Civil wars and monarchy in France in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries : a history of France principally during that period

Front matter

i

HE SPARKS

LIBJL^RY,

Chapter I. The Elements Of The French Nation

There are many kinds of war, aiJd many degrees of heroic renown, but the highest praise is due to those who, by their victorious arms, have opened new scenes for the civilization of mankind, and overcome barbarism in some important portion of the world. Under this point of view Julius Csesar has earned for himself one of the greatest of names, and, as regards the West, unquestionably the greatest of all. It is impossible to mention any wars which have had a greater and more enduring influence upon the extension and consolidation of the general civilization of the world than his campaigns in transalpine Gaul.

It may appear surprising that we should comprehend the tribes of Iberian, and especially of Celtic race, which held possession of that territory, under the designation of barbarians. In fact, the products of their manual skill, which have been brought to hght out of their tombs, attest their acquaintance with various arts. They were in possession of municipal institutions and other elements of society. A peculiar system of opinions extended over their social state, of which it is to be regretted that no authentic monument gives us a nearer view. But at the same time we find in their manners traces of a savage — rather than merely rude — condition, which, sustained by a religion that consecrated human sacrifices, and by an hereditary arrogance which despised every thing in comparison with itself, would hardly have permitted a free participation in the progress of the human race to arise among them. However doubtful this may seem from an ethnographical point of view, it is not so historically. The ancient Celts made their appearance as the most formidable enemies of the civilized nations on whose confines they dwelt, and whom for centuries they threatened with destruction. Their sole occupation was war, which, repelled by no natural boundaries, they waged, as an inborn passion for adventure suggested, in vast masses and with irresistible force. They overflowed upper and middle Italy, and conquered Rome. They scattered the hitherto invincible phalanx of the Macedonians, and carried to Tolosa the treasures of the Delphic temple. They seized the ships which were to have prevented them from crossing over into Asia, and by their means eflected the passage, and for a time the ancient Ilion was their stronghold. It became a vital necessity for the polished nations of the ancient world to free themselves from these enemies.

When, after long and severe conflicts, this had been effected, Julius Csesar sought them out in their own homes, and subdued them in those memorable campaigns.

By these means not only were the two great peninsulas of the Mediterranean and the adjacent islands and coasts, upon which the Greek and Roman culture unfolded itself, for a long period at least, secured against all danger from the interior of the European continent, but at the same time in the very midst of it new abodes were prepared for civilization. Tribes of an inexhaustible vital energy, brave and ingenious, were drawn within its circle and subjected to its ideas. After their defeat the Gauls begin for the first time the general cultivation of their native land,* and to enjoy the advantages which its geographical position aflbrded for peaceful occupations. The Romans filled the country with those great works which every where indicate their presence— amphitheatres, baths, aqueducts, and military roads, which last, as they traversed the land in various directions, were the chief cause of the progress of the Gauls, for they brought every portion into immediate connection with the principal centres of Rn-

* Strabo, iv. 1, 3: vvv 61 ivayKd^ovTai ysupyclv, Karadi/ievoi tA man influence. Lyons became the transalpine Rome. It ■were to be wished that a computation could be made of the jiumber of persons of Latin or Italian extraction who settled in Gaul: the first centuries were characterized by a colonizing and civiHzing activity which produced here an entirely new world; but there is no doubt that the native inhabitants united with the new comers with joyful alacrity. From the blending of the tribes and races which had hitherto inhabited the land with the colonies of the conquerors, there arose a new people — a great and distinct Eomanic nation. In the second century Gaul was the most populous, and in the fourth, one of the most civilized of the Roman provinces, although in the interior many national peculiarities were still preserved. Wherever the peculiar genius of the native races came in contact with some branch of the Latin culture, they attained at once to a remarkable degree of perfection. For a long time there were no schools more frequented than those in Gaul ; Romans themselves learned Latin eloquence, in the acceptation of the age, on the banks of the Garonne. The most important operation of this change was its effect upon the religion of the primitive races. It has been remarked that the religion of the Gallic Druids was the only one whose peculiarities the Romans did not tolerate ; wherever altars are found on which the Celtic gods are represented, together with those of Greece and Rome, they appear simply as idols, without any reference to nationality or polity ; the human sacrifices had to disappear. This prohibition can not be regarded, however, as a mere political transaction. The Emperor Claudius, who destroyed the Druidical system, was, without knowing it, an ally of the universal religion of humanity, which even then was beginning to appear in another place. When Christianity then made more and more progress in its contest with the various systems of Pagan idolatry, the Romanized Gauls, among others, were most deeply interested in its doctrines, and in the questions to which it gave rise. They accounted it an honor that the house of the Roman emperors which, in the contest between the various religions, gave the decision in favor of Christianity, had its chief abode in Gaul; it was there, it was said, that Constantine had

