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MEDIEVAL HISTORY.

I. FROM THE DIVISION OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE UNTIL THE CRUSADES.

A. CHRISTENDOM.

I. Division and Subdivision of the Roman Empire. After the death of the emperor Theodosius, (395 A. D.,) the Roman Empire, which had already existed four centuries, was divided into two parts:

I. The Greek Empire, or the Empire of the East-capital, CONSTANTINOPLE which, as being the more important, was inherited by Arcadius, the elder son of Theodosius.

It contained two prefectures. a. The prefecture of the east, subdivided into five dioceses, (Thrace, Asia, Pontus, the East, and Egypt.) b. The prefecture of Illyricum, subdivided into two dioceses, (Macedonia and Dacia.)

II. The Latin Empire, or the Empire of the West — capital, ROME — assigned to the younger son of Theodosius, Honorius. It contained two prefectures. a. The prefecture of Italy, subdivided into three dioceses, (Italy, Western Illyricum, and Africa.) b. The prefecture of Gaul, also subdivided into three dioceses, (Gaul, Spain, and Britain.)

Beyond the pale of this organized society, surrounding the great basin of the Mediterranean, there existed a great barbaric society, also divided into two parts -the Germanic or Teutonic half, geographically adjoining the western; and the Scythian or Slavonic half, geographically adjoining the Eastern Empire.

The transition out of ancient into modern times consisted in nothing else than in the violent amalgamation of these two societies. In this process of amalgamation, however, the whole of the two opposed masses were not engaged at once. It was chiefly the western portion that was first involved.

II. The Great Migrations.

The determining cause of the precipitation of the German races on the Latin Empire was the sudden invasion of Europe (375 A. D.) by the Mongolian nation of the Huns. Subduing the Slavonic region of Europe, and establishing there a Hunnish empire, which superseded that of its previous conquerors, the Goths, these fearful Asiatic invaders produced a violent agitation among the Germanic peoples, and pressed them westward, as it were, in a mass - Goths, Vandals, Burgundians, Suevi, Alemanni, Franks, and Anglo-Saxons, altogether. The agitations produced in Europe by the Huns, and the consequent eruptions of the Germans into the provinces of the Western Empire, were protracted over a whole century. The aspect of the Latin Empire after the Germanic invasions were concluded that is, in the latter half of the 5th century-may be represented as follows:

III. The Settlements of the Barbarians.

1. GAUL. In this diocese, the effect of successive invasions had been to superinduce upon the native Gallo-Roman population a medley of new ingre

dients, chiefly Franks, (in the northeast,) Burgundians, (in the southeast,) and Visigoths, (in the south, from the Loire to the Pyrenees.)

2. SPAIN. This diocese was overrun at first by three barbaric tribes-the Vandals, (in the south,) the Suevi, (in the north,) and the Alans, (in the middle of the peninsula, from sea to sea.) Subsequently, however, the Visigoths, crossing the Pyrenees from Gaul, subdued all the three, and converted Spain into a Visigothic kingdom.

3. AFRICA. The conquerors of this important diocese were the Vandals, who, crossing from Spain, made themselves masters of the country from the Pillars of Hercules to Carthage.

4. ITALY. Successive invasions had left numerous barbaric deposits among the feeble Latin natives of the central diocese - Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Alemanni, Huns, etc.

5. WESTERN ILLYRICUM. Having been among the first portions of the Western Empire overrun by Alaric in his march from Thrace to Italy, the addition to the native population of this diocese consisted chiefly of Visigoths. 6. BRITAIN. Abandoned by its Roman garrisons as early as the year 410 A. D., this island became a prey to the Anglic and Saxon sea-rovers, whom the native Romanized Britons were obliged to call in to defend them against the Picts and Scots of the northern districts. The Britons, from the Channel to the Friths of Forth and Clyde, were speedily subdued by the new-comers.

As soon as this intermixture of the two societies had taken place, they began to act upon each other, and the result of this is modern society.

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Capital. Ravenna, the residence of the lieutenant of the Byzantine emperor, called exarch: hence the name given to these Byzantine possessions, of the Exarchate of Ravenna.

