A general history of the world

Preface

I have always been of opinion, as a teacher of History, that the study of that subject should begin with the General History of the World, as is the practice in every country but our own, and not with the history of England, which is usual amongst ourselves. I hope that the present book may be useful for this purpose. The book was written almost entirely out of England, and I wish to express my gratitude to my friend Mr. Gaskoin, of Jesus College, Cambridge, for having laboriously and carefully read the proofs, and thus helped to remove any errors which may have arisen from that circumstance.

OSCAR BROWNING.

Book I

CHAP. PAGE

I. Egypt to the time of the Hyksos, from the

EARLIEST TIMES TO 1580 B.C. .... 1

II. Babylon and Assyria, from the earliest times

III. The Indo-Germanic Race — Egypt under the

IV. The Assyrian Empire 1850-606 b.c. : Jewish

V. Medes and Persians — Greece and the Persian

VI. History of Greece, 478-387 b.c. ... 94

VII. History of Greece, 387-338 b.c. . . .112

VIII. Early History of Rome, 753-c. 350 b.c. . . 130

IX. Growth of the Power of Eome, 390-201 b.c. . 149

X. Alexander the Great and his Successors,

XI. Rome the Mistress of the World, 214-44 b.c. 181 XII. The Roman Empire, 44 b.c-96 a.d. . . . 203

XIII. The Roman Empire, 96-337 a.d. . . . 225

XIV. History of Europe, 337-565 a.d. . . . 244

Book II

I. The Prankish Empire, a.d. 486-768 — Rise of

Mohammedanism, a.d. 570-802 . . .261 II. Charlemagne and his Successors, a.d. 768-928 . 283 viii CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

III. The Norsemen — The Danes in England, a.d. 835-

1042 303

IV. The Empire Kestored — Henry the Fowler,

VI. Frederick Barbarossa, a.d. 1152-1191 — 'The

Third Crusade ...... 349

VII. The Empire, a.d. 1191 - 1250 — The Fourth

VIII. The Fall of the Hohenstauffen, a.d. 1250-1268 — Naples and Sicily, a.d. 1268-1301 — End of the Crusades ...... 382

IX. The Hansa, a.d. 1150-1400— The Iberian Peninsula, a.d. 1000-1344 — England, a.d. 1087-

1189 396

X. History of England, a.d. 1189-1377 . . .417 XI. France, a.d. 1180-1350 — Germany and Italy,

1421 — The Iberian Peninsula . . .451

XIII. The Empire and the Papacy, a.d. 1347-1449 . 469

XIV. The Great Cities of Italy — Eastern Europe . 482 XV. Florence, a.d. 1429-1492 — The End of the

Book III

I. Charles V. and the Reformation, a.d. 1519-

1556 515

II. England, a.d. 1509-1558 — The Counter Reformation — The Revolt of the Netherlands,

III. France, a.d. 1560-1610 — The Reign of Elizabeth, a.d. 1558-1603 539

CONTENTS ix

CHAP. PAGE

IV. The Thirty Years' War, a.d. 1608-1648—

1660 . . . . . . . .573

VI. Louis XIV., 1661-1697 — Austria and the

Turks, 1664-1699— England, 1660-1685 . 584 VII. The War of the Spanish Succession, a.d. 1688-

X. Pitt's Ministry, a.d. 1783-1801— The French

Revolution, a.d. 1789-1795 . . . 644 XL Napoleon Bonaparte, a.d. 1795-1799— England and the French Revolution, a.d. 1790-

1799 658

XIY. Reaction in Europe, a.d. 1815-1830 — England,

a.d. 1815-1837— Europe, a.d. 1830-1848 . 703 XV. The Second French Empire, a.d. 1851-1852 . 718 XYI. The American Civil War, a.d. 1861-1865 . 731 XVII. Prussia and Austria, a.d. 1858-1866— The

Franco-German War, a.d. 1870-1871 . 742 XVIII. Turkey and Egypt, a.d. 1875-1898— The South

General Index . . . . . . . .791

Index of Battles, Sieges, &c. ..... 795

LIST OF MAPS

I. The Ancient World . Between pages 36 and 37

II. Alexander's Campaign . ,, ,, 166 ,, 167

III. Imperium Romanum . . ,,

V. Europe in the Time of

Charlemagne . . . ,,

VII. Europe in the Time of

Charles V. . . . ,,

VIII. Europe in the Time of

Napoleon ,,

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

I. The Family of Augustus.

II. The Garlovingians.

III.-V. The English Royal House.

VI.-VII. The Royal House of France.

VIII. The Kin of Charles V.

IX. The Spanish and Austrian Successions.

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William I. (The Conqueror) 1066-87.

