º
º
º
º
R
º
º
º
*
º

.
LD
||rºwińsºut
OF THE .
GAN
9
Ü Elliº; . . . . . . *, * “ar--- -:
"J sº - ‘. . . i* (. U :-1: " .
wº. º, , , - --~~ -
Xº *CŞ. ... * - sº. ſº -
2 Tº 7 AU, ATICºEMEXAAI wºuvºº,
--- ~--------- - ~~~~~ - E.
#
#
Hº:
C --
ſº
C
ºx.
- Q –
5
- _____Trºg º - #
iſillſ|||||IIITITILITITITIFººl'ſ #
L * ºn tº ºº gº tº sº was sº is º ºs º is sº tº º ºs e e º
:1.Illi. Lºlliſ, Ill





















2 D 7
/M b3
/yzs
A
S U M M A. R.Y
OF
MOD E R N H ISTORY.

A
SUMMARY

OF
MODERN HISTORY.
w
º
w ~ V.
w */
7'A' A' AW S Z A 7" E D FA’ O M 7TA/A2 FA E AW C H O Z'
- *> -
2^* | 1% 8 — I & 7 ||
M." MICHELET; ;
AND CONTINUED TO THE PRESENT TIME,
BY
M. C. M. SIMPSON,
TRANSLATOR OF
“NApoleon BUoNAPARTE's LETTERS To KING Joseph ;"
“MEMOIR, LETTERS, AND REMAINs of ALEXIS DE Tocqueville,” &c.
§omboit:
MAC MILL AN AND CO.
1875.
[The Right of Translation and Æeproduction is Reserweal.
LONDON :
1'. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERs,
BREAD STREET HILL.
Weo ace (22.3"| 8 i)
Solh. -
*-7A-7, 3
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
A V 7TAZAE AUTHOR,
I837.
IT is more necessary in a Summary than in
any other form of composition to remember for
whom it is written. This book is primarily in-
tended to serve as a text book for young
students. * -
As it may chance, however, to fall into the
hands of readers of a different class, I think it
right to explain the object and form of my
Précis, lest false expectations should be raised as
to its contents. -
In the first place I have laid more stress
upon Political events than upon the History of
Religion, of Institutions, of Commerce, of Litera-
ture, or of Art. I am aware that the latter is
the more important study, but it is desirable to
begin with the former.
I have given no great number of facts or
dates in this little book. It is a Summary ,
not a table of historical events such as those
which I have previously published. My “Table
vi - ARAEA'A CAE.
of Dates and Synchronisms” were so to speak
simple repositories in which a date might
be sought, or a fact verified. But my present
object is entirely different ; it is to leave a
durable impression of Modern History as a
whole on the minds of my young readers.
To attain this end I found it necessary, first,
to mark out broadly and simply the dramatic
unity which characterises the History of the
last three Centuries and then to present the
ideas which have successively influenced its
course, not in the form of abstract statements,
but in that of characteristic facts which might
lay hold of the imagination of the young.
These facts are few but typical, so that the same
instances may present a succession of pictures to
the child, and a chain of ideas to the maturer
student. I am stating, it must be remembered,
what I have desired to do rather than what I
have succeeded in doing.
The affairs of the Northern and Eastern
nations of Europe occupy a comparatively
small space in this Summary. The narrow
bounds within which it had to be kept have
not allowed me to develop their history as
fully as that of the nations which have led the
march of European civilization.
C O N T E N T S.
l’AGE
INTRODUCTION
FIRST PERIOD, 1453–1517.
CHAPTER I.
Italy.—Turkish war, 1453–1494. . . . . . . . . II
Splendour of Italy (Venice, Florence, Rome, &c.)—Its real
decline—Condottieri, tyrannies and conspiracies—Machi-
avellian policy—Imminent conquest : Turks, Spaniards,
French—Siege of Constantinople, I453—Attempt of John
of Calabria on the kingdom of Naples, 1460—1464—Diver-
sions of the Albanian Scanderbeg, of Hunniades, and of
Matthias Corvinus in Hungary—Projected crusade which
failed by the death of Pius II., 1464–Venice invites the
Turks; siege of Otranto, I480—The Venetians invite René
of Anjou-The Pope calls on the Swiss–Savonarola pro-
phesies the conquest of Italy . . . . . . . . . II–18
N. CHAPTER II.
WESTERN EUROPE.-FRANCE AND THE LOW COUNTRIES, ENG-
LAND AND SCOTLAND, SPAIN AND PORTUGAL, IN THE
SECOND HALF OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY . . . . I 9
§ I. France, I453—1494.—Conclusion of the English wars—
Feudalism ; Houses of Burgundy, Brittany, Anjou, Albret,
Foix, Armagnac, &c.—Importance of the Duke of Bur-
gundy—Privileges of the King of France; first system of
viii COMTEAVTS.
PAG [.
permanent taxation, first standing army, I444—Death of
Charles VII.—Accession of Louis XI., I46 I—Death of
Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy—Accession of Charles
the Bold, 1467—League for the Public Weal—Treaties
of Conflans and of St. Maur, 1465—Interview at Péronne,
and captivity of the King, I468—Second league of the
great vassals dissolved by the death of the Duke of Guienne,
brother of Louis, 1472—Invasion of Edward IV.-Treaty
of Péquigny, 1475—Charles the Bold turns against Ger-
many, next against the Swiss ; is defeated at Granson
and at Morat, I476—His death, I477—Mary of Burgundy
marries Maximilian of Austria—louis XI. master of
Anjou, Maine, Provence, Artois, and Franche Comté,
1481–1482—His death ; regency of Anne of Beaujeu,
1483–Pretensions of the States, I484— Humiliation of the
nobles—Charles VIII. prepares for the Italian expedition 20–30
§ II. Angland, 1454–1509 ; Scotland, 1452–1513. –Ångland
—Marriage of Henry VI. with Margaret of Anjou–
Death of Gloucester; loss of the English provinces in
France—Richard of York, Warwick; condemnation of
the Ministers; protectorate of Richard, 1455—Battles of
Northampton, of Wakefield ; death of Richard ; his son,
Edward IV., I461—Defeat of the Lancastrians at Towton
and at Hexham, 1463—Reverses of Edward IV. at Not-
tingham, 1470—Battle of Tewkesbury; defeat and death
of Henry VI., 1471—Death of Edward IV., 1483; Richard
III.-Battle of Bosworth ; Henry VII., 1485–Increase of
the power of the Crown * @ º sº e º & 3O-39
Scotland: Struggles of James II. with the nobles; his alliance
with Lancaster—James III., I46O ; James IV., 1488–
Reconciliation between the King and the nobles—Battle of
Flodden—James V., I513 . . . . . . . . . . 39–42
š III. Spain and Portugal, I454–1521. –Henry IV., King of
Castille, 1454; revolt of the Grandees in the name of the
Infant; deposition of Henry ; battle of Medina del Campo,
I465; Juan II. King of Arragon; revolt of Catalonia,
1462–1472—Marriage of Ferdinand of Arragon with
Isabella of Castille, 1469—War with the Moors; siege of
Granada, I481––1492—Ferdinand and Isabella restrain the
Grandees and the towns by the aid of the Inquisition,
founded in 1480–12xpulsion of the Jews, 1492—Forced
conversion of the Moors, 1499–Death of Isabella, I 504—
Ministry of Ximinès ; conquest of Navarre, 1512–Death
COMTEAV/S. ix.
PAGE
of Ferdinand, 1516—Charles of Austria succeeds him—
Insurrections in Castile, Murcia, &c., I516, 1521 . . 42–56
CHAPTER III.
THE EAST AND THE NORTH. —GERMANIC AND SCAN DINAVIAN
STATES IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE FIFTEENTH CEN-
TURY tº & e e * ë ſº © º & sº ſº ſº g tº & e 57
Empire of Germany; preponderance and interested policy of
Austria—Elevation of Switzerland; decline of the Teu-
tonic Order—Rhenish and Swabian towns—Importance
and decline of the Hanseatic League—Rise of Holland
—Wars in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway—Freedom
acquired by Sweden, I433–152O . . . . . . . 57–64
CHAPTER IV.
THE EAST AND THE NORTH. —TUR}{ISH AND SCLAVONIC
STATES IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE FIFTEENTH CEN-
TURY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Progress of the Turks, 1481–1512–Podiebrad, King of Bo-
hemia ; Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, I458–
Ladislas of Poland unites Hungary with Bohemia—Poland
under the Jagellons, 1386–1506—Wars between Russia
and Tartary, Lithuania and Livonia, 1462–1505 - 65–70
CHAPTER V.
EARLY ITALIAN WARS, I494–1516 . . . . . . . . . 71
Iouis the Moor calls in France—Charles VIII. invades Italy
—League against the French—Battle of Fornovo, 1495–
Louis XII. invades the Milanese, I499—War with the
Neapolitan Spaniards—Defeat of the French at Garigliano
in 1503–Alexander VI. and Caesar Borgia—Julius II.-
Revolt of Genoa against Louis XII., I507—Italy, the
Empire, France, and Hungary conspire against Venice—
Holy League against France, I5II—I 512—Victories and
death of Gaston de Foix—Failure of Louis XII., 1512—
1514—Francis I. invades the Milanese—Battle of Marig-
man, I515–Treaty of Noyon, I519 . . . . . . 71–81
X CONTAEAV7S,
SECOND PERIOD, 1517–1648.
CHAPTER VI.
PAGE
LEO X., FRANCIS I., AND CHARLES V. . . . . . . . 82
Francis I. — 1515—Charles V. Emperor, 1519–First war
against Charles V., I521—Defection of the Duke of
Bourbon, I523—Battle of Pavia; captivity of Francis I.;
Treaty of Madrid, I 526—Second war, I 527--Peace of
Cambrai, I529—Public alliance between Francis I. and
Soliman, I534—Third war, 1535–Truce of Nice, 1538–
Renewal of hostilities, I54I—Battle of Cérisoles, 1544–
Treaty of Cressy—Deaths of Francis I. and Henry VIII.,
1547—Internal condition of France and Spain—The Refor-
mation–First persecutions, 1535—Massacre of the Vaudois,
1545 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82—IOO
CHAPTER VII.
LUTHER.—REFORMATION IN GERMANY–WAR WITH THE
TURKs, I5 I7—I555 e e e - e º t te º t * º IOI
Luther attacks the sale of indulgences, 1517 — He burns the
Pope's Bull, 1520–Diet of Worms, 1521—Secularisation
of Prussia, 1525–War of the Peasants in Swabia, I524—
I525—Anabaptists—Catholic and Protestant Leagues, I526
——Turkish War; Sóliman, 1521—1524–Siege—Invasion
of Hungary, I 526; of Vienna, 1529–Liet at Spires, I 529
—Confession of Augsburg, I 530—League of Smalkald,
I531—Revolt of the Anabaptists in Westphalia, I534—
Troubles and internal disturbances of Germany, I534–
1546 — Council of Trent, I 545—War of Charles V. against
the Protestants—Battle of Muhlberg, 1547— Revolt of
Maurice of Saxony, I 552 — Peace of Augsburg, I555–
Death of Charles V., I 558 . . . . . . . . IO I–I 17
CONTENTS. xi
CHAPTER VIII.
PAGE
THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND IN THE NORTH OF
EUROPE, I527–1547 . . . . . . . . . . . . I 18
§ I. England and Scotland, 1527–1547.—Divorce of Henry
VIII.-England separates from the Romish Church, 1534
—Pilgrimage of Grace—Catholic and Protestant persecu-
tions, I54O—Attempt on Scotland, I542—Submission and
administrative organization of Wales and Ireland . I 18–122
§ II. Denmark, Sweden, and AVorway, 1515–1560.- Chris-
tian II. sets the nobles of Denmark, Sweden, and the
Hanse countries against himself, I 517—Gustavus Vasa ;
insurrection of Dalecarlia; Christian II. replaced in
Sweden by Gustavus Vasa, 1523; in Denmark and Nor-
way by Frederick of Holstein, 1525–Independence of
the Church in Denmark, I527 ; in Sweden, 1529—Death
of Frederick I. — Civil war, 1533—Christian III. aboli-
shes the Roman Catholic religion, I536, and incorporates
Norway with Denmark, I537 . . . . . . . . I23–128
CHAPTER IX.
CALVIN.—THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE, ENGLAND, SCOT-
LAND, AND THE LOW COUNTRIES TO THE MASSACRE OF
ST. BARTHOLOMEW, I 555—I 572 . . . . . . . . . I29
wº
Calvin at Geneva, 1535–Calvinism spreads into France, the
Netherlands, England, and Scotland–Opposition of Philip
II.-His marriage with Queen Mary of England, I555 —
Peace between the King of Spain and Henri II., King
of France, 1559–Constitution of the Inquisition, I56I —
Marriage of Mary Stuart with Francis II., 1560—Wars
between Scotland and England, I559–1567–Accession
of Charles IX., 1561—Massacre of Vassy–Civil war,
I 562—Peace of Amboise, I 563; of Longjumeau, I568–
Battle of Jarnac and Montcontour, I569 — Persecutions
in the Netherlands—Council of Blood, 1567—Revolt of
the Moors in Spain, I 57I–St. Bartholomew, 1572 . I29–152
xii - COAV7'EAV7 S.
CHAPTER X.
- PAGE
CONTINUATION TO THE DEATH OF HENRI IV., I572—16IO.
VIEW OF THE POSITION OF THE BELLIGERENT POWERS
AFTER THE RELIGIOUS WARS . . . . . . . . . IS3
§ I. : To the Peace of Verzins, 1572–1598.-Death of Charles
IX., I574—Insurrection of the Low Countries, I 572–
Union of Utrecht, I579—Formation of the League in
France, 1577—Power of the Guises—Battle of Coutras,
I587–Barricades—States of Blois, 1588—Assassination of
Henri III., I589—Accession of Henri IV. — Death of
Mary Stuart, I587 — The Spanish Armada, and Defeat
of Philip II., 1588–Greatness of Elizabeth . . . IS3–162
§ II. To the death of Henri IV.- View of the position of the
belligerent powers.-Mayenne—Battle of Arques—Battle of
Ivry, 1590—States of Paris, I593—Abjuration and absolu-
tion of Henri IV., I 593–1595—Edict of Nantes–Peace
of Vervins, 1598–Exhaustion of Spain—Expulsion of the
Moors from Valencia, 1609–Administration of Henri IV.
—Wealth of France—Assassination of Henri IV., I6IO I62–17O
CHAPTER XI.
*
ENGLAND–THE GREAT REBELLION, 1603–1649 . . . . 171
James I., 1603––Charles I., 1625—War with France, 1627—The
King tries to govern without the Parliament, 1630–1638
–Trial of Hampden, 1636–Scottish Covenant—The Long
Parliament, 1640 — Beginning of the Civil War, 1642—
Covenant between England and Scotland, 1643—Success of
the Parliamentarians—Power passes into the hands of the
Independents—Cromwell—The King gives himself up to
the Scotch, who sell him, 1645–Revolt and importance
of the army–Trial and execution of Charles I. —
Abolition of the Monarchy, 1649. . . . . . . I71–179
COAW7FAW 7.S.
CHAPTER XII.
THIRTY YEARs' WAR, 1618–1648.
Maximilian II., I564 — 1576 — Rudolph II., 1576–1612—
Matthias elected Emperor, 1612–1619—Revolt of Bo-
hemia, ushering in the Thirty Years' War — Palafizzate
period, 1619—1623–Ferdinand II. —War against the Pro-
xiii
PAGE
. I 8o
testants—Bohemia—The Palatinate—Triumph of Ferdi-
mand—/Danish ſeriod. I625–1629–League of the States
of Lower Saxony—Success of Tilly and of Wallenstein
—Intervention of Denmark and Sweden—Swedish period,
I630–1631—Gustavus Adolphus invades the Empire—
Battle of Leipsic, 1631—Invasion of Bavaria—Battle of
Lützen—Death of Gustavus Adolphus, 1632—Assassina-
tion of Wallenstein, 1634—Peace of Prague, 1635–
French period, 1635–1648—Ministry of Richelieu, &c.—
Battle of the Downs, 1640
Fribourg, of Nordlingen, and of Lens, I644–45–48, &c.
Treaty of Westphalia, I648 . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER XIII.
THE EAST AND THE NORTH IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
§ I. 7%arkºv, Hungary, 1566–1648.-Turkey—Selim II., 1566
—1574—Battle of Lepanto, I571–Decline—Wars with
Hungary and Persia, I571–1623–Amurath IV.-Invasion
of Persia ; conquest of Candia, 1623–1640—Hungary,
I 562—I647—War between Austria and the Porte—Insur-
Battle of Leipsic, 1642; of
180–189
. IQO
rections against Austria . . . . . . . . . I90–191
§ II. Poland, Prussia, Russia.-Importance of Poland under
Sigismund I. ; of Russia under Joan TV.-War in Livonia,
I558–1583—War of Succession in Sweden, 1593–1609;
of Succession in Russia, 1598–1613—Progress of Russia,
1563–1666–Internal troubles in Sweden and Denmark
—Protracted wars . . . . . . . . . . . I92–196
xiv. COAV7'AºAV7 S.
CHAPTER XIV.
DISCOVERIES AND COLONIES OF THE MODERN WORLD, -DIS-
COVERIES AND ESTABLISHMENTS OF THE PORTUGUESE
IN THE WEST AND EAST INDIES, I412—1583 . . . . 197
PAGE
Ś I. Discoveries and Colonies of the Modern World . . 197–198
§ II. Discoveries and Establishments of the Portuguese . . 198
The Infant Don Henry encourages navigators—Discoveries
of Madeira, of the Azores, of Congo, I412–1484 ; of the
Cape of Good Hope, I486—Voyage of Vasco da Gama,
I497–1498–Discovery of Brazil, I 500 – Almeida and
Albuquerque, I505–1515–Subjection of Ceylon, 1518–
Earliest relations with China and Japan, 1517–1542–
Decline of Portuguese Colonies — Atăides and Juan de
Castro, I545–1572–Preponderance of Spain, 1582 . 198–202
CHAPTER XV.
DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.—CONQUESTS AND ESTABLISHMENTS
OF THE SPANIARDS IN THE FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH
CENTURIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Christopher Columbus—Discovery of America, 1492—Second
Voyage, 1493–Third Voyage, 1498–Discovery of the
Southern Ocean, 1513—Cortez—Conquest of Mexico,
I518–1521—Pizarro–Conquest of Peru, I524–1533—
Different discoveries and establishments, I540–1567 203–216
CHAPTER XVI.
LITERATURE, ART, AND SCIENCE IN THE SIXTEENTH CEN-
TURY. —LEO X. AND FRANCIS I. . . . . . . 2 I 7–22 I
CHAPTER XVII.
TROUBLES IN THE BEGINNING OF THE REIGN OF LOUIS XIII.
—RICHELIEU, IGIO—I613. . . . . . . . . . . .222
Louis XIII. — Regency – Concini— Luynes, 1610–1621–
Richelieu-Siege of La Rochelle, 1627–Thirty Years'
War—Richelieu supports Sweden—War with Spain, 1636
—Conspiracy of . Cinq-Mars—Deaths of Richelieu and
Louis XIII., I642–1643 . . . . . . . . . 222–230
COAV7'AºAVT.S.
THIRD PERIOD, 1648–1789.
FIRST PART OF THE THIRD PERIOD, 1648–1715.
CHAPTER XVIII.
TROUBLES UNDER MAZARIN.—RISE OF COLBERT. —LOUIS XIV.,
. 23 I
I643–1661 . . . . . . . . . .
*
Administration of Mazarin–Battle of Rocroy, 1643—Victory
of Condé–Treaty of Westphalia, 1648 – The Fronde,
1648–1653—Treaty of the Pyrenees, 1659—Louis XIV.
takes the reins of government, 1661 — Ministry of
Colbert . e - • * * * tº a
CHAPTER XIX.
CONTINUATION OF THE REIGN OF LOUIS xIV., 1661–1715
War with Spain–Conquest of Flanders and Franche Comté
—Triple Alliance against France—Treaty of Aix-la-
Chapelle, 1667–1668—Invasion of the United Provinces,
1672 — League against France, 1673–1675 — Victories
and Death of Turenne, 1674–1675–Peace of Nimèguen,
1678–Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 1685—Louis
XIV. declares War to almost the whole of Europe,
1686—Revolution in England, 1688 –Luxembourg and
Catinat—Peace of Ryswick, 1698—War of Succession in
Spain, 1698–1715–League of Europe against France,
1701 — Victory of the Confederates — Peace of Utrecht
and of Rastadt, I 712 — 1713 — Death of Louis XIV.,
I 715. • * * * * * * * * *
United Provinces, 1648–1715–European Colonies during
the 17th century (for the Dutch Colonies before the
Treaty of Westphalia, see ante, their wars against the
231–
24I-
XV
PAGE
24O
24I
267
Mote to Chapter X/X. —Revolutions in England and the
Spaniards) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241-249
xvi COMTEAVT.S.
PAGN.
European Colonies in the 17th century . . . . . 242
Southern States—German Empire, 1648–1715.
Portugal, Spain, Italy . . . . . . . . . . 243
The Empire, Turkey, Hungary . . . . . . . . . .
Northern States—Charles XII. and Peter the Great . . . 246
Northern States in the second half of the 17th century . . . 247
Northern States in the beginning of the 18th century . . . 248
CHAPTER XX.
LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART DURING THE REIGN OF
LOUIS XIV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
§ I. France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268-273
§ II. England, Holland, Germany, Italy, Spain . . . 273–277
SECOND PART OF THE THIRD PERIOD, 1765–1789.
CHAPTER XXI. *
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE WEST, ESPECIALLY OF FRANCE,
1715–1789 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
Louis XV.-Regency of the Duke of Orleans, 1715–Ministry
of Bourbon, 1723; of Henry, 1726––War of Succession
in Austria, 1740–Keverses of the French, 1743—Victories
of Fontenoi and Roucoux, 1745–1746—Peace of Aix-
la-Chapelle, 1748–Seven Years' War, 1756–Family com-
pact, 1764 — Abolition of the Jesuits, I 764, and of the
Parliament, 1771—Louis XVI., 1774–Turgot, Necker—
Calonne — Assembly of Notables, 1787 — States-General,
1789 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278–307
Aſote to Chapter XXZ. — Condition of the Western Powers
after the Peace of Utrecht and the death of Louis XIV.
