The Jews were least persecuted in the commercial cities of northern Italy. Florence, Genoa, and Venice in the thirteenth century were the money centers of Europe. The banking companies in these cities received deposits and then loaned the money to foreign governments and great nobles. It was the Florentine bankers, for instance, who provided the English king, Edward III, with the funds to carry on his wars against France. The Italian banking houses had branches in the principal cities of Europe. [19] It became possible, therefore, to introduce the use of bills of exchange as a means of balancing debts between countries, without the necessity of sending the actual money. This system of international credit was doubly important at a time when so many risks attended the transportation of the precious metals. Another Florentine invention was bookkeeping by double-entry. [20]
The cities of northern Italy owed their prosperity, as we have learned, to the commerce with the Orient. It was this which gave them the means and the strength to keep up a long struggle for freedom against the German emperors.[21] The end of the struggle, at the middle of the thirteenth century, saw all North Italy divided into the dominions of various independent cities. Among them were Milan, Pisa, Florence, Genoa, and Venice.
Milan, a city of Roman origin, lay in the fertile valley of the Po, at a point where the trade routes through several Alpine passes converged. Milan early rose to importance, and it still remains the commercial metropolis of Italy. Manufacturing also flourished there. Milanese armor was once celebrated throughout Europe. The city is rich in works of art, the best known being the cathedral, which, after St. Peter's at Rome and the cathedral of Seville, is the largest church in Europe. Though the Milanese were able to throw off the imperial authority, their government fell into the hands of the local nobles, who ruled as despots. Almost all the Italian cities, except Venice, lost their freedom in this manner.
Pisa, like Milan, was an old Roman city which profited by the disorders of the barbarian invasions to assert its independence. The situation of Pisa on the Arno River, seven miles from the sea, made it a maritime state, and the Pisan navy gained distinction in warfare against the Moslems in the Mediterranean. The Pisans joined in the First Crusade and showed their valor at the capture of Jerusalem. They profited greatly by the crusading movement and soon possessed banks, warehouses, and trading privileges in every eastern port. But Pisa had bitter rivals in Florence and Genoa, and the conflicts with these two cities finally brought about the destruction of its power.
[Illustration: BAPTISTERY, CATHEDRAL, AND "LEANING TOWER" OF PISA These three buildings in the piazza of Pisa form one of the most interesting architectural groups in Italy. The baptistery, completed in 1278 A.D., is a circular structure, 100 feet in diameter and covered with a high dome. The cathedral was consecrated in 1118 A.D. The finest part of the building is the west front with its four open arcades. The campanile, or bell tower, reaches a height of 179 feet. Owing to the sinking of the foundations, it leans from the perpendicular to a striking extent (now about 161/2 feet).]
Florence, Pisa's neighbor on the Arno, was renowned for manufactures. The fine wool, silk cloths, golden brocades, jewelry, and metal work of Florence were imported into all European countries. The craft guilds were very strong there, and even the neighboring nobles, who wished to become citizens, had first to enroll themselves in some guild. It was from banking, however, that Florence gained most wealth. In the fifteenth century the city contained eighty great banking houses, in addition to numerous branches outside of Italy. With their commercial spirit the Florentines combined a remarkable taste for art and literature. Their city, whose population never exceeded seventy thousand, gave birth to some of the most illustrious poets, prose writers, architects, sculptors, and painters of medieval times. It was the Athens of Italy. [22]
Genoa, located on the gulf of the same name, possessed a safe and spacious harbor. During the era of the crusades the city carried on a flourishing trade in both the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. After the fall of the Latin Empire of Constantinople [23] the Genoese almost monopolized Oriental commerce along the Black Sea route. The closing of this route by the Ottoman Turks was a heavy blow to their prosperity, which also suffered from the active competition of Venice.
Almost alone among Italian cities Venice was not of Roman origin. Its beginning is traced back to the period of barbarian inroads, when fugitives from the mainland sought a new home on the islands at the head of the Adriatic. [24] These islands, which lie about five miles from the coast, are protected from the outer sea by a long sand bar. They are little more than mud-banks, barely rising above the shallow water of the lagoons. The oozy soil afforded no support for buildings, except when strengthened by piles; there was scarcely any land fit for farming or cattle-raising; and the only drinking water had to be stored from the rainfall. Yet on this unpromising site arose one of the most splendid of European cities.
The early inhabitants of Venice got their living from the sale of sea salt and fish, two commodities for which a constant demand existed in the Middle Ages. Large quantities of salt were needed for preserving meat in the winter months, while fish was eaten by all Christians on the numerous fast days and in Lent. The Venetians exchanged these commodities for the productions of the mainland and so built up a thriving trade. From fishermen they became merchants, with commercial relations which gradually extended to the Orient. The crusades vastly increased the wealth of Venice, for she provided the ships in which troops and supplies went to the Holy Land and she secured the largest share of the new eastern trade. Venice became the great emporium of the Mediterranean. As a commercial center the city was the successor of ancient Tyre, Carthage, Athens, and Alexandria.
[Illustration: VENICE AND THE GRAND CANAL]
[Illustration: THE CAMPANILE AND DOGE'S PALACE, VENICE The famous Campanile or bell tower of St. Mark's Cathedral collapsed in 1902 A.D. A new tower, faithfully copying the old monument, was completed nine years later. The Doge's Palace, a magnificent structure of brick and marble, is especially remarkable for the graceful arched colonnades forming the two lower stories. The blank walls of the upper story are broken by a few large and richly ornamented windows.]
Venice also used the crusading movement for her political advantage. The capture of Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade extended Venetian control over the Peloponnesus, [25] Crete, Rhodes, Cyprus, and many smaller islands in the eastern Mediterranean. Even before this time Venice had begun to gain possessions upon the Italian mainland and along the Adriatic coast. At the height of her power about 1400 A.D. she ruled a real empire. [26]
The commerce and possessions of Venice made it necessary for her to maintain a powerful fleet. She is said to have had at one time over three thousand merchant vessels, besides forty-five war galleys. Her ships went out in squadrons, with men-of-war acting as a convoy against pirates. One fleet traded with the ports of western Europe, another proceeded to the Black Sea, while others visited Syria and Egypt to meet the caravans from the Far East. Venetian sea power humbled Genoa and for a long time held the Mediterranean against the Ottoman Turks.
The greatness of Venice was celebrated by the annual ceremony of "the wedding of the sea." The doge, (that is, "duke.") or chief magistrate, standing in the bows of the state barge, cast a ring of gold into the Adriatic with the proud words, "We have wedded thee, O sea, in token of our rightful and perpetual dominion."
