View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages ... The seventh edition

Front matter

Classic <§ngltsf) Writers, EUROPE DURING THE MIDDLE AGES TO HENRY HALLAM, THE HISTORIAN OF THE MIDDLE AGES, OP THE CONSTITUTION OF HIS COUNTRY, AND OF THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE, THIS MONUMENT IS RAISED BY MANY FRIENDS; WHO, REGARDING THE SOUNDNESS OF HIS LEARNING, THE SIMPLE ELOQUENCE OF HIS STYLE, HIS MANLY AND CAPACIOUS INTELLECT, THE FEARLESS HONESTY OF HIS JUDGMENTS, AND THE MORAL DIGNITY OF HIS LIFE, DESIRE TO PERPETUATE HIS MEMORY WITHIN THESE SACRED WALLS AS OF ONE WHO HAS BEST ILLUSTRATED THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, THE ENGLISH CHARACTER, AND THE ENGLISH NAME. BORN, JULY 9TH 1777. DIED, JANUARY 2IST 1859. [FULL LENGTH STATUE IN ST PAUL'S, LONDON. BY W. THEED, 1862.] Ballantyne and Company } Printers^ Edinburgh. , VIEW OF THE STATE OF EUROPE DURING THE MIDDLE AGES, BY HENRY HALLAM, LL.D., F.R.A.S., AUTHOR OF THE " CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND," ETC. 'Ek Xaeos 5' E/?e/3<5s re fxiXaivd re \Nv% eyevovro* Nt//crds 5' a -Dr 'Atdrjp re Kai 'Hat-pi} i^eyevovro.

H2IOA02. REPRINT OF FOURTH EDITION, AS REVISED AND CORRECTED. LONDON: ALEX. MURRAY & SON, 30 QUEEN SQUARE, W.C. 1 868. The HENRY HALLAM. OBITUARY NOTICE FROM THE 'TIMES,' JAN. 24, 1859. constellation of writers who shed a radiance on the early part of the Present century is fast vanishing away. Not the least remarkable of these, the historian of the Middle Ages, of the Revival of Letters, and of the English Constitution, Henry Hallam, died on Saturday last, at the great age of Si. He has left but few of his companions behind him. Among historians, we doubt if there is to be fouitd one equal to Mr Hallam in impartiality. There have been historians erudite as he, not less acute, more inspiring as thinkers, more elegant as writers, but for stern justice he is probably without a rival. His unflinching integrity, his subjugation of personal prejudice, his determination to speak the truth under all circumstances, is one of the rarest things in literature.

This perfect frankness never takes in him the form which it assumes in minds less accurately balanced, of an impatient desire to speak unpalateable truths in season and out of season. Perhaps there never was a critic who was so little of an egotist, and whose judgment was so little swayed by personal feelings. He belonged to that school 'which hi history deals "with principles rather titan with persons. Mr Hallam, in striving to be a classical historian, has shown but little ambition to be apopular one. The student finds in his "works a mine of wealth, u?ibounded erudition, accuracy that has never been impugned, a "wise judgment that ahnost always leaves one satisfied, a brevity of statement that prevents exhaustion, and an elegance of style that draws him along. In all the writings of Mr Hallam, there are passages instinct with fine feeling, which may •well fix the attention oftJte most desultory reader.

Preface

. It is the object of the present work to exhibit, in a series of historical dissertations, a comprehensive survey of the chief circumstances that can interest a philosophical inquirer during the period usually denominated the Middle Ages. Such an undertaking must necessarily fall under the class of historical abridgments : yet there will perhaps be found enough to distinguish it from such as have already appeared. Many considerable portions of time, especially before the twelfth century, may justly be deemed so barren of events worthy of remembrance, that a single sentence or paragraph is often sufficient to give the character of entire generations, and of long dynasties of obscure kings. Non ragioniam di lor, ma guarda e passa. And even in the more pleasing and instructive parts of this middle period, it has been my object to avoid the dry composition of annals, and aiming, with what spirit and freedom I could, at a just outline rather than a miniature, to suppress all events that did not appear essentially concatenated with others, or illustrative of important con clusions.