—Wars and negotiations relating to the Spanish Succession,
I713—1738—War of Succession in Austria, I 741–1748;
and Seven Years' War, 1756–1763—War of Succession in
Austria—Seven Years' War, 1756–1763–European Colo-
nies during the 17th century—Internal History of the
Western States, 1715–1789—Northern and Eastern States,
1725–1789–General Affairs in the North and East—
Russian and Polish Revolutions—Sweden and Denmark,
Turkey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278–292
COAV 7TEAV7.S. xvi
FOURTH PERIOD, 1789–1874.
CHAPTER XXII.
PART I. — FRENCH REVOLUTION TO THE DOWN FALL OF
NAPOLEON, I'789–1815.
PART II.-TREATY OF VILNNA TO THE SECOND FRENCH
EMPIRE, 1815–1852.
PART III.-1852—-1874.
FA GE
PART I. French A'ezſolution to the downfall of Napoleon, 1789
—1815. Airst subdivision.—States-General, May 5th, 1789
—Jeu de Paume, June 20th–Dismissal of Necker–Storm-
ing of the Bastile, 14th of July—Recall of Necker and ap-
pointment of Lafayette—Nobles surrender their privileges,
August 4th–Attack on Versailles, October 5th–France a
constitutional monarchy, 1789—Death of Mirabeau, April
1791 – System of assignats — Flight to Varennes, June
25th, I 791—Legislative Assembly, October 1st, 1791—
Influence of the Clubs—Ministry of Roland, March 1792–
Declaration of war, April 20th, 1792 – Attack on the
Tuileries, June 20th–King and royal family escape to
the Assembly, August IOth—Massacres of September 1792
—Execution of Louis XVI., January 21st, 1793—Com-
mittee of public safety, May 27th—Assassination of Marat,
July 1793––Reign of terror—Execution of Marie Antoinette,
October 16th ; of the Girondists, October 31st, 1793 —
Power of Robespierre—Execution of Danton, April 6th,
I794—Attempted suicide and execution of Robespierre,
July 28th, 1794. . . . . . . . . . . . . .308-313
..Second subdivision of Part I. State of the Continent—Em-
Jeror Joseph II.-Foreign sovereigns take part with Louis
XVI. — Treaties of Mantua and Pilnitz, May — August,
xviii
COA/7′EAVZ.S.
1791—Rout of the French army—Allies enter France, July
3Oth, 1792–Lafayette is succeeded by Dumouriez—Suc-
cess of Dumouriez at Valmy, September 20th–Allies retire
—England enters the alliance, 1793 — Policy of Pitt—
Eloquence of Burke—Dumouriez invades Flanders—Du-
mouriez leaves the army—Hood retires from Toulon—
Victory of Lord Howe, June Ist, 1794—Reactionary panic
in England—Policy of Pitt, 1793—War in La Vendée, 1793
—The Directory, August 22nd, 1795—Napoleon Buona-
parte, commander-in-chief, in Italy, March 27th, I'796—
Alliance against France, 1795 — Victories of Archduke
Charles, 1796—Victories of Buonaparte, 1797—Peace of
Campo Formio, October 17th, 1797—Baffled attempts of
France to invade England, 1796–1797—Victory of St.
Vincent, 1797—Mutiny of British seamen, 1797—Rebel-
lion in Ireland—Union of Ireland with England, 1800—
Buonaparte in Egypt, 1798—Nelson gains the battle of the
Nile, August Ist, I 798—Buonaparte first consul, Novem-
ber 9th, 1799—Naples a republic, 1798 — Victories of
Buonaparte, Marengo, June 1800—Hohenlinden, Decem-
ber 1800—Peace of Amiens, 1802—Renewed hostilities,
May 1803 — English detained as hostages — Murder of
the Duc d'Enghien, 1804—Napoleon Emperor, 1804—
Camp at Boulogne, 1803—18O4—Nelson destroys French
and Spanish fleets at Trafalgar, October 21st, 1805—Vic-
tories of Buonaparte, Ulm, October 18th, Austerlitz, De-
cember 2nd, 1805–Peace of Presburg, December 27th,
PACE
1805—End of the Empire of the West, 1804—Defeat of
Prussia, Saalfeld, Jena, Lübeck, and Magdeburg, 1806–
Narrow escape of Napoleon at Eylau, 1807—Peace of
Tilsit, July 7th, 1807—Bombardment of Copenhagen, Sep-
tember 5th, 1807—The French in Spain, 1808–Corunna,
1809 – Napoleon returns to Germany; victories of Eck-
mühl, Aspern, and Wagram, 1809—Marriage of Napoleon.
to Marie Louisa, 1810—Victories of Wellington, Fuentes
d’Onore, Ciudad-Rodrigo, Albuera, Badajoz, Sala-
manca, 1812—Vittoria, San Sebastian, 1813—Napoleon
invades Russia, June 20th — Retreat from Moscow,
October 20th, 1812—Allies defeat Napoleon at Leipsic,
October 18th, 1813, and advance on Paris—Skilful cam-
paign of Napoleon—Signs his abdication at Fontainebleau,
March 30th, 1814—Louis XVIII. —Napoleon banished to
Elba—Congress at Vienna, September 1814—Napoleon
returns to France, reign of IOO days, March 1815—The
allies advance against Napoleon on all sides—March on
Belgium—Final defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, June
I8th, 1815. . . . . . . . . . . .
3I3–33 I
COAV7'EAVT.S. xix
PAGE
PART II. Arom the 7% eaty of Vienna to the second French
Empire, 1815–1852. State of Europe after, the peace of
Paris, November 1815 — Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle,
1818–The Zollverein, 1818.-AEngland: Bread riots, 1817
—Peel——Canning—Battle of Navarino, October 20th, 1827
—Catholic emancipation, 1829—O'Connell—Revolution
in France—Louis Philippe king, July 1830—Revolution in
Belgium, Prince Leopold king, 1831–Reform Bill in Eng-
land, 1832—New Poor Law Bill, 1834—Change of minis-
try, 1834; Wellington and Peel, 1835. The Continent :
Government of Louis Philippe – Reactionary policy of
Russia, Austria, and Prussia—Treaty of Adrianople, Sep-
tember 1829–Incorporation of Poland with Russia, 1831
—Cracow, 1815–1846. Angland: Accession of Queen
Victoria, 1837—Disturbances in Canada — Union of the
two Canadian provinces, 1840—Quadruple alliance—Me-
hemet Ali, 1840—War in China, and in Affghanistan, 1842
—Conquest of the Punjaub, 1846—Chartism—Anti-Corn
Law League—Peel repeals the Corn Laws, 1846—Famine
in Ireland, 1846–1847–Spanish marriages, 1846––Revo-
lution in France—Abdication of Louis Philippe, 1848
— Revolutionary movement on the Continent—Pius IX.
—Charles Albert—Defeat at Novara, 1849—Reactionary
measures in Italy, 1849–1850—Chartist demonstration in
England, April Ioth, 1848—Louis Napoleon, President
of the French republic, 1849—Coup d'état, 1851 — Es-
tablishment of the Second French empire, 1852 . . 331-34o
PART III. From 1852 to 1874. Crimean war, 1854—Battles
of the Alma, Balaklava, Inkermann, 1854—Lord Palmer-
ston, prime minister in England, 1855–Fall of Sebastopol,
September 8th, 1855— Treaty of peace with Russia, signed
March 30th, 1856–Indian mutiny, 1857–1859—Rise of
Sardinia–Cavour—The “Attentat,” January 14th, 1858
—Threatening letter of the French colonels—Volunteer
force in England—Louis Napoleon listens to Cavour—
War between Sardinia, assisted by France, and Austria
—Victories of Magenta and Solferino, June 1859—Peace
of Villa Franca, July 1859 – Nice and Savoy annexed
to France, 1860–Garibaldi conquers Sicily, August 18th—
Enters Naples, September 7th—Salutes Victor Emmanuel
as king of Italy, October 15th, 1860—Death of Cavour,
June 1861—Florence, capital of Italy, 1861. –America :
Secession of the Southern States, 1860 — Fort Sumter,
1861—Victory of the North and surrender of the Con-
federate army, April 7th, 1865—Assassination of Presi-
dent Lincoln, April 14th, 1865—The Alabama, 1860—
COAVZTAEAVZ.S.
- PAGE
1867 — England gives up the Ionian Islands to Greece,
1863—Death of Lord Palmerston, 1865 — Extension of
Parliamentary suffrage by Mr. Disraeli, 1868–7%e Con-
tinent : Advance of Prussia—Schleswig-Holstein, 1864—
War between Prussia, assisted by Italy, and Austria, 1866.
Seven Weeks’ War: Victory of Sadowa, July 3rd, 1866–
Surrender of Venetia, August 23rd, 1866—Attempt of
Garibaldi on Rome, 1867—Pius IX. proclaims the Immacu-
late Conception, 1868, and his own inſallibility, 1869.
Unpopularity of Louis Napoleon — Mexico, 1862—War
with Prussia, July 15th, 1870—Victories of Prussia and
surrender of the Emperor of the French at Sedan, 1870—
Siege of Paris by Prussia—Surrender of Paris, January 28th,
1871—Treaty of peace, February 26th, 1871 — King of
Prussia elected German Emperor, January 18th, 1871—
Rome the capital of Italy, October 9th, 1870— Victor
Amadeus, king of Spain, November 1870 ; abdicates
in 1873—Revolutionary movement in Paris, 1871–Second
siege of Paris by French troops, May 24th, 1871—The
Communists set fire to Paris—Ultimate victory of the
moderate party—M. Thiers, president of the French Re-
public from 1871 to 1873, when he was replaced by Mar-
shal MacMahon. Ængland: Active administration of
Mr. Gladstone, 1868–1874 — Conservative spirit in the
country—Parliament dissolved, 1874—Gladstone replaced
by Disraeli, 1874—Wars with Abyssinia and Ashantee,
1867–1874. tº $ tº tº gº tº 34C–352
SUMMARY
OF
M O DE R N H IS TO RY.
INTRODUCTION,
IN the Ancient History of Europe the scene is occupied
alternately by two predominant nations or peoples ; and
for the most part there is a unity both of action and
interest. This unity, which is less visible in the Middle
Ages, reappears in Modern History, and manifests itself
chiefly in the revolutions of the Balance of Power.
The date which separates the History of the Middle
Ages from Modern History cannot be assigned with
precision. If we consider the History of the Middle
Ages as ending with the last Invasion of the Barbarians
(that of the Turks), Modern History will include the
three centuries and a half which separate the taking of
Constantinople by the Turks from the French Revolu-
tion, I453–1789. -
Modern History we may divide into three great
periods:– .
I. From the taking of Constantinople to Luther's
Reformation, 1453–1517.
II. From the Reformation to the Treaty of Westphalia,
I 517–1648.
III. From the Treaty of Westphalia to the French
JRevolution, 1648–1789.
Š S. H. B
2 Al/OX)/2A2AV AZS 7'OA’ Y.
The system of the Balance of Power which was coming
into existence during the first period, took its perfect
shape in the second, and was maintained in the third.
When viewed relatively to the Balance of Power, the two
latter periods fall into five separate sub-divisions of that
System : I517–1559 ; I 559–1603; 1603–1648; 1648
—I 7 I 5 ; I 715—I'789.
TRINCIPAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN
HISTORY.
I. Z%e great States which are formed by the successive
falling in of fiefs have a continuous tendency to swallow up
smaller States, either by Zway of conquest or by marriage.
(1.) Republics are absorbed by Monarchies; Elective
States by Hereditary States. This tendency to absolute
unity is checked by the Balance of Power.
(2.) Intermarriages between Sovereigns introduce
family connections and rivalries into European politics.
II. Zhe fendency of AEurope to conquer and civilize ſhe
rest of the zworld. The supremacy of the European States
over their colonies was not shaken until the end of the
eighteenth century. -
(I.) Importance of the great maritime powers. Com-
mercial communication between every quarter of the
globe. (Ancient nations had communicated more often
through war than by commerce.)
(2.) Politics, influenced in the Middle Ages and up
to the end of the sixteenth century by religious interests,
became more and more subject in modern times to those
of commerce. &
III. Oſposition between the Southern races (those of a
Zafin Zanguage and civilization) and the AVorthern races
(those of a Zeufonic language and civilization). -
(I.) The Western nations developed civilization and
Carried it to the most distant countries.
(2.) The Eastern nations (mostly of Sclavonic origin)
were for a longtime occupied in protecting Europe against
AAV7/8 O/OOCZ 7OAV. 3
the Barbarians, and their progress in the arts of peace
was consequently slower.
(3.) The Scandinavian nations of the North, placed as
they are at the furthest bounds of European civilization,
were in much the same state as the Sclavonic nations
of the East.
FIRST PERIOD OF MODERN HISTORY.
FROM THE TAKING OF CONSTANTINOPLE BY THE TURKS TO
LUTHER’s REFORMATION.
I453–15 I7.
This period, the border-land of the Middle Ages and
of Modern History, is less easily characterized than the
two following: the events are more complex in their im-
portance, and more difficult to understand in their rela-
tion to each other. Each State was making continual
efforts towards internal consolidation before joining itself
with neighbouring States. The first attempts towards a
Balance of Power date from the end of this period. * r -
The nations already civilized in the Middle Ages were
brought into subjection by those that had preserved the
military temper of the age which preceded them ; the
Provençals by the French, the Moors by the Spaniards,
the Greeks by the Turks, the Italians by the Spaniards
and the French. º
Jnternal Condition of the Principal States among the
Zlations of Zeufonic origin.—Among these, the only States
which were subject to the feudal system, properly so
called, a free burgher middle-class (developed through
the advance of well-being and industry) had risen up,
and Supported the Sovereigns against the nobles.
By the middle of the fifteenth century the feudal sys-
tem had triumphed throughout the Empire ; in Castille it
had humiliated the Kings; it continued to exist without
control in Portugal (which was busily engaged in war
and African discoveries); in the three Northern kingdoms,
B 2
4. MODERAV II/S7'ORY.
(which, since the Union of Calmar, had been the prey of
anarchy); in England through the Wars of the Roses;
and in Naples during the quarrels of the Houses of Arra-
gon and Anjou. But in Scotland and in France it was
already the object of attack on the part of the Kings.
Charles VII., the conqueror of the English, prepared
its downfall by his institutions; and before the end of
the century, through the reigns of Ferdinand the Catholic
and Ferdinand the Bastard, of John II. (of Portugal), of
Henry VII., and Louis XI., the Royal Power rose into
supremacy on the ruins of Feudalism.
Three States stand apart from this general picture.
While other nations tended towards monarchical unity,
Italy remained divided ; the power of the Dukes of
Burgundy reached its height only to crumble away;
while the military Republic of Switzerland rose into im-
portance. -
Internal Condition of the Sclavonic States.——The aspect
of the two great Sclavonic nations presents a difference
which reveals to us their destiny. Russia became united,
and began to emerge from barbarism ; Poland, while
modifying her constitution, remained faithful to the
anarchical forms of government prevalent during the
Middle Ages.
Mutual /čelations of the Principa/ States of Æas# and
West.—The European Commonwealth no longer pos-
sessed the unity of impulse given to it by religion in the
time of the Crusades; nor was it yet clearly divided as it
became afterwards by the Reformation. It was separated
into several groups, partly from their geographical and
partly from their political connection; England with
Scotland and France ; Arragon with Castille and Italy;
Italy and Germany with every other State (either directly
or indirectly). Turkey grouped itself with Hungary;
Hungary with Bohemia and Austria; Poland formed the
common link between the East and the North, of which
she was the preponderating influence. .
The three kingdoms of the North and Russia formed
two worlds apart.
AVTRO DUCTIOAW. 5
The Western States, most of them a prey to internal
discord, rested from foreign wars. In the North, Sweden,
which had been chained for sixty years to Denmark, broke
the Union of Calmar; Russia emancipated herself from
the Tartars; the Teutonic Order became the vassal of
Poland. All the Oriental States were threatened by the
Turks, who, since the taking of Constantinople, had no
longer any cause for apprehension from the nations in
their rear, and were held in check only by Hungary.
The Emperor, engaged in founding the greatness of his
dynasty, and Germany, in repairing the disasters of civil
and religious wars, seemed oblivious of danger.
We may set aside therefore the history of the North
and the East to follow without interruption the revo-
lutions of the Western States. We shall then see both
England and Portugal, and in a yet higher degree Spain
and France, take an attitude of imposing grandeur, the
result of their conquests in recently discovered countries,
and of the union of the whole national authority in the
hands of their Kings. In Italy these new forces were to
develop themselves through an obstinate contest. We
must observe therefore the means by which Italy was
opened to foreigners before we enter upon the struggles
of which she became the theatre in this and the next
period."
1 The limits of this sketch do not allow us to trace the history of
civilization in Europe simultaneously with its political history. We
must be satisfied with noting here its starting point in the 15th cem-
tury. Rise of the spirit of invention and discovery.—In literature,
enthusiasm for learning stops for some time the development of mo-
dern intellect.—Invention of printing (1436–1452). —More frequent
use of gunpowder and of the compass.-Discoveries of the Portu-
guese and of the Spaniards.-Maritime commerce, until now con-
fined to the Baltic (Hanseatic League) and the Mediterranean
(Venice, Genoa, Florence, Barcelona, and Marseilles), is extended
to all seas by the voyages of Columbus, of Gama, &c., and passes
into the hands of the Western nations towards the end of this
period.-Commerce by land; merchant towns of Lombardy, the
Low Countries, and the Free Towns of Germany, commercial
centres for the North and the South.-Manufacturing industry of
the same nations, especially in the Netherlands.
6 MOZ)ZACAV AZSTORY
SECOND PERIOD OF MODERN HISTORY.
FROM THE REFORMATION TO THE TREATY OF WESTPHALIA.
I517–1648.
The Second Period of Modern History opened with
the rivalry between Francis I., Charles V., and Soliman :
above all, it was characterized by the Reformation. The
House of Austria, whose colossal power could alone
close Europe to the Turks, seemed to have defended only
to enslave her. But Charles V. encountered a threefold
barrier. Francis I. and Soliman opposed the Emperor
from motives of personal ambition, and saved the inde-
pendence of Europe. When Francis I. was exhausted,
Soliman supported him, and Charles met with a new ob-
stacle in the League of the German Protestants. This is
#he first Sub-division of the Reformation and the Balance
of Pozº'er, I 517–1559. -
I559–1603. Second Suð-division of the Balance of
Aozyer and of the Zºeformation.—The Reformation had
already spread throughout Europe, and especially in
France, England, Scotland, and the Low Countries.
Spain, the only Western country which remained closed
to it, declared herself its adversary. Philip II. endea-
voured to bring Europe back to religious unity, and
to extend his dominion over all the Western nations.
During the whole of the Second Period, and especially
during this time, foreign and domestic wars went on
together in almost every country.
1603–1648. Z%ird Sub-division of the Aalance of
Power and of the AEeformation.—The movement of the
Reformation finally brought about two simultaneous,
but independent results : a revolution which ended in
civil war, and a war which assumed the character of a
revolution ; or rather, of a Civil War in the European
Commonwealth. In England the Reformation triumphed
only to divide against itself. In Germany it swept every
AV7'K’O/DOCZYO/W. 7
State into the whirlpool of the Thirty Years' War. From
this chaos arose the system of the Balance of Power,
which was to continue during the Succeeding period.
The Eastern and Northern nations were no longer
foreign to the Western system, as in the preceding
periods. In the first of the three periods which we have
mentioned, Turkey entered into the Balance of Europe;
in the third, Sweden intervened still more decisively in
Western affairs. In the second, Livonia brought the
Sclavonic States into contact with the Scandinavian,
from which they had been completely separated up to
that time.
From the commencement of this period the sovereigns
held united in their own hands the whole power of the
nations they ruled, and offered to their subjects internal
peace and distant conquests in exchange for their privi-
leges. Commerce developed itself enormously in spite
of the system of monopoly whose organization dates
from this time.
THIRD PERIOD OF MODERN HISTORY.
FROM THE TREATY OF WESTPHALIA TO THE FRENCH
- REVOLUTION.
1648–1789.
In this period the principal influence was entirely poli-
tical: it was the maintenance of the system of the Balance
of Power. The period may be divided into two parts,
of about seventy years each : one before the death of
Louis XIV., 1648–1715; the other after it, from 1715
—1789.
I. I648–1715. Fourth Sub-Division of the Balance
of Power.—At the beginning of the third, as at the be-
ginning of the second period, the freedom of Europe
was in danger. France occupied among its States the
rank previously held by Spain, and wielded besides the
influence of a higher civilization,
8 Al/O/O AEAEAW ANZSZCOA' V.
So long as Louis XIV. had no other adversary than
Spain, which was already exhausted, and Holland, which
was wholly a maritime power, he gave the law to Europe.
At length England, under a second William of Orange,
took up once more the part she played in the time of
Blizabeth—that of principal antagonist of the power
which predominated on the Continent. In concert with
Holland she annihilated the pretensions of France to
the dominion of the seas. In concert with Austria she
drove France back within her natural limits, but was
unable to prevent her from establishing in Spain a
branch of the House of Bourbon.
Sweden was the first of the Northern Powers. Under
two victorious sovereigns, she twice changed the face of
the North, but she was too weak to obtain a lasting supre-
macy. Russia checked her, and took a position of supe-
riority which she has never lost. The political system
of the North had little connection with the Southern
States, save in so far as they were brought together by
the ancient alliance of Sweden with France.
II. I 715—I'789. Fifth Suð-Zivision of the Balance
of Aozoſer.—The rise of the new kingdoms of Prussia and
Sardinia marked the first years of the eighteenth century.
Prussia became with England the arbitress of Europe,
while France was enfeebled, and Russia had not yet
attained her full strength.
In the eighteenth century there was less disproportion
between the different powers than Europe had witnessed
before. The preponderating nation being insular and
essentially maritime, had no other interest on the Con-
tinent than to maintain the System of balance. It was
this consideration which determined her conduct in the
three wars between the Western States of the Continent.