16 HISTORY OF PRANCE.

placed the sign of the Christian faith upon the Labarum. Some time elapsed, however, before the people were converted. It was not till the second half of the fourth century that the Pannonian warrior, St. Martin, appeared, who, exposing his own person, destroyed before the eyes of the people the objects of their worship — the conic monuments and sacred trees of the native gods, as well as the temples and statues of the Roman deities — for both had stood, and now both fell together — and erected Christian churches on their ruins. He founded the great Minster at Tours, which was succeeded by many other monkish institutions, both in the interior of the land and on the neighboring islands, seminaries alike for theological studies and for the service of the Church, which gave bishops to the cities, and missionaries to the rural districts. Thus complete was the incorporation of the Gauls in the system of the Roman Empire, in the progress and decline of its civilization, and in the alteration which took place in its religion. The external changes which the Empire experienced must, therefore, of necessity have affected them immediately, and with full force.

In the earlier times, if ever the conquered made an attempt at insurrection, they were reproved by being informed that the supremacy of Rome guaranteed them from the hostility of neighboring states, and prevented a universal war of nations ; but after the lapse of a few centuries, the Empire no longer possessed the power to occupy the proud position of defender of the obedient, and repeller of their enemies. The boundaries of the province ceased to extend themselves into the territories of the neighboring tribes, and were soon after overstepped by them in turn. The expedient of taking German troops into pay for the defense of the frontiers brought but a momentary respite. They were of necessity impelled and driven forward by the inundating motions of a still seminomadic world behind them, and at the same time being involved in the disputes of the Roman governors, thev took a decided and hostile direction toward the interior provinces • so that the elements which had been at first repelled with all power, now pressed forward as if by the force of necessity into the Gallo-Roman territory.

ELEMENTS OF THE ERENCH NATION. 17

In Southern Gaul, the troops which had been brought in for the defense of the land settled themselves down as its lords and proprietors. The Burgundians compelled the chiefs of the Roman provincials to grant theni possessions in the Sequanian and Lugdunian districts, and it is believed that the remains of their settlements, in the mountain regions, may still be discerned, the plains and cities have remained with their ancient possessors. The West-Goths, in conflict with the highest powers of the State, sought to obtain settlements in the very centre of the empire, and then, desisting from the attempt, fixed themselves in Aquitanian Gaul. The confusion was already so great, that even the regulations which they ordained on taking forcible possession of that region, were less oppressive to the native inhabitants than the burden of tribute which they had been compelled to bear previously.

In Northern Gaul, where some efibrts for independence had formerly been made, there was raised at the same time, upon the ruins of the fallen Empire, a very irregular power, in which, if we do not err, the influence of German ideas is discernible. It was a kind of Romano-Gallic monarchy, but incapable of coping with the aggressive power of the neighboring Prankish kings, which was far more firmly grounded in the hereditary customs and ideas of their subjects. Clovis entirely destroyed it in one pitched battle, and made himself master of its territories. Other portions of the intruding people disappeared again ; and we see the Germans who were once expelled by Ccesar from the Gallic soil, nearly the only strangers who remained and became citizens of the country. An earlier possession would have been of less importance to the history of the world, since they would have united with barbarous or semi-barbarous people only; now it was of eminent consequence, because the Gauls had become Romanized, and therefore, by a union with them, the Germans entered into relations with the civilized world, which could not again be interrupted.

