery, to resign or resume his +throne, according to the event of the treaty: the letters of +union and obedience were subscribed by the emperor, his son +Andronicus, and thirty-five archbishops and metropolitans, with +their respective synods; and the episcopal list was multiplied by +many dioceses which were annihilated under the yoke of the +infidels. An embassy was composed of some trusty ministers and +prelates: they embarked for Italy, with rich ornaments and rare +perfumes for the altar of St. Peter; and their secret orders +authorized and recommended a boundless compliance. They were +received in the general council of Lyons, by Pope Gregory the +Tenth, at the head of five hundred bishops. ^32 He embraced with +tears his long-lost and repentant children; accepted the oath of +the ambassadors, who abjured the schism in the name of the two +emperors; adorned the prelates with the ring and mitre; chanted +in Greek and Latin the Nicene creed with the addition of +<strong><em>filioque</em></strong>; and rejoiced in the union of +the East and West, which had been reserved for his reign. To +consummate this pious work, the Byzantine deputies were speedily +followed by the pope's nuncios; and their instruction discloses +the policy of the Vatican, which could not be satisfied with the +vain title of supremacy. After viewing the temper of the prince +and people, they were enjoined to absolve the schismatic clergy, +who should subscribe and swear their abjuration and obedience; to +establish in all the churches the use of the perfect creed; to +prepare the entrance of a cardinal legate, with the full powers +and dignity of his office; and to instruct the emperor in the +advantages which he might derive from the temporal protection of +the Roman pontiff. ^33</p> + +<p>[Footnote 29: Ducange, Hist. de C. P. l. v. c. 33, &c., +from the Epistles of Urban IV.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 30: From their mercantile intercourse with the +Venetians and Genoese, they branded the Latins as kaphloi and +banausoi , (Pachymer, l. v. c. 10.) "Some are heretics in name; +others, like the Latins, in fact," said the learned Veccus, (l. +v. c. 12,) who soon afterwards became a convert (c. 15, 16) and a +patriarch, (c. 24.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 31: In this class we may place Pachymer himself, +whose copious and candid narrative occupies the vth and vith +books of his history. Yet the Greek is silent on the council of +Lyons, and seems to believe that the popes always resided in Rome +and Italy, (l. v. c. 17, 21.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 32: See the acts of the council of Lyons in the year +1274. Fleury, Hist. Ecclésiastique, tom. xviii. p. +181--199. Dupin, Bibliot. Ecclés. tom. x. p. 135.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 33: This curious instruction, which has been drawn +with more or less honesty by Wading and Leo Allatius from the +archives of the Vatican, is given in an abstract or version by +Fleury, (tom. xviii. p. 252--258.)]</p> + +<p>But they found a country without a friend, a nation in which +the names of Rome and Union were pronounced with abhorrence. The +patriarch Joseph was indeed removed: his place was filled by +Veccus, an ecclesiastic of learning and moderation; and the +emperor was still urged by the same motives, to persevere in the +same professions. But in his private language Palæologus +affected to deplore the pride, and to blame the innovations, of +the Latins; and while he debased his character by this double +hypocrisy, he justified and punished the opposition of his +subjects. By the joint suffrage of the new and the ancient Rome, +a sentence of excommunication was pronounced against the +obstinate schismatics; the censures of the church were executed +by the sword of Michael; on the failure of persuasion, he tried +the arguments of prison and exile, of whipping and mutilation; +those touchstones, says an historian, of cowards and the brave. +Two Greeks still reigned in Ætolia, Epirus, and Thessaly, +with the appellation of despots: they had yielded to the +sovereign of Constantinople, but they rejected the chains of the +Roman pontiff, and supported their refusal by successful arms. +Under their protection, the fugitive monks and bishops assembled +in hostile synods; and retorted the name of heretic with the +galling addition of apostate: the prince of Trebizond was tempted +to assume the forfeit title of emperor; ^* and even the Latins of +Negropont, Thebes, Athens, and the Morea, forgot the merits of +the convert, to join, with open or clandestine aid, the enemies +of Palæologus. His favorite generals, of his own blood, and +family, successively deserted, or betrayed, the sacrilegious +trust. His sister Eulogia, a niece, and two female cousins, +conspired against him; another niece, Mary queen of Bulgaria, +negotiated his ruin with the sultan of Egypt; and, in the public +eye, their treason was consecrated as the most sublime virtue. +^34 To the pope's nuncios, who urged the consummation of the +work, Palæologus exposed a naked recital of all that he had +done and suffered for their sake. They were assured that the +guilty sectaries, of both sexes and every rank, had been deprived +of their honors, their fortunes, and their liberty; a spreading +list of confiscation and punishment, which involved many persons, +the dearest to the emperor, or the best deserving of his favor. +They were conducted to the prison, to behold four princes of the +royal blood chained in the four corners, and shaking their +fetters in an agony of grief and rage. Two of these captives were +afterwards released; the one by submission, the other by death: +but the obstinacy of their two companions was chastised by the +loss of their eyes; and the Greeks, the least adverse to the +union, deplored that cruel and inauspicious tragedy. ^35 +Persecutors must expect the hatred of those whom they oppress; +but they commonly find some consolation in the testimony of their +conscience, the applause of their party, and, perhaps, the +success of their undertaking. But the hypocrisy of Michael, which +was prompted only by political motives, must have forced him to +hate himself, to despise his followers, and to esteem and envy +the rebel champions by whom he was detested and despised. While +his violence was abhorred at Constantinople, at Rome his slowness +was arraigned, and his sincerity suspected; till at length Pope +Martin the Fourth excluded the Greek emperor from the pale of a +church, into which he was striving to reduce a schismatic people. +No sooner had the tyrant expired, than the union was dissolved, +and abjured by unanimous consent; the churches were purified; the +penitents were reconciled; and his son Andronicus, after weeping +the sins and errors of his youth most piously denied his father +the burial of a prince and a Christian. ^36</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: According to Fallmarayer he had always maintained +this title. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 34: This frank and authentic confession of Michael's +distress is exhibited in barbarous Latin by Ogerius, who signs +himself Protonotarius Interpretum, and transcribed by Wading from +the MSS. of the Vatican, (A.D. 1278, No. 3.) His annals of the +Franciscan order, the Fratres Minores, in xvii. volumes in folio, +(Rome, 1741,) I have now accidentally seen among the waste paper +of a bookseller.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 35: See the vith book of Pachymer, particularly the +chapters 1, 11, 16, 18, 24--27. He is the more credible, as he +speaks of this persecution with less anger than sorrow.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 36: Pachymer, l. vii. c. 1--ii. 17. The speech of +Andronicus the Elder (lib. xii. c. 2) is a curious record, which +proves that if the Greeks were the slaves of the emperor, the +emperor was not less the slave of superstition and the +clergy.]</p> + +<p>II. In the distress of the Latins, the walls and towers of +Constantinople had fallen to decay: they were restored and +fortified by the policy of Michael, who deposited a plenteous +store of corn and salt provisions, to sustain the siege which he +might hourly expect from the resentment of the Western powers. Of +these, the sovereign of the Two Sicilies was the most formidable +neighbor: but as long as they were possessed by Mainfroy, the +bastard of Frederic the Second, his monarchy was the bulwark, +rather than the annoyance, of the Eastern empire. The usurper, +though a brave and active prince, was sufficiently employed in +the defence of his throne: his proscription by successive popes +had separated Mainfroy from the common cause of the Latins; and +the forces that might have besieged Constantinople were detained +in a crusade against the domestic enemy of Rome. The prize of her +avenger, the crown of the Two Sicilies, was won and worn by the +brother of St Louis, by Charles count of Anjou and Provence, who +led the chivalry of France on this holy expedition. ^37 The +disaffection of his Christian subjects compelled Mainfroy to +enlist a colony of Saracens whom his father had planted in +Apulia; and this odious succor will explain the defiance of the +Catholic hero, who rejected all terms of accommodation. "Bear +this message," said Charles, "to the sultan of Nocera, that God +and the sword are umpire between us; and that he shall either +send me to paradise, or I will send him to the pit of hell." The +armies met: and though I am ignorant of Mainfroy's doom in the +other world, in this he lost his friends, his kingdom, and his +life, in the bloody battle of Benevento. Naples and Sicily were +immediately peopled with a warlike race of French nobles; and +their aspiring leader embraced the future conquest of Africa, +Greece, and Palestine. The most specious reasons might point his +first arms against the Byzantine empire; and Palæologus, +diffident of his own strength, repeatedly appealed from the +ambition of Charles to the humanity of St. Louis, who still +preserved a just ascendant over the mind of his ferocious +brother. For a while the attention of that brother was confined +at home by the invasion of Conradin, the last heir to the +imperial house of Swabia; but the hapless boy sunk in the unequal +conflict; and his execution on a public scaffold taught the +rivals of Charles to tremble for their heads as well as their +dominions. A second respite was obtained by the last crusade of +St. Louis to the African coast; and the double motive of interest +and duty urged the king of Naples to assist, with his powers and +his presence, the holy enterprise. The death of St. Louis +released him from the importunity of a virtuous censor: the king +of Tunis confessed himself the tributary and vassal of the crown +of Sicily; and the boldest of the French knights were free to +enlist under his banner against the Greek empire. A treaty and a +marriage united his interest with the house of Courtenay; his +daughter Beatrice was promised to Philip, son and heir of the +emperor Baldwin; a pension of six hundred ounces of gold was +allowed for his maintenance; and his generous father distributed +among his aliens the kingdoms and provinces of the East, +reserving only Constantinople, and one day's journey round the +city for the imperial domain. ^38 In this perilous moment, +Palæologus was the most eager to subscribe the creed, and +implore the protection, of the Roman pontiff, who assumed, with +propriety and weight, the character of an angel of peace, the +common father of the Christians. By his voice, the sword of +Charles was chained in the scabbard; and the Greek ambassadors +beheld him, in the pope's antechamber, biting his ivory sceptre +in a transport of fury, and deeply resenting the refusal to +enfranchise and consecrate his arms. He appears to have respected +the disinterested mediation of Gregory the Tenth; but Charles was +insensibly disgusted by the pride and partiality of Nicholas the +Third; and his attachment to his kindred, the Ursini family, +alienated the most strenuous champion from the service of the +church. The hostile league against the Greeks, of Philip the +Latin emperor, the king of the Two Sicilies, and the republic of +Venice, was ripened into execution; and the election of Martin +the Fourth, a French pope, gave a sanction to the cause. Of the +allies, Philip supplied his name; Martin, a bull of +excommunication; the Venetians, a squadron of forty galleys; and +the formidable powers of Charles consisted of forty counts, ten +thousand men at arms, a numerous body of infantry, and a fleet of +more than three hundred ships and transports. A distant day was +appointed for assembling this mighty force in the harbor of +Brindisi; and a previous attempt was risked with a detachment of +three hundred knights, who invaded Albania, and besieged the +fortress of Belgrade. Their defeat might amuse with a triumph the +vanity of Constantinople; but the more sagacious Michael, +despairing of his arms, depended on the effects of a conspiracy; +on the secret workings of a rat, who gnawed the bowstring ^39 of +the Sicilian tyrant.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 37: The best accounts, the nearest the time, the +most full and entertaining, of the conquest of Naples by Charles +of Anjou, may be found in the Florentine Chronicles of Ricordano +Malespina, (c. 175--193,) and Giovanni Villani, (l. vii. c. +1--10, 25--30,) which are published by Muratori in the viiith and +xiiith volumes of the Historians of Italy. In his Annals (tom. +xi. p. 56--72) he has abridged these great events which are +likewise described in the Istoria Civile of Giannone. tom. l. +xix. tom. iii. l. xx.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 38: Ducange, Hist. de C. P. l. v. c. 49--56, l. vi. +c. 1--13. See Pachymer, l. iv. c. 29, l. v. c. 7--10, 25 l. vi. +c. 30, 32, 33, and Nicephorus Gregoras, l. iv. 5, l. v. 1, +6.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 39: The reader of Herodotus will recollect how +miraculously the Assyrian host of Sennacherib was disarmed and +destroyed, (l. ii. c. 141.)]</p> + +<p>Among the proscribed adherents of the house of Swabia, John of +Procida forfeited a small island of that name in the Bay of +Naples. His birth was noble, but his education was learned; and +in the poverty of exile, he was relieved by the practice of +physic, which he had studied in the school of Salerno. Fortune +had left him nothing to lose, except life; and to despise life is +the first qualification of a rebel. Procida was endowed with the +art of negotiation, to enforce his reasons and disguise his +motives; and in his various transactions with nations and men, he +could persuade each party that he labored solely for +<strong><em>their</em></strong> interest. The new kingdoms of +Charles were afflicted by every species of fiscal and military +oppression; ^40 and the lives and fortunes of his Italian +subjects were sacrificed to the greatness of their master and the +licentiousness of his followers. The hatred of Naples was +repressed by his presence; but the looser government of his +vicegerents excited the contempt, as well as the aversion, of the +Sicilians: the island was roused to a sense of freedom by the +eloquence of Procida; and he displayed to every baron his private +interest in the common cause. In the confidence of foreign aid, +he successively visited the courts of the Greek emperor, and of +Peter king of Arragon, ^41 who possessed the maritime countries +of Valentia and Catalonia. To the ambitious Peter a crown was +presented, which he might justly claim by his marriage with the +sister ^* of Mainfroy, and by the dying voice of Conradin, who +from the scaffold had cast a ring to his heir and avenger. +Palæologus was easily persuaded to divert his enemy from a +foreign war by a rebellion at home; and a Greek subsidy of +twenty-five thousand ounces of gold was most profitably applied +to arm a Catalan fleet, which sailed under a holy banner to the +specious attack of the Saracens of Africa. In the disguise of a +monk or beggar, the indefatigable missionary of revolt flew from +Constantinople to Rome, and from Sicily to Saragossa: the treaty +was sealed with the signet of Pope Nicholas himself, the enemy of +Charles; and his deed of gift transferred the fiefs of St. Peter +from the house of Anjou to that of Arragon. So widely diffused +and so freely circulated, the secret was preserved above two +years with impenetrable discretion; and each of the conspirators +imbibed the maxim of Peter, who declared that he would cut off +his left hand if it were conscious of the intentions of his +right. The mine was prepared with deep and dangerous artifice; +but it may be questioned, whether the instant explosion of +Palermo were the effect of accident or design.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 40: According to Sabas Malaspina, (Hist. Sicula, l. +iii. c. 16, in Muratori, tom. viii. p. 832,) a zealous Guelph, +the subjects of Charles, who had reviled Mainfroy as a wolf, +began to regret him as a lamb; and he justifies their discontent +by the oppressions of the French government, (l. vi. c. 2, 7.) +See the Sicilian manifesto in Nicholas Specialis, (l. i. c. 11, +in Muratori, tom. x. p. 930.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 41: See the character and counsels of Peter, king of +Arragon, in Mariana, (Hist. Hispan. l. xiv. c. 6, tom. ii. p. +133.) The reader for gives the Jesuit's defects, in favor, always +of his style, and often of his sense.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Daughter. See Hallam's Middle Ages, vol. i. p. +517. -- M.]</p> + +<p>On the vigil of Easter, a procession of the disarmed citizens +visited a church without the walls; and a noble damsel was rudely +insulted by a French soldier. ^42 The ravisher was instantly +punished with death; and if the people was at first scattered by +a military force, their numbers and fury prevailed: the +conspirators seized the opportunity; the flame spread over the +island; and eight thousand French were exterminated in a +promiscuous massacre, which has obtained the name of the Sicilian +Vespers. ^43 From every city the banners of freedom and the +church were displayed: the revolt was inspired by the presence or +the soul of Procida and Peter of Arragon, who sailed from the +African coast to Palermo, was saluted as the king and savior of +the isle. By the rebellion of a people on whom he had so long +trampled with impunity, Charles was astonished and confounded; +and in the first agony of grief and devotion, he was heard to +exclaim, "O God! if thou hast decreed to humble me, grant me at +least a gentle and gradual descent from the pinnacle of +greatness!" His fleet and army, which already filled the seaports +of Italy, were hastily recalled from the service of the Grecian +war; and the situation of Messina exposed that town to the first +storm of his revenge. Feeble in themselves, and yet hopeless of +foreign succor, the citizens would have repented, and submitted +on the assurance of full pardon and their ancient privileges. But +the pride of the monarch was already rekindled; and the most +fervent entreaties of the legate could extort no more than a +promise, that he would forgive the remainder, after a chosen list +of eight hundred rebels had been yielded to his discretion. The +despair of the Messinese renewed their courage: Peter of Arragon +approached to their relief; ^44 and his rival was driven back by +the failure of provision and the terrors of the equinox to the +Calabrian shore. At the same moment, the Catalan admiral, the +famous Roger de Loria, swept the channel with an invincible +squadron: the French fleet, more numerous in transports than in +galleys, was either burnt or destroyed; and the same blow assured +the independence of Sicily and the safety of the Greek empire. A +few days before his death, the emperor Michael rejoiced in the +fall of an enemy whom he hated and esteemed; and perhaps he might +be content with the popular judgment, that had they not been +matched with each other, Constantinople and Italy must speedily +have obeyed the same master. ^45 From this disastrous moment, the +life of Charles was a series of misfortunes: his capital was +insulted, his son was made prisoner, and he sunk into the grave +without recovering the Isle of Sicily, which, after a war of +twenty years, was finally severed from the throne of Naples, and +transferred, as an independent kingdom, to a younger branch of +the house of Arragon. ^46</p> + +<p>[Footnote 42: After enumerating the sufferings of his country, +Nicholas Specialis adds, in the true spirit of Italian jealousy, +Quæ omnia et graviora quidem, ut arbitror, patienti animo +Siculi tolerassent, nisi (quod primum cunctis dominantibus +cavendum est) alienas fminas invasissent, (l. i. c. 2, p. +924.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 43: The French were long taught to remember this +bloody lesson: "If I am provoked, (said Henry the Fourth,) I will +breakfast at Milan, and dine at Naples." "Your majesty (replied +the Spanish ambassador) may perhaps arrive in Sicily for +vespers."]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 44: This revolt, with the subsequent victory, are +related by two national writers, Bartholemy à Neocastro +(in Muratori, tom. xiii.,) and Nicholas Specialis (in Muratori, +tom. x.,) the one a contemporary, the other of the next century. +The patriot Specialis disclaims the name of rebellion, and all +previous correspondence with Peter of Arragon, (nullo communicato +consilio,) who <strong><em>happened</em></strong> to be with a +fleet and army on the African coast, (l. i. c. 4, 9.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 45: Nicephorus Gregoras (l. v. c. 6) admires the +wisdom of Providence in this equal balance of states and princes. +For the honor of Palæologus, I had rather this balance had +been observed by an Italian writer.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 46: See the Chronicle of Villani, the xith volume of +the Annali d'Italia of Muratori, and the xxth and xxist books of +the Istoria Civile of Giannone.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LXII: Greek Emperors Of Nice And +Constantinople. -- Part III.</em></strong></p> + +<p>I shall not, I trust, be accused of superstition; but I must +remark that, even in this world, the natural order of events will +sometimes afford the strong appearances of moral retribution. The +first Palæologus had saved his empire by involving the +kingdoms of the West in rebellion and blood; and from these +scenes of discord uprose a generation of iron men, who assaulted +and endangered the empire of his son. In modern times our debts +and taxes are the secret poison which still corrodes the bosom of +peace: but in the weak and disorderly government of the middle +ages, it was agitated by the present evil of the disbanded +armies. Too idle to work, too proud to beg, the mercenaries were +accustomed to a life of rapine: they could rob with more dignity +and effect under a banner and a chief; and the sovereign, to whom +their service was useless, and their presence importunate, +endeavored to discharge the torrent on some neighboring +countries. After the peace of Sicily, many thousands of Genoese, +<strong><em>Catalans</em></strong>, ^47 &c., who had fought, +by sea and land, under the standard of Anjou or Arragon, were +blended into one nation by the resemblance of their manners and +interest. They heard that the Greek provinces of Asia were +invaded by the Turks: they resolved to share the harvest of pay +and plunder: and Frederic king of Sicily most liberally +contributed the means of their departure. In a warfare of twenty +years, a ship, or a camp, was become their country; arms were +their sole profession and property; valor was the only virtue +which they knew; their women had imbibed the fearless temper of +their lovers and husbands: it was reported, that, with a stroke +of their broadsword, the Catalans could cleave a horseman and a +horse; and the report itself was a powerful weapon. Roger de Flor +^* was the most popular of their chiefs; and his personal merit +overshadowed the dignity of his prouder rivals of Arragon. The +offspring of a marriage between a German gentleman of the court +of Frederic the Second and a damsel of Brindisi, Roger was +successively a templar, an apostate, a pirate, and at length the +richest and most powerful admiral of the Mediterranean. He sailed +from Messina to Constantinople, with eighteen galleys, four great +ships, and eight thousand adventurers; ^* and his previous treaty +was faithfully accomplished by Andronicus the elder, who accepted +with joy and terror this formidable succor. A palace was allotted +for his reception, and a niece of the emperor was given in +marriage to the valiant stranger, who was immediately created +great duke or admiral of Romania. After a decent repose, he +transported his troops over the Propontis, and boldly led them +against the Turks: in two bloody battles thirty thousand of the +Moslems were slain: he raised the siege of Philadelphia, and +deserved the name of the deliverer of Asia. But after a short +season of prosperity, the cloud of slavery and ruin again burst +on that unhappy province. The inhabitants escaped (says a Greek +historian) from the smoke into the flames; and the hostility of +the Turks was less pernicious than the friendship of the +Catalans. ^! The lives and fortunes which they had rescued they +considered as their own: the willing or reluctant maid was saved +from the race of circumcision for the embraces of a Christian +soldier: the exaction of fines and supplies was enforced by +licentious rapine and arbitrary executions; and, on the +resistance of Magnesia, the great duke besieged a city of the +Roman empire. ^48 These disorders he excused by the wrongs and +passions of a victorious army; nor would his own authority or +person have been safe, had he dared to punish his faithful +followers, who were defrauded of the just and covenanted price of +their services. The threats and complaints of Andronicus +disclosed the nakedness of the empire. His golden bull had +invited no more than five hundred horse and a thousand foot +soldiers; yet the crowds of volunteers, who migrated to the East, +had been enlisted and fed by his spontaneous bounty. While his +bravest allies were content with three byzants or pieces of gold, +for their monthly pay, an ounce, or even two ounces, of gold were +assigned to the Catalans, whose annual pension would thus amount +to near a hundred pounds sterling: one of their chiefs had +modestly rated at three hundred thousand crowns the value of his +<strong><em>future</em></strong> merits; and above a million had +been issued from the treasury for the maintenance of these costly +mercenaries. A cruel tax had been imposed on the corn of the +husbandman: one third was retrenched from the salaries of the +public officers; and the standard of the coin was so shamefully +debased, that of the four-and-twenty parts only five were of pure +gold. ^49 At the summons of the emperor, Roger evacuated a +province which no longer supplied the materials of rapine; ^* but +he refused to disperse his troops; and while his style was +respectful, his conduct was independent and hostile. He +protested, that if the emperor should march against him, he would +advance forty paces to kiss the ground before him; but in rising +from this prostrate attitude Roger had a life and sword at the +service of his friends. The great duke of Romania condescended to +accept the title and ornaments of Cæsar; but he rejected +the new proposal of the government of Asia with a subsidy of corn +and money, ^* on condition that he should reduce his troops to +the harmless number of three thousand men. Assassination is the +last resource of cowards. The Cæsar was tempted to visit +the royal residence of Adrianople; in the apartment, and before +the eyes, of the empress he was stabbed by the Alani guards; and +though the deed was imputed to their private revenge, ^! his +countrymen, who dwelt at Constantinople in the security of peace, +were involved in the same proscription by the prince or people. +The loss of their leader intimidated the crowd of adventurers, +who hoisted the sails of flight, and were soon scattered round +the coasts of the Mediterranean. But a veteran band of fifteen +hundred Catalans, or French, stood firm in the strong fortress of +Gallipoli on the Hellespont, displayed the banners of Arragon, +and offered to revenge and justify their chief, by an equal +combat of ten or a hundred warriors. Instead of accepting this +bold defiance, the emperor Michael, the son and colleague of +Andronicus, resolved to oppress them with the weight of +multitudes: every nerve was strained to form an army of thirteen +thousand horse and thirty thousand foot; and the Propontis was +covered with the ships of the Greeks and Genoese. In two battles +by sea and land, these mighty forces were encountered and +overthrown by the despair and discipline of the Catalans: the +young emperor fled to the palace; and an insufficient guard of +light-horse was left for the protection of the open country. +Victory renewed the hopes and numbers of the adventures: every +nation was blended under the name and standard of the +<strong><em>great company</em></strong>; and three thousand +Turkish proselytes deserted from the Imperial service to join +this military association. In the possession of Gallipoli, ^!! +the Catalans intercepted the trade of Constantinople and the +Black Sea, while they spread their devastation on either side of +the Hellespont over the confines of Europe and Asia. To prevent +their approach, the greatest part of the Byzantine territory was +laid waste by the Greeks themselves: the peasants and their +cattle retired into the city; and myriads of sheep and oxen, for +which neither place nor food could be procured, were unprofitably +slaughtered on the same day. Four times the emperor Andronicus +sued for peace, and four times he was inflexibly repulsed, till +the want of provisions, and the discord of the chiefs, compelled +the Catalans to evacuate the banks of the Hellespont and the +neighborhood of the capital. After their separation from the +Turks, the remains of the great company pursued their march +through Macedonia and Thessaly, to seek a new establishment in +the heart of Greece. ^50</p> + +<p>[Footnote 47: In this motley multitude, the Catalans and +Spaniards, the bravest of the soldiery, were styled by themselves +and the Greeks <strong><em>Amogavares</em></strong>. Moncada +derives their origin from the Goths, and Pachymer (l. xi. c. 22) +from the Arabs; and in spite of national and religious pride, I +am afraid the latter is in the right.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: On Roger de Flor and his companions, see an +historical fragment, detailed and interesting, entitled "The +Spaniards of the Fourteenth Century," and inserted in "L'Espagne +en 1808," a work translated from the German, vol. ii. p. 167. +This narrative enables us to detect some slight errors which have +crept into that of Gibbon. -- G.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: The troops of Roger de Flor, according to his +companions Ramon de Montaner, were 1500 men at arms, 4000 +Almogavares, and 1040 other foot, besides the sailors and +mariners, vol. ii. p. 137. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !: Ramon de Montaner suppresses the cruelties and +oppressions of the Catalans, in which, perhaps, he shared. -- +M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 48: Some idea may be formed of the population of +these cities, from the 36,000 inhabitants of Tralles, which, in +the preceding reign, was rebuilt by the emperor, and ruined by +the Turks. (Pachymer, l. vi. c. 20, 21.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 49: I have collected these pecuniary circumstances +from Pachymer, (l. xi. c. 21, l. xii. c. 4, 5, 8, 14, 19,) who +describes the progressive degradation of the gold coin. Even in +the prosperous times of John Ducas Vataces, the byzants were +composed in equal proportions of the pure and the baser metal. +The poverty of Michael Palæologus compelled him to strike a +new coin, with nine parts, or carats, of gold, and fifteen of +copper alloy. After his death, the standard rose to ten carats, +till in the public distress it was reduced to the moiety. The +prince was relieved for a moment, while credit and commerce were +forever blasted. In France, the gold coin is of twenty-two +carats, (one twelfth alloy,) and the standard of England and +Holland is still higher.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Roger de Flor, according to Ramon de Montaner, +was recalled from Natolia, on account of the war which had arisen +on the death of Asan, king of Bulgaria. Andronicus claimed the +kingdom for his nephew, the sons of Asan by his sister. Roger de +Flor turned the tide of success in favor of the emperor of +Constantinople and made peace. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Andronicus paid the Catalans in the debased +money, much to their indignation. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !: According to Ramon de Montaner, he was murdered +by order of Kyr (kurioV) Michael, son of the emperor. p. 170. -- +M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !!: Ramon de Montaner describes his sojourn at +Gallipoli: Nous etions si riches, que nous ne semions, ni ne +labourions, ni ne faisions enver des vins ni ne cultivions les +vignes: et cependant tous les ans nous recucillions tour ce qu'il +nous fallait, en vin, froment et avoine. p. 193. This lasted for +five merry years. Ramon de Montaner is high authority, for he was +"chancelier et maitre rational de l'armée," (commissary of +<strong><em>rations</em></strong>.) He was left governor; all the +scribes of the army remained with him, and with their aid he kept +the books in which were registered the number of horse and foot +employed on each expedition. According to this book the plunder +was shared, of which he had a fifth for his trouble. p. 197. -- +M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 50: The Catalan war is most copiously related by +Pachymer, in the xith, xiith, and xiiith books, till he breaks +off in the year 1308. Nicephorus Gregoras (l. vii. 3--6) is more +concise and complete. Ducange, who adopts these adventurers as +French, has hunted their footsteps with his usual diligence, +(Hist. de C. P. l. vi. c. 22--46.) He quotes an Arragonese +history, which I have read with pleasure, and which the Spaniards +extol as a model of style and composition, (Expedicion de los +Catalanes y Arragoneses contra Turcos y Griegos: Barcelona, 1623 +in quarto: Madrid, 1777, in octavo.) Don Francisco de Moncada +Conde de Ossona, may imitate Cæsar or Sallust; he may +transcribe the Greek or Italian contemporaries: but he never +quotes his authorities, and I cannot discern any national records +of the exploits of his countrymen. *</p> + +<p>Note: * Ramon de Montaner, one of the Catalans, who +accompanied Roger de Flor, and who was governor of Gallipoli, has +written, in Spanish, the history of this band of adventurers, to +which he belonged, and from which he separated when it left the +Thracian Chersonese to penetrate into Macedonia and Greece. -- +G.</p> + +<p>The autobiography of Ramon de Montaner has been published in +French by M. Buchon, in the great collection of Mémoires +relatifs à l'Histoire de France. I quote this edition. -- +M.]</p> + +<p>After some ages of oblivion, Greece was awakened to new +misfortunes by the arms of the Latins. In the two hundred and +fifty years between the first and the last conquest of +Constantinople, that venerable land was disputed by a multitude +of petty tyrants; without the comforts of freedom and genius, her +ancient cities were again plunged in foreign and intestine war; +and, if servitude be preferable to anarchy, they might repose +with joy under the Turkish yoke. I shall not pursue the obscure +and various dynasties, that rose and fell on the continent or in +the isles; but our silence on the fate of Athens ^51 would argue +a strange ingratitude to the first and purest school of liberal +science and amusement. In the partition of the empire, the +principality of Athens and Thebes was assigned to Otho de la +Roche, a noble warrior of Burgundy, ^52 with the title of great +duke, ^53 which the Latins understood in their own sense, and the +Greeks more foolishly derived from the age of Constantine. ^54 +Otho followed the standard of the marquis of Montferrat: the +ample state which he acquired by a miracle of conduct or fortune, +^55 was peaceably inherited by his son and two grandsons, till +the family, though not the nation, was changed, by the marriage +of an heiress into the elder branch of the house of Brienne. The +son of that marriage, Walter de Brienne, succeeded to the duchy +of Athens; and, with the aid of some Catalan mercenaries, whom he +invested with fiefs, reduced above thirty castles of the vassal +or neighboring lords. But when he was informed of the approach +and ambition of the great company, he collected a force of seven +hundred knights, six thousand four hundred horse, and eight +thousand foot, and boldly met them on the banks of the River +Cephisus in Botia. The Catalans amounted to no more than three +thousand five hundred horse, and four thousand foot; but the +deficiency of numbers was compensated by stratagem and order. +They formed round their camp an artificial inundation; the duke +and his knights advanced without fear or precaution on the +verdant meadow; their horses plunged into the bog; and he was cut +in pieces, with the greatest part of the French cavalry. His +family and nation were expelled; and his son Walter de Brienne, +the titular duke of Athens, the tyrant of Florence, and the +constable of France, lost his life in the field of Poitiers +Attica and Botia were the rewards of the victorious Catalans; +they married the widows and daughters of the slain; and during +fourteen years, the great company was the terror of the Grecian +states. Their factions drove them to acknowledge the sovereignty +of the house of Arragon; and during the remainder of the +fourteenth century, Athens, as a government or an appanage, was +successively bestowed by the kings of Sicily. After the French +and Catalans, the third dynasty was that of the Accaioli, a +family, plebeian at Florence, potent at Naples, and sovereign in +Greece. Athens, which they embellished with new buildings, became +the capital of a state, that extended over Thebes, Argos, +Corinth, Delphi, and a part of Thessaly; and their reign was +finally determined by Mahomet the Second, who strangled the last +duke, and educated his sons in the discipline and religion of the +seraglio.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 51: See the laborious history of Ducange, whose +accurate table of the French dynasties recapitulates the +thirty-five passages, in which he mentions the dukes of +Athens.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 52: He is twice mentioned by Villehardouin with +honor, (No. 151, 235;) and under the first passage, Ducange +observes all that can be known of his person and family.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 53: From these Latin princes of the xivth century, +Boccace, Chaucer. and Shakspeare, have borrowed their Theseus +<strong><em>duke</em></strong> of Athens. An ignorant age +transfers its own language and manners to the most distant +times.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 54: The same Constantine gave to Sicily a king, to +Russia the <strong><em>magnus dapifer</em></strong> of the +empire, to Thebes the <strong><em>primicerius</em></strong>; and +these absurd fables are properly lashed by Ducange, (ad Nicephor. +Greg. l. vii. c. 5.) By the Latins, the lord of Thebes was +styled, by corruption, the Megas Kurios, or Grand Sire!]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 55: <strong><em>Quodam miraculo</em></strong>, says +Alberic. He was probably received by Michael Choniates, the +archbishop who had defended Athens against the tyrant Leo Sgurus, +(Nicetas urbs capta, p. 805, ed. Bek.) Michael was the brother of +the historian Nicetas; and his encomium of Athens is still extant +in MS. in the Bodleian library, (Fabric. Bibliot. Græc tom. +vi. p. 405.) *</p> + +<p>Note: * Nicetas says expressly that Michael surrendered the +Acropolis to the marquis. -- M.]</p> + +<p>Athens, ^56 though no more than the shadow of her former self, +still contains about eight or ten thousand inhabitants; of these, +three fourths are Greeks in religion and language; and the Turks, +who compose the remainder, have relaxed, in their intercourse +with the citizens, somewhat of the pride and gravity of their +national character. The olive-tree, the gift of Minerva, +flourishes in Attica; nor has the honey of Mount Hymettus lost +any part of its exquisite flavor: ^57 but the languid trade is +monopolized by strangers, and the agriculture of a barren land is +abandoned to the vagrant Walachians. The Athenians are still +distinguished by the subtlety and acuteness of their +understandings; but these qualities, unless ennobled by freedom, +and enlightened by study, will degenerate into a low and selfish +cunning: and it is a proverbial saying of the country, "From the +Jews of Thessalonica, the Turks of Negropont, and the Greeks of +Athens, good Lord deliver us!" This artful people has eluded the +tyranny of the Turkish bashaws, by an expedient which alleviates +their servitude and aggravates their shame. About the middle of +the last century, the Athenians chose for their protector the +Kislar Aga, or chief black eunuch of the seraglio. This +Æthiopian slave, who possesses the sultan's ear, +condescends to accept the tribute of thirty thousand crowns: his +lieutenant, the Waywode, whom he annually confirms, may reserve +for his own about five or six thousand more; and such is the +policy of the citizens, that they seldom fail to remove and +punish an oppressive governor. Their private differences are +decided by the archbishop, one of the richest prelates of the +Greek church, since he possesses a revenue of one thousand pounds +sterling; and by a tribunal of the eight +<strong><em>geronti</em></strong> or elders, chosen in the eight +quarters of the city: the noble families cannot trace their +pedigree above three hundred years; but their principal members +are distinguished by a grave demeanor, a fur cap, and the lofty +appellation of <strong><em>archon</em></strong>. By some, who +delight in the contrast, the modern language of Athens is +represented as the most corrupt and barbarous of the seventy +dialects of the vulgar Greek: ^58 this picture is too darkly +colored: but it would not be easy, in the country of Plato and +Demosthenes, to find a reader or a copy of their works. The +Athenians walk with supine indifference among the glorious ruins +of antiquity; and such is the debasement of their character, that +they are incapable of admiring the genius of their predecessors. +^59</p> + +<p>[Footnote 56: The modern account of Athens, and the Athenians, +is extracted from Spon, (Voyage en Grece, tom. ii. p. 79--199,) +and Wheeler, (Travels into Greece, p. 337--414,) Stuart, +(Antiquities of Athens, passim,) and Chandler, (Travels into +Greece, p. 23--172.) The first of these travellers visited Greece +in the year 1676; the last, 1765; and ninety years had not +produced much difference in the tranquil scene.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 57: The ancients, or at least the Athenians, +believed that all the bees in the world had been propagated from +Mount Hymettus. They taught, that health might be preserved, and +life prolonged, by the external use of oil, and the internal use +of honey, (Geoponica, l. xv. c 7, p. 1089--1094, edit. +Niclas.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 58: Ducange, Glossar. Græc. Præfat. p. +8, who quotes for his author Theodosius Zygomalas, a modern +grammarian. Yet Spon (tom. ii. p. 194) and Wheeler, (p. 355,) no +incompetent judges, entertain a more favorable opinion of the +Attic dialect.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 59: Yet we must not accuse them of corrupting the +name of Athens, which they still call Athini. From the eiV thn +'Aqhnhn, we have formed our own barbarism of +<strong><em>Setines</em></strong>. *</p> + +<p>Note: * Gibbon did not foresee a Bavarian prince on the throne +of Greece, with Athens as his capital. -- M.]</p> + +<p><strong>Chapter LXIII: Civil Wars And The Ruin Of The Greek +Empire.</strong> <strong><em>Part I.</em></strong></p> + +<p>Civil Wars, And Ruin Of The Greek Empire. -- Reigns Of +Andronicus, The Elder And Younger, And John Palæologus. -- +Regency, Revolt, Reign, And Abdication Of John Cantacuzene. -- +Establishment Of A Genoese Colony At Pera Or Galata. -- Their +Wars With The Empire And City Of Constantinople.</p> + +<p>The long reign of Andronicus ^1 the elder is chiefly memorable +by the disputes of the Greek church, the invasion of the +Catalans, and the rise of the Ottoman power. He is celebrated as +the most learned and virtuous prince of the age; but such virtue, +and such learning, contributed neither to the perfection of the +individual, nor to the happiness of society A slave of the most +abject superstition, he was surrounded on all sides by visible +and invisible enemies; nor were the flames of hell less dreadful +to his fancy, than those of a Catalan or Turkish war. Under the +reign of the Palæologi, the choice of the patriarch was the +most important business of the state; the heads of the Greek +church were ambitious and fanatic monks; and their vices or +virtues, their learning or ignorance, were equally mischievous or +contemptible. By his intemperate discipline, the patriarch +Athanasius ^2 excited the hatred of the clergy and people: he was +heard to declare, that the sinner should swallow the last dregs +of the cup of penance; and the foolish tale was propagated of his +punishing a sacrilegious ass that had tasted the lettuce of a +convent garden. Driven from the throne by the universal clamor, +Athanasius composed before his retreat two papers of a very +opposite cast. His public testament was in the tone of charity +and resignation; the private codicil breathed the direst +anathemas against the authors of his disgrace, whom he excluded +forever from the communion of the holy trinity, the angels, and +the saints. This last paper he enclosed in an earthen pot, which +was placed, by his order, on the top of one of the pillars, in +the dome of St. Sophia, in the distant hope of discovery and +revenge. At the end of four years, some youths, climbing by a +ladder in search of pigeons' nests, detected the fatal secret; +and, as Andronicus felt himself touched and bound by the +excommunication, he trembled on the brink of the abyss which had +been so treacherously dug under his feet. A synod of bishops was +instantly convened to debate this important question: the +rashness of these clandestine anathemas was generally condemned; +but as the knot could be untied only by the same hand, as that +hand was now deprived of the crosier, it appeared that this +posthumous decree was irrevocable by any earthly power. Some +faint testimonies of repentance and pardon were extorted from the +author of the mischief; but the conscience of the emperor was +still wounded, and he desired, with no less ardor than Athanasius +himself, the restoration of a patriarch, by whom alone he could +be healed. At the dead of night, a monk rudely knocked at the +door of the royal bed-chamber, announcing a revelation of plague +and famine, of inundations and earthquakes. Andronicus started +from his bed, and spent the night in prayer, till he felt, or +thought that he felt, a slight motion of the earth. The emperor +on foot led the bishops and monks to the cell of Athanasius; and, +after a proper resistance, the saint, from whom this message had +been sent, consented to absolve the prince, and govern the church +of Constantinople. Untamed by disgrace, and hardened by solitude, +the shepherd was again odious to the flock, and his enemies +contrived a singular, and as it proved, a successful, mode of +revenge. In the night, they stole away the footstool or +foot-cloth of his throne, which they secretly replaced with the +decoration of a satirical picture. The emperor was painted with a +bridle in his mouth, and Athanasius leading the tractable beast +to the feet of Christ. The authors of the libel were detected and +punished; but as their lives had been spared, the Christian +priest in sullen indignation retired to his cell; and the eyes of +Andronicus, which had been opened for a moment, were again closed +by his successor.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 1: Andronicus himself will justify our freedom in +the invective, (Nicephorus Gregoras, l. i. c. i.,) which he +pronounced against historic falsehood. It is true, that his +censure is more pointedly urged against calumny than against +adulation.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 2: For the anathema in the pigeon's nest, see +Pachymer, (l. ix. c. 24,) who relates the general history of +Athanasius, (l. viii. c. 13--16, 20, 24, l. x. c. 27--29, 31--36, +l. xi. c. 1--3, 5, 6, l. xiii. c. 8, 10, 23, 35,) and is followed +by Nicephorus Gregoras, (l. vi. c. 5, 7, l. vii. c. 1, 9,) who +includes the second retreat of this second Chrysostom.]</p> + +<p>If this transaction be one of the most curious and important +of a reign of fifty years, I cannot at least accuse the brevity +of my materials, since I reduce into some few pages the enormous +folios of Pachymer, ^3 Cantacuzene, ^4 and Nicephorus Gregoras, +^5 who have composed the prolix and languid story of the times. +The name and situation of the emperor John Cantacuzene might +inspire the most lively curiosity. His memorials of forty years +extend from the revolt of the younger Andronicus to his own +abdication of the empire; and it is observed, that, like Moses +and Cæsar, he was the principal actor in the scenes which +he describes. But in this eloquent work we should vainly seek the +sincerity of a hero or a penitent. Retired in a cloister from the +vices and passions of the world, he presents not a confession, +but an apology, of the life of an ambitious statesman. Instead of +unfolding the true counsels and characters of men, he displays +the smooth and specious surface of events, highly varnished with +his own praises and those of his friends. Their motives are +always pure; their ends always legitimate: they conspire and +rebel without any views of interest; and the violence which they +inflict or suffer is celebrated as the spontaneous effect of +reason and virtue.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 3: Pachymer, in seven books, 377 folio pages, +describes the first twenty-six years of Andronicus the Elder; and +marks the date of his composition by the current news or lie of +the day, (A.D. 1308.) Either death or disgust prevented him from +resuming the pen.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 4: After an interval of twelve years, from the +conclusion of Pachymer, Cantacuzenus takes up the pen; and his +first book (c. 1--59, p. 9--150) relates the civil war, and the +eight last years of the elder Andronicus. The ingenious +comparison with Moses and Cæsar is fancied by his French +translator, the president Cousin.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 5: Nicephorus Gregoras more briefly includes the +entire life and reign of Andronicus the elder, (l. vi. c. 1, p. +96--291.) This is the part of which Cantacuzene complains as a +false and malicious representation of his conduct.]</p> + +<p>After the example of the first of the Palæologi, the +elder Andronicus associated his son Michael to the honors of the +purple; and from the age of eighteen to his premature death, that +prince was acknowledged, above twenty-five years, as the second +emperor of the Greeks. ^6 At the head of an army, he excited +neither the fears of the enemy, nor the jealousy of the court; +his modesty and patience were never tempted to compute the years +of his father; nor was that father compelled to repent of his +liberality either by the virtues or vices of his son. The son of +Michael was named Andronicus from his grandfather, to whose early +favor he was introduced by that nominal resemblance. The blossoms +of wit and beauty increased the fondness of the elder Andronicus; +and, with the common vanity of age, he expected to realize in the +second, the hope which had been disappointed in the first, +generation. The boy was educated in the palace as an heir and a +favorite; and in the oaths and acclamations of the people, the +<strong><em>august triad</em></strong> was formed by the names of +the father, the son, and the grandson. But the younger Andronicus +was speedily corrupted by his infant greatness, while he beheld +with puerile impatience the double obstacle that hung, and might +long hang, over his rising ambition. It was not to acquire fame, +or to diffuse happiness, that he so eagerly aspired: wealth and +impunity were in his eyes the most precious attributes of a +monarch; and his first indiscreet demand was the sovereignty of +some rich and fertile island, where he might lead a life of +independence and pleasure. The emperor was offended by the loud +and frequent intemperance which disturbed his capital; the sums +which his parsimony denied were supplied by the Genoese usurers +of Pera; and the oppressive debt, which consolidated the interest +of a faction, could be discharged only by a revolution. A +beautiful female, a matron in rank, a prostitute in manners, had +instructed the younger Andronicus in the rudiments of love; but +he had reason to suspect the nocturnal visits of a rival; and a +stranger passing through the street was pierced by the arrows of +his guards, who were placed in ambush at her door. That stranger +was his brother, Prince Manuel, who languished and died of his +wound; and the emperor Michael, their common father, whose health +was in a declining state, expired on the eighth day, lamenting +the loss of both his children. ^7 However guiltless in his +intention, the younger Andronicus might impute a brother's and a +father's death to the consequence of his own vices; and deep was +the sigh of thinking and feeling men, when they perceived, +instead of sorrow and repentance, his ill-dissembled joy on the +removal of two odious competitors. By these melancholy events, +and the increase of his disorders, the mind of the elder emperor +was gradually alienated; and, after many fruitless reproofs, he +transferred on another grandson ^8 his hopes and affection. The +change was announced by the new oath of allegiance to the +reigning sovereign, and the <strong><em>person</em></strong> whom +he should appoint for his successor; and the acknowledged heir, +after a repetition of insults and complaints, was exposed to the +indignity of a public trial. Before the sentence, which would +probably have condemned him to a dungeon or a cell, the emperor +was informed that the palace courts were filled with the armed +followers of his grandson; the judgment was softened to a treaty +of reconciliation; and the triumphant escape of the prince +encouraged the ardor of the younger faction.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 6: He was crowned May 21st, 1295, and died October +12th, 1320, (Ducange, Fam. Byz. p. 239.) His brother Theodore, by +a second marriage, inherited the marquisate of Montferrat, +apostatized to the religion and manners of the Latins, (oti kai +gnwmh kai pistei kai schkati, kai geneiwn koura kai pasin eqesin +DatinoV hn akraijnhV. Nic. Greg. l. ix. c. 1,) and founded a +dynasty of Italian princes, which was extinguished A.D. 1533, +(Ducange, Fam. Byz. p. 249--253.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 7: We are indebted to Nicephorus Gregoras (l. viii. +c. 1) for the knowledge of this tragic adventure; while +Cantacuzene more discreetly conceals the vices of Andronicus the +Younger, of which he was the witness and perhaps the associate, +(l. i. c. 1, &c.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 8: His destined heir was Michael Catharus, the +bastard of Constantine his second son. In this project of +excluding his grandson Andronicus, Nicephorus Gregoras (l. viii. +c. 3) agrees with Cantacuzene, (l. i. c. 1, 2.)]</p> + +<p>Yet the capital, the clergy, and the senate, adhered to the +person, or at least to the government, of the old emperor; and it +was only in the provinces, by flight, and revolt, and foreign +succor, that the malecontents could hope to vindicate their cause +and subvert his throne. The soul of the enterprise was the great +domestic John Cantacuzene; the sally from Constantinople is the +first date of his actions and memorials; and if his own pen be +most descriptive of his patriotism, an unfriendly historian has +not refused to celebrate the zeal and ability which he displayed +in the service of the young emperor. ^* That prince escaped from +the capital under the pretence of hunting; erected his standard +at Adrianople; and, in a few days, assembled fifty thousand horse +and foot, whom neither honor nor duty could have armed against +the Barbarians. Such a force might have saved or commanded the +empire; but their counsels were discordant, their motions were +slow and doubtful, and their progress was checked by intrigue and +negotiation. The quarrel of the two Andronici was protracted, and +suspended, and renewed, during a ruinous period of seven years. +In the first treaty, the relics of the Greek empire were divided: +Constantinople, Thessalonica, and the islands, were left to the +elder, while the younger acquired the sovereignty of the greatest +part of Thrace, from Philippi to the Byzantine limit. By the +second treaty, he stipulated the payment of his troops, his +immediate coronation, and an adequate share of the power and +revenue of the state. The third civil war was terminated by the +surprise of Constantinople, the final retreat of the old emperor, +and the sole reign of his victorious grandson. The reasons of +this delay may be found in the characters of the men and of the +times. When the heir of the monarchy first pleaded his wrongs and +his apprehensions, he was heard with pity and applause: and his +adherents repeated on all sides the inconsistent promise, that he +would increase the pay of the soldiers and alleviate the burdens +of the people. The grievances of forty years were mingled in his +revolt; and the rising generation was fatigued by the endless +prospect of a reign, whose favorites and maxims were of other +times. The youth of Andronicus had been without spirit, his age +was without reverence: his taxes produced an unusual revenue of +five hundred thousand pounds; yet the richest of the sovereigns +of Christendom was incapable of maintaining three thousand horse +and twenty galleys, to resist the destructive progress of the +Turks. ^9 "How different," said the younger Andronicus, "is my +situation from that of the son of Philip! Alexander might +complain, that his father would leave him nothing to conquer: +alas! my grandsire will leave me nothing to lose." But the Greeks +were soon admonished, that the public disorders could not be +healed by a civil war; and that their young favorite was not +destined to be the savior of a falling empire. On the first +repulse, his party was broken by his own levity, their intestine +discord, and the intrigues of the ancient court, which tempted +each malecontent to desert or betray the cause of the rebellion. +Andronicus the younger was touched with remorse, or fatigued with +business, or deceived by negotiation: pleasure rather than power +was his aim; and the license of maintaining a thousand hounds, a +thousand hawks, and a thousand huntsmen, was sufficient to sully +his fame and disarm his ambition.</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: The conduct of Cantacuzene, by his own showing, +was inexplicable. He was unwilling to dethrone the old emperor, +and dissuaded the immediate march on Constantinople. The young +Andronicus, he says, entered into his views, and wrote to warn +the emperor of his danger when the march was determined. +Cantacuzenus, in Nov. Byz. Hist. Collect. vol. i. p. 104, &c. +-- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 9: See Nicephorus Gregoras, l. viii. c. 6. The +younger Andronicus complained, that in four years and four months +a sum of 350,000 byzants of gold was due to him for the expenses +of his household, (Cantacuzen l. i. c. 48.) Yet he would have +remitted the debt, if he might have been allowed to squeeze the +farmers of the revenue.]</p> + +<p>Let us now survey the catastrophe of this busy plot, and the +final situation of the principal actors. ^10 The age of +Andronicus was consumed in civil discord; and, amidst the events +of war and treaty, his power and reputation continually decayed, +till the fatal night in which the gates of the city and palace +were opened without resistance to his grandson. His principal +commander scorned the repeated warnings of danger; and retiring +to rest in the vain security of ignorance, abandoned the feeble +monarch, with some priests and pages, to the terrors of a +sleepless night. These terrors were quickly realized by the +hostile shouts, which proclaimed the titles and victory of +Andronicus the younger; and the aged emperor, falling prostrate +before an image of the Virgin, despatched a suppliant message to +resign the sceptre, and to obtain his life at the hands of the +conqueror. The answer of his grandson was decent and pious; at +the prayer of his friends, the younger Andronicus assumed the +sole administration; but the elder still enjoyed the name and +preeminence of the first emperor, the use of the great palace, +and a pension of twenty-four thousand pieces of gold, one half of +which was assigned on the royal treasury, and the other on the +fishery of Constantinople. But his impotence was soon exposed to +contempt and oblivion; the vast silence of the palace was +disturbed only by the cattle and poultry of the neighborhood, ^* +which roved with impunity through the solitary courts; and a +reduced allowance of ten thousand pieces of gold ^11 was all that +he could ask, and more than he could hope. His calamities were +imbittered by the gradual extinction of sight; his confinement +was rendered each day more rigorous; and during the absence and +sickness of his grandson, his inhuman keepers, by the threats of +instant death, compelled him to exchange the purple for the +monastic habit and profession. The monk +<strong><em>Antony</em></strong> had renounced the pomp of the +world; yet he had occasion for a coarse fur in the winter season, +and as wine was forbidden by his confessor, and water by his +physician, the sherbet of Egypt was his common drink. It was not +without difficulty that the late emperor could procure three or +four pieces to satisfy these simple wants; and if he bestowed the +gold to relieve the more painful distress of a friend, the +sacrifice is of some weight in the scale of humanity and +religion. Four years after his abdication, Andronicus or Antony +expired in a cell, in the seventy-fourth year of his age: and the +last strain of adulation could only promise a more splendid crown +of glory in heaven than he had enjoyed upon earth. ^12 ^!</p> + +<p>[Footnote 10: I follow the chronology of Nicephorus Gregoras, +who is remarkably exact. It is proved that Cantacuzene has +mistaken the dates of his own actions, or rather that his text +has been corrupted by ignorant transcribers.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: And the washerwomen, according to Nic. Gregoras, +p. 431. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 11: I have endeavored to reconcile the 24,000 pieces +of Cantacuzene (l. ii. c. 1) with the 10,000 of Nicephorus +Gregoras, (l. ix. c. 2;) the one of whom wished to soften, the +other to magnify, the hardships of the old emperor.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 12: See Nicephorus Gregoras, (l. ix. 6, 7, 8, 10, +14, l. x. c. 1.) The historian had tasted of the prosperity, and +shared the retreat, of his benefactor; and that friendship which +"waits or to the scaffold or the cell," should not lightly be +accused as "a hireling, a prostitute to praise." *</p> + +<p>Note: *But it may be accused of unparalleled absurdity. He +compares the extinction of the feeble old man to that of the sun: +his coffin is to be floated like Noah's ark by a deluge of tears. +-- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !: Prodigies (according to Nic. Gregoras, p. 460) +announced the departure of the old and imbecile Imperial Monk +from his earthly prison. -- M.]</p> + +<p>Nor was the reign of the younger, more glorious or fortunate +than that of the elder, Andronicus. ^13 He gathered the fruits of +ambition; but the taste was transient and bitter: in the supreme +station he lost the remains of his early popularity; and the +defects of his character became still more conspicuous to the +world. The public reproach urged him to march in person against +the Turks; nor did his courage fail in the hour of trial; but a +defeat and a wound were the only trophies of his expedition in +Asia, which confirmed the establishment of the Ottoman monarchy. +The abuses of the civil government attained their full maturity +and perfection: his neglect of forms, and the confusion of +national dresses, are deplored by the Greeks as the fatal +symptoms of the decay of the empire. Andronicus was old before +his time; the intemperance of youth had accelerated the +infirmities of age; and after being rescued from a dangerous +malady by nature, or physic, or the Virgin, he was snatched away +before he had accomplished his forty-fifth year. He was twice +married; and, as the progress of the Latins in arms and arts had +softened the prejudices of the Byzantine court, his two wives +were chosen in the princely houses of Germany and Italy. The +first, Agnes at home, Irene in Greece, was daughter of the duke +of Brunswick. Her father ^14 was a petty lord ^15 in the poor and +savage regions of the north of Germany: ^16 yet he derived some +revenue from his silver mines; ^17 and his family is celebrated +by the Greeks as the most ancient and noble of the Teutonic name. +^18 After the death of this childish princess, Andronicus sought +in marriage Jane, the sister of the count of Savoy; ^19 and his +suit was preferred to that of the French king. ^20 The count +respected in his sister the superior majesty of a Roman empress: +her retinue was composed of knights and ladies; she was +regenerated and crowned in St. Sophia, under the more orthodox +appellation of Anne; and, at the nuptial feast, the Greeks and +Italians vied with each other in the martial exercises of tilts +and tournaments.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 13: The sole reign of Andronicus the younger is +described by Cantacuzene (l. ii. c. 1--40, p. 191--339) and +Nicephorus Gregoras, (l. ix c. 7--l. xi. c. 11, p. +262--361.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 14: Agnes, or Irene, was the daughter of Duke Henry +the Wonderful, the chief of the house of Brunswick, and the +fourth in descent from the famous Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony +and Bavaria, and conqueror of the Sclavi on the Baltic coast. Her +brother Henry was surnamed the <strong><em>Greek</em></strong>, +from his two journeys into the East: but these journeys were +subsequent to his sister's marriage; and I am ignorant +<strong><em>how</em></strong> Agnes was discovered in the heart +of Germany, and recommended to the Byzantine court. (Rimius, +Memoirs of the House of Brunswick, p. 126--137.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 15: Henry the Wonderful was the founder of the +branch of Grubenhagen, extinct in the year 1596, (Rimius, p. +287.) He resided in the castle of Wolfenbuttel, and possessed no +more than a sixth part of the allodial estates of Brunswick and +Luneburgh, which the Guelph family had saved from the +confiscation of their great fiefs. The frequent partitions among +brothers had almost ruined the princely houses of Germany, till +that just, but pernicious, law was slowly superseded by the right +of primogeniture. The principality of Grubenhagen, one of the +last remains of the Hercynian forest, is a woody, mountainous, +and barren tract, (Busching's Geography, vol. vi. p. 270--286, +English translation.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 16: The royal author of the Memoirs of Brandenburgh +will teach us, how justly, in a much later period, the north of +Germany deserved the epithets of poor and barbarous. (Essai sur +les Murs, &c.) In the year 1306, in the woods of Luneburgh, +some wild people of the Vened race were allowed to bury alive +their infirm and useless parents. (Rimius, p. 136.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 17: The assertion of Tacitus, that Germany was +destitute of the precious metals, must be taken, even in his own +time, with some limitation, (Germania, c. 5. Annal. xi. 20.) +According to Spener, (Hist. Germaniæ Pragmatica, tom. i. p. +351,) <strong><em>Argentifodin</em></strong> in Hercyniis +montibus, imperante Othone magno (A.D. 968) primum apertæ, +largam etiam opes augendi dederunt copiam: but Rimius (p. 258, +259) defers till the year 1016 the discovery of the silver mines +of Grubenhagen, or the Upper Hartz, which were productive in the +beginning of the xivth century, and which still yield a +considerable revenue to the house of Brunswick.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 18: Cantacuzene has given a most honorable +testimony, hn d' ek Germanvn auth Jugathr doukoV nti Mprouzouhk, +(the modern Greeks employ the nt for the d, and the mp for the b, +and the whole will read in the Italian idiom di Brunzuic,) tou +par autoiV epijanestatou, kai ?iamprothti pantaV touV omojulouV +uperballontoV. The praise is just in itself, and pleasing to an +English ear.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 19: Anne, or Jane, was one of the four daughters of +Amedée the Great, by a second marriage, and half-sister of +his successor Edward count of Savoy. (Anderson's Tables, p. 650. +See Cantacuzene, (l. i. c. 40--42.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 20: That king, if the fact be true, must have been +Charles the Fair who in five years (1321--1326) was married to +three wives, (Anderson, p. 628.) Anne of Savoy arrived at +Constantinople in February, 1326.]</p> + +<p>The empress Anne of Savoy survived her husband: their son, +John Palæologus, was left an orphan and an emperor in the +ninth year of his age; and his weakness was protected by the +first and most deserving of the Greeks. The long and cordial +friendship of his father for John Cantacuzene is alike honorable +to the prince and the subject. It had been formed amidst the +pleasures of their youth: their families were almost equally +noble; ^21 and the recent lustre of the purple was amply +compensated by the energy of a private education. We have seen +that the young emperor was saved by Cantacuzene from the power of +his grandfather; and, after six years of civil war, the same +favorite brought him back in triumph to the palace of +Constantinople. Under the reign of Andronicus the younger, the +great domestic ruled the emperor and the empire; and it was by +his valor and conduct that the Isle of Lesbos and the +principality of Ætolia were restored to their ancient +allegiance. His enemies confess, that, among the public robbers, +Cantacuzene alone was moderate and abstemious; and the free and +voluntary account which he produces of his own wealth ^22 may +sustain the presumption that he was devolved by inheritance, and +not accumulated by rapine. He does not indeed specify the value +of his money, plate, and jewels; yet, after a voluntary gift of +two hundred vases of silver, after much had been secreted by his +friends and plundered by his foes, his forfeit treasures were +sufficient for the equipment of a fleet of seventy galleys. He +does not measure the size and number of his estates; but his +granaries were heaped with an incredible store of wheat and +barley; and the labor of a thousand yoke of oxen might cultivate, +according to the practice of antiquity, about sixty-two thousand +five hundred acres of arable land. ^23 His pastures were stocked +with two thousand five hundred brood mares, two hundred camels, +three hundred mules, five hundred asses, five thousand horned +cattle, fifty thousand hogs, and seventy thousand sheep: ^24 a +precious record of rural opulence, in the last period of the +empire, and in a land, most probably in Thrace, so repeatedly +wasted by foreign and domestic hostility. The favor of +Cantacuzene was above his fortune. In the moments of familiarity, +in the hour of sickness, the emperor was desirous to level the +distance between them and pressed his friend to accept the diadem +and purple. The virtue of the great domestic, which is attested +by his own pen, resisted the dangerous proposal; but the last +testament of Andronicus the younger named him the guardian of his +son, and the regent of the empire.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 21: The noble race of the Cantacuzeni (illustrious +from the xith century in the Byzantine annals) was drawn from the +Paladins of France, the heroes of those romances which, in the +xiiith century, were translated and read by the Greeks, (Ducange, +Fam. Byzant. p. 258.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 22: See Cantacuzene, (l. iii. c. 24, 30, 36.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 23: Saserna, in Gaul, and Columella, in Italy or +Spain, allow two yoke of oxen, two drivers, and six laborers, for +two hundred jugera (125 English acres) of arable land, and three +more men must be added if there be much underwood, (Columella de +Re Rustica, l. ii. c. 13, p 441, edit. Gesner.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 24: In this enumeration (l. iii. c. 30) the French +translation of the president Cousin is blotted with three +palpable and essential errors. 1. He omits the 1000 yoke of +working oxen. 2. He interprets the pentakosiai proV diaciliaiV, +by the number of fifteen hundred. * 3. He confounds myriads with +chiliads, and gives Cantacuzene no more than 5000 hogs. Put not +your trust in translations!</p> + +<p>Note: * There seems to be another reading, ciliaiV. Niebuhr's +edit. in loc. -- M.]</p> + +<p>Had the regent found a suitable return of obedience and +gratitude, perhaps he would have acted with pure and zealous +fidelity in the service of his pupil. ^25 A guard of five hundred +soldiers watched over his person and the palace; the funeral of +the late emperor was decently performed; the capital was silent +and submissive; and five hundred letters, which Cantacuzene +despatched in the first month, informed the provinces of their +loss and their duty. The prospect of a tranquil minority was +blasted by the great duke or admiral Apocaucus, and to exaggerate +<strong><em>his</em></strong> perfidy, the Imperial historian is +pleased to magnify his own imprudence, in raising him to that +office against the advice of his more sagacious sovereign. Bold +and subtle, rapacious and profuse, the avarice and ambition of +Apocaucus were by turns subservient to each other; and his +talents were applied to the ruin of his country. His arrogance +was heightened by the command of a naval force and an impregnable +castle, and under the mask of oaths and flattery he secretly +conspired against his benefactor. The female court of the empress +was bribed and directed; he encouraged Anne of Savoy to assert, +by the law of nature, the tutelage of her son; the love of power +was disguised by the anxiety of maternal tenderness: and the +founder of the Palæologi had instructed his posterity to +dread the example of a perfidious guardian. The patriarch John of +Apri was a proud and feeble old man, encompassed by a numerous +and hungry kindred. He produced an obsolete epistle of +Andronicus, which bequeathed the prince and people to his pious +care: the fate of his predecessor Arsenius prompted him to +prevent, rather than punish, the crimes of a usurper; and +Apocaucus smiled at the success of his own flattery, when he +beheld the Byzantine priest assuming the state and temporal +claims of the Roman pontiff. ^26 Between three persons so +different in their situation and character, a private league was +concluded: a shadow of authority was restored to the senate; and +the people was tempted by the name of freedom. By this powerful +confederacy, the great domestic was assaulted at first with +clandestine, at length with open, arms. His prerogatives were +disputed; his opinions slighted; his friends persecuted; and his +safety was threatened both in the camp and city. In his absence +on the public service, he was accused of treason; proscribed as +an enemy of the church and state; and delivered with all his +adherents to the sword of justice, the vengeance of the people, +and the power of the devil; his fortunes were confiscated; his +aged mother was cast into prison; ^* all his past services were +buried in oblivion; and he was driven by injustice to perpetrate +the crime of which he was accused. ^27 From the review of his +preceding conduct, Cantacuzene appears to have been guiltless of +any treasonable designs; and the only suspicion of his innocence +must arise from the vehemence of his protestations, and the +sublime purity which he ascribes to his own virtue. While the +empress and the patriarch still affected the appearances of +harmony, he repeatedly solicited the permission of retiring to a +private, and even a monastic, life. After he had been declared a +public enemy, it was his fervent wish to throw himself at the +feet of the young emperor, and to receive without a murmur the +stroke of the executioner: it was not without reluctance that he +listened to the voice of reason, which inculcated the sacred duty +of saving his family and friends, and proved that he could only +save them by drawing the sword and assuming the Imperial +title.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 25: See the regency and reign of John Cantacuzenus, +and the whole progress of the civil war, in his own history, (l. +iii. c. 1--100, p. 348--700,) and in that of Nicephorus Gregoras, +(l. xii. c. 1--l. xv. c. 9, p. 353--492.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 26: He assumes the royal privilege of red shoes or +buskins; placed on his head a mitre of silk and gold; subscribed +his epistles with hyacinth or green ink, and claimed for the new, +whatever Constantine had given to the ancient, Rome, (Cantacuzen. +l. iii. c. 36. Nic. Gregoras, l. xiv. c. 3.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: She died there through persecution and neglect. +-- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 27: Nic. Gregoras (l. xii. c. 5) confesses the +innocence and virtues of Cantacuzenus, the guilt and flagitious +vices of Apocaucus; nor does he dissemble the motive of his +personal and religious enmity to the former; nun de dia kakian +allwn, aitioV o praotatoV thV tvn olwn edoxaV? eioai jqoraV.</p> + +<p>Note: The alloi were the religious enemies and persecutors of +Nicephorus. -- M.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LXIII: Civil Wars And The Ruin Of The +Greek Empire. -- Part II.</em></strong></p> + +<p>In the strong city of Demotica, his peculiar domain, the +emperor John Cantacuzenus was invested with the purple buskins: +his right leg was clothed by his noble kinsmen, the left by the +Latin chiefs, on whom he conferred the order of knighthood. But +even in this act of revolt, he was still studious of loyalty; and +the titles of John Palæologus and Anne of Savoy were +proclaimed before his own name and that of his wife Irene. Such +vain ceremony is a thin disguise of rebellion, nor are there +perhaps any personal wrongs that can authorize a subject to take +arms against his sovereign: but the want of preparation and +success may confirm the assurance of the usurper, that this +decisive step was the effect of necessity rather than of choice. +Constantinople adhered to the young emperor; the king of Bulgaria +was invited to the relief of Adrianople: the principal cities of +Thrace and Macedonia, after some hesitation, renounced their +obedience to the great domestic; and the leaders of the troops +and provinces were induced, by their private interest, to prefer +the loose dominion of a woman and a priest. ^* The army of +Cantacuzene, in sixteen divisions, was stationed on the banks of +the Melas to tempt or to intimidate the capital: it was dispersed +by treachery or fear; and the officers, more especially the +mercenary Latins, accepted the bribes, and embraced the service, +of the Byzantine court. After this loss, the rebel emperor (he +fluctuated between the two characters) took the road of +Thessalonica with a chosen remnant; but he failed in his +enterprise on that important place; and he was closely pursued by +the great duke, his enemy Apocaucus, at the head of a superior +power by sea and land. Driven from the coast, in his march, or +rather flight, into the mountains of Servia, Cantacuzene +assembled his troops to scrutinize those who were worthy and +willing to accompany his broken fortunes. A base majority bowed +and retired; and his trusty band was diminished to two thousand, +and at last to five hundred, volunteers. The +<strong><em>cral</em></strong>, ^28 or despot of the Servians +received him with general hospitality; but the ally was +insensibly degraded to a suppliant, a hostage, a captive; and in +this miserable dependence, he waited at the door of the +Barbarian, who could dispose of the life and liberty of a Roman +emperor. The most tempting offers could not persuade the cral to +violate his trust; but he soon inclined to the stronger side; and +his friend was dismissed without injury to a new vicissitude of +hopes and perils. Near six years the flame of discord burnt with +various success and unabated rage: the cities were distracted by +the faction of the nobles and the plebeians; the Cantacuzeni and +Palæologi: and the Bulgarians, the Servians, and the Turks, +were invoked on both sides as the instruments of private ambition +and the common ruin. The regent deplored the calamities, of which +he was the author and victim: and his own experience might +dictate a just and lively remark on the different nature of +foreign and civil war. "The former," said he, "is the external +warmth of summer, always tolerable, and often beneficial; the +latter is the deadly heat of a fever, which consumes without a +remedy the vitals of the constitution." ^29</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Cantacuzene asserts, that in all the cities, the +populace were on the side of the emperor, the aristocracy on his. +The populace took the opportunity of rising and plundering the +wealthy as Cantacuzenites, vol. iii. c. 29 Ages of common +oppression and ruin had not extinguished these republican +factions. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 28: The princes of Servia (Ducange, Famil. +Dalmaticæ, &c., c. 2, 3, 4, 9) were styled Despots in +Greek, and Cral in their native idiom, (Ducange, Gloss. +Græc. p. 751.) That title, the equivalent of king, appears +to be of Sclavonic origin, from whence it has been borrowed by +the Hungarians, the modern Greeks, and even by the Turks, +(Leunclavius, Pandect. Turc. p. 422,) who reserve the name of +Padishah for the emperor. To obtain the latter instead of the +former is the ambition of the French at Constantinople, +(Aversissement à l'Histoire de Timur Bec, p. 39.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 29: Nic. Gregoras, l. xii. c. 14. It is surprising +that Cantacuzene has not inserted this just and lively image in +his own writings.]</p> + +<p>The introduction of barbarians and savages into the contests +of civilized nations, is a measure pregnant with shame and +mischief; which the interest of the moment may compel, but which +is reprobated by the best principles of humanity and reason. It +is the practice of both sides to accuse their enemies of the +guilt of the first alliances; and those who fail in their +negotiations are loudest in their censure of the example which +they envy and would gladly imitate. The Turks of Asia were less +barbarous perhaps than the shepherds of Bulgaria and Servia; but +their religion rendered them implacable foes of Rome and +Christianity. To acquire the friendship of their emirs, the two +factions vied with each other in baseness and profusion: the +dexterity of Cantacuzene obtained the preference: but the succor +and victory were dearly purchased by the marriage of his daughter +with an infidel, the captivity of many thousand Christians, and +the passage of the Ottomans into Europe, the last and fatal +stroke in the fall of the Roman empire. The inclining scale was +decided in his favor by the death of Apocaucus, the just though +singular retribution of his crimes. A crowd of nobles or +plebeians, whom he feared or hated, had been seized by his orders +in the capital and the provinces; and the old palace of +Constantine was assigned as the place of their confinement. Some +alterations in raising the walls, and narrowing the cells, had +been ingeniously contrived to prevent their escape, and aggravate +their misery; and the work was incessantly pressed by the daily +visits of the tyrant. His guards watched at the gate, and as he +stood in the inner court to overlook the architects, without fear +or suspicion, he was assaulted and laid breathless on the ground, +by two ^* resolute prisoners of the Palæologian race, ^30 +who were armed with sticks, and animated by despair. On the rumor +of revenge and liberty, the captive multitude broke their +fetters, fortified their prison, and exposed from the battlements +the tyrant's head, presuming on the favor of the people and the +clemency of the empress. Anne of Savoy might rejoice in the fall +of a haughty and ambitious minister, but while she delayed to +resolve or to act, the populace, more especially the mariners, +were excited by the widow of the great duke to a sedition, an +assault, and a massacre. The prisoners (of whom the far greater +part were guiltless or inglorious of the deed) escaped to a +neighboring church: they were slaughtered at the foot of the +altar; and in his death the monster was not less bloody and +venomous than in his life. Yet his talents alone upheld the cause +of the young emperor; and his surviving associates, suspicious of +each other, abandoned the conduct of the war, and rejected the +fairest terms of accommodation. In the beginning of the dispute, +the empress felt, and complained, that she was deceived by the +enemies of Cantacuzene: the patriarch was employed to preach +against the forgiveness of injuries; and her promise of immortal +hatred was sealed by an oath, under the penalty of +excommunication. ^31 But Anne soon learned to hate without a +teacher: she beheld the misfortunes of the empire with the +indifference of a stranger: her jealousy was exasperated by the +competition of a rival empress; and on the first symptoms of a +more yielding temper, she threatened the patriarch to convene a +synod, and degrade him from his office. Their incapacity and +discord would have afforded the most decisive advantage; but the +civil war was protracted by the weakness of both parties; and the +moderation of Cantacuzene has not escaped the reproach of +timidity and indolence. He successively recovered the provinces +and cities; and the realm of his pupil was measured by the walls +of Constantinople; but the metropolis alone counterbalanced the +rest of the empire; nor could he attempt that important conquest +till he had secured in his favor the public voice and a private +correspondence. An Italian, of the name of Facciolati, ^32 had +succeeded to the office of great duke: the ships, the guards, and +the golden gate, were subject to his command; but his humble +ambition was bribed to become the instrument of treachery; and +the revolution was accomplished without danger or bloodshed. +Destitute of the powers of resistance, or the hope of relief, the +inflexible Anne would have still defended the palace, and have +smiled to behold the capital in flames, rather than in the +possession of a rival. She yielded to the prayers of her friends +and enemies; and the treaty was dictated by the conqueror, who +professed a loyal and zealous attachment to the son of his +benefactor. The marriage of his daughter with John +Palæologus was at length consummated: the hereditary right +of the pupil was acknowledged; but the sole administration during +ten years was vested in the guardian. Two emperors and three +empresses were seated on the Byzantine throne; and a general +amnesty quieted the apprehensions, and confirmed the property, of +the most guilty subjects. The festival of the coronation and +nuptials was celebrated with the appearances of concord and +magnificence, and both were equally fallacious. During the late +troubles, the treasures of the state, and even the furniture of +the palace, had been alienated or embezzled; the royal banquet +was served in pewter or earthenware; and such was the proud +poverty of the times, that the absence of gold and jewels was +supplied by the paltry artifices of glass and gilt-leather. +^33</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Nicephorus says four, p.734.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 30: The two avengers were both Palæologi, who +might resent, with royal indignation, the shame of their chains. +The tragedy of Apocaucus may deserve a peculiar reference to +Cantacuzene (l. iii. c. 86) and Nic. Gregoras, (l. xiv. c. +10.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 31: Cantacuzene accuses the patriarch, and spares +the empress, the mother of his sovereign, (l. iii. 33, 34,) +against whom Nic. Gregoras expresses a particular animosity, (l. +xiv. 10, 11, xv. 5.) It is true that they do not speak exactly of +the same time.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 32: The traitor and treason are revealed by Nic. +Gregoras, (l. xv. c. 8;) but the name is more discreetly +suppressed by his great accomplice, (Cantacuzen. l. iii. c. +99.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 33: Nic. Greg. l. xv. 11. There were, however, some +true pearls, but very thinly sprinkled. The rest of the stones +had only pantodaphn croian proV to diaugeV.]</p> + +<p>I hasten to conclude the personal history of John Cantacuzene. +^34 He triumphed and reigned; but his reign and triumph were +clouded by the discontent of his own and the adverse faction. His +followers might style the general amnesty an act of pardon for +his enemies, and of oblivion for his friends: ^35 in his cause +their estates had been forfeited or plundered; and as they +wandered naked and hungry through the streets, they cursed the +selfish generosity of a leader, who, on the throne of the empire, +might relinquish without merit his private inheritance. The +adherents of the empress blushed to hold their lives and fortunes +by the precarious favor of a usurper; and the thirst of revenge +was concealed by a tender concern for the succession, and even +the safety, of her son. They were justly alarmed by a petition of +the friends of Cantacuzene, that they might be released from +their oath of allegiance to the Palæologi, and intrusted +with the defence of some cautionary towns; a measure supported +with argument and eloquence; and which was rejected (says the +Imperial historian) "by <strong><em>my</em></strong> sublime, and +almost incredible virtue." His repose was disturbed by the sound +of plots and seditions; and he trembled lest the lawful prince +should be stolen away by some foreign or domestic enemy, who +would inscribe his name and his wrongs in the banners of +rebellion. As the son of Andronicus advanced in the years of +manhood, he began to feel and to act for himself; and his rising +ambition was rather stimulated than checked by the imitation of +his father's vices. If we may trust his own professions, +Cantacuzene labored with honest industry to correct these sordid +and sensual appetites, and to raise the mind of the young prince +to a level with his fortune. In the Servian expedition, the two +emperors showed themselves in cordial harmony to the troops and +provinces; and the younger colleague was initiated by the elder +in the mysteries of war and government. After the conclusion of +the peace, Palæologus was left at Thessalonica, a royal +residence, and a frontier station, to secure by his absence the +peace of Constantinople, and to withdraw his youth from the +temptations of a luxurious capital. But the distance weakened the +powers of control, and the son of Andronicus was surrounded with +artful or unthinking companions, who taught him to hate his +guardian, to deplore his exile, and to vindicate his rights. A +private treaty with the cral or despot of Servia was soon +followed by an open revolt; and Cantacuzene, on the throne of the +elder Andronicus, defended the cause of age and prerogative, +which in his youth he had so vigorously attacked. At his request +the empress-mother undertook the voyage of Thessalonica, and the +office of mediation: she returned without success; and unless +Anne of Savoy was instructed by adversity, we may doubt the +sincerity, or at least the fervor, of her zeal. While the regent +grasped the sceptre with a firm and vigorous hand, she had been +instructed to declare, that the ten years of his legal +administration would soon elapse; and that, after a full trial of +the vanity of the world, the emperor Cantacuzene sighed for the +repose of a cloister, and was ambitious only of a heavenly crown. +Had these sentiments been genuine, his voluntary abdication would +have restored the peace of the empire, and his conscience would +have been relieved by an act of justice. Palæologus alone +was responsible for his future government; and whatever might be +his vices, they were surely less formidable than the calamities +of a civil war, in which the Barbarians and infidels were again +invited to assist the Greeks in their mutual destruction. By the +arms of the Turks, who now struck a deep and everlasting root in +Europe, Cantacuzene prevailed in the third contest in which he +had been involved; and the young emperor, driven from the sea and +land, was compelled to take shelter among the Latins of the Isle +of Tenedos. His insolence and obstinacy provoked the victor to a +step which must render the quarrel irreconcilable; and the +association of his son Matthew, whom he invested with the purple, +established the succession in the family of the Cantacuzeni. But +Constantinople was still attached to the blood of her ancient +princes; and this last injury accelerated the restoration of the +rightful heir. A noble Genoese espoused the cause of +Palæologus, obtained a promise of his sister, and achieved +the revolution with two galleys and two thousand five hundred +auxiliaries. Under the pretence of distress, they were admitted +into the lesser port; a gate was opened, and the Latin shout of, +"Long life and victory to the emperor, John Palæologus!" +was answered by a general rising in his favor. A numerous and +loyal party yet adhered to the standard of Cantacuzene: but he +asserts in his history (does he hope for belief?) that his tender +conscience rejected the assurance of conquest; that, in free +obedience to the voice of religion and philosophy, he descended +from the throne and embraced with pleasure the monastic habit and +profession. ^36 So soon as he ceased to be a prince, his +successor was not unwilling that he should be a saint: the +remainder of his life was devoted to piety and learning; in the +cells of Constantinople and Mount Athos, the monk Joasaph was +respected as the temporal and spiritual father of the emperor; +and if he issued from his retreat, it was as the minister of +peace, to subdue the obstinacy, and solicit the pardon, of his +rebellious son. ^37</p> + +<p>[Footnote 34: From his return to Constantinople, Cantacuzene +continues his history and that of the empire, one year beyond the +abdication of his son Matthew, A.D. 1357, (l. iv. c. l--50, p. +705--911.) Nicephorus Gregoras ends with the synod of +Constantinople, in the year 1351, (l. xxii. c. 3, p. 660; the +rest, to the conclusion of the xxivth book, p. 717, is all +controversy;) and his fourteen last books are still MSS. in the +king of France's library.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 35: The emperor (Cantacuzen. l. iv. c. 1) represents +his own virtues, and Nic. Gregoras (l. xv. c. 11) the complaints +of his friends, who suffered by its effects. I have lent them the +words of our poor cavaliers after the Restoration.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 36: The awkward apology of Cantacuzene, (l. iv. c. +39--42,) who relates, with visible confusion, his own downfall, +may be supplied by the less accurate, but more honest, narratives +of Matthew Villani (l. iv. c. 46, in the Script. Rerum Ital. tom. +xiv. p. 268) and Ducas, (c 10, 11.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 37: Cantacuzene, in the year 1375, was honored with +a letter from the pope, (Fleury, Hist. Ecclés. tom. xx. p. +250.) His death is placed by a respectable authority on the 20th +of November, 1411, (Ducange, Fam. Byzant. p. 260.) But if he were +of the age of his companion Andronicus the Younger, he must have +lived 116 years; a rare instance of longevity, which in so +illustrious a person would have attracted universal notice.]</p> + +<p>Yet in the cloister, the mind of Cantacuzene was still +exercised by theological war. He sharpened a controversial pen +against the Jews and Mahometans; ^38 and in every state he +defended with equal zeal the divine light of Mount Thabor, a +memorable question which consummates the religious follies of the +Greeks. The fakirs of India, ^39 and the monks of the Oriental +church, were alike persuaded, that in the total abstraction of +the faculties of the mind and body, the purer spirit may ascend +to the enjoyment and vision of the Deity. The opinion and +practice of the monasteries of Mount Athos ^40 will be best +represented in the words of an abbot, who flourished in the +eleventh century. "When thou art alone in thy cell," says the +ascetic teacher, "shut thy door, and seat thyself in a corner: +raise thy mind above all things vain and transitory; recline thy +beard and chin on thy breast; turn thy eyes and thy thoughts +toward the middle of thy belly, the region of the navel; and +search the place of the heart, the seat of the soul. At first, +all will be dark and comfortless; but if you persevere day and +night, you will feel an ineffable joy; and no sooner has the soul +discovered the place of the heart, than it is involved in a +mystic and ethereal light." This light, the production of a +distempered fancy, the creature of an empty stomach and an empty +brain, was adored by the Quietists as the pure and perfect +essence of God himself; and as long as the folly was confined to +Mount Athos, the simple solitaries were not inquisitive how the +divine essence could be a <strong><em>material</em></strong> +substance, or how an <strong><em>immaterial</em></strong> +substance could be perceived by the eyes of the body. But in the +reign of the younger Andronicus, these monasteries were visited +by Barlaam, ^41 a Calabrian monk, who was equally skilled in +philosophy and theology; who possessed the language of the Greeks +and Latins; and whose versatile genius could maintain their +opposite creeds, according to the interest of the moment. The +indiscretion of an ascetic revealed to the curious traveller the +secrets of mental prayer and Barlaam embraced the opportunity of +ridiculing the Quietists, who placed the soul in the navel; of +accusing the monks of Mount Athos of heresy and blasphemy. His +attack compelled the more learned to renounce or dissemble the +simple devotion of their brethren; and Gregory Palamas introduced +a scholastic distinction between the essence and operation of +God. His inaccessible essence dwells in the midst of an uncreated +and eternal light; and this beatific vision of the saints had +been manifested to the disciples on Mount Thabor, in the +transfiguration of Christ. Yet this distinction could not escape +the reproach of polytheism; the eternity of the light of Thabor +was fiercely denied; and Barlaam still charged the Palamites with +holding two eternal substances, a visible and an invisible God. +From the rage of the monks of Mount Athos, who threatened his +life, the Calabrian retired to Constantinople, where his smooth +and specious manners introduced him to the favor of the great +domestic and the emperor. The court and the city were involved in +this theological dispute, which flamed amidst the civil war; but +the doctrine of Barlaam was disgraced by his flight and apostasy: +the Palamites triumphed; and their adversary, the patriarch John +of Apri, was deposed by the consent of the adverse factions of +the state. In the character of emperor and theologian, +Cantacuzene presided in the synod of the Greek church, which +established, as an article of faith, the uncreated light of Mount +Thabor; and, after so many insults, the reason of mankind was +slightly wounded by the addition of a single absurdity. Many +rolls of paper or parchment have been blotted; and the impenitent +sectaries, who refused to subscribe the orthodox creed, were +deprived of the honors of Christian burial; but in the next age +the question was forgotten; nor can I learn that the axe or the +fagot were employed for the extirpation of the Barlaamite heresy. +^42</p> + +<p>[Footnote 38: His four discourses, or books, were printed at +Basil, 1543, (Fabric Bibliot. Græc. tom. vi. p. 473.) He +composed them to satisfy a proselyte who was assaulted with +letters from his friends of Ispahan. Cantacuzene had read the +Koran; but I understand from Maracci that he adopts the vulgar +prejudices and fables against Mahomet and his religion.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 39: See the Voyage de Bernier, tom. i. p. 127.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 40: Mosheim, Institut. Hist. Ecclés. p. 522, +523. Fleury, Hist. Ecclés. tom. xx. p. 22, 24, 107--114, +&c. The former unfolds the causes with the judgment of a +philosopher, the latter transcribes and transcribes and +translates with the prejudices of a Catholic priest.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 41: Basnage (in Canisii Antiq. Lectiones, tom. iv. +p. 363--368) has investigated the character and story of Barlaam. +The duplicity of his opinions had inspired some doubts of the +identity of his person. See likewise Fabricius, (Bibliot. +Græc. tom. x. p. 427--432.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 42: See Cantacuzene (l. ii. c. 39, 40, l. iv. c. 3, +23, 24, 25) and Nic. Gregoras, (l. xi. c. 10, l. xv. 3, 7, +&c.,) whose last books, from the xixth to xxivth, are almost +confined to a subject so interesting to the authors. Boivin, (in +Vit. Nic. Gregoræ,) from the unpublished books, and +Fabricius, (Bibliot. Græc. tom. x. p. 462--473,) or rather +Montfaucon, from the MSS. of the Coislin library, have added some +facts and documents.]</p> + +<p>For the conclusion of this chapter, I have reserved the +Genoese war, which shook the throne of Cantacuzene, and betrayed +the debility of the Greek empire. The Genoese, who, after the +recovery of Constantinople, were seated in the suburb of Pera or +Galata, received that honorable fief from the bounty of the +emperor. They were indulged in the use of their laws and +magistrates; but they submitted to the duties of vassals and +subjects; the forcible word of +<strong><em>liegemen</em></strong>^43 was borrowed from the Latin +jurisprudence; and their <strong><em>podesta</em></strong>, or +chief, before he entered on his office, saluted the emperor with +loyal acclamations and vows of fidelity. Genoa sealed a firm +alliance with the Greeks; and, in case of a defensive war, a +supply of fifty empty galleys and a succor of fifty galleys, +completely armed and manned, was promised by the republic to the +empire. In the revival of a naval force, it was the aim of +Michael Palæologus to deliver himself from a foreign aid; +and his vigorous government contained the Genoese of Galata +within those limits which the insolence of wealth and freedom +provoked them to exceed. A sailor threatened that they should +soon be masters of Constantinople, and slew the Greek who +resented this national affront; and an armed vessel, after +refusing to salute the palace, was guilty of some acts of piracy +in the Black Sea. Their countrymen threatened to support their +cause; but the long and open village of Galata was instantly +surrounded by the Imperial troops; till, in the moment of the +assault, the prostrate Genoese implored the clemency of their +sovereign. The defenceless situation which secured their +obedience exposed them to the attack of their Venetian rivals, +who, in the reign of the elder Andronicus, presumed to violate +the majesty of the throne. On the approach of their fleets, the +Genoese, with their families and effects, retired into the city: +their empty habitations were reduced to ashes; and the feeble +prince, who had viewed the destruction of his suburb, expressed +his resentment, not by arms, but by ambassadors. This misfortune, +however, was advantageous to the Genoese, who obtained, and +imperceptibly abused, the dangerous license of surrounding Galata +with a strong wall; of introducing into the ditch the waters of +the sea; of erecting lofty turrets; and of mounting a train of +military engines on the rampart. The narrow bounds in which they +had been circumscribed were insufficient for the growing colony; +each day they acquired some addition of landed property; and the +adjacent hills were covered with their villas and castles, which +they joined and protected by new fortifications. ^44 The +navigation and trade of the Euxine was the patrimony of the Greek +emperors, who commanded the narrow entrance, the gates, as it +were, of that inland sea. In the reign of Michael +Palæologus, their prerogative was acknowledged by the +sultan of Egypt, who solicited and obtained the liberty of +sending an annual ship for the purchase of slaves in Circassia +and the Lesser Tartary: a liberty pregnant with mischief to the +Christian cause; since these youths were transformed by education +and discipline into the formidable Mamalukes. ^45 From the colony +of Pera, the Genoese engaged with superior advantage in the +lucrative trade of the Black Sea; and their industry supplied the +Greeks with fish and corn; two articles of food almost equally +important to a superstitious people. The spontaneous bounty of +nature appears to have bestowed the harvests of Ukraine, the +produce of a rude and savage husbandry; and the endless +exportation of salt fish and caviare is annually renewed by the +enormous sturgeons that are caught at the mouth of the Don or +Tanais, in their last station of the rich mud and shallow water +of the Mæotis. ^46 The waters of the Oxus, the Caspian, the +Volga, and the Don, opened a rare and laborious passage for the +gems and spices of India; and after three months' march the +caravans of Carizme met the Italian vessels in the harbors of +Crimæa. ^47 These various branches of trade were +monopolized by the diligence and power of the Genoese. Their +rivals of Venice and Pisa were forcibly expelled; the natives +were awed by the castles and cities, which arose on the +foundations of their humble factories; and their principal +establishment of Caffa ^48 was besieged without effect by the +Tartar powers. Destitute of a navy, the Greeks were oppressed by +these haughty merchants, who fed, or famished, Constantinople, +according to their interest. They proceeded to usurp the customs, +the fishery, and even the toll, of the Bosphorus; and while they +derived from these objects a revenue of two hundred thousand +pieces of gold, a remnant of thirty thousand was reluctantly +allowed to the emperor. ^49 The colony of Pera or Galata acted, +in peace and war, as an independent state; and, as it will happen +in distant settlements, the Genoese podesta too often forgot that +he was the servant of his own masters.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 43: Pachymer (l. v. c. 10) very properly explains +liziouV (<strong><em>ligios</em></strong>) by ?lidiouV. The use +of these words in the Greek and Latin of the feudal times may be +amply understood from the Glossaries of Ducange, (Græc. p. +811, 812. Latin. tom. iv. p. 109--111.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 44: The establishment and progress of the Genoese at +Pera, or Galata, is described by Ducange (C. P. Christiana, l. i. +p. 68, 69) from the Byzantine historians, Pachymer, (l. ii. c. +35, l. v. 10, 30, l. ix. 15 l. xii. 6, 9,) Nicephorus Gregoras, +(l. v. c. 4, l. vi. c. 11, l. ix. c. 5, l. ix. c. 1, l. xv. c. 1, +6,) and Cantacuzene, (l. i. c. 12, l. ii. c. 29, &c.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 45: Both Pachymer (l. iii. c. 3, 4, 5) and Nic. +Greg. (l. iv. c. 7) understand and deplore the effects of this +dangerous indulgence. Bibars, sultan of Egypt, himself a Tartar, +but a devout Mussulman, obtained from the children of Zingis the +permission to build a stately mosque in the capital of Crimea, +(De Guignes, Hist. des Huns, tom. iii. p. 343.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 46: Chardin (Voyages en Perse, tom. i. p. 48) was +assured at Caffa, that these fishes were sometimes twenty-four or +twenty-six feet long, weighed eight or nine hundred pounds, and +yielded three or four quintals of caviare. The corn of the +Bosphorus had supplied the Athenians in the time of +Demosthenes.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 47: De Guignes, Hist. des Huns, tom. iii. p. 343, +344. Viaggi di Ramusio, tom. i. fol. 400. But this land or water +carriage could only be practicable when Tartary was united under +a wise and powerful monarch.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 48: Nic. Gregoras (l. xiii. c. 12) is judicious and +well informed on the trade and colonies of the Black Sea. Chardin +describes the present ruins of Caffa, where, in forty days, he +saw above 400 sail employed in the corn and fish trade, (Voyages +en Perse, tom. i. p. 46--48.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 49: See Nic. Gregoras, l. xvii. c. 1.]</p> + +<p>These usurpations were encouraged by the weakness of the elder +Andronicus, and by the civil wars that afflicted his age and the +minority of his grandson. The talents of Cantacuzene were +employed to the ruin, rather than the restoration, of the empire; +and after his domestic victory, he was condemned to an +ignominious trial, whether the Greeks or the Genoese should reign +in Constantinople. The merchants of Pera were offended by his +refusal of some contiguous land, some commanding heights, which +they proposed to cover with new fortifications; and in the +absence of the emperor, who was detained at Demotica by sickness, +they ventured to brave the debility of a female reign. A +Byzantine vessel, which had presumed to fish at the mouth of the +harbor, was sunk by these audacious strangers; the fishermen were +murdered. Instead of suing for pardon, the Genoese demanded +satisfaction; required, in a haughty strain, that the Greeks +should renounce the exercise of navigation; and encountered with +regular arms the first sallies of the popular indignation. They +instantly occupied the debatable land; and by the labor of a +whole people, of either sex and of every age, the wall was +raised, and the ditch was sunk, with incredible speed. At the +same time, they attacked and burnt two Byzantine galleys; while +the three others, the remainder of the Imperial navy, escaped +from their hands: the habitations without the gates, or along the +shore, were pillaged and destroyed; and the care of the regent, +of the empress Irene, was confined to the preservation of the +city. The return of Cantacuzene dispelled the public +consternation: the emperor inclined to peaceful counsels; but he +yielded to the obstinacy of his enemies, who rejected all +reasonable terms, and to the ardor of his subjects, who +threatened, in the style of Scripture, to break them in pieces +like a potter's vessel. Yet they reluctantly paid the taxes, that +he imposed for the construction of ships, and the expenses of the +war; and as the two nations were masters, the one of the land, +the other of the sea, Constantinople and Pera were pressed by the +evils of a mutual siege. The merchants of the colony, who had +believed that a few days would terminate the war, already +murmured at their losses: the succors from their mother-country +were delayed by the factions of Genoa; and the most cautious +embraced the opportunity of a Rhodian vessel to remove their +families and effects from the scene of hostility. In the spring, +the Byzantine fleet, seven galleys and a train of smaller +vessels, issued from the mouth of the harbor, and steered in a +single line along the shore of Pera; unskilfully presenting their +sides to the beaks of the adverse squadron. The crews were +composed of peasants and mechanics; nor was their ignorance +compensated by the native courage of Barbarians: the wind was +strong, the waves were rough; and no sooner did the Greeks +perceive a distant and inactive enemy, than they leaped headlong +into the sea, from a doubtful, to an inevitable peril. The troops +that marched to the attack of the lines of Pera were struck at +the same moment with a similar panic; and the Genoese were +astonished, and almost ashamed, at their double victory. Their +triumphant vessels, crowned with flowers, and dragging after them +the captive galleys, repeatedly passed and repassed before the +palace: the only virtue of the emperor was patience; and the hope +of revenge his sole consolation. Yet the distress of both parties +interposed a temporary agreement; and the shame of the empire was +disguised by a thin veil of dignity and power. Summoning the +chiefs of the colony, Cantacuzene affected to despise the trivial +object of the debate; and, after a mild reproof, most liberally +granted the lands, which had been previously resigned to the +seeming custody of his officers. ^50</p> + +<p>[Footnote 50: The events of this war are related by +Cantacuzene (l. iv. c. 11 with obscurity and confusion, and by +Nic. Gregoras (l. xvii. c. 1--7) in a clear and honest narrative. +The priest was less responsible than the prince for the defeat of +the fleet.]</p> + +<p>But the emperor was soon solicited to violate the treaty, and +to join his arms with the Venetians, the perpetual enemies of +Genoa and her colonies. While he compared the reasons of peace +and war, his moderation was provoked by a wanton insult of the +inhabitants of Pera, who discharged from their rampart a large +stone that fell in the midst of Constantinople. On his just +complaint, they coldly blamed the imprudence of their engineer; +but the next day the insult was repeated; and they exulted in a +second proof that the royal city was not beyond the reach of +their artillery. Cantacuzene instantly signed his treaty with the +Venetians; but the weight of the Roman empire was scarcely felt +in the balance of these opulent and powerful republics. ^51 From +the Straits of Gibraltar to the mouth of the Tanais, their fleets +encountered each other with various success; and a memorable +battle was fought in the narrow sea, under the walls of +Constantinople. It would not be an easy task to reconcile the +accounts of the Greeks, the Venetians, and the Genoese; ^52 and +while I depend on the narrative of an impartial historian, ^53 I +shall borrow from each nation the facts that redound to their own +disgrace, and the honor of their foes. The Venetians, with their +allies the Catalans, had the advantage of number; and their +fleet, with the poor addition of eight Byzantine galleys, +amounted to seventy-five sail: the Genoese did not exceed +sixty-four; but in those times their ships of war were +distinguished by the superiority of their size and strength. The +names and families of their naval commanders, Pisani and Doria, +are illustrious in the annals of their country; but the personal +merit of the former was eclipsed by the fame and abilities of his +rival. They engaged in tempestuous weather; and the tumultuary +conflict was continued from the dawn to the extinction of light. +The enemies of the Genoese applaud their prowess; the friends of +the Venetians are dissatisfied with their behavior; but all +parties agree in praising the skill and boldness of the Catalans, +^* who, with many wounds, sustained the brunt of the action. On +the separation of the fleets, the event might appear doubtful; +but the thirteen Genoese galleys, that had been sunk or taken, +were compensated by a double loss of the allies; of fourteen +Venetians, ten Catalans, and two Greeks; ^! and even the grief of +the conquerors expressed the assurance and habit of more decisive +victories. Pisani confessed his defeat, by retiring into a +fortified harbor, from whence, under the pretext of the orders of +the senate, he steered with a broken and flying squadron for the +Isle of Candia, and abandoned to his rivals the sovereignty of +the sea. In a public epistle, ^54 addressed to the doge and +senate, Petrarch employs his eloquence to reconcile the maritime +powers, the two luminaries of Italy. The orator celebrates the +valor and victory of the Genoese, the first of men in the +exercise of naval war: he drops a tear on the misfortunes of +their Venetian brethren; but he exhorts them to pursue with fire +and sword the base and perfidious Greeks; to purge the metropolis +of the East from the heresy with which it was infected. Deserted +by their friends, the Greeks were incapable of resistance; and +three months after the battle, the emperor Cantacuzene solicited +and subscribed a treaty, which forever banished the Venetians and +Catalans, and granted to the Genoese a monopoly of trade, and +almost a right of dominion. The Roman empire (I smile in +transcribing the name) might soon have sunk into a province of +Genoa, if the ambition of the republic had not been checked by +the ruin of her freedom and naval power. A long contest of one +hundred and thirty years was determined by the triumph of Venice; +and the factions of the Genoese compelled them to seek for +domestic peace under the protection of a foreign lord, the duke +of Milan, or the French king. Yet the spirit of commerce survived +that of conquest; and the colony of Pera still awed the capital +and navigated the Euxine, till it was involved by the Turks in +the final servitude of Constantinople itself.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 51: The second war is darkly told by Cantacuzene, +(l. iv. c. 18, p. 24, 25, 28--32,) who wishes to disguise what he +dares not deny. I regret this part of Nic. Gregoras, which is +still in MS. at Paris. *</p> + +<p>Note: * This part of Nicephorus Gregoras has not been printed +in the new edition of the Byzantine Historians. The editor +expresses a hope that it may be undertaken by Hase. I should join +in the regret of Gibbon, if these books contain any historical +information: if they are but a continuation of the controversies +which fill the last books in our present copies, they may as well +sleep their eternal sleep in MS. as in print. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 52: Muratori (Annali d' Italia, tom. xii. p. 144) +refers to the most ancient Chronicles of Venice (Caresinus, the +continuator of Andrew Dandulus, tom. xii. p. 421, 422) and Genoa, +(George Stella Annales Genuenses, tom. xvii. p. 1091, 1092;) both +which I have diligently consulted in his great Collection of the +Historians of Italy.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 53: See the Chronicle of Matteo Villani of Florence, +l. ii. c. 59, p. 145--147, c. 74, 75, p. 156, 157, in Muratori's +Collection, tom. xiv.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Cantacuzene praises their bravery, but imputes +their losses to their ignorance of the seas: they suffered more +by the breakers than by the enemy, vol. iii. p. 224. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !: Cantacuzene says that the Genoese lost +twenty-eight ships with their crews, autandroi; the Venetians and +Catalans sixteen, the Imperials, none Cantacuzene accuses Pisani +of cowardice, in not following up the victory, and destroying the +Genoese. But Pisani's conduct, and indeed Cantacuzene's account +of the battle, betray the superiority of the Genoese. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 54: The Abbé de Sade (Mémoires sur la +Vie de Petrarque, tom. iii. p. 257--263) translates this letter, +which he copied from a MS. in the king of France's library. +Though a servant of the duke of Milan, Petrarch pours forth his +astonishment and grief at the defeat and despair of the Genoese +in the following year, (p. 323--332.)]</p> + +<p><strong>Chapter LXIV: Moguls, Ottoman Turks.</strong> +<strong><em>Part I.</em></strong></p> + +<p>Conquests Of Zingis Khan And The Moguls From China To Poland. +-- Escape Of Constantinople And The Greeks. -- Origin Of The +Ottoman Turks In Bithynia. -- Reigns And Victories Of Othman, +Orchan, Amurath The First, And Bajazet The First. -- Foundation +And Progress Of The Turkish Monarchy In Asia And Europe. -- +Danger Of Constantinople And The Greek Empire.</p> + +<p>From the petty quarrels of a city and her suburbs, from the +cowardice and discord of the falling Greeks, I shall now ascend +to the victorious Turks; whose domestic slavery was ennobled by +martial discipline, religious enthusiasm, and the energy of the +national character. The rise and progress of the Ottomans, the +present sovereigns of Constantinople, are connected with the most +important scenes of modern history; but they are founded on a +previous knowledge of the great eruption of the Moguls ^* and +Tartars; whose rapid conquests may be compared with the primitive +convulsions of nature, which have agitated and altered the +surface of the globe. I have long since asserted my claim to +introduce the nations, the immediate or remote authors of the +fall of the Roman empire; nor can I refuse myself to those +events, which, from their uncommon magnitude, will interest a +philosophic mind in the history of blood. ^1</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Mongol seems to approach the nearest to the +proper name of this race. The Chinese call them Mong-kou; the +Mondchoux, their neighbors, Monggo or Monggou. They called +themselves also Beda. This fact seems to have been proved by M. +Schmidt against the French Orientalists. See De Brosset. Note on +Le Beau, tom. xxii p. 402.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 1: The reader is invited to review chapters xxii. to +xxvi., and xxiii. to xxxviii., the manners of pastoral nations, +the conquests of Attila and the Huns, which were composed at a +time when I entertained the wish, rather than the hope, of +concluding my history.]</p> + +<p>From the spacious highlands between China, Siberia, and the +Caspian Sea, the tide of emigration and war has repeatedly been +poured. These ancient seats of the Huns and Turks were occupied +in the twelfth century by many pastoral tribes, of the same +descent and similar manners, which were united and led to +conquest by the formidable Zingis. ^* In his ascent to greatness, +that Barbarian (whose private appellation was Temugin) had +trampled on the necks of his equals. His birth was noble; but it +was the pride of victory, that the prince or people deduced his +seventh ancestor from the immaculate conception of a virgin. His +father had reigned over thirteen hordes, which composed about +thirty or forty thousand families: above two thirds refused to +pay tithes or obedience to his infant son; and at the age of +thirteen, Temugin fought a battle against his rebellious +subjects. The future conqueror of Asia was reduced to fly and to +obey; but he rose superior to his fortune, and in his fortieth +year he had established his fame and dominion over the +circumjacent tribes. In a state of society, in which policy is +rude and valor is universal, the ascendant of one man must be +founded on his power and resolution to punish his enemies and +recompense his friends. His first military league was ratified by +the simple rites of sacrificing a horse and tasting of a running +stream: Temugin pledged himself to divide with his followers the +sweets and the bitters of life; and when he had shared among them +his horses and apparel, he was rich in their gratitude and his +own hopes. After his first victory, he placed seventy caldrons on +the fire, and seventy of the most guilty rebels were cast +headlong into the boiling water. The sphere of his attraction was +continually enlarged by the ruin of the proud and the submission +of the prudent; and the boldest chieftains might tremble, when +they beheld, enchased in silver, the skull of the khan of +Keraites; ^2 who, under the name of Prester John, had +corresponded with the Roman pontiff and the princes of Europe. +The ambition of Temugin condescended to employ the arts of +superstition; and it was from a naked prophet, who could ascend +to heaven on a white horse, that he accepted the title of Zingis, +^3 the <strong><em>most great</em></strong>; and a divine right +to the conquest and dominion of the earth. In a general +<strong><em>couroultai</em></strong>, or diet, he was seated on a +felt, which was long afterwards revered as a relic, and solemnly +proclaimed great khan, or emperor of the Moguls ^4 and Tartars. +^5 Of these kindred, though rival, names, the former had given +birth to the imperial race; and the latter has been extended by +accident or error over the spacious wilderness of the north.</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: On the traditions of the early life of Zingis, +see D'Ohson, Hist des Mongols; Histoire des Mongols, Paris, 1824. +Schmidt, Geschichte des Ost-Mongolen, p. 66, &c., and Notes. +-- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 2: The khans of the Keraites were most probably +incapable of reading the pompous epistles composed in their name +by the Nestorian missionaries, who endowed them with the fabulous +wonders of an Indian kingdom. Perhaps these Tartars (the +Presbyter or Priest John) had submitted to the rites of baptism +and ordination, (Asseman, Bibliot Orient tom. iii. p. ii. p. +487--503.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 3: Since the history and tragedy of Voltaire, +Gengis, at least in French, seems to be the more fashionable +spelling; but Abulghazi Khan must have known the true name of his +ancestor. His etymology appears just: +<strong><em>Zin</em></strong>, in the Mogul tongue, signifies +<strong><em>great</em></strong>, and +<strong><em>gis</em></strong> is the superlative termination, +(Hist. Généalogique des Tatars, part iii. p. 194, +195.) From the same idea of magnitude, the appellation of +<strong><em>Zingis</em></strong> is bestowed on the ocean.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 4: The name of Moguls has prevailed among the +Orientals, and still adheres to the titular sovereign, the Great +Mogul of Hindastan. *</p> + +<p>Note: * M. Remusat (sur les Langues Tartares, p. 233) justly +observes, that Timour was a Turk, not a Mogul, and, p. 242, that +probably there was not Mogul in the army of Baber, who +established the Indian throne of the "Great Mogul." -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 5: The Tartars (more properly Tatars) were descended +from Tatar Khan, the brother of Mogul Khan, (see Abulghazi, part +i. and ii.,) and once formed a horde of 70,000 families on the +borders of Kitay, (p. 103--112.) In the great invasion of Europe +(A.D. 1238) they seem to have led the vanguard; and the +similitude of the name of <strong><em>Tartarei</em></strong>, +recommended that of Tartars to the Latins, (Matt. Paris, p. 398, +&c.)</p> + +<p>Note: This relationship, according to M. Klaproth, is +fabulous, and invented by the Mahometan writers, who, from +religious zeal, endeavored to connect the traditions of the +nomads of Central Asia with those of the Old Testament, as +preserved in the Koran. There is no trace of it in the Chinese +writers. Tabl. de l'Asie, p. 156. -- M.]</p> + +<p>The code of laws which Zingis dictated to his subjects was +adapted to the preservation of a domestic peace, and the exercise +of foreign hostility. The punishment of death was inflicted on +the crimes of adultery, murder, perjury, and the capital thefts +of a horse or ox; and the fiercest of men were mild and just in +their intercourse with each other. The future election of the +great khan was vested in the princes of his family and the heads +of the tribes; and the regulations of the chase were essential to +the pleasures and plenty of a Tartar camp. The victorious nation +was held sacred from all servile labors, which were abandoned to +slaves and strangers; and every labor was servile except the +profession of arms. The service and discipline of the troops, who +were armed with bows, cimeters, and iron maces, and divided by +hundreds, thousands, and ten thousands, were the institutions of +a veteran commander. Each officer and soldier was made +responsible, under pain of death, for the safety and honor of his +companions; and the spirit of conquest breathed in the law, that +peace should never be granted unless to a vanquished and +suppliant enemy. But it is the religion of Zingis that best +deserves our wonder and applause. ^* The Catholic inquisitors of +Europe, who defended nonsense by cruelty, might have been +confounded by the example of a Barbarian, who anticipated the +lessons of philosophy, ^6 and established by his laws a system of +pure theism and perfect toleration. His first and only article of +faith was the existence of one God, the Author of all good; who +fills by his presence the heavens and earth, which he has created +by his power. The Tartars and Moguls were addicted to the idols +of their peculiar tribes; and many of them had been converted by +the foreign missionaries to the religions of Moses, of Mahomet, +and of Christ. These various systems in freedom and concord were +taught and practised within the precincts of the same camp; and +the Bonze, the Imam, the Rabbi, the Nestorian, and the Latin +priest, enjoyed the same honorable exemption from service and +tribute: in the mosque of Bochara, the insolent victor might +trample the Koran under his horse's feet, but the calm legislator +respected the prophets and pontiffs of the most hostile sects. +The reason of Zingis was not informed by books: the khan could +neither read nor write; and, except the tribe of the Igours, the +greatest part of the Moguls and Tartars were as illiterate as +their sovereign. ^* The memory of their exploits was preserved by +tradition: sixty-eight years after the death of Zingis, these +traditions were collected and transcribed; ^7 the brevity of +their domestic annals may be supplied by the Chinese, ^8 +Persians, ^9 Armenians, ^10 Syrians, ^11 Arabians, ^12 Greeks, +^13 Russians, ^14 Poles, ^15 Hungarians, ^16 and Latins; ^17 and +each nation will deserve credit in the relation of their own +disasters and defeats. ^18</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Before his armies entered Thibet, he sent an +embassy to Bogdosottnam-Dsimmo, a Lama high priest, with a letter +to this effect: "I have chosen thee as high priest for myself and +my empire. Repair then to me, and promote the present and future +happiness of man: I will be thy supporter and protector: let us +establish a system of religion, and unite it with the monarchy," +&c. The high priest accepted the invitation; and the Mongol +history literally terms this step the <strong><em>period of the +first respect for religion</em></strong>; because the monarch, by +his public profession, made it the religion of the state. +Klaproth. "Travels in Caucasus," ch. 7, Eng. Trans. p. 92. +Neither Dshingis nor his son and successor Oegodah had, on +account of their continual wars, much leisure for the propagation +of the religion of the Lama. By religion they understand a +distinct, independent, sacred moral code, which has but one +origin, one source, and one object. This notion they universally +propagate, and even believe that the brutes, and all created +beings, have a religion adapted to their sphere of action. The +different forms of the various religions they ascribe to the +difference of individuals, nations, and legislators. Never do you +hear of their inveighing against any creed, even against the +obviously absurd Schaman paganism, or of their persecuting others +on that account. They themselves, on the other hand, endure every +hardship, and even persecutions, with perfect resignation, and +indulgently excuse the follies of others, nay, consider them as a +motive for increased ardor in prayer, ch. ix. p. 109. