Chapter XV…

Chapter XV

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN THE EAST AND IN THE WEST TO 1054 A.D. [1]

120. DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

A preceding chapter has traced the early history of Christianity. We there saw how the new religion appeared in the Orient, how it spread rapidly over the Roman Empire, how it engaged with the imperial government in the long conflict called the Persecutions, how the emperor Constantine, after his conversion, placed it on an equality with paganism, and how at the end of the fourth century the emperor Theodosius made it the state religion. By this time the Church had become a great and powerful organization, with fixed laws, with a graded system of officers, and with councils attended by clergy from all parts of the Roman world. To this organization the word Catholic, that is, "universal," came to be applied. Membership in the Catholic Church, secured only by baptism, was believed to be essential to salvation. As St. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, had said, "He can no longer have God for his Father who has not the Church for his Mother."

THE EPISCOPATE

The first three centuries of Christianity witnessed the development of the episcopal system in the Church. Each provincial city had its bishop, assisted by priests and deacons. An archbishop (sometimes called a metropolitan) presided over the bishops of each province, and a patriarch had jurisdiction, in turn, over metropolitans. This graded arrangement of ecclesiastical officers, from the lowest to the highest, helped to make the Church centralized and strong. It appears to have been modeled, almost unconsciously, on the government of the Roman Empire. [2]

THE PATRIARCHS

The development of the patriarchate calls for special notice. At the time of the Council of Nicaea [3] there were three patriarchs, namely, the bishops of Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria. These cities ranked among the most important in the Roman world. It was only natural, therefore, that the churches established in them should be singled out for preëminence. Some years after the removal of the capital to Constantinople, the bishop of that imperial city was recognized as a patriarch at a general council of the Church. In the fifth century the bishop of Jerusalem received the same dignity. Henceforth there were five patriarchs--four in the East but only one in the West.

CLERGY AND LAITY

The Christian Church was a very democratic organization. Patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, priests, and deacons were drawn from all ranks of life. No special training at first was considered necessary to fit them for their duties, though the more celebrated ministers were often highly educated. To eke out their salaries the clergy sometimes carried on business as farmers and shopkeepers. Where, however, a church had sufficient funds to support its bishop, his engagement in secular affairs was discouraged and finally prohibited. In the fourth century, as earlier, priests and bishops were generally married men. The sentiment in favor of celibacy for the clergy became very pronounced during the early Middle Ages, especially in the West, and led at length to the general abandonment of priestly marriage in those parts of Europe where papal influence prevailed. Distinctive garments for clergymen did not begin to come into use until the fifth century, when some of them began to don clothing of a more sober hue than was fashionable at the time. Clerical vestments were developed from two pieces of ancient Roman dress--the tunic and the toga. [4] Thus the clergy were gradually separated from the people, or laity, by differences in dress, by their celibate lives, and by their abstention from worldly occupations.

HERESIES

While the Church was perfecting her organization, she was also elaborating her doctrines. Theologians engaged in many controversies upon such subjects as the connection of Christ with God and the nature of the Trinity. In order to obtain an authoritative expression of Christian opinion, councils of the higher clergy were held, at which the opposing views were debated and a decision was reached. The Council of Nicaea, which condemned Arianism, formed the first, and one of the most important, of these general gatherings of the Church. After the Church had once expressed itself on any matter of Christian belief, it was regarded as unlawful to maintain a contrary opinion. Those who did so were called heretics, and their teachings, heresies. The emperor Theodosius, whose severe laws finally shattered the ancient paganism, [5] devoted even more attention to stamping out heresies among his Christian subjects. He prohibited meetings of heretics, burned their books, and threatened them with death if they persisted in their peculiar doctrines. During his reign a Spanish bishop and six of his partisans were executed for holding unorthodox beliefs. This was the beginning of the persecutions for heresy.

WORSHIP

As soon as Christianity had triumphed in the Roman Empire, thus becoming the religion of the rich and powerful as well as the religion of the poor and lowly, more attention was devoted to the conduct of worship. Magnificent church buildings were often erected. Their architects seem to have followed as models the basilicas, or public halls, which formed so familiar a sight in Roman cities. [6] Church interiors were adorned with paintings, mosaic pictures, images of saints and martyrs, and the figure of the cross. Lighted candles on the altars and the burning of fragrant incense lent an additional impressiveness to worship. Beautiful prayers and hymns were composed. Some of the early Christian hymns, such as the Gloria in Excelsis and the Te Deum Laudamus, are still sung in our churches. Organs did not come into use until the seventh century, and then only in the West, but church bells, summoning the worshiper to divine service, early became attached to Christian edifices.

SUNDAY

The Christians from the start appear to have observed "the first day of the week" [7] in memory of Christ's resurrection. They attended public worship on the Lord's Day, but otherwise did not rigidly abstain from worldly business and amusements. The Jewish element in some churches, and especially in the East, was strong enough to secure an additional observance of Saturday as a weekly festival. Saturday long continued to be marked by religious assemblies and feasting, though not by any compulsory cessation of the ordinary occupations. During the fourth century Sunday, as the Lord's Day was now generally called, came more and more to be kept as a day of obligatory rest. Constantine's Sunday law [8] formed the first of a long series of imperial edicts imposing the observance of that day as a legal duty. In this manner Sunday, like the Jewish Sabbath on the seventh day of the week, was dedicated wholly to the exercises of religion.

FESTIVALS

The great yearly festivals of the Church gradually took shape during the early Christian centuries. The most important anniversary to be observed was Easter, in memory of the resurrection of Christ. A period of fasting (Lent), which finally lasted forty days, preceded the festival. Whitsunday, or Pentecost, was celebrated on the fiftieth day after Easter. [9] Two other festivals of later adoption were Christmas, the celebration of which was finally assigned to the 25th of December, [10] and Epiphany (January 6), commemorating the baptism of Christ. In course of time many other feasts and fasts, together with numerous saints' days, were added to the calendar of the "Christian Year."

121. EASTERN CHRISTIANITY

EXPANSION OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE EAST

By the time of Constantine, Christianity had spread widely throughout the eastern half of the Roman Empire. Asia Minor was then largely Christian. Thrace, Macedonia, Epirus, and Greece were all ecclesiastical provinces with their own metropolitans. Many Christians were found in Syria and Egypt. Churches also existed in Mesopotamia and Arabia, and even beyond the boundaries of the empire in Armenia and Persia. Between the time of Constantine and that of Justinian, Christianity continued to expand in the East, until the gospel had been carried to such distant regions as Abyssinia and India.

UNION OF CHURCH AND STATE

Most of the Christian communities in the Orient owed allegiance to the patriarchs of Constantinople, Jerusalem, Antioch, and Alexandria. The Roman emperor, however, was the supreme religious authority in the East. He felt it as much his duty to maintain the doctrines and organization of Christianity as to preserve the imperial dominions against foreign foes. Since he presided over the Church, there could be no real independence for its officers. Bishops, metropolitans, and patriarchs were in every respect subordinate to his will. This union of Church and State formed one of the most characteristic features of Christianity in the East.

THEOLOGICAL DISPUTES; HERESIES

Eastern Christians, far more than those in the West, devoted themselves to theological speculations. Constantinople and the great Hellenistic cities of Antioch and Alexandria contained many learned scholars who had prolonged and heated arguments over subtle questions of belief. After the Arian controversy had been settled in the fourth century, other disputes concerning the true nature of Christ broke out. These gave rise to many heresies.

NESTORIANISM

The heresy known as Nestorianism, from Nestorius, a patriarch of Constantinople, spread widely in the East. Nestorian missionaries even penetrated to India, China, and Mongolia. The churches which they established were numerous and influential during the Middle Ages, but since then most of them have been destroyed by the Mohammedans. Members of this sect are still to be found, however, in eastern lands. [11]

ORTHODOXY

After the formation of the Nestorian and other heretical sects, the orthodox faith was preserved in the East only by the Greeks of Asia Minor and Europe. The Greek Church, which calls itself the "Holy Orthodox Church," for a time remained in unity with the Roman Church in the West. The final separation of these two churches occurred in the eleventh century. [12]

122. WESTERN CHRISTIANITY: RISE OF THE PAPACY

THE PAPACY

Christianity in the West presented two sharp contrasts to eastern Christianity. In the first place, the great heresies which divided the East scarcely affected the West. In the second place, no union of Church and State existed among western Christians. Instead of acknowledging the religious supremacy of the emperor at Constantinople, they yielded obedience to the bishop of Rome, the head of the Roman Church. He is known to us as the pope, and his office is called the Papacy. We shall now inquire how the popes secured their unchallenged authority over western Christendom.

ROME AN APOSTOLIC CHURCH

A church in Rome must have been established at an early date, for it was to Roman Christians that St. Paul addressed one of the Epistles now preserved in the New Testament. St. Paul visited Rome, as we know from the Acts of the Apostles, and there he is said to have suffered martyrdom. Christian tradition, very ancient and very generally received, declares that St. Peter also labored in Rome, where he met a martyr's death, perhaps during the reign of the emperor Nero. To the early Christians, therefore, the Roman Church must have seemed in the highest degree sacred, for it had been founded by the two greatest apostles and had been nourished by their blood.

ROME A "MOTHER-CHURCH"

Another circumstance helped to give the Roman Church a superior position in the West. It was a vigorous missionary church. Rome, the largest and most flourishing city in the empire and the seat of the imperial government, naturally became the center from which Christianity spread over the western provinces. Many of the early Christian communities planted in Spain, Gaul, and Africa owed their start to the missionary zeal of the Roman Church. To Rome, as the great "Mother-church," her daughters in western Europe would turn henceforth with reverence and affection; they would readily acknowledge her leading place among the churches; and they would seek her advice on disputed points of Christian belief or worship.

THE ROMAN CHURCH INDEPENDENT

The independence of the Roman Church also furthered its development. The bishop of Rome was the sole patriarch in the West, while in the East there were two, and later four patriarchs, each exercising authority in religious matters. Furthermore, the removal of the capital from Rome to Constantinople helped to free the Roman bishop from the close oversight of the imperial government. He was able, henceforth, to promote the interests of the church under his control without much interference on the part of the eastern emperor.

THE ROMAN CHURCH ORTHODOX

Finally, it must be noted how much the development of the Roman Church was aided by its attitude on disputed questions of belief. While eastern Christendom was torn by theological controversies, the Church of Rome stood firmly by the Nicene Creed. [13] After the Arian, Nestorian, and other heresies were finally condemned, orthodox Christians felt indebted to the Roman Church for its unwavering championship of "the faith once delivered to the saints." They were all the more ready, therefore, to defer to that church in matters of doctrine and to accept without question its spiritual authority.

THE PETRINE SUPREMACY

The claim of the Roman bishops to supremacy over the Christian world had a double basis. Certain passages in the New Testament, where St. Peter is represented as the rock on which the Church is built, the pastor of the sheep and lambs of the Lord, and the doorkeeper of the kingdom of heaven, appear to indicate that he was regarded by Christ as the chief of the Apostles. Furthermore, a well-established tradition made St. Peter the founder of the Roman Church and its first bishop. It was then argued that he passed to his successors, the popes, all his rights and dignity. As St. Peter was the first among the Apostles, so the popes were to be the first among bishops. Such was the doctrine of the Petrine supremacy, expressed as far back as the second century, strongly asserted by many popes during the Middle Ages, and maintained to-day by the Roman Church.

123. GROWTH OF THE PAPACY

PONTIFICATE OF LEO I, 440-461 A.D.

Up to the middle of the fifth century about forty-five bishops had occupied St. Peter's chair at Rome. The most eminent these was Leo the Great. When he became bishop, the Germans were overrunning the western provinces of the empire. The invaders professed the Arian faith, as we have seen, and often persecuted the orthodox Christians among whom they settled. At such a time, when the imperial power was growing weaker, faithful Catholics in the West naturally turned for support to the bishop of Rome. Leo became their champion against the barbarians. Tradition declares that he succeeded in diverting Attila from an attack on Rome, and when the Vandals sacked the city Leo also intervened to prevent its destruction. [14]

PONTIFICATE OF GREGORY I, 590-604 A.D.

After Leo, no important name occurs in the list of popes until we come to Gregory the Great. Gregory, as the son of a rich and distinguished Roman senator, enjoyed a good education in all the learning of the time. He entered public life and at an early age became prefect of Rome. But now, almost at the outset of his career, Gregory laid aside earthly ambition. He gave up his honorable position and spent the fortune, inherited from his father, in the foundation of monasteries and the relief of the poor. He himself became a monk, turned his palace at Rome into a monastery, and almost ruined his health by too great devotion to fasts and midnight vigils. Gregory's conspicuous talents, however, soon called him from retirement and led to his election as pope.

TEMPORAL POWER OF GREGORY

The work of Gregory lay principally in two directions. As a statesman he did much to make the popes virtual sovereigns at Rome and in Italy. At this time the Italian peninsula, overrun by the Lombards and neglected by the eastern emperor, was in a deplorable condition. The bishop of Rome seemed to be the only man who could protect the people and maintain order. Gregory had very great success in this task. He appointed governors of cities, issued orders to generals, drilled the Romans for military defense, and sent ambassadors to treat with the king of the Lombards. It was largely owing to Gregory's efforts that these barbarians were prevented from conquering central Italy.

GREGORY'S SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY

Gregory was no less eminent as a churchman. His writings and his personal influence greatly furthered the advancement of the Roman Church in the West. We find him sternly repressing heresies wherever they arose, aiding the conversion of Arian Visigoths in Spain and Arian Lombards in Italy, and sending out monks as missionaries to distant Britain. [15] He well deserved by these labors the title "Servant of the servants of God," [16] which he assumed, and which the popes after him have retained. The admiration felt for his character and abilities raised him, in later ages, to the rank of a saint.

POSITION OF THE PAPACY

When Gregory the Great closed his remarkable career, the Papacy had reached a commanding place in western Christendom. To their spiritual authority the popes had now begun to add some measure of temporal power as rulers at Rome and in Italy. During the eighth century, as we have already learned, [17] the alliance of the popes and the Franks helped further to establish the Papacy as an ecclesiastical monarchy, ruling over both the souls and bodies of men. Henceforth it was to go forward from strength to strength.

124. MONASTICISM

THE MONASTIC SPIRIT

The Papacy during the Middle Ages found its strongest supporters among the monks. By the time of Gregory the Great monasticism [18] was well established in the Christian Church. Its origin must be sought in the need, often felt by spiritually-minded men, of withdrawing from the world --from its temptations and its transitory pleasures--to a life of solitude, prayer, and religious contemplation. Joined to this feeling has been the conviction that the soul may be purified by subduing the desires and passions of the body. Men, influenced by the monastic spirit, sought a closer approach to God.

EARLY CHRISTIAN MONASTICISM

The monastic spirit in Christianity owed much to the example of its founder, who was himself unmarried, poor, and without a place "where to lay his head." Some of Christ's teachings, taken literally, also helped to exalt the worth of the monastic life. At a very early period there were Christian men and women who abstained from marriage, flesh meat, and the use of wine, and gave themselves up to prayer, religious exercises, and works of charity. This they did in their homes, without abandoning their families and human society.

THE HERMITS

Another monastic movement began about the middle of the third century, when many Christians in Egypt withdrew into the desert to live as hermits. St. Anthony, who has been called the first Christian hermit, passed twenty years in a deserted fort on the east bank of the Nile. During all this time he never saw a human face. Some of the hermits, believing that pain and suffering had a spiritual value, went to extremes of self- mortification. They dwelt in wells, tombs, and on the summits of pillars, deprived themselves of necessary food and sleep, wore no clothing, and neglected to bathe or to care for the body in any way. Other hermits, who did not practice such austerities, spent all day or all night in prayer. The examples of these recluses found many imitators in Syria and other eastern lands. [19]

RULE OF ST. BASIL

A life shut off from all contact with one's fellows is difficult and beyond the strength of ordinary men. The mere human need for social intercourse gradually brought the hermits together, at first in small groups and then in larger communities, or monasteries. The next step was to give the scattered monasteries a common organization and government. Those in the East gradually adopted the regulations which St. Basil, a leading churchman of the fourth century, drew up for the guidance of the monks under his direction. St. Basil's Rule, as it is called, has remained to the present time the basis of monasticism in the Greek Church.

ST. BENEDICT

The monastic system, which early gained an entrance into western Christendom, looked to St. Benedict as its organizer. While yet a young man, St. Benedict had sought to escape from the vice about him by retiring to a cave in the Sabine hills near Rome. Here he lived for three years as a hermit, shutting himself off from all human intercourse, wearing a hair shirt, and rolling in beds of thistles to subdue "the flesh." St. Benedict's experience of the hermit's life convinced him that there was a surer and better road to religious peace of mind. His fame as a holy man had attracted to him many disciples, and these he now began to group in monastic communities under his own supervision. St. Benedict's most important monastery was at Monte Cassino, midway between Rome and Naples. It became the capital of monasticism in the West.

RULE OF ST. BENEDICT, 529(?) A.D.

To control the monks of Monte Cassino St. Benedict framed a Rule, or constitution, which was modeled in some respects upon the earlier Rule of St. Basil. The monks formed a sort of corporation, presided over by an abbot, [20] who held office for life. To the abbot every candidate for admission took the vow of obedience. Any man, rich or poor, noble or peasant, might enter the monastery, after a year's probation; having once joined, however, he must remain a monk for the rest of his days. The monks were to live under strict discipline. They could not own any property; they could not go beyond the monastery walls without the abbot's consent; they could not even receive letters from home; and they were sent to bed early. A violation of the regulations brought punishment in the shape of private admonitions, exclusion from common prayer, and, in extreme cases, expulsion.

SPREAD OF THE BENEDICTINE RULE

The Rule of St. Benedict came to have the same wide influence in the West which that of St. Basil exerted in the East. Gregory the Great established it in many places in Italy, Sicily, and England. During Charlemagne's reign it was made the only form of monasticism throughout his dominions. By the tenth century the Rule prevailed everywhere in western Europe. [21]

125. LIFE AND WORK OF THE MONKS

A MONASTIC COMMUNITY

St. Benedict sought to draw a sharp line between the monastic life and that of the outside world. Hence he required that, as far as possible, each monastery should form an independent, self-supporting community whose members had no need of going beyond its limits for anything. In course of time, as a monastery increased in wealth and number of inmates, it might come to form an enormous establishment, covering many acres and presenting within its massive walls the appearance of a fortified town.

THE MONASTERY BUILDINGS

The principal buildings of a Benedictine monastery of the larger sort were grouped around an inner court, called a cloister. These included a church, a refectory, or dining room, with the kitchen and buttery near it, a dormitory, where the monks slept, and a chapter house, where they transacted business. There was also a library, a school, a hospital, and a guest house for the reception of strangers, besides barns, bakeries, laundries, workshops, and storerooms for provisions. Beyond these buildings lay vegetable gardens, orchards, grain fields, and often a mill, if the monastery was built on a stream. The high wall and ditch, usually surrounding a monastery, shut it off from outsiders and in time of danger protected it against attack.

MONASTIC OCCUPATIONS

St. Benedict defined a monastery as "a school for the service of the Lord." The monks under his Rule occupied themselves with a regular round of worship, reading, and manual labor. Each day was divided into seven sacred offices, beginning and ending with services in the monastery church. The first service came usually about two o'clock in the morning; the last, just as evening set in, before the monks retired to rest. In addition to their attendance at church, the monks spent several hours in reading from the Bible, private prayer, and meditation. For most of the day, however, they worked hard with their hands, doing the necessary washing and cooking for the monastery, raising the necessary supplies of vegetables and grain, and performing all the other tasks required to maintain a large establishment. This emphasis on labor, as a religious duty, was a characteristic feature of western monasticism. "To labor is to pray" became a favorite motto of the Benedictines. [22]

ATTRACTIVENESS OF THE MONASTIC LIFE

It is clear that life in a Benedictine monastery appealed to many different kinds of people in the Middle Ages. Those of a spiritual turn of mind found in the monastic life the opportunity of giving themselves wholly to God. Studious and thoughtful persons, with no disposition for an active career in the world, naturally turned to the monastery as a secure retreat. The friendless and the disgraced often took refuge within its walls. Many a troubled soul, to whom the trials of this world seemed unendurable, sought to escape from them by seeking the peaceful shelter of the cloister.

THE MONKS AS CIVILIZERS

The civilizing influence of the Benedictine monks during the early Middle Ages can scarcely be over-emphasized. A monastery was often at once a model farm, an inn, a hospital, a school, and a library. By the careful cultivation of their lands the monks set an example of good farming wherever they settled. They entertained pilgrims and travelers, at a period when western Europe was almost destitute of inns. They performed many works of charity, feeding the hungry, healing the sick who were brought to their doors, and distributing their medicines freely to those who needed them. In their schools they trained both boys who wished to become priests and those who intended to lead active lives in the world. The monks, too, were the only scholars of the age. By copying the manuscripts of classical authors, they preserved valuable books that would otherwise have been lost. By keeping records of the most striking events of their time, they acted as chroniclers of medieval history. To all these services must be added the work of the monks as missionaries to the heathen peoples of Europe.

126. SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY OVER EUROPE

THE ROMAN CHURCH AND THE BARBARIANS

Almost all Europe had been won to Christianity by the end of the eleventh century. In the direction of this great missionary campaign the Roman Church took the leading part. [23] The officers of her armies were zealous popes, bishops, and abbots; her private soldiers were equally zealous monks, priests, and laymen. Pagan Rome had never succeeded in making a complete and permanent conquest of the barbarians. Christian Rome, however, was able to bring them all under her spiritual sway.

RECONVERSION OF THE ARIAN GERMANS

Christianity first reached the Germanic invaders in its Arian [24] form. Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Vandals, Burgundians, and Lombards were all Arians. The Roman Church regarded them as heretics and labored with success to reconvert them. This work was at last completed when the Lombards, in the seventh century, accepted the Catholic faith.

FRANKS AND ANGLO-SAXONS CONVERTED TO ROMAN CATHOLICISM

The Franks and the Anglo-Saxons, whose kingdoms were to develop into the chief states of medieval Europe, adopted from the outset the Catholic form of Christianity. The conversion of the Franks provided the Roman Church with its strongest and most faithful adherents among the Germanic tribes. [25] The conversion of Anglo-Saxon Britain by Augustine and his monks, followed later by the spread of Roman Catholicism in Ireland and Scotland, firmly united the British Isles to the Papacy. [26] Thus Rome during the Middle Ages came to be the one center of church life for the peoples of western Europe.