But as the modes of government and constitutional laws which prevailed in various countries of Europe, and especially in Eng land, seemed to have been less fully dwelt upon in former works of this description than military or civil transactions, while they were deserving of far more attention, I have taken pains to give a true representation of them, and in every instance to point out the sources from which the reader may derive more complete and original information. Nothing can be farther from my wishes than that the following pages should be judged according to the critical laws of historical composition. Tried in such a balance they would be eminently de fective. The limited extent of this work, compared with the subjects it embraces, as well as its partaking more of the character of political dissertation than of narrative, must necessarily preclude that circumstantial delineation of events and of characters, upon which the beauty as well as usefulness of a regular history so mainly depends.

Nor can I venture to assert that it will be found altogether perspicuous to those who are destitute of any previous acquaintance with the period to which it relates ; though I have only presupposed, strictly speaking, a knowledge of the common facts of English history, and have endeavoured to avoid, in treating of other countries, those allusive references which imply more information in the reader than the author designs to communicate. But the arrangement which I have adopted has ' Preface. VI sometimes rendered it necessary to anticipate both names and facts, which are to find a more definite place in a subsequent part of the work. This arrangement is probably different from that of any former his torical retrospect. Every chapter of the following volume completes its particular subject, and may be considered in some degree as independent of the rest.

The order, consequently, in which they are read will not be very material, though of course I should rather prefer that in which they are at present disposed. A solicitude to avoid continual transitions, and to give free scope to the natural association of con nected facts, has dictated this arrangement, to which I confess myself partial. And I have found its inconveniences so trifling in com position, that I cannot believe they will occasion much trouble to the reader. The first chapter comprises the history of France from the invasion of Clovis to the expedition, exclusively, of Charles VIII. against Naples. It is not possible to fix accurate limits to the Middle Ages ; but though the ten centuries from the fifth to the fifteenth seem, in a general point of view, to constitute that period, a less arbitrary division was necessary to render the commencement and conclusion of a historical narrative satisfactory.

The continuous chain of transactions on the stage of human society is ill divided by mere lines of chronological demarcation. But as the subversion of the wes tern empire is manifestly the natural termination of ancient history, so the establishment of the Franks in Gaul appears the most convenient epoch for the commencement of a new period. Less difficulty oc curred in finding the other limit. The invasion of Naples by Charles VIII. was the event that first engaged the principal states of Europe in relations of alliance or hostility which may be deduced to the present day, and is the point at which every man who traces backwards its political history will be obliged to pause. It furnishes a determinate epoch in the annals of Italy and France, and nearly coincides with events which naturally terminate the history of the Middle Ages in other countries.

The feudal system is treated in the second chapter, which I have subjoined to the history of France, with which it has a near connexion. Inquiries into the antiquities of that jurisprudence occupied more attention in the last age than at present, and their dryness may prove repulsive to many readers. But there is no royal road to the know ledge of law ; nor can any man render an obscure and intricate dis quisition either perspicuous or entertaining. That the feudal system is an important branch of historical knowledge will not be disputed, when we consider not only its influence upon our own constitution, but that one of the parties which at present divide a neighbouring kingdom professes to appeal to the original principles of its monarchy, as they subsisted before the subversion of that polity.

The four succeeding chapters contain a sketch, more or less rapid and general, of the histories of Italy, of Spain, of Germany, and of the Greek and Saracenic empires. In the seventh I have endeavoured to develop the progress of ecclesiastical power, a subject eminently distinguishing the Middle Ages, and of which a concise and impartial delineation has long been desirable. Preface. VII The English constitution furnishes materials for the eighth chapter. I cannot hope to have done sufficient justice to this theme, which has cost me considerable labour ; but it is worthy of remark, that since the treatise of Nathaniel Bacon, itself open to much exception, there has been no historical development of our constitution, -founded upon extensive researches, or calculated to give a just notion of its character.