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 6: A singular conformity may be found between the +religious laws of Zingis Khan and of Mr. Locke, (Constitutions of +Carolina, in his works, vol. iv. p. 535, 4to. edition, +1777.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: See the notice on Tha-tha-toung-o, the Ouogour +minister of Tchingis, in Abel Remusat's 2d series of Recherch. +Asiat. vol. ii. p. 61. He taught the son of Tchingis to write: +"He was the instructor of the Moguls in writing, of which they +were before ignorant;" and hence the application of the Ouigour +characters to the Mogul language cannot be placed earlier than +the year 1204 or 1205, nor so late as the time of +Pà-sse-pa, who lived under Khubilai. A new alphabet, +approaching to that of Thibet, was introduced under Khubilai. -- +M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 7: In the year 1294, by the command of Cazan, khan +of Persia, the fourth in descent from Zingis. From these +traditions, his vizier Fadlallah composed a Mogul history in the +Persian language, which has been used by Petit de la Croix, +(Hist. de Genghizcan, p. 537--539.) The Histoire +Généalogique des Tatars (à Leyde, 1726, in +12mo., 2 tomes) was translated by the Swedish prisoners in +Siberia from the Mogul MS. of Abulgasi Bahadur Khan, a descendant +of Zingis, who reigned over the Usbeks of Charasm, or Carizme, +(A.D. 1644--1663.) He is of most value and credit for the names, +pedigrees, and manners of his nation. Of his nine parts, the ist +descends from Adam to Mogul Khan; the iid, from Mogul to Zingis; +the iiid is the life of Zingis; the ivth, vth, vith, and viith, +the general history of his four sons and their posterity; the +viiith and ixth, the particular history of the descendants of +Sheibani Khan, who reigned in Maurenahar and Charasm.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 8: Histoire de Gentchiscan, et de toute la Dinastie +des Mongous ses Successeurs, Conquerans de la Chine; tirée +de l'Histoire de la Chine par le R. P. Gaubil, de la +Société de Jesus, Missionaire à Peking; +à Paris, 1739, in 4to. This translation is stamped with +the Chinese character of domestic accuracy and foreign +ignorance.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 9: See the Histoire du Grand Genghizcan, premier +Empereur des Moguls et Tartares, par M. Petit de la Croix, +à Paris, 1710, in 12mo.; a work of ten years' labor, +chiefly drawn from the Persian writers, among whom Nisavi, the +secretary of Sultan Gelaleddin, has the merit and prejudices of a +contemporary. A slight air of romance is the fault of the +originals, or the compiler. See likewise the articles of +<strong><em>Genghizcan</em></strong>, +<strong><em>Mohammed</em></strong>, +<strong><em>Gelaleddin</em></strong>, &c., in the +Bibliothèque Orientale of D'Herbelot.</p> + +<p>Note: The preface to the Hist. des Mongols, (Paris, 1824) +gives a catalogue of the Arabic and Persian authorities. -- +M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 10: Haithonus, or Aithonus, an Armenian prince, and +afterwards a monk of Premontré, (Fabric, Bibliot. Lat. +Medii Ævi, tom. i. p. 34,) dictated in the French language, +his book <strong><em>de Tartaris</em></strong>, his old +fellow-soldiers. It was immediately translated into Latin, and is +inserted in the Novus Orbis of Simon Grynæus, (Basil, 1555, +in folio.) *</p> + +<p>Note: * A précis at the end of the new edition of Le +Beau, Hist. des Empereurs, vol. xvii., by M. Brosset, gives large +extracts from the accounts of the Armenian historians relating to +the Mogul conquests. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 11: Zingis Khan, and his first successors, occupy +the conclusion of the ixth Dynasty of Abulpharagius, (vers. +Pocock, Oxon. 1663, in 4to.;) and his xth Dynasty is that of the +Moguls of Persia. Assemannus (Bibliot. Orient. tom. ii.) has +extracted some facts from his Syriac writings, and the lives of +the Jacobite maphrians, or primates of the East.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 12: Among the Arabians, in language and religion, we +may distinguish Abulfeda, sultan of Hamah in Syria, who fought in +person, under the Mamaluke standard, against the Moguls.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 13: Nicephorus Gregoras (l. ii. c. 5, 6) has felt +the necessity of connecting the Scythian and Byzantine histories. +He describes with truth and elegance the settlement and manners +of the Moguls of Persia, but he is ignorant of their origin, and +corrupts the names of Zingis and his sons.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 14: M. Levesque (Histoire de Russie, tom. ii.) has +described the conquest of Russia by the Tartars, from the +patriarch Nicon, and the old chronicles.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 15: For Poland, I am content with the Sarmatia +Asiatica et Europæa of Matthew à Michou, or De +Michoviâ, a canon and physician of Cracow, (A.D. 1506,) +inserted in the Novus Orbis of Grynæus. Fabric Bibliot. +Latin. Mediæ et Infimæ Ætatis, tom. v. p. +56.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 16: I should quote Thuroczius, the oldest general +historian (pars ii. c. 74, p. 150) in the 1st volume of the +Scriptores Rerum Hungaricarum, did not the same volume contain +the original narrative of a contemporary, an eye-witness, and a +sufferer, (M. Rogerii, Hungari, Varadiensis Capituli Canonici, +Carmen miserabile, seu Historia super Destructione Regni +Hungariæ Temporibus Belæ IV. Regis per Tartaros +facta, p. 292--321;) the best picture that I have ever seen of +all the circumstances of a Barbaric invasion.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 17: Matthew Paris has represented, from authentic +documents, the danger and distress of Europe, (consult the word +<strong><em>Tartari</em></strong> in his copious Index.) From +motives of zeal and curiosity, the court of the great khan in the +xiiith century was visited by two friars, John de Plano Carpini, +and William Rubruquis, and by Marco Polo, a Venetian gentleman. +The Latin relations of the two former are inserted in the 1st +volume of Hackluyt; the Italian original or version of the third +(Fabric. Bibliot. Latin. Medii Ævi, tom. ii. p. 198, tom. +v. p. 25) may be found in the second tome of Ramusio.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 18: In his great History of the Huns, M. de Guignes +has most amply treated of Zingis Khan and his successors. See +tom. iii. l. xv.--xix., and in the collateral articles of the +Seljukians of Roum, tom. ii. l. xi., the Carizmians, l. xiv., and +the Mamalukes, tom. iv. l. xxi.; consult likewise the tables of +the 1st volume. He is ever learned and accurate; yet I am only +indebted to him for a general view, and some passages of +Abulfeda, which are still latent in the Arabic text. *</p> + +<p>Note: * To this catalogue of the historians of the Moguls may +be added D'Ohson, Histoire des Mongols; Histoire des Mongols, +(from Arabic and Persian authorities,) Paris, 1824. Schmidt, +Geschichte der Ost Mongolen, St. Petersburgh, 1829. This curious +work, by Ssanang Ssetsen Chungtaidschi, published in the original +Mongol, was written after the conversion of the nation to +Buddhism: it is enriched with very valuable notes by the editor +and translator; but, unfortunately, is very barren of information +about the European and even the western Asiatic conquests of the +Mongols. -- M.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LXIV: Moguls, Ottoman Turks. -- Part +II.</em></strong></p> + +<p>The arms of Zingis and his lieutenants successively reduced +the hordes of the desert, who pitched their tents between the +wall of China and the Volga; and the Mogul emperor became the +monarch of the pastoral world, the lord of many millions of +shepherds and soldiers, who felt their united strength, and were +impatient to rush on the mild and wealthy climates of the south. +His ancestors had been the tributaries of the Chinese emperors; +and Temugin himself had been disgraced by a title of honor and +servitude. The court of Pekin was astonished by an embassy from +its former vassal, who, in the tone of the king of nations, +exacted the tribute and obedience which he had paid, and who +affected to treat the <strong><em>son of heaven</em></strong> as +the most contemptible of mankind. A haughty answer disguised +their secret apprehensions; and their fears were soon justified +by the march of innumerable squadrons, who pierced on all sides +the feeble rampart of the great wall. Ninety cities were stormed, +or starved, by the Moguls; ten only escaped; and Zingis, from a +knowledge of the filial piety of the Chinese, covered his +vanguard with their captive parents; an unworthy, and by degrees +a fruitless, abuse of the virtue of his enemies. His invasion was +supported by the revolt of a hundred thousand Khitans, who +guarded the frontier: yet he listened to a treaty; and a princess +of China, three thousand horses, five hundred youths, and as many +virgins, and a tribute of gold and silk, were the price of his +retreat. In his second expedition, he compelled the Chinese +emperor to retire beyond the yellow river to a more southern +residence. The siege of Pekin ^19 was long and laborious: the +inhabitants were reduced by famine to decimate and devour their +fellow-citizens; when their ammunition was spent, they discharged +ingots of gold and silver from their engines; but the Moguls +introduced a mine to the centre of the capital; and the +conflagration of the palace burnt above thirty days. China was +desolated by Tartar war and domestic faction; and the five +northern provinces were added to the empire of Zingis.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 19: More properly +<strong><em>Yen-king</em></strong>, an ancient city, whose ruins +still appear some furlongs to the south-east of the modern +<strong><em>Pekin</em></strong>, which was built by Cublai Khan, +(Gaubel, p. 146.) Pe-king and Nan-king are vague titles, the +courts of the north and of the south. The identity and change of +names perplex the most skilful readers of the Chinese geography, +(p. 177.) *</p> + +<p>Note: * And likewise in Chinese history -- see Abel Remusat, +Mel. Asiat. 2d tom. ii. p. 5. -- M.]</p> + +<p>In the West, he touched the dominions of Mohammed, sultan of +Carizme, who reigned from the Persian Gulf to the borders of +India and Turkestan; and who, in the proud imitation of Alexander +the Great, forgot the servitude and ingratitude of his fathers to +the house of Seljuk. It was the wish of Zingis to establish a +friendly and commercial intercourse with the most powerful of the +Moslem princes: nor could he be tempted by the secret +solicitations of the caliph of Bagdad, who sacrificed to his +personal wrongs the safety of the church and state. A rash and +inhuman deed provoked and justified the Tartar arms in the +invasion of the southern Asia. ^! A caravan of three ambassadors +and one hundred and fifty merchants were arrested and murdered at +Otrar, by the command of Mohammed; nor was it till after a demand +and denial of justice, till he had prayed and fasted three nights +on a mountain, that the Mogul emperor appealed to the judgment of +God and his sword. Our European battles, says a philosophic +writer, ^20 are petty skirmishes, if compared to the numbers that +have fought and fallen in the fields of Asia. Seven hundred +thousand Moguls and Tartars are said to have marched under the +standard of Zingis and his four sons. In the vast plains that +extend to the north of the Sihon or Jaxartes, they were +encountered by four hundred thousand soldiers of the sultan; and +in the first battle, which was suspended by the night, one +hundred and sixty thousand Carizmians were slain. Mohammed was +astonished by the multitude and valor of his enemies: he withdrew +from the scene of danger, and distributed his troops in the +frontier towns; trusting that the Barbarians, invincible in the +field, would be repulsed by the length and difficulty of so many +regular sieges. But the prudence of Zingis had formed a body of +Chinese engineers, skilled in the mechanic arts; informed perhaps +of the secret of gunpowder, and capable, under his discipline, of +attacking a foreign country with more vigor and success than they +had defended their own. The Persian historians will relate the +sieges and reduction of Otrar, Cogende, Bochara, Samarcand, +Carizme, Herat, Merou, Nisabour, Balch, and Candahar; and the +conquest of the rich and populous countries of Transoxiana, +Carizme, and Chorazan. ^* The destructive hostilities of Attila +and the Huns have long since been elucidated by the example of +Zingis and the Moguls; and in this more proper place I shall be +content to observe, that, from the Caspian to the Indus, they +ruined a tract of many hundred miles, which was adorned with the +habitations and labors of mankind, and that five centuries have +not been sufficient to repair the ravages of four years. The +Mogul emperor encouraged or indulged the fury of his troops: the +hope of future possession was lost in the ardor of rapine and +slaughter; and the cause of the war exasperated their native +fierceness by the pretence of justice and revenge. The downfall +and death of the sultan Mohammed, who expired, unpitied and +alone, in a desert island of the Caspian Sea, is a poor atonement +for the calamities of which he was the author. Could the +Carizmian empire have been saved by a single hero, it would have +been saved by his son Gelaleddin, whose active valor repeatedly +checked the Moguls in the career of victory. Retreating, as he +fought, to the banks of the Indus, he was oppressed by their +innumerable host, till, in the last moment of despair, Gelaleddin +spurred his horse into the waves, swam one of the broadest and +most rapid rivers of Asia, and extorted the admiration and +applause of Zingis himself. It was in this camp that the Mogul +conqueror yielded with reluctance to the murmurs of his weary and +wealthy troops, who sighed for the enjoyment of their native +land. Eucumbered with the spoils of Asia, he slowly measured back +his footsteps, betrayed some pity for the misery of the +vanquished, and declared his intention of rebuilding the cities +which had been swept away by the tempest of his arms. After he +had repassed the Oxus and Jaxartes, he was joined by two +generals, whom he had detached with thirty thousand horse, to +subdue the western provinces of Persia. They had trampled on the +nations which opposed their passage, penetrated through the gates +of Derbent, traversed the Volga and the desert, and accomplished +the circuit of the Caspian Sea, by an expedition which had never +been attempted, and has never been repeated. The return of Zingis +was signalized by the overthrow of the rebellious or independent +kingdoms of Tartary; and he died in the fulness of years and +glory, with his last breath exhorting and instructing his sons to +achieve the conquest of the Chinese empire. ^*</p> + +<p>[Footnote !: See the particular account of this transaction, +from the Kholauesut el Akbaur, in Price, vol. ii. p. 402. -- +M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 20: M. de Voltaire, Essai sur l'Histoire +Générale, tom. iii. c. 60, p. 8. His account of +Zingis and the Moguls contains, as usual, much general sense and +truth, with some particular errors.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Every where they massacred all classes, except +the artisans, whom they made slaves. Hist. des Mongols. -- +M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Their first duty, which he bequeathed to them, +was to massacre the king of Tangcoute and all the inhabitants of +Ninhia, the surrender of the city being already agreed upon, +Hist. des Mongols. vol. i. p. 286. -- M.]</p> + +<p>The harem of Zingis was composed of five hundred wives and +concubines; and of his numerous progeny, four sons, illustrious +by their birth and merit, exercised under their father the +principal offices of peace and war. Toushi was his great +huntsman, Zagatai ^21 his judge, Octai his minister, and Tuli his +general; and their names and actions are often conspicuous in the +history of his conquests. Firmly united for their own and the +public interest, the three brothers and their families were +content with dependent sceptres; and Octai, by general consent, +was proclaimed great khan, or emperor of the Moguls and Tartars. +He was succeeded by his son Gayuk, after whose death the empire +devolved to his cousins Mangou and Cublai, the sons of Tuli, and +the grandsons of Zingis. In the sixty-eight years of his four +first successors, the Mogul subdued almost all Asia, and a large +portion of Europe. Without confining myself to the order of time, +without expatiating on the detail of events, I shall present a +general picture of the progress of their arms; I. In the East; +II. In the South; III. In the West; and IV. In the North.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 21: Zagatai gave his name to his dominions of +Maurenahar, or Transoxiana; and the Moguls of Hindostan, who +emigrated from that country, are styled Zagatais by the Persians. +This certain etymology, and the similar example of Uzbek, Nogai, +&c., may warn us not absolutely to reject the derivations of +a national, from a personal, name.</p> + +<p>Note: See a curious anecdote of Tschagatai. Hist. des Mongols, +p. 370. -- M.]</p> + +<p>I. Before the invasion of Zingis, China was divided into two +empires or dynasties of the North and South; ^22 and the +difference of origin and interest was smoothed by a general +conformity of laws, language, and national manners. The Northern +empire, which had been dismembered by Zingis, was finally subdued +seven years after his death. After the loss of Pekin, the emperor +had fixed his residence at Kaifong, a city many leagues in +circumference, and which contained, according to the Chinese +annals, fourteen hundred thousand families of inhabitants and +fugitives. He escaped from thence with only seven horsemen, and +made his last stand in a third capital, till at length the +hopeless monarch, protesting his innocence and accusing his +fortune, ascended a funeral pile, and gave orders, that, as soon +as he had stabbed himself, the fire should be kindled by his +attendants. The dynasty of the <strong><em>Song</em></strong>, +the native and ancient sovereigns of the whole empire, survived +about forty-five years the fall of the Northern usurpers; and the +perfect conquest was reserved for the arms of Cublai. During this +interval, the Moguls were often diverted by foreign wars; and, if +the Chinese seldom dared to meet their victors in the field, +their passive courage presented and endless succession of cities +to storm and of millions to slaughter. In the attack and defence +of places, the engines of antiquity and the Greek fire were +alternately employed: the use of gunpowder in cannon and bombs +appears as a familiar practice; ^23 and the sieges were conducted +by the Mahometans and Franks, who had been liberally invited into +the service of Cublai. After passing the great river, the troops +and artillery were conveyed along a series of canals, till they +invested the royal residence of Hamcheu, or Quinsay, in the +country of silk, the most delicious climate of China. The +emperor, a defenceless youth, surrendered his person and sceptre; +and before he was sent in exile into Tartary, he struck nine +times the ground with his forehead, to adore in prayer or +thanksgiving the mercy of the great khan. Yet the war (it was now +styled a rebellion) was still maintained in the southern +provinces from Hamcheu to Canton; and the obstinate remnant of +independence and hostility was transported from the land to the +sea. But when the fleet of the <strong><em>Song</em></strong> was +surrounded and oppressed by a superior armament, their last +champion leaped into the waves with his infant emperor in his +arms. "It is more glorious," he cried, "to die a prince, than to +live a slave." A hundred thousand Chinese imitated his example; +and the whole empire, from Tonkin to the great wall, submitted to +the dominion of Cublai. His boundless ambition aspired to the +conquest of Japan: his fleet was twice shipwrecked; and the lives +of a hundred thousand Moguls and Chinese were sacrificed in the +fruitless expedition. But the circumjacent kingdoms, Corea, +Tonkin, Cochinchina, Pegu, Bengal, and Thibet, were reduced in +different degrees of tribute and obedience by the effort or +terror of his arms. He explored the Indian Ocean with a fleet of +a thousand ships: they sailed in sixty-eight days, most probably +to the Isle of Borneo, under the equinoctial line; and though +they returned not without spoil or glory, the emperor was +dissatisfied that the savage king had escaped from their +hands.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 22: In Marco Polo, and the Oriental geographers, the +names of Cathay and Mangi distinguish the northern and southern +empires, which, from A.D. 1234 to 1279, were those of the great +khan, and of the Chinese. The search of Cathay, after China had +been found, excited and misled our navigators of the sixteenth +century, in their attempts to discover the north-east +passage.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 23: I depend on the knowledge and fidelity of the +Père Gaubil, who translates the Chinese text of the annals +of the Moguls or Yuen, (p. 71, 93, 153;) but I am ignorant at +what time these annals were composed and published. The two +uncles of Marco Polo, who served as engineers at the siege of +Siengyangfou, * (l. ii. 61, in Ramusio, tom. ii. See Gaubil, p. +155, 157) must have felt and related the effects of this +destructive powder, and their silence is a weighty, and almost +decisive objection. I entertain a suspicion, that their recent +discovery was carried from Europe to China by the caravans of the +xvth century and falsely adopted as an old national discovery +before the arrival of the Portuguese and Jesuits in the xvith. +Yet the Père Gaubil affirms, that the use of gunpowder has +been known to the Chinese above 1600 years. **</p> + +<p>Note: * Sou-houng-kian-lou. Abel Remusat. -- M.</p> + +<p>Note: ** La poudre à canon et d'autres compositions +inflammantes, dont ils se servent pour construire des +pièces d'artifice d'un effet suprenant, leur +étaient connues depuis très long-temps, et l'on +croit que des bombardes et des pierriers, dont ils avaient +enseigné l'usage aux Tartares, ont pu donner en Europe +l'idée d'artillerie, quoique la forme des fusils et des +canons dont ils se servent actuellement, leur ait +été apportée par les Francs, ainsi que +l'attestent les noms mêmes qu'ils donnent à ces +sortes d'armes. Abel Remusat, Mélanges Asiat. 2d ser. tom. +i. p. 23. -- M.]</p> + +<p>II. The conquest of Hindostan by the Moguls was reserved in a +later period for the house of Timour; but that of Iran, or +Persia, was achieved by Holagou Khan, ^* the grandson of Zingis, +the brother and lieutenant of the two successive emperors, Mangou +and Cublai. I shall not enumerate the crowd of sultans, emirs, +and atabeks, whom he trampled into dust; but the extirpation of +the <strong><em>Assassins</em></strong>, or Ismaelians ^24 of +Persia, may be considered as a service to mankind. Among the +hills to the south of the Caspian, these odious sectaries had +reigned with impunity above a hundred and sixty years; and their +prince, or Imam, established his lieutenant to lead and govern +the colony of Mount Libanus, so famous and formidable in the +history of the crusades. ^25 With the fanaticism of the Koran the +Ismaelians had blended the Indian transmigration, and the visions +of their own prophets; and it was their first duty to devote +their souls and bodies in blind obedience to the vicar of God. +The daggers of his missionaries were felt both in the East and +West: the Christians and the Moslems enumerate, and persons +multiply, the illustrious victims that were sacrificed to the +zeal, avarice, or resentment of <strong><em>the old +man</em></strong> (as he was corruptly styled) <strong><em>of the +mountain</em></strong>. But these daggers, his only arms, were +broken by the sword of Holagou, and not a vestige is left of the +enemies of mankind, except the word +<strong><em>assassin</em></strong>, which, in the most odious +sense, has been adopted in the languages of Europe. The +extinction of the Abbassides cannot be indifferent to the +spectators of their greatness and decline. Since the fall of +their Seljukian tyrants the caliphs had recovered their lawful +dominion of Bagdad and the Arabian Irak; but the city was +distracted by theological factions, and the commander of the +faithful was lost in a harem of seven hundred concubines. The +invasion of the Moguls he encountered with feeble arms and +haughty embassies. "On the divine decree," said the caliph +Mostasem, "is founded the throne of the sons of Abbas: and their +foes shall surely be destroyed in this world and in the next. Who +is this Holagou that dares to rise against them? If he be +desirous of peace, let him instantly depart from the sacred +territory; and perhaps he may obtain from our clemency the pardon +of his fault." This presumption was cherished by a perfidious +vizier, who assured his master, that, even if the Barbarians had +entered the city, the women and children, from the terraces, +would be sufficient to overwhelm them with stones. But when +Holagou touched the phantom, it instantly vanished into smoke. +After a siege of two months, Bagdad was stormed and sacked by the +Moguls; ^* and their savage commander pronounced the death of the +caliph Mostasem, the last of the temporal successors of Mahomet; +whose noble kinsmen, of the race of Abbas, had reigned in Asia +above five hundred years. Whatever might be the designs of the +conqueror, the holy cities of Mecca and Medina ^26 were protected +by the Arabian desert; but the Moguls spread beyond the Tigris +and Euphrates, pillaged Aleppo and Damascus, and threatened to +join the Franks in the deliverance of Jerusalem. Egypt was lost, +had she been defended only by her feeble offspring; but the +Mamalukes had breathed in their infancy the keenness of a +Scythian air: equal in valor, superior in discipline, they met +the Moguls in many a well-fought field; and drove back the stream +of hostility to the eastward of the Euphrates. ^! But it +overflowed with resistless violence the kingdoms of Armenia ^!! +and Anatolia, of which the former was possessed by the +Christians, and the latter by the Turks. The sultans of Iconium +opposed some resistance to the Mogul arms, till Azzadin sought a +refuge among the Greeks of Constantinople, and his feeble +successors, the last of the Seljukian dynasty, were finally +extirpated by the khans of Persia. ^*</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: See the curious account of the expedition of +Holagou, translated from the Chinese, by M. Abel Remusat, +Mélanges Asiat. 2d ser. tom. i. p. 171. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 24: All that can be known of the Assassins of Persia +and Syria is poured from the copious, and even profuse, erudition +of M. Falconet, in two <strong><em>Mémoires</em></strong> +read before the Academy of Inscriptions, (tom. xvii. p. +127--170.)</p> + +<p>Note: Von Hammer's History of the Assassins has now thrown +Falconet's Dissertation into the shade. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 25: The Ismaelians of Syria, 40,000 Assassins, had +acquired or founded ten castles in the hills above Tortosa. About +the year 1280, they were extirpated by the Mamalukes.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Compare Von Hammer, Geschichte der Assassinen, p. +283, 307. Wilken, Geschichte der Kreuzzüge, vol. vii. p. +406. Price, Chronological Retrospect, vol. ii. p. 217--223. -- +M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 26: As a proof of the ignorance of the Chinese in +foreign transactions, I must observe, that some of their +historians extend the conquest of Zingis himself to Medina, the +country of Mahomet, (Gaubil p. 42.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !: Compare Wilken, vol. vii. p. 410. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !!: On the friendly relations of the Armenians with +the Mongols see Wilken, Geschichte der Kreuzzüge, vol. vii. +p. 402. They eagerly desired an alliance against the Mahometan +powers. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Trebizond escaped, apparently by the dexterous +politics of the sovereign, but it acknowledged the Mogul +supremacy. Falmerayer, p. 172. -- M.]</p> + +<p>III. No sooner had Octai subverted the northern empire of +China, than he resolved to visit with his arms the most remote +countries of the West. Fifteen hundred thousand Moguls and +Tartars were inscribed on the military roll: of these the great +khan selected a third, which he intrusted to the command of his +nephew Batou, the son of Tuli; who reigned over his father's +conquests to the north of the Caspian Sea. ^! After a festival of +forty days, Batou set forwards on this great expedition; and such +was the speed and ardor of his innumerable squadrons, than in +less than six years they had measured a line of ninety degrees of +longitude, a fourth part of the circumference of the globe. The +great rivers of Asia and Europe, the Volga and Kama, the Don and +Borysthenes, the Vistula and Danube, they either swam with their +horses or passed on the ice, or traversed in leathern boats, +which followed the camp, and transported their wagons and +artillery. By the first victories of Batou, the remains of +national freedom were eradicated in the immense plains of +Turkestan and Kipzak. ^27 In his rapid progress, he overran the +kingdoms, as they are now styled, of Astracan and Cazan; and the +troops which he detached towards Mount Caucasus explored the most +secret recesses of Georgia and Circassia. The civil discord of +the great dukes, or princes, of Russia, betrayed their country to +the Tartars. They spread from Livonia to the Black Sea, and both +Moscow and Kiow, the modern and the ancient capitals, were +reduced to ashes; a temporary ruin, less fatal than the deep, and +perhaps indelible, mark, which a servitude of two hundred years +has imprinted on the character of the Russians. The Tartars +ravaged with equal fury the countries which they hoped to +possess, and those which they were hastening to leave. From the +permanent conquest of Russia they made a deadly, though +transient, inroad into the heart of Poland, and as far as the +borders of Germany. The cities of Lublin and Cracow were +obliterated: ^* they approached the shores of the Baltic; and in +the battle of Lignitz they defeated the dukes of Silesia, the +Polish palatines, and the great master of the Teutonic order, and +filled nine sacks with the right ears of the slain. From Lignitz, +the extreme point of their western march, they turned aside to +the invasion of Hungary; and the presence or spirit of Batou +inspired the host of five hundred thousand men: the Carpathian +hills could not be long impervious to their divided columns; and +their approach had been fondly disbelieved till it was +irresistibly felt. The king, Bela the Fourth, assembled the +military force of his counts and bishops; but he had alienated +the nation by adopting a vagrant horde of forty thousand families +of Comans, and these savage guests were provoked to revolt by the +suspicion of treachery and the murder of their prince. The whole +country north of the Danube was lost in a day, and depopulated in +a summer; and the ruins of cities and churches were overspread +with the bones of the natives, who expiated the sins of their +Turkish ancestors. An ecclesiastic, who fled from the sack of +Waradin, describes the calamities which he had seen, or suffered; +and the sanguinary rage of sieges and battles is far less +atrocious than the treatment of the fugitives, who had been +allured from the woods under a promise of peace and pardon and +who were coolly slaughtered as soon as they had performed the +labors of the harvest and vintage. In the winter the Tartars +passed the Danube on the ice, and advanced to Gran or Strigonium, +a German colony, and the metropolis of the kingdom. Thirty +engines were planted against the walls; the ditches were filled +with sacks of earth and dead bodies; and after a promiscuous +massacre, three hundred noble matrons were slain in the presence +of the khan. Of all the cities and fortresses of Hungary, three +alone survived the Tartar invasion, and the unfortunate Bata hid +his head among the islands of the Adriatic.</p> + +<p>[Footnote !: See the curious extracts from the Mahometan +writers, Hist. des Mongols, p. 707. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 27: The <strong><em>Dashté +Kipzak</em></strong>, or plain of Kipzak, extends on either side +of the Volga, in a boundless space towards the Jaik and +Borysthenes, and is supposed to contain the primitive name and +nation of the Cossacks.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Olmutz was gallantly and successfully defended by +Stenberg, Hist. des Mongols, p. 396. -- M.]</p> + +<p>The Latin world was darkened by this cloud of savage +hostility: a Russian fugitive carried the alarm to Sweden; and +the remote nations of the Baltic and the ocean trembled at the +approach of the Tartars, ^28 whom their fear and ignorance were +inclined to separate from the human species. Since the invasion +of the Arabs in the eighth century, Europe had never been exposed +to a similar calamity: and if the disciples of Mahomet would have +oppressed her religion and liberty, it might be apprehended that +the shepherds of Scythia would extinguish her cities, her arts, +and all the institutions of civil society. The Roman pontiff +attempted to appease and convert these invincible Pagans by a +mission of Franciscan and Dominican friars; but he was astonished +by the reply of the khan, that the sons of God and of Zingis were +invested with a divine power to subdue or extirpate the nations; +and that the pope would be involved in the universal destruction, +unless he visited in person, and as a suppliant, the royal horde. +The emperor Frederic the Second embraced a more generous mode of +defence; and his letters to the kings of France and England, and +the princes of Germany, represented the common danger, and urged +them to arm their vassals in this just and rational crusade. ^29 +The Tartars themselves were awed by the fame and valor of the +Franks; the town of Newstadt in Austria was bravely defended +against them by fifty knights and twenty crossbows; and they +raised the siege on the appearance of a German army. After +wasting the adjacent kingdoms of Servia, Bosnia, and Bulgaria, +Batou slowly retreated from the Danube to the Volga to enjoyed +the rewards of victory in the city and palace of Serai, which +started at his command from the midst of the desert. ^*</p> + +<p>[Footnote 28: In the year 1238, the inhabitants of Gothia +(<strong><em>Sweden</em></strong>) and Frise were prevented, by +their fear of the Tartars, from sending, as usual, their ships to +the herring fishery on the coast of England; and as there was no +exportation, forty or fifty of these fish were sold for a +shilling, (Matthew Paris, p. 396.) It is whimsical enough, that +the orders of a Mogul khan, who reigned on the borders of China, +should have lowered the price of herrings in the English +market.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 29: I shall copy his characteristic or flattering +epithets of the different countries of Europe: Furens ac fervens +ad arma Germania, strenuæ militiæ genitrix et alumna +Francia, bellicosa et audax Hispania, virtuosa viris et classe +munita fertilis Anglia, impetuosis bellatoribus referta +Alemannia, navalis Dacia, indomita Italia, pacis ignara +Burgundia, inquieta Apulia, cum maris Græci, Adriatici et +Tyrrheni insulis pyraticis et invictis, Cretâ, Cypro, +Siciliâ, cum Oceano conterterminis insulis, et regionibus, +cruenta Hybernia, cum agili Wallia palustris Scotia, glacialis +Norwegia, suam electam militiam sub vexillo Crucis destinabunt, +&c. (Matthew Paris, p. 498.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: He was recalled by the death of Octai. -- M.]</p> + +<p>IV. Even the poor and frozen regions of the north attracted +the arms of the Moguls: Sheibani khan, the brother of the great +Batou, led a horde of fifteen thousand families into the wilds of +Siberia; and his descendants reigned at Tobolskoi above three +centuries, till the Russian conquest. The spirit of enterprise +which pursued the course of the Oby and Yenisei must have led to +the discovery of the icy sea. After brushing away the monstrous +fables, of men with dogs' heads and cloven feet, we shall find, +that, fifteen years after the death of Zingis, the Moguls were +informed of the name and manners of the Samoyedes in the +neighborhood of the polar circle, who dwelt in subterraneous +huts, and derived their furs and their food from the sole +occupation of hunting. ^30</p> + +<p>[Footnote 30: See Carpin's relation in Hackluyt, vol. i. p. +30. The pedigree of the khans of Siberia is given by Abulghazi, +(part viii. p. 485--495.) Have the Russians found no Tartar +chronicles at Tobolskoi? *</p> + +<p>Note: * See the account of the Mongol library in Bergman, +Nomadische Streifereyen, vol. iii. p. 185, 205, and Remusat, +Hist. des Langues Tartares, p. 327, and preface to Schmidt, +Geschichte der Ost-Mongolen. -- M.]</p> + +<p>While China, Syria, and Poland, were invaded at the same time +by the Moguls and Tartars, the authors of the mighty mischief +were content with the knowledge and declaration, that their word +was the sword of death. Like the first caliphs, the first +successors of Zingis seldom appeared in person at the head of +their victorious armies. On the banks of the Onon and Selinga, +the royal or <strong><em>golden horde</em></strong> exhibited the +contrast of simplicity and greatness; of the roasted sheep and +mare's milk which composed their banquets; and of a distribution +in one day of five hundred wagons of gold and silver. The +ambassadors and princes of Europe and Asia were compelled to +undertake this distant and laborious pilgrimage; and the life and +reign of the great dukes of Russia, the kings of Georgia and +Armenia, the sultans of Iconium, and the emirs of Persia, were +decided by the frown or smile of the great khan. The sons and +grandsons of Zingis had been accustomed to the pastoral life; but +the village of Caracorum ^31 was gradually ennobled by their +election and residence. A change of manners is implied in the +removal of Octai and Mangou from a tent to a house; and their +example was imitated by the princes of their family and the great +officers of the empire. Instead of the boundless forest, the +enclosure of a park afforded the more indolent pleasures of the +chase; their new habitations were decorated with painting and +sculpture; their superfluous treasures were cast in fountains, +and basins, and statues of massy silver; and the artists of China +and Paris vied with each other in the service of the great khan. +^32 Caracorum contained two streets, the one of Chinese +mechanics, the other of Mahometan traders; and the places of +religious worship, one Nestorian church, two mosques, and twelve +temples of various idols, may represent in some degree the number +and division of inhabitants. Yet a French missionary declares, +that the town of St. Denys, near Paris, was more considerable +than the Tartar capital; and that the whole palace of Mangou was +scarcely equal to a tenth part of that Benedictine abbey. The +conquests of Russia and Syria might amuse the vanity of the great +khans; but they were seated on the borders of China; the +acquisition of that empire was the nearest and most interesting +object; and they might learn from their pastoral economy, that it +is for the advantage of the shepherd to protect and propagate his +flock. I have already celebrated the wisdom and virtue of a +Mandarin who prevented the desolation of five populous and +cultivated provinces. In a spotless administration of thirty +years, this friend of his country and of mankind continually +labored to mitigate, or suspend, the havoc of war; to save the +monuments, and to rekindle the flame, of science; to restrain the +military commander by the restoration of civil magistrates; and +to instil the love of peace and justice into the minds of the +Moguls. He struggled with the barbarism of the first conquerors; +but his salutary lessons produced a rich harvest in the second +generation. ^* The northern, and by degrees the southern, empire +acquiesced in the government of Cublai, the lieutenant, and +afterwards the successor, of Mangou; and the nation was loyal to +a prince who had been educated in the manners of China. He +restored the forms of her venerable constitution; and the victors +submitted to the laws, the fashions, and even the prejudices, of +the vanquished people. This peaceful triumph, which has been more +than once repeated, may be ascribed, in a great measure, to the +numbers and servitude of the Chinese. The Mogul army was +dissolved in a vast and populous country; and their emperors +adopted with pleasure a political system, which gives to the +prince the solid substance of despotism, and leaves to the +subject the empty names of philosophy, freedom, and filial +obedience. ^* Under the reign of Cublai, letters and commerce, +peace and justice, were restored; the great canal, of five +hundred miles, was opened from Nankin to the capital: he fixed +his residence at Pekin; and displayed in his court the +magnificence of the greatest monarch of Asia. Yet this learned +prince declined from the pure and simple religion of his great +ancestor: he sacrificed to the idol Fo; and his blind attachment +to the lamas of Thibet and the bonzes of China ^33 provoked the +censure of the disciples of Confucius. His successors polluted +the palace with a crowd of eunuchs, physicians, and astrologers, +while thirteen millions of their subjects were consumed in the +provinces by famine. One hundred and forty years after the death +of Zingis, his degenerate race, the dynasty of the Yuen, was +expelled by a revolt of the native Chinese; and the Mogul +emperors were lost in the oblivion of the desert. Before this +revolution, they had forfeited their supremacy over the dependent +branches of their house, the khans of Kipzak and Russia, the +khans of Zagatai, or Transoxiana, and the khans of Iran or +Persia. By their distance and power, these royal lieutenants had +soon been released from the duties of obedience; and after the +death of Cublai, they scorned to accept a sceptre or a title from +his unworthy successors. According to their respective +situations, they maintained the simplicity of the pastoral life, +or assumed the luxury of the cities of Asia; but the princes and +their hordes were alike disposed for the reception of a foreign +worship. After some hesitation between the Gospel and the Koran, +they conformed to the religion of Mahomet; and while they adopted +for their brethren the Arabs and Persians, they renounced all +intercourse with the ancient Moguls, the idolaters of China.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 31: The Map of D'Anville and the Chinese Itineraries +(De Guignes, tom. i. part ii. p. 57) seem to mark the position of +Holin, or Caracorum, about six hundred miles to the north-west of +Pekin. The distance between Selinginsky and Pekin is near 2000 +Russian versts, between 1300 and 1400 English miles, (Bell's +Travels, vol. ii. p. 67.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 32: Rubruquis found at Caracorum his +<strong><em>countryman Guillaume Boucher, orfevre de +Paris</em></strong>, who had executed for the khan a silver tree +supported by four lions, and ejecting four different liquors. +Abulghazi (part iv. p. 366) mentions the painters of Kitay or +China.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: See the interesting sketch of the life of this +minister (Yelin-Thsouthsai) in the second volume of the second +series of Recherches Asiatiques, par A Remusat, p. 64. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Compare Hist. des Mongols, p. 616. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 33: The attachment of the khans, and the hatred of +the mandarins, to the bonzes and lamas (Duhalde, Hist. de la +Chine, tom. i. p. 502, 503) seems to represent them as the +priests of the same god, of the Indian +<strong><em>Fo</em></strong>, whose worship prevails among the +sects of Hindostan Siam, Thibet, China, and Japan. But this +mysterious subject is still lost in a cloud, which the +researchers of our Asiatic Society may gradually dispel.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LXIV: Moguls, Ottoman Turks. -- Part +III.</em></strong></p> + +<p>In this shipwreck of nations, some surprise may be excited by +the escape of the Roman empire, whose relics, at the time of the +Mogul invasion, were dismembered by the Greeks and Latins. Less +potent than Alexander, they were pressed, like the Macedonian, +both in Europe and Asia, by the shepherds of Scythia; and had the +Tartars undertaken the siege, Constantinople must have yielded to +the fate of Pekin, Samarcand, and Bagdad. The glorious and +voluntary retreat of Batou from the Danube was insulted by the +vain triumph of the Franks and Greeks; ^34 and in a second +expedition death surprised him in full march to attack the +capital of the Cæsars. His brother Borga carried the Tartar +arms into Bulgaria and Thrace; but he was diverted from the +Byzantine war by a visit to Novogorod, in the fifty-seventh +degree of latitude, where he numbered the inhabitants and +regulated the tributes of Russia. The Mogul khan formed an +alliance with the Mamalukes against his brethren of Persia: three +hundred thousand horse penetrated through the gates of Derbend; +and the Greeks might rejoice in the first example of domestic +war. After the recovery of Constantinople, Michael +Palæologus, ^35 at a distance from his court and army, was +surprised and surrounded in a Thracian castle, by twenty thousand +Tartars. But the object of their march was a private interest: +they came to the deliverance of Azzadin, the Turkish sultan; and +were content with his person and the treasure of the emperor. +Their general Noga, whose name is perpetuated in the hordes of +Astracan, raised a formidable rebellion against Mengo Timour, the +third of the khans of Kipzak; obtained in marriage Maria, the +natural daughter of Palæologus; and guarded the dominions +of his friend and father. The subsequent invasions of a Scythian +cast were those of outlaws and fugitives: and some thousands of +Alani and Comans, who had been driven from their native seats, +were reclaimed from a vagrant life, and enlisted in the service +of the empire. Such was the influence in Europe of the invasion +of the Moguls. The first terror of their arms secured, rather +than disturbed, the peace of the Roman Asia. The sultan of +Iconium solicited a personal interview with John Vataces; and his +artful policy encouraged the Turks to defend their barrier +against the common enemy. ^36 That barrier indeed was soon +overthrown; and the servitude and ruin of the Seljukians exposed +the nakedness of the Greeks. The formidable Holagou threatened to +march to Constantinople at the head of four hundred thousand men; +and the groundless panic of the citizens of Nice will present an +image of the terror which he had inspired. The accident of a +procession, and the sound of a doleful litany, "From the fury of +the Tartars, good Lord, deliver us," had scattered the hasty +report of an assault and massacre. In the blind credulity of +fear, the streets of Nice were crowded with thousands of both +sexes, who knew not from what or to whom they fled; and some +hours elapsed before the firmness of the military officers could +relieve the city from this imaginary foe. But the ambition of +Holagou and his successors was fortunately diverted by the +conquest of Bagdad, and a long vicissitude of Syrian wars; their +hostility to the Moslems inclined them to unite with the Greeks +and Franks; ^37 and their generosity or contempt had offered the +kingdom of Anatolia as the reward of an Armenian vassal. The +fragments of the Seljukian monarchy were disputed by the emirs +who had occupied the cities or the mountains; but they all +confessed the supremacy of the khans of Persia; and he often +interposed his authority, and sometimes his arms, to check their +depredations, and to preserve the peace and balance of his +Turkish frontier. The death of Cazan, ^38 one of the greatest and +most accomplished princes of the house of Zingis, removed this +salutary control; and the decline of the Moguls gave a free scope +to the rise and progress of the Ottoman Empire. ^39</p> + +<p>[Footnote 34: Some repulse of the Moguls in Hungary (Matthew +Paris, p. 545, 546) might propagate and color the report of the +union and victory of the kings of the Franks on the confines of +Bulgaria. Abulpharagius (Dynast. p. 310) after forty years, +beyond the Tigris, might be easily deceived.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 35: See Pachymer, l. iii. c. 25, and l. ix. c. 26, +27; and the false alarm at Nice, l. iii. c. 27. Nicephorus +Gregoras, l. iv. c. 6.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 36: G. Acropolita, p. 36, 37. Nic. Greg. l. ii. c. +6, l. iv. c. 5.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 37: Abulpharagius, who wrote in the year 1284, +declares that the Moguls, since the fabulous defeat of Batou, had +not attacked either the Franks or Greeks; and of this he is a +competent witness. Hayton likewise, the Armenian prince, +celebrates their friendship for himself and his nation.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 38: Pachymer gives a splendid character of Cazan +Khan, the rival of Cyrus and Alexander, (l. xii. c. 1.) In the +conclusion of his history (l. xiii. c. 36) he +<strong><em>hopes</em></strong> much from the arrival of 30,000 +Tochars, or Tartars, who were ordered by the successor of Cazan +to restrain the Turks of Bithynia, A.D. 1308.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 39: The origin of the Ottoman dynasty is illustrated +by the critical learning of Mm. De Guignes (Hist. des Huns, tom. +iv. p. 329--337) and D'Anville, (Empire Turc, p. 14--22,) two +inhabitants of Paris, from whom the Orientals may learn the +history and geography of their own country. *</p> + +<p>Note: * They may be still more enlightened by the Geschichte +des Osman Reiches, by M. von Hammer Purgstall of Vienna. -- +M.]</p> + +<p>After the retreat of Zingis, the sultan Gelaleddin of Carizme +had returned from India to the possession and defence of his +Persian kingdoms. In the space of eleven years, than hero fought +in person fourteen battles; and such was his activity, that he +led his cavalry in seventeen days from Teflis to Kerman, a march +of a thousand miles. Yet he was oppressed by the jealousy of the +Moslem princes, and the innumerable armies of the Moguls; and +after his last defeat, Gelaleddin perished ignobly in the +mountains of Curdistan. His death dissolved a veteran and +adventurous army, which included under the name of Carizmians or +Corasmins many Turkman hordes, that had attached themselves to +the sultan's fortune. The bolder and more powerful chiefs invaded +Syria, and violated the holy sepulchre of Jerusalem: the more +humble engaged in the service of Aladin, sultan of Iconium; and +among these were the obscure fathers of the Ottoman line. They +had formerly pitched their tents near the southern banks of the +Oxus, in the plains of Mahan and Nesa; and it is somewhat +remarkable, that the same spot should have produced the first +authors of the Parthian and Turkish empires. At the head, or in +the rear, of a Carizmian army, Soliman Shah was drowned in the +passage of the Euphrates: his son Orthogrul became the soldier +and subject of Aladin, and established at Surgut, on the banks of +the Sangar, a camp of four hundred families or tents, whom he +governed fifty-two years both in peace and war. He was the father +of Thaman, or Athman, whose Turkish name has been melted into the +appellation of the caliph Othman; and if we describe that +pastoral chief as a shepherd and a robber, we must separate from +those characters all idea of ignominy and baseness. Othman +possessed, and perhaps surpassed, the ordinary virtues of a +soldier; and the circumstances of time and place were propitious +to his independence and success. The Seljukian dynasty was no +more; and the distance and decline of the Mogul khans soon +enfranchised him from the control of a superior. He was situate +on the verge of the Greek empire: the Koran sanctified his +<strong><em>gazi</em></strong>, or holy war, against the +infidels; and their political errors unlocked the passes of Mount +Olympus, and invited him to descend into the plains of Bithynia. +Till the reign of Palæologus, these passes had been +vigilantly guarded by the militia of the country, who were repaid +by their own safety and an exemption from taxes. The emperor +abolished their privilege and assumed their office; but the +tribute was rigorously collected, the custody of the passes was +neglected, and the hardy mountaineers degenerated into a +trembling crowd of peasants without spirit or discipline. It was +on the twenty-seventh of July, in the year twelve hundred and +ninety-nine of the Christian æra, that Othman first invaded +the territory of Nicomedia; ^40 and the singular accuracy of the +date seems to disclose some foresight of the rapid and +destructive growth of the monster. The annals of the twenty-seven +years of his reign would exhibit a repetition of the same +inroads; and his hereditary troops were multiplied in each +campaign by the accession of captives and volunteers. Instead of +retreating to the hills, he maintained the most useful and +defensive posts; fortified the towns and castles which he had +first pillaged; and renounced the pastoral life for the baths and +palaces of his infant capitals. But it was not till Othman was +oppressed by age and infirmities, that he received the welcome +news of the conquest of Prusa, which had been surrendered by +famine or treachery to the arms of his son Orchan. The glory of +Othman is chiefly founded on that of his descendants; but the +Turks have transcribed or composed a royal testament of his last +counsels of justice and moderation. ^41</p> + +<p>[Footnote 40: See Pachymer, l. x. c. 25, 26, l. xiii. c. 33, +34, 36; and concerning the guard of the mountains, l. i. c. 3--6: +Nicephorus Gregoras, l. vii. c. l., and the first book of +Laonicus Chalcondyles, the Athenian.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 41: I am ignorant whether the Turks have any writers +older than Mahomet II., * nor can I reach beyond a meagre +chronicle (Annales Turcici ad Annum 1550) translated by John +Gaudier, and published by Leunclavius, (ad calcem Laonic. +Chalcond. p. 311--350,) with copious pandects, or commentaries. +The history of the Growth and Decay (A.D. 1300--1683) of the +Othman empire was translated into English from the Latin MS. of +Demetrius Cantemir, prince of Moldavia, (London, 1734, in folio.) +The author is guilty of strange blunders in Oriental history; but +he was conversant with the language, the annals, and institutions +of the Turks. Cantemir partly draws his materials from the +Synopsis of Saadi Effendi of Larissa, dedicated in the year 1696 +to Sultan Mustapha, and a valuable abridgment of the original +historians. In one of the Ramblers, Dr. Johnson praises Knolles +(a General History of the Turks to the present Year. London, +1603) as the first of historians, unhappy only in the choice of +his subject. Yet I much doubt whether a partial and verbose +compilation from Latin writers, thirteen hundred folio pages of +speeches and battles, can either instruct or amuse an enlightened +age, which requires from the historian some tincture of +philosophy and criticism.</p> + +<p>Note: * We could have wished that M. von Hammer had given a +more clear and distinct reply to this question of Gibbon. In a +note, vol. i. p. 630. M. von Hammer shows that they had not only +sheiks (religious writers) and learned lawyers, but poets and +authors on medicine. But the inquiry of Gibbon obviously refers +to historians. The oldest of their historical works, of which V. +Hammer makes use, is the "Tarichi Aaschik Paschasade," i. e. the +History of the Great Grandson of Aaschik Pasha, who was a dervis +and celebrated ascetic poet in the reign of Murad (Amurath) I. +Ahmed, the author of the work, lived during the reign of Bajazet +II., but, he says, derived much information from the book of +Scheik Jachshi, the son of Elias, who was Imaum to Sultan Orchan, +(the second Ottoman king) and who related, from the lips of his +father, the circumstances of the earliest Ottoman history. This +book (having searched for it in vain for five-and-twenty years) +our author found at length in the Vatican. All the other Turkish +histories on his list, as indeed this, were +<strong><em>written</em></strong> during the reign of Mahomet II. +It does not appear whether any of the rest cite earlier +authorities of equal value with that claimed by the "Tarichi +Aaschik Paschasade." -- M. (in Quarterly Review, vol. xlix. p. +292.)]</p> + +<p>From the conquest of Prusa, we may date the true æra of +the Ottoman empire. The lives and possessions of the Christian +subjects were redeemed by a tribute or ransom of thirty thousand +crowns of gold; and the city, by the labors of Orchan, assumed +the aspect of a Mahometan capital; Prusa was decorated with a +mosque, a college, and a hospital, of royal foundation; the +Seljukian coin was changed for the name and impression of the new +dynasty: and the most skilful professors, of human and divine +knowledge, attracted the Persian and Arabian students from the +ancient schools of Oriental learning. The office of vizier was +instituted for Aladin, the brother of Orchan; ^* and a different +habit distinguished the citizens from the peasants, the Moslems +from the infidels. All the troops of Othman had consisted of +loose squadrons of Turkman cavalry; who served without pay and +fought without discipline: but a regular body of infantry was +first established and trained by the prudence of his son. A great +number of volunteers was enrolled with a small stipend, but with +the permission of living at home, unless they were summoned to +the field: their rude manners, and seditious temper, disposed +Orchan to educate his young captives as his soldiers and those of +the prophet; but the Turkish peasants were still allowed to mount +on horseback, and follow his standard, with the appellation and +the hopes of <strong><em>freebooters</em></strong>. ^! By these +arts he formed an army of twenty-five thousand Moslems: a train +of battering engines was framed for the use of sieges; and the +first successful experiment was made on the cities of Nice and +Nicomedia. Orchan granted a safe-conduct to all who were desirous +of departing with their families and effects; but the widows of +the slain were given in marriage to the conquerors; and the +sacrilegious plunder, the books, the vases, and the images, were +sold or ransomed at Constantinople. The emperor Andronicus the +Younger was vanquished and wounded by the son of Othman: ^42 ^!! +he subdued the whole province or kingdom of Bithynia, as far as +the shores of the Bosphorus and Hellespont; and the Christians +confessed the justice and clemency of a reign which claimed the +voluntary attachment of the Turks of Asia. Yet Orchan was content +with the modest title of emir; and in the list of his compeers, +the princes of Roum or Anatolia, ^43 his military forces were +surpassed by the emirs of Ghermian and Caramania, each of whom +could bring into the field an army of forty thousand men. Their +domains were situate in the heart of the Seljukian kingdom; but +the holy warriors, though of inferior note, who formed new +principalities on the Greek empire, are more conspicuous in the +light of history. The maritime country from the Propontis to the +Mæander and the Isle of Rhodes, so long threatened and so +often pillaged, was finally lost about the thirteenth year of +Andronicus the Elder. ^44 Two Turkish chieftains, Sarukhan and +Aidin, left their names to their conquests, and their conquests +to their posterity. The captivity or ruin of the +<strong><em>seven</em></strong> churches of Asia was consummated; +and the barbarous lords of Ionia and Lydia still trample on the +monuments of classic and Christian antiquity. In the loss of +Ephesus, the Christians deplored the fall of the first angel, the +extinction of the first candlestick, of the Revelations; ^45 the +desolation is complete; and the temple of Diana, or the church of +Mary, will equally elude the search of the curious traveller. The +circus and three stately theatres of Laodicea are now peopled +with wolves and foxes; Sardes is reduced to a miserable village; +the God of Mahomet, without a rival or a son, is invoked in the +mosques of Thyatira and Pergamus; and the populousness of Smyrna +is supported by the foreign trade of the Franks and Armenians. +Philadelphia alone has been saved by prophecy, or courage. At a +distance from the sea, forgotten by the emperors, encompassed on +all sides by the Turks, her valiant citizens defended their +religion and freedom above fourscore years; and at length +capitulated with the proudest of the Ottomans. Among the Greek +colonies and churches of Asia, Philadelphia is still erect; a +column in a scene of ruins; a pleasing example, that the paths of +honor and safety may sometimes be the same. The servitude of +Rhodes was delayed about two centuries by the establishment of +the knights of St. John of Jerusalem: ^46 under the discipline of +the order, that island emerged into fame and opulence; the noble +and warlike monks were renowned by land and sea: and the bulwark +of Christendom provoked, and repelled, the arms of the Turks and +Saracens.</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Von Hammer, Osm. Geschichte, vol. i. p. 82. -- +M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !: Ibid. p. 91. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 42: Cantacuzene, though he relates the battle and +heroic flight of the younger Andronicus, (l. ii. c. 6, 7, 8,) +dissembles by his silence the loss of Prusa, Nice, and Nicomedia, +which are fairly confessed by Nicephorus Gregoras, (l. viii. 15, +ix. 9, 13, xi. 6.) It appears that Nice was taken by Orchan in +1330, and Nicomedia in 1339, which are somewhat different from +the Turkish dates.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !!: For the conquests of Orchan over the ten +pachaliks, or kingdoms of the Seljukians, in Asia Minor. see V. +Hammer, vol. i. p. 112. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 43: The partition of the Turkish emirs is extracted +from two contemporaries, the Greek Nicephorus Gregoras (l. vii. +1) and the Arabian Marakeschi, (De Guignes, tom. ii. P. ii. p. +76, 77.) See likewise the first book of Laonicus +Chalcondyles.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 44: Pachymer, l. xiii. c. 13.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 45: See the Travels of Wheeler and Spon, of Pocock +and Chandler, and more particularly Smith's Survey of the Seven +Churches of Asia, p. 205--276. The more pious antiquaries labor +to reconcile the promises and threats of the author of the +Revelations with the <strong><em>present</em></strong> state of +the seven cities. Perhaps it would be more prudent to confine his +predictions to the characters and events of his own times.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 46: Consult the ivth book of the Histoire de l'Ordre +de Malthe, par l'Abbé de Vertot. That pleasing writer +betrays his ignorance, in supposing that Othman, a freebooter of +the Bithynian hills, could besiege Rhodes by sea and land.]</p> + +<p>The Greeks, by their intestine divisions, were the authors of +their final ruin. During the civil wars of the elder and younger +Andronicus, the son of Othman achieved, almost without +resistance, the conquest of Bithynia; and the same disorders +encouraged the Turkish emirs of Lydia and Ionia to build a fleet, +and to pillage the adjacent islands and the sea-coast of Europe. +In the defence of his life and honor, Cantacuzene was tempted to +prevent, or imitate, his adversaries, by calling to his aid the +public enemies of his religion and country. Amir, the son of +Aidin, concealed under a Turkish garb the humanity and politeness +of a Greek; he was united with the great domestic by mutual +esteem and reciprocal services; and their friendship is compared, +in the vain rhetoric of the times, to the perfect union of +Orestes and Pylades. ^47 On the report of the danger of his +friend, who was persecuted by an ungrateful court, the prince of +Ionia assembled at Smyrna a fleet of three hundred vessels, with +an army of twenty-nine thousand men; sailed in the depth of +winter, and cast anchor at the mouth of the Hebrus. From thence, +with a chosen band of two thousand Turks, he marched along the +banks of the river, and rescued the empress, who was besieged in +Demotica by the wild Bulgarians. At that disastrous moment, the +life or death of his beloved Cantacuzene was concealed by his +flight into Servia: but the grateful Irene, impatient to behold +her deliverer, invited him to enter the city, and accompanied her +message with a present of rich apparel and a hundred horses. By a +peculiar strain of delicacy, the Gentle Barbarian refused, in the +absence of an unfortunate friend, to visit his wife, or to taste +the luxuries of the palace; sustained in his tent the rigor of +the winter; and rejected the hospitable gift, that he might share +the hardships of two thousand companions, all as deserving as +himself of that honor and distinction. Necessity and revenge +might justify his predatory excursions by sea and land: he left +nine thousand five hundred men for the guard of his fleet; and +persevered in the fruitless search of Cantacuzene, till his +embarkation was hastened by a fictitious letter, the severity of +the season, the clamors of his independent troops, and the weight +of his spoil and captives. In the prosecution of the civil war, +the prince of Ionia twice returned to Europe; joined his arms +with those of the emperor; besieged Thessalonica, and threatened +Constantinople. Calumny might affix some reproach on his +imperfect aid, his hasty departure, and a bribe of ten thousand +crowns, which he accepted from the Byzantine court; but his +friend was satisfied; and the conduct of Amir is excused by the +more sacred duty of defending against the Latins his hereditary +dominions. The maritime power of the Turks had united the pope, +the king of Cyprus, the republic of Venice, and the order of St. +John, in a laudable crusade; their galleys invaded the coast of +Ionia; and Amir was slain with an arrow, in the attempt to wrest +from the Rhodian knights the citadel of Smyrna. ^48 Before his +death, he generously recommended another ally of his own nation; +not more sincere or zealous than himself, but more able to afford +a prompt and powerful succor, by his situation along the +Propontis and in the front of Constantinople. By the prospect of +a more advantageous treaty, the Turkish prince of Bithynia was +detached from his engagements with Anne of Savoy; and the pride +of Orchan dictated the most solemn protestations, that if he +could obtain the daughter of Cantacuzene, he would invariably +fulfil the duties of a subject and a son. Parental tenderness was +silenced by the voice of ambition: the Greek clergy connived at +the marriage of a Christian princess with a sectary of Mahomet; +and the father of Theodora describes, with shameful satisfaction, +the dishonor of the purple. ^49 A body of Turkish cavalry +attended the ambassadors, who disembarked from thirty vessels, +before his camp of Selybria. A stately pavilion was erected, in +which the empress Irene passed the night with her daughters. In +the morning, Theodora ascended a throne, which was surrounded +with curtains of silk and gold: the troops were under arms; but +the emperor alone was on horseback. At a signal the curtains were +suddenly withdrawn to disclose the bride, or the victim, +encircled by kneeling eunuchs and hymeneal torches: the sound of +flutes and trumpets proclaimed the joyful event; and her +pretended happiness was the theme of the nuptial song, which was +chanted by such poets as the age could produce. Without the rites +of the church, Theodora was delivered to her barbarous lord: but +it had been stipulated, that she should preserve her religion in +the harem of Bursa; and her father celebrates her charity and +devotion in this ambiguous situation. After his peaceful +establishment on the throne of Constantinople, the Greek emperor +visited his Turkish ally, who with four sons, by various wives, +expected him at Scutari, on the Asiatic shore. The two princes +partook, with seeming cordiality, of the pleasures of the banquet +and the chase; and Theodora was permitted to repass the +Bosphorus, and to enjoy some days in the society of her mother. +But the friendship of Orchan was subservient to his religion and +interest; and in the Genoese war he joined without a blush the +enemies of Cantacuzene.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 47: Nicephorus Gregoras has expatiated with pleasure +on this amiable character, (l. xii. 7, xiii. 4, 10, xiv. 1, 9, +xvi. 6.) Cantacuzene speaks with honor and esteem of his ally, +(l. iii. c. 56, 57, 63, 64, 66, 67, 68, 86, 89, 95, 96;) but he +seems ignorant of his own sentimental passion for the Turks, and +indirectly denies the possibility of such unnatural friendship, +(l. iv. c. 40.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 48: After the conquest of Smyrna by the Latins, the +defence of this fortress was imposed by Pope Gregory XI. on the +knights of Rhodes, (see Vertot, l. v.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 49: See Cantacuzenus, l. iii. c. 95. Nicephorus +Gregoras, who, for the light of Mount Thabor, brands the emperor +with the names of tyrant and Herod, excuses, rather than blames, +this Turkish marriage, and alleges the passion and power of +Orchan, eggutatoV, kai th dunamo? touV kat' auton hdh PersikouV +(Turkish) uperairwn SatrapaV, (l. xv. 5.) He afterwards +celebrates his kingdom and armies. See his reign in Cantemir, p. +24--30.]</p> + +<p>In the treaty with the empress Anne, the Ottoman prince had +inserted a singular condition, that it should be lawful for him +to sell his prisoners at Constantinople, or transport them into +Asia. A naked crowd of Christians of both sexes and every age, of +priests and monks, of matrons and virgins, was exposed in the +public market; the whip was frequently used to quicken the +charity of redemption; and the indigent Greeks deplored the fate +of their brethren, who were led away to the worst evils of +temporal and spiritual bondage ^50 Cantacuzene was reduced to +subscribe the same terms; and their execution must have been +still more pernicious to the empire: a body of ten thousand Turks +had been detached to the assistance of the empress Anne; but the +entire forces of Orchan were exerted in the service of his +father. Yet these calamities were of a transient nature; as soon +as the storm had passed away, the fugitives might return to their +habitations; and at the conclusion of the civil and foreign wars, +Europe was completely evacuated by the Moslems of Asia. It was in +his last quarrel with his pupil that Cantacuzene inflicted the +deep and deadly wound, which could never be healed by his +successors, and which is poorly expiated by his theological +dialogues against the prophet Mahomet. Ignorant of their own +history, the modern Turks confound their first and their final +passage of the Hellespont, ^51 and describe the son of Orchan as +a nocturnal robber, who, with eighty companions, explores by +stratagem a hostile and unknown shore. Soliman, at the head of +ten thousand horse, was transported in the vessels, and +entertained as the friend, of the Greek emperor. In the civil +wars of Romania, he performed some service and perpetrated more +mischief; but the Chersonesus was insensibly filled with a +Turkish colony; and the Byzantine court solicited in vain the +restitution of the fortresses of Thrace. After some artful delays +between the Ottoman prince and his son, their ransom was valued +at sixty thousand crowns, and the first payment had been made +when an earthquake shook the walls and cities of the provinces; +the dismantled places were occupied by the Turks; and Gallipoli, +the key of the Hellespont, was rebuilt and repeopled by the +policy of Soliman. The abdication of Cantacuzene dissolved the +feeble bands of domestic alliance; and his last advice admonished +his countrymen to decline a rash contest, and to compare their +own weakness with the numbers and valor, the discipline and +enthusiasm, of the Moslems. His prudent counsels were despised by +the headstrong vanity of youth, and soon justified by the +victories of the Ottomans. But as he practised in the field the +exercise of the <strong><em>jerid</em></strong>, Soliman was +killed by a fall from his horse; and the aged Orchan wept and +expired on the tomb of his valiant son. ^*</p> + +<p>[Footnote 50: The most lively and concise picture of this +captivity may be found in the history of Ducas, (c. 8,) who +fairly describes what Cantacuzene confesses with a guilty +blush!]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 51: In this passage, and the first conquests in +Europe, Cantemir (p. 27, &c.) gives a miserable idea of his +Turkish guides; nor am I much better satisfied with Chalcondyles, +(l. i. p. 12, &c.) They forget to consult the most authentic +record, the ivth book of Cantacuzene. I likewise regret the last +books, which are still manuscript, of Nicephorus Gregoras. *</p> + +<p>Note: * Von Hammer excuses the silence with which the Turkish +historians pass over the earlier intercourse of the Ottomans with +the European continent, of which he enumerates sixteen different +occasions, as if they disdained those peaceful incursions by +which they gained no conquest, and established no permanent +footing on the Byzantine territory. Of the romantic account of +Soliman's first expedition, he says, "As yet the prose of history +had not asserted its right over the poetry of tradition." This +defence would scarcely be accepted as satisfactory by the +historian of the Decline and Fall. -- M. (in Quarterly Review, +vol. xlix. p. 293.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: In the 75th year of his age, the 35th of his +reign. V. Hammer. M.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LXIV: Moguls, Ottoman Turks. -- Part +IV.</em></strong></p> + +<p>But the Greeks had not time to rejoice in the death of their +enemies; and the Turkish cimeter was wielded with the same spirit +by Amurath the First, the son of Orchan, and the brother of +Soliman. By the pale and fainting light of the Byzantine annals, +^52 we can discern, that he subdued without resistance the whole +province of Romania or Thrace, from the Hellespont to Mount +Hæmus, and the verge of the capital; and that Adrianople +was chosen for the royal seat of his government and religion in +Europe. Constantinople, whose decline is almost coeval with her +foundation, had often, in the lapse of a thousand years, been +assaulted by the Barbarians of the East and West; but never till +this fatal hour had the Greeks been surrounded, both in Asia and +Europe, by the arms of the same hostile monarchy. Yet the +prudence or generosity of Amurath postponed for a while this easy +conquest; and his pride was satisfied with the frequent and +humble attendance of the emperor John Palæologus and his +four sons, who followed at his summons the court and camp of the +Ottoman prince. He marched against the Sclavonian nations between +the Danube and the Adriatic, the Bulgarians, Servians, Bosnians, +and Albanians; and these warlike tribes, who had so often +insulted the majesty of the empire, were repeatedly broken by his +destructive inroads. Their countries did not abound either in +gold or silver; nor were their rustic hamlets and townships +enriched by commerce or decorated by the arts of luxury. But the +natives of the soil have been distinguished in every age by their +hardiness of mind and body; and they were converted by a prudent +institution into the firmest and most faithful supporters of the +Ottoman greatness. ^53 The vizier of Amurath reminded his +sovereign that, according to the Mahometan law, he was entitled +to a fifth part of the spoil and captives; and that the duty +might easily be levied, if vigilant officers were stationed in +Gallipoli, to watch the passage, and to select for his use the +stoutest and most beautiful of the Christian youth. The advice +was followed: the edict was proclaimed; many thousands of the +European captives were educated in religion and arms; and the new +militia was consecrated and named by a celebrated dervis. +Standing in the front of their ranks, he stretched the sleeve of +his gown over the head of the foremost soldier, and his blessing +was delivered in these words: "Let them be called Janizaries, +(<strong><em>Yengi cheri</em></strong>, or new soldiers;) may +their countenance be ever bright! their hand victorious! their +sword keen! may their spear always hang over the heads of their +enemies! and wheresoever they go, may they return with a +<strong><em>white face!</em></strong>" ^54 ^* Such was the origin +of these haughty troops, the terror of the nations, and sometimes +of the sultans themselves. Their valor has declined, their +discipline is relaxed, and their tumultuary array is incapable of +contending with the order and weapons of modern tactics; but at +the time of their institution, they possessed a decisive +superiority in war; since a regular body of infantry, in constant +exercise and pay, was not maintained by any of the princes of +Christendom. The Janizaries fought with the zeal of proselytes +against their <strong><em>idolatrous</em></strong> countrymen; +and in the battle of Cossova, the league and independence of the +Sclavonian tribes was finally crushed. As the conqueror walked +over the field, he observed that the greatest part of the slain +consisted of beardless youths; and listened to the flattering +reply of his vizier, that age and wisdom would have taught them +not to oppose his irresistible arms. But the sword of his +Janizaries could not defend him from the dagger of despair; a +Servian soldier started from the crowd of dead bodies, and +Amurath was pierced in the belly with a mortal wound. ^* The +grandson of Othman was mild in his temper, modest in his apparel, +and a lover of learning and virtue; but the Moslems were +scandalized at his absence from public worship; and he was +corrected by the firmness of the mufti, who dared to reject his +testimony in a civil cause: a mixture of servitude and freedom +not unfrequent in Oriental history. ^55</p> + +<p>[Footnote 52: After the conclusion of Cantacuzene and +Gregoras, there follows a dark interval of a hundred years. +George Phranza, Michael Ducas, and Laonicus Chalcondyles, all +three wrote after the taking of Constantinople.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 53: See Cantemir, p. 37--41, with his own large and +curious annotations.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 54: <strong><em>White</em></strong> and +<strong><em>black</em></strong> face are common and proverbial +expressions of praise and reproach in the Turkish language. Hic +<strong><em>niger</em></strong> est, hunc tu Romane caveto, was +likewise a Latin sentence.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: According to Von Hammer. vol. i. p. 90, Gibbon +and the European writers assign too late a date to this enrolment +of the Janizaries. It took place not in the reign of Amurath, but +in that of his predecessor Orchan. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Ducas has related this as a deliberate act of +self-devotion on the part of a Servian noble who pretended to +desert, and stabbed Amurath during a conference which he had +requested. The Italian translator of Ducas, published by Bekker +in the new edition of the Byzantines, has still further +heightened the romance. See likewise in Von Hammer (Osmanische +Geschichte, vol. i. p. 138) the popular Servian account, which +resembles that of Ducas, and may have been the source of that of +his Italian translator. The Turkish account agrees more nearly +with Gibbon; but the Servian, (Milosch Kohilovisch) while he lay +among the heap of the dead, pretended to have some secret to +impart to Amurath, and stabbed him while he leaned over to +listen. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 55: See the life and death of Morad, or Amurath I., +in Cantemir, (p 33--45,) the first book of Chalcondyles, and the +Annales Turcici of Leunclavius. According to another story, the +sultan was stabbed by a Croat in his tent; and this accident was +alleged to Busbequius (Epist i. p. 98) as an excuse for the +unworthy precaution of pinioning, as if were, between two +attendants, an ambassador's arms, when he is introduced to the +royal presence.]</p> + +<p>The character of Bajazet, the son and successor of Amurath, is +strongly expressed in his surname of +<strong><em>Ilderim</em></strong>, or the lightning; and he might +glory in an epithet, which was drawn from the fiery energy of his +soul and the rapidity of his destructive march. In the fourteen +years of his reign, ^56 he incessantly moved at the head of his +armies, from Boursa to Adrianople, from the Danube to the +Euphrates; and, though he strenuously labored for the propagation +of the law, he invaded, with impartial ambition, the Christian +and Mahometan princes of Europe and Asia. From Angora to Amasia +and Erzeroum, the northern regions of Anatolia were reduced to +his obedience: he stripped of their hereditary possessions his +brother emirs of Ghermian and Caramania, of Aidin and Sarukhan; +and after the conquest of Iconium the ancient kingdom of the +Seljukians again revived in the Ottoman dynasty. Nor were the +conquests of Bajazet less rapid or important in Europe. No sooner +had he imposed a regular form of servitude on the Servians and +Bulgarians, than he passed the Danube to seek new enemies and new +subjects in the heart of Moldavia. ^57 Whatever yet adhered to +the Greek empire in Thrace, Macedonia, and Thessaly, acknowledged +a Turkish master: an obsequious bishop led him through the gates +of Thermopylæ into Greece; and we may observe, as a +singular fact, that the widow of a Spanish chief, who possessed +the ancient seat of the oracle of Delphi, deserved his favor by +the sacrifice of a beauteous daughter. The Turkish communication +between Europe and Asia had been dangerous and doubtful, till he +stationed at Gallipoli a fleet of galleys, to command the +Hellespont and intercept the Latin succors of Constantinople. +While the monarch indulged his passions in a boundless range of +injustice and cruelty, he imposed on his soldiers the most rigid +laws of modesty and abstinence; and the harvest was peaceably +reaped and sold within the precincts of his camp. Provoked by the +loose and corrupt administration of justice, he collected in a +house the judges and lawyers of his dominions, who expected that +in a few moments the fire would be kindled to reduce them to +ashes. His ministers trembled in silence: but an Æthiopian +buffoon presumed to insinuate the true cause of the evil; and +future venality was left without excuse, by annexing an adequate +salary to the office of cadhi. ^58 The humble title of emir was +no longer suitable to the Ottoman greatness; and Bajazet +condescended to accept a patent of sultan from the caliphs who +served in Egypt under the yoke of the Mamalukes: ^59 a last and +frivolous homage that was yielded by force to opinion; by the +Turkish conquerors to the house of Abbas and the successors of +the Arabian prophet. The ambition of the sultan was inflamed by +the obligation of deserving this august title; and he turned his +arms against the kingdom of Hungary, the perpetual theatre of the +Turkish victories and defeats. Sigismond, the Hungarian king, was +the son and brother of the emperors of the West: his cause was +that of Europe and the church; and, on the report of his danger, +the bravest knights of France and Germany were eager to march +under his standard and that of the cross. In the battle of +Nicopolis, Bajazet defeated a confederate army of a hundred +thousand Christians, who had proudly boasted, that if the sky +should fall, they could uphold it on their lances. The far +greater part were slain or driven into the Danube; and Sigismond, +escaping to Constantinople by the river and the Black Sea, +returned after a long circuit to his exhausted kingdom. ^60 In +the pride of victory, Bajazet threatened that he would besiege +Buda; that he would subdue the adjacent countries of Germany and +Italy, and that he would feed his horse with a bushel of oats on +the altar of St. Peter at Rome. His progress was checked, not by +the miraculous interposition of the apostle, not by a crusade of +the Christian powers, but by a long and painful fit of the gout. +The disorders of the moral, are sometimes corrected by those of +the physical, world; and an acrimonious humor falling on a single +fibre of one man, may prevent or suspend the misery of +nations.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 56: The reign of Bajazet I., or Ilderim Bayazid, is +contained in Cantemir, (p. 46,) the iid book of Chalcondyles, and +the Annales Turcici. The surname of Ilderim, or lightning, is an +example, that the conquerors and poets of every age have +<strong><em>felt</em></strong> the truth of a system which +derives the sublime from the principle of terror.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 57: Cantemir, who celebrates the victories of the +great Stephen over the Turks, (p. 47,) had composed the ancient +and modern state of his principality of Moldavia, which has been +long promised, and is still unpublished.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 58: Leunclav. Annal. Turcici, p. 318, 319. The +venality of the cadhis has long been an object of scandal and +satire; and if we distrust the observations of our travellers, we +may consult the feeling of the Turks themselves, (D'Herbelot, +Bibliot. Orientale, p. 216, 217, 229, 230.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 59: The fact, which is attested by the Arabic +history of Ben Schounah, a contemporary Syrian, (De Guignes Hist. +des Huns. tom. iv. p. 336.) destroys the testimony of Saad +Effendi and Cantemir, (p. 14, 15,) of the election of Othman to +the dignity of sultan.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 60: See the Decades Rerum Hungaricarum (Dec. iii. l. +ii. p. 379) of Bonfinius, an Italian, who, in the xvth century, +was invited into Hungary to compose an eloquent history of that +kingdom. Yet, if it be extant and accessible, I should give the +preference to some homely chronicle of the time and country.]</p> + +<p>Such is the general idea of the Hungarian war; but the +disastrous adventure of the French has procured us some memorials +which illustrate the victory and character of Bajazet. ^61 The +duke of Burgundy, sovereign of Flanders, and uncle of Charles the +Sixth, yielded to the ardor of his son, John count of Nevers; and +the fearless youth was accompanied by four princes, his +<strong><em>cousins</em></strong>, and those of the French +monarch. Their inexperience was guided by the Sire de Coucy, one +of the best and oldest captain of Christendom; ^62 but the +constable, admiral, and marshal of France ^63 commanded an army +which did not exceed the number of a thousand knights and +squires. ^* These splendid names were the source of presumption +and the bane of discipline. So many might aspire to command, that +none were willing to obey; their national spirit despised both +their enemies and their allies; and in the persuasion that +Bajazet <strong><em>would</em></strong> fly, or +<strong><em>must</em></strong> fall, they began to compute how +soon they should visit Constantinople and deliver the holy +sepulchre. When their scouts announced the approach of the Turks, +the gay and thoughtless youths were at table, already heated with +wine; they instantly clasped their armor, mounted their horses, +rode full speed to the vanguard, and resented as an affront the +advice of Sigismond, which would have deprived them of the right +and honor of the foremost attack. The battle of Nicopolis would +not have been lost, if the French would have obeyed the prudence +of the Hungarians; but it might have been gloriously won, had the +Hungarians imitated the valor of the French. They dispersed the +first line, consisting of the troops of Asia; forced a rampart of +stakes, which had been planted against the cavalry; broke, after +a bloody conflict, the Janizaries themselves; and were at length +overwhelmed by the numerous squadrons that issued from the woods, +and charged on all sides this handful of intrepid warriors. In +the speed and secrecy of his march, in the order and evolutions +of the battle, his enemies felt and admired the military talents +of Bajazet. They accuse his cruelty in the use of victory. After +reserving the count of Nevers, and four-and-twenty lords, ^* +whose birth and riches were attested by his Latin interpreters, +the remainder of the French captives, who had survived the +slaughter of the day, were led before his throne; and, as they +refused to abjure their faith, were successively beheaded in his +presence. The sultan was exasperated by the loss of his bravest +Janizaries; and if it be true, that, on the eve of the +engagement, the French had massacred their Turkish prisoners, ^64 +they might impute to themselves the consequences of a just +retaliation. ^! A knight, whose life had been spared, was +permitted to return to Paris, that he might relate the deplorable +tale, and solicit the ransom of the noble captives. In the mean +while, the count of Nevers, with the princes and barons of +France, were dragged along in the marches of the Turkish camp, +exposed as a grateful trophy to the Moslems of Europe and Asia, +and strictly confined at Boursa, as often as Bajazet resided in +his capital. The sultan was pressed each day to expiate with +their blood the blood of his martyrs; but he had pronounced that +they should live, and either for mercy or destruction his word +was irrevocable. He was assured of their value and importance by +the return of the messenger, and the gifts and intercessions of +the kings of France and of Cyprus. Lusignan presented him with a +gold saltcellar of curious workmanship, and of the price of ten +thousand ducats; and Charles the Sixth despatched by the way of +Hungary a cast of Norwegian hawks, and six horse-loads of scarlet +cloth, of fine linen of Rheims, and of Arras tapestry, +representing the battles of the great Alexander. After much +delay, the effect of distance rather than of art, Bajazet agreed +to accept a ransom of two hundred thousand ducats for the count +of Nevers and the surviving princes and barons: the marshal +Boucicault, a famous warrior, was of the number of the fortunate; +but the admiral of France had been slain in battle; and the +constable, with the Sire de Coucy, died in the prison of Boursa. +This heavy demand, which was doubled by incidental costs, fell +chiefly on the duke of Burgundy, or rather on his Flemish +subjects, who were bound by the feudal laws to contribute for the +knighthood and captivity of the eldest son of their lord. For the +faithful discharge of the debt, some merchants of Genoa gave +security to the amount of five times the sum; a lesson to those +warlike times, that commerce and credit are the links of the +society of nations. It had been stipulated in the treaty, that +the French captives should swear never to bear arms against the +person of their conqueror; but the ungenerous restraint was +abolished by Bajazet himself. "I despise," said he to the heir of +Burgundy, "thy oaths and thy arms. Thou art young, and mayest be +ambitious of effacing the disgrace or misfortune of thy first +chivalry. Assemble thy powers, proclaim thy design, and be +assured that Bajazet will rejoice to meet thee a second time in a +field of battle." Before their departure, they were indulged in +the freedom and hospitality of the court of Boursa. The French +princes admired the magnificence of the Ottoman, whose hunting +and hawking equipage was composed of seven thousand huntsmen and +seven thousand falconers. ^65 In their presence, and at his +command, the belly of one of his chamberlains was cut open, on a +complaint against him for drinking the goat's milk of a poor +woman. The strangers were astonished by this act of justice; but +it was the justice of a sultan who disdains to balance the weight +of evidence, or to measure the degrees of guilt.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 61: I should not complain of the labor of this work, +if my materials were always derived from such books as the +chronicle of honest Froissard, (vol. iv. c. 67, 72, 74, 79--83, +85, 87, 89,) who read little, inquired much, and believed all. +The original Mémoires of the Maréchal de Boucicault +(Partie i. c. 22--28) add some facts, but they are dry and +deficient, if compared with the pleasant garrulity of +Froissard.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 62: An accurate Memoir on the Life of Enguerrand +VII., Sire de Coucy, has been given by the Baron de Zurlauben, +(Hist. de l'Académie des Inscriptions, tom. xxv.) His rank +and possessions were equally considerable in France and England; +and, in 1375, he led an army of adventurers into Switzerland, to +recover a large patrimony which he claimed in right of his +grandmother, the daughter of the emperor Albert I. of Austria, +(Sinner, Voyage dans la Suisse Occidentale, tom. i. p. +118--124.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 63: That military office, so respectable at present, +was still more conspicuous when it was divided between two +persons, (Daniel, Hist. de la Milice Françoise, tom. ii. +p. 5.) One of these, the marshal of the crusade, was the famous +Boucicault, who afterwards defended Constantinople, governed +Genoa, invaded the coast of Asia, and died in the field of +Azincour.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Daru, Hist. de Venice, vol. ii. p. 104, makes the +whole French army amount to 10,000 men, of whom 1000 were +knights. The curious volume of Schiltberger, a German of Munich, +who was taken prisoner in the battle, (edit. Munich, 1813,) and +which V. Hammer receives as authentic, gives the whole number at +6000. See Schiltberger. Reise in dem Orient. and V. Hammer, note, +p. 610. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: According to Schiltberger there were only twelve +French lords granted to the prayer of the "duke of Burgundy," and +"Herr Stephan Synther, and Johann von Bodem." Schiltberger, p. +13. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 64: For this odious fact, the Abbé de Vertot +quotes the Hist. Anonyme de St. Denys, l. xvi. c. 10, 11. (Ordre +de Malthe, tom. ii. p. 310.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !: See Schiltberger's very graphic account of the +massacre. He was led out to be slaughtered in cold blood with the +rest f the Christian prisoners, amounting to 10,000. He was +spared at the intercession of the son of Bajazet, with a few +others, on account of their extreme youth. No one under 20 years +of age was put to death. The "duke of Burgundy" was obliged to be +a spectator of this butchery which lasted from early in the +morning till four o'clock, P. M. It ceased only at the +supplication of the leaders of Bajazet's army. Schiltberger, p. +14. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 65: Sherefeddin Ali (Hist. de Timour Bec, l. v. c. +13) allows Bajazet a round number of 12,000 officers and servants +of the chase. A part of his spoils was afterwards displayed in a +hunting-match of Timour, l. hounds with satin housings; 2. +leopards with collars set with jewels; 3. Grecian greyhounds; and +4, dogs from Europe, as strong as African lions, (idem, l. vi. c. +15.) Bajazet was particularly fond of flying his hawks at cranes, +(Chalcondyles, l. ii. p. 85.)]</p> + +<p>After his enfranchisement from an oppressive guardian, John +Palæologus remained thirty-six years, the helpless, and, as +it should seem, the careless spectator of the public ruin. ^66 +Love, or rather lust, was his only vigorous passion; and in the +embraces of the wives and virgins of the city, the Turkish slave +forgot the dishonor of the emperor of the +<strong><em>Romans</em></strong> Andronicus, his eldest son, had +formed, at Adrianople, an intimate and guilty friendship with +Sauzes, the son of Amurath; and the two youths conspired against +the authority and lives of their parents. The presence of Amurath +in Europe soon discovered and dissipated their rash counsels; +and, after depriving Sauzes of his sight, the Ottoman threatened +his vassal with the treatment of an accomplice and an enemy, +unless he inflicted a similar punishment on his own son. +Palæologus trembled and obeyed; and a cruel precaution +involved in the same sentence the childhood and innocence of +John, the son of the criminal. But the operation was so mildly, +or so unskilfully, performed, that the one retained the sight of +an eye, and the other was afflicted only with the infirmity of +squinting. Thus excluded from the succession, the two princes +were confined in the tower of Anema; and the piety of Manuel, the +second son of the reigning monarch, was rewarded with the gift of +the Imperial crown. But at the end of two years, the turbulence +of the Latins and the levity of the Greeks, produced a +revolution; ^* and the two emperors were buried in the tower from +whence the two prisoners were exalted to the throne. Another +period of two years afforded Palæologus and Manuel the +means of escape: it was contrived by the magic or subtlety of a +monk, who was alternately named the angel or the devil: they fled +to Scutari; their adherents armed in their cause; and the two +Byzantine factions displayed the ambition and animosity with +which Cæsar and Pompey had disputed the empire of the +world. The Roman world was now contracted to a corner of Thrace, +between the Propontis and the Black Sea, about fifty miles in +length and thirty in breadth; a space of ground not more +extensive than the lesser principalities of Germany or Italy, if +the remains of Constantinople had not still represented the +wealth and populousness of a kingdom. To restore the public +peace, it was found necessary to divide this fragment of the +empire; and while Palæologus and Manuel were left in +possession of the capital, almost all that lay without the walls +was ceded to the blind princes, who fixed their residence at +Rhodosto and Selybria. In the tranquil slumber of royalty, the +passions of John Palæologus survived his reason and his +strength: he deprived his favorite and heir of a blooming +princess of Trebizond; and while the feeble emperor labored to +consummate his nuptials, Manuel, with a hundred of the noblest +Greeks, was sent on a peremptory summons to the Ottoman +<strong><em>porte</em></strong>. They served with honor in the +wars of Bajazet; but a plan of fortifying Constantinople excited +his jealousy: he threatened their lives; the new works were +instantly demolished; and we shall bestow a praise, perhaps above +the merit of Palæologus, if we impute this last humiliation +as the cause of his death.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 66: For the reigns of John Palæologus and his +son Manuel, from 1354 to 1402, see Ducas, c. 9--15, Phranza, l. +i. c. 16--21, and the ist and iid books of Chalcondyles, whose +proper subject is drowned in a sea of episode.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: According to Von Hammer it was the power of +Bajazet, vol. i. p. 218.]</p> + +<p>The earliest intelligence of that event was communicated to +Manuel, who escaped with speed and secrecy from the palace of +Boursa to the Byzantine throne. Bajazet affected a proud +indifference at the loss of this valuable pledge; and while he +pursued his conquests in Europe and Asia, he left the emperor to +struggle with his blind cousin John of Selybria, who, in eight +years of civil war, asserted his right of primogeniture. At +length, the ambition of the victorious sultan pointed to the +conquest of Constantinople; but he listened to the advice of his +vizier, who represented that such an enterprise might unite the +powers of Christendom in a second and more formidable crusade. +His epistle to the emperor was conceived in these words: "By the +divine clemency, our invincible cimeter has reduced to our +obedience almost all Asia, with many and large countries in +Europe, excepting only the city of Constantinople; for beyond the +walls thou hast nothing left. Resign that city; stipulate thy +reward; or tremble, for thyself and thy unhappy people, at the +consequences of a rash refusal." But his ambassadors were +instructed to soften their tone, and to propose a treaty, which +was subscribed with submission and gratitude. A truce of ten +years was purchased by an annual tribute of thirty thousand +crowns of gold; the Greeks deplored the public toleration of the +law of Mahomet, and Bajazet enjoyed the glory of establishing a +Turkish cadhi, and founding a royal mosque in the metropolis of +the Eastern church. ^67 Yet this truce was soon violated by the +restless sultan: in the cause of the prince of Selybria, the +lawful emperor, an army of Ottomans again threatened +Constantinople; and the distress of Manuel implored the +protection of the king of France. His plaintive embassy obtained +much pity and some relief; and the conduct of the succor was +intrusted to the marshal Boucicault, ^68 whose religious chivalry +was inflamed by the desire of revenging his captivity on the +infidels. He sailed with four ships of war, from Aiguesmortes to +the Hellespont; forced the passage, which was guarded by +seventeen Turkish galleys; landed at Constantinople a supply of +six hundred men-at-arms and sixteen hundred archers; and reviewed +them in the adjacent plain, without condescending to number or +array the multitude of Greeks. By his presence, the blockade was +raised both by sea and land; the flying squadrons of Bajazet were +driven to a more respectful distance; and several castles in +Europe and Asia were stormed by the emperor and the marshal, who +fought with equal valor by each other's side. But the Ottomans +soon returned with an increase of numbers; and the intrepid +Boucicault, after a year's struggle, resolved to evacuate a +country which could no longer afford either pay or provisions for +his soldiers. The marshal offered to conduct Manuel to the French +court, where he might solicit in person a supply of men and +money; and advised, in the mean while, that, to extinguish all +domestic discord, he should leave his blind competitor on the +throne. The proposal was embraced: the prince of Selybria was +introduced to the capital; and such was the public misery, that +the lot of the exile seemed more fortunate than that of the +sovereign. Instead of applauding the success of his vassal, the +Turkish sultan claimed the city as his own; and on the refusal of +the emperor John, Constantinople was more closely pressed by the +calamities of war and famine. Against such an enemy prayers and +resistance were alike unavailing; and the savage would have +devoured his prey, if, in the fatal moment, he had not been +overthrown by another savage stronger than himself. By the +victory of Timour or Tamerlane, the fall of Constantinople was +delayed about fifty years; and this important, though accidental, +service may justly introduce the life and character of the Mogul +conqueror.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 67: Cantemir, p. 50--53. Of the Greeks, Ducas alone +(c. 13, 15) acknowledges the Turkish cadhi at Constantinople. Yet +even Ducas dissembles the mosque.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 68: Mémoires du bon Messire Jean le Maingre, +dit <strong><em>Boucicault</em></strong>, Maréchal de +France, partie i<sup>re</sup> c. 30, 35.]</p> + +<p><strong>Chapter LXV: Elevation Of Timour Or Tamerlane, And His +Death.</strong> <strong><em>Part I.</em></strong></p> + +<p>Elevation Of Timour Or Tamerlane To The Throne Of Samarcand. +-- His Conquests In Persia, Georgia, Tartary Russia, India, +Syria, And Anatolia. -- His Turkish War. -- Defeat And Captivity +Of Bajazet. -- Death Of Timour. -- Civil War Of The Sons Of +Bajazet. -- Restoration Of The Turkish Monarchy By Mahomet The +First. -- Siege Of Constantinople By Amurath The Second.</p> + +<p>The conquest and monarchy of the world was the first object of +the ambition of Timour. To live in the memory and esteem of +future ages was the second wish of his magnanimous spirit. All +the civil and military transactions of his reign were diligently +recorded in the journals of his secretaries: ^1 the authentic +narrative was revised by the persons best informed of each +particular transaction; and it is believed in the empire and +family of Timour, that the monarch himself composed the +<strong><em>commentaries</em></strong> ^2 of his life, and the +<strong><em>institutions</em></strong> ^3 of his government. ^4 +But these cares were ineffectual for the preservation of his +fame, and these precious memorials in the Mogul or Persian +language were concealed from the world, or, at least, from the +knowledge of Europe. The nations which he vanquished exercised a +base and impotent revenge; and ignorance has long repeated the +tale of calumny, ^5 which had disfigured the birth and character, +the person, and even the name, of +<strong><em>Tamerlane</em></strong>. ^6 Yet his real merit would +be enhanced, rather than debased, by the elevation of a peasant +to the throne of Asia; nor can his lameness be a theme of +reproach, unless he had the weakness to blush at a natural, or +perhaps an honorable, infirmity. ^*</p> + +<p>[Footnote 1: These journals were communicated to Sherefeddin, +or Cherefeddin Ali, a native of Yezd, who composed in the Persian +language a history of Timour Beg, which has been translated into +French by M. Petit de la Croix, (Paris, 1722, in 4 vols. 12 mo.,) +and has always been my faithful guide. His geography and +chronology are wonderfully accurate; and he may be trusted for +public facts, though he servilely praises the virtue and fortune +of the hero. Timour's attention to procure intelligence from his +own and foreign countries may be seen in the Institutions, p. +215, 217, 349, 351.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 2: These Commentaries are yet unknown in Europe: but +Mr. White gives some hope that they may be imported and +translated by his friend Major Davy, who had read in the East +this "minute and faithful narrative of an interesting and +eventful period." *</p> + +<p>Note: * The manuscript of Major Davy has been translated by +Major Stewart, and published by the Oriental Translation +Committee of London. It contains the life of Timour, from his +birth to his forty-first year; but the last thirty years of +western war and conquest are wanting. Major Stewart intimates +that two manuscripts exist in this country containing the whole +work, but excuses himself, on account of his age, from +undertaking the laborious task of completing the translation. It +is to be hoped that the European public will be soon enabled to +judge of the value and authenticity of the Commentaries of the +Cæsar of the East. Major Stewart's work commences with the +Book of Dreams and Omens -- a wild, but characteristic, chronicle +of Visions and Sortes Koranicæ. Strange that a life of +Timour should awaken a reminiscence of the diary of Archbishop +Laud! The early dawn and the gradual expression of his not less +splendid but more real visions of ambition are touched with the +simplicity of truth and nature. But we long to escape from the +petty feuds of the pastoral chieftain, to the triumphs and the +legislation of the conqueror of the world. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 3: I am ignorant whether the original institution, +in the Turki or Mogul language, be still extant. The Persic +version, with an English translation, and most valuable index, +was published (Oxford, 1783, in 4to.) by the joint labors of +Major Davy and Mr. White, the Arabic professor. This work has +been since translated from the Persic into French, (Paris, 1787,) +by M. Langlès, a learned Orientalist, who has added the +life of Timour, and many curious notes.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 4: Shaw Allum, the present Mogul, reads, values, but +cannot imitate, the institutions of his great ancestor. The +English translator relies on their internal evidence; but if any +suspicions should arise of fraud and fiction, they will not be +dispelled by Major Davy's letter. The Orientals have never +cultivated the art of criticism; the patronage of a prince, less +honorable, perhaps, is not less lucrative than that of a +bookseller; nor can it be deemed incredible that a Persian, the +<strong><em>real</em></strong> author, should renounce the +credit, to raise the value and price, of the work.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 5: The original of the tale is found in the +following work, which is much esteemed for its florid elegance of +style: <strong><em>Ahmedis Arabsiad</em></strong> (Ahmed Ebn +Arabshah) <strong><em>Vitæ et Rerum gestarum Timuri. +Arabice et Latine. Edidit Samuel Henricus Manger. +Franequer</em></strong>, 1767, 2 tom. in 4to. This Syrian author +is ever a malicious, and often an ignorant enemy: the very titles +of his chapters are injurious; as how the wicked, as how the +impious, as how the viper, &c. The copious article of Timur, +in Bibliothèque Orientale, is of a mixed nature, as +D'Herbelot indifferently draws his materials (p. 877--888) from +Khondemir Ebn Schounah, and the Lebtarikh.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 6: <strong><em>Demir</em></strong> or +<strong><em>Timour</em></strong> signifies in the Turkish +language, Iron; and it is the appellation of a lord or prince. By +the change of a letter or accent, it is changed into +<strong><em>Lenc</em></strong>, or Lame; and a European +corruption confounds the two words in the name of Tamerlane. +*</p> + +<p>Note: * According to the memoirs he was so called by a Shaikh, +who, when visited by his mother on his birth, was reading the +verse of the Koran, 'Are you sure that he who dwelleth in heaven +will not cause the earth to swallow you up, and behold +<strong><em>it shall shake</em></strong>, Tamûrn." The +Shaikh then stopped and said, "We have named your son +<strong><em>Timûr</em></strong>," p. 21. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: He was lamed by a wound at the siege of the +capital of Sistan. Sherefeddin, lib. iii. c. 17. p. 136. See Von +Hammer, vol. i. p. 260. -- M.]</p> + +<p>In the eyes of the Moguls, who held the indefeasible +succession of the house of Zingis, he was doubtless a rebel +subject; yet he sprang from the noble tribe of Berlass: his fifth +ancestor, Carashar Nevian, had been the vizier ^! of Zagatai, in +his new realm of Transoxiana; and in the ascent of some +generations, the branch of Timour is confounded, at least by the +females, ^7 with the Imperial stem. ^8 He was born forty miles to +the south of Samarcand in the village of Sebzar, in the fruitful +territory of Cash, of which his fathers were the hereditary +chiefs, as well as of a toman of ten thousand horse. ^9 His birth +^10 was cast on one of those periods of anarchy, which announce +the fall of the Asiatic dynasties, and open a new field to +adventurous ambition. The khans of Zagatai were extinct; the +emirs aspired to independence; and their domestic feuds could +only be suspended by the conquest and tyranny of the khans of +Kashgar, who, with an army of Getes or Calmucks, ^11 invaded the +Transoxian kingdom. From the twelfth year of his age, Timour had +entered the field of action; in the twenty-fifth ^! he stood +forth as the deliverer of his country; and the eyes and wishes of +the people were turned towards a hero who suffered in their +cause. The chiefs of the law and of the army had pledged their +salvation to support him with their lives and fortunes; but in +the hour of danger they were silent and afraid; and, after +waiting seven days on the hills of Samarcand, he retreated to the +desert with only sixty horsemen. The fugitives were overtaken by +a thousand Getes, whom he repulsed with incredible slaughter, and +his enemies were forced to exclaim, "Timour is a wonderful man: +fortune and the divine favor are with him." But in this bloody +action his own followers were reduced to ten, a number which was +soon diminished by the desertion of three Carizmians. ^!! He +wandered in the desert with his wife, seven companions, and four +horses; and sixty-two days was he plunged in a loathsome dungeon, +from whence he escaped by his own courage and the remorse of the +oppressor. After swimming the broad and rapid steam of the +Jihoon, or Oxus, he led, during some months, the life of a +vagrant and outlaw, on the borders of the adjacent states. But +his fame shone brighter in adversity; he learned to distinguish +the friends of his person, the associates of his fortune, and to +apply the various characters of men for their advantage, and, +above all, for his own. On his return to his native country, +Timour was successively joined by the parties of his +confederates, who anxiously sought him in the desert; nor can I +refuse to describe, in his pathetic simplicity, one of their +fortunate encounters. He presented himself as a guide to three +chiefs, who were at the head of seventy horse. "When their eyes +fell upon me," says Timour, "they were overwhelmed with joy; and +they alighted from their horses; and they came and kneeled; and +they kissed my stirrup. I also came down from my horse, and took +each of them in my arms. And I put my turban on the head of the +first chief; and my girdle, rich in jewels and wrought with gold, +I bound on the loins of the second; and the third I clothed in my +own coat. And they wept, and I wept also; and the hour of prayer +was arrived, and we prayed. And we mounted our horses, and came +to my dwelling; and I collected my people, and made a feast." His +trusty bands were soon increased by the bravest of the tribes; he +led them against a superior foe; and, after some vicissitudes of +war the Getes were finally driven from the kingdom of +Transoxiana. He had done much for his own glory; but much +remained to be done, much art to be exerted, and some blood to be +spilt, before he could teach his equals to obey him as their +master. The birth and power of emir Houssein compelled him to +accept a vicious and unworthy colleague, whose sister was the +best beloved of his wives. Their union was short and jealous; but +the policy of Timour, in their frequent quarrels, exposed his +rival to the reproach of injustice and perfidy; and, after a +final defeat, Houssein was slain by some sagacious friends, who +presumed, for the last time, to disobey the commands of their +lord. ^* At the age of thirty-four, ^12 and in a general diet or +<strong><em>couroultai</em></strong>, he was invested with +<strong><em>Imperial</em></strong> command, but he affected to +revere the house of Zingis; and while the emir Timour reigned +over Zagatai and the East, a nominal khan served as a private +officer in the armies of his servant. A fertile kingdom, five +hundred miles in length and in breadth, might have satisfied the +ambition of a subject; but Timour aspired to the dominion of the +world; and before his death, the crown of Zagatai was one of the +twenty-seven crowns which he had placed on his head. Without +expatiating on the victories of thirty-five campaigns; without +describing the lines of march, which he repeatedly traced over +the continent of Asia; I shall briefly represent his conquests +in, I. Persia, II. Tartary, and, III. India, ^13 and from thence +proceed to the more interesting narrative of his Ottoman war.</p> + +<p>[Footnote !: In the memoirs, the title Gurgân is in one +place (p. 23) interpreted the son-in-law; in another (p. 28) as +Kurkan, great prince, generalissimo, and prime minister of +Jagtai. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 7: After relating some false and foolish tales of +Timour <strong><em>Lenc</em></strong>, Arabshah is compelled to +speak truth, and to own him for a kinsman of Zingis, per +mulieres, (as he peevishly adds,) laqueos Satanæ, (pars i. +c. i. p. 25.) The testimony of Abulghazi Khan (P. ii. c. 5, P. v. +c. 4) is clear, unquestionable, and decisive.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 8: According to one of the pedigrees, the fourth +ancestor of Zingis, and the ninth of Timour, were brothers; and +they agreed, that the posterity of the elder should succeed to +the dignity of khan, and that the descendants of the younger +should fill the office of their minister and general. This +tradition was at least convenient to justify the +<strong><em>first</em></strong> steps of Timour's ambition, +(Institutions, p. 24, 25, from the MS. fragments of Timour's +History.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 9: See the preface of Sherefeddin, and Abulfeda's +Geography, (Chorasmiæ, &c., Descriptio, p. 60, 61,) in +the iiid volume of Hudson's Minor Greek Geographers.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 10: See his nativity in Dr. Hyde, (Syntagma +Dissertat. tom. ii. p. 466,) as it was cast by the astrologers of +his grandson Ulugh Beg. He was born, A.D. 1336, April 9, 11° +57'. p. m., lat. 36. I know not whether they can prove the great +conjunction of the planets from whence, like other conquerors and +prophets, Timour derived the surname of Saheb Keran, or master of +the conjunctions, (Bibliot. Orient. p. 878.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 11: In the Institutions of Timour, these subjects of +the khan of Kashgar are most improperly styled Ouzbegs, or +Usbeks, a name which belongs to another branch and country of +Tartars, (Abulghazi, P. v. c. v. P. vii. c. 5.) Could I be sure +that this word is in the Turkish original, I would boldly +pronounce, that the Institutions were framed a century after the +death of Timour, since the establishment of the Usbeks in +Transoxiana. *</p> + +<p>Note: * Col. Stewart observes, that the Persian translator has +sometimes made use of the name Uzbek by anticipation. He +observes, likewise, that these Jits (Getes) are not to be +confounded with the ancient Getæ: they were unconverted +Turks. Col. Tod (History of Rajasthan, vol. i. p. 166) would +identify the Jits with the ancient race. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !: He was twenty-seven before he served his first +wars under the emir Houssein, who ruled over Khorasan and +Mawerainnehr. Von Hammer, vol. i. p. 262. Neither of these +statements agrees with the Memoirs. At twelve he was a boy. "I +fancied that I perceived in myself all the signs of greatness and +wisdom, and whoever came to visit me, I received with great +hauteur and dignity." At seventeen he undertook the management of +the flocks and herds of the family, (p. 24.) At nineteen he +became religious, and "left off playing chess," made a kind of +Budhist vow never to injure living thing and felt his foot +paralyzed from having accidentally trod upon an ant, (p. 30.) At +twenty, thoughts of rebellion and greatness rose in his mind; at +twenty-one, he seems to have performed his first feat of arms. He +was a practised warrior when he served, in his twenty-seventh +year, under Emir Houssein.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !!: Compare Memoirs, page 61. The imprisonment is +there stated at fifty-three days. "At this time I made a vow to +God that I would never keep any person, whether guilty or +innocent, for any length of time, in prison or in chains." p. 63. +-- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Timour, on one occasion, sent him this message: +"He who wishes to embrace the bride of royalty must kiss her +across the edge of the sharp sword," p. 83. The scene of the +trial of Houssein, the resistance of Timour gradually becoming +more feeble, the vengeance of the chiefs becoming proportionably +more determined, is strikingly portrayed. Mem. p 130. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 12: The ist book of Sherefeddin is employed on the +private life of the hero: and he himself, or his secretary, +(Institutions, p. 3--77,) enlarges with pleasure on the thirteen +designs and enterprises which most truly constitute his +<strong><em>personal</em></strong> merit. It even shines through +the dark coloring of Arabshah, (P. i. c. 1--12.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 13: The conquests of Persia, Tartary, and India, are +represented in the iid and iiid books of Sherefeddin, and by +Arabshah, (c. 13--55.) Consult the excellent Indexes to the +Institutions. *</p> + +<p>Note: * Compare the seventh book of Von Hammer, Geschichte des +Osmanischen Reiches. -- M.]</p> + +<p>I. For every war, a motive of safety or revenge, of honor or +zeal, of right or convenience, may be readily found in the +jurisprudence of conquerors. No sooner had Timour reunited to the +patrimony of Zagatai the dependent countries of Carizme and +Candahar, than he turned his eyes towards the kingdoms of Iran or +Persia. From the Oxus to the Tigris, that extensive country was +left without a lawful sovereign since the death of Abousaid, the +last of the descendants of the great Holacou. Peace and justice +had been banished from the land above forty years; and the Mogul +invader might seem to listen to the cries of an oppressed people. +Their petty tyrants might have opposed him with confederate arms: +they separately stood, and successively fell; and the difference +of their fate was only marked by the promptitude of submission or +the obstinacy of resistance. Ibrahim, prince of Shirwan, or +Albania, kissed the footstool of the Imperial throne. His +peace-offerings of silks, horses, and jewels, were composed, +according to the Tartar fashion, each article of nine pieces; but +a critical spectator observed, that there were only eight slaves. +"I myself am the ninth," replied Ibrahim, who was prepared for +the remark; and his flattery was rewarded by the smile of Timour. +^14 Shah Mansour, prince of Fars, or the proper Persia, was one +of the least powerful, but most dangerous, of his enemies. In a +battle under the walls of Shiraz, he broke, with three or four +thousand soldiers, the <strong><em>coul</em></strong> or main +body of thirty thousand horse, where the emperor fought in +person. No more than fourteen or fifteen guards remained near the +standard of Timour: he stood firm as a rock, and received on his +helmet two weighty strokes of a cimeter: ^15 the Moguls rallied; +the head of Mansour was thrown at his feet; and he declared his +esteem of the valor of a foe, by extirpating all the males of so +intrepid a race. From Shiraz, his troops advanced to the Persian +Gulf; and the richness and weakness of Ormuz ^16 were displayed +in an annual tribute of six hundred thousand dinars of gold. +Bagdad was no longer the city of peace, the seat of the caliphs; +but the noblest conquest of Holacou could not be overlooked by +his ambitious successor. The whole course of the Tigris and +Euphrates, from the mouth to the sources of those rivers, was +reduced to his obedience: he entered Edessa; and the Turkmans of +the black sheep were chastised for the sacrilegious pillage of a +caravan of Mecca. In the mountains of Georgia, the native +Christians still braved the law and the sword of Mahomet, by +three expeditions he obtained the merit of the +<strong><em>gazie</em></strong>, or holy war; and the prince of +Teflis became his proselyte and friend.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 14: The reverence of the Tartars for the mysterious +number of <strong><em>nine</em></strong> is declared by Abulghazi +Khan, who, for that reason, divides his Genealogical History into +nine parts.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 15: According to Arabshah, (P. i. c. 28, p. 183,) +the coward Timour ran away to his tent, and hid himself from the +pursuit of Shah Mansour under the women's garments. Perhaps +Sherefeddin (l. iii. c. 25) has magnified his courage.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 16: The history of Ormuz is not unlike that of Tyre. +The old city, on the continent, was destroyed by the Tartars, and +renewed in a neighboring island, without fresh water or +vegetation. The kings of Ormuz, rich in the Indian trade and the +pearl fishery, possessed large territories both in Persia and +Arabia; but they were at first the tributaries of the sultans of +Kerman, and at last were delivered (A.D. 1505) by the Portuguese +tyrants from the tyranny of their own viziers, (Marco Polo, l. i. +c. 15, 16, fol. 7, 8. Abulfeda, Geograph. tabul. xi. p. 261, 262, +an original Chronicle of Ormuz, in Texeira, or Stevens's History +of Persia, p. 376--416, and the Itineraries inserted in the ist +volume of Ramusio, of Ludovico Barthema, (1503,) fol. 167, of +Andrea Corsali, (1517) fol. 202, 203, and of Odoardo Barbessa, +(in 1516,) fol. 313--318.)]</p> + +<p>II. A just retaliation might be urged for the invasion of +Turkestan, or the Eastern Tartary. The dignity of Timour could +not endure the impunity of the Getes: he passed the Sihoon, +subdued the kingdom of Kashgar, and marched seven times into the +heart of their country. His most distant camp was two months' +journey, or four hundred and eighty leagues to the north-east of +Samarcand; and his emirs, who traversed the River Irtish, +engraved in the forests of Siberia a rude memorial of their +exploits. The conquest of Kipzak, or the Western Tartary, ^17 was +founded on the double motive of aiding the distressed, and +chastising the ungrateful. Toctamish, a fugitive prince, was +entertained and protected in his court: the ambassadors of Auruss +Khan were dismissed with a haughty denial, and followed on the +same day by the armies of Zagatai; and their success established +Toctamish in the Mogul empire of the North. But, after a reign of +ten years, the new khan forgot the merits and the strength of his +benefactor; the base usurper, as he deemed him, of the sacred +rights of the house of Zingis. Through the gates of Derbend, he +entered Persia at the head of ninety thousand horse: with the +innumerable forces of Kipzak, Bulgaria, Circassia, and Russia, he +passed the Sihoon, burnt the palaces of Timour, and compelled +him, amidst the winter snows, to contend for Samarcand and his +life. After a mild expostulation, and a glorious victory, the +emperor resolved on revenge; and by the east, and the west, of +the Caspian, and the Volga, he twice invaded Kipzak with such +mighty powers, that thirteen miles were measured from his right +to his left wing. In a march of five months, they rarely beheld +the footsteps of man; and their daily subsistence was often +trusted to the fortune of the chase. At length the armies +encountered each other; but the treachery of the standard-bearer, +who, in the heat of action, reversed the Imperial standard of +Kipzak, determined the victory of the Zagatais; and Toctamish (I +peak the language of the Institutions) gave the tribe of Toushi +to the wind of desolation. ^18 He fled to the Christian duke of +Lithuania; again returned to the banks of the Volga; and, after +fifteen battles with a domestic rival, at last perished in the +wilds of Siberia. The pursuit of a flying enemy carried Timour +into the tributary provinces of Russia: a duke of the reigning +family was made prisoner amidst the ruins of his capital; and +Yeletz, by the pride and ignorance of the Orientals, might easily +be confounded with the genuine metropolis of the nation. Moscow +trembled at the approach of the Tartar, and the resistance would +have been feeble, since the hopes of the Russians were placed in +a miraculous image of the Virgin, to whose protection they +ascribed the casual and voluntary retreat of the conqueror. +Ambition and prudence recalled him to the South, the desolate +country was exhausted, and the Mogul soldiers were enriched with +an immense spoil of precious furs, of linen of Antioch, ^19 and +of ingots of gold and silver. ^20 On the banks of the Don, or +Tanais, he received an humble deputation from the consuls and +merchants of Egypt, ^21 Venice, Genoa, Catalonia, and Biscay, who +occupied the commerce and city of Tana, or Azoph, at the mouth of +the river. They offered their gifts, admired his magnificence, +and trusted his royal word. But the peaceful visit of an emir, +who explored the state of the magazines and harbor, was speedily +followed by the destructive presence of the Tartars. The city was +reduced to ashes; the Moslems were pillaged and dismissed; but +all the Christians, who had not fled to their ships, were +condemned either to death or slavery. ^22 Revenge prompted him to +burn the cities of Serai and Astrachan, the monuments of rising +civilization; and his vanity proclaimed, that he had penetrated +to the region of perpetual daylight, a strange phenomenon, which +authorized his Mahometan doctors to dispense with the obligation +of evening prayer. ^23</p> + +<p>[Footnote 17: Arabshah had travelled into Kipzak, and acquired +a singular knowledge of the geography, cities, and revolutions, +of that northern region, (P. i. c. 45--49.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 18: Institutions of Timour, p. 123, 125. Mr. White, +the editor, bestows some animadversion on the superficial account +of Sherefeddin, (l. iii. c. 12, 13, 14,) who was ignorant of the +designs of Timour, and the true springs of action.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 19: The furs of Russia are more credible than the +ingots. But the linen of Antioch has never been famous: and +Antioch was in ruins. I suspect that it was some manufacture of +Europe, which the Hanse merchants had imported by the way of +Novogorod.