ST. BONIFACE AND THE CONVERSION OF THE GERMANS

An Anglo-Saxon monk, St. Boniface, did more than any other missionary to carry Christianity to the remote tribes of Germany. Like Augustine in England, St. Boniface was sent by the pope, who created him missionary bishop and ordered him to "carry the word of God to unbelievers." St. Boniface also enjoyed the support of the Frankish rulers, Charles Martel and Pepin the Short. Thanks to their assistance this intrepid monk was able to penetrate into the heart of Germany. Here he labored for nearly forty years, preaching, baptizing, and founding numerous churches, monasteries, and schools. His boldness in attacking heathenism is illustrated by the story of how he cut down with his own hands a certain oak tree, much reverenced by the natives of Hesse as sacred to the god Woden, and out of its wood built a chapel dedicated to St. Peter. St. Boniface crowned a lifetime of missionary labor with a martyr's death, probably in 754 A.D. His work was continued by Charlemagne, who forced the Saxons to accept Christianity at the point of the sword. [27] All Germany at length became a Christian land, devoted to the Papacy.

CONVERSION OF THE SLAVS

Roman Catholicism not only spread to Celtic and Germanic peoples, but it also gained a foothold among the Slavs. Both Henry the Fowler and Otto the Great attempted to Christianize the Slavic tribes between the Elbe of the Slavs and the Vistula, by locating bishoprics in their territory. The work of conversion encountered many setbacks and did not reach completion until the middle of the twelfth century. The most eminent missionaries to the Slavs were Cyril and Methodius. These brother-monks were sent from Constantinople in 863 A.D. to convert the Moravians, who formed a kingdom on the eastern boundary of Germany. Seeing their great success as missionaries, the pope invited them to Rome and secured their consent to an arrangement which brought the Moravian Christians under the control of the Papacy. [28] From Moravia Christianity penetrated into Bohemia and Poland. These countries still remain strongholds of the Roman Church. The Serbians and Russians, as we have learned, [29] received Christianity by way of Constantinople and so became adherents of the Greek Church.

FINAL EXTENSION OF ROMAN CATHOLICISM

Roman Catholicism gradually spread to most of the remaining peoples of Europe. The conversion of the Norwegians and Swedes was well advanced by the middle of the eleventh century. The Magyars, or Hungarians, accepted Christianity at about the same date. The king of Hungary was such a devout Catholic that in the year 1000 A.D. the pope sent to him a golden crown and saluted him as "His Apostolic Majesty." The last parts of heathen Europe to receive the message of the gospel were the districts south and east of the Baltic, occupied by the Prussians, Lithuanians, and Finns. Their conversion took place between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries.

127. SEPARATION OF EASTERN AND WESTERN CHRISTIANITY

DIVERGENCE OF EAST AND WEST

Before the Christian conquest of Europe was finished, Christianity had divided into two great communions--the Greek Church and the Roman Church. Their separation was a long, slow process, arising from the deep-seated differences between East and West. Though Rome had carried her conquering arms throughout the Mediterranean basin, all the region east of the Adriatic was imperfectly Romanized. [30] It remained Greek in language and culture, and tended, as time went on, to grow more and more unlike the West, which was truly Roman. The founding of Constantinople and the transference of the capital from the banks of the Tiber to the shores of the Bosporus still further widened the breach between the two halves of the Roman world. After the Germans established their kingdoms in Italy, Spain, Gaul, and Britain, western Europe was practically independent of the rulers at Constantinople. The coronation of Charlemagne in 800 A.D. marked the final severance of East and West.

THE PAPACY AND THE EASTERN EMPERORS

The division of the Roman Empire led naturally to a grouping of the Christian Church about Rome and Constantinople, the two chief centers of government. The popes, it has been seen, had always enjoyed spiritual leadership in the West. In temporal matters they acknowledged the authority of the eastern emperors, until the failure of the latter to protect Rome and Italy from the barbarians showed clearly that the popes must rely on their own efforts to defend Christian civilization. We have already learned how well such men as Leo the Great and Gregory the Great performed this task. Then in the eighth century came the alliance with the Frankish king, Pepin the Short, which gave the Papacy a powerful and generous protector beyond the Alps. Finally, by crowning Charlemagne, the pope definitely broke with the emperor at Constantinople and transferred his allegiance to the newly created western emperor.

RISE OF THE PATRIARCHATE OF CONSTANTINOPLE

The patriarch of Constantinople, as bishop of the capital city, enjoyed an excellent position from which to assert his preeminence over the bishops of the other churches in the East. Justinian in 550 A.D. conferred on him the privilege of receiving appeals from the other patriarchs, and a few years later that dignitary assumed the high-sounding title of "Universal Archbishop." The authority of the patriarch of Constantinople was immensely strengthened when the Mohammedans, having conquered Syria and Egypt, practically extinguished the three patriarchates of Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria. [31] The Church in the East now had a single patriarch, just as that in the West had the one bishop of Rome. Rivalry between them was inevitable.

RIVALRY BETWEEN POPE AND PATRIARCH

One source of strife between pope and patriarch was the controversy, arising in the eighth century, over the use of images in the churches. These images seem to have been, not statues, but pictures (icons) of the apostles, saints, and martyrs. Many eastern Christians sought to strip the churches of icons, on the ground that by the ignorant they were venerated almost as idols. The Iconoclasts ("image-breakers") gained no support in the West. The Papacy took the view that images were a help to true devotion and might, therefore, be allowed. When a Roman emperor issued a decree for the destruction of all images, the pope refused to obey the order in the churches under his direction, and went so far as to exclude the Iconoclasts from Christian fellowship. Although the iconoclastic movement failed in the East, after a violent controversy, it helped still further to sharpen the antagonism between the two branches of Christendom. Other causes of dispute arose in later times, chiefly concerning fine points of doctrine on which neither side would yield.

THE FINAL RUPTURE, 1054 A.D.

The final rupture of Christendom was delayed until the middle of the eleventh century. In 1054 A.D. the pope sent his legates to Constantinople to demand obedience to the Papacy. This being refused, they laid upon the high altar of Sancta Sophia the pope's bill of excommunication. Against the patriarch and his followers they pronounced a solemn curse, or anathema, devoting them "to the eternal society of the Devil and his angels." Then, we are told, they strode out of Sancta Sophia, shaking the dust from their feet and crying, "Let God see and judge." The two branches of the Christian Church, thus torn apart, were never afterward reunited. [32]

128. THE GREEK CHURCH

THE GREEK AND ROMAN CHURCH COMPARED

The Greek and Roman churches, in some respects, are nearer together than Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. Both recognize three orders for the ministry, namely, bishops, priests, and deacons. Priests of the Greek Church may marry, but this privilege is not extended to bishops, who, therefore, are chosen from the monks. Baptism, by both churches, is administered to infants, but by the Greek Church under the form of total immersion. Confirmation in the Greek Church follows immediately after baptism; in the Roman Church it is postponed to the age of reason. In the communion service the Greek Church gives leavened bread, dipped in wine. The Roman Church withholds wine from the laity and uses only a dry, unleavened wafer. While the services of the Roman Church are conducted in Latin, for those of the Greek Church the national languages (Greek, Russian, etc.) of the communicants are used. Its festivals do not coincide in time of celebration with those of the Roman Church, since the "Julian Calendar" followed in the East is now thirteen days behind the "Gregorian Calendar." [33]

SPREAD OF THE GREEK CHURCH

The Greek Church has not lacked missionary zeal. Through her agency the barbarians who entered southeastern Europe during the early Middle Ages were converted to Christianity. At the present time nearly all the peoples of the Balkan peninsula, including Greeks, Montenegrins, Serbians, Bulgarians, and Rumanians, belong to the Greek Church. [34] Its greatest victory was won toward the close of the tenth century, when the Russians were induced to accept the Greek form of Christianity. Outlying branches of the Greek Church are found also in the Turkish Empire. It now includes about one hundred and thirty-five million adherents in European lands.

PRESENT ORGANIZATION OF THE GREEK CHURCH

The patriarch of Constantinople is the spiritual head of the Greek Church. He enjoys, however, no such wide authority over eastern Christians as that exercised by the pope over all Roman Catholics. There are as many as sixteen branches of the Greek Church, each self-governing and under its own officers. Despite the local independence of its branches, the Greek Church remains unified in doctrine. It claims to be the only "Orthodox" church and clings with almost Oriental conservatism to the traditions of earlier ages. Nevertheless, as the official church of Russia, the largest and most swiftly growing of European countries, the Greek Church has before it a future of great importance.

129. THE ROMAN CHURCH

THE ROMAN CHURCH PROGRESSIVE

The separation of eastern and western Christianity naturally increased the importance of the Papacy. The popes henceforth had a free hand to guide the destinies of the Roman Church. That church under their direction was to show itself vigorous and progressive, with a wonderful power of adaptation to new and changed conditions.

THE ROMAN CHURCH SURVIVES THE EMPIRE

The Roman Empire in the West had gone down before the assaults of the Germanic barbarians, but in its place had arisen a new creation--the Roman Church. The chief city of the old empire became the capital of the Papacy. The pope took, and has since retained, the title of Supreme Pontiff (Pontifex Maximus), once given to the head of the Roman state religion. [35] Latin has continued to be the official language of Roman Catholicism. The Roman genius for law and government found a new expression in the creation of the papal power. The true successors of the ancient Roman statesmen were the popes of the Middle Ages. The idea of Rome, of her universality and of her eternity, lived on in the Roman Church.

WORK OF THE ROMAN CHURCH

The Roman Church, as the successor of the Roman Empire in the West, formed the chief center of civilization during the earlier part of the Middle Ages. She stood between the conquering Germans and the Romanized provincials and helped to join them both in lasting union. To the heathen she sent out her missionaries, preaching a religion of love and charity and introducing a higher morality than the barbarians had ever known before. She multiplied hospitals, orphanages, and asylums. Her bishops were the only protectors of the weak and the oppressed. She fostered education, art, and learning within the walls of churches and monasteries. Her priests and monks were the only teachers in an ignorant age. In an age of bloodshed and violence, when might made right, she proclaimed the superiority of the spirit to mere brute force. To sum up: the Roman Church was an indispensable agent in the making of medieval Europe.

THE MENACE TO CHRISTENDOM

Christianity in its Greek and Roman forms was not the only great religion of the Middle Ages. In the seventh century, before the separation of the two churches had been completed and before all Europe had become Christian, another religion arose. It grew with marvelous rapidity, stripped the Church of much territory in western Asia, northern Africa, and Spain, and promised for a time to become the dominant faith of the world. This was Islam, or Mohammedanism, the religion of the Arabs.

STUDIES

1. In what different senses is the word "church" often used?

2. "The eastern patriarch was the shadow of the emperor, cast on the spiritual world." Explain this statement.

3. Why did heresies develop in the East rather than in the West?

4. Look up in the New Testament the following texts relating to the primacy of St. Peter: Matthew, xvi, 18-19; Luke, xxii, 31-32; and John, xxi, 15-17.

5. What is "the power of the keys" which the popes claim to possess?

6. What reasons for the growth of the Papacy have been set forth in this chapter?

7. In what non-Christian religions is monasticism an established institution?

8. Look up in the New Testament the following texts quoted as favorable to monasticism: Matthew, xix, 21; Mark, x, 29-30; and Luke, xiv, 26.

9. What is the origin of the words "monk," "hermit," "anchorite," and "abbot"?

10. Summarize the principal benefits which the monastic system conferred on Europe.

11. Give reasons for the rapid conversion of the Germans to Christianity.

12. In what sense is it true that "half Europe owes its Christianity to women"?

13. Who was the "Apostle to the Germans"?

14. Who were the "Apostles to the Slavs"?

15. Comment on the significance to European civilization of the missionary activity of the Christian Church in the Middle Ages.

16. Why has the separation of the Greek and Roman churches been described as "the most momentous fact in the history of Christendom during the Middle Ages"?

17. Why could not such an institution as the Papacy develop in the East?

FOOTNOTES

[1] Webster, Readings in Medieval and Modern History, chapter iii, "The Benedictine Rule"; chapter iv, "The Reestablishment of Christianity in Britain"; chapter v, "St. Boniface, Apostle to the Germans."Return to passage

[2] The correspondence may be indicated as follows:Return to passage

The Roman Empire The Christian Church City--Municipal officials. Bishop. Province--Governor. Archbishop, or Metropolitan. Diocese--Vicar. Patriarch. Prefecture--Prefect. (No corresponding division.)

[3] See page 235.Return to passage

[4] See page 258.Return to passage

[5] See page 236.Return to passage

[6] See page 284.Return to passage

[7] John, xx, i, 19; compare I Corinthians, xvi, 2.Return to passage

[8] See page 235 and note 1.Return to passage

[9] See Acts, ii, 1-4.Return to passage

[10] See page 239, note 1.Return to passage

[11] In modern India (Malabar) there are no less than 400,000 Syrian Christians who owe their religion to Nestorian missionaries.Return to passage

[12] See page 362.Return to passage

[13] See page 236.Return to passage

[14] See pages 248-249.Return to passage

[15] See page 322.Return to passage

[16] Servus servorum Dei.Return to passage

[17] See pages 305-307.Return to passage

[18] From a Greek word which means "living alone."Return to passage

[19] See Tennyson's poem, St. Simeon Stylites.Return to passage

[20] From a Syrian word, abba, meaning "father." Hence a monastery was often called an abbey.Return to passage

[21] Other monastic orders arose during the later Middle Ages (see pages 449, 452), but the Benedictines still exist, chiefly in Austria and Italy. Their order was introduced into the United States during the nineteenth century.Return to passage

[22] Laborare est orare.Return to passage

[23] For the missionary work of Celtic Christians see page 323 and note 1.Return to passage

[24] See page 236.Return to passage

[25] See pages 304-305.Return to passage

[26] See pages 322-325.Return to passage

[27] See page 308.Return to passage

[28] Cyril and Methodius were canonized by Pope Leo XIII in 1881 A.D. A millenial celebration of the two apostles was held in 1863 A.D. by the people of Moravia and Bohemia.Return to passage

[29] See page 335. The Bulgarians also got their Christianity from Constantinople in the ninth century.Return to passage

[30] See pages 217, 223.Return to passage

[31] See page 376.Return to passage

[32] Unsuccessful attempts to heal the schism between the two churches took place in the Middle Ages. The latest movement in this direction was made by Pope Leo XIII in 1894 A.D., but his efforts were not crowned with success.Return to passage

[33] See page 186, note 2.Return to passage

[34] Many Roman Catholics are found in Croatia-Slavonia, Bosnia, Dalmatia, and Albania.Return to passage

[35] See page 148, note 2.Return to passage

Chapter XVI

THE ORIENT AGAINST THE OCCIDENT: RISE AND SPREAD OF ISLAM, 622-1058 A.D. [1]

130. ARABIA AND THE ARABS

THE ARABIAN PENINSULA

Arabia, a vast peninsula between the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean, and the Red Sea, forms the link between Asia and Africa. It is connected with Asia by the arid plains extending northward to the Euphrates; with Africa, by the equally arid isthmus of Suez. Though the country is more than one- third the size of the United States (excluding Alaska), it has never supported a large population. The interior, except for occasional oases, is a desert, inhabited only by wandering tribes. Along the southern and western coasts, between the mountains and the sea, the soil is generally fertile, the climate temperate, and the rainfall sufficient. Here the chief cities and towns are located.

INHABITANTS OF ARABIA

The original home of the Semites is believed to have been Arabia. Some Semitic peoples appear to have migrated northward to Babylonia and Syria, while others crossed the Red Sea to Abyssinia. Physically, the Arabs are an attractive people, with well-shaped, muscular figures, handsome, bronzed faces, brilliant, black eyes, and all the organs of sense exquisitely acute. Simple and abstemious in their habits, they lead healthy lives and often reach an extreme yet vigorous old age.

THE BEDOUINS OF THE DESERT

The Bedouin Arabs, by which name the nomadic inhabitants of the desert are known, claim Ishmael, the son of Abraham and half-brother of Isaac, as their ancestor. The life which they lead in the Arabian wilderness closely resembles that of the Hebrew patriarchs, as described in the Old Testament. The Bedouins are shepherds and herdsmen, continually moving with their sheep and camels from one pasturage and water-hole to another. Their virtues--hospitality to the stranger, generosity, faithfulness to the ties of kinship--are those of a nomadic, barbarian people. Such also are their vices--love of fighting and plunder, revengefulness, and impatience of restraint. Nothing like a settled government is known to them. The only tribal authority is that of the chief, or "sheik," who, because of his birth, courage, or wealth, has been chosen to the leadership. This description of the Bedouins to-day applies equally well to them in the age of Mohammed, during the sixth century.

THE SEDENTARY ARABS

The Arabs who settled along the southern and western coasts of the peninsula had reached in the sixth century a considerable degree of civilization. They practiced agriculture and carried on a flourishing trade across the Red Sea and even to distant India. Between these sedentary Arabs and the Bedouins raged constant feuds, leading to much petty warfare. Nevertheless the hundreds of tribes throughout the peninsula preserved a feeling of national unity, which was greatly strengthened by Mohammed's appearance on the scene.

ARABIAN HEATHENISM

The city of Mecca, located about fifty miles from the Red Sea, was a commercial metropolis and the center of Arabian heathenism. Every year the Arab tribes ceased fighting for four months, and went up to Mecca to buy and sell and visit the famous sanctuary called the Kaaba. Here were three hundred and sixty idols and a small, black stone (probably a meteorite), which legend declared had been brought from heaven. The stone was originally white, but the sins of the people who touched it had blackened it. Although most of the Arabs were idolaters, yet some of them recognized the "Unknown God" of the Semites, Allah, the Creator of all things. Arabia at this time contained many Jews, Zoroastrians, and Christians, who helped to spread abroad the conception of one God and thus to prepare the way for a prophet of a new religion.

131. MOHAMMED: PROPHET AND STATESMAN, 622-632 A.D.

EARLY LIFE OF MOHAMMED

Mohammed, [2] born at Mecca about 570 A.D., belonged to the tribe of the Koreish, who had long been guardians of the sacred Kaaba. Left an orphan at an early age, the future prophet was obliged to earn his own living. He served first as a shepherd on the hillsides of Mecca. This occupation, though lowly, gave him the love of solitude, and helped to nourish in his soul that appreciation of nature which later found expression in so many of his utterances. While still a youth he became a camel-driver and twice crossed the deserts with caravans to Syria. Doubtless he made many acquaintances on these journeys and picked up much useful information. Mohammed, however, did not receive a regular education; it is doubtful whether he could read or write. His marriage, when about twenty-five years of age, to a rich widow, named Khadija, brought him wealth and consideration. For some time, henceforth, he led the life of a prosperous merchant of Mecca.

MOHAMMED'S VISIONS

Mohammed seems always to have been a deeply religious man. As he grew older, his thoughts more and more centered on spiritual themes. He could not reconcile the gross idolatry of the Arabs with that belief in the unity of God which he himself had reached. In his distress he would withdraw into the wilderness, where he spent much time in fasting and solitary vigils, practices perhaps suggested to him by the example of Christian hermits. [3] During these lonely hours in the desert strange scenes passed before his eyes and strange voices sounded in his ears. At first Mohammed thought that evil spirits possessed him, but Khadija encouraged him to believe that his visions were a revelation from another world. One day, so he declared, God's messenger, the archangel Gabriel, appeared to him and bade him preach a new religion to the Arabs. It was very simple, but in its simplicity lay its strength: "There is no god but God, and Mohammed is the prophet of God."

THE HEGIRA, 622 A.D.

The prophet made his first converts in his wife, his children, and the friends who knew him best. Then, becoming bolder, he began to preach publicly in Mecca. In spite of Mohammed's eloquence, obvious sincerity, and attractive personality, he met a discouraging reception. A few slaves and poor freemen became his followers, but most of the citizens of Mecca regarded him as a madman. Mohammed's disciples, called Moslems, [4] were bitterly persecuted by the Koreish, who resented the prophet's attacks on idolatry and feared the loss of their privileges at the Kaaba. Finally Mohammed and his converts took refuge in Medina, where some of the inhabitants had already accepted his teachings. This was the famous Hegira (Flight of the prophet). [5]

LATER LIFE OF MOHAMMED

At Medina Mohammed occupied a position of high honor and influence. The people welcomed him gladly and made him their chief magistrate. As his adherents increased in number, Mohammed began to combine fighting with preaching. His military expeditions against the Arab tribes proved to be very successful. Many of the conquered Bedouins enlisted under his banner and in 630 A.D. captured Mecca for the prophet. He treated its inhabitants leniently, but threw down all the idols in the Kaaba, After the submission of Mecca most of the Arabs abandoned idolatry and accepted the new religion.

DEATH OF MOHAMMED, 632 A.D.

Mohammed did not long enjoy his position as uncrowned king of Arabia. He died in 632 A.D., at Medina, where he was buried and where his tomb is still visited by pious Moslems. His followers could scarcely believe that their great prophet had gone away from them forever. They were ready to worship him as a god, until old Abu Bekr, Mohammed's father-in-law, rebuked them with the memorable words: "Whoso worshipeth Mohammed, let him know that Mohammed is dead; but whoso worshipeth God, let him know that God liveth and dieth not."

MOHAMMED'S CHARACTER

The character of Mohammed has been variously estimated. Moslem writers make him a saint; Christian writers, until Mohammed's recent times, have called him an "impostor." We know that he was a man of simple habits, who, even in the days of his prosperity, lived on dates, barley bread, and water, mended his woolen garments, and attended to his own wants. He was mild and gentle, a lover of children, devoted to his friends, and forgiving toward his foes. He seems to have won the admiration of all with whom he came in contact. We know, too, that Mohammed was so deeply impressed with the consciousness of his religious mission that he was ready to give up wealth and an honorable position and face for years the ridicule and hatred of the people of Mecca. His faults--deceitfulness, superstitiousness, sensuality--were those of the Arabs of his time. Their existence in Mohammed's character should not prevent our recognition of his real greatness as a prophet and as a statesman.

132. ISLAM AND THE KORAN

FORMATION OF THE KORAN

The religion which Mohammed preached is called Islam, an Arabic word meaning "surrender," or "resignation." This religion has its sacred book, the Koran ("thing read" or "thing recited"). It contains the speeches, prayers, and other utterances of Mohammed at various times during his career. Some parts of the Koran were dictated by the prophet to his disciples and by them were written out on skins, leaves of palm trees, bones, and bits of parchment. Many other parts remained at first only in the memory of Mohammed's followers. Soon after his death all the scattered passages were collected into one book. Since the middle of the seventh century the Koran, every word of which the Moslems consider holy, has remained unchanged.