IV. The Empire of the Longobards.

Extent. At first the valley of the Po: gradually they extended their empire over the whole of Italy, with exception of a few strips of land on the coast. They confined the exarchate within the limits of Calabria and the district around Naples, and even laid claim to the sovereignty of Rome and its territory. Capital. Pavia. Duration. One hundred and six years, (568–774.) (See ALBOIN.)

B. EMPIRES IN AFRICA. I. The Vandal Empire in Africa. Extent. The whole of the northern coast of Africa, from the Atlantic to Cyrenaica, and also the Balearic islands, Sardinia, Corsica, and Sicily, (first the whole of Sicily, but since 493, only the north-western part.)

Capital. Carthage. Duration. One hundred and five years, (429–534.) (See GENSERIC.)

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Extent. At first, only the country between the Pyrenees, the Mediterranean, and the Ebro; since 585, the whole of Spain.

Capital. Toletum. Duration. 126 years, (585-711.)

IV. The Caliphate of Cordova. (See ABASSIDES, and Appendix, page 195.) D. EMPIRES IN GAUL. I. The Burgundian Empire. Extent. The valley of the Rhone. Duration. 126 years, (407-533.)

II. The Empire of the Franks, under the Merovingians. Extent. The country between the Rhine and the Loire. Capital. Paris. Duration. 266 years, (486-752.) (See CLOVIS.) After his death, the empire was divided among his four sons, Thierry, Chlodomer, Childebert, and Clothaire, who fixed their respective residences at Metz, Orleans, Paris, and Soissons. They

were reunited again under Clothaire, the youngest of the sons of Clovis, who survived all his brothers and their descendants. It was again divided in 567. (See BRUNEHILDA.)

V. The Empire of Charlemagne.

Extent. From the Ebro to the Raab, and from Benevento to the Eider. including all France, Germany, parts of Hungary, Italy, and Spain, besides some of the islands of the Mediterranean. Capitals. Rome and Aix-la-Chapelle.

A. THE WARS OF CHARLEMAGNE. I. Conquest of Lombardy. Cause. The king of the Lombards, Desiderius, had taken possession of the patrimony of St. Peter, (the grant of Pepin.)

Duration. A few months, (774 a. d.)

Result. Overthrow of the kingdom of the Lombards. Charlemagne is proclaimed king of Italy.

II. Wars with the Saxons. Cause. The resistance of the Saxons to the introduction of Christianity into their country.

Duration Thirty-two years, (772–804.)

Result The Saxons are incorporated in the Empire of Charlemagne, and are Christianized.

III. War in Spain. Cause The Arabic governor of Saragossa asked and obtained the assistance of Charlemagne against Abder-rhaman. Duration. A few months, (778 A. D.)

Result. The country between the Ebro and the Pyrenees was conquered by Charlemagne and annexed to this empire, under the name of the Spanish March. IV. War with the Avars. Cause. Duke Tassilo, of Bavaria, (son-in-law of the conquered Lombard king,) united with the Avares, and raised the standard of rebellion.

Duration. Thirteen years, (788-801 a. D.)

Result. Bavaria was incorporated with the Frankish Empire, and the country of the Avares (between the Ens and Raab) was conquered and transformed into the Avaric March.

V. Charles, the son of Charlemagne, subdued the Danes and Wilses. Remark. The wars of Charlemagne were totally different from those of the previous dynasty. They were not dissensions between tribe and tribe, or chief and chief, nor expeditions engaged in for the purpose of settlement or pillage. They were systematic wars, inspired by a political purpose and commanded by a public necessity. Their purpose was that of ending the invasions. He repelled the Saracens. The Saxons and Slavonians, against whom merely defensive arrangements were not sufficient, he attacked and subjugated in their native forests.