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 20: M. Levesque (Hist. de Russie, tom. ii. p. 247. +Vie de Timour, p. 64--67, before the French version of the +Institutes) has corrected the error of Sherefeddin, and marked +the true limit of Timour's conquests. His arguments are +superfluous; and a simple appeal to the Russian annals is +sufficient to prove that Moscow, which six years before had been +taken by Toctamish, escaped the arms of a more formidable +invader.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 21: An Egyptian consul from Grand Cairo is mentioned +in Barbaro's voyage to Tana in 1436, after the city had been +rebuilt, (Ramusio, tom. ii. fol. 92.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 22: The sack of Azoph is described by Sherefeddin, +(l. iii. c. 55,) and much more particularly by the author of an +Italian chronicle, (Andreas de Redusiis de Quero, in Chron. +Tarvisiano, in Muratori, Script. Rerum Italicarum, tom. xix. p. +802--805.) He had conversed with the Mianis, two Venetian +brothers, one of whom had been sent a deputy to the camp of +Timour, and the other had lost at Azoph three sons and 12,000 +ducats.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 23: Sherefeddin only says (l. iii. c. 13) that the +rays of the setting, and those of the rising sun, were scarcely +separated by any interval; a problem which may be solved in the +latitude of Moscow, (the 56th degree,) with the aid of the Aurora +Borealis, and a long summer twilight. But a +<strong><em>day</em></strong> of forty days (Khondemir apud +D'Herbelot, p. 880) would rigorously confine us within the polar +circle.]</p> + +<p>III. When Timour first proposed to his princes and emirs the +invasion of India or Hindostan, ^24 he was answered by a murmur +of discontent: "The rivers! and the mountains and deserts! and +the soldiers clad in armor! and the elephants, destroyers of +men!" But the displeasure of the emperor was more dreadful than +all these terrors; and his superior reason was convinced, that an +enterprise of such tremendous aspect was safe and easy in the +execution. He was informed by his spies of the weakness and +anarchy of Hindostan: the soubahs of the provinces had erected +the standard of rebellion; and the perpetual infancy of Sultan +Mahmoud was despised even in the harem of Delhi. The Mogul army +moved in three great divisions; and Timour observes with +pleasure, that the ninety-two squadrons of a thousand horse most +fortunately corresponded with the ninety-two names or epithets of +the prophet Mahomet. ^* Between the Jihoon and the Indus they +crossed one of the ridges of mountains, which are styled by the +Arabian geographers The Stony Girdles of the Earth. The highland +robbers were subdued or extirpated; but great numbers of men and +horses perished in the snow; the emperor himself was let down a +precipice on a portable scaffold -- the ropes were one hundred +and fifty cubits in length; and before he could reach the bottom, +this dangerous operation was five times repeated. Timour crossed +the Indus at the ordinary passage of Attok; and successively +traversed, in the footsteps of Alexander, the +<strong><em>Punjab</em></strong>, or five rivers, ^25 that fall +into the master stream. From Attok to Delhi, the high road +measures no more than six hundred miles; but the two conquerors +deviated to the south-east; and the motive of Timour was to join +his grandson, who had achieved by his command the conquest of +Moultan. On the eastern bank of the Hyphasis, on the edge of the +desert, the Macedonian hero halted and wept: the Mogul entered +the desert, reduced the fortress of Batmir, and stood in arms +before the gates of Delhi, a great and flourishing city, which +had subsisted three centuries under the dominion of the Mahometan +kings. ^! The siege, more especially of the castle, might have +been a work of time; but he tempted, by the appearance of +weakness, the sultan Mahmoud and his vizier to descend into the +plain, with ten thousand cuirassiers, forty thousand of his +foot-guards, and one hundred and twenty elephants, whose tusks +are said to have been armed with sharp and poisoned daggers. +Against these monsters, or rather against the imagination of his +troops, he condescended to use some extraordinary precautions of +fire and a ditch, of iron spikes and a rampart of bucklers; but +the event taught the Moguls to smile at their own fears; and as +soon as these unwieldy animals were routed, the inferior species +(the men of India) disappeared from the field. Timour made his +triumphal entry into the capital of Hindostan; and admired, with +a view to imitate, the architecture of the stately mosque; but +the order or license of a general pillage and massacre polluted +the festival of his victory. He resolved to purify his soldiers +in the blood of the idolaters, or Gentoos, who still surpass, in +the proportion of ten to one, the numbers of the Moslems. ^* In +this pious design, he advanced one hundred miles to the +north-east of Delhi, passed the Ganges, fought several battles by +land and water, and penetrated to the famous rock of Coupele, the +statue of the cow, ^! that <strong><em>seems</em></strong> to +discharge the mighty river, whose source is far distant among the +mountains of Thibet. ^26 His return was along the skirts of the +northern hills; nor could this rapid campaign of one year justify +the strange foresight of his emirs, that their children in a warm +climate would degenerate into a race of Hindoos.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 24: For the Indian war, see the Institutions, (p. +129--139,) the fourth book of Sherefeddin, and the history of +Ferishta, (in Dow, vol. ii. p. 1--20,) which throws a general +light on the affairs of Hindostan.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Gibbon (observes M. von Hammer) is mistaken in +the correspondence of the ninety-two squadrons of his army with +the ninety-two names of God: the names of God are ninety-nine. +and Allah is the hundredth, p. 286, note. But Gibbon speaks of +the names or epithets of Mahomet, not of God. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 25: The rivers of the Punjab, the five eastern +branches of the Indus, have been laid down for the first time +with truth and accuracy in Major Rennel's incomparable map of +Hindostan. In this Critical Memoir he illustrates with judgment +and learning the marches of Alexander and Timour. *</p> + +<p>Note *: * See vol. i. ch. ii. note 1. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !: They took, on their march, 100,000 slaves, +Guebers they were all murdered. V. Hammer, vol. i. p. 286. They +are called idolaters. Briggs's Ferishta, vol. i. p. 491. -- +M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: See a curious passage on the destruction of the +Hindoo idols, Memoirs, p. 15. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !: Consult the very striking description of the +Cow's Mouth by Captain Hodgson, Asiat. Res. vol. xiv. p. 117. "A +most wonderful scene. The B'hagiratha or Ganges issues from under +a very low arch at the foot of the grand snow bed. My guide, an +illiterate mountaineer compared the pendent icicles to Mahodeva's +hair." (Compare Poems, Quarterly Rev. vol. xiv. p. 37, and at the +end of my translation of Nala.) "Hindoos of research may formerly +have been here; and f so. I cannot think of any place to which +they might more aptly give the name of a cow's mouth than to this +extraordinary debouche. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 26: The two great rivers, the Ganges and +Burrampooter, rise in Thibet, from the opposite ridges of the +same hills, separate from each other to the distance of 1200 +miles, and, after a winding course of 2000 miles, again meet in +one point near the Gulf of Bengal. Yet so capricious is Fame, +that the Burrampooter is a late discovery, while his brother +Ganges has been the theme of ancient and modern story Coupele, +the scene of Timour's last victory, must be situate near Loldong, +1100 miles from Calcutta; and in 1774, a British camp! (Rennel's +Memoir, p. 7, 59, 90, 91, 99.)]</p> + +<p>It was on the banks of the Ganges that Timour was informed, by +his speedy messengers, of the disturbances which had arisen on +the confines of Georgia and Anatolia, of the revolt of the +Christians, and the ambitious designs of the sultan Bajazet. His +vigor of mind and body was not impaired by sixty-three years, and +innumerable fatigues; and, after enjoying some tranquil months in +the palace of Samarcand, he proclaimed a new expedition of seven +years into the western countries of Asia. ^27 To the soldiers who +had served in the Indian war he granted the choice of remaining +at home, or following their prince; but the troops of all the +provinces and kingdoms of Persia were commanded to assemble at +Ispahan, and wait the arrival of the Imperial standard. It was +first directed against the Christians of Georgia, who were strong +only in their rocks, their castles, and the winter season; but +these obstacles were overcome by the zeal and perseverance of +Timour: the rebels submitted to the tribute or the Koran; and if +both religions boasted of their martyrs, that name is more justly +due to the Christian prisoners, who were offered the choice of +abjuration or death. On his descent from the hills, the emperor +gave audience to the first ambassadors of Bajazet, and opened the +hostile correspondence of complaints and menaces, which fermented +two years before the final explosion. Between two jealous and +haughty neighbors, the motives of quarrel will seldom be wanting. +The Mogul and Ottoman conquests now touched each other in the +neighborhood of Erzeroum, and the Euphrates; nor had the doubtful +limit been ascertained by time and treaty. Each of these +ambitious monarchs might accuse his rival of violating his +territory, of threatening his vassals, and protecting his rebels; +and, by the name of rebels, each understood the fugitive princes, +whose kingdoms he had usurped, and whose life or liberty he +implacably pursued. The resemblance of character was still more +dangerous than the opposition of interest; and in their +victorious career, Timour was impatient of an equal, and Bajazet +was ignorant of a superior. The first epistle ^28 of the Mogul +emperor must have provoked, instead of reconciling, the Turkish +sultan, whose family and nation he affected to despise. ^29 "Dost +thou not know, that the greatest part of Asia is subject to our +arms and our laws? that our invincible forces extend from one sea +to the other? that the potentates of the earth form a line before +our gate? and that we have compelled Fortune herself to watch +over the prosperity of our empire. What is the foundation of thy +insolence and folly? Thou hast fought some battles in the woods +of Anatolia; contemptible trophies! Thou hast obtained some +victories over the Christians of Europe; thy sword was blessed by +the apostle of God; and thy obedience to the precept of the +Koran, in waging war against the infidels, is the sole +consideration that prevents us from destroying thy country, the +frontier and bulwark of the Moslem world. Be wise in time; +reflect; repent; and avert the thunder of our vengeance, which is +yet suspended over thy head. Thou art no more than a pismire; why +wilt thou seek to provoke the elephants? Alas! they will trample +thee under their feet." In his replies, Bajazet poured forth the +indignation of a soul which was deeply stung by such unusual +contempt. After retorting the basest reproaches on the thief and +rebel of the desert, the Ottoman recapitulates his boasted +victories in Iran, Touran, and the Indies; and labors to prove, +that Timour had never triumphed unless by his own perfidy and the +vices of his foes. "Thy armies are innumerable: be they so; but +what are the arrows of the flying Tartar against the cimeters and +battle-axes of my firm and invincible Janizaries? I will guard +the princes who have implored my protection: seek them in my +tents. The cities of Arzingan and Erzeroum are mine; and unless +the tribute be duly paid, I will demand the arrears under the +walls of Tauris and Sultania." The ungovernable rage of the +sultan at length betrayed him to an insult of a more domestic +kind. "If I fly from thy arms," said he, "may +<strong><em>my</em></strong> wives be thrice divorced from my +bed: but if thou hast not courage to meet me in the field, mayest +thou again receive <strong><em>thy</em></strong> wives after they +have thrice endured the embraces of a stranger." ^30 Any +violation by word or deed of the secrecy of the harem is an +unpardonable offence among the Turkish nations; ^31 and the +political quarrel of the two monarchs was imbittered by private +and personal resentment. Yet in his first expedition, Timour was +satisfied with the siege and destruction of Siwas or Sebaste, a +strong city on the borders of Anatolia; and he revenged the +indiscretion of the Ottoman, on a garrison of four thousand +Armenians, who were buried alive for the brave and faithful +discharge of their duty. ^! As a Mussulman, he seemed to respect +the pious occupation of Bajazet, who was still engaged in the +blockade of Constantinople; and after this salutary lesson, the +Mogul conqueror checked his pursuit, and turned aside to the +invasion of Syria and Egypt. In these transactions, the Ottoman +prince, by the Orientals, and even by Timour, is styled the +<strong><em>Kaissar of Roum</em></strong>, the Cæsar of the +Romans; a title which, by a small anticipation, might be given to +a monarch who possessed the provinces, and threatened the city, +of the successors of Constantine. ^32</p> + +<p>[Footnote 27: See the Institutions, p. 141, to the end of the +1st book, and Sherefeddin, (l. v. c. 1--16,) to the entrance of +Timour into Syria.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 28: We have three copies of these hostile epistles +in the Institutions, (p. 147,) in Sherefeddin, (l. v. c. 14,) and +in Arabshah, (tom. ii. c. 19 p. 183--201;) which agree with each +other in the spirit and substance rather than in the style. It is +probable, that they have been translated, with various latitude, +from the Turkish original into the Arabic and Persian tongues. +*</p> + +<p>Note: * Von Hammer considers the letter which Gibbon inserted +in the text to be spurious. On the various copies of these +letters, see his note, p 116. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 29: The Mogul emir distinguishes himself and his +countrymen by the name of <strong><em>Turks</em></strong>, and +stigmatizes the race and nation of Bajazet with the less +honorable epithet of <strong><em>Turkmans</em></strong>. Yet I do +not understand how the Ottomans could be descended from a Turkman +sailor; those inland shepherds were so remote from the sea, and +all maritime affairs. *</p> + +<p>Note: * Price translated the word pilot or boatman. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 30: According to the Koran, (c. ii. p. 27, and +Sale's Discourses, p. 134,) Mussulman who had thrice divorced his +wife, (who had thrice repeated the words of a divorce,) could not +take her again, till after she had been married +<strong><em>to</em></strong>, and repudiated +<strong><em>by</em></strong>, another husband; an ignominious +transaction, which it is needless to aggravate, by supposing that +the first husband must see her enjoyed by a second before his +face, (Rycaut's State of the Ottoman Empire, l. ii. c. 21.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 31: The common delicacy of the Orientals, in never +speaking of their women, is ascribed in a much higher degree by +Arabshah to the Turkish nations; and it is remarkable enough, +that Chalcondyles (l. ii. p. 55) had some knowledge of the +prejudice and the insult. *</p> + +<p>Note: * See Von Hammer, p. 308, and note, p. 621. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !: Still worse barbarities were perpetrated on these +brave men. Von Hammer, vol. i. p. 295. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 32: For the style of the Moguls, see the +Institutions, (p. 131, 147,) and for the Persians, the +Bibliothèque Orientale, (p. 882;) but I do not find that +the title of Cæsar has been applied by the Arabians, or +assumed by the Ottomans themselves.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LXV: Elevation Of Timour Or Tamerlane, And +His Death. -- Part II.</em></strong></p> + +<p>The military republic of the Mamalukes still reigned in Egypt +and Syria: but the dynasty of the Turks was overthrown by that of +the Circassians; ^33 and their favorite Barkok, from a slave and +a prisoner, was raised and restored to the throne. In the midst +of rebellion and discord, he braved the menaces, corresponded +with the enemies, and detained the ambassadors, of the Mogul, who +patiently expected his decease, to revenge the crimes of the +father on the feeble reign of his son Farage. The Syrian emirs +^34 were assembled at Aleppo to repel the invasion: they confided +in the fame and discipline of the Mamalukes, in the temper of +their swords and lances of the purest steel of Damascus, in the +strength of their walled cities, and in the populousness of sixty +thousand villages; and instead of sustaining a siege, they threw +open their gates, and arrayed their forces in the plain. But +these forces were not cemented by virtue and union; and some +powerful emirs had been seduced to desert or betray their more +loyal companions. Timour's front was covered with a line of +Indian elephants, whose turrets were filled with archers and +Greek fire: the rapid evolutions of his cavalry completed the +dismay and disorder; the Syrian crowds fell back on each other: +many thousands were stifled or slaughtered in the entrance of the +great street; the Moguls entered with the fugitives; and after a +short defence, the citadel, the impregnable citadel of Aleppo, +was surrendered by cowardice or treachery. Among the suppliants +and captives, Timour distinguished the doctors of the law, whom +he invited to the dangerous honor of a personal conference. ^35 +The Mogul prince was a zealous Mussulman; but his Persian schools +had taught him to revere the memory of Ali and Hosein; and he had +imbibed a deep prejudice against the Syrians, as the enemies of +the son of the daughter of the apostle of God. To these doctors +he proposed a captious question, which the casuists of Bochara, +Samarcand, and Herat, were incapable of resolving. "Who are the +true martyrs, of those who are slain on my side, or on that of my +enemies?" But he was silenced, or satisfied, by the dexterity of +one of the cadhis of Aleppo, who replied in the words of Mahomet +himself, that the motive, not the ensign, constitutes the martyr; +and that the Moslems of either party, who fight only for the +glory of God, may deserve that sacred appellation. The true +succession of the caliphs was a controversy of a still more +delicate nature; and the frankness of a doctor, too honest for +his situation, provoked the emperor to exclaim, "Ye are as false +as those of Damascus: Moawiyah was a usurper, Yezid a tyrant, and +Ali alone is the lawful successor of the prophet." A prudent +explanation restored his tranquillity; and he passed to a more +familiar topic of conversation. "What is your age?" said he to +the cadhi. "Fifty years." -- "It would be the age of my eldest +son: you see me here (continued Timour) a poor lame, decrepit +mortal. Yet by my arm has the Almighty been pleased to subdue the +kingdoms of Iran, Touran, and the Indies. I am not a man of +blood; and God is my witness, that in all my wars I have never +been the aggressor, and that my enemies have always been the +authors of their own calamity." During this peaceful conversation +the streets of Aleppo streamed with blood, and reechoed with the +cries of mothers and children, with the shrieks of violated +virgins. The rich plunder that was abandoned to his soldiers +might stimulate their avarice; but their cruelty was enforced by +the peremptory command of producing an adequate number of heads, +which, according to his custom, were curiously piled in columns +and pyramids: the Moguls celebrated the feast of victory, while +the surviving Moslems passed the night in tears and in chains. I +shall not dwell on the march of the destroyer from Aleppo to +Damascus, where he was rudely encountered, and almost overthrown, +by the armies of Egypt. A retrograde motion was imputed to his +distress and despair: one of his nephews deserted to the enemy; +and Syria rejoiced in the tale of his defeat, when the sultan was +driven by the revolt of the Mamalukes to escape with +precipitation and shame to his palace of Cairo. Abandoned by +their prince, the inhabitants of Damascus still defended their +walls; and Timour consented to raise the siege, if they would +adorn his retreat with a gift or ransom; each article of nine +pieces. But no sooner had he introduced himself into the city, +under color of a truce, than he perfidiously violated the treaty; +imposed a contribution of ten millions of gold; and animated his +troops to chastise the posterity of those Syrians who had +executed, or approved, the murder of the grandson of Mahomet. A +family which had given honorable burial to the head of Hosein, +and a colony of artificers, whom he sent to labor at Samarcand, +were alone reserved in the general massacre, and after a period +of seven centuries, Damascus was reduced to ashes, because a +Tartar was moved by religious zeal to avenge the blood of an +Arab. The losses and fatigues of the campaign obliged Timour to +renounce the conquest of Palestine and Egypt; but in his return +to the Euphrates he delivered Aleppo to the flames; and justified +his pious motive by the pardon and reward of two thousand +sectaries of Ali, who were desirous to visit the tomb of his son. +I have expatiated on the personal anecdotes which mark the +character of the Mogul hero; but I shall briefly mention, ^36 +that he erected on the ruins of Bagdad a pyramid of ninety +thousand heads; again visited Georgia; encamped on the banks of +Araxes; and proclaimed his resolution of marching against the +Ottoman emperor. Conscious of the importance of the war, he +collected his forces from every province: eight hundred thousand +men were enrolled on his military list; ^37 but the splendid +commands of five, and ten, thousand horse, may be rather +expressive of the rank and pension of the chiefs, than of the +genuine number of effective soldiers. ^38 In the pillage of +Syria, the Moguls had acquired immense riches: but the delivery +of their pay and arrears for seven years more firmly attached +them to the Imperial standard.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 33: See the reigns of Barkok and Pharadge, in M. De +Guignes, (tom. iv. l. xxii.,) who, from the Arabic texts of +Aboulmahasen, Ebn (Schounah, and Aintabi, has added some facts to +our common stock of materials.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 34: For these recent and domestic transactions, +Arabshah, though a partial, is a credible, witness, (tom. i. c. +64--68, tom. ii. c. 1--14.) Timour must have been odious to a +Syrian; but the notoriety of facts would have obliged him, in +some measure, to respect his enemy and himself. His bitters may +correct the luscious sweets of Sherefeddin, (l. v. c. +17--29.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 35: These interesting conversations appear to have +been copied by Arabshah (tom. i. c. 68, p. 625--645) from the +cadhi and historian Ebn Schounah, a principal actor. Yet how +could he be alive seventy-five years afterwards? (D'Herbelot, p. +792.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 36: The marches and occupations of Timour between +the Syrian and Ottoman wars are represented by Sherefeddin (l. v. +c. 29--43) and Arabshah, (tom. ii. c. 15--18.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 37: This number of 800,000 was extracted by +Arabshah, or rather by Ebn Schounah, ex rationario Timuri, on the +faith of a Carizmian officer, (tom. i. c. 68, p. 617;) and it is +remarkable enough, that a Greek historian (Phranza, l. i. c. 29) +adds no more than 20,000 men. Poggius reckons 1,000,000; another +Latin contemporary (Chron. Tarvisianum, apud Muratori, tom. xix. +p. 800) 1,100,000; and the enormous sum of 1,600,000 is attested +by a German soldier, who was present at the battle of Angora, +(Leunclav. ad Chalcondyl. l. iii. p. 82.) Timour, in his +Institutions, has not deigned to calculate his troops, his +subjects, or his revenues.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 38: A wide latitude of non-effectives was allowed by +the Great Mogul for his own pride and the benefit of his +officers. Bernier's patron was Penge-Hazari, commander of 5000 +horse; of which he maintained no more than 500, (Voyages, tom. i. +p. 288, 289.)]</p> + +<p>During this diversion of the Mogul arms, Bajazet had two years +to collect his forces for a more serious encounter. They +consisted of four hundred thousand horse and foot, ^39 whose +merit and fidelity were of an unequal complexion. We may +discriminate the Janizaries, who have been gradually raised to an +establishment of forty thousand men; a national cavalry, the +Spahis of modern times; twenty thousand cuirassiers of Europe, +clad in black and impenetrable armor; the troops of Anatolia, +whose princes had taken refuge in the camp of Timour, and a +colony of Tartars, whom he had driven from Kipzak, and to whom +Bajazet had assigned a settlement in the plains of Adrianople. +The fearless confidence of the sultan urged him to meet his +antagonist; and, as if he had chosen that spot for revenge, he +displayed his banner near the ruins of the unfortunate Suvas. In +the mean while, Timour moved from the Araxes through the +countries of Armenia and Anatolia: his boldness was secured by +the wisest precautions; his speed was guided by order and +discipline; and the woods, the mountains, and the rivers, were +diligently explored by the flying squadrons, who marked his road +and preceded his standard. Firm in his plan of fighting in the +heart of the Ottoman kingdom, he avoided their camp; dexterously +inclined to the left; occupied Cæsarea; traversed the salt +desert and the River Halys; and invested Angora: while the +sultan, immovable and ignorant in his post, compared the Tartar +swiftness to the crawling of a snail; ^40 he returned on the +wings of indignation to the relief of Angora: and as both +generals were alike impatient for action, the plains round that +city were the scene of a memorable battle, which has immortalized +the glory of Timour and the shame of Bajazet. For this signal +victory the Mogul emperor was indebted to himself, to the genius +of the moment, and the discipline of thirty years. He had +improved the tactics, without violating the manners, of his +nation, ^41 whose force still consisted in the missile weapons, +and rapid evolutions, of a numerous cavalry. From a single troop +to a great army, the mode of attack was the same: a foremost line +first advanced to the charge, and was supported in a just order +by the squadrons of the great vanguard. The general's eye watched +over the field, and at his command the front and rear of the +right and left wings successively moved forwards in their several +divisions, and in a direct or oblique line: the enemy was pressed +by eighteen or twenty attacks; and each attack afforded a chance +of victory. If they all proved fruitless or unsuccessful, the +occasion was worthy of the emperor himself, who gave the signal +of advancing to the standard and main body, which he led in +person. ^42 But in the battle of Angora, the main body itself was +supported, on the flanks and in the rear, by the bravest +squadrons of the reserve, commanded by the sons and grandsons of +Timour. The conqueror of Hindostan ostentatiously showed a line +of elephants, the trophies, rather than the instruments, of +victory; the use of the Greek fire was familiar to the Moguls and +Ottomans; but had they borrowed from Europe the recent invention +of gunpowder and cannon, the artificial thunder, in the hands of +either nation, must have turned the fortune of the day. ^43 In +that day Bajazet displayed the qualities of a soldier and a +chief: but his genius sunk under a stronger ascendant; and, from +various motives, the greatest part of his troops failed him in +the decisive moment. His rigor and avarice ^* had provoked a +mutiny among the Turks; and even his son Soliman too hastily +withdrew from the field. The forces of Anatolia, loyal in their +revolt, were drawn away to the banners of their lawful princes. +His Tartar allies had been tempted by the letters and emissaries +of Timour; ^44 who reproached their ignoble servitude under the +slaves of their fathers; and offered to their hopes the dominion +of their new, or the liberty of their ancient, country. In the +right wing of Bajazet the cuirassiers of Europe charged, with +faithful hearts and irresistible arms: but these men of iron were +soon broken by an artful flight and headlong pursuit; and the +Janizaries, alone, without cavalry or missile weapons, were +encompassed by the circle of the Mogul hunters. Their valor was +at length oppressed by heat, thirst, and the weight of numbers; +and the unfortunate sultan, afflicted with the gout in his hands +and feet, was transported from the field on the fleetest of his +horses. He was pursued and taken by the titular khan of Zagatai; +and, after his capture, and the defeat of the Ottoman powers, the +kingdom of Anatolia submitted to the conqueror, who planted his +standard at Kiotahia, and dispersed on all sides the ministers of +rapine and destruction. Mirza Mehemmed Sultan, the eldest and +best beloved of his grandsons, was despatched to Boursa, with +thirty thousand horse; and such was his youthful ardor, that he +arrived with only four thousand at the gates of the capital, +after performing in five days a march of two hundred and thirty +miles. Yet fear is still more rapid in its course; and Soliman, +the son of Bajazet, had already passed over to Europe with the +royal treasure. The spoil, however, of the palace and city was +immense: the inhabitants had escaped; but the buildings, for the +most part of wood, were reduced to ashes From Boursa, the +grandson of Timour advanced to Nice, ever yet a fair and +flourishing city; and the Mogul squadrons were only stopped by +the waves of the Propontis. The same success attended the other +mirzas and emirs in their excursions; and Smyrna, defended by the +zeal and courage of the Rhodian knights, alone deserved the +presence of the emperor himself. After an obstinate defence, the +place was taken by storm: all that breathed was put to the sword; +and the heads of the Christian heroes were launched from the +engines, on board of two carracks, or great ships of Europe, that +rode at anchor in the harbor. The Moslems of Asia rejoiced in +their deliverance from a dangerous and domestic foe; and a +parallel was drawn between the two rivals, by observing that +Timour, in fourteen days, had reduced a fortress which had +sustained seven years the siege, or at least the blockade, of +Bajazet. ^45</p> + +<p>[Footnote 39: Timour himself fixes at 400,000 men the Ottoman +army, (Institutions, p. 153,) which is reduced to 150,000 by +Phranza, (l. i. c. 29,) and swelled by the German soldier to +1,400,000. It is evident that the Moguls were the more +numerous.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 40: It may not be useless to mark the distances +between Angora and the neighboring cities, by the journeys of the +caravans, each of twenty or twenty-five miles; to Smyrna xx., to +Kiotahia x., to Boursa x., to Cæsarea, viii., to Sinope x., +to Nicomedia ix., to Constantinople xii. or xiii., (see +Tournefort, Voyage au Levant, tom. ii. lettre xxi.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 41: See the Systems of Tactics in the Institutions, +which the English editors have illustrated with elaborate plans, +(p. 373--407.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 42: The sultan himself (says Timour) must then put +the foot of courage into the stirrup of patience. A Tartar +metaphor, which is lost in the English, but preserved in the +French, version of the Institutes, (p. 156, 157.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 43: The Greek fire, on Timour's side, is attested by +Sherefeddin, (l. v. c. 47;) but Voltaire's strange suspicion, +that some cannon, inscribed with strange characters, must have +been sent by that monarch to Delhi, is refuted by the universal +silence of contemporaries.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: See V. Hammer, vol. i. p. 310, for the singular +hints which were conveyed to him of the wisdom of unlocking his +hoarded treasures. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 44: Timour has dissembled this secret and important +negotiation with the Tartars, which is indisputably proved by the +joint evidence of the Arabian, (tom. i. c. 47, p. 391,) Turkish, +(Annal. Leunclav. p. 321,) and Persian historians, (Khondemir, +apud d'Herbelot, p. 882.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 45: For the war of Anatolia or Roum, I add some +hints in the Institutions, to the copious narratives of +Sherefeddin (l. v. c. 44--65) and Arabshah, (tom. ii. c. 20--35.) +On this part only of Timour's history it is lawful to quote the +Turks, (Cantemir, p. 53--55, Annal. Leunclav. p. 320--322,) and +the Greeks, (Phranza, l. i. c. 59, Ducas, c. 15--17, +Chalcondyles, l. iii.)]</p> + +<p>The <strong><em>iron cage</em></strong> in which Bajazet was +imprisoned by Tamerlane, so long and so often repeated as a moral +lesson, is now rejected as a fable by the modern writers, who +smile at the vulgar credulity. ^46 They appeal with confidence to +the Persian history of Sherefeddin Ali, which has been given to +our curiosity in a French version, and from which I shall collect +and abridge a more specious narrative of this memorable +transaction. No sooner was Timour informed that the captive +Ottoman was at the door of his tent, than he graciously stepped +forwards to receive him, seated him by his side, and mingled with +just reproaches a soothing pity for his rank and misfortune. +"Alas!" said the emperor, "the decree of fate is now accomplished +by your own fault; it is the web which you have woven, the thorns +of the tree which yourself have planted. I wished to spare, and +even to assist, the champion of the Moslems; you braved our +threats; you despised our friendship; you forced us to enter your +kingdom with our invincible armies. Behold the event. Had you +vanquished, I am not ignorant of the fate which you reserved for +myself and my troops. But I disdain to retaliate: your life and +honor are secure; and I shall express my gratitude to God by my +clemency to man." The royal captive showed some signs of +repentance, accepted the humiliation of a robe of honor, and +embraced with tears his son Mousa, who, at his request, was +sought and found among the captives of the field. The Ottoman +princes were lodged in a splendid pavilion; and the respect of +the guards could be surpassed only by their vigilance. On the +arrival of the harem from Boursa, Timour restored the queen +Despina and her daughter to their father and husband; but he +piously required, that the Servian princess, who had hitherto +been indulged in the profession of Christianity, should embrace +without delay the religion of the prophet. In the feast of +victory, to which Bajazet was invited, the Mogul emperor placed a +crown on his head and a sceptre in his hand, with a solemn +assurance of restoring him with an increase of glory to the +throne of his ancestors. But the effect of his promise was +disappointed by the sultan's untimely death: amidst the care of +the most skilful physicians, he expired of an apoplexy at +Akshehr, the Antioch of Pisidia, about nine months after his +defeat. The victor dropped a tear over his grave: his body, with +royal pomp, was conveyed to the mausoleum which he had erected at +Boursa; and his son Mousa, after receiving a rich present of gold +and jewels, of horses and arms, was invested by a patent in red +ink with the kingdom of Anatolia.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 46: The scepticism of Voltaire (Essai sur l'Histoire +Générale, c. 88) is ready on this, as on every +occasion, to reject a popular tale, and to diminish the magnitude +of vice and virtue; and on most occasions his incredulity is +reasonable.]</p> + +<p>Such is the portrait of a generous conqueror, which has been +extracted from his own memorials, and dedicated to his son and +grandson, nineteen years after his decease; ^47 and, at a time +when the truth was remembered by thousands, a manifest falsehood +would have implied a satire on his real conduct. Weighty indeed +is this evidence, adopted by all the Persian histories; ^48 yet +flattery, more especially in the East, is base and audacious; and +the harsh and ignominious treatment of Bajazet is attested by a +chain of witnesses, some of whom shall be produced in the order +of their time and country. <strong>1.</strong> The reader has not +forgot the garrison of French, whom the marshal Boucicault left +behind him for the defence of Constantinople. They were on the +spot to receive the earliest and most faithful intelligence of +the overthrow of their great adversary; and it is more than +probable, that some of them accompanied the Greek embassy to the +camp of Tamerlane. From their account, the +<strong><em>hardships</em></strong> of the prison and death of +Bajazet are affirmed by the marshal's servant and historian, +within the distance of seven years. ^49 <strong>2.</strong> The +name of Poggius the Italian ^50 is deservedly famous among the +revivers of learning in the fifteenth century. His elegant +dialogue on the vicissitudes of fortune ^51 was composed in his +fiftieth year, twenty-eight years after the Turkish victory of +Tamerlane; ^52 whom he celebrates as not inferior to the +illustrious Barbarians of antiquity. Of his exploits and +discipline Poggius was informed by several ocular witnesses; nor +does he forget an example so apposite to his theme as the Ottoman +monarch, whom the Scythian confined like a wild beast in an iron +cage, and exhibited a spectacle to Asia. I might add the +authority of two Italian chronicles, perhaps of an earlier date, +which would prove at least that the same story, whether false or +true, was imported into Europe with the first tidings of the +revolution. ^53 <strong>3.</strong> At the time when Poggius +flourished at Rome, Ahmed Ebn Arabshah composed at Damascus the +florid and malevolent history of Timour, for which he had +collected materials in his journeys over Turkey and Tartary. ^54 +Without any possible correspondence between the Latin and the +Arabian writer, they agree in the fact of the iron cage; and +their agreement is a striking proof of their common veracity. +Ahmed Arabshah likewise relates another outrage, which Bajazet +endured, of a more domestic and tender nature. His indiscreet +mention of women and divorces was deeply resented by the jealous +Tartar: in the feast of victory the wine was served by female +cupbearers, and the sultan beheld his own concubines and wives +confounded among the slaves, and exposed without a veil to the +eyes of intemperance. To escape a similar indignity, it is said +that his successors, except in a single instance, have abstained +from legitimate nuptials; and the Ottoman practice and belief, at +least in the sixteenth century, is asserted by the observing +Busbequius, ^55 ambassador from the court of Vienna to the great +Soliman. <strong>4.</strong> Such is the separation of language, +that the testimony of a Greek is not less independent than that +of a Latin or an Arab. I suppress the names of Chalcondyles and +Ducas, who flourished in the latter period, and who speak in a +less positive tone; but more attention is due to George Phranza, +^56 protovestiare of the last emperors, and who was born a year +before the battle of Angora. Twenty-two years after that event, +he was sent ambassador to Amurath the Second; and the historian +might converse with some veteran Janizaries, who had been made +prisoners with the sultan, and had themselves seen him in his +iron cage. 5. The last evidence, in every sense, is that of the +Turkish annals, which have been consulted or transcribed by +Leunclavius, Pocock, and Cantemir. ^57 They unanimously deplore +the captivity of the iron cage; and some credit may be allowed to +national historians, who cannot stigmatize the Tartar without +uncovering the shame of their king and country.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 47: See the History of Sherefeddin, (l. v. c. 49, +52, 53, 59, 60.) This work was finished at Shiraz, in the year +1424, and dedicated to Sultan Ibrahim, the son of Sharokh, the +son of Timour, who reigned in Farsistan in his father's +lifetime.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 48: After the perusal of Khondemir, Ebn Schounah, +&c., the learned D'Herbelot (Bibliot. Orientale, p. 882) may +affirm, that this fable is not mentioned in the most authentic +histories; but his denial of the visible testimony of Arabshah +leaves some room to suspect his accuracy.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 49: Et fut lui-même (Bajazet) pris, et +mené en prison, en laquelle mourut de <strong><em>dure +mort!</em></strong> Mémoires de Boucicault, P. i. c. 37. +These Memoirs were composed while the marshal was still governor +of Genoa, from whence he was expelled in the year 1409, by a +popular insurrection, (Muratori, Annali d'Italia, tom. xii. p. +473, 474.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 50: The reader will find a satisfactory account of +the life and writings of Poggius in the Poggiana, an entertaining +work of M. Lenfant, and in the Bibliotheca Latina Mediæ et +Infimæ Ætatis of Fabricius, (tom. v. p. 305--308.) +Poggius was born in the year 1380, and died in 1459.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 51: The dialogue de Varietate Fortunæ, (of +which a complete and elegant edition has been published at Paris +in 1723, in 4to.,) was composed a short time before the death of +Pope Martin V., (p. 5,) and consequently about the end of the +year 1430.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 52: See a splendid and eloquent encomium of +Tamerlane, p. 36--39 ipse enim novi (says Poggius) qui fuere in +ejus castris . . . . Regem vivum cepit, caveâque in modum +feræ inclusum per omnem Asian circumtulit egregium +admirandumque spectaculum fortunæ.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 53: The Chronicon Tarvisianum, (in Muratori, Script. +Rerum Italicarum tom. xix. p. 800,) and the Annales Estenses, +(tom. xviii. p. 974.) The two authors, Andrea de Redusiis de +Quero, and James de Delayto, were both contemporaries, and both +chancellors, the one of Trevigi, the other of Ferrara. The +evidence of the former is the most positive.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 54: See Arabshah, tom. ii. c. 28, 34. He travelled +in regiones Rumæas, A. H. 839, (A.D. 1435, July 27,) tom. +i. c. 2, p. 13.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 55: Busbequius in Legatione Turcicâ, epist. i. +p. 52. Yet his respectable authority is somewhat shaken by the +subsequent marriages of Amurath II. with a Servian, and of +Mahomet II. with an Asiatic, princess, (Cantemir, p. 83, +93.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 56: See the testimony of George Phranza, (l. i. c. +29,) and his life in Hanckius (de Script. Byzant. P. i. c. 40.) +Chalcondyles and Ducas speak in general terms of Bajazet's +<strong><em>chains</em></strong>.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 57: Annales Leunclav. p. 321. Pocock, Prolegomen. ad +Abulpharag Dynast. Cantemir, p. 55. *</p> + +<p>Note: * Von Hammer, p. 318, cites several authorities unknown +to Gibbon. -- M.]</p> + +<p>From these opposite premises, a fair and moderate conclusion +may be deduced. I am satisfied that Sherefeddin Ali has +faithfully described the first ostentatious interview, in which +the conqueror, whose spirits were harmonized by success, affected +the character of generosity. But his mind was insensibly +alienated by the unseasonable arrogance of Bajazet; the +complaints of his enemies, the Anatolian princes, were just and +vehement; and Timour betrayed a design of leading his royal +captive in triumph to Samarcand. An attempt to facilitate his +escape, by digging a mine under the tent, provoked the Mogul +emperor to impose a harsher restraint; and in his perpetual +marches, an iron cage on a wagon might be invented, not as a +wanton insult, but as a rigorous precaution. Timour had read in +some fabulous history a similar treatment of one of his +predecessors, a king of Persia; and Bajazet was condemned to +represent the person, and expiate the guilt, of the Roman +Cæsar ^58 ^* But the strength of his mind and body fainted +under the trial, and his premature death might, without +injustice, be ascribed to the severity of Timour. He warred not +with the dead: a tear and a sepulchre were all that he could +bestow on a captive who was delivered from his power; and if +Mousa, the son of Bajazet, was permitted to reign over the ruins +of Boursa, the greatest part of the province of Anatolia had been +restored by the conqueror to their lawful sovereigns.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 58: Sapor, king of Persia, had been made prisoner, +and enclosed in the figure of a cow's hide by Maximian or +Galerius Cæsar. Such is the fable related by Eutychius, +(Annal. tom. i. p. 421, vers. Pocock. The recollection of the +true history (Decline and Fall, &c., vol. ii. p 140--152) +will teach us to appreciate the knowledge of the Orientals of the +ages which precede the Hegira.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Von Hammer's explanation of this contested point +is both simple and satisfactory. It originates in a mistake in +the meaning of the Turkish word kafe, which means a covered +litter or palanquin drawn by two horses, and is generally used to +convey the harem of an Eastern monarch. In such a litter, with +the lattice-work made of iron, Bajazet either chose or was +constrained to travel. This was either mistaken for, or +transformed by, ignorant relaters into a cage. The European +Schiltberger, the two oldest of the Turkish historians, and the +most valuable of the later compilers, Seadeddin, describe this +litter. Seadeddin discusses the question with some degree of +historical criticism, and ascribes the choice of such a vehicle +to the indignant state of Bajazet's mind, which would not brook +the sight of his Tartar conquerors. Von Hammer, p. 320. -- +M.]</p> + +<p>From the Irtish and Volga to the Persian Gulf, and from the +Ganges to Damascus and the Archipelago, Asia was in the hand of +Timour: his armies were invincible, his ambition was boundless, +and his zeal might aspire to conquer and convert the Christian +kingdoms of the West, which already trembled at his name. He +touched the utmost verge of the land; but an insuperable, though +narrow, sea rolled between the two continents of Europe and Asia; +^59 and the lord of so many <strong><em>tomans</em></strong>, or +myriads, of horse, was not master of a single galley. The two +passages of the Bosphorus and Hellespont, of Constantinople and +Gallipoli, were possessed, the one by the Christians, the other +by the Turks. On this great occasion, they forgot the difference +of religion, to act with union and firmness in the common cause: +the double straits were guarded with ships and fortifications; +and they separately withheld the transports which Timour demanded +of either nation, under the pretence of attacking their enemy. At +the same time, they soothed his pride with tributary gifts and +suppliant embassies, and prudently tempted him to retreat with +the honors of victory. Soliman, the son of Bajazet, implored his +clemency for his father and himself; accepted, by a red patent, +the investiture of the kingdom of Romania, which he already held +by the sword; and reiterated his ardent wish, of casting himself +in person at the feet of the king of the world. The Greek emperor +^60 (either John or Manuel) submitted to pay the same tribute +which he had stipulated with the Turkish sultan, and ratified the +treaty by an oath of allegiance, from which he could absolve his +conscience so soon as the Mogul arms had retired from Anatolia. +But the fears and fancy of nations ascribed to the ambitious +Tamerlane a new design of vast and romantic compass; a design of +subduing Egypt and Africa, marching from the Nile to the Atlantic +Ocean, entering Europe by the Straits of Gibraltar, and, after +imposing his yoke on the kingdoms of Christendom, of returning +home by the deserts of Russia and Tartary. This remote, and +perhaps imaginary, danger was averted by the submission of the +sultan of Egypt: the honors of the prayer and the coin attested +at Cairo the supremacy of Timour; and a rare gift of a +<strong><em>giraffe</em></strong>, or camelopard, and nine +ostriches, represented at Samarcand the tribute of the African +world. Our imagination is not less astonished by the portrait of +a Mogul, who, in his camp before Smyrna, meditates, and almost +accomplishes, the invasion of the Chinese empire. ^61 Timour was +urged to this enterprise by national honor and religious zeal. +The torrents which he had shed of Mussulman blood could be +expiated only by an equal destruction of the infidels; and as he +now stood at the gates of paradise, he might best secure his +glorious entrance by demolishing the idols of China, founding +mosques in every city, and establishing the profession of faith +in one God, and his prophet Mahomet. The recent expulsion of the +house of Zingis was an insult on the Mogul name; and the +disorders of the empire afforded the fairest opportunity for +revenge. The illustrious Hongvou, founder of the dynasty of +<strong><em>Ming</em></strong>, died four years before the battle +of Angora; and his grandson, a weak and unfortunate youth, was +burnt in his palace, after a million of Chinese had perished in +the civil war. ^62 Before he evacuated Anatolia, Timour +despatched beyond the Sihoon a numerous army, or rather colony, +of his old and new subjects, to open the road, to subdue the +Pagan Calmucks and Mungals, and to found cities and magazines in +the desert; and, by the diligence of his lieutenant, he soon +received a perfect map and description of the unknown regions, +from the source of the Irtish to the wall of China. During these +preparations, the emperor achieved the final conquest of Georgia; +passed the winter on the banks of the Araxes; appeased the +troubles of Persia; and slowly returned to his capital, after a +campaign of four years and nine months.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 59: Arabshah (tom. ii. c. 25) describes, like a +curious traveller, the Straits of Gallipoli and Constantinople. +To acquire a just idea of these events, I have compared the +narratives and prejudices of the Moguls, Turks, Greeks, and +Arabians. The Spanish ambassador mentions this hostile union of +the Christians and Ottomans, (Vie de Timour, p. 96.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 60: Since the name of Cæsar had been +transferred to the sultans of Roum, the Greek princes of +Constantinople (Sherefeddin, l. v. c. 54 were confounded with the +Christian <strong><em>lords</em></strong> of Gallipoli, +Thessalonica, &c. under the title of +<strong><em>Tekkur</em></strong>, which is derived by corruption +from the genitive tou kuriou, (Cantemir, p. 51.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 61: See Sherefeddin, l. v. c. 4, who marks, in a +just itinerary, the road to China, which Arabshah (tom. ii. c. +33) paints in vague and rhetorical colors.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 62: Synopsis Hist. Sinicæ, p. 74--76, (in the +ivth part of the Relations de Thevenot,) Duhalde, Hist. de la +Chine, (tom. i. p. 507, 508, folio edition;) and for the +Chronology of the Chinese emperors, De Guignes, Hist. des Huns, +(tom. i. p. 71, 72.)]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LXV: Elevation Of Timour Or Tamerlane, And +His Death. -- Part III.</em></strong></p> + +<p>On the throne of Samarcand, ^63 he displayed, in a short +repose, his magnificence and power; listened to the complaints of +the people; distributed a just measure of rewards and +punishments; employed his riches in the architecture of palaces +and temples; and gave audience to the ambassadors of Egypt, +Arabia, India, Tartary, Russia, and Spain, the last of whom +presented a suit of tapestry which eclipsed the pencil of the +Oriental artists. The marriage of six of the emperor's grandsons +was esteemed an act of religion as well as of paternal +tenderness; and the pomp of the ancient caliphs was revived in +their nuptials. They were celebrated in the gardens of Canighul, +decorated with innumerable tents and pavilions, which displayed +the luxury of a great city and the spoils of a victorious camp. +Whole forests were cut down to supply fuel for the kitchens; the +plain was spread with pyramids of meat, and vases of every +liquor, to which thousands of guests were courteously invited: +the orders of the state, and the nations of the earth, were +marshalled at the royal banquet; nor were the ambassadors of +Europe (says the haughty Persian) excluded from the feast; since +even the <strong><em>casses</em></strong>, the smallest of fish, +find their place in the ocean. ^64 The public joy was testified +by illuminations and masquerades; the trades of Samarcand passed +in review; and every trade was emulous to execute some quaint +device, some marvellous pageant, with the materials of their +peculiar art. After the marriage contracts had been ratified by +the cadhis, the bride-grooms and their brides retired to the +nuptial chambers: nine times, according to the Asiatic fashion, +they were dressed and undressed; and at each change of apparel, +pearls and rubies were showered on their heads, and +contemptuously abandoned to their attendants. A general +indulgence was proclaimed: every law was relaxed, every pleasure +was allowed; the people was free, the sovereign was idle; and the +historian of Timour may remark, that, after devoting fifty years +to the attainment of empire, the only happy period of his life +were the two months in which he ceased to exercise his power. But +he was soon awakened to the cares of government and war. The +standard was unfurled for the invasion of China: the emirs made +their report of two hundred thousand, the select and veteran +soldiers of Iran and Touran: their baggage and provisions were +transported by five hundred great wagons, and an immense train of +horses and camels; and the troops might prepare for a long +absence, since more than six months were employed in the tranquil +journey of a caravan from Samarcand to Pekin. Neither age, nor +the severity of the winter, could retard the impatience of +Timour; he mounted on horseback, passed the Sihoon on the ice, +marched seventy-six parasangs, three hundred miles, from his +capital, and pitched his last camp in the neighborhood of Otrar, +where he was expected by the angel of death. Fatigue, and the +indiscreet use of iced water, accelerated the progress of his +fever; and the conqueror of Asia expired in the seventieth year +of his age, thirty-five years after he had ascended the throne of +Zagatai. His designs were lost; his armies were disbanded; China +was saved; and fourteen years after his decease, the most +powerful of his children sent an embassy of friendship and +commerce to the court of Pekin. ^65</p> + +<p>[Footnote 63: For the return, triumph, and death of Timour, +see Sherefeddin (l. vi. c. 1--30) and Arabshah, (tom. ii. c. +36--47.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 64: Sherefeddin (l. vi. c. 24) mentions the +ambassadors of one of the most potent sovereigns of Europe. We +know that it was Henry III. king of Castile; and the curious +relation of his two embassies is still extant, (Mariana, Hist. +Hispan. l. xix. c. 11, tom. ii. p. 329, 330. Avertissement +à l'Hist. de Timur Bec, p. 28--33.) There appears likewise +to have been some correspondence between the Mogul emperor and +the court of Charles VII. king of France, (Histoire de France, +par Velly et Villaret, tom. xii. p. 336.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 65: See the translation of the Persian account of +their embassy, a curious and original piece, (in the ivth part of +the Relations de Thevenot.) They presented the emperor of China +with an old horse which Timour had formerly rode. It was in the +year 1419 that they departed from the court of Herat, to which +place they returned in 1422 from Pekin.]</p> + +<p>The fame of Timour has pervaded the East and West: his +posterity is still invested with the Imperial +<strong><em>title</em></strong>; and the admiration of his +subjects, who revered him almost as a deity, may be justified in +some degree by the praise or confession of his bitterest enemies. +^66 Although he was lame of a hand and foot, his form and stature +were not unworthy of his rank; and his vigorous health, so +essential to himself and to the world, was corroborated by +temperance and exercise. In his familiar discourse he was grave +and modest, and if he was ignorant of the Arabic language, he +spoke with fluency and elegance the Persian and Turkish idioms. +It was his delight to converse with the learned on topics of +history and science; and the amusement of his leisure hours was +the game of chess, which he improved or corrupted with new +refinements. ^67 In his religion he was a zealous, though not +perhaps an orthodox, Mussulman; ^68 but his sound understanding +may tempt us to believe, that a superstitious reverence for omens +and prophecies, for saints and astrologers, was only affected as +an instrument of policy. In the government of a vast empire, he +stood alone and absolute, without a rebel to oppose his power, a +favorite to seduce his affections, or a minister to mislead his +judgment. It was his firmest maxim, that whatever might be the +consequence, the word of the prince should never be disputed or +recalled; but his foes have maliciously observed, that the +commands of anger and destruction were more strictly executed +than those of beneficence and favor. His sons and grandsons, of +whom Timour left six-and-thirty at his decease, were his first +and most submissive subjects; and whenever they deviated from +their duty, they were corrected, according to the laws of Zingis, +with the bastinade, and afterwards restored to honor and command. +Perhaps his heart was not devoid of the social virtues; perhaps +he was not incapable of loving his friends and pardoning his +enemies; but the rules of morality are founded on the public +interest; and it may be sufficient to applaud the +<strong><em>wisdom</em></strong> of a monarch, for the liberality +by which he is not impoverished, and for the justice by which he +is strengthened and enriched. To maintain the harmony of +authority and obedience, to chastise the proud, to protect the +weak, to reward the deserving, to banish vice and idleness from +his dominions, to secure the traveller and merchant, to restrain +the depredations of the soldier, to cherish the labors of the +husbandman, to encourage industry and learning, and, by an equal +and moderate assessment, to increase the revenue, without +increasing the taxes, are indeed the duties of a prince; but, in +the discharge of these duties, he finds an ample and immediate +recompense. Timour might boast, that, at his accession to the +throne, Asia was the prey of anarchy and rapine, whilst under his +prosperous monarchy a child, fearless and unhurt, might carry a +purse of gold from the East to the West. Such was his confidence +of merit, that from this reformation he derived an excuse for his +victories, and a title to universal dominion. The four following +observations will serve to appreciate his claim to the public +gratitude; and perhaps we shall conclude, that the Mogul emperor +was rather the scourge than the benefactor of mankind. +<strong>1.</strong> If some partial disorders, some local +oppressions, were healed by the sword of Timour, the remedy was +far more pernicious than the disease. By their rapine, cruelty, +and discord, the petty tyrants of Persia might afflict their +subjects; but whole nations were crushed under the footsteps of +the reformer. The ground which had been occupied by flourishing +cities was often marked by his abominable trophies, by columns, +or pyramids, of human heads. Astracan, Carizme, Delhi, Ispahan, +Bagdad, Aleppo, Damascus, Boursa, Smyrna, and a thousand others, +were sacked, or burnt, or utterly destroyed, in his presence, and +by his troops: and perhaps his conscience would have been +startled, if a priest or philosopher had dared to number the +millions of victims whom he had sacrificed to the establishment +of peace and order. ^69 <strong>2.</strong> His most destructive +wars were rather inroads than conquests. He invaded Turkestan, +Kipzak, Russia, Hindostan, Syria, Anatolia, Armenia, and Georgia, +without a hope or a desire of preserving those distant provinces. +From thence he departed laden with spoil; but he left behind him +neither troops to awe the contumacious, nor magistrates to +protect the obedient, natives. When he had broken the fabric of +their ancient government, he abandoned them to the evils which +his invasion had aggravated or caused; nor were these evils +compensated by any present or possible benefits. +<strong>3.</strong> The kingdoms of Transoxiana and Persia were +the proper field which he labored to cultivate and adorn, as the +perpetual inheritance of his family. But his peaceful labors were +often interrupted, and sometimes blasted, by the absence of the +conqueror. While he triumphed on the Volga or the Ganges, his +servants, and even his sons, forgot their master and their duty. +The public and private injuries were poorly redressed by the +tardy rigor of inquiry and punishment; and we must be content to +praise the <strong><em>Institutions</em></strong> of Timour, as +the specious idea of a perfect monarchy. <strong>4.</strong> +Whatsoever might be the blessings of his administration, they +evaporated with his life. To reign, rather than to govern, was +the ambition of his children and grandchildren; ^70 the enemies +of each other and of the people. A fragment of the empire was +upheld with some glory by Sharokh, his youngest son; but after +<strong><em>his</em></strong> decease, the scene was again +involved in darkness and blood; and before the end of a century, +Transoxiana and Persia were trampled by the Uzbeks from the +north, and the Turkmans of the black and white sheep. The race of +Timour would have been extinct, if a hero, his descendant in the +fifth degree, had not fled before the Uzbek arms to the conquest +of Hindostan. His successors (the great Moguls ^71) extended +their sway from the mountains of Cashmir to Cape Comorin, and +from Candahar to the Gulf of Bengal. Since the reign of +Aurungzebe, their empire had been dissolved; their treasures of +Delhi have been rifled by a Persian robber; and the richest of +their kingdoms is now possessed by a company of Christian +merchants, of a remote island in the Northern Ocean.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 66: From Arabshah, tom. ii. c. 96. The bright or +softer colors are borrowed from Sherefeddin, D'Herbelot, and the +Institutions.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 67: His new system was multiplied from 32 pieces and +64 squares to 56 pieces and 110 or 130 squares; but, except in +his court, the old game has been thought sufficiently elaborate. +The Mogul emperor was rather pleased than hurt with the victory +of a subject: a chess player will feel the value of this +encomium!]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 68: See Sherefeddin, l. v. c. 15, 25. Arabshah tom. +ii. c. 96, p. 801, 803) approves the impiety of Timour and the +Moguls, who almost preferred to the Koran the +<strong><em>Yacsa</em></strong>, or Law of Zingis, (cui Deus +maledicat;) nor will he believe that Sharokh had abolished the +use and authority of that Pagan code.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 69: Besides the bloody passages of this narrative, I +must refer to an anticipation in the third volume of the Decline +and Fall, which in a single note (p. 234, note 25) accumulates +nearly 300,000 heads of the monuments of his cruelty. Except in +Rowe's play on the fifth of November, I did not expect to hear of +Timour's amiable moderation (White's preface, p. 7.) Yet I can +excuse a generous enthusiasm in the reader, and still more in the +editor, of the <strong><em>Institutions</em></strong>.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 70: Consult the last chapters of Sherefeddin and +Arabshah, and M. De Guignes, (Hist. des Huns, tom. iv. l. xx.) +Fraser's History of Nadir Shah, (p. 1--62.) The story of Timour's +descendants is imperfectly told; and the second and third parts +of Sherefeddin are unknown.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 71: Shah Allum, the present Mogul, is in the +fourteenth degree from Timour, by Miran Shah, his third son. See +the second volume of Dow's History of Hindostan.]</p> + +<p>Far different was the fate of the Ottoman monarchy. The massy +trunk was bent to the ground, but no sooner did the hurricane +pass away, than it again rose with fresh vigor and more lively +vegetation. When Timour, in every sense, had evacuated Anatolia, +he left the cities without a palace, a treasure, or a king. The +open country was overspread with hordes of shepherds and robbers +of Tartar or Turkman origin; the recent conquests of Bajazet were +restored to the emirs, one of whom, in base revenge, demolished +his sepulchre; and his five sons were eager, by civil discord, to +consume the remnant of their patrimony. I shall enumerate their +names in the order of their age and actions. ^72 +<strong>1.</strong> It is doubtful, whether I relate the story of +the true <strong><em>Mustapha</em></strong>, or of an impostor +who personated that lost prince. He fought by his father's side +in the battle of Angora: but when the captive sultan was +permitted to inquire for his children, Mousa alone could be +found; and the Turkish historians, the slaves of the triumphant +faction, are persuaded that his brother was confounded among the +slain. If Mustapha escaped from that disastrous field, he was +concealed twelve years from his friends and enemies; till he +emerged in Thessaly, and was hailed by a numerous party, as the +son and successor of Bajazet. His first defeat would have been +his last, had not the true, or false, Mustapha been saved by the +Greeks, and restored, after the decease of his brother Mahomet, +to liberty and empire. A degenerate mind seemed to argue his +spurious birth; and if, on the throne of Adrianople, he was +adored as the Ottoman sultan, his flight, his fetters, and an +ignominious gibbet, delivered the impostor to popular contempt. A +similar character and claim was asserted by several rival +pretenders: thirty persons are said to have suffered under the +name of Mustapha; and these frequent executions may perhaps +insinuate, that the Turkish court was not perfectly secure of the +death of the lawful prince. <strong>2.</strong> After his +father's captivity, Isa ^73 reigned for some time in the +neighborhood of Angora, Sinope, and the Black Sea; and his +ambassadors were dismissed from the presence of Timour with fair +promises and honorable gifts. But their master was soon deprived +of his province and life, by a jealous brother, the sovereign of +Amasia; and the final event suggested a pious allusion, that the +law of Moses and Jesus, of <strong><em>Isa</em></strong> and +<strong><em>Mousa</em></strong>, had been abrogated by the +greater Mahomet. <strong>3.</strong> +<strong><em>Soliman</em></strong> is not numbered in the list of +the Turkish emperors: yet he checked the victorious progress of +the Moguls; and after their departure, united for a while the +thrones of Adrianople and Boursa. In war he was brave, active, +and fortunate; his courage was softened by clemency; but it was +likewise inflamed by presumption, and corrupted by intemperance +and idleness. He relaxed the nerves of discipline, in a +government where either the subject or the sovereign must +continually tremble: his vices alienated the chiefs of the army +and the law; and his daily drunkenness, so contemptible in a +prince and a man, was doubly odious in a disciple of the prophet. +In the slumber of intoxication he was surprised by his brother +Mousa; and as he fled from Adrianople towards the Byzantine +capital, Soliman was overtaken and slain in a bath, ^* after a +reign of seven years and ten months. <strong>4.</strong> The +investiture of Mousa degraded him as the slave of the Moguls: his +tributary kingdom of Anatolia was confined within a narrow limit, +nor could his broken militia and empty treasury contend with the +hardy and veteran bands of the sovereign of Romania. Mousa fled +in disguise from the palace of Boursa; traversed the Propontis in +an open boat; wandered over the Walachian and Servian hills; and +after some vain attempts, ascended the throne of Adrianople, so +recently stained with the blood of Soliman. In a reign of three +years and a half, his troops were victorious against the +Christians of Hungary and the Morea; but Mousa was ruined by his +timorous disposition and unseasonable clemency. After resigning +the sovereignty of Anatolia, he fell a victim to the perfidy of +his ministers, and the superior ascendant of his brother Mahomet. +<strong>5.</strong>The final victory of Mahomet was the just +recompense of his prudence and moderation. Before his father's +captivity, the royal youth had been intrusted with the government +of Amasia, thirty days' journey from Constantinople, and the +Turkish frontier against the Christians of Trebizond and Georgia. +The castle, in Asiatic warfare, was esteemed impregnable; and the +city of Amasia, ^74 which is equally divided by the River Iris, +rises on either side in the form of an amphitheatre, and +represents on a smaller scale the image of Bagdad. In his rapid +career, Timour appears to have overlooked this obscure and +contumacious angle of Anatolia; and Mahomet, without provoking +the conqueror, maintained his silent independence, and chased +from the province the last stragglers of the Tartar host. ^! He +relieved himself from the dangerous neighborhood of Isa; but in +the contests of their more powerful brethren his firm neutrality +was respected; till, after the triumph of Mousa, he stood forth +the heir and avenger of the unfortunate Soliman. Mahomet obtained +Anatolia by treaty, and Romania by arms; and the soldier who +presented him with the head of Mousa was rewarded as the +benefactor of his king and country. The eight years of his sole +and peaceful reign were usefully employed in banishing the vices +of civil discord, and restoring on a firmer basis the fabric of +the Ottoman monarchy. His last care was the choice of two +viziers, Bajazet and Ibrahim, ^75 who might guide the youth of +his son Amurath; and such was their union and prudence, that they +concealed above forty days the emperor's death, till the arrival +of his successor in the palace of Boursa. A new war was kindled +in Europe by the prince, or impostor, Mustapha; the first vizier +lost his army and his head; but the more fortunate Ibrahim, whose +name and family are still revered, extinguished the last +pretender to the throne of Bajazet, and closed the scene of +domestic hostility.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 72: The civil wars, from the death of Bajazet to +that of Mustapha, are related, according to the Turks, by +Demetrius Cantemir, (p. 58--82.) Of the Greeks, Chalcondyles, (l. +iv. and v.,) Phranza, (l. i. c. 30--32,) and Ducas, (c. 18--27, +the last is the most copious and best informed.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 73: Arabshah, (tom. ii. c. 26,) whose testimony on +this occasion is weighty and valuable. The existence of Isa +(unknown to the Turks) is likewise confirmed by Sherefeddin, (l. +v. c. 57.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: He escaped from the bath, and fled towards +Constantinople. Five mothers from a village, Dugundschi, whose +inhabitants had suffered severely from the exactions of his +officers, recognized and followed him. Soliman shot two of them, +the others discharged their arrows in their turn the sultan fell +and his head was cut off. V. Hammer, vol. i. p. 349. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 74: Arabshah, loc. citat. Abulfeda, Geograph. tab. +xvii. p. 302. Busbequius, epist. i. p. 96, 97, in Itinere C. P. +et Amasiano.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !: See his nine battles. V. Hammer, p. 339. -- +M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 75: The virtues of Ibrahim are praised by a +contemporary Greek, (Ducas, c. 25.) His descendants are the sole +nobles in Turkey: they content themselves with the administration +of his pious foundations, are excused from public offices, and +receive two annual visits from the sultan, (Cantemir, p. +76.)]</p> + +<p>In these conflicts, the wisest Turks, and indeed the body of +the nation, were strongly attached to the unity of the empire; +and Romania and Anatolia, so often torn asunder by private +ambition, were animated by a strong and invincible tendency of +cohesion. Their efforts might have instructed the Christian +powers; and had they occupied, with a confederate fleet, the +Straits of Gallipoli, the Ottomans, at least in Europe, must have +been speedily annihilated. But the schism of the West, and the +factions and wars of France and England, diverted the Latins from +this generous enterprise: they enjoyed the present respite, +without a thought of futurity; and were often tempted by a +momentary interest to serve the common enemy of their religion. A +colony of Genoese, ^76 which had been planted at Phocæa ^77 +on the Ionian coast, was enriched by the lucrative monopoly of +alum; ^78 and their tranquillity, under the Turkish empire, was +secured by the annual payment of tribute. In the last civil war +of the Ottomans, the Genoese governor, Adorno, a bold and +ambitious youth, embraced the party of Amurath; and undertook, +with seven stout galleys, to transport him from Asia to Europe. +The sultan and five hundred guards embarked on board the +admiral's ship; which was manned by eight hundred of the bravest +Franks. His life and liberty were in their hands; nor can we, +without reluctance, applaud the fidelity of Adorno, who, in the +midst of the passage, knelt before him, and gratefully accepted a +discharge of his arrears of tribute. They landed in sight of +Mustapha and Gallipoli; two thousand Italians, armed with lances +and battle-axes, attended Amurath to the conquest of Adrianople; +and this venal service was soon repaid by the ruin of the +commerce and colony of Phocæa.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 76: See Pachymer, (l. v. c. 29,) Nicephorus +Gregoras, (l. ii. c. 1,) Sherefeddin, (l. v. c. 57,) and Ducas, +(c. 25.) The last of these, a curious and careful observer, is +entitled, from his birth and station, to particular credit in all +that concerns Ionia and the islands. Among the nations that +resorted to New Phocæa, he mentions the English; +('Igglhnoi;) an early evidence of Mediterranean trade.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 77: For the spirit of navigation, and freedom of +ancient Phocæa, or rather the Phocæans, consult the +first book of Herodotus, and the Geographical Index of his last +and learned French translator, M. Larcher (tom. vii. p. +299.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 78: Phocæa is not enumerated by Pliny (Hist. +Nat. xxxv. 52) among the places productive of alum: he reckons +Egypt as the first, and for the second the Isle of Melos, whose +alum mines are described by Tournefort, (tom. i. lettre iv.,) a +traveller and a naturalist. After the loss of Phocæa, the +Genoese, in 1459, found that useful mineral in the Isle of +Ischia, (Ismael. Bouillaud, ad Ducam, c. 25.)]</p> + +<p>If Timour had generously marched at the request, and to the +relief, of the Greek emperor, he might be entitled to the praise +and gratitude of the Christians. ^79 But a Mussulman, who carried +into Georgia the sword of persecution, and respected the holy +warfare of Bajazet, was not disposed to pity or succor the +<strong><em>idolaters</em></strong> of Europe. The Tartar +followed the impulse of ambition; and the deliverance of +Constantinople was the accidental consequence. When Manuel +abdicated the government, it was his prayer, rather than his +hope, that the ruin of the church and state might be delayed +beyond his unhappy days; and after his return from a western +pilgrimage, he expected every hour the news of the sad +catastrophe. On a sudden, he was astonished and rejoiced by the +intelligence of the retreat, the overthrow, and the captivity of +the Ottoman. Manuel ^80 immediately sailed from Modon in the +Morea; ascended the throne of Constantinople, and dismissed his +blind competitor to an easy exile in the Isle of Lesbos. The +ambassadors of the son of Bajazet were soon introduced to his +presence; but their pride was fallen, their tone was modest: they +were awed by the just apprehension, lest the Greeks should open +to the Moguls the gates of Europe. Soliman saluted the emperor by +the name of father; solicited at his hands the government or gift +of Romania; and promised to deserve his favor by inviolable +friendship, and the restitution of Thessalonica, with the most +important places along the Strymon, the Propontis, and the Black +Sea. The alliance of Soliman exposed the emperor to the enmity +and revenge of Mousa: the Turks appeared in arms before the gates +of Constantinople; but they were repulsed by sea and land; and +unless the city was guarded by some foreign mercenaries, the +Greeks must have wondered at their own triumph. But, instead of +prolonging the division of the Ottoman powers, the policy or +passion of Manuel was tempted to assist the most formidable of +the sons of Bajazet. He concluded a treaty with Mahomet, whose +progress was checked by the insuperable barrier of Gallipoli: the +sultan and his troops were transported over the Bosphorus; he was +hospitably entertained in the capital; and his successful sally +was the first step to the conquest of Romania. The ruin was +suspended by the prudence and moderation of the conqueror: he +faithfully discharged his own obligations and those of Soliman, +respected the laws of gratitude and peace; and left the emperor +guardian of his two younger sons, in the vain hope of saving them +from the jealous cruelty of their brother Amurath. But the +execution of his last testament would have offended the national +honor and religion; and the divan unanimously pronounced, that +the royal youths should never be abandoned to the custody and +education of a Christian dog. On this refusal, the Byzantine +councils were divided; but the age and caution of Manuel yielded +to the presumption of his son John; and they unsheathed a +dangerous weapon of revenge, by dismissing the true or false +Mustapha, who had long been detained as a captive and hostage, +and for whose maintenance they received an annual pension of +three hundred thousand aspers. ^81 At the door of his prison, +Mustapha subscribed to every proposal; and the keys of Gallipoli, +or rather of Europe, were stipulated as the price of his +deliverance. But no sooner was he seated on the throne of +Romania, than he dismissed the Greek ambassadors with a smile of +contempt, declaring, in a pious tone, that, at the day of +judgment, he would rather answer for the violation of an oath, +than for the surrender of a Mussulman city into the hands of the +infidels. The emperor was at once the enemy of the two rivals; +from whom he had sustained, and to whom he had offered, an +injury; and the victory of Amurath was followed, in the ensuing +spring, by the siege of Constantinople. ^82</p> + +<p>[Footnote 79: The writer who has the most abused this fabulous +generosity, is our ingenious Sir William Temple, (his Works, vol. +iii. p. 349, 350, octavo edition,) that lover of exotic virtue. +After the conquest of Russia, &c., and the passage of the +Danube, his Tartar hero relieves, visits, admires, and refuses +the city of Constantine. His flattering pencil deviates in every +line from the truth of history; yet his pleasing fictions are +more excusable than the gross errors of Cantemir.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 80: For the reigns of Manuel and John, of Mahomet I. +and Amurath II., see the Othman history of Cantemir, (p. 70--95,) +and the three Greeks, Chalcondyles, Phranza, and Ducas, who is +still superior to his rivals.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 81: The Turkish asper (from the Greek asproV) is, or +was, a piece of <strong><em>white</em></strong> or silver money, +at present much debased, but which was formerly equivalent to the +54th part, at least, of a Venetian ducat or sequin; and the +300,000 aspers, a princely allowance or royal tribute, may be +computed at 2500<strong><em>l</em></strong>. sterling, (Leunclav. +Pandect. Turc. p. 406--408.) *</p> + +<p>Note: * According to Von Hammer, this calculation is much too +low. The asper was a century before the time of which writes, the +tenth part of a ducat; for the same tribute which the Byzantine +writers state at 300,000 aspers the Ottomans state at 30,000 +ducats, about 15000l Note, vol. p. 636. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 82: For the siege of Constantinople in 1422, see the +particular and contemporary narrative of John Cananus, published +by Leo Allatius, at the end of his edition of Acropolita, (p. +188--199.)]</p> + +<p>The religious merit of subduing the city of the Cæsars +attracted from Asia a crowd of volunteers, who aspired to the +crown of martyrdom: their military ardor was inflamed by the +promise of rich spoils and beautiful females; and the sultan's +ambition was consecrated by the presence and prediction of Seid +Bechar, a descendant of the prophet, ^83 who arrived in the camp, +on a mule, with a venerable train of five hundred disciples. But +he might blush, if a fanatic could blush, at the failure of his +assurances. The strength of the walls resisted an army of two +hundred thousand Turks; their assaults were repelled by the +sallies of the Greeks and their foreign mercenaries; the old +resources of defence were opposed to the new engines of attack; +and the enthusiasm of the dervis, who was snatched to heaven in +visionary converse with Mahomet, was answered by the credulity of +the Christians, who <strong><em>beheld</em></strong> the Virgin +Mary, in a violet garment, walking on the rampart and animating +their courage. ^84 After a siege of two months, Amurath was +recalled to Boursa by a domestic revolt, which had been kindled +by Greek treachery, and was soon extinguished by the death of a +guiltless brother. While he led his Janizaries to new conquests +in Europe and Asia, the Byzantine empire was indulged in a +servile and precarious respite of thirty years. Manuel sank into +the grave; and John Palæologus was permitted to reign, for +an annual tribute of three hundred thousand aspers, and the +dereliction of almost all that he held beyond the suburbs of +Constantinople.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 83: Cantemir, p. 80. Cananus, who describes Seid +Bechar, without naming him, supposes that the friend of Mahomet +assumed in his amours the privilege of a prophet, and that the +fairest of the Greek nuns were promised to the saint and his +disciples.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 84: For this miraculous apparition, Cananus appeals +to the Mussulman saint; but who will bear testimony for Seid +Bechar?]</p> + +<p>In the establishment and restoration of the Turkish empire, +the first merit must doubtless be assigned to the personal +qualities of the sultans; since, in human life, the most +important scenes will depend on the character of a single actor. +By some shades of wisdom and virtue, they may be discriminated +from each other; but, except in a single instance, a period of +nine reigns, and two hundred and sixty-five years, is occupied, +from the elevation of Othman to the death of Soliman, by a rare +series of warlike and active princes, who impressed their +subjects with obedience and their enemies with terror. Instead of +the slothful luxury of the seraglio, the heirs of royalty were +educated in the council and the field: from early youth they were +intrusted by their fathers with the command of provinces and +armies; and this manly institution, which was often productive of +civil war, must have essentially contributed to the discipline +and vigor of the monarchy. The Ottomans cannot style themselves, +like the Arabian caliphs, the descendants or successors of the +apostle of God; and the kindred which they claim with the Tartar +khans of the house of Zingis appears to be founded in flattery +rather than in truth. ^85 Their origin is obscure; but their +sacred and indefeasible right, which no time can erase, and no +violence can infringe, was soon and unalterably implanted in the +minds of their subjects. A weak or vicious sultan may be deposed +and strangled; but his inheritance devolves to an infant or an +idiot: nor has the most daring rebel presumed to ascend the +throne of his lawful sovereign. ^86</p> + +<p>[Footnote 85: See Ricaut, (l. i. c. 13.) The Turkish sultans +assume the title of khan. Yet Abulghazi is ignorant of his +Ottoman cousins.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 86: The third grand vizier of the name of Kiuperli, +who was slain at the battle of Salankanen in 1691, (Cantemir, p. +382,) presumed to say that all the successors of Soliman had been +fools or tyrants, and that it was time to abolish the race, +(Marsigli Stato Militaire, &c., p. 28.) This political +heretic was a good Whig, and justified against the French +ambassador the revolution of England, (Mignot, Hist. des +Ottomans, tom. iii. p. 434.) His presumption condemns the +singular exception of continuing offices in the same family.]</p> + +<p>While the transient dynasties of Asia have been continually +subverted by a crafty vizier in the palace, or a victorious +general in the camp, the Ottoman succession has been confirmed by +the practice of five centuries, and is now incorporated with the +vital principle of the Turkish nation.</p> + +<p>To the spirit and constitution of that nation, a strong and +singular influence may, however, be ascribed. The primitive +subjects of Othman were the four hundred families of wandering +Turkmans, who had followed his ancestors from the Oxus to the +Sangar; and the plains of Anatolia are still covered with the +white and black tents of their rustic brethren. But this original +drop was dissolved in the mass of voluntary and vanquished +subjects, who, under the name of Turks, are united by the common +ties of religion, language, and manners. In the cities, from +Erzeroum to Belgrade, that national appellation is common to all +the Moslems, the first and most honorable inhabitants; but they +have abandoned, at least in Romania, the villages, and the +cultivation of the land, to the Christian peasants. In the +vigorous age of the Ottoman government, the Turks were themselves +excluded from all civil and military honors; and a servile class, +an artificial people, was raised by the discipline of education +to obey, to conquer, and to command. ^87 From the time of Orchan +and the first Amurath, the sultans were persuaded that a +government of the sword must be renewed in each generation with +new soldiers; and that such soldiers must be sought, not in +effeminate Asia, but among the hardy and warlike natives of +Europe. The provinces of Thrace, Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, +and Servia, became the perpetual seminary of the Turkish army; +and when the royal fifth of the captives was diminished by +conquest, an inhuman tax of the fifth child, or of every fifth +year, was rigorously levied on the Christian families. At the age +of twelve or fourteen years, the most robust youths were torn +from their parents; their names were enrolled in a book; and from +that moment they were clothed, taught, and maintained, for the +public service. According to the promise of their appearance, +they were selected for the royal schools of Boursa, Pera, and +Adrianople, intrusted to the care of the bashaws, or dispersed in +the houses of the Anatolian peasantry. It was the first care of +their masters to instruct them in the Turkish language: their +bodies were exercised by every labor that could fortify their +strength; they learned to wrestle, to leap, to run, to shoot with +the bow, and afterwards with the musket; till they were drafted +into the chambers and companies of the Janizaries, and severely +trained in the military or monastic discipline of the order. The +youths most conspicuous for birth, talents, and beauty, were +admitted into the inferior class of +<strong><em>Agiamoglans</em></strong>, or the more liberal rank +of <strong><em>Ichoglans</em></strong>, of whom the former were +attached to the palace, and the latter to the person, of the +prince. In four successive schools, under the rod of the white +eunuchs, the arts of horsemanship and of darting the javelin were +their daily exercise, while those of a more studious cast applied +themselves to the study of the Koran, and the knowledge of the +Arabic and Persian tongues. As they advanced in seniority and +merit, they were gradually dismissed to military, civil, and even +ecclesiastical employments: the longer their stay, the higher was +their expectation; till, at a mature period, they were admitted +into the number of the forty agas, who stood before the sultan, +and were promoted by his choice to the government of provinces +and the first honors of the empire. ^88 Such a mode of +institution was admirably adapted to the form and spirit of a +despotic monarchy. The ministers and generals were, in the +strictest sense, the slaves of the emperor, to whose bounty they +were indebted for their instruction and support. When they left +the seraglio, and suffered their beards to grow as the symbol of +enfranchisement, they found themselves in an important office, +without faction or friendship, without parents and without heirs, +dependent on the hand which had raised them from the dust, and +which, on the slightest displeasure, could break in pieces these +statues of glass, as they were aptly termed by the Turkish +proverb. ^89 In the slow and painful steps of education, their +characters and talents were unfolded to a discerning eye: the +<strong><em>man</em></strong>, naked and alone, was reduced to +the standard of his personal merit; and, if the sovereign had +wisdom to choose, he possessed a pure and boundless liberty of +choice. The Ottoman candidates were trained by the virtues of +abstinence to those of action; by the habits of submission to +those of command. A similar spirit was diffused among the troops; +and their silence and sobriety, their patience and modesty, have +extorted the reluctant praise of their Christian enemies. ^90 Nor +can the victory appear doubtful, if we compare the discipline and +exercise of the Janizaries with the pride of birth, the +independence of chivalry, the ignorance of the new levies, the +mutinous temper of the veterans, and the vices of intemperance +and disorder, which so long contaminated the armies of +Europe.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 87: Chalcondyles (l. v.) and Ducas (c. 23) exhibit +the rude lineament of the Ottoman policy, and the transmutation +of Christian children into Turkish soldiers.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 88: This sketch of the Turkish education and +discipline is chiefly borrowed from Ricaut's State of the Ottoman +Empire, the Stato Militaire del' Imperio Ottomano of Count +Marsigli, (in Haya, 1732, in folio,) and a description of the +Seraglio, approved by Mr. Greaves himself, a curious traveller, +and inserted in the second volume of his works.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 89: From the series of cxv. viziers, till the siege +of Vienna, (Marsigli, p. 13,) their place may be valued at three +years and a half purchase.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 90: See the entertaining and judicious letters of +Busbequius.]</p> + +<p>The only hope of salvation for the Greek empire, and the +adjacent kingdoms, would have been some more powerful weapon, +some discovery in the art of war, that would give them a decisive +superiority over their Turkish foes. Such a weapon was in their +hands; such a discovery had been made in the critical moment of +their fate. The chemists of China or Europe had found, by casual +or elaborate experiments, that a mixture of saltpetre, sulphur, +and charcoal, produces, with a spark of fire, a tremendous +explosion. It was soon observed, that if the expansive force were +compressed in a strong tube, a ball of stone or iron might be +expelled with irresistible and destructive velocity. The precise +æra of the invention and application of gunpowder ^91 is +involved in doubtful traditions and equivocal language; yet we +may clearly discern, that it was known before the middle of the +fourteenth century; and that before the end of the same, the use +of artillery in battles and sieges, by sea and land, was familiar +to the states of Germany, Italy, Spain, France, and England. ^92 +The priority of nations is of small account; none could derive +any exclusive benefit from their previous or superior knowledge; +and in the common improvement, they stood on the same level of +relative power and military science. Nor was it possible to +circumscribe the secret within the pale of the church; it was +disclosed to the Turks by the treachery of apostates and the +selfish policy of rivals; and the sultans had sense to adopt, and +wealth to reward, the talents of a Christian engineer. The +Genoese, who transported Amurath into Europe, must be accused as +his preceptors; and it was probably by their hands that his +cannon was cast and directed at the siege of Constantinople. ^93 +The first attempt was indeed unsuccessful; but in the general +warfare of the age, the advantage was on +<strong><em>their</em></strong> side, who were most commonly the +assailants: for a while the proportion of the attack and defence +was suspended; and this thundering artillery was pointed against +the walls and towers which had been erected only to resist the +less potent engines of antiquity. By the Venetians, the use of +gunpowder was communicated without reproach to the sultans of +Egypt and Persia, their allies against the Ottoman power; the +secret was soon propagated to the extremities of Asia; and the +advantage of the European was confined to his easy victories over +the savages of the new world. If we contrast the rapid progress +of this mischievous discovery with the slow and laborious +advances of reason, science, and the arts of peace, a +philosopher, according to his temper, will laugh or weep at the +folly of mankind.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 91: The first and second volumes of Dr. Watson's +Chemical Essays contain two valuable discourses on the discovery +and composition of gunpowder.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 92: On this subject modern testimonies cannot be +trusted. The original passages are collected by Ducange, (Gloss. +Latin. tom. i. p. 675, <strong><em>Bombarda</em></strong>.) But +in the early doubtful twilight, the name, sound, fire, and +effect, that seem to express <strong><em>our</em></strong> +artillery, may be fairly interpreted of the old engines and the +Greek fire. For the English cannon at Crecy, the authority of +John Villani (Chron. l. xii. c. 65) must be weighed against the +silence of Froissard. Yet Muratori (Antiquit. Italiæ Medii +Ævi, tom. ii. Dissert. xxvi. p. 514, 515) has produced a +decisive passage from Petrarch, (De Remediis utriusque +Fortunæ Dialog.,) who, before the year 1344, execrates this +terrestrial thunder, <strong><em>nuper</em></strong> rara, +<strong><em>nunc</em></strong> communis. *</p> + +<p>Note: * Mr. Hallam makes the following observation on the +objection thrown our by Gibbon: "The positive testimony of +Villani, who died within two years afterwards, and had manifestly +obtained much information as to the great events passing in +France, cannot be rejected. He ascribes a material effect to the +cannon of Edward, Colpi delle bombarde, which I suspect, from his +strong expressions, had not been employed before, except against +stone walls. It seems, he says, as if God thundered con grande +uccisione di genti e efondamento di cavalli." Middle Ages, vol. +i. p. 510. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 93: The Turkish cannon, which Ducas (c. 30) first +introduces before Belgrade, (A.D. 1436,) is mentioned by +Chalcondyles (l. v. p. 123) in 1422, at the siege of +Constantinople.]</p> + +<p><strong>Chapter LXVI: Union Of The Greek And Latin +Churches.</strong> <strong><em>Part I.</em></strong></p> + +<p>Applications Of The Eastern Emperors To The Popes. -- Visits +To The West, Of John The First, Manuel, And John The Second, +Palæologus. -- Union Of The Greek And Latin Churches, +Promoted By The Council Of Basil, And Concluded At Ferrara And +Florence. -- State Of Literature At Constantinople. -- Its +Revival In Italy By The Greek Fugitives. -- Curiosity And +Emulation Of The Latins.</p> + +<p>In the four last centuries of the Greek emperors, their +friendly or hostile aspect towards the pope and the Latins may be +observed as the thermometer of their prosperity or distress; as +the scale of the rise and fall of the Barbarian dynasties. When +the Turks of the house of Seljuk pervaded Asia, and threatened +Constantinople, we have seen, at the council of Placentia, the +suppliant ambassadors of Alexius imploring the protection of the +common father of the Christians. No sooner had the arms of the +French pilgrims removed the sultan from Nice to Iconium, than the +Greek princes resumed, or avowed, their genuine hatred and +contempt for the schismatics of the West, which precipitated the +first downfall of their empire. The date of the Mogul invasion is +marked in the soft and charitable language of John Vataces. After +the recovery of Constantinople, the throne of the first +Palæologus was encompassed by foreign and domestic enemies; +as long as the sword of Charles was suspended over his head, he +basely courted the favor of the Roman pontiff; and sacrificed to +the present danger his faith, his virtue, and the affection of +his subjects. On the decease of Michael, the prince and people +asserted the independence of their church, and the purity of +their creed: the elder Andronicus neither feared nor loved the +Latins; in his last distress, pride was the safeguard of +superstition; nor could he decently retract in his age the firm +and orthodox declarations of his youth. His grandson, the younger +Andronicus, was less a slave in his temper and situation; and the +conquest of Bithynia by the Turks admonished him to seek a +temporal and spiritual alliance with the Western princes. After a +separation and silence of fifty years, a secret agent, the monk +Barlaam, was despatched to Pope Benedict the Twelfth; and his +artful instructions appear to have been drawn by the master-hand +of the great domestic. ^1 "Most holy father," was he commissioned +to say, "the emperor is not less desirous than yourself of a +union between the two churches: but in this delicate transaction, +he is obliged to respect his own dignity and the prejudices of +his subjects. The ways of union are twofold; force and +persuasion. Of force, the inefficacy has been already tried; +since the Latins have subdued the empire, without subduing the +minds, of the Greeks. The method of persuasion, though slow, is +sure and permanent. A deputation of thirty or forty of our +doctors would probably agree with those of the Vatican, in the +love of truth and the unity of belief; but on their return, what +would be the use, the recompense, of such an agreement? the scorn +of their brethren, and the reproaches of a blind and obstinate +nation. Yet that nation is accustomed to reverence the general +councils, which have fixed the articles of our faith; and if they +reprobate the decrees of Lyons, it is because the Eastern +churches were neither heard nor represented in that arbitrary +meeting. For this salutary end, it will be expedient, and even +necessary, that a well-chosen legate should be sent into Greece, +to convene the patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, +and Jerusalem; and, with their aid, to prepare a free and +universal synod. But at this moment," continued the subtle agent, +"the empire is assaulted and endangered by the Turks, who have +occupied four of the greatest cities of Anatolia. The Christian +inhabitants have expressed a wish of returning to their +allegiance and religion; but the forces and revenues of the +emperor are insufficient for their deliverance: and the Roman +legate must be accompanied, or preceded, by an army of Franks, to +expel the infidels, and open a way to the holy sepulchre." If the +suspicious Latins should require some pledge, some previous +effect of the sincerity of the Greeks, the answers of Barlaam +were perspicuous and rational. "<strong>1.</strong> A general +synod can alone consummate the union of the churches; nor can +such a synod be held till the three Oriental patriarchs, and a +great number of bishops, are enfranchised from the Mahometan +yoke. <strong>2.</strong> The Greeks are alienated by a long +series of oppression and injury: they must be reconciled by some +act of brotherly love, some effectual succor, which may fortify +the authority and arguments of the emperor, and the friends of +the union. <strong>3.</strong> If some difference of faith or +ceremonies should be found incurable, the Greeks, however, are +the disciples of Christ; and the Turks are the common enemies of +the Christian name. The Armenians, Cyprians, and Rhodians, are +equally attacked; and it will become the piety of the French +princes to draw their swords in the general defence of religion. +<strong>4.</strong> Should the subjects of Andronicus be treated +as the worst of schismatics, of heretics, of pagans, a judicious +policy may yet instruct the powers of the West to embrace a +useful ally, to uphold a sinking empire, to guard the confines of +Europe; and rather to join the Greeks against the Turks, than to +expect the union of the Turkish arms with the troops and +treasures of captive Greece." The reasons, the offers, and the +demands, of Andronicus were eluded with cold and stately +indifference. The kings of France and Naples declined the dangers +and glory of a crusade; the pope refused to call a new synod to +determine old articles of faith; and his regard for the obsolete +claims of the Latin emperor and clergy engaged him to use an +offensive superscription, -- "To the +<strong><em>moderator</em></strong> ^2 of the Greeks, and the +persons who style themselves the patriarchs of the Eastern +churches." For such an embassy, a time and character less +propitious could not easily have been found. Benedict the Twelfth +^3 was a dull peasant, perplexed with scruples, and immersed in +sloth and wine: his pride might enrich with a third crown the +papal tiara, but he was alike unfit for the regal and the +pastoral office.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 1: This curious instruction was transcribed (I +believe) from the Vatican archives, by Odoricus Raynaldus, in his +Continuation of the Annals of Baronius, (Romæ, 1646--1677, +in x. volumes in folio.) I have contented myself with the +Abbé Fleury, (Hist. Ecclésiastique. tom. xx. p. +1--8,) whose abstracts I have always found to be clear, accurate, +and impartial.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 2: The ambiguity of this title is happy or +ingenious; and <strong><em>moderator</em></strong>, as synonymous +to <strong><em>rector</em></strong>, +<strong><em>gubernator</em></strong>, is a word of classical, and +even Ciceronian, Latinity, which may be found, not in the +Glossary of Ducange, but in the Thesaurus of Robert +Stephens.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 3: The first epistle (sine titulo) of Petrarch +exposes the danger of the <strong><em>bark</em></strong>, and the +incapacity of the <strong><em>pilot</em></strong>. Hæc +inter, vino madidus, ævo gravis, ac soporifero rore +perfusus, jamjam nutitat, dormitat, jam somno præceps, +atque (utinam solus) ruit . . . . . Heu quanto felicius patrio +terram sulcasset aratro, quam scalmum piscatorium ascendisset! +This satire engages his biographer to weigh the virtues and vices +of Benedict XII. which have been exaggerated by Guelphs and Ghibe +lines, by Papists and Protestants, (see Mémoires sur la +Vie de Pétrarque, tom. i. p. 259, ii. not. xv. p. 13--16.) +He gave occasion to the saying, Bibamus papaliter.]</p> + +<p>After the decease of Andronicus, while the Greeks were +distracted by intestine war, they could not presume to agitate a +general union of the Christians. But as soon as Cantacuzene had +subdued and pardoned his enemies, he was anxious to justify, or +at least to extenuate, the introduction of the Turks into Europe, +and the nuptials of his daughter with a Mussulman prince. Two +officers of state, with a Latin interpreter, were sent in his +name to the Roman court, which was transplanted to Avignon, on +the banks of the Rhône, during a period of seventy years: +they represented the hard necessity which had urged him to +embrace the alliance of the miscreants, and pronounced by his +command the specious and edifying sounds of union and crusade. +Pope Clement the Sixth, ^4 the successor of Benedict, received +them with hospitality and honor, acknowledged the innocence of +their sovereign, excused his distress, applauded his magnanimity, +and displayed a clear knowledge of the state and revolutions of +the Greek empire, which he had imbibed from the honest accounts +of a Savoyard lady, an attendant of the empress Anne. ^5 If +Clement was ill endowed with the virtues of a priest, he +possessed, however, the spirit and magnificence of a prince, +whose liberal hand distributed benefices and kingdoms with equal +facility. Under his reign Avignon was the seat of pomp and +pleasure: in his youth he had surpassed the licentiousness of a +baron; and the palace, nay, the bed-chamber of the pope, was +adorned, or polluted, by the visits of his female favorites. The +wars of France and England were adverse to the holy enterprise; +but his vanity was amused by the splendid idea; and the Greek +ambassadors returned with two Latin bishops, the ministers of the +pontiff. On their arrival at Constantinople, the emperor and the +nuncios admired each other's piety and eloquence; and their +frequent conferences were filled with mutual praises and +promises, by which both parties were amused, and neither could be +deceived. "I am delighted," said the devout Cantacuzene, "with +the project of our holy war, which must redound to my personal +glory, as well as to the public benefit of Christendom. My +dominions will give a free passage to the armies of France: my +troops, my galleys, my treasures, shall be consecrated to the +common cause; and happy would be my fate, could I deserve and +obtain the crown of martyrdom. Words are insufficient to express +the ardor with which I sigh for the reunion of the scattered +members of Christ. If my death could avail, I would gladly +present my sword and my neck: if the spiritual phnix could arise +from my ashes, I would erect the pile, and kindle the flame with +my own hands." Yet the Greek emperor presumed to observe, that +the articles of faith which divided the two churches had been +introduced by the pride and precipitation of the Latins: he +disclaimed the servile and arbitrary steps of the first +Palæologus; and firmly declared, that he would never submit +his conscience unless to the decrees of a free and universal +synod. "The situation of the times," continued he, "will not +allow the pope and myself to meet either at Rome or +Constantinople; but some maritime city may be chosen on the verge +of the two empires, to unite the bishops, and to instruct the +faithful, of the East and West." The nuncios seemed content with +the proposition; and Cantacuzene affects to deplore the failure +of his hopes, which were soon overthrown by the death of Clement, +and the different temper of his successor. His own life was +prolonged, but it was prolonged in a cloister; and, except by his +prayers, the humble monk was incapable of directing the counsels +of his pupil or the state. ^6</p> + +<p>[Footnote 4: See the original Lives of Clement VI. in +Muratori, (Script. Rerum Italicarum, tom. iii. P. ii. p. +550--589;) Matteo Villani, (Chron. l. iii. c. 43, in Muratori, +tom. xiv. p. 186,) who styles him, molto cavallaresco, poco +religioso; Fleury, (Hist. Ecclés. tom. xx. p. 126;) and +the Vie de Pétrarque, (tom. ii. p. 42--45.) The +abbé de Sade treats him with the most indulgence; but +<strong><em>he</em></strong> is a gentleman as well as a +priest.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 5: Her name (most probably corrupted) was Zampea. +She had accompanied, and alone remained with her mistress at +Constantinople, where her prudence, erudition, and politeness +deserved the praises of the Greeks themselves, (Cantacuzen. l. i. +c. 42.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 6: See this whole negotiation in Cantacuzene, (l. +iv. c. 9,) who, amidst the praises and virtues which he bestows +on himself, reveals the uneasiness of a guilty conscience.]</p> + +<p>Yet of all the Byzantine princes, that pupil, John +Palæologus, was the best disposed to embrace, to believe, +and to obey, the shepherd of the West. His mother, Anne of Savoy, +was baptized in the bosom of the Latin church: her marriage with +Andronicus imposed a change of name, of apparel, and of worship, +but her heart was still faithful to her country and religion: she +had formed the infancy of her son, and she governed the emperor, +after his mind, or at least his stature, was enlarged to the size +of man. In the first year of his deliverance and restoration, the +Turks were still masters of the Hellespont; the son of +Cantacuzene was in arms at Adrianople; and Palæologus could +depend neither on himself nor on his people. By his mother's +advice, and in the hope of foreign aid, he abjured the rights +both of the church and state; and the act of slavery, ^7 +subscribed in purple ink, and sealed with the +<strong><em>golden</em></strong> bull, was privately intrusted to +an Italian agent. The first article of the treaty is an oath of +fidelity and obedience to Innocent the Sixth and his successors, +the supreme pontiffs of the Roman and Catholic church. The +emperor promises to entertain with due reverence their legates +and nuncios; to assign a palace for their residence, and a temple +for their worship; and to deliver his second son Manuel as the +hostage of his faith. For these condescensions he requires a +prompt succor of fifteen galleys, with five hundred men at arms, +and a thousand archers, to serve against his Christian and +Mussulman enemies. Palæologus engages to impose on his +clergy and people the same spiritual yoke; but as the resistance +of the Greeks might be justly foreseen, he adopts the two +effectual methods of corruption and education. The legate was +empowered to distribute the vacant benefices among the +ecclesiastics who should subscribe the creed of the Vatican: +three schools were instituted to instruct the youth of +Constantinople in the language and doctrine of the Latins; and +the name of Andronicus, the heir of the empire, was enrolled as +the first student. Should he fail in the measures of persuasion +or force, Palæologus declares himself unworthy to reign; +transferred to the pope all regal and paternal authority; and +invests Innocent with full power to regulate the family, the +government, and the marriage, of his son and successor. But this +treaty was neither executed nor published: the Roman galleys were +as vain and imaginary as the submission of the Greeks; and it was +only by the secrecy that their sovereign escaped the dishonor of +this fruitless humiliation.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 7: See this ignominious treaty in Fleury, (Hist. +Ecclés. p. 151--154,) from Raynaldus, who drew it from the +Vatican archives. It was not worth the trouble of a pious +forgery.]</p> + +<p>The tempest of the Turkish arms soon burst on his head; and +after the loss of Adrianople and Romania, he was enclosed in his +capital, the vassal of the haughty Amurath, with the miserable +hope of being the last devoured by the savage. In this abject +state, Palæologus embraced the resolution of embarking for +Venice, and casting himself at the feet of the pope: he was the +first of the Byzantine princes who had ever visited the unknown +regions of the West, yet in them alone he could seek consolation +or relief; and with less violation of his dignity he might appear +in the sacred college than at the Ottoman +<strong><em>Porte</em></strong>. After a long absence, the Roman +pontiffs were returning from Avignon to the banks of the Tyber: +Urban the Fifth, ^8 of a mild and virtuous character, encouraged +or allowed the pilgrimage of the Greek prince; and, within the +same year, enjoyed the glory of receiving in the Vatican the two +Imperial shadows who represented the majesty of Constantine and +Charlemagne. In this suppliant visit, the emperor of +Constantinople, whose vanity was lost in his distress, gave more +than could be expected of empty sounds and formal submissions. A +previous trial was imposed; and, in the presence of four +cardinals, he acknowledged, as a true Catholic, the supremacy of +the pope, and the double procession of the Holy Ghost. After this +purification, he was introduced to a public audience in the +church of St. Peter: Urban, in the midst of the cardinals, was +seated on his throne; the Greek monarch, after three +genuflections, devoutly kissed the feet, the hands, and at length +the mouth, of the holy father, who celebrated high mass in his +presence, allowed him to lead the bridle of his mule, and treated +him with a sumptuous banquet in the Vatican. The entertainment of +Palæologus was friendly and honorable; yet some difference +was observed between the emperors of the East and West; ^9 nor +could the former be entitled to the rare privilege of chanting +the gospel in the rank of a deacon. ^10 In favor of his +proselyte, Urban strove to rekindle the zeal of the French king +and the other powers of the West; but he found them cold in the +general cause, and active only in their domestic quarrels. The +last hope of the emperor was in an English mercenary, John +Hawkwood, ^11 or Acuto, who, with a band of adventurers, the +white brotherhood, had ravaged Italy from the Alps to Calabria; +sold his services to the hostile states; and incurred a just +excommunication by shooting his arrows against the papal +residence. A special license was granted to negotiate with the +outlaw, but the forces, or the spirit, of Hawkwood, were unequal +to the enterprise: and it was for the advantage, perhaps, of +Palæologus to be disappointed of succor, that must have +been costly, that could not be effectual, and which might have +been dangerous. ^12 The disconsolate Greek ^13 prepared for his +return, but even his return was impeded by a most ignominious +obstacle. On his arrival at Venice, he had borrowed large sums at +exorbitant usury; but his coffers were empty, his creditors were +impatient, and his person was detained as the best security for +the payment. His eldest son, Andronicus, the regent of +Constantinople, was repeatedly urged to exhaust every resource; +and even by stripping the churches, to extricate his father from +captivity and disgrace. But the unnatural youth was insensible of +the disgrace, and secretly pleased with the captivity of the +emperor: the state was poor, the clergy were obstinate; nor could +some religious scruple be wanting to excuse the guilt of his +indifference and delay. Such undutiful neglect was severely +reproved by the piety of his brother Manuel, who instantly sold +or mortgaged all that he possessed, embarked for Venice, relieved +his father, and pledged his own freedom to be responsible for the +debt. On his return to Constantinople, the parent and king +distinguished his two sons with suitable rewards; but the faith +and manners of the slothful Palæologus had not been +improved by his Roman pilgrimage; and his apostasy or conversion, +devoid of any spiritual or temporal effects, was speedily +forgotten by the Greeks and Latins. ^14</p> + +<p>[Footnote 8: See the two first original Lives of Urban V., (in +Muratori, Script. Rerum Italicarum, tom. iii. P. ii. p. 623, +635,) and the Ecclesiastical Annals of Spondanus, (tom. i. p. +573, A.D. 1369, No. 7,) and Raynaldus, (Fleury, Hist. +Ecclés. tom. xx. p. 223, 224.) Yet, from some variations, +I suspect the papal writers of slightly magnifying the +genuflections of Palæologus.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 9: Paullo minus quam si fuisset Imperator Romanorum. +Yet his title of Imperator Græcorum was no longer disputed, +(Vit. Urban V. p. 623.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 10: It was confined to the successors of +Charlemagne, and to them only on Christmas-day. On all other +festivals these Imperial deacons were content to serve the pope, +as he said mass, with the book and the +<strong><em>corporale</em></strong>. Yet the abbé de Sade +generously thinks that the merits of Charles IV. might have +entitled him, though not on the proper day, (A.D. 1368, November +1,) to the whole privilege. He seems to affix a just value on the +privilege and the man, (Vie de Petrarque, tom. iii. p. 735.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 11: Through some Italian corruptions, the etymology +of <strong><em>Falcone in bosco</em></strong>, (Matteo Villani, +l. xi. c. 79, in Muratori, tom. xv. p. 746,) suggests the English +word <strong><em>Hawkwood</em></strong>, the true name of our +adventurous countryman, (Thomas Walsingham, Hist. Anglican. inter +Scriptores Camdeni, p. 184.) After two-and-twenty victories, and +one defeat, he died, in 1394, general of the Florentines, and was +buried with such honors as the republic has not paid to Dante or +Petrarch, (Muratori, Annali d'Italia, tom. xii. p. +212--371.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 12: This torrent of English (by birth or service) +overflowed from France into Italy after the peace of Bretigny in +1630. Yet the exclamation of Muratori (Annali, tom. xii. p. 197) +is rather true than civil. "Ci mancava ancor questo, che dopo +essere calpestrata l'Italia da tanti masnadieri Tedeschi ed +Ungheri, venissero fin dall' Inghliterra nuovi +<strong><em>cani</em></strong> a finire di divorarla."]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 13: Chalcondyles, l. i. p. 25, 26. The Greek +supposes his journey to the king of France, which is sufficiently +refuted by the silence of the national historians. Nor am I much +more inclined to believe, that Palæologus departed from +Italy, valde bene consolatus et contentus, (Vit. Urban V. p. +623.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 14: His return in 1370, and the coronation of +Manuel, Sept. 25, 1373, (Ducange, Fam. Byzant. p. 241,) leaves +some intermediate æra for the conspiracy and punishment of +Andronicus.]</p> + +<p>Thirty years after the return of Palæologus, his son and +successor, Manuel, from a similar motive, but on a larger scale, +again visited the countries of the West. In a preceding chapter I +have related his treaty with Bajazet, the violation of that +treaty, the siege or blockade of Constantinople, and the French +succor under the command of the gallant Boucicault. ^15 By his +ambassadors, Manuel had solicited the Latin powers; but it was +thought that the presence of a distressed monarch would draw +tears and supplies from the hardest Barbarians; ^16 and the +marshal who advised the journey prepared the reception of the +Byzantine prince. The land was occupied by the Turks; but the +navigation of Venice was safe and open: Italy received him as the +first, or, at least, as the second, of the Christian princes; +Manuel was pitied as the champion and confessor of the faith; and +the dignity of his behavior prevented that pity from sinking into +contempt. From Venice he proceeded to Padua and Pavia; and even +the duke of Milan, a secret ally of Bajazet, gave him safe and +honorable conduct to the verge of his dominions. ^17 On the +confines of France ^18 the royal officers undertook the care of +his person, journey, and expenses; and two thousand of the +richest citizens, in arms and on horseback, came forth to meet +him as far as Charenton, in the neighborhood of the capital. At +the gates of Paris, he was saluted by the chancellor and the +parliament; and Charles the Sixth, attended by his princes and +nobles, welcomed his brother with a cordial embrace. The +successor of Constantine was clothed in a robe of white silk, and +mounted on a milk-white steed, a circumstance, in the French +ceremonial, of singular importance: the white color is considered +as the symbol of sovereignty; and, in a late visit, the German +emperor, after a haughty demand and a peevish refusal, had been +reduced to content himself with a black courser. Manuel was +lodged in the Louvre; a succession of feasts and balls, the +pleasures of the banquet and the chase, were ingeniously varied +by the politeness of the French, to display their magnificence, +and amuse his grief: he was indulged in the liberty of his +chapel; and the doctors of the Sorbonne were astonished, and +possibly scandalized, by the language, the rites, and the +vestments, of his Greek clergy. But the slightest glance on the +state of the kingdom must teach him to despair of any effectual +assistance. The unfortunate Charles, though he enjoyed some lucid +intervals, continually relapsed into furious or stupid insanity: +the reins of government were alternately seized by his brother +and uncle, the dukes of Orleans and Burgundy, whose factious +competition prepared the miseries of civil war. The former was a +gay youth, dissolved in luxury and love: the latter was the +father of John count of Nevers, who had so lately been ransomed +from Turkish captivity; and, if the fearless son was ardent to +revenge his defeat, the more prudent Burgundy was content with +the cost and peril of the first experiment. When Manuel had +satiated the curiosity, and perhaps fatigued the patience, of the +French, he resolved on a visit to the adjacent island. In his +progress from Dover, he was entertained at Canterbury with due +reverence by the prior and monks of St. Austin; and, on +Blackheath, King Henry the Fourth, with the English court, +saluted the Greek hero, (I copy our old historian,) who, during +many days, was lodged and treated in London as emperor of the +East. ^19 But the state of England was still more adverse to the +design of the holy war. In the same year, the hereditary +sovereign had been deposed and murdered: the reigning prince was +a successful usurper, whose ambition was punished by jealousy and +remorse: nor could Henry of Lancaster withdraw his person or +forces from the defence of a throne incessantly shaken by +conspiracy and rebellion. He pitied, he praised, he feasted, the +emperor of Constantinople; but if the English monarch assumed the +cross, it was only to appease his people, and perhaps his +conscience, by the merit or semblance of his pious intention. ^20 +Satisfied, however, with gifts and honors, Manuel returned to +Paris; and, after a residence of two years in the West, shaped +his course through Germany and Italy, embarked at Venice, and +patiently expected, in the Morea, the moment of his ruin or +deliverance. Yet he had escaped the ignominious necessity of +offering his religion to public or private sale. The Latin church +was distracted by the great schism; the kings, the nations, the +universities, of Europe were divided in their obedience between +the popes of Rome and Avignon; and the emperor, anxious to +conciliate the friendship of both parties, abstained from any +correspondence with the indigent and unpopular rivals. His +journey coincided with the year of the jubilee; but he passed +through Italy without desiring, or deserving, the plenary +indulgence which abolished the guilt or penance of the sins of +the faithful. The Roman pope was offended by this neglect; +accused him of irreverence to an image of Christ; and exhorted +the princes of Italy to reject and abandon the obstinate +schismatic. ^21</p> + +<p>[Footnote 15: Mémoires de Boucicault, P. i. c. 35, +36.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 16: His journey into the west of Europe is slightly, +and I believe reluctantly, noticed by Chalcondyles (l. ii. c. +44--50) and Ducas, (c. 14.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 17: Muratori, Annali d'Italia, tom. xii. p. 406. +John Galeazzo was the first and most powerful duke of Milan. His +connection with Bajazet is attested by Froissard; and he +contributed to save and deliver the French captives of +Nicopolis.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 18: For the reception of Manuel at Paris, see +Spondanus, (Annal. Ecclés. tom. i. p. 676, 677, A.D. 1400, +No. 5,) who quotes Juvenal des Ursins and the monk of St. Denys; +and Villaret, (Hist. de France, tom. xii. p. 331--334,) who +quotes nobody according to the last fashion of the French +writers.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 19: A short note of Manuel in England is extracted +by Dr. Hody from a MS. at Lambeth, (de Græcis illustribus, +p. 14,) C. P. Imperator, diu variisque et horrendis Paganorum +insultibus coarctatus, ut pro eisdem resistentiam triumphalem +perquireret, Anglorum Regem visitare decrevit, &c. Rex (says +Walsingham, p. 364) nobili apparatû . . . suscepit (ut +decuit) tantum Heroa, duxitque Londonias, et per multos dies +exhibuit gloriose, pro expensis hospitii sui solvens, et eum +respiciens tanto fastigio donativis. He repeats the same in his +Upodigma Neustriæ, (p. 556.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 20: Shakspeare begins and ends the play of Henry IV. +with that prince's vow of a crusade, and his belief that he +should die in Jerusalem.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 21: This fact is preserved in the Historia Politica, +A.D. 1391--1478, published by Martin Crusius, (Turco +Græcia, p. 1--43.) The image of Christ, which the Greek +emperor refused to worship, was probably a work of +sculpture.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LXVI: Union Of The Greek And Latin +Churches. -- Part II.</em></strong></p> + +<p>During the period of the crusades, the Greeks beheld with +astonishment and terror the perpetual stream of emigration that +flowed, and continued to flow, from the unknown climates of their +West. The visits of their last emperors removed the veil of +separation, and they disclosed to their eyes the powerful nations +of Europe, whom they no longer presumed to brand with the name of +Barbarians. The observations of Manuel, and his more inquisitive +followers, have been preserved by a Byzantine historian of the +times: ^22 his scattered ideas I shall collect and abridge; and +it may be amusing enough, perhaps instructive, to contemplate the +rude pictures of Germany, France, and England, whose ancient and +modern state are so familiar to <strong><em>our</em></strong> +minds. I. Germany (says the Greek Chalcondyles) is of ample +latitude from Vienna to the ocean; and it stretches (a strange +geography) from Prague in Bohemia to the River Tartessus, and the +Pyrenæan Mountains. ^23 The soil, except in figs and +olives, is sufficiently fruitful; the air is salubrious; the +bodies of the natives are robust and healthy; and these cold +regions are seldom visited with the calamities of pestilence, or +earthquakes. After the Scythians or Tartars, the Germans are the +most numerous of nations: they are brave and patient; and were +they united under a single head, their force would be +irresistible. By the gift of the pope, they have acquired the +privilege of choosing the Roman emperor; ^24 nor is any people +more devoutly attached to the faith and obedience of the Latin +patriarch. The greatest part of the country is divided among the +princes and prelates; but Strasburg, Cologne, Hamburgh, and more +than two hundred free cities, are governed by sage and equal +laws, according to the will, and for the advantage, of the whole +community. The use of duels, or single combats on foot, prevails +among them in peace and war: their industry excels in all the +mechanic arts; and the Germans may boast of the invention of +gunpowder and cannon, which is now diffused over the greatest +part of the world. II. The kingdom of France is spread above +fifteen or twenty days' journey from Germany to Spain, and from +the Alps to the British Ocean; containing many flourishing +cities, and among these Paris, the seat of the king, which +surpasses the rest in riches and luxury. Many princes and lords +alternately wait in his palace, and acknowledge him as their +sovereign: the most powerful are the dukes of Bretagne and +Burgundy; of whom the latter possesses the wealthy province of +Flanders, whose harbors are frequented by the ships and merchants +of our own, and the more remote, seas. The French are an ancient +and opulent people; and their language and manners, though +somewhat different, are not dissimilar from those of the +Italians. Vain of the Imperial dignity of Charlemagne, of their +victories over the Saracens, and of the exploits of their heroes, +Oliver and Rowland, ^25 they esteem themselves the first of the +western nations; but this foolish arrogance has been recently +humbled by the unfortunate events of their wars against the +English, the inhabitants of the British island. III. Britain, in +the ocean, and opposite to the shores of Flanders, may be +considered either as one, or as three islands; but the whole is +united by a common interest, by the same manners, and by a +similar government. The measure of its circumference is five +thousand stadia: the land is overspread with towns and villages: +though destitute of wine, and not abounding in fruit-trees, it is +fertile in wheat and barley; in honey and wool; and much cloth is +manufactured by the inhabitants. In populousness and power, in +richness and luxury, London, ^26 the metropolis of the isle, may +claim a preeminence over all the cities of the West. It is +situate on the Thames, a broad and rapid river, which at the +distance of thirty miles falls into the Gallic Sea; and the daily +flow and ebb of the tide affords a safe entrance and departure to +the vessels of commerce. The king is head of a powerful and +turbulent aristocracy: his principal vassals hold their estates +by a free and unalterable tenure; and the laws define the limits +of his authority and their obedience. The kingdom has been often +afflicted by foreign conquest and domestic sedition: but the +natives are bold and hardy, renowned in arms and victorious in +war. The form of their shields or targets is derived from the +Italians, that of their swords from the Greeks; the use of the +long bow is the peculiar and decisive advantage of the English. +Their language bears no affinity to the idioms of the Continent: +in the habits of domestic life, they are not easily distinguished +from their neighbors of France: but the most singular +circumstance of their manners is their disregard of conjugal +honor and of female chastity. In their mutual visits, as the +first act of hospitality, the guest is welcomed in the embraces +of their wives and daughters: among friends they are lent and +borrowed without shame; nor are the islanders offended at this +strange commerce, and its inevitable consequences. ^27 Informed +as we are of the customs of Old England and assured of the virtue +of our mothers, we may smile at the credulity, or resent the +injustice, of the Greek, who must have confounded a modest salute +^28 with a criminal embrace. But his credulity and injustice may +teach an important lesson; to distrust the accounts of foreign +and remote nations, and to suspend our belief of every tale that +deviates from the laws of nature and the character of man. +^29</p> + +<p>[Footnote 22: The Greek and Turkish history of Laonicus +Chalcondyles ends with the winter of 1463; and the abrupt +conclusion seems to mark, that he laid down his pen in the same +year. We know that he was an Athenian, and that some +contemporaries of the same name contributed to the revival of the +Greek language in Italy. But in his numerous digressions, the +modest historian has never introduced himself; and his editor +Leunclavius, as well as Fabricius, (Bibliot. Græc. tom. vi. +p. 474,) seems ignorant of his life and character. For his +descriptions of Germany, France, and England, see l. ii. p. 36, +37, 44--50.