RELIGIOUS TEACHINGS OF THE KORAN

The doctrines found in the Koran show many adaptations from the Jewish and Christian religions. Like them Islam emphasizes the unity of God. The Moslem cry--"Allah Akbar!" "God is Great!"--forms its cardinal principle. Like them, also, Islam recognizes the existence of prophets, including Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, but insists that Mohammed was the last and greatest of the prophets. The existence of angels and demons is recognized. The chief of the demons, Iblis, bears some resemblance to the Jewish Satan and the Christian Devil. The account of the creation and fall of man is taken, with variations, from the Old Testament. The description of the resurrection of the dead, the last judgment, and the division of the future world into paradise and hell, the former for believers in Islam, the latter for those who have refused to accept it, seems to have been based on Persian and Jewish ideas. These borrowings from other religions facilitated the spread of Islam among eastern peoples.

OBSERVANCES OF ISLAM

The Koran imposes on the faithful Moslem five great obligations. First, he must recite, at least once in his life, aloud, correctly, and with full understanding, the short creed: "There is no god but God, and Mohammed is the prophet of God." Second, he must pray five times a day: at dawn, just after noon, before sunset, just after sunset, and at the end of the day. In every Mohammedan city the hour of prayer is announced from the tall minaret of the mosque by a crier (muezzin). Before engaging in prayer the worshiper washes face, hands, and feet; during the prayer he turns toward Mecca and bows his head to the ground. Third, he must observe a strict fast, from morning to night, during every day of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Mohammedan year. [6] In this month God presented the Koran to Gabriel for revelation to the prophet. Fourth, he must give alms to the poor. Fifth, he must, "if he is able," undertake at least one pilgrimage to Mecca. The annual visit of thousands of pilgrims to the holy city helps to preserve the feeling of brotherhood among Moslems all over the world. These five obligations are the "pillars" of Islam.

ORGANIZATION OF ISLAM

As a religious system Islam is exceedingly simple. It does not provide any elaborate ceremonies of worship and permits no altars, pictures, or images in the mosque. Islam even lacks a priesthood. Every Moslem acts as his own priest. There is, however, an official, who on Friday, the Mohammedan Sabbath, offers up public prayers in the mosque and delivers a sermon to the assembled worshipers. All work is suspended during this service, but at its close secular activities are resumed.

MORAL TEACHINGS OF THE KORAN

The Koran furnishes a moral code for the adherents of Islam. It contains a few important prohibitions. The Moslem is not to make images, to engage in games of chance, to eat pork, or to drink wine. This last prohibition has saved the Mohammedan world from the degradation and misery which alcohol has introduced into Christian lands. To Mohammed strong drink was "the mother of all evil," and drunkenness, a sin. The Koran also inculcates many active virtues, including reverence toward parents, protection of widows and orphans, charity toward the poor, kindness to slaves, and gentle treatment of the lower animals. On the whole it must be admitted that the laws of the Koran did much to restrain the vices of the Arabs and to provide them with higher standards of right and wrong. Islam marked a great advance over Arabian heathenism.

133. EXPANSION OF ISLAM IN ASIA AND EGYPT

ISLAM SPREAD BY THE SWORD

Mohammed, as we have learned, did not scruple to use the sword as a means of spreading his new religion among the idolatrous Arab tribes. By thus following up preaching with force, he subdued the greater part of Arabia. The prophet's methods were adopted by his successors. Within a century after Mohammed's death, they carried the doctrines of Islam over a large part of the civilized world and founded an Arabian Empire.

ISLAM AS A RELIGION OF CONQUEST

Islam was a religion of conquest. It proclaimed the righteousness of a "holy war," or jihad, against unbelievers. It promised rich booty for those who fought and won, and paradise for those who fell. The Arab soldier, dying on the battlefield, expected to be carried away by bright- eyed maidens to a garden of delight, where, reclining on soft cushions and rugs, he was to enjoy forever an existence of sensual ease. "Whosoever falls in battle," so runs a passage in the Koran, "his sins are forgiven, and at the day of judgment his limbs shall be supplied by the wings of angels and cherubim."

ISLAM AS A POLITICAL FORCE

The sudden creation of the Arabian power must not be understood, however, as solely a religious movement. Pride and greed, as well as fanaticism, drove the Arabs forward on their conquering career. Long before Mohammed's time Arabia had been in a state of unrest. Its warlike tribes, feeling a sense of their superiority to other peoples, were eager to overrun the rich districts of western Asia, much as the Germans had overrun western Europe. Islam strengthened the racial pride of the Arabs, united them into one nation, and gave them an effective organization for world-wide rule.

ARAB CONQUESTS IN THE EAST, 632-642 A.D.

The most extensive conquests of the Arabs were made within ten years after Mohammed's death. During this time the Moslem warriors, though poorly armed, ill-disciplined, and in every battle greatly outnumbered, attacked with success the two strongest military powers then in the world--Rome and Persia. From the Roman Empire in the East they seized the provinces of Syria and Palestine, with the famous cities of Damascus, Antioch, and Jerusalem. [7] They took Mesopotamia from the Persians and then, invading Iran, overthrew the Persian power. [8] Egypt also was subjugated by these irresistible soldiers of the Crescent.

TREATMENT OF THE CONQUERED PEOPLES

According to the strict teaching of the Koran, those who refused to accept Islam were either to be killed or to be reduced to slavery. As a matter of fact, the Arabs treated their new subjects with marked liberality. No massacres and no persecutions occurred. The conquered peoples were allowed to retain their own religions, on condition of paying ample tribute. In course of time, however, many of the Christians in Syria and Egypt and most of the Zoroastrians [9] in Persia adopted Islam, in order that they might acquire the rights and privileges of Moslem citizens.

LATER ARAB CONQUESTS

The sweeping conquests of the decade 632-642 A.D. were followed in later years by a further extension of the boundaries of the Arabian Empire. In the remote East the Arabs sent their victorious armies beyond the Oxus and Indus rivers to central Asia and India. They captured the island of Cyprus, annexed parts of Armenia and Asia Minor, and at length threatened to take Constantinople. Had that city fallen, all eastern Europe would have been laid open to invasion.

SIEGE OF CONSTANTINOPLE, 716-717 A.D.

The first attempts on Constantinople were made by sea and were repulsed, but during the years 716-717 A.D. the city had to face a combined attack by a Moslem navy and army. The eastern emperor, Leo the Isaurian, conducted a heroic defense, using with much effectiveness the celebrated mixture known as "Greek fire." This combustible, probably composed of sulphur, naphtha, and quicklime, was poured or hurled on the enemy's ships in order to burn them. "Greek fire," the rigors of an uncommonly severe winter, and timely aid from the Bulgarians at length compelled the Arabs to beat a retreat. Their failure to take Constantinople gave the Roman Empire in the East another long lease of life.

134. EXPANSION OF ISLAM IN NORTH AFRICA AND SPAIN

NORTH AFRICA SUBDUED

Though repulsed before the impregnable walls of Constantinople, the Arabs continued to win new dominions in other North Africa parts of the Christian world. After their occupation of Egypt, they began to overrun North Africa, which Justinian, little more than a century earlier, had reconquered from the Vandals. [10] The Romanized provincials, groaning under the burdensome taxes imposed on them by the eastern emperors, made only a slight resistance to the Moslem armies. A few of the great cities held out for a time, but after the capture and destruction of Carthage [11] in 698 A.D., Arab rule was soon established over the whole extent of the Mediterranean coast from Egypt to the Atlantic.

ARABS AND BERBERS

Islam made in North Africa one of its most permanent conquests. After the coming of the Arabs many of the Christian inhabitants appear to have withdrawn to Spain and Sicily, leaving the field clear for the introduction of Arabian civilization. The Arabs who settled in North Africa gave their religion and government to the Berbers, as the natives of the country were called, and to some extent intermingled with them. Arabs and Berbers still comprise the population of North Africa, though their once independent states have now been absorbed by European powers. [12]

SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN BEGUN, 711 A.D.

With North Africa in their hands the Moslems did not long delay the invasion of Spain. In 711 A.D. an army of Arabs and Berbers, under their leader Tarik, crossed the strait which still bears his name [13] and for the first time confronted the Germans. The Visigothic kingdom, [14] already much enfeebled, proved to be an easy prey. A single battle made the invaders masters of half of Spain. Within a few years their hosts swept northward to the Pyrenees. Only small districts in the northern part of the Spanish peninsula remained unconquered.

THE MOSLEM ADVANCE IN GAUL

The Moslems were not stopped by the Pyrenees. Crossing these mountains, they captured many of the old Roman cities in the south of Gaul and then advanced to the north, attracted, apparently, by the booty to be found in Christian monasteries and churches. In the vicinity of Tours they encountered the great army which Charles Martel, the chief minister of the Frankish king, [15] had collected to oppose their advance.

BATTLE OF TOURS, 732 A.D.

The battle of Tours seems to have continued for several days. Of its details we know nothing, though a Spanish chronicler tells us that the heavy infantry of the Franks stood "immovable as a wall, inflexible as a block of ice" against the desperate assaults of the Moslem horsemen. When the Franks, after the last day's fighting, wished to renew the struggle, they found that the enemy had fled, leaving a camp filled with the spoils of war. This engagement, though famous in history, was scarcely decisive. For some time afterward the Moslems maintained themselves in southern Gaul. It was the Frankish ruler, Pepin the Short, who annexed their possessions there and drove them back across the Pyrenees to Spain. [16]

135. THE CALIPHATE AND ITS DISRUPTION, 632-1058 A.D.

THE FOUR "ORTHODOX" CALIPHS, 632-661 A.D.

Only eighteen years after the battle of Tours, the Arabian Empire was divided into two rival and more or less hostile parts, which came to be called the Eastern and Western caliphates. The title of caliph, meaning "successor" or "representative," had first been assumed by Mohammed's father-in-law, Abu Bekr, who was chosen to succeed the prophet as the civil and religious head of the Moslem world. After him followed Omar, who had been one of Mohammed's most faithful adherents, and then Othman and Ali, both sons-in-law of Mohammed. These four rulers are sometimes known as the "Orthodox" caliphs, because their right to the succession was universally acknowledged by Moslems.

OMMIAD CALIPHS AT DAMASCUS, 661-750 A.D.

After Ali's death the governor of Syria, Moawiya by name, succeeded in making himself caliph of the Moslem world. This usurper converted the caliphate into a hereditary, instead of an elective, office, and established the dynasty of the Ommiads. [17] Their capital was no longer Medina in Arabia, but the Syrian city of Damascus. The descendants of Mohammed's family refused, however, to recognize the Ommiads as legitimate caliphs. In 750 A.D. a sudden revolt, headed by the party of the Abbasids, [18] established a new dynasty. The Abbasids treacherously murdered nearly all the members of the Ommiad family, but one survivor escaped to Spain, where he founded at Cordova an independent Ommiad dynasty. [19] North Africa, also, before long separated itself from Abbasid rule. Thus the once united caliphate, like the old Roman Empire, split in twain.

THE ABBASID CALIPHS, 750-1058 A.D.

The Abbasids continued to reign over the Moslems in Asia for more than three hundred years. The most celebrated of Abbasid caliphs was Harun-al- Rashid (Aaron the Just), a contemporary of Charlemagne, to whom the Arab ruler sent several presents, including an elephant and a water-clock which struck the hours. The tales of Harun-al-Rashid's magnificence, his gold and silver, his silks and gems, his rugs and tapestries, reflect the luxurious life of the Abbasid rulers. Gradually, however, their power declined, and in 1058 A.D. the Seljuk Turks, [20] recent converts to Islam, deprived them of their power. A Turkish chieftain, with the title of "King of the East and West," then took the place of the Arabian caliph, though the latter remained the religious head of Islam. He lost even this spiritual authority, just two centuries later, when the Mongols from central Asia overran the Turkish dominions. [21]

BAGDAD

The Abbasids removed their capital from Damascus to Bagdad on the banks of the middle Euphrates. The new city, under the fostering care of the caliphs, grew with great rapidity. Its population in the ninth century is said to have reached two millions. For a time it was the largest and richest city in the Moslem world. How its splendor impressed the imagination may be seen from the stories of the Thousand and One Nights. [22] After the extinction of the Abbasid caliphate, its importance as the religious and political center of Islam declined. But memories of the former grandeur of Bagdad still cling to it, and even to-day it is referred to in Turkish official documents as the "glorious city."

EXTINCTION OF THE ARABIAN EMPIRE A MISFORTUNE

It was a very great misfortune for the eastern world when the Arabian Empire passed under the control of rude Asiatic peoples. The Turks accepted Islam, but they did little to preserve and extend Arabian civilization. The stagnant, non-progressive condition of the East at the present time is largely due to the misgovernment of its Turkish conquerors.

136. ARABIAN CIVILIZATION

THE ARABS AS ABSORBERS OF CIVILIZATION

The great Moslem cities of Bagdad, Damascus, Cairo, and Cordova were not only seats of government for the different divisions of the Arabian Empire; they were also the centers of Arabian civilization. The conquests of the Arabs had brought them into contact with highly developed peoples whose culture they absorbed and to some extent improved. They owed most to Persia and, after Persia, to Greece, through the empire at Constantinople, In their hands there was somewhat the same fusion of East and West as Alexander the Great had sought to accomplish. [23] Greek science and philosophy mingled with the arts of Persia and other Oriental lands. Arabian civilization, for about four centuries under the Ommiad and Abbasid caliphs, far surpassed anything to be found in western Europe.

AGRICULTURE

Many improvements in agriculture were due to the Arabs. They had a good system of irrigation, practiced rotation of crops, employed fertilizers, and understood how to graft and produce new varieties of plants and fruits. From the Arabs we have received cotton, flax, hemp, buckwheat, rice, sugar cane, and coffee, various vegetables, including asparagus, artichokes, and beans, and such fruits as melons, oranges, lemons, apricots, and plums.

MANUFACTURING

The Arabs excelled in various manufactures. Damascus was famous for its brocades, tapestries, and blades of tempered steel. The Moorish cities in Spain had also their special productions: Cordova, leather; Toledo, armor; and Granada, rich silks. Arab craftsmen taught the Venetians to make crystal and plate glass. The work of Arab potters and weavers was at once the admiration and despair of its imitators in western Europe. The Arabs knew the secrets of dyeing and they made a kind of paper. Their textile fabrics and articles of metal were distinguished for beauty of design and perfection of workmanship. European peoples during the early Middle Ages received the greater part of their manufactured articles of luxury through the Arabs. [24]

COMMERCE

The products of Arab farms and workshops were carried far and wide throughout medieval lands. The Arabs were keen merchants, and Mohammed had expressly encouraged commerce by declaring it agreeable to God. The Arabs traded with India, China, the East Indies (Java and Sumatra), the interior of Africa, Russia, and even with the Baltic lands. Bagdad, which commanded both land and water routes, was the chief center of this commerce, but other cities of western Asia, North Africa, and Spain shared in its advantages. The bazaar, or merchants' quarter, was found in every Moslem city.

GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE

The trade of the Arabs, their wide conquests, and their religious pilgrimages to Mecca vastly increased their knowledge of the world. They were the best geographers of the Middle Ages. An Abbasid caliph, the son of Harun-al-Rashid, had the Greek Geography of Ptolemy [25] translated into Arabic and enriched the work with illuminated maps. Arab scholars compiled encyclopedias describing foreign countries and peoples, constructed celestial spheres, and measured closely the arc of the meridian in order to calculate the size of the earth. There is some reason to believe that the mariner's compass was first introduced into Europe by the Arabs. The geographical knowledge of Christian peoples during the Middle Ages owed much, indeed, to their Moslem forerunners.

EDUCATION

Schools and universities flourished in Moslem lands when Christian Europe was still in the "Dark Ages." The largest institution of learning was at Cairo, where the lectures of the professors were attended by thousands of students. Famous universities also existed in Bagdad and Cordova. Moslem scholars especially delighted in the study of philosophy. Arabic translations of Aristotle's [26] writings made the ideas of that great thinker familiar to the students of western Europe, where the knowledge of Greek had all but died out. The Arabs also formed extensive libraries of many thousands of manuscripts, all carefully arranged and catalogued. Their libraries and universities, especially in Spain, were visited by many Christians, who thus became acquainted with Moslem learning and helped to introduce it into Europe.

CHEMISTRY AND MEDICINE

The Arabs have been considered to be the founders of modern experimental science. They were relatively skillful chemists, for they discovered a number of new compounds (such as alcohol, aqua regia, nitric acid, and corrosive sublimate) and understood the preparation of mercury and of various oxides of metals. In medicine the Arabs based their investigations on those of the Greeks, [27] but made many additional contributions to the art of healing. They studied physiology and hygiene, dissected the human body, performed difficult surgical operations, used anaesthetics, and wrote treatises on such diseases as measles and smallpox. Arab medicine and surgery were studied by the Christian peoples of Europe throughout the later period of the Middle Ages.

MATHEMATICS AND ASTRONOMY

The Arabs had a strong taste for mathematics. Here again they carried further the old Greek investigations. In arithmetic they used the so- called "Arabic" figures, which were probably borrowed from India. The Arabic numerals gradually supplanted in western Europe the awkward Roman numerals. In geometry the Arabs added little to Euclid, but algebra is practically their creation. An Arabic treatise on algebra long formed the textbook of the subject in the universities of Christian Europe. Spherical trigonometry and conic sections are Arabic inventions. This mathematical knowledge enabled the Arabs to make considerable progress in astronomy. Observatories at Bagdad and Damascus were erected as early as the ninth century. Some of the astronomical instruments which they constructed, including the sextant and the gnomon, are still in use. [28]

ROMANCE AND POETRY

In prose and verse there are two Moslem productions which have attained wide popularity in European lands. The first work is the Thousand and One Nights, a collection of tales written in Arabic and describing life and manners at the court of the Abbasids. The book, as we now have it, seems to have been composed as late as the fifteenth century, but it borrows much from earlier Arabic sources. Many of the tales are of Indian or Persian origin, but all have a thoroughly Moslem coloring. The second work is the Rubáiyát of the astronomer-poet of Persia, Omar Khayyam, who wrote about the beginning of the twelfth century. His Rubáiyát is a little volume of quatrains, about five hundred in all, distinguished for wit, satirical power, and a vein of melancholy, sometimes pensive, sometimes passionate. These characteristics of Omar's poetry have made it widely known in the western world. [29]

ARCHITECTURE

Painting and sculpture owe little to the Arabs, but their architecture, based in part on Byzantine and Persian models, reached a high level of excellence. Swelling domes, vaulted roofs, arched porches, tall and graceful minarets, and the exquisite decorative patterns known as "arabesques" make many Arab buildings miracles of beauty. Glazed tiles, mosaics, and jeweled glass were extensively used for ornamentation. From the first the Arab builders adopted the pointed arch; they introduced it into western Europe; and it became a characteristic feature of Gothic cathedrals. [30] Among the best-known of Arab buildings are the so-called "Mosque of Omar" at Jerusalem, [31] the Great Mosque of Cordova, and that architectural gem, the Alhambra at Granada. Many features of Moorish art were taken over by the Spaniards, who reproduced them in the cathedrals and missions of Mexico and California.

137. THE INFLUENCE OF ISLAM

GROWTH OF ISLAM

The division of the Arabian Empire into rival caliphates did not check the spread of Islam. The Turks and Mongols during the Middle Ages carried it to the uttermost regions of Asia and throughout southeastern Europe. Some parts of the territory thus gained by it have since been lost. Spain and the Balkan peninsula are once more Christian lands. In other parts of the world, and notably in Africa and India, the religion of Mohammed is spreading faster than any other creed. Islam to-day claims about two hundred million adherents.

THE BENEFITS OF ISLAM

The growth of Islam is evidence that it meets the needs of Asiatic and African peoples. Its simple creed--the unity of God, man's immortal soul, and material rewards and penalties in a future life--adapt it to the understanding of half-civilized peoples. As a religion it is immeasurably superior to the rude nature worship and idolatry which it has supplanted. The same is true of Islam as a system of morality. The practice of the virtues recommended by the Koran and the avoidance of the vices which that book condemns tend to raise its adherents in the moral scale.

TREATMENT OF WOMEN

From the moral standpoint one of the least satisfactory features of Islam is its attitude toward women. The ancient Arabs, like many other peoples, seem to have set no limit to the number of wives a man might possess. Women were regarded by them as mere chattels, and female infants were frequently put to death. Mohammed recognized polygamy, but limited the number of legitimate wives to four. At the same time Mohammed sought to improve the condition of women by forbidding female infanticide, by restricting the facilities for divorce, and by insisting on kind treatment of wives by their husbands. "The best of you," he said, "is he who behaves best to his wives." According to eastern custom Moslem women are secluded in a separate part of the house, called the harem. [32] They never appear in public, except when closely veiled from the eyes of strangers. Their education is also much neglected.

SLAVERY

Slavery, like polygamy, was a custom which Mohammed found fully established among the Arabs. He disliked slavery and tried in several ways to lessen its evils. He declared that the emancipation of Moslem slaves was an act of special merit, and ordered that in a war between Moslems the prisoners were not to be enslaved. Mohammed also insisted on kind treatment of slaves by their masters. "Feed your slaves," he directed, "with food of that which you eat and clothe them with such clothing as you wear, and command them not to do that which they are unable to do." The condition of Moslem slaves does not appear to be intolerable, though the slave traffic which still exists in some parts of Africa is a disgrace to Islam.

STUDIES

1. On an outline map indicate the Arabian Empire at its widest extent. Locate the more important cities, including Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, Damascus, Bagdad, Cairo, Alexandria, Granada, Cordova, and Seville.

2. Define the following: Kaaba; Islam; Koran; and caliph.

3. How did the geographical situation of Arabia preserve it from being conquered by Persians, Macedonians, or Romans?

4. Why had the Arabs, until the time of Mohammed, played so inconspicuous a part in the history of the world?

5. Mohammed "began as a mule driver and ended as both a pope and a king." Explain this statement.

6. How does Mohammed's career in Mecca illustrate the saying that "a prophet is not without honor save in his own country"?

7. What resemblances may be traced between Islam on the one side and Judaism and Christianity on the other side?

8. Did religion have anything to do with the migrations of the Germans? How was it with the Arabs?

9. Contrast the methods of propagating Christianity in Europe with those of spreading Islam in Asia.

10. Why is the defeat of the Moslems before Constantinople regarded as more significant than their defeat at the battle of Tours?

11. Compare the eastern limits of the Arabian Empire with those of Alexander's empire (maps facing pages 124, 376).

12. Show that the Arabian Empire, because of its geographical position, was less easily defended than the Roman Empire.

13. Locate on the map facing page 376 the following commercial cities in the Arabian Empire: Samarkand; Cabul; Bokhara; Mosul; Kairwan; Fez; Seville; and Toledo.

14. Can you suggest any reason why the Arabs did little in painting and sculpture?

15. What are some of the best-known stories in the Thousand and One Nights?

16. Discuss the justice of this statement: "If our ideas and our arts go back to antiquity, all the inventions which make life easy and agreeable come to us from the Arabs."

17. "From the eighth to the twelfth century the world knew but two civilizations, that of Byzantium and that of the Arabs." Comment on this statement.