If we ask what it was that subjected the conquests to a fixed rule, and put a stop to the popular flood, which at one time pushed on gradually, at another rushed on vielently ; the answer must be, first, the idea of the Empire, which was acknowledged by the Germans, and entered into their ideas; and secondly, and with far greater force, religion in the ecclesiastic fbrm— for, although we can not say with certainty in what manner it was generally effected, Christianity had now taken throughout Gaul the form of a hierarchical system.

The adoption of Christianity by Clovis and his followers was not perhaps an event proceeding from any lofty spiritual impulse; but it was one of incalculable historical importance, not only to Gaul, but to the whole world ; for this warlike confederacy immediately spread the faith among their kindred races, the Franks and other German tribes, up to the Rhine, and even beyond that river, and thus put an end to the ancient enmity of ,the German people against the Romans and the Gauls. Had not this occurred, a complete Germanizing of the people, such as took place in the valley of the Rhine, the Netherlands, and Britain, could not have been prevented on the banks of the Marne and Seine. Religion, as its mission is, smoothed down the most stubborn national contrarieties. The Franks could no longer wish to destroy the places where they worshiped ; on the contrary, they united with their teachers, and gave themselves up with vigorous zeal to the form of faith and worship which these had communicated to them. The strife between the Catholic and Arian creeds was not yet terminated. The latter, to which the "West-Goths and Burgundians adhered, obtained an accession of power in Gaul, through the immigration of these peoples, to the deep dissatisfaction of the orthodox bishops. But they found assistance among the Franks, with whom mE^iy of them had long stood in close alliance. St. Remigius, who received Clovis and his people into the bosom of the Church at Rheims was renowned, not only as a destroyer of idols, hut also as a successful antagonist of the Arians. The amhition of the Prankish military monarch, and the religious zeal of the Romish bishops, entered into the closest union. Supported by the population of the land, Clovis and his sons overturned, throughout Gaul, the power of the German kings, who were Arians and obtained the mastery in all the provinces, as they also extended their dominion far toward the interior of Germany. They accomplished what the Roman Empire had no longer power to effect ; they averted from Gaul the pressure of the colonizing Germans, and suppressed the varying sects in the interior ; the conquerors protected the Romanized nationality, and the unity of the Catholic church ; and when the Roman Empire failed in force of arms, the common ruin was prevented by the converted barbarians.

Many of the yellow-haired kings appeared, as it were, and voluntarily did so, as priests of God. They bestowed large treasures upon the Church, for the manifest purpose of increasing the pomp of its external ceremonies ; but at the same time their generosity had reference to the conquered people. The chroniclers of the age record that one of the chief motives to the endowment of the Church was that it might have the means of being liberal to the poor, so that those who possessed nothing might not be left altogether without a resource. The decree of the Council of Orleans is well known — according to which a portion of the income arising from the lands bestowed by the king was to be devoted to the support of the poor, and to the redemption of captives. The Church brought the very lowest class, which had been hitherto totally neglected, with its necessities, into relation with the conqueror.

