France, its history and revolutions

Prefatory Note

Frequent visits to France, and the deep interest which it is impossible not to feel concerning recent as well as current events, have suggested the writing of this small book, with the view of presenting a simple intelligible History of the French nation — its Rise, Progress, Revolutionary- Tumults, and Reverses, with such remarks as spring from some acquaintance with the condition and character of the people. Of course, the book is in no respect designed to supersede the perusal of larger and more exhaustive works, of which there is an abundance.

The Story of France, though I may not have been successful in telling it, offers more than matter of entertainment. In the whole range of Historical literature, nothing presents so instructive a warning.

W. C.

Edinburgh, May 1S71.

Chapter I. The Gauls — Conquest By The Romans

r"PHE country now known as France was, two thousand -*- years ago, occupied by different tribes, chiefly of Celtic origin, who had made considerable advance as regards the arts and social circumstances. Some centuries previously, the Greeks had established small colonies at various places along the coast of the Mediterranean, near the mouth of the Rhone, and communicated to the natives a knowledge of sundry useful arts and commercial pursuits. The principal Greek settlement was called Massilia; whence the modern name Marseilles. At the time our history opens, the country was named Gallia by the Romans, a designation which, transformed into Gaul by the English, we may trace to the original term Celtcz or Keltce, the Celts, and which we see perpetuated in the familiar words Gael and Gaelic.

As modified by intercourse with the Greeks and Romans, the Gauls were by no means in a state of barbarism. They had fortified towns, with a civil and

a military polity presided over by chiefs, reputed for their bravery. They were skilled in war, for which they were well provided with horses, chariots, and arms. Fond of ornament, their clothing and equipments were picturesque ; and as they wore long flowing hair, their appearance in warlike costume was particularly striking. With a teeming population, and warlike propensities, they made various inroads on Spain and the north of Italy, with a view to secure lands for settlement. They were so successful in these invasions that, previous to 400 b.c, they had established themselves in northern Italy, which became known as Cisalpine Gaul. Pushing their way through the country of the Etruscans, they even penetrated as far as Rome, which they several times attacked, retiring with no little booty.

The Romans were not a people to endure encroachments of this nature. A resolution was formed to conquer the whole of Gaul, on the north as well as south of the Alps. As a beginning, Cisalpine Gaul was subjugated about 170 B.C.; and a few years later the Romans overran and secured that extensive district of Gaul on the Mediterranean, which, being constituted a Province of the state, acquired the name Provence, by which it is still popularly known. This region, watered by the Rhone and other rivers, abounding in picturesque hills and fertile valleys, with sunny slopes to the south, became a favourite resort for Roman families of distinction. Of this we have the best evidence in the gigantic ruins of the amphitheatres at Nlmes, Aries, and Frejus, the triumphal arches at Aix and Orange, and the aqueducts, temples, and other architectural remains which survive the havoc of the middle ages, and are now objects of curiosity to the traveller.

5ob.c] THE GAULS. 3

Before Provence had been well settled by the Romans, the whole of Gaul was conquered by Julius Caesar, 58 to 50 B.C. This conquest by the Romans is the first great fact in French history. Caesar has given an account of his campaigns in his famed Commentaries on the wars in Gaul ; in which, speaking of himself in the third person, he makes us acquainted with the difficulties he encountered in subduing the different tribes. He opens his narrative with the statement, that 'all Gaul is divided into three parts,' each occupied by a people ' differing from each other in language, customs, and laws;' but although there may have been three principal divisions, with some distinction as to dialect and usages, it is understood that there was a general uniformity in character. The most marked difference was seen in the Aquitani, a people who lived in the district adjoining the Pyrenees, and who, from recent investigations, apr>p^~ to have belonged to a race of still ~; iter antiquity than the Celts; the memorials of sue- an early race being even now observable in various pa* of western Europe.