The ninth and last chapter relates to the general state of society in Europe during the Middle Ages, and comprehends the history of com merce, of manners, and of literature. None, however, of these are treated in detail, and the whole chapter is chiefly designed as supplemental to the rest, in order to vary the relations under which events may be viewed, and to give a more adequate sense of the spirit and character of the Middle Ages. In the execution of a plan far more comprehensive than what, with a due consideration either of my abilities or opportunities, I ought to have undertaken, it would be strangely presumptuous to hope that I can have rendered myself invulnerable to criticism. Even if flagrant errors should not be frequently detected, yet I am aware that a desire of conciseness has prevented the sense of some passages from appear ing sufficiently distinct ; and though I cannot hold myself generally responsible for omissions in a work which could only be brought within a reasonable compass by the severe retrenchment of superfluous matter, it is highly probable that defective information, forgetfulness, or too great a regard for brevity have caused me to pass over many things which would have materially illustrated the various subjects of these inquiries.

I dare not, therefore, appeal with confidence to the tribunal of those superior judges, who, having bestowed a more undivided attention on the particular objects that have interested them, may justly deem such general sketches imperfect and superficial ; but my labours will not have proved fruitless, if they shall conduce to stimulate the reflection, to guide the researches, to correct the prejudices, or to animate the liberal and virtuous sentiments of inquisitive youth : Mi satis ampla Merces, et mihi grande decus, sim ignotus in acvuin Turn licet, externo penitusque inglorius orbi. Note. — In 1848 a Supplemental Volume to the " Middle Ages of Europe " was issued, to be had separately for 10s. 6d. In the Preface, Mr Hallam writes, " I was always reluctant to make such alterations as would leave to the purchasers of former editions a right to complain ; " adding, "These Supplemental Notes will not much affect the value of their cop}."

Also, " That the several chapters which follow the second have furnished no great store of additions ; " and, ' ' In not many instances have I seen ground for mate rially altering my own views." A. M. CONTENTS.

Part I

— FRANCE. BEFORE the conclusion of the fifth century, the mighty fabric of em pire, which valour and policy had founded upon the seven hills of Rome, was finally overthrown, in all the west of Europe, by the barbarous nations from the north, whose martial energy and whose num bers were irresistible. A race of men, formerly unknown or despised, had not only dismembered that proud sovereignty, but permanently settled themselves in its fairest provinces, and imposed their yoke upon the ancient possessors. The Vandals were masters of Africa ; the Suevi held part of Spain ; the Visigoths possessed the remainder, with a large portion of Gaul ; the Burgundians occupied the provinces watered by the Rhone and Saone : the Ostrogoths almost all Italy. The north-west of Gaul, between the Seine and Loire, some writers have filled with an Armorican republic ; 1 while the remainder was 1 It is impossible not to speak sceptically as to this republic, or, rather, confederation of independent cities under the rule of their respective bishops, which Du Bos has with great ingenuity raised upon very slight historical evidence, and in defiance of the silence of Subversion of the Roman Empire. 10 nominally subject to the Roman empire, and governed by a certain Syagrius, rather with an independent than a deputed authority.

At this time, A.D. 486, Clovis, king of the Salian Franks, a tribe of Germans long connected with Rome, and originally settled upon the right bank of the Rhine, but who had latterly penetrated as far as Tournay and Cambray,1 invaded Gaul and defeated Syagrius at Soissons. The result of this victory was the subjugation of those provinces which had previously been considered as Roman. But as their allegiance had not been very strict, so their loss was not very severely felt ; since the emperors of Constantinople were not too proud to confer upon Clovis the titles of consul and patrician, which he was too prudent to refuse.2 Some years after this, Clovis defeated the Alemanni, or Swabians, in a great battle at Zulpich, near Cologne. In consequence of a vow, as it is said, made during this engagement,3 and at the instigation of his wife Clotilda, a princess of Burgundy, he became a convert to Christianity.

It would be a fruitless inquiry, whether he was sincere in his change ; but it is certain, at least, that no policy could, in 496, have been more successful. The Arian sect, which had been early introduced among the barbarous nations, was predominant, though apparently without intolerance,* in the Burgundian and Visigoth courts ; but the clergy of Gaul were strenuously attached to the Catholic side, and even before his conversion had favoured the arms of Clovis. They now became his most zealous supporters ; and were rewarded by him with artful gratitude, and by his descendants with lavish munificence. Upon the pretence of religion, he, in 507, attacked Gregory, whose see of Tours bordered upon their supposed territory. But his hypothesis is not to be absolutely rejected, because it is by no means deficient in internal probability, and the early part of Gregory's history is brief and negligent. 1 The system of Pere Daniel, who denies any settlement of the Franks on the left bank of the Rhine before Clovis, seems incapable of being supported.

