THE ABBASSIDES: BAGDAD.—Misgovernment embittered the faithful against the rule of theOmayyadsinDamascus, although Syria had become a source of higher culture for the Arabians: there they became acquainted with Greek learning. The adherents ofAlifound vigorous champions in theAbbassides, who, asHashimites, laid claim to the caliphate. One of them,Abul Abbas, was made caliph by the soldiers in 750. The fierce cruelty of his party against theOmayyadsled to the murder of all of them exceptAbderrahman, who fled to Africa, and, in 755, founded an independent caliphate atCordova. TheAbbassidesattached themselves to theSunnitecreed. UnderAlmansor, the brother and successor ofAbbas, Bagdad, a city founded byAlmansor(754-775) on the banks of the Tigris, was made the seat of the caliphate, and so continued until the great Mongolian invasion in 1258. Bagdad was built on the west bank of the Tigris, but, by means of bridges, stretched over to the other shore. It was protected by strong, double walls. It was not only the proud capital of the caliphate: it was, besides, the great market for the trade of the East, the meeting-place of many nations, where caravans from China and Thibet, from India, and from Ferghana in the modern Turkestan, met throngs of merchants from Armenia and Constantinople, from Egypt and Arabia. There trading-fleets gathered which carried the products of the North and West down the great rivers to the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean.Bagdadwas to the caliphs whatByzantiumwas to Constantine, orAlexandriato the Ptolemies. It became the grandest city in the world. Canals to the number of six hundred ran through it, and a hundred and five bridges bound its two parts together. It was furnished with many thousand mosques and as many baths. The palace of the caliphs comprised in itself all the splendor which Asiatic taste and extravagance could collect and combine in one edifice.
THE EASTERN CALIPHATE.—Deprived of the western extremity of their empire, theAbbassidesstill ruled overAsiaandAfrica. In their luxurious and splendid court, the caliphs, served by a vast retinue of officers with theVizierat their head, copied the magnificence of the ancient Persians. The most famous of the caliphs of Bagdad isHarun-al-Rashid, or "Aaron the Just" (786-809). His name is familiar even to children as the wonderful hero of the "Arabian Nights." His reign, like that ofSolomonin ancient Judæa, was considered in after times the golden age of the caliph dominion. As in the case ofCharlemagne, poetry and romance invested his character and reign with all that can give glory and honor to a king and a sage. Brilliant pictures were drawn of the boundless wealth and luxury of his court, and of his admirable piety and wisdom. About him there was assembled a host of jurists, linguists, and poets. Three hundred scholars traveled at his expense through different lands. Righteous judgments were ascribed to him, and oracular sayings. He was made the ideal ruler of Oriental fancy. His real character fell much below the later popular conception. He behaved like an Eastern despot towards all his kindred who stood in his way. The Persian family ofBarmecideshe exterminated, when his passionate attachment to one of them turned to hatred on account of an obscure affair connected with the harem. Stories told by Western chroniclers of his relations withCharlemagnerequire to be sifted. The Greek emperorNicephorus, who had rashly defied him, he addressed as the "Roman dog." Nine timesHaruninvaded the Greek Empire, left its provinces wasted as by a hurricane, and extorted from it a tribute which he obliged the emperors, who repented of their daring, to pay in coin stamped with his image. His best distinction is in the liberal patronage which he, no doubt, extended to learning. In this he was imitated by his sonAl Mamun(813-833), who founded numerous schools, and expended vast sums in behalf of science and letters. The caliphate was weakened by the introduction of theTurks, somewhat as the Roman Empire fared from its relations with the Germans.Motasem(833-842), the eighth of the Abbassides, brought in a Turkish guard of forty thousand slaves, purchased inTartary. These soldiers, instead of remaining servants, became lawless masters, and disposed of the throne as the prætorians at Rome had done. The palace of the caliphs was filled with violence. Revolution and anarchy, kept up during two centuries, broke the caliphate into fragments. Conspiracies and insurrections were the order of the day.Africahad detached itself in the time ofHarun-al-Rashid. InAsiavarious independent dynasties arose, formed mostly by Turkish governors of provinces.
THE TURKISH EMIRS.—In the eleventh century, theSeljukian Turksdespoiled the Arabs of their sovereignty in the East. The caliph atBagdadgave up all his temporal power toTogrul Bey(1058), and retained simply the spiritual headship over orthodox Mussulmans. To the Turk who bore the titleEmir al Omra, was given the military command. He was what the Mayor of the Palace had been among the Franks. In 1072 his son,Malek Shah, madeIspahanhis capital, and governed Asia from China to the vicinity of Constantinople.
THE FATIMITE CALIPHATE.—In the ninth and tenth centuries theAglabites(800-909), whose capital wasCairoan(in Tunis), were dominant in the Western Mediterranean, established themselves, in their marauding expeditions, inCorsica, Sardinia, andSicily, and several times attacked Italy. In 909 they, with theEdrisites, adherents ofAli, inFez, formed, under a Fatimite chief,Moez, with Egypt, the African Caliphate, the seat of which was atCairo(968). The Fatimite caliphs extended their power over Syria. The most famous of the caliphs ofCairowasHakem(996-1020), a monster of cruelty, who claimed to be the incarnation of Deity. These caliphs claimed to be the descendants ofAliand ofFatima. Their dynasty was extinguished bySaladinin 1171.
THE CALIPHS OF CORDOVA.—In Spain the caliphs ofCordovaallowed to the Christians freedom of worship and their own laws and judges. The mingling of the conquerors with the conquered gave rise to a mixedMozarabicpopulation. TheFranksconquered the country as far as theEbro(812). UnderMohammed I. (852), the Saracen governors of the provinces sought to make themselves independent; but the most brilliant period of the caliphate of Cordova followed, underAbderrahman III. (912-961). In the eleventh century there was anarchy, produced by the African guard of the caliphs, which played a part like that of the Turkish guard atBagdad, and by reason of the rebellion of the governors. In 1031 the last descendant of theOmayyadswas deposed, and in 1060 the very title of caliph vanished. The caliphate gave place to numerous petty Moslem kingdoms. The African Mussulmans came to their help, and thus gave the name ofMoorsto the Spanish Mohammedans. Their language and culture, however, remained Arabic. The Arabian conquests had moved like a deluge to theIndus, to the borders ofAsia Minor, and to thePyrenees. In Syria they were not generally resisted by the people. Egypt, for the same reason, was an easy conquest. It took the Moslems sixty years to conquerAfrica. In three years nearly all Spain was theirs; and it was not until seven hundred years after this time that they were utterly driven out of that country.
THE MOSLEM GOVERNMENT—The Moslem civilization rested on the Koran. Grammar, lexicography, theology, and law stood connected at first with the study and understanding of the Sacred Book. TheCaliphwas the fountain of authority. There was a fixed system of taxation, the poll-tax and land-tax being imposed only on non-Moslem subjects. All Moslems received a yearly pension, a definite sum determined by their rank. The empire was divided into provinces, each governed by aPrefect, who was a petty sovereign, subject only to theCaliph. TheGeneralswere appointed by the caliph, by the prefects, or by theVizier, who was the prime minister. TheJudges (cadis)were appointed by the same officers. There was a court of appeal over which the caliph presided. There were inspectors of the markets, who were also censors of morals. TheImamhad for his function to recite the public prayers in the mosque. The leader of the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca was an officer of the highest dignity.