18. Show that Islam was an heir to the Graeco-Oriental civilization.

19. Can you suggest any reasons why Islam to-day spreads among the African negroes more rapidly than Christianity?

20. How does Islam, by sanctioning polygamy and slavery, hinder the rise of women and of the working classes?

FOOTNOTES

[1] Webster, Readings in Medieval and Modern History, chapter vi, "The Teachings of Mohammed."Return to passage

[2] The earlier spelling was Mahomet.Return to passage

[3] See page 352. [4] From the Arabic muslim, "one who surrenders himself" (to God's will). During the Middle Ages the Moslems to their Christian enemies were commonly known as Saracens, a term which is still in use.Return to passage

[5] The year 622 A.D., in which the Hegira occurred, marks the beginning of the Mohammedan era. The Christian year 1917 A.D. nearly corresponds to the Mohammedan year 1336 A.H. (Anno Hegirae).Return to passage

[6] Feasting during the nights of this month is allowable.Return to passage

[7] See page 333.Return to passage

[8] See page 219, 332.Return to passage

[9] See page 54, note 1.Return to passage

[10] See page 330.Return to passage

[11] See page 245.Return to passage

[12] Morocco, Algeria, and Tunis belong to France; Tripoli, to Italy.Return to passage

[13] Gibraltar = Gibal al Tarik, "the mountain of Tarik."Return to passage

[14] See pages 244-245.Return to passage

[15] See page 306.Return to passage

[16] For Charlemagne's Spanish conquests, see page 309.Return to passage

[17] So called from a leading family of Mecca, to which Moawiya belonged.Return to passage

[18] So called from Abbas, an uncle of Mohammed.Return to passage

[19] This was at first known as the emirate of Cordova, but in 929 A.D. it became the caliphate of Cordova. See the map facing page 308.Return to passage

[20] See page 333.Return to passage

[21] See page 485. Descendants of the Abbasids subsequently took up their abode in Egypt. Through them the claim to the caliphate passed in 1538 A.D. to the Ottoman Turks. The Sultan at Constantinople still calls himself caliph of the Moslem world. However, in 1916 A.D. the Grand Sherif of Mecca, a descendant of Mohammed, led a revolt against the Turks, captured Mecca and Medina, and proclaimed Arab independence. Should the European war end in favor of the Allies, the caliphate will undoubtedly go back to the Arabs.Return to passage

[22] Popularly called the Arabian Nights.Return to passage

[23] See page 126.Return to passage

[24] The European names of some common articles reveal the Arabic sources from which they were first derived. Thus, damask comes from Damascus, muslin from Mosul, gauze from Gaza, cordovan (a kind of leather) from Cordova, and morocco leather from North Africa.Return to passage

[25] See page 133.Return to passage

[26] See page 275.Return to passage

[27] See page 131.Return to passage

[28] Many words in European languages beginning with the prefix al (the definite article in Arabic) show how indebted was Europe to the Arabs for scientific knowledge. In English these words include alchemy (whence chemistry), alcohol, alembic, algebra, alkali, almanac, Aldebaran (the star), etc.Return to passage

[29] The translation of the Rubáiyát by Edward Fitzgerald is almost an English classic.Return to passage

[30] See page 564.Return to passage

[31] See the illustration, page 471.Return to passage

[32] The Athenians had a similar practice. See page 257.Return to passage

XVII. THE NORTHMEN AND THE NORMANS TO 1066 A.D. [1]

138. SCANDINAVIA AND THE NORTHMEN

A NEW SERIES OF MIGRATIONS

From the East we return once more to the West, from Asia to Europe, from Arabia to Scandinavia. We have now to deal with the raids and settlements of the Norsemen or Northmen. Like the Arabs the Northmen quitted a sterile peninsula and went forth to find better homes in distant lands. Their invasions, beginning toward the close of the eighth century, lasted about three hundred years.

A TEUTONIC MOVEMENT

The Northmen belonged to the Teutonic family of peoples. They were kinsmen of the Germans, the Anglo-Saxons, and the Dutch. Their migrations may be regarded, therefore, as the last wave of that great Teutonic movement which in earlier times had inundated western Europe and overwhelmed the Roman Empire.

SCANDINAVIA

The Northmen lived, as their descendants still live, in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. The name Scandinavia is sometimes applied to all three countries, but more commonly it is restricted to the peninsula comprising Sweden and Norway.

SWEDEN

Sweden, with the exception of the northern highlands, is mostly a level region, watered by copious streams, dotted with many lakes, and sinking down gradually to the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia. The fact that Sweden faces these inland waters determined the course of her development as a nation. She never has had any aspirations to become a great oceanic power. Her whole historic life has centered about the Baltic.

NORWAY

Norway, in contrast to Sweden, faces the Atlantic. The country is little more than a strip of rugged seacoast reaching northward to well within the Arctic Circle. Were it not for the influence of the "Gulf Stream drift," much of Norway would be a frozen waste for the greater part of the year. Vast forests of fir, pine, and birch still cover the greater part of the country, and the land which can be used for farming and grazing does not exceed eleven per cent of the entire area. But Norway, like Greece, [2] has an extent of shore-line out of all proportion to its superficial area. So numerous are the fiords, or inlets of the sea, that the total length of the coast approximates twelve thousand miles. Slight wonder that the Vikings, [3] as they called themselves, should feel the lure of the ocean and should put forth their frail barks upon the "pathway of the swans" in search of booty and adventure.

PREHISTORIC TIMES IN SCANDINAVIA

The Swedes and Norwegians, together with their kinsmen, the Danes, probably settled in Scandinavia long before the beginning of the Christian era. During the earlier part of the prehistoric period the inhabitants were still in the Stone Age, but the use of bronze, and then of iron, was gradually introduced. Excavations in ancient grave mounds have revealed implements of the finest polished stone, beautiful bronze swords, and coats of iron ring mail, besides gold and silver ornaments which may have been imported from southern Europe. The ancient Scandinavians have left to us curious records of the past in their picture writing chiseled on the flat surface of rocks. The objects represented include boats with as many as thirty men in them, horses drawing two-wheeled carts, spans of oxen, farmers engaged in ploughing, and warriors on horseback. By the close of the prehistoric period the northern peoples were also familiar with a form of the Greek alphabet (the "runes" [4]) and with the art of writing.

139. THE VIKING AGE

DAWN OF HISTORY IN SCANDINAVIA

The Viking Age, with which historic times begin in northern Europe, extends from about 800 A.D. to the introduction of Christianity in the tenth and eleventh centuries. This was the period when the Northmen, or Vikings, realizing that the sea offered the quickest road to wealth and conquest, began to make long voyages to foreign lands. In part they went as traders and exchanged the furs, wool, and fish of Scandinavia for the clothing, ornaments, and other articles of luxury found in neighboring countries. But it was no far cry from merchant to freebooter, and, in fact, expeditions for the sake of plunder seem to have been even more popular with the Northmen than peaceful commerce.

THE NORTHMEN AS SAILORS

Whether the Northmen engaged in trade or in warfare, good ships and good seamanship were indispensable to them. They became the boldest sailors of the early Middle Ages. No longer hugging the coast, as timid mariners had always done before them, the Northmen pushed out into the uncharted main and steered their course only by observation of the sun and stars. In this way the Northmen were led to make those remarkable explorations in the Atlantic Ocean and the polar seas which added so greatly to geographical knowledge.

SHIPS OF THE NORTHMEN

It was not uncommon for a Viking chieftain, after his days of sea-roving had ended, to be buried in his ship, over which a grave chamber, covered with earth, would be erected. The discovery of several of these burial ships enables us to form a good idea of Viking vessels. The largest of them might reach a length of seventy feet and hold as many as one hundred and twenty men. A fleet of the Northmen, carrying several thousand warriors, mail-clad and armed with spears, swords, and battle-axes, was indeed formidable. During this period the Northmen were the masters of the sea, as far as western Europe was concerned. This fact largely explains their successful campaigns.

THE SAGAS

A very important source of information for the Viking Age consists of the writings called sagas. [5] These narratives are in prose, but they were based, in many instances, on the songs which the minstrels (skalds) sang to appreciative audiences assembled at the banqueting board of a Viking chieftain. It was not until the twelfth and thirteenth centuries that the sagas were committed to writing. This was done chiefly in Iceland, and so it happens that we must look to that distant island for the beginnings of Scandinavian literature.

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE SAGAS

The sagas belong to different classes. The oldest of them relate the deeds of Viking heroes and their families. Others deal with the lives of Norwegian kings. Some of the most important sagas describe the explorations and settlements of the Northmen and hence possess considerable value as historical records.

THE NORTHMEN AS SEEN IN THE SAGAS

The sagas throw much light on the character of the Northmen. Love of adventure and contempt for the quiet joys of home comes out in the description of Viking chiefs, who "never sought refuge under a roof nor emptied their drinking-horns by a hearth." An immense love of fighting breathes in the accounts of Viking warriors, "who are glad when they have hopes of a battle; they will leap up in hot haste and ply the oars, snapping the oar-thongs and cracking the tholes." The undaunted spirit of Viking sailors, braving the storms of the northern ocean, expresses itself in their sea songs: "The force of the tempest assists the arms of our oarsmen; the hurricane is our servant, it drives us whithersoever we wish to go." The sagas also reveal other characteristics of the Northmen: a cruelty and faithlessness which made them a terror to their foes; an almost barbaric love of gay clothing and ornament; a strong sense of public order, giving rise to an elaborate legal system; and even a feeling for the romantic beauty of their northern home, with its snow-clad mountains, dark forests of pine, sparkling waterfalls, and deep, blue fiords.

EDDAIC POEMS

It is to the Viking Age also that we owe the composition of the poems going by the name of the Elder Edda. These poems, as well as the prose sagas, were collected and arranged in Iceland during the later Middle Ages. The Elder Edda is a storehouse of old Norse mythology. It forms our chief source of knowledge concerning Scandinavian heathenism before the introduction of Christianity.

140. SCANDINAVIAN HEATHENISM

THE GOD ODIN

The religion of the Northmen bore a close resemblance to that of the other Teutonic peoples. The leading deity was Odin (German Woden), whose exploits are celebrated in many of the songs of the Elder Edda. Odin was represented as a tall, gray-bearded chieftain, carrying a shield and a spear which never missed its mark. Though a god of battle, Odin was also a lover of wisdom. He discovered the runes which gave him secret knowledge of all things. Legend told how Odin killed a mighty giant, whose body was cut into pieces to form the world: the earth was his flesh, the water his blood, the rocks his bones, and the heavens his skull. Having created the world and peopled it with human beings, Odin retired to the sacred city of Asgard, where he reigned in company with his children.

THE GOD THOR

Enthroned beside Odin sat his oldest son, Thor (German Thunor), god of thunder and lightning. His weapon, the thunderbolt, was imagined as a hammer, and was especially used by him to protect gods and men against the giants. The hammer, when thrown, returned to his hand of its own accord. Thor also possessed a belt of strength, which, when girded about him, doubled his power.

THOR'S DEEDS OF STRENGTH

Many stories were told of Thor's adventures, when visiting Jötunheim, the abode of the giants. In a drinking-match he tried to drain a horn of liquor, not knowing that one end of the horn reached the sea, which was appreciably lowered by the god's huge draughts. He sought to lift from the ground a large, gray cat, but struggle as he might, could raise only one of the animal's feet. What Thor took for a cat, however, was really the Midgard serpent, which, with its tail in its mouth, encircled the earth. In the last trial of strength Thor wrestled with an old woman, and after a violent contest was thrown down upon one knee. But the hag was in truth relentless old age, who sooner or later lays low all men.

MYTH OF BALDER

Most beautiful and best beloved of the Scandinavian divinities was Odin's son, Balder. He was represented as a gentle deity of innocence and righteousness. As long as he lived, evil could gain no real control in the world and the power of the gods would remain unshaken. To preserve Balder from all danger his mother Frigga required everything on earth to swear never to harm her son. Only a single plant, the mistletoe, did not take the oath. Then the traitor Loki gathered the mistletoe and came to an assembly where the gods were hurling all kinds of missiles at Balder, to show that nothing could hurt him. Loki asked the blind Höder to throw the plant at Balder. Höder did so, and Balder fell dead. The gods tried to recover him from Hel, the gloomy underworld, but Hel demanded as his ransom a tear from every living creature. Gods, men, and even things inanimate wept for Balder, except one cruel giantess--Loki in disguise-- who would not give a single tear. She said, "Neither living nor dead was Balder of any use to me. Let Hel keep what it has."

"TWILIGHT OF THE GODS"

Disasters followed Balder's death. An immense fire burned up the world and the human race. The giants invaded Asgard and slaughtered its inhabitants. Odin fell a victim to the mighty wolf Fenris. Thor, having killed the Midgard serpent, was suffocated with the venom which the dying monster cast over him. The end of all things arrived. This was the catastrophe which had been predicted of old--the "Twilight of the Gods."

VALHALLA

Besides the conception of Hel, the Northmen also framed the idea of Valhalla, [6] the abode to which Odin received the souls of those who had died, not ingloriously in their beds, but on the field of battle. A troop of divine maidens, the Valkyries, [7] rode through the air on Odin's service to determine the issue of battles and to select brave warriors for Valhalla. There on the broad plains they fought with one another by day, but at evening the slayer and the slain returned to Odin's hall to feast mightily on boar's flesh and drink deep draughts of mead.

SUPERNATURAL BEINGS

As with most heathen religions that of the Northmen was full of terrors. Their lively imagination peopled the world with many strange figures. Fiends and monsters inhabited the marshes, giants lived in the dark forest, evil spirits haunted all solitary places, and ghosts stalked over the land by night. The use of charms and spells to guard against such creatures passed over into Christian times. Their memory also survives in folk tales, which are full of allusions to giants, dwarfs, goblins, and other supernatural beings.

CHRISTIANIZATION OF THE NORTHMEN

Christianity first gained a foothold in Denmark through the work of Roman Catholic missionaries sent out by Charlemagne's son, Louis the Pious. [8] Two centuries elapsed before the Danes were completely converted. From Denmark the new faith spread to Sweden. Norway owed its conversion largely to the crusading work of King Olaf (1016-1029 A.D.), whose zeal for Christianity won him the title of Olaf the Saint. The Norwegians carried Christianity to Iceland, where it supplanted the old heathenism in the year 1000 A.D. With the general adoption of the Christian religion in Scandinavian lands, the Viking Age drew to an end.

141. THE NORTHMEN IN THE WEST

CAUSES OF THE VIKING MOVEMENT

The Northmen were still heathen when they set forth on their expeditions of plunder and conquest. Doubtless the principal cause of this Viking movement is to be sought in the same hunger for land which prompted the Germanic invasions and, in fact, has led to colonial expansion in all ages. By the ninth century Scandinavia could no longer support its rapidly growing population, and enforced emigration was the natural consequence. The political condition of Scandinavia at this time also helps to explain the Viking expansion. Denmark and Norway had now become strong kingdoms, whose rulers forced all who would not submit to their sway to leave the country. Thus it resulted that the numbers of the emigrants were swelled by exiles, outlaws, and other adventurers who turned to the sea in hope of gain.

RAIDS OF THE NORTHMEN

The Northmen started out as pirates and fell on the coasts of England, France, and Germany. In their shallow boats they also found it easy to ascend the rivers and reach places lying far inland. The Northmen directed their attacks especially against the churches and monasteries, which were full of treasure and less easily defended than fortified towns. Their raids inspired such great terror that a special prayer was inserted in the church services: "From the fury of the Northmen, good Lord, deliver us."

THE NORTHMEN IN IRELAND, SCOTLAND, AND THE ISLANDS

At first the incursions of the Northmen took place only in summer, but before long they began to winter in the lands which they visited. Year by year their fleets became larger, and their attacks changed from mere forays of pirates to well-organized expeditions of conquest and colonization. Early in the ninth century we find them making permanent settlements in Ireland, and for a time bringing a considerable part of that country under their control. The first cities on Irish soil, including Dublin and Limerick, were founded by the Northmen. Almost simultaneously with the attacks on Ireland came those on the western coast of Scotland. In the course of their westward expeditions the Northmen had already discovered the Faroe Islands, the Orkneys, the Shetlands and the Hebrides. These barren and inhospitable islands received large numbers of Norse immigrants and long remained under Scandinavian control.

THE NORTHMEN IN ICELAND

The Northmen soon discovered Iceland, where Irish monks had previously settled. Colonization began in 874 A.D. [9] One of the most valuable of the sagas--the "Book of the Land-taking"--describes the emigration to the island and enumerates the Viking chiefs who took part in the movement. Iceland soon became almost a second Norway in language, literature, and customs. It remains to-day an outpost of Scandinavian civilization.

THE NORTHMEN IN GREENLAND

The first settlement of Greenland was the work of an Icelander, Eric the Red, who reached the island toward the end of the tenth century. He called the country Greenland, not because it was green, but because, as he said, "there is nothing like a good name to attract settlers." Intercourse between Greenland and Iceland was often dangerous, and at times was entirely interrupted by ice. Leif Ericsson, the son of Eric the Red, established a new route of commerce and travel by sailing from Greenland to Norway by way of the Hebrides. This was the first voyage made directly across the Atlantic. Norway and Greenland continued to enjoy a flourishing trade for several centuries. After the connection with Norway had been severed, the Greenlanders joined the Eskimos and mingled with that primitive people.

THE NORTHMEN IN AMERICA

Two of the sagas give accounts of a voyage which Leif Ericsson about 1000 A.D. made to regions lying southward from Greenland. In the sagas they are called Helluland (stone-land), Markland (wood-land), and Vinland. Just what part of the coast of North America these countries occupied is an unsolved problem. Leif Ericsson and the Greenlanders who followed him seem to have reached at least the shores of Labrador, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia. They may have gone even farther southward, for the sagas describe regions where the climate was mild enough for wild vines and wild wheat to grow. The Northmen, however, did not follow up their explorations by lasting settlements. Before long all memory of the far western lands faded from the minds of men. The curtain fell on the New World, not again to rise until the time of Columbus and Cabot.

142. THE NORTHMEN IN THE EAST

ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS OF THE NORTHMEN

In the Viking movement westward across the Atlantic the Norwegians took the leading part. They also sailed far northward, rounding the North Cape and reaching the mouth of the Dwina River in the White Sea. Viking sailors, therefore, have the credit for undertaking the first voyages of exploration into the Arctic.

THE NORTHMEN IN FINLAND

The Swedes, on account of their geographical position, were naturally the most active in expeditions to eastern lands. At a very early date they crossed the Gulf of Bothnia and paid frequent visits to Finland. Its rude inhabitants, the Finns, were related in language, and doubtless in blood also, to the Huns, Magyars, and other Asiatic peoples. Sweden ruled Finland throughout the Middle Ages. Russia obtained control of the country during the eighteenth century, but Swedish influence has made it largely Scandinavian in civilization.

THE NORTHMEN IN RUSSIA

The activities of the Swedes also led them to establish settlements on the southern shore of the Baltic and far inland along the waterways leading into Russia. An old Russian chronicler declares that in 862 A.D. the Slavs sent an embassy to the Swedes, whom they called "Rus," saying, "Our country is large and rich, but there is no order in it; come and rule over us." The Swedes were not slow to accept the invitation. Their leader, Ruric, established a dynasty which reigned in Russia for more than seven hundred years. [10]

NOVGOROD AND KIEV

The first Russian state centered in the city of Novgorod, near Lake Ilmen, where Ruric built a strong fortress. [11] Novgorod during the Middle Ages was an important station on the trade route between Constantinople and the Baltic. Some of Ruric's followers, passing southward along the Dnieper River, took possession of the small town of Kiev. It subsequently became the capital of the Scandinavian possessions in Russia.

SCANDINAVIAN INFLUENCE IN RUSSIA

The Northmen in Russia maintained close intercourse with their mother country for about two centuries. During this period they did much to open up northeastern Europe to the forces of civilization and progress. Colonies were founded, cities were built, commerce was fostered, and a stable government was established. Russia under the sway of the Northmen became for the first time a truly European state.

THE NORTHMEN AND THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE EAST

Having penetrated the wilds of Russia, it was comparatively easy for the Northmen to sail down the Russian rivers to the Black Sea and thence to Constantinople. Some of them went as raiders and several times devastated the neighborhood of Constantinople, until bought off by the payment of tribute. [12] Many Northmen also joined the bodyguard of the eastern emperor and saw service under his standard in different parts of the Mediterranean.

CHRISTIANITY IN RUSSIA, 988 A.D.

During the reign of Vladimir, a descendant of Ruric, the Christian religion gained its first foothold in Russia. We are told that Vladimir, having made up his mind to embrace a new faith, sent commissioners to Rome and Constantinople, and also to the adherents of Islam and Judaism. His envoys reported in favor of the Greek Church, for their barbarian imagination had been so impressed by the majesty of the ceremonies performed in Sancta Sophia that "they did not know whether they were on earth or in heaven." Vladimir accepted their report, ordered the idols of Kiev to be thrown into the Dnieper, and had himself and his people baptized according to the rites of the Greek Church. At the same time he married a sister of the reigning emperor at Constantinople.

IMPORTANCE OF THE CONVERSION OF RUSSIA

Vladimir's decision to adopt the Greek form of Christianity is justly regarded as one of the formative influences in Russian history. It meant that the Slavs were to come under the religious influence of Constantinople, instead of under that of Rome. Furthermore, it meant that Byzantine civilization, then incomparably superior to the rude culture of the western peoples, would henceforth gain an entrance into Russia. The country profited by this rich civilization and during the early part of the Middle Ages took a foremost place in Europe.

CHARLEMAGNE AND THE NORTHMEN

No part of western Europe suffered more severely from the Northmen than France. They first appeared on the French coast toward the end of Charlemagne's reign. A well-known legend relates that the emperor, from window of his palace once saw the dark sails of the Vikings and wept at the thought of the misery which these daring pirates would some day inflict upon his realm.

THE NORTHMEN IN FRANCE

After Charlemagne's death the wars of his grandsons left the empire defenseless, and the Northmen in consequence redoubled their attacks. They sailed far up the Seine, the Loire, and the Garonne to plunder and murder. Paris, then a small but important city, lay in the path of the invaders and more than once suffered at their hands. The destruction by the Northmen of many monasteries was a loss to civilization, for the monastic establishments at this time were the chief centers of learning and culture. [13]

THE NORTHMEN IN GERMANY

The heavy hand of the Northmen also descended on Germany. The rivers Scheldt, Meuse, Rhine, and Elbe enabled them to proceed at will into the heart of the country. Liège, Cologne, Strassburg, Hamburg, and other great Frankish cities fell before them. Viking raiders even plundered Aachen and stabled their horses in the church which Charlemagne had built there. [14] Thus the ancient homeland of the Franks was laid completely waste.

