Readings in medieval and modern history

Front matter

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Preface

This volume is intended to provide sufficient supplementary reading, chiefly of a biographical or narrative character, for a high-school course in medieval and modern history. The arrangement of the volume is the same as that of my earlier Readings in Ancient History. Each chapter deals with a single epoch or personality and presents the work of a single author. The passages quoted are long enough to make a definite impression on the reader, thus avoiding the scrappy effect necessarily produced by a set of short, unrelated extracts. Since many of the selections are good literature as well as good history, I hope that students wUl be tempted to turn to the original sources from which excerpts have been taken, and to read in them at length for their own enjoyment.

Several chapters of the book (notably III, VI, XXIII, XXV, XXVI, XXX, XXXII, and XXXV) deserve careful examination and analysis in the classroom. They may be made the basis for simple exercises in historical method. Chapters XXV and XXVI, XXX and XXXI, and XXXII and XXXIII furnish material for useful comparative studies, showing how differently the same facts may be viewed by different men. Teachers will also find in the table of contents and in the index entries many subjects for oral reports or essays.

I have tried to present the best translations, whenever a choice between versions was open to me, to simplify or modernize the language, when involved or archaic, and to supply each selection with such comments and notes as seem indispensable for its understanding. All important omissions have been carefully indicated.

It would not have been possible to present so rich a collection of historical readings without the generous cooperation of many publishers, both in this country and in England. My obligations are the following: to Harper and Brothers, for the passages from Bismarck's Autobiography; to Charles Scribner's Sons, for those from the Memoirs of Chancellor Pasquier and Prince Metternich; to Macmillan and Company, for those from the Speeches and Table-talk of

IV

Preface the Prophet Mohammad and the Letters of Martin Luther; to George Bell and Sons, for those from Glaister's translation of Einhard, Pepys's Diary, and Arthur Young's Travels in France; to Chatto and Windus, for those from their "King's Classics" series {Rule of St. Benedict, English Correspondence of St. Boniface, Asserts Life of King Alfred, Chronicle of Jocelin of Brakelond, and Song of Roland) ; to Longmans, Green, and Company, for those from the Epistles of Erasmus, edited by F. M. Nichols; to Philip Lee Warner, publisher to the Medici Society, for those from Vasari's Lives; to John Murray, for those from Sir Henry Yule's edition of Marco Polo; to Methuen and Company, for those from Lomas's edition of Carlyle's Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell; to the Walter Scott Publishing Company, for those from Harrison's Elizabethan England; to Chapman and Hall, for those from Bingham's edition of the Letters and Despatches of the First Napoleon; and to George Allen and Unwin, for those from Beowulf. The translations from the Heimskringla, the Little Flowers of St. Francis, the Nibelungenlied; and the chronicles of Villehardouin and Joinville are used through an agreement with J. M. Dent and Sons. Finally, I owe to Mr. W. D. Foulke, the translator, and to the Department of History, University of Pennsylvania, the publisher, my permission to use the selections from Paul the Deacon's History of the Langobards.

HUTTON WEBSTER

Lincoln, Nebraska, May, 1Q17

Contents

I. Stories of the Lombard Kings i

1 . Alboin and Turisind i

2. Assassination of Alboin 3

CHAPTER I STORIES OF THE LOMBARD KINGS i

Paul the Deacon (in Latin, Paulus Diaconus), the historian of the Lombards, himself belonged to a noble Lombard family. Like so many medieval writers he was a monk. While an inmate of the Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino in Italy, he made the acquaintance of Charlemagne, who was attracted by his literary attainments. He passed several years at the court of the Frankish ruler and assisted in the Carolingian revival of learning. Paul's most important composition is the History of the Langobards, in six books. It begins with the year 568, when the Lombards entered Italy, and extends to the death of King Liutprand, in 747. The work forms a valuable source for the history of .the early Middle Ages.

1. Alboin and Turisind 2

The Lombards first invaded Italy under their king Alboin. As a young man and before attaining the throne, he had warred victoriously with another Germanic tribe, the Gepidae.