THEOLOGY: LAW: LITERATURE.—The Mohammedans entered into discussions of theology, which gave rise to differences, and to schools and sects. The nature of the Deity, predestination, the future life, were subjects of profound and subtle inquiry. More than once, pantheistic doctrine was broached by speculative minds, such asAvicennaandAverrhoes. In Persia,Súfism, a form of mysticism, made great progress. It extolled the unselfish love of God, and a contemplative and ascetic life.Lawwas studied; and on the basis of theKoran, and of reasonings upon it, systems of jurisprudence were created.ScienceandLiteraturekept pace with legal studies.Poetryflourished through the whole period of the Eastern caliphate. There were, also, Persian poets who hold an important place in the history of literature, of whomFirdousi(about 940 to 1020) andSaadi(who died in 1291) are the most eminent. Under theAbbassidesin Syria, through Christian scholars and by translations, the Arabians became acquainted with the Greek authors. They cultivated geography. The Moslems were students of astronomy, and carried the study of mathematics, which they learned from the Greeks and Hindus, very far. But they apparently felt no interest in the poets, orators, and historians of antiquity. In the study ofAristotle, and in metaphysical philosophy, they were proficients. Medicine, also, they cultivated with success. They delved inAlchemyin the search for the transmutation of metals.
COMMERCE AND THE ARTS.—The Moslems engaged actively in commerce. They acquired much skill in various branches of mechanical art. The weapons ofDamascusand ofToledo, the silks ofGranada, the saddles ofCordova, the muslins, silks, and carpets of the Moslem dominions in the East, were highly prized in Christian countries. They manufactured paper. Forbidden to represent the human form in painting and sculpture, their distinction in the fine arts is confined to architecture. Peculiar to them is theArabesqueornamentation found in their edifices: the idea of the arch was borrowed from the Byzantine style. One of their most famous monuments is the mosque atCordova. The ruins of theAlhambra, in Spain, a palace and a fortress, illustrate the richness and elegance of the Saracenic style of building.
THE ARABIAN MIND.—Neither in architecture, nor in any other department, were the Arabs in a marked degree original. They invented nothing. They were quick to learn, and to assimilate what they learned. They were apt interpreters and critics, but they produced no works marked by creative genius. Many of the scholars at the court of the caliphs were Christians and Jews. YetBagdad, Samarcand, Cairo, Grenada, Cordova, were centers of intellectual activity and of learning when the nations of Western Europe had not escaped from the barbarism resulting from the Teutonic invasions.
LITERATURE.—Lives of Mohammed by MUIR, SPRENGER (German), Irving:Encycl. Brit., Art.Mohammedanism; Kuenen,National Religions and Universal Religions;Nöldeke,Gesch. d. Quorans(1860); Muir,The Corân(1878); R. B. Smith,Mohammed and Mohammedanism(1875); Stobart,Islam and its Founder; Ockley,History of the Saracens(sixth edition, 1857); FREEMAN,History and Conquests of the Saracens(1870).
PIPIN of Heristal,d.714.|+—Charles Martel,d.741.|+—PIPIN the Short, king 752-768.|+—CHARLEMANGE, 768-814 (emperor 800).| || +—Pipin, King of Italy,d.810.| | || | +—BERNARD,d.818.| || +—Charles, King of Franconia.| || +—LOUIS the Pious, 814-840.| || | LOTHARINGIA| || +—LOTHAR I, 843-855.| | || | +—LOUIS II, 855-875| | | || | | +—Hermingarde,m.| | | BOSO I, King of Provence, 879-887| | | || | | +—LOUIS, 887-905 (emperor 901)m.Eadgifu,| | | daughter of Edward the Elder| | || | +—Lothar II,d.869.| | || | +—Charles,d.863| || | GERMANY| || +—LOUIS the German, 843-876.| | || | +—CARLOMAN,d.880.| | | || | | +—ARNULF, King of Germany, 887-899 (emperor 896).| | | || | | +—LOUIS the Child, 900-911.| | || | +—LOUIS the Younger. d 880.| | || | +—CHARLES the Fat (emperor 881-887),d.888.| || | FRANCE| || +—CHARLES the Bald, 843-877 (emperor 875).| || +—LOUIS II, 877-879.| || +—LOUIS III, 879-882| || +—Carloman, 879-884| || +—CHARLES the Simple,m.Eadgifu,| daughter of Edward the Elder| || +—LOUIS IV (D'Outremer), 936-954.| || +—Matilda,m.CONRAD the Peaceful.| | || | +—RUDOLPH III, 993-1032| || +—LOTHAR, 954-986.| | || | +—LOUIS V, 986-987.| || +—Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine,d.994.|+—Carloman, 768-771.
Robert the Strong,d.866.|+—EUDES, king 887-893.|+—ROBERT, king 922-923.|+—Emma,m.RUDOLPH of Burgundy; king 923-926.|+—Hugh the Great (father of Hugh Capet).
PIPIN THE SHORT.—The great event of the eighth century was the organization and spread of the dominion of theFranks, and the transfer to them of the Roman Empire of the West. Three Frank princes—Charles Martel,Pipin the Short, andCharlemagne, orKarl the Great—were the main instruments in bringing in this new epoch in European history. They followed a similar course, as regards the wars which they undertook, and their general policy.Charles Martel, the conqueror of the Saracens atPoitiers, rendered great services to the Church; but he provoked the lasting displeasure of the ecclesiastics by his seizures of church property. He rewarded his soldiers with archbishoprics.Pipin, however, was earnestly supported by the clergy. He had the confidence and favor of the Franks, and in 751, with the concurrence of PopeZacharias, deposedChilderic III., and assumed the title of king. The long hair ofChilderic, the badge of the Frank kings, was shorn, and he was placed in a monastery. In 752Pipinwas anointed and crowned atSoissonsbyBoniface, the bishop ofMentz, who exerted himself to restore order and discipline in the Frank Church, which had fallen into disorder in the times of Charles Martel.
PIPIN IN ITALY.—The controversy with the Greeks about the use of images had alienated the popes from the Eastern Empire. The encroachments of the Lombards threatened Rome itself, and were a constant menace to the independence of its bishops. PopeStephen III. resorted toPipinfor help against these aggressive neighbors; and, in 754,Stephensolemnly repeated, in the cathedral of St. Denis, the ceremony of his coronation. The Carlovingian usurpation was thus hallowed in the eyes of the people by the sanction of the Church. The alliance between the Papacy and the Franks, so essential to both, was cemented. Pipin crossed the Alps in 754, and humbledAistulf, the Lombard king; but, as Aistulf still kept up his hostility to the Pope, Pipin once more led his forces into Italy, and compelled him to become tributary to the Frank kingdom, and to cede to him the territory which he had won from the Greek Empire,—the exarchate ofRavennaand thePentapolis, or the lands and cities between the Apennines and the Adriatic, fromFerraratoAncona. This territory the Frank king formally presented to St. Peter. Thus there was founded the temporal kingdom of the popes in Italy.Pipinwas calledPatriciusof Rome, which made him its virtual sovereign, although the office and title implied the continued supremacy of the Eastern Empire. He united under him all the conquests which had been made byClovisand his successors. His sway extended overAquitaineand as far as the Pyrenees. It was the rule of theTeutonicNorth over the moreLatinSouth, which had no liking for the Frank sovereignty.