Whatever was the precise origin of the Gallic tribes, they had for the most part adopted one or other of 'che dialects of the Celtic language, and fierce and int' able, they were not subdued by Caesar without prot' acted and desperate encounters. In particular, he exp ;ri much difficulty in overcoming a tribe which dwelt among the mountains of Auvergne, commanded by a warrior of great strategic skill and bravery, whose \iame, being unknown, has been commemorated b] tye designation Vercingetorix, signifying chief or general. The town of Gergovia, occupying the flat top of ^ mountain (near the present town of Clermont-Ferrand^, was so strongly fortified, and so ably defended, that the Roman armies were effectually baffled and forced to retire. It was only after much harassing warfare that the tribe was conquered; when brave Vercingetorix yielding himself prisoner, was, to the discredit of Caesar, cruelly put to death.

Losing their independence, the Gauls in time adopted the manners, the language, and the laws of the Romans, in which respect the circumstances of their conquest differed considerably from what occurred in Britain, where the native Celts, in great numbers, fled before the Roman arms, and found a permanent refuge mong the mountains of Wales and the Highlands of Gotland, where their descendants still retain the charteristics of an ancient Celtic people. It was one of ^ wise provisions of the Roman sway to communicate privileges of Roman citizenship to the people of the cot 1 tries which they colonised and brought into subjection. Accordingly, there sprung up in the larger towns .ul a system of municipal corporations, which were long strongholds of civic freedom. The chief cities iern France can trace their history to the time tey flourished under Roman domination. At this 4od, Paris, called Lutetia, and Lyons, called were already noted as important seats of The name Paris is derived from the Parisii, a le so called by the Romans. Their city

be defensible position on an island in the

Seir ^quently the object of warlike contest.

Previa ' conquest by the Romans, the Gauls,

like all th 'tic nations, adhered to the religion

of the Druk1 was a species of Paganism, with

some supersti rence to the heavenly bodies.

320 A.D.J THE ROMANS. 5

According to Cassar, the Druids acted as priests, teachers, and judges, and conducted their religious worship in the recesses of forests. It has been usually considered that the circles of upright stones, still existing in various parts of France and the British Islands, are the remains of Druidic temples ; but of this there is no certainty. It is now conjectured with more probability, that these circles, as well as several other rude stone structures — some consisting of slabs piled one on the other in the form of tables, and variously known as dolmens or cro7nlechs — are of an antiquity anterior to the Druids, though they may have been used by them in their ceremonial observances. The whole of these relics, which are exceedingly curious, point to an origin of which there is no record in history.

The Romans made earnest efforts to extirpate the Druidic faith and practices in Gaul, and to a certain extent they succeeded in introducing their own fanciful polytheism, as is evidenced by the stone altars, dedicated to different heathen gods, found in many parts of France. The Druidic and the Roman superstitions both yielded in time to the teaching of Christian missionaries, one of whom, St Denis, suffered martyrdom at Paris about 260 A.D. On the establishment of Christianity in the empire by Constantine, about 320 a.d., all the old forms of heathenism disappeared, and the country passed under the clerical rule of a regular body of ecclesiastics. Of these, none obtained greater celebrity for his learning and sanctity than St Martin of Tours, who flourished in the latter part of the fourth century • and from whose annual festival is derived the winter term (November n), called Martinmas.

During their occupancy of Gaul, the Romans effected a number of improvements, not the least of which consisted in roads made in various directions, and extending from Rome to the shores of the British Channel. Remains of the old Roman roads are still visible, the most interesting being that which was carried along the rugged shores of the Mediterranean by way of Nice. The Romans also did much to advance the interests of the Gauls, by introducing, or at least extending, the culture of several sub-tropical plants, including the vine, olive, orange, lemon, and fig, which grow with great luxuriance in the south, and now form staple products of the country.

The Romans bore sway in Gaul for upwards of four hundred and fifty years. The part latest abandoned was Provence. The natives, almost everywhere picking up the language of the intruders, had become Romanised Celts, and were identified with the Latin-speaking nations. However beneficent was in many respects the Roman rule, it was also somewhat injurious; for the tutelage of a whole people, as of individuals, has always an enervating and detrimental effect. It was so in Gaul as well as in Britain under Roman protection and guidance. The native race lost much of their sturdy independence of character ; and, as it proved, they were unable to contend successfully against the torrents of invaders who poured in upon them on the decay and dismemberment of the Roman empire at the beginning of the fifth century.