ROLLO AND THE GRANT OF NORMANDY, 911 A.D.

The history of the Northmen in France began in 911 A.D., when the Carolingian king granted to a Viking chieftain, Rollo, dominion over the region about the lower Seine. Rollo on his part agreed to accept Christianity and to acknowledge the French ruler as his lord. It is said, however, that he would not kneel and kiss the king's foot as a mark of homage, and that the follower who performed the unwelcome duty did it so awkwardly as to overturn the king, to the great amusement of the assembled Northmen. The story illustrates the Viking sense of independence.

DUCHY OF NORMANDY

The district ceded to Rollo developed into what in later times was known as the duchy of Normandy. Its Scandinavian settlers, henceforth called Normans, [15] soon became French in language and culture. It was amazing to see how quickly the descendants of wild sea-rovers put off their heathen ways and made their new home a Christian land, noted for its churches, monasteries, and schools. Normandy remained practically independent till the beginning of the thirteenth century, when a French king added it to his possessions. [16]

THE NORMANS AND HUGH CAPET, 987 A.D.

The Normans helped to found the medieval French monarchy. During the tenth century the old Carolingian line of rulers, which had already died out in Germany and Italy, [17] came also to an end in France. A new dynasty was then founded by a nobleman named Hugh Capet, who secured the aid of the powerful Norman dukes in his efforts to gain the throne. The accession of Hugh Capet took place in 987 A.D. His descendants reigned over France for almost exactly eight hundred years. [18]

* * * * *

144. CONQUEST OF ENGLAND BY THE DANES; ALFRED THE GREAT

ENGLAND OVERRUN BY THE DANES

Even before Egbert of Wessex succeeded in uniting all the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, [19] bands of Vikings, chiefly from Denmark, had made occasional forays on the English coast. Egbert kept the Danes at bay, but he died in 839 A.D., and from that time the real invasion of England began. The Danes came over in large numbers, made permanent settlements, and soon controlled all England north of the Thames.

KING ALFRED AND THE DANES

Wessex before long experienced the full force of the Danish attack. The country at this time was ruled by Alfred, the grandson of Egbert. Alfred came to the throne in 871 A.D., when he was only about twenty-three years old. In spite of his youth, he showed himself the right sort of leader for the hard-pressed West Saxons. For several years fortune favored the Danes. Then the tide turned. Issuing from the marshes of Somersetshire, where he had rallied his dispirited troops, Alfred suddenly fell on the enemy and gained a signal success. The beaten Danes agreed to make peace and to accept the religion of their conquerors.

THE DANELAW

Alfred's victory did not end the war. Indeed, almost to the end of his reign, the heroic king had to face the Vikings, but he always drove them off and even recovered some of the territory north of the Thames. The English and Danes finally agreed to a treaty dividing the country between them. The eastern part of England, where the invaders were firmly established, came to be called the Danelaw, because here the Danish, and not the Anglo-Saxon, law prevailed. In the Danelaw the Danes have left memorials of themselves in local names [20] and in the bold, adventurous character of the inhabitants.

CIVILIZING ACTIVITIES OF ALFRED

It was a well-nigh ruined country which Alfred had now to rule over and build up again. His work of restoration invites comparison with that of Charlemagne. Alfred's first care was to organize a fighting force always ready at his call to repel invasion. He also created an efficient fleet, which patrolled the coast and engaged the Vikings on their own element. He had the laws of the Anglo-Saxons collected and reduced to writing, taking pains at the same time to see that justice was done between man and man. He did much to rebuild the ruined churches and monasteries. Alfred labored with especial diligence to revive education among the English folk. His court at Winchester became a literary center where learned men wrote and taught. The king himself mastered Latin, in order that he might translate Latin books into the English tongue. So great were Alfred's services in this direction that he has been called "the father of English prose."

ALFRED'S CHARACTER

Alfred alone of English rulers bears the title of "the Great." He well deserves it, not only for what he did but for what he was. Through the mists of ten centuries his figure still looms large. It is the figure of a brave, patient, and modest man, who wore himself out in the service of his people. The oft-quoted words which he added to one of his translations form a fitting epitaph to this noble king: "My wish was to live worthily as long as I lived, and after my life to leave to them that should come after, my memory in good works." His wish has been fulfilled.

FROM ALFRED TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST, 901-1066 A.D.

About seventy-five years after Alfred's death the Danes renewed their invasions. It then became necessary to buy them off with an annual tribute called the Danegeld. Early in the eleventh century Canute, the son of a Danish king, succeeded in establishing himself on the English throne (1016-1035 A.D.). His dynasty did not last long, however, and at length the old West-Saxon line was restored in the person of Edward the Confessor (or "the Saint"). Edward had spent most of his early life in Normandy, and on coming to England brought with him a large following of Normans, whom he placed in high positions. During his reign (1042-1066 A.D.) Norman nobles and churchmen gained a foothold in England, thus preparing the way for the Norman conquest of the country.

145. NORMAN CONQUEST OF ENGLAND; WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR

HAROLD AND WILLIAM

Edward the Confessor having left no direct heirs, the choice of his successor fell lawfully upon the Witenagemot, [21] as the national assembly of noblemen and higher clergy was called. This body chose as king, Harold, earl of Wessex, the leading man in England. Harold's right to the succession was disputed by William, duke of Normandy, who declared that the crown had been promised to him by his cousin, the Confessor. William also asserted that Harold had once sworn a solemn oath, over a chest of sacred relics, to support his claim to the throne on Edward's death. When word came of Harold's election, William wrathfully denounced him as a usurper and began to prepare a fleet and an army for the invasion of England.

WILLIAM'S PREPARATIONS

Normandy under Duke William had become a powerful, well-organized state. Norman knights, attracted by promises of wide lands and rich booty, if they should conquer, formed the core of William's forces. Adventurers from every part of France, and even from Spain and Italy, also entered his service. The pope blessed the enterprise and sent to William a ring containing a hair from St. Peter's head and a consecrated banner. When all was ready in the late fall of 1066 A.D., a large fleet, bearing five or six thousand archers, foot soldiers, and horsemen, crossed the Channel and landed in England.

BATTLE OF HASTINGS, 1066 A.D.

William at first met no resistance. Harold was far away in the north fighting against the Norwegians, who had seized the opportunity to make another descent on the English coast. Harold defeated them decisively and then hurried southward to face his new foe. The two armies met near Hastings on the road to London. All day they fought. The stout English infantry, behind their wall of shields, threw back one charge after another of the Norman knights. Again and again the duke rallied his men and led them where the foe was thickest. A cry arose that he was slain. "I live," shouted William, tearing off his helmet that all might see his face, "and by God's help will conquer yet." At last, with the approach of evening, Harold was killed by an arrow; his household guard died about him; and the rest of the English took to flight. William pitched his camp on the field of victory, and "sat down to eat and drink among the dead."

WILLIAM BECOMES KING

The battle of Hastings settled the fate of England. Following up his victory with relentless energy, William pressed on to London. That city, now practically the capital of the country, opened its gates to him. The Witenagemot, meeting in London offered the throne to William. On Christmas Day, 1066 A.D., in Westminster Abbey the duke of Normandy was crowned king of England.

WILLIAM'S PERSONALITY

What manner of man was William the Conqueror? Tall of stature, endowed with tremendous strength, and brave even to desperation, he seemed an embodiment of the old viking spirit. "No knight under heaven," men said truly, "was William's peer." A savage temper and a harsh, forbidding countenance made him a terror even to his closest followers. "So stern and wrathful was he," wrote an English chronicler, "that none durst do anything against his will." Though William never shrank from force or fraud, from bloodshed or oppression, to carry out his ends, he yet showed himself throughout his reign a patron of learning, a sincere supporter of the Church, and a statesman of remarkable insight. He has left a lasting impress on English history.

146. RESULTS OF THE NORMAN CONQUEST

NORMAN ELEMENT IN THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

The coming of the Normans to England formed the third and last installment of the Teutonic invasion. Norman merchants and artisans followed Norman soldiers and settled particularly in the southern and eastern parts of the island. They seem to have emigrated in considerable numbers and doubtless added an important element to the English population. The Normans thus completed the work of the Anglo-Saxons and Danes in making England a Teutonic country.

NORMAN ELEMENT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

It must be remembered, however, that the Normans in Normandy had received a considerable intermixture of French blood and had learned to speak a form of the French language (Norman-French). In England Norman-French naturally was used by the upper and ruling classes--by the court, the nobility, and the clergy. The English held fast to their own homely language, but could not fail to pick up many French expressions, as they mingled with their conquerors in churches, markets, and other places of public resort. It took about three hundred years for French words and phrases to soak thoroughly into their speech. The result was a very large addition to the vocabulary of English. [22]

UNION OF ENGLAND AND NORMANDY

Until the Norman Conquest England, because of its insular position, had remained out of touch with Continental Europe. William the Conqueror and his immediate successors were, however, not only rulers of England, but also dukes of Normandy and subjects of the French kings. Hence, the union of England with Normandy brought it at once into the full current of European affairs. The country became for a time almost a part of France and profited by the more advanced civilization which had arisen on French soil. The nobility, the higher clergy, and the officers of government were Normans. The architects of the castles and churches, the lawyers, and the men of letters came from Normandy. Even the commercial and industrial classes were largely recruited from across the Channel.

ENGLAND AND THE PAPACY

The Norman Conquest much increased the pope's authority over England. The English Church, as has been shown, [23] was the child of Rome, but during the Anglo-Saxon period it had become more independent of the Papacy than the churches on the Continent. William the Conqueror, whose invasion of England took place with the pope's approval, repaid his obligation by bringing the country into closer dependence on the Roman pontiff.

FUSION OF ENGLISH AND NORMAN

Although the Normans settled in England as conquerors, yet after all they were near kinsmen of the English and did not long keep separate from them. In Normandy a century and a half had been enough to turn the Northmen into Frenchmen. So in England, at the end of a like period, the Normans became Englishmen. Some of the qualities that have helped to make the modern English a great people--their love of the sea and fondness for adventure, their vigor, self-reliance, and unconquerable spirit--are doubtless derived in good part from the Normans.

147. NORMAN CONQUEST OF SOUTHERN ITALY AND SICILY

NORMAN EXPANSION SOUTHWARD

The conquest of England, judged by its results, proved to be the most important undertaking of the Normans. But during this same eleventh century they found another field in which to display their energy and daring. They turned southward to the Mediterranean and created a Norman state in Italy and Sicily.

CONQUESTS OF ROBERT GUISCARD

The unsettled condition of Italy [24] gave the Normans an opportunity for interference in the affairs of the country. The founding of Norman power there was largely the work of a noble named Robert Guiscard ("the Crafty"), a man almost as celebrated as William the Conqueror. He had set out from his home in Normandy with only a single follower, but his valor and shrewdness soon brought him to the front. Robert united the scattered bands of Normans in Italy, who were fighting for pay or plunder, and wrested from the Roman Empire in the East its last territories in the peninsula. Before his death (1085 A.D.) most of southern Italy had passed under Norman rule.

ROGER GUISCARD'S CONQUESTS

Robert's brother, Roger, crossed the strait of Messina and began the subjugation of Sicily, then a Moslem possession. Its recovery from the hands of "infidels" was considered by the Normans a work both pleasing to God and profitable to themselves. By the close of the eleventh century they had finally established their rule in the island.

KINGDOM OF THE TWO SICILIES

The conquests of the Normans in southern Italy and Sicily were united into a single state, which came to be known as the kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The Normans governed it for only about one hundred and fifty years, but under other rulers it lasted until the middle of the nineteenth century, when the present kingdom of Italy came into existence.

NORMAN CULTURE IN THE SOUTH

The kingdom of the Two Sicilies was well-governed, rich, and strong. Art and learning flourished in the cities of Naples, Salerno, and Palermo. Southern Italy and Sicily under the Normans became a meeting-point of Byzantine and Arabic civilization. The Norman kingdom formed an important channel through which the wisdom of the East flowed to the North and to the West.

148. THE NORMANS IN EUROPEAN HISTORY

NORMAN FACULTY OF ADAPTATION

The conquests of the Normans in England, Italy, and Sicily were effected after they had become a Christian and a French-speaking people. In these lands they were the armed missionaries of a civilization not their own. The Normans, indeed, invented little and borrowed much. But, like the Arabs, they were more than simple imitators. In language, literature, art, religion, and law what they took from others they improved and then spread abroad throughout their settlements.

ASSIMILATION OF THE NORMANS

It seems at first sight remarkable that a people who occupied so much of western Europe should have passed away. Normans as Normans no longer exist. They lost themselves in the kingdoms which they founded and among the peoples whom they subdued. Their rapid assimilation was chiefly the consequence of their small numbers: outside of Normandy they were too few long to maintain their identity.

NORMAL INFLUENCE

If the Normans themselves soon disappeared, their influence was more lasting. Their mission, it has been well said, was to be leaders and energizers of society--"the little leaven that leaveneth the whole lump." The peoples of medieval Europe owed much to the courage and martial spirit, the genius for government, and the reverence for law, of the Normans. In one of the most significant movements of the Middle Ages--the crusades--they took a prominent part. Hence we shall meet them again.

STUDIES

1. What events are associated with the following dates: 988 A.D.; 862 A.D.; 1066 A.D.; 1000 A.D.; and 987 A.D.?

2. What was the origin of the geographical names Russia, Greenland, Finland, and Normandy?

3. Mention some of the striking physical contrasts between the Arabian and Scandinavian peninsulas.

4. Why has the Baltic Sea been called a "secondary Mediterranean"?

5. How does it happen that the gulf of Finland is often frozen over in winter, while even the northernmost of the Norse fiords remain open?

6. Why is an acquaintance with Scandinavian mythology, literature, and history especially desirable for English-speaking peoples?

7. What is meant by the "berserker's rage"?

8. What names of our weekdays are derived from the names of Scandinavian deities?

9. Compare the Arab and Scandinavian conceptions of the future state of departed warriors.

10. What is meant by "sea-power"? What people possessed it during the ninth and tenth centuries?

11. Compare the invasions of the Northmen with those of the Germans as to (a) causes, (b) area covered, and (c) results.

12. What was the significance of the fact that the Northmen were not Christians at the time when they began their expeditions?

13. Show how the voyages of the Northmen vastly increased geographical knowledge.

14. Show that the Russian people have received from Constantinople their writing, religion, and art.

15. Mention three conquests of England by foreign peoples before 1066 A.D. Give for each conquest the results and the approximate date.

16. On the map, page 405, trace the boundary line between Alfred's possessions and those of the Danes.

17. Compare Alfred and Charlemagne as civilizing kings.

18. Compare Alfred's cession of the Danelaw with the cession of Normandy to Rollo.

19. Why is Hastings included among "decisive" battles?

20. "We English are not ourselves but somebody else." Comment on this statement.

21. What is meant by the "Norman graft upon the sturdy Saxon tree"?

22. What settlements of the Northmen most influenced European history?

23. Compare the Norman faculty of adaptation with that of the Arabs.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Webster, Readings in Medieval and Modern History, chapter vii, "The Saga of a Viking"; chapter viii, "Alfred the Great"; chapter ix, "William the Conqueror and the Normans in England."

[2] See page 67.Return to passage

[3] The word perhaps comes from the old Norse vik, a bay, and means "one who dwells by a bay or fiord." Another meaning assigned to Viking is "warrior."Return to passage

[4] See the illustration, page 240.Return to passage

[5] The word is derived from old Norse segya, "to say"; compare German sagen.Return to passage

[6] "Hall of the slain."Return to passage

[7] "Choosers of the slain."Return to passage

[8] See page 312.Return to passage

[9] The Icelanders in 1874 A.D. celebrated the thousandth anniversary of the Scandinavian settlement of their island.Return to passage

[10] Russia in 1862 A.D. celebrated the millenary of her foundation by Ruric.Return to passage

[11] The Norse word for "fort" is preserved in the gorod of Novgorod.Return to passage

[12] See page 335.Return to passage

[13] See page 358.Return to passage

[14] See the illustration, page 310.Return to passage

[15] "Norman" is a softened form of "Northman."Return to passage

[16] In 1911 A.D. Normandy celebrated in the ancient capital of Rouen the thousandth anniversary of its existence.Return to passage

[17] See pages 315, 317.Return to passage

[18] The abolition of the French monarchy dates from 1792 A.D., when Louis XVI was deposed from the throne.Return to passage

[19] See page 320.Return to passage

[20] The east of England contains more than six hundred names of towns ending in by (Danish "town"), compare by-law, originally a law for a special town.Return to passage

[21] "Meeting of wise men." The word gemot or moot was used for any kind of formal meeting.Return to passage

[22] See page 556.Return to passage

[23] See page 325.Return to passage

[24] See page 317.Return to passage

XVIII. FEUDALISM

149. RISE OF FEUDALISM

A DARK AGE

The ninth century in western Europe was, as we have learned, [1] a period of violence, disorder, and even anarchy. Charlemagne for a time had arrested the disintegration of society which resulted from the invasions of the Germans, and had united their warring tribes under something like a centralized government. But his work, it has been well said, was only a desperate rally in the midst of confusion. After his death the Carolingian Empire, attacked by the Northmen and other invaders and weakened by civil conflicts, broke up into separate kingdoms.

DECLINE OF ROYAL AUTHORITY

Charlemagne's successors in France, Germany, and Italy enjoyed little real authority. They reigned, but did not rule. Under the conditions of the age, it was impossible for a king to govern with a strong hand. The absence of good roads or of other easy means of communication made it difficult for him to move troops quickly from one district to another, in order to quell revolts. Even had good roads existed, the lack of ready money would have prevented him from maintaining a strong army devoted to his interests. Moreover, the king's subjects, as yet not welded into a nation, felt toward him no sentiments of loyalty and affection. They cared far less for their king, of whom they knew little, than for their own local lords who dwelt near them.

INCREASED POWER OF THE NOBLES

The decline of the royal authority, from the ninth century onward, meant that the chief functions of government would be more and more performed by the nobles, who were the great landowners of the kingdom. Under Charlemagne these men had been the king's officials, appointed by him and holding office at his pleasure. Under his successors they tended to become almost independent princes. In proportion as this change was accomplished during the Middle Ages, European society entered upon the stage of feudalism. [2]

PARALLELS TO EUROPEAN FEUDALISM

Feudalism in medieval Europe was not a unique development. Parallels to it may be found in other parts of the world. Whenever the state becomes incapable of protecting life and property, powerful men in each locality will themselves undertake this duty; they will assume the burden of their own defense and of those weaker men who seek their aid. Such was the situation in ancient Egypt for several hundred years, in medieval Persia, and in modern Japan until about two generations ago.

EXTENT OF EUROPEAN FEUDALISM

European feudalism arose and flourished in the three countries which had formed the Carolingian Empire, that is, in France, Germany, and northern Italy. It also spread to Bohemia, Hungary, and the Christian states of Spain. Toward the close of the eleventh century the Normans transplanted it into England, southern Italy, and Sicily. During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the crusaders introduced it into the kingdoms which they founded in the East. [3] Still later, in the fourteenth century, the Scandinavian countries became acquainted with feudalism. Throughout this wide area the institution, though varying endlessly in details, presented certain common features.

150. FEUDALISM AS A SYSTEM OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

FEUDAL SOVEREIGNTY

The basis of feudal society was usually the landed estate. Here lived the feudal noble, surrounded by dependents over whom he exercised the rights of a petty sovereign. He could tax them; he could require them to give him military assistance; he could try them in his courts. A great noble, the possessor of many estates, even enjoyed the privilege of declaring war, making treaties, and coining money. How, it will be asked, did these rights and privileges arise?

FEUDAL TENURE OF LAND

Owing to the decay of commerce and industry, land had become practically the only form of wealth in the early Middle Ages. The king, who in theory was absolute owner of the soil, would pay his officials for their services by giving them the use of a certain amount of land. In the same way one who had received large estates would parcel them out among his followers, in return for their support. Sometimes an unscrupulous noble might seize the lands of his neighbors and compel them to become his tenants. Sometimes, too, those who owned land in their own right might surrender the title to it in favor of a noble, who then became their protector.

THE FIEF

An estate in land which a person held of a superior lord, on condition of performing some "honorable" service, was called a fief. At first the tenant received the fief only for a specified term of years or for his lifetime; but in the end it became inheritable. On the death of the tenant his eldest son succeeded him in possession. This right of the first-born son to the whole of the father's estate was known as primogeniture. [4] If a man had no legal heir, the fief went back to its lord.

VASSALAGE

The tie which bound the tenant who accepted a fief to the lord who granted it was called vassalage. Every holder of land was the vassal of some lord. At the apex of the feudal pyramid stood the king, the supreme landlord, who was supposed to hold his land from God; below the king stood the greater lords (dukes, marquises, counts, and barons), with large estates; and below them stood the lesser lords, or knights, whose possessions were too small for further subdivision.

PERSONAL SERVICES OF THE VASSAL

The vassal, first of all, owed various services to the lord. In time of war he did garrison duty at the lord's castle and joined him in military expeditions. In time of peace the vassal attended the lord on ceremonial occasions, gave him the benefit of his advice, when required, and helped him as a judge in trying cases.

THE VASSAL'S MONEY PAYMENTS

Under certain circumstances the vassal was also compelled to make money payments. When a new heir succeeded to the fief, the lord received from him a sum usually money equivalent to one year's revenue of the estate. This payment was called a "relief." Again, if a man sold his fief, the lord demanded another large sum from the purchaser, before giving his consent to the transaction. Vassals were also expected to raise money for the lord's ransom, in case he was made prisoner of war, to meet the expenses connected with the knighting of his eldest son, and to provide a dowry for his eldest daughter. Such exceptional payments went by the name of "aids."

THE LORD'S DUTY TO THE VASSAL

The vassal, in return for his services and payments, looked to the lord for the protection of life and property. The lord agreed to secure him in the enjoyment of his fief, to guard him against his enemies, and to see that in all matters he received just treatment. This was no slight undertaking.

HOMAGE

The ceremony of homage [5] symbolized the whole feudal relationship. One who proposed to become a vassal and hold a fief came into the lord's presence, bareheaded and unarmed, knelt down, placed his hands between those of the lord, and promised henceforth to become his "man." The lord then kissed him and raised him to his feet. After the ceremony the vassal placed his hand upon the Bible or upon sacred relics and swore to remain faithful to his lord. This was the oath of "fealty." The lord then gave the vassal some object--a stick, a clod of earth, a lance, or a glove--in token of the fief with the possession of which he was now "invested."