CHARLEMAGNE: THE SAXONS AND SARACENS.—Pipindied in 768. By the death of his younger son, Carloman, his older son,Charles, in 771 became the sole king of the Franks. Charlemagne is more properly designatedKarl the Great, for he was a German in blood and speech, and in all his ways. He stands in the foremost rank of conquerors and rulers. His prodigious energy and activity as a warrior may be judged by the number of his campaigns, in which he was uniformly successful. The eastern frontier of his dominions was threatened by theSaxons, theDanes, theSlaves, theBavarians, theAvars. He made eighteen expeditions against the Saxons, three against the Danes, one against the Bavarians, four against the Slaves, four against the Avars. Adding to these his campaigns against the Saracens, Lombards, and other peoples, the number of his military expeditions is not less than fifty-three. In all but two of his marches against the Saxons, however, he accomplished his purpose without a battle. That he was ambitious of conquest and of fame, is evident. That he had the rough ways of his German ancestors, and was unsparing in war, is equally certain. Yet he was not less eminent in wisdom than in vigor; and his reign, on the whole, was righteous as well as glorious. The two most formidable enemies of Charlemagne were theSaxonsand theSaracens. The Saxon war "was checkered by grave disasters, and pursued with undismayed and unrelenting determination, in which he spared neither himself nor others. It lasted continuously—with its stubborn and ever-recurring resistance, its cruel devastations, its winter campaigns, its merciless acts of vengeance—as the effort which called forth all Charles's energy for thirty-two years" (772-804). The Saxons were heathen. The conquest of them was the more difficult because it involved the forced introduction of Christianity in the room of their old religion. More than once, when they seemed to be subdued, they broke out in passionate and united revolt. Their fiercest leader in insurrection wasWitikind. A last and terrible uprising, in consequence of the slaughter of forty-five hundred Saxons on theAlleras a punishment for breach of treaty, was put down in 785, whenWitikindsubmitted, and consented to receive Christian baptism. During the progress of the Saxon war, at the call of the Arab governor ofSaragossafor aid against the caliphAbderrahman, Charles marched into Spain, and conquered Saragossa and the whole land as far as theEbro. On his return, in the valley ofRonceveaux, the Frank rear guard was surprised and destroyed by theBasques. There fell the Frank heroRoland, whose gallant deeds were a favorite subject of mediæval romances. The duchy ofBavariawas abolished after a second revolt of its duke,Tassilo(788). One of the most brilliant of Charlemagne's wars was that against the HunnicAvars(791). Their land between theEmsandRaabhe annexed to his empire. Bavarian colonists were planted in it. Enormous treasures which they had gathered, in their incursions, from all Europe, were captured, with their "Ring," or palace-camp. The Slavonic tribes were kept in awe.Brittanywas subjugated in 811. In the closing years of Charles's reign, theDanesbecame more and more aggressive and formidable. He visited the northern coasts, madeBoulogneandGhenthis harbors and arsenals, and built fleets for defense against the audacious invaders.
CHARLEMAGNE IN ITALY.—Some of the most memorable incidents in Charlemagne's career are connected with Italy. While he was busy in the Saxon war, he had been summoned to protect PopeHadrian I. (772-795) from the attack of the Lombards. To please his mother,Charleshad married, but he had afterwards divorced, the daughter of the Lombard kingDesiderius. She was the first in the series of Charlemagne's wives, who, it is said, were nine in number. By the divorce he incurred the resentment of Desiderius, who required the Pope to anoint the sons ofCarlomanas kings of the Franks. In 772 Charlemagne crossed the Alps by the Mont Cenis and the St. Bernard, capturedPavia, and shut up Desiderius in a Frank monastery. The king of the Franks became king of theLombards, and lord of all Italy, except theVenetian Islandsand the southern extremity ofCalabria, which remained subject to the Greeks. The German king and the Pope were now, in point of fact, dominant in the West. A woman,Irene, who had put out the eyes of her son that she herself might reign, sat on the throne at Constantinople. This was a fair pretext for throwing off the Byzantine rule, which afforded no protection to Italians. Once moreCharlesvisited Italy, to restore to the papal chairLeo III., who had been expelled by an adverse party, and, at Charles's camp atPaderborn, had implored his assistance. On Christmas Day in the year 800, during the celebration of mass in the old Basilica of St. Peter,Leo III.advanced toCharlemagne, and placed a crown on his head, saluting him, amid the acclamations of the people, as Roman emperor.
MEANING OF CHARLES'S CORONATION.—The coronation of Charlemagne made him the successor of Augustus and of Constantine. It was not imagined that the empire had ever ceased to be. The Byzantine emperors had been acknowledged in form as the rulers of the West: not even now was it conceived that the empire was divided. In the imagination and feeling of men, the creation of the Caesars remained an indivisible unity. The new emperor in the West could therefore only be regarded as a rival and usurper by the Byzantine rulers; but Charlemagne professed a friendly feeling, and addressed them as his brothers,—as if they and he were exercising a joint sovereignty. In point of fact, there had come to be a new center of wide-spread dominion in Western Europe. The diversity in beliefs and rites between Roman Christianity and that of the Greeks had been growing. The popes and Charlemagne were united by mutual sympathy and common interests. The assumption by him of the imperial title at their instance, and by the call of the Roman people, was the natural issue of all the circumstances.
CHARLES'S SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.—Charlemagne showed himself a statesman bent on organization and social improvement. There was a system of local officers. The border districts of the kingdom were made intoMarks, underMargravesorMarquesses, for defense against the outlying tribes. One of them, to the east of Bavaria, was afterwards calledAustria.Dukesgoverned provinces, some of which afterwards became kingdoms. Their power the emperor tried to reduce. The empire was divided into districts, in each of which aCount(Graf) ruled, with inferior officers, either territorial or in cities.Bishopshad large domains, and great privileges and immunities. The officers held their places at the king's pleasure: they became possessed of landed estates, and the tendency was, for the offices to become hereditary.
The old German wordGrafis of uncertain derivation, but means the same ascount(from the Latincomes).Markis a word found in all the Teutonic languages. From the signification ofboundary, it came to be applied, like its synonymmarch, to a frontier district. Amargrave(Mark-Graf) was amark-count, or an officer ruling for the king in such a district. Aviscount(vicecomes) was an officer subordinate to acount.Pfalz, meaning originallypalace(from the Latinpalatium), was the term for any one of the king's estates. Thepalsgrave(Pfalz-Graf) was first his representative in charge of one of these domains. Thestallgrave(Stall-Graf) corresponded to theconstable(comes stabuli) in English and French. It signifies the officer in charge of the king'sstables, the groom. He had a military command. A later designation of the same office ismarshal(from two old German words, one of which means ahorse, as seen in our wordmare, having the same etymology, and the other means aservant).