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granddaughter of King of Scotland.

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Henry, Duke of Lancaster.

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A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE WORLD.

Chapter I

EGYPT, TO THE TIME OF THE HYKSOS. FKOM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO 1580 B.C.

The land of Egypt is the creation of the Nile, made and unmade every year by the inundation of the river. The country has had to be built up by increasing labour. The yearly rising of the Nile turned it into a huge th^N'/ 1 lake in the morasses of which lived crocodiles, hippopotami, snakes and elephants, while lions and panthers came down to slake their thirst. Marshes have had to be formed into fruitful soil, roads to be built like causeways through the swamps, and this could only be effected by strict organisation under a vigorous government. The Egyptians became a peasant people under a rigid monarchical rule, which alone could unlock the sources of prosperity and make the valley of the Nile one of the most favoured spots on the surface of the globe. King Menes, who reigned about 3500 B.C., was regarded as the first of the Pharaohs, but civilisation preceded him by many centuries. The oldest settlements are to be found at the spot where the Nile comes nearest to the East, whence roads lead to the Red Sea, in Abydos and Memphis. The inhabitants dwelt in huts of reeds and palm branches, the richer in houses of sun-dried brick, surrounded by a mud wall : the dead were buried in round or square graves, huddled up as if asleep, surrounded by objects cherished in life and useful in the other world. We find in this period a gradually developing beauty in the decoration of vases, and a close connection

A

2 A GENERAL HISTORY [to 1580 b.c.

between the art of Egypt and the art of Crete. The difference in the richness of the decoration of the several objects shows a great difference in the wealth and position o f heir possessors, but at the same time the traditional char ?r or the ornamentation is strictly observed. The mass _ .^e people were supported by agriculture and the breeding of animals. They possessed large flocks of sheep and goats, they had asses, but the horse was as yet unknown. More important than all was the breeding of cattle, which was the main peasant industry. Beer was brewed from grain and wine made from dates, linen and wool were worked, and mats were woven from papyrus. Even in the oldest times these operations were conducted, not by free labourers, but by serfs, in the possession of the great lords and especially the kings. The beginnings of Egyptian culture are lost in antiquity, and also the oldest forms of their political and social organisation, but in the earliest times we find the land divided into administrative districts each with its own capital, its own god and its own standard, kept together mainly by a religious tie. There was a strong division into Upper and Lower Egypt, the north and the south, with twenty districts or provinces in the first and twenty in the second, one distinguished by the lotus, the other by the papyrus.

Among the multitudinous deities of early Egypt, two stand

above the rest, the hostile brothers Seth and Hoi-us, one the

god of darkness and destruction, the other of

Religion 1 ^§ nt > having the sun and moon as his two eyes, sometimes worsted but never conquered. Seth was the divinity of Upper Egypt, with his seat at Ombos, Horus had his capital at Edfou, his symbol the sun's disc, with two mighty wings and the hanging snakes, the sign of sovereignty, born anew every day as he appears on the horizon. The worship of Horus specially spread to Upper Egypt, and that of Seth predominated in the Delta.

The foundation of the Egyptian religion is the worship of local gods, taken from the mass of deities of the spirit world by which the people are surrounded. They have their abode in animals of all kinds — cattle and geese, crocodiles and scorpions, wolves and dogs and cats, the ibis, the vulture and the frog, also in trees, a worship closely connected with totemism. But above all there is the spirit, the ghost of the departed, who exists after death, and rules the living. Every god has two aspects, one the free will of an immortal spirit, the other bound up with natural objects, which can act and suffer, The double nature of the deity, partly spiritual and partly material, on the one hand reigning for ever in heaven, on the other buried with all activit 'n the earth, is the keynote of early Egyptian religion, which ort 'ved this characteristic to the latest times. Divine worship e8iA» Isshed an indissoluble connection between god and man, involving natural obligations and necessary to the existence of both. The god gave protection to the community, and received in return all that he required — bread, meat, milk, wine, clothes, ornaments, flowers, and incense, as we read in their service books, all good and pure things which are laid upon the altar, " from which the god lives." Hence arose a ritual and a multitude of priests, formed into four tribes. The gods had to be propitiated with sacrifices and magical rites, the worship took a sombre tone, the early gods I were little better than malevolent devils.

Egyptian records give us the gods as the earliest rulers of the country, and then kings, the sons of gods. Government first develops in Lower Egypt, at Heliopolis at the head of the Delta, and Busiris in the middle of it. Here is born Osiris, son of the earth god Geb and the heaven goddess Nut. His sister and wife is Isis, mother of Horus. Seth is the brother of Horus, and succeeds him as king.