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 23: I shall not animadvert on the geographical +errors of Chalcondyles. In this instance, he perhaps followed, +and mistook, Herodotus, (l. ii. c. 33,) whose text may be +explained, (Herodote de Larcher, tom. ii. p. 219, 220,) or whose +ignorance may be excused. Had these modern Greeks never read +Strabo, or any of their lesser geographers?]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 24: A citizen of new Rome, while new Rome survived, +would have scorned to dignify the German 'Rhx with titles of +BasileuV or Autokratwr 'Rwmaiwn: but all pride was extinct in the +bosom of Chalcondyles; and he describes the Byzantine prince, and +his subject, by the proper, though humble, names of ''EllhneV and +BasileuV 'Ellhnwn.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 25: Most of the old romances were translated in the +xivth century into French prose, and soon became the favorite +amusement of the knights and ladies in the court of Charles VI. +If a Greek believed in the exploits of Rowland and Oliver, he may +surely be excused, since the monks of St. Denys, the national +historians, have inserted the fables of Archbishop Turpin in +their Chronicles of France.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 26: Londinh . . . . de te poliV dunamei te proecousa +tvn en th nhsw tauth pasvn polewn, olbw te kai th allh eudaimonia +oudemiaV tvn peoV esperan leipomenh. Even since the time of +Fitzstephen, (the xiith century,) London appears to have +maintained this preeminence of wealth and magnitude; and her +gradual increase has, at least, kept pace with the general +improvement of Europe.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 27: If the double sense of the verb Kuw (osculor, +and in utero gero) be equivocal, the context and pious horror of +Chalcondyles can leave no doubt of his meaning and mistake, (p. +49.) *</p> + +<p>Note: * I can discover no "pious horror" in the plain manner +in which Chalcondyles relates this strange usage. He says, oude +aiscunun tovto feoei eautoiV kuesqai taV te gunaikaV autvn kai +taV qugateraV, yet these are expression beyond what would be +used, if the ambiguous word kuesqai were taken in its more +innocent sense. Nor can the phrase parecontai taV eautvn gunaikaV +en toiV epithdeioiV well bear a less coarse interpretation. +Gibbon is possibly right as to the origin of this extraordinary +mistake. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 28: Erasmus (Epist. Fausto Andrelino) has a pretty +passage on the English fashion of kissing strangers on their +arrival and departure, from whence, however, he draws no +scandalous inferences.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 29: Perhaps we may apply this remark to the +community of wives among the old Britons, as it is supposed by +Cæsar and Dion, (Dion Cassius, l. lxii. tom. ii. p. 1007,) +with Reimar's judicious annotation. The +<strong><em>Arreoy</em></strong> of Otaheite, so certain at +first, is become less visible and scandalous, in proportion as we +have studied the manners of that gentle and amorous people.]</p> + +<p>After his return, and the victory of Timour, Manuel reigned +many years in prosperity and peace. As long as the sons of +Bajazet solicited his friendship and spared his dominions, he was +satisfied with the national religion; and his leisure was +employed in composing twenty theological dialogues for its +defence. The appearance of the Byzantine ambassadors at the +council of Constance, ^30 announces the restoration of the +Turkish power, as well as of the Latin church: the conquest of +the sultans, Mahomet and Amurath, reconciled the emperor to the +Vatican; and the siege of Constantinople almost tempted him to +acquiesce in the double procession of the Holy Ghost. When Martin +the Fifth ascended without a rival the chair of St. Peter, a +friendly intercourse of letters and embassies was revived between +the East and West. Ambition on one side, and distress on the +other, dictated the same decent language of charity and peace: +the artful Greek expressed a desire of marrying his six sons to +Italian princesses; and the Roman, not less artful, despatched +the daughter of the marquis of Montferrat, with a company of +noble virgins, to soften, by their charms, the obstinacy of the +schismatics. Yet under this mask of zeal, a discerning eye will +perceive that all was hollow and insincere in the court and +church of Constantinople. According to the vicissitudes of danger +and repose, the emperor advanced or retreated; alternately +instructed and disavowed his ministers; and escaped from the +importunate pressure by urging the duty of inquiry, the +obligation of collecting the sense of his patriarchs and bishops, +and the impossibility of convening them at a time when the +Turkish arms were at the gates of his capital. From a review of +the public transactions it will appear that the Greeks insisted +on three successive measures, a succor, a council, and a final +reunion, while the Latins eluded the second, and only promised +the first, as a consequential and voluntary reward of the third. +But we have an opportunity of unfolding the most secret +intentions of Manuel, as he explained them in a private +conversation without artifice or disguise. In his declining age, +the emperor had associated John Palæologus, the second of +the name, and the eldest of his sons, on whom he devolved the +greatest part of the authority and weight of government. One day, +in the presence only of the historian Phranza, ^31 his favorite +chamberlain, he opened to his colleague and successor the true +principle of his negotiations with the pope. ^32 "Our last +resource," said Manuel, against the Turks, "is their fear of our +union with the Latins, of the warlike nations of the West, who +may arm for our relief and for their destruction. As often as you +are threatened by the miscreants, present this danger before +their eyes. Propose a council; consult on the means; but ever +delay and avoid the convocation of an assembly, which cannot tend +either to our spiritual or temporal emolument. The Latins are +proud; the Greeks are obstinate; neither party will recede or +retract; and the attempt of a perfect union will confirm the +schism, alienate the churches, and leave us, without hope or +defence, at the mercy of the Barbarians." Impatient of this +salutary lesson, the royal youth arose from his seat, and +departed in silence; and the wise monarch (continued Phranza) +casting his eyes on me, thus resumed his discourse: "My son deems +himself a great and heroic prince; but, alas! our miserable age +does not afford scope for heroism or greatness. His daring spirit +might have suited the happier times of our ancestors; but the +present state requires not an emperor, but a cautious steward of +the last relics of our fortunes. Well do I remember the lofty +expectations which he built on our alliance with Mustapha; and +much do I fear, that this rash courage will urge the ruin of our +house, and that even religion may precipitate our downfall." Yet +the experience and authority of Manuel preserved the peace, and +eluded the council; till, in the seventy-eighth year of his age, +and in the habit of a monk, he terminated his career, dividing +his precious movables among his children and the poor, his +physicians and his favorite servants. Of his six sons, ^33 +Andronicus the Second was invested with the principality of +Thessalonica, and died of a leprosy soon after the sale of that +city to the Venetians and its final conquest by the Turks. Some +fortunate incidents had restored Peloponnesus, or the Morea, to +the empire; and in his more prosperous days, Manuel had fortified +the narrow isthmus of six miles ^34 with a stone wall and one +hundred and fifty-three towers. The wall was overthrown by the +first blast of the Ottomans; the fertile peninsula might have +been sufficient for the four younger brothers, Theodore and +Constantine, Demetrius and Thomas; but they wasted in domestic +contests the remains of their strength; and the least successful +of the rivals were reduced to a life of dependence in the +Byzantine palace.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 30: See Lenfant, Hist. du Concile de Constance, tom. +ii. p. 576; and or the ecclesiastical history of the times, the +Annals of Spondanus the Bibliothèque of Dupin, tom. xii., +and xxist and xxiid volumes of the History, or rather the +Continuation, of Fleury.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 31: From his early youth, George Phranza, or +Phranzes, was employed in the service of the state and palace; +and Hanckius (de Script. Byzant. P. i. c. 40) has collected his +life from his own writings. He was no more than four-and-twenty +years of age at the death of Manuel, who recommended him in the +strongest terms to his successor: Imprimis vero hunc Phranzen +tibi commendo, qui ministravit mihi fideliter et diligenter +(Phranzes, l. ii. c. i.) Yet the emperor John was cold, and he +preferred the service of the despots of Peloponnesus.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 32: See Phranzes, l. ii. c. 13. While so many +manuscripts of the Greek original are extant in the libraries of +Rome, Milan, the Escurial, &c., it is a matter of shame and +reproach, that we should be reduced to the Latin version, or +abstract, of James Pontanus, (ad calcem Theophylact, +Simocattæ: Ingolstadt, 1604,) so deficient in accuracy and +elegance, (Fabric. Bibliot. Græc. tom. vi. p. 615--620.) +*</p> + +<p>Note: * The Greek text of Phranzes was edited by F. C. Alter +Vindobonæ, 1796. It has been re-edited by Bekker for the +new edition of the Byzantines, Bonn, 1838. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 33: See Ducange, Fam. Byzant. p. 243--248.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 34: The exact measure of the Hexamilion, from sea to +sea, was 3800 orgyiæ, or <strong><em>toises</em></strong>, +of six Greek feet, (Phranzes, l. i. c. 38,) which would produce a +Greek mile, still smaller than that of 660 French +<strong><em>toises</em></strong>, which is assigned by D'Anville, +as still in use in Turkey. Five miles are commonly reckoned for +the breadth of the isthmus. See the Travels of Spon, Wheeler and +Chandler.]</p> + +<p>The eldest of the sons of Manuel, John Palæologus the +Second, was acknowledged, after his father's death, as the sole +emperor of the Greeks. He immediately proceeded to repudiate his +wife, and to contract a new marriage with the princess of +Trebizond: beauty was in his eyes the first qualification of an +empress; and the clergy had yielded to his firm assurance, that +unless he might be indulged in a divorce, he would retire to a +cloister, and leave the throne to his brother Constantine. The +first, and in truth the only, victory of Palæologus, was +over a Jew, ^35 whom, after a long and learned dispute, he +converted to the Christian faith; and this momentous conquest is +carefully recorded in the history of the times. But he soon +resumed the design of uniting the East and West; and, regardless +of his father's advice, listened, as it should seem with +sincerity, to the proposal of meeting the pope in a general +council beyond the Adriatic. This dangerous project was +encouraged by Martin the Fifth, and coldly entertained by his +successor Eugenius, till, after a tedious negotiation, the +emperor received a summons from the Latin assembly of a new +character, the independent prelates of Basil, who styled +themselves the representatives and judges of the Catholic +church.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 35: The first objection of the Jews is on the death +of Christ: if it were voluntary, Christ was a suicide; which the +emperor parries with a mystery. They then dispute on the +conception of the Virgin, the sense of the prophecies, &c., +(Phranzes, l. ii. c. 12, a whole chapter.)]</p> + +<p>The Roman pontiff had fought and conquered in the cause of +ecclesiastical freedom; but the victorious clergy were soon +exposed to the tyranny of their deliverer; and his sacred +character was invulnerable to those arms which they found so keen +and effectual against the civil magistrate. Their great charter, +the right of election, was annihilated by appeals, evaded by +trusts or commendams, disappointed by reversionary grants, and +superseded by previous and arbitrary reservations. ^36 A public +auction was instituted in the court of Rome: the cardinals and +favorites were enriched with the spoils of nations; and every +country might complain that the most important and valuable +benefices were accumulated on the heads of aliens and absentees. +During their residence at Avignon, the ambition of the popes +subsided in the meaner passions of avarice ^37 and luxury: they +rigorously imposed on the clergy the tributes of first-fruits and +tenths; but they freely tolerated the impunity of vice, disorder, +and corruption. These manifold scandals were aggravated by the +great schism of the West, which continued above fifty years. In +the furious conflicts of Rome and Avignon, the vices of the +rivals were mutually exposed; and their precarious situation +degraded their authority, relaxed their discipline, and +multiplied their wants and exactions. To heal the wounds, and +restore the monarchy, of the church, the synods of Pisa and +Constance ^38 were successively convened; but these great +assemblies, conscious of their strength, resolved to vindicate +the privileges of the Christian aristocracy. From a personal +sentence against two pontiffs, whom they rejected, and a third, +their acknowledged sovereign, whom they deposed, the fathers of +Constance proceeded to examine the nature and limits of the Roman +supremacy; nor did they separate till they had established the +authority, above the pope, of a general council. It was enacted, +that, for the government and reformation of the church, such +assemblies should be held at regular intervals; and that each +synod, before its dissolution, should appoint the time and place +of the subsequent meeting. By the influence of the court of Rome, +the next convocation at Sienna was easily eluded; but the bold +and vigorous proceedings of the council of Basil ^39 had almost +been fatal to the reigning pontiff, Eugenius the Fourth. A just +suspicion of his design prompted the fathers to hasten the +promulgation of their first decree, that the representatives of +the church-militant on earth were invested with a divine and +spiritual jurisdiction over all Christians, without excepting the +pope; and that a general council could not be dissolved, +prorogued, or transferred, unless by their free deliberation and +consent. On the notice that Eugenius had fulminated a bull for +that purpose, they ventured to summon, to admonish, to threaten, +to censure the contumacious successor of St. Peter. After many +delays, to allow time for repentance, they finally declared, +that, unless he submitted within the term of sixty days, he was +suspended from the exercise of all temporal and ecclesiastical +authority. And to mark their jurisdiction over the prince as well +as the priest, they assumed the government of Avignon, annulled +the alienation of the sacred patrimony, and protected Rome from +the imposition of new taxes. Their boldness was justified, not +only by the general opinion of the clergy, but by the support and +power of the first monarchs of Christendom: the emperor Sigismond +declared himself the servant and protector of the synod; Germany +and France adhered to their cause; the duke of Milan was the +enemy of Eugenius; and he was driven from the Vatican by an +insurrection of the Roman people. Rejected at the same time by +temporal and spiritual subjects, submission was his only choice: +by a most humiliating bull, the pope repealed his own acts, and +ratified those of the council; incorporated his legates and +cardinals with that venerable body; and +<strong><em>seemed</em></strong> to resign himself to the decrees +of the supreme legislature. Their fame pervaded the countries of +the East: and it was in their presence that Sigismond received +the ambassadors of the Turkish sultan, ^40 who laid at his feet +twelve large vases, filled with robes of silk and pieces of gold. +The fathers of Basil aspired to the glory of reducing the Greeks, +as well as the Bohemians, within the pale of the church; and +their deputies invited the emperor and patriarch of +Constantinople to unite with an assembly which possessed the +confidence of the Western nations. Palæologus was not +averse to the proposal; and his ambassadors were introduced with +due honors into the Catholic senate. But the choice of the place +appeared to be an insuperable obstacle, since he refused to pass +the Alps, or the sea of Sicily, and positively required that the +synod should be adjourned to some convenient city in Italy, or at +least on the Danube. The other articles of this treaty were more +readily stipulated: it was agreed to defray the travelling +expenses of the emperor, with a train of seven hundred persons, +^41 to remit an immediate sum of eight thousand ducats ^42 for +the accommodation of the Greek clergy; and in his absence to +grant a supply of ten thousand ducats, with three hundred archers +and some galleys, for the protection of Constantinople. The city +of Avignon advanced the funds for the preliminary expenses; and +the embarkation was prepared at Marseilles with some difficulty +and delay.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 36: In the treatise delle Materie Beneficiarie of +Fra Paolo, (in the ivth volume of the last, and best, edition of +his works,) the papal system is deeply studied and freely +described. Should Rome and her religion be annihilated, this +golden volume may still survive, a philosophical history, and a +salutary warning.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 37: Pope John XXII. (in 1334) left behind him, at +Avignon, eighteen millions of gold florins, and the value of +seven millions more in plate and jewels. See the Chronicle of +John Villani, (l. xi. c. 20, in Muratori's Collection, tom. xiii. +p. 765,) whose brother received the account from the papal +treasurers. A treasure of six or eight millions sterling in the +xivth century is enormous, and almost incredible.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 38: A learned and liberal Protestant, M. Lenfant, +has given a fair history of the councils of Pisa, Constance, and +Basil, in six volumes in quarto; but the last part is the most +hasty and imperfect, except in the account of the troubles of +Bohemia.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 39: The original acts or minutes of the council of +Basil are preserved in the public library, in twelve volumes in +folio. Basil was a free city, conveniently situate on the Rhine, +and guarded by the arms of the neighboring and confederate Swiss. +In 1459, the university was founded by Pope Pius II., +(Æneas Sylvius,) who had been secretary to the council. But +what is a council, or a university, to the presses o Froben and +the studies of Erasmus?]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 40: This Turkish embassy, attested only by +Crantzius, is related with some doubt by the annalist Spondanus, +A.D. 1433, No. 25, tom. i. p. 824.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 41: Syropulus, p. 19. In this list, the Greeks +appear to have exceeded the real numbers of the clergy and laity +which afterwards attended the emperor and patriarch, but which +are not clearly specified by the great ecclesiarch. The 75,000 +florins which they asked in this negotiation of the pope, (p. 9,) +were more than they could hope or want.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 42: I use indifferently the words +<strong><em>ducat</em></strong> and +<strong><em>florin</em></strong>, which derive their names, the +former from the <strong><em>dukes</em></strong> of Milan, the +latter from the republic of <strong><em>Florence</em></strong>. +These gold pieces, the first that were coined in Italy, perhaps +in the Latin world, may be compared in weight and value to one +third of the English guinea.]</p> + +<p>In his distress, the friendship of Palæologus was +disputed by the ecclesiastical powers of the West; but the +dexterous activity of a monarch prevailed over the slow debates +and inflexible temper of a republic. The decrees of Basil +continually tended to circumscribe the despotism of the pope, and +to erect a supreme and perpetual tribunal in the church. Eugenius +was impatient of the yoke; and the union of the Greeks might +afford a decent pretence for translating a rebellious synod from +the Rhine to the Po. The independence of the fathers was lost if +they passed the Alps: Savoy or Avignon, to which they acceded +with reluctance, were described at Constantinople as situate far +beyond the pillars of Hercules; ^43 the emperor and his clergy +were apprehensive of the dangers of a long navigation; they were +offended by a haughty declaration, that after suppressing the +<strong><em>new</em></strong> heresy of the Bohemians, the +council would soon eradicate the <strong><em>old</em></strong> +heresy of the Greeks. ^44 On the side of Eugenius, all was +smooth, and yielding, and respectful; and he invited the +Byzantine monarch to heal by his presence the schism of the +Latin, as well as of the Eastern, church. Ferrara, near the coast +of the Adriatic, was proposed for their amicable interview; and +with some indulgence of forgery and theft, a surreptitious decree +was procured, which transferred the synod, with its own consent, +to that Italian city. Nine galleys were equipped for the service +at Venice, and in the Isle of Candia; their diligence anticipated +the slower vessels of Basil: the Roman admiral was commissioned +to burn, sink, and destroy; ^45 and these priestly squadrons +might have encountered each other in the same seas where Athens +and Sparta had formerly contended for the preeminence of glory. +Assaulted by the importunity of the factions, who were ready to +fight for the possession of his person, Palæologus +hesitated before he left his palace and country on a perilous +experiment. His father's advice still dwelt on his memory; and +reason must suggest, that since the Latins were divided among +themselves, they could never unite in a foreign cause. Sigismond +dissuaded the unreasonable adventure; his advice was impartial, +since he adhered to the council; and it was enforced by the +strange belief, that the German Cæsar would nominate a +Greek his heir and successor in the empire of the West. ^46 Even +the Turkish sultan was a counsellor whom it might be unsafe to +trust, but whom it was dangerous to offend. Amurath was unskilled +in the disputes, but he was apprehensive of the union, of the +Christians. From his own treasures, he offered to relieve the +wants of the Byzantine court; yet he declared with seeming +magnanimity, that Constantinople should be secure and inviolate, +in the absence of her sovereign. ^47 The resolution of +Palæologus was decided by the most splendid gifts and the +most specious promises: he wished to escape for a while from a +scene of danger and distress and after dismissing with an +ambiguous answer the messengers of the council, he declared his +intention of embarking in the Roman galleys. The age of the +patriarch Joseph was more susceptible of fear than of hope; he +trembled at the perils of the sea, and expressed his +apprehension, that his feeble voice, with thirty perhaps of his +orthodox brethren, would be oppressed in a foreign land by the +power and numbers of a Latin synod. He yielded to the royal +mandate, to the flattering assurance, that he would be heard as +the oracle of nations, and to the secret wish of learning from +his brother of the West, to deliver the church from the yoke of +kings. ^48 The five <strong><em>cross-bearers</em></strong>, or +dignitaries, of St. Sophia, were bound to attend his person; and +one of these, the great ecclesiarch or preacher, Sylvester +Syropulus, ^49 has composed a free and curious history ^50 of the +<strong><em>false</em></strong> union. ^51 Of the clergy that +reluctantly obeyed the summons of the emperor and the patriarch, +submission was the first duty, and patience the most useful +virtue. In a chosen list of twenty bishops, we discover the +metropolitan titles of Heracleæ and Cyzicus, Nice and +Nicomedia, Ephesus and Trebizond, and the personal merit of Mark +and Bessarion who, in the confidence of their learning and +eloquence, were promoted to the episcopal rank. Some monks and +philosophers were named to display the science and sanctity of +the Greek church; and the service of the choir was performed by a +select band of singers and musicians. The patriarchs of +Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, appeared by their genuine or +fictitious deputies; the primate of Russia represented a national +church, and the Greeks might contend with the Latins in the +extent of their spiritual empire. The precious vases of St. +Sophia were exposed to the winds and waves, that the patriarch +might officiate with becoming splendor: whatever gold the emperor +could procure, was expended in the massy ornaments of his bed and +chariot; ^52 and while they affected to maintain the prosperity +of their ancient fortune, they quarrelled for the division of +fifteen thousand ducats, the first alms of the Roman pontiff. +After the necessary preparations, John Palæologus, with a +numerous train, accompanied by his brother Demetrius, and the +most respectable persons of the church and state, embarked in +eight vessels with sails and oars which steered through the +Turkish Straits of Gallipoli to the Archipelago, the Morea, and +the Adriatic Gulf. ^53</p> + +<p>[Footnote 43: At the end of the Latin version of Phranzes, we +read a long Greek epistle or declamation of George of Trebizond, +who advises the emperor to prefer Eugenius and Italy. He treats +with contempt the schismatic assembly of Basil, the Barbarians of +Gaul and Germany, who had conspired to transport the chair of St. +Peter beyond the Alps; oi aqlioi (says he) se kai thn meta sou +sunodon exw tvn 'Hrakleiwn sthlwn kai pera Gadhrwn exaxousi. Was +Constantinople unprovided with a map?]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 44: Syropulus (p. 26--31) attests his own +indignation, and that of his countrymen; and the Basil deputies, +who excused the rash declaration, could neither deny nor alter an +act of the council.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 45: Condolmieri, the pope's nephew and admiral, +expressly declared, oti orismon eceipara tou Papa ina polemhsh +opou an eurh ta katerga thV Sunodou, kai ei dunhqh, katadush, kai +ajanish. The naval orders of the synod were less peremptory, and, +till the hostile squadrons appeared, both parties tried to +conceal their quarrel from the Greeks.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 46: Syropulus mentions the hopes of +Palæologus, (p. 36,) and the last advice of Sigismond,(p. +57.) At Corfu, the Greek emperor was informed of his friend's +death; had he known it sooner, he would have returned home,(p. +79.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 47: Phranzes himself, though from different motives, +was of the advice of Amurath, (l. ii. c. 13.) Utinam ne synodus +ista unquam fuisset, si tantes offensiones et detrimenta paritura +erat. This Turkish embassy is likewise mentioned by Syropulus, +(p. 58;) and Amurath kept his word. He might threaten, (p. 125, +219,) but he never attacked, the city.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 48: The reader will smile at the simplicity with +which he imparted these hopes to his favorites: toiauthn +plhrojorian schsein hlpize kai dia tou Papa eqarrei eleuqervdai +thn ekklhsian apo thV apoteqeishV autou douleiaV para tou +basilewV, (p. 92.) Yet it would have been difficult for him to +have practised the lessons of Gregory VII.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 49: The Christian name of Sylvester is borrowed from +the Latin calendar. In modern Greek, pouloV, as a diminutive, is +added to the end of words: nor can any reasoning of Creyghton, +the editor, excuse his changing into +S<strong><em>gur</em></strong>opulus, (Sguros, fuscus,) the +Syropulus of his own manuscript, whose name is subscribed with +his own hand in the acts of the council of Florence. Why might +not the author be of Syrian extraction?]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 50: From the conclusion of the history, I should fix +the date to the year 1444, four years after the synod, when great +ecclesiarch had abdicated his office, (section xii. p. 330--350.) +His passions were cooled by time and retirement; and, although +Syropulus is often partial, he is never intemperate.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 51: <strong><em>Vera historia unionis non ver inter +Græcos et Latinos</em></strong>, (<strong><em>Haga +Comitis</em></strong>, 1660, in folio,) was first published with +a loose and florid version, by Robert Creyghton, chaplain to +Charles II. in his exile. The zeal of the editor has prefixed a +polemic title, for the beginning of the original is wanting. +Syropulus may be ranked with the best of the Byzantine writers +for the merit of his narration, and even of his style; but he is +excluded from the orthodox collections of the councils.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 52: Syropulus (p. 63) simply expresses his intention +in' outw pompawn en' 'ItaloiV megaV basileuV par ekeinvn +nomizoito; and the Latin of Creyghton may afford a specimen of +his florid paraphrase. Ut pompâ circumductus noster +Imperator Italiæ populis aliquis deauratus Jupiter +crederetur, aut Crsus ex opulenta Lydia.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 53: Although I cannot stop to quote Syropulus for +every fact, I will observe that the navigation of the Greeks from +Constantinople to Venice and Ferrara is contained in the ivth +section, (p. 67--100,) and that the historian has the uncommon +talent of placing each scene before the reader's eye.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LXVI: Union Of The Greek And Latin +Churches. -- Part III.</em></strong></p> + +<p>After a tedious and troublesome navigation of seventy-seven +days, this religious squadron cast anchor before Venice; and +their reception proclaimed the joy and magnificence of that +powerful republic. In the command of the world, the modest +Augustus had never claimed such honors from his subjects as were +paid to his feeble successor by an independent state. Seated on +the poop on a lofty throne, he received the visit, or, in the +Greek style, the <strong><em>adoration</em></strong> of the doge +and senators. ^54 They sailed in the Bucentaur, which was +accompanied by twelve stately galleys: the sea was overspread +with innumerable gondolas of pomp and pleasure; the air resounded +with music and acclamations; the mariners, and even the vessels, +were dressed in silk and gold; and in all the emblems and +pageants, the Roman eagles were blended with the lions of St. +Mark. The triumphal procession, ascending the great canal, passed +under the bridge of the Rialto; and the Eastern strangers gazed +with admiration on the palaces, the churches, and the +populousness of a city, that seems to float on the bosom of the +waves. ^55 They sighed to behold the spoils and trophies with +which it had been decorated after the sack of Constantinople. +After a hospitable entertainment of fifteen days, +Palæologus pursued his journey by land and water from +Venice to Ferrara; and on this occasion the pride of the Vatican +was tempered by policy to indulge the ancient dignity of the +emperor of the East. He made his entry on a +<strong><em>black</em></strong> horse; but a milk-white steed, +whose trappings were embroidered with golden eagles, was led +before him; and the canopy was borne over his head by the princes +of Este, the sons or kinsmen of Nicholas, marquis of the city, +and a sovereign more powerful than himself. ^56 Palæologus +did not alight till he reached the bottom of the staircase: the +pope advanced to the door of the apartment; refused his proffered +genuflection; and, after a paternal embrace, conducted the +emperor to a seat on his left hand. Nor would the patriarch +descend from his galley, till a ceremony almost equal, had been +stipulated between the bishops of Rome and Constantinople. The +latter was saluted by his brother with a kiss of union and +charity; nor would any of the Greek ecclesiastics submit to kiss +the feet of the Western primate. On the opening of the synod, the +place of honor in the centre was claimed by the temporal and +ecclesiastical chiefs; and it was only by alleging that his +predecessors had not assisted in person at Nice or Chalcedon, +that Eugenius could evade the ancient precedents of Constantine +and Marcian. After much debate, it was agreed that the right and +left sides of the church should be occupied by the two nations; +that the solitary chair of St. Peter should be raised the first +of the Latin line; and that the throne of the Greek emperor, at +the head of his clergy, should be equal and opposite to the +second place, the vacant seat of the emperor of the West. ^57</p> + +<p>[Footnote 54: At the time of the synod, Phranzes was in +Peloponnesus: but he received from the despot Demetrius a +faithful account of the honorable reception of the emperor and +patriarch both at Venice and Ferrara, (Dux . . . . sedentem +Imperatorem <strong><em>adorat</em></strong>,) which are more +slightly mentioned by the Latins, (l. ii. c. 14, 15, 16.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 55: The astonishment of a Greek prince and a French +ambassador (Mémoires de Philippe de Comines, l. vii. c. +18,) at the sight of Venice, abundantly proves that in the xvth +century it was the first and most splendid of the Christian +cities. For the spoils of Constantinople at Venice, see +Syropulus, (p. 87.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 56: Nicholas III. of Este reigned forty-eight years, +(A.D. 1393--1441,) and was lord of Ferrara, Modena, Reggio, +Parma, Rovigo, and Commachio. See his Life in Muratori, +(Antichità Estense, tom. ii. p. 159--201.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 57: The Latin vulgar was provoked to laughter at the +strange dresses of the Greeks, and especially the length of their +garments, their sleeves, and their beards; nor was the emperor +distinguished, except by the purple color, and his diadem or +tiara, with a jewel on the top, (Hody de Græcis +Illustribus, p. 31.) Yet another spectator confesses that the +Greek fashion was piu grave e piu degna than the Italian. +(Vespasiano in Vit. Eugen. IV. in Muratori, tom. xxv. p. +261.)]</p> + +<p>But as soon as festivity and form had given place to a more +serious treaty, the Greeks were dissatisfied with their journey, +with themselves, and with the pope. The artful pencil of his +emissaries had painted him in a prosperous state; at the head of +the princes and prelates of Europe, obedient at his voice, to +believe and to arm. The thin appearance of the universal synod of +Ferrara betrayed his weakness: and the Latins opened the first +session with only five archbishops, eighteen bishops, and ten +abbots, the greatest part of whom were the subjects or countrymen +of the Italian pontiff. Except the duke of Burgundy, none of the +potentates of the West condescended to appear in person, or by +their ambassadors; nor was it possible to suppress the judicial +acts of Basil against the dignity and person of Eugenius, which +were finally concluded by a new election. Under these +circumstances, a truce or delay was asked and granted, till +Palæologus could expect from the consent of the Latins some +temporal reward for an unpopular union; and after the first +session, the public proceedings were adjourned above six months. +The emperor, with a chosen band of his favorites and +<strong><em>Janizaries</em></strong>, fixed his summer residence +at a pleasant, spacious monastery, six miles from Ferrara; +forgot, in the pleasures of the chase, the distress of the church +and state; and persisted in destroying the game, without +listening to the just complaints of the marquis or the +husbandman. ^58 In the mean while, his unfortunate Greeks were +exposed to all the miseries of exile and poverty; for the support +of each stranger, a monthly allowance was assigned of three or +four gold florins; and although the entire sum did not amount to +seven hundred florins, a long arrear was repeatedly incurred by +the indigence or policy of the Roman court. ^59 They sighed for a +speedy deliverance, but their escape was prevented by a triple +chain: a passport from their superiors was required at the gates +of Ferrara; the government of Venice had engaged to arrest and +send back the fugitives; and inevitable punishment awaited them +at Constantinople; excommunication, fines, and a sentence, which +did not respect the sacerdotal dignity, that they should be +stripped naked and publicly whipped. ^60 It was only by the +alternative of hunger or dispute that the Greeks could be +persuaded to open the first conference; and they yielded with +extreme reluctance to attend from Ferrara to Florence the rear of +a flying synod. This new translation was urged by inevitable +necessity: the city was visited by the plague; the fidelity of +the marquis might be suspected; the mercenary troops of the duke +of Milan were at the gates; and as they occupied Romagna, it was +not without difficulty and danger that the pope, the emperor, and +the bishops, explored their way through the unfrequented paths of +the Apennine. ^61</p> + +<p>[Footnote 58: For the emperor's hunting, see Syropulus, (p. +143, 144, 191.) The pope had sent him eleven miserable hacks; but +he bought a strong and swift horse that came from Russia. The +name of <strong><em>Janizaries</em></strong> may surprise; but +the name, rather than the institution, had passed from the +Ottoman, to the Byzantine, court, and is often used in the last +age of the empire.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 59: The Greeks obtained, with much difficulty, that +instead of provisions, money should be distributed, four florins +<strong><em>per</em></strong> month to the persons of honorable +rank, and three florins to their servants, with an addition of +thirty more to the emperor, twenty-five to the patriarch, and +twenty to the prince, or despot, Demetrius. The payment of the +first month amounted to 691 florins, a sum which will not allow +us to reckon above 200 Greeks of every condition. (Syropulus, p. +104, 105.) On the 20th October, 1438, there was an arrear of four +months; in April, 1439, of three; and of five and a half in July, +at the time of the union, (p. 172, 225, 271.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 60: Syropulus (p. 141, 142, 204, 221) deplores the +imprisonment of the Greeks, and the tyranny of the emperor and +patriarch.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 61: The wars of Italy are most clearly represented +in the xiiith vol. of the Annals of Muratori. The schismatic +Greek, Syropulus, (p. 145,) appears to have exaggerated the fear +and disorder of the pope in his retreat from Ferrara to Florence, +which is proved by the acts to have been somewhat more decent and +deliberate.]</p> + +<p>Yet all these obstacles were surmounted by time and policy. +The violence of the fathers of Basil rather promoted than injured +the cause of Eugenius; the nations of Europe abhorred the schism, +and disowned the election, of Felix the Fifth, who was +successively a duke of Savoy, a hermit, and a pope; and the great +princes were gradually reclaimed by his competitor to a favorable +neutrality and a firm attachment. The legates, with some +respectable members, deserted to the Roman army, which insensibly +rose in numbers and reputation; the council of Basil was reduced +to thirty-nine bishops, and three hundred of the inferior clergy; +^62 while the Latins of Florence could produce the subscriptions +of the pope himself, eight cardinals, two patriarchs, eight +archbishops, fifty two bishops, and forty-five abbots, or chiefs +of religious orders. After the labor of nine months, and the +debates of twenty-five sessions, they attained the advantage and +glory of the reunion of the Greeks. Four principal questions had +been agitated between the two churches; <strong>1.</strong> The +use of unleavened bread in the communion of Christ's body. +<strong>2.</strong> The nature of purgatory. <strong>3.</strong> +The supremacy of the pope. And, <strong>4.</strong> The single or +double procession of the Holy Ghost. The cause of either nation +was managed by ten theological champions: the Latins were +supported by the inexhaustible eloquence of Cardinal Julian; and +Mark of Ephesus and Bessarion of Nice were the bold and able +leaders of the Greek forces. We may bestow some praise on the +progress of human reason, by observing that the first of these +questions was now treated as an immaterial rite, which might +innocently vary with the fashion of the age and country. With +regard to the second, both parties were agreed in the belief of +an intermediate state of purgation for the venial sins of the +faithful; and whether their souls were purified by elemental fire +was a doubtful point, which in a few years might be conveniently +settled on the spot by the disputants. The claims of supremacy +appeared of a more weighty and substantial kind; yet by the +Orientals the Roman bishop had ever been respected as the first +of the five patriarchs; nor did they scruple to admit, that his +jurisdiction should be exercised agreeably to the holy canons; a +vague allowance, which might be defined or eluded by occasional +convenience. The procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father +alone, or from the Father and the Son, was an article of faith +which had sunk much deeper into the minds of men; and in the +sessions of Ferrara and Florence, the Latin addition of +<strong><em>filioque</em></strong> was subdivided into two +questions, whether it were legal, and whether it were orthodox. +Perhaps it may not be necessary to boast on this subject of my +own impartial indifference; but I must think that the Greeks were +strongly supported by the prohibition of the council of +Chalcedon, against adding any article whatsoever to the creed of +Nice, or rather of Constantinople. ^63 In earthly affairs, it is +not easy to conceive how an assembly equal of legislators can +bind their successors invested with powers equal to their own. +But the dictates of inspiration must be true and unchangeable; +nor should a private bishop, or a provincial synod, have presumed +to innovate against the judgment of the Catholic church. On the +substance of the doctrine, the controversy was equal and endless: +reason is confounded by the procession of a deity: the gospel, +which lay on the altar, was silent; the various texts of the +fathers might be corrupted by fraud or entangled by sophistry; +and the Greeks were ignorant of the characters and writings of +the Latin saints. ^64 Of this at least we may be sure, that +neither side could be convinced by the arguments of their +opponents. Prejudice may be enlightened by reason, and a +superficial glance may be rectified by a clear and more perfect +view of an object adapted to our faculties. But the bishops and +monks had been taught from their infancy to repeat a form of +mysterious words: their national and personal honor depended on +the repetition of the same sounds; and their narrow minds were +hardened and inflamed by the acrimony of a public dispute.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 62: Syropulus is pleased to reckon seven hundred +prelates in the council of Basil. The error is manifest, and +perhaps voluntary. That extravagant number could not be supplied +by <strong><em>all</em></strong> the ecclesiastics of every +degree who were present at the council, nor by +<strong><em>all</em></strong> the absent bishops of the West, +who, expressly or tacitly, might adhere to its decrees.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 63: The Greeks, who disliked the union, were +unwilling to sally from this strong fortress, (p. 178, 193, 195, +202, of Syropulus.) The shame of the Latins was aggravated by +their producing an old MS. of the second council of Nice, with +<strong><em>filioque</em></strong> in the Nicene creed. A +palpable forgery! (p. 173.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 64: 'WV egw (said an eminent Greek) otan eiV naon +eiselqw Datinwn ou proskunv tina tvn ekeise agiwn, epei oude +gnwrizw tina, (Syropulus, p. 109.) See the perplexity of the +Greeks, (p. 217, 218, 252, 253, 273.)]</p> + +<p>While they were most in a cloud of dust and darkness, the Pope +and emperor were desirous of a seeming union, which could alone +accomplish the purposes of their interview; and the obstinacy of +public dispute was softened by the arts of private and personal +negotiation. The patriarch Joseph had sunk under the weight of +age and infirmities; his dying voice breathed the counsels of +charity and concord, and his vacant benefice might tempt the +hopes of the ambitious clergy. The ready and active obedience of +the archbishops of Russia and Nice, of Isidore and Bessarion, was +prompted and recompensed by their speedy promotion to the dignity +of cardinals. Bessarion, in the first debates, had stood forth +the most strenuous and eloquent champion of the Greek church; and +if the apostate, the bastard, was reprobated by his country, ^65 +he appears in ecclesiastical story a rare example of a patriot +who was recommended to court favor by loud opposition and +well-timed compliance. With the aid of his two spiritual +coadjutors, the emperor applied his arguments to the general +situation and personal characters of the bishops, and each was +successively moved by authority and example. Their revenues were +in the hands of the Turks, their persons in those of the Latins: +an episcopal treasure, three robes and forty ducats, was soon +exhausted: ^66 the hopes of their return still depended on the +ships of Venice and the alms of Rome; and such was their +indigence, that their arrears, the payment of a debt, would be +accepted as a favor, and might operate as a bribe. ^67 The danger +and relief of Constantinople might excuse some prudent and pious +dissimulation; and it was insinuated, that the obstinate heretics +who should resist the consent of the East and West would be +abandoned in a hostile land to the revenge or justice of the +Roman pontiff. ^68 In the first private assembly of the Greeks, +the formulary of union was approved by twenty-four, and rejected +by twelve, members; but the five +<strong><em>cross-bearers</em></strong> of St. Sophia, who +aspired to represent the patriarch, were disqualified by ancient +discipline; and their right of voting was transferred to the +obsequious train of monks, grammarians, and profane laymen. The +will of the monarch produced a false and servile unanimity, and +no more than two patriots had courage to speak their own +sentiments and those of their country. Demetrius, the emperor's +brother, retired to Venice, that he might not be witness of the +union; and Mark of Ephesus, mistaking perhaps his pride for his +conscience, disclaimed all communion with the Latin heretics, and +avowed himself the champion and confessor of the orthodox creed. +^69 In the treaty between the two nations, several forms of +consent were proposed, such as might satisfy the Latins, without +dishonoring the Greeks; and they weighed the scruples of words +and syllables, till the theological balance trembled with a +slight preponderance in favor of the Vatican. It was agreed (I +must entreat the attention of the reader) that the Holy Ghost +proceeds from the Father <strong><em>and</em></strong> the Son, +as from one principle and one substance; that he proceeds +<strong><em>by</em></strong> the Son, being of the same nature +and substance, and that he proceeds from the Father +<strong><em>and</em></strong> the Son, by one +<strong><em>spiration</em></strong> and production. It is less +difficult to understand the articles of the preliminary treaty; +that the pope should defray all the expenses of the Greeks in +their return home; that he should annually maintain two galleys +and three hundred soldiers for the defence of Constantinople: +that all the ships which transported pilgrims to Jerusalem should +be obliged to touch at that port; that as often as they were +required, the pope should furnish ten galleys for a year, or +twenty for six months; and that he should powerfully solicit the +princes of Europe, if the emperor had occasion for land +forces.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 65: See the polite altercation of Marc and Bessarion +in Syropulus, (p. 257,) who never dissembles the vices of his own +party, and fairly praises the virtues of the Latins.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 66: For the poverty of the Greek bishops, see a +remarkable passage of Ducas, (c. 31.) One had possessed, for his +whole property, three old gowns, &c. By teaching +one-and-twenty years in his monastery, Bessarion himself had +collected forty gold florins; but of these, the archbishop had +expended twenty-eight in his voyage from Peloponnesus, and the +remainder at Constantinople, (Syropulus, p. 127.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 67: Syropulus denies that the Greeks received any +money before they had subscribed the art of union, (p. 283:) yet +he relates some suspicious circumstances; and their bribery and +corruption are positively affirmed by the historian Ducas.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 68: The Greeks most piteously express their own +fears of exile and perpetual slavery, (Syropul. p. 196;) and they +were strongly moved by the emperor's threats, (p. 260.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 69: I had forgot another popular and orthodox +protester: a favorite bound, who usually lay quiet on the +foot-cloth of the emperor's throne but who barked most furiously +while the act of union was reading without being silenced by the +soothing or the lashes of the royal attendants, (Syropul. p. 265, +266.)]</p> + +<p>The same year, and almost the same day, were marked by the +deposition of Eugenius at Basil; and, at Florence, by his reunion +of the Greeks and Latins. In the former synod, (which he styled +indeed an assembly of dæmons,) the pope was branded with +the guilt of simony, perjury, tyranny, heresy, and schism; ^70 +and declared to be incorrigible in his vices, unworthy of any +title, and incapable of holding any ecclesiastical office. In the +latter, he was revered as the true and holy vicar of Christ, who, +after a separation of six hundred years, had reconciled the +Catholics of the East and West in one fold, and under one +shepherd. The act of union was subscribed by the pope, the +emperor, and the principal members of both churches; even by +those who, like Syropulus, ^71 had been deprived of the right of +voting. Two copies might have sufficed for the East and West; but +Eugenius was not satisfied, unless four authentic and similar +transcripts were signed and attested as the monuments of his +victory. ^72 On a memorable day, the sixth of July, the +successors of St. Peter and Constantine ascended their thrones +the two nations assembled in the cathedral of Florence; their +representatives, Cardinal Julian and Bessarion archbishop of +Nice, appeared in the pulpit, and, after reading in their +respective tongues the act of union, they mutually embraced, in +the name and the presence of their applauding brethren. The pope +and his ministers then officiated according to the Roman liturgy; +the creed was chanted with the addition of +<strong><em>filioque</em></strong>; the acquiescence of the +Greeks was poorly excused by their ignorance of the harmonious, +but inarticulate sounds; ^73 and the more scrupulous Latins +refused any public celebration of the Byzantine rite. Yet the +emperor and his clergy were not totally unmindful of national +honor. The treaty was ratified by their consent: it was tacitly +agreed that no innovation should be attempted in their creed or +ceremonies: they spared, and secretly respected, the generous +firmness of Mark of Ephesus; and, on the decease of the +patriarch, they refused to elect his successor, except in the +cathedral of St. Sophia. In the distribution of public and +private rewards, the liberal pontiff exceeded their hopes and his +promises: the Greeks, with less pomp and pride, returned by the +same road of Ferrara and Venice; and their reception at +Constantinople was such as will be described in the following +chapter. ^74 The success of the first trial encouraged Eugenius +to repeat the same edifying scenes; and the deputies of the +Armenians, the Maronites, the Jacobites of Syria and Egypt, the +Nestorians and the Æthiopians, were successively +introduced, to kiss the feet of the Roman pontiff, and to +announce the obedience and the orthodoxy of the East. These +Oriental embassies, unknown in the countries which they presumed +to represent, ^75 diffused over the West the fame of Eugenius; +and a clamor was artfully propagated against the remnant of a +schism in Switzerland and Savoy, which alone impeded the harmony +of the Christian world. The vigor of opposition was succeeded by +the lassitude of despair: the council of Basil was silently +dissolved; and Felix, renouncing the tiara, again withdrew to the +devout or delicious hermitage of Ripaille. ^76 A general peace +was secured by mutual acts of oblivion and indemnity: all ideas +of reformation subsided; the popes continued to exercise and +abuse their ecclesiastical despotism; nor has Rome been since +disturbed by the mischiefs of a contested election. ^77</p> + +<p>[Footnote 70: From the original Lives of the Popes, in +Muratori's Collection, (tom. iii. p. ii. tom. xxv.,) the manners +of Eugenius IV. appear to have been decent, and even exemplary. +His situation, exposed to the world and to his enemies, was a +restraint, and is a pledge.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 71: Syropulus, rather than subscribe, would have +assisted, as the least evil, at the ceremony of the union. He was +compelled to do both; and the great ecclesiarch poorly excuses +his submission to the emperor, (p. 290--292.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 72: None of these original acts of union can at +present be produced. Of the ten MSS. that are preserved, (five at +Rome, and the remainder at Florence, Bologna, Venice, Paris, and +London,) nine have been examined by an accurate critic, (M. de +Brequigny,) who condemns them for the variety and imperfections +of the Greek signatures. Yet several of these may be esteemed as +authentic copies, which were subscribed at Florence, before (26th +of August, 1439) the final separation of the pope and emperor, +(Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions, tom. +xliii. p. 287--311.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 73: ''Hmin de wV ashmoi edokoun jwnai, (Syropul. p. +297.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 74: In their return, the Greeks conversed at Bologna +with the ambassadors of England: and after some questions and +answers, these impartial strangers laughed at the pretended union +of Florence, (Syropul. p. 307.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 75: So nugatory, or rather so fabulous, are these +reunions of the Nestorians, Jacobites, &c., that I have +turned over, without success, the Bibliotheca Orientalis of +Assemannus, a faithful slave of the Vatican.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 76: Ripaille is situate near Thonon in Savoy, on the +southern side of the Lake of Geneva. It is now a Carthusian +abbey; and Mr. Addison (Travels into Italy, vol. ii. p. 147, 148, +of Baskerville's edition of his works) has celebrated the place +and the founder. Æneas Sylvius, and the fathers of Basil, +applaud the austere life of the ducal hermit; but the French and +Italian proverbs most unluckily attest the popular opinion of his +luxury.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 77: In this account of the councils of Basil, +Ferrara, and Florence, I have consulted the original acts, which +fill the xviith and xviiith tome of the edition of Venice, and +are closed by the perspicuous, though partial, history of +Augustin Patricius, an Italian of the xvth century. They are +digested and abridged by Dupin, (Bibliothèque +Ecclés. tom. xii.,) and the continuator of Fleury, (tom. +xxii.;) and the respect of the Gallican church for the adverse +parties confines their members to an awkward moderation.]</p> + +<p>The journeys of three emperors were unavailing for their +temporal, or perhaps their spiritual, salvation; but they were +productive of a beneficial consequence -- the revival of the +Greek learning in Italy, from whence it was propagated to the +last nations of the West and North. In their lowest servitude and +depression, the subjects of the Byzantine throne were still +possessed of a golden key that could unlock the treasures of +antiquity; of a musical and prolific language, that gives a soul +to the objects of sense, and a body to the abstractions of +philosophy. Since the barriers of the monarchy, and even of the +capital, had been trampled under foot, the various Barbarians had +doubtless corrupted the form and substance of the national +dialect; and ample glossaries have been composed, to interpret a +multitude of words, of Arabic, Turkish, Sclavonian, Latin, or +French origin. ^78 But a purer idiom was spoken in the court and +taught in the college; and the flourishing state of the language +is described, and perhaps embellished, by a learned Italian, ^79 +who, by a long residence and noble marriage, ^80 was naturalized +at Constantinople about thirty years before the Turkish conquest. +"The vulgar speech," says Philelphus, ^81 "has been depraved by +the people, and infected by the multitude of strangers and +merchants, who every day flock to the city and mingle with the +inhabitants. It is from the disciples of such a school that the +Latin language received the versions of Aristotle and Plato; so +obscure in sense, and in spirit so poor. But the Greeks who have +escaped the contagion, are those whom +<strong><em>we</em></strong> follow; and they alone are worthy of +our imitation. In familiar discourse, they still speak the tongue +of Aristophanes and Euripides, of the historians and philosophers +of Athens; and the style of their writings is still more +elaborate and correct. The persons who, by their birth and +offices, are attached to the Byzantine court, are those who +maintain, with the least alloy, the ancient standard of elegance +and purity; and the native graces of language most conspicuously +shine among the noble matrons, who are excluded from all +intercourse with foreigners. With foreigners do I say? They live +retired and sequestered from the eyes of their fellow-citizens. +Seldom are they seen in the streets; and when they leave their +houses, it is in the dusk of evening, on visits to the churches +and their nearest kindred. On these occasions, they are on +horseback, covered with a veil, and encompassed by their parents, +their husbands, or their servants." ^82</p> + +<p>[Footnote 78: In the first attempt, Meursius collected 3600 +Græco-barbarous words, to which, in a second edition, he +subjoined 1800 more; yet what plenteous gleanings did he leave to +Portius, Ducange, Fabrotti, the Bollandists, &c.! (Fabric. +Bibliot. Græc. tom. x. p. 101, &c.) +<strong><em>Some</em></strong> Persic words may be found in +Xenophon, and some Latin ones in Plutarch; and such is the +inevitable effect of war and commerce; but the form and substance +of the language were not affected by this slight alloy.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 79: The life of Francis Philelphus, a sophist, +proud, restless, and rapacious, has been diligently composed by +Lancelot (Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions, +tom. x. p. 691--751) (Istoria della Letteratura Italiana, tom. +vii. p. 282--294,) for the most part from his own letters. His +elaborate writings, and those of his contemporaries, are +forgotten; but their familiar epistles still describe the men and +the times.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 80: He married, and had perhaps debauched, the +daughter of John, and the granddaughter of Manuel Chrysoloras. +She was young, beautiful, and wealthy; and her noble family was +allied to the Dorias of Genoa and the emperors of +Constantinople.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 81: Græci quibus lingua depravata non sit . . +. . ita loquuntur vulgo hâc etiam tempestate ut +Aristophanes comicus, aut Euripides tragicus, ut oratores omnes, +ut historiographi, ut philosophi . . . . litterati autem homines +et doctius et emendatius . . . . Nam viri aulici veterem sermonis +dignitatem atque elegantiam retinebant in primisque ipsæ +nobiles mulieres; quibus cum nullum esset omnino cum viris +peregrinis commercium, merus ille ac purus Græcorum sermo +servabatur intactus, (Philelph. Epist. ad ann. 1451, apud Hodium, +p. 188, 189.) He observes in another passage, uxor illa mea +Theodora locutione erat admodum moderatâ et suavi et maxime +Atticâ.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 82: Philelphus, absurdly enough, derives this Greek +or Oriental jealousy from the manners of ancient Rome.]</p> + +<p>Among the Greeks a numerous and opulent clergy was dedicated +to the service of religion: their monks and bishops have ever +been distinguished by the gravity and austerity of their manners; +nor were they diverted, like the Latin priests, by the pursuits +and pleasures of a secular, and even military, life. After a +large deduction for the time and talent that were lost in the +devotion, the laziness, and the discord, of the church and +cloister, the more inquisitive and ambitious minds would explore +the sacred and profane erudition of their native language. The +ecclesiastics presided over the education of youth; the schools +of philosophy and eloquence were perpetuated till the fall of the +empire; and it may be affirmed, that more books and more +knowledge were included within the walls of Constantinople, than +could be dispersed over the extensive countries of the West. ^83 +But an important distinction has been already noticed: the Greeks +were stationary or retrograde, while the Latins were advancing +with a rapid and progressive motion. The nations were excited by +the spirit of independence and emulation; and even the little +world of the Italian states contained more people and industry +than the decreasing circle of the Byzantine empire. In Europe, +the lower ranks of society were relieved from the yoke of feudal +servitude; and freedom is the first step to curiosity and +knowledge. The use, however rude and corrupt, of the Latin tongue +had been preserved by superstition; the universities, from +Bologna to Oxford, ^84 were peopled with thousands of scholars; +and their misguided ardor might be directed to more liberal and +manly studies. In the resurrection of science, Italy was the +first that cast away her shroud; and the eloquent Petrarch, by +his lessons and his example, may justly be applauded as the first +harbinger of day. A purer style of composition, a more generous +and rational strain of sentiment, flowed from the study and +imitation of the writers of ancient Rome; and the disciples of +Cicero and Virgil approached, with reverence and love, the +sanctuary of their Grecian masters. In the sack of +Constantinople, the French, and even the Venetians, had despised +and destroyed the works of Lysippus and Homer: the monuments of +art may be annihilated by a single blow; but the immortal mind is +renewed and multiplied by the copies of the pen; and such copies +it was the ambition of Petrarch and his friends to possess and +understand. The arms of the Turks undoubtedly pressed the flight +of the Muses; yet we may tremble at the thought, that Greece +might have been overwhelmed, with her schools and libraries, +before Europe had emerged from the deluge of barbarism; that the +seeds of science might have been scattered by the winds, before +the Italian soil was prepared for their cultivation.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 83: See the state of learning in the xiiith and +xivth centuries, in the learned and judicious Mosheim, (Instit. +Hist. Ecclés. p. 434--440, 490--494.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 84: At the end of the xvth century, there existed in +Europe about fifty universities, and of these the foundation of +ten or twelve is prior to the year 1300. They were crowded in +proportion to their scarcity. Bologna contained 10,000 students, +chiefly of the civil law. In the year 1357 the number at Oxford +had decreased from 30,000 to 6000 scholars, (Henry's History of +Great Britain, vol. iv. p. 478.) Yet even this decrease is much +superior to the present list of the members of the +university.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LXVI: Union Of The Greek And Latin +Churches. -- Part IV.</em></strong></p> + +<p>The most learned Italians of the fifteenth century have +confessed and applauded the restoration of Greek literature, +after a long oblivion of many hundred years. ^85 Yet in that +country, and beyond the Alps, some names are quoted; some +profound scholars, who in the darker ages were honorably +distinguished by their knowledge of the Greek tongue; and +national vanity has been loud in the praise of such rare examples +of erudition. Without scrutinizing the merit of individuals, +truth must observe, that their science is without a cause, and +without an effect; that it was easy for them to satisfy +themselves and their more ignorant contemporaries; and that the +idiom, which they had so marvellously acquired was transcribed in +few manuscripts, and was not taught in any university of the +West. In a corner of Italy, it faintly existed as the popular, or +at least as the ecclesiastical dialect. ^86 The first impression +of the Doric and Ionic colonies has never been completely erased: +the Calabrian churches were long attached to the throne of +Constantinople: and the monks of St. Basil pursued their studies +in Mount Athos and the schools of the East. Calabria was the +native country of Barlaam, who has already appeared as a sectary +and an ambassador; and Barlaam was the first who revived, beyond +the Alps, the memory, or at least the writings, of Homer. ^87 He +is described, by Petrarch and Boccace, ^88 as a man of diminutive +stature, though truly great in the measure of learning and +genius; of a piercing discernment, though of a slow and painful +elocution. For many ages (as they affirm) Greece had not produced +his equal in the knowledge of history, grammar, and philosophy; +and his merit was celebrated in the attestations of the princes +and doctors of Constantinople. One of these attestations is still +extant; and the emperor Cantacuzene, the protector of his +adversaries, is forced to allow, that Euclid, Aristotle, and +Plato, were familiar to that profound and subtle logician. ^89 In +the court of Avignon, he formed an intimate connection with +Petrarch, ^90 the first of the Latin scholars; and the desire of +mutual instruction was the principle of their literary commerce. +The Tuscan applied himself with eager curiosity and assiduous +diligence to the study of the Greek language; and in a laborious +struggle with the dryness and difficulty of the first rudiments, +he began to reach the sense, and to feel the spirit, of poets and +philosophers, whose minds were congenial to his own. But he was +soon deprived of the society and lessons of this useful +assistant: Barlaam relinquished his fruitless embassy; and, on +his return to Greece, he rashly provoked the swarms of fanatic +monks, by attempting to substitute the light of reason to that of +their navel. After a separation of three years, the two friends +again met in the court of Naples: but the generous pupil +renounced the fairest occasion of improvement; and by his +recommendation Barlaam was finally settled in a small bishopric +of his native Calabria. ^91 The manifold avocations of Petrarch, +love and friendship, his various correspondence and frequent +journeys, the Roman laurel, and his elaborate compositions in +prose and verse, in Latin and Italian, diverted him from a +foreign idiom; and as he advanced in life, the attainment of the +Greek language was the object of his wishes rather than of his +hopes. When he was about fifty years of age, a Byzantine +ambassador, his friend, and a master of both tongues, presented +him with a copy of Homer; and the answer of Petrarch is at one +expressive of his eloquence, gratitude, and regret. After +celebrating the generosity of the donor, and the value of a gift +more precious in his estimation than gold or rubies, he thus +proceeds: "Your present of the genuine and original text of the +divine poet, the fountain of all inventions, is worthy of +yourself and of me: you have fulfilled your promise, and +satisfied my desires. Yet your liberality is still imperfect: +with Homer you should have given me yourself; a guide, who could +lead me into the fields of light, and disclose to my wondering +eyes the spacious miracles of the Iliad and Odyssey. But, alas! +Homer is dumb, or I am deaf; nor is it in my power to enjoy the +beauty which I possess. I have seated him by the side of Plato, +the prince of poets near the prince of philosophers; and I glory +in the sight of my illustrious guests. Of their immortal +writings, whatever had been translated into the Latin idiom, I +had already acquired; but, if there be no profit, there is some +pleasure, in beholding these venerable Greeks in their proper and +national habit. I am delighted with the aspect of Homer; and as +often as I embrace the silent volume, I exclaim with a sigh, +Illustrious bard! with what pleasure should I listen to thy song, +if my sense of hearing were not obstructed and lost by the death +of one friend, and in the much-lamented absence of another. Nor +do I yet despair; and the example of Cato suggests some comfort +and hope, since it was in the last period of age that he attained +the knowledge of the Greek letters." ^92</p> + +<p>[Footnote 85: Of those writers who professedly treat of the +restoration of the Greek learning in Italy, the two principal are +Hodius, Dr. Humphrey Hody, (de Græcis Illustribus, +Linguæ Græcæ Literarumque humaniorum +Instauratoribus; Londini, 1742, in large octavo,) and Tiraboschi, +(Istoria della Letteratura Italiana, tom. v. p. 364--377, tom. +vii. p. 112--143.) The Oxford professor is a laborious scholar, +but the librarian of Modena enjoys the superiority of a modern +and national historian.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 86: In Calabria quæ olim magna Græcia +dicebatur, coloniis Græcis repleta, remansit quædam +linguæ veteris, cognitio, (Hodius, p. 2.) If it were +eradicated by the Romans, it was revived and perpetuated by the +monks of St. Basil, who possessed seven convents at Rossano +alone, (Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. i. p. 520.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 87: Ii Barbari (says Petrarch, the French and +Germans) vix, non dicam libros sed nomen Homeri audiverunt. +Perhaps, in that respect, the xiiith century was less happy than +the age of Charlemagne.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 88: See the character of Barlaam, in Boccace de +Genealog. Deorum, l. xv. c. 6.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 89: Cantacuzen. l. ii. c. 36.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 90: For the connection of Petrarch and Barlaam, and +the two interviews at Avignon in 1339, and at Naples in 1342, see +the excellent Mémoires sur la Vie de Pétrarque, +tom. i. p. 406--410, tom. ii. p. 74--77.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 91: The bishopric to which Barlaam retired, was the +old Locri, in the middle ages. Scta. Cyriaca, and by corruption +Hieracium, Gerace, (Dissert. Chorographica Italiæ Medii +Ævi, p. 312.) The dives opum of the Norman times soon +lapsed into poverty, since even the church was poor: yet the town +still contains 3000 inhabitants, (Swinburne, p. 340.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 92: I will transcribe a passage from this epistle of +Petrarch, (Famil. ix. 2;) Donasti Homerum non in alienum sermonem +violento alveâ ?? derivatum, sed ex ipsis Græci +eloquii scatebris, et qualis divino illi profluxit ingenio . . . +. Sine tuâ voce Homerus tuus apud me mutus, immo vero ego +apud illum surdus sum. Gaudeo tamen vel adspectû solo, ac +sæpe illum amplexus atque suspirans dico, O magne vir, +&c.]</p> + +<p>The prize which eluded the efforts of Petrarch, was obtained +by the fortune and industry of his friend Boccace, ^93 the father +of the Tuscan prose. That popular writer, who derives his +reputation from the Decameron, a hundred novels of pleasantry and +love, may aspire to the more serious praise of restoring in Italy +the study of the Greek language. In the year one thousand three +hundred and sixty, a disciple of Barlaam, whose name was Leo, or +Leontius Pilatus, was detained in his way to Avignon by the +advice and hospitality of Boccace, who lodged the stranger in his +house, prevailed on the republic of Florence to allow him an +annual stipend, and devoted his leisure to the first Greek +professor, who taught that language in the Western countries of +Europe. The appearance of Leo might disgust the most eager +disciple, he was clothed in the mantle of a philosopher, or a +mendicant; his countenance was hideous; his face was overshadowed +with black hair; his beard long an uncombed; his deportment +rustic; his temper gloomy and inconstant; nor could he grace his +discourse with the ornaments, or even the perspicuity, of Latin +elocution. But his mind was stored with a treasure of Greek +learning: history and fable, philosophy and grammar, were alike +at his command; and he read the poems of Homer in the schools of +Florence. It was from his explanation that Boccace composed ^* +and transcribed a literal prose version of the Iliad and Odyssey, +which satisfied the thirst of his friend Petrarch, and which, +perhaps, in the succeeding century, was clandestinely used by +Laurentius Valla, the Latin interpreter. It was from his +narratives that the same Boccace collected the materials for his +treatise on the genealogy of the heathen gods, a work, in that +age, of stupendous erudition, and which he ostentatiously +sprinkled with Greek characters and passages, to excite the +wonder and applause of his more ignorant readers. ^94 The first +steps of learning are slow and laborious; no more than ten +votaries of Homer could be enumerated in all Italy; and neither +Rome, nor Venice, nor Naples, could add a single name to this +studious catalogue. But their numbers would have multiplied, +their progress would have been accelerated, if the inconstant +Leo, at the end of three years, had not relinquished an honorable +and beneficial station. In his passage, Petrarch entertained him +at Padua a short time: he enjoyed the scholar, but was justly +offended with the gloomy and unsocial temper of the man. +Discontented with the world and with himself, Leo depreciated his +present enjoyments, while absent persons and objects were dear to +his imagination. In Italy he was a Thessalian, in Greece a native +of Calabria: in the company of the Latins he disdained their +language, religion, and manners: no sooner was he landed at +Constantinople, than he again sighed for the wealth of Venice and +the elegance of Florence. His Italian friends were deaf to his +importunity: he depended on their curiosity and indulgence, and +embarked on a second voyage; but on his entrance into the +Adriatic, the ship was assailed by a tempest, and the unfortunate +teacher, who like Ulysses had fastened himself to the mast, was +struck dead by a flash of lightning. The humane Petrarch dropped +a tear on his disaster; but he was most anxious to learn whether +some copy of Euripides or Sophocles might not be saved from the +hands of the mariners. ^95</p> + +<p>[Footnote 93: For the life and writings of Boccace, who was +born in 1313, and died in 1375, Fabricius (Bibliot. Latin. Medii +Ævi, tom. i. p. 248, &c.) and Tiraboschi (tom. v. p. +83, 439--451) may be consulted. The editions, versions, +imitations of his novels, are innumerable. Yet he was ashamed to +communicate that trifling, and perhaps scandalous, work to +Petrarch, his respectable friend, in whose letters and memoirs he +conspicuously appears.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: This translation of Homer was by Pilatus, not by +Boccacio. See Hallam, Hist. of Lit. vol. i. p. 132. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 94: Boccace indulges an honest vanity: Ostentationis +causâ Græca carmina adscripsi . . . . jure utor meo; +meum est hoc decus, mea gloria scilicet inter Etruscos +Græcis uti carminibus. Nonne ego fui qui Leontium Pilatum, +&c., (de Genealogia Deorum, l. xv. c. 7, a work which, though +now forgotten, has run through thirteen or fourteen +editions.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 95: Leontius, or Leo Pilatus, is sufficiently made +known by Hody, (p. 2--11,) and the abbé de Sade, (Vie de +Pétrarque, tom. iii. p. 625--634, 670--673,) who has very +happily caught the lively and dramatic manner of his +original.]</p> + +<p>But the faint rudiments of Greek learning, which Petrarch had +encouraged and Boccace had planted, soon withered and expired. +The succeeding generation was content for a while with the +improvement of Latin eloquence; nor was it before the end of the +fourteenth century that a new and perpetual flame was rekindled +in Italy. ^96 Previous to his own journey the emperor Manuel +despatched his envoys and orators to implore the compassion of +the Western princes. Of these envoys, the most conspicuous, or +the most learned, was Manuel Chrysoloras, ^97 of noble birth, and +whose Roman ancestors are supposed to have migrated with the +great Constantine. After visiting the courts of France and +England, where he obtained some contributions and more promises, +the envoy was invited to assume the office of a professor; and +Florence had again the honor of this second invitation. By his +knowledge, not only of the Greek, but of the Latin tongue, +Chrysoloras deserved the stipend, and surpassed the expectation, +of the republic. His school was frequented by a crowd of +disciples of every rank and age; and one of these, in a general +history, has described his motives and his success. "At that +time," says Leonard Aretin, ^98 "I was a student of the civil +law; but my soul was inflamed with the love of letters; and I +bestowed some application on the sciences of logic and rhetoric. +On the arrival of Manuel, I hesitated whether I should desert my +legal studies, or relinquish this golden opportunity; and thus, +in the ardor of youth, I communed with my own mind -- Wilt thou +be wanting to thyself and thy fortune? Wilt thou refuse to be +introduced to a familiar converse with Homer, Plato, and +Demosthenes; with those poets, philosophers, and orators, of whom +such wonders are related, and who are celebrated by every age as +the great masters of human science? Of professors and scholars in +civil law, a sufficient supply will always be found in our +universities; but a teacher, and such a teacher, of the Greek +language, if he once be suffered to escape, may never afterwards +be retrieved. Convinced by these reasons, I gave myself to +Chrysoloras; and so strong was my passion, that the lessons which +I had imbibed in the day were the constant object of my nightly +dreams." ^99 At the same time and place, the Latin classics were +explained by John of Ravenna, the domestic pupil of Petrarch; +^100 the Italians, who illustrated their age and country, were +formed in this double school; and Florence became the fruitful +seminary of Greek and Roman erudition. ^101 The presence of the +emperor recalled Chrysoloras from the college to the court; but +he afterwards taught at Pavia and Rome with equal industry and +applause. The remainder of his life, about fifteen years, was +divided between Italy and Constantinople, between embassies and +lessons. In the noble office of enlightening a foreign nation, +the grammarian was not unmindful of a more sacred duty to his +prince and country; and Emanuel Chrysoloras died at Constance on +a public mission from the emperor to the council.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 96: Dr. Hody (p. 54) is angry with Leonard Aretin, +Guarinus, Paulus Jovius, &c., for affirming, that the Greek +letters were restored in Italy <strong><em>post septingentos +annos</em></strong>; as if, says he, they had flourished till the +end of the viith century. These writers most probably reckoned +from the last period of the exarchate; and the presence of the +Greek magistrates and troops at Ravenna and Rome must have +preserved, in some degree, the use of their native tongue.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 97: See the article of Emanuel, or Manuel +Chrysoloras, in Hody (p 12--54) and Tiraboschi, (tom. vii. p. +113--118.) The precise date of his arrival floats between the +years 1390 and 1400, and is only confined by the reign of +Boniface IX.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 98: The name of <strong><em>Aretinus</em></strong> +has been assumed by five or six natives of +<strong><em>Arezzo</em></strong> in Tuscany, of whom the most +famous and the most worthless lived in the xvith century. +Leonardus Brunus Aretinus, the disciple of Chrysoloras, was a +linguist, an orator, and an historian, the secretary of four +successive popes, and the chancellor of the republic of Florence, +where he died A.D. 1444, at the age of seventy-five, (Fabric. +Bibliot. Medii Ævi, tom. i. p. 190 &c. Tiraboschi, tom. +vii. p. 33--38.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 99: See the passage in Aretin. Commentario Rerum suo +Tempore in Italia gestarum, apud Hodium, p. 28--30.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 100: In this domestic discipline, Petrarch, who +loved the youth, often complains of the eager curiosity, restless +temper, and proud feelings, which announce the genius and glory +of a riper age, (Mémoires sur Pétrarque, tom. iii. +p. 700--709.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 101: Hinc Græcæ Latinæque +scholæ exortæ sunt, Guarino Philelpho, Leonardo +Aretino, Caroloque, ac plerisque aliis tanquam ex equo Trojano +prodeuntibus, quorum emulatione multa ingenia deinceps ad laudem +excitata sunt, (Platina in Bonifacio IX.) Another Italian writer +adds the names of Paulus Petrus Vergerius, Omnibonus Vincentius, +Poggius, Franciscus Barbarus, &c. But I question whether a +rigid chronology would allow Chrysoloras +<strong><em>all</em></strong> these eminent scholars, (Hodius, p. +25--27, &c.)]</p> + +<p>After his example, the restoration of the Greek letters in +Italy was prosecuted by a series of emigrants, who were destitute +of fortune, and endowed with learning, or at least with language. +From the terror or oppression of the Turkish arms, the natives of +Thessalonica and Constantinople escaped to a land of freedom, +curiosity, and wealth. The synod introduced into Florence the +lights of the Greek church, and the oracles of the Platonic +philosophy; and the fugitives who adhered to the union, had the +double merit of renouncing their country, not only for the +Christian, but for the catholic cause. A patriot, who sacrifices +his party and conscience to the allurements of favor, may be +possessed, however, of the private and social virtues: he no +longer hears the reproachful epithets of slave and apostate; and +the consideration which he acquires among his new associates will +restore in his own eyes the dignity of his character. The prudent +conformity of Bessarion was rewarded with the Roman purple: he +fixed his residence in Italy; and the Greek cardinal, the titular +patriarch of Constantinople, was respected as the chief and +protector of his nation: ^102 his abilities were exercised in the +legations of Bologna, Venice, Germany, and France; and his +election to the chair of St. Peter floated for a moment on the +uncertain breath of a conclave. ^103 His ecclesiastical honors +diffused a splendor and preeminence over his literary merit and +service: his palace was a school; as often as the cardinal +visited the Vatican, he was attended by a learned train of both +nations; ^104 of men applauded by themselves and the public; and +whose writings, now overspread with dust, were popular and useful +in their own times. I shall not attempt to enumerate the +restorers of Grecian literature in the fifteenth century; and it +may be sufficient to mention with gratitude the names of Theodore +Gaza, of George of Trebizond, of John Argyropulus, and Demetrius +Chalcocondyles, who taught their native language in the schools +of Florence and Rome. Their labors were not inferior to those of +Bessarion, whose purple they revered, and whose fortune was the +secret object of their envy. But the lives of these grammarians +were humble and obscure: they had declined the lucrative paths of +the church; their dress and manners secluded them from the +commerce of the world; and since they were confined to the merit, +they might be content with the rewards, of learning. From this +character, Janus Lascaris ^105 will deserve an exception. His +eloquence, politeness, and Imperial descent, recommended him to +the French monarch; and in the same cities he was alternately +employed to teach and to negotiate. Duty and interest prompted +them to cultivate the study of the Latin language; and the most +successful attained the faculty of writing and speaking with +fluency and elegance in a foreign idiom. But they ever retained +the inveterate vanity of their country: their praise, or at least +their esteem, was reserved for the national writers, to whom they +owed their fame and subsistence; and they sometimes betrayed +their contempt in licentious criticism or satire on Virgil's +poetry, and the oratory of Tully. ^106 The superiority of these +masters arose from the familiar use of a living language; and +their first disciples were incapable of discerning how far they +had degenerated from the knowledge, and even the practice of +their ancestors. A vicious pronunciation, ^107 which they +introduced, was banished from the schools by the reason of the +succeeding age. Of the power of the Greek accents they were +ignorant; and those musical notes, which, from an Attic tongue, +and to an Attic ear, must have been the secret soul of harmony, +were to their eyes, as to our own, no more than minute and +unmeaning marks, in prose superfluous and troublesome in verse. +The art of grammar they truly possessed; the valuable fragments +of Apollonius and Herodian were transfused into their lessons; +and their treatises of syntax and etymology, though devoid of +philosophic spirit, are still useful to the Greek student. In the +shipwreck of the Byzantine libraries, each fugitive seized a +fragment of treasure, a copy of some author, who without his +industry might have perished: the transcripts were multiplied by +an assiduous, and sometimes an elegant pen; and the text was +corrected and explained by their own comments, or those of the +elder scholiasts. The sense, though not the spirit, of the Greek +classics, was interpreted to the Latin world: the beauties of +style evaporate in a version; but the judgment of Theodore Gaza +selected the more solid works of Aristotle and Theophrastus, and +their natural histories of animals and plants opened a rich fund +of genuine and experimental science.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 102: See in Hody the article of Bessarion, (p. +136--177.) Theodore Gaza, George of Trebizond, aud the rest of +the Greeks whom I have named or omitted, are inserted in their +proper chapters of his learned work. See likewise Tiraboschi, in +the 1st and 2d parts of the vith tome.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 103: The cardinals knocked at his door, but his +conclavist refused to interrupt the studies of Bessarion: +"Nicholas," said he, "thy respect has cost thee a hat, and me the +tiara." *</p> + +<p>Note: * Roscoe (Life of Lorenzo de Medici, vol. i. p. 75) +considers that Hody has refuted this "idle tale." -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 104: Such as George of Trebizond, Theodore Gaza, +Argyropulus, Andronicus of Thessalonica, Philelphus, Poggius, +Blondus, Nicholas Perrot, Valla, Campanus, Platina, &c. Viri +(says Hody, with the pious zeal of a scholar) nullo ævo +perituri, p. 156.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 105: He was born before the taking of +Constantinople, but his honorable life was stretched far into the +xvith century, (A.D. 1535.) Leo X. and Francis I. were his +noblest patrons, under whose auspices he founded the Greek +colleges of Rome and Paris, (Hody, p. 247--275.) He left +posterity in France; but the counts de Vintimille, and their +numerous branches, derive the name of Lascaris from a doubtful +marriage in the xiiith century with the daughter of a Greek +emperor (Ducange, Fam. Byzant. p. 224--230.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 106: Two of his epigrams against Virgil, and three +against Tully, are preserved and refuted by Franciscus Floridus, +who can find no better names than Græculus ineptus et +impudens, (Hody, p. 274.) In our own times, an English critic has +accused the Æneid of containing multa languida, nugatoria, +spiritû et majestate carminis heroici defecta; many such +verses as he, the said Jeremiah Markland, would have been ashamed +of owning, (præfat. ad Statii Sylvas, p. 21, 22.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 107: Emanuel Chrysoloras, and his colleagues, are +accused of ignorance, envy, or avarice, (Sylloge, &c., tom. +ii. p. 235.) The modern Greeks pronounce the b as a V consonant, +and confound three vowels, (h i u,) and several diphthongs. Such +was the vulgar pronunciation which the stern Gardiner maintained +by penal statutes in the university of Cambridge: but the +monosyllable bh represented to an Attic ear the bleating of +sheep, and a bellwether is better evidence than a bishop or a +chancellor. The treatises of those scholars, particularly +Erasmus, who asserted a more classical pronunciation, are +collected in the Sylloge of Havercamp, (2 vols. in octavo, Lugd. +Bat. 1736, 1740:) but it is difficult to paint sounds by words: +and in their reference to modern use, they can be understood only +by their respective countrymen. We may observe, that our peculiar +pronunciation of the O, th, is approved by Erasmus, (tom. ii. p. +130.)]</p> + +<p>Yet the fleeting shadows of metaphysics were pursued with more +curiosity and ardor. After a long oblivion, Plato was revived in +Italy by a venerable Greek, ^108 who taught in the house of Cosmo +of Medicis. While the synod of Florence was involved in +theological debate, some beneficial consequences might flow from +the study of his elegant philosophy: his style is the purest +standard of the Attic dialect, and his sublime thoughts are +sometimes adapted to familiar conversation, and sometimes adorned +with the richest colors of poetry and eloquence. The dialogues of +Plato are a dramatic picture of the life and death of a sage; +and, as often as he descends from the clouds, his moral system +inculcates the love of truth, of our country, and of mankind. The +precept and example of Socrates recommended a modest doubt and +liberal inquiry; and if the Platonists, with blind devotion, +adored the visions and errors of their divine master, their +enthusiasm might correct the dry, dogmatic method of the +Peripatetic school. So equal, yet so opposite, are the merits of +Plato and Aristotle, that they may be balanced in endless +controversy; but some spark of freedom may be produced by the +collision of adverse servitude. The modern Greeks were divided +between the two sects: with more fury than skill they fought +under the banner of their leaders; and the field of battle was +removed in their flight from Constantinople to Rome. But this +philosophical debate soon degenerated into an angry and personal +quarrel of grammarians; and Bessarion, though an advocate for +Plato, protected the national honor, by interposing the advice +and authority of a mediator. In the gardens of the Medici, the +academical doctrine was enjoyed by the polite and learned: but +their philosophic society was quickly dissolved; and if the +writings of the Attic sage were perused in the closet, the more +powerful Stagyrite continued to reign, the oracle of the church +and school. ^109</p> + +<p>[Footnote 108: George Gemistus Pletho, a various and +voluminous writer, the master of Bessarion, and all the +Platonists of the times. He visited Italy in his old age, and +soon returned to end his days in Peloponnesus. See the curious +Diatribe of Leo Allatius de Georgiis, in Fabricius. (Bibliot. +Græc. tom. x. p. 739--756.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 109: The state of the Platonic philosophy in Italy +is illustrated by Boivin, (Mém. de l'Acad. des +Inscriptions, tom. ii. p. 715--729,) and Tiraboschi, (tom. vi. P. +i. p. 259--288.)]</p> + +<p>I have fairly represented the literary merits of the Greeks; +yet it must be confessed, that they were seconded and surpassed +by the ardor of the Latins. Italy was divided into many +independent states; and at that time it was the ambition of +princes and republics to vie with each other in the encouragement +and reward of literature. The fame of Nicholas the Fifth ^110 has +not been adequate to his merits. From a plebeian origin he raised +himself by his virtue and learning: the character of the man +prevailed over the interest of the pope; and he sharpened those +weapons which were soon pointed against the Roman church. ^111 He +had been the friend of the most eminent scholars of the age: he +became their patron; and such was the humility of his manners, +that the change was scarcely discernible either to them or to +himself. If he pressed the acceptance of a liberal gift, it was +not as the measure of desert, but as the proof of benevolence; +and when modest merit declined his bounty, "Accept it," would he +say, with a consciousness of his own worth: "ye will not always +have a Nicholas among you." The influence of the holy see +pervaded Christendom; and he exerted that influence in the +search, not of benefices, but of books. From the ruins of the +Byzantine libraries, from the darkest monasteries of Germany and +Britain, he collected the dusty manuscripts of the writers of +antiquity; and wherever the original could not be removed, a +faithful copy was transcribed and transmitted for his use. The +Vatican, the old repository for bulls and legends, for +superstition and forgery, was daily replenished with more +precious furniture; and such was the industry of Nicholas, that +in a reign of eight years he formed a library of five thousand +volumes. To his munificence the Latin world was indebted for the +versions of Xenophon, Diodorus, Polybius, Thucydides, Herodotus, +and Appian; of Strabo's Geography, of the Iliad, of the most +valuable works of Plato and Aristotle, of Ptolemy and +Theophrastus, and of the fathers of the Greek church. The example +of the Roman pontiff was preceded or imitated by a Florentine +merchant, who governed the republic without arms and without a +title. Cosmo of Medicis ^112 was the father of a line of princes, +whose name and age are almost synonymous with the restoration of +learning: his credit was ennobled into fame; his riches were +dedicated to the service of mankind; he corresponded at once with +Cairo and London: and a cargo of Indian spices and Greek books +was often imported in the same vessel. The genius and education +of his grandson Lorenzo rendered him not only a patron, but a +judge and candidate, in the literary race. In his palace, +distress was entitled to relief, and merit to reward: his leisure +hours were delightfully spent in the Platonic academy; he +encouraged the emulation of Demetrius Chalcocondyles and Angelo +Politian; and his active missionary Janus Lascaris returned from +the East with a treasure of two hundred manuscripts, fourscore of +which were as yet unknown in the libraries of Europe. ^113 The +rest of Italy was animated by a similar spirit, and the progress +of the nation repaid the liberality of their princes. The Latins +held the exclusive property of their own literature; and these +disciples of Greece were soon capable of transmitting and +improving the lessons which they had imbibed. After a short +succession of foreign teachers, the tide of emigration subsided; +but the language of Constantinople was spread beyond the Alps and +the natives of France, Germany, and England, ^114 imparted to +their country the sacred fire which they had kindled in the +schools of Florence and Rome. ^115 In the productions of the +mind, as in those of the soil, the gifts of nature are excelled +by industry and skill: the Greek authors, forgotten on the banks +of the Ilissus, have been illustrated on those of the Elbe and +the Thames: and Bessarion or Gaza might have envied the superior +science of the Barbarians; the accuracy of Budæus, the +taste of Erasmus, the copiousness of Stephens, the erudition of +Scaliger, the discernment of Reiske, or of Bentley. On the side +of the Latins, the discovery of printing was a casual advantage: +but this useful art has been applied by Aldus, and his +innumerable successors, to perpetuate and multiply the works of +antiquity. ^116 A single manuscript imported from Greece is +revived in ten thousand copies; and each copy is fairer than the +original. In this form, Homer and Plato would peruse with more +satisfaction their own writings; and their scholiasts must resign +the prize to the labors of our Western editors.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 110: See the Life of Nicholas V. by two contemporary +authors, Janottus Manettus, (tom. iii. P. ii. p. 905--962,) and +Vespasian of Florence, (tom. xxv. p. 267--290,) in the collection +of Muratori; and consult Tiraboschi, (tom. vi. P. i. p. 46--52, +109,) and Hody in the articles of Theodore Gaza, George of +Trebizond, &c.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 111: Lord Bolingbroke observes, with truth and +spirit, that the popes in this instance, were worse politicians +than the muftis, and that the charm which had bound mankind for +so many ages was broken by the magicians themselves, (Letters on +the Study of History, l. vi. p. 165, 166, octavo edition, +1779.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 112: See the literary history of Cosmo and Lorenzo +of Medicis, in Tiraboschi, (tom. vi. P. i. l. i. c. 2,) who +bestows a due measure of praise on Alphonso of Arragon, king of +Naples, the dukes of Milan, Ferrara Urbino, &c. The republic +of Venice has deserved the least from the gratitude of +scholars.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 113: Tiraboschi, (tom. vi. P. i. p. 104,) from the +preface of Janus Lascaris to the Greek Anthology, printed at +Florence, 1494. Latebant (says Aldus in his preface to the Greek +orators, apud Hodium, p. 249) in Atho Thraciæ monte. Eas +Lascaris . . . . in Italiam reportavit. Miserat enim ipsum +Laurentius ille Medices in Græciam ad inquirendos simul, et +quantovis emendos pretio bonos libros. It is remarkable enough, +that the research was facilitated by Sultan Bajazet II.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 114: The Greek language was introduced into the +university of Oxford in the last years of the xvth century, by +Grocyn, Linacer, and Latimer, who had all studied at Florence +under Demetrius Chalcocondyles. See Dr. Knight's curious Life of +Erasmus. Although a stout academical patriot, he is forced to +acknowledge that Erasmus learned Greek at Oxford, and taught it +at Cambridge.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 115: The jealous Italians were desirous of keeping a +monopoly of Greek learning. When Aldus was about to publish the +Greek scholiasts on Sophocles and Euripides, Cave, (said they,) +cave hoc facias, ne <strong><em>Barbari</em></strong> istis +adjuti domi maneant, et pauciores in Italiam ventitent, (Dr. +Knight, in his Life of Erasmus, p. 365, from Beatus +Rhemanus.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 116: The press of Aldus Manutius, a Roman, was +established at Venice about the year 1494: he printed above sixty +considerable works of Greek literature, almost all for the first +time; several containing different treatises and authors, and of +several authors, two, three, or four editions, (Fabric. Bibliot. +Græc. tom. xiii. p. 605, &c.) Yet his glory must not +tempt us to forget, that the first Greek book, the Grammar of +Constantine Lascaris, was printed at Milan in 1476; and that the +Florence Homer of 1488 displays all the luxury of the +typographical art. See the Annales Typographical of Mattaire, and +the Bibliographie Instructive of De Bure, a knowing bookseller of +Paris.]</p> + +<p>Before the revival of classic literature, the Barbarians in +Europe were immersed in ignorance; and their vulgar tongues were +marked with the rudeness and poverty of their manners. The +students of the more perfect idioms of Rome and Greece were +introduced to a new world of light and science; to the society of +the free and polished nations of antiquity; and to a familiar +converse with those immortal men who spoke the sublime language +of eloquence and reason. Such an intercourse must tend to refine +the taste, and to elevate the genius, of the moderns; and yet, +from the first experiments, it might appear that the study of the +ancients had given fetters, rather than wings, to the human mind. +However laudable, the spirit of imitation is of a servile cast; +and the first disciples of the Greeks and Romans were a colony of +strangers in the midst of their age and country. The minute and +laborious diligence which explored the antiquities of remote +times might have improved or adorned the present state of +society, the critic and metaphysician were the slaves of +Aristotle; the poets, historians, and orators, were proud to +repeat the thoughts and words of the Augustan age: the works of +nature were observed with the eyes of Pliny and Theophrastus; and +some Pagan votaries professed a secret devotion to the gods of +Homer and Plato. ^117 The Italians were oppressed by the strength +and number of their ancient auxiliaries: the century after the +deaths of Petrarch and Boccace was filled with a crowd of Latin +imitators, who decently repose on our shelves; but in that +æra of learning it will not be easy to discern a real +discovery of science, a work of invention or eloquence, in the +popular language of the country. ^118 But as soon as it had been +deeply saturated with the celestial dew, the soil was quickened +into vegetation and life; the modern idioms were refined; the +classics of Athens and Rome inspired a pure taste and a generous +emulation; and in Italy, as afterwards in France and England, the +pleasing reign of poetry and fiction was succeeded by the light +of speculative and experimental philosophy. Genius may anticipate +the season of maturity; but in the education of a people, as in +that of an individual, memory must be exercised, before the +powers of reason and fancy can be expanded: nor may the artist +hope to equal or surpass, till he has learned to imitate, the +works of his predecessors.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 117: I will select three singular examples of this +classic enthusiasm. I. At the synod of Florence, Gemistus Pletho +said, in familiar conversation to George of Trebizond, that in a +short time mankind would unanimously renounce the Gospel and the +Koran, for a religion similar to that of the Gentiles, (Leo +Allatius, apud Fabricium, tom. x. p. 751.) 2. Paul II. persecuted +the Roman academy, which had been founded by Pomponius +Lætus; and the principal members were accused of heresy, +impiety, and <strong><em>paganism</em></strong>, (Tiraboschi, +tom. vi. P. i. p. 81, 82.) 3. In the next century, some scholars +and poets in France celebrated the success of Jodelle's tragedy +of Cleopatra, by a festival of Bacchus, and, as it is said, by +the sacrifice of a goat, (Bayle, Dictionnaire, Jodelle. +Fontenelle, tom. iii. p. 56--61.) Yet the spirit of bigotry might +often discern a serious impiety in the sportive play of fancy and +learning.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 118: The survivor Boccace died in the year 1375; and +we cannot place before 1480 the composition of the Morgante +Maggiore of Pulci and the Orlando Innamorato of Boyardo, +(Tiraboschi, tom. vi. P. ii. p. 174--177.)]</p> + +<p><strong>Chapter LXVII: Schism Of The Greeks And +Latins.</strong> <strong><em>Part I.</em></strong></p> + +<p>Schism Of The Greeks And Latins. -- Reign And Character Of +Amurath The Second. -- Crusade Of Ladislaus, King Of Hungary. -- +His Defeat And Death. -- John Huniades. -- Scanderbeg. -- +Constantine Palæologus, Last Emperor Of The East.</p> + +<p>The respective merits of Rome and Constantinople are compared +and celebrated by an eloquent Greek, the father of the Italian +schools. ^1 The view of the ancient capital, the seat of his +ancestors, surpassed the most sanguine expectations of Emanuel +Chrysoloras; and he no longer blamed the exclamation of an old +sophist, that Rome was the habitation, not of men, but of gods. +Those gods, and those men, had long since vanished; but to the +eye of liberal enthusiasm, the majesty of ruin restored the image +of her ancient prosperity. The monuments of the consuls and +Cæsars, of the martyrs and apostles, engaged on all sides +the curiosity of the philosopher and the Christian; and he +confessed that in every age the arms and the religion of Rome +were destined to reign over the earth. While Chrysoloras admired +the venerable beauties of the mother, he was not forgetful of his +native country, her fairest daughter, her Imperial colony; and +the Byzantine patriot expatiates with zeal and truth on the +eternal advantages of nature, and the more transitory glories of +art and dominion, which adorned, or had adorned, the city of +Constantine. Yet the perfection of the copy still redounds (as he +modestly observes) to the honor of the original, and parents are +delighted to be renewed, and even excelled, by the superior merit +of their children. "Constantinople," says the orator, "is situate +on a commanding point, between Europe and Asia, between the +Archipelago and the Euxine. By her interposition, the two seas, +and the two continents, are united for the common benefit of +nations; and the gates of commerce may be shut or opened at her +command. The harbor, encompassed on all sides by the sea, and the +continent, is the most secure and capacious in the world. The +walls and gates of Constantinople may be compared with those of +Babylon: the towers many; each tower is a solid and lofty +structure; and the second wall, the outer fortification, would be +sufficient for the defence and dignity of an ordinary capital. A +broad and rapid stream may be introduced into the ditches and the +artificial island may be encompassed, like Athens, ^2 by land or +water." Two strong and natural causes are alleged for the +perfection of the model of new Rome. The royal founder reigned +over the most illustrious nations of the globe; and in the +accomplishment of his designs, the power of the Romans was +combined with the art and science of the Greeks. Other cities +have been reared to maturity by accident and time: their beauties +are mingled with disorder and deformity; and the inhabitants, +unwilling to remove from their natal spot, are incapable of +correcting the errors of their ancestors, and the original vices +of situation or climate. But the free idea of Constantinople was +formed and executed by a single mind; and the primitive model was +improved by the obedient zeal of the subjects and successors of +the first monarch. The adjacent isles were stored with an +inexhaustible supply of marble; but the various materials were +transported from the most remote shores of Europe and Asia; and +the public and private buildings, the palaces, churches, +aqueducts, cisterns, porticos, columns, baths, and hippodromes, +were adapted to the greatness of the capital of the East. The +superfluity of wealth was spread along the shores of Europe and +Asia; and the Byzantine territory, as far as the Euxine, the +Hellespont, and the long wall, might be considered as a populous +suburb and a perpetual garden. In this flattering picture, the +past and the present, the times of prosperity and decay, are art +fully confounded; but a sigh and a confession escape, from the +orator, that his wretched country was the shadow and sepulchre of +its former self. The works of ancient sculpture had been defaced +by Christian zeal or Barbaric violence; the fairest structures +were demolished; and the marbles of Paros or Numidia were burnt +for lime, or applied to the meanest uses. Of many a statue, the +place was marked by an empty pedestal; of many a column, the size +was determined by a broken capital; the tombs of the emperors +were scattered on the ground; the stroke of time was accelerated +by storms and earthquakes; and the vacant space was adorned, by +vulgar tradition, with fabulous monuments of gold and silver. +From these wonders, which lived only in memory or belief, he +distinguishes, however, the porphyry pillar, the column and +colossus of Justinian, ^3 and the church, more especially the +dome, of St. Sophia; the best conclusion, since it could not be +described according to its merits, and after it no other object +could deserve to be mentioned. But he forgets that, a century +before, the trembling fabrics of the colossus and the church had +been saved and supported by the timely care of Andronicus the +Elder. Thirty years after the emperor had fortified St. Sophia +with two new buttresses or pyramids, the eastern hemisphere +suddenly gave way: and the images, the altars, and the sanctuary, +were crushed by the falling ruin. The mischief indeed was +speedily repaired; the rubbish was cleared by the incessant labor +of every rank and age; and the poor remains of riches and +industry were consecrated by the Greeks to the most stately and +venerable temple of the East. ^4</p> + +<p>[Footnote 1: The epistle of Emanuel Chrysoloras to the emperor +John Palæologus will not offend the eye or ear of a +classical student, (ad calcem Codini de Antiquitatibus C. P. p. +107--126.) The superscription suggests a chronological remark, +that John Palæologus II. was associated in the empire +before the year 1414, the date of Chrysoloras's death. A still +earlier date, at least 1408, is deduced from the age of his +youngest sons, Demetrius and Thomas, who were both +<strong><em>Porphyrogeniti</em></strong> (Ducange, Fam. Byzant. +p. 244, 247.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 2: Somebody observed that the city of Athens might +be circumnavigated, (tiV eipen tin polin tvn Aqhnaiwn dunasqai +kai paraplein kai periplein.) But what may be true in a +rhetorical sense of Constantinople, cannot be applied to the +situation of Athens, five miles from the sea, and not intersected +or surrounded by any navigable streams.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 3: Nicephorus Gregoras has described the Colossus of +Justinian, (l. vii. 12:) but his measures are false and +inconsistent. The editor Boivin consulted his friend Girardon; +and the sculptor gave him the true proportions of an equestrian +statue. That of Justinian was still visible to Peter Gyllius, not +on the column, but in the outward court of the seraglio; and he +was at Constantinople when it was melted down, and cast into a +brass cannon, (de Topograph. C. P. l. ii. c. 17.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 4: See the decay and repairs of St. Sophia, in +Nicephorus Gregoras (l. vii. 12, l. xv. 2.) The building was +propped by Andronicus in 1317, the eastern hemisphere fell in +1345. The Greeks, in their pompous rhetoric, exalt the beauty and +holiness of the church, an earthly heaven the abode of angels, +and of God himself, &c.]</p> + +<p>The last hope of the falling city and empire was placed in the +harmony of the mother and daughter, in the maternal tenderness of +Rome, and the filial obedience of Constantinople. In the synod of +Florence, the Greeks and Latins had embraced, and subscribed, and +promised; but these signs of friendship were perfidious or +fruitless; ^5 and the baseless fabric of the union vanished like +a dream. ^6 The emperor and his prelates returned home in the +Venetian galleys; but as they touched at the Morea and the Isles +of Corfu and Lesbos, the subjects of the Latins complained that +the pretended union would be an instrument of oppression. No +sooner did they land on the Byzantine shore, than they were +saluted, or rather assailed, with a general murmur of zeal and +discontent. During their absence, above two years, the capital +had been deprived of its civil and ecclesiastical rulers; +fanaticism fermented in anarchy; the most furious monks reigned +over the conscience of women and bigots; and the hatred of the +Latin name was the first principle of nature and religion. Before +his departure for Italy, the emperor had flattered the city with +the assurance of a prompt relief and a powerful succor; and the +clergy, confident in their orthodoxy and science, had promised +themselves and their flocks an easy victory over the blind +shepherds of the West. The double disappointment exasperated the +Greeks; the conscience of the subscribing prelates was awakened; +the hour of temptation was past; and they had more to dread from +the public resentment, than they could hope from the favor of the +emperor or the pope. Instead of justifying their conduct, they +deplored their weakness, professed their contrition, and cast +themselves on the mercy of God and of their brethren. To the +reproachful question, what had been the event or the use of their +Italian synod? they answered with sighs and tears, "Alas! we have +made a new faith; we have exchanged piety for impiety; we have +betrayed the immaculate sacrifice; and we are become +<strong><em>Azymites</em></strong>." (The Azymites were those who +celebrated the communion with unleavened bread; and I must +retract or qualify the praise which I have bestowed on the +growing philosophy of the times.) "Alas! we have been seduced by +distress, by fraud, and by the hopes and fears of a transitory +life. The hand that has signed the union should be cut off; and +the tongue that has pronounced the Latin creed deserves to be +torn from the root." The best proof of their repentance was an +increase of zeal for the most trivial rites and the most +incomprehensible doctrines; and an absolute separation from all, +without excepting their prince, who preserved some regard for +honor and consistency. After the decease of the patriarch Joseph, +the archbishops of Heraclea and Trebizond had courage to refuse +the vacant office; and Cardinal Bessarion preferred the warm and +comfortable shelter of the Vatican. The choice of the emperor and +his clergy was confined to Metrophanes of Cyzicus: he was +consecrated in St. Sophia, but the temple was vacant. The +cross-bearers abdicated their service; the infection spread from +the city to the villages; and Metrophanes discharged, without +effect, some ecclesiastical thunders against a nation of +schismatics. The eyes of the Greeks were directed to Mark of +Ephesus, the champion of his country; and the sufferings of the +holy confessor were repaid with a tribute of admiration and +applause. His example and writings propagated the flame of +religious discord; age and infirmity soon removed him from the +world; but the gospel of Mark was not a law of forgiveness; and +he requested with his dying breath, that none of the adherents of +Rome might attend his obsequies or pray for his soul.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 5: The genuine and original narrative of Syropulus +(p. 312--351) opens the schism from the first +<strong><em>office</em></strong> of the Greeks at Venice to the +general opposition at Constantinople, of the clergy and +people.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 6: On the schism of Constantinople, see Phranza, (l. +ii. c. 17,) Laonicus Chalcondyles, (l. vi. p. 155, 156,) and +Ducas, (c. 31;) the last of whom writes with truth and freedom. +Among the moderns we may distinguish the continuator of Fleury, +(tom. xxii. p. 338, &c., 401, 420, &c.,) and Spondanus, +(A.D. 1440--50.) The sense of the latter is drowned in prejudice +and passion, as soon as Rome and religion are concerned.]</p> + +<p>The schism was not confined to the narrow limits of the +Byzantine empire. Secure under the Mamaluke sceptre, the three +patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, assembled a +numerous synod; disowned their representatives at Ferrara and +Florence; condemned the creed and council of the Latins; and +threatened the emperor of Constantinople with the censures of the +Eastern church. Of the sectaries of the Greek communion, the +Russians were the most powerful, ignorant, and superstitious. +Their primate, the cardinal Isidore, hastened from Florence to +Moscow, ^7 to reduce the independent nation under the Roman yoke. +But the Russian bishops had been educated at Mount Athos; and the +prince and people embraced the theology of their priests. They +were scandalized by the title, the pomp, the Latin cross of the +legate, the friend of those impious men who shaved their beards, +and performed the divine office with gloves on their hands and +rings on their fingers: Isidore was condemned by a synod; his +person was imprisoned in a monastery; and it was with extreme +difficulty that the cardinal could escape from the hands of a +fierce and fanatic people. ^8 The Russians refused a passage to +the missionaries of Rome who aspired to convert the Pagans beyond +the Tanais; ^9 and their refusal was justified by the maxim, that +the guilt of idolatry is less damnable than that of schism. The +errors of the Bohemians were excused by their abhorrence for the +pope; and a deputation of the Greek clergy solicited the +friendship of those sanguinary enthusiasts. ^10 While Eugenius +triumphed in the union and orthodoxy of the Greeks, his party was +contracted to the walls, or rather to the palace of +Constantinople. The zeal of Palæologus had been excited by +interest; it was soon cooled by opposition: an attempt to violate +the national belief might endanger his life and crown; not could +the pious rebels be destitute of foreign and domestic aid. The +sword of his brother Demetrius, who in Italy had maintained a +prudent and popular silence, was half unsheathed in the cause of +religion; and Amurath, the Turkish sultan, was displeased and +alarmed by the seeming friendship of the Greeks and Latins.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 7: Isidore was metropolitan of Kiow, but the Greeks +subject to Poland have removed that see from the ruins of Kiow to +Lemberg, or Leopold, (Herbestein, in Ramusio, tom. ii. p. 127.) +On the other hand, the Russians transferred their spiritual +obedience to the archbishop, who became, in 1588, the patriarch, +of Moscow, (Levesque Hist. de Russie, tom. iii. p. 188, 190, from +a Greek MS. at Turin, Iter et labores Archiepiscopi +Arsenii.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 8: The curious narrative of Levesque (Hist. de +Russie, tom. ii. p. 242--247) is extracted from the patriarchal +archives. The scenes of Ferrara and Florence are described by +ignorance and passion; but the Russians are credible in the +account of their own prejudices.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 9: The Shamanism, the ancient religion of the +Samanæans and Gymnosophists, has been driven by the more +popular Bramins from India into the northern deserts: the naked +philosophers were compelled to wrap themselves in fur; but they +insensibly sunk into wizards and physicians. The Mordvans and +Tcheremisses in the European Russia adhere to this religion, +which is formed on the earthly model of one king or God, his +ministers or angels, and the rebellious spirits who oppose his +government. As these tribes of the Volga have no images, they +might more justly retort on the Latin missionaries the name of +idolaters, (Levesque, Hist. des Peuples soumis à la +Domination des Russes, tom. i. p. 194--237, 423--460.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 10: Spondanus, Annal. Eccles. tom ii. A.D. 1451, No. +13. The epistle of the Greeks with a Latin version, is extant in +the college library at Prague.]</p> + +<p>"Sultan Murad, or Amurath, lived forty-nine, and reigned +thirty years, six months, and eight days. He was a just and +valiant prince, of a great soul, patient of labors, learned, +merciful, religious, charitable; a lover and encourager of the +studious, and of all who excelled in any art or science; a good +emperor and a great general. No man obtained more or greater +victories than Amurath; Belgrade alone withstood his attacks. ^* +Under his reign, the soldier was ever victorious, the citizen +rich and secure. If he subdued any country, his first care was to +build mosques and caravansaras, hospitals, and colleges. Every +year he gave a thousand pieces of gold to the sons of the +Prophet; and sent two thousand five hundred to the religious +persons of Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem." ^11 This portrait is +transcribed from the historian of the Othman empire: but the +applause of a servile and superstitious people has been lavished +on the worst of tyrants; and the virtues of a sultan are often +the vices most useful to himself, or most agreeable to his +subjects. A nation ignorant of the equal benefits of liberty and +law, must be awed by the flashes of arbitrary power: the cruelty +of a despot will assume the character of justice; his profusion, +of liberality; his obstinacy, of firmness. If the most reasonable +excuse be rejected, few acts of obedience will be found +impossible; and guilt must tremble, where innocence cannot always +be secure. The tranquillity of the people, and the discipline of +the troops, were best maintained by perpetual action in the +field; war was the trade of the Janizaries; and those who +survived the peril, and divided the spoil, applauded the generous +ambition of their sovereign. To propagate the true religion, was +the duty of a faithful Mussulman: the unbelievers were +<strong><em>his</em></strong> enemies, and those of the Prophet; +and, in the hands of the Turks, the cimeter was the only +instrument of conversion. Under these circumstances, however, the +justice and moderation of Amurath are attested by his conduct, +and acknowledged by the Christians themselves; who consider a +prosperous reign and a peaceful death as the reward of his +singular merits. In the vigor of his age and military power, he +seldom engaged in war till he was justified by a previous and +adequate provocation: the victorious sultan was disarmed by +submission; and in the observance of treaties, his word was +inviolate and sacred. ^12 The Hungarians were commonly the +aggressors; he was provoked by the revolt of Scanderbeg; and the +perfidious Caramanian was twice vanquished, and twice pardoned, +by the Ottoman monarch. Before he invaded the Morea, Thebes had +been surprised by the despot: in the conquest of Thessalonica, +the grandson of Bajazet might dispute the recent purchase of the +Venetians; and after the first siege of Constantinople, the +sultan was never tempted, by the distress, the absence, or the +injuries of Palæologus, to extinguish the dying light of +the Byzantine empire.</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: See the siege and massacre at Thessalonica. Von +Hammer vol. i p. 433. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 11: See Cantemir, History of the Othman Empire, p. +94. Murad, or Morad, may be more correct: but I have preferred +the popular name to that obscure diligence which is rarely +successful in translating an Oriental, into the Roman, +alphabet.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 12: See Chalcondyles, (l. vii. p. 186, 198,) Ducas, +(c. 33,) and Marinus Barletius, (in Vit. Scanderbeg, p. 145, +146.) In his good faith towards the garrison of Sfetigrade, he +was a lesson and example to his son Mahomet.]</p> + +<p>But the most striking feature in the life and character of +Amurath is the double abdication of the Turkish throne; and, were +not his motives debased by an alloy of superstition, we must +praise the royal philosopher, ^13 who at the age of forty could +discern the vanity of human greatness. Resigning the sceptre to +his son, he retired to the pleasant residence of Magnesia; but he +retired to the society of saints and hermits. It was not till the +fourth century of the Hegira, that the religion of Mahomet had +been corrupted by an institution so adverse to his genius; but in +the age of the crusades, the various orders of Dervises were +multiplied by the example of the Christian, and even the Latin, +monks. ^14 The lord of nations submitted to fast, and pray, and +turn round ^* in endless rotation with the fanatics, who mistook +the giddiness of the head for the illumination of the spirit. ^15 +But he was soon awakened from his dreams of enthusiasm by the +Hungarian invasion; and his obedient son was the foremost to urge +the public danger and the wishes of the people. Under the banner +of their veteran leader, the Janizaries fought and conquered but +he withdrew from the field of Varna, again to pray, to fast, and +to turn round with his Magnesian brethren. These pious +occupations were again interrupted by the danger of the state. A +victorious army disdained the inexperience of their youthful +ruler: the city of Adrianople was abandoned to rapine and +slaughter; and the unanimous divan implored his presence to +appease the tumult, and prevent the rebellion, of the Janizaries. +At the well-known voice of their master, they trembled and +obeyed; and the reluctant sultan was compelled to support his +splendid servitude, till at the end of four years, he was +relieved by the angel of death. Age or disease, misfortune or +caprice, have tempted several princes to descend from the throne; +and they have had leisure to repent of their irretrievable step. +But Amurath alone, in the full liberty of choice, after the trial +of empire and solitude, has <strong><em>repeated</em></strong> +his preference of a private life.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 13: Voltaire (Essai sur l'Histoire +Générale, c. 89, p. 283, 284) admires +<strong><em>le Philosophe Turc:</em></strong> would he have +bestowed the same praise on a Christian prince for retiring to a +monastery? In his way, Voltaire was a bigot, an intolerant +bigot.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 14: See the articles +<strong><em>Dervische</em></strong>, +<strong><em>Fakir</em></strong>, +<strong><em>Nasser</em></strong>, +<strong><em>Rohbaniat</em></strong>, in D'Herbelot's +Bibliothèque Orientale. Yet the subject is superficially +treated from the Persian and Arabian writers. It is among the +Turks that these orders have principally flourished.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Gibbon has fallen into a remarkable error. The +unmonastic retreat of Amurath was that of an epicurean rather +than of a dervis; more like that of Sardanapalus than of Charles +the Fifth. Profane, not divine, love was its chief occupation: +the only dance, that described by Horace as belonging to the +country, motus doceri gaudet Ionicos. See Von Hammer note, p. +652. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 15: Ricaut (in the Present State of the Ottoman +Empire, p. 242--268) affords much information, which he drew from +his personal conversation with the heads of the dervises, most of +whom ascribed their origin to the time of Orchan. He does not +mention the <strong><em>Zichid</em></strong> of Chalcondyles, (l. +vii. p. 286,) among whom Amurath retired: the +<strong><em>Seids</em></strong> of that author are the +descendants of Mahomet.]