Imperial deputies, ormissi, lay and ecclesiastical together, visited all parts of the kingdom to examine and report as to their condition, to hold courts, and to redress wrongs. There were appeals from them to the imperial tribunal, over which thePalsgravepresided. Twice in the year greatAssemblieswere held of the chiefs and people, to give advice as to the framing of laws. The enactments of these assemblies are collected in theCapitulariesof the Frank kings. In the Church, Charlemagne tried to secure order, which had sadly fallen away, and had given place to confusion and worldliness. He himself exercised high ecclesiastical prerogatives, especially after he became emperor.
LEARNING AND CULTURE.—One of the chief distinctions of Charlemagne is the encouragement which he gave to learning. In his own palace atAachen(Aix), he collected scholars from different quarters. Of these the most eminent isAlcuin, from the school of York in England. He was familiar with many of the Latin writers, and while at the head of the school in the palace, and later, when abbot of St. Martin inTours, exerted a strong influence in promoting study.Charlemagnehimself spoke Latin with facility, but not until late in life did he try to learn to write. It was his custom to be read to while he sat at meals. Augustine'sCity of Godwas one of the books of which he was fond. In the great sees and monasteries, schools were founded, the benefits of which were very soon felt.
CHARLES'S PERSONAL TRAITS.—Charlemagne was seven feet in height, and of noble presence. His eyes were large and animated, and his voice clear, but not so strong as his frame would have led one to expect. His bearing was manly and dignified. He was exceedingly fond of riding, hunting, and of swimming.Eginhard, his friend and biographer, says of him, "In all his undertakings and enterprises, there was nothing he shrank from because of the toil, and nothing that he feared because of the danger." He died, at the age of seventy, on Jan. 28, 814. He had built atAix la Chapellea stately church, the columns and marbles of which were brought from Ravenna and Rome. Beneath its floor, under the dome, was his tomb. There he was placed in a sitting posture, in his royal robes, with the crown on his head, and his horn, sword, and book of the Gospels on his knee. In this posture his majestic figure was found when his tomb was opened byOtto III., near the end of the tenth century. The marble chair in which the dead monarch sat is still in the cathedral atAix: the other relics are atVienna. The splendor of Charlemagne's reign made it a favorite theme of romance among the poets of Italy: a mass of poetic legends gathered about it.
EXTENT OF THE EMPIRE.—Charlemagne's empire comprised all Gaul, and Spain to the Ebro, all that was then Germany, and the greater part of Italy. Slavonic nations along the Elbe were his allies. Pannonia, Dacia, Istria, Liburnia, Dalmatia,—except the sea-coast towns, which were held by the Greeks,—were subject to him. He had numerous other allies and friends. EvenHarunal-Rashid, the famous Caliph of Bagdad, held him in high honor. Among the most valued presents which were said to have come from the Caliph were an elephant, and a curious water-clock, which was so made, that, at the end of the hours, twelve horsemen came out of twelve windows, and closed up twelve other windows. This gift filled the inmates of the palace atAixwith wonder.
CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE.—The number of free Franks diminished under Charlemagne. They were thinned out in the wars, or sunk into vassalage. The warnings and rebukes in the Capitularies, or body of laws, show that the upper clergy were often sensual and greedy of gain. The bishops would often lead in person their contingent of troops, until they were forbidden to do so by law. Nine-tenths of the population of Gaul were slaves. Charlemagne madeAlcuinthe present of an estate on which there were twenty thousand slaves. Especially in times of scarcity, as in 805 and 806, their lot was a miserable one. At such times, they fled in crowds to the monasteries. The social state was that of feudalism "in all but the development of that independence in the greater lords, which was delayed by the strength of Karl, but fostered, at the same time, by his wars and his policy towards the higher clergy."
CONVERSION OF GERMANY: BONIFACE.—The most active missionaries in the seventh and eighth centuries were, from the British islands. At first they were from Ireland and Scotland.Columban, who died in 615, and his pupil Gallus, labored, not without success, among theAlemanni. Gallus established himself as a hermit near Lake Constance. He founded the Abbey ofSt. Gall. The Saxon missionaries from England were still more effective. The most eminent of these wasWinfrid, who received from Rome the name ofBonifacius(680-755). He converted theHessians, and founded monasteries, among them the great monastery ofFulda. There his disciple,Sturm, "through a long series of years, directed the energies of four thousand monks, by whose unsparing labors the wilderness was gradually reclaimed, and brought into a state of cultivation."Bonifacehad proved the impotence of the heathen gods by felling with the axe an aged oak atGeismar, which was held sacred by their worshipers. Among theThuringians,Bavarians, and other tribes, he extirpated paganism by peaceful means. He organized the German Church under the guidance of the popes, and, in 743, was made archbishop ofMeniz, and primate. But his Christian ardor moved him to carry the gospel in person to the savageFrisians, by whom he was slain. He thus crowned his long career with martyrdom.
CONVERSION OF THE SCANDINAVIANS.—The apostle of the Scandinavians wasAnsgar(801-865). The archbishopric ofHamburgwas founded for him byLouis the Pious, with the papal consent; but, as Hamburg was soon plundered by pirates, he became bishop ofBremen(849). In that region he preached with success. Two visits he made toSweden, the first with little permanent result; but, at the second visit (855), the new faith was tolerated, and took root. The triumph of the religion of the cross, whichAnsgarhad planted inDenmark, was secured there whenCanutebecame king of England. The first Christian king in Sweden wasOlaf Schooskonig(1008). InNorway, Christianity was much resisted; but whenOlaf the Thick, who was a devoted adherent of the Christian faith, had perished in battle (1033), his people, who held him in honor, fell in with the church arrangements which he had ordained; and he becameSt. Olaf, the patron saint of Norway.
THE BENEDICTINES.—Benedict, born atNursia, inUmbria, in 480, the founder of the monastery ofMonte Cassino, north-west of Naples, was the most influential agent in organizing monasticism in Western Europe. He was too wise to adopt the extreme asceticism that had often prevailed in the East, and his judicious regulations combined manual labor with study and devotion. They not only came to be the law for the multitude of monasteries of his own order, but also served as the general pattern, on the basis of which numerous other orders in later times were constituted. His societies of monks were at first made up of laics, but afterwards of priests. The three vows of the monk werechastity, including abstinence from marriage;poverty, or the renunciation of personal possessions; andobedienceto superiors. The Benedictine cloisters long continued to be asylums for the distressed, schools of education for the clergy, and teachers of agriculture and the useful arts to the people in the regions where they were planted. Their abbots rose to great dignity and influence, and stood on a level with the highest ecclesiastics.
DIVISIONS IN THE EMPIRE.—The influence ofCharlemagnewas permanent; not so his empire. It had one religion and one government, but it was discordant in language and in laws. The Gallo-Romans and the Italians spoke the Romance language, with variations of dialect. The Germans used the Teutonic tongue. Charlemagne left to the Lombards, to the Saxons, and to other peoples, their own special laws. The great bond of unity had been the force of his own character and the vigor of his administration. His death was, therefore, the signal for confusion and division. The tendency to dismemberment was aided by the ambition of the princes of the imperial family. TheAustrasianFranks, to whom Charlemagne belonged, craved unity. TheGallo-Romansin the West, theTeutonsin the East, aspired after independence.