Austria, already mistress of the greater part of Italy,
might have destroyed the Balance of Power ; England,
her ally, allowed her to be deprived of Naples, which
became an independent kingdom. France tried to an-
nihilate Austria ; England saved the existence of Austria,
but permitted Russia to weaken her, and to become her
AVZA2O/DOCT/OAV. 9
rival. Austria and France wanted to annihilate Prussia;
England succoured her as she succoured Austria, directly
through subsidies, and indirectly by her maritime war
with France. -
On the sea and in the colonies the Balance of Power
was disturbed by England. The contest for the posses-
sion of colonies, which is one of the characteristics of
this century, gave her an opportunity of ruining the navies
of France and Spain, and of claiming a vexatious juris-
diction over neutrals. -
A wholly unexpected revolution shook this colossal
power to its foundations. The most important of her
Colonies escaped from the grasp of England, but she
opposed a bold front to all her enemies, she founded
in the East an Empire as vast as that which she had lost
in the West, and remained mistress of the seas.
Russia grew stronger, both through her internal de-
velopment and through the anarchy of her neighbours.
She long maintained a perpetual agitation in Sweden ;
she plundered Turkey, swallowed up Poland, and ad-
vanced into Europe. The political system of the Northern
States became more and more amalgamated with that of
the Southern and Western States, but it was only the
revolutions and bloody wars which broke out at the end
of the third period which united into one system all the
States of Europe. -
FIRST PERIOD OF MODERN HISTORY.
I453—I 5 I 7.
CHAPTER I.
ITALY.
TURKISH WAR. (1453–1494.)
IN the midst of the rude feudalism which still left its
stamp upon the fifteenth century, Italy afforded the
spectacle of an ancient civilization. She imposed respect
upon foreigners by the time-honoured authority of religion
and by the splendour of wealth and art. The French-
man or German who crossed the Alps admired in Lom-
bardy the skilful agriculture and the innumerable canals
which turned the valley of the Po into a large garden.
He saw Venice rise from the lagoons, a city of wonders,
with her marble palaces and her arsenal which employed
50,000 men. From her ports sailed every year 3, ooo or
4,Ooo vessels, some bound for Oran, Cadiz, and Bruges;
others for Egypt and Constantinople. By means of her
proveditors Venice ruled in almost every port, from the
extremity of the Adriatic to that of the Black Sea.
Further on rose the ingenious Florence which, though
really governed by Cosmo or Lorenzo, still believed
herself to be a Republic. . At once princes and citizens,
merchants and men of letters, the Medici received by
the same vessels tissues from Alexandria and manuscripts
from Greece. While the doctrines of Plato were revived
by the labours of Ficino, Brunelleschi raised the dome
12 A ZTAZY ZTO/CATVS// J/A1A2. [I453-
of Santa Maria, in front of which Michael Angelo wished
his tomb to be placed. The same enthusiasm for the
arts and for letters prevailed in the courts of Milan,
Ferrara, Mantua, Urbino, and Bologna. The Spaniards,
who had conquered the Kingdom of Naples, imitated
Italian manners, and, as the price of a reconciliation
with Cosmo de' Medici, asked nothing more than a fine
meano /losſro 2nzyżto Pedro el A'all/o.
manuscript of Livy. Finally, in Rome Learning itself,
in the persons of Nicholas V. and Pius II., was seated in
the Chair of St. Peter. This universal literary culture
seems to have softened manners. There were not I, ooo
men' killed in the bloodiest encounter of the fifteenth
century. Battles had almost died into tournaments.
An attentive observer however might easily perceive
symptoms of the decline of Italy. The apparent softness
of manners proved nothing more than the degeneration
of national character. Although less bloody, wars were
longer and more ruinous. The Condottieri who marched
through Italy were bodies of undisciplined troops always
ready to fight under their enemy's flag for the least
increase of pay ; war had become a lucrative game
between the Piccinini and the Sforzas. Everywhere
there were petty tyrants, praised by scholars, and detested
by the people. Letters, which were Italy's chief boast,
had lost the originality of the fourteenth century; Filelphus
and Plotinus had succeeded to Dante and Petrarch.
Nowhere had Religion more utterly passed out of men's
minds. Nepotism was the curse of the Church, and
robbed her of the reverence of foreign nations. The
usurper of the territories of the Holy See, the Con-
dottiere Sforza, dated his letters in these words: “e Fir-
3) 2
The expiring genius of Italian liberty still protested
by fruitless conspiracies. Porcaro, who believed him-
self to have been predicted in the verses of Petrarch,
endeavoured to restore the Republican Government in
1 Machiavelli, Storie Zºlorentine, vol. vii.
* Machiavelli, book v.
-1494] GOVERNMEAVZS OF FZORAEAVC/E & VFAW/CAE. 13
Rome. The Pazzi at Florence, and at Milan young
Olgiati and two others, stabbed in church, respectively,
Guiliano de' Medici and Galeazzo Sforza (1476–1499).
They fancied in their madness that the liberty of their
degenerate country hung upon the life of a single man
Two Governments passed for the wisest in Italy, those
of Florence and of Venice. Lorenzo de' Medici made the
Florentines sing his verses, and himself led through the
streets of the town pedantic and sumptuous masquerades.
He gave himself up blindly to the regal munificence
which won the admiration of men of letters, and pre-
pared the bankruptcy of Florence." At Venice, on the
other hand, cold self-interest seemed the only law fol-
lowed by the Government. Neither favouritism, nor
caprice, nor prodigality existed there. But this iron
Government could last only by drawing closer and
closer together the strings of power. The tyranny of the
Council of Ten was no longer sufficient, it was necessary
to create in the very bosom of this Council Inquisitors of
State (1454). Their Dictatorship, if it ensured pro-
sperity in the foreign relations of the State, dried up the
sources of its internal prosperity. From I423 to 1453,
Venice had added four provinces to her territory, while
her revenue had diminished by more than Ioo,000
ducats. In vain she attempted to retain by Sanguinary
measures the monopoly which was eluding her grasp ;
in vain the State-Inquisitors caused any workman who
carried abroad any trade which was useful to the Repub-
lic to be stabbed ; * the time was not far off when Italy
was to lose, at once, her commerce, her wealth, and her
independence. A new invasion of Barbarians was soon
to snatch from her the monopoly of commerce and art,
and to make them the patrimony of the world.
Who was to be the conqueror of Italy P. The Turk, the
Frenchman, or the Spaniard? This is what no foresight
* Ginguéné, History of Italian Literature, vol. iii.
* Daru, vol. vii. Pièces justificatives. Statutes of the Inquisition
of State, art. 26.
I4. A 7.4/. Y.-7'OA’/ ZSA/ IWAA’. [I453-
could determine. The Popes and most of the Italians
dreaded the Turks above all. The great Sforza and
Alfonzo the Magnanimous thought only of closing Italy
to the French, who claimed Naples as the heritage of
their kings, and might claim Milan.” Venice, believing
herself in her lagoons to be beyond the reach of a
conqueror, treated indifferently with all; sometimes sacri-
ficing to secondary interests her honour and the safety
of Italy. -
Such was the situation of Venice when she heard
the last cry of distress from Constantinople (1453).
Severed already from Europe by schism and by the
Turks, this unhappy city saw beneath her walls an army
of 300,ooo barbarians. At this critical moment the
Western nations, accustomed to the complaints of the
Greeks, still paid very little attention to her danger.
Charles VII. was finishing the expulsion of the English
from France; Hungary was torn by civil war; the phleg-
matic Frederick III. was busy in raising Austria into an
Archduchy. The Genoese and the Venetians, the pos-
sessors of Pera and Galata, were calculating their pro-
bable loss, instead of endeavouring to prevent it. Genoa
sent four vessels; Venice deliberated whether she should
give up her conquests in Italy in order to preserve her
colonies and her commerce.” In the midst of this fatal
hesitation, Italy saw the fugitives from Constantinople
disembarking on all her coasts. Their tale filled Europe
with shame and terror; they lamented the change of St.
Sophia into a mosque ; the Sack and desolation of Con-
stantinople; the enslavement of more than 60,000 Chris-
tians; they described the prodigious cannons of Ma-
homet II., and the moment, when on awaking, the Greeks
saw the galleys of the unbelievers sailing across dry
ground and being lowered into their harbours.”
* Sismondi, Italian Republics, vol. x. p. 28.
* Daru, History of Venice, vol. ii. book 16; and Pièces justifica-
tives, vol. viii. -
* It is said that the Sultan conveyed his fleet in ore night into the
harbour of Constantinople, by sliding the ships along planks which
-I494] AſONAV/AIDAES AAWD SCAAVZ) ZACAA.G. I5
Europe was moved at last; Nicholas V. preached
the Crusade ; all the Italian States became reconciled at
Lodi (1454). In other countries the cross was taken up
by thousands. At Lille the Duke of Burgundy presented
at a banquet a figure of the Church in tears, and in ac-
cordance with the rites of chivalry, swore by God, by the
Virgin, by the Ladies, and the Pheasant, that he would
go and fight the Infidels." But this enthusiasm lasted
only a short time. Nine days after signing the Treaty of
Lodi the Venetians contracted another with the Turks.
Charles VII. would not allow the Crusade to be preached
in France ; the Duke of Burgundy stayed at home, and
the new attempt of John of Calabria on the kingdom of
Naples occupied the whole attention of Italy (1460–64).
The only real champions of Christendom were the
Hungarian Hunniades and the Albanian Scanderbeg.
The latter, whose savage heroism recalled the ages of
fable, is said to have struck off with a single blow the
head of a wild bull. He had been seen, like Alexander,
whose name the Turks bestowed on him, leaping alone
upon the walls of a besieged city. Ten years after his
death the Turks divided his bones amongst themselves,
believing that they would thus become invincible.” To
this day the name of Scanderbeg is heard in Songs among
the mountains of Epirus.
The other Soldier of Christ, Hunniades, the White
A night of Wallachia, the ZDevil of the Turks, checked
their advance, while Scanderbeg made his diversion in
their rear.3 When the Ottomans attacked Belgrade, the
were covered with grease. See Cantimier and Saaduddin, His-
tory of the Ottomans, manuscript translation by Galland, cited
by M. Daru in his History of Venice, 2nd edition. Pièces justift-
calizes, vol. viii. pp. I94–6.
* Olivier de la Marche, vol. viii. of the Collection of Memoirs
relating to the History of France, edited by M. Petitot.
* Barlesio, de Vita Georgii Castrioti, 1537, Žassim.
3 The first was the title always assumed by Scanderbeg ; the
second was generally the appellation of Hunniades among his con-
temporaries (Comines, I. vi. chap. xiii.); the third was given him
by the Turks, who frightened their children with his name (M. de
I6 A 7.4 Z Y-Z'OA” A WSA/ PIVAA’. [I453-
bulwark of Hungary, Hunniades broke through the in-
fidel army to throw himself into the town, repulsed
during forty days its most vigorous assaults, and was
celebrated as the saviour of Christendom.
(1456.) His son, Matthias Corvinus, whom the grati-
tude of the Hungarians raised to the throne, opposed his
Alack Guard, the first regular infantry this nation ever
had, to the Janissaries of Mahomet II. The reign of
Matthias was the culminating point of Hungarian glory.
While he encountered in turn the Turks, Germans, and
Poles, he founded in his capital a university, two
academies, an observatory, a museum of antiquities, and
a library, which was at that time the most considerable
in the world." This rival of Mahomet II. spoke, as the
Sultan did, sevéral languages; like him, while he preserved
the barbarous customs of his people, he loved letters.
He is said to have accepted the offer made to him by a
man to assassinate his father-in-law, the King of Bohemia;
but he rejected with indignation the proposal to poison
him. “Against my enemies,” he said, “Zemploy only steel.”
It is to him that the Hungarians owed their Magna Charta
(Decretum majus, 1485, see chap. iii.). A Hungarian
proverb proclaims his excellence, “Since Corvinus, no
more justice.” Pope Pius II. and Venice allied them-
selves with this great Prince, when their conquest of
Servia and Bosnia opened for the Turks the road to
Italy. The Pontiff was the soul of the Crusade; he
appointed Ancona as the place of muster for all who
would go with him to fight the enemies of the faith.
The skilful Secretary of the Council of Basle, the most
polished mind, the most subtle diplomatist of the age,
became a hero in the Chair of St. Peter. The great con-
ception of the salvation of Christendom seems to have
given him a new soul.” But his strength was not suffi-
Say, in the Biographie Universelle, art. “Hunniade”), as the Sara-
cens had terrified theirs with that of Richard Coeur de Lion.
* Bonfinius, Mºeruma Aſungaricarum decades, I568, Žassim.
* Commentarii Pił Secundi (16IO), pp. 300–400. See also his
letters in his collected works.
-I494.j . DEATH OF MAHOME7. II. 17
cient. The old man expired on the shore in sight of the
Venetian galleys which were to have carried him to
Greece (1464).
His successor, Paul II., abandoned the generous policy
of Pius. He armed against the heretical Bohemians the
son-in-law of their King, the same Matthias Corvinus
whose prowess Ought to have been exerted only against
the Turks. While the Christians weakened themselves
in this way by divisions, Mahomet II. 'swore solemnly, in
the mosque which had formerly been St. Sophia, the
utter ruin of Christianity. Venice, abandoned by her
allies, lost the island of Euboea, or Negropont, which
was conquered by the Turks within sight of her fleet.
In vain Paul II. and Venice sought for allies as far off as
Persia; the Shah was defeated by the Turks, and the
conquest of Caffa and the Crimea closed for a long time
all communication between Persia and Europe. The
Turkish cavalry spread at last over the Friuli as far as
the Piave, burning the crops, woods, villages, and palaces
of the Venetian nobles; the flames of this conflagration
were even visible in the night from Venice itself." The
Republic abandoned the unequal struggle, which she had
Sustained unsupported for fifteen years, sacrificed Scutari,
and Submitted to a tribute (1479).
Pope Sixtus IV. and Ferdinand, King of Naples, who
had not succoured Venice, accused her of having be-
trayed the cause of Christendom. After favouring the
conspiracy of the Pazzi, and afterwards making open war
upon the Medici, they turned their restless policy against
Venice. Her vengeance was cruel. -
During the siege of Rhodes, which had been under-
taken by the forces of Mahomet II., it was reported that
Too Turkish vessels, observed or rather escorted by the
Venetian fleet, had crossed to the coast of Italy; that
Otranto was already taken, and the Governor sawn in
two. Terror was at its height, and would perhaps have
been justified by the result of the invasion, if the death
* Sismondi, Italian Republics, vol. xi. p. 141 ; from Sabellico,
an ocular witness.
S. H. C
IS SA VOAVAK’O/CA. . [I450-94.
of the Sultan had not put a stop for a time to the course
of Mahometan conquest (1480–81).
It was in this manner that the Italians admitted strangers
into their dissensions. After having brought in the Turks,
the Venetians enlisted in their service young René, Duke
of Lorraine, and heir to the rights which the House of
Anjou asserted to the Kingdom of Naples. As far back
as the year 1474, Sixtus IV. had called in the Swiss.
These barbarians became accustomed to crossing the
Alps, and recounted in their own country on their return
the wonders of beautiful Italy; some celebrated her
luxury and her riches, while others praised herclimate,
her wine, and her delicious fruits.” It was then that
the prophetic voice of the Dominican Savonarola was
heard in Florence announcing to Italy the judgments of
Babylon and Nineveh. “O Italy O Rome I saith the
“Lord, I am about to deliver you into the hands of a
“nation which shall blot you out from among the peoples.
“The Barbarians are coming hungry as lions. . . . And
“the deaths will be so many that the gravediggers
“will run about the streets, crying ‘Who hath any dead?’
“and then one will bring his father and another his
“son. . . . O Rome, I repeat to thee, Repent Repent,
“O Venice I O Milan l’”
They persisted. The King of Naples made prisoners
of his Barons, who fell into the snare of a perfidious
treaty. Genoa remained a prey to the factions of the
Adorni and the Fregosi. Lorenzo de' Medici on his
deathbed refused absolution on the condition attached
by Savonarola, that he should affranchise Florence. At
Milan, Ludovico the Moor imprisoned his nephew and
wanted for the moment to poison him. Roderigo
Borgia assumed the tiara under the name of Alexander
VI. The inevitable moment had arrived.
I See “La trés-joyeuse, plaisante, et récréative histoire,” com-
posed by the “ loyal serviteur du bon Chevalier sans paour et sans
reproche,” vol. xv. of the Collection of Mémoires, pp. 306, 334, 385.
* Savonarola, Prediche quadragesimali (1544), in 12°. Predica.
wigesima prima, pp. 211–212. See also Petri Martyris Anglerii
epistol. cxxx..., czkxi., &c. “Woe to thee, Mother of the Arts,
beautiful Italy ('' (1493).
CHAPTER II.
WESTERN ElJROPE.
FRANCE AND THE LOW COUNTRIES, ENGLAND AND SCOT-
LAND, SPAIN AND PORTUGAL, IN THE SECOND HALF
OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY.
BEFORE fighting with one another for the possession of
Italy, it was necessary that the great Powers of the West
should emerge from the anarchy of feudalism, and con-"
centrate their whole national strength in the hands of
their Kings. The triumph of Monarchy over Feudalism
is the subject of this chapter. With Feudalism dis-
appeared the privileges and liberties of the Middle Ages.
Their liberties perished, like those of antiquity, because
they were privileges. Social equality could only be estab-
lished by the triumph of Monarchy."
The instruments of this revolution were the clergy and
the lawyers. The Church, recruited only through election
in the midst of the universal system of hereditary suc-
cession which was established during the Middle Ages,
had often raised the vanquished above the victors, the
Sons of citizens, and even of serfs, above nobles. It was
from the Church that the Kings obtained ministers in
their last struggle against the aristocracy. Duprat,
Wolsey, and Ximenes, although they were Cardinals and
* Equality made rapid progress at the very moment when the
political liberties of the Middle Ages disappeared. The liberties of
Spain were suppressed by: Charles V. in 1521 ; and in 1523 the
Cortes of Castille permitted everyone to wear a sword, “ in order
that the Burghers may be able to defend themselves against the
AVobles.” See Ferreras, 12th part.
C 2
2O AJAZCZ/AVAE OA' /7/2 OAXAZAS/l/. [[450-
Prime Ministers, sprang from obscure families. Ximenes
began by teaching law in his own house." The Church-
men and Legists were imbued with the principles of
Roman Law, which were far more favourable than feudal
customs to the power of the Crown and to civil equality.
This revolution took different forms in different States.
In England it was prepared and accelerated by a terrible
war which exterminated the nobility : in Spain it was
complicated by the struggles of religious belief. But
there is one characteristic which it preserved everywhere : .
the aristocracy, already conquered by the Crown, en-
deavoured to shake its power by overturning the Royal
Houses, in order to substitute rival branches for those in
possession of the throne (see the first of the Zabſes of
Synchronisms). The means employed by both parties
were odious and often atrocious. Politics, in their in-
fancy, hesitated between violence and perfidy; as we
shall see further on in the deaths of the Earls of Douglas,
of the Dukes of Braganza and of Viseu, above all, in those
of the Earl of Mar and the Dukes of Clarence and
Guienne. - -
Yet posterity, deceived by success, has exaggerated
the talents of the Princes of this period (of Louis XI.,
Ferdinand the Bastard, Henry VII., Ivan III., &c.).
The cleverest of them all, Ferdinand the Catholic, is no
better, in the opinion of Machiavelli, than a fortunate
trickster. (Zeltres familićres. April 1513–May 1514.)
§ I. FRANCE, 1452–1494.”
When the retirement of the English permitted France
to look about her, the labourers, on leaving the castles.
* Gomecius, fol. 2. Giannone remarks that, under Ferdinand
the Bastard, Roman law got the better of Lombard law at Naples,
through the influence of its Professors, who were at the same time
judges and advocates (lxxviii. chap. v.).
* Arincipal Authorities.—Vols. ix., x., xi., xii., xiii., xiv. of the
Collection of Memoirs edited by Petitot: especially the Memoirs
of Comines; the History of the Dukes of Burgundy by M. de
Barante, vol. vii.; Michelet's History of France.
-I494] A2/SAE OA' A'RZAVCAEW A2O VAZ ZTV. 2I
and fortified towns within which war had confined them,
returned to find their fields untilled and their villages
in ruins. The disbanded mercenaries continued to
infest the roads and levy contributions on the peasants.
The feudal lords, who had just assisted Charles VII. in
driving out the English, were kings on their own estates;
and recognized no law, either human or divine. A
Count of Armagnac, styling himself “Count by the grace
of God,” hanged the officers of the Parliament, married
his own sister, and beat his confessor when he refused
to absolve him." For three years the brother of the
Duke of Brittany was seen begging his bread through the
bars of his prison, until his brother caused him to be
Strangled.
It was towards the King that the hopes of the un-
happy people turned ; it was from him that some allevia-
tion of their misery was looked for. Feudalism, which
in the tenth century had been the salvation of Europe,
had now become its scourge. After the wars with Eng-
land this system seemed to regain its former strength. .
Besides the Counts of Albret, of Foix, of Armagnac, and
many other nobles, the Houses of Burgundy, Brittany,
and Anjou rivalled the Royal House in splendour and
power. -
The County of Provence, which had fallen by inherit-
ance to the House of Anjou, was a sort of centre for the
people of the South, as Flanders was for those of the
North ; to this rich county its lords added Maine, Lor-
raine, and Anjou, and thus surrounded on all sides the
territories immediately subject to the King. The spirit
of ancient chivalry seemed to have taken refuge in this
heroic family; the world was filled with the exploits and
Calamities of King René and his children. While his
daughter, Margaret of Anjou, maintained in ten battles
the rights of the Red Rose, John of Calabria, his son,
took and lost the Kingdom of Naples, and died at the
* Records of the Trial of John IV., Count of Armagnac, quoted
by the authors of L'Art de Vérifter les Dates. It was John V, who
Imarried his sister.
22 THE DUKE OF BOVRGUAVZ) V. [I450-
moment when the enthusiasm of the Catalans would have
lifted him to the throne of Arragon. But its vast hopes
and distant wars left the House of Anjou powerless in
France itself, and beside this, the character of its head
was little fitted to maintain an obstinate struggle against
the power of the Crown. The good René, in his latter
years, employed himself only in pastoral poetry, painting,
and astrology. When he was told that Louis XI. had
deprived him of Anjou, he was painting a beautiful
grey pheasant, and did not interrupt his work.