It is difficult to resist the pre* sumption that arises from the discovery of the tomb and skeleton of Childeric, father of Clovis, at Tournay, in 1653. 2 The theory of Du Bos, who considers Clovis as a sort of lieutenant of the emperors, and as governing the Roman rjart of his subjects by no other title, has justly seemed extravagant to later critical inquirers into the history of France. But it may nevertheless be true, that the connexion between him and the empire, and the emblems of Roman magistracy which he bore, reconciled the conquered to their new masters. This is judiciously stated by the duke de Nivernois. In the sixth century, however, the Greeks appear to have been nearly ignorant of Clovis's countrymen. Nothing can be made out of a passage in Procopius, where he seems to mention the Armoricans under the name Ap/35pi*xoi ; and Agathias gives a strangely romantic account of the Franks, whom he extols for their conformity to Roman laws, TroXireup ws tcl TroWa xpCivrai Kai vo{ioi$ rois aurois. k. t. X. He goes on to commend their mutual union, and observes particularly, that in partitions of the kingdom, which had frequently been made, they had never taken up arms against each other, nor polluted the land with civil bloodshed.

One would almost believe him ironical. 3 Gregory of Tours makes a very rhetorical story of this famous vow, which, though we cannot disprove, it may be permitted to suspect. * A specious objection might be drawn from the history of the Gothic monarchies in Italy, aswell as Gaul and Spain, to the great principles of religious toleration. These Arian sovereigns treated their Catholic subjects, it may be said, with tenderness, leaving them in possession of every civil privilege, and were rewarded for it by their defection or sedition. But in answer to this, it may be observed— 1. That the system of persecution adopted by the Vandals in Africa succeeded no better, the Catholics of that province having risen against them upon the landing of Belisarius. 2. That we do not know what insults and discourage ments the Catholics of Gaul and Italy may have endured, especially from the Arian bishops, in that age of bigotry : although the administrations of Alaric and Theodoric were liberal and tolerant. 3.

That the distinction of Arian and Catholic was intimately connected with that of Goth and Roman, of conqueror and conquered, so that it is difficult to separate the effects of national from those of sectarian animosity. Clovis conquers Gaul — His Descendants. 11 Alaric, king of the Visigoths, and by one great victory near Poitiers overthrowing their empire in Gaul, reduced them to the maritime pro vince of Septimania, a narrow strip of coast between the Rhone and the Pyrenees. The exploits of Clovis were the reduction of certain independent chiefs of his own tribe and family, who were settled in the neighbourhood of the Rhine.1 All these he put to death by force or treachery ; for he was cast in the true mould of conquerors, and may justly be ranked among the first of his class, both for the splen dour and the guiltiness of his ambition.2 Clovis left four sons ; one illegitimate, born in 511, before his con version ; and three by his queen Clotilda.

These four made, it is said, an equal partition of his dominions ; which comprehended not only France, but the western and central parts of Germany, besides Bavaria, and perhaps Swabia, which were governed by their own dependent, but hereditary, chiefs. Thierry, the eldest, had what was called Austrasia, the eastern or German division, and fixed his capital at Metz ; Clodomir, at Orleans ; Childebert, at Paris ; and Clotaire, at Soissons.3 During their reigns the monarchy was aggrandised by the conquest of Burgundy. Clotaire, the youngest brother, in 558 ultimately reunited all the kingdoms : but upon his death they were again divided among his four sons, and, in 613, brought together a second time by another Clotaire, the grandson of the first. It is a weary and unprofitable task to follow these changes in detail, through scenes of tumult and bloodshed, in which the eye meets with no sun shine, nor can rest upon any interesting spot.