The visitor to modern Venice can still gain a good impression of what the city must have looked like in the fourteenth century, when ships of every nation crowded its quays and strangers of every country thronged its squares or sped in light gondolas over the canals which take the place of streets. The main highway is still the Grand Canal, nearly two miles long and lined with palaces and churches. The Grand Canal leads to St. Mark's Cathedral, brilliant with mosaic pictures, the Campanile, or bell tower, and the Doge's Palace. The "Bridge of Sighs" connects the ducal palace with the state prisons. The Rialto in the business heart of Venice is another famous bridge. But these are only a few of the historic and beautiful buildings of the island city.
The important trade routes from Venice and Genoa through the Alpine passes into the valleys of the Rhine and Danube were responsible for the prosperity of many fine cities in southern and central Germany. Among them were Augsburg, which rivaled Florence as a financial center, Nuremberg, famous for artistic metal work, Ulm, Strassburg, and Cologne. The feeble rule of the German kings compelled the cities to form several confederacies for the purpose of resisting the extortionate tolls and downright robberies of feudal lords.
It was the Baltic commerce which brought the cities of northern Germany into a firm union. From the Baltic region came large quantities of dried and salted fish, especially herring, wax candles for church services, skins, tallow, and lumber. Furs were also in great demand. Every one wore them during the winter, on account of the poorly heated houses. The German cities which shared in this commerce early formed the celebrated Hanseatic [27] League for protection against pirates and feudal lords.
The league seems to have begun with an alliance of Hamburg and Lübeck to safeguard the traffic on the Elbe. The growth of the league was rapid. At the period of its greatest power, about 1400 A.D., there were upwards of eighty Hanseatic cities along the Baltic coast and in the inland districts of northern Germany.
The commercial importance of the league extended far beyond the borders of Germany. Its trading posts, or "factories," at Bergen in Norway and Novgorod in Russia controlled the export trade of those two countries. Similar establishments existed at London, on the Thames just above London Bridge, and at Bruges in Flanders. Each factory served as a fortress where merchants could be safe from attack, as a storehouse for goods, and as a general market.
The Hanseatic League ruled over the Baltic Sea very much as Venice ruled over the Adriatic. In spite of its monopolistic tendencies, so opposed to the spirit of free intercourse between nations, the league did much useful work by suppressing piracy and by encouraging the art of navigation. Modern Germans look back to it as proof that their country can play a great part on the seas. The Hanseatic merchants were also pioneers in the half-barbarous lands of northern and eastern Europe, where they founded towns, fostered industry, and introduced comforts and luxuries previously unknown. Such services in advancing civilization were comparable to those performed by the Teutonic Knights. [28]
After several centuries of usefulness the league lost its monopoly of the Baltic trade and began to decline. Moreover the Baltic, like the Mediterranean, sank to minor importance as a commercial center, after the Portuguese had discovered the sea route to India and the Spaniards had opened up the New World. [29] City after city gradually withdrew from the league, till only Hamburg, Lübeck, and Bremen remained. They are still called free and independent cities, though now they form a part of the German Empire.
In the Middle Ages the Netherlands, or "Low Countries," now divided between Holland and Belgium, consisted of a number of feudal states, nominally under the control of German and French kings, but really quite independent. Among them was the county of Flanders. It included the coast region from Calais to the mouth of the Scheldt, as well as a considerable district in what is now northwestern France. The inhabitants of Flanders were partly of Teutonic extraction (the Flemings) and partly akin to the French (the Walloons).
Flanders enjoyed a good situation for commerce. The country formed a convenient stopping place for merchants who went by sea between the Mediterranean and the Baltic, while important land routes led thither from all parts of western Europe. Flanders was also an industrial center. Its middle classes early discovered the fact that by devotion to manufacturing even a small and sterile region may become rich and populous.
The leading industry of Flanders was weaving. England in the Middle Ages raised great flocks of sheep, but lacking skilled workmen to manufacture the wool into fine cloth, sent it across the Channel to Flanders. A medieval writer declared that the whole world was clothed in English wool manufactured by the Flemings. The taxes that were laid on the export of wool helped to pay the expenses of English kings in their wars with the Welsh, the Scotch, and the Irish. The wool trade also made Flanders the ally of England in the Hundred Years' War, thus beginning that historic friendship between the two countries which still endures.
[Illustration: BELFRY OF BRUGES Bruges, the capital of West Flanders, contains many fine monuments of the Middle Ages Among these is the belfry, which rises in the center of the façade of the market hall. It dates from the end of the thirteenth century. Its height is 352 feet. The belfry consists of three stories, the two lower ones square, and the upper one, octagonal.]
[Illustration: TOWN HALL OF LOUVAIN, BELGIUM One of the richest and most ornate examples of Gothic architecture Erected in the fifteenth century The building consists of three stories above which rises the lofty roof crowned with graceful towers. The interior decoration and arrangements are commonplace.]
Among the thriving communities of Flanders three held an exceptional position. Bruges was the mart where the trade of southern Europe, in the hands of the Venetians, and the trade of northern Europe, in the hands of the Hanseatic merchants, came together. Ghent, with forty thousand workshops, and Ypres, which counted two hundred thousand workmen within its walls and suburbs, were scarcely less prosperous. When these cities declined in wealth, Antwerp became the commercial metropolis of the Netherlands.
During the fourteenth century Flanders was annexed by France. The Flemish cities resisted bravely, and on more than one occasion their citizen levies, who could handle sword and ax, as well as the loom, defeated the French armies, thus demonstrating again that foot soldiers were a match for mailed cavalry. Had the cities been able to form a lasting league, they might have established an independent Flanders, but the bitter rivalry of Ghent and Bruges led to foreign domination, lasting into the nineteenth century. [30]
The great cities of Flanders, Germany, and Italy, not to speak of those in France, Spain, and England, were much more than centers of trade, industry, and finance. Within their walls learning and art flourished to an extent which had never been possible in earlier times, when rural life prevailed throughout western Europe. We shall now see what the cities of the Middle Ages contributed to civilization.
1. Indicate on the map some great commercial cities of the Middle Ages as follows: four in Italy; three in the Netherlands; and six in Germany.