</p> + +<p>After the departure of his Greek brethren, Eugenius had not +been unmindful of their temporal interest; and his tender regard +for the Byzantine empire was animated by a just apprehension of +the Turks, who approached, and might soon invade, the borders of +Italy. But the spirit of the crusades had expired; and the +coldness of the Franks was not less unreasonable than their +headlong passion. In the eleventh century, a fanatic monk could +precipitate Europe on Asia for the recovery of the holy +sepulchre; but in the fifteenth, the most pressing motives of +religion and policy were insufficient to unite the Latins in the +defence of Christendom. Germany was an inexhaustible storehouse +of men and arms: ^16 but that complex and languid body required +the impulse of a vigorous hand; and Frederic the Third was alike +impotent in his personal character and his Imperial dignity. A +long war had impaired the strength, without satiating the +animosity, of France and England: ^17 but Philip duke of Burgundy +was a vain and magnificent prince; and he enjoyed, without danger +or expense, the adventurous piety of his subjects, who sailed, in +a gallant fleet, from the coast of Flanders to the Hellespont. +The maritime republics of Venice and Genoa were less remote from +the scene of action; and their hostile fleets were associated +under the standard of St. Peter. The kingdoms of Hungary and +Poland, which covered as it were the interior pale of the Latin +church, were the most nearly concerned to oppose the progress of +the Turks. Arms were the patrimony of the Scythians and +Sarmatians; and these nations might appear equal to the contest, +could they point, against the common foe, those swords that were +so wantonly drawn in bloody and domestic quarrels. But the same +spirit was adverse to concord and obedience: a poor country and a +limited monarch are incapable of maintaining a standing force; +and the loose bodies of Polish and Hungarian horse were not armed +with the sentiments and weapons which, on some occasions, have +given irresistible weight to the French chivalry. Yet, on this +side, the designs of the Roman pontiff, and the eloquence of +Cardinal Julian, his legate, were promoted by the circumstances +of the times: ^18 by the union of the two crowns on the head of +Ladislaus, ^19 a young and ambitious soldier; by the valor of a +hero, whose name, the name of John Huniades, was already popular +among the Christians, and formidable to the Turks. An endless +treasure of pardons and indulgences was scattered by the legate; +many private warriors of France and Germany enlisted under the +holy banner; and the crusade derived some strength, or at least +some reputation, from the new allies both of Europe and Asia. A +fugitive despot of Servia exaggerated the distress and ardor of +the Christians beyond the Danube, who would unanimously rise to +vindicate their religion and liberty. The Greek emperor, ^20 with +a spirit unknown to his fathers, engaged to guard the Bosphorus, +and to sally from Constantinople at the head of his national and +mercenary troops. The sultan of Caramania ^21 announced the +retreat of Amurath, and a powerful diversion in the heart of +Anatolia; and if the fleets of the West could occupy at the same +moment the Straits of the Hellespont, the Ottoman monarchy would +be dissevered and destroyed. Heaven and earth must rejoice in the +perdition of the miscreants; and the legate, with prudent +ambiguity, instilled the opinion of the invisible, perhaps the +visible, aid of the Son of God, and his divine mother.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 16: In the year 1431, Germany raised 40,000 horse, +men-at-arms, against the Hussites of Bohemia, (Lenfant, Hist. du +Concile de Basle, tom. i. p. 318.) At the siege of Nuys, on the +Rhine, in 1474, the princes, prelates, and cities, sent their +respective quotas; and the bishop of Munster (qui n'est pas des +plus grands) furnished 1400 horse, 6000 foot, all in green, with +1200 wagons. The united armies of the king of England and the +duke of Burgundy scarcely equalled one third of this German host, +(Mémoires de Philippe de Comines, l. iv. c. 2.) At +present, six or seven hundred thousand men are maintained in +constant pay and admirable discipline by the powers of +Germany.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 17: It was not till the year 1444, that France and +England could agree on a truce of some months. (See Rymer's +Fdera, and the chronicles of both nations.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 18: In the Hungarian crusade, Spondanus (Annal. +Ecclés. A.D. 1443, 1444) has been my leading guide. He has +diligently read, and critically compared, the Greek and Turkish +materials, the historians of Hungary, Poland, and the West. His +narrative is perspicuous and where he can be free from a +religious bias, the judgment of Spondanus is not +contemptible.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 19: I have curtailed the harsh letter (Wladislaus) +which most writers affix to his name, either in compliance with +the Polish pronunciation, or to distinguish him from his rival +the infant Ladislaus of Austria. Their competition for the crown +of Hungary is described by Callimachus, (l. i. ii. p. 447--486,) +Bonfinius, (Decad. iii. l. iv.,) Spondanus, and Lenfant.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 20: The Greek historians, Phranza, Chalcondyles, and +Ducas, do not ascribe to their prince a very active part in this +crusade, which he seems to have promoted by his wishes, and +injured by his fears.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 21: Cantemir (p. 88) ascribes to his policy the +original plan, and transcribes his animating epistle to the king +of Hungary. But the Mahometan powers are seldom it formed of the +state of Christendom and the situation and correspondence of the +knights of Rhodes must connect them with the sultan of +Caramania.]</p> + +<p>Of the Polish and Hungarian diets, a religious war was the +unanimous cry; and Ladislaus, after passing the Danube, led an +army of his confederate subjects as far as Sophia, the capital of +the Bulgarian kingdom. In this expedition they obtained two +signal victories, which were justly ascribed to the valor and +conduct of Huniades. In the first, with a vanguard of ten +thousand men, he surprised the Turkish camp; in the second, he +vanquished and made prisoner the most renowned of their generals, +who possessed the double advantage of ground and numbers. The +approach of winter, and the natural and artificial obstacles of +Mount Hæmus, arrested the progress of the hero, who +measured a narrow interval of six days' march from the foot of +the mountains to the hostile towers of Adrianople, and the +friendly capital of the Greek empire. The retreat was +undisturbed; and the entrance into Buda was at once a military +and religious triumph. An ecclesiastical procession was followed +by the king and his warriors on foot: he nicely balanced the +merits and rewards of the two nations; and the pride of conquest +was blended with the humble temper of Christianity. Thirteen +bashaws, nine standards, and four thousand captives, were +unquestionable trophies; and as all were willing to believe, and +none were present to contradict, the crusaders multiplied, with +unblushing confidence, the myriads of Turks whom they had left on +the field of battle. ^22 The most solid proof, and the most +salutary consequence, of victory, was a deputation from the divan +to solicit peace, to restore Servia, to ransom the prisoners, and +to evacuate the Hungarian frontier. By this treaty, the rational +objects of the war were obtained: the king, the despot, and +Huniades himself, in the diet of Segedin, were satisfied with +public and private emolument; a truce of ten years was concluded; +and the followers of Jesus and Mahomet, who swore on the Gospel +and the Koran, attested the word of God as the guardian of truth +and the avenger of perfidy. In the place of the Gospel, the +Turkish ministers had proposed to substitute the Eucharist, the +real presence of the Catholic deity; but the Christians refused +to profane their holy mysteries; and a superstitious conscience +is less forcibly bound by the spiritual energy, than by the +outward and visible symbols of an oath. ^23</p> + +<p>[Footnote 22: In their letters to the emperor Frederic III. +the Hungarians slay 80,000 Turks in one battle; but the modest +Julian reduces the slaughter to 6000 or even 2000 infidels, +(Æneas Sylvius in Europ. c. 5, and epist. 44, 81, apud +Spondanum.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 23: See the origin of the Turkish war, and the first +expedition of Ladislaus, in the vth and vith books of the iiid +decad of Bonfinius, who, in his division and style, copies Livy +with tolerable success Callimachus (l. ii p. 487--496) is still +more pure and authentic.]</p> + +<p>During the whole transaction, the cardinal legate had observed +a sullen silence, unwilling to approve, and unable to oppose, the +consent of the king and people. But the diet was not dissolved +before Julian was fortified by the welcome intelligence, that +Anatolia was invaded by the Caramanian, and Thrace by the Greek +emperor; that the fleets of Genoa, Venice, and Burgundy, were +masters of the Hellespont; and that the allies, informed of the +victory, and ignorant of the treaty, of Ladislaus, impatiently +waited for the return of his victorious army. "And is it thus," +exclaimed the cardinal, ^24 "that you will desert their +expectations and your own fortune? It is to them, to your God, +and your fellow-Christians, that you have pledged your faith; and +that prior obligation annihilates a rash and sacrilegious oath to +the enemies of Christ. His vicar on earth is the Roman pontiff; +without whose sanction you can neither promise nor perform. In +his name I absolve your perjury and sanctify your arms: follow my +footsteps in the paths of glory and salvation; and if still ye +have scruples, devolve on my head the punishment and the sin." +This mischievous casuistry was seconded by his respectable +character, and the levity of popular assemblies: war was +resolved, on the same spot where peace had so lately been sworn; +and, in the execution of the treaty, the Turks were assaulted by +the Christians; to whom, with some reason, they might apply the +epithet of Infidels. The falsehood of Ladislaus to his word and +oath was palliated by the religion of the times: the most +perfect, or at least the most popular, excuse would have been the +success of his arms and the deliverance of the Eastern church. +But the same treaty which should have bound his conscience had +diminished his strength. On the proclamation of the peace, the +French and German volunteers departed with indignant murmurs: the +Poles were exhausted by distant warfare, and perhaps disgusted +with foreign command; and their palatines accepted the first +license, and hastily retired to their provinces and castles. Even +Hungary was divided by faction, or restrained by a laudable +scruple; and the relics of the crusade that marched in the second +expedition were reduced to an inadequate force of twenty thousand +men. A Walachian chief, who joined the royal standard with his +vassals, presumed to remark that their numbers did not exceed the +hunting retinue that sometimes attended the sultan; and the gift +of two horses of matchless speed might admonish Ladislaus of his +secret foresight of the event. But the despot of Servia, after +the restoration of his country and children, was tempted by the +promise of new realms; and the inexperience of the king, the +enthusiasm of the legate, and the martial presumption of Huniades +himself, were persuaded that every obstacle must yield to the +invincible virtue of the sword and the cross. After the passage +of the Danube, two roads might lead to Constantinople and the +Hellespont: the one direct, abrupt, and difficult through the +mountains of Hæmus; the other more tedious and secure, over +a level country, and along the shores of the Euxine; in which +their flanks, according to the Scythian discipline, might always +be covered by a movable fortification of wagons. The latter was +judiciously preferred: the Catholics marched through the plains +of Bulgaria, burning, with wanton cruelty, the churches and +villages of the Christian natives; and their last station was at +Warna, near the sea-shore; on which the defeat and death of +Ladislaus have bestowed a memorable name. ^25</p> + +<p>[Footnote 24: I do not pretend to warrant the literal accuracy +of Julian's speech, which is variously worded by Callimachus, (l. +iii. p. 505--507,) Bonfinius, (dec. iii. l. vi. p. 457, 458,) and +other historians, who might indulge their own eloquence, while +they represent one of the orators of the age. But they all agree +in the advice and arguments for perjury, which in the field of +controversy are fiercely attacked by the Protestants, and feebly +defended by the Catholics. The latter are discouraged by the +misfortune of Warna.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 25: Warna, under the Grecian name of Odessus, was a +colony of the Milesians, which they denominated from the hero +Ulysses, (Cellarius, tom. i. p. 374. D'Anville, tom. i. p. 312.) +According to Arrian's Periplus of the Euxine, (p. 24, 25, in the +first volume of Hudson's Geographers,) it was situate 1740 +stadia, or furlongs, from the mouth of the Danube, 2140 from +Byzantium, and 360 to the north of a ridge of promontory of Mount +Hæmus, which advances into the sea.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LXVII: Schism Of The Greeks And Latins. -- +Part II.</em></strong></p> + +<p>It was on this fatal spot, that, instead of finding a +confederate fleet to second their operations, they were alarmed +by the approach of Amurath himself, who had issued from his +Magnesian solitude, and transported the forces of Asia to the +defence of Europe. According to some writers, the Greek emperor +had been awed, or seduced, to grant the passage of the Bosphorus; +and an indelible stain of corruption is fixed on the Genoese, or +the pope's nephew, the Catholic admiral, whose mercenary +connivance betrayed the guard of the Hellespont. From Adrianople, +the sultan advanced by hasty marches, at the head of sixty +thousand men; and when the cardinal, and Huniades, had taken a +nearer survey of the numbers and order of the Turks, these ardent +warriors proposed the tardy and impracticable measure of a +retreat. The king alone was resolved to conquer or die; and his +resolution had almost been crowned with a glorious and salutary +victory. The princes were opposite to each other in the centre; +and the Beglerbegs, or generals of Anatolia and Romania, +commanded on the right and left, against the adverse divisions of +the despot and Huniades. The Turkish wings were broken on the +first onset: but the advantage was fatal; and the rash victors, +in the heat of the pursuit, were carried away far from the +annoyance of the enemy, or the support of their friends. When +Amurath beheld the flight of his squadrons, he despaired of his +fortune and that of the empire: a veteran Janizary seized his +horse's bridle; and he had magnanimity to pardon and reward the +soldier who dared to perceive the terror, and arrest the flight, +of his sovereign. A copy of the treaty, the monument of Christian +perfidy, had been displayed in the front of battle; and it is +said, that the sultan in his distress, lifting his eyes and his +hands to heaven, implored the protection of the God of truth; and +called on the prophet Jesus himself to avenge the impious mockery +of his name and religion. ^26 With inferior numbers and +disordered ranks, the king of Hungary rushed forward in the +confidence of victory, till his career was stopped by the +impenetrable phalanx of the Janizaries. If we may credit the +Ottoman annals, his horse was pierced by the javelin of Amurath; +^27 he fell among the spears of the infantry; and a Turkish +soldier proclaimed with a loud voice, "Hungarians, behold the +head of your king!" The death of Ladislaus was the signal of +their defeat. On his return from an intemperate pursuit, Huniades +deplored his error, and the public loss; he strove to rescue the +royal body, till he was overwhelmed by the tumultuous crowd of +the victors and vanquished; and the last efforts of his courage +and conduct were exerted to save the remnant of his Walachian +cavalry. Ten thousand Christians were slain in the disastrous +battle of Warna: the loss of the Turks, more considerable in +numbers, bore a smaller proportion to their total strength; yet +the philosophic sultan was not ashamed to confess, that his ruin +must be the consequence of a second and similar victory. ^* At +his command a column was erected on the spot where Ladislaus had +fallen; but the modest inscription, instead of accusing the +rashness, recorded the valor, and bewailed the misfortune, of the +Hungarian youth. ^28</p> + +<p>[Footnote 26: Some Christian writers affirm, that he drew from +his bosom the host or wafer on which the treaty had +<strong><em>not</em></strong> been sworn. The Moslems suppose, +with more simplicity, an appeal to God and his prophet Jesus, +which is likewise insinuated by Callimachus, (l. iii. p. 516. +Spondan. A.D. 1444, No. 8.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 27: A critic will always distrust these +<strong><em>spolia opima</em></strong> of a victorious general, +so difficult for valor to obtain, so easy for flattery to invent, +(Cantemir, p. 90, 91.) Callimachus (l. iii. p. 517) more simply +and probably affirms, supervenitibus Janizaris, telorum +multitudine, non jam confossus est, quam obrutus.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Compare Von Hammer, p. 463. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 28: Besides some valuable hints from Æneas +Sylvius, which are diligently collected by Spondanus, our best +authorities are three historians of the xvth century, Philippus +Callimachus, (de Rebus a Vladislao Polonorum atque Hungarorum +Rege gestis, libri iii. in Bel. Script. Rerum Hungaricarum, tom. +i. p. 433--518,) Bonfinius, (decad. iii. l. v. p. 460--467,) and +Chalcondyles, (l. vii. p. 165--179.) The two first were Italians, +but they passed their lives in Poland and Hungary, (Fabric. +Bibliot. Latin. Med. et Infimæ Ætatis, tom. i. p. +324. Vossius, de Hist. Latin. l. iii. c. 8, 11. Bayle, +Dictionnaire, Bonfinius.) A small tract of Fælix Petancius, +chancellor of Segnia, (ad calcem Cuspinian. de Cæsaribus, +p. 716--722,) represents the theatre of the war in the xvth +century.]</p> + +<p>Before I lose sight of the field of Warna, I am tempted to +pause on the character and story of two principal actors, the +cardinal Julian and John Huniades. Julian ^29 Cæsarini was +born of a noble family of Rome: his studies had embraced both the +Latin and Greek learning, both the sciences of divinity and law; +and his versatile genius was equally adapted to the schools, the +camp, and the court. No sooner had he been invested with the +Roman purple, than he was sent into Germany to arm the empire +against the rebels and heretics of Bohemia. The spirit of +persecution is unworthy of a Christian; the military profession +ill becomes a priest; but the former is excused by the times; and +the latter was ennobled by the courage of Julian, who stood +dauntless and alone in the disgraceful flight of the German host. +As the pope's legate, he opened the council of Basil; but the +president soon appeared the most strenuous champion of +ecclesiastical freedom; and an opposition of seven years was +conducted by his ability and zeal. After promoting the strongest +measures against the authority and person of Eugenius, some +secret motive of interest or conscience engaged him to desert on +a sudden the popular party. The cardinal withdrew himself from +Basil to Ferrara; and, in the debates of the Greeks and Latins, +the two nations admired the dexterity of his arguments and the +depth of his theological erudition. ^30 In his Hungarian embassy, +we have already seen the mischievous effects of his sophistry and +eloquence, of which Julian himself was the first victim. The +cardinal, who performed the duties of a priest and a soldier, was +lost in the defeat of Warna. The circumstances of his death are +variously related; but it is believed, that a weighty encumbrance +of gold impeded his flight, and tempted the cruel avarice of some +Christian fugitives.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 29: M. Lenfant has described the origin (Hist. du +Concile de Basle, tom. i. p. 247, &c.) and Bohemian campaign +(p. 315, &c.) of Cardinal Julian. His services at Basil and +Ferrara, and his unfortunate end, are occasionally related by +Spondanus, and the continuator of Fleury.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 30: Syropulus honorably praises the talent of an +enemy, (p. 117:) toiauta tina eipen o IoulianoV peplatusmenwV +agan kai logikwV, kai met episthmhV kai deinothtoV +'RhtprikhV.]</p> + +<p>From an humble, or at least a doubtful origin, the merit of +John Huniades promoted him to the command of the Hungarian +armies. His father was a Walachian, his mother a Greek: her +unknown race might possibly ascend to the emperors of +Constantinople; and the claims of the Walachians, with the +surname of Corvinus, from the place of his nativity, might +suggest a thin pretence for mingling his blood with the +patricians of ancient Rome. ^31 In his youth he served in the +wars of Italy, and was retained, with twelve horsemen, by the +bishop of Zagrab: the valor of the <strong><em>white +knight</em></strong> ^32 was soon conspicuous; he increased his +fortunes by a noble and wealthy marriage; and in the defence of +the Hungarian borders he won in the same year three battles +against the Turks. By his influence, Ladislaus of Poland obtained +the crown of Hungary; and the important service was rewarded by +the title and office of Waivod of Transylvania. The first of +Julian's crusades added two Turkish laurels on his brow; and in +the public distress the fatal errors of Warna were forgotten. +During the absence and minority of Ladislaus of Austria, the +titular king, Huniades was elected supreme captain and governor +of Hungary; and if envy at first was silenced by terror, a reign +of twelve years supposes the arts of policy as well as of war. +Yet the idea of a consummate general is not delineated in his +campaigns; the white knight fought with the hand rather than the +head, as the chief of desultory Barbarians, who attack without +fear and fly without shame; and his military life is composed of +a romantic alternative of victories and escapes. By the Turks, +who employed his name to frighten their perverse children, he was +corruptly denominated <strong><em>Jancus Lain</em></strong>, or +the Wicked: their hatred is the proof of their esteem; the +kingdom which he guarded was inaccessible to their arms; and they +felt him most daring and formidable, when they fondly believed +the captain and his country irrecoverably lost. Instead of +confining himself to a defensive war, four years after the defeat +of Warna he again penetrated into the heart of Bulgaria, and in +the plain of Cossova, sustained, till the third day, the shock of +the Ottoman army, four times more numerous than his own. As he +fled alone through the woods of Walachia, the hero was surprised +by two robbers; but while they disputed a gold chain that hung at +his neck, he recovered his sword, slew the one, terrified the +other, and, after new perils of captivity or death, consoled by +his presence an afflicted kingdom. But the last and most glorious +action of his life was the defence of Belgrade against the powers +of Mahomet the Second in person. After a siege of forty days, the +Turks, who had already entered the town, were compelled to +retreat; and the joyful nations celebrated Huniades and Belgrade +as the bulwarks of Christendom. ^33 About a month after this +great deliverance, the champion expired; and his most splendid +epitaph is the regret of the Ottoman prince, who sighed that he +could no longer hope for revenge against the single antagonist +who had triumphed over his arms. On the first vacancy of the +throne, Matthias Corvinus, a youth of eighteen years of age, was +elected and crowned by the grateful Hungarians. His reign was +prosperous and long: Matthias aspired to the glory of a conqueror +and a saint: but his purest merit is the encouragement of +learning; and the Latin orators and historians, who were invited +from Italy by the son, have shed the lustre of their eloquence on +the father's character. ^34</p> + +<p>[Footnote 31: See Bonfinius, decad. iii. l. iv. p. 423. Could +the Italian historian pronounce, or the king of Hungary hear, +without a blush, the absurd flattery which confounded the name of +a Walachian village with the casual, though glorious, epithet of +a single branch of the Valerian family at Rome?]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 32: Philip de Comines, (Mémoires, l. vi. c. +13,) from the tradition of the times, mentions him with high +encomiums, but under the whimsical name of the Chevalier Blanc de +Valaigne, (Valachia.) The Greek Chalcondyles, and the Turkish +annals of Leunclavius, presume to accuse his fidelity or +valor.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 33: See Bonfinius (decad. iii. l. viii. p. 492) and +Spondanus, (A.D. 456, No. 1--7.) Huniades shared the glory of the +defence of Belgrade with Capistran, a Franciscan friar; and in +their respective narratives, neither the saint nor the hero +condescend to take notice of his rival's merit.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 34: See Bonfinius, decad. iii. l. viii. -- decad. +iv. l. viii. The observations of Spondanus on the life and +character of Matthias Corvinus are curious and critical, (A.D. +1464, No. 1, 1475, No. 6, 1476, No. 14--16, 1490, No. 4, 5.) +Italian fame was the object of his vanity. His actions are +celebrated in the Epitome Rerum Hungaricarum (p. 322--412) of +Peter Ranzanus, a Sicilian. His wise and facetious sayings are +registered by Galestus Martius of Narni, (528--568,) and we have +a particular narrative of his wedding and coronation. These three +tracts are all contained in the first vol. of Bel's Scriptores +Rerum Hungaricarum.]</p> + +<p>In the list of heroes, John Huniades and Scanderbeg are +commonly associated; ^35 and they are both entitled to our +notice, since their occupation of the Ottoman arms delayed the +ruin of the Greek empire. John Castriot, the father of +Scanderbeg, ^36 was the hereditary prince of a small district of +Epirus or Albania, between the mountains and the Adriatic Sea. +Unable to contend with the sultan's power, Castriot submitted to +the hard conditions of peace and tribute: he delivered his four +sons as the pledges of his fidelity; and the Christian youths, +after receiving the mark of circumcision, were instructed in the +Mahometan religion, and trained in the arms and arts of Turkish +policy. ^37 The three elder brothers were confounded in the crowd +of slaves; and the poison to which their deaths are ascribed +cannot be verified or disproved by any positive evidence. Yet the +suspicion is in a great measure removed by the kind and paternal +treatment of George Castriot, the fourth brother, who, from his +tender youth, displayed the strength and spirit of a soldier. The +successive overthrow of a Tartar and two Persians, who carried a +proud defiance to the Turkish court, recommended him to the favor +of Amurath, and his Turkish appellation of Scanderbeg, +(<strong><em>Iskender beg</em></strong>,) or the lord Alexander, +is an indelible memorial of his glory and servitude. His father's +principality was reduced into a province; but the loss was +compensated by the rank and title of Sanjiak, a command of five +thousand horse, and the prospect of the first dignities of the +empire. He served with honor in the wars of Europe and Asia; and +we may smile at the art or credulity of the historian, who +supposes, that in every encounter he spared the Christians, while +he fell with a thundering arm on his Mussulman foes. The glory of +Huniades is without reproach: he fought in the defence of his +religion and country; but the enemies who applaud the patriot, +have branded his rival with the name of traitor and apostate. In +the eyes of the Christian, the rebellion of Scanderbeg is +justified by his father's wrongs, the ambiguous death of his +three brothers, his own degradation, and the slavery of his +country; and they adore the generous, though tardy, zeal, with +which he asserted the faith and independence of his ancestors. +But he had imbibed from his ninth year the doctrines of the +Koran; he was ignorant of the Gospel; the religion of a soldier +is determined by authority and habit; nor is it easy to conceive +what new illumination at the age of forty ^38 could be poured +into his soul. His motives would be less exposed to the suspicion +of interest or revenge, had he broken his chain from the moment +that he was sensible of its weight: but a long oblivion had +surely impaired his original right; and every year of obedience +and reward had cemented the mutual bond of the sultan and his +subject. If Scanderbeg had long harbored the belief of +Christianity and the intention of revolt, a worthy mind must +condemn the base dissimulation, that could serve only to betray, +that could promise only to be forsworn, that could actively join +in the temporal and spiritual perdition of so many thousands of +his unhappy brethren. Shall we praise a secret correspondence +with Huniades, while he commanded the vanguard of the Turkish +army? shall we excuse the desertion of his standard, a +treacherous desertion which abandoned the victory to the enemies +of his benefactor? In the confusion of a defeat, the eye of +Scanderbeg was fixed on the Reis Effendi or principal secretary: +with the dagger at his breast, he extorted a firman or patent for +the government of Albania; and the murder of the guiltless scribe +and his train prevented the consequences of an immediate +discovery. With some bold companions, to whom he had revealed his +design he escaped in the night, by rapid marches, from the field +or battle to his paternal mountains. The gates of Croya were +opened to the royal mandate; and no sooner did he command the +fortress, than George Castriot dropped the mask of dissimulation; +abjured the prophet and the sultan, and proclaimed himself the +avenger of his family and country. The names of religion and +liberty provoked a general revolt: the Albanians, a martial race, +were unanimous to live and die with their hereditary prince; and +the Ottoman garrisons were indulged in the choice of martyrdom or +baptism. In the assembly of the states of Epirus, Scanderbeg was +elected general of the Turkish war; and each of the allies +engaged to furnish his respective proportion of men and money. +From these contributions, from his patrimonial estate, and from +the valuable salt-pits of Selina, he drew an annual revenue of +two hundred thousand ducats; ^39 and the entire sum, exempt from +the demands of luxury, was strictly appropriated to the public +use. His manners were popular; but his discipline was severe; and +every superfluous vice was banished from his camp: his example +strengthened his command; and under his conduct, the Albanians +were invincible in their own opinion and that of their enemies. +The bravest adventurers of France and Germany were allured by his +fame and retained in his service: his standing militia consisted +of eight thousand horse and seven thousand foot; the horses were +small, the men were active; but he viewed with a discerning eye +the difficulties and resources of the mountains; and, at the +blaze of the beacons, the whole nation was distributed in the +strongest posts. With such unequal arms Scanderbeg resisted +twenty-three years the powers of the Ottoman empire; and two +conquerors, Amurath the Second, and his greater son, were +repeatedly baffled by a rebel, whom they pursued with seeming +contempt and implacable resentment. At the head of sixty thousand +horse and forty thousand Janizaries, Amurath entered Albania: he +might ravage the open country, occupy the defenceless towns, +convert the churches into mosques, circumcise the Christian +youths, and punish with death his adult and obstinate captives: +but the conquests of the sultan were confined to the petty +fortress of Sfetigrade; and the garrison, invincible to his arms, +was oppressed by a paltry artifice and a superstitious scruple. +^40 Amurath retired with shame and loss from the walls of Croya, +the castle and residence of the Castriots; the march, the siege, +the retreat, were harassed by a vexatious, and almost invisible, +adversary; ^41 and the disappointment might tend to imbitter, +perhaps to shorten, the last days of the sultan. ^42 In the +fulness of conquest, Mahomet the Second still felt at his bosom +this domestic thorn: his lieutenants were permitted to negotiate +a truce; and the Albanian prince may justly be praised as a firm +and able champion of his national independence. The enthusiasm of +chivalry and religion has ranked him with the names of Alexander +and Pyrrhus; nor would they blush to acknowledge their intrepid +countryman: but his narrow dominion, and slender powers, must +leave him at an humble distance below the heroes of antiquity, +who triumphed over the East and the Roman legions. His splendid +achievements, the bashaws whom he encountered, the armies that he +discomfited, and the three thousand Turks who were slain by his +single hand, must be weighed in the scales of suspicious +criticism. Against an illiterate enemy, and in the dark solitude +of Epirus, his partial biographers may safely indulge the +latitude of romance: but their fictions are exposed by the light +of Italian history; and they afford a strong presumption against +their own truth, by a fabulous tale of his exploits, when he +passed the Adriatic with eight hundred horse to the succor of the +king of Naples. ^43 Without disparagement to his fame, they might +have owned, that he was finally oppressed by the Ottoman powers: +in his extreme danger he applied to Pope Pius the Second for a +refuge in the ecclesiastical state; and his resources were almost +exhausted, since Scanderbeg died a fugitive at Lissus, on the +Venetian territory. ^44 His sepulchre was soon violated by the +Turkish conquerors; but the Janizaries, who wore his bones +enchased in a bracelet, declared by this superstitious amulet +their involuntary reverence for his valor. The instant ruin of +his country may redound to the hero's glory; yet, had he balanced +the consequences of submission and resistance, a patriot perhaps +would have declined the unequal contest which must depend on the +life and genius of one man. Scanderbeg might indeed be supported +by the rational, though fallacious, hope, that the pope, the king +of Naples, and the Venetian republic, would join in the defence +of a free and Christian people, who guarded the sea-coast of the +Adriatic, and the narrow passage from Greece to Italy. His infant +son was saved from the national shipwreck; the Castriots ^45 were +invested with a Neapolitan dukedom, and their blood continues to +flow in the noblest families of the realm. A colony of Albanian +fugitives obtained a settlement in Calabria, and they preserve at +this day the language and manners of their ancestors. ^46</p> + +<p>[Footnote 35: They are ranked by Sir William Temple, in his +pleasing Essay on Heroic Virtue, (Works, vol. iii. p. 385,) among +the seven chiefs who have deserved without wearing, a royal +crown; Belisarius, Narses, Gonsalvo of Cordova, William first +prince of Orange, Alexander duke of Parma, John Huniades, and +George Castriot, or Scanderbeg.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 36: I could wish for some simple authentic memoirs +of a friend of Scanderbeg, which would introduce me to the man, +the time, and the place. In the old and national history of +Marinus Barletius, a priest of Scodra, (de Vita. Moribus, et +Rebus gestis Georgii Castrioti, &c. libri xiii. p. 367. +Argentorat. 1537, in fol.,) his gaudy and cumbersome robes are +stuck with many false jewels. See likewise Chalcondyles, l vii. +p. 185, l. viii. p. 229.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 37: His circumcision, education, &c., are marked +by Marinus with brevity and reluctance, (l. i. p. 6, 7.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 38: Since Scanderbeg died A.D. 1466, in the lxiiid +year of his age, (Marinus, l. xiii. p. 370,) he was born in 1403; +since he was torn from his parents by the Turks, when he was +<strong><em>novennis</em></strong>, (Marinus, l. i. p. 1, 6,) +that event must have happened in 1412, nine years before the +accession of Amurath II., who must have inherited, not acquired +the Albanian slave. Spondanus has remarked this inconsistency, +A.D. 1431, No. 31, 1443, No. 14.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 39: His revenue and forces are luckily given by +Marinus, (l. ii. p. 44.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 40: There were two Dibras, the upper aud lower, the +Bulgarian and Albanian: the former, 70 miles from Croya, (l. i. +p. 17,) was contiguous to the fortress of Sfetigrade, whose +inhabitants refused to drink from a well into which a dead dog +had traitorously been cast, (l. v. p. 139, 140.) We want a good +map of Epirus.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 41: Compare the Turkish narrative of Cantemir (p. +92) with the pompous and prolix declamation in the ivth, vth, and +vith books of the Albanian priest, who has been copied by the +tribe of strangers and moderns.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 42: In honor of his hero, Barletius (l. vi. p. +188--192) kills the sultan by disease indeed, under the walls of +Croya. But this audacious fiction is disproved by the Greeks and +Turks, who agree in the time and manner of Amurath's death at +Adrianople.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 43: See the marvels of his Calabrian expedition in +the ixth and xth books of Marinus Barletius, which may be +rectified by the testimony or silence of Muratori, (Annali +d'Italia, tom. xiii. p. 291,) and his original authors, (Joh. +Simonetta de Rebus Francisci Sfortiæ, in Muratori, Script. +Rerum Ital. tom. xxi. p. 728, et alios.) The Albanian cavalry, +under the name of <strong><em>Stradiots</em></strong>, soon +became famous in the wars of Italy, (Mémoires de Comines, +l. viii. c. 5.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 44: Spondanus, from the best evidence, and the most +rational criticism, has reduced the giant Scanderbeg to the human +size, (A.D. 1461, No. 20, 1463, No. 9, 1465, No. 12, 13, 1467, +No. 1.) His own letter to the pope, and the testimony of Phranza, +(l. iii. c. 28,) a refugee in the neighboring isle of Corfu, +demonstrate his last distress, which is awkwardly concealed by +Marinus Barletius, (l. x.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 45: See the family of the Castriots, in Ducange, +(Fam. Dalmaticæ, &c, xviii. p. 348--350.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 46: This colony of Albanese is mentioned by Mr. +Swinburne, (Travels into the Two Sicilies, vol. i. p. +350--354.)]</p> + +<p>In the long career of the decline and fall of the Roman +empire, I have reached at length the last reign of the princes of +Constantinople, who so feebly sustained the name and majesty of +the Cæsars. On the decease of John Palæologus, who +survived about four years the Hungarian crusade, ^47 the royal +family, by the death of Andronicus and the monastic profession of +Isidore, was reduced to three princes, Constantine, Demetrius, +and Thomas, the surviving sons of the emperor Manuel. Of these +the first and the last were far distant in the Morea; but +Demetrius, who possessed the domain of Selybria, was in the +suburbs, at the head of a party: his ambition was not chilled by +the public distress; and his conspiracy with the Turks and the +schismatics had already disturbed the peace of his country. The +funeral of the late emperor was accelerated with singular and +even suspicious haste: the claim of Demetrius to the vacant +throne was justified by a trite and flimsy sophism, that he was +born in the purple, the eldest son of his father's reign. But the +empress-mother, the senate and soldiers, the clergy and people, +were unanimous in the cause of the lawful successor: and the +despot Thomas, who, ignorant of the change, accidentally returned +to the capital, asserted with becoming zeal the interest of his +absent brother. An ambassador, the historian Phranza, was +immediately despatched to the court of Adrianople. Amurath +received him with honor and dismissed him with gifts; but the +gracious approbation of the Turkish sultan announced his +supremacy, and the approaching downfall of the Eastern empire. By +the hands of two illustrious deputies, the Imperial crown was +placed at Sparta on the head of Constantine. In the spring he +sailed from the Morea, escaped the encounter of a Turkish +squadron, enjoyed the acclamations of his subjects, celebrated +the festival of a new reign, and exhausted by his donatives the +treasure, or rather the indigence, of the state. The emperor +immediately resigned to his brothers the possession of the Morea; +and the brittle friendship of the two princes, Demetrius and +Thomas, was confirmed in their mother's presence by the frail +security of oaths and embraces. His next occupation was the +choice of a consort. A daughter of the doge of Venice had been +proposed; but the Byzantine nobles objected the distance between +an hereditary monarch and an elective magistrate; and in their +subsequent distress, the chief of that powerful republic was not +unmindful of the affront. Constantine afterwards hesitated +between the royal families of Trebizond and Georgia; and the +embassy of Phranza represents in his public and private life the +last days of the Byzantine empire. ^48</p> + +<p>[Footnote 47: The Chronology of Phranza is clear and +authentic; but instead of four years and seven months, Spondanus +(A.D. 1445, No. 7,) assigns seven or eight years to the reign of +the last Constantine which he deduces from a spurious epistle of +Eugenius IV. to the king of Æthiopia.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 48: Phranza (l. iii. c. 1--6) deserves credit and +esteem.]</p> + +<p>The <strong><em>protovestiare</em></strong>, or great +chamberlain, Phranza sailed from Constantinople as the minister +of a bridegroom; and the relics of wealth and luxury were applied +to his pompous appearance. His numerous retinue consisted of +nobles and guards, of physicians and monks: he was attended by a +band of music; and the term of his costly embassy was protracted +above two years. On his arrival in Georgia or Iberia, the natives +from the towns and villages flocked around the strangers; and +such was their simplicity, that they were delighted with the +effects, without understanding the cause, of musical harmony. +Among the crowd was an old man, above a hundred years of age, who +had formerly been carried away a captive by the Barbarians, ^49 +and who amused his hearers with a tale of the wonders of India, +^50 from whence he had returned to Portugal by an unknown sea. +^51 From this hospitable land, Phranza proceeded to the court of +Trebizond, where he was informed by the Greek prince of the +recent decease of Amurath. Instead of rejoicing in the +deliverance, the experienced statesman expressed his +apprehension, that an ambitious youth would not long adhere to +the sage and pacific system of his father. After the sultan's +decease, his Christian wife, Maria, ^52 the daughter of the +Servian despot, had been honorably restored to her parents; on +the fame of her beauty and merit, she was recommended by the +ambassador as the most worthy object of the royal choice; and +Phranza recapitulates and refutes the specious objections that +might be raised against the proposal. The majesty of the purple +would ennoble an unequal alliance; the bar of affinity might be +removed by liberal alms and the dispensation of the church; the +disgrace of Turkish nuptials had been repeatedly overlooked; and, +though the fair Maria was nearly fifty years of age, she might +yet hope to give an heir to the empire. Constantine listened to +the advice, which was transmitted in the first ship that sailed +from Trebizond; but the factions of the court opposed his +marriage; and it was finally prevented by the pious vow of the +sultana, who ended her days in the monastic profession. Reduced +to the first alternative, the choice of Phranza was decided in +favor of a Georgian princess; and the vanity of her father was +dazzled by the glorious alliance. Instead of demanding, according +to the primitive and national custom, a price for his daughter, +^53 he offered a portion of fifty-six thousand, with an annual +pension of five thousand, ducats; and the services of the +ambassador were repaid by an assurance, that, as his son had been +adopted in baptism by the emperor, the establishment of his +daughter should be the peculiar care of the empress of +Constantinople. On the return of Phranza, the treaty was ratified +by the Greek monarch, who with his own hand impressed three +vermilion crosses on the golden bull, and assured the Georgian +envoy that in the spring his galleys should conduct the bride to +her Imperial palace. But Constantine embraced his faithful +servant, not with the cold approbation of a sovereign, but with +the warm confidence of a friend, who, after a long absence, is +impatient to pour his secrets into the bosom of his friend. +"Since the death of my mother and of Cantacuzene, who alone +advised me without interest or passion, ^54 I am surrounded," +said the emperor, "by men whom I can neither love nor trust, nor +esteem. You are not a stranger to Lucas Notaras, the great +admiral; obstinately attached to his own sentiments, he declares, +both in private and public, that his sentiments are the absolute +measure of my thoughts and actions. The rest of the courtiers are +swayed by their personal or factious views; and how can I consult +the monks on questions of policy and marriage? I have yet much +employment for your diligence and fidelity. In the spring you +shall engage one of my brothers to solicit the succor of the +Western powers; from the Morea you shall sail to Cyprus on a +particular commission; and from thence proceed to Georgia to +receive and conduct the future empress." -- "Your commands," +replied Phranza, "are irresistible; but deign, great sir," he +added, with a serious smile, "to consider, that if I am thus +perpetually absent from my family, my wife may be tempted either +to seek another husband, or to throw herself into a monastery." +After laughing at his apprehensions, the emperor more gravely +consoled him by the pleasing assurance that +<strong><em>this</em></strong> should be his last service abroad, +and that he destined for his son a wealthy and noble heiress; for +himself, the important office of great logothete, or principal +minister of state. The marriage was immediately stipulated: but +the office, however incompatible with his own, had been usurped +by the ambition of the admiral. Some delay was requisite to +negotiate a consent and an equivalent; and the nomination of +Phranza was half declared, and half suppressed, lest it might be +displeasing to an insolent and powerful favorite. The winter was +spent in the preparations of his embassy; and Phranza had +resolved, that the youth his son should embrace this opportunity +of foreign travel, and be left, on the appearance of danger, with +his maternal kindred of the Morea. Such were the private and +public designs, which were interrupted by a Turkish war, and +finally buried in the ruins of the empire.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 49: Suppose him to have been captured in 1394, in +Timour's first war in Georgia, (Sherefeddin, l. iii. c. 50;) he +might follow his Tartar master into Hindostan in 1398, and from +thence sail to the spice islands.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 50: The happy and pious Indians lived a hundred and +fifty years, and enjoyed the most perfect productions of the +vegetable and mineral kingdoms. The animals were on a large +scale: dragons seventy cubits, ants (the <strong><em>formica +Indica</em></strong>) nine inches long, sheep like elephants, +elephants like sheep. Quidlibet audendi, &c.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 51: He sailed in a country vessel from the spice +islands to one of the ports of the exterior India; invenitque +navem grandem <strong><em>Ibericam</em></strong> quâ in +<strong><em>Portugalliam</em></strong> est delatus. This passage, +composed in 1477, (Phranza, l. iii. c. 30,) twenty years before +the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, is spurious or wonderful. +But this new geography is sullied by the old and incompatible +error which places the source of the Nile in India.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 52: Cantemir, (p. 83,) who styles her the daughter +of Lazarus Ogli, and the Helen of the Servians, places her +marriage with Amurath in the year 1424. It will not easily be +believed, that in six-and-twenty years' cohabitation, the sultan +corpus ejus non tetigit. After the taking of Constantinople, she +fled to Mahomet II., (Phranza, l. iii. c. 22.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 53: The classical reader will recollect the offers +of Agamemnon, (Iliad, c. v. 144,) and the general practice of +antiquity.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 54: Cantacuzene (I am ignorant of his relation to +the emperor of that name) was great domestic, a firm assertor of +the Greek creed, and a brother of the queen of Servia, whom he +visited with the character of ambassador, (Syropulus, p. 37, 38, +45.)]</p> + +<p><strong>Chapter LXVIII: Reign Of Mahomet The Second, +Extinction Of Eastern Empire.</strong></p> + +<p><strong><em>Part I.</em></strong></p> + +<p>Reign And Character Of Mahomet The Second. -- Siege, Assault, +And Final Conquest, Of Constantinople By The Turks. -- Death Of +Constantine Palæologus. -- Servitude Of The Greeks. -- +Extinction Of The Roman Empire In The East. -- Consternation Of +Europe. -- Conquests And Death Of Mahomet The Second.</p> + +<p>The siege of Constantinople by the Turks attracts our first +attention to the person and character of the great destroyer. +Mahomet the Second ^1 was the son of the second Amurath; and +though his mother has been decorated with the titles of Christian +and princess, she is more probably confounded with the numerous +concubines who peopled from every climate the harem of the +sultan. His first education and sentiments were those of a devout +Mussulman; and as often as he conversed with an infidel, he +purified his hands and face by the legal rites of ablution. Age +and empire appear to have relaxed this narrow bigotry: his +aspiring genius disdained to acknowledge a power above his own; +and in his looser hours he presumed (it is said) to brand the +prophet of Mecca as a robber and impostor. Yet the sultan +persevered in a decent reverence for the doctrine and discipline +of the Koran: ^2 his private indiscretion must have been sacred +from the vulgar ear; and we should suspect the credulity of +strangers and sectaries, so prone to believe that a mind which is +hardened against truth must be armed with superior contempt for +absurdity and error. Under the tuition of the most skilful +masters, Mahomet advanced with an early and rapid progress in the +paths of knowledge; and besides his native tongue it is affirmed +that he spoke or understood five languages, ^3 the Arabic, the +Persian, the Chaldæan or Hebrew, the Latin, and the Greek. +The Persian might indeed contribute to his amusement, and the +Arabic to his edification; and such studies are familiar to the +Oriental youth. In the intercourse of the Greeks and Turks, a +conqueror might wish to converse with the people over which he +was ambitious to reign: his own praises in Latin poetry ^4 or +prose ^5 might find a passage to the royal ear; but what use or +merit could recommend to the statesman or the scholar the uncouth +dialect of his Hebrew slaves? The history and geography of the +world were familiar to his memory: the lives of the heroes of the +East, perhaps of the West, ^6 excited his emulation: his skill in +astrology is excused by the folly of the times, and supposes some +rudiments of mathematical science; and a profane taste for the +arts is betrayed in his liberal invitation and reward of the +painters of Italy. ^7 But the influence of religion and learning +were employed without effect on his savage and licentious nature. +I will not transcribe, nor do I firmly believe, the stories of +his fourteen pages, whose bellies were ripped open in search of a +stolen melon; or of the beauteous slave, whose head he severed +from her body, to convince the Janizaries that their master was +not the votary of love. ^* His sobriety is attested by the +silence of the Turkish annals, which accuse three, and three +only, of the Ottoman line of the vice of drunkenness. ^8 But it +cannot be denied that his passions were at once furious and +inexorable; that in the palace, as in the field, a torrent of +blood was spilt on the slightest provocation; and that the +noblest of the captive youth were often dishonored by his +unnatural lust. In the Albanian war he studied the lessons, and +soon surpassed the example, of his father; and the conquest of +two empires, twelve kingdoms, and two hundred cities, a vain and +flattering account, is ascribed to his invincible sword. He was +doubtless a soldier, and possibly a general; Constantinople has +sealed his glory; but if we compare the means, the obstacles, and +the achievements, Mahomet the Second must blush to sustain a +parallel with Alexander or Timour. Under his command, the Ottoman +forces were always more numerous than their enemies; yet their +progress was bounded by the Euphrates and the Adriatic; and his +arms were checked by Huniades and Scanderbeg, by the Rhodian +knights and by the Persian king.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 1: For the character of Mahomet II. it is dangerous +to trust either the Turks or the Christians. The most moderate +picture appears to be drawn by Phranza, (l. i. c. 33,) whose +resentment had cooled in age and solitude; see likewise +Spondanus, (A.D. 1451, No. 11,) and the continuator of Fleury, +(tom. xxii. p. 552,) the <strong><em>Elogia</em></strong> of +Paulus Jovius, (l. iii. p. 164--166,) and the Dictionnaire de +Bayle, (tom. iii. p. 273--279.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 2: Cantemir, (p. 115.) and the mosques which he +founded, attest his public regard for religion. Mahomet freely +disputed with the Gennadius on the two religions, (Spond. A.D. +1453, No. 22.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 3: Quinque linguas præter suam noverat, +Græcam, Latinam, Chaldaicam, Persicam. The Latin translator +of Phranza has dropped the Arabic, which the Koran must recommend +to every Mussulman. *</p> + +<p>Note: * It appears in the original Greek text, p. 95, edit. +Bonn. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 4: Philelphus, by a Latin ode, requested and +obtained the liberty of his wife's mother and sisters from the +conqueror of Constantinople. It was delivered into the sultan's +hands by the envoys of the duke of Milan. Philelphus himself was +suspected of a design of retiring to Constantinople; yet the +orator often sounded the trumpet of holy war, (see his Life by M. +Lancelot, in the Mémoires de l'Académie des +Inscriptions, tom. x. p. 718, 724, &c.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 5: Robert Valturio published at Verona, in 1483, his +xii. books de Re Militari, in which he first mentions the use of +bombs. By his patron Sigismund Malatesta, prince of Rimini, it +had been addressed with a Latin epistle to Mahomet II.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 6: According to Phranza, he assiduously studied the +lives and actions of Alexander, Augustus, Constantine, and +Theodosius. I have read somewhere, that Plutarch's Lives were +translated by his orders into the Turkish language. If the sultan +himself understood Greek, it must have been for the benefit of +his subjects. Yet these lives are a school of freedom as well as +of valor.</p> + +<p>Note: Von Hammer disdainfully rejects this fable of Mahomet's +knowledge of languages. Knolles adds, that he delighted in +reading the history of Alexander the Great, and of Julius +Cæsar. The former, no doubt, was the Persian legend, which, +it is remarkable, came back to Europe, and was popular throughout +the middle ages as the "Romaunt of Alexander." The founder of the +Imperial dynasty of Rome, according to M. Von Hammer, is +altogether unknown in the East. Mahomet was a great patron of +Turkish literature: the romantic poems of Persia were translated, +or imitated, under his patronage. Von Hammer vol ii. p. 268. -- +M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 7: The famous Gentile Bellino, whom he had invited +from Venice, was dismissed with a chain and collar of gold, and a +purse of 3000 ducats. With Voltaire I laugh at the foolish story +of a slave purposely beheaded to instruct the painter in the +action of the muscles.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: This story, the subject of Johnson's Irene, is +rejected by M. Von Hammer, vol. ii. p. 208. The German +historian's general estimate of Mahomet's character agrees in its +more marked features with Gibbon's. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 8: These Imperial drunkards were Soliman I., Selim +II., and Amurath IV., (Cantemir, p. 61.) The sophis of Persia can +produce a more regular succession; and in the last age, our +European travellers were the witnesses and companions of their +revels.]</p> + +<p>In the reign of Amurath, he twice tasted of royalty, and twice +descended from the throne: his tender age was incapable of +opposing his father's restoration, but never could he forgive the +viziers who had recommended that salutary measure. His nuptials +were celebrated with the daughter of a Turkman emir; and, after a +festival of two months, he departed from Adrianople with his +bride, to reside in the government of Magnesia. Before the end of +six weeks, he was recalled by a sudden message from the divan, +which announced the decease of Amurath, and the mutinous spirit +of the Janizaries. His speed and vigor commanded their obedience: +he passed the Hellespont with a chosen guard: and at the distance +of a mile from Adrianople, the viziers and emirs, the imams and +cadhis, the soldiers and the people, fell prostrate before the +new sultan. They affected to weep, they affected to rejoice: he +ascended the throne at the age of twenty-one years, and removed +the cause of sedition by the death, the inevitable death, of his +infant brothers. ^9 ^* The ambassadors of Europe and Asia soon +appeared to congratulate his accession and solicit his +friendship; and to all he spoke the language of moderation and +peace. The confidence of the Greek emperor was revived by the +solemn oaths and fair assurances with which he sealed the +ratification of the treaty: and a rich domain on the banks of the +Strymon was assigned for the annual payment of three hundred +thousand aspers, the pension of an Ottoman prince, who was +detained at his request in the Byzantine court. Yet the neighbors +of Mahomet might tremble at the severity with which a youthful +monarch reformed the pomp of his father's household: the expenses +of luxury were applied to those of ambition, and a useless train +of seven thousand falconers was either dismissed from his +service, or enlisted in his troops. ^! In the first summer of his +reign, he visited with an army the Asiatic provinces; but after +humbling the pride, Mahomet accepted the submission, of the +Caramanian, that he might not be diverted by the smallest +obstacle from the execution of his great design. ^10</p> + +<p>[Footnote 9: Calapin, one of these royal infants, was saved +from his cruel brother, and baptized at Rome under the name of +Callistus Othomannus. The emperor Frederic III. presented him +with an estate in Austria, where he ended his life; and +Cuspinian, who in his youth conversed with the aged prince at +Vienna, applauds his piety and wisdom, (de Cæsaribus, p. +672, 673.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Ahmed, the son of a Greek princess, was the +object of his especial jealousy. Von Hammer, p. 501. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !: The Janizaries obtained, for the first time, a +gift on the accession of a new sovereign, p. 504. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 10: See the accession of Mahomet II. in Ducas, (c. +33,) Phranza, (l. i. c. 33, l. iii. c. 2,) Chalcondyles, (l. vii. +p. 199,) and Cantemir, (p. 96.)]</p> + +<p>The Mahometan, and more especially the Turkish casuists, have +pronounced that no promise can bind the faithful against the +interest and duty of their religion; and that the sultan may +abrogate his own treaties and those of his predecessors. The +justice and magnanimity of Amurath had scorned this immoral +privilege; but his son, though the proudest of men, could stoop +from ambition to the basest arts of dissimulation and deceit. +Peace was on his lips, while war was in his heart: he incessantly +sighed for the possession of Constantinople; and the Greeks, by +their own indiscretion, afforded the first pretence of the fatal +rupture. ^11 Instead of laboring to be forgotten, their +ambassadors pursued his camp, to demand the payment, and even the +increase, of their annual stipend: the divan was importuned by +their complaints, and the vizier, a secret friend of the +Christians, was constrained to deliver the sense of his brethren. +"Ye foolish and miserable Romans," said Calil, "we know your +devices, and ye are ignorant of your own danger! The scrupulous +Amurath is no more; his throne is occupied by a young conqueror, +whom no laws can bind, and no obstacles can resist: and if you +escape from his hands, give praise to the divine clemency, which +yet delays the chastisement of your sins. Why do ye seek to +affright us by vain and indirect menaces? Release the fugitive +Orchan, crown him sultan of Romania; call the Hungarians from +beyond the Danube; arm against us the nations of the West; and be +assured, that you will only provoke and precipitate your ruin." +But if the fears of the ambassadors were alarmed by the stern +language of the vizier, they were soothed by the courteous +audience and friendly speeches of the Ottoman prince; and Mahomet +assured them that on his return to Adrianople he would redress +the grievances, and consult the true interests, of the Greeks. No +sooner had he repassed the Hellespont, than he issued a mandate +to suppress their pension, and to expel their officers from the +banks of the Strymon: in this measure he betrayed a hostile mind; +and the second order announced, and in some degree commenced, the +siege of Constantinople. In the narrow pass of the Bosphorus, an +Asiatic fortress had formerly been raised by his grandfather; in +the opposite situation, on the European side, he resolved to +erect a more formidable castle; and a thousand masons were +commanded to assemble in the spring on a spot named Asomaton, +about five miles from the Greek metropolis. ^12 Persuasion is the +resource of the feeble; and the feeble can seldom persuade: the +ambassadors of the emperor attempted, without success, to divert +Mahomet from the execution of his design. They represented, that +his grandfather had solicited the permission of Manuel to build a +castle on his own territories; but that this double +fortification, which would command the strait, could only tend to +violate the alliance of the nations; to intercept the Latins who +traded in the Black Sea, and perhaps to annihilate the +subsistence of the city. "I form the enterprise," replied the +perfidious sultan, "against the city; but the empire of +Constantinople is measured by her walls. Have you forgot the +distress to which my father was reduced when you formed a league +with the Hungarians; when they invaded our country by land, and +the Hellespont was occupied by the French galleys? Amurath was +compelled to force the passage of the Bosphorus; and your +strength was not equal to your malevolence. I was then a child at +Adrianople; the Moslems trembled; and, for a while, the +<strong><em>Gabours</em></strong> ^13 insulted our disgrace. But +when my father had triumphed in the field of Warna, he vowed to +erect a fort on the western shore, and that vow it is my duty to +accomplish. Have ye the right, have ye the power, to control my +actions on my own ground? For that ground is my own: as far as +the shores of the Bosphorus, Asia is inhabited by the Turks, and +Europe is deserted by the Romans. Return, and inform your king, +that the present Ottoman is far different from his predecessors; +that <strong><em>his</em></strong> resolutions surpass +<strong><em>their</em></strong> wishes; and that +<strong><em>he</em></strong> performs more +<strong><em>than</em></strong> they could resolve. Return in +safety -- but the next who delivers a similar message may expect +to be flayed alive." After this declaration, Constantine, the +first of the Greeks in spirit as in rank, ^14 had determined to +unsheathe the sword, and to resist the approach and establishment +of the Turks on the Bosphorus. He was disarmed by the advice of +his civil and ecclesiastical ministers, who recommended a system +less generous, and even less prudent, than his own, to approve +their patience and long-suffering, to brand the Ottoman with the +name and guilt of an aggressor, and to depend on chance and time +for their own safety, and the destruction of a fort which could +not long be maintained in the neighborhood of a great and +populous city. Amidst hope and fear, the fears of the wise, and +the hopes of the credulous, the winter rolled away; the proper +business of each man, and each hour, was postponed; and the +Greeks shut their eyes against the impending danger, till the +arrival of the spring and the sultan decide the assurance of +their ruin.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 11: Before I enter on the siege of Constantinople, I +shall observe, that except the short hints of Cantemir and +Leunclavius, I have not been able to obtain any Turkish account +of this conquest; such an account as we possess of the siege of +Rhodes by Soliman II., (Mémoires de l'Académie des +Inscriptions, tom. xxvi. p. 723--769.) I must therefore depend on +the Greeks, whose prejudices, in some degree, are subdued by +their distress. Our standard texts ar those of Ducas, (c. +34--42,) Phranza, (l. iii. c. 7--20,) Chalcondyles, (l. viii. p. +201--214,) and Leonardus Chiensis, (Historia C. P. a Turco +expugnatæ. Norimberghæ, 1544, in 4to., 20 leaves.) +The last of these narratives is the earliest in date, since it +was composed in the Isle of Chios, the 16th of August, 1453, only +seventy-nine days after the loss of the city, and in the first +confusion of ideas and passions. Some hints may be added from an +epistle of Cardinal Isidore (in Farragine Rerum Turcicarum, ad +calcem Chalcondyl. Clauseri, Basil, 1556) to Pope Nicholas V., +and a tract of Theodosius Zygomala, which he addressed in the +year 1581 to Martin Crucius, (Turco-Græcia, l. i. p. +74--98, Basil, 1584.) The various facts and materials are +briefly, though critically, reviewed by Spondanus, (A.D. 1453, +No. 1--27.) The hearsay relations of Monstrelet and the distant +Latins I shall take leave to disregard. *</p> + +<p>Note: * M. Von Hammer has added little new information on the +siege of Constantinople, and, by his general agreement, has borne +an honorable testimony to the truth, and by his close imitation +to the graphic spirit and boldness, of Gibbon. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 12: The situation of the fortress, and the +topography of the Bosphorus, are best learned from Peter Gyllius, +(de Bosphoro Thracio, l. ii. c. 13,) Leunclavius, (Pandect. p. +445,) and Tournefort, (Voyage dans le Levant, tom. ii. lettre xv. +p. 443, 444;) but I must regret the map or plan which Tournefort +sent to the French minister of the marine. The reader may turn +back to chap. xvii. of this History.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 13: The opprobrious name which the Turks bestow on +the infidels, is expressed Kabour by Ducas, and +<strong><em>Giaour</em></strong> by Leunclavius and the moderns. +The former term is derived by Ducange (Gloss. Græc tom. i. +p. 530) from Kabouron, in vulgar Greek, a tortoise, as denoting a +retrograde motion from the faith. But alas! +<strong><em>Gabour</em></strong> is no more than +<strong><em>Gheber</em></strong>, which was transferred from the +Persian to the Turkish language, from the worshippers of fire to +those of the crucifix, (D'Herbelot, Bibliot. Orient. p. +375.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 14: Phranza does justice to his master's sense and +courage. Calliditatem hominis non ignorans Imperator prior arma +movere constituit, and stigmatizes the folly of the cum sacri tum +profani proceres, which he had heard, amentes spe vanâ +pasci. Ducas was not a privy-counsellor.]</p> + +<p>Of a master who never forgives, the orders are seldom +disobeyed. On the twenty-sixth of March, the appointed spot of +Asomaton was covered with an active swarm of Turkish artificers; +and the materials by sea and land were diligently transported +from Europe and Asia. ^15 The lime had been burnt in Cataphrygia; +the timber was cut down in the woods of Heraclea and Nicomedia; +and the stones were dug from the Anatolian quarries. Each of the +thousand masons was assisted by two workmen; and a measure of two +cubits was marked for their daily task. The fortress ^16 was +built in a triangular form; each angle was flanked by a strong +and massy tower; one on the declivity of the hill, two along the +sea-shore: a thickness of twenty-two feet was assigned for the +walls, thirty for the towers; and the whole building was covered +with a solid platform of lead. Mahomet himself pressed and +directed the work with indefatigable ardor: his three viziers +claimed the honor of finishing their respective towers; the zeal +of the cadhis emulated that of the Janizaries; the meanest labor +was ennobled by the service of God and the sultan; and the +diligence of the multitude was quickened by the eye of a despot, +whose smile was the hope of fortune, and whose frown was the +messenger of death. The Greek emperor beheld with terror the +irresistible progress of the work; and vainly strove, by flattery +and gifts, to assuage an implacable foe, who sought, and secretly +fomented, the slightest occasion of a quarrel. Such occasions +must soon and inevitably be found. The ruins of stately churches, +and even the marble columns which had been consecrated to Saint +Michael the archangel, were employed without scruple by the +profane and rapacious Moslems; and some Christians, who presumed +to oppose the removal, received from their hands the crown of +martyrdom. Constantine had solicited a Turkish guard to protect +the fields and harvests of his subjects: the guard was fixed; but +their first order was to allow free pasture to the mules and +horses of the camp, and to defend their brethren if they should +be molested by the natives. The retinue of an Ottoman chief had +left their horses to pass the night among the ripe corn; the +damage was felt; the insult was resented; and several of both +nations were slain in a tumultuous conflict. Mahomet listened +with joy to the complaint; and a detachment was commanded to +exterminate the guilty village: the guilty had fled; but forty +innocent and unsuspecting reapers were massacred by the soldiers. +Till this provocation, Constantinople had been opened to the +visits of commerce and curiosity: on the first alarm, the gates +were shut; but the emperor, still anxious for peace, released on +the third day his Turkish captives; ^17 and expressed, in a last +message, the firm resignation of a Christian and a soldier. +"Since neither oaths, nor treaty, nor submission, can secure +peace, pursue," said he to Mahomet, "your impious warfare. My +trust is in God alone; if it should please him to mollify your +heart, I shall rejoice in the happy change; if he delivers the +city into your hands, I submit without a murmur to his holy will. +But until the Judge of the earth shall pronounce between us, it +is my duty to live and die in the defence of my people." The +sultan's answer was hostile and decisive: his fortifications were +completed; and before his departure for Adrianople, he stationed +a vigilant Aga and four hundred Janizaries, to levy a tribute on +the ships of every nation that should pass within the reach of +their cannon. A Venetian vessel, refusing obedience to the new +lords of the Bosphorus, was sunk with a single bullet. ^* The +master and thirty sailors escaped in the boat; but they were +dragged in chains to the <strong><em>Porte</em></strong>: the +chief was impaled; his companions were beheaded; and the +historian Ducas ^18 beheld, at Demotica, their bodies exposed to +the wild beasts. The siege of Constantinople was deferred till +the ensuing spring; but an Ottoman army marched into the Morea to +divert the force of the brothers of Constantine. At this +æra of calamity, one of these princes, the despot Thomas, +was blessed or afflicted with the birth of a son; "the last +heir," says the plaintive Phranza, "of the last spark of the +Roman empire." ^19</p> + +<p>[Footnote 15: Instead of this clear and consistent account, +the Turkish Annals (Cantemir, p. 97) revived the foolish tale of +the ox's hide, and Dido's stratagem in the foundation of +Carthage. These annals (unless we are swayed by an anti-Christian +prejudice) are far less valuable than the Greek historians.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 16: In the dimensions of this fortress, the old +castle of Europe, Phranza does not exactly agree with +Chalcondyles, whose description has been verified on the spot by +his editor Leunclavius.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 17: Among these were some pages of Mahomet, so +conscious of his inexorable rigor, that they begged to lose their +heads in the city unless they could return before sunset.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: This was from a model cannon cast by Urban the +Hungarian. See p. 291. Von Hammer. p. 510. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 18: Ducas, c. 35. Phranza, (l. iii. c. 3,) who had +sailed in his vessel, commemorates the Venetian pilot as a +martyr.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 19: Auctum est Palæologorum genus, et Imperii +successor, parvæque Romanorum scintillæ hæres +natus, Andreas, &c., (Phranza, l. iii. c. 7.) The strong +expression was inspired by his feelings.]</p> + +<p>The Greeks and the Turks passed an anxious and sleepless +winter: the former were kept awake by their fears, the latter by +their hopes; both by the preparations of defence and attack; and +the two emperors, who had the most to lose or to gain, were the +most deeply affected by the national sentiment. In Mahomet, that +sentiment was inflamed by the ardor of his youth and temper: he +amused his leisure with building at Adrianople ^20 the lofty +palace of Jehan Numa, (the watchtower of the world;) but his +serious thoughts were irrevocably bent on the conquest of the +city of Cæsar. At the dead of night, about the second +watch, he started from his bed, and commanded the instant +attendance of his prime vizier. The message, the hour, the +prince, and his own situation, alarmed the guilty conscience of +Calil Basha; who had possessed the confidence, and advised the +restoration, of Amurath. On the accession of the son, the vizier +was confirmed in his office and the appearances of favor; but the +veteran statesman was not insensible that he trod on a thin and +slippery ice, which might break under his footsteps, and plunge +him in the abyss. His friendship for the Christians, which might +be innocent under the late reign, had stigmatized him with the +name of Gabour Ortachi, or foster-brother of the infidels; ^21 +and his avarice entertained a venal and treasonable +correspondence, which was detected and punished after the +conclusion of the war. On receiving the royal mandate, he +embraced, perhaps for the last time, his wife and children; +filled a cup with pieces of gold, hastened to the palace, adored +the sultan, and offered, according to the Oriental custom, the +slight tribute of his duty and gratitude. ^22 "It is not my +wish," said Mahomet, "to resume my gifts, but rather to heap and +multiply them on thy head. In my turn, I ask a present far more +valuable and important; -- Constantinople." As soon as the vizier +had recovered from his surprise, "The same God," said he, "who +has already given thee so large a portion of the Roman empire, +will not deny the remnant, and the capital. His providence, and +thy power, assure thy success; and myself, with the rest of thy +faithful slaves, will sacrifice our lives and fortunes." -- +"Lala," ^23 (or preceptor,) continued the sultan, "do you see +this pillow? All the night, in my agitation, I have pulled it on +one side and the other; I have risen from my bed, again have I +lain down; yet sleep has not visited these weary eyes. Beware of +the gold and silver of the Romans: in arms we are superior; and +with the aid of God, and the prayers of the prophet, we shall +speedily become masters of Constantinople." To sound the +disposition of his soldiers, he often wandered through the +streets alone, and in disguise; and it was fatal to discover the +sultan, when he wished to escape from the vulgar eye. His hours +were spent in delineating the plan of the hostile city; in +debating with his generals and engineers, on what spot he should +erect his batteries; on which side he should assault the walls; +where he should spring his mines; to what place he should apply +his scaling-ladders: and the exercises of the day repeated and +proved the lucubrations of the night.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 20: Cantemir, p. 97, 98. The sultan was either +doubtful of his conquest, or ignorant of the superior merits of +Constantinople. A city or a kingdom may sometimes be ruined by +the Imperial fortune of their sovereign.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 21: SuntrojoV, by the president Cousin, is +translated <strong><em>père</em></strong> nourricier, most +correctly indeed from the Latin version; but in his haste he has +overlooked the note by which Ishmael Boillaud (ad Ducam, c. 35) +acknowledges and rectifies his own error.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 22: The Oriental custom of never appearing without +gifts before a sovereign or a superior is of high antiquity, and +seems analogous with the idea of sacrifice, still more ancient +and universal. See the examples of such Persian gifts, +Ælian, Hist. Var. l. i. c. 31, 32, 33.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 23: The <strong><em>Lala</em></strong> of the Turks +(Cantemir, p. 34) and the <strong><em>Tata</em></strong> of the +Greeks (Ducas, c. 35) are derived from the natural language of +children; and it may be observed, that all such primitive words +which denote their parents, are the simple repetition of one +syllable, composed of a labial or a dental consonant and an open +vowel, (Des Brosses, Méchanisme des Langues, tom. i. p. +231--247.)]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LXVIII: Reign Of Mahomet The Second, +Extinction Of Eastern Empire. -- Part II.</em></strong></p> + +<p>Among the implements of destruction, he studied with peculiar +care the recent and tremendous discovery of the Latins; and his +artillery surpassed whatever had yet appeared in the world. A +founder of cannon, a Dane ^* or Hungarian, who had been almost +starved in the Greek service, deserted to the Moslems, and was +liberally entertained by the Turkish sultan. Mahomet was +satisfied with the answer to his first question, which he eagerly +pressed on the artist. "Am I able to cast a cannon capable of +throwing a ball or stone of sufficient size to batter the walls +of Constantinople? I am not ignorant of their strength; but were +they more solid than those of Babylon, I could oppose an engine +of superior power: the position and management of that engine +must be left to your engineers." On this assurance, a foundry was +established at Adrianople: the metal was prepared; and at the end +of three months, Urban produced a piece of brass ordnance of +stupendous, and almost incredible magnitude; a measure of twelve +palms is assigned to the bore; and the stone bullet weighed above +six hundred pounds. ^24 ^* A vacant place before the new palace +was chosen for the first experiment; but to prevent the sudden +and mischievous effects of astonishment and fear, a proclamation +was issued, that the cannon would be discharged the ensuing day. +The explosion was felt or heard in a circuit of a hundred +furlongs: the ball, by the force of gunpowder, was driven above a +mile; and on the spot where it fell, it buried itself a fathom +deep in the ground. For the conveyance of this destructive +engine, a frame or carriage of thirty wagons was linked together +and drawn along by a team of sixty oxen: two hundred men on both +sides were stationed, to poise and support the rolling weight; +two hundred and fifty workmen marched before to smooth the way +and repair the bridges; and near two months were employed in a +laborious journey of one hundred and fifty miles. A lively +philosopher ^25 derides on this occasion the credulity of the +Greeks, and observes, with much reason, that we should always +distrust the exaggerations of a vanquished people. He calculates, +that a ball, even o two hundred pounds, would require a charge of +one hundred and fifty pounds of powder; and that the stroke would +be feeble and impotent, since not a fifteenth part of the mass +could be inflamed at the same moment. A stranger as I am to the +art of destruction, I can discern that the modern improvements of +artillery prefer the number of pieces to the weight of metal; the +quickness of the fire to the sound, or even the consequence, of a +single explosion. Yet I dare not reject the positive and +unanimous evidence of contemporary writers; nor can it seem +improbable, that the first artists, in their rude and ambitious +efforts, should have transgressed the standard of moderation. A +Turkish cannon, more enormous than that of Mahomet, still guards +the entrance of the Dardanelles; and if the use be inconvenient, +it has been found on a late trial that the effect was far from +contemptible. A stone bullet of <strong><em>eleven</em></strong> +hundred pounds' weight was once discharged with three hundred and +thirty pounds of powder: at the distance of six hundred yards it +shivered into three rocky fragments; traversed the strait; and +leaving the waters in a foam, again rose and bounded against the +opposite hill. ^26</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Gibbon has written Dane by mistake for Dace, or +Dacian. Lax ti kinoV?. Chalcondyles, Von Hammer, p. 510. -- +M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 24: The Attic talent weighed about sixty minæ, +or avoirdupois pounds (see Hooper on Ancient Weights, Measures, +&c.;) but among the modern Greeks, that classic appellation +was extended to a weight of one hundred, or one hundred and +twenty-five pounds, (Ducange, talanton.) Leonardus Chiensis +measured the ball or stone of the +<strong><em>second</em></strong> cannon Lapidem, qui palmis +undecim ex meis ambibat in gyro.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: 1200, according to Leonardus Chiensis. Von Hammer +states that he had himself seen the great cannon of the +Dardanelles, in which a tailor who had run away from his +creditors, had concealed himself several days Von Hammer had +measured balls twelve spans round. Note. p. 666. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 25: See Voltaire, (Hist. Générale, c. +xci. p. 294, 295.) He was ambitious of universal monarchy; and +the poet frequently aspires to the name and style of an +astronomer, a chemist, &c.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 26: The Baron de Tott, (tom. iii. p. 85--89,) who +fortified the Dardanelles against the Russians, describes in a +lively, and even comic, strain his own prowess, and the +consternation of the Turks. But that adventurous traveller does +not possess the art of gaining our confidence.]</p> + +<p>While Mahomet threatened the capital of the East, the Greek +emperor implored with fervent prayers the assistance of earth and +heaven. But the invisible powers were deaf to his supplications; +and Christendom beheld with indifference the fall of +Constantinople, while she derived at least some promise of supply +from the jealous and temporal policy of the sultan of Egypt. Some +states were too weak, and others too remote; by some the danger +was considered as imaginary by others as inevitable: the Western +princes were involved in their endless and domestic quarrels; and +the Roman pontiff was exasperated by the falsehood or obstinacy +of the Greeks. Instead of employing in their favor the arms and +treasures of Italy, Nicholas the Fifth had foretold their +approaching ruin; and his honor was engaged in the accomplishment +of his prophecy. ^* Perhaps he was softened by the last extremity +o their distress; but his compassion was tardy; his efforts were +faint and unavailing; and Constantinople had fallen, before the +squadrons of Genoa and Venice could sail from their harbors. ^27 +Even the princes of the Morea and of the Greek islands affected a +cold neutrality: the Genoese colony of Galata negotiated a +private treaty; and the sultan indulged them in the delusive +hope, that by his clemency they might survive the ruin of the +empire. A plebeian crowd, and some Byzantine nobles basely +withdrew from the danger of their country; and the avarice of the +rich denied the emperor, and reserved for the Turks, the secret +treasures which might have raised in their defence whole armies +of mercenaries. ^28 The indigent and solitary prince prepared, +however, to sustain his formidable adversary; but if his courage +were equal to the peril, his strength was inadequate to the +contest. In the beginning of the spring, the Turkish vanguard +swept the towns and villages as far as the gates of +Constantinople: submission was spared and protected; whatever +presumed to resist was exterminated with fire and sword. The +Greek places on the Black Sea, Mesembria, Acheloum, and Bizon, +surrendered on the first summons; Selybria alone deserved the +honors of a siege or blockade; and the bold inhabitants, while +they were invested by land, launched their boats, pillaged the +opposite coast of Cyzicus, and sold their captives in the public +market. But on the approach of Mahomet himself all was silent and +prostrate: he first halted at the distance of five miles; and +from thence advancing in battle array, planted before the gates +of St. Romanus the Imperial standard; and on the sixth day of +April formed the memorable siege of Constantinople.</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: See the curious Christian and Mahometan +predictions of the fall of Constantinople, Von Hammer, p. 518. -- +M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 27: Non audivit, indignum ducens, says the honest +Antoninus; but as the Roman court was afterwards grieved and +ashamed, we find the more courtly expression of Platina, in animo +fuisse pontifici juvare Græcos, and the positive assertion +of Æneas Sylvius, structam classem &c. (Spond. A.D. +1453, No. 3.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 28: Antonin. in Proem. -- Epist. Cardinal. Isidor. +apud Spondanum and Dr. Johnson, in the tragedy of Irene, has +happily seized this characteristic circumstance: --</p> + +<p>The groaning Greeks dig up the golden caverns.</p> + +<p>The accumulated wealth of hoarding ages;</p> + +<p>That wealth which, granted to their weeping prince,</p> + +<p>Had ranged embattled nations at their gates.</p> + +<p>11]</p> + +<p>The troops of Asia and Europe extended on the right and left +from the Propontis to the harbor; the Janizaries in the front +were stationed before the sultan's tent; the Ottoman line was +covered by a deep intrenchment; and a subordinate army enclosed +the suburb of Galata, and watched the doubtful faith of the +Genoese. The inquisitive Philelphus, who resided in Greece about +thirty years before the siege, is confident, that all the Turkish +forces of any name or value could not exceed the number of sixty +thousand horse and twenty thousand foot; and he upbraids the +pusillanimity of the nations, who had tamely yielded to a handful +of Barbarians. Such indeed might be the regular establishment of +the <strong><em>Capiculi</em></strong>, ^29 the troops of the +Porte who marched with the prince, and were paid from his royal +treasury. But the bashaws, in their respective governments, +maintained or levied a provincial militia; many lands were held +by a military tenure; many volunteers were attracted by the hope +of spoil and the sound of the holy trumpet invited a swarm of +hungry and fearless fanatics, who might contribute at least to +multiply the terrors, and in a first attack to blunt the swords, +of the Christians. The whole mass of the Turkish powers is +magnified by Ducas, Chalcondyles, and Leonard of Chios, to the +amount of three or four hundred thousand men; but Phranza was a +less remote and more accurate judge; and his precise definition +of two hundred and fifty-eight thousand does not exceed the +measure of experience and probability. ^30 The navy of the +besiegers was less formidable: the Propontis was overspread with +three hundred and twenty sail; but of these no more than eighteen +could be rated as galleys of war; and the far greater part must +be degraded to the condition of store-ships and transports, which +poured into the camp fresh supplies of men, ammunition, and +provisions. In her last decay, Constantinople was still peopled +with more than a hundred thousand inhabitants; but these numbers +are found in the accounts, not of war, but of captivity; and they +mostly consisted of mechanics, of priests, of women, and of men +devoid of that spirit which even women have sometimes exerted for +the common safety. I can suppose, I could almost excuse, the +reluctance of subjects to serve on a distant frontier, at the +will of a tyrant; but the man who dares not expose his life in +the defence of his children and his property, has lost in society +the first and most active energies of nature. By the emperor's +command, a particular inquiry had been made through the streets +and houses, how many of the citizens, or even of the monks, were +able and willing to bear arms for their country. The lists were +intrusted to Phranza; ^31 and, after a diligent addition, he +informed his master, with grief and surprise, that the national +defence was reduced to four thousand nine hundred and seventy +<strong><em>Romans</em></strong>. Between Constantine and his +faithful minister this comfortless secret was preserved; and a +sufficient proportion of shields, cross-bows, and muskets, were +distributed from the arsenal to the city bands. They derived some +accession from a body of two thousand strangers, under the +command of John Justiniani, a noble Genoese; a liberal donative +was advanced to these auxiliaries; and a princely recompense, the +Isle of Lemnos, was promised to the valor and victory of their +chief. A strong chain was drawn across the mouth of the harbor: +it was supported by some Greek and Italian vessels of war and +merchandise; and the ships of every Christian nation, that +successively arrived from Candia and the Black Sea, were detained +for the public service. Against the powers of the Ottoman empire, +a city of the extent of thirteen, perhaps of sixteen, miles was +defended by a scanty garrison of seven or eight thousand +soldiers. Europe and Asia were open to the besiegers; but the +strength and provisions of the Greeks must sustain a daily +decrease; nor could they indulge the expectation of any foreign +succor or supply.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 29: The palatine troops are styled +<strong><em>Capiculi</em></strong>, the provincials, +<strong><em>Seratculi</em></strong>; and most of the names and +institutions of the Turkish militia existed before the +<strong><em>Canon Nameh</em></strong> of Soliman II, from which, +and his own experience, Count Marsigli has composed his military +state of the Ottoman empire.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 30: The observation of Philelphus is approved by +Cuspinian in the year 1508, (de Cæsaribus, in Epilog. de +Militiâ Turcicâ, p. 697.) Marsigli proves, that the +effective armies of the Turks are much less numerous than they +appear. In the army that besieged Constantinople Leonardus +Chiensis reckons no more than 15,000 Janizaries.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 31: Ego, eidem (Imp.) tabellas extribui non absque +dolore et mstitia, mansitque apud nos duos aliis occultus +numerus, (Phranza, l. iii. c. 8.) With some indulgence for +national prejudices, we cannot desire a more authentic witness, +not only of public facts, but of private counsels.]</p> + +<p>The primitive Romans would have drawn their swords in the +resolution of death or conquest. The primitive Christians might +have embraced each other, and awaited in patience and charity the +stroke of martyrdom. But the Greeks of Constantinople were +animated only by the spirit of religion, and that spirit was +productive only of animosity and discord. Before his death, the +emperor John Palæologus had renounced the unpopular measure +of a union with the Latins; nor was the idea revived, till the +distress of his brother Constantine imposed a last trial of +flattery and dissimulation. ^32 With the demand of temporal aid, +his ambassadors were instructed to mingle the assurance of +spiritual obedience: his neglect of the church was excused by the +urgent cares of the state; and his orthodox wishes solicited the +presence of a Roman legate. The Vatican had been too often +deluded; yet the signs of repentance could not decently be +overlooked; a legate was more easily granted than an army; and +about six months before the final destruction, the cardinal +Isidore of Russia appeared in that character with a retinue of +priests and soldiers. The emperor saluted him as a friend and +father; respectfully listened to his public and private sermons; +and with the most obsequious of the clergy and laymen subscribed +the act of union, as it had been ratified in the council of +Florence. On the twelfth of December, the two nations, in the +church of St. Sophia, joined in the communion of sacrifice and +prayer; and the names of the two pontiffs were solemnly +commemorated; the names of Nicholas the Fifth, the vicar of +Christ, and of the patriarch Gregory, who had been driven into +exile by a rebellious people.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 32: In Spondanus, the narrative of the union is not +only partial, but imperfect. The bishop of Pamiers died in 1642, +and the history of Ducas, which represents these scenes (c. 36, +37) with such truth and spirit, was not printed till the year +1649.]</p> + +<p>But the dress and language of the Latin priest who officiated +at the altar were an object of scandal; and it was observed with +horror, that he consecrated a cake or wafer of +<strong><em>unleavened</em></strong> bread, and poured cold water +into the cup of the sacrament. A national historian acknowledges +with a blush, that none of his countrymen, not the emperor +himself, were sincere in this occasional conformity. ^33 Their +hasty and unconditional submission was palliated by a promise of +future revisal; but the best, or the worst, of their excuses was +the confession of their own perjury. When they were pressed by +the reproaches of their honest brethren, "Have patience," they +whispered, "have patience till God shall have delivered the city +from the great dragon who seeks to devour us. You shall then +perceive whether we are truly reconciled with the Azymites." But +patience is not the attribute of zeal; nor can the arts of a +court be adapted to the freedom and violence of popular +enthusiasm. From the dome of St. Sophia the inhabitants of either +sex, and of every degree, rushed in crowds to the cell of the +monk Gennadius, ^34 to consult the oracle of the church. The holy +man was invisible; entranced, as it should seem, in deep +meditation, or divine rapture: but he had exposed on the door of +his cell a speaking tablet; and they successively withdrew, after +reading those tremendous words: "O miserable Romans, why will ye +abandon the truth? and why, instead of confiding in God, will ye +put your trust in the Italians? In losing your faith you will +lose your city. Have mercy on me, O Lord! I protest in thy +presence that I am innocent of the crime. O miserable Romans, +consider, pause, and repent. At the same moment that you renounce +the religion of your fathers, by embracing impiety, you submit to +a foreign servitude." According to the advice of Gennadius, the +religious virgins, as pure as angels, and as proud as +dæmons, rejected the act of union, and abjured all +communion with the present and future associates of the Latins; +and their example was applauded and imitated by the greatest part +of the clergy and people. From the monastery, the devout Greeks +dispersed themselves in the taverns; drank confusion to the +slaves of the pope; emptied their glasses in honor of the image +of the holy Virgin; and besought her to defend against Mahomet +the city which she had formerly saved from Chosroes and the +Chagan. In the double intoxication of zeal and wine, they +valiantly exclaimed, "What occasion have we for succor, or union, +or Latins? Far from us be the worship of the Azymites!" During +the winter that preceded the Turkish conquest, the nation was +distracted by this epidemical frenzy; and the season of Lent, the +approach of Easter, instead of breathing charity and love, served +only to fortify the obstinacy and influence of the zealots. The +confessors scrutinized and alarmed the conscience of their +votaries, and a rigorous penance was imposed on those who had +received the communion from a priest who had given an express or +tacit consent to the union. His service at the altar propagated +the infection to the mute and simple spectators of the ceremony: +they forfeited, by the impure spectacle, the virtue of the +sacerdotal character; nor was it lawful, even in danger of sudden +death, to invoke the assistance of their prayers or absolution. +No sooner had the church of St. Sophia been polluted by the Latin +sacrifice, than it was deserted as a Jewish synagogue, or a +heathen temple, by the clergy and people; and a vast and gloomy +silence prevailed in that venerable dome, which had so often +smoked with a cloud of incense, blazed with innumerable lights, +and resounded with the voice of prayer and thanksgiving. The +Latins were the most odious of heretics and infidels; and the +first minister of the empire, the great duke, was heard to +declare, that he had rather behold in Constantinople the turban +of Mahomet, than the pope's tiara or a cardinal's hat. ^35 A +sentiment so unworthy of Christians and patriots was familiar and +fatal to the Greeks: the emperor was deprived of the affection +and support of his subjects; and their native cowardice was +sanctified by resignation to the divine decree, or the visionary +hope of a miraculous deliverance.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 33: Phranza, one of the conforming Greeks, +acknowledges that the measure was adopted only propter spem +auxilii; he affirms with pleasure, that those who refused to +perform their devotions in St. Sophia, extra culpam et in pace +essent, (l. iii. c. 20.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 34: His primitive and secular name was George +Scholarius, which he changed for that of Gennadius, either when +he became a monk or a patriarch. His defence, at Florence, of the +same union, which he so furiously attacked at Constantinople, has +tempted Leo Allatius (Diatrib. de Georgiis, in Fabric. Bibliot. +Græc. tom. x. p. 760--786) to divide him into two men; but +Renaudot (p. 343--383) has restored the identity of his person +and the duplicity of his character.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 35: Fakiolion, kaluptra, may be fairly translated a +cardinal's hat. The difference of the Greek and Latin habits +imbittered the schism.]</p> + +<p>Of the triangle which composes the figure of Constantinople, +the two sides along the sea were made inaccessible to an enemy; +the Propontis by nature, and the harbor by art. Between the two +waters, the basis of the triangle, the land side was protected by +a double wall, and a deep ditch of the depth of one hundred feet. +Against this line of fortification, which Phranza, an +eye-witness, prolongs to the measure of six miles, ^36 the +Ottomans directed their principal attack; and the emperor, after +distributing the service and command of the most perilous +stations, undertook the defence of the external wall. In the +first days of the siege the Greek soldiers descended into the +ditch, or sallied into the field; but they soon discovered, that, +in the proportion of their numbers, one Christian was of more +value than twenty Turks: and, after these bold preludes, they +were prudently content to maintain the rampart with their missile +weapons. Nor should this prudence be accused of pusillanimity. +The nation was indeed pusillanimous and base; but the last +Constantine deserves the name of a hero: his noble band of +volunteers was inspired with Roman virtue; and the foreign +auxiliaries supported the honor of the Western chivalry. The +incessant volleys of lances and arrows were accompanied with the +smoke, the sound, and the fire, of their musketry and cannon. +Their small arms discharged at the same time either five, or even +ten, balls of lead, of the size of a walnut; and, according to +the closeness of the ranks and the force of the powder, several +breastplates and bodies were transpierced by the same shot. But +the Turkish approaches were soon sunk in trenches, or covered +with ruins. Each day added to the science of the Christians; but +their inadequate stock of gunpowder was wasted in the operations +of each day. Their ordnance was not powerful, either in size or +number; and if they possessed some heavy cannon, they feared to +plant them on the walls, lest the aged structure should be shaken +and overthrown by the explosion. ^37 The same destructive secret +had been revealed to the Moslems; by whom it was employed with +the superior energy of zeal, riches, and despotism. The great +cannon of Mahomet has been separately noticed; an important and +visible object in the history of the times: but that enormous +engine was flanked by two fellows almost of equal magnitude: ^38 +the long order of the Turkish artillery was pointed against the +walls; fourteen batteries thundered at once on the most +accessible places; and of one of these it is ambiguously +expressed, that it was mounted with one hundred and thirty guns, +or that it discharged one hundred and thirty bullets. Yet in the +power and activity of the sultan, we may discern the infancy of +the new science. Under a master who counted the moments, the +great cannon could be loaded and fired no more than seven times +in one day. ^39 The heated metal unfortunately burst; several +workmen were destroyed; and the skill of an artist ^* was admired +who bethought himself of preventing the danger and the accident, +by pouring oil, after each explosion, into the mouth of the +cannon.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 36: We are obliged to reduce the Greek miles to the +smallest measure which is preserved in the wersts of Russia, of +547 French <strong><em>toises</em></strong>, and of 104 2/5 to a +degree. The six miles of Phranza do not exceed four English +miles, (D'Anville, Mesures Itineraires, p. 61, 123, &c.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 37: At indies doctiores nostri facti paravere contra +hostes machinamenta, quæ tamen avare dabantur. Pulvis erat +nitri modica exigua; tela modica; bombardæ, si aderant +incommoditate loci primum hostes offendere, maceriebus alveisque +tectos, non poterant. Nam si quæ magnæ erant, ne +murus concuteretur noster, quiescebant. This passage of Leonardus +Chiensis is curious and important.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 38: According to Chalcondyles and Phranza, the great +cannon burst; an incident which, according to Ducas, was +prevented by the artist's skill. It is evident that they do not +speak of the same gun. *</p> + +<p>Note: * They speak, one of a Byzantine, one of a Turkish, gun. +Von Hammer note, p. 669.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 39: Near a hundred years after the siege of +Constantinople, the French and English fleets in the Channel were +proud of firing 300 shot in an engagement of two hours, +(Mémoires de Martin du Bellay, l. x., in the Collection +Générale, tom. xxi. p. 239.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: The founder of the gun. Von Hammer, p. 526.]</p> + +<p>The first random shots were productive of more sound than +effect; and it was by the advice of a Christian, that the +engineers were taught to level their aim against the two opposite +sides of the salient angles of a bastion. However imperfect, the +weight and repetition of the fire made some impression on the +walls; and the Turks, pushing their approaches to the edge of the +ditch, attempted to fill the enormous chasm, and to build a road +to the assault. ^40 Innumerable fascines, and hogsheads, and +trunks of trees, were heaped on each other; and such was the +impetuosity of the throng, that the foremost and the weakest were +pushed headlong down the precipice, and instantly buried under +the accumulated mass. To fill the ditch was the toil of the +besiegers; to clear away the rubbish was the safety of the +besieged; and after a long and bloody conflict, the web that had +been woven in the day was still unravelled in the night. The next +resource of Mahomet was the practice of mines; but the soil was +rocky; in every attempt he was stopped and undermined by the +Christian engineers; nor had the art been yet invented of +replenishing those subterraneous passages with gunpowder, and +blowing whole towers and cities into the air. ^41 A circumstance +that distinguishes the siege of Constantinople is the reunion of +the ancient and modern artillery. The cannon were intermingled +with the mechanical engines for casting stones and darts; the +bullet and the battering-ram ^* were directed against the same +walls: nor had the discovery of gunpowder superseded the use of +the liquid and unextinguishable fire. A wooden turret of the +largest size was advanced on rollers this portable magazine of +ammunition and fascines was protected by a threefold covering of +bulls' hides: incessant volleys were securely discharged from the +loop-holes; in the front, three doors were contrived for the +alternate sally and retreat of the soldiers and workmen. They +ascended by a staircase to the upper platform, and, as high as +the level of that platform, a scaling-ladder could be raised by +pulleys to form a bridge, and grapple with the adverse rampart. +By these various arts of annoyance, some as new as they were +pernicious to the Greeks, the tower of St. Romanus was at length +overturned: after a severe struggle, the Turks were repulsed from +the breach, and interrupted by darkness; but they trusted that +with the return of light they should renew the attack with fresh +vigor and decisive success. Of this pause of action, this +interval of hope, each moment was improved, by the activity of +the emperor and Justiniani, who passed the night on the spot, and +urged the labors which involved the safety of the church and +city. At the dawn of day, the impatient sultan perceived, with +astonishment and grief, that his wooden turret had been reduced +to ashes: the ditch was cleared and restored; and the tower of +St. Romanus was again strong and entire. He deplored the failure +of his design; and uttered a profane exclamation, that the word +of the thirty-seven thousand prophets should not have compelled +him to believe that such a work, in so short a time, could have +been accomplished by the infidels.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 40: I have selected some curious facts, without +striving to emulate the bloody and obstinate eloquence of the +abbé de Vertot, in his prolix descriptions of the sieges +of Rhodes, Malta, &c. But that agreeable historian had a turn +for romance; and as he wrote to please the order he had adopted +the same spirit of enthusiasm and chivalry.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 41: The first theory of mines with gunpowder appears +in 1480 in a MS. of George of Sienna, (Tiraboschi, tom. vi. P. i. +p. 324.) They were first practised by Sarzanella, in 1487; but +the honor and improvement in 1503 is ascribed to Peter of +Navarre, who used them with success in the wars of Italy, (Hist. +de la Ligue de Cambray, tom. ii. p. 93--97.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: The battering-ram according to Von Hammer, (p. +670,) was not used. -- M.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LXVIII: Reign Of Mahomet The Second, +Extinction Of Eastern Empire. -- Part III.</em></strong></p> + +<p>The generosity of the Christian princes was cold and tardy; +but in the first apprehension of a siege, Constantine had +negotiated, in the isles of the Archipelago, the Morea, and +Sicily, the most indispensable supplies. As early as the +beginning of April, five ^42 great ships, equipped for +merchandise and war, would have sailed from the harbor of Chios, +had not the wind blown obstinately from the north. ^43 One of +these ships bore the Imperial flag; the remaining four belonged +to the Genoese; and they were laden with wheat and barley, with +wine, oil, and vegetables, and, above all, with soldiers and +mariners for the service of the capital. After a tedious delay, a +gentle breeze, and, on the second day, a strong gale from the +south, carried them through the Hellespont and the Propontis: but +the city was already invested by sea and land; and the Turkish +fleet, at the entrance of the Bosphorus, was stretched from shore +to shore, in the form of a crescent, to intercept, or at least to +repel, these bold auxiliaries. The reader who has present to his +mind the geographical picture of Constantinople, will conceive +and admire the greatness of the spectacle. The five Christian +ships continued to advance with joyful shouts, and a full press +both of sails and oars, against a hostile fleet of three hundred +vessels; and the rampart, the camp, the coasts of Europe and +Asia, were lined with innumerable spectators, who anxiously +awaited the event of this momentous succor. At the first view +that event could not appear doubtful; the superiority of the +Moslems was beyond all measure or account: and, in a calm, their +numbers and valor must inevitably have prevailed. But their hasty +and imperfect navy had been created, not by the genius of the +people, but by the will of the sultan: in the height of their +prosperity, the Turks have acknowledged, that if God had given +them the earth, he had left the sea to the infidels; ^44 and a +series of defeats, a rapid progress of decay, has established the +truth of their modest confession. Except eighteen galleys of some +force, the rest of their fleet consisted of open boats, rudely +constructed and awkwardly managed, crowded with troops, and +destitute of cannon; and since courage arises in a great measure +from the consciousness of strength, the bravest of the Janizaries +might tremble on a new element. In the Christian squadron, five +stout and lofty ships were guided by skilful pilots, and manned +with the veterans of Italy and Greece, long practised in the arts +and perils of the sea. Their weight was directed to sink or +scatter the weak obstacles that impeded their passage: their +artillery swept the waters: their liquid fire was poured on the +heads of the adversaries, who, with the design of boarding, +presumed to approach them; and the winds and waves are always on +the side of the ablest navigators. In this conflict, the Imperial +vessel, which had been almost overpowered, was rescued by the +Genoese; but the Turks, in a distant and closer attack, were +twice repulsed with considerable loss. Mahomet himself sat on +horseback on the beach to encourage their valor by his voice and +presence, by the promise of reward, and by fear more potent than +the fear of the enemy. The passions of his soul, and even the +gestures of his body, ^45 seemed to imitate the actions of the +combatants; and, as if he had been the lord of nature, he spurred +his horse with a fearless and impotent effort into the sea. His +loud reproaches, and the clamors of the camp, urged the Ottomans +to a third attack, more fatal and bloody than the two former; and +I must repeat, though I cannot credit, the evidence of Phranza, +who affirms, from their own mouth, that they lost above twelve +thousand men in the slaughter of the day. They fled in disorder +to the shores of Europe and Asia, while the Christian squadron, +triumphant and unhurt, steered along the Bosphorus, and securely +anchored within the chain of the harbor. In the confidence of +victory, they boasted that the whole Turkish power must have +yielded to their arms; but the admiral, or captain bashaw, found +some consolation for a painful wound in his eye, by representing +that accident as the cause of his defeat. Balthi Ogli was a +renegade of the race of the Bulgarian princes: his military +character was tainted with the unpopular vice of avarice; and +under the despotism of the prince or people, misfortune is a +sufficient evidence of guilt. ^* His rank and services were +annihilated by the displeasure of Mahomet. In the royal presence, +the captain bashaw was extended on the ground by four slaves, and +received one hundred strokes with a golden rod: ^46 his death had +been pronounced; and he adored the clemency of the sultan, who +was satisfied with the milder punishment of confiscation and +exile. The introduction of this supply revived the hopes of the +Greeks, and accused the supineness of their Western allies. +Amidst the deserts of Anatolia and the rocks of Palestine, the +millions of the crusades had buried themselves in a voluntary and +inevitable grave; but the situation of the Imperial city was +strong against her enemies, and accessible to her friends; and a +rational and moderate armament of the marine states might have +saved the relics of the Roman name, and maintained a Christian +fortress in the heart of the Ottoman empire. Yet this was the +sole and feeble attempt for the deliverance of Constantinople: +the more distant powers were insensible of its danger; and the +ambassador of Hungary, or at least of Huniades, resided in the +Turkish camp, to remove the fears, and to direct the operations, +of the sultan. ^47</p> + +<p>[Footnote 42: It is singular that the Greeks should not agree +in the number of these illustrious vessels; the +<strong><em>five</em></strong> of Ducas, the +<strong><em>four</em></strong>of Phranza and Leonardus, and the +<strong><em>two</em></strong> of Chalcondyles, must be extended +to the smaller, or confined to the larger, size. Voltaire, in +giving one of these ships to Frederic III., confounds the +emperors of the East and West.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 43: In bold defiance, or rather in gross ignorance, +of language and geography, the president Cousin detains them in +Chios with a south, and wafts them to Constantinople with a +north, wind.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 44: The perpetual decay and weakness of the Turkish +navy may be observed in Ricaut, (State of the Ottoman Empire, p. +372--378,) Thevenot, (Voyages, P. i. p. 229--242, and Tott, +(Mémoires, tom. iii;) the last of whom is always +solicitous to amuse and amaze his reader.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 45: I must confess that I have before my eyes the +living picture which Thucydides (l. vii. c. 71) has drawn of the +passions and gestures of the Athenians in a naval engagement in +the great harbor of Syracuse.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: According to Ducas, one of the Afabi beat out his +eye with a stone Compare Von Hammer. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 46: According to the exaggeration or corrupt text of +Ducas, (c. 38,) this golden bar was of the enormous or incredible +weight of 500 libræ, or pounds. Bouillaud's reading of 500 +drachms, or five pounds, is sufficient to exercise the arm of +Mahomet, and bruise the back of his admiral.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 47: Ducas, who confesses himself ill informed of the +affairs of Hungary assigns a motive of superstition, a fatal +belief that Constantinople would be the term of the Turkish +conquests. See Phranza (l. iii. c. 20) and Spondanus.]</p> + +<p>It was difficult for the Greeks to penetrate the secret of the +divan; yet the Greeks are persuaded, that a resistance so +obstinate and surprising, had fatigued the perseverance of +Mahomet. He began to meditate a retreat; and the siege would have +been speedily raised, if the ambition and jealousy of the second +vizier had not opposed the perfidious advice of Calil Bashaw, who +still maintained a secret correspondence with the Byzantine +court. The reduction of the city appeared to be hopeless, unless +a double attack could be made from the harbor as well as from the +land; but the harbor was inaccessible: an impenetrable chain was +now defended by eight large ships, more than twenty of a smaller +size, with several galleys and sloops; and, instead of forcing +this barrier, the Turks might apprehend a naval sally, and a +second encounter in the open sea. In this perplexity, the genius +of Mahomet conceived and executed a plan of a bold and marvellous +cast, of transporting by land his lighter vessels and military +stores from the Bosphorus into the higher part of the harbor. The +distance is about ten ^* miles; the ground is uneven, and was +overspread with thickets; and, as the road must be opened behind +the suburb of Galata, their free passage or total destruction +must depend on the option of the Genoese. But these selfish +merchants were ambitious of the favor of being the last devoured; +and the deficiency of art was supplied by the strength of +obedient myriads. A level way was covered with a broad platform +of strong and solid planks; and to render them more slippery and +smooth, they were anointed with the fat of sheep and oxen. +Fourscore light galleys and brigantines, of fifty and thirty +oars, were disembarked on the Bosphorus shore; arranged +successively on rollers; and drawn forwards by the power of men +and pulleys. Two guides or pilots were stationed at the helm, and +the prow, of each vessel: the sails were unfurled to the winds; +and the labor was cheered by song and acclamation. In the course +of a single night, this Turkish fleet painfully climbed the hill, +steered over the plain, and was launched from the declivity into +the shallow waters of the harbor, far above the molestation of +the deeper vessels of the Greeks. The real importance of this +operation was magnified by the consternation and confidence which +it inspired: but the notorious, unquestionable fact was displayed +before the eyes, and is recorded by the pens, of the two nations. +^48 A similar stratagem had been repeatedly practised by the +ancients; ^49 the Ottoman galleys (I must again repeat) should be +considered as large boats; and, if we compare the magnitude and +the distance, the obstacles and the means, the boasted miracle +^50 has perhaps been equalled by the industry of our own times. +^51 As soon as Mahomet had occupied the upper harbor with a fleet +and army, he constructed, in the narrowest part, a bridge, or +rather mole, of fifty cubits in breadth, and one hundred in +length: it was formed of casks and hogsheads; joined with +rafters, linked with iron, and covered with a solid floor. On +this floating battery he planted one of his largest cannon, while +the fourscore galleys, with troops and scaling ladders, +approached the most accessible side, which had formerly been +stormed by the Latin conquerors. The indolence of the Christians +has been accused for not destroying these unfinished works; ^! +but their fire, by a superior fire, was controlled and silenced; +nor were they wanting in a nocturnal attempt to burn the vessels +as well as the bridge of the sultan. His vigilance prevented +their approach; their foremost galiots were sunk or taken; forty +youths, the bravest of Italy and Greece, were inhumanly massacred +at his command; nor could the emperor's grief be assuaged by the +just though cruel retaliation, of exposing from the walls the +heads of two hundred and sixty Mussulman captives. After a siege +of forty days, the fate of Constantinople could no longer be +averted. The diminutive garrison was exhausted by a double +attack: the fortifications, which had stood for ages against +hostile violence, were dismantled on all sides by the Ottoman +cannon: many breaches were opened; and near the gate of St. +Romanus, four towers had been levelled with the ground. For the +payment of his feeble and mutinous troops, Constantine was +compelled to despoil the churches with the promise of a fourfold +restitution; and his sacrilege offered a new reproach to the +enemies of the union. A spirit of discord impaired the remnant of +the Christian strength; the Genoese and Venetian auxiliaries +asserted the preeminence of their respective service; and +Justiniani and the great duke, whose ambition was not +extinguished by the common danger, accused each other of +treachery and cowardice.</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Six miles. Von Hammer. -- M.]?</p> + +<p>[Footnote 48: The unanimous testimony of the four Greeks is +confirmed by Cantemir (p. 96) from the Turkish annals; but I +could wish to contract the distance of +<strong><em>ten</em></strong> * miles, and to prolong the term of +<strong><em>one</em></strong> night.</p> + +<p>Note: * Six miles. Von Hammer. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 49: Phranza relates two examples of a similar +transportation over the six miles of the Isthmus of Corinth; the +one fabulous, of Augustus after the battle of Actium; the other +true, of Nicetas, a Greek general in the xth century. To these he +might have added a bold enterprise of Hannibal, to introduce his +vessels into the harbor of Tarentum, (Polybius, l. viii. p. 749, +edit. Gronov. *)</p> + +<p>Note: * Von Hammer gives a longer list of such +transportations, p. 533. Dion Cassius distinctly relates the +occurrence treated as fabulous by Gibbon. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 50: A Greek of Candia, who had served the Venetians +in a similar undertaking, (Spond. A.D. 1438, No. 37,) might +possibly be the adviser and agent of Mahomet.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 51: I particularly allude to our own embarkations on +the lakes of Canada in the years 1776 and 1777, so great in the +labor, so fruitless in the event.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !: They were betrayed, according to some accounts, +by the Genoese of Galata. Von Hammer, p. 536. -- M.]</p> + +<p>During the siege of Constantinople, the words of peace and +capitulation had been sometimes pronounced; and several embassies +had passed between the camp and the city. ^52 The Greek emperor +was humbled by adversity; and would have yielded to any terms +compatible with religion and royalty. The Turkish sultan was +desirous of sparing the blood of his soldiers; still more +desirous of securing for his own use the Byzantine treasures: and +he accomplished a sacred duty in presenting to the +<strong><em>Gabours</em></strong> the choice of circumcision, of +tribute, or of death. The avarice of Mahomet might have been +satisfied with an annual sum of one hundred thousand ducats; but +his ambition grasped the capital of the East: to the prince he +offered a rich equivalent, to the people a free toleration, or a +safe departure: but after some fruitless treaty, he declared his +resolution of finding either a throne, or a grave, under the +walls of Constantinople. A sense of honor, and the fear of +universal reproach, forbade Palæologus to resign the city +into the hands of the Ottomans; and he determined to abide the +last extremities of war. Several days were employed by the sultan +in the preparations of the assault; and a respite was granted by +his favorite science of astrology, which had fixed on the +twenty-ninth of May, as the fortunate and fatal hour. On the +evening of the twenty-seventh, he issued his final orders; +assembled in his presence the military chiefs, and dispersed his +heralds through the camp to proclaim the duty, and the motives, +of the perilous enterprise. Fear is the first principle of a +despotic government; and his menaces were expressed in the +Oriental style, that the fugitives and deserters, had they the +wings of a bird, ^53 should not escape from his inexorable +justice. The greatest part of his bashaws and Janizaries were the +offspring of Christian parents: but the glories of the Turkish +name were perpetuated by successive adoption; and in the gradual +change of individuals, the spirit of a legion, a regiment, or an +<strong><em>oda</em></strong>, is kept alive by imitation and +discipline. In this holy warfare, the Moslems were exhorted to +purify their minds with prayer, their bodies with seven +ablutions; and to abstain from food till the close of the ensuing +day. A crowd of dervises visited the tents, to instil the desire +of martyrdom, and the assurance of spending an immortal youth +amidst the rivers and gardens of paradise, and in the embraces of +the black-eyed virgins. Yet Mahomet principally trusted to the +efficacy of temporal and visible rewards. A double pay was +promised to the victorious troops: "The city and the buildings," +said Mahomet, "are mine; but I resign to your valor the captives +and the spoil, the treasures of gold and beauty; be rich and be +happy. Many are the provinces of my empire: the intrepid soldier +who first ascends the walls of Constantinople shall be rewarded +with the government of the fairest and most wealthy; and my +gratitude shall accumulate his honors and fortunes above the +measure of his own hopes." Such various and potent motives +diffused among the Turks a general ardor, regardless of life and +impatient for action: the camp reechoed with the Moslem shouts of +"God is God: there is but one God, and Mahomet is the apostle of +God;" ^54 and the sea and land, from Galata to the seven towers, +were illuminated by the blaze of their nocturnal fires. ^*</p> + +<p>[Footnote 52: Chalcondyles and Ducas differ in the time and +circumstances of the negotiation; and as it was neither glorious +nor salutary, the faithful Phranza spares his prince even the +thought of a surrender.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 53: These wings (Chalcondyles, l. viii. p. 208) are +no more than an Oriental figure: but in the tragedy of Irene, +Mahomet's passion soars above sense and reason: --</p> + +<p>Should the fierce North, upon his frozen wings.</p> + +<p>Bear him aloft above the wondering clouds,</p> + +<p>And seat him in the Pleiads' golden chariot --</p> + +<p>Then should my fury drag him down to tortures.</p> + +<p>Besides the extravagance of the rant, I must observe, 1. That +the operation of the winds must be confined to the +<strong><em>lower</em></strong> region of the air. 2. That the +name, etymology, and fable of the Pleiads are purely Greek, +(Scholiast ad Homer, S. 686. Eudocia in Ioniâ, p. 399. +Apollodor. l. iii. c. 10. Heyne, p. 229, Not. 682,) and had no +affinity with the astronomy of the East, (Hyde ad Ulugbeg, Tabul. +in Syntagma Dissert. tom. i. p. 40, 42. Goguet, Origine des Arts, +&c., tom. vi. p. 73--78. Gebelin, Hist. du Calendrier, p. +73,) which Mahomet had studied. 3. The golden chariot does not +exist either in science or fiction; but I much fear Dr. Johnson +has confounded the Pleiads with the great bear or wagon, the +zodiac with a northern constellation: --</p> + +<p>''Ark-on q' hn kai amaxan epiklhsin kaleouein. Il. S. 487.</p> + +<p>11]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 54: Phranza quarrels with these Moslem acclamations, +not for the name of God, but for that of the prophet: the pious +zeal of Voltaire is excessive, and even ridiculous.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: The picture is heightened by the addition of the +wailing cries of Kyris, which were heard from the dark interior +of the city. Von Hammer p. 539. -- M.]</p> + +<p>Far different was the state of the Christians; who, with loud +and impotent complaints, deplored the guilt, or the punishment, +of their sins. The celestial image of the Virgin had been exposed +in solemn procession; but their divine patroness was deaf to +their entreaties: they accused the obstinacy of the emperor for +refusing a timely surrender; anticipated the horrors of their +fate; and sighed for the repose and security of Turkish +servitude. The noblest of the Greeks, and the bravest of the +allies, were summoned to the palace, to prepare them, on the +evening of the twenty-eighth, for the duties and dangers of the +general assault. The last speech of Palæologus was the +funeral oration of the Roman empire: ^55 he promised, he +conjured, and he vainly attempted to infuse the hope which was +extinguished in his own mind. In this world all was comfortless +and gloomy; and neither the gospel nor the church have proposed +any conspicuous recompense to the heroes who fall in the service +of their country. But the example of their prince, and the +confinement of a siege, had armed these warriors with the courage +of despair, and the pathetic scene is described by the feelings +of the historian Phranza, who was himself present at this +mournful assembly. They wept, they embraced; regardless of their +families and fortunes, they devoted their lives; and each +commander, departing to his station, maintained all night a +vigilant and anxious watch on the rampart. The emperor, and some +faithful companions, entered the dome of St. Sophia, which in a +few hours was to be converted into a mosque; and devoutly +received, with tears and prayers, the sacrament of the holy +communion. He reposed some moments in the palace, which resounded +with cries and lamentations; solicited the pardon of all whom he +might have injured; ^56 and mounted on horseback to visit the +guards, and explore the motions of the enemy. The distress and +fall of the last Constantine are more glorious than the long +prosperity of the Byzantine Cæsars. ^*</p> + +<p>[Footnote 55: I am afraid that this discourse was composed by +Phranza himself; and it smells so grossly of the sermon and the +convent, that I almost doubt whether it was pronounced by +Constantine. Leonardus assigns him another speech, in which he +addresses himself more respectfully to the Latin +auxiliaries.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 56: This abasement, which devotion has sometimes +extorted from dying princes, is an improvement of the gospel +doctrine of the forgiveness of injuries: it is more easy to +forgive 490 times, than once to ask pardon of an inferior.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Compare the very curious Armenian elegy on the +fall of Constantinople, translated by M. Boré, in the +Journal Asiatique for March, 1835; and by M. Brosset, in the new +edition of Le Beau, (tom. xxi. p. 308.) The author thus ends his +poem: "I, Abraham, loaded with sins, have composed this elegy +with the most lively sorrow; for I have seen Constantinople in +the days of its glory." -- M.]