A deliberate and systematic destruction of the Roman system no longer lay within the range of possibility. Romanized persons were in the immediate service of the kings, and appear to have been throughout the most distinguished and wealthy proprietors of the soil. The Frankish kings, like the Roman emperors, claimed obedience and duty from their subjects. They preserved the old finance system as nearly as possible in its integrity : the ancient tribute was levied on landed property as well as the person, which includes a continuance of the former state of things in general. We even hear that the games of the Circus were revived under the Merovingian kings. The Roman royal prerogative was brought into operation, and men might have believed that they still lived under the old empire. Notwithstanding all this, however, an unexampled change had taken place, not only in the material condition, but in the very thoughts of men : its extent may b conceived from the fact (if great changes can be described u few words) that the supreme power was regarded as a persona possession, which might be transferred and divided by gift o inheritance. The old kings insisted upon an unconditiona hereditary right ; and, in ordinary cases, we hear nothing oi an election, nor of any part taken either by the populace o the aristocracy in the elevation of the monarch to the throne The great officers of the state, both Romanic and German swore fealty to the person of the king, and he rewarded then with fiefs from the lands of the Crown. The govemmen was intimately connected with the palace, and the majoi domo of the royal house was also the chief officer of the king dom ; but since that office and the emoluments connected witl it were also in their turn regarded as personal and irrevocabl possessions, the whole system had a tendency to individua independency and arbitrary power. We soon hear the king complaining : some that all their honors had passed over t the bishops of the cities ; others, that the temporal prince had deprived them of both property and power. They sa^ themselves surrounded by independent nobles, who claimed, a a reward for the share they might have taken in the erectio of the new kingdom, a participation in the enjoyment ofpowei The principle of personal power, when once it had been trani ferred to others, rebelled against the prince, who regarded i as his own peculiar property. It seemed almost as if the ol Gallic spirit of clientship under the chiefs of the tribes, and ( subjection to the priesthood — which had vanished before th dominion of the Romans — were now again emerging froi the deep, and renewing itself in this power of the bishops an of the great nobles ; even the native pecuUarities began 1 make their appearance once more.

At all events Gaul, under the successors of Clovis, attaine a far greater variety of social life than it had exhibited unde the Romans. Power was every where free, and develope itself in distinct forms by means of the division of princ palities, which were held together, and at the same time kei separate, by the dynasty. This however had the effect o enfeebling that social union and subordination without whic the idea of a state is inconceivable. The violent attempts made from time to time by the kings to enforce their authorityonly served to display their weakness, and it soon became doubtful whether the Frankish kingdom would be able to maintain itself; for there were other powers, of a totally different character, better knit together, or depending upon the more free exercise of masculine bravery — powers which regarded the world as an open arena for the conquest of dominion.

Bursting forth from the wildernesses of Arabia, the might of the successors of Mohammed rolled on with resistless arms ; subdued the Romano-Greek territories, Syria, Egypt, and Africa ; overthrew in its rapid course the advanced Germanic kingdom in Spain, and already, in alliance with the natives, had obtained a footing on the hither side of the Pyrenees. How could it be expected that the Merovingians, whose power of action was dead, and whose authority was paralyzed by intestine divisions, would be able to withstand the threatening storm,? It appeared indeed as if what had happened in Spain was about to take place in Gaul also.

It is the merit of the house, afterward called the Carlovingian, that at the head of their warlike Austrasian followers they met and withstood the irruption, and saved the Christian Frankish nation from the utter destruction that seemed to hang over it. Every power that will rise must be grounded upon some great service ; for every great service secures authority and power. It was to this defense of Gaul against the Arabians that the Carlovingians were indebted for their elevation to the royal dignity. The race of weaklings vanished before a succession of great men.

The Carlovingians were also in alliance with the Church ; not however with the Gallic branch, which was then chiefly intent upon increasing its possessions, and obtaining an independent position, and upon which they imposed the severest duties of obedience, but with the general Church of the "West, which had just separated from that of the East, and which had a thorough conception of the danger with which Islam threatened the Christian name. In that respect, as in its strife with the Eastern Church, it needed the assistance of this powerful race, and was not ungrateful for it. The pow( of the Carlovingians depended not alone upon its victonoi arms, but also upon the sanction of the Church.

In this struggle Frankish Gaul received a, fresh accessio of German energy through the armies which chiefly fougl her battles, and which, being afterward retained for the di fense of the country against the foe, and for the preservatio of order, finally settled dowir here. The nation thus attained greater and stronger form. The union with Germany ga-v it a warlike, that with Italy an intellectual and philosoph cal impulse. Every one felt conscious, whether willingly ( unwillingly, that he belonged to an all-embracing religioi and political whole — the established Empire — and was hour to it in his whole personality. As in former times, war wi again the sole occupation ; but it no longer depended upo the irregular impulses of the people or their leaders, and di not threaten civilization : the idea of war was penetrated wit that of the defense of religion, and of the extension of a grei monarchy, upon which was grounded an organization whic was all-pervading, and which required unconditional obed ence.