2. Why does an American city have a charter? Where is it obtained? What privileges does it confer?
3. Who comprised the "third estate" in the Middle Ages? What class corresponds to it at the present time?
4. Why has the medieval city been called the "birthplace of modern democracy"?
5. Compare the merchant guild with the modern chamber of commerce, and craft guilds with modern trade unions.
6. Look up the origin of the words "apprentice," "journeyman," and "master."
7. Why was there no antagonism between labor and capital under the guild system?
8. Compare the medieval abhorrence of "engrossing" with the modern idea that "combinations in restraint of trade" are wrong.
9. Why were fairs a necessity in the Middle Ages? Why are they not so useful now? Where are they still found?
10. Compare a medieval fair with a modern exposition.
11. What would be the effect on trade within an American state if tolls were levied on the border of every county?
12. What is meant by a "robber baron"?
13. How did the names "damask" linen, "chinaware," "japanned" ware, and "cashmere" shawls originate?
14. Why was the purchasing power of money much greater in the Middle Ages than it is now?
15. Why are modern coins always made perfectly round and with "milled" edges?
16. Are modern coins "debased" to any considerable extent? What is the use of alloys?
17. Why was the money-changer so necessary a figure in medieval business?
18. How is it easy to evade laws forbidding usury?
19. Look up in an encyclopedia the legend of the "Wandering Jew." How does it illustrate the medieval attitude toward Jews?
20. Write out the English equivalents of the Italian words mentioned in footnote 20.
21. Compare the Italian despots with the Greek tyrants.
22. Show that Venice in medieval times was the seaport nearest the heart of commercial Europe.
23. Compare the Venetian and Athenian sea-empires in respect to (a) extent, (b) duration, and (c) commercial policy.
24. Why was Venice called the "bride of the sea"?
[1] The word "city" comes through the French from the Latincivilitas, meaning citizenship, state. The word "town" (from Anglo-Saxontun), which is now often used as a synonym of city, originally meant a village (Frenchville, Latinvilla).
[2] See page 437.
[3] See page 81.
[4] From Frenchbourg,"town."
[5] See pages 506, 515.
[6] The visitor to Chester in England or Rothenburg in Germany finds the old ramparts still standing and gains an excellent idea of the cramped quarters of a medieval city. Nuremburg in southern Germany is another city which has preserved its medieval monuments.
[7] Frenchcouvre feu, "cover fire."
[8] In Frenchhôtel de ville; in GermanRathhaus.
[9] Germanbürgermeister, fromburg, "castle."
[10] Frenchmaire, from Latinmajor, "greater."
[11] Anglo-Saxonealdorman(ealdmeans "old").
[12] A map of London still shows such names as Shoe Lane, Distaff Lane, Cornhill, and many other similar designations of streets.
[13] The civic procession in London on Lord Mayor's Day is the last survival in England of these yearly shows.
[14] See page 336.
[15] See page 382.
[16] See pages 47-48.
[17] See page 417.
[18] See page 640.
[19] Lombard Street in London, the financial center of England, received its name from the Italian bankers who established themselves in this part of the city.
[20] Among the Italian words having to do with commerce and banking which have come into general use areconto, disconto, risico, netto, deposito, folio, andbilanza.
[21] See page 460.
[22] See page 590.
[23] See page 478.
[24] See page 248.
[25] Known in the Middle Ages as the Morea.
[26] For the Venetian possessions in 1453 A.D. see the map, page 494.
[27] From the old Germanhansa, a "confederacy."
[28] See page 526.
[29] See page 640.
[30] In 1831 A.D. the two provinces of East Flanders and West Flanders became part of the modern kingdom of Belgium.
The twelfth and thirteenth centuries, which in western Europe saw the rise of national states out of the chaos of feudalism and the development of cities, may be regarded as the central period of the Middle Ages. During this time there flourished a civilization which is properly described as "medieval," to distinguish it from classical civilization on the one side and modern civilization on the other side. The various European languages then began to assume something like their present form. A large body of literature, in both poetry and prose, appeared. Architecture revived, and flowered in majestic cathedrals. Education also revived, especially in the universities with their thousands of students. These and other aspects of medieval life will now engage our attention.
Throughout the Middle Ages Latin continued to be an international language. The Roman Church used it for papal bulls and other documents. Prayers were recited, hymns were sung, and sometimes sermons were preached in Latin. It was also the language of men of culture everywhere in western Christendom. University professors lectured in Latin, students spoke Latin, lawyers addressed judges in Latin, and the merchants in different countries wrote Latin letters to one another. All learned books were composed in Latin until the close of the sixteenth century. This practice has not yet been entirely abandoned by European scholars.
Each European country during the Middle Ages had also its own national tongue. The so-called Romance languages, [2] including modern French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Rumanian, were derived from the Latin spoken by the Romanized inhabitants of the lands now known as France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Rumania. Their colloquial Latin naturally lacked the elegance of the literary Latin used by Caesar, Cicero, Vergil, and other classical authors. The difference between the written and spoken forms of the language became more marked from the fifth century onward, in consequence of the barbarian invasions, which brought about the decline of learning. Gradually in each country new and vigorous tongues arose, related to, yet different from, the old classical Latin in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary.
The indebtedness of the Romance languages to Latin is well illustrated by the case of French. It contains less than a thousand words introduced by the German invaders of Gaul. Even fewer in number are the words of Celtic origin. Nearly all the rest are derived from Latin.
The popular Latin of the Gallo-Romans gave rise to two quite independent languages in medieval France. The first was used in the southern part of the country; it was called Provençal (from Provence). The second was spoken in the north, particularly in the region about Paris. The unification of the French kingdom under Hugh Capet and his successors gradually extended the speech of northern France over the entire country. Even to-day, however, one may hear in the south of France the soft and harmonious Provençal.
The barbarians who poured from the wilds of central Europe into the Roman world brought their languages with them. But the speech of the Goths, Vandals, Burgundians, and Lombards disappeared, while that of the Franks in Gaul, after their conversion to Christianity, gradually gave way to the popular Latin of their subjects. The Teutonic peoples who remained outside what had been the limits of the Roman world continued to use their native tongues during the Middle Ages. From them have come modern German, Dutch, Flemish, [3] and the various Scandinavian languages (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Icelandic [4]). In their earliest known forms all these languages show unmistakable traces of a common origin.
Britain was the only Roman province in the west of Europe where a Teutonic language took root and maintained itself. Here the rough, guttural speech of the Anglo-Saxons so completely drove out the popular Latin that only six words were left behind by the Romans, when they abandoned the island early in the fifth century. More Celtic words remained, words likecradle, crock, mop, andpillow, which were names of household objects, and the names of rivers, mountains, and lakes, which were not easily changed by the invaders. [5] But with such slight exceptions Anglo-Saxon was thoroughly Teutonic in vocabulary, as well as in grammar.