</p> + +<p>In the confusion of darkness, an assailant may sometimes +succeed; out in this great and general attack, the military +judgment and astrological knowledge of Mahomet advised him to +expect the morning, the memorable twenty-ninth of May, in the +fourteen hundred and fifty-third year of the Christian æra. +The preceding night had been strenuously employed: the troops, +the cannons, and the fascines, were advanced to the edge of the +ditch, which in many parts presented a smooth and level passage +to the breach; and his fourscore galleys almost touched, with the +prows and their scaling-ladders, the less defensible walls of the +harbor. Under pain of death, silence was enjoined: but the +physical laws of motion and sound are not obedient to discipline +or fear; each individual might suppress his voice and measure his +footsteps; but the march and labor of thousands must inevitably +produce a strange confusion of dissonant clamors, which reached +the ears of the watchmen of the towers. At daybreak, without the +customary signal of the morning gun, the Turks assaulted the city +by sea and land; and the similitude of a twined or twisted thread +has been applied to the closeness and continuity of their line of +attack. ^57 The foremost ranks consisted of the refuse of the +host, a voluntary crowd who fought without order or command; of +the feebleness of age or childhood, of peasants and vagrants, and +of all who had joined the camp in the blind hope of plunder and +martyrdom. The common impulse drove them onwards to the wall; the +most audacious to climb were instantly precipitated; and not a +dart, not a bullet, of the Christians, was idly wasted on the +accumulated throng. But their strength and ammunition were +exhausted in this laborious defence: the ditch was filled with +the bodies of the slain; they supported the footsteps of their +companions; and of this devoted vanguard the death was more +serviceable than the life. Under their respective bashaws and +sanjaks, the troops of Anatolia and Romania were successively led +to the charge: their progress was various and doubtful; but, +after a conflict of two hours, the Greeks still maintained, and +improved their advantage; and the voice of the emperor was heard, +encouraging his soldiers to achieve, by a last effort, the +deliverance of their country. In that fatal moment, the +Janizaries arose, fresh, vigorous, and invincible. The sultan +himself on horseback, with an iron mace in his hand, was the +spectator and judge of their valor: he was surrounded by ten +thousand of his domestic troops, whom he reserved for the +decisive occasion; and the tide of battle was directed and +impelled by his voice and eye. His numerous ministers of justice +were posted behind the line, to urge, to restrain, and to punish; +and if danger was in the front, shame and inevitable death were +in the rear, of the fugitives. The cries of fear and of pain were +drowned in the martial music of drums, trumpets, and attaballs; +and experience has proved, that the mechanical operation of +sounds, by quickening the circulation of the blood and spirits, +will act on the human machine more forcibly than the eloquence of +reason and honor. From the lines, the galleys, and the bridge, +the Ottoman artillery thundered on all sides; and the camp and +city, the Greeks and the Turks, were involved in a cloud of smoke +which could only be dispelled by the final deliverance or +destruction of the Roman empire. The single combats of the heroes +of history or fable amuse our fancy and engage our affections: +the skilful evolutions of war may inform the mind, and improve a +necessary, though pernicious, science. But in the uniform and +odious pictures of a general assault, all is blood, and horror, +and confusion nor shall I strive, at the distance of three +centuries, and a thousand miles, to delineate a scene of which +there could be no spectators, and of which the actors themselves +were incapable of forming any just or adequate idea.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 57: Besides the 10,000 guards, and the sailors and +the marines, Ducas numbers in this general assault 250,000 Turks, +both horse and foot.]</p> + +<p>The immediate loss of Constantinople may be ascribed to the +bullet, or arrow, which pierced the gauntlet of John Justiniani. +The sight of his blood, and the exquisite pain, appalled the +courage of the chief, whose arms and counsels were the firmest +rampart of the city. As he withdrew from his station in quest of +a surgeon, his flight was perceived and stopped by the +indefatigable emperor. "Your wound," exclaimed Palæologus, +"is slight; the danger is pressing: your presence is necessary; +and whither will you retire?" -- "I will retire," said the +trembling Genoese, "by the same road which God has opened to the +Turks;" and at these words he hastily passed through one of the +breaches of the inner wall. By this pusillanimous act he stained +the honors of a military life; and the few days which he survived +in Galata, or the Isle of Chios, were embittered by his own and +the public reproach. ^58 His example was imitated by the greatest +part of the Latin auxiliaries, and the defence began to slacken +when the attack was pressed with redoubled vigor. The number of +the Ottomans was fifty, perhaps a hundred, times superior to that +of the Christians; the double walls were reduced by the cannon to +a heap of ruins: in a circuit of several miles, some places must +be found more easy of access, or more feebly guarded; and if the +besiegers could penetrate in a single point, the whole city was +irrecoverably lost. The first who deserved the sultan's reward +was Hassan the Janizary, of gigantic stature and strength. With +his cimeter in one hand and his buckler in the other, he ascended +the outward fortification: of the thirty Janizaries, who were +emulous of his valor, eighteen perished in the bold adventure. +Hassan and his twelve companions had reached the summit: the +giant was precipitated from the rampart: he rose on one knee, and +was again oppressed by a shower of darts and stones. But his +success had proved that the achievement was possible: the walls +and towers were instantly covered with a swarm of Turks; and the +Greeks, now driven from the vantage ground, were overwhelmed by +increasing multitudes. Amidst these multitudes, the emperor, ^59 +who accomplished all the duties of a general and a soldier, was +long seen and finally lost. The nobles, who fought round his +person, sustained, till their last breath, the honorable names of +Palæologus and Cantacuzene: his mournful exclamation was +heard, "Cannot there be found a Christian to cut off my head?" +^60 and his last fear was that of falling alive into the hands of +the infidels. ^61 The prudent despair of Constantine cast away +the purple: amidst the tumult he fell by an unknown hand, and his +body was buried under a mountain of the slain. After his death, +resistance and order were no more: the Greeks fled towards the +city; and many were pressed and stifled in the narrow pass of the +gate of St. Romanus. The victorious Turks rushed through the +breaches of the inner wall; and as they advanced into the +streets, they were soon joined by their brethren, who had forced +the gate Phenar on the side of the harbor. ^62 In the first heat +of the pursuit, about two thousand Christians were put to the +sword; but avarice soon prevailed over cruelty; and the victors +acknowledged, that they should immediately have given quarter if +the valor of the emperor and his chosen bands had not prepared +them for a similar opposition in every part of the capital. It +was thus, after a siege of fifty-three days, that Constantinople, +which had defied the power of Chosroes, the Chagan, and the +caliphs, was irretrievably subdued by the arms of Mahomet the +Second. Her empire only had been subverted by the Latins: her +religion was trampled in the dust by the Moslem conquerors. +^63</p> + +<p>[Footnote 58: In the severe censure of the flight of +Justiniani, Phranza expresses his own feelings and those of the +public. For some private reasons, he is treated with more lenity +and respect by Ducas; but the words of Leonardus Chiensis express +his strong and recent indignation, gloriæ salutis suique +oblitus. In the whole series of their Eastern policy, his +countrymen, the Genoese, were always suspected, and often guilty. +*</p> + +<p>Note: * M. Brosset has given some extracts from the Georgian +account of the siege of Constantinople, in which Justiniani's +wound in the left foot is represented as more serious. With +charitable ambiguity the chronicler adds that his soldiers +carried him away with them in their vessel. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 59: Ducas kills him with two blows of Turkish +soldiers; Chalcondyles wounds him in the shoulder, and then +tramples him in the gate. The grief of Phranza, carrying him +among the enemy, escapes from the precise image of his death; but +we may, without flattery, apply these noble lines of Dryden: +--</p> + +<p>As to Sebastian, let them search the field;</p> + +<p>And where they find a mountain of the slain,</p> + +<p>Send one to climb, and looking down beneath,</p> + +<p>There they will find him at his manly length,</p> + +<p>With his face up to heaven, in that red monument</p> + +<p>Which his good sword had digged.</p> + +<p>11]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 60: Spondanus, (A.D. 1453, No. 10,) who has hopes of +his salvation, wishes to absolve this demand from the guilt of +suicide.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 61: Leonardus Chiensis very properly observes, that +the Turks, had they known the emperor, would have labored to save +and secure a captive so acceptable to the sultan.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 62: Cantemir, p. 96. The Christian ships in the +mouth of the harbor had flanked and retarded this naval +attack.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 63: Chalcondyles most absurdly supposes, that +Constantinople was sacked by the Asiatics in revenge for the +ancient calamities of Troy; and the grammarians of the xvth +century are happy to melt down the uncouth appellation of Turks +into the more classical name of +<strong><em>Teucri</em></strong>.]</p> + +<p>The tidings of misfortune fly with a rapid wing; yet such was +the extent of Constantinople, that the more distant quarters +might prolong, some moments, the happy ignorance of their ruin. +^64 But in the general consternation, in the feelings of selfish +or social anxiety, in the tumult and thunder of the assault, a +<strong><em>sleepless</em></strong> night and morning ^* must +have elapsed; nor can I believe that many Grecian ladies were +awakened by the Janizaries from a sound and tranquil slumber. On +the assurance of the public calamity, the houses and convents +were instantly deserted; and the trembling inhabitants flocked +together in the streets, like a herd of timid animals, as if +accumulated weakness could be productive of strength, or in the +vain hope, that amid the crowd each individual might be safe and +invisible. From every part of the capital, they flowed into the +church of St. Sophia: in the space of an hour, the sanctuary, the +choir, the nave, the upper and lower galleries, were filled with +the multitudes of fathers and husbands, of women and children, of +priests, monks, and religious virgins: the doors were barred on +the inside, and they sought protection from the sacred dome, +which they had so lately abhorred as a profane and polluted +edifice. Their confidence was founded on the prophecy of an +enthusiast or impostor; that one day the Turks would enter +Constantinople, and pursue the Romans as far as the column of +Constantine in the square before St. Sophia: but that this would +be the term of their calamities: that an angel would descend from +heaven, with a sword in his hand, and would deliver the empire, +with that celestial weapon, to a poor man seated at the foot of +the column. "Take this sword," would he say, "and avenge the +people of the Lord." At these animating words, the Turks would +instantly fly, and the victorious Romans would drive them from +the West, and from all Anatolia as far as the frontiers of +Persia. It is on this occasion that Ducas, with some fancy and +much truth, upbraids the discord and obstinacy of the Greeks. +"Had that angel appeared," exclaims the historian, "had he +offered to exterminate your foes if you would consent to the +union of the church, even event then, in that fatal moment, you +would have rejected your safety, or have deceived your God." +^65</p> + +<p>[Footnote 64: When Cyrus suppressed Babylon during the +celebration of a festival, so vast was the city, and so careless +were the inhabitants, that much time elapsed before the distant +quarters knew that they were captives. Herodotus, (l. i. c. 191,) +and Usher, (Annal. p. 78,) who has quoted from the prophet +Jeremiah a passage of similar import.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: This refers to an expression in Ducas, who, to +heighten the effect of his description, speaks of the "sweet +morning sleep resting on the eyes of youths and maidens," p. 288. +Edit. Bekker. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 65: This lively description is extracted from Ducas, +(c. 39,) who two years afterwards was sent ambassador from the +prince of Lesbos to the sultan, (c. 44.) Till Lesbos was subdued +in 1463, (Phranza, l. iii. c. 27,) that island must have been +full of the fugitives of Constantinople, who delighted to repeat, +perhaps to adorn, the tale of their misery.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LXVIII: Reign Of Mahomet The Second, +Extinction Of Eastern Empire. -- Part IV.</em></strong></p> + +<p>While they expected the descent of the tardy angel, the doors +were broken with axes; and as the Turks encountered no +resistance, their bloodless hands were employed in selecting and +securing the multitude of their prisoners. Youth, beauty, and the +appearance of wealth, attracted their choice; and the right of +property was decided among themselves by a prior seizure, by +personal strength, and by the authority of command. In the space +of an hour, the male captives were bound with cords, the females +with their veils and girdles. The senators were linked with their +slaves; the prelates, with the porters of the church; and young +men of the plebeian class, with noble maids, whose faces had been +invisible to the sun and their nearest kindred. In this common +captivity, the ranks of society were confounded; the ties of +nature were cut asunder; and the inexorable soldier was careless +of the father's groans, the tears of the mother, and the +lamentations of the children. The loudest in their wailings were +the nuns, who were torn from the altar with naked bosoms, +outstretched hands, and dishevelled hair; and we should piously +believe that few could be tempted to prefer the vigils of the +harem to those of the monastery. Of these unfortunate Greeks, of +these domestic animals, whole strings were rudely driven through +the streets; and as the conquerors were eager to return for more +prey, their trembling pace was quickened with menaces and blows. +At the same hour, a similar rapine was exercised in all the +churches and monasteries, in all the palaces and habitations, of +the capital; nor could any place, however sacred or sequestered, +protect the persons or the property of the Greeks. Above sixty +thousand of this devoted people were transported from the city to +the camp and fleet; exchanged or sold according to the caprice or +interest of their masters, and dispersed in remote servitude +through the provinces of the Ottoman empire. Among these we may +notice some remarkable characters. The historian Phranza, first +chamberlain and principal secretary, was involved with his family +in the common lot. After suffering four months the hardships of +slavery, he recovered his freedom: in the ensuing winter he +ventured to Adrianople, and ransomed his wife from the +<strong><em>mir bashi</em></strong>, or master of the horse; but +his two children, in the flower of youth and beauty, had been +seized for the use of Mahomet himself. The daughter of Phranza +died in the seraglio, perhaps a virgin: his son, in the fifteenth +year of his age, preferred death to infamy, and was stabbed by +the hand of the royal lover. ^66 A deed thus inhuman cannot +surely be expiated by the taste and liberality with which he +released a Grecian matron and her two daughters, on receiving a +Latin doe From ode from Philelphus, who had chosen a wife in that +noble family. ^67 The pride or cruelty of Mahomet would have been +most sensibly gratified by the capture of a Roman legate; but the +dexterity of Cardinal Isidore eluded the search, and he escaped +from Galata in a plebeian habit. ^68 The chain and entrance of +the outward harbor was still occupied by the Italian ships of +merchandise and war. They had signalized their valor in the +siege: they embraced the moment of retreat, while the Turkish +mariners were dissipated in the pillage of the city. When they +hoisted sail, the beach was covered with a suppliant and +lamentable crowd; but the means of transportation were scanty: +the Venetians and Genoese selected their countrymen; and, +notwithstanding the fairest promises of the sultan, the +inhabitants of Galata evacuated their houses, and embarked with +their most precious effects.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 66: See Phranza, l. iii. c. 20, 21. His expressions +are positive: Ameras suâ manû jugulavit . . . . +volebat enim eo turpiter et nefarie abuti. Me miserum et +infelicem! Yet he could only learn from report the bloody or +impure scenes that were acted in the dark recesses of the +seraglio.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 67: See Tiraboschi (tom. vi. P. i. p. 290) and +Lancelot, (Mém. de l'Académie des Inscriptions, +tom. x. p. 718.) I should be curious to learn how he could praise +the public enemy, whom he so often reviles as the most corrupt +and inhuman of tyrants.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 68: The commentaries of Pius II. suppose that he +craftily placed his cardinal's hat on the head of a corpse which +was cut off and exposed in triumph, while the legate himself was +bought and delivered as a captive of no value. The great Belgic +Chronicle adorns his escape with new adventures, which he +suppressed (says Spondanus, A.D. 1453, No. 15) in his own +letters, lest he should lose the merit and reward of suffering +for Christ. *</p> + +<p>Note: * He was sold as a slave in Galata, according to Von +Hammer, p. 175. See the somewhat vague and declamatory letter of +Cardinal Isidore, in the appendix to Clarke's Travels, vol. ii. +p. 653. -- M.]</p> + +<p>In the fall and the sack of great cities, an historian is +condemned to repeat the tale of uniform calamity: the same +effects must be produced by the same passions; and when those +passions may be indulged without control, small, alas! is the +difference between civilized and savage man. Amidst the vague +exclamations of bigotry and hatred, the Turks are not accused of +a wanton or immoderate effusion of Christian blood: but according +to their maxims, (the maxims of antiquity,) the lives of the +vanquished were forfeited; and the legitimate reward of the +conqueror was derived from the service, the sale, or the ransom, +of his captives of both sexes. ^69 The wealth of Constantinople +had been granted by the sultan to his victorious troops; and the +rapine of an hour is more productive than the industry of years. +But as no regular division was attempted of the spoil, the +respective shares were not determined by merit; and the rewards +of valor were stolen away by the followers of the camp, who had +declined the toil and danger of the battle. The narrative of +their depredations could not afford either amusement or +instruction: the total amount, in the last poverty of the empire, +has been valued at four millions of ducats; ^70 and of this sum a +small part was the property of the Venetians, the Genoese, the +Florentines, and the merchants of Ancona. Of these foreigners, +the stock was improved in quick and perpetual circulation: but +the riches of the Greeks were displayed in the idle ostentation +of palaces and wardrobes, or deeply buried in treasures of ingots +and old coin, lest it should be demanded at their hands for the +defence of their country. The profanation and plunder of the +monasteries and churches excited the most tragic complaints. The +dome of St. Sophia itself, the earthly heaven, the second +firmament, the vehicle of the cherubim, the throne of the glory +of God, ^71 was despoiled of the oblation of ages; and the gold +and silver, the pearls and jewels, the vases and sacerdotal +ornaments, were most wickedly converted to the service of +mankind. After the divine images had been stripped of all that +could be valuable to a profane eye, the canvas, or the wood, was +torn, or broken, or burnt, or trod under foot, or applied, in the +stables or the kitchen, to the vilest uses. The example of +sacrilege was imitated, however, from the Latin conquerors of +Constantinople; and the treatment which Christ, the Virgin, and +the saints, had sustained from the guilty Catholic, might be +inflicted by the zealous Mussulman on the monuments of idolatry. +Perhaps, instead of joining the public clamor, a philosopher will +observe, that in the decline of the arts the workmanship could +not be more valuable than the work, and that a fresh supply of +visions and miracles would speedily be renewed by the craft of +the priests and the credulity of the people. He will more +seriously deplore the loss of the Byzantine libraries, which were +destroyed or scattered in the general confusion: one hundred and +twenty thousand manuscripts are said to have disappeared; ^72 ten +volumes might be purchased for a single ducat; and the same +ignominious price, too high perhaps for a shelf of theology, +included the whole works of Aristotle and Homer, the noblest +productions of the science and literature of ancient Greece. We +may reflect with pleasure that an inestimable portion of our +classic treasures was safely deposited in Italy; and that the +mechanics of a German town had invented an art which derides the +havoc of time and barbarism.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 69: Busbequius expatiates with pleasure and applause +on the rights of war, and the use of slavery, among the ancients +and the Turks, (de Legat. Turcicâ, epist. iii. p. +161.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 70: This sum is specified in a marginal note of +Leunclavius, (Chalcondyles, l. viii. p. 211,) but in the +distribution to Venice, Genoa, Florence, and Ancona, of 50, 20, +and 15,000 ducats, I suspect that a figure has been dropped. Even +with the restitution, the foreign property would scarcely exceed +one fourth.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 71: See the enthusiastic praises and lamentations of +Phranza, (l. iii. c. 17.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 72: See Ducas, (c. 43,) and an epistle, July 15th, +1453, from Laurus Quirinus to Pope Nicholas V., (Hody de +Græcis, p. 192, from a MS. in the Cotton library.)]</p> + +<p>From the first hour ^73 of the memorable twenty-ninth of May, +disorder and rapine prevailed in Constantinople, till the eighth +hour of the same day; when the sultan himself passed in triumph +through the gate of St. Romanus. He was attended by his viziers, +bashaws, and guards, each of whom (says a Byzantine historian) +was robust as Hercules, dexterous as Apollo, and equal in battle +to any ten of the race of ordinary mortals. The conqueror ^74 +gazed with satisfaction and wonder on the strange, though +splendid, appearance of the domes and palaces, so dissimilar from +the style of Oriental architecture. In the hippodrome, or +<strong><em>atmeidan</em></strong>, his eye was attracted by the +twisted column of the three serpents; and, as a trial of his +strength, he shattered with his iron mace or battle-axe the under +jaw of one of these monsters, ^75 which in the eyes of the Turks +were the idols or talismans of the city. ^* At the principal door +of St. Sophia, he alighted from his horse, and entered the dome; +and such was his jealous regard for that monument of his glory, +that on observing a zealous Mussulman in the act of breaking the +marble pavement, he admonished him with his cimeter, that, if the +spoil and captives were granted to the soldiers, the public and +private buildings had been reserved for the prince. By his +command the metropolis of the Eastern church was transformed into +a mosque: the rich and portable instruments of superstition had +been removed; the crosses were thrown down; and the walls, which +were covered with images and mosaics, were washed and purified, +and restored to a state of naked simplicity. On the same day, or +on the ensuing Friday, the <strong><em>muezin</em></strong>, or +crier, ascended the most lofty turret, and proclaimed the +<strong><em>ezan</em></strong>, or public invitation in the name +of God and his prophet; the imam preached; and Mahomet and Second +performed the <strong><em>namaz</em></strong> of prayer and +thanksgiving on the great altar, where the Christian mysteries +had so lately been celebrated before the last of the +Cæsars. ^76 From St. Sophia he proceeded to the august, but +desolate mansion of a hundred successors of the great +Constantine, but which in a few hours had been stripped of the +pomp of royalty. A melancholy reflection on the vicissitudes of +human greatness forced itself on his mind; and he repeated an +elegant distich of Persian poetry: "The spider has wove his web +in the Imperial palace; and the owl hath sung her watch-song on +the towers of Afrasiab." ^77</p> + +<p>[Footnote 73: The Julian Calendar, which reckons the days and +hours from midnight, was used at Constantinople. But Ducas seems +to understand the natural hours from sunrise.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 74: See the Turkish Annals, p. 329, and the Pandects +of Leunclavius, p. 448.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 75: I have had occasion (vol. ii. p. 100) to mention +this curious relic of Grecian antiquity.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Von Hammer passes over this circumstance, which +is treated by Dr. Clarke (Travels, vol. ii. p. 58, 4to. edit,) as +a fiction of Thevenot. Chishull states that the monument was +broken by some attendants of the Polish ambassador. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 76: We are obliged to Cantemir (p. 102) for the +Turkish account of the conversion of St. Sophia, so bitterly +deplored by Phranza and Ducas. It is amusing enough to observe, +in what opposite lights the same object appears to a Mussulman +and a Christian eye.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 77: This distich, which Cantemir gives in the +original, derives new beauties from the application. It was thus +that Scipio repeated, in the sack of Carthage, the famous +prophecy of Homer. The same generous feeling carried the mind of +the conqueror to the past or the future.]</p> + +<p>Yet his mind was not satisfied, nor did the victory seem +complete, till he was informed of the fate of Constantine; +whether he had escaped, or been made prisoner, or had fallen in +the battle. Two Janizaries claimed the honor and reward of his +death: the body, under a heap of slain, was discovered by the +golden eagles embroidered on his shoes; the Greeks acknowledged, +with tears, the head of their late emperor; and, after exposing +the bloody trophy, ^78 Mahomet bestowed on his rival the honors +of a decent funeral. After his decease, Lucas Notaras, great +duke, ^79 and first minister of the empire, was the most +important prisoner. When he offered his person and his treasures +at the foot of the throne, "And why," said the indignant sultan, +"did you not employ these treasures in the defence of your prince +and country?" -- "They were yours," answered the slave; "God had +reserved them for your hands." -- "If he reserved them for me," +replied the despot, "how have you presumed to withhold them so +long by a fruitless and fatal resistance?" The great duke alleged +the obstinacy of the strangers, and some secret encouragement +from the Turkish vizier; and from this perilous interview he was +at length dismissed with the assurance of pardon and protection. +Mahomet condescended to visit his wife, a venerable princess +oppressed with sickness and grief; and his consolation for her +misfortunes was in the most tender strain of humanity and filial +reverence. A similar clemency was extended to the principal +officers of state, of whom several were ransomed at his expense; +and during some days he declared himself the friend and father of +the vanquished people. But the scene was soon changed; and before +his departure, the hippodrome streamed with the blood of his +noblest captives. His perfidious cruelty is execrated by the +Christians: they adorn with the colors of heroic martyrdom the +execution of the great duke and his two sons; and his death is +ascribed to the generous refusal of delivering his children to +the tyrant's lust. ^* Yet a Byzantine historian has dropped an +unguarded word of conspiracy, deliverance, and Italian succor: +such treason may be glorious; but the rebel who bravely ventures, +has justly forfeited his life; nor should we blame a conqueror +for destroying the enemies whom he can no longer trust. On the +eighteenth of June the victorious sultan returned to Adrianople; +and smiled at the base and hollow embassies of the Christian +princes, who viewed their approaching ruin in the fall of the +Eastern empire.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 78: I cannot believe with Ducas (see Spondanus, A.D. +1453, No. 13) that Mahomet sent round Persia, Arabia, &c., +the head of the Greek emperor: he would surely content himself +with a trophy less inhuman.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 79: Phranza was the personal enemy of the great +duke; nor could time, or death, or his own retreat to a +monastery, extort a feeling of sympathy or forgiveness. Ducas is +inclined to praise and pity the martyr; Chalcondyles is neuter, +but we are indebted to him for the hint of the Greek +conspiracy.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Von Hammer relates this undoubtingly, apparently +on good authority, p. 559. -- M.]</p> + +<p>Constantinople had been left naked and desolate, without a +prince or a people. But she could not be despoiled of the +incomparable situation which marks her for the metropolis of a +great empire; and the genius of the place will ever triumph over +the accidents of time and fortune. Boursa and Adrianople, the +ancient seats of the Ottomans, sunk into provincial towns; and +Mahomet the Second established his own residence, and that of his +successors, on the same commanding spot which had been chosen by +Constantine. ^80 The fortifications of Galata, which might afford +a shelter to the Latins, were prudently destroyed; but the damage +of the Turkish cannon was soon repaired; and before the month of +August, great quantities of lime had been burnt for the +restoration of the walls of the capital. As the entire property +of the soil and buildings, whether public or private, or profane +or sacred, was now transferred to the conqueror, he first +separated a space of eight furlongs from the point of the +triangle for the establishment of his seraglio or palace. It is +here, in the bosom of luxury, that the <strong><em>Grand +Signor</em></strong> (as he has been emphatically named by the +Italians) appears to reign over Europe and Asia; but his person +on the shores of the Bosphorus may not always be secure from the +insults of a hostile navy. In the new character of a mosque, the +cathedral of St. Sophia was endowed with an ample revenue, +crowned with lofty minarets, and surrounded with groves and +fountains, for the devotion and refreshment of the Moslems. The +same model was imitated in the <strong><em>jami</em></strong>, or +royal mosques; and the first of these was built, by Mahomet +himself, on the ruins of the church of the holy apostles, and the +tombs of the Greek emperors. On the third day after the conquest, +the grave of Abu Ayub, or Job, who had fallen in the first siege +of the Arabs, was revealed in a vision; and it is before the +sepulchre of the martyr that the new sultans are girded with the +sword of empire. ^81 Constantinople no longer appertains to the +Roman historian; nor shall I enumerate the civil and religious +edifices that were profaned or erected by its Turkish masters: +the population was speedily renewed; and before the end of +September, five thousand families of Anatolia and Romania had +obeyed the royal mandate, which enjoined them, under pain of +death, to occupy their new habitations in the capital. The throne +of Mahomet was guarded by the numbers and fidelity of his Moslem +subjects: but his rational policy aspired to collect the remnant +of the Greeks; and they returned in crowds, as soon as they were +assured of their lives, their liberties, and the free exercise of +their religion. In the election and investiture of a patriarch, +the ceremonial of the Byzantine court was revived and imitated. +With a mixture of satisfaction and horror, they beheld the sultan +on his throne; who delivered into the hands of Gennadius the +crosier or pastoral staff, the symbol of his ecclesiastical +office; who conducted the patriarch to the gate of the seraglio, +presented him with a horse richly caparisoned, and directed the +viziers and bashaws to lead him to the palace which had been +allotted for his residence. ^82 The churches of Constantinople +were shared between the two religions: their limits were marked; +and, till it was infringed by Selim, the grandson of Mahomet, the +Greeks ^83 enjoyed above sixty years the benefit of this equal +partition. Encouraged by the ministers of the divan, who wished +to elude the fanaticism of the sultan, the Christian advocates +presumed to allege that this division had been an act, not of +generosity, but of justice; not a concession, but a compact; and +that if one half of the city had been taken by storm, the other +moiety had surrendered on the faith of a sacred capitulation. The +original grant had indeed been consumed by fire: but the loss was +supplied by the testimony of three aged Janizaries who remembered +the transaction; and their venal oaths are of more weight in the +opinion of Cantemir, than the positive and unanimous consent of +the history of the times. ^84</p> + +<p>[Footnote 80: For the restitution of Constantinople and the +Turkish foundations, see Cantemir, (p. 102--109,) Ducas, (c. 42,) +with Thevenot, Tournefort, and the rest of our modern travellers. +From a gigantic picture of the greatness, population, &c., of +Constantinople and the Ottoman empire, (Abrégé de +l'Histoire Ottomane, tom. i. p. 16--21,) we may learn, that in +the year 1586 the Moslems were less numerous in the capital than +the Christians, or even the Jews.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 81: The <strong><em>Turbé</em></strong>, or +sepulchral monument of Abu Ayub, is described and engraved in the +Tableau Générale de l'Empire Ottoman, (Paris 1787, +in large folio,) a work of less use, perhaps, than magnificence, +(tom. i. p. 305, 306.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 82: Phranza (l. iii. c. 19) relates the ceremony, +which has possibly been adorned in the Greek reports to each +other, and to the Latins. The fact is confirmed by Emanuel +Malaxus, who wrote, in vulgar Greek, the History of the +Patriarchs after the taking of Constantinople, inserted in the +Turco-Græcia of Crusius, (l. v. p. 106--184.) But the most +patient reader will not believe that Mahomet adopted the Catholic +form, "Sancta Trinitas quæ mihi donavit imperium te in +patriarcham novæ Romæ deligit."]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 83: From the Turco-Græcia of Crusius, &c. +Spondanus (A.D. 1453, No. 21, 1458, No. 16) describes the slavery +and domestic quarrels of the Greek church. The patriarch who +succeeded Gennadius threw himself in despair into a well.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 84: Cantemir (p. 101--105) insists on the unanimous +consent of the Turkish historians, ancient as well as modern, and +argues, that they would not have violated the truth to diminish +their national glory, since it is esteemed more honorable to take +a city by force than by composition. But, 1. I doubt this +consent, since he quotes no particular historian, and the Turkish +Annals of Leunclavius affirm, without exception, that Mahomet +took Constantinople <strong><em>per vim</em></strong>, (p. 329.) +2 The same argument may be turned in favor of the Greeks of the +times, who would not have forgotten this honorable and salutary +treaty. Voltaire, as usual, prefers the Turks to the +Christians.]</p> + +<p>The remaining fragments of the Greek kingdom in Europe and +Asia I shall abandon to the Turkish arms; but the final +extinction of the two last dynasties ^85 which have reigned in +Constantinople should terminate the decline and fall of the Roman +empire in the East. The despots of the Morea, Demetrius and +Thomas, ^86 the two surviving brothers of the name of +Palæologus, were astonished by the death of the emperor +Constantine, and the ruin of the monarchy. Hopeless of defence, +they prepared, with the noble Greeks who adhered to their +fortune, to seek a refuge in Italy, beyond the reach of the +Ottoman thunder. Their first apprehensions were dispelled by the +victorious sultan, who contented himself with a tribute of twelve +thousand ducats; and while his ambition explored the continent +and the islands, in search of prey, he indulged the Morea in a +respite of seven years. But this respite was a period of grief, +discord, and misery. The <strong><em>hexamilion</em></strong>, +the rampart of the Isthmus, so often raised and so often +subverted, could not long be defended by three hundred Italian +archers: the keys of Corinth were seized by the Turks: they +returned from their summer excursions with a train of captives +and spoil; and the complaints of the injured Greeks were heard +with indifference and disdain. The Albanians, a vagrant tribe of +shepherds and robbers, filled the peninsula with rapine and +murder: the two despots implored the dangerous and humiliating +aid of a neighboring bashaw; and when he had quelled the revolt, +his lessons inculcated the rule of their future conduct. Neither +the ties of blood, nor the oaths which they repeatedly pledged in +the communion and before the altar, nor the stronger pressure of +necessity, could reconcile or suspend their domestic quarrels. +They ravaged each other's patrimony with fire and sword: the alms +and succors of the West were consumed in civil hostility; and +their power was only exerted in savage and arbitrary executions. +The distress and revenge of the weaker rival invoked their +supreme lord; and, in the season of maturity and revenge, Mahomet +declared himself the friend of Demetrius, and marched into the +Morea with an irresistible force. When he had taken possession of +Sparta, "You are too weak," said the sultan, "to control this +turbulent province: I will take your daughter to my bed; and you +shall pass the remainder of your life in security and honor." +Demetrius sighed and obeyed; surrendered his daughter and his +castles; followed to Adrianople his sovereign and his son; and +received for his own maintenance, and that of his followers, a +city in Thrace and the adjacent isles of Imbros, Lemnos, and +Samothrace. He was joined the next year by a companion ^* of +misfortune, the last of the Comnenian race, who, after the taking +of Constantinople by the Latins, had founded a new empire on the +coast of the Black Sea. ^87 In the progress of his Anatolian +conquest, Mahomet invested with a fleet and army the capital of +David, who presumed to style himself emperor of Trebizond; ^88 +and the negotiation was comprised in a short and peremptory +question, "Will you secure your life and treasures by resigning +your kingdom? or had you rather forfeit your kingdom, your +treasures, and your life?" The feeble Comnenus was subdued by his +own fears, ^! and the example of a Mussulman neighbor, the prince +of Sinope, ^89 who, on a similar summons, had yielded a fortified +city, with four hundred cannon and ten or twelve thousand +soldiers. The capitulation of Trebizond was faithfully performed: +^* and the emperor, with his family, was transported to a castle +in Romania; but on a slight suspicion of corresponding with the +Persian king, David, and the whole Comnenian race, were +sacrificed to the jealousy or avarice of the conqueror. ^!! Nor +could the name of father long protect the unfortunate Demetrius +from exile and confiscation; his abject submission moved the pity +and contempt of the sultan; his followers were transplanted to +Constantinople; and his poverty was alleviated by a pension of +fifty thousand aspers, till a monastic habit and a tardy death +released Palæologus from an earthly master. It is not easy +to pronounce whether the servitude of Demetrius, or the exile of +his brother Thomas, ^90 be the most inglorious. On the conquest +of the Morea, the despot escaped to Corfu, and from thence to +Italy, with some naked adherents: his name, his sufferings, and +the head of the apostle St. Andrew, entitled him to the +hospitality of the Vatican; and his misery was prolonged by a +pension of six thousand ducats from the pope and cardinals. His +two sons, Andrew and Manuel, were educated in Italy; but the +eldest, contemptible to his enemies and burdensome to his +friends, was degraded by the baseness of his life and marriage. A +title was his sole inheritance; and that inheritance he +successively sold to the kings of France and Arragon. ^91 During +his transient prosperity, Charles the Eighth was ambitious of +joining the empire of the East with the kingdom of Naples: in a +public festival, he assumed the appellation and the purple of +<strong><em>Augustus</em></strong>: the Greeks rejoiced and the +Ottoman already trembled, at the approach of the French chivalry. +^92 Manuel Palæologus, the second son, was tempted to +revisit his native country: his return might be grateful, and +could not be dangerous, to the Porte: he was maintained at +Constantinople in safety and ease; and an honorable train of +Christians and Moslems attended him to the grave. If there be +some animals of so generous a nature that they refuse to +propagate in a domestic state, the last of the Imperial race must +be ascribed to an inferior kind: he accepted from the sultan's +liberality two beautiful females; and his surviving son was lost +in the habit and religion of a Turkish slave.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 85: For the genealogy and fall of the Comneni of +Trebizond, see Ducange, (Fam. Byzant. p. 195;) for the last +Palæologi, the same accurate antiquarian, (p. 244, 247, +248.) The Palæologi of Montferrat were not extinct till the +next century; but they had forgotten their Greek origin and +kindred.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 86: In the worthless story of the disputes and +misfortunes of the two brothers, Phranza (l. iii. c. 21--30) is +too partial on the side of Thomas Ducas (c. 44, 45) is too brief, +and Chalcondyles (l. viii. ix. x.) too diffuse and +digressive.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Kalo-Johannes, the predecessor of David his +brother, the last emperor of Trebizond, had attempted to organize +a confederacy against Mahomet it comprehended Hassan Bei, sultan +of Mesopotamia, the Christian princes of Georgia and Iberia, the +emir of Sinope, and the sultan of Caramania. The negotiations +were interrupted by his sudden death, A.D. 1458. Fallmerayer, p. +257--260. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 87: See the loss or conquest of Trebizond in +Chalcondyles, (l. ix. p. 263--266,) Ducas, (c. 45,) Phranza, (l. +iii. c. 27,) and Cantemir, (p. 107.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 88: Though Tournefort (tom. iii. lettre xvii. p. +179) speaks of Trebizond as mal peuplée, Peysonnel, the +latest and most accurate observer, can find 100,000 inhabitants, +(Commerce de la Mer Noire, tom. ii. p. 72, and for the province, +p. 53--90.) Its prosperity and trade are perpetually disturbed by +the factious quarrels of two <strong><em>odas</em></strong> of +Janizaries, in one which 30,000 Lazi are commonly enrolled, +(Mémoires de Tott, tom. iii. p. 16, 17.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !: According to the Georgian account of these +transactions, (translated by M. Brosset, additions to Le Beau, +vol. xxi. p. 325,) the emperor of Trebizond humbly entreated the +sultan to have the goodness to marry one of his daughters. -- +M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 89: Ismael Beg, prince of Sinope or Sinople, was +possessed (chiefly from his copper mines) of a revenue of 200,000 +ducats, (Chalcond. l. ix. p. 258, 259.) Peysonnel (Commerce de la +Mer Noire, tom. ii. p. 100) ascribes to the modern city 60,000 +inhabitants. This account seems enormous; yet it is by trading +with people that we become acquainted with their wealth and +numbers.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: M. Boissonade has published, in the fifth volume +of his Anecdota Græca (p. 387, 401.) a very interesting +letter from George Amiroutzes, protovestiarius of Trebizond, to +Bessarion, describing the surrender of Trebizond, and the fate of +its chief inhabitants. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !!: See in Von Hammer, vol. ii. p. 60, the striking +account of the mother, the empress Helena the Cantacuzene, who, +in defiance of the edict, like that of Creon in the Greek +tragedy, dug the grave for her murdered children with her own +hand, and sank into it herself. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 90: Spondanus (from Gobelin Comment. Pii II. l. v.) +relates the arrival and reception of the despot Thomas at Rome,. +(A.D. 1461 No. NO. 3.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 91: By an act dated A.D. 1494, Sept. 6, and lately +transmitted from the archives of the Capitol to the royal library +of Paris, the despot Andrew Palæologus, reserving the +Morea, and stipulating some private advantages, conveys to +Charles VIII., king of France, the empires of Constantinople and +Trebizond, (Spondanus, A.D. 1495, No. 2.) M. D. Foncemagne +(Mém. de l'Académie des Inscriptions, tom. xvii. p. +539--578) has bestowed a dissertation on his national title, of +which he had obtained a copy from Rome.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 92: See Philippe de Comines, (l. vii. c. 14,) who +reckons with pleasure the number of Greeks who were prepared to +rise, 60 miles of an easy navigation, eighteen days' journey from +Valona to Constantinople, &c. On this occasion the Turkish +empire was saved by the policy of Venice.]</p> + +<p>The importance of Constantinople was felt and magnified in its +loss: the pontificate of Nicholas the Fifth, however peaceful and +prosperous, was dishonored by the fall of the Eastern empire; and +the grief and terror of the Latins revived, or seemed to revive, +the old enthusiasm of the crusades. In one of the most distant +countries of the West, Philip duke of Burgundy entertained, at +Lisle in Flanders, an assembly of his nobles; and the pompous +pageants of the feast were skilfully adapted to their fancy and +feelings. ^93 In the midst of the banquet a gigantic Saracen +entered the hall, leading a fictitious elephant with a castle on +his back: a matron in a mourning robe, the symbol of religion, +was seen to issue from the castle: she deplored her oppression, +and accused the slowness of her champions: the principal herald +of the golden fleece advanced, bearing on his fist a live +pheasant, which, according to the rites of chivalry, he presented +to the duke. At this extraordinary summons, Philip, a wise and +aged prince, engaged his person and powers in the holy war +against the Turks: his example was imitated by the barons and +knights of the assembly: they swore to God, the Virgin, the +ladies and the <strong><em>pheasant</em></strong>; and their +particular vows were not less extravagant than the general +sanction of their oath. But the performance was made to depend on +some future and foreign contingency; and during twelve years, +till the last hour of his life, the duke of Burgundy might be +scrupulously, and perhaps sincerely, on the eve of his departure. +Had every breast glowed with the same ardor; had the union of the +Christians corresponded with their bravery; had every country, +from Sweden ^94 to Naples, supplied a just proportion of cavalry +and infantry, of men and money, it is indeed probable that +Constantinople would have been delivered, and that the Turks +might have been chased beyond the Hellespont or the Euphrates. +But the secretary of the emperor, who composed every epistle, and +attended every meeting, Æneas Sylvius, ^95 a statesman and +orator, describes from his own experience the repugnant state and +spirit of Christendom. "It is a body," says he, "without a head; +a republic without laws or magistrates. The pope and the emperor +may shine as lofty titles, as splendid images; but +<strong><em>they</em></strong> are unable to command, and none +are willing to obey: every state has a separate prince, and every +prince has a separate interest. What eloquence could unite so +many discordant and hostile powers under the same standard? Could +they be assembled in arms, who would dare to assume the office of +general? What order could be maintained? -- what military +discipline? Who would undertake to feed such an enormous +multitude? Who would understand their various languages, or +direct their stranger and incompatible manners? What mortal could +reconcile the English with the French, Genoa with Arragon the +Germans with the natives of Hungary and Bohemia? If a small +number enlisted in the holy war, they must be overthrown by the +infidels; if many, by their own weight and confusion." Yet the +same Æneas, when he was raised to the papal throne, under +the name of Pius the Second, devoted his life to the prosecution +of the Turkish war. In the council of Mantua he excited some +sparks of a false or feeble enthusiasm; but when the pontiff +appeared at Ancona, to embark in person with the troops, +engagements vanished in excuses; a precise day was adjourned to +an indefinite term; and his effective army consisted of some +German pilgrims, whom he was obliged to disband with indulgences +and arms. Regardless of futurity, his successors and the powers +of Italy were involved in the schemes of present and domestic +ambition; and the distance or proximity of each object determined +in their eyes its apparent magnitude. A more enlarged view of +their interest would have taught them to maintain a defensive and +naval war against the common enemy; and the support of Scanderbeg +and his brave Albanians might have prevented the subsequent +invasion of the kingdom of Naples. The siege and sack of Otranto +by the Turks diffused a general consternation; and Pope Sixtus +was preparing to fly beyond the Alps, when the storm was +instantly dispelled by the death of Mahomet the Second, in the +fifty-first year of his age. ^96 His lofty genius aspired to the +conquest of Italy: he was possessed of a strong city and a +capacious harbor; and the same reign might have been decorated +with the trophies of the New and the Ancient Rome. ^97</p> + +<p>[Footnote 93: See the original feast in Olivier de la Marche, +(Mémoires, P. i. c. 29, 30,) with the abstract and +observations of M. de Ste. Palaye, (Mémoires sur la +Chevalerie, tom. i. P. iii. p. 182--185.) The peacock and the +pheasant were distinguished as royal birds.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 94: It was found by an actual enumeration, that +Sweden, Gothland, and Finland, contained 1,800,000 fighting men, +and consequently were far more populous than at present.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 95: In the year 1454, Spondanus has given, from +Æneas Sylvius, a view of the state of Europe, enriched with +his own observations. That valuable annalist, and the Italian +Muratori, will continue the series of events from the year 1453 +to 1481, the end of Mahomet's life, and of this chapter.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 96: Besides the two annalists, the reader may +consult Giannone (Istoria Civile, tom. iii. p. 449--455) for the +Turkish invasion of the kingdom of Naples. For the reign and +conquests of Mahomet II., I have occasionally used the Memorie +Istoriche de Monarchi Ottomanni di Giovanni Sagredo, (Venezia, +1677, in 4to.) In peace and war, the Turks have ever engaged the +attention of the republic of Venice. All her despatches and +archives were open to a procurator of St. Mark, and Sagredo is +not contemptible either in sense or style. Yet he too bitterly +hates the infidels: he is ignorant of their language and manners; +and his narrative, which allows only 70 pages to Mahomet II., (p. +69--140,) becomes more copious and authentic as he approaches the +years 1640 and 1644, the term of the historic labors of John +Sagredo.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 97: As I am now taking an everlasting farewell of +the Greek empire, I shall briefly mention the great collection of +Byzantine writers whose names and testimonies have been +successively repeated in this work. The Greeks presses of Aldus +and the Italians were confined to the classics of a better age; +and the first rude editions of Procopius, Agathias, Cedrenus, +Zonaras, &c., were published by the learned diligence of the +Germans. The whole Byzantine series (xxxvi. volumes in folio) has +gradually issued (A.D. 1648, &c.) from the royal press of the +Louvre, with some collateral aid from Rome and Leipsic; but the +Venetian edition, (A.D. 1729,) though cheaper and more copious, +is not less inferior in correctness than in magnificence to that +of Paris. The merits of the French editors are various; but the +value of Anna Comnena, Cinnamus, Villehardouin, &c., is +enhanced by the historical notes of Charles de Fresne du Cange. +His supplemental works, the Greek Glossary, the Constantinopolis +Christiana, the Familiæ Byzantinæ, diffuse a steady +light over the darkness of the Lower Empire. *</p> + +<p>Note: * The new edition of the Byzantines, projected by +Niebuhr, and continued under the patronage of the Prussian +government, is the most convenient in size, and contains some +authors (Leo Diaconus, Johannes Lydus, Corippus, the new fragment +of Dexippus, Eunapius, &c., discovered by Mai) which could +not be comprised in the former collections; but the names of such +editors as Bekker, the Dindorfs, &c., raised hopes of +something more than the mere republication of the text, and the +notes of former editors. Little, I regret to say, has been added +of annotation, and in some cases, the old incorrect versions have +been retained. -- M.]</p> + +<p><strong>Chapter LXIX: State Of Rome From The Twelfth +Century.</strong> <strong><em>Part I.</em></strong></p> + +<p>State Of Rome From The Twelfth Century. -- Temporal Dominion +Of The Popes. -- Seditions Of The City. -- Political Heresy Of +Arnold Of Brescia. -- Restoration Of The Republic. -- The +Senators. -- Pride Of The Romans. -- Their Wars. -- They Are +Deprived Of The Election And Presence Of The Popes, Who Retire To +Avignon. -- The Jubilee. -- Noble Families Of Rome. -- Feud Of +The Colonna And Ursini.</p> + +<p>In the first ages of the decline and fall of the Roman empire, +our eye is invariably fixed on the royal city, which had given +laws to the fairest portion of the globe. We contemplate her +fortunes, at first with admiration, at length with pity, always +with attention, and when that attention is diverted from the +capital to the provinces, they are considered as so many branches +which have been successively severed from the Imperial trunk. The +foundation of a second Rome, on the shores of the Bosphorus, has +compelled the historian to follow the successors of Constantine; +and our curiosity has been tempted to visit the most remote +countries of Europe and Asia, to explore the causes and the +authors of the long decay of the Byzantine monarchy. By the +conquest of Justinian, we have been recalled to the banks of the +Tyber, to the deliverance of the ancient metropolis; but that +deliverance was a change, or perhaps an aggravation, of +servitude. Rome had been already stripped of her trophies, her +gods, and her Cæsars; nor was the Gothic dominion more +inglorious and oppressive than the tyranny of the Greeks. In the +eighth century of the Christian æra, a religious quarrel, +the worship of images, provoked the Romans to assert their +independence: their bishop became the temporal, as well as the +spiritual, father of a free people; and of the Western empire, +which was restored by Charlemagne, the title and image still +decorate the singular constitution of modern Germany. The name of +Rome must yet command our involuntary respect: the climate +(whatsoever may be its influence) was no longer the same: ^1 the +purity of blood had been contaminated through a thousand +channels; but the venerable aspect of her ruins, and the memory +of past greatness, rekindled a spark of the national character. +The darkness of the middle ages exhibits some scenes not unworthy +of our notice. Nor shall I dismiss the present work till I have +reviewed the state and revolutions of the Roman City, which +acquiesced under the absolute dominion of the popes, about the +same time that Constantinople was enslaved by the Turkish +arms.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 1: The abbé Dubos, who, with less genius than +his successor Montesquieu, has asserted and magnified the +influence of climate, objects to himself the degeneracy of the +Romans and Batavians. To the first of these examples he replies, +1. That the change is less real than apparent, and that the +modern Romans prudently conceal in themselves the virtues of +their ancestors. 2. That the air, the soil, and the climate of +Rome have suffered a great and visible alteration, +(Réflexions sur la Poësie et sur la Peinture, part +ii. sect. 16.) *</p> + +<p>Note: * This question is discussed at considerable length in +Dr. Arnold's History of Rome, ch. xxiii. See likewise Bunsen's +Dissertation on the Aria Cattiva Roms Beschreibung, pp. 82, 108. +-- M.]</p> + +<p>In the beginning of the twelfth century, ^2 the æra of +the first crusade, Rome was revered by the Latins, as the +metropolis of the world, as the throne of the pope and the +emperor, who, from the eternal city, derived their title, their +honors, and the right or exercise of temporal dominion. After so +long an interruption, it may not be useless to repeat that the +successors of Charlemagne and the Othos were chosen beyond the +Rhine in a national diet; but that these princes were content +with the humble names of kings of Germany and Italy, till they +had passed the Alps and the Apennine, to seek their Imperial +crown on the banks of the Tyber. ^3 At some distance from the +city, their approach was saluted by a long procession of the +clergy and people with palms and crosses; and the terrific +emblems of wolves and lions, of dragons and eagles, that floated +in the military banners, represented the departed legions and +cohorts of the republic. The royal path to maintain the liberties +of Rome was thrice reiterated, at the bridge, the gate, and on +the stairs of the Vatican; and the distribution of a customary +donative feebly imitated the magnificence of the first +Cæsars. In the church of St. Peter, the coronation was +performed by his successor: the voice of God was confounded with +that of the people; and the public consent was declared in the +acclamations of "Long life and victory to our lord the pope! long +life and victory to our lord the emperor! long life and victory +to the Roman and Teutonic armies!" ^4 The names of Cæsar +and Augustus, the laws of Constantine and Justinian, the example +of Charlemagne and Otho, established the supreme dominion of the +emperors: their title and image was engraved on the papal coins; +^5 and their jurisdiction was marked by the sword of justice, +which they delivered to the præfect of the city. But every +Roman prejudice was awakened by the name, the language, and the +manners, of a Barbarian lord. The Cæsars of Saxony or +Franconia were the chiefs of a feudal aristocracy; nor could they +exercise the discipline of civil and military power, which alone +secures the obedience of a distant people, impatient of +servitude, though perhaps incapable of freedom. Once, and once +only, in his life, each emperor, with an army of Teutonic +vassals, descended from the Alps. I have described the peaceful +order of his entry and coronation; but that order was commonly +disturbed by the clamor and sedition of the Romans, who +encountered their sovereign as a foreign invader: his departure +was always speedy, and often shameful; and, in the absence of a +long reign, his authority was insulted, and his name was +forgotten. The progress of independence in Germany and Italy +undermined the foundations of the Imperial sovereignty, and the +triumph of the popes was the deliverance of Rome.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 2: The reader has been so long absent from Rome, +that I would advise him to recollect or review the xlixth chapter +of this History.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 3: The coronation of the German emperors at Rome, +more especially in the xith century, is best represented from the +original monuments by Muratori (Antiquitat. Italiæ Medii +Ævi, tom. i. dissertat. ii. p. 99, &c.) and Cenni, +(Monument. Domin. Pontif. tom. ii. diss. vi. p. 261,) the latter +of whom I only know from the copious extract of Schmidt, (Hist. +des Allemands tom. iii. p. 255--266.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 4: Exercitui Romano et Teutonico! The latter was +both seen and felt; but the former was no more than magni nominis +umbra.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 5: Muratori has given the series of the papal coins, +(Antiquitat. tom. ii. diss. xxvii. p. 548--554.) He finds only +two more early than the year 800: fifty are still extant from Leo +III. to Leo IX., with the addition of the reigning emperor none +remain of Gregory VII. or Urban II.; but in those of Paschal II. +he seems to have renounced this badge of dependence.]</p> + +<p>Of her two sovereigns, the emperor had precariously reigned by +the right of conquest; but the authority of the pope was founded +on the soft, though more solid, basis of opinion and habit. The +removal of a foreign influence restored and endeared the shepherd +to his flock. Instead of the arbitrary or venal nomination of a +German court, the vicar of Christ was freely chosen by the +college of cardinals, most of whom were either natives or +inhabitants of the city. The applause of the magistrates and +people confirmed his election, and the ecclesiastical power that +was obeyed in Sweden and Britain had been ultimately derived from +the suffrage of the Romans. The same suffrage gave a prince, as +well as a pontiff, to the capital. It was universally believed, +that Constantine had invested the popes with the temporal +dominion of Rome; and the boldest civilians, the most profane +skeptics, were satisfied with disputing the right of the emperor +and the validity of his gift. The truth of the fact, the +authenticity of his donation, was deeply rooted in the ignorance +and tradition of four centuries; and the fabulous origin was lost +in the real and permanent effects. The name of +<strong><em>Dominus</em></strong> or Lord was inscribed on the +coin of the bishops: their title was acknowledged by acclamations +and oaths of allegiance, and with the free, or reluctant, consent +of the German Cæsars, they had long exercised a supreme or +subordinate jurisdiction over the city and patrimony of St. +Peter. The reign of the popes, which gratified the prejudices, +was not incompatible with the liberties, of Rome; and a more +critical inquiry would have revealed a still nobler source of +their power; the gratitude of a nation, whom they had rescued +from the heresy and oppression of the Greek tyrant. In an age of +superstition, it should seem that the union of the royal and +sacerdotal characters would mutually fortify each other; and that +the keys of Paradise would be the surest pledge of earthly +obedience. The sanctity of the office might indeed be degraded by +the personal vices of the man. But the scandals of the tenth +century were obliterated by the austere and more dangerous +virtues of Gregory the Seventh and his successors; and in the +ambitious contests which they maintained for the rights of the +church, their sufferings or their success must equally tend to +increase the popular veneration. They sometimes wandered in +poverty and exile, the victims of persecution; and the apostolic +zeal with which they offered themselves to martyrdom must engage +the favor and sympathy of every Catholic breast. And sometimes, +thundering from the Vatican, they created, judged, and deposed +the kings of the world; nor could the proudest Roman be disgraced +by submitting to a priest, whose feet were kissed, and whose +stirrup was held, by the successors of Charlemagne. ^6 Even the +temporal interest of the city should have protected in peace and +honor the residence of the popes; from whence a vain and lazy +people derived the greatest part of their subsistence and riches. +The fixed revenue of the popes was probably impaired; many of the +old patrimonial estates, both in Italy and the provinces, had +been invaded by sacrilegious hands; nor could the loss be +compensated by the claim, rather than the possession, of the more +ample gifts of Pepin and his descendants. But the Vatican and +Capitol were nourished by the incessant and increasing swarms of +pilgrims and suppliants: the pale of Christianity was enlarged, +and the pope and cardinals were overwhelmed by the judgment of +ecclesiastical and secular causes. A new jurisprudence had +established in the Latin church the right and practice of +appeals; ^7 and from the North and West the bishops and abbots +were invited or summoned to solicit, to complain, to accuse, or +to justify, before the threshold of the apostles. A rare prodigy +is once recorded, that two horses, belonging to the archbishops +of Mentz and Cologne, repassed the Alps, yet laden with gold and +silver: ^8 but it was soon understood, that the success, both of +the pilgrims and clients, depended much less on the justice of +their cause than on the value of their offering. The wealth and +piety of these strangers were ostentatiously displayed; and their +expenses, sacred or profane, circulated in various channels for +the emolument of the Romans.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 6: See Ducange, Gloss. mediæ et infimæ +Latinitat. tom. vi. p. 364, 365, Staffa. This homage was paid by +kings to archbishops, and by vassals to their lords, (Schmidt, +tom. iii. p. 262;) and it was the nicest policy of Rome to +confound the marks of filial and of feudal subjection.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 7: The appeals from all the churches to the Roman +pontiff are deplored by the zeal of St. Bernard (de +Consideratione, l. iii. tom. ii. p. 431--442, edit. Mabillon, +Venet. 1750) and the judgment of Fleury, (Discours sur l'Hist. +Ecclésiastique, iv. et vii.) But the saint, who believed +in the false decretals condemns only the abuse of these appeals; +the more enlightened historian investigates the origin, and +rejects the principles, of this new jurisprudence.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 8: Germanici . . . . summarii non levatis sarcinis +onusti nihilominus repatriant inviti. Nova res! quando hactenus +aurum Roma refudit? Et nunc Romanorum consilio id usurpatum non +credimus, (Bernard, de Consideratione, l. iii. c. 3, p. 437.) The +first words of the passage are obscure, and probably +corrupt.]</p> + +<p>Such powerful motives should have firmly attached the +voluntary and pious obedience of the Roman people to their +spiritual and temporal father. But the operation of prejudice and +interest is often disturbed by the sallies of ungovernable +passion. The Indian who fells the tree, that he may gather the +fruit, ^9 and the Arab who plunders the caravans of commerce, are +actuated by the same impulse of savage nature, which overlooks +the future in the present, and relinquishes for momentary rapine +the long and secure possession of the most important blessings. +And it was thus, that the shrine of St. Peter was profaned by the +thoughtless Romans; who pillaged the offerings, and wounded the +pilgrims, without computing the number and value of similar +visits, which they prevented by their inhospitable sacrilege. +Even the influence of superstition is fluctuating and precarious; +and the slave, whose reason is subdued, will often be delivered +by his avarice or pride. A credulous devotion for the fables and +oracles of the priesthood most powerfully acts on the mind of a +Barbarian; yet such a mind is the least capable of preferring +imagination to sense, of sacrificing to a distant motive, to an +invisible, perhaps an ideal, object, the appetites and interests +of the present world. In the vigor of health and youth, his +practice will perpetually contradict his belief; till the +pressure of age, or sickness, or calamity, awakens his terrors, +and compels him to satisfy the double debt of piety and remorse. +I have already observed, that the modern times of religious +indifference are the most favorable to the peace and security of +the clergy. Under the reign of superstition, they had much to +hope from the ignorance, and much to fear from the violence, of +mankind. The wealth, whose constant increase must have rendered +them the sole proprietors of the earth, was alternately bestowed +by the repentant father and plundered by the rapacious son: their +persons were adored or violated; and the same idol, by the hands +of the same votaries, was placed on the altar, or trampled in the +dust. In the feudal system of Europe, arms were the title of +distinction and the measure of allegiance; and amidst their +tumult, the still voice of law and reason was seldom heard or +obeyed. The turbulent Romans disdained the yoke, and insulted the +impotence, of their bishop: ^10 nor would his education or +character allow him to exercise, with decency or effect, the +power of the sword. The motives of his election and the frailties +of his life were exposed to their familiar observation; and +proximity must diminish the reverence which his name and his +decrees impressed on a barbarous world. This difference has not +escaped the notice of our philosophic historian: "Though the name +and authority of the court of Rome were so terrible in the remote +countries of Europe, which were sunk in profound ignorance, and +were entirely unacquainted with its character and conduct, the +pope was so little revered at home, that his inveterate enemies +surrounded the gates of Rome itself, and even controlled his +government in that city; and the ambassadors, who, from a distant +extremity of Europe, carried to him the humble, or rather abject, +submissions of the greatest potentate of the age, found the +utmost difficulty to make their way to him, and to throw +themselves at his feet." ^11</p> + +<p>[Footnote 9: Quand les sauvages de la Louisiane veulent avoir +du fruit, ils coupent l'arbre au pied et cueillent le fruit. +Voila le gouvernement despotique, (Esprit des Loix, l. v. c. 13;) +and passion and ignorance are always despotic.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 10: In a free conversation with his countryman +Adrian IV., John of Salisbury accuses the avarice of the pope and +clergy: Provinciarum diripiunt spolia, ac si thesauros Crsi +studeant reparare. Sed recte cum eis agit Altissimus, quoniam et +ipsi aliis et sæpe vilissimis hominibus dati sunt in +direptionem, (de Nugis Curialium, l. vi. c. 24, p. 387.) In the +next page, he blames the rashness and infidelity of the Romans, +whom their bishops vainly strove to conciliate by gifts, instead +of virtues. It is pity that this miscellaneous writer has not +given us less morality and erudition, and more pictures of +himself and the times.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 11: Hume's History of England, vol. i. p. 419. The +same writer has given us, from Fitz-Stephen, a singular act of +cruelty perpetrated on the clergy by Geoffrey, the father of +Henry II. "When he was master of Normandy, the chapter of Seez +presumed, without his consent, to proceed to the election of a +bishop: upon which he ordered all of them, with the bishop elect, +to be castrated, and made all their testicles be brought him in a +platter." Of the pain and danger they might justly complain; yet +since they had vowed chastity he deprived them of a superfluous +treasure.]</p> + +<p>Since the primitive times, the wealth of the popes was exposed +to envy, their powers to opposition, and their persons to +violence. But the long hostility of the mitre and the crown +increased the numbers, and inflamed the passions, of their +enemies. The deadly factions of the Guelphs and Ghibelines, so +fatal to Italy, could never be embraced with truth or constancy +by the Romans, the subjects and adversaries both of the bishop +and emperor; but their support was solicited by both parties, and +they alternately displayed in their banners the keys of St. Peter +and the German eagle. Gregory the Seventh, who may be adored or +detested as the founder of the papal monarchy, was driven from +Rome, and died in exile at Salerno. Six-and-thirty of his +successors, ^12 till their retreat to Avignon, maintained an +unequal contest with the Romans: their age and dignity were often +violated; and the churches, in the solemn rites of religion, were +polluted with sedition and murder. A repetition ^13 of such +capricious brutality, without connection or design, would be +tedious and disgusting; and I shall content myself with some +events of the twelfth century, which represent the state of the +popes and the city. On Holy Thursday, while Paschal officiated +before the altar, he was interrupted by the clamors of the +multitude, who imperiously demanded the confirmation of a +favorite magistrate. His silence exasperated their fury; his +pious refusal to mingle the affairs of earth and heaven was +encountered with menaces, and oaths, that he should be the cause +and the witness of the public ruin. During the festival of +Easter, while the bishop and the clergy, barefooted and in +procession, visited the tombs of the martyrs, they were twice +assaulted, at the bridge of St. Angelo, and before the Capitol, +with volleys of stones and darts. The houses of his adherents +were levelled with the ground: Paschal escaped with difficulty +and danger; he levied an army in the patrimony of St. Peter; and +his last days were embittered by suffering and inflicting the +calamities of civil war. The scenes that followed the election of +his successor Gelasius the Second were still more scandalous to +the church and city. Cencio Frangipani, ^14 a potent and factious +baron, burst into the assembly furious and in arms: the cardinals +were stripped, beaten, and trampled under foot; and he seized, +without pity or respect, the vicar of Christ by the throat. +Gelasius was dragged by the hair along the ground, buffeted with +blows, wounded with spurs, and bound with an iron chain in the +house of his brutal tyrant. An insurrection of the people +delivered their bishop: the rival families opposed the violence +of the Frangipani; and Cencio, who sued for pardon, repented of +the failure, rather than of the guilt, of his enterprise. Not +many days had elapsed, when the pope was again assaulted at the +altar. While his friends and enemies were engaged in a bloody +contest, he escaped in his sacerdotal garments. In this unworthy +flight, which excited the compassion of the Roman matrons, his +attendants were scattered or unhorsed; and, in the fields behind +the church of St. Peter, his successor was found alone and half +dead with fear and fatigue. Shaking the dust from his feet, the +<strong><em>apostle</em></strong> withdrew from a city in which +his dignity was insulted and his person was endangered; and the +vanity of sacerdotal ambition is revealed in the involuntary +confession, that one emperor was more tolerable than twenty. ^15 +These examples might suffice; but I cannot forget the sufferings +of two pontiffs of the same age, the second and third of the name +of Lucius. The former, as he ascended in battle array to assault +the Capitol, was struck on the temple by a stone, and expired in +a few days. The latter was severely wounded in the person of his +servants. In a civil commotion, several of his priests had been +made prisoners; and the inhuman Romans, reserving one as a guide +for his brethren, put out their eyes, crowned them with ludicrous +mitres, mounted them on asses with their faces towards the tail, +and extorted an oath, that, in this wretched condition, they +should offer themselves as a lesson to the head of the church. +Hope or fear, lassitude or remorse, the characters of the men, +and the circumstances of the times, might sometimes obtain an +interval of peace and obedience; and the pope was restored with +joyful acclamations to the Lateran or Vatican, from whence he had +been driven with threats and violence. But the root of mischief +was deep and perennial; and a momentary calm was preceded and +followed by such tempests as had almost sunk the bark of St. +Peter. Rome continually presented the aspect of war and discord: +the churches and palaces were fortified and assaulted by the +factions and families; and, after giving peace to Europe, +Calistus the Second alone had resolution and power to prohibit +the use of private arms in the metropolis. Among the nations who +revered the apostolic throne, the tumults of Rome provoked a +general indignation; and in a letter to his disciple Eugenius the +Third, St. Bernard, with the sharpness of his wit and zeal, has +stigmatized the vices of the rebellious people. ^16 "Who is +ignorant," says the monk of Clairvaux, "of the vanity and +arrogance of the Romans? a nation nursed in sedition, +untractable, and scorning to obey, unless they are too feeble to +resist. When they promise to serve, they aspire to reign; if they +swear allegiance, they watch the opportunity of revolt; yet they +vent their discontent in loud clamors, if your doors, or your +counsels, are shut against them. Dexterous in mischief, they have +never learned the science of doing good. Odious to earth and +heaven, impious to God, seditious among themselves, jealous of +their neighbors, inhuman to strangers, they love no one, by no +one are they beloved; and while they wish to inspire fear, they +live in base and continual apprehension. They will not submit; +they know not how to govern faithless to their superiors, +intolerable to their equals, ungrateful to their benefactors, and +alike impudent in their demands and their refusals. Lofty in +promise, poor in execution; adulation and calumny, perfidy and +treason, are the familiar arts of their policy." Surely this dark +portrait is not colored by the pencil of Christian charity; ^17 +yet the features, however harsh or ugly, express a lively +resemblance of the Roman of the twelfth century. ^18</p> + +<p>[Footnote 12: From Leo IX. and Gregory VII. an authentic and +contemporary series of the lives of the popes by the cardinal of +Arragon, Pandulphus Pisanus, Bernard Guido, &c., is inserted +in the Italian Historians of Muratori, (tom. iii. P. i. p. +277--685,) and has been always before my eyes.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 13: The dates of years in the contents may +throughout his this chapter be understood as tacit references to +the Annals of Muratori, my ordinary and excellent guide. He uses, +and indeed quotes, with the freedom of a master, his great +collection of the Italian Historians, in xxviii. volumes; and as +that treasure is in my library, I have thought it an amusement, +if not a duty, to consult the originals.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 14: I cannot refrain from transcribing the +high-colored words of Pandulphus Pisanus, (p. 384.) Hoc audiens +inimicus pacis atque turbator jam fatus Centius Frajapane, more +draconis immanissimi sibilans, et ab imis pectoribus trahens +longa suspiria, accinctus retro gladio sine more cucurrit, valvas +ac fores confregit. Ecclesiam furibundus introiit, inde custode +remoto papam per gulam accepit, distraxit pugnis calcibusque +percussit, et tanquam brutum animal intra limen ecclesiæ +acriter calcaribus cruentavit; et latro tantum dominum per +capillos et brachia, Jesû bono interim dormiente, detraxit, +ad domum usque deduxit, inibi catenavit et inclusit.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 15: Ego coram Deo et Ecclesiâ dico, si unquam +possibile esset, mallem unum imperatorem quam tot dominos, (Vit. +Gelas. II. p. 398.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 16: Quid tam notum seculis quam protervia et +cervicositas Romanorum? Gens insueta paci, tumultui assueta, gens +immitis et intractabilis usque adhuc, subdi nescia, nisi cum non +valet resistere, (de Considerat. l. iv. c. 2, p. 441.) The saint +takes breath, and then begins again: Hi, invisi terræ et +clo, utrique injecere manus, &c., (p. 443.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 17: As a Roman citizen, Petrarch takes leave to +observe, that Bernard, though a saint, was a man; that he might +be provoked by resentment, and possibly repent of his hasty +passion, &c. (Mémoires sur la Vie de Pétrarque, +tom. i. p. 330.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 18: Baronius, in his index to the xiith volume of +his Annals, has found a fair and easy excuse. He makes two heads, +of Romani <strong><em>Catholici</em></strong> and +<strong><em>Schismatici</em></strong>: to the former he applies +all the good, to the latter all the evil, that is told of the +city.]</p> + +<p>The Jews had rejected the Christ when he appeared among them +in a plebeian character; and the Romans might plead their +ignorance of his vicar when he assumed the pomp and pride of a +temporal sovereign. In the busy age of the crusades, some sparks +of curiosity and reason were rekindled in the Western world: the +heresy of Bulgaria, the Paulician sect, was successfully +transplanted into the soil of Italy and France; the Gnostic +visions were mingled with the simplicity of the gospel; and the +enemies of the clergy reconciled their passions with their +conscience, the desire of freedom with the profession of piety. +^19 The trumpet of Roman liberty was first sounded by Arnold of +Brescia, ^20 whose promotion in the church was confined to the +lowest rank, and who wore the monastic habit rather as a garb of +poverty than as a uniform of obedience. His adversaries could not +deny the wit and eloquence which they severely felt; they confess +with reluctance the specious purity of his morals; and his errors +were recommended to the public by a mixture of important and +beneficial truths. In his theological studies, he had been the +disciple of the famous and unfortunate Abelard, ^21 who was +likewise involved in the suspicion of heresy: but the lover of +Eloisa was of a soft and flexible nature; and his ecclesiastic +judges were edified and disarmed by the humility of his +repentance. From this master, Arnold most probably imbibed some +metaphysical definitions of the Trinity, repugnant to the taste +of the times: his ideas of baptism and the eucharist are loosely +censured; but a political heresy was the source of his fame and +misfortunes. He presumed to quote the declaration of Christ, that +his kingdom is not of this world: he boldly maintained, that the +sword and the sceptre were intrusted to the civil magistrate; +that temporal honors and possessions were lawfully vested in +secular persons; that the abbots, the bishops, and the pope +himself, must renounce either their state or their salvation; and +that after the loss of their revenues, the voluntary tithes and +oblations of the faithful would suffice, not indeed for luxury +and avarice, but for a frugal life in the exercise of spiritual +labors. During a short time, the preacher was revered as a +patriot; and the discontent, or revolt, of Brescia against her +bishop, was the first fruits of his dangerous lessons. But the +favor of the people is less permanent than the resentment of the +priest; and after the heresy of Arnold had been condemned by +Innocent the Second, ^22 in the general council of the Lateran, +the magistrates themselves were urged by prejudice and fear to +execute the sentence of the church. Italy could no longer afford +a refuge; and the disciple of Abelard escaped beyond the Alps, +till he found a safe and hospitable shelter in Zurich, now the +first of the Swiss cantons. From a Roman station, ^23 a royal +villa, a chapter of noble virgins, Zurich had gradually increased +to a free and flourishing city; where the appeals of the Milanese +were sometimes tried by the Imperial commissaries. ^24 In an age +less ripe for reformation, the precursor of Zuinglius was heard +with applause: a brave and simple people imbibed, and long +retained, the color of his opinions; and his art, or merit, +seduced the bishop of Constance, and even the pope's legate, who +forgot, for his sake, the interest of their master and their +order. Their tardy zeal was quickened by the fierce exhortations +of St. Bernard; ^25 and the enemy of the church was driven by +persecution to the desperate measures of erecting his standard in +Rome itself, in the face of the successor of St. Peter.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 19: The heresies of the xiith century may be found +in Mosheim, (Institut. Hist. Ecclés. p. 419--427,) who +entertains a favorable opinion of Arnold of Brescia. In the vth +volume I have described the sect of the Paulicians, and followed +their migration from Armenia to Thrace and Bulgaria, Italy and +France.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 20: The original pictures of Arnold of Brescia are +drawn by Otho, bishop of Frisingen, (Chron. l. vii. c. 31, de +Gestis Frederici I. l. i. c. 27, l. ii. c. 21,) and in the iiid +book of the Ligurinus, a poem of Gunthur, who flourished A.D. +1200, in the monastery of Paris near Basil, (Fabric. Bibliot. +Latin. Med. et Infimæ Ætatis, tom. iii. p. 174, 175.) +The long passage that relates to Arnold is produced by Guilliman, +(de Rebus Helveticis, l. iii. c. 5, p. 108.) *</p> + +<p>Note: * Compare Franke, Arnold von Brescia und seine Zeit. +Zurich, 1828. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 21: The wicked wit of Bayle was amused in composing, +with much levity and learning, the articles of Abelard, Foulkes, +Heloise, in his Dictionnaire Critique. The dispute of Abelard and +St. Bernard, of scholastic and positive divinity, is well +understood by Mosheim, (Institut. Hist. Ecclés. p. +412--415.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 22:</p> + +<p>---- Damnatus ab illo</p> + +<p>Præsule, qui numeros vetitum contingere nostros</p> + +<p>Nomen ad <strong><em>innocuâ</em></strong> ducit +laudabile vitâ.</p> + +<p>We may applaud the dexterity and correctness of Ligurinus, who +turns the unpoetical name of Innocent II. into a compliment.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 23: A Roman inscription of Statio Turicensis has +been found at Zurich, (D'Anville, Notice de l'ancienne Gaul, p. +642--644;) but it is without sufficient warrant, that the city +and canton have usurped, and even monopolized, the names of +Tigurum and Pagus Tigurinus.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 24: Guilliman (de Rebus Helveticis, l. iii. c. 5, p. +106) recapitulates the donation (A.D. 833) of the emperor Lewis +the Pious to his daughter the abbess Hildegardis. Curtim nostram +Turegum in ducatû Alamanniæ in pago Durgaugensi, with +villages, woods, meadows, waters, slaves, churches, &c.; a +noble gift. Charles the Bald gave the jus monetæ, the city +was walled under Otho I., and the line of the bishop of +Frisingen,</p> + +<p>Nobile Turegum multarum copia rerum,</p> + +<p>is repeated with pleasure by the antiquaries of Zurich.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 25: Bernard, Epistol. cxcv. tom. i. p. 187--190. +Amidst his invectives he drops a precious acknowledgment, qui, +utinam quam sanæ esset doctrinæ quam districtæ +est vitæ. He owns that Arnold would be a valuable +acquisition for the church.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LXIX: State Of Rome From The Twelfth +Century. -- Part II.</em></strong></p> + +<p>Yet the courage of Arnold was not devoid of discretion: he was +protected, and had perhaps been invited, by the nobles and +people; and in the service of freedom, his eloquence thundered +over the seven hills. Blending in the same discourse the texts of +Livy and St. Paul, uniting the motives of gospel, and of classic, +enthusiasm, he admonished the Romans, how strangely their +patience and the vices of the clergy had degenerated from the +primitive times of the church and the city. He exhorted them to +assert the inalienable rights of men and Christians; to restore +the laws and magistrates of the republic; to respect the +<strong><em>name</em></strong> of the emperor; but to confine +their shepherd to the spiritual government of his flock. ^26 Nor +could his spiritual government escape the censure and control of +the reformer; and the inferior clergy were taught by his lessons +to resist the cardinals, who had usurped a despotic command over +the twenty-eight regions or parishes of Rome. ^27 The revolution +was not accomplished without rapine and violence, the diffusion +of blood and the demolition of houses: the victorious faction was +enriched with the spoils of the clergy and the adverse nobles. +Arnold of Brescia enjoyed, or deplored, the effects of his +mission: his reign continued above ten years, while two popes, +Innocent the Second and Anastasius the Fourth, either trembled in +the Vatican, or wandered as exiles in the adjacent cities. They +were succeeded by a more vigorous and fortunate pontiff. Adrian +the Fourth, ^28 the only Englishman who has ascended the throne +of St. Peter; and whose merit emerged from the mean condition of +a monk, and almost a beggar, in the monastery of St. Albans. On +the first provocation, of a cardinal killed or wounded in the +streets, he cast an interdict on the guilty people; and from +Christmas to Easter, Rome was deprived of the real or imaginary +comforts of religious worship. The Romans had despised their +temporal prince: they submitted with grief and terror to the +censures of their spiritual father: their guilt was expiated by +penance, and the banishment of the seditious preacher was the +price of their absolution. But the revenge of Adrian was yet +unsatisfied, and the approaching coronation of Frederic +Barbarossa was fatal to the bold reformer, who had offended, +though not in an equal degree, the heads of the church and state. +In their interview at Viterbo, the pope represented to the +emperor the furious, ungovernable spirit of the Romans; the +insults, the injuries, the fears, to which his person and his +clergy were continually exposed; and the pernicious tendency of +the heresy of Arnold, which must subvert the principles of civil, +as well as ecclesiastical, subordination. Frederic was convinced +by these arguments, or tempted by the desire of the Imperial +crown: in the balance of ambition, the innocence or life of an +individual is of small account; and their common enemy was +sacrificed to a moment of political concord. After his retreat +from Rome, Arnold had been protected by the viscounts of +Campania, from whom he was extorted by the power of Cæsar: +the præfect of the city pronounced his sentence: the martyr +of freedom was burned alive in the presence of a careless and +ungrateful people; and his ashes were cast into the Tyber, lest +the heretics should collect and worship the relics of their +master. ^29 The clergy triumphed in his death: with his ashes, +his sect was dispersed; his memory still lived in the minds of +the Romans. From his school they had probably derived a new +article of faith, that the metropolis of the Catholic church is +exempt from the penalties of excommunication and interdict. Their +bishops might argue, that the supreme jurisdiction, which they +exercised over kings and nations, more especially embraced the +city and diocese of the prince of the apostles. But they preached +to the winds, and the same principle that weakened the effect, +must temper the abuse, of the thunders of the Vatican.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 26: He advised the Romans,</p> + +<p>Consiliis armisque sua moderamina summa</p> + +<p>Arbitrio tractare suo: nil juris in hâc re</p> + +<p>Pontifici summo, modicum concedere regi</p> + +<p>Suadebat populo. Sic læsâ stultus +utrâque</p> + +<p>Majestate, reum geminæ se fecerat aulæ.</p> + +<p>Nor is the poetry of Gunther different from the prose of +Otho.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 27: See Baronius (A.D. 1148, No. 38, 39) from the +Vatican MSS. He loudly condemns Arnold (A.D. 1141, No. 3) as the +father of the political heretics, whose influence then hurt him +in France.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 28: The English reader may consult the Biographia +Britannica, Adrian IV.; but our own writers have added nothing to +the fame or merits of their countrymen.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 29: Besides the historian and poet already quoted, +the last adventures of Arnold are related by the biographer of +Adrian IV. (Muratori. Script. Rerum Ital. tom. iii. P. i. p. 441, +442.)]</p> + +<p>The love of ancient freedom has encouraged a belief that as +early as the tenth century, in their first struggles against the +Saxon Othos, the commonwealth was vindicated and restored by the +senate and people of Rome; that two consuls were annually elected +among the nobles, and that ten or twelve plebeian magistrates +revived the name and office of the tribunes of the commons. ^30 +But this venerable structure disappears before the light of +criticism. In the darkness of the middle ages, the appellations +of senators, of consuls, of the sons of consuls, may sometimes be +discovered. ^31 They were bestowed by the emperors, or assumed by +the most powerful citizens, to denote their rank, their honors, +^32 and perhaps the claim of a pure and patrician descent: but +they float on the surface, without a series or a substance, the +titles of men, not the orders of government; ^33 and it is only +from the year of Christ one thousand one hundred and forty-four +that the establishment of the senate is dated, as a glorious +æra, in the acts of the city. A new constitution was +hastily framed by private ambition or popular enthusiasm; nor +could Rome, in the twelfth century, produce an antiquary to +explain, or a legislator to restore, the harmony and proportions +of the ancient model. The assembly of a free, of an armed, +people, will ever speak in loud and weighty acclamations. But the +regular distribution of the thirty-five tribes, the nice balance +of the wealth and numbers of the centuries, the debates of the +adverse orators, and the slow operations of votes and ballots, +could not easily be adapted by a blind multitude, ignorant of the +arts, and insensible of the benefits, of legal government. It was +proposed by Arnold to revive and discriminate the equestrian +order; but what could be the motive or measure of such +distinction? ^34 The pecuniary qualification of the knights must +have been reduced to the poverty of the times: those times no +longer required their civil functions of judges and farmers of +the revenue; and their primitive duty, their military service on +horseback, was more nobly supplied by feudal tenures and the +spirit of chivalry. The jurisprudence of the republic was useless +and unknown: the nations and families of Italy who lived under +the Roman and Barbaric laws were insensibly mingled in a common +mass; and some faint tradition, some imperfect fragments, +preserved the memory of the Code and Pandects of Justinian. With +their liberty the Romans might doubtless have restored the +appellation and office of consuls; had they not disdained a title +so promiscuously adopted in the Italian cities, that it has +finally settled on the humble station of the agents of commerce +in a foreign land. But the rights of the tribunes, the formidable +word that arrested the public counsels, suppose or must produce a +legitimate democracy. The old patricians were the subjects, the +modern barons the tyrants, of the state; nor would the enemies of +peace and order, who insulted the vicar of Christ, have long +respected the unarmed sanctity of a plebeian magistrate. ^35</p> + +<p>[Footnote 30: Ducange (Gloss. Latinitatis Mediæ et +Infimæ Ætatis, Decarchones, tom. ii. p. 726) gives me +a quotation from Blondus, (Decad. ii. l. ii.:) Duo consules ex +nobilitate quotannis fiebant, qui ad vetustum consulum exemplar +summærerum præessent. And in Sigonius (de Regno +Italiæ, l. v. Opp. tom. ii. p. 400) I read of the consuls +and tribunes of the xth century. Both Blondus, and even Sigonius, +too freely copied the classic method of supplying from reason or +fancy the deficiency of records.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 31: In the panegyric of Berengarius (Muratori, +Script. Rer. Ital. tom. ii. P. i. p. 408) a Roman is mentioned as +consulis natus in the beginning of the xth century. Muratori +(Dissert. v.) discovers, in the years 952 and 956, Gratianus in +Dei nomine consul et dux, Georgius consul et dux; and in 1015, +Romanus, brother of Gregory VIII., proudly, but vaguely, styles +himself consul et dux et omnium Roma norum senator.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 32: As late as the xth century, the Greek emperors +conferred on the dukes of Venice, Naples, Amalphi, &c., the +title of upatoV or consuls, (see Chron. Sagornini, passim;) and +the successors of Charlemagne would not abdicate any of their +prerogative. But in general the names of +<strong><em>consul</em></strong> and +<strong><em>senator</em></strong>, which may be found among the +French and Germans, signify no more than count and lord, +(<strong><em>Signeur</em></strong>, Ducange Glossar.) The monkish +writers are often ambitious of fine classic words.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 33: The most constitutional form is a diploma of +Otho III., (A. D 998,) consulibus senatûs populique Romani; +but the act is probably spurious. At the coronation of Henry I., +A.D. 1014, the historian Dithmar (apud Muratori, Dissert. xxiii.) +describes him, a senatoribus duodecim vallatum, quorum sex rasi +barbâ, alii prolixâ, mystice incedebant cum baculis. +The senate is mentioned in the panegyric of Berengarius, (p. +406.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 34: In ancient Rome the equestrian order was not +ranked with the senate and people as a third branch of the +republic till the consulship of Cicero, who assumes the merit of +the establishment, (Plin. Hist. Natur. xxxiii. 3. Beaufort, +République Romaine, tom. i. p. 144--155.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 35: The republican plan of Arnold of Brescia is thus +stated by Gunther: --</p> + +<p>Quin etiam titulos urbis renovare vetustos;</p> + +<p>Nomine plebeio secernere nomen equestre,</p> + +<p>Jura tribunorum, sanctum reparare senatum,</p> + +<p>Et senio fessas mutasque reponere leges.</p> + +<p>Lapsa ruinosis, et adhuc pendentia muris</p> + +<p>Reddere primævo Capitolia prisca nitori.</p> + +<p>But of these reformations, some were no more than ideas, +others no more than words.]</p> + +<p>In the revolution of the twelfth century, which gave a new +existence and æra to Rome, we may observe the real and +important events that marked or confirmed her political +independence. I. The Capitoline hill, one of her seven eminences, +^36 is about four hundred yards in length, and two hundred in +breadth. A flight of a hundred steps led to the summit of the +Tarpeian rock; and far steeper was the ascent before the +declivities had been smoothed and the precipices filled by the +ruins of fallen edifices. From the earliest ages, the Capitol had +been used as a temple in peace, a fortress in war: after the loss +of the city, it maintained a siege against the victorious Gauls, +and the sanctuary of the empire was occupied, assaulted, and +burnt, in the civil wars of Vitellius and Vespasian. ^37 The +temples of Jupiter and his kindred deities had crumbled into +dust; their place was supplied by monasteries and houses; and the +solid walls, the long and shelving porticos, were decayed or +ruined by the lapse of time. It was the first act of the Romans, +an act of freedom, to restore the strength, though not the +beauty, of the Capitol; to fortify the seat of their arms and +counsels; and as often as they ascended the hill, the coldest +minds must have glowed with the remembrance of their ancestors. +II. The first Cæsars had been invested with the exclusive +coinage of the gold and silver; to the senate they abandoned the +baser metal of bronze or copper: ^38 the emblems and legends were +inscribed on a more ample field by the genius of flattery; and +the prince was relieved from the care of celebrating his own +virtues. The successors of Diocletian despised even the flattery +of the senate: their royal officers at Rome, and in the +provinces, assumed the sole direction of the mint; and the same +prerogative was inherited by the Gothic kings of Italy, and the +long series of the Greek, the French, and the German dynasties. +After an abdication of eight hundred years, the Roman senate +asserted this honorable and lucrative privilege; which was +tacitly renounced by the popes, from Paschal the Second to the +establishment of their residence beyond the Alps. Some of these +republican coins of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries are +shown in the cabinets of the curious. On one of these, a gold +medal, Christ is depictured holding in his left hand a book with +this inscription: "The vow of the Roman senate and people: Rome +the capital of the world;" on the reverse, St. Peter delivering a +banner to a kneeling senator in his cap and gown, with the name +and arms of his family impressed on a shield. ^39 III. With the +empire, the præfect of the city had declined to a municipal +officer; yet he still exercised in the last appeal the civil and +criminal jurisdiction; and a drawn sword, which he received from +the successors of Otho, was the mode of his investiture and the +emblem of his functions. ^40 The dignity was confined to the +noble families of Rome: the choice of the people was ratified by +the pope; but a triple oath of fidelity must have often +embarrassed the præfect in the conflict of adverse duties. +^41 A servant, in whom they possessed but a third share, was +dismissed by the independent Romans: in his place they elected a +patrician; but this title, which Charlemagne had not disdained, +was too lofty for a citizen or a subject; and, after the first +fervor of rebellion, they consented without reluctance to the +restoration of the præfect. About fifty years after this +event, Innocent the Third, the most ambitious, or at least the +most fortunate, of the Pontiffs, delivered the Romans and himself +from this badge of foreign dominion: he invested the +præfect with a banner instead of a sword, and absolved him +from all dependence of oaths or service to the German emperors. +^42 In his place an ecclesiastic, a present or future cardinal, +was named by the pope to the civil government of Rome; but his +jurisdiction has been reduced to a narrow compass; and in the +days of freedom, the right or exercise was derived from the +senate and people. IV. After the revival of the senate, ^43 the +conscript fathers (if I may use the expression) were invested +with the legislative and executive power; but their views seldom +reached beyond the present day; and that day was most frequently +disturbed by violence and tumult. In its utmost plenitude, the +order or assembly consisted of fifty-six senators, ^44 the most +eminent of whom were distinguished by the title of counsellors: +they were nominated, perhaps annually, by the people; and a +previous choice of their electors, ten persons in each region, or +parish, might afford a basis for a free and permanent +constitution. The popes, who in this tempest submitted rather to +bend than to break, confirmed by treaty the establishment and +privileges of the senate, and expected from time, peace, and +religion, the restoration of their government. The motives of +public and private interest might sometimes draw from the Romans +an occasional and temporary sacrifice of their claims; and they +renewed their oath of allegiance to the successor of St. Peter +and Constantine, the lawful head of the church and the republic. +^45</p> + +<p>[Footnote 36: After many disputes among the antiquaries of +Rome, it seems determined, that the summit of the Capitoline hill +next the river is strictly the Mons Tarpeius, the Arx; and that +on the other summit, the church and convent of Araceli, the +barefoot friars of St. Francis occupy the temple of Jupiter, +(Nardini, Roma Antica, l. v. c. 11--16. *)</p> + +<p>Note: * The authority of Nardini is now vigorously impugned, +and the question of the Arx and the Temple of Jupiter revived, +with new arguments by Niebuhr and his accomplished follower, M. +Bunsen. Roms Beschreibung, vol. iii. p. 12, et seqq. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 37: Tacit. Hist. iii. 69, 70.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 38: This partition of the noble and baser metals +between the emperor and senate must, however, be adopted, not as +a positive fact, but as the probable opinion of the best +antiquaries, * (see the Science des Medailles of the Père +Joubert, tom. ii. p. 208--211, in the improved and scarce edition +of the Baron de la Bastie.)</p> + +<p>Note: * Dr. Cardwell (Lecture on Ancient Coins, p. 70, et +seq.) assigns convincing reasons in support of this opinion. -- +M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 39: In his xxviith dissertation on the Antiquities +of Italy, (tom. ii. p. 559--569,) Muratori exhibits a series of +the senatorian coins, which bore the obscure names of +<strong><em>Affortiati</em></strong>, +<strong><em>Infortiati</em></strong>, +<strong><em>Provisini</em></strong>, +<strong><em>Paparini</em></strong>. During this period, all the +popes, without excepting Boniface VIII, abstained from the right +of coining, which was resumed by his successor Benedict XI., and +regularly exercised in the court of Avignon.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 40: A German historian, Gerard of Reicherspeg (in +Baluz. Miscell. tom. v. p. 64, apud Schmidt, Hist. des Allemands, +tom. iii. p. 265) thus describes the constitution of Rome in the +xith century: Grandiora urbis et orbis negotia spectant ad +Romanum pontificem itemque ad Romanum Imperatorem, sive illius +vicarium urbis præfectum, qui de suâ dignitate +respicit utrumque, videlicet dominum papam cui facit hominum, et +dominum imperatorem a quo accipit suæ potestatis insigne, +scilicet gladium exertum.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 41: The words of a contemporary writer (Pandulph. +Pisan. in Vit. Paschal. II. p. 357, 358) describe the election +and oath of the præfect in 1118, inconsultis patribus . . . +. loca præfectoria . . . . Laudes præfectoriæ . +. . . comitiorum applausum . . . . juraturum populo in ambonem +sublevant . . . . confirmari eum in urbe præfectum +petunt.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 42: Urbis præfectum ad ligiam fidelitatem +recepit, et per mantum quod illi donavit de +præfecturâ eum publice investivit, qui usque ad id +tempus juramento fidelitatis imperatori fuit obligatus et ab eo +præfecturæ tenuit honorem, (Gesta Innocent. III. in +Muratori, tom. iii. P. i. p. 487.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 43: See Otho Frising. Chron. vii. 31, de Gest. +Frederic. I., l. i. c. 27.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 44: Cur countryman, Roger Hoveden, speaks of the +single senators, of the <strong><em>Capuzzi</em></strong> family, +&c., quorum temporibus melius regebatur Roma quam nunc (A.D. +1194) est temporibus lvi. senatorum, (Ducange, Gloss. tom. vi. p. +191, Senatores.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 45: Muratori (dissert. xlii. tom. iii. p. 785--788) +has published an original treaty: Concordia inter D. nostrum +papam Clementem III. et senatores populi Romani super regalibus +et aliis dignitatibus urbis, &c., anno 44° senatûs. +The senate speaks, and speaks with authority: Reddimus ad +præsens . . . . habebimus . . . . dabitis presbetria . . . +. jurabimus pacem et fidelitatem, &c. A chartula de +Tenementis Tusculani, dated in the 47th year of the same +æra, and confirmed decreto amplissimi ordinis +senatûs, acclamatione P. R. publice Capitolio consistentis. +It is there we find the difference of senatores consiliarii and +simple senators, (Muratori, dissert. xlii. tom. iii. p. +787--789.)]</p> + +<p>The union and vigor of a public council was dissolved in a +lawless city; and the Romans soon adopted a more strong and +simple mode of administration. They condensed the name and +authority of the senate in a single magistrate, or two +colleagues; and as they were changed at the end of a year, or of +six months, the greatness of the trust was compensated by the +shortness of the term. But in this transient reign, the senators +of Rome indulged their avarice and ambition: their justice was +perverted by the interest of their family and faction; and as +they punished only their enemies, they were obeyed only by their +adherents. Anarchy, no longer tempered by the pastoral care of +their bishop, admonished the Romans that they were incapable of +governing themselves; and they sought abroad those blessings +which they were hopeless of finding at home. In the same age, and +from the same motives, most of the Italian republics were +prompted to embrace a measure, which, however strange it may +seem, was adapted to their situation, and productive of the most +salutary effects. ^46 They chose, in some foreign but friendly +city, an impartial magistrate of noble birth and unblemished +character, a soldier and a statesman, recommended by the voice of +fame and his country, to whom they delegated for a time the +supreme administration of peace and war. The compact between the +governor and the governed was sealed with oaths and +subscriptions; and the duration of his power, the measure of his +stipend, the nature of their mutual obligations, were defined +with scrupulous precision. They swore to obey him as their lawful +superior: he pledged his faith to unite the indifference of a +stranger with the zeal of a patriot. At his choice, four or six +knights and civilians, his assessors in arms and justice, +attended the <strong><em>Podesta</em></strong>, ^47 who +maintained at his own expense a decent retinue of servants and +horses: his wife, his son, his brother, who might bias the +affections of the judge, were left behind: during the exercise of +his office he was not permitted to purchase land, to contract an +alliance, or even to accept an invitation in the house of a +citizen; nor could he honorably depart till he had satisfied the +complaints that might be urged against his government.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 46: Muratori (dissert. xlv. tom. iv. p. 64--92) has +fully explained this mode of government; and the +<strong><em>Occulus Pastoralis</em></strong>, which he has given +at the end, is a treatise or sermon on the duties of these +foreign magistrates.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 47: In the Latin writers, at least of the silver +age, the title of <strong><em>Potestas</em></strong> was +transferred from the office to the magistrate: --</p> + +<p>Hujus qui trahitur prætextam sumere mavis;</p> + +<p>An Fidenarum Gabiorumque esse +<strong><em>Potestas</em></strong>.</p> + +<p>Juvenal. Satir. x. 99.11]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LXIX: State Of Rome From The Twelfth +Century. -- Part III.</em></strong></p> + +<p>It was thus, about the middle of the thirteenth century, that +the Romans called from Bologna the senator Brancaleone, ^48 whose +fame and merit have been rescued from oblivion by the pen of an +English historian. A just anxiety for his reputation, a clear +foresight of the difficulties of the task, had engaged him to +refuse the honor of their choice: the statutes of Rome were +suspended, and his office prolonged to the term of three years. +By the guilty and licentious he was accused as cruel; by the +clergy he was suspected as partial; but the friends of peace and +order applauded the firm and upright magistrate by whom those +blessings were restored. No criminals were so powerful as to +brave, so obscure as to elude, the justice of the senator. By his +sentence two nobles of the Annibaldi family were executed on a +gibbet; and he inexorably demolished, in the city and +neighborhood, one hundred and forty towers, the strong shelters +of rapine and mischief. The bishop, as a simple bishop, was +compelled to reside in his diocese; and the standard of +Brancaleone was displayed in the field with terror and effect. +His services were repaid by the ingratitude of a people unworthy +of the happiness which they enjoyed. By the public robbers, whom +he had provoked for their sake, the Romans were excited to depose +and imprison their benefactor; nor would his life have been +spared, if Bologna had not possessed a pledge for his safety. +Before his departure, the prudent senator had required the +exchange of thirty hostages of the noblest families of Rome: on +the news of his danger, and at the prayer of his wife, they were +more strictly guarded; and Bologna, in the cause of honor, +sustained the thunders of a papal interdict. This generous +resistance allowed the Romans to compare the present with the +past; and Brancaleone was conducted from the prison to the +Capitol amidst the acclamations of a repentant people. The +remainder of his government was firm and fortunate; and as soon +as envy was appeased by death, his head, enclosed in a precious +vase, was deposited on a lofty column of marble. ^49</p> + +<p>[Footnote 48: See the life and death of Brancaleone, in the +Historia Major of Matthew Paris, p. 741, 757, 792, 797, 799, 810, +823, 833, 836, 840. The multitude of pilgrims and suitors +connected Rome and St. Albans, and the resentment of the English +clergy prompted them to rejoice when ever the popes were humbled +and oppressed.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 49: Matthew Paris thus ends his account: Caput vero +ipsius Brancaleonis in vase pretioso super marmoream columnam +collocatum, in signum sui valoris et probitatis, quasi reliquias, +superstitiose nimis et pompose sustulerunt. Fuerat enim +superborum potentum et malefactorum urbis malleus et extirpator, +et populi protector et defensor veritatis et justitiæ +imitator et amator, (p. 840.) A biographer of Innocent IV. +(Muratori, Script. tom. iii. P. i. p. 591, 592) draws a less +favorable portrait of this Ghibeline senator.]</p> + +<p>The impotence of reason and virtue recommended in Italy a more +effectual choice: instead of a private citizen, to whom they +yielded a voluntary and precarious obedience, the Romans elected +for their senator some prince of independent power, who could +defend them from their enemies and themselves. Charles of Anjou +and Provence, the most ambitious and warlike monarch of the age, +accepted at the same time the kingdom of Naples from the pope, +and the office of senator from the Roman people. ^50 As he passed +through the city, in his road to victory, he received their oath +of allegiance, lodged in the Lateran palace, and smoothed in a +short visit the harsh features of his despotic character. Yet +even Charles was exposed to the inconstancy of the people, who +saluted with the same acclamations the passage of his rival, the +unfortunate Conradin; and a powerful avenger, who reigned in the +Capitol, alarmed the fears and jealousy of the popes. The +absolute term of his life was superseded by a renewal every third +year; and the enmity of Nicholas the Third obliged the Sicilian +king to abdicate the government of Rome. In his bull, a perpetual +law, the imperious pontiff asserts the truth, validity, and use +of the donation of Constantine, not less essential to the peace +of the city than to the independence of the church; establishes +the annual election of the senator; and formally disqualifies all +emperors, kings, princes, and persons of an eminent and +conspicuous rank. ^51 This prohibitory clause was repealed in his +own behalf by Martin the Fourth, who humbly solicited the +suffrage of the Romans. In the presence, and by the authority, of +the people, two electors conferred, not on the pope, but on the +noble and faithful Martin, the dignity of senator, and the +supreme administration of the republic, ^52 to hold during his +natural life, and to exercise at pleasure by himself or his +deputies. About fifty years afterwards, the same title was +granted to the emperor Lewis of Bavaria; and the liberty of Rome +was acknowledged by her two sovereigns, who accepted a municipal +office in the government of their own metropolis.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 50: The election of Charles of Anjou to the office +of perpetual senator of Rome is mentioned by the historians in +the viiith volume of the Collection of Muratori, by Nicholas de +Jamsilla, (p. 592,) the monk of Padua, (p. 724,) Sabas Malaspina, +(l. ii. c. 9, p. 308,) and Ricordano Malespini, (c. 177, p. +999.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 51: The high-sounding bull of Nicholas III., which +founds his temporal sovereignty on the donation of Constantine, +is still extant; and as it has been inserted by Boniface VIII. in +the <strong><em>Sexte</em></strong> of the Decretals, it must be +received by the Catholics, or at least by the Papists, as a +sacred and perpetual law.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 52: I am indebted to Fleury (Hist. Ecclés. +tom. xviii. p. 306) for an extract of this Roman act, which he +has taken from the Ecclesiastical Annals of Odericus Raynaldus, +A.D. 1281, No. 14, 15.]</p> + +<p>In the first moments of rebellion, when Arnold of Brescia had +inflamed their minds against the church, the Romans artfully +labored to conciliate the favor of the empire, and to recommend +their merit and services in the cause of Cæsar. The style +of their ambassadors to Conrad the Third and Frederic the First +is a mixture of flattery and pride, the tradition and the +ignorance of their own history. ^53 After some complaint of his +silence and neglect, they exhort the former of these princes to +pass the Alps, and assume from their hands the Imperial crown. +"We beseech your majesty not to disdain the humility of your sons +and vassals, not to listen to the accusations of our common +enemies; who calumniate the senate as hostile to your throne, who +sow the seeds of discord, that they may reap the harvest of +destruction. The pope and the <strong><em>Sicilian</em></strong> +are united in an impious league to oppose +<strong><em>our</em></strong> liberty and +<strong><em>your</em></strong> coronation. With the blessing of +God, our zeal and courage has hitherto defeated their attempts. +Of their powerful and factious adherents, more especially the +Frangipani, we have taken by assault the houses and turrets: some +of these are occupied by our troops, and some are levelled with +the ground. The Milvian bridge, which they had broken, is +restored and fortified for your safe passage; and your army may +enter the city without being annoyed from the castle of St. +Angelo. All that we have done, and all that we design, is for +your honor and service, in the loyal hope, that you will speedily +appear in person, to vindicate those rights which have been +invaded by the clergy, to revive the dignity of the empire, and +to surpass the fame and glory of your predecessors. May you fix +your residence in Rome, the capital of the world; give laws to +Italy, and the Teutonic kingdom; and imitate the example of +Constantine and Justinian, ^54 who, by the vigor of the senate +and people, obtained the sceptre of the earth." ^55 But these +splendid and fallacious wishes were not cherished by Conrad the +Franconian, whose eyes were fixed on the Holy Land, and who died +without visiting Rome soon after his return from the Holy +Land.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 53: These letters and speeches are preserved by Otho +bishop of Frisingen, (Fabric. Bibliot. Lat. Med. et Infim. tom. +v. p. 186, 187,) perhaps the noblest of historians: he was son of +Leopold marquis of Austria; his mother, Agnes, was daughter of +the emperor Henry IV., and he was half-brother and uncle to +Conrad III. and Frederic I. He has left, in seven books, a +Chronicle of the Times; in two, the Gesta Frederici I., the last +of which is inserted in the vith volume of Muratori's +historians.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 54: We desire (said the ignorant Romans) to restore +the empire in um statum, quo fuit tempore Constantini et +Justiniani, qui totum orbem vigore senatûs et populi Romani +suis tenuere manibus.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 55: Otho Frising. de Gestis Frederici I. l. i. c. +28, p. 662--664.]</p> + +<p>His nephew and successor, Frederic Barbarossa, was more +ambitious of the Imperial crown; nor had any of the successors of +Otho acquired such absolute sway over the kingdom of Italy. +Surrounded by his ecclesiastical and secular princes, he gave +audience in his camp at Sutri to the ambassadors of Rome, who +thus addressed him in a free and florid oration: "Incline your +ear to the queen of cities; approach with a peaceful and friendly +mind the precincts of Rome, which has cast away the yoke of the +clergy, and is impatient to crown her legitimate emperor. Under +your auspicious influence, may the primitive times be restored. +Assert the prerogatives of the eternal city, and reduce under her +monarchy the insolence of the world. You are not ignorant, that, +in former ages, by the wisdom of the senate, by the valor and +discipline of the equestrian order, she extended her victorious +arms to the East and West, beyond the Alps, and over the islands +of the ocean. By our sins, in the absence of our princes, the +noble institution of the senate has sunk in oblivion; and with +our prudence, our strength has likewise decreased. We have +revived the senate, and the equestrian order: the counsels of the +one, the arms of the other, will be devoted to your person and +the service of the empire. Do you not hear the language of the +Roman matron? You were a guest, I have adopted you as a citizen; +a Transalpine stranger, I have elected you for my sovereign; ^56 +and given you myself, and all that is mine. Your first and most +sacred duty is to swear and subscribe, that you will shed your +blood for the republic; that you will maintain in peace and +justice the laws of the city and the charters of your +predecessors; and that you will reward with five thousand pounds +of silver the faithful senators who shall proclaim your titles in +the Capitol. With the name, assume the character, of Augustus." +The flowers of Latin rhetoric were not yet exhausted; but +Frederic, impatient of their vanity, interrupted the orators in +the high tone of royalty and conquest. "Famous indeed have been +the fortitude and wisdom of the ancient Romans; but your speech +is not seasoned with wisdom, and I could wish that fortitude were +conspicuous in your actions. Like all sublunary things, Rome has +felt the vicissitudes of time and fortune. Your noblest families +were translated to the East, to the royal city of Constantine; +and the remains of your strength and freedom have long since been +exhausted by the Greeks and Franks. Are you desirous of beholding +the ancient glory of Rome, the gravity of the senate, the spirit +of the knights, the discipline of the camp, the valor of the +legions? you will find them in the German republic. It is not +empire, naked and alone, the ornaments and virtues of empire have +likewise migrated beyond the Alps to a more deserving people: ^57 +they will be employed in your defence, but they claim your +obedience. You pretend that myself or my predecessors have been +invited by the Romans: you mistake the word; they were not +invited, they were implored. From its foreign and domestic +tyrants, the city was rescued by Charlemagne and Otho, whose +ashes repose in our country; and their dominion was the price of +your deliverance. Under that dominion your ancestors lived and +died. I claim by the right of inheritance and possession, and who +shall dare to extort you from my hands? Is the hand of the Franks +^58 and Germans enfeebled by age? Am I vanquished? Am I a +captive? Am I not encompassed with the banners of a potent and +invincible army? You impose conditions on your master; you +require oaths: if the conditions are just, an oath is +superfluous; if unjust, it is criminal. Can you doubt my equity? +It is extended to the meanest of my subjects. Will not my sword +be unsheathed in the defence of the Capitol? By that sword the +northern kingdom of Denmark has been restored to the Roman +empire. You prescribe the measure and the objects of my bounty, +which flows in a copious but a voluntary stream. All will be +given to patient merit; all will be denied to rude importunity." +^59 Neither the emperor nor the senate could maintain these lofty +pretensions of dominion and liberty. United with the pope, and +suspicious of the Romans, Frederic continued his march to the +Vatican; his coronation was disturbed by a sally from the +Capitol; and if the numbers and valor of the Germans prevailed in +the bloody conflict, he could not safely encamp in the presence +of a city of which he styled himself the sovereign. About twelve +years afterwards, he besieged Rome, to seat an antipope in the +chair of St. Peter; and twelve Pisan galleys were introduced into +the Tyber: but the senate and people were saved by the arts of +negotiation and the progress of disease; nor did Frederic or his +successors reiterate the hostile attempt. Their laborious reigns +were exercised by the popes, the crusades, and the independence +of Lombardy and Germany: they courted the alliance of the Romans; +and Frederic the Second offered in the Capitol the great +standard, the <strong><em>Caroccio</em></strong> of Milan. ^60 +After the extinction of the house of Swabia, they were banished +beyond the Alps: and their last coronations betrayed the +impotence and poverty of the Teutonic Cæsars. ^61</p> + +<p>[Footnote 56: Hospes eras, civem feci. Advena fuisti ex +Transalpinis partibus principem constitui.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 57: Non cessit nobis nudum imperium, virtute sua +amictum venit, ornamenta sua secum traxit. Penes nos sunt +consules tui, &c. Cicero or Livy would not have rejected +these images, the eloquence of a Barbarian born and educated in +the Hercynian forest.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 58: Otho of Frisingen, who surely understood the +language of the court and diet of Germany, speaks of the Franks +in the xiith century as the reigning nation, (Proceres Franci, +equites Franci, manus Francorum:) he adds, however, the epithet +of <strong><em>Teutonici</em></strong>.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 59: Otho Frising. de Gestis Frederici I., l. ii. c. +22, p. 720--733. These original and authentic acts I have +translated and abridged with freedom, yet with fidelity.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 60: From the Chronicles of Ricobaldo and Francis +Pipin, Muratori (dissert. xxvi. tom. ii. p. 492) has translated +this curious fact with the doggerel verses that accompanied the +gift: --</p> + +<p>Ave decus orbis, ave! victus tibi destinor, ave!</p> + +<p>Currus ab Augusto Frederico Cæsare justo.</p> + +<p>Væ Mediolanum! jam sentis spernere vanum</p> + +<p>Imperii vires, proprias tibi tollere vires.</p> + +<p>Ergo triumphorum urbs potes memor esse priorum</p> + +<p>Quos tibi mittebant reges qui bella gerebant.</p> + +<p>Ne si dee tacere (I now use the Italian Dissertations, tom. i. +p. 444) che nell' anno 1727, una copia desso Caroccio in marmo +dianzi ignoto si scopri, nel campidoglio, presso alle carcere di +quel luogo, dove Sisto V. l'avea falto rinchiudere. Stava esso +posto sopra quatro colonne di marmo fino colla sequente +inscrizione, &c.; to the same purpose as the old +inscription.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 61: The decline of the Imperial arms and authority +in Italy is related with impartial learning in the Annals of +Muratori, (tom. x. xi. xii.;) and the reader may compare his +narrative with the Histoires des Allemands (tom. iii. iv.) by +Schmidt, who has deserved the esteem of his countrymen.]</p> + +<p>Under the reign of Adrian, when the empire extended from the +Euphrates to the ocean, from Mount Atlas to the Grampian hills, a +fanciful historian ^62 amused the Romans with the picture of +their ancient wars. "There was a time," says Florus, "when Tibur +and Præneste, our summer retreats, were the objects of +hostile vows in the Capitol, when we dreaded the shades of the +Arician groves, when we could triumph without a blush over the +nameless villages of the Sabines and Latins, and even Corioli +could afford a title not unworthy of a victorious general." The +pride of his contemporaries was gratified by the contrast of the +past and the present: they would have been humbled by the +prospect of futurity; by the prediction, that after a thousand +years, Rome, despoiled of empire, and contracted to her +primæval limits, would renew the same hostilities, on the +same ground which was then decorated with her villas and gardens. +The adjacent territory on either side of the Tyber was always +claimed, and sometimes possessed, as the patrimony of St. Peter; +but the barons assumed a lawless independence, and the cities too +faithfully copied the revolt and discord of the metropolis. In +the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the Romans incessantly +labored to reduce or destroy the contumacious vassals of the +church and senate; and if their headstrong and selfish ambition +was moderated by the pope, he often encouraged their zeal by the +alliance of his spiritual arms. Their warfare was that of the +first consuls and dictators, who were taken from the plough. The +assembled in arms at the foot of the Capitol; sallied from the +gates, plundered or burnt the harvests of their neighbors, +engaged in tumultuary conflict, and returned home after an +expedition of fifteen or twenty days. Their sieges were tedious +and unskilful: in the use of victory, they indulged the meaner +passions of jealousy and revenge; and instead of adopting the +valor, they trampled on the misfortunes, of their adversaries. +The captives, in their shirts, with a rope round their necks, +solicited their pardon: the fortifications, and even the +buildings, of the rival cities, were demolished, and the +inhabitants were scattered in the adjacent villages. It was thus +that the seats of the cardinal bishops, Porto, Ostia, Albanum, +Tusculum, Præneste, and Tibur or Tivoli, were successively +overthrown by the ferocious hostility of the Romans. ^63 Of +these, ^64 Porto and Ostia, the two keys of the Tyber, are still +vacant and desolate: the marshy and unwholesome banks are peopled +with herds of buffaloes, and the river is lost to every purpose +of navigation and trade. The hills, which afford a shady +retirement from the autumnal heats, have again smiled with the +blessings of peace; Frescati has arisen near the ruins of +Tusculum; Tibur or Tivoli has resumed the honors of a city, ^65 +and the meaner towns of Albano and Palestrina are decorated with +the villas of the cardinals and princes of Rome. In the work of +destruction, the ambition of the Romans was often checked and +repulsed by the neighboring cities and their allies: in the first +siege of Tibur, they were driven from their camp; and the battles +of Tusculum ^66 and Viterbo ^67 might be compared in their +relative state to the memorable fields of Thrasymene and +Cannæ. In the first of these petty wars, thirty thousand +Romans were overthrown by a thousand German horse, whom Frederic +Barbarossa had detached to the relief of Tusculum: and if we +number the slain at three, the prisoners at two, thousand, we +shall embrace the most authentic and moderate account. +Sixty-eight years afterwards they marched against Viterbo in the +ecclesiastical state with the whole force of the city; by a rare +coalition the Teutonic eagle was blended, in the adverse banners, +with the keys of St. Peter; and the pope's auxiliaries were +commanded by a count of Thoulouse and a bishop of Winchester. The +Romans were discomfited with shame and slaughter: but the English +prelate must have indulged the vanity of a pilgrim, if he +multiplied their numbers to one hundred, and their loss in the +field to thirty, thousand men. Had the policy of the senate and +the discipline of the legions been restored with the Capitol, the +divided condition of Italy would have offered the fairest +opportunity of a second conquest. But in arms, the modern Romans +were not <strong><em>above</em></strong>, and in arts, they were +far <strong><em>below</em></strong>, the common level of the +neighboring republics. Nor was their warlike spirit of any long +continuance; after some irregular sallies, they subsided in the +national apathy, in the neglect of military institutions, and in +the disgraceful and dangerous use of foreign mercenaries.