It would be difficult, as Gibbon has justly observed, to find anywhere more vice or less virtue. The names of two queens are distinguished even in that age for the magnitude of their crimes : Fredegonde, the wife of Chilperic, of whose atrocities none have doubted ; and Brunehaut, queen of Austrasia, who has met with advocates in modern times, less, perhaps, from any fair presumptions of her innocence, than from compassion for the cruel death which she underwent.* 1 Modern historians, in enumerating these reguli, call one of them king of Mans. But it is difficult to understand how a chieftain, independent of Clovis, could have been settled in that part of France. In fact, Gregory of Tours, our only authority, does not say that this prince, Regnomeris, was king of Mans, but that he was put to death in that city, apud Ceno mannis civitatem jussu Chlodovechi interfectus est. 2 The reader will be gratified by an admirable memoir, by the Duke de Nivernois, on the policy of Clovis, in the twentieth volume of the Academy of Inscriptions. 3 It would rather perplex a geographer to make an equal division of Clovis' s empire into portions, of which Paris, Orleans, Metz, and Soissons, should be the respective capitals.

I apprehend, in fact, that Gregory's expression is not very precise. The kingdom of Soissons seems to have been the least of the four, and that of Austrasia the greatest. But the parti tions made by these princes were exceedingly complex ; insulated fragments of territory, and even undivided shares of cities being allotted to the worse provided brothers, by way of compensation, out of the larger kingdoms. It would be very difficult to ascertain the limits of these minor monarchies. But the French empire was always considered as one, whatever might be the number of its inheritors ; and from accidental circumstances it was so frequently reunited, as fully to keep up this notion. * Every history will give a sufficient epitome of the Merovingian dynasty. The facts of these times are of little other importance, than as they impress on the mind a thorough notion of the extreme wickedness of almost every person concerned in them, and, consequently, of the state to which society was reduced.

But there is no advantage in crowding the memory with barbarian wars and assassinations. For the question about Brunehaut's character, who has had partisans almost as enthusiastic as those of Mary of Scotland, the reader may consult Pasquier, Recherches de la France, 1. viii., or Velly, Hist, de France, tome i. on one side, and a dissertation by Gaillard, in the Memoirs of the Academy of Inscriptions, tome xxx., on the other. The last is unfavourable to Brunehaut, and perfectly satisfactory to my judgment. Mayors of the Palace — Charles Martel. 12 But in 628-638, after Dagobert, son of Clotaire II., the kings of France dwindled into personal insignificance, and are generally treated by later historians as insensati, or idiots.1 The whole power of the kingdom devolved upon the mayors of the palace, originally officers of the household, through whom petitions or representations were laid before the king.

The weakness of sovereigns rendered this office important, and still greater weakness suffered it to become elective ; men of energetic talents and ambition united it with military com mand ; and the history of France, for half a century, presents no names more conspicuous than those of Ebroin and Grimoald, mayors of Neustria and Austrasia, the western and eastern divisions of the French monarchy.2 These, however, met with violent ends ; but a more successful usurper of the royal authority, was Pepin Heristal, first mayor, and afterwards duke, of Austrasia ; who united with almost an avowed, sovereignty over that division, a paramount command over the French or Neustrian provinces, where nominal kings of Merovin gian family were still permitted to exist. This authority he transmitted to a more renowned hero, his son Charles Martel, who, after some less important exploits, was called upon to encounter a new and terrible enemy.

The Saracens, after subjugating Spain, had penetrated into the very heart of France. Charles Martel gained, in 732, a com plete victory over them between Tours and Poitiers,8 in which 300,000 Mohammedans are hyperbolically asserted to have fallen. The reward of this victory was the province of Septimania, which the Saracens had conquered from the Visigoths.4 Such powerful subjects were not likely to remain long contented without the crown ; but the circumstances under which it was trans ferred from the race of Clovis are connected with one of the most im portant revolutions in the history of Europe. In 752 the mayor Pepin, inheriting his father Charles Martel's talents and ambition, made, in the name, and with the consent of the nation, a solemn reference to the 1 An ingenious attempt is made by the Abbe Vertot, Mem. de l'Acad£mie, tome vi.,to rescue these monarchs from this long-established imputation.

But the leading fact is irresistible, that all the royal authority was lost during their reigns. However, theljest apology seems to be, that after the victories of Pepin Heristal, the Merovingian kings were, in effect conquered, and their inefficiency was a matter of necessary submission to a master. 2 The original kingdoms of Soissons, Paris, and Orleans, were consolidated into that denominated Neustria, to which Burgundy was generally appendant, though distinctly governed by a mayor of its own election. But Aquitaine, the exact bounds of which I do not know was, from the time of Dagobert I., separated from the rest of the monarchy, under a ducal dynasty, sprung from Aribert, brother of that monarch. S^Tours is above seventy miles _ distant from Poitiers; but I do not find that any French antiquary has been able to ascertain the place of this great battle with more precision, which is remarkable, since, after so immense a slaughter, we should expect the testimony of " grandia effossis ossa sepulcris."