Chapter II

CONQUEST OF ROMANISED GAULS BY THE FRANKS — THE MEROVINGIAN AND CARLOVINGIAN DYNASTIES.

"C*VER since the days of Caesar, Gaul had been ■*~-' troubled with the menaces and attempted invasions of Teutonic or German tribes who occupied the right bank of the Rhine. When the Roman protection was enfeebled, the encroachments of these tribes increased in audacity. In the fifth century, three Teutonic or German tribes established themselves in Gaul — the Visigoths on the south, the Burgundians on the east, and the Franks on the north. These invaders are understood to have been impelled forward by hordes of Huns, an Asiatic race, who at this era made forays into Europe, plundering and driving everything before them, and who finally established themselves in a country on the Danube, which takes from them the name Hungary.

There is no distinct account of the cessation of Roman rule in Gaul, and the manner of settlement of the Teutonic tribes. It is only known that there was much fighting and commotion, as also much suffering on the part of the Romanised Celts, before the new-comers had made themselves at home in the country. The Franks — a name assumed to signify freemen — poured in from the countries east of the Rhine, and from that part of the Netherlands known as Brabant. Just as it was the fortune of England to derive its national designation from the Angles, who invaded it from the continent, so was the name France derived from the colony of Franks who intruded themselves into Gaul, and obtained supremacy, about the middle of the fifth century. This settlement of the Franks is the second important fact in French history.

It does not appear that the various bodies of Teutonic invaders made any serious change in the language and the religion of the population. The ecclesiastical and municipal institutions survived the shock of repeated invasions. Nor did there arise any perceptible change in the character of the people. Inasmuch as the intruders were numerically much fewer than the descendants of the ancient inhabitants, they were in time absorbed and lost sight of. This circumstance corresponds with the well-known truth in ethnology — the science which treats of varieties in races — that in the blending of races of mankind, the physical features and mental character of the larger mass ultimately predominate. On this account it is important to note, as throwing some light on their history, that the French, ■after innumerable vicissitudes, have remained essentially a Celtic people. Their language is a variety of the Latin which they acquired from the Romans, with but a slight infusion of the Teutonic forms of speech ; and till this day their general character is very much what it was described in the works of various ancient writers. By Caesar and others, they are spoken of as vain and quarrelsome, fickle in their sentiments, impulsive, fond of novelties, hot in attack, but quickly discouraged in defeat They were more brave than considerate,

450-a.d.] THE FRANKS. g

and in their sacrifices of slaves in the religious services of the Druids, they were guilty of extreme cruelty. This, however, was a universal failing among pagan nations ; and not until the teaching of Christianity had softened the natural ruggedness of character, were sentiments of humanity either understood or acted on.

While Gaul was in the course of settlement by a dominant horde of Franks, it was exposed on its north-western shores to an invasion of a remarkable nature from the opposite coast of Britain. The withdrawal of the Romans from Britain led, as is well known, to irruptions into that island of Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. Fleeing from these intruders, the natives, who, in Cornwall and its vicinity, had never been Romanised, sought refuge on the coast of Gaul. Flights of this kind took place from the middle of the fifth to the middle of the sixth century. Arriving in the peninsula, of which Brest is now the principal port, the numerous refugees from Britain were among kindred tribes of Celts, who, in their remote and mountainous territory, had been so slightly affected by the Romans as still to speak their ancient tongue. With these the Britons appear to have readily blended ; the province took from them the name Bretagne or Brittany ; and although passing under the rule of the Franks, the natives, as well as the immigrants from Britain, changed neither their language nor their usages, but long remained a people in many respects peculiar. Even now, after a lapse of twelve hundred years, the manners and character of the Bretons differ somewhat from those of their French neighbours.

Establishing themselves in Gaul, the Franks retained their former possessions in Germany. The first king of io FRANCE.

the united territory was Clovis, or Chlodwig, a name which in modern German assumes the form Ludwig, and in French Louis. Clovis flourished at the close of the fifth century. Embracing Christianity, he was baptised at Rheims, 496 a.d. From this circumstance, that ancient city — formerly the capital of a Celtic tribe called the Remi, and hence its name — acquired such a deeply religious interest as to become the place for the coronation of the kings of France.