In course of time Anglo-Saxon underwent various changes. Christian missionaries, from the seventh century onward, introduced many new Latin terms for church offices, services, and observances. The Danes, besides contributing some place-names, gave us that most useful wordare, and also the habit of usingtobefore an infinitive. The coming of the Normans deeply affected Anglo-Saxon. Norman-French influence helped to make the language simpler, by ridding it of the cumbersome declensions and conjugations which it had in common with all Teutonic tongues. Many new Norman-French words also crept in, as the hostility of the English people toward their conquerors disappeared.
By the middle of the thirteenth century Anglo-Saxon, or English, as it may now be called, had taken on a somewhat familiar appearance, as in these opening words of the Lord's Prayer: "Fadir ur, that es in heven, Halud thi nam to nevene, Thou do as thi rich rike, Thi will on erd be wrought, eek as it is wrought in heven ay." In the poems of Geoffrey Chaucer (about 1340-1400 A.D.), especially in hisCanterbury Tales, English wears quite a modern aspect, though the reader is often troubled by the old spelling and by certain words not now in use. The changes in the grammar of English have been so extremely small since 1485 A..D.—the beginning of the reign of Henry VII [6]—that any Englishman of ordinary education can read without difficulty a book written more than four hundred years ago.
[Illustration: GEOFFREY CHAUCER From an old manuscript in the British Museum, London. The only existing portrait of Chaucer.]
[Illustration: ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT From an old manuscript now in the possession of the British Museum. The shrine of Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, was a celebrated resort for (Proofer's Note: Remainder of text unavailable)]
What in medieval times was the speech of a few millions of Englishmen on a single small island is now spoken by at least one hundred and fifty millions of people all over the world. English is well fitted for the role of a universal language, because of its absence of inflections and its simple sentence-order. The great number of one-syllabled words in the language also makes for ease in understanding it. Furthermore, English has been, and still is, extremely hospitable to new words, so that its vocabulary has grown very fast by the adoption of terms from Latin, French, and other languages. These have immensely increased the expressiveness of English, while giving it a position midway between the very different Romance and Teutonic languages.
Medieval literature, though inferior in quality to that of Greece and Rome, nevertheless includes many notable productions. In the twelfth and the thirteenth centuries Latin hymns reached their perfection. The sublimeDies Irae("Day of Wrath") presents a picture of the final judgment of the wicked. The patheticStabat Mater, which describes the sorrows of Mary at the foot of the Cross, has been often translated and set to music. These two works were written by a companion and biographer of St. Francis of Assisi. St. Bernard'sJesu Dulcis Memoria("Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee") forms part of a beautiful hymn nearly two hundred lines in length. Part of another hymn, composed by a monk of Cluny, has been rendered into English as "Jerusalem the Golden." Latin hymns made use of rhyme, then something of a novelty, and thus helped to popularize this poetic device.
Very unlike the hymns in character were the Latin songs composed by students who went from one university to another in search of knowledge and adventure. Far from home, careless and pleasure-seeking, light of purse and light of heart the wandering scholars of the Middle Ages frequented taverns, as well as lecture rooms, and knew the wine-bowl even better than books. Their songs of love, of dancing, drinking, and gaming, reflect the jovial side of medieval life.
Still another glimpse of gay society is afforded by the songs of the troubadours. These professional poets flourished in the south of France, but many of them traveled from court to court in other countries. Their verses, composed in the Provençal language, were always sung to the accompaniment of some musical instrument, generally the lute. Romantic love and deeds of chivalry were the two themes which most inspired the troubadours. They, too, took up the use of rhyme, using it so skillfully as to become the teachers of Europe in lyric poetry.
If southern France was the native home of the lyric, northern France gave birth to epic or narrative verse. Here arose many poems, describing the exploits of mythical heroes or historic kings. For a long time the poems remained unwritten and were recited by minstrels, who did not hesitate to modify and enlarge them at will. It was not until late in the eleventh century that any epics were written down. They enjoyed high esteem in aristocratic circles and penetrated all countries where feudalism prevailed.
Many of the French epics centered about the commanding personality of Charlemagne. After his death he became a figure of legend. He was said to have reigned one hundred and twenty-five years, to have made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and to have risen from the dead to lead the First Crusade. Angels inspired his actions. His sword contained the point of the lance which pierced the Savior's side. His standard was the banner of St. Peter. Though history shows that Charlemagne had little contact with the Moslems, in the popular mind he stood forth as the great champion of Christianity against Islam.
The oldest, and at the same time the finest, epic connected with Charlemagne is the Song of Roland. [7] The poem centers around Roland, one of the twelve peers of France. When leading the rearguard of Charlemagne's army out of Spain, Roland is suddenly attacked by the treacherous Moors. He slays the enemy in heaps with his good sword, Durendal, and only after nearly all the Franks have perished sounds his magic horn to summon aid. Charlemagne, fifteen leagues distant, hears its notes and returns quickly. But before help arrives, Roland has fallen. He dies on the field of battle, with his face to the foe, and a prayer on his lips that "sweet France" may never be dishonored. This stirring poem appealed strongly to the martial Normans. A medieval chronicler relates that just before the battle of Hastings a Norman minstrel rode out between the lines, tossing his sword in air and catching it again, as he chanted the song "of Roland and of Charlemagne, of Oliver and many a brave vassal who lost his life at Roncesvalles."
[Illustration: ROLAND AT RONCESVALLESFrom a thirteenth-century window of stained glass in Chartres Cathedral.At the right, Roland sounding his horn; at the left Roland endeavoring tobreak his sword Durendal.]
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were also important figures in medieval legend. Arthur was said to have reigned in Britain early in the sixth century and to have fought against the Anglo-Saxons. Whether he ever lived or not we do not know. In the Arthurian romances this Celtic king stands forth as the model knight, the ideal of noble chivalry. The Norman conquerors of England carried the romances to France, and here, where feudalism was so deeply rooted, they found a hearty welcome. Sir Thomas Malory'sMorte d' Arthur, one of the first books to be printed in England, contains many of the narratives from which Tennyson, in hisIdylls of the King, and other modern poets have drawn their inspiration.