When battle was joined, while both lines fought bravely and neither yielded to the other, it happened that in the midst of the struggle Alboin, the son of Audoin, and Turismod, the son of Turisind, encountered each other. Alboin, striking

1 History of the Langohards by Paul the Deacon, translated by W. D. Foulke. Philadelphia, 1907. Department of History, University of Pennsylvania.

2 Paul the Deacon, Historia gentis Langobardorum, i, 23-24.

2 Stories of the Lombard Kings

the other with his sword, hurled him headlong from his horse to destruction. The Gepidae, seeing that the king's son was killed, through whom in great part the war had been set on foot, at once started to flee. The Lombards sharply followed them up, overthrew them, and when many had been killed turned back to take off the spoils of the dead.

When, after the victory had been won, the Lombards returned to their own abodes, they suggested to their king Audoin that Alboin, by whose valor they had won the victory in the fight, should become his table companion, so that he who had been a comrade to his father in danger should also be a comrade at the feast. Audoin answered them that he could by no means do this, lest he should break the usage of the nation. "You know," he said, ''that it is not the custom among us that the son of the king should eat with his father, unless he first receives his arms from the king of a foreign nation."

When he heard these things from his father, Alboin, taking only forty young men with him, journeyed to Turisind, king of the Gepidae, with whom he had before waged war, and explained the reason for his visit. The king, receiving him kindly, invited him to his table and placed him on his right hand, where Turismod, his former son, had been wont to sit. In the meantime, while the various dishes were made ready, Turisind, reflecting that his son had sat there only a little while before, and recalling to mind the death of his child and beholding his slayer present and sitting in his place, drew deep sighs and could not contain himself. At last his grief broke forth into utterance. "This place," he said, "is dear to me, but the person who sits in it is grievous enough to my sight." Then another son of the king, who was present, aroused by his father's speech, began to provoke the Lombards with insults, declaring (because they wore white bandages from their calves ^ down) that they were like mares with white feet up to the legs, and saying, "The mares that you take after have fetlocks." Then one of the Lombards thus answered, "Go to the field of Asfeld and there you can find beyond a doubt how stoutly

Assassination of Alboin 3

those whom you call mares succeed in kicking; there the bones of your brother are scattered in the midst of the meadows hke those of a vile beast."

When they heard these things, the Gepidae, unable to bear the tumult of their passions, violently stirred in anger and strove to avenge the open insult. The Lombards, ready for the fray, all laid their hands on the hilts of their swords. The king, leaping forth from the table, thrust himself into their midst and restrained his people from anger and strife. He threatened to punish him who first engaged in fight, and said that it is a victory not pleasing to God when anyone kills his guest in his own house. Thus at last the quarrel having been allayed, they now finished the banquet with joyful spirits. And Turisind, taking up the arms of Turismod his son, delivered them to Alboin and sent him back in peace and safety to his father's kingdom. Alboin, having returned to his father, was made from that time his table companion. And when he joyfully partook with his father of the royal delicacies, he related in order all the things which had happened to him among the Gepidae in the palace of Turisind. Those who were present were astonished and applauded the boldness of Alboin, nor did they less extol in their praises the most honorable behavior of Turisind.

2. Assassination of Alboin ^

After Alboin had ruled in Italy three years and six months,

(he was slain by the treachery of his wife. The cause of his murder was this: While he sat in merriment at a banquet at Verona longer than v/as proper, with the cup which he had made of the skull of his father-in-law. King Cunimund,^ he ordered it to be given to the queen to drink wine, and he invited her to drink merrily with her father. Lest this should seem impossible to anyone, I speak the truth in Christ. I

1 Paul the Deacon, Historia gentis Langohardorum, ii, 28-29.

2 Cunimund, who succeeded Turisind as king of the Gepidae, had been defeated and killed by Alboin in 566 or 567. Cunimund's daughter, Rosemund, was the.i carried away captive by Alboin, who afterwards married her.