The real head of French Feudalism was the Duke of
Burgundy. This Prince, richer than any King in Europe,
united under his rule French Provinces and German
States, a numerous nobility, and the most commercial
towns in Europe. Ghent and Liége could each bring
into the field 40,000 fighting men. But the elements
which composed this great power were too discordant to
harmonise. The Dutch would not obey the Flemish, nor
the Flemish the Burgundians. An implacable hatred
subsisted between the nobility in their castles and the
citizens of the commercial towns. These proud and
opulent cities united with the industrial spirit of modern
times the violence of feudal manners. As soon as the
slightest attempt was made on the privileges of Ghent,
the Deans of the Trades tolled the bell of Roland, and
set up their standards in the market-place. Then the
Duke and his nobles mounted their horses, and battles
and bloodshed were sure to folk)w.
The King of France, on the other hand, was supported
by the towns. Within his immediate dominions the
lower orders were far better protected against the nobles.
It was a citizen, Jacques Coeur, who lent him the money
for the reconquest of Normandy. Everywhere the King
repressed the license of the soldiery. As early as I4II he
had relieved the kingdom from the Free Companies by
sending them against the Swiss, who made an end of
them at the battle of St. Jacques. At the same time he
founded the Parliament of Toulouse, extended the juris-
diction of the Parliament of Paris in spite of the remon-
-I494] AOWER OF THE AREAVCA CAO WW. 23
strances of the Duke of Burgundy, and limited every-
where the privileges of private justice claimed by the
feudal lords. When they saw an Armagnac exiled, an
Alençon imprisoned, and a Bastard of the House of
IBourbon cast into the river, the nobles understood that
no rank placed them above the law. So happy a
revolution caused all the innovations favourable to the
power of the monarchy to be received without dis-
trust. Charles VII. created a permanent army of 1,500
lances, instituted a militia of Free Archers, who were to
remain at home and train themselves in arms on Sun-
days; he imposed a perpetual tax on the people without
the authorization of the States-General, and nobody
murmured (1444). -
The nobles themselves contributed to augment the
power of the Crown, which they wielded by turns.
Those who had no influence over the King intrigued
with the Dauphin, and excited him against his father.
The face of affairs changed when Charles VII. fell a
victim to the anxieties caused by his son, who had retired
into Burgundy (1461). At the King's funeral Dunois
proclaimed to the assembled nobles, “The King our
master is dead ; let each one look to his own interest.”
Louis XI. had nothing of the chivalrous temper which
won from the French forgiveness for the many weaknesses
of Charles VII. He preferred negotiation to war,
dressed meanly, and surrounded himself with men of low
rank. He chose a footman for his herald, a barber as
gentleman of the chamber, and called the Provost-Mar-
shal Tristan his “gossip.” In his impatience to humiliate
the nobles, he dismissed at his accession all the ministers
of Charles VII. ; he deprived the nobility of all influence
in ecclesiastical elections by abolishing the Pragmatic
Sanction ; he irritated the Duke of Brittany by endea-
vouring to take away from him his sovereign rights; and
the Count of Charolais, son of the Duke of Burgundy, by
repurchasing the towns on the Somme, and attempting
to take back from him the gift of Normandy. Finally,
he offended all the nobles by paying no regard to their
24 I.O.UZS X/. [I450-
rights of hunting and shooting—the bitterest offence,
perhaps, that could be offered to a noble of the time.
The wrath of the nobility did not burst out in revolt
until the weakness of the Duke of Burgundy had thrown
the whole of his power into the hands of his son, the
Comte de Charolais, so celebrated afterwards under the
name of Charles the Bold. Then Duke John of Calabria,
the Duke of Bourbon, the Duke of Nemours, the Count
of Armagnac, the Lord of Albret, the Count of Dunois,
and many other nobles leagued together “for the public
zyea/” with the Duke of Brittany and the Count of
Charolais. They arranged their proceedings by means
of envoys who met in the church of Notre-Dame in
Paris, and took as their rallying signal a knot of red silk.
To this almost universal coalition of the nobles the King
tried to oppose the towns, and especially Paris. He
abolished almost all the arbitrary taxes, called together
a Council of citizens and members of the Parliament and
TJniversity ; confided the Queen to the charge of the
Parisians, and ordered her confinement to take place in
the city, “ſhał żown zwhich he loved better than any other
in the world.” There was little unanimity in the attack
of the Confederates. Louis XI. had time to overpower
the Duke of Bourbon. The Duke of Brittany did not
join the principal army till after it had encountered the
royal forces in the Battle of Montlhéri. War had been
so completely forgotten since the expulsion of the Eng-
lish that, with the exception of a few regiments, the
armies on both sides fled." The King then commenced
insidious negotiations, and the imminent dissolution of
the League decided the Confederates to treat at Con-
flans and at St. Maur (1465). The King granted all
their demands; to his brother he surrendered Normandy,
a province which in itself yielded a third of the royal
revenue; to the Count de Charolais the towns on the
Somme ; to all the rest, fortresses, lordships, and pen-
sions. In order that the public wea/ might not be
entirely forgotten, it was stipulated, for form's sake, that
* Comines, book i. chap. iv.
-1494] CONFEDAERACY OF 7A/E PUBZZC WEAZ. 25
an Assembly of Notables should see to it. The majority
of the other articles were not executed more seriously
than this last ; the King took advantage of the revolt of
Liége and Dinant against the Duke of Burgundy to
retake Normandy ; he obliged the States-General of the
Kingdom (at Tours in 1466) to annul the principal
articles of the Treaty of Conflans, and forced the Duke
of Brittany to renounce the alliance of the Count of
Charolais, who now became Duke of Burgundy.
Louis XI., who still hoped to appease even Charles of
Burgundy by dexterity, went himself to meet him at
Péronne (1468). He had scarcely arrived when the
Duke heard of the revolt of the citizens of Liége, a revolt
excited by agents of the King. They had taken prisoner
Louis of Bourbon, their Bishop, had massacred his Arch-
deacon, and, in horrible merriment, had tossed his limbs
from one to the other. The fury of the Duke of Bur-
gundy was so great that for a moment the King feared
for his own life. Within the enclosure of the Castle of
Péronne he beheld the tower in which the Count of
Vermandois had in former times murdered Charles the
Simple. He escaped, however, on better terms. The
Duke contented himself with forcing him to confirm the
Treaty of Conflans, and with bringing him before Liége
to witness the destruction of the town. The King on
his return did not fail to cause the States-General to
annul all that he had sworn.
A more formidable Confederation than that of the
Public Weal was next formed against him. His brother,
on whom he had just bestowed Guienne, and the Dukes of
Burgundy and Brittany had drawn into it most of the
nobles who had before been faithful to the King. They
invited the King of Arragon, Juan II., who claimed the
province of Roussillon, and the King of England,
Edward IV., brother-in-law of the Duke of Burgundy,
who felt the necessity of establishing his crown by
diverting the restless minds of his subjects to foreign
Conquests. The Duke of Brittany did not conceal the
views of the Confederates. “I am so fond of the kingdom
26 J.OU/S XZ. AAVZ) EAVGZAAV7). [I45O-
of France,” he said, “that instead of one King, I would
have six.” Louis XI. could not hope on this occasion
for the support of the towns, which he had ground
down with taxes. The death of his brother could
alone break the League ; and his brother died. The
King received constant information as to the advance
of his brother's malady; he ordered public prayers for
the recovery of the Duke of Guienne, and at the same
time sent troops to take possession of his appanage. He
stifled the law proceedings which began against the monk
who was suspected of having poisoned the Prince, and
ordered a report to be spread that the devil had strangled
him in prison. -
Once delivered from his brother, Louis XI. repulsed
Juan II. from Roussillon, Charles the Bold from Picardy,
and secured all his enemies within the kingdom." But the
greatest danger had not yet passed away. The King of
England disembarked at Calais, claiming as usual “his
Áingdom of France.” The English nation had made great
exertions for this war. “The Åing,” says Comines, “had
Žn /his army ten or £70elve stout men from Zondon and other
Žowns; they zºere among the £77mcºa/ commons of Zngland,
and had joined in Żromoting this invasion and in raising
Žhis powerful army.” Instead of receiving the English
on their arrival, and guiding them through a country
where all was new to them, the Duke of Burgundy had
gone to fight in Germany. The weather too proved
bad ; although Edward “took care to lodge ºn comfortable
Żenis the commons z0/ho had followed /kim, ºf Zwas not the
sort of Åfe they were used to, and they were soon fired of
# ; they thought that z0/ien once they had crossed the sea.
they would have had a battle in three days’’ (Comines,
* Of the Duke of Alençon by imprisoning him (1472); of King
René by depriving him of Anjou (1474); of the Duke of Bourbon
by bestowing Anne of France upon his brother (1473–74), and
by nominating him as his Lieutenant in many provinces of
the South (I475); and finally, of the Count of Armagnac and of
Charles of Albret (1473), of the Duke of Nemours and of the
Constable of St. Pol (1475–77), by causing them all four to be
put to death.
-I494] A)/2.S/GAWS OF CAE/Al/0/A.S 7///E /3 O/C/D. 27
1. iv. ch. xi). Louis found means to induce the King
and his favourites to accept presents and pensions; kept
an open table for all the soldiers, and Congratulated
himself on having got rid of an army which came to
conquer France, by spending a little money. -
After this time he had nothing more to fear from
Charles the Bold. This proud Prince had conceived
the design of re-establishing on a vaster scale the ancient
Ringdom of Burgundy by uniting to his own States, Lor-
raine, Provence, Dauphiny, and Switzerland. Louis XI.
took care not to make him uneasy; he prolonged the
truces, and allowed him “to go and knock /his head against
Germany.” In fact, on the Duke's attempt to force the
town of Neuss to receive one of two pretenders to
the Archbishopric of Cologne, all the Princes of the
Empire came to watch his proceedings with an army of
Ioo,000 men. He stuck to his enterprise obstinately for
a whole year, and left this unlucky siege only to turn his
army against the Swiss.
This people of citizens and peasants, who had shaken
off for the last two centuries the yoke of the House
of Austria, had always been detested by princes and
nobles. Louis XI., while Dauphin, had experienced
the bravery of the Swiss at the battle of St. Jacques,
where 1,600 of them had chosen to die rather than
retreat before 20,000 men. Nevertheless the Lord of
Hagenbach, the Governor appointed by the Duke of
Burgundy in the county of Ferrette, tormented their
allies, and did not fear insulting the Swiss themselves.
“We wiſ! ſay the Bear of Berne,” said he, “and turn his
skin into a cloak.” The patience of the Swiss was tired
out; they allied themselves with their old enemies the
Austrians, Cut Off Hagenbach's head, and defeated the
Burgundians at Héricourt. They endeavoured to appease
the Duke of Burgundy; and represented to him that he
could gain nothing by opposing them. “ There is more
gold,” said they, “in the spurs of your knights, than you
zcould find 2% al/ our caſuſons.” The Duke was inflexible.
He invaded Lorraine and Switzerland, took Granson and
2S CAE/AA’ZAZS AAWZO 7A/E S WZSS. [I450-
drowned all the garrison, who had surrendered to him
on parole. The Swiss army, however, was advancing;
the Duke of Burgundy had the imprudence to go to
meet it, and thus to lose the advantage which the plain
gave to his cavalry. Taking his stand on the hill which
still bears his name, he saw them rush down from the
mountains, crying “Granson / Granson /* At the same
time two horns of monstrous size, given formerly (it was
said) to the Swiss by Charles the Great, and which were
named the Bull of Uri and the Cow of Unterwalden,
resounded through the valley. Nothing could stop the
Confederates. The Burgundians tried again and again
without success to break through the forest of pikes
which advanced at a run. The rout was soon complete;
the Duke's camp, his guns and his treasures fell into the
conquerors' hands. But they were ignorant of the value
of their booty. The large diamond of the Duke of
Burgundy was sold for a crown; the money contained
in his treasury was divided without being counted, and
measured out in hatfuls. But Charles the Bold learned
nothing by adversity. Three months afterwards he again
attacked the Swiss at Morat, and experienced a still
more bloody defeat. The conquerors gave no quarter,
and raised a mound with the bones of the Burgundians.
“A”fi/ess as ał Morai,” was long a popular saying among
the Swiss (I476).
This defeat was the ruin of Charles the Bold. He had
drained his good towns of men and money; he had kept
his nobles for two years under arms. He fell into a
melancholy which resembled madness; he let his beard
grow, and never changed his clothes. He insisted upon
driving out of Lorraine the young René, who had just
returned thither. This Prince, who had fought for the
Swiss, who liked to speak their tongue and sometimes
adopted their costume, soon saw them come to his
assistance. The Duke of Burgundy, whose force was
reduced to 3,000 men, would not flee “before a child,” but
lie had little hope of success. Just before the battle the
Italian Campo Basso, with whom Louis XI. had long
-I494] AXAEA 7TA/ OA’ CAE/AA’/A2S 7TA/A' A' O Z/D. 29
been bargaining for the life of Charles the Bold, tore off
the red cross, and thus began the defeat of the Burgun-
dians (1477). Some days afterwards the body of the
Duke was found, and carried with great pomp to Nancy;
IRené sprinkled it with holy water, and taking the lifeless
hand, “A air Cousin,” he said, “may God receive your
sou// you have caused us much evil and sorrow /* But
the people would not believe in the death of a Prince who
had so long been renowned. They continued to assert
that he would soon come back; and, ten years after-
wards, merchants were delivering their goods without
payment, on condition that they should receive double
the amount on the return of the great Duke of Burgundy.
The fall of the House of . Burgundy established the
dynasty of France. The possessors of three great fiefs,
Burgundy, Provence, and Brittany, having died without
male issue, the French Kings dismembered the first
(1477), acquired the Second by bequest (1481), and the
third by means of a marriage (1491).
Louis XI. hoped to obtain the whole inheritance of
Charles the Bold by marrying the Dauphin to his
daughter, Mary of Burgundy. But the Flemish States,
who were tired of obeying Frenchmen, bestowed the
hand of their Sovereign on Maximilian of Austria, after-
wards Emperor, and grandfather of Charles V. This
was the beginning of the rivalry between the Houses of
Austria and of France. In spite of the defeat of the
Erench at Guinegate, Louis XI. remained master of
Artois and the Franche Comté, which, by the treaty of
Arras (1461), were to form the dowry of Margaret, the
Archduke's daughter, on her betrothal to the Dauphin
(Charles VIII).
When Louis XI. left the kingdom to his son, who
was still in infancy (1483), France, which had suffered
much in silence, at length raised her voice. The States-
General, assembled in 1484 by the Regent, Anne of
Beaujeu, wished to give its delegates the chief influence
in the Council of Regency, to vote the supplies for only
two years, at the end of which they would be again
39 CAE/AA’ Z/ES VIZZZ. | [454-
assembled, and themselves to decide on the taxes which
should be levied. The six nations into which the States
were divided began to draw together, and aimed at form-
ing themselves into “Żays d'état.” like Languedoc and
Normandy, when the dissolution of the Assembly was
proclaimed. The Regent continued the system of Louis
XI. by her firmness with regard to the nobles. She
overpowered the Duke of Orleans, who disputed with
her the Regency; and annexed Brittany to the Crown
by marrying her brother to the heiress of that Duchy
(I491).
The humiliation of the nobles was thus accomplished.
France attained the unity which was to render her
formidable to all Europe. To the old servants of Louis
XI. Succeeded another generation, young and ardent as
their new King. Impatient to make good the claims
which he had inherited from the House of Anjou to the
Ringdom of Naples, Charles VIII. bought peace of the
King of England, restored Roussillon to Ferdinand the
Catholic, Artois and the Franche Comté to Maximilian ;
and thus without hesitation sacrificed three of the strongest
barriers of France. The loss of a few provinces signified
little to a sovereign who looked on himself as the future
conqueror of the Kingdom of Naples, and of the Empire
of the East.
§ II. ENGLAND, I454—1509 ; SCOTLAND, I452—I5I3.
After having been constantly beaten for a century by
the English, the French, at last, had their turn. In every
campaign the English, driven from town after town by
Dunois or Richemont, returned to their country covered
with shame, and indignantly accusing their generals and
their ministers; at one time it was the quarrels between
the King's uncles, at another the recall of the Duke of
York, which caused their defeat. To the conqueror of
Agincourt had succeeded Henry VI., a boy whose inno-
cence and gentleness were little fitted for those troublous
-1509] WAA’ſſ/ZCA 7TAZAZ / ZZVG-AZAA /ZA’. 3I
times, and whose feeble reason was completely put to
flight at the beginning of the Civil Wars. While the
annual revenue of the Crown had fallen to 5,000Z. Sterling,"
many great families had accumulated royal fortunes by
marriage and inheritance. The Earl of Warwick alone,
the last and most illustrious example of feudal hospital-
ity, maintained thousands of retainers in his household.
When he kept house in London his vassals and friends
consumed six Oxen at a meal. This colossal fortune was
backed by all the talents of a party leader. His courage
had no relation to the chivalrous ideas of honour: for
this man, who had been seen to attack a fleet double
in numbers to his own, often fled without blushing when
he saw his men giving way. Pitiless to the nobles, he
spared the people in battle. How can we be surprised
therefore at his earning the surname of Áºng-maker 2
The Court, already feeble against men like these,
seemed to take pleasure in aggravating the discontent
of the people. When the hatred of the English against
the French was embittered by so many reverses, they were
given a French Queen. The beautiful Margaret of Anjou,
a daughter of King René of Provence, carried to England
the heroism, but none of the gentle virtues, of her family.
Henry purchased her hand by the cession of Maine and
Anjou : instead of receiving a dower, he bestowed one.
Scarcely a year passed after this marriage when the
King's uncle, “the Good ZXuke of Gloucester,” whom the
nation adored because he was always wishing for war,
was found dead in his bed. Tidings of one misfortune
after another arrived from France: while still indignant
at the loss of Maine and Anjou, the English heard that
Rouen and the whole of Normandy had been taken by
the French ; their army found no resistance in Guienne.
Hardly a single soldier was sent from England, not one
Governor attempted resistance, and, in August 1451,
England's sole possession on the Continent was the town
of Calais.
* See Hume and Lingard, for this time, and especially Comines,
book iii., chap. iv.
32 HOUSES OF YORK AND ZAMCASTER. [1454-
The national pride, so cruelly humiliated, began to
seek an avenger. All eyes were turned towards Richard of
York, whose rights, though long proscribed, were superior
to those of the House of Lancaster. The Nevilles and great
numbers of the nobility rallied round him. The Earl of
Suffolk, the Queen's favourite, was their first victim.
Then an impostor stirred up the men of Kent, always
ready for revolt, led them to London, and cut off the head
of Lord Saye, another of Henry's ministers. The par-
tizans of Richard himself then came in arms to St.
Albans, demanding the surrender of Somerset, who after
having lost Normandy, had become the chief minister.
This was the first blood shed in a war which was to last
thirty years, and which cost the lives of eighty nobles
and exterminated the ancient baronage of the king-
dom. The Duke of York took his King prisoner,
carried him in triumph back to London, and contented
himself with the title of Proſector (1455). Margaret of
Anjou, however, armed the Northern counties, the con-
stant enemies of innovation. She was beaten at North-
ampton. Henry fell once more into the hands of his
enemies; and the conqueror, no longer concealing his pre-
tensions, made the Parliament declare him presumptive
heir to the throne. He was thus close to the object
of his ambition, when he encountered near Wakefield an
army which the indefatigable Margaret had again as-
sembled. He accepted battle in spite of the inferiority
of his forces, was defeated and slain, and his head,
with a paper Crown upon it, was placed upon the wall
of York. His son, hardly twelve years old, was flying
with his preceptor, when he was stopped on the bridge of
Wakefield. The child fell on his knees, incapable of
speaking, and the tutor having named him, “Thy father
killed mine,” cried Lord Clifford, “and thou must die
likewise, thou and thine,” and he stabbed him. This
barbarous action seems to have opened an abyss between
the two parties: and from this time every victory was
followed by the execution of the nobles who were taken
prisoners.
-I 500] PA 7TLE OF TO WTON. 33
Then began in a more regular manner the struggle
between the White and Red Roses—the rallying signs of
the Houses of York and Lancaster. Warwick made the
Ilondon populace proclaim the son of the Duke of York
King, under the name of Edward IV. (1461). Edward,
the offspring of civil war, was willing enough to shed
blood, but he interested the people on account of the
misfortunes of his father and brother; he was only twenty
years old, he loved pleasure, and he was the handsomest
man of his day. The Lancastrian party had in its favour
only its long possession of the throne and the oaths of
the people. When the Queen drew the excited rabble of
Northern peasants, who lived only by plunder, into the
South, London and the rich adjacent counties attached
themselves to Edward as a protector.
Warwick soon led his young King to meet Margaret
at the village of Towton. It was there that during a
whole day, in a heavy fall of snow, the two parties
fought with a fury which was remarkable even in civil
war. Warwick, seeing his troops give way, killed his
horse, and, kissing the cross formed by the handle of his
sword, swore that he would share the fate of the meanest
of his soldiers. The Lancastrians were precipitated into
the waters of the Cock. Edward forbade quarter to be
given, and 38,000 men were drowned or massacred.
The Queen turned recklessly to foreign nations—to
the French; she had already delivered Berwick to
the Scotch ; she now passed into France, and promised
Louis XI. to give him Calais as a pledge in exchange
for his feeble and odious assistance. But the fleet which
brought the French supplies was destroyed by a storm ;
she lost the battle of Hexham, and with it her last hope
(1463). The unfortunate Henry soon fell once more
into the hands of his enemies, and the Queen, after
passing through great dangers, at length reached France
with her son. :
After the victory the spoil had to be divided. War-
wick and the other Nevilles had the principal share.
But they soon saw succeeding to their favour the re-
S.H. D
.*
34. AºA) WAA’/O A. V. [1454-
lations of Elizabeth Woodville, a lady whom the im-
prudent passion of Edward IV. had raised to the
throne." The King-maker then thought only of de-
stroying his work; he negotiated with France, stirred
up the North of England, drew into his party even
the brother of the King, the Duke of Clarence ;
and became master of Edward's person. At one time
there were two Kings prisoners in England. But Warwick
soon found himself obliged to fly with Clarence, and to
cross over to the Continent.