The greatest epic composed in Germany during the Middle Ages is theNibelungenlied. The poem begins in Burgundy, where three kings hold court at Worms, on the Rhine. Thither comes the hero, Siegfried, ruler of the Netherlands. He had slain the mysterious Nibelungs and seized their treasure, together with the magic cloud-cloak which rendered its wearer invisible to human eyes. He had also killed a dragon and by bathing in its blood had become invulnerable, except in one place where a linden leaf touched his body. Siegfried marries Kriemhild, a beautiful Burgundian princess, and with her lives most happily. But a curse attached to the Nibelung treasure, and Siegfried's enemy, the "grim Hagen," treacherously slays him by a spear thrust in the one spot where he could be hurt. Many years afterwards Kriemhild marries Attila, king of the Huns, on condition that he help her to vengeance. Hagen and his Burgundians are invited to Hunland, where Kriemhild causes them all to be put to death. The name of the poet who compiled and probably wrote much of theNibelungenliedremains unknown, but his work has a place among the classics of German literature.
No account of medieval literature ought to omit a reference toReynard the Fox. This is a long poem, first written in Latin, and then turned into the chief languages of Europe. The characters are animals: Reynard, cunning and audacious, who outwits all his foes; Chanticleer the cock; Bruin the Bear; Isengrim the Wolf; and many others. But they are animals in name only. We see them worship like Christians, go to Mass, ride on horseback, debate in councils, and amuse themselves with hawking and hunting. Satire often creeps in, as when the villainous Fox confesses his sins to the Badger or vows that he will go to the Holy Land on a pilgrimage. The special interest of this work lies in the fact that it expressed the feelings of the common people, groaning under the oppression of feudal lords.
The same democratic spirit breathes in the old English ballads of the outlaw Robin Hood. According to some accounts he flourished in the second half of the twelfth century, when Henry II and Richard the Lion-hearted reigned over England. Robin Hood, with his merry men, leads an adventurous life in Sherwood Forest, engaging in feats of strength and hunting the king's tall deer. Bishops, sheriffs, and gamekeepers are his only enemies. For the common people he has the greatest pity, and robs the rich to endow the poor. Courtesy, generosity, and love of fair play are some of the characteristics which made him a popular hero. If King Arthur was the ideal knight, Robin Hood was the ideal yeoman. The ballads about him were sung by country folk for hundreds of years.
The genius of the Middle Ages found its highest expression, not in books, but in buildings. For several hundred years after the barbarian invasions architecture had made little progress in western Europe, outside of Italy, which was subject to Byzantine influence, [8] and Spain, which was a center of Mohammedan culture. [9] Beginning about 800 A.D. came a revival, and the adoption of an architectural style called Romanesque, because it went back to Roman principles of construction. Romanesque architecture arose in northern Italy and southern France and gradually spread to other European countries. It was followed about 1100 A D. by the Gothic style of architecture, which prevailed during the next four centuries.
[Illustration: PLAN OF SALISBURY CATHEDRAL, ENGLANDNote the double transepts.]
The church of the early Christians seems to have been modeled upon the Roman basilica, with its arrangement of nave and aisles, its circular arched recess (apse) at one end, and its flat, wooden ceiling supported by columns. [10] The Romanesque church departed from the basilican plan by the introduction of transepts, thus giving the building the form of a Latin cross. A dome, which might be covered by a pointed roof, was generally raised over the junction of the nave and transepts. At the same time the apse was enlarged so as to form the choir, a place reserved for the clergy.
[Illustration: REIMS CATHEDRAL The cathedral of Notre Dame at Reims in northwestern France stands on the site where Clovis was baptized by St Remi. Here most of the French kings were consecrated with holy oil by the archbishops of Reims. Except the west front, which was built in the fourteenth century, the cathedral was completed by the end of the thirteenth century. The towers, 267 feet high, were originally designed to reach 394 feet. The facade, with its three arched portals exquisite rose window, and "gallery of the kings," is justly celebrated. The cathedral—walls, roof, statues, and windows—has been terribly damaged by the German bombardment during the late war.]
[Illustration: COLOGNE CATHEDRAL The Cathedral, or Dom, one of the finest monuments of Gothic architecture in Europe, was begun in the thirteenth century. The work of building proceeded slowly and at the time of the Reformation it ceased altogether. The structure was finally completed during the nineteenth century, and in 1880 AD it was opened in the presence of the emperor, William I. The Cathedral, which is in the form of a cross, measures 480 feet in length and 282 feet in breadth. Each of the towers reaches the height of 511 feet. The very numerous and richly-colored windows add greatly to the imposing effect of the interior.]
The Romanesque church also differed from a basilica in the use of vaulting to take the place of a flat ceiling. The old Romans had constructed their vaulted roofs and domes in concrete, which forms a rigid mass and rests securely upon the walls like the lid of a box. [11] Medieval architects, however, built in stone, which exerts an outward thrust and tends to force the walls apart. Consequently they found it necessary to make the walls very thick and to strengthen them by piers, or buttresses, on the outside of the edifice. It was also necessary to reduce the width of the vaulted spaces. The vaulting, windows, and doorways had the form of the round arch, that is, a semicircle, as in the ancient Roman monuments. [12]
Gothic architecture arose in France in the country around Paris, at a time when the French kingdom was taking the lead in European affairs. Later it spread to England, Germany, the Netherlands, and even to southern Europe. As an old chronicler wrote, "It was as if the whole world had thrown off the rags of its ancient time, and had arrayed itself in the white robes of the churches." The term Gothic was applied contemptuously to this architectural style by writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, who regarded everything non-classical as barbarous. They believed it to be an invention of the barbarian Goths, and so they called it Gothic. The name has stuck, as bad names have a habit of doing, but nowadays every one recognizes the greatness of this medieval art. The most beautiful buildings of the Middle Ages are of Gothic architecture.
The Gothic style formed a natural development of the Romanesque style. The architects of a Gothic church wished to retain the vaulted ceiling but at the same time to do away with thick, solid walls, which had so little window space as to leave the interior of the building dark gloomy. They solved this problem, in the first place, by using a great number of stone ribs, which gathered up the weight of the ceiling and rested on pillars. Ribbed vaulting made possible higher ceilings, spanning wider areas, than in Romanesque churches. [13] In the second place, the pillars supporting the ribs were themselves connected by means of flying buttresses with stout piers of masonry outside the walls of the church. [14] These walls, relieved from the pressure of the ceiling, now became a mere screen to keep out the weather. They could be built of light materials and opened up with high, wide windows.