Louis the Pious(814-840), Charlemagne's youngest son,—who, in consequence of the death of his elder brothers, was the sole successor of his father,—lacked the energy requisite for so difficult a place. He was better adapted to a cloister than to a throne. He had been crowned atAixbefore his father's death; but he consented to be crowned anew by PopeStephen IV. atRheims, in 816. His troubles began with a premature division of his states between his sons,Lothar,Pipin, andLouis. His nephew,Bernhard, who was to reign in Italy in subordination to his uncle, rebelled, but was captured and killed (818). In order to provide for his sonCharles the Bald, whose motherJudithhe had married for his second wife, he made a new division in 829. The elder sons at once revolted against their father, andJudithand her son were shut up in a cloister (830).Louisthe son repented, the Saxons and East Franks supported the emperor, and he was restored. In 833 he took awayAquitainefrom Pipin, and gave it toCharles. The rebellious sons again rose up against him. In company with PopeGregory IV., who joined them, they took their father prisoner on the plains of Alsace, his troops having deserted him. The place was long known as the "Field of Lies." He was compelled by the bishops to confess his sins in the cathedral atSoissons, reading the list aloud. Once moreLouiswas released, and forgave his sons; but partition after partition of territory, with continued discord, followed until his death. The quarrels of his surviving sons,Lothar,Louis the German, andCharles the Bald, brought on, in 841, the great battle ofFontenailles. The contest was occasioned by the ambition ofLothar, the eldest, who claimed for himself the whole imperial inheritance. There was great carnage, andLotharwas defeated. The bishops present saw in the result a verdict of God in favor of his two adversaries. The result was theTreaty of Verdunfor the division of the empire.
TERMS OF THE TREATY OF VERDUN.—Louis the Germantook the Eastern and German Franks, andCharles the Baldthe Western and Latinized Franks.Lothar, who retained the imperial title, received the middle portion of the Frank territory, including Italy and a long, narrow strip of territory between the dominions of his brothers, and extending to the North Sea. This land took later the name ofLotharingia, orLorraine. It always had the character of a border-land. WhileLouis'sshare comprised only German-speaking peoples,Charles'skingdom was made up almost exclusively of Gallo-Roman inhabitants; while underLotharthe two races were mingled. This division marks the birth of theGermanandFrenchnations as such. The German-speaking peoples in the East, who were affiliated in language, customs, and spirit, more and more grew together into a nation. In like manner, the subjects of the Western kingdom more and more were resolved into a Franco-Roman nationality.Lotharruled at Aix-la-Chapelle, and was styled emperor; but each of the other kingdoms was independent, and the empire of Charlemagne was dissolved. Only for a short time, underCharles the Fat(881-887), nearly the whole monarchy of Charlemagne was united under one scepter. When he was deposed it was again broken in pieces; and four distinct kingdoms emerged,—those of the Eastern and Western Franks, "the forerunners of Germany and France," and the kingdoms of Italy and of Burgundy, in South-eastern Gaul, which were sometimes united and sometimes separate.Lotharingiawas attached now to the Eastern and now to the Western Frank kingdom. In theory there was not a severance, but a sharing, of the common possession which had been the object of contention.
EASTERN CARLOVINGIANS.—Charles the Fatwas a weak and sluggish prince. He offered no effectual resistance to the destructive ravages of the Normans, or Scandinavian Northmen. He was deposed in 887, and died in the following year on an island in the Lake of Constance. His successor, the grandson ofLouis the German,Arnulf, duke of Carinthia, became king of the Germans, (887-899) and emperor; and, after his short reign, the line of Louis died out inLouis the Child, the weak son ofArnulf(900-911). The house of Charlemagne survived only among the Western Franks.
During the reign of Louis the Child,Hatto(I.), archbishop ofMentzand primate of Germany, was regent and guardian of the king. He was a bold defender of the unity of the empire. He was charged, truly or falsely, with taking the life ofAdalbert, a Frank nobleman whom he had enticed into his castle. There was a popular tradition that the devil seized Hatto's corpse, and threw it into the crater of Mount Ætna. The mistake is often made of connecting the popular legend of the "Mouse-tower" atBingenon the Rhine, with him. It was told of a later Hatto (Hatto II.), who was likewise archbishop ofMentz(968). He was charged with shutting up the poor in a barn, in a time of famine, and of burning them there. As the story runs, he called them "rats who ate the corn." Numberless mice swam to the tower which he had built in the midst of the stream, and devoured him.Southeyhas put the tale into a ballad,—"God's Judgment on a Wicked Bishop."
KINGDOM OF FRANCE.—In 841Rouenfell into the hands of the Normans, andParislay open to their attacks. In 861Charles the Baldinvested a brave soldier,Robert the Strong, whose descent is not known, with the county of Paris, that he might resist the invaders. He held the country between the Seine and the Loire, under the name of theDuchy of France. The otherFrancia, east of the Rhine, continued to be an important part of Germany, the district calledFranconia. Robert was the greatgrandfather ofHugh Capet, the founder of the kingdom ofFrance. Under the imbecileCharles the Fat, the audacious Northmen (885-886) laid siege toParis. It wasOdo, orEudes, count of Paris, who led the citizens in their heroic and successful resistance. Him the nobles of France chose to be their king. His family were called "Dukes of the French." Their duchy—WesternorLatin Francia—was the strongest state north of the Loire. The feudal lords were growing mightier, and the imperial or royal power was becoming weaker. AfterOdoof Paris was elected to the Western kingdom, there followed a period of about a hundred years during which there was a king sometimes from his house and sometimes from the family of the Carlovingians. The latter still spoke German, and, when they had the power, reigned atLaonin the northeastern corner of the kingdom.Odoruled from 888 until 898. He had to leave the southern part of France independent. During the last five years of his life he was obliged to contend withCharles the Simple(893-929), who was elected king by the Carlovingian party of the north. The most noted of the Carlovingian kings atLaonwasLouis"from beyond seas" (936-954), Charles's son, who had been carried to England for safety. His reign was a constant struggle withHugh the Great, duke of the French, the nephew of King Odo.Hughwould not accept the crown himself. On the death ofLouis V. (986-987), the direct line of Charlemagne became extinct. The only Carlovingian heir was his uncle,Charles,duke of Lorraine. His claim the barons would not recognize, but electedHugh Capet, duke of France, to be king, who, on the 1st (or the 3d) of July, 987, was solemnly crowned in the cathedral of Noyon, by the archbishop of Rheims. Just at this juncture, when the contest was between the dukes of the French andCharles of Lorraine, the Carlovingian claimant to the sovereignty, the adhesion and support of DukeRichardof Normandy (943-996) was of decisive effect. The Normans had been on the side ofLaon; now they turned the scale in favor of the elevation of the Duke of France. The German party atLaoncould not withstand the combined power ofRouenandParis. Thus withHugh Capet, the founder of the Capetian line, the kingdom ofFrancebegan, havingParisfor its capital; and the name ofFrancecame gradually to be applied to the greater part of Gaul. But whenHugh Capetbecame king, the great feudal states were almost independent of the royal control. Eight were above the rest in power and extent. "The counts ofFlanders,Champagne, andVermandois, and the dukes ofNormandy,Brittany,Burgundy, andAquitaine, regarded themselves as the new king's peers or equals."Lorraine,Arles, andFranche Comté—parts of modern France—"held of the emperor, and were, in fact, German."Hugh Capet'sdukedom was divided by the Seine. He was lay abbot of St. Denis, the most important church in France.