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 62: Tibur nunc suburbanum, et æstivæ +Præneste deliciæ, nuncupatis in Capitolio votis +petebantur. The whole passage of Florus (l. i. c. 11) may be read +with pleasure, and has deserved the praise of a man of genius, +(uvres de Montesquieu, tom. iii. p. 634, 635, quarto +edition.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 63: Ne a feritate Romanorum, sicut fuerant +Hostienses, Portuenses, Tusculanenses, Albanenses, Labicenses, et +nuper Tiburtini destruerentur, (Matthew Paris, p. 757.) These +events are marked in the Annals and Index (the xviiith volume) of +Muratori.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 64: For the state or ruin of these suburban cities, +the banks of the Tyber, &c., see the lively picture of the P. +Labat, (Voyage en Espagne et en Italiæ,) who had long +resided in the neighborhood of Rome, and the more accurate +description of which P. Eschinard (Roma, 1750, in octavo) has +added to the topographical map of Cingolani.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 65: Labat (tom. iii. p. 233) mentions a recent +decree of the Roman government, which has severely mortified the +pride and poverty of Tivoli: in civitate Tiburtinâ non +vivitur civiliter.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 66: I depart from my usual method, of quoting only +by the date the Annals of Muratori, in consideration of the +critical balance in which he has weighed nine contemporary +writers who mention the battle of Tusculum, (tom. x. p. +42--44.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 67: Matthew Paris, p. 345. This bishop of Winchester +was Peter de Rupibus, who occupied the see thirty-two years, +(A.D. 1206--1238.) and is described, by the English historian, as +a soldier and a statesman. (p. 178, 399.)]</p> + +<p>Ambition is a weed of quick and early vegetation in the +vineyard of Christ. Under the first Christian princes, the chair +of St. Peter was disputed by the votes, the venality, the +violence, of a popular election: the sanctuaries of Rome were +polluted with blood; and, from the third to the twelfth century, +the church was distracted by the mischief of frequent schisms. As +long as the final appeal was determined by the civil magistrate, +these mischiefs were transient and local: the merits were tried +by equity or favor; nor could the unsuccessful competitor long +disturb the triumph of his rival. But after the emperors had been +divested of their prerogatives, after a maxim had been +established that the vicar of Christ is amenable to no earthly +tribunal, each vacancy of the holy see might involve Christendom +in controversy and war. The claims of the cardinals and inferior +clergy, of the nobles and people, were vague and litigious: the +freedom of choice was overruled by the tumults of a city that no +longer owned or obeyed a superior. On the decease of a pope, two +factions proceeded in different churches to a double election: +the number and weight of votes, the priority of time, the merit +of the candidates, might balance each other: the most respectable +of the clergy were divided; and the distant princes, who bowed +before the spiritual throne, could not distinguish the spurious, +from the legitimate, idol. The emperors were often the authors of +the schism, from the political motive of opposing a friendly to a +hostile pontiff; and each of the competitors was reduced to +suffer the insults of his enemies, who were not awed by +conscience, and to purchase the support of his adherents, who +were instigated by avarice or ambition a peaceful and perpetual +succession was ascertained by Alexander the Third, ^68 who +finally abolished the tumultuary votes of the clergy and people, +and defined the right of election in the sole college of +cardinals. ^69 The three orders of bishops, priests, and deacons, +were assimilated to each other by this important privilege; the +parochial clergy of Rome obtained the first rank in the +hierarchy: they were indifferently chosen among the nations of +Christendom; and the possession of the richest benefices, of the +most important bishoprics, was not incompatible with their title +and office. The senators of the Catholic church, the coadjutors +and legates of the supreme pontiff, were robed in purple, the +symbol of martyrdom or royalty; they claimed a proud equality +with kings; and their dignity was enhanced by the smallness of +their number, which, till the reign of Leo the Tenth, seldom +exceeded twenty or twenty-five persons. By this wise regulation, +all doubt and scandal were removed, and the root of schism was so +effectually destroyed, that in a period of six hundred years a +double choice has only once divided the unity of the sacred +college. But as the concurrence of two thirds of the votes had +been made necessary, the election was often delayed by the +private interest and passions of the cardinals; and while they +prolonged their independent reign, the Christian world was left +destitute of a head. A vacancy of almost three years had preceded +the elevation of George the Tenth, who resolved to prevent the +future abuse; and his bull, after some opposition, has been +consecrated in the code of the canon law. ^70 Nine days are +allowed for the obsequies of the deceased pope, and the arrival +of the absent cardinals; on the tenth, they are imprisoned, each +with one domestic, in a common apartment or +<strong><em>conclave</em></strong>, without any separation of +walls or curtains: a small window is reserved for the +introduction of necessaries; but the door is locked on both sides +and guarded by the magistrates of the city, to seclude them from +all correspondence with the world. If the election be not +consummated in three days, the luxury of their table is +contracted to a single dish at dinner and supper; and after the +eighth day, they are reduced to a scanty allowance of bread, +water, and wine. During the vacancy of the holy see, the +cardinals are prohibited from touching the revenues, or assuming, +unless in some rare emergency, the government of the church: all +agreements and promises among the electors are formally annulled; +and their integrity is fortified by their solemn oath and the +prayers of the Catholics. Some articles of inconvenient or +superfluous rigor have been gradually relaxed, but the principle +of confinement is vigorous and entire: they are still urged, by +the personal motives of health and freedom, to accelerate the +moment of their deliverance; and the improvement of ballot or +secret votes has wrapped the struggles of the conclave ^71 in the +silky veil of charity and politeness. ^72 By these institutions +the Romans were excluded from the election of their prince and +bishop; and in the fever of wild and precarious liberty, they +seemed insensible of the loss of this inestimable privilege. The +emperor Lewis of Bavaria revived the example of the great Otho. +After some negotiation with the magistrates, the Roman people +were assembled ^73 in the square before St. Peter's: the pope of +Avignon, John the Twenty-second, was deposed: the choice of his +successor was ratified by their consent and applause. They freely +voted for a new law, that their bishop should never be absent +more than three months in the year, and two days' journey from +the city; and that if he neglected to return on the third +summons, the public servant should be degraded and dismissed. ^74 +But Lewis forgot his own debility and the prejudices of the +times: beyond the precincts of a German camp, his useless phantom +was rejected; the Romans despised their own workmanship; the +antipope implored the mercy of his lawful sovereign; ^75 and the +exclusive right of the cardinals was more firmly established by +this unseasonable attack.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 68: See Mosheim, Institut. Histor. Ecclesiast. p. +401, 403. Alexander himself had nearly been the victim of a +contested election; and the doubtful merits of Innocent had only +preponderated by the weight of genius and learning which St. +Bernard cast into the scale, (see his life and writings.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 69: The origin, titles, importance, dress, +precedency, &c., of the Roman cardinals, are very ably +discussed by Thomassin, (Discipline de l'Eglise, tom. i. p. +1262--1287;) but their purple is now much faded. The sacred +college was raised to the definite number of seventy-two, to +represent, under his vicar, the disciples of Christ.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 70: See the bull of Gregory X. approbante sacro +concilio, in the <strong><em>Sexts</em></strong> of the Canon +Law, (l. i. tit. 6, c. 3,) a supplement to the Decretals, which +Boniface VIII. promulgated at Rome in 1298, and addressed in all +the universities of Europe.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 71: The genius of Cardinal de Retz had a right to +paint a conclave, (of 1665,) in which he was a spectator and an +actor, (Mémoires, tom. iv. p. 15--57;) but I am at a loss +to appreciate the knowledge or authority of an anonymous Italian, +whose history (Conclavi de' Pontifici Romani, in 4to. 1667) has +been continued since the reign of Alexander VII. The accidental +form of the work furnishes a lesson, though not an antidote, to +ambition. From a labyrinth of intrigues, we emerge to the +adoration of the successful candidate; but the next page opens +with his funeral.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 72: The expressions of Cardinal de Retz are positive +and picturesque: On y vecut toujours ensemble avec le même +respect, et la même civilité que l'on observe dans +le cabinet des rois, avec la même politesse qu'on avoit +dans la cour de Henri III., avec la même familiarité +que l'on voit dans les colleges; avec la même modestie, qui +se remarque dans les noviciats; et avec la même +charité, du moins en apparence, qui pourroit ètre +entre des frères parfaitement unis.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 73: Richiesti per bando (says John Villani) sanatori +di Roma, e 52 del popolo, et capitani de' 25, e consoli, +(<strong><em>consoli?</em></strong>) et 13 buone huomini, uno per +rione. Our knowledge is too imperfect to pronounce how much of +this constitution was temporary, and how much ordinary and +permanent. Yet it is faintly illustrated by the ancient statutes +of Rome.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 74: Villani (l. x. c. 68--71, in Muratori, Script. +tom. xiii. p. 641--645) relates this law, and the whole +transaction, with much less abhorrence than the prudent Muratori. +Any one conversant with the darker ages must have observed how +much the sense (I mean the nonsense) of superstition is +fluctuating and inconsistent.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 75: In the first volume of the Popes of Avignon, see +the second original Life of John XXII. p. 142--145, the +confession of the antipope p. 145--152, and the laborious notes +of Baluze, p. 714, 715.]</p> + +<p>Had the election been always held in the Vatican, the rights +of the senate and people would not have been violated with +impunity. But the Romans forgot, and were forgotten. in the +absence of the successors of Gregory the Seventh, who did not +keep as a divine precept their ordinary residence in the city and +diocese. The care of that diocese was less important than the +government of the universal church; nor could the popes delight +in a city in which their authority was always opposed, and their +person was often endangered. From the persecution of the +emperors, and the wars of Italy, they escaped beyond the Alps +into the hospitable bosom of France; from the tumults of Rome +they prudently withdrew to live and die in the more tranquil +stations of Anagni, Perugia, Viterbo, and the adjacent cities. +When the flock was offended or impoverished by the absence of the +shepherd, they were recalled by a stern admonition, that St. +Peter had fixed his chair, not in an obscure village, but in the +capital of the world; by a ferocious menace, that the Romans +would march in arms to destroy the place and people that should +dare to afford them a retreat. They returned with timorous +obedience; and were saluted with the account of a heavy debt, of +all the losses which their desertion had occasioned, the hire of +lodgings, the sale of provisions, and the various expenses of +servants and strangers who attended the court. ^76 After a short +interval of peace, and perhaps of authority, they were again +banished by new tumults, and again summoned by the imperious or +respectful invitation of the senate. In these occasional +retreats, the exiles and fugitives of the Vatican were seldom +long, or far, distant from the metropolis; but in the beginning +of the fourteenth century, the apostolic throne was transported, +as it might seem forever, from the Tyber to the Rhône; and +the cause of the transmigration may be deduced from the furious +contest between Boniface the Eighth and the king of France. ^77 +The spiritual arms of excommunication and interdict were repulsed +by the union of the three estates, and the privileges of the +Gallican church; but the pope was not prepared against the carnal +weapons which Philip the Fair had courage to employ. As the pope +resided at Anagni, without the suspicion of danger, his palace +and person were assaulted by three hundred horse, who had been +secretly levied by William of Nogaret, a French minister, and +Sciarra Colonna, of a noble but hostile family of Rome. The +cardinals fled; the inhabitants of Anagni were seduced from their +allegiance and gratitude; but the dauntless Boniface, unarmed and +alone, seated himself in his chair, and awaited, like the +conscript fathers of old, the swords of the Gauls. Nogaret, a +foreign adversary, was content to execute the orders of his +master: by the domestic enmity of Colonna, he was insulted with +words and blows; and during a confinement of three days his life +was threatened by the hardships which they inflicted on the +obstinacy which they provoked. Their strange delay gave time and +courage to the adherents of the church, who rescued him from +sacrilegious violence; but his imperious soul was wounded in the +vital part; and Boniface expired at Rome in a frenzy of rage and +revenge. His memory is stained with the glaring vices of avarice +and pride; nor has the courage of a martyr promoted this +ecclesiastical champion to the honors of a saint; a magnanimous +sinner, (say the chronicles of the times,) who entered like a +fox, reigned like a lion, and died like a dog. He was succeeded +by Benedict the Eleventh, the mildest of mankind. Yet he +excommunicated the impious emissaries of Philip, and devoted the +city and people of Anagni by a tremendous curse, whose effects +are still visible to the eyes of superstition. ^78</p> + +<p>[Footnote 76: Romani autem non valentes nec volentes ultra +suam celare cupiditatem gravissimam, contra papam movere cperunt +questionem, exigentes ab eo urgentissime omnia quæ +subierant per ejus absentiam damna et jacturas, videlicet in +hispitiis locandis, in mercimoniis, in usuris, in redditibus, in +provisionibus, et in aliis modis innumerabilibus. Quòd cum +audisset papa, præcordialiter ingemuit, et se comperiens +<strong><em>muscipulatum</em></strong>, &c., Matt. Paris, p. +757. For the ordinary history of the popes, their life and death, +their residence and absence, it is enough to refer to the +ecclesiastical annalists, Spondanus and Fleury.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 77: Besides the general historians of the church of +Italy and of France, we possess a valuable treatise composed by a +learned friend of Thuanus, which his last and best editors have +published in the appendix (Histoire particulière du grand +Différend entre Boniface VIII et Philippe le Bel, par +Pierre du Puis, tom. vii. P. xi. p. 61--82.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 78: It is difficult to know whether Labat (tom. iv. +p. 53--57) be in jest or in earnest, when he supposes that Anagni +still feels the weight of this curse, and that the cornfields, or +vineyards, or olive-trees, are annually blasted by Nature, the +obsequious handmaid of the popes.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LXIX: State Of Rome From The Twelfth +Century. -- Part IV.</em></strong></p> + +<p>After his decease, the tedious and equal suspense of the +conclave was fixed by the dexterity of the French faction. A +specious offer was made and accepted, that, in the term of forty +days, they would elect one of the three candidates who should be +named by their opponents. The archbishop of Bourdeaux, a furious +enemy of his king and country, was the first on the list; but his +ambition was known; and his conscience obeyed the calls of +fortune and the commands of a benefactor, who had been informed +by a swift messenger that the choice of a pope was now in his +hands. The terms were regulated in a private interview; and with +such speed and secrecy was the business transacted, that the +unanimous conclave applauded the elevation of Clement the Fifth. +^79 The cardinals of both parties were soon astonished by a +summons to attend him beyond the Alps; from whence, as they soon +discovered, they must never hope to return. He was engaged, by +promise and affection, to prefer the residence of France; and, +after dragging his court through Poitou and Gascony, and +devouring, by his expense, the cities and convents on the road, +he finally reposed at Avignon, ^80 which flourished above seventy +years ^81 the seat of the Roman pontiff and the metropolis of +Christendom. By land, by sea, by the Rhône, the position of +Avignon was on all sides accessible; the southern provinces of +France do not yield to Italy itself; new palaces arose for the +accommodation of the pope and cardinals; and the arts of luxury +were soon attracted by the treasures of the church. They were +already possessed of the adjacent territory, the Venaissin +county, ^82 a populous and fertile spot; and the sovereignty of +Avignon was afterwards purchased from the youth and distress of +Jane, the first queen of Naples and countess of Provence, for the +inadequate price of fourscore thousand florins. ^83 Under the +shadow of a French monarchy, amidst an obedient people, the popes +enjoyed an honorable and tranquil state, to which they long had +been strangers: but Italy deplored their absence; and Rome, in +solitude and poverty, might repent of the ungovernable freedom +which had driven from the Vatican the successor of St. Peter. Her +repentance was tardy and fruitless: after the death of the old +members, the sacred college was filled with French cardinals, ^84 +who beheld Rome and Italy with abhorrence and contempt, and +perpetuated a series of national, and even provincial, popes, +attached by the most indissoluble ties to their native +country.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 79: See, in the Chronicle of Giovanni Villani, (l. +viii. c. 63, 64, 80, in Muratori, tom. xiii.,) the imprisonment +of Boniface VIII., and the election of Clement V., the last of +which, like most anecdotes, is embarrassed with some +difficulties.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 80: The original lives of the eight popes of +Avignon, Clement V., John XXII., Benedict XI., Clement VI., +Innocent VI., Urban V., Gregory XI., and Clement VII., are +published by Stephen Baluze, (Vitæ Paparum Avenionensium; +Paris, 1693, 2 vols. in 4to.,) with copious and elaborate notes, +and a second volume of acts and documents. With the true zeal of +an editor and a patriot, he devoutly justifies or excuses the +characters of his countrymen.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 81: The exile of Avignon is compared by the Italians +with Babylon, and the Babylonish captivity. Such furious +metaphors, more suitable to the ardor of Petrarch than to the +judgment of Muratori, are gravely refuted in Baluze's preface. +The abbé de Sade is distracted between the love of +Petrarch and of his country. Yet he modestly pleads, that many of +the local inconveniences of Avignon are now removed; and many of +the vices against which the poet declaims, had been imported with +the Roman court by the strangers of Italy, (tom. i. p. +23--28.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 82: The comtat Venaissin was ceded to the popes in +1273 by Philip III. king of France, after he had inherited the +dominions of the count of Thoulouse. Forty years before, the +heresy of Count Raymond had given them a pretence of seizure, and +they derived some obscure claim from the xith century to some +lands citra Rhodanum, (Valesii Notitia Galliarum, p. 495, 610. +Longuerue, Description de la France, tom. i. p. 376--381.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 83: If a possession of four centuries were not +itself a title, such objections might annul the bargain; but the +purchase money must be refunded, for indeed it was paid. +Civitatem Avenionem emit . . . . per ejusmodi venditionem +pecuniâ redundates, &c., (ii<sup>da</sup> Vita Clement. +VI. in Baluz. tom. i. p. 272. Muratori, Script. tom. iii. P. ii. +p. 565.) The only temptation for Jane and her second husband was +ready money, and without it they could not have returned to the +throne of Naples.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 84: Clement V immediately promoted ten cardinals, +nine French and one English, (Vita iv<sup>ta</sup>, p. 63, et +Baluz. p. 625, &c.) In 1331, the pope refused two candidates +recommended by the king of France, quod xx. Cardinales, de quibus +xvii. de regno Franciæ originem traxisse noscuntur in +memorato collegio existant, (Thomassin, Discipline de l'Eglise, +tom. i. p. 1281.)]</p> + +<p>The progress of industry had produced and enriched the Italian +republics: the æra of their liberty is the most flourishing +period of population and agriculture, of manufactures and +commerce; and their mechanic labors were gradually refined into +the arts of elegance and genius. But the position of Rome was +less favorable, the territory less fruitful: the character of the +inhabitants was debased by indolence and elated by pride; and +they fondly conceived that the tribute of subjects must forever +nourish the metropolis of the church and empire. This prejudice +was encouraged in some degree by the resort of pilgrims to the +shrines of the apostles; and the last legacy of the popes, the +institution of the holy year, ^85 was not less beneficial to the +people than to the clergy. Since the loss of Palestine, the gift +of plenary indulgences, which had been applied to the crusades, +remained without an object; and the most valuable treasure of the +church was sequestered above eight years from public circulation. +A new channel was opened by the diligence of Boniface the Eighth, +who reconciled the vices of ambition and avarice; and the pope +had sufficient learning to recollect and revive the secular games +which were celebrated in Rome at the conclusion of every century. +To sound without danger the depth of popular credulity, a sermon +was seasonably pronounced, a report was artfully scattered, some +aged witnesses were produced; and on the first of January of the +year thirteen hundred, the church of St. Peter was crowded with +the faithful, who demanded the customary indulgence of the holy +time. The pontiff, who watched and irritated their devout +impatience, was soon persuaded by ancient testimony of the +justice of their claim; and he proclaimed a plenary absolution to +all Catholics who, in the course of that year, and at every +similar period, should respectfully visit the apostolic churches +of St. Peter and St. Paul. The welcome sound was propagated +through Christendom; and at first from the nearest provinces of +Italy, and at length from the remote kingdoms of Hungary and +Britain, the highways were thronged with a swarm of pilgrims who +sought to expiate their sins in a journey, however costly or +laborious, which was exempt from the perils of military service. +All exceptions of rank or sex, of age or infirmity, were +forgotten in the common transport; and in the streets and +churches many persons were trampled to death by the eagerness of +devotion. The calculation of their numbers could not be easy nor +accurate; and they have probably been magnified by a dexterous +clergy, well apprised of the contagion of example: yet we are +assured by a judicious historian, who assisted at the ceremony, +that Rome was never replenished with less than two hundred +thousand strangers; and another spectator has fixed at two +millions the total concourse of the year. A trifling oblation +from each individual would accumulate a royal treasure; and two +priests stood night and day, with rakes in their hands, to +collect, without counting, the heaps of gold and silver that were +poured on the altar of St. Paul. ^86 It was fortunately a season +of peace and plenty; and if forage was scarce, if inns and +lodgings were extravagantly dear, an inexhaustible supply of +bread and wine, of meat and fish, was provided by the policy of +Boniface and the venal hospitality of the Romans. From a city +without trade or industry, all casual riches will speedily +evaporate: but the avarice and envy of the next generation +solicited Clement the Sixth ^87 to anticipate the distant period +of the century. The gracious pontiff complied with their wishes; +afforded Rome this poor consolation for his loss; and justified +the change by the name and practice of the Mosaic Jubilee. ^88 +His summons was obeyed; and the number, zeal, and liberality of +the pilgrims did not yield to the primitive festival. But they +encountered the triple scourge of war, pestilence, and famine: +many wives and virgins were violated in the castles of Italy; and +many strangers were pillaged or murdered by the savage Romans, no +longer moderated by the presence of their bishops. ^89 To the +impatience of the popes we may ascribe the successive reduction +to fifty, thirty-three, and twenty-five years; although the +second of these terms is commensurate with the life of Christ. +The profusion of indulgences, the revolt of the Protestants, and +the decline of superstition, have much diminished the value of +the jubilee; yet even the nineteenth and last festival was a year +of pleasure and profit to the Romans; and a philosophic smile +will not disturb the triumph of the priest or the happiness of +the people. ^90</p> + +<p>[Footnote 85: Our primitive account is from Cardinal James +Caietan, (Maxima Bibliot. Patrum, tom. xxv.;) and I am at a loss +to determine whether the nephew of Boniface VIII. be a fool or a +knave: the uncle is a much clearer character.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 86: See John Villani (l. viii. c. 36) in the xiith, +and the Chronicon Astense, in the xith volume (p. 191, 192) of +Muratori's Collection Papa innumerabilem pecuniam ab eisdem +accepit, nam duo clerici, cum rastris, &c.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 87: The two bulls of Boniface VIII. and Clement VI. +are inserted on the Corpus Juris Canonici, Extravagant. Commun. +l. v. tit. ix c 1, 2.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 88: The sabbatic years and jubilees of the Mosaic +law, (Car. Sigon. de Republica Hebræorum, Opp. tom. iv. l. +iii. c. 14, 14, p. 151, 152,) the suspension of all care and +labor, the periodical release of lands, debts, servitude, +&c., may seem a noble idea, but the execution would be +impracticable in a <strong><em>profane</em></strong> republic; +and I should be glad to learn that this ruinous festival was +observed by the Jewish people.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 89: See the Chronicle of Matteo Villani, (l. i. c. +56,) in the xivth vol. of Muratori, and the Mémoires sur +la Vie de Pétrarque, tom. iii. p. 75--89.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 90: The subject is exhausted by M. Chais, a French +minister at the Hague, in his Lettres Historiques et Dogmatiques, +sur les Jubilés et es Indulgences; la Haye, 1751, 3 vols. +in 12mo.; an elaborate and pleasing work, had not the author +preferred the character of a polemic to that of a +philosopher.]</p> + +<p>In the beginning of the eleventh century, Italy was exposed to +the feudal tyranny, alike oppressive to the sovereign and the +people. The rights of human nature were vindicated by her +numerous republics, who soon extended their liberty and dominion +from the city to the adjacent country. The sword of the nobles +was broken; their slaves were enfranchised; their castles were +demolished; they assumed the habits of society and obedience; +their ambition was confined to municipal honors, and in the +proudest aristocracy of Venice on Genoa, each patrician was +subject to the laws. ^91 But the feeble and disorderly government +of Rome was unequal to the task of curbing her rebellious sons, +who scorned the authority of the magistrate within and without +the walls. It was no longer a civil contention between the nobles +and plebeians for the government of the state: the barons +asserted in arms their personal independence; their palaces and +castles were fortified against a siege; and their private +quarrels were maintained by the numbers of their vassals and +retainers. In origin and affection, they were aliens to their +country: ^92 and a genuine Roman, could such have been produced, +might have renounced these haughty strangers, who disdained the +appellation of citizens, and proudly styled themselves the +princes, of Rome. ^93 After a dark series of revolutions, all +records of pedigree were lost; the distinction of surnames was +abolished; the blood of the nations was mingled in a thousand +channels; and the Goths and Lombards, the Greeks and Franks, the +Germans and Normans, had obtained the fairest possessions by +royal bounty, or the prerogative of valor. These examples might +be readily presumed; but the elevation of a Hebrew race to the +rank of senators and consuls is an event without a parallel in +the long captivity of these miserable exiles. ^94 In the time of +Leo the Ninth, a wealthy and learned Jew was converted to +Christianity, and honored at his baptism with the name of his +godfather, the reigning Pope. The zeal and courage of Peter the +son of Leo were signalized in the cause of Gregory the Seventh, +who intrusted his faithful adherent with the government of +Adrian's mole, the tower of Crescentius, or, as it is now called, +the castle of St. Angelo. Both the father and the son were the +parents of a numerous progeny: their riches, the fruits of usury, +were shared with the noblest families of the city; and so +extensive was their alliance, that the grandson of the proselyte +was exalted by the weight of his kindred to the throne of St. +Peter. A majority of the clergy and people supported his cause: +he reigned several years in the Vatican; and it is only the +eloquence of St. Bernard, and the final triumph of Innocence the +Second, that has branded Anacletus with the epithet of antipope. +After his defeat and death, the posterity of Leo is no longer +conspicuous; and none will be found of the modern nobles +ambitious of descending from a Jewish stock. It is not my design +to enumerate the Roman families which have failed at different +periods, or those which are continued in different degrees of +splendor to the present time. ^95 The old consular line of the +<strong><em>Frangipani</em></strong> discover their name in the +generous act of <strong><em>breaking</em></strong> or dividing +bread in a time of famine; and such benevolence is more truly +glorious than to have enclosed, with their allies the +<strong><em>Corsi</em></strong>, a spacious quarter of the city +in the chains of their fortifications; the +<strong><em>Savelli</em></strong>, as it should seem a Sabine +race, have maintained their original dignity; the obsolete +surname of the <strong><em>Capizucchi</em></strong> is inscribed +on the coins of the first senators; the +<strong><em>Conti</em></strong> preserve the honor, without the +estate, of the counts of Signia; and the +<strong><em>Annibaldi</em></strong> must have been very ignorant, +or very modest, if they had not descended from the Carthaginian +hero. ^96</p> + +<p>[Footnote 91: Muratori (Dissert. xlvii.) alleges the Annals of +Florence, Padua, Genoa, &c., the analogy of the rest, the +evidence of Otho of Frisingen, (de Gest. Fred. I. l. ii. c. 13,) +and the submission of the marquis of Este.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 92: As early as the year 824, the emperor Lothaire +I. found it expedient to interrogate the Roman people, to learn +from each individual by what national law he chose to be +governed. (Muratori, Dissertat xxii.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 93: Petrarch attacks these foreigners, the tyrants +of Rome, in a declamation or epistle, full of bold truths and +absurd pedantry, in which he applies the maxims, and even +prejudices, of the old republic to the state of the xivth +century, (Mémoires, tom. iii. p. 157--169.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 94: The origin and adventures of the Jewish family +are noticed by Pagi, (Critica, tom. iv. p. 435, A.D. 1124, No. 3, +4,) who draws his information from the Chronographus +Maurigniacensis, and Arnulphus Sagiensis de Schismate, (in +Muratori, Script. Ital. tom. iii. P. i. p. 423--432.) The fact +must in some degree be true; yet I could wish that it had been +coolly related, before it was turned into a reproach against the +antipope.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 95: Muratori has given two dissertations (xli. and +xlii.) to the names, surnames, and families of Italy. Some +nobles, who glory in their domestic fables, may be offended with +his firm and temperate criticism; yet surely some ounces of pure +gold are of more value than many pounds of base metal.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 96: The cardinal of St. George, in his poetical, or +rather metrical history of the election and coronation of +Boniface VIII., (Muratori Script. Ital. tom. iii. P. i. p. 641, +&c.,) describes the state and families of Rome at the +coronation of Boniface VIII., (A.D. 1295.)</p> + +<p>Interea titulis redimiti sanguine et armis</p> + +<p>Illustresque viri Romanâ a stirpe trahentes</p> + +<p>Nomen in emeritos tantæ virtutis honores</p> + +<p>Insulerant sese medios festumque colebant</p> + +<p>Aurata fulgente togâ, sociante catervâ.</p> + +<p>Ex ipsis devota domus præstantis ab +<strong><em>Ursâ</em></strong></p> + +<p>Ecclesiæ, vultumque gerens demissius altum</p> + +<p>Festa <strong><em>Columna</em></strong> jocis, necnon +<strong><em>Sabellia</em></strong> mitis;</p> + +<p>Stephanides senior, <strong><em>Comites</em></strong>, +<strong><em>Annibalica</em></strong> proles,</p> + +<p>Præfectusque urbis magnum sine viribus nomen.</p> + +<p>(l. ii. c. 5, 100, p. 647, 648.)</p> + +<p>The ancient statutes of Rome (l. iii. c. 59, p. 174, 175) +distinguish eleven families of barons, who are obliged to swear +in concilio communi, before the senator, that they would not +harbor or protect any malefactors, outlaws, &c. -- a feeble +security!]</p> + +<p>But among, perhaps above, the peers and princes of the city, I +distinguish the rival houses of Colonna and Ursini, whose private +story is an essential part of the annals of modern Rome. I. The +name and arms of Colonna ^97 have been the theme of much doubtful +etymology; nor have the orators and antiquarians overlooked +either Trajan's pillar, or the columns of Hercules, or the pillar +of Christ's flagellation, or the luminous column that guided the +Israelites in the desert. Their first historical appearance in +the year eleven hundred and four attests the power and antiquity, +while it explains the simple meaning, of the name. By the +usurpation of Cavæ, the Colonna provoked the arms of +Paschal the Second; but they lawfully held in the Campagna of +Rome the hereditary fiefs of Zagarola and +<strong><em>Colonna</em></strong>; and the latter of these towns +was probably adorned with some lofty pillar, the relic of a villa +or temple. ^98 They likewise possessed one moiety of the +neighboring city of Tusculum, a strong presumption of their +descent from the counts of Tusculum, who in the tenth century +were the tyrants of the apostolic see. According to their own and +the public opinion, the primitive and remote source was derived +from the banks of the Rhine; ^99 and the sovereigns of Germany +were not ashamed of a real or fabulous affinity with a noble +race, which in the revolutions of seven hundred years has been +often illustrated by merit and always by fortune. ^100 About the +end of the thirteenth century, the most powerful branch was +composed of an uncle and six bothers, all conspicuous in arms, or +in the honors of the church. Of these, Peter was elected senator +of Rome, introduced to the Capitol in a triumphal car, and hailed +in some vain acclamations with the title of Cæsar; while +John and Stephen were declared marquis of Ancona and count of +Romagna, by Nicholas the Fourth, a patron so partial to their +family, that he has been delineated in satirical portraits, +imprisoned as it were in a hollow pillar. ^101 After his decease +their haughty behavior provoked the displeasure of the most +implacable of mankind. The two cardinals, the uncle and the +nephew, denied the election of Boniface the Eighth; and the +Colonna were oppressed for a moment by his temporal and spiritual +arms. ^102 He proclaimed a crusade against his personal enemies; +their estates were confiscated; their fortresses on either side +of the Tyber were besieged by the troops of St. Peter and those +of the rival nobles; and after the ruin of Palestrina or +Præneste, their principal seat, the ground was marked with +a ploughshare, the emblem of perpetual desolation. Degraded, +banished, proscribed, the six brothers, in disguise and danger, +wandered over Europe without renouncing the hope of deliverance +and revenge. In this double hope, the French court was their +surest asylum; they prompted and directed the enterprise of +Philip; and I should praise their magnanimity, had they respected +the misfortune and courage of the captive tyrant. His civil acts +were annulled by the Roman people, who restored the honors and +possessions of the Colonna; and some estimate may be formed of +their wealth by their losses, of their losses by the damages of +one hundred thousand gold florins which were granted them against +the accomplices and heirs of the deceased pope. All the spiritual +censures and disqualifications were abolished ^103 by his prudent +successors; and the fortune of the house was more firmly +established by this transient hurricane. The boldness of Sciarra +Colonna was signalized in the captivity of Boniface, and long +afterwards in the coronation of Lewis of Bavaria; and by the +gratitude of the emperor, the pillar in their arms was encircled +with a royal crown. But the first of the family in fame and merit +was the elder Stephen, whom Petrarch loved and esteemed as a hero +superior to his own times, and not unworthy of ancient Rome. +Persecution and exile displayed to the nations his abilities in +peace and war; in his distress he was an object, not of pity, but +of reverence; the aspect of danger provoked him to avow his name +and country; and when he was asked, "Where is now your fortress?" +he laid his hand on his heart, and answered, "Here." He supported +with the same virtue the return of prosperity; and, till the ruin +of his declining age, the ancestors, the character, and the +children of Stephen Colonna, exalted his dignity in the Roman +republic, and at the court of Avignon. II. The Ursini migrated +from Spoleto; ^104 the sons of Ursus, as they are styled in the +twelfth century, from some eminent person, who is only known as +the father of their race. But they were soon distinguished among +the nobles of Rome, by the number and bravery of their kinsmen, +the strength of their towers, the honors of the senate and sacred +college, and the elevation of two popes, Celestin the Third and +Nicholas the Third, of their name and lineage. ^105 Their riches +may be accused as an early abuse of nepotism: the estates of St. +Peter were alienated in their favor by the liberal Celestin; ^106 +and Nicholas was ambitious for their sake to solicit the alliance +of monarchs; to found new kingdoms in Lombardy and Tuscany; and +to invest them with the perpetual office of senators of Rome. All +that has been observed of the greatness of the Colonna will +likewise redeemed to the glory of the Ursini, their constant and +equal antagonists in the long hereditary feud, which distracted +above two hundred and fifty years the ecclesiastical state. The +jealously of preeminence and power was the true ground of their +quarrel; but as a specious badge of distinction, the Colonna +embraced the name of Ghibelines and the party of the empire; the +Ursini espoused the title of Guelphs and the cause of the church. +The eagle and the keys were displayed in their adverse banners; +and the two factions of Italy most furiously raged when the +origin and nature of the dispute were long since forgotten. ^107 +After the retreat of the popes to Avignon they disputed in arms +the vacant republic; and the mischiefs of discord were +perpetuated by the wretched compromise of electing each year two +rival senators. By their private hostilities the city and country +were desolated, and the fluctuating balance inclined with their +alternate success. But none of either family had fallen by the +sword, till the most renowned champion of the Ursini was +surprised and slain by the younger Stephen Colonna. ^108 His +triumph is stained with the reproach of violating the truce; +their defeat was basely avenged by the assassination, before the +church door, of an innocent boy and his two servants. Yet the +victorious Colonna, with an annual colleague, was declared +senator of Rome during the term of five years. And the muse of +Petrarch inspired a wish, a hope, a prediction, that the generous +youth, the son of his venerable hero, would restore Rome and +Italy to their pristine glory; that his justice would extirpate +the wolves and lions, the serpents and +<strong><em>bears</em></strong>, who labored to subvert the +eternal basis of the marble column. ^109</p> + +<p>[Footnote 97: It is pity that the Colonna themselves have not +favored the world with a complete and critical history of their +illustrious house. I adhere to Muratori, (Dissert. xlii. tom. +iii. p. 647, 648.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 98: Pandulph. Pisan. in Vit. Paschal. II. in +Muratori, Script. Ital. tom. iii. P. i. p. 335. The family has +still great possessions in the Campagna of Rome; but they have +alienated to the Rospigliosi this original fief of +<strong><em>Colonna</em></strong>, (Eschinard, p. 258, 259.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 99:</p> + +<p>Te longinqua dedit tellus et pascua Rheni,</p> + +<p>says Petrarch; and, in 1417, a duke of Guelders and Juliers +acknowledges (Lenfant, Hist. du Concile de Constance, tom. ii. p. +539) his descent from the ancestors of Martin V., (Otho Colonna:) +but the royal author of the Memoirs of Brandenburg observes, that +the sceptre in his arms has been confounded with the column. To +maintain the Roman origin of the Colonna, it was ingeniously +supposed (Diario di Monaldeschi, in the Script. Ital. tom. xii. +p. 533) that a cousin of the emperor Nero escaped from the city, +and founded Mentz in Germany.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 100: I cannot overlook the Roman triumph of ovation +on Marce Antonio Colonna, who had commanded the pope's galleys at +the naval victory of Lepanto, (Thuan. Hist. l. 7, tom. iii. p. +55, 56. Muret. Oratio x. Opp. tom. i. p. 180--190.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 101: Muratori, Annali d'Italia, tom. x. p. 216, +220.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 102: Petrarch's attachment to the Colonna has +authorized the abbé de Sade to expatiate on the state of +the family in the fourteenth century, the persecution of Boniface +VIII., the character of Stephen and his sons, their quarrels with +the Ursini, &c., (Mémoires sur Pétrarque, tom. +i. p. 98--110, 146--148, 174--176, 222--230, 275--280.) His +criticism often rectifies the hearsay stories of Villani, and the +errors of the less diligent moderns. I understand the branch of +Stephen to be now extinct.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 103: Alexander III. had declared the Colonna who +adhered to the emperor Frederic I. incapable of holding any +ecclesiastical benefice, (Villani, l. v. c. 1;) and the last +stains of annual excommunication were purified by Sixtus V., +(Vita di Sisto V. tom. iii. p. 416.) Treason, sacrilege, and +proscription are often the best titles of ancient nobility.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 104:</p> + +<p>-------- Vallis te proxima misit,</p> + +<p>Appenninigenæ qua prata virentia sylvæ</p> + +<p>Spoletana metunt armenta gregesque protervi.</p> + +<p>Monaldeschi (tom. xii. Script. Ital. p. 533) gives the Ursini +a French origin, which may be remotely true.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 105: In the metrical life of Celestine V. by the +cardinal of St. George (Muratori, tom. iii. P. i. p. 613, +&c.,) we find a luminous, and not inelegant, passage, (l. i. +c. 3, p. 203 &c.:) --</p> + +<p>-------- genuit quem nobilis Ursæ +(<strong><em>Ursi?</em></strong>)</p> + +<p>Progenies, Romana domus, veterataque magnis</p> + +<p>Fascibus in clero, pompasque experta senatûs,</p> + +<p>Bellorumque manû grandi stipata parentum</p> + +<p>Cardineos apices necnon fastigia dudum</p> + +<p>Papatûs <strong><em>iterata</em></strong> tenens.</p> + +<p>Muratori (Dissert. xlii. tom. iii.) observes, that the first +Ursini pontificate of Celestine III. was unknown: he is inclined +to read <strong><em>Ursi</em></strong> progenies.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 106: Filii Ursi, quondam Clestini papæ +nepotes, de bonis ecclesiæ Romanæ ditati, (Vit. +Innocent. III. in Muratori, Script. tom. iii. P. i.) The partial +prodigality of Nicholas III. is more conspicuous in Villani and +Muratori. Yet the Ursini would disdain the nephews of a +<strong><em>modern</em></strong> pope.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 107: In his fifty-first Dissertation on the Italian +Antiquities, Muratori explains the factions of the Guelphs and +Ghibelines.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 108: Petrarch (tom. i. p. 222--230) has celebrated +this victory according to the Colonna; but two contemporaries, a +Florentine (Giovanni Villani, l. x. c. 220) and a Roman, +(Ludovico Monaldeschi, p. 532--534,) are less favorable to their +arms.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 109: The abbé de Sade (tom. i. Notes, p. +61--66) has applied the vith Canzone of Petrarch, +<strong><em>Spirto Gentil</em></strong>, &c., to Stephen +Colonna the younger:</p> + +<p>Orsi, lupi, leoni, aquile e serpi</p> + +<p>Al una gran marmorea <strong><em>colexna</em></strong></p> + +<p>Fanno noja sovente e à se danno. 11]</p> + +<p><strong>Chapter LXX: Final Settlement Of The Ecclesiastical +State.</strong> <strong><em>Part I.</em></strong></p> + +<p>Character And Coronation Of Petrarch. -- Restoration Of The +Freedom And Government Of Rome By The Tribune Rienzi. -- His +Virtues And Vices, His Expulsion And Death. -- Return Of The +Popes From Avignon. -- Great Schism Of The West. -- Reunion Of +The Latin Church. -- Last Struggles Of Roman Liberty. -- Statutes +Of Rome. -- Final Settlement Of The Ecclesiastical State.</p> + +<p>In the apprehension of modern times, Petrarch ^1 is the +Italian songster of Laura and love. In the harmony of his Tuscan +rhymes, Italy applauds, or rather adores, the father of her lyric +poetry; and his verse, or at least his name, is repeated by the +enthusiasm, or affectation, of amorous sensibility. Whatever may +be the private taste of a stranger, his slight and superficial +knowledge should humbly acquiesce in the judgment of a learned +nation; yet I may hope or presume, that the Italians do not +compare the tedious uniformity of sonnets and elegies with the +sublime compositions of their epic muse, the original wildness of +Dante, the regular beauties of Tasso, and the boundless variety +of the incomparable Ariosto. The merits of the lover I am still +less qualified to appreciate: nor am I deeply interested in a +metaphysical passion for a nymph so shadowy, that her existence +has been questioned; ^2 for a matron so prolific, ^3 that she was +delivered of eleven legitimate children, ^4 while her amorous +swain sighed and sung at the fountain of Vaucluse. ^5 But in the +eyes of Petrarch, and those of his graver contemporaries, his +love was a sin, and Italian verse a frivolous amusement. His +Latin works of philosophy, poetry, and eloquence, established his +serious reputation, which was soon diffused from Avignon over +France and Italy: his friends and disciples were multiplied in +every city; and if the ponderous volume of his writings ^6 be now +abandoned to a long repose, our gratitude must applaud the man, +who by precept and example revived the spirit and study of the +Augustan age. From his earliest youth, Petrarch aspired to the +poetic crown. The academical honors of the three faculties had +introduced a royal degree of master or doctor in the art of +poetry; ^7 and the title of poet-laureate, which custom, rather +than vanity, perpetuates in the English court, ^8 was first +invented by the Cæsars of Germany. In the musical games of +antiquity, a prize was bestowed on the victor: ^9 the belief that +Virgil and Horace had been crowned in the Capitol inflamed the +emulation of a Latin bard; ^10 and the laurel ^11 was endeared to +the lover by a verbal resemblance with the name of his mistress. +The value of either object was enhanced by the difficulties of +the pursuit; and if the virtue or prudence of Laura was +inexorable, ^12 he enjoyed, and might boast of enjoying, the +nymph of poetry. His vanity was not of the most delicate kind, +since he applauds the success of his own +<strong><em>labors</em></strong>; his name was popular; his +friends were active; the open or secret opposition of envy and +prejudice was surmounted by the dexterity of patient merit. In +the thirty-sixth year of his age, he was solicited to accept the +object of his wishes; and on the same day, in the solitude of +Vaucluse, he received a similar and solemn invitation from the +senate of Rome and the university of Paris. The learning of a +theological school, and the ignorance of a lawless city, were +alike unqualified to bestow the ideal though immortal wreath +which genius may obtain from the free applause of the public and +of posterity: but the candidate dismissed this troublesome +reflection; and after some moments of complacency and suspense, +preferred the summons of the metropolis of the world.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 1: The Mémoires sur la Vie de François +Pétrarque, (Amsterdam, 1764, 1767, 3 vols. in 4to.,) form +a copious, original, and entertaining work, a labor of love, +composed from the accurate study of Petrarch and his +contemporaries; but the hero is too often lost in the general +history of the age, and the author too often languishes in the +affectation of politeness and gallantry. In the preface to his +first volume, he enumerates and weighs twenty Italian +biographers, who have professedly treated of the same +subject.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 2: The allegorical interpretation prevailed in the +xvth century; but the wise commentators were not agreed whether +they should understand by Laura, religion, or virtue, or the +blessed virgin, or --------. See the prefaces to the first and +second volume.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 3: Laure de Noves, born about the year 1307, was +married in January 1325, to Hugues de Sade, a noble citizen of +Avignon, whose jealousy was not the effect of love, since he +married a second wife within seven months of her death, which +happened the 6th of April, 1348, precisely one-and-twenty years +after Petrarch had seen and loved her.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 4: Corpus crebris partubus exhaustum: from one of +these is issued, in the tenth degree, the abbé de Sade, +the fond and grateful biographer of Petrarch; and this domestic +motive most probably suggested the idea of his work, and urged +him to inquire into every circumstance that could affect the +history and character of his grandmother, (see particularly tom. +i. p. 122--133, notes, p. 7--58, tom. ii. p. 455--495 not. p. +76--82.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 5: Vaucluse, so familiar to our English travellers, +is described from the writings of Petrarch, and the local +knowledge of his biographer, (Mémoires, tom. i. p. +340--359.) It was, in truth, the retreat of a hermit; and the +moderns are much mistaken, if they place Laura and a happy lover +in the grotto.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 6: Of 1250 pages, in a close print, at Basil in the +xvith century, but without the date of the year. The abbé +de Sade calls aloud for a new edition of Petrarch's Latin works; +but I much doubt whether it would redound to the profit of the +bookseller, or the amusement of the public.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 7: Consult Selden's Titles of Honor, in his works, +(vol. iii. p. 457--466.) A hundred years before Petrarch, St. +Francis received the visit of a poet, qui ab imperatore fuerat +coronatus et exinde rex versuum dictus.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 8: From Augustus to Louis, the muse has too often +been false and venal: but I much doubt whether any age or court +can produce a similar establishment of a stipendiary poet, who in +every reign, and at all events, is bound to furnish twice a year +a measure of praise and verse, such as may be sung in the chapel, +and, I believe, in the presence, of the sovereign. I speak the +more freely, as the best time for abolishing this ridiculous +custom is while the prince is a man of virtue and the poet a man +of genius.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 9: Isocrates (in Panegyrico, tom. i. p. 116, 117, +edit. Battie, Cantab. 1729) claims for his native Athens the +glory of first instituting and recommending the alwnaV -- kai ta +aqla megista -- mh monon tacouV kai rwmhV, alla kai logwn kai +gnwmhV. The example of the Panathenæa was imitated at +Delphi; but the Olympic games were ignorant of a musical crown, +till it was extorted by the vain tyranny of Nero, (Sueton. in +Nerone, c. 23; Philostrat. apud Casaubon ad locum; Dion Cassius, +or Xiphilin, l. lxiii. p. 1032, 1041. Potter's Greek Antiquities, +vol. i. p. 445, 450.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 10: The Capitoline games (certamen quinquenale, +<strong><em>musicum</em></strong>, equestre, gymnicum) were +instituted by Domitian (Sueton. c. 4) in the year of Christ 86, +(Censorin. de Die Natali, c. 18, p. 100, edit. Havercamp.) and +were not abolished in the ivth century, (Ausonius de +Professoribus Burdegal. V.) If the crown were given to superior +merit, the exclusion of Statius (Capitolia nostræ inficiata +lyræ, Sylv. l. iii. v. 31) may do honor to the games of the +Capitol; but the Latin poets who lived before Domitian were +crowned only in the public opinion.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 11: Petrarch and the senators of Rome were ignorant +that the laurel was not the Capitoline, but the Delphic crown, +(Plin. Hist. Natur p. 39. Hist. Critique de la République +des Lettres, tom. i. p. 150--220.) The victors in the Capitol +were crowned with a garland of oak eaves, (Martial, l. iv. +epigram 54.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 12: The pious grandson of Laura has labored, and not +without success, to vindicate her immaculate chastity against the +censures of the grave and the sneers of the profane, (tom. ii. +notes, p. 76--82.)]</p> + +<p>The ceremony of his coronation ^13 was performed in the +Capitol, by his friend and patron the supreme magistrate of the +republic. Twelve patrician youths were arrayed in scarlet; six +representatives of the most illustrious families, in green robes, +with garlands of flowers, accompanied the procession; in the +midst of the princes and nobles, the senator, count of +Anguillara, a kinsman of the Colonna, assumed his throne; and at +the voice of a herald Petrarch arose. After discoursing on a text +of Virgil, and thrice repeating his vows for the prosperity of +Rome, he knelt before the throne, and received from the senator a +laurel crown, with a more precious declaration, "This is the +reward of merit." The people shouted, "Long life to the Capitol +and the poet!" A sonnet in praise of Rome was accepted as the +effusion of genius and gratitude; and after the whole procession +had visited the Vatican, the profane wreath was suspended before +the shrine of St. Peter. In the act or diploma ^14 which was +presented to Petrarch, the title and prerogatives of +poet-laureate are revived in the Capitol, after the lapse of +thirteen hundred years; and he receives the perpetual privilege +of wearing, at his choice, a crown of laurel, ivy, or myrtle, of +assuming the poetic habit, and of teaching, disputing, +interpreting, and composing, in all places whatsoever, and on all +subjects of literature. The grant was ratified by the authority +of the senate and people; and the character of citizen was the +recompense of his affection for the Roman name. They did him +honor, but they did him justice. In the familiar society of +Cicero and Livy, he had imbibed the ideas of an ancient patriot; +and his ardent fancy kindled every idea to a sentiment, and every +sentiment to a passion. The aspect of the seven hills and their +majestic ruins confirmed these lively impressions; and he loved a +country by whose liberal spirit he had been crowned and adopted. +The poverty and debasement of Rome excited the indignation and +pity of her grateful son; he dissembled the faults of his +fellow-citizens; applauded with partial fondness the last of +their heroes and matrons; and in the remembrance of the past, in +the hopes of the future, was pleased to forget the miseries of +the present time. Rome was still the lawful mistress of the +world: the pope and the emperor, the bishop and general, had +abdicated their station by an inglorious retreat to the +Rhône and the Danube; but if she could resume her virtue, +the republic might again vindicate her liberty and dominion. +Amidst the indulgence of enthusiasm and eloquence, ^15 Petrarch, +Italy, and Europe, were astonished by a revolution which realized +for a moment his most splendid visions. The rise and fall of the +tribune Rienzi will occupy the following pages: ^16 the subject +is interesting, the materials are rich, and the glance of a +patriot bard ^17 will sometimes vivify the copious, but simple, +narrative of the Florentine, ^18 and more especially of the +Roman, historian. ^19</p> + +<p>[Footnote 13: The whole process of Petrarch's coronation is +accurately described by the abbé de Sade, (tom. i. p. +425--435, tom. ii. p. 1--6, notes, p. 1--13,) from his own +writings, and the Roman diary of Ludovico, Monaldeschi, without +mixing in this authentic narrative the more recent fables of +Sannuccio Delbene.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 14: The original act is printed among the Pieces +Justificatives in the Mémoires sur Pétrarque, tom. +iii. p. 50--53.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 15: To find the proofs of his enthusiasm for Rome, I +need only request that the reader would open, by chance, either +Petrarch, or his French biographer. The latter has described the +poet's first visit to Rome, (tom. i. p. 323--335.) But in the +place of much idle rhetoric and morality, Petrarch might have +amused the present and future age with an original account of the +city and his coronation.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 16: It has been treated by the pen of a Jesuit, the +P. de Cerceau whose posthumous work (Conjuration de Nicolas +Gabrini, dit de Rienzi, Tyran de Rome, en 1347) was published at +Paris, 1748, in 12mo. I am indebted to him for some facts and +documents in John Hocsemius, canon of Liege, a contemporary +historian, (Fabricius Bibliot. Lat. Med. Ævi, tom. iii. p. +273, tom. iv. p. 85.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 17: The abbé de Sade, who so freely +expatiates on the history of the xivth century, might treat, as +his proper subject, a revolution in which the heart of Petrarch +was so deeply engaged, (Mémoires, tom. ii. p. 50, 51, +320--417, notes, p. 70--76, tom. iii. p. 221--243, 366--375.) Not +an idea or a fact in the writings of Petrarch has probably +escaped him.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 18: Giovanni Villani, l. xii. c. 89, 104, in +Muratori, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, tom. xiii. p. 969, 970, +981--983.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 19: In his third volume of Italian antiquities, (p. +249--548,) Muratori has inserted the Fragmenta Historiæ +Romanæ ab Anno 1327 usque ad Annum 1354, in the original +dialect of Rome or Naples in the xivth century, and a Latin +version for the benefit of strangers. It contains the most +particular and authentic life of Cola (Nicholas) di Rienzi; which +had been printed at Bracciano, 1627, in 4to., under the name of +Tomaso Fortifiocca, who is only mentioned in this work as having +been punished by the tribune for forgery. Human nature is +scarcely capable of such sublime or stupid impartiality: but +whosoever in the author of these Fragments, he wrote on the spot +and at the time, and paints, without design or art, the manners +of Rome and the character of the tribune. *</p> + +<p>Note: * Since the publication of my first edition of Gibbon, +some new and very remarkable documents have been brought to light +in a life of Nicolas Rienzi,--Cola di Rienzo und seine Zeit, -- +by Dr. Felix Papencordt. The most important of these documents +are letters from Rienzi to Charles the Fourth, emperor and king +of Bohemia, and to the archbishop of Praque; they enter into the +whole history of his adventurous career during its first period, +and throw a strong light upon his extraordinary character. These +documents were first discovered and made use of, to a certain +extent, by Pelzel, the historian of Bohemia. The originals have +disappeared, but a copy made by Pelzel for his own use is now in +the library of Count Thun at Teschen. There seems no doubt of +their authenticity. Dr. Papencordt has printed the whole in his +Urkunden, with the exception of one long theological paper. -- M. +1845.]</p> + +<p>In a quarter of the city which was inhabited only by mechanics +and Jews, the marriage of an innkeeper and a washer woman +produced the future deliverer of Rome. ^20 ^! From such parents +Nicholas Rienzi Gabrini could inherit neither dignity nor +fortune; and the gift of a liberal education, which they +painfully bestowed, was the cause of his glory and untimely end. +The study of history and eloquence, the writings of Cicero, +Seneca, Livy, Cæsar, and Valerius Maximus, elevated above +his equals and contemporaries the genius of the young plebeian: +he perused with indefatigable diligence the manuscripts and +marbles of antiquity; loved to dispense his knowledge in familiar +language; and was often provoked to exclaim, "Where are now these +Romans? their virtue, their justice, their power? why was I not +born in those happy times?" ^21 When the republic addressed to +the throne of Avignon an embassy of the three orders, the spirit +and eloquence of Rienzi recommended him to a place among the +thirteen deputies of the commons. The orator had the honor of +haranguing Pope Clement the Sixth, and the satisfaction of +conversing with Petrarch, a congenial mind: but his aspiring +hopes were chilled by disgrace and poverty and the patriot was +reduced to a single garment and the charity of the hospital. ^* +From this misery he was relieved by the sense of merit or the +smile of favor; and the employment of apostolic notary afforded +him a daily stipend of five gold florins, a more honorable and +extensive connection, and the right of contrasting, both in words +and actions, his own integrity with the vices of the state. The +eloquence of Rienzi was prompt and persuasive: the multitude is +always prone to envy and censure: he was stimulated by the loss +of a brother and the impunity of the assassins; nor was it +possible to excuse or exaggerate the public calamities. The +blessings of peace and justice, for which civil society has been +instituted, were banished from Rome: the jealous citizens, who +might have endured every personal or pecuniary injury, were most +deeply wounded in the dishonor of their wives and daughters: ^22 +they were equally oppressed by the arrogance of the nobles and +the corruption of the magistrates; ^! and the abuse of arms or of +laws was the only circumstance that distinguished the lions from +the dogs and serpents of the Capitol. These allegorical emblems +were variously repeated in the pictures which Rienzi exhibited in +the streets and churches; and while the spectators gazed with +curious wonder, the bold and ready orator unfolded the meaning, +applied the satire, inflamed their passions, and announced a +distant hope of comfort and deliverance. The privileges of Rome, +her eternal sovereignty over her princes and provinces, was the +theme of his public and private discourse; and a monument of +servitude became in his hands a title and incentive of liberty. +The decree of the senate, which granted the most ample +prerogatives to the emperor Vespasian, had been inscribed on a +copper plate still extant in the choir of the church of St. John +Lateran. ^23 A numerous assembly of nobles and plebeians was +invited to this political lecture, and a convenient theatre was +erected for their reception. The notary appeared in a magnificent +and mysterious habit, explained the inscription by a version and +commentary, ^24 and descanted with eloquence and zeal on the +ancient glories of the senate and people, from whom all legal +authority was derived. The supine ignorance of the nobles was +incapable of discerning the serious tendency of such +representations: they might sometimes chastise with words and +blows the plebeian reformer; but he was often suffered in the +Colonna palace to amuse the company with his threats and +predictions; and the modern Brutus ^25 was concealed under the +mask of folly and the character of a buffoon. While they indulged +their contempt, the restoration of the <strong><em>good +estate</em></strong>, his favorite expression, was entertained +among the people as a desirable, a possible, and at length as an +approaching, event; and while all had the disposition to applaud, +some had the courage to assist, their promised deliverer.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 20: The first and splendid period of Rienzi, his +tribunitian government, is contained in the xviiith chapter of +the Fragments, (p. 399--479,) which, in the new division, forms +the iid book of the history in xxxviii. smaller chapters or +sections.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !: But see in Dr. Papencordt's work, and in Rienzi's +own words, his claim to be a bastard son of the emperor Henry the +Seventh, whose intrigue with his mother Rienzi relates with a +sort of proud shamelessness. Compare account by the editor of Dr. +Papencordt's work in Quarterly Review vol. lxix. -- M. 1845.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 21: The reader may be pleased with a specimen of the +original idiom: Fò da soa juventutine nutricato di latte +de eloquentia, bono gramatico, megliore rettuorico, autorista +bravo. Deh como et quanto era veloce leitore! moito usava Tito +Livio, Seneca, et Tullio, et Balerio Massimo, moito li dilettava +le magnificentie di Julio Cesare raccontare. Tutta la die se +speculava negl' intagli di marmo lequali iaccio intorno Roma. Non +era altri che esso, che sapesse lejere li antichi pataffii. Tutte +scritture antiche vulgarizzava; quesse fiure di marmo justamente +interpretava. On come spesso diceva, "Dove suono quelli buoni +Romani? dove ene loro somma justitia? poleramme trovare in tempo +che quessi fiuriano!"]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Sir J. Hobhouse published (in his Illustrations +of Childe Harold) Rienzi's joyful letter to the people of Rome on +the apparently favorable termination of this mission. -- M. +1845.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 22: Petrarch compares the jealousy of the Romans +with the easy temper of the husbands of Avignon, +(Mémoires, tom. i. p. 330.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote !: All this Rienzi, writing at a later period to the +archbishop of Prague, attributed to the criminal abandonment of +his flock by the supreme pontiff. See Urkunde apud Papencordt, p. +xliv. Quarterly Review, p. 255. -- M. 1845.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 23: The fragments of the <strong><em>Lex +regia</em></strong> may be found in the Inscriptions of Gruter, +tom. i. p. 242, and at the end of the Tacitus of Ernesti, with +some learned notes of the editor, tom. ii.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 24: I cannot overlook a stupendous and laughable +blunder of Rienzi. The Lex regia empowers Vespasian to enlarge +the Pomrium, a word familiar to every antiquary. It was not so to +the tribune; he confounds it with +pom<strong><em>a</em></strong>rium, an orchard, translates lo +Jardino de Roma cioene Italia, and is copied by the less +excusable ignorance of the Latin translator (p. 406) and the +French historian, (p. 33.) Even the learning of Muratori has +slumbered over the passage.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 25: Priori (<strong><em>Bruto</em></strong>) tamen +similior, juvenis uterque, longe ingenio quam cujus simulationem +induerat, ut sub hoc obtentû liberator ille P R. aperiretur +tempore suo . . . . Ille regibus, hic tyrannis contemptus, (Opp +(Opp. p. 536.) *</p> + +<p>Note: * Fatcor attamen quod-nunc fatuum. nunc hystrionem, nunc +gravem nunc simplicem, nunc astutum, nunc fervidum, nunc timidum +simulatorem, et dissimulatorem ad hunc caritativum finem, quem +dixi, constitusepius memet ipsum. Writing to an archbishop, (of +Prague,) Rienzi alleges scriptural examples. Saltator coram archa +David et insanus apparuit coram Rege; blanda, astuta, et tecta +Judith astitit Holoferni; et astute Jacob meruit benedici, +Urkunde xlix. -- M. 1845.]</p> + +<p>A prophecy, or rather a summons, affixed on the church door of +St. George, was the first public evidence of his designs; a +nocturnal assembly of a hundred citizens on Mount Aventine, the +first step to their execution. After an oath of secrecy and aid, +he represented to the conspirators the importance and facility of +their enterprise; that the nobles, without union or resources, +were strong only in the fear nobles, of their imaginary strength; +that all power, as well as right, was in the hands of the people; +that the revenues of the apostolical chamber might relieve the +public distress; and that the pope himself would approve their +victory over the common enemies of government and freedom. After +securing a faithful band to protect his first declaration, he +proclaimed through the city, by sound of trumpet, that on the +evening of the following day, all persons should assemble without +arms before the church of St. Angelo, to provide for the +reestablishment of the good estate. The whole night was employed +in the celebration of thirty masses of the Holy Ghost; and in the +morning, Rienzi, bareheaded, but in complete armor, issued from +the church, encompassed by the hundred conspirators. The pope's +vicar, the simple bishop of Orvieto, who had been persuaded to +sustain a part in this singular ceremony, marched on his right +hand; and three great standards were borne aloft as the emblems +of their design. In the first, the banner of +<strong><em>liberty</em></strong>, Rome was seated on two lions, +with a palm in one hand and a globe in the other; St. Paul, with +a drawn sword, was delineated in the banner of +<strong><em>justice</em></strong>; and in the third, St. Peter +held the keys of <strong><em>concord</em></strong> and +<strong><em>peace</em></strong>. Rienzi was encouraged by the +presence and applause of an innumerable crowd, who understood +little, and hoped much; and the procession slowly rolled forwards +from the castle of St. Angelo to the Capitol. His triumph was +disturbed by some secret emotions which he labored to suppress: +he ascended without opposition, and with seeming confidence, the +citadel of the republic; harangued the people from the balcony; +and received the most flattering confirmation of his acts and +laws. The nobles, as if destitute of arms and counsels, beheld in +silent consternation this strange revolution; and the moment had +been prudently chosen, when the most formidable, Stephen Colonna, +was absent from the city. On the first rumor, he returned to his +palace, affected to despise this plebeian tumult, and declared to +the messenger of Rienzi, that at his leisure he would cast the +madman from the windows of the Capitol. The great bell instantly +rang an alarm, and so rapid was the tide, so urgent was the +danger, that Colonna escaped with precipitation to the suburb of +St. Laurence: from thence, after a moment's refreshment, he +continued the same speedy career till he reached in safety his +castle of Palestrina; lamenting his own imprudence, which had not +trampled the spark of this mighty conflagration. A general and +peremptory order was issued from the Capitol to all the nobles, +that they should peaceably retire to their estates: they obeyed; +and their departure secured the tranquillity of the free and +obedient citizens of Rome.</p> + +<p>But such voluntary obedience evaporates with the first +transports of zeal; and Rienzi felt the importance of justifying +his usurpation by a regular form and a legal title. At his own +choice, the Roman people would have displayed their attachment +and authority, by lavishing on his head the names of senator or +consul, of king or emperor: he preferred the ancient and modest +appellation of tribune; ^* the protection of the commons was the +essence of that sacred office; and they were ignorant, that it +had never been invested with any share in the legislative or +executive powers of the republic. In this character, and with the +consent of the Roman, the tribune enacted the most salutary laws +for the restoration and maintenance of the good estate. By the +first he fulfils the wish of honesty and inexperience, that no +civil suit should be protracted beyond the term of fifteen days. +The danger of frequent perjury might justify the pronouncing +against a false accuser the same penalty which his evidence would +have inflicted: the disorders of the times might compel the +legislator to punish every homicide with death, and every injury +with equal retaliation. But the execution of justice was hopeless +till he had previously abolished the tyranny of the nobles. It +was formally provided, that none, except the supreme magistrate, +should possess or command the gates, bridges, or towers of the +state; that no private garrisons should be introduced into the +towns or castles of the Roman territory; that none should bear +arms, or presume to fortify their houses in the city or country; +that the barons should be responsible for the safety of the +highways, and the free passage of provisions; and that the +protection of malefactors and robbers should be expiated by a +fine of a thousand marks of silver. But these regulations would +have been impotent and nugatory, had not the licentious nobles +been awed by the sword of the civil power. A sudden alarm from +the bell of the Capitol could still summon to the standard above +twenty thousand volunteers: the support of the tribune and the +laws required a more regular and permanent force. In each harbor +of the coast a vessel was stationed for the assurance of +commerce; a standing militia of three hundred and sixty horse and +thirteen hundred foot was levied, clothed, and paid in the +thirteen quarters of the city: and the spirit of a commonwealth +may be traced in the grateful allowance of one hundred florins, +or pounds, to the heirs of every soldier who lost his life in the +service of his country. For the maintenance of the public +defence, for the establishment of granaries, for the relief of +widows, orphans, and indigent convents, Rienzi applied, without +fear of sacrilege, the revenues of the apostolic chamber: the +three branches of hearth-money, the salt-duty, and the customs, +were each of the annual produce of one hundred thousand florins; +^26 and scandalous were the abuses, if in four or five months the +amount of the salt-duty could be trebled by his judicious +economy. After thus restoring the forces and finances of the +republic, the tribune recalled the nobles from their solitary +independence; required their personal appearance in the Capitol; +and imposed an oath of allegiance to the new government, and of +submission to the laws of the good estate. Apprehensive for their +safety, but still more apprehensive of the danger of a refusal, +the princes and barons returned to their houses at Rome in the +garb of simple and peaceful citizens: the Colonna and Ursini, the +Savelli and Frangipani, were confounded before the tribunal of a +plebeian, of the vile buffoon whom they had so often derided, and +their disgrace was aggravated by the indignation which they +vainly struggled to disguise. The same oath was successively +pronounced by the several orders of society, the clergy and +gentlemen, the judges and notaries, the merchants and artisans, +and the gradual descent was marked by the increase of sincerity +and zeal. They swore to live and die with the republic and the +church, whose interest was artfully united by the nominal +association of the bishop of Orvieto, the pope's vicar, to the +office of tribune. It was the boast of Rienzi, that he had +delivered the throne and patrimony of St. Peter from a rebellious +aristocracy; and Clement the Sixth, who rejoiced in its fall, +affected to believe the professions, to applaud the merits, and +to confirm the title, of his trusty servant. The speech, perhaps +the mind, of the tribune, was inspired with a lively regard for +the purity of the faith: he insinuated his claim to a +supernatural mission from the Holy Ghost; enforced by a heavy +forfeiture the annual duty of confession and communion; and +strictly guarded the spiritual as well as temporal welfare of his +faithful people. ^27</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Et ego, Deo semper auctore, ipsa die +pristinâ (leg. primâ) Tribunatus, quæ quidem +dignitas a tempore deflorati Imperii, et per annos V<sup>o</sup> +et ultra sub tyrannicà occupatione vacavit, ipsos omnes +potentes indifferenter Deum at justitiam odientes, a meâ, +ymo a Dei facie fugiendo vehementi Spiritu dissipavi, et nullo +effuso cruore trementes expuli, sine ictu remanente Romane terre +facie renovatâ. Libellus Tribuni ad Cæsarem, p. +xxxiv. -- M. 1845.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 26: In one MS. I read (l. ii. c. 4, p. 409) +perfumante quatro <strong><em>solli</em></strong>, in another, +quatro <strong><em>florini</em></strong>, an important variety, +since the florin was worth ten Roman +<strong><em>solidi</em></strong>, (Muratori, dissert. xxviii.) +The former reading would give us a population of 25,000, the +latter of 250,000 families; and I much fear, that the former is +more consistent with the decay of Rome and her territory.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 27: Hocsemius, p. 498, apud du Cerçeau, Hist. +de Rienzi, p. 194. The fifteen tribunitian laws may be found in +the Roman historian (whom for brevity I shall name) Fortifiocca, +l. ii. c. 4.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LXX: Final Settlement Of The +Ecclesiastical State. -- Part II.</em></strong></p> + +<p>Never perhaps has the energy and effect of a single mind been +more remarkably felt than in the sudden, though transient, +reformation of Rome by the tribune Rienzi. A den of robbers was +converted to the discipline of a camp or convent: patient to +hear, swift to redress, inexorable to punish, his tribunal was +always accessible to the poor and stranger; nor could birth, or +dignity, or the immunities of the church, protect the offender or +his accomplices. The privileged houses, the private sanctuaries +in Rome, on which no officer of justice would presume to +trespass, were abolished; and he applied the timber and iron of +their barricades in the fortifications of the Capitol. The +venerable father of the Colonna was exposed in his own palace to +the double shame of being desirous, and of being unable, to +protect a criminal. A mule, with a jar of oil, had been stolen +near Capranica; and the lord of the Ursini family was condemned +to restore the damage, and to discharge a fine of four hundred +florins for his negligence in guarding the highways. Nor were the +persons of the barons more inviolate than their lands or houses; +and, either from accident or design, the same impartial rigor was +exercised against the heads of the adverse factions. Peter Agapet +Colonna, who had himself been senator of Rome, was arrested in +the street for injury or debt; and justice was appeased by the +tardy execution of Martin Ursini, who, among his various acts of +violence and rapine, had pillaged a shipwrecked vessel at the +mouth of the Tyber. ^28 His name, the purple of two cardinals, +his uncles, a recent marriage, and a mortal disease were +disregarded by the inflexible tribune, who had chosen his victim. +The public officers dragged him from his palace and nuptial bed: +his trial was short and satisfactory: the bell of the Capitol +convened the people: stripped of his mantle, on his knees, with +his hands bound behind his back, he heard the sentence of death; +and after a brief confession, Ursini was led away to the gallows. +After such an example, none who were conscious of guilt could +hope for impunity, and the flight of the wicked, the licentious, +and the idle, soon purified the city and territory of Rome. In +this time (says the historian,) the woods began to rejoice that +they were no longer infested with robbers; the oxen began to +plough; the pilgrims visited the sanctuaries; the roads and inns +were replenished with travellers; trade, plenty, and good faith, +were restored in the markets; and a purse of gold might be +exposed without danger in the midst of the highway. As soon as +the life and property of the subject are secure, the labors and +rewards of industry spontaneously revive: Rome was still the +metropolis of the Christian world; and the fame and fortunes of +the tribune were diffused in every country by the strangers who +had enjoyed the blessings of his government.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 28: Fortifiocca, l. ii. c. 11. From the account of +this shipwreck, we learn some circumstances of the trade and +navigation of the age. 1. The ship was built and freighted at +Naples for the ports of Marseilles and Avignon. 2. The sailors +were of Naples and the Isle of naria less skilful than those of +Sicily and Genoa. 3. The navigation from Marseilles was a +coasting voyage to the mouth of the Tyber, where they took +shelter in a storm; but, instead of finding the current, +unfortunately ran on a shoal: the vessel was stranded, the +mariners escaped. 4. The cargo, which was pillaged, consisted of +the revenue of Provence for the royal treasury, many bags of +pepper and cinnamon, and bales of French cloth, to the value of +20,000 florins; a rich prize.]</p> + +<p>The deliverance of his country inspired Rienzi with a vast, +and perhaps visionary, idea of uniting Italy in a great +federative republic, of which Rome should be the ancient and +lawful head, and the free cities and princes the members and +associates. His pen was not less eloquent than his tongue; and +his numerous epistles were delivered to swift and trusty +messengers. On foot, with a white wand in their hand, they +traversed the forests and mountains; enjoyed, in the most hostile +states, the sacred security of ambassadors; and reported, in the +style of flattery or truth, that the highways along their passage +were lined with kneeling multitudes, who implored Heaven for the +success of their undertaking. Could passion have listened to +reason; could private interest have yielded to the public +welfare; the supreme tribunal and confederate union of the +Italian republic might have healed their intestine discord, and +closed the Alps against the Barbarians of the North. But the +propitious season had elapsed; and if Venice, Florence, Sienna, +Perugia, and many inferior cities offered their lives and +fortunes to the good estate, the tyrants of Lombardy and Tuscany +must despise, or hate, the plebeian author of a free +constitution. From them, however, and from every part of Italy, +the tribune received the most friendly and respectful answers: +they were followed by the ambassadors of the princes and +republics; and in this foreign conflux, on all the occasions of +pleasure or business, the low born notary could assume the +familiar or majestic courtesy of a sovereign. ^29 The most +glorious circumstance of his reign was an appeal to his justice +from Lewis, king of Hungary, who complained, that his brother and +her husband had been perfidiously strangled by Jane, queen of +Naples: ^30 her guilt or innocence was pleaded in a solemn trial +at Rome; but after hearing the advocates, ^31 the tribune +adjourned this weighty and invidious cause, which was soon +determined by the sword of the Hungarian. Beyond the Alps, more +especially at Avignon, the revolution was the theme of curiosity, +wonder, and applause. ^* Petrarch had been the private friend, +perhaps the secret counsellor, of Rienzi: his writings breathe +the most ardent spirit of patriotism and joy; and all respect for +the pope, all gratitude for the Colonna, was lost in the superior +duties of a Roman citizen. The poet-laureate of the Capitol +maintains the act, applauds the hero, and mingles with some +apprehension and advice, the most lofty hopes of the permanent +and rising greatness of the republic. ^32</p> + +<p>[Footnote 29: It was thus that Oliver Cromwell's old +acquaintance, who remembered his vulgar and ungracious entrance +into the House of Commons, were astonished at the ease and +majesty of the protector on his throne, (See Harris's Life of +Cromwell, p. 27--34, from Clarendon Warwick, Whitelocke, Waller, +&c.) The consciousness of merit and power will sometimes +elevate the manners to the station.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 30: See the causes, circumstances, and effects of +the death of Andrew in Giannone, (tom. iii. l. xxiii. p. +220--229,) and the Life of Petrarch (Mémoires, tom. ii. p. +143--148, 245--250, 375--379, notes, p. 21--37.) The abbé +de Sade <strong><em>wishes</em></strong> to extenuate her +guilt.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 31: The advocate who pleaded against Jane could add +nothing to the logical force and brevity of his master's epistle. +Johanna! inordinata vita præcedens, retentio potestatis in +regno, neglecta vindicta, vir alter susceptus, et excusatio +subsequens, necis viri tui te probant fuisse participem et +consortem. Jane of Naples, and Mary of Scotland, have a singular +conformity.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: In his letter to the archbishop of Prague, Rienzi +thus describes the effect of his elevation on Italy and on the +world: "Did I not restore real peace among the cities which were +distracted by factions? did I not cause all the citizens, exiled +by party violence, with their wretched wives and children, to be +readmitted? had I not begun to extinguish the factious names +(scismatica nomina) of Guelf and Ghibelline, for which countless +thousands had perished body and soul, under the eyes of their +pastors, by the reduction of the city of Rome and all Italy into +one amicable, peaceful, holy, and united confederacy? the +consecrated standards and banners having been by me collected and +blended together, and, in witness to our holy association and +perfect union, offered up in the presence of the ambassadors of +all the cities of Italy, on the day of the assumption of our +Blessed Lady." p. xlvii.</p> + +<p>In the Libellus ad Cæsarem: "I received the homage and +submission of all the sovereigns of Apulia, the barons and +counts, and almost all the people of Italy. I was honored by +solemn embassies and letters by the emperor of Constantinople and +the king of England. The queen of Naples submitted herself and +her kingdom to the protection of the tribune. The king of +Hungary, by two solemn embassies, brought his cause against his +queen and his nobles before my tribunal; and I venture to say +further, that the fame of the tribune alarmed the soldan of +Babylon. When the Christian pilgrims to the sepulchre of our Lord +related to the Christian and Jewish inhabitants of Jerusalem all +the yet unheard-of and wonderful circumstances of the reformation +in Rome, both Jews and Christians celebrated the event with +unusual festivities. When the soldan inquired the cause of these +rejoicings, and received this intelligence about Rome, he ordered +all the havens and cities on the coast to be fortified, and put +in a state of defence," p. xxxv. -- M. 1845.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 32: See the Epistola Hortatoria de Capessenda +Republica, from Petrarch to Nicholas Rienzi, (Opp. p. 535--540,) +and the vth eclogue or pastoral, a perpetual and obscure +allegory.]</p> + +<p>While Petrarch indulged these prophetic visions, the Roman +hero was fast declining from the meridian of fame and power; and +the people, who had gazed with astonishment on the ascending +meteor, began to mark the irregularity of its course, and the +vicissitudes of light and obscurity. More eloquent than +judicious, more enterprising than resolute, the faculties of +Rienzi were not balanced by cool and commanding reason: he +magnified in a tenfold proportion the objects of hope and fear; +and prudence, which could not have erected, did not presume to +fortify, his throne. In the blaze of prosperity, his virtues were +insensibly tinctured with the adjacent vices; justice with +cruelly, cruelty, liberality with profusion, and the desire of +fame with puerile and ostentatious vanity. ^* He might have +learned, that the ancient tribunes, so strong and sacred in the +public opinion, were not distinguished in style, habit, or +appearance, from an ordinary plebeian; ^33 and that as often as +they visited the city on foot, a single viator, or beadle, +attended the exercise of their office. The Gracchi would have +frowned or smiled, could they have read the sonorous titles and +epithets of their successor, "Nicholas, severe and merciful; +deliverer of Rome; defender of Italy; ^34 friend of mankind, and +of liberty, peace, and justice; tribune august:" his theatrical +pageants had prepared the revolution; but Rienzi abused, in +luxury and pride, the political maxim of speaking to the eyes, as +well as the understanding, of the multitude. From nature he had +received the gift of a handsome person, ^35 till it was swelled +and disfigured by intemperance: and his propensity to laughter +was corrected in the magistrate by the affectation of gravity and +sternness. He was clothed, at least on public occasions, in a +party-colored robe of velvet or satin, lined with fur, and +embroidered with gold: the rod of justice, which he carried in +his hand, was a sceptre of polished steel, crowned with a globe +and cross of gold, and enclosing a small fragment of the true and +holy wood. In his civil and religious processions through the +city, he rode on a white steed, the symbol of royalty: the great +banner of the republic, a sun with a circle of stars, a dove with +an olive branch, was displayed over his head; a shower of gold +and silver was scattered among the populace, fifty guards with +halberds encompassed his person; a troop of horse preceded his +march; and their tymbals and trumpets were of massy silver.</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: An illustrious female writer has drawn, with a +single stroke, the character of Rienzi, Crescentius, and Arnold +of Brescia, the fond restorers of Roman liberty: 'Qui ont pris +les souvenirs pour les espérances.' Corinne, tom. i. p. +159. Could Tacitus have excelled this?" Hallam, vol i p. 418. -- +M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 33: In his Roman Questions, Plutarch (Opuscul. tom. +i. p. 505, 506, edit. Græc. Hen. Steph.) states, on the +most constitutional principles, the simple greatness of the +tribunes, who were not properly magistrates, but a check on +magistracy. It was their duty and interest omoiousqai schmati, +kai stolh kai diaithtoiV epitugcanousi tvn politvn . . . . +katapateisqai dei (a saying of C. Curio) kai mh semnon einai th +oyei mhde dusprosodon . . . osw de mallon ektapeinoutai tv +swmati, tosoutw mallon auxetai th dunamei, &c. Rienzi, and +Petrarch himself, were incapable perhaps of reading a Greek +philosopher; but they might have imbibed the same modest +doctrines from their favorite Latins, Livy and Valerius +Maximus.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 34: I could not express in English the forcible, +though barbarous, title of <strong><em>Zelator</em></strong> +Italiæ, which Rienzi assumed.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 35: Era bell' homo, (l. ii. c. l. p. 399.) It is +remarkable, that the riso sarcastico of the Bracciano edition is +wanting in the Roman MS., from which Muratori has given the text. +In his second reign, when he is painted almost as a monster, +Rienzi travea una ventresca tonna trionfale, a modo de uno Abbate +Asiano, or Asinino, (l. iii. c. 18, p. 523.)]</p> + +<p>The ambition of the honors of chivalry ^36 betrayed the +meanness of his birth, and degraded the importance of his office; +and the equestrian tribune was not less odious to the nobles, +whom he adopted, than to the plebeians, whom he deserted. All +that yet remained of treasure, or luxury, or art, was exhausted +on that solemn day. Rienzi led the procession from the Capitol to +the Lateran; the tediousness of the way was relieved with +decorations and games; the ecclesiastical, civil, and military +orders marched under their various banners; the Roman ladies +attended his wife; and the ambassadors of Italy might loudly +applaud or secretly deride the novelty of the pomp. In the +evening, which they had reached the church and palace of +Constantine, he thanked and dismissed the numerous assembly, with +an invitation to the festival of the ensuing day. From the hands +of a venerable knight he received the order of the Holy Ghost; +the purification of the bath was a previous ceremony; but in no +step of his life did Rienzi excite such scandal and censure as by +the profane use of the porphyry vase, in which Constantine (a +foolish legend) had been healed of his leprosy by Pope Sylvester. +^37 With equal presumption the tribune watched or reposed within +the consecrated precincts of the baptistery; and the failure of +his state-bed was interpreted as an omen of his approaching +downfall. At the hour of worship, he showed himself to the +returning crowds in a majestic attitude, with a robe of purple, +his sword, and gilt spurs; but the holy rites were soon +interrupted by his levity and insolence. Rising from his throne, +and advancing towards the congregation, he proclaimed in a loud +voice: "We summon to our tribunal Pope Clement: and command him +to reside in his diocese of Rome: we also summon the sacred +college of cardinals. ^38 We again summon the two pretenders, +Charles of Bohemia and Lewis of Bavaria, who style themselves +emperors: we likewise summon all the electors of Germany, to +inform us on what pretence they have usurped the inalienable +right of the Roman people, the ancient and lawful sovereigns of +the empire." ^39 Unsheathing his maiden sword, he thrice +brandished it to the three parts of the world, and thrice +repeated the extravagant declaration, "And this too is mine!" The +pope's vicar, the bishop of Orvieto, attempted to check this +career of folly; but his feeble protest was silenced by martial +music; and instead of withdrawing from the assembly, he consented +to dine with his brother tribune, at a table which had hitherto +been reserved for the supreme pontiff. A banquet, such as the +Cæsars had given, was prepared for the Romans. The +apartments, porticos, and courts of the Lateran were spread with +innumerable tables for either sex, and every condition; a stream +of wine flowed from the nostrils of Constantine's brazen horse; +no complaint, except of the scarcity of water, could be heard; +and the licentiousness of the multitude was curbed by discipline +and fear. A subsequent day was appointed for the coronation of +Rienzi; ^40 seven crowns of different leaves or metals were +successively placed on his head by the most eminent of the Roman +clergy; they represented the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost; and +he still professed to imitate the example of the ancient +tribunes. ^* These extraordinary spectacles might deceive or +flatter the people; and their own vanity was gratified in the +vanity of their leader. But in his private life he soon deviated +from the strict rule of frugality and abstinence; and the +plebeians, who were awed by the splendor of the nobles, were +provoked by the luxury of their equal. His wife, his son, his +uncle, (a barber in name and profession,) exposed the contrast of +vulgar manners and princely expense; and without acquiring the +majesty, Rienzi degenerated into the vices, of a king.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 36: Strange as it may seem, this festival was not +without a precedent. In the year 1327, two barons, a Colonna and +an Ursini, the usual balance, were created knights by the Roman +people: their bath was of rose-water, their beds were decked with +royal magnificence, and they were served at St. Maria of Araceli +in the Capitol, by the twenty-eight <strong><em>buoni +huomini</em></strong>. They afterwards received from Robert, king +of Naples, the sword of chivalry, (Hist. Rom. l. i. c. 2, p. +259.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 37: All parties believed in the leprosy and bath of +Constantine (Petrarch. Epist. Famil. vi. 2,) and Rienzi justified +his own conduct by observing to the court of Avignon, that a vase +which had been used by a Pagan could not be profaned by a pious +Christian. Yet this crime is specified in the bull of +excommunication, (Hocsemius, apud du Cerçeau, p. 189, +190.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 38: This <strong><em>verbal</em></strong> summons of +Pope Clement VI., which rests on the authority of the Roman +historian and a Vatican MS., is disputed by the biographer of +Petrarch, (tom. ii. not. p. 70--76, with arguments rather of +decency than of weight. The court of Avignon might not choose to +agitate this delicate question.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 39: The summons of the two rival emperors, a +monument of freedom and folly, is extant in Hocsemius, +(Cerçeau, p. 163--166.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 40: It is singular, that the Roman historian should +have overlooked this sevenfold coronation, which is sufficiently +proved by internal evidence, and the testimony of Hocsemius, and +even of Rienzi, (Cercean p. 167--170, 229.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: It was on this occasion that he made the profane +comparison between himself and our Lord; and the striking +circumstance took place which he relates in his letter to the +archbishop of Prague. In the midst of all the wild and joyous +exultation of the people, one of his most zealous supporters, a +monk, who was in high repute for his sanctity, stood apart in a +corner of the church and wept bitterly! A domestic chaplain of +Rienzi's inquired the cause of his grief. "Now," replied the man +of God, "is thy master cast down from heaven -- never saw I man +so proud. By the aid of the Holy Ghost he has driven the tyrants +from the city without drawing a sword; the cities and the +sovereigns of Italy have submitted to his power. Why is he so +arrogant and ungrateful towards the Most High? Why does he seek +earthly and transitory rewards for his labors, and in his wanton +speech liken himself to the Creator? Tell thy master that he can +only atone for this offence by tears of penitence." In the +evening the chaplain communicated this solemn rebuke to the +tribune: it appalled him for the time, but was soon forgotten in +the tumult and hurry of business. -- M. 1845.]</p> + +<p>A simple citizen describes with pity, or perhaps with +pleasure, the humiliation of the barons of Rome. "Bareheaded, +their hands crossed on their breast, they stood with downcast +looks in the presence of the tribune; and they trembled, good +God, how they trembled!" ^41 As long as the yoke of Rienzi was +that of justice and their country, their conscience forced them +to esteem the man, whom pride and interest provoked them to hate: +his extravagant conduct soon fortified their hatred by contempt; +and they conceived the hope of subverting a power which was no +longer so deeply rooted in the public confidence. The old +animosity of the Colonna and Ursini was suspended for a moment by +their common disgrace: they associated their wishes, and perhaps +their designs; an assassin was seized and tortured; he accused +the nobles; and as soon as Rienzi deserved the fate, he adopted +the suspicions and maxims, of a tyrant. On the same day, under +various pretences, he invited to the Capitol his principal +enemies, among whom were five members of the Ursini and three of +the Colonna name. But instead of a council or a banquet, they +found themselves prisoners under the sword of despotism or +justice; and the consciousness of innocence or guilt might +inspire them with equal apprehensions of danger. At the sound of +the great bell the people assembled; they were arraigned for a +conspiracy against the tribune's life; and though some might +sympathize in their distress, not a hand, nor a voice, was raised +to rescue the first of the nobility from their impending doom. +Their apparent boldness was prompted by despair; they passed in +separate chambers a sleepless and painful night; and the +venerable hero, Stephen Colonna, striking against the door of his +prison, repeatedly urged his guards to deliver him by a speedy +death from such ignominious servitude. In the morning they +understood their sentence from the visit of a confessor and the +tolling of the bell. The great hall of the Capitol had been +decorated for the bloody scene with red and white hangings: the +countenance of the tribune was dark and severe; the swords of the +executioners were unsheathed; and the barons were interrupted in +their dying speeches by the sound of trumpets. But in this +decisive moment, Rienzi was not less anxious or apprehensive than +his captives: he dreaded the splendor of their names, their +surviving kinsmen, the inconstancy of the people the reproaches +of the world, and, after rashly offering a mortal injury, he +vainly presumed that, if he could forgive, he might himself be +forgiven. His elaborate oration was that of a Christian and a +suppliant; and, as the humble minister of the commons, he +entreated his masters to pardon these noble criminals, for whose +repentance and future service he pledged his faith and authority. +"If you are spared," said the tribune, "by the mercy of the +Romans, will you not promise to support the good estate with your +lives and fortunes?" Astonished by this marvellous clemency, the +barons bowed their heads; and while they devoutly repeated the +oath of allegiance, might whisper a secret, and more sincere, +assurance of revenge. A priest, in the name of the people, +pronounced their absolution: they received the communion with the +tribune, assisted at the banquet, followed the procession; and, +after every spiritual and temporal sign of reconciliation, were +dismissed in safety to their respective homes, with the new +honors and titles of generals, consuls, and patricians. ^42</p> + +<p>[Footnote 41: Puoi se faceva stare denante a se, mentre +sedeva, li baroni tutti in piedi ritti co le vraccia piecate, e +co li capucci tratti. Deh como stavano paurosi! (Hist. Rom. l. +ii. c. 20, p. 439.) He saw them, and we see them.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 42: The original letter, in which Rienzi justifies +his treatment of the Colonna, (Hocsemius, apud du Cerçeau, +p. 222--229,) displays, in genuine colors, the mixture of the +knave and the madman.]</p> + +<p>During some weeks they were checked by the memory of their +danger, rather than of their deliverance, till the most powerful +of the Ursini, escaping with the Colonna from the city, erected +at Marino the standard of rebellion. The fortifications of the +castle were instantly restored; the vassals attended their lord; +the outlaws armed against the magistrate; the flocks and herds, +the harvests and vineyards, from Marino to the gates of Rome, +were swept away or destroyed; and the people arraigned Rienzi as +the author of the calamities which his government had taught them +to forget. In the camp, Rienzi appeared to less advantage than in +the rostrum; and he neglected the progress of the rebel barons +till their numbers were strong, and their castles impregnable. +From the pages of Livy he had not imbibed the art, or even the +courage, of a general: an army of twenty thousand Romans returned +without honor or effect from the attack of Marino; and his +vengeance was amused by painting his enemies, their heads +downwards, and drowning two dogs (at least they should have been +bears) as the representatives of the Ursini. The belief of his +incapacity encouraged their operations: they were invited by +their secret adherents; and the barons attempted, with four +thousand foot, and sixteen hundred horse, to enter Rome by force +or surprise. The city was prepared for their reception; the +alarm-bell rung all night; the gates were strictly guarded, or +insolently open; and after some hesitation they sounded a +retreat. The two first divisions had passed along the walls, but +the prospect of a free entrance tempted the headstrong valor of +the nobles in the rear; and after a successful skirmish, they +were overthrown and massacred without quarter by the crowds of +the Roman people. Stephen Colonna the younger, the noble spirit +to whom Petrarch ascribed the restoration of Italy, was preceded +or accompanied in death by his son John, a gallant youth, by his +brother Peter, who might regret the ease and honors of the +church, by a nephew of legitimate birth, and by two bastards of +the Colonna race; and the number of seven, the seven crowns, as +Rienzi styled them, of the Holy Ghost, was completed by the agony +of the deplorable parent, and the veteran chief, who had survived +the hope and fortune of his house. The vision and prophecies of +St. Martin and Pope Boniface had been used by the tribune to +animate his troops: ^43 he displayed, at least in the pursuit, +the spirit of a hero; but he forgot the maxims of the ancient +Romans, who abhorred the triumphs of civil war. The conqueror +ascended the Capitol; deposited his crown and sceptre on the +altar; and boasted, with some truth, that he had cut off an ear, +which neither pope nor emperor had been able to amputate. ^44 His +base and implacable revenge denied the honors of burial; and the +bodies of the Colonna, which he threatened to expose with those +of the vilest malefactors, were secretly interred by the holy +virgins of their name and family. ^45 The people sympathized in +their grief, repented of their own fury, and detested the +indecent joy of Rienzi, who visited the spot where these +illustrious victims had fallen. It was on that fatal spot that he +conferred on his son the honor of knighthood: and the ceremony +was accomplished by a slight blow from each of the horsemen of +the guard, and by a ridiculous and inhuman ablution from a pool +of water, which was yet polluted with patrician blood. ^46</p> + +<p>[Footnote 43: Rienzi, in the above-mentioned letter, ascribes +to St. Martin the tribune, Boniface VIII. the enemy of Colonna, +himself, and the Roman people, the glory of the day, which +Villani likewise (l. 12, c. 104) describes as a regular battle. +The disorderly skirmish, the flight of the Romans, and the +cowardice of Rienzi, are painted in the simple and minute +narrative of Fortifiocca, or the anonymous citizen, (l. i. c. +34--37.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 44: In describing the fall of the Colonna, I speak +only of the family of Stephen the elder, who is often confounded +by the P. du Cerçeau with his son. That family was +extinguished, but the house has been perpetuated in the +collateral branches, of which I have not a very accurate +knowledge. Circumspice (says Petrarch) familiæ tuæ +statum, Columniensium <strong><em>domos</em></strong>: solito +pauciores habeat columnas. Quid ad rem modo fundamentum stabile, +solidumque permaneat.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 45: The convent of St. Silvester was founded, +endowed, and protected by the Colonna cardinals, for the +daughters of the family who embraced a monastic life, and who, in +the year 1318, were twelve in number. The others were allowed to +marry with their kinsmen in the fourth degree, and the +dispensation was justified by the small number and close +alliances of the noble families of Rome, (Mémoires sur +Pétrarque, tom. i. p. 110, tom. ii. p. 401.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 46: Petrarch wrote a stiff and pedantic letter of +consolation, (Fam. l. vii. epist. 13, p. 682, 683.) The friend +was lost in the patriot. Nulla toto orbe principum familia +carior; carior tamen respublica, carior Roma, carior Italia.</p> + +<p>Je rends graces aux Dieux de n'être pas Romain.</p> + +<p>11]</p> + +<p>A short delay would have saved the Colonna, the delay of a +single month, which elapsed between the triumph and the exile of +Rienzi. In the pride of victory, he forfeited what yet remained +of his civil virtues, without acquiring the fame of military +prowess. A free and vigorous opposition was formed in the city; +and when the tribune proposed in the public council ^47 to impose +a new tax, and to regulate the government of Perugia, thirty-nine +members voted against his measures; repelled the injurious charge +of treachery and corruption; and urged him to prove, by their +forcible exclusion, that if the populace adhered to his cause, it +was already disclaimed by the most respectable citizens. The pope +and the sacred college had never been dazzled by his specious +professions; they were justly offended by the insolence of his +conduct; a cardinal legate was sent to Italy, and after some +fruitless treaty, and two personal interviews, he fulminated a +bull of excommunication, in which the tribune is degraded from +his office, and branded with the guilt of rebellion, sacrilege, +and heresy. ^48 The surviving barons of Rome were now humbled to +a sense of allegiance; their interest and revenge engaged them in +the service of the church; but as the fate of the Colonna was +before their eyes, they abandoned to a private adventurer the +peril and glory of the revolution. John Pepin, count of +Minorbino, ^49 in the kingdom of Naples, had been condemned for +his crimes, or his riches, to perpetual imprisonment; and +Petrarch, by soliciting his release, indirectly contributed to +the ruin of his friend. At the head of one hundred and fifty +soldiers, the count of Minorbino introduced himself into Rome; +barricaded the quarter of the Colonna: and found the enterprise +as easy as it had seemed impossible. From the first alarm, the +bell of the Capitol incessantly tolled; but, instead of repairing +to the well-known sound, the people were silent and inactive; and +the pusillanimous Rienzi, deploring their ingratitude with sighs +and tears, abdicated the government and palace of the +republic.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 47: This council and opposition is obscurely +mentioned by Pollistore, a contemporary writer, who has preserved +some curious and original facts, (Rer. Italicarum, tom. xxv. c. +31, p. 798--804.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 48: The briefs and bulls of Clement VI. against +Rienzi are translated by the P. du Cerçeau, (p. 196, 232,) +from the Ecclesiastical Annals of Odericus Raynaldus, (A.D. 1347, +No. 15, 17, 21, &c.,) who found them in the archives of the +Vatican.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 49: Matteo Villani describes the origin, character, +and death of this count of Minorbino, a man da natura inconstante +e senza fede, whose grandfather, a crafty notary, was enriched +and ennobled by the spoils of the Saracens of Nocera, (l. vii. c. +102, 103.) See his imprisonment, and the efforts of Petrarch, +tom. ii. p. 149--151.)]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LXX: Final Settlement Of The +Ecclesiastical State. -- Part III.</em></strong></p> + +<p>Without drawing his sword, count Pepin restored the +aristocracy and the church; three senators were chosen, and the +legate, assuming the first rank, accepted his two colleagues from +the rival families of Colonna and Ursini. The acts of the tribune +were abolished, his head was proscribed; yet such was the terror +of his name, that the barons hesitated three days before they +would trust themselves in the city, and Rienzi was left above a +month in the castle of St. Angelo, from whence he peaceably +withdrew, after laboring, without effect, to revive the affection +and courage of the Romans. The vision of freedom and empire had +vanished: their fallen spirit would have acquiesced in servitude, +had it been smoothed by tranquillity and order; and it was +scarcely observed, that the new senators derived their authority +from the Apostolic See; that four cardinals were appointed to +reform, with dictatorial power, the state of the republic. Rome +was again agitated by the bloody feuds of the barons, who +detested each other, and despised the commons: their hostile +fortresses, both in town and country, again rose, and were again +demolished: and the peaceful citizens, a flock of sheep, were +devoured, says the Florentine historian, by these rapacious +wolves. But when their pride and avarice had exhausted the +patience of the Romans, a confraternity of the Virgin Mary +protected or avenged the republic: the bell of the Capitol was +again tolled, the nobles in arms trembled in the presence of an +unarmed multitude; and of the two senators, Colonna escaped from +the window of the palace, and Ursini was stoned at the foot of +the altar. The dangerous office of tribune was successively +occupied by two plebeians, Cerroni and Baroncelli. The mildness +of Cerroni was unequal to the times; and after a faint struggle, +he retired with a fair reputation and a decent fortune to the +comforts of rural life. Devoid of eloquence or genius, Baroncelli +was distinguished by a resolute spirit: he spoke the language of +a patriot, and trod in the footsteps of tyrants; his suspicion +was a sentence of death, and his own death was the reward of his +cruelties. Amidst the public misfortunes, the faults of Rienzi +were forgotten; and the Romans sighed for the peace and +prosperity of their good estate. ^50</p> + +<p>[Footnote 50: The troubles of Rome, from the departure to the +return of Rienzi, are related by Matteo Villani (l. ii. c. 47, l. +iii. c. 33, 57, 78) and Thomas Fortifiocca, (l. iii. c. 1--4.) I +have slightly passed over these secondary characters, who +imitated the original tribune.]</p> + +<p>After an exile of seven years, the first deliverer was again +restored to his country. In the disguise of a monk or a pilgrim, +he escaped from the castle of St. Angelo, implored the friendship +of the king of Hungary at Naples, tempted the ambition of every +bold adventurer, mingled at Rome with the pilgrims of the +jubilee, lay concealed among the hermits of the Apennine, and +wandered through the cities of Italy, Germany, and Bohemia. His +person was invisible, his name was yet formidable; and the +anxiety of the court of Avignon supposes, and even magnifies, his +personal merit. The emperor Charles the Fourth gave audience to a +stranger, who frankly revealed himself as the tribune of the +republic; and astonished an assembly of ambassadors and princes, +by the eloquence of a patriot and the visions of a prophet, the +downfall of tyranny and the kingdom of the Holy Ghost. ^51 +Whatever had been his hopes, Rienzi found himself a captive; but +he supported a character of independence and dignity, and obeyed, +as his own choice, the irresistible summons of the supreme +pontiff. The zeal of Petrarch, which had been cooled by the +unworthy conduct, was rekindled by the sufferings and the +presence, of his friend; and he boldly complains of the times, in +which the savior of Rome was delivered by her emperor into the +hands of her bishop. Rienzi was transported slowly, but in safe +custody, from Prague to Avignon: his entrance into the city was +that of a malefactor; in his prison he was chained by the leg; +and four cardinals were named to inquire into the crimes of +heresy and rebellion. But his trial and condemnation would have +involved some questions, which it was more prudent to leave under +the veil of mystery: the temporal supremacy of the popes; the +duty of residence; the civil and ecclesiastical privileges of the +clergy and people of Rome. The reigning pontiff well deserved the +appellation of <strong><em>Clement</em></strong>: the strange +vicissitudes and magnanimous spirit of the captive excited his +pity and esteem; and Petrarch believes that he respected in the +hero the name and sacred character of a poet. ^52 Rienzi was +indulged with an easy confinement and the use of books; and in +the assiduous study of Livy and the Bible, he sought the cause +and the consolation of his misfortunes.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 51: These visions, of which the friends and enemies +of Rienzi seem alike ignorant, are surely magnified by the zeal +of Pollistore, a Dominican inquisitor, (Rer. Ital. tom. xxv. c. +36, p. 819.) Had the tribune taught, that Christ was succeeded by +the Holy Ghost, that the tyranny of the pope would be abolished, +he might have been convicted of heresy and treason, without +offending the Roman people. *</p> + +<p>Note: * So far from having magnified these visions, Pollistore +is more than confirmed by the documents published by Papencordt. +The adoption of all the wild doctrines of the Fratricelli, the +Spirituals, in which, for the time at least, Rienzi appears to +have been in earnest; his magnificent offers to the emperor, and +the whole history of his life, from his first escape from Rome to +his imprisonment at Avignon, are among the most curious chapters +of his eventful life. -- M. 1845.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 52: The astonishment, the envy almost, of Petrarch +is a proof, if not of the truth of this incredible fact, at least +of his own veracity. The abbé de Sade (Mémoires, +tom. iii. p. 242) quotes the vith epistle of the xiiith book of +Petrarch, but it is of the royal MS., which he consulted, and not +of the ordinary Basil edition, (p. 920.)]</p> + +<p>The succeeding pontificate of Innocent the Sixth opened a new +prospect of his deliverance and restoration; and the court of +Avignon was persuaded, that the successful rebel could alone +appease and reform the anarchy of the metropolis. After a solemn +profession of fidelity, the Roman tribune was sent into Italy, +with the title of senator; but the death of Baroncelli appeared +to supersede the use of his mission; and the legate, Cardinal +Albornoz, ^53 a consummate statesman, allowed him with +reluctance, and without aid, to undertake the perilous +experiment. His first reception was equal to his wishes: the day +of his entrance was a public festival; and his eloquence and +authority revived the laws of the good estate. But this momentary +sunshine was soon clouded by his own vices and those of the +people: in the Capitol, he might often regret the prison of +Avignon; and after a second administration of four months, Rienzi +was massacred in a tumult which had been fomented by the Roman +barons. In the society of the Germans and Bohemians, he is said +to have contracted the habits of intemperance and cruelty: +adversity had chilled his enthusiasm, without fortifying his +reason or virtue; and that youthful hope, that lively assurance, +which is the pledge of success, was now succeeded by the cold +impotence of distrust and despair. The tribune had reigned with +absolute dominion, by the choice, and in the hearts, of the +Romans: the senator was the servile minister of a foreign court; +and while he was suspected by the people, he was abandoned by the +prince. The legate Albornoz, who seemed desirous of his ruin, +inflexibly refused all supplies of men and money; a faithful +subject could no longer presume to touch the revenues of the +apostolical chamber; and the first idea of a tax was the signal +of clamor and sedition. Even his justice was tainted with the +guilt or reproach of selfish cruelty: the most virtuous citizen +of Rome was sacrificed to his jealousy; and in the execution of a +public robber, from whose purse he had been assisted, the +magistrate too much forgot, or too much remembered, the +obligations of the debtor. ^54 A civil war exhausted his +treasures, and the patience of the city: the Colonna maintained +their hostile station at Palestrina; and his mercenaries soon +despised a leader whose ignorance and fear were envious of all +subordinate merit. In the death, as in the life, of Rienzi, the +hero and the coward were strangely mingled. When the Capitol was +invested by a furious multitude, when he was basely deserted by +his civil and military servants, the intrepid senator, waving the +banner of liberty, presented himself on the balcony, addressed +his eloquence to the various passions of the Romans, and labored +to persuade them, that in the same cause himself and the republic +must either stand or fall. His oration was interrupted by a +volley of imprecations and stones; and after an arrow had +transpierced his hand, he sunk into abject despair, and fled +weeping to the inner chambers, from whence he was let down by a +sheet before the windows of the prison. Destitute of aid or hope, +he was besieged till the evening: the doors of the Capitol were +destroyed with axes and fire; and while the senator attempted to +escape in a plebeian habit, he was discovered and dragged to the +platform of the palace, the fatal scene of his judgments and +executions. A whole hour, without voice or motion, he stood +amidst the multitude half naked and half dead: their rage was +hushed into curiosity and wonder: the last feelings of reverence +and compassion yet struggled in his favor; and they might have +prevailed, if a bold assassin had not plunged a dagger in his +breast. He fell senseless with the first stroke: the impotent +revenge of his enemies inflicted a thousand wounds: and the +senator's body was abandoned to the dogs, to the Jews, and to the +flames. Posterity will compare the virtues and failings of this +extraordinary man; but in a long period of anarchy and servitude, +the name of Rienzi has often been celebrated as the deliverer of +his country, and the last of the Roman patriots. ^55</p> + +<p>[Footnote 53: Ægidius, or Giles Albornoz, a noble +Spaniard, archbishop of Toledo, and cardinal legate in Italy, +(A.D. 1353--1367,) restored, by his arms and counsels, the +temporal dominion of the popes. His life has been separately +written by Sepulveda; but Dryden could not reasonably suppose, +that his name, or that of Wolsey, had reached the ears of the +Mufti in Don Sebastian.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 54: From Matteo Villani and Fortifiocca, the P. du +Cerçeau (p. 344--394) has extracted the life and death of +the chevalier Montreal, the life of a robber and the death of a +hero. At the head of a free company, the first that desolated +Italy, he became rich and formidable be had money in all the +banks, -- 60,000 ducats in Padua alone.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 55: The exile, second government, and death of +Rienzi, are minutely related by the anonymous Roman, who appears +neither his friend nor his enemy, (l. iii. c. 12--25.) Petrarch, +who loved the <strong><em>tribune</em></strong>, was indifferent +to the fate of the <strong><em>senator</em></strong>.]</p> + +<p>The first and most generous wish of Petrarch was the +restoration of a free republic; but after the exile and death of +his plebeian hero, he turned his eyes from the tribune, to the +king, of the Romans. The Capitol was yet stained with the blood +of Rienzi, when Charles the Fourth descended from the Alps to +obtain the Italian and Imperial crowns. In his passage through +Milan he received the visit, and repaid the flattery, of the +poet-laureate; accepted a medal of Augustus; and promised, +without a smile, to imitate the founder of the Roman monarchy. A +false application of the name and maxims of antiquity was the +source of the hopes and disappointments of Petrarch; yet he could +not overlook the difference of times and characters; the +immeasurable distance between the first Cæsars and a +Bohemian prince, who by the favor of the clergy had been elected +the titular head of the German aristocracy. Instead of restoring +to Rome her glory and her provinces, he had bound himself by a +secret treaty with the pope, to evacuate the city on the day of +his coronation; and his shameful retreat was pursued by the +reproaches of the patriot bard. ^56</p> + +<p>[Footnote 56: The hopes and the disappointment of Petrarch are +agreeably described in his own words by the French biographer, +(Mémoires, tom. iii. p. 375--413;) but the deep, though +secret, wound was the coronation of Zanubi, the poet-laureate, by +Charles IV.]</p> + +<p>After the loss of liberty and empire, his third and more +humble wish was to reconcile the shepherd with his flock; to +recall the Roman bishop to his ancient and peculiar diocese. In +the fervor of youth, with the authority of age, Petrarch +addressed his exhortations to five successive popes, and his +eloquence was always inspired by the enthusiasm of sentiment and +the freedom of language. ^57 The son of a citizen of Florence +invariably preferred the country of his birth to that of his +education; and Italy, in his eyes, was the queen and garden of +the world. Amidst her domestic factions, she was doubtless +superior to France both in art and science, in wealth and +politeness; but the difference could scarcely support the epithet +of barbarous, which he promiscuously bestows on the countries +beyond the Alps. Avignon, the mystic Babylon, the sink of vice +and corruption, was the object of his hatred and contempt; but he +forgets that her scandalous vices were not the growth of the +soil, and that in every residence they would adhere to the power +and luxury of the papal court. He confesses that the successor of +St. Peter is the bishop of the universal church; yet it was not +on the banks of the Rhône, but of the Tyber, that the +apostle had fixed his everlasting throne; and while every city in +the Christian world was blessed with a bishop, the metropolis +alone was desolate and forlorn. Since the removal of the Holy +See, the sacred buildings of the Lateran and the Vatican, their +altars and their saints, were left in a state of poverty and +decay; and Rome was often painted under the image of a +disconsolate matron, as if the wandering husband could be +reclaimed by the homely portrait of the age and infirmities of +his weeping spouse. ^58 But the cloud which hung over the seven +hills would be dispelled by the presence of their lawful +sovereign: eternal fame, the prosperity of Rome, and the peace of +Italy, would be the recompense of the pope who should dare to +embrace this generous resolution. Of the five whom Petrarch +exhorted, the three first, John the Twenty-second, Benedict the +Twelfth, and Clement the Sixth, were importuned or amused by the +boldness of the orator; but the memorable change which had been +attempted by Urban the Fifth was finally accomplished by Gregory +the Eleventh. The execution of their design was opposed by +weighty and almost insuperable obstacles. A king of France, who +has deserved the epithet of wise, was unwilling to release them +from a local dependence: the cardinals, for the most part his +subjects, were attached to the language, manners, and climate of +Avignon; to their stately palaces; above all, to the wines of +Burgundy. In their eyes, Italy was foreign or hostile; and they +reluctantly embarked at Marseilles, as if they had been sold or +banished into the land of the Saracens. Urban the Fifth resided +three years in the Vatican with safety and honor: his sanctity +was protected by a guard of two thousand horse; and the king of +Cyprus, the queen of Naples, and the emperors of the East and +West, devoutly saluted their common father in the chair of St. +Peter. But the joy of Petrarch and the Italians was soon turned +into grief and indignation. Some reasons of public or private +moment, his own impatience or the prayers of the cardinals, +recalled Urban to France; and the approaching election was saved +from the tyrannic patriotism of the Romans. The powers of heaven +were interested in their cause: Bridget of Sweden, a saint and +pilgrim, disapproved the return, and foretold the death, of Urban +the Fifth: the migration of Gregory the Eleventh was encouraged +by St. Catharine of Sienna, the spouse of Christ and ambassadress +of the Florentines; and the popes themselves, the great masters +of human credulity, appear to have listened to these visionary +females. ^59 Yet those celestial admonitions were supported by +some arguments of temporal policy. The residents of Avignon had +been invaded by hostile violence: at the head of thirty thousand +robbers, a hero had extorted ransom and absolution from the vicar +of Christ and the sacred college; and the maxim of the French +warriors, to spare the people and plunder the church, was a new +heresy of the most dangerous import. ^60 While the pope was +driven from Avignon, he was strenuously invited to Rome. The +senate and people acknowledged him as their lawful sovereign, and +laid at his feet the keys of the gates, the bridges, and the +fortresses; of the quarter at least beyond the Tyber. ^61 But +this loyal offer was accompanied by a declaration, that they +could no longer suffer the scandal and calamity of his absence; +and that his obstinacy would finally provoke them to revive and +assert the primitive right of election. The abbot of Mount Cassin +had been consulted, whether he would accept the triple crown ^62 +from the clergy and people: "I am a citizen of Rome," ^63 replied +that venerable ecclesiastic, "and my first law is, the voice of +my country." ^64</p> + +<p>[Footnote 57: See, in his accurate and amusing biographer, the +application of Petrarch and Rome to Benedict XII. in the year +1334, (Mémoires, tom. i. p. 261--265,) to Clement VI. in +1342, (tom. ii. p. 45--47,) and to Urban V. in 1366, (tom. iii. +p. 677--691:) his praise (p. 711--715) and excuse (p. 771) of the +last of these pontiffs. His angry controversy on the respective +merits of France and Italy may be found, Opp. p. 1068--1085.