Ribbed vaulting and the flying buttress are the distinctive features of Gothic architecture. A third feature, noteworthy but not so important, is the use of the pointed arch. It was not Christian in origin, for it had long been known to the Arabs in the East and the Moslem conquerors of Sicily. [15] The semicircular or round arch can be only half as high as it is wide, but the pointed arch may vary greatly in its proportions. The use of this device enabled the Gothic builder to bridge over different widths at any required height. It is also lighter and more graceful than the round arch. [16]
[Illustration: CROSS SECTION OF AMIENS CATHEDRALA, vaulting; B, ribs; C, flying buttresses; D, buttresses; E, low windows;F, clerestory.]
The labors of the Gothic architect were admirably seconded by those of other artists. The sculptor cut figures of men, animals, and plants in the utmost profusion. The painter covered vacant wall spaces with brilliant mosaics and frescoes. The wood-carver made exquisite choir stalls, pulpits, altars, and screens. Master workmen filled the stone tracery of the windows with stained glass unequaled in coloring by the finest modern work. Some rigorous churchmen like St. Bernard condemned the expense of these magnificent cathedrals, but most men found in their beauty an additional reason to praise God.
[Illustration: GARGOYLES ON THE CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE DAME, PARIS Strange grotesque figures and faces of stone used as ornaments of Gothic buildings and as spouts to carry off rain water. They represent beasts, demons, and other creations of medieval fancy.]
The Gothic cathedral, in fact, perfectly expressed the religious spirit of the Middle Ages. For its erection kings and nobles offered costly gifts. The common people, when they had no money to give, contributed their labor, each man doing what he could to carry upward the walls and towers and to perfect every part of God's dwelling. The interior of such a cathedral, with its vast nave rising in swelling arches to the vaulted roof, its clustered columns, its glowing windows, and infinite variety of ornamentation, forms the most awe-inspiring sanctuary ever raised by man. It is a prayer, a hymn, a sermon in stone.
Gothic architecture, though at first confined to churches, came to be used for other buildings. Among the monuments of the secular Gothic are beautiful town halls, guild halls, markets, and charming private houses. [17] But the cathedral remained the best expression of the Gothic style.
Not less important than the Gothic cathedrals for the understanding of medieval civilization were the universities. They grew out of the monastic and cathedral schools where boys were trained to become monks or priests. Such schools had been created or restored by Charlemagne. [18] The teaching, which lay entirely in the hands of the clergy, was elementary in character. Pupils learned enough Latin grammar to read religious books, if not always to understand them, and enough music to follow the services of the Church. They also studied arithmetic by means of the awkward Roman notation, received a smattering of astronomy, and sometimes gained a little knowledge of such subjects as geography, law, and philosophy. Besides these monastic and cathedral schools, others were maintained by the guilds. Boys who had no regular schooling often received instruction from the parish priest of the village or town. Illiteracy was common enough in medieval times, but the mass of the people were by no means entirely uneducated.
Between 1150 and 1500 A.D. at least eighty universities were established in western Europe. Some speedily became extinct, but there are still about fifty European institutions of learning which started in the Middle Ages. The earliest universities did not look to the state or to some princely benefactor for their foundation. They arose, as it were, spontaneously. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries Europe felt the thrill of a great intellectual revival. It was stimulated by intercourse with the highly cultivated Arabs in Spain, Sicily, and the East, and with the Greek scholars of Constantinople during the crusades. The desire for instruction became so general that the common schools could not satisfy it. Other schools were then opened in the cities and to them flocked eager learners from every quarter.
How easily a university might grow up about the personality of some eminent teacher is shown by the career of Abelard. The eldest son of a noble family in Brittany, Abelard would naturally have entered upon a military career, but he chose instead the life of a scholar and the contests of debate. When still a young man he came to Paris and attended the lectures given by a master of the cathedral school of Notre Dame. Before long he had overcome his instructor in discussion, thus establishing his own reputation. At the early age of twenty-two Abelard himself set up as a lecturer. Few teachers have ever attracted so large and so devoted a following. His lecture room under the shadow of the great cathedral was filled with a crowd of youths and men drawn from all countries.
The fame of Abelard led to an increase of masters and students at Paris and so paved the way for the establishment of the university there, later in the twelfth century. Paris soon became such a center of learning, particularly in theology and philosophy, that a medieval writer referred to it as "the mill where the world's corn is ground, and the hearth where its bread is baked." The university of Paris, in the time of its greatest prosperity, had over five thousand students. It furnished the model for the English university of Oxford, as well as for the learned institutions of Scotland, Denmark, Sweden, and Germany.
The institutions of learning in southern Europe were modeled, more or less, upon the university of Bologna. At this Italian city, in the middle of the twelfth century, a celebrated teacher named Irnerius gathered about him thousands of pupils for the study of the Justinian code. [19] The university developed out of his law school. Bologna was the center from which the Roman system of jurisprudence made its way into France, Germany, and other Continental countries. From Bologna, also, came the monk Gratian, who drew up the accepted text-book of canon law, as followed in all Church courts. [20] What Roman law was to the Empire canon law was to the Papacy.
The word "university" [21] meant at first simply a union or association. In the Middle Ages all artisans were organized in guilds, [22] and when masters and pupils associated themselves for teaching and study they naturally copied the guild form. This was the more necessary since the student body included so many foreigners, who found protection against annoyances only as members of a guild.
Like a craft guild a university consisted of masters (the professors), who had the right to teach, and students, both elementary and advanced, who corresponded to apprentices and journeymen. After several years of study a student who had passed part of his examination became a "bachelor of arts" and might teach certain elementary subjects to those beneath him. Upon the completion of the full course—usually six years in length—the bachelor took his final examinations and, if he passed them, received the coveted degree of "master of arts." But as is the case to-day, many who attended the universities never took a degree at all.
A university of the Middle Ages did not need an expensive collection of libraries, laboratories, and museums. Its only necessary equipment consisted in lecture rooms for the professors. Not even benches or chairs were required. Students often sat on the straw-strewn floors. The high price of manuscripts compelled professors to give all instruction by lectures. This method of teaching has been retained in modern universities, since even the printed book is a poor substitute for a scholar's inspiring words.
The universities being under the protection of the Church, it was natural that those who attended them should possess some of the privileges of clergymen. Students were not required to pay taxes or to serve in the army. They also enjoyed the right of trial in their own courts. This was an especially valuable privilege, for medieval students were constantly getting into trouble with the city authorities. The sober annals of many a university are relieved by tales of truly Homeric conflicts between Town and Gown. When the students were dissatisfied with their treatment in one place, it was always easy for them to go to another university. Sometimes masters and scholars made off in a body. Oxford appears to have owed its existence to a large migration of English students from Paris, Cambridge arose as the result of a migration from Oxford, and the German university of Leipzig sprang from that of Prague in Bohemia.