Clovis is sometimes spoken of as the first king of France, which is scarcely correct. The country we call France had not as yet acquired that designation, nor had it any distinct political existence for some centuries later. Clovis was, properly speaking, king of the Franks, and his kingdom was styled Frankenric, the Frankish monarchy. From Clovis's grandfather, a chief named Merewig, or Merowaeus, the ruling family became known as the Merovingian dynasty. Of this primary dynasty, there were, besides Clovis, several kings named Clotaire, and others named Childeric, Chilperic, and Dagobert. Of the whole of them little good is recorded.

In subduing and taking possession of countries by military violence, it became at this, and a later time, the practice in Europe, for the king or conqueror to give lands to chiefs on which they might settle and exercise sway. The terms of such gifts were, that the chiefs should be ready, by themselves and their retainers, to help the sovereign in time of war, and otherwise yield a loyal obedience. To Clovis is usually ascribed the introduction of this practice among his subordinates, when securing his rule over Gaul ; a practice which grew, in process of time, into a regular feudal system in

500 A.D.] MERO VINGIAN D YNASTY. 1 1

the country. It was a system of superiors and vassals, graduated to meet the exigencies of an unsettled state of society. The kings were the superiors of the feudatories, and they in turn were the superiors of the vassals or tenants who held lands from them. Beneath all, there were bodies of serfs or bondsmen, who, for the most part, were not at liberty to quit the soil on which they were born, but were disposed of along with it.

To regulate a system so complicated in its obligations, there sprung up among the Franks a body of law, known as the Salic law — the name Salic being of doubtful origin, but generally supposed to be derived from the Salians, one of the Frankish tribes. According to the Salic law, no female could inherit the lands of a feudatory; for the simple reason that females could not render that military service for which the lands were held of the sovereign. By a species of analogy, the rule of excluding females from succession to the French crown came to be a recognised principle, though it sometimes became the cause of civil war.

From the introduction of the feudal system by the Merovingian dynasty is dated the rise of those dukes, counts, and other highly privileged personages who figure in the history of the country; some of them attaining to an almost independent supremacy in the provinces in which they held feudal rule. By considerate historians, the feudal system in its early stages is deemed to have been beneficial in limiting an excess of power in the sovereign, and so saving a government from sinking to the character of an Oriental despotism ; but it is equally certain — and this is a fact of the utmost significance in French history — that the system grew into a gigantic abuse, and, though modified in the course of ages, it obstructed the rise of an independent middle class, was detrimental to the general progress of society, and ultimately led to overwhelming national disasters.

With the disappearance of the Romans,' and the rise of the Frankish power, the middle ages — or medieval period, as they are sometimes styled — begin. These ages were a long dreary period of strife, injustice, and suffering, relieved by only one beneficent institution, the Church, and ultimately the spirit of chivalry, which professed to succour the oppressed. It is to this period we have to refer the building of the older cathedrals, churches, and monasteries, many of them still in good condition, and the feudal castles now in ruin on the banks of the Rhine and other picturesque localities.

During the rule of the Merovingian dynasty, there arose a j practice of delivering splendid habits to the members of their households on the occasion of great festivals ; from which originated the usage of feudal retainers wearing a dress of particular colours, and with distinctive badges pertaining to their superiors. From the circumstance that these dresses and badges were originally given, in French livre, comes the English word livery, a phrase of honourable distinction in the middle ages, perpetuated in the official garb of civic guilds (whence the ' liverymen ' of London), and in the attire of public and private servants. The wearing of livery is thus traceable to a Frankish custom in the sixth century.

The Merovingian dynasty expired at the beginning of the eighth century. It had become the custom to appoint an official, styled Mayor of the Palace, to conduct the government in the manner of a modern

prime-minister. One of these, named Charles Martel, signifying Charles the Hammer, rose to power in 714 a.d., and his rule gave a new turn to Frankish history. Charles rendered himself notable for his extraordinary skill and bravery in relieving his dominions from the invasion of the Saracens, whom he defeated in several battles, and drove back into Spain. He died in the midst of his victories, 741.