4 Stories of the Lombard Kings

saw King Ratchis holding this cup in his hand on a certain festal day to show it to his guests. Then Rosemund, when she heard the thing, conceived in her heart deep anguish she could not restrain, and straightway she burned to revenge the death of her father by the murder of her husband. Presently she formed a plan with Helmechis, who was the king's armorbearer and his foster brother, to kill the king. . . .

Rosemund, while Albion had given himself up to a noonday sleep, ordered that there should be a great silence in the palace. Then, taking away all other arms, she bound his sword tightly to the head of the bed so it could not be taken away or unsheathed and ... let in Helmechis, the murderer. Alboin, suddenly aroused from sleep, perceived the evil which threatened and reached his hand quickly for his sword, which, being tightly tied, he could not draw, yet he seized a foot-stool and defended himself with it for some time. But unfortunately this most warlike and very brave man, being helpless against his enemy, was slain as if he were one of no account, and he who was most famous in war, through the overthrow of so many enemies, perished by the scheme of one little woman. . . .

Helmechis, upon the death of Alboin, attempted to usurp his kingdom, but he could not do this at all, because the Lombards, grieving greatly for the king's death, strove to make away with him. And straightway Rosemund sent word to Longinus, prefect of Ravenna, that he should quickly send a ship to fetch them. Longinus, delighted by such a message, sent a ship in which Helmechis with Rosemund, his wife, embarked at night. They took with them the daughter of the king and all the treasure of the Lombards, and came swiftly to Ravenna.

Then the prefect Longinus began to urge Rosemund to kill Helmechis and to join him in wedlock. As she was ready for every kind of wickedness, and as she desired to become mistress of the people of Ravenna, she gave her consent to the accompHshment of this great crime. While Helmechis was bathing himself, she offered him, as he came out of the bath, a cup of ">ison, which she said was for his health. But when he felt

Authari and Theudelinda 5

that he had drunk the cup of death, he compelled Rosemund, having drawn his sword upon her, to drink what was left, and thus these most wicked murderers perished at one moment by the judgment of God Almighty.

3. Authari and Theudelinda ^

Paul the Deacon tells how the Lombard king, Authari, wooed and won a Bavarian bride.

King Authari sent ambassadors to Bavaria to ask for him in marriage the daughter of Garibald, their king. The latter received them kindly and promised that he would give his daughter, Theudelinda, to Authari. And when the ambassadors on their return announced these things to Authari, he desired to see his betrothed for himself. Bringing with him a few active men of the Lombards, and also taking along with him, as their chief, one who was most faithful to him, he set forth without delay for Bavaria. When they had been led into the presence of King Garibald, according to the custom of ambassadors, and when he who had come with Authari as their chief had made the usual speech after salutation, Authari, since he was known to none of that nation, came nearer to King Garibald and said, "My master. King Authari, has sent me specially to look upon your daughter, his betrothed, who is to be our mistress, so that I may be able to tell my lord more surely what is her appearance."

When the king, hearing these things, had commanded his daughter to come, Authari gazed upon her with silent approval, since she was of a very beautiful figure and pleased him much in every way. He then said to the king, "Since we see that the person of your daughter is such that we may properly wish her to become our queen, we would like, if it please your mightiness, to take a cup of wine from her hand, as she will offer it to us hereafter." When the king had assented, she took the cup of wine and gave it first to him who appeared to be the chief.

1 Paul the Deacon, Historia gentis Langobardorum, ill, 30.

6 Stories of the Lombard Kings

Then when she offered it to Authari, whom she did not know was her affianced bridegroom, he, after drinking and returning the cup, touched her hand with his finger, when no one noticed, and drew his right hand from his forehead along his nose and face. Covered with blushes, she told this to her nurse, and her nurse said to her, ''Unless this man was the king himself and thy promised bridegroom, he would not dare by any means to touch thee. But meanwhile, lest this become known to thy father, let us be silent, for in truth the man is a worthy person, who deserves to have a kingdom and be united with thee in wedlock." For Authari, indeed, was then in the bloom of his youth, of fine stature, covered with yellow hair, and very comely in appearance.