B. CORONATION OF CHARLEMAGNE AS EMPEROR OF THE WEST. Pope Leo III. induced Charlemagne to visit Rome, and to chastise his enemies. In return for the assistance thus afforded, Charlemagne, on Christmas day of the year 800, was crowned by the Pope Emperor of the West. As such he also assumed a lofty station at the side of the Roman pontiff in spiritual affairs: a Frankish synod saluted him as regent of the true religion. The entire

state of which he was the chief now assumed a color and form wherein the spiritual and temporal elements were completely blended. The union between Emperor and Pope served as a model for that between count and bishop. Not only was the secular power to lend its arm to the spiritual, but the spiritual to aid the temporal by its excommunications. The great empire reminds us of a vast neutral ground in the midst of a world filled with carnage and devastation; where an iron will imposes peace on forces generally in a state of mutual hostility and destruction, and fosters and shelters the germ of civilization; so guarded was it on all sides by impregnable marches.

C. THE SUCCESSORS OF CHARLEMAGNE. (See GENEALOGY, X) The sovereign power becomes enfeebled under the descendants of Charlemagne; and the chieftains of the various provinces acquire a power so nearly approaching to sovereignty as to be scarcely distinguishable except in name, rendering only a nominal obedience to the sovereign.

VI. Commencement of the history of Germany, France, and Italy, as separate states, at the partition of the Carlovingian Empire, at Verdun, 843 A. D.

Immediately after the death of Louis the Pious, son and successor of Charlemagne, a quarrel arose among his sons about the inheritance, Lothar, as emperor, claiming the whole. A battle was fought in 841, near the village of Fontenay, in which Lothar was defeated. The war, however, continued until 848, when Lothar found himself compelled to conclude with his brothers the famous treaty of Verdun. In this partition treaty, the Teutonic principle of equal division among heirs triumphed over the Roman one of the transmission of an indivisible empire: the practical sovereignty of all three brothers was admitted in their respective territories, a barren precedence only reserved to Lothar with the imperial title which he already enjoyed. A more important result was the separation of the Gallic and German nationalities. Their difference of feeling took now a permanent shape modern Germany proclaims the era of 843 the beginning of her national existence.

I. Charles the Bald received Francia Occidentalis, or Neustra and Aquitaine, (the country west of the Scheld, Meuse, Saone, and Rhone.) A corrupt tongue was spoken here, equally removed from Latin and from modern French.

II. Lothar, who, as emperor, must possess the two capitals, Rome and Aixla-Chapelle, received a long and narrow kingdom, stretching from the North sea to the Mediterranean. It had no national basis, and soon dissolved into the separate sovereignties of Italy, Burgundy, and Lotharingia, or Lorraine.

III. Lewis received all east of the Rhine-Franks, Saxons, Bavarians, Austria, Carinthia, etc. Throughout these regions German was spoken. The Germans were divided at that time in five separate nations: the Franks, Suabians, Bavarians, Saxons, and Lorrainers, each under its own duke.

VII. The Normans.

The three new kingdoms were soon disquieted by intestine commotions, the quarrels of their sovereigns with one another, and perpetual contests with a

wild piratical race called the Normans, or Northmen, who availed themselves of the distracted condition of the empire to make descents on the coasts, especially of western France. (See NORMANS IN FRANCE.)

The history of the Normans connects the two great European events of the middle ages, the migrations and the crusades. On the coasts of France, where they conquered the country which still bears their name, (Normandy,) and then in England, Italy, and Sicily, and finally in Asia, they were the last northern emigrants, who settled by force of arms in southern regions. Their conquest of England, in 1066, was accompanied by an immigration of the conquering nation; and hence was the cause of universal change in its language, manners, and constitution, and the origin of the long connection and the long warfare that subsisted between England and France in the middle ages. (See WILLIAM THE COxQUEROR) B. ISLAM.

I. The four first Caliphs, (631-661, A. D.)

The impulse communicated to the Arabian race by the enthusiasm of Mohammed (see this) did not cease with his death. The whole nation had been roused to an unexampled pitch of religious zeal, and were eager to continue the work which Mohammed had begun. Accordingly the reigns of the caliphs-as the successors of Mohammed in the conjunct spiritual and temporal sovereignty of Arabia were called- -were one long series of invasions, wars and conquests, undertaken for the express purpose of adding new countries to the Mohammedan Empire. The four first caliphs were:

Abu-Bekr, (632-634,) the father-in-law of Mohammed, who collected the sayings of Mohammed into a book, called the Koran. Under him Syria and Mesopotamia were subdued.