Meanwhile, however well-constructed the empire of ti Carlovingians may appear, it wanted the very key-stone o its constitution. The question concerning the continuance c the supreme power in the ruling house was not yet determine( Powerful also as the monarchy might be, its power was ni equal to its pretensions. On the firm land it had subdue every foe, and within its well-fortified frontiers it had scarce! any thing to fear, but it was deficient in that which const tutes the half of all national strength — the marine powejX

It appears sometimes as if whole generations were smitte with blindness, for while they are contending among then selves, they are preparing the way for the common enem' "While the successors of Charlemagne were at discord aboi the inheritance of the monarchy, the peoples became agai disunited ; the powerful militia which had been called oi for the defense of the country dissolved away ; the o-reat a influential men of the kingdom took different sides and struggle commenced which engrossed all their attention a all their power. Meanwhile, the sea-ruling Germans of the north, among whom heathenism, expelled from the rest of Europe, had onoe more conoentrated its entire energy, spread themselves over all the maritime territories of the kingdom from the mouth of the Elbe to the mouth of the Garonne.

The peculiar geographical advantages which the western provinces possess over the eastern, the French over the German, consists in the diversified course of their rivers, which bring the land into connection with the sea in various directions ; but from this very circumstance now arose their greatest danger. The Northmen seized the mouths and islands of the rivers, and the adjacent shores. The Somme conducted them to Amiens, the Seine to Paris, the Loire up to Tours and Amhoise, and the Garonne up to Toulouse. The land between the rivers was laid waste far and wide, and here and there the inhabitants apostatized from Christianity, and associated themselves with the invaders.

The Carlovingians were not in a position to check this evil. The German territories on which their power rested were scarcely in a state to defend themselves from similar attacks, and possessed neither the power nor the organization which would have enabled them to lend assistance to distant allies. The supreme power was again united in one hand, but that was the most incapable. It may be regarded as the last act of the undisputed dominion of the Carlovingians, that Charles, surnamed the Gross, when with a great body of both tongues — the Latin and the German — he had encountered the united Northmen before Paris, did not venture to give them battle ; on the contrary, he ceded to them for the winter a portion of territory lying higher and more remote in the kingdom, and in addition pledged himself to pay them a considerable sum in money. * At last, it appeared inevitable that the Northmen must be received into the kingdom, or rather that the settlements they had made there by force must be acknowledged : this was done under the stipulation — as it is

nailed in an ancient treaty— that they should now defend tl realm. Soon after this they became Christians, and exceed( all others in zeal ; and upon this conversion, rather than up the promise they had given, depended that protection whu they lent the kingdom against any further attacks from tl heathen sea-kings.

How powerful and decisive for the progress of the wor appears the idea of religion in this event also ! The coUec ive development of the West depended upon the fact that Ga did not also fall under the dominion of the Saracens, who yoke the Spaniards were compelled to hear for so many ce turies. But those enemies whom the Gauls would never ha^ been able" to drive back by force were won by conversion, ai entered the communion of the Church, which made necessa at least a conditional support of the State ; and their infl ence diffused with the faith also the need of peace amoi their distant kindred tribes. What seas and frontier foi could not effect, religion accomplished ; a dominion of sec rity. As far as can be discerned by the eye which surve the history of the world, nothing is to be perceived whic opposed to the existing fundamental condition of Gaul, cou have done it injury.