Having received an escort from the king, they presently took their way to return to their own country. . . . Then Authari, when he had come near the boundaries of Italy and had with him the Bavarians who up to this time were conducting him, raised himself as much as he could upon the horse he was managing, and with all his strength drove a hatchet into a tree that stood near by, adding these words, "Authari is wont to strike such a blow." And when he had said these things, then the Bavarians who accompanied him understood that he was himself King Authari. After some time, when trouble had come to King Garibald on account of an invasion by the Franks, Theudelinda, his daughter, fled to Italy and announced to Authari, her promised bridegroom, that she was coming. And he straightway went forth to meet her with a great train to celebrate the nuptials in the field of Sardis, which is above Verona, and received her in marriage amid the rejoicing of all. . . .

4. A Miracle ^

King Rothari, after he had held the sovereignty sixteen years and four months, departed from life and left the kingdom of the Lombards to his son Rodoald. After he had been buried near the church of St. John the Baptist, a certain man, inflamed

1 Paul the Deacon, Historia gentis Langobardorum, iv, 47.

A Knightly Exploit 7

by wicked cupidity, opened his sepulcher at night and took away whatever he found among the ornaments of the body. St. John, appearing to him in a vision, frightened him dreadfully and said to him, "Why did you dare to touch the body of that man? Although he may not have been of the true' faith, yet he has commended himself to me. Because you have presumed to do this thing, you will never hereafter have admission into my church." And so it occurred; for as often as he wished to enter the sanctuary of St. John, straightway his throat would be hit as if by a very powerful boxer, and thus stricken, he would suddenly fall down backwards. I speak the truth in Christ; he who saw with his own eyes that very thing done related it to me.

5. A Knightly Exploit

During the reign of King Grimuald, the eastern emperor, Constantine IV, made an effort to recover his Italian territories from the hands of the Lombards.

After the emperor came to Naples it is said that one of his chief men, whose name was Saburrus, asked for twenty thousand soldiers from his sovereign, and pledged himself to fight against Grimuald and win the victory. And when he had received the troops and had come to a place whose name is Forinus and had set up his camp there, Grimuald wanted to march against him. His son, Romuald, said to him, "There is no need, but do you turn over to me only a part of your army. With God's favor I will fight with him, and when I shall have conquered him a greater glory, indeed, will be ascribed to your power." It was done, and when he had received some part of his father's army, he set out with his own men likewise against Saburrus.

Before he began the battle with Saburrus, he ordered the trumpets to sound on four sides, and immediately he rushed daringly upon the foe. While both lines were fighting with great obstinacy, a Lombard, named Amalong, who had been

1 Paul the Deacon, Historia gentis Langobardorum, v, lo,

8 Stories of the Lombard Kings

accustomed to carry the royal pike, taking this pike in both hands, struck violently with it a certain Httle Greek and lifted him from the saddle on which he was riding and raised him in the air over his head. When the army of the Greeks saw this, it was terrified and at once betook itself to flight. . . . Thus Saburrus, who had promised that he would achieve for his emperor a trophy of victory from the Lombards, returned to him with a few men only and came off with disgrace. Romuald, when the victory was obtained from the enemy, returned in triumph and brought joy to his father and safety to all, now that the fear of the enemy was taken away.

6. King Liutprand ^

When King Liutprand had been confirmed in the royal power, Rothari, a blood relation of his, wished to kill him. He prepared a banquet for him in his home at Ticinum, in which house he hid some very strong men, fully armed, who were to kill the king while he was banqueting. When this had been reported to Liutprand, he ordered Rothari to be called to his palace and, touching him with his hand, he discovered, as had been told him, a cuirass under his clothing. When Rothari found out that he was detected, he straightway leaped backwards and unsheathed his sword to strike the king, who at once drew forth his own sword from his scabbard. Then one of the royal attendants, seizing Rothari from behind, was wounded by him in the forehead, but others leaped upon Rothari and killed him. Four of his sons, who were not present, were also put to death.