Omar, (634-643,) another father-in-law of Mohammed. Under him Egypt was conquered, and the whole of the northern coast of Africa was overrun. Othman, (648-656,) a son-in-law of the Prophet, who conquered Persia. Ali, (656-661,) another son-in-law of the Prophet. (See FALL of the FatiMITES.)

Thus, before the middle of the 7th century, or within 30 years after the death of Mohammed, the whole of the immense tract of country lying between Algiers in Africa, and Cabul in Central Asia, was covered by a race of Arabian warriors, burning with religious fervor, and zealous for the propagation of their faith and their language over the entire surface of the world. The capital of this great empire and the seat of the caliphate was the town of Kufa, on the Euphrates; Mecca, however retaining its pre-eminence as the sacred or holy city, whither all true Moslems were to go in pilgrimage, and toward which they were to turn in prayer.

II. The Ommaiad Caliphs, (660-750, A. D.)

A. THE FOUNDER OF THE RACE. (See MOAWIYAH.)
B. THE INTERNAL REGULATIONS.

Under these caliphs the political centre of the empire was transferred to Damascus. Here the caliph resided, while his emirs or commanders led his

troops in new directions, and governed distant provinces in his name. Cadis or judges were likewise appointed to administer the laws of the Koran in a few of the principal cities; and in every town there were preachers, who, acting as the deputies of the caliph in his spiritual capacity, read and expounded the Koran on Fridays in buildings called mosques. A separate class of functionaries, called mufis, prepared such new laws as were necessary to carry out the provisions of the Koran.

C. GREATEST EXTENT OF THE CALIPHATE. The Mohammedan Empire attained its fullest extent in the reign of Walid I. (705–715.) In the reign of his predecessor the Arabian arms had been carried into Morocco and the Atlantic coast of Africa; and his emir, Okba, had even meditated the invasion of Spain. That great exploit, however, was reserved for Musa, the governor of Africa, under the caliph Walid. (See TARIK.) Meanwhile, other emirs of the caliph Walid were extending his power in Asia. Bokhara, Turkistan, and other countries lying east of the Caspian were rapidly subdued; and under one bold leader, the Arabians even penetrated into northern India. In the caliphate of Soliman, the successor of Walid, (715-717,) the greater portion of Asia Minor was conquered by the Arabs, who even proceeded to lay siege to Constantinople.

The incompetence, however, of Soliman and his successors, Yezid II. and Hesham, (720-743,) arrested the progress of the Arabic conquests.

The wondrous spread of the power of the Arabs over so large a portion of the earth, and especially their daring invasion and conquest of Spain, had struck mingled admiration and terror into the soul of all Christendom. As it was known to be their intention to propagate their faith with the sword as far as they could, it did not seem improbable that they would cross the Pyrenees, invade Gaul, and overrun all Central Europe.

D. THE ARABS IN GAUL. With the exception of some mountainous districts in the western Pyrenees, the whole of the Spanish peninsula fell under the power of the Arabs, or, as they now began to be called, the Saracens, (that is, Eastern people,) or Moors, (that is, men of Mauritania.) But in the year 718, Al-haur, the fifth emir in succession from Tarik, ventured on an incursion into Gaul. His successor repeated the incursion, took Carcassone and Narbonne; and had almost obtained possession of Toulouse, when he was defeated and slain (721) by an army of Goths and Franks under the command of Eudes, the duke of Aquitaine, whose power was then nearly supreme in the south of France. This defeat, however, was only a temporary check to the Saracens. Again and again they invaded Gaul, and in a few years their language and their religion prevailed over a large tract to the north of the Pyrenees, and the vineyards of Gascony and the city of Bordeaux were possessed by the sovereign of Damascus and Samarcand. Even these limits did not satisfy them. In the year 728, Abder-rhaman was appointed by the caliph to the emirship of Spain. Full of the conquering spirit of his race, he resolved that not only France, but all Europe, should be included within the sway of the Moslems. Accordingly, invading France (732) at the head of the largest Mohammedan army that had ever been assembled in Europe, he pushed on, defeating all before him, as far as the river Loire.