FEUDAL GOVERNMENT A SUBSTITUTE FOR ANARCHY

It is clear that the feudal method of land tenure, coupled with the custom of vassalage, made in some degree for security and order. Each noble was attached to the lord above him by the bond of personal service and the oath of fidelity. To his vassals beneath him he was at once protector, benefactor, and friend. Unfortunately, feudal obligations were far less strictly observed in practice than in theory. Both lords and vassals often broke their engagements, when it seemed profitable to do so. Hence they had many quarrels and indulged in constant warfare. But feudalism, despite its defects, was better than anarchy. The feudal lords drove back the pirates and hanged the brigands and enforced the laws, as no feeble king could do. They provided a rude form of local government for a rude society.

151. FEUDAL JUSTICE

FEUDALISM AS A SYSTEM OF LOCAL JUSTICE

Feudalism was not only a system of local government; it was also a system of local justice. Knights, barons, counts, and dukes had their separate courts, and the king had his court above all. Cases arising on the lord's estate were tried before him and the vassals whom he called to his assistance in giving justice. Since most wrongs could be atoned for by the payment of a fine, the conduct of justice on a large fief produced a considerable income. The nobles, accordingly, regarded their judicial rights as a valuable property, which they were loath to surrender to the state.

JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION

The law followed in a feudal court was largely based on old Germanic customs. The court did not act in the public interest, as with us, but waited until the plaintiff requested service. Moreover, until the case had been decided, the accuser and the accused received the same treatment. Both were imprisoned; and the plaintiff who lost his case suffered the same penalty which the defendant, had he been found guilty, would have undergone.

THE OATH

Unlike a modern court, again, the feudal court did not require the accuser to prove his case by calling witnesses and having them give testimony. The burden of proof lay on the accused, who had to clear himself of the charge, if he could do so. In one form of trial it was enough for him to declare his innocence under oath, and then to bring in several "oath- helpers," sometimes relatives, but more often neighbors, who swore that they believed him to be telling the truth. The number of these "oath- helpers" varied according to the seriousness of the crime and the rank of the accused. This method was hardly as unsatisfactory as it seems to be, for a person of evil reputation might not be able to secure the required number of friends who would commit perjury on his behalf. To take an oath was a very solemn proceeding; it was an appeal to God, by which a man called down on himself divine punishment if he swore falsely.

ORDEALS

The consequences of a false oath were not apparent at once. Ordeals, however, formed a method of appealing to God, the results of which could be immediately observed. A common form of ordeal was by fire. The accused walked barefoot over live brands, or stuck his hand into a flame, or carried a piece of red-hot iron for a certain distance. In the ordeal by hot water he plunged his arm into boiling water. A man established his innocence through one of these tests, if the wound healed properly after three days. The ordeal by cold water rested on the belief that pure water would reject the criminal. Hence the accused was thrown bound into a stream: if he floated he was guilty; if he sank he was innocent and had to be rescued. Though a crude method of securing justice, ordeals were doubtless useful in many instances. The real culprit would often prefer to confess, rather than incur the anger of God by submitting to the test.

THE JUDICIAL DUEL

A form of trial which especially appealed to the warlike nobles was the judicial duel. [6] The accuser and the accused fought with each other; and the conqueror won the case. God, it was believed, would give victory to the innocent party, because he had right on his side. When one of the adversaries could not fight, he secured a champion to take his place. Though the judicial duel finally went out of use in the law courts, it still continued to be employed privately, as a means of settling disputes which involved a man's honor. The practice of dueling is only now dying out in civilized communities.

FEUDAL AND ROMAN LAW

Oaths, ordeals, and duels formed an inheritance from Germanic antiquity. [7] They offered a sharp contrast to Roman law, which acted in the public interest, balanced evidence, and sought only to get at the truth. After the middle of the twelfth century the revival of the study of Roman law, as embodied in Justinian's code, [8] led gradually to the abandonment of most forms of appeal to the judgment of God. At the same time the kings grew powerful enough to take into their own hands the administration of justice.

152. FEUDAL WARFARE

FEUDALISM AS A SYSTEM OF LOCAL DEFENSE

Feudalism, once more, was a system of local defense. The knight must guard his small estate, the baron his barony, the count his county, the duke his duchy. At the lord's bidding the vassal had to follow him to war, either alone or with a certain number of men, according to the size of the fief. But this assistance was limited. A vassal served only for a definite period (varying from one month to three in the year), and then only within a reasonable distance from the lands for which he did homage. These restrictions made it difficult to conduct a lengthy campaign, or one far removed from the vassal's fief, unless mercenary soldiers were employed.

THE FEUDAL ARMY

The feudal army, as a rule, consisted entirely of cavalry. Such swiftly moving assailants as the Northmen and the Magyars could best be dealt with by mounted men who could bring them to bay, compel them to fight, and overwhelm them by the shock of the charge. In this way the foot soldiers of Charlemagne's time came to be replaced by the mailed horsemen who for four centuries or more dominated European battlefields.

ARMS AND ARMOR

The armor used in the Middle Ages was gradually perfected, until at length the knight became a living fortress. [9] In the early feudal period he wore a cloth or leather tunic covered with iron rings or scales, and an iron cap with a nose guard. About the beginning of the twelfth century he adopted chain mail, with a hood of the same material for the head. During the fourteenth century the knight began to wear heavy plate armor, weighing fifty pounds or more, and a helmet with a visor which could be raised or lowered. Thus completely incased in metal, provided with shield, lance, straight sword or battle-ax, and mounted on a powerful horse, the knight could ride down almost any number of poorly armed peasants. Not till the development of missile weapons--the longbow, and later the musket--did the foot soldier resume his importance in warfare. The feudal age by this time was drawing to a close.

PREVALENCE OF PRIVATE WAR

The nobles regarded the right of waging war on one another as their most cherished privilege. Fighting became almost a form of business enterprise, which enriched the lords and their retainers through the sack of castles, the plunder of villages, and the ransom of prisoners. Every hill became a stronghold and every plain a battlefield. Such neighborhood warfare, though rarely very bloody, spread terrible havoc throughout the land.

THE PEACE AND TRUCE OF GOD

The Church, to its great honor, lifted a protesting voice against this evil. It proclaimed a "Peace of God" and forbade attacks on all defenseless people, including priests, monks, pilgrims, merchants, peasants, and women. But it was found impossible to prevent the feudal lords from warring with each other, even though they were threatened with the eternal torments of Hell; and so the Church tried to restrict what it could not altogether abolish. A "Truce of God" was established. All men were to cease fighting from Wednesday evening to Monday morning of each week, during Lent, and on various holy days. The truce would have given Christendom peace for about two hundred and forty days each year; but it seems never to have been strictly observed except in limited areas.

ABOLITION OF PRIVATE WARFARE

As the power of the kings increased in western Europe, they naturally sought to put an end to the constant fighting between their subjects. The Norman rulers of Normandy, England, and Sicily restrained their turbulent nobles with a strong hand. Peace came later in most parts of the Continent; in Germany, "fist right" (the rule of the strongest) prevailed until the end of the fifteenth century. The abolition of private war was the first step in Europe toward universal peace. The second step--the abolition of public war between nations--is yet to be taken.

153. THE CASTLE AND LIFE OF THE NOBLES

DEVELOPMENT OF THE CASTLE

The outward mark of feudalism was the castle, [10] where the lord resided and from which he ruled his fief. In its earliest form the castle was simply a wooden blockhouse placed on a mound and surrounded by a stockade. About the beginning of the twelfth century the nobles began to build in stone, which would better resist fire and the assaults of besiegers. A stone castle consisted at first of a single tower, square or round, with thick walls, few windows, and often with only one room to each story. [11] As engineering skill increased, several towers were built and were then connected by outer and inner walls. The castle thus became a group of fortifications, which might cover a wide area.

THE CASTLE AS A FORTRESS

Defense formed the primary purpose of the castle. Until the introduction of gunpowder and cannon, the only siege engines employed were those known in ancient times. They included machines for hurling heavy stones and iron bolts, battering rams, and movable towers, from which the besiegers crossed over to the walls. Such engines could best be used on firm, level ground. Consequently, a castle would often be erected on a high cliff or hill, or on an island, or in the center of a swamp. A castle without such natural defenses would be surrounded by a deep ditch (the "moat"), usually filled with water. If the besiegers could not batter down or undermine the massive walls, they adopted the slower method of a blockade and tried to starve the garrison into surrendering. But ordinarily a well-built, well- provisioned castle was impregnable. Behind its frowning battlements even a petty lord could defy a royal army.

A CASTLE DESCRIBED

A visitor to a medieval castle crossed the drawbridge over the moat and approached the narrow doorway, which was protected by a tower on each side. If he was admitted, the iron grating ("portcullis") rose slowly on its creaking pulleys, the heavy, wooden doors swung open, and he found himself in the courtyard commanded by the great central tower ("keep"), where the lord and his family lived, especially in time of war. At the summit of the keep rose a platform whence the sentinel surveyed the country far and wide; below, two stories underground, lay the prison, dark, damp, and dirty. As the visitor walked about the court-yard, he came upon the hall, used as the lord's residence in time of peace, the armory, the chapel, the kitchens, and the stables. A spacious castle might contain, in fact, all the buildings necessary for the support of the lord's servants and soldiers.

THE CASTLE AS A RESIDENCE

The medieval castle formed a good fortress, but a poor home. Its small rooms, lighted only by narrow windows, heated only by fireplaces, badly ventilated, and provided with little furniture, must have been indeed cheerless. Toward the close of the feudal period, when life became more luxurious, the castle began to look less like a dungeon. Windows were widened and provided with panes of painted glass, walls were hung with costly tapestries, and floors were covered with thick Oriental rugs. The nobles became attached to their castle homes and often took their names from those of their estates.

AMUSEMENTS OF THE NOBLES

Life within the castle was very dull. There were some games, especially chess, which the nobles learned from the Moslems. Banqueting, however, formed the chief indoor amusement. The lord and his retainers sat down to a gluttonous feast and, as they ate and drank, watched the pranks of a professional jester or listened to the songs and music of ministrels or, it may be, heard with wonder the tales of far-off countries brought by some returning traveler. Outside castle walls a common sport was hunting in the forests and game preserves attached to every estate. Deer, bears, and wild boars were hunted with hounds; for smaller animals trained hawks, or falcons, were employed. But the nobles, as we have just seen, found in fighting their chief outdoor occupation and pastime. "To play a great game" was their description of a battle.

154. KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY

APPRENTICESHIP OF THE KNIGHT

The prevalence of warfare in feudal times made the use of arms a profession requiring special training. A nobleman's son served for a number of years, first as a page, then as a squire, in his father's castle or in that of some other lord. He learned to manage a horse, to climb a scaling ladder, to wield sword, battle-ax, and lance. He also waited on the lord's table, assisted him at his toilet, followed him in the chase, and attended him in battle. This apprenticeship usually lasted from five to seven years.

CONFERRING OF KNIGHTHOOD

When the young noble became of age, he might be made a knight, if he deserved the honor and could afford the expense. The ceremony of conferring knighthood was often most elaborate. The candidate fasted, took a bath--the symbol of purification--and passed the eve of his admission in prayer. Next morning he confessed his sins, went to Mass, and listened to a sermon on the duties of knighthood. This ended, his father, or the noble who had brought him up, girded him with a sword and gave him the "accolade," that is, a blow on the neck or shoulder, at the same time saying, "Be thou a good knight." Then the youth, clad in shining armor and wearing golden spurs, mounted his horse and exhibited his skill in warlike exercises. If a squire for valorous conduct received knighthood on the battlefield, the accolade by stroke of the sword formed the only ceremony.

CHIVALRY

In course of time, as manners softened and Christian teachings began to affect feudal society, knighthood developed into chivalry. The Church, which opposed the warlike excesses of feudalism, took the knight under her wing and bade him be always a true soldier of Christ. To the rude virtues of fidelity to one's lord and bravery in battle, the Church added others. The "good knight" was he who respected his sworn word, who never took an unfair advantage of another, who defended women, widows, and orphans against their oppressors, and who sought to make justice and right prevail in the world. Chivalry thus marked the union of pagan and Christian virtues, of Christianity and the profession of arms.

THE CHIVALRIC CODE

Needless to say, the "good knight" appears rather in romance than in sober history. Such a one was Sir Lancelot, in the stories of King Arthur and the Round Table. [12] As Sir Lancelot lies in death, a former companion addresses him in words which sum up the best in the chivalric code: "'Thou wert the courtliest knight that ever bare shield; and thou wert the truest friend to thy lover that ever bestrode horse; and thou wert the truest lover among sinful men that ever loved woman; and thou wert the kindest man that ever struck with sword; and thou wert the goodliest person that ever came among press of knights; and thou wert the meekest man, and the gentlest, that ever ate in hall among ladies; and thou wert the sternest knight to thy mortal foe that ever put spear in the rest.'" [13]

JOUSTS AND TOURNAMENTS

The all-absorbing passion for fighting led to the invention of mimic warfare in the shape of jousts and tournaments. [14] These exercises formed the medieval equivalent of the Greek athletic games and the Roman gladiatorial shows. The joust was a contest between two knights; the tournament, between two bands of knights. The contests took place in a railed-off space, called the "lists," about which the spectators gathered. Each knight wore upon his helmet the scarf or color of his lady and fought with her eyes upon him. Victory went to the one who unhorsed his opponent or broke in the proper manner the greatest number of lances. The beaten knight forfeited horse and armor and had to pay a ransom to the conqueror. Sometimes he lost his life, especially when the participants fought with real weapons and not with blunted lances and pointless swords. The Church now and then tried to stop these performances, but they remained universally popular until the close of the Middle Ages.

INFLUENCE OF CHIVALRY

Chivalry arose with feudalism, formed, in fact, the religion of feudalism, and passed away only when the changed conditions of society made feudalism an anachronism. [15] While chivalry lasted, it produced some improvement in manners, particularly by insisting on the notion of personal honor and by fostering greater regard for women (though only for those of the upper class). Our modern notion of the conduct befitting a "gentleman" goes back to the old chivalric code. Chivalry expressed, however, simply the sentiments of the warlike nobles. It was an aristocratic ideal. The knight despised and did his best to keep in subjection the toiling peasantry, upon whose backs rested the real burden of feudal society.

155. FEUDALISM AS A SYSTEM OF LOCAL INDUSTRY

DECLINE OF URBAN LIFE

Under the Roman Empire western Europe had been filled with flourishing cities. [16] The Germanic invasions led to a gradual decay of trade and manufacturing, and hence of the cities in which these activities centered. As urban life declined, the mass of the population came to live more and more in isolated rural communities. This was the great economic feature of the early Middle Ages.

FEUDALISM AND RURAL LIFE

The introduction of feudalism fostered the movement from town to country, for feudalism, as has been shown, rested on the soil as its basis. The lord, his family, his servants, and his retainers were supported by the income from landed property. The country estate of a lord was known as a manor.

THE MANOR

A manor naturally varied in size, according to the wealth of its lord. In England perhaps six hundred acres represented the extent of an average estate. Every noble had at least one manor; great nobles might have several manors, usually scattered throughout the country; and even the king depended on his many manors for the food supply of the court. England, during the period following the Norman Conquest, contained more than nine thousand of these manorial estates. [17]

COMMON CULTIVATION OF THE ARABLE LAND

Of the arable land of the manor the lord reserved as much as needful for his own use. The lord's land was called his "demesne," or domain. The rest of the land he allotted to the peasants who were his tenants, They cultivated their holdings in common. A farmer, instead of having his land in one compact mass, had it split up into a large number of small strips (usually about half an acre each) scattered over the manor, and separated, not by fences or hedges, but by banks of unplowed turf. The appearance of a manor, when under cultivation, has been likened to a vast checkerboard or a patchwork quilt. [18] The reason for the intermixture of strips seems to have been to make sure that each farmer had a portion both of the good land and of the bad. It is obvious that this arrangement compelled all the peasants to labor according to a common plan. A man had to sow the same kinds of crops as his neighbors, and to till and reap them at the same time. Agriculture, under such circumstances, could not fail to be unprogressive.

FARMING METHODS

In other ways, too, agriculture was very backward. Farmers did not know how to enrich the soil by the use of fertilizers or how to provide for a proper rotation of crops. Hence each year they cultivated only two-thirds of the land, letting the other third lie "fallow" (uncultivated), that it might recover its fertility. It is said that eight or nine bushels of grain represented the average yield of an acre. Farm animals were small, for scientific breeding had not yet begun. A full-grown ox reached a size scarcely larger than a calf of to-day, and the fleece of a sheep often weighed less than two ounces. Farm implements were few and clumsy. The wooden ploughs only scratched the ground. Harrowing was done with a hand implement little better than a large rake. Grain was cut with a sickle, and grass was mown with a scythe. It took five men a day to reap and bind the harvest of two acres.

COMMON USE OF THE NON-ARABLE LAND

Besides his holding of farm land, which in England averaged about thirty acres, each peasant had certain rights over the non-arable land of the manor. He could cut a limited amount of hay from the meadow. He could turn so many farm animals--cattle, geese, swine--on the waste. He also enjoyed the privilege of taking so much wood from the forest for fuel and building purposes. A peasant's holding, which also included a house in the village, thus formed a complete outfit.

156. THE VILLAGE AND LIFE OF THE PEASANTS

A VILLAGE DESCRIBED

The peasants on a manor lived close together in one or more villages. Their small, thatch-roofed, and one-roomed houses would be grouped about an open space (the "green"), or on both sides of a single, narrow street. The only important buildings were the parish church, the parsonage, a mill, if a stream ran through the manor, and possibly a blacksmith's shop. The population of one of these villages often did not exceed one hundred souls.

A VILLAGE AS SELF-SUFFICING

Perhaps the most striking feature of a medieval village was its self- sufficiency. The inhabitants tried to produce at home everything they required, in order to avoid the uncertainty and expense of trade. The land gave them their food; the forest provided them with wood for houses and furniture. They made their own clothes of flax, wool, and leather. Their meal and flour were ground at the village mill, and at the village smithy their farm implements were manufactured. The chief articles which needed to be brought from some distant market were salt, used to salt down farm animals killed in autumn, iron for various tools, and millstones. Cattle, horses, and surplus grain also formed common objects of exchange between manors.

HARD LOT OF THE PEASANTRY

Life in a medieval village was rude and rough. The peasants labored from sunrise to sunset, ate coarse fare, lived in huts, and suffered from frequent pestilences. They were often the helpless prey of the feudal nobles. If their lord happened to be a quarrelsome man, given to fighting with his neighbors, they might see their lands ravaged, their cattle driven off, their village burned, and might themselves be slain. Even under peaceful conditions the narrow, shut-in life of the manor could not be otherwise than degrading.

ALLEVIATIONS OF THE PEASANT'S LOT

Yet there is another side to the picture. If the peasants had a just and generous lord, they probably led a fairly comfortable existence. Except when crops failed, they had an abundance of food, and possibly wine or cider drink. They shared a common life in the work of the fields, in the sports of the village green, and in the services of the parish church. They enjoyed many holidays; it has been estimated that, besides Sundays, about eight weeks in every year were free from work. Festivities at Christmas, Easter, and May Day, at the end of ploughing and the completion of harvest, relieved the monotony of the daily round of labor. [19] Perhaps these medieval peasants were not much worse off than the agricultural laborers in most countries of modern Europe.

157. SERFDOM

FREEMEN, SLAVES, AND SERFS

A medieval village usually contained several classes of laborers. There might be a number of freemen, who paid a fixed rent, either in money or produce, for the use of their land. Then there might also be a few slaves in the lord's household or at work on his domain. By this time, however, slavery had about died out in western Europe. Most of the peasants were serfs.

NATURE OF SERFDOM

Serfdom represented a stage between slavery and freedom. A slave belonged to his master; he was bought and sold like other chattels. A serf had a higher position, for he could not be sold apart from the land nor could his holding be taken from him. He was fixed to the soil. On the other hand a serf ranked lower than a freeman, because he could not change his abode, nor marry outside the manor, nor bequeath his goods, without the permission of his lord.

OBLIGATIONS OF THE SERF

The serf did not receive his land as a free gift; for the use of it he owed certain duties to his master. These took chiefly the form of personal services. He must labor on the lord's domain for two or three days each week, and at specially busy seasons, such as ploughing and harvesting, he must do extra work. At least half his time was usually demanded by the lord. The serf had also to make certain payments, either in money or more often in grain, honey, eggs, or other produce. When he ground the wheat or pressed the grapes which grew on his land, he must use the lord's mill, the lord's wine-press, and pay the customary charge. In theory the lord could tax his serfs as heavily and make them work as hard as he pleased, but the fear of losing his tenants doubtless in most cases prevented him from imposing too great burdens on them.

ORIGIN OF SERFDOM

Serfdom developed during the later centuries of the Roman Empire and in the early Middle Ages. It was well established by the time of Charlemagne. Most serfs seem to have been the descendants, or at least the successors, of Roman slaves, whose condition had gradually improved. The serf class was also recruited from the ranks of freemen, who by conquest or because of the desire to gain the protection of a lord, became subject to him. Serfdom, however, was destined to be merely a transitory condition. By the close of medieval times, the serfs in most parts of western Europe had secured their freedom. [20]

158. DECLINE OF FEUDALISM

DURATION OF FEUDALISM

Feudalism had a vigorous life for about five hundred years. Taking definite form early in the ninth century, it flourished throughout the later Middle Ages, but became decadent by the opening of the fourteenth century.

FORCES OPPOSED TO FEUDALISM: THE KINGS

As a system of local government, feudalism tended to pass away when the rulers in England, France, and Spain, and later in Germany and Italy, became powerful enough to put down private warfare, execute justice, and maintain order everywhere in their dominions. The kings were always anti- feudal. We shall study in a later chapter (Chapter XXII) the rise of strong governments and centralized states in western Europe.

FORCES OPPOSED TO FEUDALISM: THE CITIES

As a system of local industry, feudalism could not survive the great changes of the later Middle Ages, when reviving trade, commerce, and manufactures had begun to lead to the increase of wealth, the growth of markets, and the substitution of money payments for those in produce or services. Flourishing cities arose, as in the days of the Roman Empire, freed themselves from the control of the nobles, and became the homes of liberty and democracy. The cities, like the kings, were always anti- feudal. We shall deal with their development in a subsequent chapter (Chapter XXIII).

THE CHURCH AND FEUDALISM

There was still another anti-feudal force, namely, the Roman Church. It is true that many of the higher clergy were feudal lords, and that even the monasteries owned vast estates which were parceled out among tenants. Nevertheless, the Roman Church as a universal organization, including men of all ranks and classes, was necessarily opposed to feudalism, a local and an aristocratic system. The work and influence of this Church will now engage our attention.

STUDIES

1. Write a brief essay on feudal society, using the following words: lord; vassal; castle; keep; dungeon; chivalry; tournament; manor; and serf.