King Liutprand was indeed a man of great boldness. Once when two of his armor-bearers thought to kill him and this had been reported to him, he went alone with them into a very deep wood and, holding against them his drawn sword, he reproached them because they had planned to slay him, and urged them to do it if they could. And straightway they fell at his feet and confessed everything they had plotted. . . .

1 Paul the Deacon, Historia gentis Langobardorum, vi, 38.

CHAPTER II CHARLEMAGNE i

Eginhard, or Einhard, a Frankish monk, lived many years at the court of Charlemagne as one of the group of scholars whom that ruler gathered about him. Charlemagne made Einhard his secretary and private chaplain. To Einhard historians are indebted for the best contemporary account of the emperor. Though very brief, and not free from inaccuracies, the life is simply written, without extravagance of praise or exaggeration of Charlemagne's achievements. The book also calls for special notice as one of the few works of literary value composed during the early Middle Ages.

7. Charlemagne's Conquests and Alliances 2

Great and powerful as was the realm of the Franks, which Charlemagne had received from his father Pepin, he nevertheless so splendidly enlarged it by his conquests that he almost doubled it. For previously the eastern Franks had only inhabited that part of Gaul which lies between the Rhine and the Loire, the Atlantic Ocean and the western Mediterranean, and that part of Germany situated between Saxony and the Danube, the Rhine, and the Saale. The Alamanni and Bavarians also belonged to the Frankish confederation. But Charlemagne conquered and made tributary, first, Aquitania and Gascony and the whole range of the Pyrenees, as far as the river Ebro . . . then the whole of Italy, from Aosta to Lower Calabria,

1 Eginhard' s Life of the Emperor Karl the Great, translated by William Glaister. London, 1877. George Bell and Sons.

lo Charlemagne

where are the boundaries of the Greeks and Beneventans, an extent of more than a thousand miles in length; then Saxony, which is indeed no small part of Germany and is thought to be twice as wide as the part where the Franks dwell and equal to it in length; then both provinces of Pannonia and Dacia, on one side of the river Danube; also Istria, Liburnia, and Dalmatia, with the exception of the maritime towns, which for friendship's sake, and on account of a treaty, he allowed the eastern emperor to hold; lastly, all the wild and barbarous nations which inhabit Germany between the Rhine and the Vistula, the ocean and the Danube, who speak a very similar language but are widely different in manners and dress. . . .

The renown of his kingdom was also much increased by the friendly alliances he cultivated with different kings and nations. Alphonso II, the Christian king of northwestern Spain, was so bound to him by the ties of friendship that, when he sent him letters or messengers, he used to command that he should be spoken of as Charlemagne's man. The kings of the Scots, too, by his munificence, were so devoted to his will that they ever spoke of him as their lord, and of themselves as his submissive servants. Letters are still extant from them to him, showing what sort of relationship existed between them.

Harun,^ king of the Persians, who, with the exception of India, ruled over nearly all the East, was held by Charlemagne in such hearty friendship that he valued the Frankish ruler's esteem above that of all other kings and princes of the world. . . . When the officers sent by Charlemagne with offerings to the most sacred sepulcher and place of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior came to Harun and announced the desires of their master, he not only gave them permission to do as they wished, but ordered that revered and sacred spot to be considered as belonging to Charlemagne. When the ambassadors set out on their return, Harun sent with them his own envoys, who conveyed to the king strange and curious gifts, with garments and

^ Harun-al-Rashid (Aaron the Just) was the third caliph of the Abbasid dynasty. His capital was Bagdad.

Charlemagne as a Builder ii

spices and other rich products of the East, just as he had given to him, a few years before, the only elephant he then possessed.