The victory of Charles Martel has immortalised his name, and may justly be reckoned among those few battles, of which a contrary event would have essentially varied the drama of the world in all its subsequent scenes, with Marathon, Arbela, Metaurus, Chalons and Leipsic. Yet, do we not judge a little too much by the event, and follow, as usual, in the wake of fortune? Has not more frequent experience condemned those who set the fate of empires upon a single cast, and risk a general battle with invaders, whose greater peril is in delay? Was not this the fatal error by which Roderic had lost his kingdom? Was it possible that the Saracens could have retained any permanent possession of France, except by means of a victory 1 And did not the contest upon the broad champaign of Poitou afford them a con siderable prospect of success, which a more cautious policy would have withheld ? * This conquest was completed by Pepin in 75g. The inhabitants preserved their liberties by treaty, and Vaissette deduces from this solemn assurance the privileues of Languedoc. * v The Ostrogoths.

The Lombards. 13 pope Zacharias, as to the deposition of Childeric III., under whose nominal authority he himself was reigning. The decision was favourable ; that he who possessed the power should also bear the title of king. The unfortunate Merovingian was dismissed into a convent, and the Franks, with one consent, raised Pepin to the throne, the founder of a more illustrious dynasty. In order to judge of the im portance of this revolution to the see of Rome, as well as to France, we must turn our eyes upon the affairs of Italy. The dominion of the Ostrogoths was annihilated by the arms of Belisarius and Narsus in the sixth century, and that nation appears no more in history. But not long afterwards the Lombards, a people for some time settled in Pannonia, not only subdued that northern part ot Italy which has retained their name, but, extending themselves south ward, formed the powerful duchies of Spoleto and Benevento.

The residence of their kings was in Pavia ; but the hereditary vassals, who held those two duchies, might be deemed almost independent sove reigns.1 The rest of Italy was governed by exarchs, deputed by the Greek emperors, and fixed at Ravenna. In Rome itself, neither the people, nor the bishops, who had already conceived in part their schemes of ambition, were much inclined to endure the superiority of Constantinople ; yet their disaffection was counterbalanced by the inveterate hatred, as well as jealousy, with which they regarded the Lombards. But an impolitic and intemperate persecution, carried on by two or three Greek emperors against a favourite superstition, the worship of images, excited commotions throughout Italy, of which the Lombards, in 752, took advantage, and easily wrested the exarchate of Ravenna from the eastern empire.

It was far from the design of the popes to see their nearest enemies so much aggrandised : and any effectual assistance from the emperor Constantine Copronymus would have kept Rome still faithful. But having no hope from his arms, and provoked by his obstinate intolerance, the pontiffs had recourse to France ;2 and the service they had rendered to Pepin led to reciprocal obligations of the greatest magnitude. At the request of Stephen II., the new king of France descended from the Alps, drove the Lombards from their recent conquests, and conferred them upon the pope. This memorable donation nearly comprised the modern provinces of Ro magna and the March of Ancona. The state of Italy, which had undergone no change for nearly two centuries, was, in 768, rapidly verging to a great revolution.

Under the shadow of a mighty name, the Greek empire had concealed the extent of its decline. That charm was now broken : and the Lombard kingdom, which had hitherto appeared the only competitor in the lists, proved to have lost its own energy in awaiting the occasion for its dis play. France was far more than a match for the power of Italy, even if she had not been guided by the towering ambition and restless acti vity of the son of Pepin. It was almost the first exploit of Charlemagne, after the death of his brother Carloman had, in 772, reunited the X The history, character, and policy of the Lombards are well treated by Gibbon, c. 45. See, too, the fourth and fifth books of Giannone, and some papers by Gaillard. 2 There had been some previous overtures to Charles Martel, as well as to Pepin himself; the habitual sagacity of the Court of Rome perceiving the growth of a new western monarchy, which would be, in faith and arms, their surest ally.