Charles Martel left the government of the kingdom to his two sons, Pepin and Carloman. Pepin, known in history as Pepin le Bref, or Pepin the Short, acquired the entire government by dispossessing the sons of Carloman ; and by an act of usurpation succeeded in setting entirely aside Childeric III., the last of the Merovingian dynasty, and getting himself installed as king of the Franks, 752.

Pepin was the first king of the Carlovingian dynasty, which has been so called either from Pepin's father, Charles Martel, or from Pepin's son, Charlemagne. Pepin was an able and valorous sovereign. Having recommended himself to the clergy by his professions of attachment to the church, they assisted at his consecration; this being the first ceremony of the kind among the Franks. Pepin did not fall short of the expectations formed of him. With a powerful army, he relieved Rome from the attacks of the Lombards, a race from the north of Germany which had settled in the north of Italy, and were at the time masters of Italy ; after which important service, he took from the Lombards Ravenna and some other' of their possessions, and assigned them as a patrimony to the church. This transaction took place, 754, from which, accordingly, was dated the temporal power of the pope. Pepin afterwards consolidated the Frankish monarchy by reconquering Aquitaine, a province which, extending at first from the Garonne, and afterwards from the Loire, to the Pyrenees, had given some trouble by an assumption of independence. Pepin died 768.

On Pepin's decease, his sons, Charles and Carloman, were jointly his successors ; but by the death of Carloman, and the exclusion of both his sons from the throne, Charles, who subsequently acquired the name Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, became sole king of the Franks. Charlemagne's great military genius was first evinced in a defensive war against the Saxons, by which he extended his dominions in Germany, securing his conquests by castles and garrisons. Called to the aid of Pope Adrian I. against the Lombards, he crossed the Alps from Geneva, with two armies, by the Great St Bernard and Mont Cenis, in 773, and overthrew the kingdom of the Lombards. The Lombard dukes acknowledged him as their king, and he secured the pope's favour by confirming the gift which Pepin had made of Ravenna, 774. He was crowned at Milan by the pope with the iron crown of the Lombards, a crown reserved for similar ceremonials in a later age.

After this, Charlemagne was, on different occasions, engaged in suppressing revolts in Saxony, in subduing the Saracens in Spain, part of which country he added to his dominions, and in effecting victories over the Bulgarians and Huns. In the midst of these warlike undertakings, he went, in 781, to Italy, where the pope crowned his second son king of Italy, and his third son Louis, an infant three years old, king of Aquitaine. Ordinarily, in the intervals of peace, he dwelt at Aachen, as it is called in Germany, but better known by its

8oa] CHARLEMAGNE. 15

modern French appellation, Aix-la-Chapelle, which he enriched with a palace and cathedral, and chose as a favourite place of residence.

Proceeding to Italy to support Pope Leo III. against the rebellious Romans, Charlemagne was invested with an important honorary distinction. When worshipping in St Peter's Church (not the modern St Peter's), on Christmas-day, 800, the pope unexpectedly, as it appeared, set a crown upon his head, and, amidst the acclamations of the people, saluted him as Carolus Augustus, emperor of the Romans. The act constituted Charlemagne successor of the old Roman emperors who had long since disappeared; and though the title imparted no real power, it greatly confirmed and increased the respect entertained for the great Frankish monarch. Such was the simple and ceremonial origin of the long line of emperors and kings of Germany which existed for more than a thousand years.

The life of this great medieval sovereign was not merely devoted to military enterprises. Charlemagne zealously endeavoured to promote education, agriculture, arts, manufactures, and commerce. He improved the political and social institutions, and projected great national works. He possessed an amount of learning unusual in his age; he could speak Latin and Greek, and encouraged learned men to come about his court. To the church he was a munificent benefactor; and to his exertions is due the conversion of the Saxons to Christianity. Desirous to possess a complete copy of the Bible, he employed Alcuin, a native of England, and one of the most industrious and ingenious monks of his time, to prepare a copy, which was executed by the labour of twenty-two years, from 778 to 800 a.d. This singularly precious Bible of Charlemagne is preserved in the British Museum.