E. CHARLES MARTEL. But at the hour of the greatest need, Providence raised up a champion for Christendom. This was Charles Martel, who was summoned by the Franks, (whose virtual ruler he had been for 17 years,) and even by his rival, Eudes of Aquitaine, to place himself at the head of the nation. He obeyed the summons, gathered a large army, and came up with the Saracens between Tours and Poitiers. A desperate battle ensued, which was protracted over seven days; but on the 7th day the Saracens were defeated with great slaughter, Abder-rhaman himself being slain on the field. This great victory (October, 732,) arrested forever the progress of the Mohammedan arms in western Europe, and procured for Charles the expressive surname of "the Hammer," by which he is known in history.

While the bravery of the Franks thus struck a blow at the Saracen power in Europe, the Saracen Empire was losing strength from internal causes. The incapacity of the later caliphs of the Ommaiad dynasty brought on a revolution at Damascus; and after a short contest a new dynasty seized on the caliphate.

III. The Abassides, (750–1258, A. D.)

A. THE DIVISION OF THE EMPIRE OF THE CALIPHS. The name is derived from their ancestor Abbas, one of the uncles of Mohammed. A bloody persecution was begun by the first caliph of this dynasty against all the Ommaiads, one of whom (Abder-rhaman) succeeded in escaping to Spain. Here the Saracens, who took the part of the persecuted dynasty, received him with open arms, and accepted him as their king. (See ABASSIDES.) Thus there arose two distinct Mohammedan powers in the world.

B. THE CALIPHS OF BAGDAD. 1. The Arabie Empire proper, extending in a long tract westward, from India to the shores of the Atlantic, and governed by the Abasside caliphs through their emirs. The capital of this empire was transferred to Bagdad, (on the western bank of the Tigris,) which had been built on a magnificent scale, by Al Mansur, and soon became the capital of the commercial enterprise and civilization of the Eastern world.

C. THE CALIPHS OF CORDOVA. 2. The Saracen kingdom of Spain, extending from Gibraltar to the river Aude in Languedoc, and governed by a branch of the house of the Ommaiads. Their capital was the ancient city of Cordova, after which the kingdom was named the caliphate of Cordova. After this partition of the Arabic Empire, scarcely any new conquests were made by the Arabs.

D. CHARACTER OF THE ARABIC INVASIONS. The Arabic invasions are not to be regarded as a mere series of violent or barbaric exploits, that produced no good effects. On the contrary, they were a service to the cause of civilization. From the Arabs, and especially from those of Spain, modern Europe has derived, among other things, the numeral characters, the art of paper-making, cotton manufacture, the art of preparing the finer kinds of leather, peculiar methods of tempering steel, and the use of rhyme in metre. Much of the spirit of modern romance and chivalry may also be traced to these Orientals, who also set the example of commercial enterprise to the European nations by their bold navigation of the Eastern seas.

I. The Seven Crusades.

II. THE CRUSADES.

The Crusades are usually reckoned as seven in number; the first and greatest beginning in 1096, and the last and least terminating in 1291.

THE FIRST CRUSADE. Cause. The taking of Jerusalem by the Turks, who compelled the Christians to pay a heavy tax for the privilege of visiting the Holy City. This excited throughout Christendom a general desire to make Palestine a Christian kingdom.

Preachers of the Crusade. Pope Urban II. and Peter the Hermit.
Duration. About four years, (1096-1100.)

Leader. When Pope Urban II. announced the Crusade at Clermont, in November, 1095, he secured to himself the leading position in the enterprise, by naming the bishop Adhemar of Puy as his legate and representative with the army, and by officially announcing to the Greek emperor Alexius the forthcoming help against the Turks.

The march to Constantinople. The crusade was opened by the march of about 300,000 men, who, in four bands, marched through central Europe, Hungary, and the Danube countries to Constantinople. They were led by Walter the Penniless, Peter the Hermit, Gotschalk, and others. The fate of these four bands was terrible. The Hungarians and Bulgarians, through whose territory these crusaders marched, were indignant at the ravages which they committed, and, after harassing them indirectly, openly attacked them. Two bands only reached Constantinople, and crossed over into Asia, where they were ultimately cut to pieces by the Turks.