York could be overthrown only by the forces of Lan-
caster. Warwick therefore made friends with the very
Margaret of Anjou who had beheaded his father, and
crossed back into England in the ships of the King of
France. In vain Charles the Bold had warned the in-
dolent Edward, in vain the people chanted in its ballads
the name of the banished earl, and alluded in the rude
plays of that time to his virtues and misfortunes. Edward
did not awake until he heard that Warwick was marching
upon him with upwards of 60,000 men. Betrayed by his
own troops at Nottingham, he fled so precipitately that he
landed almost alone in the States of the Duke of Bur-
gundy (1470).
While Henry VI. issued from the Tower of London,
and the King of France was celebrating by public rejoic-
ings the re-establishment of his ally, Clarence, who re-
pented of having laboured for the House of Lancaster,
recalled his brother to England. Edward left Burgundy
with supplies secretly furnished to him by the Duke, and
disembarked at Ravenspur on the very spot on which
in former times Henry IV. had landed to overthrow
Richard II. He advanced without impediment, and de-
clared by the way that he demanded only the inheritance
of his father, the Duchy of York. He adopted the
1 A generally accepted tradition says that Warwick was nego-
tiating in France the marriage of the King of England with Bonne of
Savoy, sister-in-law of Louis XI., at the time when Edward married
Elizabeth Woodville. This tradition is not confirmed by the testi-
mony of the three principal contemporary historians.
-1509] RUIM OF AMOUSE OF ZAAWCASTEA". 35.
ostrich plume * and made his followers cry, “Mong live
Aïng Henry /*
But as soon as his army was strong enough he threw
down the mask and disputed the throne with the Lan-
castrians in the field of Barnet. The treachery of Clar-
ence, who passed over to his brother with 12, ooo men,
and an error which confounded the Sun borne on that day
as its badge by Edward's party with the star borne by the
opposite side, caused the loss of the battle and the death.
of the Earl of Warwick. Margaret, attacked before she
could gather round her her remaining forces, was con-
quered and taken prisoner with her son at Tewkesbury.
The young Prince was led to the King's tent. “Who
made you so bold as to enter my kingdom P” asked
Edward. “I have come,” replied the Prince, undauntedly,
“to defend my father's crown and my own inheritance.”
Edward struck him angrily in the face with his gauntlet,
and his brothers Clarence and Gloucester, or perhaps
their followers, fell upon him and dispatched him with
their daggers.
On the same day that Edward entered London, Henry
VI. is said to have perished in the Tower by the hand
of Gloucester himself (1471). From that moment the
triumph of the White Rose was assured—Edward had
only his own brothers to fear. He anticipated Clarence
by putting him to death on Some frivolous pretext ; but
Edward himself was poisoned by Gloucester, if a report
current at the time (1483) may be believed. (See, above,
his expedition into France).
Edward had hardly left the throne to his little son
Edward V. when the Duke of Gloucester caused himself
to be appointed Protector. The Queen-mother, who knew
too well the sort of protection which she might expect
from this man, whose aspect alone filled her with horror,
had taken sanctuary at Westminster. Richard was not
stopped by the Sacred character of the place, and she
trembled while she confided to him her two sons. But
* Borne by the followers of the Prince of Wales, son of
Henry IV.
J) 2
36. A’ſ CAE/AA’ D YYY. [I454-
he could undertake nothing against them until he had put
to death their natural defenders, especially Lord Hastings,
the personal friend of Edward. Richard one day entered
the Council Chamber with an easy jovial air, then Sud-
denly changing countenance, he asked, “What punish-
ment do those deserve who plot against the life of the
Protector P See to what a condition my brother's wife
and Jane Shore, his mistress, have reduced me by thei
incantations and witchcraft,” and he laid bare his arm
which had been shrivelled up from infancy. Then, ad-
dressing Hastings, he said, “You are the chief abettor of
these people: I swear by St. Paul that I will not dine
before your head be brought me !” He struck the table
with his hand : armed men rushed in at the signal, seized
Hastings, hurried him away, and instantly beheaded him
on a timber log which lay in the court of the Tower.
The Parliament next declared the young Princes bastards
and sons of a bastard. A Doctor Shaw preached to the
people from this text, “Bastards' slips shall not thrive :””
a dozen workmen threw their bonnets into the air, crying,
“God save King Richard I" and he accepted the crown
“ in accordance with the voice of the people.”
His nephews were smothered in the Tower, and long
afterwards the skeletons of two children were found under
the staircase of the prison. Richard, however, was not
firmly seated on his throne. In the depths of Brittany
there lived a descendant of the House of Lancaster, Henry
Tudor, Earl of Richmond, whose right to the crown was
more than doubtful. Through his grandfather, Owen
Tudor, he was of Welsh origin, and the Welsh accord-
ingly supported his claim.” And with the exception of
the Northern counties, where Richard had many par-
tisans,” all England was waiting for Richmond's coming
* Most of this is taken from Hume, whose words I have used
when possible.—TR.
* Thierry, Histoire de la Conguélé d’Angleferre Zar les Mormands,
vol. iv. p. 153. -
3 An error. The Northern counties were the stronghold of the
House of Lancaster. — TR. -
-1509] - Aſ AEAVA2 W. 7TA/A2 SAE VAZAV7A/. 37
to declare itself in his favour. Richard, not knowing
whom to trust, hastened the catastrophe by advancing
on Bosworth. The two armies were hardly in front of
each other when he recognized in the opposite ranks the
Stanleys, whom he thought were on his own side. He
immediately dashed forward, crown on head, and crying,
“Treacheryl Treachery 1” killed two knights with his
own hand, overthrew the enemy's standard, and cut his
way to his rival’s presence; but he was overpowered
by numbers. Lord Stanley tore off his crown and placed
it on the head of Henry. The naked body of Richard
was thrown behind a horseman and thus carried to Lei-
cester, the head hanging on one side and the feet on the
other (1485).
Henry united the rights of both Houses by his mar-
riage with Elizabeth, the daughter of Edward IV. But
his reign was long troubled by the intrigues of Edward's
widow and of his sister, the Dowager-Duchess of Burgundy.
In the first place they set up against him a young baker
who passed himself off as the Earl of Warwick, son of
the Duke of Clarence. Henry, having defeated the par-
tisans of the impostor at the battle of Stoke, employed
him as a turnspit in his kitchen, and soon afterwards as
a reward for his good conduct gave him the post of Royal
Falconer. - -
A more formidable rival next rose up. This mysterious
personage, who resembled Edward IV., assumed the name
of that Prince's second son. After a solemn examination,
the Duchess of Burgundy recognized him as her nephew,
and named ...m publicly “The White AEose of England.”
Charles VIII. treated him as King ; James III. of
Scotland gave him one of his relations in marriage; but
his attempts were not fortunate. He invaded succes-
sively Ireland, the North of England, and Cornwall,
but was always repulsed. The inhabitants of Corn-
wall, deceived in the expectations which they had
formed from the accession of a Prince of Welsh extrac-
tion, refused to pay taxes, and swore that they would die
for the pretender. He was nevertheless taken prisoner,
38 AAAWA V WZZ. AAWD 7"HAE AWOB/CAE.S. [I454-
and forced to read, in Westminster Hall, a confession
signed by his own hand. In it he acknowledged that he
was born at Tournay, of Jewish parents, and that his
name was Perkin Warbeck. Another impostor having
taken the name of the Earl of Warwick, Henry VII. re-
solved to terminate their pretensions by putting to death
the real Earl, the King-maker's grandson, who had been
confined in the Tower of London from his earliest years,
and whose birth was his only crime.
Such was the end of the troubles which had cost Eng-
land so much blood. Who was vanquished in this long
struggle P. Neither York nor Lancaster, but the English
aristocracy, which had been decimated in battle and
despoiled by proscriptions. If Fortescue is to be be-
1ieved, nearly a fifth of the land of the kingdom fell by
confiscation into the hands of Henry VII. What was
still more fatal to the power of the nobles, was the law
which permitted them to alienate their estates by cutting
off the entails. The growing demands of a luxury hitherto
tunknown made them take advantage greedily of this per-
mission to ruin themselves. In order to live at the Court,
they quitted the ancient castles in which they had reigned
as sovereigns ever since the Conquest. They gave up
the sumptuous hospitality by which they had so long
secured the fidelity of their vassals. The followers of the
JBarons found their banqueting halls and the courts of
justice deserted ; they abandoned those who had aban-
doned them, and returned home King's men. (Abolition
of the right of Maintenance.) The first care of Henry
WII. throughout his reign was to accumulate a treasure.
Little confidence could be placed in the future after
so many revolutions. Exaction of feudal dues, re-
demption of feudal services, fines, confiscations, every
means seemed good to him for attaining his ends. He
obtained money from his Parliament to make war in
Trance, he obtained subsidies from France not to make
i-, and thus gained from his subjects by Zway, and from his
enemies by peace (Bacon). He endeavoured also to sup-
port himself by alliances with more firmly established
-I513] . ,SCO 7/AAV/O. 39
dynasties: he gave his daughter to the King of Scotland,
and obtained the hand of the Infanta of Spain for his
son (1502–1503). In his reign navigation and manu-
factures made their first great start. It was he who
equipped the Venetian Sebastian Cabot, who discovered
North America in 1498. He granted to several towns
exemption from the law which forbade a father to appren-
tice his son unless he owned land to the amount of
twenty shillings a year. Thus at the same moment
when Henry VII. founded the absolute power of the
Tudors through the abasement of the nobles, we see the
beginning of the elevation of the Commons, who were
destined a century and a half afterwards to overthrow the
Stuarts.
The other kingdom of Great Britain did not attain
equal Order and regularity until long afterwards. Scot-
land contained many more elements of disorder than
England. In the first place the mountainous character
of the Country had given greater advantages to the resist-
ance of the conquered races. The sovereignty of the
Lowlanders over the Highlanders, of the Saxons” over
the Celts was purely nominal. The latter acknowledged
no sovereign but the hereditary chiefs of their clans. The
most powerful of these chiefs, the Lord of the Isles, or
Earl of Ross, was, in relation to the Kings of Scotland,
more upon the footing of a tributary ruler than on that
of a subject : he was the secret or declared friend of all
the King's enemies, the ally of England against Scot-
land, of the Douglases against the Stuarts. The first
Princes of this dynasty humoured the mountaineers, as
they were unable to conquer them : James I. expressly
exempted them from obedience to one of his laws, “be-
cause,” as he said, “it is their custom to pillage and Žil/
cach other.” Thus the civilization of England, which
* The Highlanders called the other inhabitants of Scotland Saxons.
* Pinkerton's History of Scotland, from the Accession of the
House of Stuart to that of Mary, (1797), vol. i. p. 155.
4O THE DOUGLASES. [1452-
was gradually penetrating into Scotland, stopped short at
the Grampians.
Even to the south of these mountains the royal autho-
rity found indefatigable adversaries in the lords and barons,
especially in the Douglases; that heroic house, which
from the accession of the Stuarts had disputed with them
the crown, which afterwards had gone to fight the English
in France, and had brought back as a trophy the title of
Counts of Touraine. Even in their own family of the
Stuarts the Kings of Scotland found rivals; their brothers
or their cousins, the Dukes of Albany, governed in their
name or disturbed them by their ambitious pretensions.
To these causes of trouble may be added the unusual
occurrence of a succession of six minorities (1437–
1578), and we shall understand why Scotland was the
last kingdom to emerge from the anarchy of the Middle
Ages. - -
After their retirement from the war in France the
struggle with the Douglases became more severe. The
Kings exhibited more violence than skill. Under James
II. William Douglas, enticed by the Chancellor Crichton
into the Castle of Edinburgh, was put to death there with
a mere mockery of justice (1440). Another William
Douglas, the most insolent of all who had borne that
name, having been summoned by the same Prince to
Stirling, exasperated him by insulting language and was
stabbed by his hand (1452). His brother, James Douglas,
marched against the King at the head of 40,000 men,
forced him to fly to the North, and would have defeated
him had he not insulted the Hamiltons, who until that
time had been attached to his family. Abandoned by
his followers, Douglas was obliged to take refuge in
England, and the Wars of the Roses, at that time just
beginning, prevented the English from making use of
this dangerous exile to disturb Scotland. The Earls of
Angus, a branch of the House of Douglas, received their
possessions, but were little less formidable to the Kings.
Soon afterwards the Hamiltons also rose, and became,
with the Campbells (Earls of Argyle), the most powerful
-I513] }AMES III. . 4. I
of the Scottish nobles in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries.
Under James III. (1460) Scotland extended herself to
the North and South by the acquisition of the Orkneys
and Berwick; while the union of the county of Ross to
the Crown annihilated for ever the power of the Lord of
the Isles. No reign, however had been more disgraceful
than that of James III. No prince ever shocked as
James did the ideas and habits of his people. What
Scotch laird would deign to obey a King who was always
shut up in a fortress, caring for none of the warlike
sports of the nobles, surrounded by English artists, and
deciding questions of peace and war by the advice of a
music-master, a mason, or a tailor P. He even forbade
the nobles to appear in arms at his Court, as if he feared
to look upon a Sword. -
He might indeed have used the affection of the Com-
mons or of the clergy against the nobles, but he alienated
both by depriving the cities of the election of their
aldermen, and the clergy of the nomination of their
dignitaries.
James III., whose estimate of himself was accurate
enough, feared that his two brothers, the Duke of Albany
and the Earl of Mar, might try to supplant so despicable
a King. The predictions of an astrologer decided him
on confining them in the Castle of Edinburgh. Albany.
escaped, and the cowardly King thought to secure his own
safety by opening the veins of his younger brother. The
favourites triumphed ; the mason or architect Cochrane
ventured to accept his victim's inheritance, and took the
title of Earl of Mar. Such was his confidence in the future
that, on issuing some false money for circulation, he ex-
claimed, “Before this money is withdrawn I shall be
hanged;” and so in fact he was. The nobles seized the
favourites under the eyes of the King and hanged them
on Lauder Bridge. Some time afterwards they attacked
the King himself, and formed the most extensive league
which had ever threatened the throne of Scotland (1488).
James had still on his side the Barons of the North
42 g A/CO/OADAAV, [I454-
and the West, but he fled at the first encounter, and fell
off his horse into a stream. Carried into a neighbouring
mill, he asked for a confessor : the priest who presented
himself belonged to the enemy's party ; he received his
confession and stabbed him."
James IV., whom the nobles raised to the throne of his
father, had a more successful reign. The barons obeyed
him less as their sovereign than as the most brilliant
knight in the kingdom. He completed the ruin of the
Lord of the Isles by uniting the Hebrides to the Crown;
he established Royal Courts of Justice throughout the
North of the Kingdom. Neglected by France, James IV.
allied himself with Henry VII., King of England. When
Henry VIII. invaded France, Louis XII. called upon
Scotland for assistance; and Anne of Brittany sent her
ring to the King, naming him her knight. James would
have thought himself wanting in chivalry if he had not
assisted a Suppliant Queen. All the nobles and barons
of Scotland followed him on this romantic expedition.
But he wasted precious time near Flodden in the castle
of Lady Heron, where he remained as if spell-bound.
Roused by the arrival of the English army, he was con-
quered in spite of his bravery, and all his nobles were
killed with him (1513). The loss of twelve earls, thirteen
lords, five eldest Sons of peers, many barons, and Io, ooo
soldiers left the exhausted nation for the remainder of the
century a prey to the intrigues of France and England.
§ III. SPAIN AND PORTUGAL, 1454–1521.
Spain was the battle-field of the Barbarians of the North
and South, of the Goths and the Arabs. Confined by the
ocean in the Spanish Peninsula, they fought as if in the
lists throughout the Middle Ages. Thus the spirit of the
Crusades, which agitated for a time all the other nations
in Europe, became the very basis of the Spanish cha-
* Pinkerton, vol. i. p. 335.
-I521] SPAIN. 43
racter, with its fierce intolerance and chivalrous pride
heightened by the violence of African passions. For
Spain has much in common with the barbarism of the
Moors, in spite of the Strait which parts them. The
races, the productions, and even the deserts of Africa are
to be found on the other side of the Straits of Gibraltar.”
A single battle gave Spain to the Moors, and it took 8oo
years to rescue her from them. -
From the thirteenth century the Christians had got the
upper hand; in the fifteenth the Mussulman population,
concentrated in the Kingdom of Granada, and with the
sea in their rear, could draw back no further ; but it was
already easy to see which of the two races would attain
mastery over Spain. On the Moorish side of the border
was a nation of merchants collected in rich cities ren-
dered effeminate by the bath and the climate,” and of
peaceable agriculturists occupied in their delicious valleys
with the cultivation of mulberry trees and silkworms ;”
a lively and ingenious people whose passion was for music
and dancing, who loved splendid dresses, and adorned
even their tombs. On the other side was a silent people,
attired in brown or black, caring only for war, and loving
bloodshed; a people who left to the Jews both commerce
and science; a race haughty and independent, terrible
in love and in religion. Everyone considered himself
noble ; the citizen boasted that his privilege came by
birth and not by purchase ; and even the peasant who
drew his sword against the Moors felt his rank as a
Christian.
These men were no less formidable to their kings than
to their enemies. For a long time their sovereigns had
1 In some parts of Old Castille there is a proverb, “The lark who
would fly across country must carry her food with her.” (Bory
de St. Vincent, Itinéraire, p. 281.) For the sterility and depopulated
state of Arragon, even in the Middle Ages, see Blancas, quoted by
Hallam, vol. i.
* Curita, Secunda Żarte de los Annales de la corone de Aragon
(I6IO), vol. iv. book xx.
* Ibid, vol. iv. book xx, folio, 354. Gomecius, de Rebus gestis
a F. Ximenes (1569), in ſolio, p. 60.
44 “AWAE IV CA//º/S 7TWAAVS.” [I454-
been only, as it were, the first of the barons; the King
of Arragon sometimes went to law with his subjects before
the tribunal of the /ustiza, or Chief Justiciar of the
Kingdom." The spirit of resistance peculiar to the
Arragonese had, like the Castillian pride, passed into a
proverb : “Give a nail to an Arragonese and he will
drive it in with his head instead of a hammer.” Their
oath of obedience was haughty and threatening : “lºſe,
z0/io individually are as great as you, and 70/0 united are
more ?0706/.4/, make you our Áing on condition ſhał you
secure our /rivileges, and if ſlot, ſlot.”
The Kings of Spain, therefore, preferred to surround
themselves with the new Christians, as converted Jews
and their children were called. They found in them
more intelligence and obedience. The tolerance of the
Moors had formerly attracted them to Spain, and, since
the year 14oo, more than Ioo, ooo Jewish families had
been converted. They made themselves necessary to the
Kings by their skill in business, and by their learning in
medicine and astrology: it was a Jew who, in 1460, operated
on the King of Arragon for cataract. Commerce was in
their hands; they had drawn, by means of usury, all the
money in the kingdom into their hands. They were
entrusted by the Kings with the levy of taxes, These
were so many titles to the hatred of the people. It burst
out several times in a frightful manner in the populous
cities of Toledo, Segovia, and Cordova.” -
The grandees, who saw themselves gradually set aside
by the new Christians, and generally by men of inferior
rank, became the enemies of the royal authority, which
they could not turn to their own advantage. Those of
Castille armed the Infant Don Henry against his father
Juan II, and succeeded in causing the King's favourite,
Alvaro de Luna, to be beheaded. His immense pos-
Sessions were confiscated, and, during three days, a basin
placed on the scaffold by the side of his corpse received
* Hallam, vol. i. p 390, 391.
* Mariana, liv. xxii., xxiii., A. D. 1446, 1463, 1473.
-1521] T///2 G./CAAWD/CES AAW/D 7TWE. ÁTVAWGS. 45
the alms of those who were willing to contribute to the
expense of his burial."
When Henry IV. ascended the throne (1454) he
attempted to shake off the grandees who had supported
him while Infant; but, at the same time, he irritated the
towns by raising taxes on his own authority, and venturing
himself to name the deputies for the Cortes.” He was,
besides, degraded by his connivance in the gallantries of
the Queen, and by his cowardice; the Castillians would
not obey a prince who left his army at the moment of
battle. The chief grandees, Carillo, Archbishop of
Toledo, Don Juan de Pacheco, Marquis of Villena, and
his brother, who was Grand Master of the Orders of
Santiago and Calatrava, set up against the King his
brother Don Alonzo, who was still under age ; declared
illegitimate the Infanta, Donna Juana, supposed to be the
child of Bertrand de la Cueva, the Queen's lover ; ex-
posed upon a throne the effigy of Henry in the plain of
Avila, and having stripped it of the insignia of royalty,
overthrew it and put Don Alonzo in its place. After
an indecisive battle (Medina del Campo, 1465) the unfor-
tunate King, abandoned by everyone, wandered aimlessly
about his kingdom, past castles and cities which closed
their gates against him, no one even Caring to arrest him.
One night, after a ride of eighteen leagues, he ventured
to enter Toledo; the tocsin was sounded, he was forced
to retire, and one of the knights who had escorted him
refused even to lend him a horse.
Arragon and Navarre were not more tranquil. On the
succession of Juan II. to his brother Alfonzo the Mag-
nanimous in the Kingdoms of Arragon and Sicily, he re-
tained for his own son, Don Carlos of Viana, the crown
of Navarre which the young Prince inherited from his
mother (1441). A stepmother excited the father against
his son on behalf of his two children by a second mar-
riage, Ferdinand the Catholic and Leonora, Countess of
* Mariana, liv. xxii., A. D. I.451.
* Ibid, Złoria de la Cortes, quoted by Hallam, vol. i. pp. 416,
424.
46 AºA.R.D./MAAWD AAWD ZSAAAAAA. [I454-
Foix. The eternal factions of Navarre, the Beaumonts
and Grammonts, carried on their private feuds under the
names of the two Princes. Twice the party which had
right on its side was beaten in pitched battle; twice the
indignation of Don Juan's subjects forced him to set free
the son he had castinto prison. Don Carlos died of poison
or grief (1461), and his sister, Donna Bianca, inherited
his right. Her father gave her up to her younger sister,
Leonora, who poisoned her in the castle of Orthez. Ca-
talonia had already risen : horror of this double murder
excited men's minds; as the Catalans could not have
Don Carlos for a King, they invoked him as a Saint,"
called successively to their aid the King of Castille, the
Infant of Portugal, and John of Calabria, and did not
submit till after ten years of fighting (1472).