2. Explain the following terms: vassal; fief; serf; "aid"; homage; squire; investiture; and "relief."

3. Look up the origin of the words homage, castle, dungeon, and chivalry.

4. "The real heirs of Charlemagne were from the first neither the kings of France nor those of Italy or Germany; but the feudal lords." Comment on this statement.

5. Why was the feudal system not found in the Roman Empire in the East during the Middle Ages?

6. Why has feudalism been called "confusion roughly organized"?

7. Contrast feudalism as a political system with (a) the classical city- states, (b) the Roman Empire, and (c) modern national states.

8. What was the effect of feudalism on the sentiment of patriotism?

9. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of primogeniture as the rule of inheritance?

10. Explain these phrases: "to be in hot water;" "to go through fire and water;" and "to haul over the coals."

11. Compare the oaths administered to witnesses in modern courts with medieval oaths.

12. Why was war the usual condition of feudal society?

13. Compare the "Peace of God" with the earlier "Roman Peace" (Pax Romana).

14. Mention some modern comforts and luxuries which were unknown in feudal castles.

15. What is the present meaning of the word "chivalrous"? How did it get that meaning?

16. Why has chivalry been called "the blossom of feudalism"?

17. Contrast the ideal of a chivalry with that of monasticism.

18. Show that the serf was not a slave or a "hired man" or a tenant-farmer paying rent.

FOOTNOTES

[1] See page 312.Return to passage

[2] The word has nothing to do with "feuds," though these were common enough in feudal times. It comes from the medieval Latin feudum, from which are desired the French fief and the English fee.Return to passage

[3] See pages 472, 478.Return to passage

[4] The practice of primogeniture has now been abolished by the laws of the various European countries and is not recognized in the United States. It still prevails, however, in England.Return to passage

[5] Latin homo, "man."Return to passage

[6] Sir Walter Scott's novel, Ivanhoe (chapter xliii), contains an account of a judicial duel.Return to passage

[7] See page 326.Return to passage

[8] See page 331.Return to passage

[9] See the illustrations, pages 408, 421, 422, 473.Return to passage

[10] The French form of the word is château.Return to passage

[11] A good example is the "White Tower," which forms a part of the Tower of London. It was built by William the Conqueror. See the illustration, page 498.Return to passage

[12] See page 560.Return to passage

[13] Malory, Morte d'Arthur, xxi, 13. See also Tennyson's poem, Sir Galahad, for a beautiful presentation of the ideal knight.Return to passage

[14] Sir Walter Scott's novel, Ivanhoe (chapter xii), contains a description of a tournament.Return to passage

[15] Don Quixote, by the Spanish writer, Cervantes (1547-1616 A.D.), is a famous satire on chivalry. Our American "Mark Twain" also stripped off the gilt and tinsel of chivalry in his amusing story entitled A Connecticut Yankee at the Court of King Arthur.Return to passage

[16] See page 208.Return to passage

[17] According to Domesday Book (see page 499) there were 9250 manors, of which William the Conqueror possessed 1422. His manors lay in about thirty counties.Return to passage

[18] This "open field" system of agriculture, as it is usually called, still survives in some parts of Europe. See the plan of Hitchin Manor, page 435.Return to passage

[19] See page 581-582.Return to passage

[20] See page 612.Return to passage

XIX. THE PAPACY AND THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE, 962-1273 A.D. [1]

159. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH

THE ROMAN CHURCH

A preceding chapter dealt with the Christian Church in the East and West during the early Middle Ages. We learned something about its organization, belief, and worship, about the rise and growth of the Papacy, about monasticism, and about that missionary campaign which won all Europe to Christianity. Our narrative extended to the middle of the eleventh century, when the quarrel between pope and patriarch led at length to the disruption of Christendom. We have now to consider the work and influence of the Roman Church during later centuries of the Middle Ages.

TERRITORIAL EXTENT OF THE CHURCH

The Church at the height of its power held spiritual sway over all western Europe. Italy and Sicily, the larger part of Spain, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, British Isles, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland yielded obedience to the pope of Rome.

THE CHURCH AS UNIVERSAL

Membership in the Church was not a matter of free choice. All people, except Jews, were required to belong to it. A person joined the Church by baptism, a rite usually performed in infancy, and remained in it as long as he lived. Every one was expected to conform, at least outwardly, to the doctrines and practices of the Church, and anyone attacking its authority was liable to punishment by the state.

THE CHURCH AS INTERNATIONAL

The presence of one Church throughout the western world furnished a bond of union between European peoples during the age of feudalism. The Church took no heed of political boundaries, for men of all nationalities entered the ranks of the priesthood and joined the monastic orders. Priests and monks were subjects of no country, but were "citizens of heaven," as they sometimes called themselves. Even difference of language counted for little in the Church, since Latin was the universal speech of the educated classes. One must think, then, of the Church as a great international state, in form a monarchy, presided over by the pope, and with its capital at Rome.

TWOFOLD DUTIES OF THE CHURCH

The Church in the Middle Ages performed a double task. On the one hand it gave the people religious instruction and watched over their morals; on the other hand it played an important part in European politics and provided a means of government. Because the Church thus combined ecclesiastical and civil functions, it was quite unlike all modern churches, whether Greek, Roman, or Protestant. Both sides of its activities deserve, therefore, to be considered.

160. CHURCH DOCTRINE AND WORSHIP

"THE GATE OF HEAVEN."

In medieval times every loyal member of the Church accepted without question its authority in religious matters. The Church taught a belief in a personal God, all-wise, all-good, all-powerful, to know whom was the highest goal of life. The avenue to this knowledge lay through faith in the revelation of God, as found in the Scriptures. Since the unaided human reason could not properly interpret the Scriptures, it was necessary for the Church, through her officers, to declare their meaning and set forth what doctrines were essential to salvation. The Church thus appeared as the sole repository of religious knowledge, as "the gate of heaven."

THE SACRAMENTAL SYSTEM

Salvation did not depend only on the acceptance of certain beliefs. There were also certain acts, called "sacraments," in which the faithful Christian must participate, if he was not to be cut off eternally from God. These acts formed channels of heavenly grace; they saved man from the consequences of his sinful nature and filled him with "the fullness of divine life." Since priests alone could administer the sacraments, [2] the Church presented itself as the necessary mediator between God and man.

BAPTISM, CONFIRMATION, MATRIMONY, AND EXTREME UNCTION

By the thirteenth century seven sacraments were generally recognized. Four of these marked critical stages in human life, from the cradle to the grave. Baptism cleansed the child from the taint of original sin and admitted him into the Christian community. Confirmation gave him full Church fellowship. Matrimony united husband and wife in holy bonds which might never be broken. Extreme Unction, the anointing with oil of one mortally ill, purified the soul and endowed it with strength to meet death.

PENANCE

Penance held an especially important place in the sacramental system. At least once a year the Christian must confess his sins to a priest. If he seemed to be truly repentant, the priest pronounced the solemn words of absolution and then required him to accept some punishment, which varied according to the nature of the offense. There was a regular code of penalties for such sins as drunkenness, avarice, perjury, murder, and heresy. Penances often consisted in fasting, reciting prayers, abstaining from one's ordinary amusements, or beating oneself with bundles of rods. A man who had sinned grievously might be ordered to engage in charitable work, to make a contribution in money for the support of the Church, or to go on a pilgrimage to a sacred shrine. The more distant and difficult a pilgrimage, the more meritorious it was, especially if it led to some very holy place, such as Rome or Jerusalem. People might also become monks in order to atone for evil-doing. This system of penitential punishment referred only to the earthly life; it was not supposed to cleanse the soul for eternity.

HOLY EUCHARIST

The sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, generally known as the Mass, formed the central feature of worship. It was more than a common meal in commemoration of the Last Supper of Christ with the Apostles. It was a solemn ceremony, by which the Christian believed himself to receive the body and blood of Christ, under the form of bread and wine. [3] The right of the priest to withhold the Eucharist from any person, for good cause, gave the Church great power, because the failure to partake of this sacrament imperiled one's chances of future salvation. It was also supposed that the benefits of the ceremony in purifying from sin might be enjoyed by the dead in Purgatory; hence masses were often said for the repose of their souls.

ORDINATION

The seventh and last sacrament, that of Ordination, or "Holy Orders," admitted persons to the priesthood. According to the view of the Church the rite had been instituted by Christ, when He chose the Apostles and sent them forth to preach the Gospel. From the Apostles, who ordained their successors, the clergy in all later times received their exalted authority. [4] Ordination conferred spiritual power and set such an indelible mark on the character that one who had been ordained could never become a simple layman again.

REVERENCE FOR SAINTS

The Church did not rely solely on the sacramental system as a means to salvation. It was believed that holy persons, called saints, [5] who had died and gone to Heaven, offered to God their prayers for men. Hence the practice arose of invoking the aid of the saints in all the concerns of life. The earliest saints were Christian martyrs, [6] who had sealed their faith with their blood. In course of time many other persons, renowned for pious deeds, were exalted to sainthood. The making of a new saint, after a rigid inquiry into the merits of the person whom it is proposed to honor, is now a privilege reserved to the pope.

DEVOTION TO THE VIRGIN

High above all the saints stood the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. Devotion to her as the "Queen of Heaven" increased rapidly in the Church after the time of Gregory the Great. The popularity of her cult owed not a little to the influence of chivalry, [7] for the knight, who vowed to cherish womanhood, saw in the Virgin the ideal woman. Everywhere churches arose in her honor, and no cathedral or abbey lacked a chapel dedicated to Our Lady.

RELICS

The growing reverence for saints led to an increased interest in relics. These included the bones of a saint and shreds of his garments, besides such objects as the wood or nails of the cross on which Christ suffered. Relics were not simply mementos; they were supposed to possess miraculous power which passed into them through contact with holy persons. This belief explains the use of relics to heal diseases, to ward off danger, and, in general, to bring good fortune. An oath taken upon relics was especially sacred. [8] Every church building contained a collection of relics, sometimes amounting to thousands in number, and even private persons often owned them.

PURGATORY

The Church also taught a belief in Purgatory as a state or place of probation. [9] Here dwelt the souls of those who were guilty of no mortal sins which would condemn them to Hell, but yet were burdened with imperfections which prevented them from entering Heaven. Such imperfections, it was held, might be removed by the prayers of the living, and hence the practice arose of praying for the dead.

161. CHURCH JURISDICTION

CHURCH COURTS

The Church had regular courts and a special system of law [10] for the trial of offenders against its regulations. Many cases, which to-day would be decided according to the civil or criminal law of the state, in the Middle Ages came before the ecclesiastical courts. Since marriage was considered a sacrament, the Church took upon itself to decide what marriages were lawful. It forbade the union of first cousins, of second cousins, and of godparents and godchildren. It refused to sanction divorce, for whatever cause, if both parties at the time of marriage had been baptized Christians. The Church dealt with inheritance under wills, for a man could not make a legal will until he had confessed, and confession formed part of the sacrament of Penance. All contracts made binding by oaths came under Church jurisdiction, because an oath was an appeal to God. [11] The Church tried those who were charged with any sin against religion, including heresy, blasphemy, the taking of interest (usury), and the practice of witchcraft. Widows, orphans, and the families of pilgrims or crusaders also enjoyed the special protection of Church courts.

"BENEFIT OF CLERGY"

The Church claimed the privilege of judging all cases which involved clergymen. No layman, it was declared, ought to interfere with one who, by the sacrament of Ordination, had been dedicated to God. This demand of the Church to try its own officers, according to its own mild and intelligent laws, seems not unreasonable, when we remember how rude were the methods of feudal justice. But "benefit of clergy," as the privilege was called, might be abused. Many persons who had no intention of acting as priests or monks became clergymen, in order to shield themselves behind the Church in case their misdeeds were exposed.

RIGHT OF "SANCTUARY."

An interesting illustration of the power of the Church is afforded by the right of "sanctuary." Any lawbreaker who fled to a church building enjoyed, for a limited time, the privilege of safe refuge. It was considered a sin against God to drag even the most wicked criminal from the altar. The most that could be done was to deny the refugee food, so that he might come forth voluntarily. This privilege of seeking sanctuary was not without social usefulness, for it gave time for angry passions to cool, thus permitting an investigation of the charges against an offender.

EXCOMMUNICATION

Disobedience to the regulations of the Church might be followed by excommunication. It was a punishment which cut off the offender from all Christian fellowship. He could not attend religious services nor enjoy the sacraments so necessary to salvation. If he died excommunicate, his body could not be buried in consecrated ground. By the law of the state he lost all civil rights and forfeited all his property. No one might speak to him, feed him, or shelter him. This terrible penalty, it is well to point out, was usually imposed only after the sinner had received a fair trial and had spurned all entreaties to repent. [12]

INTERDICT

The interdict, another form of punishment, was directed against a particular locality, for the fault of some of the inhabitants who could not be reached directly. In time of interdict the priests closed the churches and neither married the living nor buried the dead. Of the sacraments only Baptism, Confirmation, and Penance were permitted. All the inhabitants of the afflicted district were ordered to fast, as in Lent, and to let their hair grow long in sign of mourning. The interdict also stopped the wheels of government, for courts of justice were shut, wills could not be made, and public officials were forbidden to perform their duties. In some cases the Church went so far as to lay an interdict upon an entire kingdom, whose ruler had refused to obey her mandate. [13] The interdict has now passed out of use, but excommunication still retains its place among the spiritual weapons of the Church.

162. THE SECULAR CLERGY

THE SECULAR AND REGULAR CLERGY

Some one has said that in the Middle Ages there were just three classes of society: the nobles who fought; the peasants who worked; and the clergy who prayed. The latter class was divided into the secular [14] clergy, including deacons, priests, and bishops, who lived active lives in the world, and the regular [15] clergy, or monks, who passed their days in seclusion behind monastery walls.

POSITION OF THE CLERGY

It has been already pointed out how early both secular and regular clergy came to be distinguished from the laity by abstention from money-making activities, differences in dress, and the obligation of celibacy. [16] Being unmarried, the clergy had no family cares; being free from the necessity of earning their own living, they could devote all their time and energy to the service of the Church. The sacrament of Ordination, which was believed to endow the clergy with divine power, also helped to strengthen their influence. They appeared as a distinct order, in whose charge was the care of souls and in whose hands were the keys of heaven.

PARISH PRIESTS

An account of the secular clergy naturally begins with the parish priest, who had charge of a parish, the smallest division of Christendom. No one could act as a priest without the approval of the bishop, but the nobleman who supported the parish had the privilege of nominating candidates for the position. The priest derived his income from lands belonging to the parish, from tithes, [17] and from voluntary contributions, but as a rule he received little more than a bare living. The parish priest was the only Church officer who came continually into touch with the common people. He baptized, married, and buried his parishioners. For them he celebrated Mass at least once a week, heard confessions, and granted absolution. He watched over all their deeds on earth and prepared them for the life to come. And if he preached little, he seldom failed to set in his own person an example of right living.

THE PARISH CHURCH

The church, with its spire which could be seen afar off and its bells which called the faithful to worship, formed the social center of the parish. Here on Sundays and holy days the people assembled for the morning and evening services. During the interval between religious exercises they often enjoyed games and other amusements in the adjoining churchyard. As a place of public gathering the parish church held an important place in the life of the Middle Ages.

BISHOPS

A group of parishes formed a diocese, over which a bishop presided. It was his business to look after the property belonging to the diocese, to hold the ecclesiastical courts, to visit the clergy, and to see that they did their duty. The bishop alone could administer the sacraments of Confirmation and Ordination. He also performed the ceremonies at the consecration of a new church edifice or shrine. Since the Church held vast estates on feudal tenure, the bishop was usually a territorial lord, owing a vassal's obligations to the king or to some powerful noble for his land and himself ruling over vassals in different parts of the country. As symbols of his power and dignity the bishop wore on his head the miter and carried the pastoral staff, or crosier. [18]

ARCHBISHOPS

Above the bishop in rank stood the archbishop. In England, for example, there were two archbishops, one residing at York and the other at Canterbury. The latter, as "primate of all England," was the highest ecclesiastical dignitary in the land. An archbishop's distinctive vestment consisted of the pallium, a narrow band of white wool, worn around the neck. The pope alone could confer the right to wear the pallium.

THE CATHEDRAL

The church which contained the official seat or throne [19] of a bishop or archbishop was called a cathedral. It was ordinarily the largest and most magnificent church in the diocese. [20]

163. THE REGULAR CLERGY

DECLINE OF MONASTICISM

The regular clergy, or monks, during the early Middle Ages belonged to the Benedictine order. By the tenth century, however, St. Benedict's Rule had lost much of its force. As the monasteries increased in wealth through gifts of land and goods, they sometimes became centers of idleness, luxury, and corruption. The monks forgot their vows of poverty; and, instead of themselves laboring as farmers, craftsmen, and students, they employed laymen to work for them. At the same time powerful feudal lords frequently obtained control of the monastic estates by appointing as abbots their children or their retainers. Grave danger existed that the monasteries would pass out of Church control and decline into mere fiefs ruled by worldly men.

THE CLUNIAC REVIVAL

A great revival of monasticism began in 910 A.D., with the foundation of the monastery of Cluny in eastern France. The monks of Cluny led lives of the utmost self-denial and followed the Benedictine Rule in all its strictness. Their enthusiasm and devotion were contagious; before long Cluny became a center from which a reformatory movement spread over France and then over all western Europe. By the middle of the twelfth century more than three hundred monasteries looked to Cluny for inspiration and guidance.

THE "CONGREGATION OF CLUNY"

Each of the earlier Benedictine monasteries had been an isolated community, independent and self-governing. Consequently, when discipline grew lax or when the abbot proved to be an incapable ruler, it was difficult to correct the evils which arose. In the Cluniac system, however, all the monasteries formed parts of one organization, the "Congregation of Cluny." The abbot of Cluny appointed their "priors," or heads, and required every monk to pass several years of his monastic life at Cluny itself. This monarchical arrangement helps to explain why for two hundred years the abbot of Cluny was, next to the pope, the most important churchman in western Europe.

THE CISTERCIAN ORDER

Other monastic orders arose in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Of these, the most important was the Cistercian, founded in 1098 A.D. at Citeaux, not far from Cluny. The keynote of Cistercian life was the return to a literal obedience of St. Benedict's Rule. Hence the members of the order lived in the utmost simplicity, cooking their own meager repasts and wearing coarse woolen garments woven from the fleeces of their own sheep. The Cistercians especially emphasized the need for manual labor. They were the best farmers and cattle breeders of the Middle Ages. Western Europe owes even more to them than to the Benedictines for their work as pioneers in the wilderness. "The Cistercians," declared a medieval writer, "are a model to all monks, a mirror for the diligent, a spur to the indolent."

ST. BERNARD, 1090-1153 A.D.

The whole spirit of medieval monasticism found expression in St. Bernard, a Burgundian of noble birth. While still a young man he resolved to leave the world and seek the repose of the monastic life. He entered Citeaux, carrying with him thirty companions. Mothers are said to have hid their sons from him, and wives their husbands, lest they should be converted to monasticism by his persuasive words. After a few years at Citeaux St. Bernard established the monastery of Clairvaux, over which he ruled as abbot till his death. His ascetic life, piety, eloquence, and ability as an executive soon brought him into prominence. People visited Clairvaux from far and near to listen to his preaching and to receive his counsels. The monastery flourished under his direction and became the parent of no less than sixty-five Cistercian houses which were planted in the wilderness. St. Bernard's activities widened, till he came to be the most influential man in western Christendom. It was St. Bernard who acted as an adviser of the popes, at one time deciding between two rival candidates for the Papacy, who combated most vigorously the heresies of the day, and who by his fiery appeals set in motion one of the crusades. [21] The charm of his character is revealed to us in his sermons and letters, while some of the Latin hymns commonly attributed to him are still sung in many churches, both Roman Catholic and Protestant.

164. THE FRIARS

COMING OF THE FRIARS

The history of Christian monasticism exhibits an ever-widening social outlook. The early hermits [22] had devoted themselves, as they believed, to the service of God by retiring desert for prayer, meditation, and bodily mortification. St. Benedict's wise Rule, as followed by the medieval monastic orders, marked a change for the better. It did away with extreme forms of self-denial, brought the monks together in a common house, and required them to engage in daily manual labor. Yet even the Benedictine system had its limitations. The monks lived apart from the world and sought chiefly the salvation of their own souls. A new conception of the monastic life arose early in the thirteenth century, with the coming of the friars. [23] The aim of the friars was social service. They lived active lives in the world and devoted themselves entirely to the salvation of others. The foundation of the orders of friars was the work of two men, St. Francis in Italy and St. Dominic in Spain.

ST. FRANCIS, 1181(?)-1226 A.D.

Twenty-eight years after the death of St. Bernard, St. Francis was born at Assisi. As the son of a rich and prominent merchant St. Francis had before him the prospect of a fine career in the world. But he put away all thoughts of fame and wealth, deserted his gay companions, and, choosing "Lady Poverty" as his bride, started out to minister to lepers and social outcasts. One day, while attending Mass, the call came to him to preach the Gospel, as Christ had preached it, among the poor and lowly. The man's earnestness and charm of manner soon drew about him devoted followers. After some years St. Francis went to Rome and obtained Pope Innocent III's sanction of his work. The Franciscan order spread so rapidly that even in the founder's lifetime there were several thousand members in Italy and other European countries.

ST. FRANCIS, THE MAN

St. Francis is one of the most attractive figures in all history. Perhaps no other man has ever tried so seriously to imitate in his own life the life of Christ. St. Francis went about doing good. He resembled, in some respects, the social workers and revivalist preachers of to-day. In other respects he was a true child of the Middle Ages. An ascetic, he fasted, wore a hair-cloth shirt, mixed ashes with his food to make it disagreeable, wept daily, so that his eyesight was nearly destroyed, and every night flogged himself with iron chains. A mystic, he lived so close to God and nature that he could include within the bonds of his love not only men and women, but also animals, trees, and flowers. He preached a sermon to the birds and once wrote a hymn to praise God for his "brothers," sun, wind, and fire, and for his "sisters," moon, water, and earth. When told that he had but a short time to live, he exclaimed, "Welcome, Sister Death!" He died at the age of forty-five, worn out by his exertions and self-denial. Two years later the pope made him a saint.

ST. DOMINIC, 1170-1221 A.D.