The fame of Charlemagne spread to all parts of the world having any connection with Europe. His contemporary was the Calif Harun-al-Raschid, who sent ambassadors to salute him. He enjoyed good health till shortly before his death, 28th January 814, when seventy-two years of age. He was buried in a capacious vault in the cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle ; not laid in a tomb in the usual manner, but fixed in a sitting attitude on a marble throne, dressed in the imperial robes, with a sceptre in his hand, the sword Joyeuse by his side, and a crown upon his head. On his knees wras laid a copy of the Gospels, and hung from a girdle at his side was the pilgrim's pouch which he had borne while in life. There, by a strange attempt to extend life's fleeting honours into the realms of death, was left in ghastly state the mortal frame of the great Frankish king ; and there it remained, sinking into decay and . tatters, for a space of a hundred and eighty-three years. In 997 the vault was opened by the emperor Otho, and the relics being removed to the open church above, a few of them are still preserved as objects of curiosity or veneration. The crown of Charlemagne was taken to Vienna.

The greatness of Charlemagne did not exempt him from family misfortunes. In 810, he lost his second son, Pepin, who had been anointed king of Lombardy ; and next year, 811, his eldest son, Karl or Charles, died. He had but one son left, Louis or Ludwig, king of Aquitaine, whom, in 813, he assumed as joint ruler of the empire. This arrangement lasted but a year. By the decease of Charlemagne in 814, Louis became sole emperor; his vast dominions comprehending all that had been subject

843.] TREATY OF VERDUN. 17

to his father, except Italy, which Charlemagne had assigned to his grandson Bernhard, a son of Pepin. There were good hopes of Louis, but nature had not qualified him for the dignity of emperor. He wanted the genius of his father. By his French-speaking subjects he was styled Louis le Debownaire — the easy, goodnatured, weak. He might also have been called the extravagant and the wicked. He began by squandering the crown domains in fiefs to his favourites. Next, he divided his dominions among his three sons, which led to strife and confusion. His nephew Bernhard, standing in the way of these arrangements for his sons, was treacherously enticed to Chalons, where his eyes were put out, and he died. The wife of Louis having died, he married again, and this second wife instigated him to a fresh division of the empire, 829, to provide for her infant son Charles. There ensued an indescribable period of parricidal and fratricidal war; the sons being divided into factions, which committed the greatest atrocities. At length Louis le Debonnaire, who, in French history, takes rank as Louis L, was released from all his troubles by death, 840.

We now arrive at that important event, the breaking up of Charlemagne's mighty empire, to which is to be traced much of the political condition of modern continental Europe, One of Louis's sons having predeceased him, he left three to divide and inherit his dominions. These were named Lothair, Louis, and Charles. The division took place by the famous treaty of Verdun in 843. Lothair, the eldest, got "the title of emperor, along with the following possessions : That portion of the Frankish territories which consisted of a long strip along the left bank of the Rhine, beginning at its mouth, and embracing the basins of the Scheldt, the Meuse, and the Moselle; whence it proceeded along the valleys of the Saone and Rhone to the Mediterranean ; and finally included the kingdom of Italy. This strip, which extended across, Europe, we may call Middle Frankland. Louis obtained all that lay on the east of the Rhine, which forms the chief part of modern Germany, and was then called East Frankland ; hence he is styled in history Louis the German. Charles, the youngest son, got the whole of old Gaul that lay west of Lothair's kingdom. It was called West Frankland, or, in Latin, Francia Occidentalis. Hence the term France, and the origin of the French as a distinct people.

There were soon subdivisions. At Lothair's death in 853, his three sons divided his possessions. Louis II. got the kingdom of Italy, and the imperial dignity; Charles, the Saone and Rhone portion of Middle Frankland; and Lothair IL, the northern part along the Rhine, which was called Lothair's kingdom, in German Lothringen, abbreviated by the French into Lorraine, the name which still adheres to a portion of it. On the death of these three, there were fresh divisions ; and in the course of time East Frankland parted into those petty kingdoms and grand-duchies which now, after an interval of a thousand years, there is an effort to reconsolidate into German unity.