The eastern emperors, Nicephorus I, Michael I, and Leo V, of their own accord, also sought his friendship and alliance and sent to him several embassies. Since, by assuming the imperial title, he had laid himself open to the grave suspicion of wishing to deprive them of empire, he made with them the most binding treaty possible, that there might be no occasion of offense between them. But the Romans and Greeks always viewed with distrust the power of the Franks; hence arose the Greek proverb, "Have a Frank for a friend but not for a neighbor."

8. Charlemagne as a Builder ^

Illustrious as was Charlemagne in enlarging his kingdom and in conquering foreign nations, and though constantly occupied with such affairs, he nevertheless began in several places very many works for the adornment and convenience of his realm. Some of these he was able to finish. Chief among them may be mentioned the church of the Holy Mother of God, built at Aachen, 2 a marvel of workmanship; and the bridge over the Rhine at Mainz,^ five hundred paces in length, so broad is the river at that place. This bridge, however, was destroyed by fire the year before Charlemagne died. It could not be restored on account of his approaching death, although he intended to replace the wooden structure by a bridge of stone.

He also began some magnificent palaces, one not far from Mainz, near the town of Ingelheim, and another at Nimeguen,' on the river Waal. ... He was especially particular in giving orders to the priests and fathers to see to the restoration of the churches under 'their care, if in any part of his kingdom he found them fallen into decay.

Charlemagne also constructed a fleet for the war against the

2 Or Aix-la-Chapelle.

3 Or Mayence.

Northmen. For this purpose ships were built on the rivers of Gaul and Germany which flow into the North Sea. As the Northmen were making a practice of ravaging the coasts of Gaul and Germany, he posted towers and outlooks in all the harbors, and at the mouths of those rivers which ships could navigate. By these defenses he prevented any enemy from being able to pass into the interior. He did the same thing in the south, on the coast of the provinces of Narbonne and Septimania, and along all the coast of Italy as far as Rome, for in those parts the Moors had lately taken to piracy. Thus Italy suffered no great damage from the Moors, nor Gaul or Germany from the Northmen, during the reign of Charlemagne, except that Civita Vecchia, a city of Etruria, was betrayed to the Moors, who took it and destroyed it, and in Frisia some islands off the German coast were plundered by the Northmen.

9. Domestic Life of Charlemagne ^

Such does it appear was the work of Charlemagne in defending, enlarging, and adorning his dominions; and one must be permitted to admire his mental gifts and his great firmness of purpose in all circumstances, whether of prosperity or adversity.

I will now begin to speak of other matters relating to his private and domestic life. On the death of his father he bore all the jealousy and illwill of his brother, in the division of the kingdom ,2 with so much patience and forbearance that he astonished everybody, for he would not allow himself even to be provoked to anger by him.

It was by the desire of his mother that he took for his wife a daughter of Desiderius, king of the Lombards; but at the end of a year he divorced her, for what reason is uncertain. He then married Hildegard, a Swabian lady of noble birth, by whom he had three sons and three daughters. . . . His mother

2 King Pepin, shortly before his death in 768, divided the Frankish realm between his two sons, Charles and Carloman. The latter died in 771, and Charles then seized his brother's portion of the kingdom.

Charlemagne's Personality and Habits 13

lived with him to old age, in great honor, being looked up to by her son with the utmost respect, so that no difference ever arose between them, except with regard to the divorce of the daughter of King Desiderius, whom she had persuaded him to marry. She did not die until after the death of Hildegard, having lived to see three grandsons and as many granddaughters in the house of her son. . . . He had one sister, Gisla, who was dedicated to a rehgious life from her earliest years. Like his mother, she was regarded by Charlemagne with the greatest affection. She died a few years before him, and was buried in the convent to which she had retired.

Charlemagne thought so much about the education of his children that he caused both sons and daughters to be early instructed in those liberal studies which attracted his own attention. As soon as his sons were old enough, he had them ride on horseback, as was the Frankish custom, and practice themselves in arms and hunting. He bade his daughters learn wool-spinning and the use of the distaff and spindle, and employ themselves industriously in every virtuous occupation, that they might not be enervated by idleness.