St. Dominic, unlike St. Francis, was a clergyman and a student of theology. After being ordained he went to southern France and labored there for ten years among a heretical sect known as the Albigenses. The order of Dominicans grew out of the little band of volunteers who assisted him in the mission. St. Dominic sent his followers--at first only sixteen in number--out into the world to combat heresy. They met with great success, and at the founder's death the Dominicans had as many as sixty friaries in various European cities.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FRIARS

The Franciscans and Dominicans resembled each other in many ways. They were "itinerant," going on foot from place to place, and wearing coarse robes tied round the waist with a rope. They were "mendicants," [24] who possessed no property but lived on the alms of the charitable. They were also preachers, who spoke to the people, not in Latin, but in the common language of each country which they visited. The Franciscans worked especially in the "slums" of the cities; the Dominicans addressed themselves rather to educated people and the upper classes. As time went on, both orders relaxed the rule of poverty and became very wealthy. They still survive, scattered all over the world and employed in teaching and missionary activity. [25]

THE FRIARS AND THE PAPACY

The friars by their preaching and ministrations did a great deal to call forth a religious revival in Europe during the thirteenth century. In particular they helped to strengthen the papal authority. Both orders received the sanction of the pope; both enjoyed many privileges at his hands; and both looked to him for direction. The pope employed them to raise money, to preach crusades, and to impose excommunications and interdicts. The Franciscans and Dominicans formed, in fact, the agents of the Papacy.

165. POWER OF THE PAPACY

THE POPE'S EXALTED POSITION

The name "pope" [26] seems at first to have been applied to all priests as a title of respect and affection. The Greek Church still continues this use of the word. In the West it gradually came to be reserved to the bishop of Rome as his official title. The pope was addressed in speaking as "Your Holiness." His exalted position was further indicated by the tiara, or headdress with triple crowns, worn by him in processions. [27] He went to solemn ceremonies sitting in a chair supported on the shoulders of his guard. He gave audience from an elevated throne, and all who approached him kissed his feet in reverence. As "Christ's Vicar" he claimed to be the representative on earth of the Almighty.

THE POPE AS THE HEAD OF WESTERN CHRISTENDOM

The pope was the supreme lawgiver of the Church. His decrees might not be set aside by any other person. He made new laws in the form of "bulls" [28] and by his "dispensations" could in particular cases set aside old laws, such as those forbidding cousins to marry or monks to obtain release from their vows. The pope was also the supreme judge of the Church, for all appeals from the lower ecclesiastical courts came before him for decision. Finally, the pope was the supreme administrator of the Church. He confirmed the election of bishops, deposed them, when necessary, or transferred them from one diocese to another. No archbishop might perform the functions of his office until he had received the pallium from the pope's hands. The pope also exercised control over the monastic orders and called general councils of the Church.

THE PAPAL LEGATES

The authority of the pope was commonly exercised by the "legates," [29] whom he sent out as his representatives at the various European courts. These officers kept the pope in close touch with the condition of the Church in every part of western Europe. A similar function is performed in modern times by the papal ambassadors known as "nuncios."

THE CARDINALS

For assistance in government the pope made use of the cardinals, [30] who formed a board, or "college." At first they were chosen only from the clergy of Rome and the vicinity, but in course of time the pope opened the cardinalate to prominent churchmen in all countries. The number of cardinals is now fixed at seventy, but the college is never full, and there are always ten or more "vacant hats," as the saying goes. The cardinals, in the eleventh century, received the right of choosing a new pope. A cardinal ranks above all other church officers. His dignity is indicated by the red hat and scarlet robe which he wears and by the title of "Eminence" applied to him.

INCOME OF THE PAPACY

To support the business of the Papacy and to maintain the splendor of the papal court required a large annual income. This came partly from the States of the Church in Italy, partly from the gifts of the faithful, and partly from the payments made by abbots, bishops, and archbishops when the pope confirmed their election to office. Still another source of revenue consisted of "Peter's Pence," a tax of a penny on each hearth. It was collected every year in England and in some Continental countries until the Reformation. The modern "Peter's Pence" is a voluntary contribution made by Roman Catholics in all countries.

THE CAPITAL OF THE PAPACY

The Eternal City, from which in ancient times the known world had been ruled, formed in the Middle Ages the capital of the Papacy. Hither every year came tens of thousands of pilgrims to worship at the shrine of the Prince of the Apostles. Few traces now remain of the medieval city. Old St. Peter's Church, where Charlemagne was crowned emperor, [31] gave way in the sixteenth century to the world-famous structure that now occupies its site. [32] The Lateran Palace, which for more than a thousand years served as the residence of the popes, has also disappeared, its place being taken by a new and smaller building. The popes now live in the splendid palace of the Vatican, adjoining St. Peter's.

THE PAPACY AND THE EMPIRE

The powers exercised by the popes during the later Middle Ages were not secured without a struggle. As a matter of fact the concentration of authority in papal hands was a gradual development covering several hundred years. The pope reached his exalted position only after a long contest with the Holy Roman Emperor. This contest forms one of the most noteworthy episodes in medieval history.

166. POPES AND EMPERORS, 962-1122 A.D.

RELATIONS BETWEEN POPE AND EMPEROR IN THEORY

One might suppose that there could be no interference between pope and emperor, since they seemed to have separate spheres of action. It was said that God had made the pope, as the successor of St. Peter, supreme in spiritual matters and the emperor, as heir of the Roman Caesars, supreme in temporal matters. The former ruled men's souls, the latter, men's bodies. The two sovereigns thus divided on equal terms the government of the world.

THEIR RELATIONS IN PRACTICE

The difficulty with this theory was that it did not work. No one could decide in advance where the authority the pope ended and where that of the emperor began. When the pope claimed certain powers which were also claimed by the emperor, a conflict between the two rulers became inevitable.

OTTO THE GREAT AND THE PAPACY

In 962 A.D. Otto the Great, as we have learned, [33] restored imperial rule in the West, thus founding what in later centuries the came to be known as the Holy Roman Empire. Otto as emperor possessed the rights of making the city of Rome the imperial capital, of approving the election of the pope, and, in general, of exerting much influence in papal affairs. All these rights had been exercised by Charlemagne. But Otto did what Charlemagne had never done when he deposed a pope who proved disobedient to his wishes and on his own authority appointed a successor. At the same time Otto exacted from the people of Rome an oath that they would never recognize any pope to whose election the emperor had not consented.

THE PAPACY AND OTTO'S SUCCESSORS

The emperors who followed Otto repeatedly interfered in elections to the Papacy. One strong ruler, Henry III (1039-1056 A.D.), has been called the "pope-maker." Early in his reign he set aside three rival claimants to the Papacy, creating a German bishop pope, and on three subsequent occasions filled the papal throne by fresh appointments. It was clear that if this situation continued much longer the Papacy would become simply an imperial office; it would be merged in the Empire.

PAPAL ELECTION BY THE CARDINALS

The death of Henry III, which left the Empire in weak hands, gave the Papacy a chance to escape the control of the secular power. In 1059 A.D. a church council held at the Lateran Palace decreed that henceforth the right of choosing the supreme pontiff should belong exclusively to the cardinals, who represented the clergy of Rome. This arrangement has tended to prevent any interference with the election of popes, either by the Roman people or by foreign sovereigns.

FEUDALIZING OF THE CHURCH

Now that the Papacy had become independent, it began to deal with a grave problem which affected the Church at large. According to ecclesiastical rule bishops ought to be chosen by the clergy of their diocese and abbots of by their monks. With the growth of feudalism, however, many of these high dignitaries had become vassals, holding their lands as fiefs of princes, kings, and emperors, and owing the usual feudal dues. Their lords expected them to perform the ceremony of homage, [34] before "investing" them with the lands attached to the bishopric or monastery. One can readily see that in practice the lords really chose the bishops and abbots, since they could always refuse to "invest" those who were displeasing to them.

LAY INVESTITURE FROM THE CHURCH STANDPOINT

To the reformers in the Church lay investiture appeared intolerable. How could the Church keep itself unspotted from the world when its highest officers were chosen by laymen and were compelled to perform unpriestly duties? In the act of investiture the reformers also saw the sin of simony [35]--the sale of sacred powers--because there was such a temptation before the candidate for a bishopric or abbacy to buy the position with promises or with money.

LAY INVESTITURE AS VIEWED BY THE SECULAR AUTHORITY

The lords, on the other hand, believed that as long as bishops and abbots held vast estates on feudal tenure they should continue to perform the obligations of vassalage. To forbid lay investiture was to deprive the lords of all control over Church dignitaries. The real difficulty of the situation existed, of course, in the fact that the bishops and abbots were both spiritual officers and temporal rulers, were servants of both the Church and the State. They found it very difficult to serve two masters.

PONTIFICATE OF GREGORY VII, 1073-1085 A.D.

In 1073 A.D. there came to the throne of St. Peter one of the most remarkable of the popes. This was Hildebrand, who, on becoming pope, took the name of Gregory VII. Of obscure Italian birth, he received his education in a Benedictine monastery at Rome and rose rapidly to a position of great influence in papal affairs. He is described as a small man, ungainly in appearance and with a weak voice, but energetic, forceful, and of imperious will.

GREGORY'S AIMS

Gregory devoted all his talents to the advancement of the Papacy. A contemporary document, [36] which may have been of Gregory's own composition and at any rate expresses his ideas, contains the following statements: "The Roman pontiff alone is properly called universal. He alone may depose bishops and restore them to office. He is the only person whose feet are kissed by all princes. He may depose emperors. He may be judged by no one. He may absolve from their allegiance the subjects of the wicked. The Roman Church never has erred, and never can err, as the Scriptures testify." Gregory did not originate these doctrines, but he was the first pope who ventured to make a practical application of them.

DECREE AGAINST LAY INVESTITURE, 1075 A.D.

Two years after Gregory became pope he issued a decree against lay investiture. It declared that no emperor, king, duke, marquis, count, or any other lay person should presume to grant investiture, under pain of excommunication. This decree was a general one, applying to all states of western Europe, but circumstances were such that it mainly affected Germany.

HENRY IV AND GREGORY VII

Henry IV, the ruler of Germany at this time, did not refuse the papal challenge. He wrote a famous letter to Gregory, calling him "no pope but false monk," telling him Christ had never called him to the priesthood, and bidding him "come down;" "come down" from St. Peter's throne. Gregory, in reply, deposed Henry as emperor, excommunicated him, and freed his subjects from their allegiance.

CANOSSA, 1077 A.D.

This severe sentence made a profound impression in Germany. Henry's adherents fell away, and it seemed probable that the German nobles would elect another ruler in his stead. Henry then decided on abject submission. He hastened across the Alps and found the pope at the castle of Canossa, on the northern slopes of the Apennines. It was January, and the snow lay deep on the ground. For three days the emperor stood shivering outside the castle gate, barefoot and clad in a coarse woolen shirt, the garb of a penitent. At last, upon the entreaties of the Countess Matilda of Tuscany, Gregory admitted Henry and granted absolution. It was a strange and moving spectacle, one which well expressed the tremendous power which the Church in the Middle Ages exercised over the minds of men.

CONCORDAT OF WORMS, 1122 A.D.

The dramatic scene at Canossa did not end the investiture conflict. It dragged on for half a century, being continued after Gregory's death by the popes who succeeded him. At last in 1122 A.D. the opposing parties agreed to what is known as the Concordat of Worms, from the old German city where it was signed.

TERMS OF THE CONCORDAT

The concordat drew a distinction between spiritual and lay investiture. The emperor renounced investiture by the ring and crosier--the emblems of spiritual authority--and permitted bishops and abbots to be elected by the clergy and confirmed in office by the pope. On the other hand the pope recognized the emperor's right to be present at all elections and to invest bishops and abbots by the scepter for whatever lands they held within his domains. This reasonable compromise worked well for a time. But it was a truce, not a peace. It did not settle the more fundamental issue, whether the Papacy or the Holy Roman Empire should be supreme.

167. POPES AND EMPERORS, 1122-1273 A.D.

FREDERICK I, EMPEROR, 1152-1190

Thirty years after the signing of the Concordat of Worms the emperor Frederick I, called Barbarossa from his red beard, succeeded to the throne. Frederick, the second emperor, of the Hohenstaufen dynasty [37] was capable, imaginative, and ambitious. He took Charlemagne and Otto the Great as his models and aspired like them to rule Christian Europe and the Church. His reign is the story of many attempts, ending at length in failure, to unite all Italy into a single state under German sway.

FREDERICK AND THE PAPACY

Frederick's Italian policy brought him at once into conflict with two powerful enemies. The popes, who feared that his success would imperil the independence of the Papacy, opposed him at every step. The great cities of northern Italy, which were also threatened by Frederick's soaring schemes, united in the Lombard League to defend their freedom. The popes gave the league their support, and in 1176 A.D. Frederick was badly beaten at the battle of Legnano. The haughty emperor confessed himself conquered, and sought reconciliation with the pope, Alexander III. In the presence of a vast throng assembled before St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice, Frederick knelt before the pope and humbly kissed his feet. Just a century had passed since the humiliation of Henry IV at Canossa.

PONTIFICATE OF INNOCENT III, 1198-1216 A.D.

The Papacy reached the height of its power under Innocent III. The eighteen years of his pontificate were one long effort, for the most part successful, to make the pope the arbiter of Europe. Innocent announced the claims of the Papacy in the most uncompromising manner. "As the moon," he declared, "receives its light from the sun, and is inferior to the sun, so do kings receive all their glory and dignity from the Holy See." This meant, according to Innocent, that the pope has the right to interfere in all secular matters and in the quarrels of rulers. "God," he continued, "has set the Prince of the Apostles over kings and kingdoms, with a mission to tear up, plant, destroy, scatter, and rebuild."

INNOCENT AND KING PHILIP OF FRANCE

That Innocent's claims were not idle boasts is shown by what he accomplished. When Philip Augustus, king of France, divorced his wife and made another marriage, Innocent declared the divorce void and ordered him to take back his discarded queen. Philip refused, and Innocent, through his legate, put France under an interdict. From that hour all religious rites ceased. The church doors were barred; the church bells were silent, the sick died unshriven, the dead lay unburied. Philip, deserted by his retainers, was compelled to submit.

INNOCENT AND KING JOHN OF ENGLAND

On another occasion Innocent ordered John, the English king, to accept as archbishop of Canterbury a man of his own choosing. When John declared that he would never allow the pope's appointee to set foot on English soil, Innocent replied by excommunicating him and laying his kingdom under an interdict. John also had to yield and went so far as to surrender England and Ireland to the pope, receiving them back again as fiefs, for which he promised to pay a yearly rent. This tribute money was actually paid, though irregularly, for about a century and a half.

FREDERICK II, EMPEROR, 1212-1250 A.D.

Innocent further exhibited his power by elevating to the imperial throne Frederick II, grandson of Frederick Barbarossa. The young man, after Innocent's death, proved to be a most determined opponent of the Papacy. He passed much of his long reign in Italy, warring vainly against the popes and the Lombard cities. Frederick died in 1250 A.D., and with him the Holy Roman Empire really ceased to exist. [38] None of the succeeding holders of the imperial title exercised any authority outside of Germany.

INTERREGNUM, 1254-1273 A.D.

The death of Frederick II's son in 1254 A.D. ended the Hohenstaufen dynasty. There now ensued what is called the Interregnum, a period of nineteen years, during which Germany was without a ruler. At length the pope sent word to the German electors that if they did not choose an emperor, he would himself do so. The electors then chose Rudolf of Hapsburg [39] (1273 A.D.). Rudolf gained papal support by resigning all claims on Italy, but recompensed himself through the conquest of Austria. [40] Ever since this time the Hapsburg dynasty has filled the Austrian throne.

OUTCOME OF THE CONFLICT

The conflict between popes and emperors was now ended. Its results were momentous. Germany, so long neglected by its rightful rulers, who pursued the will-o'-the-wisp in Italy, broke up into a mass of duchies, counties, archbishoprics, and free cities. The map of the country at this time shows how numerous were these small feudal states. They did not combine into a strong government till the nineteenth century. [41] Italy likewise remained disunited and lacked even a common monarch. The real victor was the Papacy, which had crushed the Empire and had prevented the union of Italy and Germany.

168. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH

THE CHURCH AND WARFARE

Medieval society, we have now learned, owed much to the Church, both as a teacher of religion and morals and as an agency of government. It remains to ask what was the attitude of the Church toward the great social problems of the Middle Ages. In regard to warfare, the prevalence of which formed one of the worst evils of the time, the Church, in general, cast its influence on the side of peace. It deserves credit for establishing the Peace and the Truce of God and for many efforts to heal strife between princes and nobles. Yet, as will be shown, the Church did not carry the advocacy of peace so far as to condemn warfare against heretics and infidels. Christians believed that it was a religious duty to exterminate these enemies of God.

THE CHURCH AND CHARITY

The Church was distinguished for charitable work. The clergy received large sums for distribution to the needy. From the doors of the monasteries, the poor, the sick, and the infirm of every sort were never turned away. Medieval charity, however, was very often injudicious. The problem of removing the causes of poverty seems never to have been raised; and the indiscriminate giving multiplied, rather than reduced, the number of beggars.

THE CHURCH AND SLAVERY AND SERFDOM

Neither slavery nor serfdom, into which slavery gradually passed, [42] was ever pronounced unlawful by pope or Church council. The Church condemned slavery only when it was the servitude of a Christian in bondage to a Jew or an infidel. Abbots, bishops, and popes possessed slaves and serfs. The serfs of some wealthy monasteries were counted by thousands. The Church, however, encouraged the freeing of bondmen as a meritorious act and always preached the duty of kindness and forbearance toward them.

DEMOCRACY OF THE CHURCH

The Church also helped to promote the cause of human freedom by insisting on the natural equality of all men in the sight of God. "The Creator," wrote one of the popes, "distributes his gifts without regard to social classes. In his eyes there are neither nobles nor serfs." It was not necessary to be of noble birth to become a bishop, a cardinal, or a pope. Even serfs succeeded to the chair of St. Peter. Naturally enough, the Church attracted the keenest minds of the age, a fact which largely explains the influence exerted by the clergy.

THE CLERGY AS THE ONLY EDUCATED CLASS

The influence of the clergy in medieval Europe was also due to the fact that they were almost the only persons of education. Few except churchmen were able to read or write. So generally was this the case that an offender could prove himself a clergyman, thus securing "benefit of clergy," [43] if he showed his ability to read a single line. It is interesting, also, to note that the word "clerk," which comes from the Latin clericus, was originally limited to churchmen, since they alone could keep accounts, write letters, and perform other secretarial duties.

IMPORTANCE OF THE CLERGY

It is clear that priests and monks had much importance quite aside from their religious duties. They controlled the schools, wrote the books, framed the laws, and, in general, acted as leaders and molders of public opinion. A most conspicuous instance of the authority wielded by them is seen in the crusades. These holy wars of Christendom against Islam must now be considered.

STUDIES

1. Explain the following terms: abbot; prior; archbishop; parish; diocese; regular clergy; secular clergy; friar; excommunication; simony; interdict; sacrament; "benefit of clergy"; right of "sanctuary"; crosier; miter; tiara; papal indulgence; bull; dispensation; tithes; and "Peter's Pence."

2. Mention some respects in which the Roman Church in the Middle Ages differed from any religious society of the present day.

3. "Medieval Europe was a camp with a church in the background." Comment on this statement.

4. Explain the statement that "the Church, throughout the Middle Ages, was a government as well as an ecclesiastical organization."

5. Distinguish between the faith of the Church, the organization of the Church, and the Church as a force in history.

6. How did the belief in Purgatory strengthen the hold of the Church upon men's minds?

7. Name several historic characters who have been made saints.

8. Why has the Roman Church always refused to sanction divorce?

9. Compare the social effects of excommunication with those of a modern "boycott."

10. What reasons have led the Church to insist upon celibacy of the clergy?

11. Name four famous monks and four famous monasteries.

12. Could monks enter the secular clergy and thus become parish priests and bishops?

13. Mention two famous popes who had been monks.

14. What justification was found in the New Testament (Matthew, x 8-10) for the organization of the orders of friars?

15. How did the Franciscans and Dominicans supplement each other's work?

16. "The monks and the friars were the militia of the Church." Comment on this statement.

17. Who is the present Pope? When and by whom was he elected? In what city does he reside? What is his residence called?

18. Why has the medieval Papacy been called the "ghost" of the Roman Empire?

19. In what sense is it true that the Holy Roman Empire was "neither holy nor Roman, nor an empire"?

FOOTNOTES

[1] Webster, Readings in Medieval and Modern History, chapter x, "Monastic Life in the Twelfth Century"; chapter xi, "St. Francis and the Franciscans."

[2] In case of necessity baptism might be performed by any lay person of adult years and sound mind.Return to passage

[3] This doctrine is known as transubstantiation. In the Roman Church, as has been noted (page 363), wine is not administered to the laity.Return to passage

[4] Hence the term "Apostolical Succession."Return to passage

[5] Latin sanctus, "holy."Return to passage

[6] See page 234.Return to passage

[7] See page 431.Return to passage

[8] See pages 407, 418.Return to passage

[9] The belief in Purgatory is not held by Protestants or by members of the Greek Church.Return to passage

[10] The so-called "canon law." See page 568.Return to passage

[11] See page 420.Return to passage

[12] For two instances of the use of excommunication see pages 459 and 461.Return to passage

[13] For two instances of this sort see page 461.Return to passage

[14] Latin saeculum, used in the sense of "the world."Return to passage

[15] Latin regula, a "rule", referring to the rule or constitution of a monastic order.Return to passage

[16] See page 343.Return to passage

[17] The tithe was a tenth part of the yearly income from land, stock, and personal industry.Return to passage

[18] See illustration, page 447.Return to passage

[19] Latin cathedra.Return to passage

[20] For the architecture of a medieval cathedral see pages 562-565.Return to passage

[21] See page 474.Return to passage

[22] See page 352.Return to passage

[23] Latin frater, "brother."Return to passage

[24] Latin mendicare, "to beg."Return to passage

[25] In England the Franciscans, from the color of their robes, were called Gray Friars, the Dominicans, Black Friars.Return to passage

[26] Latin papa, "father."Return to passage

[27] See the illustration, page 348.Return to passage

[28] So called from the lead seal (Latin bulla) attached to papal documents.Return to passage

[29] Latin legatus, "deputy."Return to passage

[30] Latin cardinalus, "principal."Return to passage

[31] See page 311.Return to passage

[32] See the plate facing page 591.Return to passage

[33] See page 317.Return to passage

[34] See page 418.Return to passage

[35] A name derived from Simon Magus, who offered money to the Apostle Peter for the power to confer the Holy Spirit. See Acts, viii, 18-20.Return to passage

[36] The so-called Dictatus papae.Return to passage

[37] The name of this German family comes from that of their castle in southwestern Swabia.Return to passage

[38] It survived in name until 1806 A.D., when the Austrian ruler, Francis II, laid down the imperial crown and the venerable title of "Holy Roman Emperor."Return to passage

[39] Hapsburg as the name of a castle in northern Switzerland.Return to passage

[40] See page 522.Return to passage

[41] The modern German Empire dates from 1871 A.D.Return to passage

[42] See pages 436-437.Return to passage

[43] See page 444.Return to passage