[Illustration: VIEW OF NEW COLLEGE, OXFORD New College, despite its name, is one of the oldest of the Oxford collegiate foundations. It was established in 1379 A.D. by William of Wykeham. The illustration shows the chapel, the cloisters consecrated in 1400 A.D., and the detached tower, a tall, massive structure on the line of the city wall.]
The members of a university usually lived in a number of colleges. These seem to have been at first little more than lodging-houses, where poor students were cared for at the expense of some benefactor. In time, however, as the colleges increased in wealth, through the gifts made to them, they became centers of instruction under the direction of masters. At Oxford and Cambridge, where the collegiate system has been retained to the present time, each college has its separate buildings and enjoys the privilege of self-government.
The studies in a medieval university were grouped under the four faculties of arts, theology, law, and medicine. The first-named faculty taught the "seven liberal arts," that is, grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. They formed a legacy from old Roman education. Theology, law, and medicine then, as now, were professional studies, taken up after the completion of the Arts course. Owing to the constant movement of students from one university to another, each institution tended to specialize in one or more subjects. Thus, Paris came to be noted for theology, Montpellier, Padua, and Salerno for medicine, and Orléans, Bologna, and Salamanca for law.
[Illustration: TOWER OF MAGDALEN COLLEGE, OXFORD Magdalen (pronounced Maudlin) is perhaps the most beautiful college in Oxford. The bell tower stands on High Street, the principal thoroughfare of Oxford, and adjoins Magdalen Bridge, built across the Cherwell. Begun in 1492 A.D.; completed in 1505 A.D. From its summit a Latin hymn is sung every year on the morning of May Day. This graceful tower has been several times imitated in American collegiate structures.]
Theology formed the chief subject of instruction in most medieval universities. Nearly all the celebrated scholars of the age were theologians. They sought to arrange the doctrines of the Church in systematic and reasonable form, in order to answer those great questions concerning the nature of God and of the soul which have always occupied the human mind. For this purpose it was necessary to call in the aid of philosophy. The union of theology and philosophy produced what is known as scholasticism. [23]
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF KING'S COLLEGE CHAPEL, CAMBRIDGE. The chief architectural ornament of King's College, founded by King Henry VI, is the chapel in the Gothic perpendicular style.* This building was begun in 1446 A.D., but was not completed until nearly seventy years later. The finest features of the interior are the fan vaulting which extends throughout the chapel, the stained-glass windows, and the wooden organ screen.]
The scholastics were loyal children of the Church and did not presume to question her teaching in matters of religion. They held that faith precedes reason. "The Christian," it was said, "ought to advance to knowledge through faith, not come to faith through knowledge." The brilliant Abelard, with his keenly critical mind, found what he considered a flaw in this position: on many subjects the authorities themselves disagreed. To show this he wrote a little book calledSic et Non("Yes and No"), setting forth the conflicting opinions of the Church Fathers on one hundred and fifty-eight points of theology. In such cases how could truth be reached unless one reasoned it out for oneself? "Constant questioning," he declared, "is the key to wisdom…. Through doubting we come to inquiry and through inquiry we perceive the truth." But this reliance on the unaided human reason as a means of obtaining knowledge did not meet with approval, and Abelard's views were condemned as unsound. Abelard, indeed, was a man in advance of his age. Freedom of thought had to wait many centuries before its rights should be acknowledged.
The philosophy on which the scholastics relied was chiefly that of Aristotle. [24] Christian Europe read him at first in Latin translations from the Arabic, but versions were later made from Greek copies found in Constantinople and elsewhere in the East. This revival of Aristotle, though it broadened men's minds by acquainting them with the ideas of the greatest of Greek thinkers, had serious drawbacks. It discouraged rather than favored the search for fresh truth. Many scholastics were satisfied to appeal to Aristotle's authority, rather than take the trouble of finding out things for themselves. The story is told of a medieval student who, having detected spots in the sun, announced his discovery to a learned man. "My son," said the latter, "I have read Aristotle many times, and I assure you there is nothing of the kind mentioned by him. Be certain that the spots which you have seen are in your eyes and not in the sun."
There were many famous scholastics, or "schoolmen," but easily the foremost among them was the Italian monk, Thomas Aquinas. He taught at Paris, Cologne, Rome, and Bologna, and became so celebrated for learning as to be known as the "Angelic Doctor." Though Aquinas died at an early age, he left behind him no less than eighteen folio volumes. HisSumma Theologiae("Compendium of Theology"), as the name indicates, gathered up all that the Middle Ages believed of the relations between God and man. The Roman Church has placed him among her saints and still recommends the study of his writings as the foundation of all sound theology.
Enough has been said to show that the method of study in medieval universities was not that which generally obtains to-day. There was almost no original research. Law students memorized the Justinian code. Medical students learned anatomy and physiology from old Greek books, instead of in the dissecting room. Theologians and philosophers went to the Bible, the Church Fathers, or Aristotle for the solution of all problems. They often debated the most subtle questions, for instance, "Can God ever know more than He knows that He knows?" Mental gymnastics of this sort furnished a good training in logic, but added nothing to the sum of human knowledge. Scholasticism, accordingly, fell into disrepute, in proportion as men began to substitute scientific observation and experiment for speculation.
Not all medieval learning took the form of scholasticism. The twelfth and thirteenth centuries were marked by a healthy interest in science. Long encyclopedias, written in Latin, collected all available information about the natural world. The study of physics made conspicuous progress, partly as a result of Arab influence. Various scientific inventions, including magnifying glasses and clocks, were worked out. The mariner's compass, perhaps derived from the Arabs, also came into general use. [25]
As representative of this scientific interest we may take the Englishman, Roger Bacon. He studied at Paris, where his attainments secured for him the title of the "Wonderful Doctor," and lectured at Oxford. At a period when Aristotle's influence was unbounded, Bacon turned away from scholastic philosophy to mathematics and the sciences. No great discoveries were made by him, but it is interesting to read a passage in one of his works where some modern inventions are distinctly foreseen. In time, he wrote, ships will be moved without rowers, and carriages will be propelled without animals to draw them. Machines for flying will also be constructed, "wherein a man sits revolving some engine by which artificial wings are made to beat the air like a flying bird." Even in Bacon's day it would appear that men were trying to make steamboats, automobiles, and aëroplanes.