While Juan II. was in danger of losing Catalonia, his
son Ferdinand was winning Castille. The brother of
Henry IV. being dead, the Grandees held that the right
of succession devolved on his sister Isabella. To sup-
port her against the King they married her to Ferdinand,
who after her was the next heir to the throne (1469).
Henry IV. died soon after having partaken of a banquet
given to him by his reconciled enemies (1474). But, in
dying, he declared that Donna Juana was his legitimate
child. Galicia and the whole country from Toledo to
Murcia declared in her favour.” Her uncle, Alfonzo the
African, King of Portugal, had affianced her and came
with the knights who had conquered Arzilla and Tangiers,
to support her cause. The Portuguese and Castillians en-
countered each other at Toro (1476). The former were
defeated, and the arms of Almayda which they bore on
their standard were hung up in the Cathedral of Toledo.
This check was sufficient to discourage the Portuguese ;
all the Castillian nobles ranged themselves on the side of
Ferdinand and Isabella; the crown of Castille was firmly
settled on the head of the first, and the death of
* Curita, vol. iv. book xx, folio 97.
* Mariana, book xxiv.
-I52 I] WAA’ WZZTA/ 7THE MOOA&S. 47
Juan II., who bequeathed Arragon to the latter (1479),
enabled them to turn the whole force of Christian Spain
against the Moors of Granada.
(1481–1492.)—A report was circulated among the
Moors that the fated termination of their dominion in
Spain had arrived." A Fakeer disturbed Granada with
mournful predictions, which were sufficiently justified by
the state of the kingdom. Already under Henry IV.
they had lost Gibraltar. Cities, strongly placed, but with-
out ditches or external fortifications, and protected only
by a thin wall; a brilliant cavalry skilled in throwing
the javelin, eager to charge and willing to fly; these were
the resources of the people of Granada. Africa could
not be depended upon for help. The time was past when
the hordes of the Almohades and Almoravides could
flood the Peninsula. The Sultan of Egypt thought it
enough to send to Ferdinand the guardian of the Holy
Sepulchre to plead for them : and the fear of the Otto-
mans soon diverted his thoughts from these distant affairs.
Although every year the Christians and Moors ravaged
alternately each other's territories, burning the vines, olive
and Orange trees, a singular agreement existed between.
them ; the peace was not considered to be broken even
if one of the two parties had taken a town, provided it
was taken without declaration of war, without banners or
trumpets, and in less than three days.” The capture of
Zahara in this way by the Moors was the pretext for
war. The Spaniards invaded the Kingdom of Granada,
encouraged by their Queen, whom alone the Castillians
would obey. In this army were already engaged the
future conquerors of Barbary and Naples, Pedro of
Navarre and Gonsalvo of Cordova. In the course of
eleven years the Christians possessed themselves of
Alhama, the bulwark of Granada ;” took Malaga, the
emporium of commerce between Spain and Africa ;
* Curita, vol. iv. book xx. p. 332.
* Ibid, p. 314; Mariana, book xxv.
* Zbid, p. 314.
48 S/A2 GAZ OA' GA2AAVA/OA. [1454-
captuved Baca, which was supposed to contain 150,000
inhabitants; and finally, with 80,000 men, besieged
Granada herself.
The capital was a prey to the most furious dissensions.
Son took arms against father, and brother against
brother. Boabdil and his uncle had shared the remains
of this expiring sovereignty, and the latter sold his share
to the Spaniards in exchange for a rich province. There
remained Boabdil, who had acknowledged himself as the
vassal of Ferdinand, and who followed rather than directed
the stubborn fury of the people. The siege lasted nine
months; a Moor attempted to assassinate Ferdinand and
Isabella ; a fire destroyed the whole camp ; the Queen,
whom nothing could dismay, ordered a town to be con-
structed in its place, and Sante-Fé, built in eighty days,
showed the Mussulmans that the siege would never be
raised." At last the Moors opened their gates, on the
pledge that they should retain judges of their own nation
and the free exercise of their religion (1492).
In the same year Christopher Columbus gave a new
world to Spain.”
The Kingdoms of Spain were now united, with the ex-
ception of Navarre, which was certain to become sooner
or later the prey of the two great Monarchies, between
which Nature herself appeared to destine her to be
divided. But these kingdoms, united only by force, were
not yet blended into a single body. The Castillians
watched the Arragonese with jealous eyes, both of them
regarded as enemies the Moors and Jews who lived
among them. Every city had its franchises, every grandee
his privileges. All these antipathies had to be overcome,
all these heterogeneous forces harmonized before fresh
conquests could be undertaken. In spite of the skill of
Ferdinand, in spite of the enthusiasm inspired by Isabella,
they did not succeed in doing this until after thirty years
of continual effort. The means they employed were as
* Pº/ri A/artyris Anglerii epistolae, 73, 91, &c. The author was
an eye-witness of these events.
* Epitaph of Christopher Columbus.
- 152 1] - 7T///2 COA’ 7'E.S. 49
ruthless as the temper of the people they ruled; but
their reward was the Empire of the two worlds in the
sixteenth century.
The Spanish Cortes, which alone could legally resist
the aggressions of the Monarchy, were the most ancient
Assemblies in Europe ; , but these institutions, formed
amidst the anarchy of the Middle Ages, had not the
organization which could make them lasting. In 148o
only seventeen towns in . Castile were represented ; in
1520 not one deputy was sent by the whole of Galicia to
the Cortes." Those of Guadalaxara alone represented
4oo boroughs or towns. In Arragon it was nearly the
same. The rivalry between the towns perpetuated this
abuse; in 1506 and in 1512 the towns in Castile which
possessed the privilege of representation rejected the
claims of the rest.” Thus, in order to , become master,
Ferdinand had only to leave the field open for rival
pretensions. He obtained through the Holy Hermandad
of the cities, and the revolt of the vassals, the submission
of the grandees;” through the grandees that of the
cities; through the Inquisition the subjection of both.
The violence of the grandees induced Saragossa to
allow him to change her ancient municipal constitutions
which she had always defended. The organization of the
Holy Hermandad, or fraternity of the cities of Arragon,
was impeded by the nobles whose private wars it would
have put an end to (1488), and the King was obliged in
the Cortes of 1495 to suspend its action for ten years;
but the people of Saragossa were so irritated that for a
long time the Justiza of Arragon, who refused to swear
to the Hermandad, dared not enter the town.4 From
this time the Crown inherited a large share of the people's
attachment to this magistracy, which had long been con-
1 Sepulveda, vol. i., book ii., p. 59.
2 Hallam, vol. i., from Mariana. -
* In Galicia alone he pulled down forty-six castles. (Hernando
de Pulgar.)
* Curita, vol. iv., book xx., pp. 251—356.
S.H. F.
50 AOAC 7'OGAZ. [I454-
sidered as the bulwark of public liberty against the
encroachment of Kings.
Nevertheless Ferdinand and Isabella would never have
acquired absolute power if the poverty of the Crown had
left them at the mercy of the Cortes. They revoked
On two occasions the grants of Henry IV., and those
by which they had themselves purchased the obedience
of the grandees (1480—1506). The union of the three
Great Masterships of Alcantara, Calatrava, and Sant Iago,
which they had the address to induce the knights to
present to them, gave them at the same time an army and
a very large revenue (1493–1494). Later on, the kings
of Spain having obtained from the Pope the sale of
Bulls for the Crusades and the presentation to Bishoprics
(1508–1522), became the richest sovereigns in Europe,
even before they drew, any considerable sum from
America. -
The Kings of Portugal established their power by
similar means. They possessed themselves of the Mas-
terships of the Orders of Avis, of Sant Iago, and of Christ,
in order to make the nobles dependent on them. In one
diet (at Evora, 1482) Juan II., successor of Alfonso the
African, revoked the grants of his predecessors, deprived
the nobles of the power of life and death, and placed
their domains under royal jurisdiction. The indignant
Inobles chose as their chief the Duke of Braganza, who
called in the aid of the Castilians; the King had him
tried by a commission, and his head struck off. The
Duke of Viseu, cousin-german and brother-in-law of Juan,
conspired against him, and the King stabbed him with
his own hand.
But what really secured the triumph of absolute power
in Spain was the fact that it rested on the religious zeal
which was the national characteristic of Spain. The Kings
leagued themselves with the Inquisition, that vast and
powerful hierarchy, all the more terrible because it
united the steady force of political authority with the
violence of religious passions. The establishment of the
Inquisition encountered the greatest obstacles on the part
-I521] THE MAWQUIS/7ZON. 5 I
of the Arragonese. Less in contact with the Moors than
the Castilians, they were less embittered against them :
the greater number of the members of the Government
of Arragon were descended from Jewish families. They
protested strongly against Secret trials, and against confisca-
tions; things contrary, as they said, to the “fueros” of
the kingdom. They even assassinated one Inquisitor in
the hope of frightening the rest. But the new institu-
tion was too much in harmony with the religious ideas of
the majority of Spaniards not to resist these attacks.
The title of Familiar of the Inquisition, which carried with
it exemption from municipal charges, was so much
sought after, that, in Some towns these privileged persons
surpassed in number the other inhabitants, and the
Cortes were obliged to interfere.”
After the conquest of Granada the Inquisition was no
longer satisfied with the persecution of individuals. All
the Jews were ordered to be converted or to leave Spain
in four months, and forbidden to carry away gold or
silver (1492). One hundred and seventy thousand fami-
lies, forming a population of 8oo,ooo souls, sold their
property in a hurry, and fled to Portugal, Italy, Africa,
* The following inscription was put up, shortly after the foun-
dation of the Inquisition in the Castle of Triana, in a fau-
bourg of Seville –“Sanctum Inquisitionis officium contra haereti
corum pravitatem in Hispaniae regnis initiatum est Hispali, anno
McCCCLXXXI, &c. Generalis inquisitor primus fuit Fr. Thomas
de Torquemada. Faxit Deus ut in augmentum fidei usque socculi
permaneat, &c. Exsurge, Domine : judica causam tuam. Capite
nobis vulpes.” Another inscription, put up in 1524 by the Inqui-
sitors on their house in Seville, runs :—“Anno Domini McCocLxxxI
sacrum Inquisitionis officium contra haereticos Judaizantes ad fidei
exaltationerm hic exordium Sumpsit : ubi, post Judaeorum ac Sara-
cenorum expulsionem ad annum usque MDXXIV, Divo Carolo, etc.
regnante, etc., viginti millia haereticorum et ultra nefandum
haereseos crimen abjurarunt ; nec non hominum fere millia in suis
haeresibus obstinatorum postea jure praevio ignibus tradita sunt et
combusta. Domini nostri imperatoris jussu et impensis licenciatus,
de la Cueva poni jussit, A. D. MDXXIV.” It is worthy of remark
that several Popes, in the beginning of the sixteenth century,
blamed the severity of the Spanish Inquisition. The Court of Rome
was at that time interested and mercenary, rather than fanatical.
E 2
‘52 THE 5*EWS. | 1454-
and even, to the Levant. At that time a house was given
in exchange for an ass, a vineyard for a piece of lineſ,
or cloth. A contemporary tells us that he saw a crowd
of these miserable beings, disembark in Italy, and die of
hunger near the Mole of Genoa, the only quarter of
the town in which they were allowed to repose for a
few days. -
The Jews who took refuge in Portugal were received
there only on payment of eight golden crowns per head ;
besides which, they were ordered to leave the kingdom
within a certain time on pain of being made slaves, an
edict which was rigorously enforced. In spite of this, it
is said that the first who arrivéd wrote to their brothers
in Spain, “The land is good, the people are idiots; we
have fair chances here ; you may come, for everything
will soon belong to us.” Don Manuel, Don Juan's suc-
cessor, set free those who had been enslaved ; but, in
1496, he ordered them to quit the kingdom, leavrng be-
hind them...all their children under the age of fourteen.
The greater number preferred to receive baptism, and in
1507 Don Manuel abolished the distinction between the
old and mez, Christians. The Inquisition was established
at Lisbon in 1526, and from thence it spread to India,
where the Portuguese had landed in 1498.
Seven years after the expulsion of the Jews (1499–
1501) the King of Spain attempted in an equally violent
manner to convert the Moors of Granada, who by the
terms of capitulation had been guaranteed the free exer-
cise of their religion. Those of the Albaycin (the most
mountainous district of Granada) were the first to revolt,
and were followed by the Savage inhabitants of the Alpu-
xarras. The Gandules of Africa came to their assistance,
and the King, having experienced the difficulty of reducing
them, furnished vessels to those who wished to cross over
into Africa; but the greater number remained, and pre-
tended to become Christians.”
The reduction of the Moors was followed by the con-
quest of Naples (1501–1503) and by the death of Isabella
Mariana, book xxvii.
-1521] AAEA’/D//WA/W/) AAV/O ZSA BAE/./.4. 53
(1504). This queen was adored by the people of Castile,”
whose character she so well represented, and whose
independence she protected against her husband. After
her death the Castilians had only the choice between
foreign rulers. They were obliged to obey either the
King of Arragon, or the Archduke of Austria, Philip
the Fair, sovereign of the Netherlands, who had married
Donna Juana, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella,
heiress of the kingdom of Castile. Such was their
antipathy for the Arragonese, and particularly for Fer-
dinand, that, in spite of all the intrigues of the latter
to obtain the Regency, they rallied round the Archduke
as soon as he arrived in Spain. At first the behaviour of
Philip was popular: he put a stop to the violence of the
Inquisition, which was on the point of exciting a general
insurrection ; but he dismissed all the corregidors and
governors of the towns to give their places to his Flemish
followers, and at last he wanted to shut up as a maniac
Donna Juana, whose feeble reason had gone astray
through jealousy. Philip soon died (1506). Neverthe-
less, Ferdinand would not even yet have been able to
govern Castile if he had not been supported by the con-
fessor and minister of Isabella, the celebrated Ximenès
of Cisneros, Archbishop of Toledo. -
The Castilians, finding in Ximenès the heroic spirit
of their great queen, forgot that they were obeying Ferdi-
nand ; and the latter years of this Prince were marked by
the conquests of Barbary and Navarre. The war with
the Moors did not seem at an end so long as those in
* Isabella exhibited the utmost courage in the vicissitudes of her
youth. When Ferdinand fled from Segovia she chose to remain
(Mariana, book xxiv.); she insisted on holding Alhama, at the gates
of Granada, when her bravest officers counselled retreat (Curita,
book xx.). She consented with regret to the establishment of the
Inquisition. She loved and protected letters; she understood
Latin, while Ferdinand could scarcely sign his own name (Mariana,
book xxiii. xxv.). She equipped, in spite of his opposition, the
fleet which discovered America ; she deſended Columbus when
accused, consoled Gonsalvo of Cordova in his disgrace, and ordered
the unfortunate natives of America to be set free.
54 CAA’ DAVAZ XYZMAZ NES. [I454-
Africa, strengthened by a number of fugitives, infested
the coasts of Spain, and found a safe refuge in the port
of Oran, at Penon de Velez, and many other fastnesses.
Ximenes proposed, equipped, and personally conducted
an expedition against Oran. The taking of this town,
which was carried under his eyes by Pedro of Navarre,
led to the fall of Tripoli and the submission of Algiers,
Tunis, and Tremecen (1509, 1510).
Two years afterwards, the seizure of Navarre, which
was taken by Ferdinand from Jean d'Albret, completed
the union of all the kingdoms of Spain (1512). The
Countess of Foix, Leonora, had enjoyed only for a month
this throne, which she had bought with her sister's blood.
After the death of her son Phoebus, the hand of her
daughter Catherine, which had been demanded in vain
for the Infant of Spain, was given by the French party
to Jean d'Albret, who was invariably allied to France
through his own dominions of Foix, Périgord, and Li-
moges. As soon as the two great powers which were
struggling in Italy began, as it were, to fight hand-to-
hand, Navarre found herself, by the necessities of her
geographical position, shared between Ferdinand and
Louis XII. Ximenes was eighty years old when the
King, whose death was approaching, designated him as
Regent until the arrival of his grandson, Charles of
Austria (1516). In spite of his age he withstood foreign
and domestic enemies with the same vigour. He pre-
vented the French from conquering Navarre by an ex-
pedient which was as new as it was bold : it was by
dismantling all the strong places except Pampeluna, and
thus preventing all connivance with the invaders. At the
same time he formed a national militia, and secured the
towns by granting them permission to raise their own taxes
(Gomecius, f. 25). He revoked the concessions which
the late king had made to the grandees. When they
came to expostulate, and expressed doubts as to the
power which had been conferred on him, Ximenes,
showing them from a balcony a formidable train of
artillery, “Behold,” he said, “my power l’’
•IS2I] C/7,4/8/.A.S. V. 55
The Flemish disgusted the Spaniards as soon as they
arrived. First, they disgraced the expiring Ximenes, and
appointed a stranger, a young man of twenty, to replace
him in the highest see in the kingdom. They established
a tariff of places, and, as it were, put Spain up to auction.
Charles took the title of King without waiting for the
consent of the Cortès. He convoked those of Castile
in a remote corner of Galicia, and asking for a second
subsidy before the first had been paid, seized it by force
or corruption, and set out to take possession of the
Imperial crown without caring whether he left a revolution
behind him. Toledo refused to attend his Cortès, Segovia
and Zamora put their deputies to death, and such was
the horror that the deputies inspired that no one was
willing to pillage their houses or to soil their hands with
the wealth of the traitors. Discontent spread throughout
Spain. The whole of Castile, Galicia, Murcia, and most
of the towns in Leon and Estramadura, rose in arms.
The revolt was no less furious in Valencia, but its cha-
racter was different : the inhabitants had sworn a “her-
mandad” against the nobility, and Charles, discontented
with the nobles, was imprudent enough to support it.
Majorca imitated the example of Valencia, and even
wished to deliver herself to the French. In both king-
doms the Clothworkers were at the head of the “her-
mandad.”
At the outset the communeros of Castile took pos-
session of Tordesillas, where the mother of Charles V.
resided, and issued their edicts in the name of the
Princess. But their success lasted only a short time.
They had demanded in their remonstrances, that the
lands of the nobles might be subjected to taxation. The
nobles abandoned a party whose victory would have been
prejudicial to their interests. The towns did not even agree
among themselves. The old rivalry between Burgos and
Toledo awoke; and the former submitted to the King, who
granted her a free market.* The communeros, thus divided,
had no longer any hope except in the assistance of a French
* Sepulveda, vol. i., p. 53.
56 }:UAN DE PADIZLA. [I52 I-
army, which had invaded Navarre; buf before they could
effect a junction with it they fell in with the leaſes, and
were entirely routed (1521). Don Juan de Padilla, the
hero of the revolution, sought death in the enemy's ranks,
but he was unhorsed, wounded, taken prisoner, and be-
headed on the next day. Before his death he sent to his
wife, Donna Maria de Pacheco, the relics he wore round
his neck, and wrote his famous letter to the town of
Toledo : “To thee, the crown of Spain and the light of
the world ; to thee, who wert free from the time of the
Goths, and who hast shed thy blood to ensure thy liberty
and that of the neighbouring cities ; to thee, thy lawful
son, Juan of Padilla, makes known that by the blood of
his body thy ancient victories are about to be refreshed
and renewed,” &c." – “..... --
The reduction of Castile brought with it that of the
kingdom of Valencia and of all the revolted provinces.
But Charles V., profiting by this lesson, respected hence-
forth the pride of the Spaniards, affected to speak their
language, and resided chiefly amongst them, treating with
consideration this heroic people as the instrument with
which he intended to subjugate the world. -
* Sandoval, in fol. 1681, book ix., § 22, p. 356.
CHAPTER III.
THE EAST AND THE NORTH.
GERMANIC AND SCANDINAVIAN STATES IN THE SECOND
HALF OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.
IF we regard similarity of habits and language, we
must class among the Germanic states the Empire, Swit-
zerland, the Low Countries, and the three kingdoms
of the North, even England in many respects; but the
political relations of the Netherlands and England with
France have forced us to relate the history of these
powers in the preceding chapter.
Germany is not only the centre of the Teutonic system;
it is a little Europe in the midst of the greater, in which
the same varieties of country and population are repre-
sented, though with less striking contrast. In the fifteenth
century it included every form of government, from the
hereditary or elective principalities of Saxony and Co-
logne to the democracies of Uri and Unterwalden ; from
the commercial oligarchy of Lübeck to the military aris-
tocracy of the Teutonic Order.
This singular body of the Empire, whose members
were So heterogeneous and unequal, and whose head had
so little power, seemed always on the point of dissolution.
The cities, the nobles, the majority even of the princes,
were almost strangers to an Emperor who was chosen
only by the Electors. And yet community of origin and
language maintained for centuries the unity of the
Germanic body: though we must add to these causes
58 THE EMPIRE. . [1433-
the necessity for self-defence, the fear of the Turks, of
Charles V., and of Louis XIV.
The Empire always remembered that it had ruled over
Europe, and recalled its rights from time to time in
vain proclamations. The most powerful prince in the
15th century, Charles the Bold, seemed to recognise them
by soliciting the royal dignity from the Emperor Frederick
III. These pretensions, though their day had gone by,
might have become formidable after the Imperial Crown
fell permanently into the hands of the House of Austria
(1438). Situated between Germany, Italy and Hungary,
in the most central part of Europe, Austria was destined
to become mistress of the two latter countries, at least
by her consistency and obstinacy. To these qualities
she added a policy, more distinguished by ability than
heroism, which, by means of a succession of marriages,
placed in the hands of Austria prizes for which other
nations had in vain shed their blood, and which made
her mistress of the conquerors as well as of their con-
quests. She thus acquired on one side Hungary and
Bohemia (1526), on the other the Ilow Countries (1481);
by means of the Low Countries, Spain, Naples and
America (1506-1516), and through Spain, Portugal and
the East Indies (1581).
Towards the end of the 15th century the Imperial
power had fallen so low that the Princes of the House of
Austria generally forgot that they were Emperers in order
to occupy themselves exclusively with the interests of
their hereditary states. Nothing diverted them from this
policy, which, sooner or later, was destined to restore
the dignity of the imperial sceptre in their hands. Thus
Frederick III., continually beaten by the Electors Palatine
and the King of Hungary, shut his ears to the cries of
Europe, which was alarmed by the progress of the Turks.