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 58:</p> + +<p>Squalida sed quoniam facies, neglectaque cultû</p> + +<p>Cæsaries; multisque malis lassata senectus</p> + +<p>Eripuit solitam effigiem: vetus accipe nomen;</p> + +<p>Roma vocor. (Carm. l. 2, p. 77.)</p> + +<p>He spins this allegory beyond all measure or patience. The +Epistles to Urban V in prose are more simple and persuasive, +(Senilium, l. vii. p. 811--827 l. ix. epist. i. p. +844--854.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 59: I have not leisure to expatiate on the legends +of St. Bridget or St. Catharine, the last of which might furnish +some amusing stories. Their effect on the mind of Gregory XI. is +attested by the last solemn words of the dying pope, who +admonished the assistants, ut caverent ab hominibus, sive viris, +sive mulieribus, sub specie religionis loquentibus visiones sui +capitis, quia per tales ipse seductus, &c., (Baluz. Not ad +Vit. Pap. Avenionensium, tom. i. p. 1224.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 60: This predatory expedition is related by +Froissard, (Chronique, tom. i. p. 230,) and in the life of Du +Guesclin, (Collection Générale des Mémoires +Historiques, tom. iv. c. 16, p. 107--113.) As early as the year +1361, the court of Avignon had been molested by similar +freebooters, who afterwards passed the Alps, (Mémoires sur +Pétrarque, tom. iii. p. 563--569.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 61: Fleury alleges, from the annals of Odericus +Raynaldus, the original treaty which was signed the 21st of +December, 1376, between Gregory XI. and the Romans, (Hist. +Ecclés. tom. xx. p. 275.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 62: The first crown or regnum (Ducange, Gloss. +Latin. tom. v. p. 702) on the episcopal mitre of the popes, is +ascribed to the gift of Constantine, or Clovis. The second was +added by Boniface VIII., as the emblem not only of a spiritual, +but of a temporal, kingdom. The three states of the church are +represented by the triple crown which was introduced by John +XXII. or Benedict XII., (Mémoires sur Pétrarque, +tom. i. p. 258, 259.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 63: Baluze (Not. ad Pap. Avenion. tom. i. p. 1194, +1195) produces the original evidence which attests the threats of +the Roman ambassadors, and the resignation of the abbot of Mount +Cassin, qui, ultro se offerens, respondit se civem Romanum esse, +et illud velle quod ipsi vellent.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 64: The return of the popes from Avignon to Rome, +and their reception by the people, are related in the original +lives of Urban V. and Gregory XI., in Baluze (Vit. Paparum +Avenionensium, tom. i. p. 363--486) and Muratori, (Script. Rer. +Italicarum, tom. iii. P. i. p. 613--712.) In the disputes of the +schism, every circumstance was severely, though partially, +scrutinized; more especially in the great inquest, which decided +the obedience of Castile, and to which Baluze, in his notes, so +often and so largely appeals from a MS. volume in the Harley +library, (p. 1281, &c.)]</p> + +<p>If superstition will interpret an untimely death, ^65 if the +merit of counsels be judged from the event, the heavens may seem +to frown on a measure of such apparent season and propriety. +Gregory the Eleventh did not survive above fourteen months his +return to the Vatican; and his decease was followed by the great +schism of the West, which distracted the Latin church above forty +years. The sacred college was then composed of twenty-two +cardinals: six of these had remained at Avignon; eleven +Frenchmen, one Spaniard, and four Italians, entered the conclave +in the usual form. Their choice was not yet limited to the +purple; and their unanimous votes acquiesced in the archbishop of +Bari, a subject of Naples, conspicuous for his zeal and learning, +who ascended the throne of St. Peter under the name of Urban the +Sixth. The epistle of the sacred college affirms his free, and +regular, election; which had been inspired, as usual, by the Holy +Ghost; he was adored, invested, and crowned, with the customary +rites; his temporal authority was obeyed at Rome and Avignon, and +his ecclesiastical supremacy was acknowledged in the Latin world. +During several weeks, the cardinals attended their new master +with the fairest professions of attachment and loyalty; till the +summer heats permitted a decent escape from the city. But as soon +as they were united at Anagni and Fundi, in a place of security, +they cast aside the mask, accused their own falsehood and +hypocrisy, excommunicated the apostate and antichrist of Rome, +and proceeded to a new election of Robert of Geneva, Clement the +Seventh, whom they announced to the nations as the true and +rightful vicar of Christ. Their first choice, an involuntary and +illegal act, was annulled by fear of death and the menaces of the +Romans; and their complaint is justified by the strong evidence +of probability and fact. The twelve French cardinals, above two +thirds of the votes, were masters of the election; and whatever +might be their provincial jealousies, it cannot fairly be +presumed that they would have sacrificed their right and interest +to a foreign candidate, who would never restore them to their +native country. In the various, and often inconsistent, +narratives, ^66 the shades of popular violence are more darkly or +faintly colored: but the licentiousness of the seditious Romans +was inflamed by a sense of their privileges, and the danger of a +second emigration. The conclave was intimidated by the shouts, +and encompassed by the arms, of thirty thousand rebels; the bells +of the Capitol and St. Peter's rang an alarm: "Death, or an +Italian pope!" was the universal cry; the same threat was +repeated by the twelve bannerets or chiefs of the quarters, in +the form of charitable advice; some preparations were made for +burning the obstinate cardinals; and had they chosen a +Transalpine subject, it is probable that they would never have +departed alive from the Vatican. The same constraint imposed the +necessity of dissembling in the eyes of Rome and of the world; +the pride and cruelty of Urban presented a more inevitable +danger; and they soon discovered the features of the tyrant, who +could walk in his garden and recite his breviary, while he heard +from an adjacent chamber six cardinals groaning on the rack. His +inflexible zeal, which loudly censured their luxury and vice, +would have attached them to the stations and duties of their +parishes at Rome; and had he not fatally delayed a new promotion, +the French cardinals would have been reduced to a helpless +minority in the sacred college. For these reasons, and the hope +of repassing the Alps, they rashly violated the peace and unity +of the church; and the merits of their double choice are yet +agitated in the Catholic schools. ^67 The vanity, rather than the +interest, of the nation determined the court and clergy of +France. ^68 The states of Savoy, Sicily, Cyprus, Arragon, +Castille, Navarre, and Scotland were inclined by their example +and authority to the obedience of Clement the Seventh, and after +his decease, of Benedict the Thirteenth. Rome and the principal +states of Italy, Germany, Portugal, England, ^69 the Low +Countries, and the kingdoms of the North, adhered to the prior +election of Urban the Sixth, who was succeeded by Boniface the +Ninth, Innocent the Seventh, and Gregory the Twelfth.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 65: Can the death of a good man be esteemed a +punishment by those who believe in the immortality of the soul? +They betray the instability of their faith. Yet as a mere +philosopher, I cannot agree with the Greeks, on oi Jeoi jilousin +apoqnhskei neoV, (Brunck, Poetæ Gnomici, p. 231.) See in +Herodotus (l. i. c. 31) the moral and pleasing tale of the Argive +youths.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 66: In the first book of the Histoire du Concile de +Pise, M. Lenfant has abridged and compared the original +narratives of the adherents of Urban and Clement, of the Italians +and Germans, the French and Spaniards. The latter appear to be +the most active and loquacious, and every fact and word in the +original lives of Gregory XI. and Clement VII. are supported in +the notes of their editor Baluze.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 67: The ordinal numbers of the popes seems to decide +the question against Clement VII. and Benedict XIII., who are +boldly stigmatized as antipopes by the Italians, while the French +are content with authorities and reasons to plead the cause of +doubt and toleration, (Baluz. in Præfat.) It is singular, +or rather it is not singular, that saints, visions and miracles +should be common to both parties.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 68: Baluze strenuously labors (Not. p. 1271--1280) +to justify the pure and pious motives of Charles V. king of +France: he refused to hear the arguments of Urban; but were not +the Urbanists equally deaf to the reasons of Clement, +&c.?]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 69: An epistle, or declamation, in the name of +Edward III., (Baluz. Vit. Pap. Avenion. tom. i. p. 553,) displays +the zeal of the English nation against the Clementines. Nor was +their zeal confined to words: the bishop of Norwich led a crusade +of 60,000 bigots beyond sea, (Hume's History, vol. iii. p. 57, +58.)]</p> + +<p>From the banks of the Tyber and the Rhône, the hostile +pontiffs encountered each other with the pen and the sword: the +civil and ecclesiastical order of society was disturbed; and the +Romans had their full share of the mischiefs of which they may be +arraigned as the primary authors. ^70 They had vainly flattered +themselves with the hope of restoring the seat of the +ecclesiastical monarchy, and of relieving their poverty with the +tributes and offerings of the nations; but the separation of +France and Spain diverted the stream of lucrative devotion; nor +could the loss be compensated by the two jubilees which were +crowded into the space of ten years. By the avocations of the +schism, by foreign arms, and popular tumults, Urban the Sixth and +his three successors were often compelled to interrupt their +residence in the Vatican. The Colonna and Ursini still exercised +their deadly feuds: the bannerets of Rome asserted and abused the +privileges of a republic: the vicars of Christ, who had levied a +military force, chastised their rebellion with the gibbet, the +sword, and the dagger; and, in a friendly conference, eleven +deputies of the people were perfidiously murdered and cast into +the street. Since the invasion of Robert the Norman, the Romans +had pursued their domestic quarrels without the dangerous +interposition of a stranger. But in the disorders of the schism, +an aspiring neighbor, Ladislaus king of Naples, alternately +supported and betrayed the pope and the people; by the former he +was declared <strong><em>gonfalonier</em></strong>, or general, +of the church, while the latter submitted to his choice the +nomination of their magistrates. Besieging Rome by land and +water, he thrice entered the gates as a Barbarian conqueror; +profaned the altars, violated the virgins, pillaged the +merchants, performed his devotions at St. Peter's, and left a +garrison in the castle of St. Angelo. His arms were sometimes +unfortunate, and to a delay of three days he was indebted for his +life and crown: but Ladislaus triumphed in his turn; and it was +only his premature death that could save the metropolis and the +ecclesiastical state from the ambitious conqueror, who had +assumed the title, or at least the powers, of king of Rome. +^71</p> + +<p>[Footnote 70: Besides the general historians, the Diaries of +Delphinus Gentilia Peter Antonius, and Stephen Infessura, in the +great collection of Muratori, represented the state and +misfortunes of Rome.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 71: It is supposed by Giannone (tom. iii. p. 292) +that he styled himself Rex Romæ, a title unknown to the +world since the expulsion of Tarquin. But a nearer inspection has +justified the reading of Rex +R<strong><em>a</em></strong>mæ, of Rama, an obscure kingdom +annexed to the crown of Hungary.]</p> + +<p>I have not undertaken the ecclesiastical history of the +schism; but Rome, the object of these last chapters, is deeply +interested in the disputed succession of her sovereigns. The +first counsels for the peace and union of Christendom arose from +the university of Paris, from the faculty of the Sorbonne, whose +doctors were esteemed, at least in the Gallican church, as the +most consummate masters of theological science. ^72 Prudently +waiving all invidious inquiry into the origin and merits of the +dispute, they proposed, as a healing measure, that the two +pretenders of Rome and Avignon should abdicate at the same time, +after qualifying the cardinals of the adverse factions to join in +a legitimate election; and that the nations should +<strong><em>subtract</em></strong> ^73 their obedience, if either +of the competitor preferred his own interest to that of the +public. At each vacancy, these physicians of the church +deprecated the mischiefs of a hasty choice; but the policy of the +conclave and the ambition of its members were deaf to reason and +entreaties; and whatsoever promises were made, the pope could +never be bound by the oaths of the cardinal. During fifteen +years, the pacific designs of the university were eluded by the +arts of the rival pontiffs, the scruples or passions of their +adherents, and the vicissitudes of French factions, that ruled +the insanity of Charles the Sixth. At length a vigorous +resolution was embraced; and a solemn embassy, of the titular +patriarch of Alexandria, two archbishops, five bishops, five +abbots, three knights, and twenty doctors, was sent to the courts +of Avignon and Rome, to require, in the name of the church and +king, the abdication of the two pretenders, of Peter de Luna, who +styled himself Benedict the Thirteenth, and of Angelo Corrario, +who assumed the name of Gregory the Twelfth. For the ancient +honor of Rome, and the success of their commission, the +ambassadors solicited a conference with the magistrates of the +city, whom they gratified by a positive declaration, that the +most Christian king did not entertain a wish of transporting the +holy see from the Vatican, which he considered as the genuine and +proper seat of the successor of St. Peter. In the name of the +senate and people, an eloquent Roman asserted their desire to +cooperate in the union of the church, deplored the temporal and +spiritual calamities of the long schism, and requested the +protection of France against the arms of the king of Naples. The +answers of Benedict and Gregory were alike edifying and alike +deceitful; and, in evading the demand of their abdication, the +two rivals were animated by a common spirit. They agreed on the +necessity of a previous interview; but the time, the place, and +the manner, could never be ascertained by mutual consent. "If the +one advances," says a servant of Gregory, "the other retreats; +the one appears an animal fearful of the land, the other a +creature apprehensive of the water. And thus, for a short remnant +of life and power, will these aged priests endanger the peace and +salvation of the Christian world." ^74</p> + +<p>[Footnote 72: The leading and decisive part which France +assumed in the schism is stated by Peter du Puis in a separate +history, extracted from authentic records, and inserted in the +seventh volume of the last and best edition of his friend +Thuanus, (P. xi. p. 110--184.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 73: Of this measure, John Gerson, a stout doctor, +was the author of the champion. The proceedings of the university +of Paris and the Gallican church were often prompted by his +advice, and are copiously displayed in his theological writings, +of which Le Clerc (Bibliothèque Choisie, tom. x. p. 1--78) +has given a valuable extract. John Gerson acted an important part +in the councils of Pisa and Constance.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 74: Leonardus Brunus Aretinus, one of the revivers +of classic learning in Italy, who, after serving many years as +secretary in the Roman court, retired to the honorable office of +chancellor of the republic of Florence, (Fabric. Bibliot. Medii +Ævi, tom. i. p. 290.) Lenfant has given the version of this +curious epistle, (Concile de Pise, tom. i. p. 192--195.)]</p> + +<p>The Christian world was at length provoked by their obstinacy +and fraud: they were deserted by their cardinals, who embraced +each other as friends and colleagues; and their revolt was +supported by a numerous assembly of prelates and ambassadors. +With equal justice, the council of Pisa deposed the popes of Rome +and Avignon; the conclave was unanimous in the choice of +Alexander the Fifth, and his vacant seat was soon filled by a +similar election of John the Twenty-third, the most profligate of +mankind. But instead of extinguishing the schism, the rashness of +the French and Italians had given a third pretender to the chair +of St. Peter. Such new claims of the synod and conclave were +disputed; three kings, of Germany, Hungary, and Naples, adhered +to the cause of Gregory the Twelfth; and Benedict the Thirteenth, +himself a Spaniard, was acknowledged by the devotion and +patriotism of that powerful nation. The rash proceedings of Pisa +were corrected by the council of Constance; the emperor Sigismond +acted a conspicuous part as the advocate or protector of the +Catholic church; and the number and weight of civil and +ecclesiastical members might seem to constitute the +states-general of Europe. Of the three popes, John the +Twenty-third was the first victim: he fled and was brought back a +prisoner: the most scandalous charges were suppressed; the vicar +of Christ was only accused of piracy, murder, rape, sodomy, and +incest; and after subscribing his own condemnation, he expiated +in prison the imprudence of trusting his person to a free city +beyond the Alps. Gregory the Twelfth, whose obedience was reduced +to the narrow precincts of Rimini, descended with more honor from +the throne; and his ambassador convened the session, in which he +renounced the title and authority of lawful pope. To vanquish the +obstinacy of Benedict the Thirteenth or his adherents, the +emperor in person undertook a journey from Constance to +Perpignan. The kings of Castile, Arragon, Navarre, and Scotland, +obtained an equal and honorable treaty; with the concurrence of +the Spaniards, Benedict was deposed by the council; but the +harmless old man was left in a solitary castle to excommunicate +twice each day the rebel kingdoms which had deserted his cause. +After thus eradicating the remains of the schism, the synod of +Constance proceeded with slow and cautious steps to elect the +sovereign of Rome and the head of the church. On this momentous +occasion, the college of twenty-three cardinals was fortified +with thirty deputies; six of whom were chosen in each of the five +great nations of Christendom, -- the Italian, the German, the +French, the Spanish, and the <strong><em>English</em></strong>: +^75 the interference of strangers was softened by their generous +preference of an Italian and a Roman; and the hereditary, as well +as personal, merit of Otho Colonna recommended him to the +conclave. Rome accepted with joy and obedience the noblest of her +sons; the ecclesiastical state was defended by his powerful +family; and the elevation of Martin the Fifth is the æra of +the restoration and establishment of the popes in the Vatican. +^76</p> + +<p>[Footnote 75: I cannot overlook this great national cause, +which was vigorously maintained by the English ambassadors +against those of France. The latter contended, that Christendom +was essentially distributed into the four great nations and +votes, of Italy, Germany, France, and Spain, and that the lesser +kingdoms (such as England, Denmark, Portugal, &c.) were +comprehended under one or other of these great divisions. The +English asserted, that the British islands, of which they were +the head, should be considered as a fifth and coördinate +nation, with an equal vote; and every argument of truth or fable +was introduced to exalt the dignity of their country. Including +England, Scotland, Wales, the four kingdoms of Ireland, and the +Orkneys, the British Islands are decorated with eight royal +crowns, and discriminated by four or five languages, English, +Welsh, Cornish, Scotch, Irish, &c. The greater island from +north to south measures 800 miles, or 40 days' journey; and +England alone contains 32 counties and 52,000 parish churches, (a +bold account!) besides cathedrals, colleges, priories, and +hospitals. They celebrate the mission of St. Joseph of Arimathea, +the birth of Constantine, and the legatine powers of the two +primates, without forgetting the testimony of Bartholomey de +Glanville, (A.D. 1360,) who reckons only four Christian kingdoms, +1. of Rome, 2. of Constantinople, 3. of Ireland, which had been +transferred to the English monarchs, and 4, of Spain. Our +countrymen prevailed in the council, but the victories of Henry +V. added much weight to their arguments. The adverse pleadings +were found at Constance by Sir Robert Wingfield, ambassador of +Henry VIII. to the emperor Maximilian I., and by him printed in +1517 at Louvain. From a Leipsic MS. they are more correctly +published in the collection of Von der Hardt, tom. v.; but I have +only seen Lenfant's abstract of these acts, (Concile de +Constance, tom. ii. p. 447, 453, &c.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 76: The histories of the three successive councils, +Pisa, Constance, and Basil, have been written with a tolerable +degree of candor, industry, and elegance, by a Protestant +minister, M. Lenfant, who retired from France to Berlin. They +form six volumes in quarto; and as Basil is the worst, so +Constance is the best, part of the Collection.]</p> + +<p><strong><em>Chapter LXX: Final Settlement Of The +Ecclesiastical State. -- Part IV.</em></strong></p> + +<p>The royal prerogative of coining money, which had been +exercised near three hundred years by the senate, was +<strong><em>first</em></strong> resumed by Martin the Fifth, ^77 +and his image and superscription introduce the series of the +papal medals. Of his two immediate successors, Eugenius the +Fourth was the <strong><em>last</em></strong> pope expelled by +the tumults of the Roman people, ^78 and Nicholas the Fifth, the +<strong><em>last</em></strong> who was importuned by the presence +of a Roman emperor. ^79 I. The conflict of Eugenius with the +fathers of Basil, and the weight or apprehension of a new excise, +emboldened and provoked the Romans to usurp the temporal +government of the city. They rose in arms, elected seven +governors of the republic, and a constable of the Capitol; +imprisoned the pope's nephew; besieged his person in the palace; +and shot volleys of arrows into his bark as he escaped down the +Tyber in the habit of a monk. But he still possessed in the +castle of St. Angelo a faithful garrison and a train of +artillery: their batteries incessantly thundered on the city, and +a bullet more dexterously pointed broke down the barricade of the +bridge, and scattered with a single shot the heroes of the +republic. Their constancy was exhausted by a rebellion of five +months. Under the tyranny of the Ghibeline nobles, the wisest +patriots regretted the dominion of the church; and their +repentance was unanimous and effectual. The troops of St. Peter +again occupied the Capitol; the magistrates departed to their +homes; the most guilty were executed or exiled; and the legate, +at the head of two thousand foot and four thousand horse, was +saluted as the father of the city. The synods of Ferrara and +Florence, the fear or resentment of Eugenius, prolonged his +absence: he was received by a submissive people; but the pontiff +understood from the acclamations of his triumphal entry, that to +secure their loyalty and his own repose, he must grant without +delay the abolition of the odious excise. II. Rome was restored, +adorned, and enlightened, by the peaceful reign of Nicholas the +Fifth. In the midst of these laudable occupations, the pope was +alarmed by the approach of Frederic the Third of Austria; though +his fears could not be justified by the character or the power of +the Imperial candidate. After drawing his military force to the +metropolis, and imposing the best security of oaths ^80 and +treaties, Nicholas received with a smiling countenance the +faithful advocate and vassal of the church. So tame were the +times, so feeble was the Austrian, that the pomp of his +coronation was accomplished with order and harmony: but the +superfluous honor was so disgraceful to an independent nation, +that his successors have excused themselves from the toilsome +pilgrimage to the Vatican; and rest their Imperial title on the +choice of the electors of Germany.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 77: See the xxviith Dissertation of the Antiquities +of Muratori, and the 1st Instruction of the Science des Medailles +of the Père Joubert and the Baron de la Bastie. The +Metallic History of Martin V. and his successors has been +composed by two monks, Moulinet, a Frenchman, and Bonanni, an +Italian: but I understand, that the first part of the series is +restored from more recent coins.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 78: Besides the Lives of Eugenius IV., (Rerum +Italic. tom. iii. P. i. p. 869, and tom. xxv. p. 256,) the +Diaries of Paul Petroni and Stephen Infessura are the best +original evidence for the revolt of the Romans against Eugenius +IV. The former, who lived at the time and on the spot, speaks the +language of a citizen, equally afraid of priestly and popular +tyranny.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 79: The coronation of Frederic III. is described by +Lenfant, (Concile de Basle, tom. ii. p. 276--288,) from +Æneas Sylvius, a spectator and actor in that splendid +scene.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 80: The oath of fidelity imposed on the emperor by +the pope is recorded and sanctified in the Clementines, (l. ii. +tit. ix.;) and Æneas Sylvius, who objects to this new +demand, could not foresee, that in a few years he should ascend +the throne, and imbibe the maxims, of Boniface VIII.]</p> + +<p>A citizen has remarked, with pride and pleasure, that the king +of the Romans, after passing with a slight salute the cardinals +and prelates who met him at the gate, distinguished the dress and +person of the senator of Rome; and in this last farewell, the +pageants of the empire and the republic were clasped in a +friendly embrace. ^81 According to the laws of Rome, ^82 her +first magistrate was required to be a doctor of laws, an alien, +of a place at least forty miles from the city; with whose +inhabitants he must not be connected in the third canonical +degree of blood or alliance. The election was annual: a severe +scrutiny was instituted into the conduct of the departing +senator; nor could he be recalled to the same office till after +the expiration of two years. A liberal salary of three thousand +florins was assigned for his expense and reward; and his public +appearance represented the majesty of the republic. His robes +were of gold brocade or crimson velvet, or in the summer season +of a lighter silk: he bore in his hand an ivory sceptre; the +sound of trumpets announced his approach; and his solemn steps +were preceded at least by four lictors or attendants, whose red +wands were enveloped with bands or streamers of the golden color +or livery of the city. His oath in the Capitol proclaims his +right and duty to observe and assert the laws, to control the +proud, to protect the poor, and to exercise justice and mercy +within the extent of his jurisdiction. In these useful functions +he was assisted by three learned strangers; the two +<strong><em>collaterals</em></strong>, and the judge of criminal +appeals: their frequent trials of robberies, rapes, and murders, +are attested by the laws; and the weakness of these laws connives +at the licentiousness of private feuds and armed associations for +mutual defence. But the senator was confined to the +administration of justice: the Capitol, the treasury, and the +government of the city and its territory, were intrusted to the +three <strong><em>conservators</em></strong>, who were changed +four times in each year: the militia of the thirteen regions +assembled under the banners of their respective chiefs, or +<strong><em>caporioni</em></strong>; and the first of these was +distinguished by the name and dignity of the +<strong><em>prior</em></strong>. The popular legislature +consisted of the secret and the common councils of the Romans. +The former was composed of the magistrates and their immediate +predecessors, with some fiscal and legal officers, and three +classes of thirteen, twenty-six, and forty, counsellors: +amounting in the whole to about one hundred and twenty persons. +In the common council all male citizens had a right to vote; and +the value of their privilege was enhanced by the care with which +any foreigners were prevented from usurping the title and +character of Romans. The tumult of a democracy was checked by +wise and jealous precautions: except the magistrates, none could +propose a question; none were permitted to speak, except from an +open pulpit or tribunal; all disorderly acclamations were +suppressed; the sense of the majority was decided by a secret +ballot; and their decrees were promulgated in the venerable name +of the Roman senate and people. It would not be easy to assign a +period in which this theory of government has been reduced to +accurate and constant practice, since the establishment of order +has been gradually connected with the decay of liberty. But in +the year one thousand five hundred and eighty the ancient +statutes were collected, methodized in three books, and adapted +to present use, under the pontificate, and with the approbation, +of Gregory the Thirteenth: ^83 this civil and criminal code is +the modern law of the city; and, if the popular assemblies have +been abolished, a foreign senator, with the three conservators, +still resides in the palace of the Capitol. ^84 The policy of the +Cæsars has been repeated by the popes; and the bishop of +Rome affected to maintain the form of a republic, while he +reigned with the absolute powers of a temporal, as well as a +spiritual, monarch.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 81: Lo senatore di Roma, vestito di brocarto con +quella beretta, e con quelle maniche, et ornamenti di pelle, co' +quali va alle feste di Testaccio e Nagone, might escape the eye +of Æneas Sylvius, but he is viewed with admiration and +complacency by the Roman citizen, (Diario di Stephano Infessura, +p. 1133.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 82: See, in the statutes of Rome, the +<strong><em>senator and three judges</em></strong>, (l. i. c. +3--14,) the <strong><em>conservators</em></strong>, (l. i. c. 15, +16, 17, l. iii. c. 4,) the <strong><em>caporioni</em></strong> +(l. i. c. 18, l. iii. c. 8,) the <strong><em>secret +council</em></strong>, (l. iii. c. 2,) the <strong><em>common +council</em></strong>, (l. iii. c. 3.) The title of +<strong><em>feuds</em></strong>, +<strong><em>defiances</em></strong>, <strong><em>acts of +violence</em></strong>, &c., is spread through many a chapter +(c. 14--40) of the second book.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 83: <strong><em>Statuta alm Urbis Rom Auctoritate S. +D. N. Gregorii XIII Pont. Max. a Senatu Populoque Rom. reformata +et edita. Rom, 1580, in folio</em></strong>. The obsolete, +repugnant statutes of antiquity were confounded in five books, +and Lucas Pætus, a lawyer and antiquarian, was appointed to +act as the modern Tribonian. Yet I regret the old code, with the +rugged crust of freedom and barbarism.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 84: In my time (1765) and in M. Grosley's, +(Observations sur l'Italie torn. ii. p. 361,) the senator of Rome +was M. Bielke, a noble Swede and a proselyte to the Catholic +faith. The pope's right to appoint the senator and the +conservator is implied, rather than affirmed, in the +statutes.]</p> + +<p>It is an obvious truth, that the times must be suited to +extraordinary characters, and that the genius of Cromwell or Retz +might now expire in obscurity. The political enthusiasm of Rienzi +had exalted him to a throne; the same enthusiasm, in the next +century, conducted his imitator to the gallows. The birth of +Stephen Porcaro was noble, his reputation spotless: his tongue +was armed with eloquence, his mind was enlightened with learning; +and he aspired, beyond the aim of vulgar ambition, to free his +country and immortalize his name. The dominion of priests is most +odious to a liberal spirit: every scruple was removed by the +recent knowledge of the fable and forgery of Constantine's +donation; Petrarch was now the oracle of the Italians; and as +often as Porcaro revolved the ode which describes the patriot and +hero of Rome, he applied to himself the visions of the prophetic +bard. His first trial of the popular feelings was at the funeral +of Eugenius the Fourth: in an elaborate speech he called the +Romans to liberty and arms; and they listened with apparent +pleasure, till Porcaro was interrupted and answered by a grave +advocate, who pleaded for the church and state. By every law the +seditious orator was guilty of treason; but the benevolence of +the new pontiff, who viewed his character with pity and esteem, +attempted by an honorable office to convert the patriot into a +friend. The inflexible Roman returned from Anagni with an +increase of reputation and zeal; and, on the first opportunity, +the games of the place Navona, he tried to inflame the casual +dispute of some boys and mechanics into a general rising of the +people. Yet the humane Nicholas was still averse to accept the +forfeit of his life; and the traitor was removed from the scene +of temptation to Bologna, with a liberal allowance for his +support, and the easy obligation of presenting himself each day +before the governor of the city. But Porcaro had learned from the +younger Brutus, that with tyrants no faith or gratitude should be +observed: the exile declaimed against the arbitrary sentence; a +party and a conspiracy were gradually formed: his nephew, a +daring youth, assembled a band of volunteers; and on the +appointed evening a feast was prepared at his house for the +friends of the republic. Their leader, who had escaped from +Bologna, appeared among them in a robe of purple and gold: his +voice, his countenance, his gestures, bespoke the man who had +devoted his life or death to the glorious cause. In a studied +oration, he expiated on the motives and the means of their +enterprise; the name and liberties of Rome; the sloth and pride +of their ecclesiastical tyrants; the active or passive consent of +their fellow-citizens; three hundred soldiers, and four hundred +exiles, long exercised in arms or in wrongs; the license of +revenge to edge their swords, and a million of ducats to reward +their victory. It would be easy, (he said,) on the next day, the +festival of the Epiphany, to seize the pope and his cardinals, +before the doors, or at the altar, of St. Peter's; to lead them +in chains under the walls of St. Angelo; to extort by the threat +of their instant death a surrender of the castle; to ascend the +vacant Capitol; to ring the alarm bell; and to restore in a +popular assembly the ancient republic of Rome. While he +triumphed, he was already betrayed. The senator, with a strong +guard, invested the house: the nephew of Porcaro cut his way +through the crowd; but the unfortunate Stephen was drawn from a +chest, lamenting that his enemies had anticipated by three hours +the execution of his design. After such manifest and repeated +guilt, even the mercy of Nicholas was silent. Porcaro, and nine +of his accomplices, were hanged without the benefit of the +sacraments; and, amidst the fears and invectives of the papal +court, the Romans pitied, and almost applauded, these martyrs of +their country. ^85 But their applause was mute, their pity +ineffectual, their liberty forever extinct; and, if they have +since risen in a vacancy of the throne or a scarcity of bread, +such accidental tumults may be found in the bosom of the most +abject servitude.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 85: Besides the curious, though concise, narrative +of Machiavel, (Istoria Florentina, l. vi. Opere, tom. i. p. 210, +211, edit. Londra, 1747, in 4to.) the Porcarian conspiracy is +related in the Diary of Stephen Infessura, (Rer. Ital. tom. iii. +P. ii. p. 1134, 1135,) and in a separate tract by Leo Baptista +Alberti, (Rer. Ital. tom. xxv. p. 609--614.) It is amusing to +compare the style and sentiments of the courtier and citizen. +Facinus profecto quo . . . . neque periculo horribilius, neque +audaciâ detestabilius, neque crudelitate tetrius, a quoquam +perditissimo uspiam excogitatum sit . . . . Perdette la vita +quell' huomo da bene, e amatore dello bene e libertà di +Roma.]</p> + +<p>But the independence of the nobles, which was fomented by +discord, survived the freedom of the commons, which must be +founded in union. A privilege of rapine and oppression was long +maintained by the barons of Rome; their houses were a fortress +and a sanctuary: and the ferocious train of banditti and +criminals whom they protected from the law repaid the hospitality +with the service of their swords and daggers. The private +interest of the pontiffs, or their nephews, sometimes involved +them in these domestic feuds. Under the reign of Sixtus the +Fourth, Rome was distracted by the battles and sieges of the +rival houses: after the conflagration of his palace, the +prothonotary Colonna was tortured and beheaded; and Savelli, his +captive friend, was murdered on the spot, for refusing to join in +the acclamations of the victorious Ursini. ^86 But the popes no +longer trembled in the Vatican: they had strength to command, if +they had resolution to claim, the obedience of their subjects; +and the strangers, who observed these partial disorders, admired +the easy taxes and wise administration of the ecclesiastical +state. ^87</p> + +<p>[Footnote 86: The disorders of Rome, which were much inflamed +by the partiality of Sixtus IV. are exposed in the Diaries of two +spectators, Stephen Infessura, and an anonymous citizen. See the +troubles of the year 1484, and the death of the prothonotary +Colonna, in tom. iii. P. ii. p. 1083, 1158.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 87: Est toute la terre de l'église +troublée pour cette partialité (des Colonnes et des +Ursins) come nous dirions Luce et Grammont, ou en Hollande Houc +et Caballan; et quand ce ne seroit ce différend la terre +de l'église seroit la plus heureuse habitation pour les +sujets qui soit dans toute le monde (car ils ne payent ni tailles +ni guères autres choses,) et seroient toujours bien +conduits, (car toujours les papes sont sages et bien consellies;) +mais très souvent en advient de grands et cruels meurtres +et pilleries.]</p> + +<p>The spiritual thunders of the Vatican depend on the force of +opinion; and if that opinion be supplanted by reason or passion, +the sound may idly waste itself in the air; and the helpless +priest is exposed to the brutal violence of a noble or a plebeian +adversary. But after their return from Avignon, the keys of St. +Peter were guarded by the sword of St. Paul. Rome was commanded +by an impregnable citadel: the use of cannon is a powerful engine +against popular seditions: a regular force of cavalry and +infantry was enlisted under the banners of the pope: his ample +revenues supplied the resources of war: and, from the extent of +his domain, he could bring down on a rebellious city an army of +hostile neighbors and loyal subjects. ^88 Since the union of the +duchies of Ferrara and Urbino, the ecclesiastical state extends +from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic, and from the confines of +Naples to the banks of the Po; and as early as the sixteenth +century, the greater part of that spacious and fruitful country +acknowledged the lawful claims and temporal sovereignty of the +Roman pontiffs. Their claims were readily deduced from the +genuine, or fabulous, donations of the darker ages: the +successive steps of their final settlement would engage us too +far in the transactions of Italy, and even of Europe; the crimes +of Alexander the Sixth, the martial operations of Julius the +Second, and the liberal policy of Leo the Tenth, a theme which +has been adorned by the pens of the noblest historians of the +times. ^89 In the first period of their conquests, till the +expedition of Charles the Eighth, the popes might successfully +wrestle with the adjacent princes and states, whose military +force was equal, or inferior, to their own. But as soon as the +monarchs of France, Germany and Spain, contended with gigantic +arms for the dominion of Italy, they supplied with art the +deficiency of strength; and concealed, in a labyrinth of wars and +treaties, their aspiring views, and the immortal hope of chasing +the Barbarians beyond the Alps. The nice balance of the Vatican +was often subverted by the soldiers of the North and West, who +were united under the standard of Charles the Fifth: the feeble +and fluctuating policy of Clement the Seventh exposed his person +and dominions to the conqueror; and Rome was abandoned seven +months to a lawless army, more cruel and rapacious than the Goths +and Vandals. ^90 After this severe lesson, the popes contracted +their ambition, which was almost satisfied, resumed the character +of a common parent, and abstained from all offensive hostilities, +except in a hasty quarrel, when the vicar of Christ and the +Turkish sultan were armed at the same time against the kingdom of +Naples. ^91 The French and Germans at length withdrew from the +field of battle: Milan, Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, and the +sea-coast of Tuscany, were firmly possessed by the Spaniards; and +it became their interest to maintain the peace and dependence of +Italy, which continued almost without disturbance from the middle +of the sixteenth to the opening of the eighteenth century. The +Vatican was swayed and protected by the religious policy of the +Catholic king: his prejudice and interest disposed him in every +dispute to support the prince against the people; and instead of +the encouragement, the aid, and the asylum, which they obtained +from the adjacent states, the friends of liberty, or the enemies +of law, were enclosed on all sides within the iron circle of +despotism. The long habits of obedience and education subdued the +turbulent spirit of the nobles and commons of Rome. The barons +forgot the arms and factions of their ancestors, and insensibly +became the servants of luxury and government. Instead of +maintaining a crowd of tenants and followers, the produce of +their estates was consumed in the private expenses which multiply +the pleasures, and diminish the power, of the lord. ^92 The +Colonna and Ursini vied with each other in the decoration of +their palaces and chapels; and their antique splendor was +rivalled or surpassed by the sudden opulence of the papal +families. In Rome the voice of freedom and discord is no longer +heard; and, instead of the foaming torrent, a smooth and stagnant +lake reflects the image of idleness and servitude.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 88: By the conomy of Sixtus V. the revenue of the +ecclesiastical state was raised to two millions and a half of +Roman crowns, (Vita, tom. ii. p. 291--296;) and so regular was +the military establishment, that in one month Clement VIII. could +invade the duchy of Ferrara with three thousand horse and twenty +thousand foot, (tom. iii. p. 64) Since that time (A.D. 1597) the +papal arms are happily rusted: but the revenue must have gained +some nominal increase. *</p> + +<p>Note: * On the financial measures of Sixtus V. see Ranke, Dio +Römischen Päpste, i. p. 459. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 89: More especially by Guicciardini and Machiavel; +in the general history of the former, in the Florentine history, +the Prince, and the political discourses of the latter. These, +with their worthy successors, Fra Paolo and Davila, were justly +esteemed the first historians of modern languages, till, in the +present age, Scotland arose, to dispute the prize with Italy +herself.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 90: In the history of the Gothic siege, I have +compared the Barbarians with the subjects of Charles V., (vol. +iii. p. 289, 290;) an anticipation, which, like that of the +Tartar conquests, I indulged with the less scruple, as I could +scarcely hope to reach the conclusion of my work.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 91: The ambitious and feeble hostilities of the +Caraffa pope, Paul IV. may be seen in Thuanus (l. xvi.--xviii.) +and Giannone, (tom. iv p. 149--163.) Those Catholic bigots, +Philip II. and the duke of Alva, presumed to separate the Roman +prince from the vicar of Christ, yet the holy character, which +would have sanctified his victory was decently applied to protect +his defeat. *</p> + +<p>Note: * But compare Ranke, Die Römischen Päpste, i. +p. 289. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 92: This gradual change of manners and expense is +admirably explained by Dr. Adam Smith, (Wealth of Nations, vol. +i. p. 495--504,) who proves, perhaps too severely, that the most +salutary effects have flowed from the meanest and most selfish +causes.]</p> + +<p>A Christian, a philosopher, ^93 and a patriot, will be equally +scandalized by the temporal kingdom of the clergy; and the local +majesty of Rome, the remembrance of her consuls and triumphs, may +seem to imbitter the sense, and aggravate the shame, of her +slavery. If we calmly weigh the merits and defects of the +ecclesiastical government, it may be praised in its present +state, as a mild, decent, and tranquil system, exempt from the +dangers of a minority, the sallies of youth, the expenses of +luxury, and the calamities of war. But these advantages are +overbalanced by a frequent, perhaps a septennial, election of a +sovereign, who is seldom a native of the country; the reign of a +<strong><em>young</em></strong> statesman of threescore, in the +decline of his life and abilities, without hope to accomplish, +and without children to inherit, the labors of his transitory +reign. The successful candidate is drawn from the church, and +even the convent; from the mode of education and life the most +adverse to reason, humanity, and freedom. In the trammels of +servile faith, he has learned to believe because it is absurd, to +revere all that is contemptible, and to despise whatever might +deserve the esteem of a rational being; to punish error as a +crime, to reward mortification and celibacy as the first of +virtues; to place the saints of the calendar ^94 above the heroes +of Rome and the sages of Athens; and to consider the missal, or +the crucifix, as more useful instruments than the plough or the +loom. In the office of nuncio, or the rank of cardinal, he may +acquire some knowledge of the world, but the primitive stain will +adhere to his mind and manners: from study and experience he may +suspect the mystery of his profession; but the sacerdotal artist +will imbibe some portion of the bigotry which he inculcates. The +genius of Sixtus the Fifth ^95 burst from the gloom of a +Franciscan cloister. In a reign of five years, he exterminated +the outlaws and banditti, abolished the +<strong><em>profane</em></strong> sanctuaries of Rome, ^96 formed +a naval and military force, restored and emulated the monuments +of antiquity, and after a liberal use and large increase of the +revenue, left five millions of crowns in the castle of St. +Angelo. But his justice was sullied with cruelty, his activity +was prompted by the ambition of conquest: after his decease the +abuses revived; the treasure was dissipated; he entailed on +posterity thirty-five new taxes and the venality of offices; and, +after his death, his statue was demolished by an ungrateful, or +an injured, people. ^97 The wild and original character of Sixtus +the Fifth stands alone in the series of the pontiffs; the maxims +and effects of their temporal government may be collected from +the positive and comparative view of the arts and philosophy, the +agriculture and trade, the wealth and population, of the +ecclesiastical state. For myself, it is my wish to depart in +charity with all mankind, nor am I willing, in these last +moments, to offend even the pope and clergy of Rome. ^98</p> + +<p>[Footnote 93: Mr. Hume (Hist. of England, vol. i. p. 389) too +hastily conclude that if the civil and ecclesiastical powers be +united in the same person, it is of little moment whether he be +styled prince or prelate since the temporal character will always +predominate.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 94: A Protestant may disdain the unworthy preference +of St. Francis or St. Dominic, but he will not rashly condemn the +zeal or judgment of Sixtus V., who placed the statues of the +apostles St. Peter and St. Paul on the vacant columns of Trajan +and Antonine.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 95: A wandering Italian, Gregorio Leti, has given +the Vita di Sisto-Quinto, (Amstel. 1721, 3 vols. in 12mo.,) a +copious and amusing work, but which does not command our absolute +confidence. Yet the character of the man, and the principal +facts, are supported by the annals of Spondanus and Muratori, +(A.D. 1585--1590,) and the contemporary history of the great +Thuanus, (l. lxxxii. c. 1, 2, l. lxxxiv. c. 10, l. c. c. 8.) +*</p> + +<p>Note: * The industry of M. Ranke has discovered the document, +a kind of scandalous chronicle of the time, from which Leti +wrought up his amusing romances. See also M. Ranke's observations +on the Life of Sixtus. by Tempesti, b. iii. p. 317, 324. -- +M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 96: These privileged places, the +<strong><em>quartieri</em></strong> or +<strong><em>franchises</em></strong>, were adopted from the Roman +nobles by the foreign ministers. Julius II. had once abolished +the abominandum et detestandum franchitiarum hujusmodi nomen: and +after Sixtus V. they again revived. I cannot discern either the +justice or magnanimity of Louis XIV., who, in 1687, sent his +ambassador, the marquis de Lavardin, to Rome, with an armed force +of a thousand officers, guards, and domestics, to maintain this +iniquitous claim, and insult Pope Innocent XI. in the heart of +his capital, (Vita di Sisto V. tom. iii. p. 260--278. Muratori, +Annali d'Italia, tom. xv. p. 494--496, and Voltaire, Siecle de +Louis XIV. tom. i. c. 14, p. 58, 59.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 97: This outrage produced a decree, which was +inscribed on marble, and placed in the Capitol. It is expressed +in a style of manly simplicity and freedom: Si quis, sive +privatus, sive magistratum gerens de collocandâ +<strong><em>vivo</em></strong> pontifici statuâ mentionem +facere ausit, legitimo S. P. Q. R. decreto in perpetuum infamis +et publicorum munerum expers esto. MDXC. mense Augusto, (Vita di +Sisto V. tom. iii. p. 469.) I believe that this decree is still +observed, and I know that every monarch who deserves a statue +should himself impose the prohibition.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 98: The histories of the church, Italy, and +Christendom, have contributed to the chapter which I now +conclude. In the original Lives of the Popes, we often discover +the city and republic of Rome: and the events of the xivth and +xvth centuries are preserved in the rude and domestic chronicles +which I have carefully inspected, and shall recapitulate in the +order of time.</p> + +<p>1. Monaldeschi (Ludovici Boncomitis) Fragmenta Annalium Roman. +A.D. 1328, in the Scriptores Rerum Italicarum of Muratori, tom. +xii. p. 525. N. B. The credit of this fragment is somewhat hurt +by a singular interpolation, in which the author relates his own +death at the age of 115 years.</p> + +<p>2. Fragmenta Historiæ Romanæ (vulgo Thomas +Fortifioccæ) in Romana Dialecto vulgari, (A.D. 1327--1354, +in Muratori, Antiquitat. Medii Ævi Italiæ, tom. iii. +p. 247--548;) the authentic groundwork of the history of +Rienzi.</p> + +<p>3. Delphini (Gentilis) Diarium Romanum, (A.D. 1370--1410,) in +the Rerum Italicarum, tom. iii. P. ii. p. 846.</p> + +<p>4. Antonii (Petri) Diarium Rom., (A.D. 1404--1417,) tom. xxiv. +p. 699.</p> + +<p>5. Petroni (Pauli) Miscellanea Historica Romana, (A.D. +1433--1446,) tom. xxiv. p. 1101.</p> + +<p>6. Volaterrani (Jacob.) Diarium Rom., (A.D. 1472--1484,) tom. +xxiii p. 81.</p> + +<p>7. Anonymi Diarium Urbis Romæ, (A.D. 1481--1492,) tom. +iii. P. ii. p. 1069.</p> + +<p>8. Infessuræ (Stephani) Diarium Romanum, (A.D. 1294, or +1378--1494,) tom. iii. P. ii. p. 1109.</p> + +<p>9. Historia Arcana Alexandri VI. sive Excerpta ex Diario Joh. +Burcardi, (A.D. 1492--1503,) edita a Godefr. Gulielm. Leibnizio, +Hanover, 697, in 14to. The large and valuable Journal of Burcard +might be completed from the MSS. in different libraries of Italy +and France, (M. de Foncemagne, in the Mémoires de l'Acad. +des Inscrip. tom. xvii. p. 597--606.)</p> + +<p>Except the last, all these fragments and diaries are inserted +in the Collections of Muratori, my guide and master in the +history of Italy. His country, and the public, are indebted to +him for the following works on that subject: 1. <strong><em>Rerum +Italicarum Scriptores</em></strong>, (A.D. 500--1500,) +<strong><em>quorum potissima pars nunc primum in lucem +prodit</em></strong>, &c., xxviii. vols. in folio, Milan, +1723--1738, 1751. A volume of chronological and alphabetical +tables is still wanting as a key to this great work, which is yet +in a disorderly and defective state. 2. <strong><em>Antiquitates +Italiæ Medii Ævi</em></strong>, vi. vols. in folio, +Milan, 1738--1743, in lxxv. curious dissertations, on the +manners, government, religion, &c., of the Italians of the +darker ages, with a large supplement of charters, chronicles, +&c. 3. <strong><em>Dissertazioni sopra le Antiquita +Italiane</em></strong>, iii. vols. in 4to., Milano, 1751, a free +version by the author, which may be quoted with the same +confidence as the Latin text of the Antiquities. +<strong><em>Annali d' Italia</em></strong>, xviii. vols. in +octavo, Milan, 1753--1756, a dry, though accurate and useful, +abridgment of the history of Italy, from the birth of Christ to +the middle of the xviiith century. 5. <strong><em>Dell' Antichita +Estense ed Italiane</em></strong>, ii. vols. in folio, Modena, +1717, 1740. In the history of this illustrious race, the parent +of our Brunswick kings, the critic is not seduced by the loyalty +or gratitude of the subject. In all his works, Muratori approves +himself a diligent and laborious writer, who aspires above the +prejudices of a Catholic priest. He was born in the year 1672, +and died in the year 1750, after passing near 60 years in the +libraries of Milan and Modena, (Vita del Proposto Ludovico +Antonio Muratori, by his nephew and successor Gian. Francesco +Soli Muratori Venezia, 1756 m 4to.)]</p> + +<p><strong>Chapter LXXI: Prospect Of The Ruins Of Rome In The +Fifteenth Century.</strong> <strong><em>Part I.</em></strong><br> +</p> + +<p>Prospect Of The Ruins Of Rome In The Fifteenth Century. -- +Four Causes Of Decay And Destruction. -- Example Of The Coliseum. +-- Renovation Of The City. -- Conclusion Of The Whole Work.</p> + +<p>In the last days of Pope Eugenius the Fourth, ^* two of his +servants, the learned Poggius ^1 and a friend, ascended the +Capitoline hill; reposed themselves among the ruins of columns +and temples; and viewed from that commanding spot the wide and +various prospect of desolation. ^2 The place and the object gave +ample scope for moralizing on the vicissitudes of fortune, which +spares neither man nor the proudest of his works, which buries +empires and cities in a common grave; and it was agreed, that in +proportion to her former greatness, the fall of Rome was the more +awful and deplorable. "Her primeval state, such as she might +appear in a remote age, when Evander entertained the stranger of +Troy, ^3 has been delineated by the fancy of Virgil. This +Tarpeian rock was then a savage and solitary thicket: in the time +of the poet, it was crowned with the golden roofs of a temple; +the temple is overthrown, the gold has been pillaged, the wheel +of fortune has accomplished her revolution, and the sacred ground +is again disfigured with thorns and brambles. The hill of the +Capitol, on which we sit, was formerly the head of the Roman +empire, the citadel of the earth, the terror of kings; +illustrated by the footsteps of so many triumphs, enriched with +the spoils and tributes of so many nations. This spectacle of the +world, how is it fallen! how changed! how defaced! The path of +victory is obliterated by vines, and the benches of the senators +are concealed by a dunghill. Cast your eyes on the Palatine hill, +and seek among the shapeless and enormous fragments the marble +theatre, the obelisks, the colossal statues, the porticos of +Nero's palace: survey the other hills of the city, the vacant +space is interrupted only by ruins and gardens. The forum of the +Roman people, where they assembled to enact their laws and elect +their magistrates, is now enclosed for the cultivation of +pot-herbs, or thrown open for the reception of swine and +buffaloes. The public and private edifices, that were founded for +eternity, lie prostrate, naked, and broken, like the limbs of a +mighty giant; and the ruin is the more visible, from the +stupendous relics that have survived the injuries of time and +fortune." ^4</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: It should be Pope Martin the Fifth. See Gibbon's +own note, ch. lxv, note 51 and Hobhouse, Illustrations of Childe +Harold, p. 155. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 1: I have already (notes 50, 51, on chap. lxv.) +mentioned the age, character, and writings of Poggius; and +particularly noticed the date of this elegant moral lecture on +the varieties of fortune.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 2: Consedimus in ipsis Tarpeiæ arcis ruinis, +pone ingens portæ cujusdam, ut puto, templi, marmoreum +limen, plurimasque passim confractas columnas, unde magnâ +ex parte prospectus urbis patet, (p. 5.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 3: Æneid viii. 97--369. This ancient picture, +so artfully introduced, and so exquisitely finished, must have +been highly interesting to an inhabitant of Rome; and our early +studies allow us to sympathize in the feelings of a Roman.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 4: Capitolium adeo . . . . immutatum ut vineæ +in senatorum subsellia successerint, stercorum ac purgamentorum +receptaculum factum. Respice ad Palatinum montem . . . . . vasta +rudera . . . . cæteros colles perlustra omnia vacua +ædificiis, ruinis vineisque oppleta conspicies, (Poggius, +de Varietat. Fortunæ p. 21.)]</p> + +<p>These relics are minutely described by Poggius, one of the +first who raised his eyes from the monuments of legendary, to +those of classic, superstition. ^5 <strong>1.</strong>Besides a +bridge, an arch, a sepulchre, and the pyramid of Cestius, he +could discern, of the age of the republic, a double row of +vaults, in the salt-office of the Capitol, which were inscribed +with the name and munificence of Catulus. <strong>2.</strong> +Eleven temples were visible in some degree, from the perfect form +of the Pantheon, to the three arches and a marble column of the +temple of Peace, which Vespasian erected after the civil wars and +the Jewish triumph. <strong>3.</strong> Of the number, which he +rashly defines, of seven <strong><em>therm</em></strong>, or +public baths, none were sufficiently entire to represent the use +and distribution of the several parts: but those of Diocletian +and Antoninus Caracalla still retained the titles of the +founders, and astonished the curious spectator, who, in observing +their solidity and extent, the variety of marbles, the size and +multitude of the columns, compared the labor and expense with the +use and importance. Of the baths of Constantine, of Alexander, of +Domitian, or rather of Titus, some vestige might yet be found. +<strong>4.</strong> The triumphal arches of Titus, Severus, and +Constantine, were entire, both the structure and the +inscriptions; a falling fragment was honored with the name of +Trajan; and two arches, then extant, in the Flaminian way, have +been ascribed to the baser memory of Faustina and Gallienus. ^* +<strong>5.</strong> After the wonder of the Coliseum, Poggius +might have overlooked small amphitheatre of brick, most probably +for the use of the prætorian camp: the theatres of +Marcellus and Pompey were occupied in a great measure by public +and private buildings; and in the Circus, Agonalis and Maximus, +little more than the situation and the form could be +investigated. <strong>6.</strong> The columns of Trajan and +Antonine were still erect; but the Egyptian obelisks were broken +or buried. A people of gods and heroes, the workmanship of art, +was reduced to one equestrian figure of gilt brass, and to five +marble statues, of which the most conspicuous were the two horses +of Phidias and Praxiteles. <strong>7.</strong> The two mausoleums +or sepulchres of Augustus and Hadrian could not totally be lost: +but the former was only visible as a mound of earth; and the +latter, the castle of St. Angelo, had acquired the name and +appearance of a modern fortress. With the addition of some +separate and nameless columns, such were the remains of the +ancient city; for the marks of a more recent structure might be +detected in the walls, which formed a circumference of ten miles, +included three hundred and seventy-nine turrets, and opened into +the country by thirteen gates.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 5: See Poggius, p. 8--22.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: One was in the Via Nomentana; est alter +præterea Gallieno principi dicatus, ut superscriptio +indicat, <strong><em>Viâ Nomentana</em></strong>. Hobhouse, +p. 154. Poggio likewise mentions the building which Gibbon +ambiguously says be "might have overlooked." -- M.]</p> + +<p>This melancholy picture was drawn above nine hundred years +after the fall of the Western empire, and even of the Gothic +kingdom of Italy. A long period of distress and anarchy, in which +empire, and arts, and riches had migrated from the banks of the +Tyber, was incapable of restoring or adorning the city; and, as +all that is human must retrograde if it do not advance, every +successive age must have hastened the ruin of the works of +antiquity. To measure the progress of decay, and to ascertain, at +each æra, the state of each edifice, would be an endless +and a useless labor; and I shall content myself with two +observations, which will introduce a short inquiry into the +general causes and effects. <strong>1.</strong> Two hundred years +before the eloquent complaint of Poggius, an anonymous writer +composed a description of Rome. ^6 His ignorance may repeat the +same objects under strange and fabulous names. Yet this barbarous +topographer had eyes and ears; he could observe the visible +remains; he could listen to the tradition of the people; and he +distinctly enumerates seven theatres, eleven baths, twelve +arches, and eighteen palaces, of which many had disappeared +before the time of Poggius. It is apparent, that many stately +monuments of antiquity survived till a late period, ^7 and that +the principles of destruction acted with vigorous and increasing +energy in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. +<strong>2.</strong> The same reflection must be applied to the +three last ages; and we should vainly seek the Septizonium of +Severus; ^8 which is celebrated by Petrarch and the antiquarians +of the sixteenth century. While the Roman edifices were still +entire, the first blows, however weighty and impetuous, were +resisted by the solidity of the mass and the harmony of the +parts; but the slightest touch would precipitate the fragments of +arches and columns, that already nodded to their fall.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 6: Liber de Mirabilibus Romæ ex Registro +Nicolai Cardinalis de Arragoniâ in Bibliothecâ St. +Isidori Armario IV., No. 69. This treatise, with some short but +pertinent notes, has been published by Montfaucon, (Diarium +Italicum, p. 283--301,) who thus delivers his own critical +opinion: Scriptor xiiimi. circiter sæculi, ut ibidem +notatur; antiquariæ rei imperitus et, ut ab illo ævo, +nugis et anilibus fabellis refertus: sed, quia monumenta, +quæ iis temporibus Romæ supererant pro modulo +recenset, non parum inde lucis mutuabitur qui Romanis +antiquitatibus indagandis operam navabit, (p. 283.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 7: The Père Mabillon (Analecta, tom. iv. p. +502) has published an anonymous pilgrim of the ixth century, who, +in his visit round the churches and holy places at Rome, touches +on several buildings, especially porticos, which had disappeared +before the xiiith century.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 8: On the Septizonium, see the Mémoires sur +Pétrarque, (tom. i. p. 325,) Donatus, (p. 338,) and +Nardini, (p. 117, 414.)]</p> + +<p>After a diligent inquiry, I can discern four principal causes +of the ruin of Rome, which continued to operate in a period of +more than a thousand years. I. The injuries of time and nature. +II. The hostile attacks of the Barbarians and Christians. III. +The use and abuse of the materials. And, IV. The domestic +quarrels of the Romans.</p> + +<p>I. The art of man is able to construct monuments far more +permanent than the narrow span of his own existence; yet these +monuments, like himself, are perishable and frail; and in the +boundless annals of time, his life and his labors must equally be +measured as a fleeting moment. Of a simple and solid edifice, it +is not easy, however, to circumscribe the duration. As the +wonders of ancient days, the pyramids ^9 attracted the curiosity +of the ancients: a hundred generations, the leaves of autumn, +have dropped ^10 into the grave; and after the fall of the +Pharaohs and Ptolemies, the Cæsars and caliphs, the same +pyramids stand erect and unshaken above the floods of the Nile. A +complex figure of various and minute parts to more accessible to +injury and decay; and the silent lapse of time is often +accelerated by hurricanes and earthquakes, by fires and +inundations. The air and earth have doubtless been shaken; and +the lofty turrets of Rome have tottered from their foundations; +but the seven hills do not appear to be placed on the great +cavities of the globe; nor has the city, in any age, been exposed +to the convulsions of nature, which, in the climate of Antioch, +Lisbon, or Lima, have crumbled in a few moments the works of ages +into dust. Fire is the most powerful agent of life and death: the +rapid mischief may be kindled and propagated by the industry or +negligence of mankind; and every period of the Roman annals is +marked by the repetition of similar calamities. A memorable +conflagration, the guilt or misfortune of Nero's reign, +continued, though with unequal fury, either six or nine days. ^11 +Innumerable buildings, crowded in close and crooked streets, +supplied perpetual fuel for the flames; and when they ceased, +four only of the fourteen regions were left entire; three were +totally destroyed, and seven were deformed by the relics of +smoking and lacerated edifices. ^12 In the full meridian of +empire, the metropolis arose with fresh beauty from her ashes; +yet the memory of the old deplored their irreparable losses, the +arts of Greece, the trophies of victory, the monuments of +primitive or fabulous antiquity. In the days of distress and +anarchy, every wound is mortal, every fall irretrievable; nor can +the damage be restored either by the public care of government, +or the activity of private interest. Yet two causes may be +alleged, which render the calamity of fire more destructive to a +flourishing than a decayed city. <strong>1.</strong> The more +combustible materials of brick, timber, and metals, are first +melted or consumed; but the flames may play without injury or +effect on the naked walls, and massy arches, that have been +despoiled of their ornaments. <strong>2.</strong> It is among the +common and plebeian habitations, that a mischievous spark is most +easily blown to a conflagration; but as soon as they are +devoured, the greater edifices, which have resisted or escaped, +are left as so many islands in a state of solitude and safety. +From her situation, Rome is exposed to the danger of frequent +inundations. Without excepting the Tyber, the rivers that descend +from either side of the Apennine have a short and irregular +course; a shallow stream in the summer heats; an impetuous +torrent, when it is swelled in the spring or winter, by the fall +of rain, and the melting of the snows. When the current is +repelled from the sea by adverse winds, when the ordinary bed is +inadequate to the weight of waters, they rise above the banks, +and overspread, without limits or control, the plains and cities +of the adjacent country. Soon after the triumph of the first +Punic war, the Tyber was increased by unusual rains; and the +inundation, surpassing all former measure of time and place, +destroyed all the buildings that were situated below the hills of +Rome. According to the variety of ground, the same mischief was +produced by different means; and the edifices were either swept +away by the sudden impulse, or dissolved and undermined by the +long continuance, of the flood. ^13 Under the reign of Augustus, +the same calamity was renewed: the lawless river overturned the +palaces and temples on its banks; ^14 and, after the labors of +the emperor in cleansing and widening the bed that was encumbered +with ruins, ^15 the vigilance of his successors was exercised by +similar dangers and designs. The project of diverting into new +channels the Tyber itself, or some of the dependent streams, was +long opposed by superstition and local interests; ^16 nor did the +use compensate the toil and cost of the tardy and imperfect +execution. The servitude of rivers is the noblest and most +important victory which man has obtained over the licentiousness +of nature; ^17 and if such were the ravages of the Tyber under a +firm and active government, what could oppose, or who can +enumerate, the injuries of the city, after the fall of the +Western empire? A remedy was at length produced by the evil +itself: the accumulation of rubbish and the earth, that has been +washed down from the hills, is supposed to have elevated the +plain of Rome, fourteen or fifteen feet, perhaps, above the +ancient level; ^18 and the modern city is less accessible to the +attacks of the river. ^19</p> + +<p>[Footnote 9: The age of the pyramids is remote and unknown, +since Diodorus Siculus (tom. i l. i. c. 44, p. 72) is unable to +decide whether they were constructed 1000, or 3400, years before +the clxxxth Olympiad. Sir John Marsham's contracted scale of the +Egyptian dynasties would fix them about 2000 years before Christ, +(Canon. Chronicus, p. 47.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 10: See the speech of Glaucus in the Iliad, (Z. +146.) This natural but melancholy image is peculiar to +Homer.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 11: The learning and criticism of M. des Vignoles +(Histoire Critique de la République des Lettres, tom. +viii. p. 47--118, ix. p. 172--187) dates the fire of Rome from +A.D. 64, July 19, and the subsequent persecution of the +Christians from November 15 of the same year.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 12: Quippe in regiones quatuordecim Roma dividitur, +quarum quatuor integræ manebant, tres solo tenus +dejectæ: septem reliquis pauca testorum vestigia +supererant, lacera et semiusta. Among the old relics that were +irreparably lost, Tacitus enumerates the temple of the moon of +Servius Tullius; the fane and altar consecrated by Evander +præsenti Herculi; the temple of Jupiter Stator, a vow of +Romulus; the palace of Numa; the temple of Vesta cum Penatibus +populi Romani. He then deplores the opes tot victoriis +quæsitæ et Græcarum artium decora . . . . multa +quæ seniores meminerant, quæ reparari nequibant, +(Annal. xv. 40, 41.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 13: A. U. C. 507, repentina subversio ipsius +Romæ prævenit triumphum Romanorum . . . . +diversæ ignium aquarumque clades pene absumsere urbem Nam +Tiberis insolitis auctus imbribus et ultra opinionem, vel +diuturnitate vel maguitudine redundans, +<strong><em>omnia</em></strong> Romæ ædificia in +plano posita delevit. Diversæ qualitates locorum ad unam +convenere perniciem: quoniam et quæ segnior inundatio +tenuit madefacta dissolvit, et quæ cursus torrentis invenit +impulsa dejecit, (Orosius, Hist. l. iv. c. 11, p. 244, edit. +Havercamp.) Yet we may observe, that it is the plan and study of +the Christian apologist to magnify the calamities of the Pagan +world.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 14:</p> + +<p>Vidimus flavum Tiberim, retortis</p> + +<p>Littore Etrusco violenter undis,</p> + +<p>Ire dejectum monumenta Regis</p> + +<p>Templaque Vestæ. (Horat. Carm. I. 2.)</p> + +<p>If the palace of Numa and temple of Vesta were thrown down in +Horace's time, what was consumed of those buildings by Nero's +fire could hardly deserve the epithets of vetustissima or +incorrupta.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 15: Ad coercendas inundationes alveum Tiberis +laxavit, ac repurgavit, completum olim ruderibus, et +ædificiorum prolapsionibus coarctatum, (Suetonius in +Augusto, c. 30.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 16: Tacitus (Annal. i. 79) reports the petitions of +the different towns of Italy to the senate against the measure; +and we may applaud the progress of reason. On a similar occasion, +local interests would undoubtedly be consulted: but an English +House of Commons would reject with contempt the arguments of +superstition, "that nature had assigned to the rivers their +proper course," &c.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 17: See the Epoques de la Nature of the eloquent and +philosophic Buffon. His picture of Guyana, in South America, is +that of a new and savage land, in which the waters are abandoned +to themselves without being regulated by human industry, (p. 212, +561, quarto edition.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 18: In his travels in Italy, Mr. Addison (his works, +vol. ii. p. 98, Baskerville's edition) has observed this curious +and unquestionable fact.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 19: Yet in modern times, the Tyber has sometimes +damaged the city, and in the years 1530, 1557, 1598, the annals +of Muratori record three mischievous and memorable inundations, +(tom. xiv. p. 268, 429, tom. xv. p. 99, &c.) *</p> + +<p>Note: * The level of the Tyber was at one time supposed to be +considerably raised: recent investigations seem to be conclusive +against this supposition. See a brief, but satisfactory statement +of the question in Bunsen and Platner, Roms Beschreibung. vol. i. +p. 29. -- M.]</p> + +<p>II. The crowd of writers of every nation, who impute the +destruction of the Roman monuments to the Goths and the +Christians, have neglected to inquire how far they were animated +by a hostile principle, and how far they possessed the means and +the leisure to satiate their enmity. In the preceding volumes of +this History, I have described the triumph of barbarism and +religion; and I can only resume, in a few words, their real or +imaginary connection with the ruin of ancient Rome. Our fancy may +create, or adopt, a pleasing romance, that the Goths and Vandals +sallied from Scandinavia, ardent to avenge the flight of Odin; +^20 to break the chains, and to chastise the oppressors, of +mankind; that they wished to burn the records of classic +literature, and to found their national architecture on the +broken members of the Tuscan and Corinthian orders. But in simple +truth, the northern conquerors were neither sufficiently savage, +nor sufficiently refined, to entertain such aspiring ideas of +destruction and revenge. The shepherds of Scythia and Germany had +been educated in the armies of the empire, whose discipline they +acquired, and whose weakness they invaded: with the familiar use +of the Latin tongue, they had learned to reverence the name and +titles of Rome; and, though incapable of emulating, they were +more inclined to admire, than to abolish, the arts and studies of +a brighter period. In the transient possession of a rich and +unresisting capital, the soldiers of Alaric and Genseric were +stimulated by the passions of a victorious army; amidst the +wanton indulgence of lust or cruelty, portable wealth was the +object of their search; nor could they derive either pride or +pleasure from the unprofitable reflection, that they had battered +to the ground the works of the consuls and Cæsars. Their +moments were indeed precious; the Goths evacuated Rome on the +sixth, ^21 the Vandals on the fifteenth, day: ^22 and, though it +be far more difficult to build than to destroy, their hasty +assault would have made a slight impression on the solid piles of +antiquity. We may remember, that both Alaric and Genseric +affected to spare the buildings of the city; that they subsisted +in strength and beauty under the auspicious government of +Theodoric; ^23 and that the momentary resentment of Totila ^24 +was disarmed by his own temper and the advice of his friends and +enemies. From these innocent Barbarians, the reproach may be +transferred to the Catholics of Rome. The statues, altars, and +houses, of the dæmons, were an abomination in their eyes; +and in the absolute command of the city, they might labor with +zeal and perseverance to erase the idolatry of their ancestors. +The demolition of the temples in the East ^25 affords to +<strong><em>them</em></strong> an example of conduct, and to +<strong><em>us</em></strong> an argument of belief; and it is +probable that a portion of guilt or merit may be imputed with +justice to the Roman proselytes. Yet their abhorrence was +confined to the monuments of heathen superstition; and the civil +structures that were dedicated to the business or pleasure of +society might be preserved without injury or scandal. The change +of religion was accomplished, not by a popular tumult, but by the +decrees of the emperors, of the senate, and of time. Of the +Christian hierarchy, the bishops of Rome were commonly the most +prudent and least fanatic; nor can any positive charge be opposed +to the meritorious act of saving or converting the majestic +structure of the Pantheon. ^26 ^*</p> + +<p>[Footnote 20: I take this opportunity of declaring, that in +the course of twelve years, I have forgotten, or renounced, the +flight of Odin from Azoph to Sweden, which I never very seriously +believed, (vol. i. p. 283.) The Goths are apparently Germans: but +all beyond Cæsar and Tacitus is darkness or fable, in the +antiquities of Germany.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 21: History of the Decline, &c., vol. iii. p. +291.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 22: ---------------------- vol. iii. p. 464.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 23: ---------------------- vol. iv. p. 23--25.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 24: ---------------------- vol. iv. p. 258.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 25: ---------------------- vol. iii. c. xxviii. p. +139--148.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 26: Eodem tempore petiit a Phocate principe templum, +quod appellatur <strong><em>Pantheon</em></strong>, in quo fecit +ecclesiam Sanctæ Mariæ semper Virginis, et omnium +martyrum; in quâ ecclesiæ princeps multa bona +obtulit, (Anastasius vel potius Liber Pontificalis in Bonifacio +IV., in Muratori, Script. Rerum Italicarum, tom. iii. P. i. p. +135.) According to the anonymous writer in Montfaucon, the +Pantheon had been vowed by Agrippa to Cybele and Neptune, and was +dedicated by Boniface IV., on the calends of November, to the +Virgin, quæ est mater omnium sanctorum, (p. 297, 298.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: The popes, under the dominion of the emperor and +of the exarchs, according to Feas's just observation, did not +possess the power of disposing of the buildings and monuments of +the city according to their own will. Bunsen and Platner, vol. i. +p. 241. -- M.]</p> + +<p>III. The value of any object that supplies the wants or +pleasures of mankind is compounded of its substance and its form, +of the materials and the manufacture. Its price must depend on +the number of persons by whom it may be acquired and used; on the +extent of the market; and consequently on the ease or difficulty +of remote exportation, according to the nature of the commodity, +its local situation, and the temporary circumstances of the +world. The Barbarian conquerors of Rome usurped in a moment the +toil and treasure of successive ages; but, except the luxuries of +immediate consumption, they must view without desire all that +could not be removed from the city in the Gothic wagons or the +fleet of the Vandals. ^27 Gold and silver were the first objects +of their avarice; as in every country, and in the smallest +compass, they represent the most ample command of the industry +and possessions of mankind. A vase or a statue of those precious +metals might tempt the vanity of some Barbarian chief; but the +grosser multitude, regardless of the form, was tenacious only of +the substance; and the melted ingots might be readily divided and +stamped into the current coin of the empire. The less active or +less fortunate robbers were reduced to the baser plunder of +brass, lead, iron, and copper: whatever had escaped the Goths and +Vandals was pillaged by the Greek tyrants; and the emperor +Constans, in his rapacious visit, stripped the bronze tiles from +the roof of the Pantheon. ^28 The edifices of Rome might be +considered as a vast and various mine; the first labor of +extracting the materials was already performed; the metals were +purified and cast; the marbles were hewn and polished; and after +foreign and domestic rapine had been satiated, the remains of the +city, could a purchaser have been found, were still venal. The +monuments of antiquity had been left naked of their precious +ornaments; but the Romans would demolish with their own hands the +arches and walls, if the hope of profit could surpass the cost of +the labor and exportation. If Charlemagne had fixed in Italy the +seat of the Western empire, his genius would have aspired to +restore, rather than to violate, the works of the Cæsars; +but policy confined the French monarch to the forests of Germany; +his taste could be gratified only by destruction; and the new +palace of Aix la Chapelle was decorated with the marbles of +Ravenna ^29 and Rome. ^30 Five hundred years after Charlemagne, a +king of Sicily, Robert, the wisest and most liberal sovereign of +the age, was supplied with the same materials by the easy +navigation of the Tyber and the sea; and Petrarch sighs an +indignant complaint, that the ancient capital of the world should +adorn from her own bowels the slothful luxury of Naples. ^31 But +these examples of plunder or purchase were rare in the darker +ages; and the Romans, alone and unenvied, might have applied to +their private or public use the remaining structures of +antiquity, if in their present form and situation they had not +been useless in a great measure to the city and its inhabitants. +The walls still described the old circumference, but the city had +descended from the seven hills into the Campus Martius; and some +of the noblest monuments which had braved the injuries of time +were left in a desert, far remote from the habitations of +mankind. The palaces of the senators were no longer adapted to +the manners or fortunes of their indigent successors: the use of +baths ^32 and porticos was forgotten: in the sixth century, the +games of the theatre, amphitheatre, and circus, had been +interrupted: some temples were devoted to the prevailing worship; +but the Christian churches preferred the holy figure of the +cross; and fashion, or reason, had distributed after a peculiar +model the cells and offices of the cloister. Under the +ecclesiastical reign, the number of these pious foundations was +enormously multiplied; and the city was crowded with forty +monasteries of men, twenty of women, and sixty chapters and +colleges of canons and priests, ^33 who aggravated, instead of +relieving, the depopulation of the tenth century. But if the +forms of ancient architecture were disregarded by a people +insensible of their use and beauty, the plentiful materials were +applied to every call of necessity or superstition; till the +fairest columns of the Ionic and Corinthian orders, the richest +marbles of Paros and Numidia, were degraded, perhaps to the +support of a convent or a stable. The daily havoc which is +perpetrated by the Turks in the cities of Greece and Asia may +afford a melancholy example; and in the gradual destruction of +the monuments of Rome, Sixtus the Fifth may alone be excused for +employing the stones of the Septizonium in the glorious edifice +of St. Peter's. ^34 A fragment, a ruin, howsoever mangled or +profaned, may be viewed with pleasure and regret; but the greater +part of the marble was deprived of substance, as well as of place +and proportion; it was burnt to lime for the purpose of cement. +^* Since the arrival of Poggius, the temple of Concord, ^35 and +many capital structures, had vanished from his eyes; and an +epigram of the same age expresses a just and pious fear, that the +continuance of this practice would finally annihilate all the +monuments of antiquity. ^36 The smallness of their numbers was +the sole check on the demands and depredations of the Romans. The +imagination of Petrarch might create the presence of a mighty +people; ^37 and I hesitate to believe, that, even in the +fourteenth century, they could be reduced to a contemptible list +of thirty-three thousand inhabitants. From that period to the +reign of Leo the Tenth, if they multiplied to the amount of +eighty-five thousand, ^38 the increase of citizens was in some +degree pernicious to the ancient city.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 27: Flaminius Vacca (apud Montfaucon, p. 155, 156. +His memoir is likewise printed, p. 21, at the end of the Roman +Antica of Nardini) and several Romans, doctrinâ graves, +were persuaded that the Goths buried their treasures at Rome, and +bequeathed the secret marks filiis nepotibusque. He relates some +anecdotes to prove, that in his own time, these places were +visited and rifled by the Transalpine pilgrims, the heirs of the +Gothic conquerors.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 28: Omnia quæ erant in ære ad ornatum +civitatis deposuit, sed e ecclesiam B. Mariæ ad martyres +quæ de tegulis æreis cooperta discooperuit, (Anast. +in Vitalian. p. 141.) The base and sacrilegious Greek had not +even the poor pretence of plundering a heathen temple, the +Pantheon was already a Catholic church.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 29: For the spoils of Ravenna (musiva atque marmora) +see the original grant of Pope Adrian I. to Charlemagne, (Codex +Carolin. epist. lxvii. in Muratori, Script. Ital. tom. iii. P. +ii. p. 223.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 30: I shall quote the authentic testimony of the +Saxon poet, (A.D. 887--899,) de Rebus gestis Caroli magni, l. v. +437--440, in the Historians of France, (tom. v. p. 180:)</p> + +<p>Ad quæ marmoreas præstabat Roma columnas,</p> + +<p>Quasdam præcipuas pulchra Ravenna dedit.</p> + +<p>De tam longinquâ poterit regione vetustas</p> + +<p>Illius ornatum, Francia, ferre tibi.</p> + +<p>And I shall add from the Chronicle of Sigebert, (Historians of +France, tom. v. p. 378,) extruxit etiam Aquisgrani basilicam +plurimæ pulchritudinis, ad cujus structuram a Roma et +Ravenna columnas et marmora devehi fecit.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 31: I cannot refuse to transcribe a long passage of +Petrarch (Opp. p. 536, 537) in Epistolâ hortatoriâ ad +Nicolaum Laurentium; it is so strong and full to the point: Nec +pudor aut pietas continuit quominus impii spoliata Dei templa, +occupatas arces, opes publicas, regiones urbis, atque honores +magistratûum inter se divisos; +(<strong><em>habeant?</em></strong>) quam unâ in re, +turbulenti ac seditiosi homines et totius reliquæ +vitæ consiliis et rationibus discordes, inhumani fderis +stupendà societate convenirent, in pontes et mnia atque +immeritos lapides desævirent. Denique post vi vel senio +collapsa palatia, quæ quondam ingentes tenuerunt viri, post +diruptos arcus triumphales, (unde majores horum forsitan +corruerunt,) de ipsius vetustatis ac propriæ impietatis +fragminibus vilem quæstum turpi mercimonio captare non +puduit. Itaque nunc, heu dolor! heu scelus indignum! de vestris +marmoreis columnis, de liminibus templorum, (ad quæ nuper +ex orbe toto concursus devotissimus fiebat,) de imaginibus +sepulchrorum sub quibus patrum vestrorum venerabilis civis +(<strong><em>cinis?</em></strong>) erat, ut reliquas sileam, +desidiosa Neapolis adornatur. Sic paullatim ruinæ +ipsæ deficiunt. Yet King Robert was the friend of +Petrarch.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 32: Yet Charlemagne washed and swam at Aix la +Chapelle with a hundred of his courtiers, (Eginhart, c. 22, p. +108, 109,) and Muratori describes, as late as the year 814, the +public baths which were built at Spoleto in Italy, (Annali, tom. +vi. p. 416.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 33: See the Annals of Italy, A.D. 988. For this and +the preceding fact, Muratori himself is indebted to the +Benedictine history of Père Mabillon.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 34: Vita di Sisto Quinto, da Gregorio Leti, tom. +iii. p. 50.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: From the quotations in Bunsen's Dissertation, it +may be suspected that this slow but continual process of +destruction was the most fatal. Ancient Rome eas considered a +quarry from which the church, the castle of the baron, or even +the hovel of the peasant, might be repaired. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 35: Porticus ædis Concordiæ, quam cum +primum ad urbem accessi vidi fere integram opere marmoreo admodum +specioso: Romani postmodum ad calcem ædem totam et +porticûs partem disjectis columnis sunt demoliti, (p. 12.) +The temple of Concord was therefore <strong><em>not</em></strong> +destroyed by a sedition in the xiiith century, as I have read in +a MS. treatise del' Governo civile di Rome, lent me formerly at +Rome, and ascribed (I believe falsely) to the celebrated Gravina. +Poggius likewise affirms that the sepulchre of Cæcilia +Metella was burnt for lime, (p. 19, 20.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 36: Composed by Æneas Sylvius, afterwards Pope +Pius II., and published by Mabillon, from a MS. of the queen of +Sweden, (Musæum Italicum, tom. i. p. 97.)</p> + +<p>Oblectat me, Roma, tuas spectare ruinas:</p> + +<p>Ex cujus lapsû gloria prisca patet.</p> + +<p>Sed tuus hic populus muris defossa vetustis</p> + +<p><strong><em>Calcis in obsequium</em></strong> marmora dura +coquit.</p> + +<p>Impia tercentum si sic gens egerit annos</p> + +<p>Nullum hinc indicium nobilitatis erit.</p> + +<p>11]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 37: Vagabamur pariter in illâ urbe tam +magnâ; quæ, cum propter spatium vacua videretur, +populum habet immensum, (Opp p. 605 Epist. Familiares, ii. +14.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 38: These states of the population of Rome at +different periods are derived from an ingenious treatise of the +physician Lancisi, de Romani Cli Qualitatibus, (p. 122.)]</p> + +<p>IV. I have reserved for the last, the most potent and forcible +cause of destruction, the domestic hostilities of the Romans +themselves. Under the dominion of the Greek and French emperors, +the peace of the city was disturbed by accidental, though +frequent, seditions: it is from the decline of the latter, from +the beginning of the tenth century, that we may date the +licentiousness of private war, which violated with impunity the +laws of the Code and the Gospel, without respecting the majesty +of the absent sovereign, or the presence and person of the vicar +of Christ. In a dark period of five hundred years, Rome was +perpetually afflicted by the sanguinary quarrels of the nobles +and the people, the Guelphs and Ghibelines, the Colonna and +Ursini; and if much has escaped the knowledge, and much is +unworthy of the notice, of history, I have exposed in the two +preceding chapters the causes and effects of the public +disorders. At such a time, when every quarrel was decided by the +sword, and none could trust their lives or properties to the +impotence of law, the powerful citizens were armed for safety, or +offence, against the domestic enemies whom they feared or hated. +Except Venice alone, the same dangers and designs were common to +all the free republics of Italy; and the nobles usurped the +prerogative of fortifying their houses, and erecting strong +towers, ^39 that were capable of resisting a sudden attack. The +cities were filled with these hostile edifices; and the example +of Lucca, which contained three hundred towers; her law, which +confined their height to the measure of fourscore feet, may be +extended with suitable latitude to the more opulent and populous +states. The first step of the senator Brancaleone in the +establishment of peace and justice, was to demolish (as we have +already seen) one hundred and forty of the towers of Rome; and, +in the last days of anarchy and discord, as late as the reign of +Martin the Fifth, forty-four still stood in one of the thirteen +or fourteen regions of the city. To this mischievous purpose the +remains of antiquity were most readily adapted: the temples and +arches afforded a broad and solid basis for the new structures of +brick and stone; and we can name the modern turrets that were +raised on the triumphal monuments of Julius Cæsar, Titus, +and the Antonines. ^40 With some slight alterations, a theatre, +an amphitheatre, a mausoleum, was transformed into a strong and +spacious citadel. I need not repeat, that the mole of Adrian has +assumed the title and form of the castle of St. Angelo; ^41 the +Septizonium of Severus was capable of standing against a royal +army; ^42 the sepulchre of Metella has sunk under its outworks; +^43 ^* the theatres of Pompey and Marcellus were occupied by the +Savelli and Ursini families; ^44 and the rough fortress has been +gradually softened to the splendor and elegance of an Italian +palace. Even the churches were encompassed with arms and +bulwarks, and the military engines on the roof of St. Peter's +were the terror of the Vatican and the scandal of the Christian +world. Whatever is fortified will be attacked; and whatever is +attacked may be destroyed. Could the Romans have wrested from the +popes the castle of St. Angelo, they had resolved by a public +decree to annihilate that monument of servitude. Every building +of defence was exposed to a siege; and in every siege the arts +and engines of destruction were laboriously employed. After the +death of Nicholas the Fourth, Rome, without a sovereign or a +senate, was abandoned six months to the fury of civil war. "The +houses," says a cardinal and poet of the times, ^45 "were crushed +by the weight and velocity of enormous stones; ^46 the walls were +perforated by the strokes of the battering-ram; the towers were +involved in fire and smoke; and the assailants were stimulated by +rapine and revenge." The work was consummated by the tyranny of +the laws; and the factions of Italy alternately exercised a blind +and thoughtless vengeance on their adversaries, whose houses and +castles they razed to the ground. ^47 In comparing the +<strong><em>days</em></strong> of foreign, with the +<strong><em>ages</em></strong> of domestic, hostility, we must +pronounce, that the latter have been far more ruinous to the +city; and our opinion is confirmed by the evidence of Petrarch. +"Behold," says the laureate, "the relics of Rome, the image of +her pristine greatness! neither time nor the Barbarian can boast +the merit of this stupendous destruction: it was perpetrated by +her own citizens, by the most illustrious of her sons; and your +ancestors (he writes to a noble Annabaldi) have done with the +battering-ram what the Punic hero could not accomplish with the +sword." ^48 The influence of the two last principles of decay +must in some degree be multiplied by each other; since the houses +and towers, which were subverted by civil war, required by a new +and perpetual supply from the monuments of antiquity. ^*</p> + +<p>[Footnote 39: All the facts that relate to the towers at Rome, +and in other free cities of Italy, may be found in the laborious +and entertaining compilation of Muratori, Antiquitates +Italiæ Medii Ævi, dissertat. xxvi., (tom. ii. p. +493--496, of the Latin, tom. . p. 446, of the Italian work.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 40: As for instance, templum Jani nunc dicitur, +turris Centii Frangipanis; et sane Jano impositæ turris +lateritiæ conspicua hodieque vestigia supersunt, +(Montfaucon Diarium Italicum, p. 186.) The anonymous writer (p. +285) enumerates, arcus Titi, turris Cartularia; arcus Julii +Cæsaris et Senatorum, turres de Bratis; arcus Antonini, +turris de Cosectis, &c.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 41: Hadriani molem . . . . magna ex parte Romanorum +injuria . . . . disturbavit; quod certe funditus evertissent, si +eorum manibus pervia, absumptis grandibus saxis, reliqua moles +exstisset, (Poggius de Varietate Fortunæ, p. 12.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 42: Against the emperor Henry IV., (Muratori, Annali +d' Italia, tom. ix. p. 147.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 43: I must copy an important passage of Montfaucon: +Turris ingens rotunda . . . . Cæciliæ Metellæ . +. . . sepulchrum erat, cujus muri tam solidi, ut spatium perquam +minimum intus vacuum supersit; et <strong><em>Torre di +Bove</em></strong> dicitur, a boum capitibus muro inscriptis. +Huic sequiori ævo, tempore intestinorum bellorum, ceu +urbecula adjuncta fuit, cujus mnia et turres etiamnum visuntur; +ita ut sepulchrum Metellæ quasi arx oppiduli fuerit. +Ferventibus in urbe partibus, cum Ursini atque Columnenses mutuis +cladibus perniciem inferrent civitati, in utriusve partis +ditionem cederet magni momenti erat, (p. 142.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: This is inaccurately expressed. The sepulchre is +still standing See Hobhouse, p. 204. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 44: See the testimonies of Donatus, Nardini, and +Montfaucon. In the Savelli palace, the remains of the theatre of +Marcellus are still great and conspicuous.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 45: James, cardinal of St. George, ad velum aureum, +in his metrical life of Pope Celestin V., (Muratori, Script. +Ital. tom. i. P. iii. p. 621, l. i. c. l. ver. 132, &c.)</p> + +<p>Hoc dixisse sat est, Romam caruisee Senatû</p> + +<p>Mensibus exactis heu sex; belloque vocatum +(<strong><em>vocatos</em></strong>)</p> + +<p>In scelus, in socios fraternaque vulnera patres;</p> + +<p>Tormentis jecisse viros immania saxa;</p> + +<p>Perfodisse domus trabibus, fecisse ruinas</p> + +<p>Ignibus; incensas turres, obscuraque fumo</p> + +<p>Lumina vicino, quo sit spoliata supellex.</p> + +<p>11]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 46: Muratori (Dissertazione sopra le +Antiquità Italiane, tom. i. p. 427--431) finds that stone +bullets of two or three hundred pounds' weight were not uncommon; +and they are sometimes computed at xii. or xviii +<strong><em>cantari</em></strong> of Genoa, each +<strong><em>cantaro</em></strong> weighing 150 pounds.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 47: The vith law of the Visconti prohibits this +common and mischievous practice; and strictly enjoins, that the +houses of banished citizens should be preserved pro communi +utilitate, (Gualvancus de la Flamma in Muratori, Script. Rerum +Italicarum, tom. xii. p. 1041.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 48: Petrarch thus addresses his friend, who, with +shame and tears had shown him the mnia, laceræ specimen +miserable Romæ, and declared his own intention of restoring +them, (Carmina Latina, l. ii. epist. Paulo Annibalensi, xii. p. +97, 98.)</p> + +<p>Nec te parva manet servatis fama ruinis</p> + +<p>Quanta quod integræ fuit olim gloria Romæ</p> + +<p>Reliquiæ testantur adhuc; quas longior ætas</p> + +<p>Frangere non valuit; non vis aut ira cruenti Hostis,</p> + +<p>ab egregiis franguntur civibus, heu! heu'</p> + +<p>-------- Quod <strong><em>ille</em></strong> nequivit +(<strong><em>Hannibal</em></strong>.)</p> + +<p>Perficit hic aries. 11]</p> + +<p>[Footnote *: Bunsen has shown that the hostile attacks of the +emperor Henry the Fourth, but more particularly that of Robert +Guiscard, who burned down whole districts, inflicted the worst +damage on the ancient city Vol. i. p. 247. -- M.]</p> + +<p><em><strong>Chapter LXXI: Prospect Of The Ruins Of Rome In The +Fifteenth Century. -- Part II.</strong></em></p> + +<p>These general observations may be separately applied to the +amphitheatre of Titus, which has obtained the name of the +Coliseum, ^49 either from its magnitude, or from Nero's colossal +statue; an edifice, had it been left to time and nature, which +might perhaps have claimed an eternal duration. The curious +antiquaries, who have computed the numbers and seats, are +disposed to believe, that above the upper row of stone steps the +amphitheatre was encircled and elevated with several stages of +wooden galleries, which were repeatedly consumed by fire, and +restored by the emperors. Whatever was precious, or portable, or +profane, the statues of gods and heroes, and the costly ornaments +of sculpture which were cast in brass, or overspread with leaves +of silver and gold, became the first prey of conquest or +fanaticism, of the avarice of the Barbarians or the Christians. +In the massy stones of the Coliseum, many holes are discerned; +and the two most probable conjectures represent the various +accidents of its decay. These stones were connected by solid +links of brass or iron, nor had the eye of rapine overlooked the +value of the baser metals; ^50 the vacant space was converted +into a fair or market; the artisans of the Coliseum are mentioned +in an ancient survey; and the chasms were perforated or enlarged +to receive the poles that supported the shops or tents of the +mechanic trades. ^51 Reduced to its naked majesty, the Flavian +amphitheatre was contemplated with awe and admiration by the +pilgrims of the North; and their rude enthusiasm broke forth in a +sublime proverbial expression, which is recorded in the eighth +century, in the fragments of the venerable Bede: "As long as the +Coliseum stands, Rome shall stand; when the Coliseum falls, Rome +will fall; when Rome falls, the world will fall." ^52 In the +modern system of war, a situation commanded by three hills would +not be chosen for a fortress; but the strength of the walls and +arches could resist the engines of assault; a numerous garrison +might be lodged in the enclosure; and while one faction occupied +the Vatican and the Capitol, the other was intrenched in the +Lateran and the Coliseum. ^53</p> + +<p>[Footnote 49: The fourth part of the Verona Illustrata of the +marquis Maffei professedly treats of amphitheatres, particularly +those of Rome and Verona, of their dimensions, wooden galleries, +&c. It is from magnitude that he derives the name of +<strong><em>Colosseum</em></strong>, or +<strong><em>Coliseum</em></strong>; since the same appellation +was applied to the amphitheatre of Capua, without the aid of a +colossal statue; since that of Nero was erected in the court +(<strong><em>in atrio</em></strong>) of his palace, and not in +the Coliseum, (P. iv. p. 15--19, l. i. c. 4.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 50: Joseph Maria Suarés, a learned bishop, +and the author of a history of Præneste, has composed a +separate dissertation on the seven or eight probable causes of +these holes, which has been since reprinted in the Roman +Thesaurus of Sallengre. Montfaucon (Diarium, p. 233) pronounces +the rapine of the Barbarians to be the unam germanamque causam +foraminum. *</p> + +<p>Note: * The improbability of this theory is shown by Bunsen, +vol. i. p. 239. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 51: Donatus, Roma Vetus et Nova, p. 285.</p> + +<p>Note: Gibbon has followed Donatus, who supposes that a silk +manufactory was established in the xiith century in the Coliseum. +The Bandonarii, or Bandererii, were the officers who carried the +standards of their <strong><em>school</em></strong> before the +pope. Hobhouse, p. 269. -- M.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 52: Quamdiu stabit Colyseus, stabit et Roma; quando +cadet Coly seus, cadet Roma; quando cadet Roma, cadet et mundus, +(Beda in Excerptis seu Collectaneis apud Ducange Glossar. Med. et +Infimæ Latinitatis, tom. ii. p. 407, edit. Basil.) This +saying must be ascribed to the Anglo-Saxon pilgrims who visited +Rome before the year 735 the æra of Bede's death; for I do +not believe that our venerable monk ever passed the sea.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 53: I cannot recover, in Muratori's original Lives +of the Popes, (Script Rerum Italicarum, tom. iii. P. i.,) the +passage that attests this hostile partition, which must be +applied to the end of the xiith or the beginning of the xiith +century.</p> + +<p>Note: "The division is mentioned in Vit. Innocent. Pap. II. ex +Cardinale Aragonio, (Script. Rer. Ital. vol. iii. P. i. p. 435,) +and Gibbon might have found frequent other records of it at other +dates." Hobhouse's Illustrations of Childe Harold. p. 130. -- +M.]</p> + +<p>The abolition at Rome of the ancient games must be understood +with some latitude; and the carnival sports, of the Testacean +mount and the Circus Agonalis, ^54 were regulated by the law ^55 +or custom of the city. The senator presided with dignity and pomp +to adjudge and distribute the prizes, the gold ring, or the +<strong><em>pallium</em></strong>, ^56 as it was styled, of cloth +or silk. A tribute on the Jews supplied the annual expense; ^57 +and the races, on foot, on horseback, or in chariots, were +ennobled by a tilt and tournament of seventy-two of the Roman +youth. In the year one thousand three hundred and thirty-two, a +bull-feast, after the fashion of the Moors and Spaniards, was +celebrated in the Coliseum itself; and the living manners are +painted in a diary of the times. ^58 A convenient order of +benches was restored; and a general proclamation, as far as +Rimini and Ravenna, invited the nobles to exercise their skill +and courage in this perilous adventure. The Roman ladies were +marshalled in three squadrons, and seated in three balconies, +which, on this day, the third of September, were lined with +scarlet cloth. The fair Jacova di Rovere led the matrons from +beyond the Tyber, a pure and native race, who still represent the +features and character of antiquity. The remainder of the city +was divided as usual between the Colonna and Ursini: the two +factions were proud of the number and beauty of their female +bands: the charms of Savella Ursini are mentioned with praise; +and the Colonna regretted the absence of the youngest of their +house, who had sprained her ankle in the garden of Nero's tower. +The lots of the champions were drawn by an old and respectable +citizen; and they descended into the arena, or pit, to encounter +the wild bulls, on foot as it should seem, with a single spear. +Amidst the crowd, our annalist has selected the names, colors, +and devices, of twenty of the most conspicuous knights. Several +of the names are the most illustrious of Rome and the +ecclesiastical state: Malatesta, Polenta, della Valle, Cafarello, +Savelli, Capoccio, Conti, Annibaldi, Altieri, Corsi: the colors +were adapted to their taste and situation; the devices are +expressive of hope or despair, and breathe the spirit of +gallantry and arms. "I am alone, like the youngest of the +Horatii," the confidence of an intrepid stranger: "I live +disconsolate," a weeping widower: "I burn under the ashes," a +discreet lover: "I adore Lavinia, or Lucretia," the ambiguous +declaration of a modern passion: "My faith is as pure," the motto +of a white livery: "Who is stronger than myself?" of a lion's +hide: "If am drowned in blood, what a pleasant death!" the wish +of ferocious courage. The pride or prudence of the Ursini +restrained them from the field, which was occupied by three of +their hereditary rivals, whose inscriptions denoted the lofty +greatness of the Colonna name: "Though sad, I am strong:" "Strong +as I am great:" "If I fall," addressing himself to the +spectators, "you fall with me;" -- intimating (says the +contemporary writer) that while the other families were the +subjects of the Vatican, they alone were the supporters of the +Capitol. The combats of the amphitheatre were dangerous and +bloody. Every champion successively encountered a wild bull; and +the victory may be ascribed to the quadrupeds, since no more than +eleven were left on the field, with the loss of nine wounded and +eighteen killed on the side of their adversaries. Some of the +noblest families might mourn, but the pomp of the funerals, in +the churches of St. John Lateran and St. Maria Maggiore, afforded +a second holiday to the people. Doubtless it was not in such +conflicts that the blood of the Romans should have been shed; +yet, in blaming their rashness, we are compelled to applaud their +gallantry; and the noble volunteers, who display their +magnificence, and risk their lives, under the balconies of the +fair, excite a more generous sympathy than the thousands of +captives and malefactors who were reluctantly dragged to the +scene of slaughter. ^59</p> + +<p>[Footnote 54: Although the structure of the circus Agonalis be +destroyed, it still retains its form and name, (Agona, Nagona, +Navona;) and the interior space affords a sufficient level for +the purpose of racing. But the Monte Testaceo, that strange pile +of broken pottery, seems only adapted for the annual practice of +hurling from top to bottom some wagon-loads of live hogs for the +diversion of the populace, (Statuta Urbis Romæ, p. +186.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 55: See the Statuta Urbis Romæ, l. iii. c. 87, +88, 89, p. 185, 186. I have already given an idea of this +municipal code. The races of Nagona and Monte Testaceo are +likewise mentioned in the Diary of Peter Antonius from 1404 to +1417, (Muratori, Script. Rerum Italicarum, tom. xxiv. p. +1124.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 56: The <strong><em>Pallium</em></strong>, which +Menage so foolishly derives from +<strong><em>Palmarius</em></strong>, is an easy extension of the +idea and the words, from the robe or cloak, to the materials, and +from thence to their application as a prize, (Muratori, dissert. +xxxiii.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 57: For these expenses, the Jews of Rome paid each +year 1130 florins, of which the odd thirty represented the pieces +of silver for which Judas had betrayed his Master to their +ancestors. There was a foot-race of Jewish as well as of +Christian youths, (Statuta Urbis, ibidem.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 58: This extraordinary bull-feast in the Coliseum is +described, from tradition rather than memory, by Ludovico +Buonconte Monaldesco, on the most ancient fragments of Roman +annals, (Muratori, Script Rerum Italicarum, tom. xii. p. 535, +536;) and however fanciful they may seem, they are deeply marked +with the colors of truth and nature.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 59: Muratori has given a separate dissertation (the +xxixth) to the games of the Italians in the Middle Ages.]</p> + +<p>This use of the amphitheatre was a rare, perhaps a singular, +festival: the demand for the materials was a daily and continual +want which the citizens could gratify without restraint or +remorse. In the fourteenth century, a scandalous act of concord +secured to both factions the privilege of extracting stones from +the free and common quarry of the Coliseum; ^60 and Poggius +laments, that the greater part of these stones had been burnt to +lime by the folly of the Romans. ^61 To check this abuse, and to +prevent the nocturnal crimes that might be perpetrated in the +vast and gloomy recess, Eugenius the Fourth surrounded it with a +wall; and, by a charter long extant, granted both the ground and +edifice to the monks of an adjacent convent. ^62 After his death, +the wall was overthrown in a tumult of the people; and had they +themselves respected the noblest monument of their fathers, they +might have justified the resolve that it should never be degraded +to private property. The inside was damaged: but in the middle of +the sixteenth century, an æra of taste and learning, the +exterior circumference of one thousand six hundred and twelve +feet was still entire and inviolate; a triple elevation of +fourscore arches, which rose to the height of one hundred and +eight feet. Of the present ruin, the nephews of Paul the Third +are the guilty agents; and every traveller who views the Farnese +palace may curse the sacrilege and luxury of these upstart +princes. ^63 A similar reproach is applied to the Barberini; and +the repetition of injury might be dreaded from every reign, till +the Coliseum was placed under the safeguard of religion by the +most liberal of the pontiffs, Benedict the Fourteenth, who +consecrated a spot which persecution and fable had stained with +the blood of so many Christian martyrs. ^64</p> + +<p>[Footnote 60: In a concise but instructive memoir, the +abbé Barthelemy (Mémoires de l'Académie des +Inscriptions, tom. xxviii. p. 585) has mentioned this agreement +of the factions of the xivth century de Tiburtino faciendo in the +Coliseum, from an original act in the archives of Rome.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 61: Coliseum . . . . ob stultitiam Romanorum +<strong><em>majori ex parte</em></strong> ad calcem deletum, says +the indignant Poggius, (p. 17:) but his expression too strong for +the present age, must be very tenderly applied to the xvth +century.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 62: Of the Olivetan monks. Montfaucon (p. 142) +affirms this fact from the memorials of Flaminius Vacca, (No. +72.) They still hoped on some future occasion, to revive and +vindicate their grant.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 63: After measuring the priscus amphitheatri gyrus, +Montfaucon (p. 142) only adds that it was entire under Paul III.; +tacendo clamat. Muratori (Annali d'Italia, tom. xiv. p. 371) more +freely reports the guilt of the Farnese pope, and the indignation +of the Roman people. Against the nephews of Urban VIII. I have no +other evidence than the vulgar saying, "Quod non fecerunt +Barbari, fecere Barberini," which was perhaps suggested by the +resemblance of the words.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 64: As an antiquarian and a priest, Montfaucon thus +deprecates the ruin of the Coliseum: Quòd si non suopte +merito atque pulchritudine dignum fuisset quod improbas arceret +manus, indigna res utique in locum tot martyrum cruore sacrum +tantopere sævitum esse.]</p> + +<p>When Petrarch first gratified his eyes with a view of those +monuments, whose scattered fragments so far surpass the most +eloquent descriptions, he was astonished at the supine +indifference ^65 of the Romans themselves; ^66 he was humbled +rather than elated by the discovery, that, except his friend +Rienzi, and one of the Colonna, a stranger of the Rhône was +more conversant with these antiquities than the nobles and +natives of the metropolis. ^67 The ignorance and credulity of the +Romans are elaborately displayed in the old survey of the city +which was composed about the beginning of the thirteenth century; +and, without dwelling on the manifold errors of name and place, +the legend of the Capitol ^68 may provoke a smile of contempt and +indignation. "The Capitol," says the anonymous writer, "is so +named as being the head of the world; where the consuls and +senators formerly resided for the government of the city and the +globe. The strong and lofty walls were covered with glass and +gold, and crowned with a roof of the richest and most curious +carving. Below the citadel stood a palace, of gold for the +greatest part, decorated with precious stones, and whose value +might be esteemed at one third of the world itself. The statues +of all the provinces were arranged in order, each with a small +bell suspended from its neck; and such was the contrivance of art +magic, ^69 that if the province rebelled against Rome, the statue +turned round to that quarter of the heavens, the bell rang, the +prophet of the Capitol repeated the prodigy, and the senate was +admonished of the impending danger." A second example, of less +importance, though of equal absurdity, may be drawn from the two +marble horses, led by two naked youths, who have since been +transported from the baths of Constantine to the Quirinal hill. +The groundless application of the names of Phidias and Praxiteles +may perhaps be excused; but these Grecian sculptors should not +have been removed above four hundred years from the age of +Pericles to that of Tiberius; they should not have been +transferred into two philosophers or magicians, whose nakedness +was the symbol of truth or knowledge, who revealed to the emperor +his most secret actions; and, after refusing all pecuniary +recompense, solicited the honor of leaving this eternal monument +of themselves. ^70 Thus awake to the power of magic, the Romans +were insensible to the beauties of art: no more than five statues +were visible to the eyes of Poggius; and of the multitudes which +chance or design had buried under the ruins, the resurrection was +fortunately delayed till a safer and more enlightened age. ^71 +The Nile which now adorns the Vatican, had been explored by some +laborers in digging a vineyard near the temple, or convent, of +the Minerva; but the impatient proprietor, who was tormented by +some visits of curiosity, restored the unprofitable marble to its +former grave. ^72 The discovery of a statue of Pompey, ten feet +in length, was the occasion of a lawsuit. It had been found under +a partition wall: the equitable judge had pronounced, that the +head should be separated from the body to satisfy the claims of +the contiguous owners; and the sentence would have been executed, +if the intercession of a cardinal, and the liberality of a pope, +had not rescued the Roman hero from the hands of his barbarous +countrymen. ^73</p> + +<p>[Footnote 65: Yet the statutes of Rome (l. iii. c. 81, p. 182) +impose a fine of 500 <strong><em>aurei</em></strong> on whosoever +shall demolish any ancient edifice, ne ruinis civitas deformetur, +et ut antiqua ædificia decorem urbis perpetuo +representent.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 66: In his first visit to Rome (A.D. 1337. See +Mémoires sur Pétrarque, tom. i. p. 322, &c.) +Petrarch is struck mute miraculo rerum tantarum, et stuporis mole +obrutus . . . . Præsentia vero, mirum dictû nihil +imminuit: vere major fuit Roma majoresque sunt reliquiæ +quam rebar. Jam non orbem ab hâc urbe domitum, sed tam sero +domitum, miror, (Opp. p. 605, Familiares, ii. 14, Joanni +Columnæ.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 67: He excepts and praises the +<strong><em>rare</em></strong> knowledge of John Colonna. Qui +enim hodie magis ignari rerum Romanarum, quam Romani cives! +Invitus dico, nusquam minus Roma cognoscitur quam +Romæ.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 68: After the description of the Capitol, he adds, +statuæ erant quot sunt mundi provinciæ; et habebat +quælibet tintinnabulum ad collum. Et erant ita per magicam +artem dispositæ, ut quando aliqua regio Romano Imperio +rebellis erat, statim imago illius provinciæ vertebat se +contra illam; unde tintinnabulum resonabat quod pendebat ad +collum; tuncque vates Capitolii qui erant custodes senatui, +&c. He mentions an example of the Saxons and Suevi, who, +after they had been subdued by Agrippa, again rebelled: +tintinnabulum sonuit; sacerdos qui erat in speculo in hebdomada +senatoribus nuntiavit: Agrippa marched back and reduced the -- +Persians, (Anonym. in Montfaucon, p. 297, 298.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 69: The same writer affirms, that Virgil captus a +Romanis invisibiliter exiit, ivitque Neapolim. A Roman magician, +in the xith century, is introduced by William of Malmsbury, (de +Gestis Regum Anglorum, l. ii. p. 86;) and in the time of +Flaminius Vacca (No. 81, 103) it was the vulgar belief that the +strangers (the <strong><em>Goths</em></strong>) invoked the +dæmons for the discovery of hidden treasures.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 70: Anonym. p. 289. Montfaucon (p. 191) justly +observes, that if Alexander be represented, these statues cannot +be the work of Phidias (Olympiad lxxxiii.) or Praxiteles, +(Olympiad civ.,) who lived before that conqueror (Plin. Hist. +Natur. xxxiv. 19.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 71: William of Malmsbury (l. ii. p. 86, 87) relates +a marvellous discovery (A.D. 1046) of Pallas the son of Evander, +who had been slain by Turnus; the perpetual light in his +sepulchre, a Latin epitaph, the corpse, yet entire, of a young +giant, the enormous wound in his breast, (pectus perforat +ingens,) &c. If this fable rests on the slightest foundation, +we may pity the bodies, as well as the statues, that were exposed +to the air in a barbarous age.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 72: Prope porticum Minervæ, statua est +recubantis, cujus caput integrâ effigie tantæ +magnitudinis, ut signa omnia excedat. Quidam ad plantandas +arbores scrobes faciens detexit. Ad hoc visendum cum plures in +dies magis concurrerent, strepitum adeuentium fastidiumque +pertæsus, horti patronus congestâ humo texit, +(Poggius de Varietate Fortunæ, p. 12.)]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 73: See the Memorials of Flaminius Vacca, No. 57, p. +11, 12, at the end of the Roma Antica of Nardini, (1704, in +4to.)]</p> + +<p>But the clouds of barbarism were gradually dispelled; and the +peaceful authority of Martin the Fifth and his successors +restored the ornaments of the city as well as the order of the +ecclesiastical state. The improvements of Rome, since the +fifteenth century, have not been the spontaneous produce of +freedom and industry. The first and most natural root of a great +city is the labor and populousness of the adjacent country, which +supplies the materials of subsistence, of manufactures, and of +foreign trade. But the greater part of the Campagna of Rome is +reduced to a dreary and desolate wilderness: the overgrown +estates of the princes and the clergy are cultivated by the lazy +hands of indigent and hopeless vassals; and the scanty harvests +are confined or exported for the benefit of a monopoly. A second +and more artificial cause of the growth of a metropolis is the +residence of a monarch, the expense of a luxurious court, and the +tributes of dependent provinces. Those provinces and tributes had +been lost in the fall of the empire; and if some streams of the +silver of Peru and the gold of Brazil have been attracted by the +Vatican, the revenues of the cardinals, the fees of office, the +oblations of pilgrims and clients, and the remnant of +ecclesiastical taxes, afford a poor and precarious supply, which +maintains, however, the idleness of the court and city. The +population of Rome, far below the measure of the great capitals +of Europe, does not exceed one hundred and seventy thousand +inhabitants; ^74 and within the spacious enclosure of the walls, +the largest portion of the seven hills is overspread with +vineyards and ruins. The beauty and splendor of the modern city +may be ascribed to the abuses of the government, to the influence +of superstition. Each reign (the exceptions are rare) has been +marked by the rapid elevation of a new family, enriched by the +childish pontiff at the expense of the church and country. The +palaces of these fortunate nephews are the most costly monuments +of elegance and servitude: the perfect arts of architecture, +sculpture, and painting, have been prostituted in their service; +and their galleries and gardens are decorated with the most +precious works of antiquity, which taste or vanity has prompted +them to collect. The ecclesiastical revenues were more decently +employed by the popes themselves in the pomp of the Catholic +worship; but it is superfluous to enumerate their pious +foundations of altars, chapels, and churches, since these lesser +stars are eclipsed by the sun of the Vatican, by the dome of St. +Peter, the most glorious structure that ever has been applied to +the use of religion. The fame of Julius the Second, Leo the +Tenth, and Sixtus the Fifth, is accompanied by the superior merit +of Bramante and Fontana, of Raphael and Michael Angelo; and the +same munificence which had been displayed in palaces and temples +was directed with equal zeal to revive and emulate the labors of +antiquity. Prostrate obelisks were raised from the ground, and +erected in the most conspicuous places; of the eleven aqueducts +of the Cæsars and consuls, three were restored; the +artificial rivers were conducted over a long series of old, or of +new arches, to discharge into marble basins a flood of salubrious +and refreshing waters: and the spectator, impatient to ascend the +steps of St. Peter's, is detained by a column of Egyptian +granite, which rises between two lofty and perpetual fountains, +to the height of one hundred and twenty feet. The map, the +description, the monuments of ancient Rome, have been elucidated +by the diligence of the antiquarian and the student: ^75 and the +footsteps of heroes, the relics, not of superstition, but of +empire, are devoutly visited by a new race of pilgrims from the +remote, and once savage countries of the North.</p> + +<p>[Footnote 74: In the year 1709, the inhabitants of Rome +(without including eight or ten thousand Jews,) amounted to +138,568 souls, (Labat Voyages en Espagne et en Italie, tom. iii. +p. 217, 218.) In 1740, they had increased to 146,080; and in +1765, I left them, without the Jews 161,899. I am ignorant +whether they have since continued in a progressive state.]</p> + +<p>[Footnote 75: The Père Montfaucon distributes his own +observations into twenty days; he should have styled them weeks, +or months, of his visits to the different parts of the city, +(Diarium Italicum, c. 8--20, p. 104--301.) That learned +Benedictine reviews the topographers of ancient Rome; the first +efforts of Blondus, Fulvius, Martianus, and Faunus, the superior +labors of Pyrrhus Ligorius, had his learning been equal to his +labors; the writings of Onuphrius Panvinius, qui omnes +obscuravit, and the recent but imperfect books of Donatus and +Nardini. Yet Montfaucon still sighs for a more complete plan and +description of the old city, which must be attained by the three +following methods: 1. The measurement of the space and intervals +of the ruins. 2. The study of inscriptions, and the places where +they were found. 3. The investigation of all the acts, charters, +diaries of the middle ages, which name any spot or building of +Rome. The laborious work, such as Montfaucon desired, must be +promoted by princely or public munificence: but the great modern +plan of Nolli (A.D. 1748) would furnish a solid and accurate +basis for the ancient topography of Rome.]</p> + +<p>Of these pilgrims, and of every reader, the attention will be +excited by a History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; +the greatest, perhaps, and most awful scene in the history of +mankind. The various causes and progressive effects are connected +with many of the events most interesting in human annals: the +artful policy of the Cæsars, who long maintained the name +and image of a free republic; the disorders of military +despotism; the rise, establishment, and sects of Christianity; +the foundation of Constantinople; the division of the monarchy; +the invasion and settlements of the Barbarians of Germany and +Scythia; the institutions of the civil law; the character and +religion of Mahomet; the temporal sovereignty of the popes; the +restoration and decay of the Western empire of Charlemagne; the +crusades of the Latins in the East: the conquests of the Saracens +and Turks; the ruin of the Greek empire; the state and +revolutions of Rome in the middle age. The historian may applaud +the importance and variety of his subject; but while he is +conscious of his own imperfections, he must often accuse the +deficiency of his materials. It was among the ruins of the +Capitol that I first conceived the idea of a work which has +amused and exercised near twenty years of my life, and which, +however inadequate to my own wishes, I finally delivere to the +curiosity and candor of the public.</p> + +<p>Lausanne, June 27 1787</p> +</body> +</html> + + |