THE GERMAN KINGDOM.—With the death ofLouis the Child(911) the German branch of the Carlovingian line was extinguished. The Germans had to choose a king from another family. Germany, like France, was now composed of great fiefs. But there were two parties, differing from one another in their character and manners. The one consisted of the older Alemannic and Austrasian unions, where the traces of Roman influence continued, where the large cities were situated, and the principal sees. Here were formed the duchies ofSwabiaandBavaria, andFranconia(Austrasian France). To the other, consisting chiefly of the duchy ofSaxony, were attachedThuringiaand a part ofFrisia. In France the royal power, at the start, was so weak, that, not being dreaded, it was suffered to grow. In Germany the royal power was so strong that there was a constant effort to reduce it. Hence in France the result was centralization; in Germany the tendency was to division. In France the long continuance of the family ofHugh Capetmade the monarchyhereditary. In Germany the frequent changes of dynasty helped to make itelective.
CONRAD I.—When Louis died,Conradof Franconia (911-918) was chosen king by the clerical and secular nobles of the five duchies, in which the counts elevated themselves to the rank of dukes,—Franconia, Saxony, Lorraine, Swabia, and Bavaria. Germany thus became an elective kingdom; but since, as a rule, the sovereignty was continued in one family, the electoral principle was qualified by an hereditary element.Conradbegan the struggle against the great feudatories, which went on through the Middle Ages. The dukes always chafed under the rule of a king; yet, for the glory of the nation and for their own safety against attacks from abroad, they were anxious to preserve it from extinction. TheHungarians, to whomLouis the Childhad consented to pay tribute, renewed their incursions. They marched in force as far asBremen.Conradhad wished to reduce the power of Saxony, and to detach from it Thuringia. He was constantly at war with his own subjects. Yet on his death-bed he showed his disinterested regard to the interests of the kingdom. He called to him his brotherEberhard, and charged him to carry his crown and crown jewels to his enemyHenry, duke of the Saxons, who was most capable of defending the country against the Hungarian invaders.
ITALY.—After the empire ofCharles the Fatwas broken up, a strong anti-German feeling was manifest in Italy. The people wanted the king of Italy, and, if possible, the emperor of the Romans, to be of their own nation. But they could not agree: there was a violent contest between the supporters ofBerengarof Friuli and the supporters ofGuidoof Spoleto.Arnulfcame twice into Italy to quell the disturbance, and on his second visit, in 896, was crowned emperor. Civil war soon broke out again. Within twenty years the crown had been given to five different aspirants. They were Germans, or were Italians only in name.Berengar I. (888-924) was crowned emperor by the Pope, but had to fight against a competitor,Rudolph, king of Burgundy, whom the turbulent nobles set up in his place.Berengarwas finally defeated and assassinated. His grandson,Berengar II. (of Ivrea) (950-961), had to fly to Germany (943) to escape a competitor for the throne,Hugh, count of Provence, brother ofErmengarde, Berengar's step-mother, to whom she had given the crown. His relations withOtto I. (the Great) led to very important consequences, to be narrated hereafter.
STATE OF LEARNING IN THE TENTH CENTURY.—Under Charles the Bald, there were not wanting signs of intellectual activity.John Scotus Erigena,—or John Scot, Erinborn,—who was at the head of his palace-school, was an acute philosopher, who, in his speculations in the vein of New Platonism, tended to pantheistic doctrine. His opinions were condemned at the instance ofHincmar, the eminent archbishop of Rheims. But after the deposition ofCharles the Fat(887), there followed a period of darkness throughout the West. The universal political disorder was enough to account for this prevalent ignorance. But, in addition, the Latin language ceased to be spoken by the people, while the new vernacular tongues were not reduced to writing. Latin could only be learned in the schools; and these fell more and more into decay, in the confusion of the times. The mental stimulus which the study of the Latin had communicated, there was nothing, as yet, in the new languages to replace.
THE PAPACY IN THE NINTH AND TENTH CENTURIES.—While Italy was under the rule ofJustinianand his successors, the popes were subject to the tyranny of the Eastern emperors. After the Lombard conquest, their position, difficult as it was on account of the small protection afforded them from Constantinople, was favorable to the growth of their influence and authority. By their connection withPipinandCharlemagne, they were recognized as having a spiritual headship, the counterpart of the secular supremacy of the emperor. The election of the Pope was to be sanctioned by the emperor, and that of the emperor by the Pope. ButCharlemagnewas supreme ruler over all classes and persons in Italy, as in his own immediate dominions. In the disorder that ensued upon his death, the imperial authority in all directions was reduced. The Frank bishops were frequently appealed to as umpires among the contending Carolingian princes. The growth of the power of the great bishops carried in it the exaltation of the highest bishop of all, the Roman pontiff. Apallium, or mantle, was sent by the Pope to all archbishops on their accession, and was considered to be a badge of the papal authority. In the earlier part of the ninth century, there appeared what are called thepseudo-Isidorian decretals, consisting of forged ecclesiastical documents purporting to belong to the early Christian centuries, which afforded a sanction to the highest claims of the chief rulers of the Church. These are universally known to be an invention; but, in that uncritical day, this was not suspected. They contained not much in behalf of hierarchical claims which had not, at one time or another, been actually asserted and maintained. In the spirit of the decretals PopeNicholas I.(858-867) acted, when this energetic pontiff overruled the iniquitous decision of two German synods, and obligedLothar, king of Lotharingia, to take back his lawful wife,Theutberga, whom he had divorced out of regard to a mistress,Waldrada. In the tenth century (904-962), when Italy, in the absence of imperial restraint, was torn by violent factions, the Papacy was for half a century disposed of by theTuscanparty, and especially by two depraved women belonging to it,Theodora, and her daughterMaria(orMarozia). The scandals belonging to this dismal period in the history of the papal institution are to be ascribed to the anarchy prevailing in Italy, and to the vileness of the individuals who usurped power at Rome.