The calendar was of great importance for religious worship. It was a moon calendar, consisting of alternate months of twenty-nine and thirty days. To make things right, the year had to consist sometimes of twelve, sometimes if, of thirteen months. To remedy this, a sun calendar was introduced, the year consisting of three seasons, the inundation season from the middle of July to the middle of October, the winter or sowing season from the middle of October to the beginning of February, the summer or harvest season from February to June. For nine thousand years, the first rising of the Mle, from its lowest point in May, coincided with the first rising of Sirius in the early morning, fixed in the Julian Calendar as July 19, in the Gregorian as June 15. This was taken as the beginning of the new sun calendar, by which the year was divided into twelve equal months of thirty days, four for each season, five additional days being intercalated between the years. This was not correct, and it was found that Sirius rose every four years a day later in the year, and it required 1461 years before the rising of Sirius returned to its proper J position. We find from this that the earliest certain date in the history of the world is the day on which the reformed sun

4 A GENERAL HISTORY [to 15S0 b.c.

calendar was introduced into Lower Egypt — that is, July 19, 4241 B.C., or according to the Gregorian reckoning June 15.

The last dynasty recorded before Menes bears the name of the worshippers of Horus. They reigned over both kingdoms, the north and the south, divided at Akanthus. Both sections of the kingdom worshipped Horus, who thus became the oldest national deity of Egypt, his cult starting' from Edfou and gradually dispossessing the cult of Seth in Upper Egypt. Horus is no longer the son of Osiris and Isis, but has become the sun-god, and is united with Seth in a common divinity. The records of these early times raise the question of the relations between Egypt and Babylonia, as we find in the earliest art of Egypt representations of hunting scenes similar to the Babylonian, similar writing in their hieroglyphics, and similar figures of winged griffons and lions with snake necks. It is certain that the two civilisations were connected, it is uncertain which was the older, but it is more probable that Egypt derived her religion and art from Babylon than Babylon from Egypt, Egypt being through the whole of her history rather an imitative than a creative power.

We now come to the hieroglyphics, the peculiar form of

Egyptian writing. This early art of which we have spoken

represents the forms of men and animals. In the

, ier £." time of Menes, hieroglyphics are fully established

and developed ; they must therefore have come into being during the time of the Horus worshippers. They are obviously abstractions from the delineation of animals and other common objects, and they are first found on the cylindrical seals used for the purpose of shaping earthen vases which are falsely considered as peculiar to Babylon. A deed of violence is represented by the two legs of a walking man, strength by the figure of a striking man. These signs also stand for words of similar sound ; the same sign signifies goose and son, the same lute and good. In this way symbolical drawing developed first into a dictionary of useful words, then into a syllabary, and then into an alphabet. This eventually consisted of twenty-four consonants, the vowels, as in Hebrew and other Semitic languages, being left to be added by the speaker according to certain conventional rules. The alphabet was, however, always helped out by hieroglyphics.

The Egyptians were firm believers in the immortality of the soul, and the funeral ceremonies which expressed this belief have their roots in the time of the Horus worshippers and toI^Ob.c] EGYIT, TO TJME OF THE HYKPOS 5

lasted for more than three thousand years. The soul wandered in the lovely paradise of Jaru, with its fruitful cornfields, its copious rivers, its shaded avenues, while the spirit lingered near the place of the body's burial, long- Ritet^ ing to resume its lost activity, to eat, to drink, and to enjoy. The king had an immortality of his own : a god when alive, the gates of heaven were open to him after death, and he shone there as a star among stars, but he was subject to the jealousy and treachery of the deities of hell, and against them his burial rites must protect him. Osiris perished under the villainy of Seth, but he lived again in his son Horus, and with his help triumphed over his enemies. Each king, as he died, followed a similar course, and passed from death to a glorious resurrection. The elaborate ceremonies which typified this change are preserved in the Book of the Dead, and the ritual first intended for the kings was afterwards transferred to the common people ; but it is remarkable that these rites, which had their chief seat in Lower Egypt, are best preserved for us in the documents of the south.

The two first dynasties, which lasted from 3300 to 2900 B.C., had their origin in This in Upper Egypt, and are known as the Thinite dynasties. Of these kings, Menes is the The Thinite greatest, and is supposed to have united the two Dynasties empires of north and south, and to have placed — Menes. upon his head the red and the white crowns which typified this sovereignty. But others may have done this before him, especially his predecessor, Narmer. This is now an obscure village, but the burial-place of the first dynasty lies in Abydos, a city well known to travellers, while Menes himself is interred at Negade. The reign of Menes and the founding of the new empire may be dated as 3315 B.C. His records, inscribed on ivory plates, show that he was a great conqueror. He not only ruled over Egypt, but extended his conquests to the south and the north-west. We find, strangely enough, indications that these early kings, holding a double sovereignty and a double deification, had also a double burying-place, one in Memphis and one in Abydos.