It is remarkable how many different popular elements rr together in Gaul, in consequence of these events. The ba: of the population throughout the land was still the Romar race, nearly related in speech, traditions, and peculiar instil tions, with the Italian and the Spanish, which still preserv itself under foreign domination ; next to them appear t relics of the ancient Celtic race in Brittany, which, bei strengthened by immigrations from Britain, took pleasure mocking at every thing like law and subjection ; of the Iberic in the Basques, whose subjection was always doubtful, a from time to time was interrupted by violent outbreaks hostility. The German settlers, on the other hand h heartily embraced the ideas of Church and State. Th descent might still for the most part be discerned. The Go1 themselves renewed their race and name on the borders the Spanish frontier. The Prankish and Romanic eleme: most thoroughly interpenetrated each other on the Midi

Seine, where the Merovingian kings had had their favorite residence, and where a powerful dukedom now arose, called France, comprehending the territory round Paris. The Latinized Franks separated themselves but slowly from the Germans, with whom they harmonized in customs, manner of thinking, and the principles of political order. Finally, the Northmen had appeared, and brought the French coasts into connection with the distant North.

The aboriginal population of Western Europe, the Romanic world, which still held possession of so large a portion of it, and the Germanic race, which has obtained the dominion of the world by land and sea, met together on this soil and within its boundaries.

The history of the formation of peoples has something in it / of the history of the earth — it bears, one may say, a geologic;' character — the formations of the different epochs may be dis- , tinguished ; but in the history of men and of peoples there is , nothing inanimate : all that are included within common i limits operate ceaselessly upon one another, striving continu- 1 ally after an organic union in an entirety. The attention of history is now called to the manner in which these men, descended from such various races, dwelt together, and united with one another.

B

Chapter II. Origin Of A French Kingdom

As yet Gaul had never constituted a distinct political whole The ancient population of the country belonged to severs races, and the tribes from which it had been collected togethe stood in doubtful association with one another. The RomaE united them all, but it was by making them a province o that universal Empire which stretched alike over the Eas and the West. When the Merovingian royalty arose in th Gallic territory, it was unable to effect a permanent umon it embraced besides a large portion of Germany, whence i had originally proceeded. It was upon this German portio that the Oarlovingian monarchy was principally grounded but its tendency was far more comprehensive — it containe in itself the idea of the renovation of the Roman Empire i the West.

In the ninth century it was clearly seen that this kingdor would hardly be able to preserve its unity. If the victorie over the Saracens had been one of the most important founds tions of the Oarlovingian power, it must now have been deepl shaken by the circumstance of its incapacity to lend any ai against the Northmen. Still this was not followed by th origination of another political power extending over Gaul the diversified composition of the different provinces rathe tended to raise up so many independent dominions.

The origin of a new organization embracing the whole Ian may be dated from the moment when, under the influence o the ancient German hereditary right, the idea of a separal West-Frankish kingdom by the side of the Empire, which we afterward gradually realized, began to be entertained Th frontiers had long been determined, which separated it froi

ORIGIN OF A FRENCH KINGDOM. 27

the East Franeo-Germanic monarchy, to which hoth Lorraine and the Empire then belonged. Powerful also as the dukes and great feudatories who were masters of the provinces might have been, such a monarchy was indispensable to their existence, for it united finally in itself all the legal authority which had passed from the Romans to the Merovingians, and from these to the Carlovingians. Each single vassal derived his power from the monarchy by concession or by recognition. They needed a king, or else each of them must have declared himself king and even emperor.

Just at the very time when the warlike power of the Carlovingians showed itself so feeble against the Northmen, and when all other countries more or less openly and unreservedly withdrew themselves from it, a few West-Frankish nobles, laymen, but chiefly clergy, who thought they could by their consecration supply the defect of birth, made an attempt to elevate a native race to the place of the Carlovingians. It was a race which, it appears, had not long since immigrated from Germany,* and, through an alliance with the royal house, as well as by valiant deeds and great possessions, raised itself to a position of predominant authority. It can not be said that it could boast of heroes like Charles Martel, King Pepin, or Charlemagne, upon whose conduct depended the destiny of the world ; but it produced highly endowed and great-minded men, who in the confusion of a ruinous war preserved lands, and cities, and churches from destruction. The ancestor of this race in France was Robert of Anjou, surnamed the Brave, who distinguished himself against the Northmen in the second half of the ninth century. A monkish chronicler, who knew no more exalted illustration, compares him to Judas Maccabseus for his deeds in defense of his faith and of his country. His death, which happened in