But he raised Austria into an Arch-Duchy; he linked
the interests of his house with those of the Papacy by
sacrificing the Pragmatic Sanction of Augsburg to
Nicholas V. ; he married his son Maximilian to the
heiress of the Low Countries (1481). Maximilian him-
-I52O] 7TA/A2 A/O USA, OA' A US 7/2/A. 59
self became by his caprices and poverty the laughing
stock of Europe, as it saw him hurrying perpetually from
Switzerland to the Low Countries, from Italy to Ger-
many, imprisoned by the citizens of Bruges, beaten by
the Venetians, and setting down regularly his affronts in
his red book. But he added to his dominions by right
of inheritance the Tyrol, Goritz, and part of Bavaria.
His son Philip the Fair, sovereign of the Low Countries,
married the heiress of Spain (1496); and one of his
grandsons (by the treaty of 1515) was enabled to marry
the sister of the king of Bohemia and Hungary.
While the house of Austria was thus preparing her
future greatness, the Empire tried to give fresh form to
its constitution. Its tribunal, which was in future to be
permanent, the Imperial Chamber (1495)—was to put
an end to private wars and substitute a state of law for
the state of nature which seemed still to exist among the
members of the Germanic body. The division into
Circles was intended to facilitate the exercise of this
jurisdiction. A council of Regency was created to con-
trol and replace the Emperor (15oo). The electors long
refused to enter into this new organisation. The Emperor
opposed the Aulic Council to the Imperial Chambers
(1501), and these salutary institutions were consequently
weakened from their birth.
This absence of order, this want of protection, had
successively obliged the most distant portions of the
Empire to form more or less independent confederations
or to look for foreign support. Such was the condition
of the Swiss, of the Teutonic Order, of the leagues of the
Rhine and of Swabia, and of the Hanseatic League.
The same period saw the elevation of Switzerland
and the decline of the Teutonic Order. The second of
these two military powers, a species of vanguard which
the warlike spirit of Germany had pushed on into the
midst of the Sclavonic peoples, was forced to give up
Prussia, which the Teutonic Knights had conquered and
converted two centuries earlier, to the King of Poland
—(Treaty of Thorn, 1466). -
6o .S. W/7ZAZAZ LAAV/O. [I433-
Switzerland, separated from the Empire by the victory
of Morgarten and the league of Brunnen, had con-
solidated her liberty by the defeat of Charles the Bold,
which taught feudal Europe to appreciate the power of
infantry. The alliance of the Grisons, the accession of five
new cantons (Fribourg, Soleure, Basle, Schaffhausen and
Appenzell, I 481–1513), had carried Switzerland to the
summit of greatness. The citizens of Berne, the shepherds
of Uri, found themselves caressed by Popes and courted
by Kings. Louis XI. substituted Swiss for the free-archers
(1480). In the wars with Italy the best part of the
infantry of Charles VIII. and of Louis XII. was com-
posed of them. As soon as they had crossed the Alps,
in the train of the French, they were welcomed by the
Pope who opposed them to the French themselves, and
for a short time they reigned over Northern Italy in
the name of Maximilian Sforza. After their defeat at
Marignan (1515) religious discords armed them against
each other, and confined them within their mountains.
The two commercial powers of Germany were not a
sufficiently compact body to imitate the example of
Switzerland, and become independent. *
The league of the Rhenish and Swabian towns was
composed of rich cities, among which Nuremberg, Ratis-
bon, Augsburg, and Spires held the first rank. They it
was who carried on the principal commerce by land
between the North and the South. When it reached
Cologne, the merchandise they imported fell into the
hands of the Hanseatic towns, by whom it was distri-
buted throughout the North.
The Hanseatic League, Consisting of eighty towns, occu-
pied the whole northern coast of Germany, and extended
to the Low Countries. Until the 16th century it was
the ruling power in the North. The immense hall at
Lubeck where the Hanseatic general assemblies were
held, still attests the power of these merchant princes.
They had united by means of innumerable canals the
ocean, the Baltic, and most of the rivers of Northern
Germany. But their chief commerce was maritime. The
-I 520] TA/AE HAAVSAEA TIC MAA GUAE. 6 I
Hanseatic establishments at London, Bruges, Bergen,
and Novogorod were analogous in many respects to the
factories of the Venetians and Genoese in the Levant;
they were a sort of fortresses. The clerks were not
allowed to marry in foreign countries for fear of their
teaching commerce and the arts to the inhabitants." In
some counting-houses they were received only after cruel
trials which tested their courage. Commerce was still
almost everywhere carried on sword in hand. If the
Hanse traders brought into Novogorod or London Flan-
ders cloth which was too coarse, too narrow, or too dear,
the people rose, and often put some of them to death.
Then the merchants threatened to leave the town, and
the inhabitants in their alarm were willing to submit to
anything. The citizens of Bruges having killed some
Hanse traders, the League, before re-establishing its
counting-houses in the town, insisted that some of the
citizens should make an ample apology, and that others
should undertake a pilgrimage to Compostella or Jeru-
Salem. In truth the most terrible punishment which the
Hanseatic traders could inflict upon a town was—to aban-
don it for ever. A cessation of their visits to Holland
left its inhabitants without cloth, moss, salt, and herrings;
and in all revolutions the Swedish peasant was on the
side of those who furnished him with salt and herrings.
For this reason the League exacted extraordinary privi-
leges; the greater number of the maritime towns in
Sweden allowed at least half of their magistrates to be
Hanseatic traders.
Great as their power was, however, it rested on no
Solid foundation. The long line of the Hanseatic towns,
from Livonia to the Low Countries, was everywhere
narrow and broken by foreign or hostile states. The
towns composing it had different interests and unequal
rights : Some were allies of the League, some protected by
it, others its subjects. Even the commerce on which
their existence depended was precarious. As they had
neither agriculture nor manufactures, and could only
* See Sartorius and Mallet's History of the Hanseatic League.
62 AXAEAVAMAA’A. 11433-
transport and exchange foreign merchandise they de-
pended upon a thousand natural or political accidents
which no sagacity could foresee. Thus the herring,
which towards the 14th century had quitted the coasts
of Pomerania for those of Scandinavia, began in the
middle of the 15th to leave the shores of the Baltic for
those of the Northern ocean. In the same way the sub-
mission of Novogorod and Plescow to the Czar Ivan III.
(1477), and the reduction of Bruges by the army of the
Empire (towards 1489), closed to the Hanse Towns
the two chief sources of their wealth. At the same time
the progress of public order rendered the protection of
the Hanseatics unnecessary to many of the continental
towns, especially after the constitution of the empire con-
solidated itself, towards 1495. The Rhenish cities had
never chosen to join the League; Cologne which had
entered into it, left it and demanded the protection of
Flanders. The Dutch, whose commerce and industry had
grown up under the protection of the Hanse, no longer
required it when they became the subjects of the powerful
houses of Burgundy and Austria, and began to dispute with
it the monopoly of the Baltic trade. At once agricul-
turists, merchants, and manufacturers, they had the advan-
tage over a purely commercial power. To defend the
interests of their traffic against these dangerous rivals,
the Hanseatic merchants were obliged to intervene in
all the revolutions of the North.
Its priority in Christianity and civilization, which had
passed from Germany to Denmark and thence to Sweden
and Norway, long gave Denmark the preponderance over
the other two states. The Swedish and Norwegian bishops
were the most powerful nobles in these countries ; and
they were equally devoted to Denmark. But the Danish
kings could only maintain this preponderance by con-
tinued efforts which made them dependent upon their
nobles and obliged them to make frequent concessions.
These concessions could be made only at the expense of
the royal prerogative and of the freedom of the peasantry,
who gradually fell into slavery. In Sweden, on the con-
-I52O] UAV/O/W OF CA/C//.4/0. - 63
trary, the peasants lost little of the ancient liberty of the
Scandinavian nations, and even formed an order in the
State. This difference in the constitution explains the
vigour with which Sweden shook off the yoke of the
Danes. The Norwegians, either because the clergy had
more influence there than in Sweden, or that they feared
becoming subjects to Sweden, exhibited generally less
repugnance towards the Danish supremacy.
The famous union of Calmar, which appeared to
promise so much glory and power to the three northern
kingdoms, had only established the yoke of the Danish
princes, and of the Germans with whom they surrounded
themselves, over Sweden and Norway. Both the revolu-
tion of 1433, and that of I 52 I, began with the peasants
of Dalecarlia; Engelbrecht played the part of Gustavus
Vasa ; and the latter as well as the former was sus-
tained by the Hanse towns, whose trade monopoly was
opposed by the King of Denmark (Eric the Pomer-
anian, nephew of Margaret of Waldemar) in favour
of the Dutch. The union was restored some time
afterwards by Christopher, the Bavarian, the Bark
Áing, as the Swedes, who were forced under his reign
to live upon the bark of trees, called him. But after
his death (1448) they turned out the Danes and the
Germans, elected as their King, Charles Canutson,
marshal of the kingdom, and refused to recognise the
new King of Denmark and Norway, Christian the First
of the House of Oldenburgh (the ancestor, through the
branch of Holstein-Gottorp, of the last Swedish dynasty
and the reigning imperial House of Russia). The Danes,
strengthened by the acquisition of Schleswig and Hol-
stein (1459), thrice restored their dominion over Sweden,
by the help of the Archbishop of Upsala (1457–1465)
and were twice driven from it by the party of the nobility
and the people.
On the death of Charles Canutson in 147 o Sweden
adopted successively as administrators three nobles of
the name of Sture (Sten, Swante and Sten) They rested
their power on the peasants, and called them into the
64 .S WAE DASAV, {I 520-
senate. They beat the Danes before Stockholm (1471)
and took from them the famous standard of Danebrog,
which was, as it were, the palladium of the monarchy.
They founded the University of Upsala at the same time
that the King of Denmark founded that of Copenhagen
(1477–1478). In fact, if we except only a short period,
during which Sweden was obliged to recognise John II.,
successor of Christian I., they maintained her independ-
ence until 1520.
CHAPTER IV.
THE EAST AND THE NORTH.
TURKISH AND SCLAVONIC STATES IN THE SECOND
HALF OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.
THE conquest of the Greek Empire by the Ottoman-
Turks may be considered as the last invasion of the
Barbarians, and the close of the middle ages. It was
the destiny of the nations of Sclavonic origin, who lay
in the road of the Asiatic Barbarians, to close Europe
against them, or, at least, to check their advance by
powerful diversions. Russia, on which the rage of the
Tartars had spent itself in the I4th century, again became
formidable under Ivan III. (1462). A league of Hun-
garians, Wallachians, and Moldavians covered Ger-
many and Poland, which formed as it were the reserve
of the Christian army against the invasion of the Turks.
Poland, stronger than ever, had no longer any enemies
in her rear ; she had just conquered Prussia, and pene-
trated as far as the Baltic (1454–1466).
I. The rapid progress of Ottoman conquest during
the 15th century is explained by the following causes:–
(I). The fanatical and military spirit of the Turks.
(2). Their use of regular troops, as opposed to the
feudal militias of the Europeans and to the cavalry of
the Persians and Mamelukes; their institution of the
Janissaries.
(3). The peculiar position of the enemies of Turkey;
S.H. F
66 TA/E 7TURA.S. [I454-
in the East the religious and political discords of Persia,
and the feeble foundations of the power of the Mame-
lukes ; in the West the dissensions of Christendom ;
Hungary was its bulwark on the land side, Venice by
sea ; but they were enfeebled, the one by the ambition
of the House of Austria, the other by the jealousy of
Italy and of all Europe. The resistance of the Knights
of Rhodes, and of the Princes of Albania was heroic
but powerless.
We saw in our first chapter Mahomet II., after suc-
ceeding in the conquest of the Greek Empire, fail against
Hungary, but become master of the Sea and inspire all
Christendom with terror. On the accession of Bajazet
II. (1481), the parts changed, and fear crossed over to
the side of the Sultan. His brother Zizim who had
disputed the throne with him, having taken refuge with the
Knights of Rhodes, became in the hands of the King of
France, and afterwards of the Pope, a pledge for the safety
of the West. Bajazet paid Innocent VIII. and Alexander
VI. considerable sums to keep him prisoner. This un-
popular prince, who had begun his reign by putting to death
the Vizier Achmet, the idol of the Janissaries, and the
old general of Mahomet II., was carried away in spite of
himself by the military ardour of the nation. The Turks
turned their arms first against the Mamelukes and Per-
sians. Defeated by the former, at Issus, they prepared
the ruin of their conquerors by depopulating Circassia,
whence the Mamelukes recruited their numbers. After
the death of Zizim, no longer fearing any internal war,
they attacked the Venetians in the Peloponnesus, and
threatened Italy (1499–1503); but Hungary, Bohemia,
and Poland came to the rescue, and the accession of the
Sophis renewed and gave formal shape to the political
rivalry between the Persians and Turks (1501). After this
war Bajazet estranged the Turks by a peace of eight years,
desired to abdicate in favour of his son Achmet, and was
dethroned and put to death by his second son Selim. The
accession of this new sovereign, the most cruel and warlike
of all the Sultans, struck terror into both the East and,
-I478.] // OAVGA/C Y A/V/O Z3 OAZZZZZA. 67
West (1512); it was doubtful whether he would fall first
upon Persia, Egypt, or Italy. -
II. Europe would have had nothing to fear from the
Barbarians, if Hungary had been permanently united to
Bohemia, and had held them in check. But Hungary
interfered both with the independence and the religion.
of Bohemia. In this way they weakened each other,
and in the 15th century wavered between the two
Sclavonic and German powers on their borders (Poland
and Austria). United under a German prince from 1455
to 1458, separated for a time under national sovereigns
(Bohemia until 1471, Hungary until 1490), they were
once more united under Polish princes until 1526, at
which period they passed definitively into the hands of
Austria.
After the reign of Ladislas of Austria, who won so
much glory by the exploits of John Hunniades, George
Podiebrad obtained the crown of Bohemia, and Mat-
thias Corvinus, the son of Hunniades, was elected King of
Hungary (1458). These two princes opposed success-
fully the chimerical pretensions of the Emperor Frederick
III. Podiebrad protected the Hussites and incurred the
enmity of the Popes. Matthias victoriously encountered
the Turks and obtained the favour of Paul II., who
offered him the crown of Podiebrad, his father-in-law.
The latter opposed to the hostility of Matthias the alliance
of the King of Poland, whose eldest son, Ladislas, he
designated as his successor. At the same time, Casimir,
the brother of Ladislas, endeavoured to take from Mat-
thias the crown of Hungary. Matthias, thus pressed on
all sides, was obliged to renounce the conquest of Bohemia,
and content himself with the provinces of Moravia, Silesia.
and Lusatia, which were to return to Ladislas if Matthias
died first (1475–1478).
The King of Hungary compensated himself at the
expense of Austria. On the pretext that Frederick III.
had refused to give him his daughter, he twice invaded
his states and retained them in his possession. With
this great prince Christendom lost its chief defender,
F 2
68 - POZAAWD. [I454-
Hungary her conquests and her political preponderance
(1490). The civilization which he had tried to introduce
into his kingdom was deferred for many centuries. We
have already related what he did for letters and the arts.
By his Decretum majus, he regulated military discipline,
abolished judicial combat, forbade his subjects to appear
in arms at fair or market, decreed that punishment should
no longer be extended to the relations of culprits, nor
their possessions in future be confiscated, that the
the King would no longer seize all mines of gold," salt,
&c. without compensating the proprietor. Ladislas (of
Poland), King of Bohemia, having been elected King of
Hungary, was attacked by his brother John Albert, and
by Maximilian of Austria, who both pretended to that
crown. He appeased his brother by the cession of
Silesia (1491), and Maximilian by vesting in the House
of Austria the right of succession to the throne of Hun-
gary, in case he himself should die without male issue.
Under Ladislas, and under his son Louis II., who
succeeded him while still a child, in 1516, Hungary was
ravaged with impunity by the Turks.
III. Poland, united since 1386 to Lithuania by
Ladislas Jagellon, the first prince of this dynasty, became
in the 15th century the preponderating power among the
Sclavonic States. Protected on the side of the Turks by
Wallachia, Moldavia, and Transylvania, the rival of Russia
in Lithuania, of Austria in Hungary and Bohemia, she
disputed the possession of Prussia and Livonia with the
Teutonic Order. The secret of her weakness was the
jealousy of the two nations, speaking different languages,
which composed the main body in the State. The Jagellons,
who were Lithuanian princes, wished their country not
to depend upon Polish laws, and to recover Podolia.
The Poles reproached Casimir IV. with passing the
Autumn, Winter, and Sºring ºn Ziffit/anza.”
* Bonfinius, Rerum Hungaricarum decades, 1568, in fol.,
p. 649. . . e -
* Dlugossi, sive 'Longini, Historia, Polonica, vol. ii. 1712,
p. II4–16O.
-I466.] ACO.S.S./A. 69
Under Casimir, the second son of Ladislas Jagellon
(fifth of the name), the Poles protected the Sclavonians
of Prussia against the tyranny of the Teutonic Knights
and forced the latter to submit to the Treaty of Thorn
(1466), by means of which they lost Western Prussia,
and became vassals of Poland for Eastern Prussia. Who
would then have thought that Prussia would one day
dismember Poland P At the same time the Poles gave a
king to Bohemia and to Hungary (IA71–1490) ... The
three brothers of Ladislas, John Albert, Alexander, and
Sigismund I., were successively elected Kings of Poland
(1492, 1501, I506), made war upon the Wallachians and
Turks, and gained brilliant victories over the Russians.
Lithuania, separated from Poland on the accession of
John Albert, was definitively united to her by Alexander.
Towards I466, the continual wars necessarily intro-
duced a representative government into Poland , but the
pride of the nobles, who alone were represented by their
AVuncios, maintained the anarchical forms of barbarous
ages; and they continued to exact a unanimous consent
in their deliberations for the enactment of a law. Even
on important occasions the Poles remained faithful
to established usage, and, as in the middle ages, the
numerous posſoſite were seen deliberating in the field
Sword in hand.
IV. In the 15th century the Russian population was
divided into three classes: the Boyards, descendants of
the conquerors ; the free peasants who farmed for the
former and whose state was approaching more and more
to slavery ; and lastly the serfs.
The Grand Duchy of Moscow was continually threat-
ened by enemies : on the west it had the Lithuanians and
Livonians, on the east the Tartars of the Golden Horde
from Kasan and Astrakan ; it was hemmed in by the
commercial republics of Novogorod and Plescow, and by
the principalities of Tver, Vereia, and Rezan, To the
north of it were savage and heathen countries. The
Muscovite nation, still barbarous, but attached at least
to a fixed abode, was destined to absorb in time the
7o CZAA’ Z VA/V Z/Z. [I497.
nomadic tribes of the Tartars. As an hereditary state, the
Grand Duchy could not fail to prevail, Sooner or later,
over the elective states of Poland and Livonia. -
I462–1505, Ivan III. He opposed to the attacks o
the Golden Horde an alliance with the Crimean Tartars,
to those of Lithuania a league with the Prince of Mol-
davia and Wallachia, and again with Matthias Corvinus
and Maximilian.-He separated Plescow and Novogorod,
which could only resist him by making common cause
with each other, gradually weakened the latter republic,
took possession of it in 1477, and drained it of its strength
by carrying off its chief citizens. Strengthened by his
alliance with the Khan of the Crimea, he imposed a
tribute on the inhabitants of Kasan, and refused that
which his predecessors paid to the Golden Horde which
soon afterwards was destroyed by the Tartars (1480).
Ivan united to his dominions Tver, Vereia, Rostow and
Yaroslaw. He made war for a long time on the Lithu-
anians; but Alexander having united Lithuania to Poland,
allied himself with the Knights of Livonia; and the Czar,
who after the destruction of the Golden Horde, had
treated his allies in Moldavia and the Crimea with less
consideration, lost his ascendency. He was beaten at
Plescow by Plettemberg, the Master of the Knights of
Livonia (1501), and in the very year of his death (1505)
Kasan revolted against Russia.
Ivan was the first to take the title of Czar. Having
obtained from the Pope the hand of Sophia Palaeologus
who had taken refuge in Rome, he inserted in his arms
the double eagle of the Greek Empire. He invited and
retained by force Greek and Italian artists. He was the
first to assign fiefs to the Boyards on condition of military
service ; he introduced order into the finances, established
posts, formed into a code (1497) the ancient judicial
customs, and desired, though ineffectually, to distribute
the lands of the Church among the Boyards. In 1492
Ivan founded Ivangorod (on the spot where St. Peters-
burg was afterwards built) but the victories of Plettem-
berg shut against Russia for two centuries all access to
the Baltic. (See Karamsin, passim.)
CHAPTER V.
EARLY ITALIAN VARS.
I494–1516.
WHEN in the present day we cross the Siennese Ma-
remma and find there and in other parts of Italy traces of
wars of the 16th century, we are seized by an inexpres–
sible sadness, and we curse the barbarians who caused
all this desolation.* This desert of the Maremma was
made by a general of Charles V. ; those ruins of burnt
palaces are the work of Francis I.'s Landsknechts. The
damaged pictures of Giulio Romano attest to this day
that the soldiers of the Constable of Bourbon stabled
their horses in the Vatican. Let us not, however, blame
our fathers too hastily. The wars in Italy were the
effect neither of a king's nor a nation's caprice. During
more than half a century an irresistible impulse carried
all the western, as it had formerly carried all the northern
nations, over the Alps. The calamities were almost as
great, but the result was the same ; the conquerors were
raised to the civilization of the conquered.
Louis the Moor, alarmed by the threats of the King
of Naples, whose grand-daughter had married his
1 Commentaries of Blaise de Montluc, vol. xxi. of the collec-
tion, p. 267-8. See also several books of travel and especially
a Voyage and Montamiata et dams le Siennois by Santi, translated
into French by Bodard. Lyons, 1802, 2 vols. in 8vo. vol. I,
paSSIm.