The list of the successors of Menes is uncertain. His son was apparently named Atoti. Then comes Ghent, who gave to the hieroglyphics the form which they afterwards retained. Then follows Zet, but all authorities are agreed that the fifth king was Usaphais, with the Horus name of Ten. We need not follow out the bewildering catalogue of these monarchs with

6 A GENERAL HISTORY [to loso b.c.

distracting names, who ruled Egypt for the four hundred years from 3300 to 2900, during which time, sovereigns from This sat upon the throne of Horus. There are few monuments left to relate their history, but we have abundant evidence of the condition of their civilisation. The characteristics of the art and the government founded by them remained unchanged to the end. But there was no stagnation — on the contrary, a vigorous life. Archaic dress and habits lingered long among the common people, but in the higher classes there was continual progress, beginning with the sovereign and coming down to the aristocracy. We learn this from the graves which still exist, the most important of which is that of King Menes in Negade, an independent building surrounded by a massive wall. After Menes their graves are covered with inscriptions, so as to make the name of the dead live after his decease. The inscription of a king's name secured him immortality.

Egypt under the Thinites was essentially a kingdom. The

sovereign had the double title of Horus and King of the two

countries. Court ceremonial was fully developed.

K-fneshin "^" e was an i ncarna ti° n of Horus — indeed of Horus and Seth — and was represented as the lion-tailed sphinx, who tore the people with his claws. He was a living god in human form, who lived on an equality with the gods. He was lord of life and death. His name was never spoken ; in its place we find Pharaoh, the Great House, like the Sublime Porte. But, although a god, he has strict and definite duties to his subjects. He is surrounded by ritual like the Doge of Venice. In the festival of Set, which was celebrated twenty-five years after his accession, he mounts a lofty platform on which two thrones are placed, where he is crowned with the two crowns, white and red, the shepherd's crook and the scourge in his hands, clad in the shirt tunic of ancient times. There are many other festivals too numerous to describe. Each king built for himself a new capital, like Mogul sovereigns of India, a walled town with his palace in the centre. It was begun four years after his accession, and another was built four years after the festival of Set. There was an elaborate bureaucratic government, known to us chiefly by its seals, but its organisation is still obscure. Law was highly developed, and was certainly written. Annals were carefully preserved. A full account of all property in land and gold was kept by scribes to form a basis of taxation. Even the Thinites' art made great progress ; stone was superseded by copper. Gold and precious stones became common. There was an elaborate calendar, a minute study of the stars : the arts of reckoning and measuring were highly developed, also the practice of medicine. The Egyptians were surrounded by powerful neighbours, Libyans, Troglodytes, Nomads, Nubians. Crete— was well known to them, as were Cyprus, and Byblos on the coast of Lebanon. Incense, so much used by them in worship, came from Punt, now Somaliland. But the greatest of all their rivals was the mighty Babylon, which possessed a culture not inferior, perhaps superior, to their own.

The history of Egypt after the Thinite kings, the worshippers of Horus, is divided into three empires — the Old Empire lasting from 2900 to 2000 B.C. and comprising nine dynasties ; the Middle Empire extending from Emrrires 66 2000 B.C. to 1580 B.C., containing five dynasties; and the New Empire, lasting from 1580 B.C. to 1090 B.C., containing four dynasties and representing the high-water mark of Egyptian power. As This was the seat of the first two dynasties, so Memphis was of the third. The great monarch of the third dynasty was the mighty Zoser, who raised Egypt to a high standard of power and * "r culture. He incorporated Nubia into his kingdom, and is known as the builder of the step pyramid of Sakkara, which he apparently erected for his own sepulchre. He reigned for nineteen years, and was succeeded by Zoser II., who reigned for six years, but of whom we have no records. The last king of the third dynasty was Huni, who probably built the great pyramid of Bashur.