INCURSIONS OF THE NORTHMEN.—TheScandinavians, orNorthmen, were a Teutonic people, by whom were gradually formed the kingdoms ofDenmark,Norway, andSweden. Their incursions, prior toCharlemagne, were towards the Rhine, but at length assumed more the character of piracy. They coasted along the shores in their little fleets, and lay in wait for their enemies in creeks and bays; whence they were calledvikings, or children of the bays. By degrees they ventured out farther on the sea, and became bolder in their depredations. They sent their light vessels along the rivers of France, and established themselves in bands of five or six hundred at convenient stations, whence they sallied out to plunder the neighboring cities and country places. They did notcause, but theyhastened, the fall of the Frank Empire. In 841 they burnedRouen; in 843 they plunderedNantes,Saintes, andBordeaux.Hastings, a famous leader of these hardy sea-robbers, sailed along the coast of the Spanish peninsula, tookLisbonand pillaged it, and burnedSeville. Making a descent uponTuscany, he captured, by stratagem, and plundered the city ofLuna, which he at first mistook for Rome. In 853 the daring rovers capturedTours, and burned the Abbey of St. Martin; and, three years later, they appeared atOrleans. In 857 they burned the churches ofParis, and carried away as captive the abbot of St. Denis. As pagans they had no scruple about attacking churches and abbeys, to which fugitives resorted for safety and for the hiding of their treasures.Robert the Strongfell in fighting these marauders (866). Their devastations continued down to the year 911, in the reign ofCharles the Simple; then the same arrangement was made which the Romans had adopted in relation to the Germanic invaders. By the advice of his nobles,Charlesdecided to abandon to the Northmen, territory where they could settle, and which they could cultivate as their own. Rolf, orRollo, one of their most formidable chiefs, accepted the offer; and the Northmen established themselves (911) in the district known afterwards asNormandy.Rolloreceived baptism, wore the title of duke, and thus became the liege of KingCharles, who reigned atLaon, and whom he loyally served. Later the Normans joined hands withducalFrance, and helpedParisto throw off its dependence onroyalFrance and the house of Charlemagne which had ruled atLaon. It was by Norman help that the duchy of France was raised to the rank of a kingdom, andHugh Capet, in the room of being a vassal of kings of German lineage, became the founder of French sovereigns. Under the Normans, tillage flourished; and the feudal system was established with greater regularity than elsewhere.
THE DANES IN ENGLAND.—When, in 827,Egbert, the king ofWessex, united all the Saxons in England under his rule, the Danish attacks had already begun. In his later years these ravages increased.Alfred(871-901) was reduced to such straits in 878, that, with a few followers, he hid himself among the swamps and woods of Somersetshire. It was then, according to the legend, that he was scolded by the woman, who, not knowing him, had set him to watch her cakes, but found that he, absorbed in other thoughts, had allowed them to burn. Later,Alfredgained advantages over the Danes; but, in the treaty that was made with them, they received, as vassals of the West Saxon king,East Anglia, and part ofEssexandMercia. Already they had a lodgment inNorthumberland, so that the larger part of England had fallen into Danish hands. The names of towns ending inby, asWhitby, are of Danish origin.Alfredcompiled a body of laws calleddooms, founded monasteries, and fostered learning. He himself translated many books from the Latin. His bravery in conflict with the Danes enabled him to spend his last years in quiet.Athelstan, the grandson ofAlfred(925-940), was victorious over the Danes, and over the Scotch and Welsh of the North. UnderEdgar(959-975), the power of England was at its height. He kept up a strong fleet; but, in the time ofAethelred II. (the Unready), the Danish invasions were renewed. He and his bad advisers adopted the practice of buying off the invaders at a large price. In 994Swegeninvaded the country. He had been baptized, but had gone back to heathenism. In 1013 England was completely conquered by him.Aethelredfled toDuke Richard the Goodof Normandy.
CANUTE.—The son of Aethelred,Edmund, surnamedIronside, after the death ofSwegen, kept up the war with his son Cnut, orCanute. After fighting six pitched battles with him,Edmundconsented to divide the kingdom with him; but in the same year (1016) the English king died.Canute(1017-1035) now became king of all England. He had professed Christianity, and unexpectedly proved himself, after his accession, to be a good ruler. One of the legends about him is, that he once had a seat placed for himself by the seashore, and ordered the rising tide not to dare to wet his feet. Not being obeyed by the dashing waves, he said, "Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings, for there is none worthy of the name but He whom heaven, earth, and sea obey by eternal laws." After that he never wore his crown, but left it on the image of Jesus on the cross.Canuteinherited the crown ofDenmark, and wonNorwayand part ofSweden; so that he was the most powerful prince of his time. His sons, however, did not rule well; and in 1042 the English chose for king one of their own people,Edward, calledthe Confessor, the son ofAethelred. In the time of Canute, the power of the Danes, and of the Northmen generally, was at its height. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and England were ruled by them; and Scandinavian princes by descent governed in Normandy and in Russia. Although a most vigorous race, the Northmen showed a wonderful facility in adopting the language and manners of the people among whom they settled. The effect of their migrations was to diminish the strength and importance of their native countries which they had left.
OTHER SETTLEMENTS OF NORTHMEN.—The Northmen made many other voyages which have not yet been mentioned. As early as 852 there was a Scandinavian king inDublin. They early conquered theShetland Isles, theOrkneys, and theHebrides. On the northern coast of Scotland, they founded the kingdom ofCaithness, which they held to the end of the twelfth century.Icelandwas discovered by the Northmen, and was settled by them in 874. About the same timeGreenlandwas discovered, and towards the end of the tenth century a colony was planted there. This led to the discovery of the mainland of America, and to the occupation, for a time, ofVinland, which is supposed to have been the coast of New England. InRussia, where the Northmen were calledVarangians,Rurik, one of their leaders, occupiedNovgorodin 862, and founded a line of sovereigns, which continued until 1598.
INCURSIONS OF SARACENS.—TheSaracenswere marauders in Italy, as the Northmen were in France. FromCairoan(in Tunis), as we have seen, they sent out their piratical fleets, which ravaged Malta, Sicily, and other islands of the Mediterranean. These corsairs, checked for the moment by the fleets of Charlemagne, afterwards began anew their conquests. From Sicily, of which they made themselves masters in 831, they passed over to the Italian mainland. Among their deeds are included the burning ofOstia,Civita Vecchia, and the wealthy abbey ofMonte Cassino, They landed on the shores of Provence, established a military colony there, pillagedArlesandMarseilles, and continued their depredations in Southern France and Switzerland.
INCURSIONS OF HUNGARIANS.—TheMagyars, called by the GreeksHungarians, a warlike people of the Turanian group of nations, crossed the Carpathian Mountains about 889. They overran the whole of Hungary and Transylvania. In 900, in the course of their predatory invasions, they penetrated into Bavaria, and the king of Germany paid them tribute. They carried their incursions into Lombardy and into Southern Italy. They even crossed the Rhine, and devastated Alsace, Lorraine, and Burgundy. Such terror did they excite that their name remained in France a synonym of detestable ferocity.
CHARACTER OF THE LATER INVASIONS.—The incursions in the ninth century differed from the great Germanic invasions which had subverted the Roman Empire. The Northmen and the Saracens moved in small bands, whose main object was plunder, and not either permanent conquest, or, as was the aim of the Arabians, the spread of a religion by the sword. TheHungariansalone established themselves in the valley of the Theiss and the Danube, after the manner of the Franks, the Burgundians, and the Goths; and there they remained. The great effect of the last invasion was to accelerate the breaking up of political unity, and the introduction of feudal organization, or the preponderance of local rule as opposed to centralized power.
Later than the events narrated above, there were two great achievements of the Northmen, which it is most convenient to describe here, although they occurred in the eleventh century. They are the conquest of England, and the founding of the kingdom of Naples and Sicily.