[Illustration: ROGER BACON]
The discovery of gunpowder, a compound of saltpeter, charcoal, and sulphur, has often been attributed to Bacon, probably incorrectly. Bacon and other men of his time seem to have been familiar with the composition of gunpowder, but they regarded it as merely a sort of firework, producing a sudden and brilliant flame. They little suspected that in a confined space the expansive power of its gases could be used to hurl projectiles. Gunpowder was occasionally manufactured during the fourteenth century, but for a long time it made more noise than it did harm. Small brass cannon, throwing stone balls, began at length to displace the medieval siege weapons, and still later muskets took the place of the bow, the cross-bow, and the pike. The revolution in the art of warfare introduced by gunpowder had vast importance. It destroyed the usefulness of the castle and enabled the peasant to fight the mailed knight on equal terms. Gunpowder, accordingly, must be included among the forces which brought about the downfall of feudalism.
The study of chemistry also engaged the attention of medieval investigators. It was, however, much mixed up with alchemy, a false science which the Middle Ages had received from the Greeks, and they, in turn, from the Egyptians. The alchemists believed that minerals possessed a real life of their own and that they were continually developing in the ground toward the state of gold, the perfect metal. It was necessary, therefore, to discover the "philosopher's stone," which would turn all metals into gold. The alchemists never found it, but they learned a good deal about the various metals and discovered a number of compounds and colors. In this way alchemy contributed to the advance of chemistry.
Astronomy in the Middle Ages was the most advanced of any natural science, though the telescope and the Copernican theory [26] were as yet in the future. Astronomy, the wise mother, had a foolish daughter, astrology, the origin of which can be traced back to Babylonia. [27] Medieval students no longer regarded the stars as divine, but they believed that the natural world and the life of men were controlled by celestial influences. Hence astrologers professed to predict the fate of a person from the position of the planets at the time of his birth. Astrological rules were also drawn from the signs of the zodiac. A child born under the sign of the Lion will be courageous; one born under the Crab will not go forward well in life; one born under the Waterman will probably be drowned, and so forth. Such fancies seem absurd enough, but in the Middle Ages educated people entertained them.
Alchemy and astrology were not the only instances of medieval credulity. The most improbable stories found ready acceptance. Roger Bacon, for instance, thought that "flying dragons" still existed in Europe and that eating their flesh lengthened human life. Works on natural history soberly described the lizard-like salamander, which dwelt in fire, and the phoenix, a bird which, after living for five hundred years, burned itself to death and then rose again full grown from the ashes. Another fabulous creature was the unicorn, with the head and body of a horse, the hind legs of an antelope, the beard of a goat, and a long, sharp horn set in the middle of the forehead. Various plants and minerals were also credited with marvelous powers. Thus, the nasturtium, used as a liniment, would keep one's hair from falling out, and the sapphire, when powdered and mixed with milk, would heal ulcers and cure headache. Such quaint beliefs linger to-day among uneducated people, even in civilized lands.
[Illustration: MAGICIAN RESCUED FROM THE DEVILMiniature in a thirteenth-century manuscript in the BibliothèqueNationale, Paris. The Devil, attempting to seize a magician who had formeda pact with him, is prevented by a lay brother.]
Magicians of every sort flourished in the Middle Ages. Oneiromancers [28] took omens from dreams. Palmists read fortunes in the lines and irregularities of the hand. Necromancers [29] professed to reveal the future by pretended communications with departed spirits. Other magicians made talismans or lucky objects to be worn on the person, mirrors in which the images of the dead or the absent were reflected, and various powders which, when mixed with food or drink, would inspire hatred or affection in the one consuming them. Indeed, it would be easy to draw up a long list of the devices by which practitioners of magic made a living at the expense of the ignorant and the superstitious.
Many medieval superstitions are preserved in folk tales, or "fairy stories." Every child now reads these tales in books, but until the nineteenth century very few of them had been collected and written down. [30] They lived on the lips of the people, being told by mothers and nurses to children and by young and old about the firesides during the long winter evenings. Story-telling formed one of the chief amusements of the Middle Ages.
The fairies who appear so commonly in folk tales are known by different names. They are bogies, brownies, goblins, pixies, kobolds (in Germany), trolls (in Denmark), and so on. The Celts, especially, had a lively faith in fairies, and it was from Wales, Scotland, and Ireland that many stories about them became current in Europe after the tenth century. Some students have explained the belief in fairies as due to memories of an ancient pygmy people dwelling in underground homes. But most of these supernatural beings seem to be the descendants of the spirits and demons which in savage fancy haunt the world.
A comparison of European folk tales shows that fairies have certain characteristics in common. They live in palaces underneath the ground, from which they emerge at twilight to dance in mystic circles. They are ruled by kings and queens and are possessed of great wealth. Though usually invisible, they may sometimes be seen, especially by people who have the faculty of perceiving spirits. To mortals the fairies are generally hostile, leading wanderers astray, often blighting crops and cattle, and shooting arrows which carry disease and death. They are constantly on the watch to carry off human beings to their realm. A prisoner must be released at the end of a certain time, unless he tastes fairy food, in which event he can never return. Children in cradles are frequently snatched away by the fairies, who leave, instead, imps of their own called "changelings." A changeling may always be recognized by its peevishness and backwardness in learning to walk and speak. If well treated, the fairies will sometimes show their gratitude by bestowing on their favorites health, wealth, and long life. Lucky the child who can count on a "fairy god-mother."
Stories of giants are common in folk tales. Giants are often represented as not only big but also stupid, and as easily overcome by keen-witted human foes like "Jack the Giant-killer." It may be that traditions of pre- historic peoples have sometimes given birth to legends of giants. Another source of stories concerning them has been the discovery of huge fossil bones, such as those of the mammoth or mastodon, which were formerly supposed to be bones of gigantic men. The ogres, who sometimes figure in folk tales, are giants with a taste for human flesh. They recall the cannibals of the savage world.
Werewolves were persons who, by natural gift or magic art, were thought to have the power of turning themselves for a time into wild beasts (generally wolves or bears). In this animal shape they ravaged flocks and devoured young children. A werewolf was said to sleep only two nights in the month and to spend the rest of the time roaming the woods and fields. Trials of persons accused of being werewolves were held in France as late as the end of the sixteenth century. Even now the belief is found in out- of-the-way parts of Europe.
Another medieval superstition was that of the evil eye. According to this belief, certain persons could bewitch, injure, and kill by a glance. Children and domestic animals were thought to be particularly susceptible to the effects of "fascination." In order to guard against it charms of various sorts, including texts from the Bible, were carried about. The belief in the evil eye came into Europe from pagan antiquity. It survived the Middle Ages and lingers yet among uneducated people.