The first king of the fourth dynasty, which extended from 2850 to 2700 B.C. was Snofru, who built the pyramid of Medun, known by the Arabs as the false pyramid. Here ip^g jy^

he placed his residence, and here was erected a Dynasty

mighty temple for his worship after death. The Pyra- Greater than Snofru was Cheops, with Chephren mids. and Mycerinus, the builder of the great Pyramids of Gizeh, which are known to all the world, travelled and untravelled, as "The Pyramids" par excellence. His residence was in Gizeh, separated from Cairo by the Nile. His pyramid, the largest building in the world, contains three grave chambers, in the uppermost of which he is buried. Close by is his temple and three smaller pyramids for the officers of his court. He reigned for twenty-three years, and was succeeded by Tetepe, who lived at Abu Roos, and in the eight years of his rule had not time

8 A GENERAL HISTORY [to 158u b.c.

to finish his pyramid. His son and successor Chephren returned to Gizeh, and, like his son Mycerinus, built a pyramid inferior in size to his father's. In the temple of Chephren were found nine statues of the king in granite, diorite, basalt, and alabaster. The temple of Mycerinus was begun in granite, but hastily finished in limestone and brick. The Sphinx, carved out of the living rock, belongs also to this period. Mycerinus was succeeded by four kings of whom we know little. The whole dynasty lasted about 160 years.

In the fourth dynasty, the whole government is concentrated in the person of the " Great God," as Pharaoh is called, and Govern- the efforts of the community are devoted to

ment of the securing his worship both now and for all Pharaohs. eternity. His residence once chosen, his temple and his pyramid are built and his cult secured by a numerous priesthood. The tombs become gradually richer. The dead body being secured from decay by embalming, pains are taken to provide for its sustenance. Besides the statue and the pyramid, there is a mastaba or quadrangular fortress for the use of the departed. The walls of both are painted with the annals of the dead man's life. Every expedient is adopted to make the short human life eternal. All this apparatus of dead worship is confined to the limits of the Pharaoh's court, extending, however, sometimes to an enormous distance, the centralisation of the cult following the centralisation of political authority. The will of the king is all powerful. He has under him a chief minister, the interpreter of his divine purposes. His seal-bearer was at first a member of the royal family, then the office became hereditary in a certain clan, and was, at last, thrown open. Besides, there are a commander-in-chief and a master of the works. The state officials are educated partly at court, partly in the temples. The allotment of their offices is known, but it would take too long to enumerate them — they were generally hereditary.

The king's revenue was derived partly from his domain, partly from taxes paid in money and kind. Accounts were made up every other year. Gold and copper were used for purposes of exchange, but barter was the usual practice. As in the Germany of the Middle Ages, the king could give away his land or lease it for a season. Eventually land could be inherited or sold, and of this we have numerous records. The great officials became in time great land-owners, and huge estates came into existence, with their armies of artisans and other workers. Most of the land belonged to temples, which were built in great numbers by the kings of the Old Empire. The great god Ptah owed his divinity to his being the deity of the capital. The pyramids and mastabas of Gizeh were built from his quarries, and the stones hewed and shaped by his vassals. The government of the Pharaohs, however absolute, preserved a patriarchal and benevolent character. Together with occasional harshness of punishment, humanity prevailed. Life was genez^ally happy, and family affection was the rule.

During the fourth dynasty, the strivings of the race were limited by the idea of Pharaoh. Worship had the single object of prolonging the material comforts of earthly Religious

existence : transcendental notions of a future life changes

were entirely absent. But a religion so consti- The Vth tuted was only possible with a powerful sovereign ; Dynasty, a weak ruler would shatter the fabric, and this was what occurred. After lasting 140 years, the dynasty came to an end in 2540 B.C. The fifth dynasty continued the practice of worshipping the dead, and building pyramids, but religion began to assert itself, and the sun-god Ke, already the ruling deity of neighbouring races, began to receive reverence. Re took the place of Horns, and Egypt became the capital of the sun worshippers. The first king of the dynasty was Userkef, and after him the sovereigns all bore names which ended in Re. Pharaoh became regarded as the son of Re. The sanctuaries and pyramids of the fifth dynasty are to be found at Abusir. The sanctuary of the sun is found at Abu Gureb, where there was a mighty obelisk, two hundred feet in height, an altar of alabaster, and provision for the slaughtering of animal victims. But there is no image of the god, no house of god, nor temple, as the sun-god has no abode on earth, but shines for ever in the heavens. A covered passage leads from the town to the summit of the mound from which Pharaolijsaluted-tbe rising of the sun every day at daybreak. The temple, like its sister shrine of Bubka is the embodiment of a great idea. The new worship of Re brought a higher spirituality into the mind of the Egyptians. It also affected the position of the king. Pharaoh is no longer the companion or the partner of the god, but his son : he is no longer the great god, but the good god. The three centuries of the Old Empire were a time of peace, although the Sphinx of the fifth dynasty holds in her claws Libyans and the inhabitants of Asia and Punt. The decorations of the buildings show a number of battle scenes. The presence of warships shows i io A GENERAL HISTORY [to 1580 b.c.