The regular army consisted of six different divisions, led by Godfrey of Bouillon, Hugh of Vermandois, Stephen of Blois (and Robert Curthose), Robert of Flanders, Bohemond of Tarentum (and Tancred), and Raymond of Toulouse. In the autumn of 1096, the first princely troops arrived at Constantinople; others followed in rapid succession, till the spring of 1097, some by water, some by land. The northern French mostly came through Italy and Epirus, the Provençals through Dalmatia, and the Lorrainers through Hungary.

From Constantinople to Jerusalem. In May, 1097, the crusaders held their first muster in the plains of Bithynia. From thence they marched toward Nicæa, which fell into their hands, July, 1097. The crusaders then marched amid fatigue and hardship diagonally across Asia Minor, and at length turned the north-eastern angle of the Levant, and marched down the course of the Orontes upon the most important and best fortified of all the Syrian towns, Antioch; seven months were consumed in its siege. At length, (June, 1098,) they took it, to be besieged in their turn by 200,000 Saracens. On the 28th of June, this vast host was defeated before the walls of Antioch, and the way was then open to Jerusalem. The siege of Jerusalem began June 7th, 1099: it was taken by storm July 15th, 1099.

The political results of the First Crusade. The restoration of the best part of Asia Minor to the Greek Empire, and the conversion of Syria and a con

siderable portion of the East into a dominion held by Latin princes, and governed according to the principles of western feudalism. Three distinct Christian sovereignties were formed:

1st. The kingdom of Jerusalem, conferred on Godfrey of Bouillon. (See this.) 2d. The principality of Antioch, conferred on Bohemond of Tarentum. 3d. The principality of Edessa, in Mesopotamia, conferred on Baldwin, the brother of Godfrey.

THE SECOND CRUSADE. Cause. The taking of Edessa by the Fatimites of Egypt. All Christians were put to the sword, or sold as slaves. Preacher of the Crusade. Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux. (See ST. BERNARD.)

Duration. About three years, (1147-1149.)

Leaders. Emperor Conrad III., and Louis VII., king of France.

The march to Constantinople. The two armies marched down the Danube to Constantinople, in the summer of 1147. The policy of the Greek court was now hostile to the crusade, and the Greek emperor, Manuel Comnenus, did every thing to ruin the enterprise.

From Constantinople to Damascus. Misled by Greek scouts, the army of Conrad was cut to pieces by the Turks near Iconium; that of Louis was wrecked among the defiles of the Pisidian mountains. The relics of the two armies made their way into Syria, where, in co-operation with the Christian princes of Antioch and Jerusalem, they laid siege to Damascus.

The result of the Second Crusade. The crusade was a total failure. They were unable to take Damascus, and in 1149, Conrad and Louis returned to Europe, having lost in two years about a million of men.

THE THIRD CRUSADE. Cause. The taking of Jerusalem by Saladin in 1187, which put an end to the kingdom of Jerusalem. Preacher of the Crusade. William, archbishop of Tyre. Duration. About four years, (1189-1193)

Leaders. Emperor Frederick I., King Philip Augustus of France, and King Richard I. of England, (Coeur de Lion.)

The march to Acre. The emperor marched from Ratisbon along the Danube, fought his way through the dominions of the Greeks, (now undisguisedly hostile to the crusaders,) and advanced through Asia Minor, where he was drowned, (see FREDERICK I.;) only a part of his army reached Syria, where it joined the remains of the army of the kingdom of Jerusalem. They marched and laid siege to Acre. Soon the French and English monarchs arrived with their fleet, and to the crusaders, thus assisted, Acre surrendered, after a siege of 23 months, (July 12th, 1191.)

Result of the Third Crusade. The taking of Acre was the sole result of the third crusade. Rivalries and jealousies sprang up among the Christian leaders, especially between the kings of France and England. Philip abandoned the crusade and returned to France. The lion-hearted Richard remained some time

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