The NORMAN INVASION.—The duchy of Normandy had become very strong and prosperous, and, under the French-speaking Northmen, or Normans, had grown to be one of the principal states in Western Europe.Edward, king of England, surnamed theConfessor, or Saint (1042-1066) had been brought up in Normandy, and favored his own Norman friends by lavish gifts of honors and offices. The party opposed to the foreigners was led byGodwin, earl of the West Saxons. After being once banished, he returned in arms; and Norman knights and priests were glad to escape from the country. Edward's wife wasEdith, daughter of Godwin. They had no children; and on his death-bed he recommended that EarlHarold, the son of Godwin, should be his successor. The Normans claimed that he had promised that their duke,William, should reign after him. It was said thatHaroldhimself, on a visit to William, had, either willingly or unwillingly, sworn to give him his support.Edward, who was devout in his ways, though a negligent ruler, was buried in the monastery called Westminster, which he had built, and which was the precursor of the magnificent church bearing the same name that was built afterwards by KingHenry III.Haroldwas now crowned. DukeWilliam, full of wrath, appealed to the sword; and, under the influence of the archdeaconHildebrand, PopeAlexander II. took his side, and sanctioned his enterprise of conquest. At the same time the north of England was invaded by the king of the Norwegians, a man of gigantic stature, namedHardrada. The Norman invaders landed without resistance on the shore ofSussex, on the 28th of September, 1066, and occupiedHastings.Haroldencamped on the heights ofSenlac. On the 14th of October the great battle took place in which the Normans were completely victorious. The English stood on a hill in a compact mass, with their shields in front and a palisade before them. They repulsed the Norman charges. But the Normans pretended to retreat. This moved the Saxons to break their array in order to pursue. The Normans then turned back, and rushed through the palisade in a fierce onset. An arrow pierced the eye ofHarold, and he was cut to pieces by four French knights. The Norman duke,William the Conqueror, was crowned king on Christmas Day; but it was four years before he overcame all resistance, and got full control over the country. The largest estates and principal offices in England he allotted to Normans and other foreigners. The crown ofWilliamwas handed down to his descendants, and gradually the conquerors and the conquered became mingled together as one people.
CHARACTER OF THE SAXONS.—The Saxons at the time of the Conquest were a strong and hardy race, hospitable, and fond of good cheer, which was apt to run into gluttony and revels. Their dwellings were poor, compared with those of the better class of Normans. They were enthusiastic in out-door sports, such as wrestling and hunting. They fought on foot, armed with the shield and axe. The common soldier, however, often had no better weapon than a fork or a sharpened stick. The ordeals in vogue, as a test of guilt and innocence when one was accused of a crime, were, plunging the arm into boiling water, or holding a hot iron in the hand for three paces.Londonwas fast growing to be the chief town, and eclipsingWinchester, the old Saxon capital. A king likeAlfred, and scholars likeBedeandAlcuin, not to speak of old chronicles and ballads, show that literature was valued; but the Danish invasions inNorthumberland, where schools and letters had flourished, did much to blight the beginnings of literary progress.
THE NORMAN SPIRIT AND INFLUENCE.—The tapestry atBayeuxrepresents in a series of pictures the course of the Norman conquest. There we see the costume of the combatants. The Norman gentlemen were mounted, and fought with lance and sword. Of their bravery and military skill, their success affords abundant proof. Although the Normans were victors and masters in England, not only was the conquest gradual, but the result of it was the amalgamation of the one people with the other. The very title ofconqueror, attached to William, was a legal term (conquaestor), and meantpurchaseroracquirer. There was an observance of legal forms in the establishment and administration of his government. Thefolkland, or the public land, was appropriated by him, and became crown-land. So all the land of the English was considered to be forfeited, and estates were given out liberally to Norman gentlemen. The nobility became mainly Norman, and the same was true of the ecclesiastics and other great officers. All the land was held as a grant from the king. In 1085 the making ofDomesdaywas decreed, which was a complete statistical survey of all the estates and property in England. The object was to furnish a basis for taxation. TheDomesday Bookis one of the most curious and valuable monuments of English history. Among the changes in law made by William was the introduction of the Norman wager of battle, or the duel, by the side of the Saxon methods of ordeal described above. In most of the changes, there was not so much an uprooting as a great transformation of former rules and customs.
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT.—One of the most important results of the Norman Conquest was the bringing of England into much more intimate relations with the continent. The horizon of English thought and life was widened. One incidental consequence was the closer connection of the English Church with the Papacy. Foreign ecclesiastics, some of them men of eminence and of learning, were brought in. It was this connection with the continent that led England to take so important a part in the Crusades.
THEN NORMAN GOVERNMENT.—As regards feudalism, one vital feature of it—the holding of land by a military tenure, or on condition of military service—was reduced to a system by the conquest. ButWilliamtook care not to be overshadowed or endangered by his great vassals. He levied taxes on all, and maintained the place of lord of all his subjects. He was king of the English, and sovereign lord of the Norman nobles. He summoned to theWitan, or Great Assembly, those whom he chose to call. This summons, and the right to receive it, became the foundation of thePeerage. Out of the old SaxonWitan, there grew in this way theHouse of Lords. The lower orders, when summoned at all, were summoned in a mass; afterwards we shall find that they were called by representatives; and, in—the end, when the privilege of appearing in this way was converted into a right, theHouse of Commonscame into being. In like manner, theKing's Courtgradually came to be, in the room of the Assembly itself, a judicial and governing Committee of the Assembly. From this body of the king's immediate counselors emerged in time thePrivy Counciland theCourts of Law. Out of the Privy Council grew, in modern times, theCabinet, composed of what are really "those privy councilors who are specially summoned." Committees of the National Assembly, in the course of English history, acquired "separate being and separate powers, as the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of the government." Thus the English Constitution is the product of a steady growth.
MINGLING OF BLOOD AND LANGUAGES.—A multitude of Normans emigrated into England, especially toLondon. The Normans became Englishmen, as a natural consequence. But they affected the spirit and manners of the people by whom they were absorbed. By opening avenues for French influence,chivalry, with its peculiar ideas and ways, was brought into England. But it must never be forgotten that theNormanswere kinsfolk of the Saxons. Both conquerors and conquered were Teutons. The conquest was very different, in this particular, from what the conquest of Germany by France, or of France by Germany, would be. The French language which the Normans spoke had been acquired by them in their adopted home across the channel. To this source theLatinelement, or words of Latin etymology, in our English tongue is mainly due. The loss of the old Saxon inflections is another marked change; but this is not due, to so large an extent, solely to the influence of Norman speech. But the English language continued to be essentially Teutonic in its structure. For a long time the two tongues lived side by side. At the end of the twelfth century, if French was the language of polite intercourse, English was the language of common conversation and of popular writings. Learned men spoke, or could speak, and they wrote, in Latin.
NORMAN BUILDINGS.—The Normans built the cathedrals and castles. Down to the eleventh century, theRomanesque, or "round-arched" architecture, derived from Italy, had been the one prevalent style in Western Europe. In the modification of it, called theNormanstyle, we find the round arch associated with massive piers and narrow windows.Durhamcathedral is an example of the Norman Romanesque type of building. The Norman conquerors covered England withcastles, of which the White Tower of London, built by William, is a noted specimen. Sometimes they were square, and sometimes polygonal; but, except in the palaces of the kings, they afforded little room for artistic beauty of form or decoration. They were erected as fortresses, and were regarded by the people with execration as strongholds of oppression.