72 C//AA’ ZAZS V//Z. ZAV ZZTAZ V. [I494-
nephew, John Galeas (see Chap. I.) determined to sup-
port his usurped authority by the assistance of the French,
but he little knew what a power he was bringing into
Italy. He was seized with astonishment and terror
when he saw trooping down Mount Ginevra, in Sept-
ember, 1494, their formidable army, which, from the
variety of Costume, arms and language, seemed to com-
prise within its ranks every nation in Europe—French,
Basques, Bretons, Swiss, Germans, and even Scotch ; the
invincible gendarmes, as well as those formidable bronze
cannons which the French had learnt to move as
easily as their soldiers. It introduced a new mode of
warfare into Italy. The old tactics, which sent one
squadron after another into battle were superseded
at once by the French impetuosity and by the cool
bravery of the Swiss. War was no longer a system of
tactics. It was to be terrible, inexorable. The con-
queror did not even understand the prayers of the
conquered. The soldiers of Charles VIII., full of fear
and hatred against a country where they expected to be
poisoned at every meal, invariably massacred all their
prisoners."
At the approach of the French the old governments of
Italy crumbled away of themselves. Pisa shook off the
yoke of the Florentines; Florence that of the Medicis;
Savonarola received Charles VIII. as “the Scourge of
God” sent to punish the sins of Italy. Alexander VI.,
who till that moment had been negotiating at the same
time with the French, the Aragonese and the Turks.
heard with terror the words “council” and “deposition,”
and hid himself in the castle of St. Angelo. He gave up
in terror the brother of Bajazet II., whom Charles VIII.
wanted to use for conquering the Empire of the East,
but before yielding him up, he poisoned him. The
new King of Naples, Alphonso II., had in the meantime
taken refuge in a convent in Sicily, leaving his kingdom
to be defended by a king of eighteen years old. This
* At Montefortino, at Mont St. Jean, at Rappallo, Sarzano,
Toscanella, Fornovo and Gaeta.
-1516.] - ZZAGUE AGA/AWSZ 7 AE ARAEAVCAE/. 73
young sovereign, Ferdinand II., was abandoned at San
Germano, and saw his palace pillaged by the populace
of Naples, who always rise against those who are beaten.
The French soldiers, no longer fatiguing themselves by
wearing armour, Continued their pacific conquests in morn-
ing-dress, the only trouble they took was to send their quar-
termasters on before to mark out their lodgings." The
Turks soon beheld the standard of the Fleur-de-lis floating
at Otranto, and the Greeks purchased arms.”
The partizans of the House of Anjou, after having
been despoiled and banished for sixty years, had expected
to share in the profit of the conquest under Charles VIII.
But this prince, caring little for the services which they
had rendered to the Kings of the House of Provence,
exacted no restitution from the opposite party. He
disgusted all the nobility by announcing his intention
of restricting the feudal jurisdiction in the same manner
as in France.” He appointed French governors to all
the towns and fortresses, and thus induced several towns
to resume the standard of Aragon. At the end of three
months the Neapolitans were tired of the French and
the French of Naples; they forgot their designs upon
the East, and were impatient to return and relate their
brilliant adventures to their ladies. t
But an almost universal league had formed itself
against Charles VIII. He was obliged to leave Italy
in haste to escape being imprisoned in the kingdom
which he had come to conquer. While recrossing the
Apennines he encountered at Fornovo the army of the
Confederates which was 40,000 strong, while the French
numbered only 9,000. After in vain demanding a
passage they forced one, and the enemy's army which
tried to stop them was put to flight by a few charges of
Cavalry. The King then returned triumphantly to France,
having justified all his imprudence by a single victory.
The Italians, believing themselves delivered, took
Savonarola to task for his unlucky predictions. His party,
* Comines, book vii, chap. xiv. * Ibid, chap. xvii.
* Giannine, book xxx. chap. i.
74 J.OU/S X/Z, ZAV ZTAZ V. [I494-
that of the Piagnoni (penitents) which had freed and re-
formed Florence, found itself discredited. The friends
of the Medicis whom they had violently attacked, Pope
Alexander VI., whose excesses Savonarola had exposed
with extreme boldness, seized the opportunity for destroy-
ing a faction which had wearied out the capricious enthu-
siasm of the Florentines. A Franciscan monk, wishing,
as he said, to prove that Savonarola was an impostor, and
that he had neither the gift of prophecy nor that of
miracles, offered to pass with him through a burning fire.
On the day fixed, when the scaffold was raised for this
purpose and the spectators waiting, both parties made
difficulties, and a heavy storm which ensued exasperated
the people.
Savonarola was arrested, judged by the delegates of
the Pope, and burnt alive. When the sentence was read
to him dismissing him from the Church, “from the Church
mi/i/a/ll,” he replied, hoping in future to belong to the
Church triumphant (1498).
Italy perceived only too soon the truth of his pro-
phecies.
On the very day of the trial by fire Charles VIII.
expired at Amboise and left his throne to the Duke of
Orleans, Louis XII., who joined to the claims of his
predecessor on Naples those of his grandmother Valen-
tina Visconti on Milan. As soon as his marriage with the
widow of Charles VIII. had secured for him the possession
of Iłrittany, Louis invaded the Milanese in concert with
the Venetians. Both the hostile armies were partly com-
posed of Swiss ; those who belonged to the troops of
Milan would not fight against the flag of their canton
which they saw in the army of the King of France, and
adandoned Duke Ludovico. But on their way back
to their mountains they took possession of Bellinzona,
which Louis XII. was obliged to give up to them, and
it became in their hands the key of Lombardy. Having
subdued the Milanese, Louis XII., who could not hope
to conquer the kingdom of Naples against the will
of the Spaniards, shared it with them by means of a
-I516.] T///2 /3 O/CG/A.S. 75
secret treaty. The unhappy Don Frederick, who reigned
at that time, called Spain to his assistance, and when
he had opened his principal fortresses to Gonsalvo of
Cordova, the treaty of partition was disclosed to him
(1501). This odious conquest was productive only of
war. The two nations quarrelled for the proceeds of
the tax raised on the flocks and herds that travelled in
the spring from Apulia to the Abruzzi; which was the
most certain portion of the Neapolitan revenue. Ferdi-
nand amused Louis XII. by a treaty until he had sent
sufficient reinforcements to Gonsalvo who was blockaded
in Barletta. The skill of the Grea/ Captain and the
discipline of the Spanish infantry everywhere got the
better of the brilliant courage of the French gendarmes.
The valour of Louis d'Ars and of D'Aubigny, the exploits
of Bayard, who was said to have defended a bridge single-
handed against an army, could not prevent the French
from being beaten at Seminara and Cerignola and from
being turned a second time out of the kingdom of Naples
by their defeat at the Garigliano (December, 1503).
Louis XII., however, was still master of a large por-
tion of Italy; sovereign of the Milanese and Lord of
Genoa, the ally and mainstay of Florence and of Pope
Alexander VI.," his influence spread over Tuscany, the
Romagna and the Roman States. The death of Alexander
VI. and the ruin of his son were as fatal to him as the
defeat of the Garigliano. The Italian power of the
Borgias which came between the possessions of France
and of Spain was a sort of vanguard for the Milanese.
Caesar Borgia deserved to be the ideal of Machiavelli,
not because he was more perfidious than the other
princes of his time, Ferdinand the Catholic might have
disputed the palm of faithlessness, not for having been
the assassin of his father and the lover of his sister,
* Casar Borgia of France, by the grace of God, Duke of Romagna
and Valentinois, &c. (Safe conduct of the 16th Oct. 1502). He said
to the French Ambassador : “The ſing of Zºrance, over com/toy,
yeaster. .." (Io Jany. I 503, Legation of Machiavelli to Caesar
Borgia).
76 ZTA/AE AEROA&GW.A.S. [I494-
for he could not surpass his father in cruelty and de-
pravity,+but for having made crime into a science, for
having set up a school of crime and given lessons in it."
However, even the hero of this system gave a splendid
proof of its futility by his want of success. Ally as he
was of Louis XII. and Gonfaloniere of the Church, he
exhausted, during six years, every sort of dissimulation
and audacity. He thought that he was working for him-
self; he told Machiavelli that he had foreseen every-
thing; on his father's death he hoped to nominate a
Pope by means of eighteen Spanish cardinals appointed
by Alexander VI. ; in the Roman States he had gained
over the smaller nobles and crushed the higher ; he
had exterminated the tyrants of Romagna and attached
to himself the inhabitants of that province, which breathed
freely under his firm and skilful administration. He had
foreseen everything except the possibility of his being in-
capacitated by illness at the death of his father, and this
was precisely what happened. The father and son who
had, it is said, invited a cardinal to their table in order
to murder him, drank the poison which was intended for
him. “This man, who used to be so prudent, seems to
have lost his head” wrote Machiavelli (14th Nov.,
1503). He allowed the new Pope Julius to wrest from
him the surrender of all the fortresses in his occupation,
and afterwards gave himself up to Gonsalvo of Cordova,
believing that the zword of others was worth more //ian
ſhis own (letter of the 4th November). But Ferdinand
the Catholic's general who said “ that the cloſ/, of honour
must be of a Zoose tissue” sent him to Spain where he
was confined in the citadel of Medina del Campo.
Julius II. continued the conquests of Borgia with less
personal views. He wished to make the Pontifical State
the dominating state of Italy, to deliver the whole penin-
sula from the Æarbarians and to make the Swiss the
guardians of Italian liberty. Employing spiritual and
1 Machiavellisays somewhere: “Ae send one of his scholars. . . .”
De Moncada, a general of Charles V., was proud of having studied
in this school.
-I516.] -- 5 J/ZUS II. 77
temporal arms by turns, the intrepid pontiff spent his life
in the execution of these inconsistent projects; for the
Barbarians could be driven out only by means of Venice:
and Venice had to be lowered to raise the Church to the
rank of the preponderating power in Italy.
In the first place Julius II. wanted to set free his fellow-
countrymen the Genoese, and he encouraged them to
revolt against Louis XII. The nobles, favoured by the
French governor, were continually insulting the people;
they went about armed with daggers on which they had
engraved the words castiga vil/ano. The people revolted
and set up a dyer as doge. Louis XII. soon appeared
under their walls with a brilliant army; the Chevalier
Bayard scaled without difficulty the mountains which
cover Genoa and cried out to them “Listen, merchants,
defend yourselves with your yardarms and let alone
pikes and staves to which you are not accustomed.”
The King, who did not like to destroy such a splendid
City, only hanged the Doge and a few others, burnt the
charters of the town and built at the Lanterna a fortress
which commanded the entrance into the harbour (1507).
The same jealousy between the monarchies and re-
publics, as well as between nations which were still poor
and Opulent industry, soon armed most of the princes of
the West against the ancient rival of Genoa. The
government of Venice had known how to turn to its own
advantage the blunders and misfortunes of every other
power ; it had profited by the fall of Ludovico il
Moro, by the expulsion of the French from Naples, by
the ruin of Caesar Borgia. So much success excited the
fear and the jealousy of the Italian powers themselves,
which Ought to have desired the importance of
Venice. “Your lordships,” Machiavelli wrote to the
Florentines, “have always told me that it was the
Venetians who threatened the liberty of Italy.” As early
& * Champier, Zés Gesſes, ensemble la Vie du preux Chevalier Aayard,
9°C. -
* Embassy to the Emperor, 1508, February. See also his Em-
bassy to the Court of France, 1503, Feb. 13th.
78 SA GA CZ 7"Y OF VEAV/C/E. s[I494-
as the year 1503, M. de Chaumont, viceroy of the
Milanese, said to the same ambassador: “We shall
contrive that the Venetians shall have nothing to do
in future but busy themselves in their fishing ; as
for the Swiss, we are sure of them" (Jan. 22). This
conspiracy against Venice which had existed since 1504
(Treaty of Blois) was renewed in 1508 (League of
Cambrai, Dec. Io) by the imprudence of Julius II., who
was determined to recover at all costs some of the towns.
in the Romagna. The Pope, the Emperor and the King
of France bribed the King of Hungary to enter into
their confederation by the promise of restoring to him
Dalmatia and Sclavonia. Every sovereign, even the
Dukes of Savoy and Ferrara and the Marquis of Mantua,
was eager to strike those whom they had feared so long.
The Venetians were defeated by Louis XII. in the bloody
battle of Aignadel (1509), and the balls from the French
batteries reached the Lagoons. In this danger the
Venetian senate did not belie its reputation for sagacity.
It declared that it wished to spare its provinces the evils.
of war, it released them from the oath of fealty, and
promised to indemnify them for their losses as soon as
peace was restored. Either from attachment to the
republic or from hatred of the Germans, the peasants
round Verona preferred to die rather than to abjure
St. Mark and cry Long live the Emperor . The Vene-
tians beat the Marquis of Mantua, retook Padua and
defended it against Maximilian, who laid siege to it with
Ioo,ooo men. The King of Naples and the Pope,
whose pretensions were satisfied, made peace with Venice,
and Julius II. who was now only bent upon driving out
the Barbarians from Italy, turned his impetuous policy
against the French.
The projects of the Pope were only too well served
by the ill-conceived economy of Louis XII., who had
reduced the pensions of the Swiss, and who no longer
permitted them to provision themselves in Burgundy
and in the Milanese. The effects of the blunder com-
mitted by Louis XI., who, by Substituting a mercenary
-1516.] GAS 7 OAV ZXA, AEO/X. 79
Swiss infantry for the free archers, had placed France
at the mercy of foreigners, were now felt. The Swiss
had to be replaced by German Landsknechts who were
recalled by the Emperor on the eve of the battle of
Bavenna. The Pope, however, had begun the war;
he invited the Swiss into Italy and induced Ferdinand,
Venice, Henry VIII. and Maximilian to enter the Holy
League against France (15II—I 512). While Louis XII.,
not knowing whether he might without sin defend him-
self against the Pope, was consulting learned doctors
and assembling a council at Pisa, Julius II. besieged the
Mirandola in person, planted himself, surrounded by his
trembling cardinals, under the fire of the fortress and
entered it by the breach.
The brilliant courage of Julius II., and the policy of
his allies were for an instant disconcerted by the appear-
ance of Louis XII.’s nephew Gaston de Foix at the head
of the French army. This young man of twenty-two
years of age, arrived in Lombardy, won three victories in
three months and died, leaving the memory of the most
impetuous general whom Italy had ever beheld. First
he intimidated or gained over the Swiss and drove them
back into their mountains; he raised the siege of Bologna.
and penetrated into the town with his army, favoured
by a violent snow-storm (Feb. 7); on the 18th he was
before Brescia, which had been retaken by the Venetians:
on the 19th he had carried the town and on the IIth
April he died in the hour of victory at Ravenna. In the
terrible rapidity of his successes he spared neither his own
troops nor those he vanquished. Brescia was abandoned
for seven days to the fury of the soldiers; the conquerors
massacred I5,ooo persons, men, women and children.
The Chevalier Bayard had few imitators.
Gaston On his return to the Romagna attacked Ra-
venna to force the army of Spain and the Pope to give
battle." As soon as the cannonade had begun, Pedro of
Navarre, who had formed the Spanish infantry and who
* See Bayard's letter to his uncle, vol. xvi. of the collection of
Memoirs.
8.0 JºA2AAVC/S Z. [I515-
counted on it for victory, made the men lie on their faces
and wait with patience until the balls had destroyed the
Cavalry on both sides. The Italian horse lost.patience,
charged, and were broken by the French. The Spanish
infantry after Sustaining the battle with obstinate courage
slowly retired. Gaston, indignant, charged it with about
twenty men-at-arms at his back, pierced its ranks, and
met his death (1512). - -
Henceforth nothing succeeded with Louis XII. The
Sforzas were re-established in Milan, the Medicis in
Florence. The King's army was beaten by the Swiss at
Novara and by the English at Guinegate. France,
attacked in front by the Spaniards and Swiss, in the rear
by the English, saw her two allies Scotland and Navarre
leaten or despoiled (see Chap. II.). The war had no
longer an object; the Swiss reigned at Milan in the
name of Maximilian Sforza ; France and Venice were
humiliated, the Emperor exhausted, Henry VIII. dis-
couraged, and Ferdinand satisfied by the conquest of
Navarre which laid bare the frontier of France. Louis
YII. concluded a truce with Ferdinand, abjured the
Council of Pisa, left the Milanese to Maximilian Sforza
and married the sister of Henry VIII. (1514). (See
below, his administration.)
While Europe believed France to be exhausted, and,
as it were, to have grown old with Louis XII., she
suddenly displayed unexpected resources under the young
Francis I. who succeeded him (Jan. 1, 1515). The Swiss,
who thought that they held all the passes of the Alps,
heard with astonishment that the French army had defiled
through the valley of the Argentière. Two thousand five
hundred lances, Io, Ooo Basques, and 22,000 Landsknechts
passed through a defile which had never before been
penetrated except by chamois-hunters. The French army
advanced as far as Marignan negotiating as they marched;
there, the Swiss, whom they thought they had won over,
fell upon the French with their pikes, eighteen feet long,
and their two-handed swords, without either artillery or
cavalry, employing no military skill but mere strength of
-I516.] BATTLE OF MARIGNAA. 8I
body, marching right up to the batteries, whose discharges
swept away whole files, and Sustaining more than thirty
charges of the great war horses, which were covered with
steel like the men who sat on them. By the evening
they had succeeded in separating the divisions of the
French army. The King, who had fought valiantly, saw
round him only a handful of horsemen.” But during the
night the French rallied and the battle recommenced at
daybreak more furiously than ever. At length the Swiss
heard the war-cry of the Venetians, who were allies of
France, “Marco Marco I’’ Believing that the whole of
the Italian army was coming, they closed their ranks and
fell back with such an air of defiance that the enemy
durst not pursue them.” Having obtained from Francis
I. more money than Sforza could give them, they re-
appeared no more in Italy. The Pope also treated with
the conqueror and obtained from him the Concordat
which abolished the Pragmatic Sanction. His alliance
with the Pope and Venice seemed to open to Francis
I. the road to Naples. Young Charles of Austria,
sovereign of the Netherlands, who had just succeeded
in Spain to his grandfather, Ferdinand the Catholic,
was in need of peace to consolidate this vast inheritance.
But Francis I. enjoyed his victory instead of pursuing
it. The treaty of Noyon restored for a short time peace
to Europe, and gave the two rivals time to prepare for a
still more terrible war (1516).
* Fleuranges, vol. xvi. of the collection of Memoirs.
* Zetter of Francis Z. to his mother. “All night we sat on our
horses lance in hand, helmet on head, and as I was the nearest to
the enemy, it was my duty to watch, that they might not surprise us
in the morning . . . and believe me, madam, that we were 28
hours on horseback, without eating or drinking . . . So obstinate
and cruel a battle has not been seen for 2,000 years . . . and it
can no longer be said that the gendarmes are hares in armour,
for . . . Written at the camp of St. Brigida, on Friday the
I4th Sept., 1515.” vol. xvii. of the collection of Memoirs.
S.H. G
SECOND PERIOD OF MODERN HISTORY.
1517–1648.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.
IF we consider only the succession of wars and political
events, the 16th century is an age of blood and devas-
tation. It opens with the laying waste of Italy by the
mercenary troops of Francis I. and Charles V., with the
frightful ravages of Soliman who year after year ravaged
Hungary. Then come those terrible religious struggles
when war is no longer waged between nation and nation,
but between town and town, man and man, when it
extends to the domestic hearth and rages even between
father and son. If we left off reading history at this
crisis we should think that Europe was about to fall into
profound barbarism. Far from this, however, the delicate
flower of art and of civilisation was growing and de-
veloping amid the violent shocks which threatened to
destroy it. Michael Angelo painted the Sistine Chapel
in the year of the battle of Ravenna. Young Tartaglia
escaped mutilated from the sack of Brescia to restore the
science of mathematics." The period when the study of
law revived—the age of L'Hôpital and Cujas—was that
of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew.
The character of the 16th century, that which dis-
tinguishes it fundamentally from the Middle Ages, is the
power of opinion, which at this period became the true
l Daru, History of Venice, vol. iii. p. 558.
AO WAER OF OA/AWAOAV. 83
ruler of the world. Henry VIII. dared not divorce
Catherine of Aragon until he had consulted the principal
universities in Europe. Charles V. endeavoured to prove
his faith by the persecution of the Moors whilst his
armies seized and exacted ransom from the Pope.
Francis I. raised the first scaffold on which the French
Protestants suffered, to excuse, in the eyes of his subjects
and in his own, his alliance with Soliman and the
German Lutherans. Even these acts of intolerance
were so much homage offered to opinion. Princes
courted at that time the most unworthy ministers of
fame. The Kings of France and Spain bid one against
another for the favour of Paulus Jovius and of Aretino.
While France followed Italy, though at a distance,
in the path of intellectual and artistic development, two
other nations of profoundly serious character put aside
arts and letters as frivolous playthings or profane amuse-
ments. The Spaniards, a conquering and political people
occupied in Conquering and governing Europe, rested
in all speculative matters on the authority of the Church.
While Spain inclined more and more to political and
religious unity, Germany with her anarchical consti-
tution gave herself up to the wildest license of opinion.
France, placed between them both, became in the
16th century the principal field of battle for these two
opposite tempers, and the even balance between their
powers rendered the struggle all the more violent and
protracted.
CHAPTER VI.
3,EO X., FRANCIS I., AND CHARLES V.
I516–1547.
However severely we may judge Francis I. and Leo
X., they are men of a nobler stamp than the princes of
the preceding age (Alexander VI., James III., &c.), even
in their faults there is something great and glorious. It
is true that they did not make their century what it was,
but they showed themselves to be worthy of it. They
loved the arts and the arts still plead for them and ask
our forgiveness for their memory. The price of the
indulgences, whose sale excited the indignation of Ger-
many, paid for the paintings in the Vatican and the
building of St. Peter's. The exactions of Duprat are
forgotten. The Imprimerie Royale and the Collége de
France remain.
Charles V. presents himself to us under a severer
aspect, Surrounded by his generals and statesmen, among
whom were Lannoy, Pescaro, Antonio de Leyva and
many other illustrious captains. We see him constantly
traversing Europe to visit all the scattered portions of
his empire, speaking to each nation its own language, .
encountering in turn Francis I. and the Protestants in
Germany, Soliman and the inhabitants of Barbary ; he
is the real successor of Charlemagne, the defender of
the Christian world. Nevertheless the statesman pre-
dominated in him over the soldier. He presents the first
instance of a modern sovereign : Francis I. is little more
than a hero of the Middle Ages.
#519.] ARAMC/S Z. AAWD CHARMA'S V. 85
When the Empire became vacant by the death of
Maximilian I. (1519), and the Kings of France, Spain,
and England demanded the Imperial crown, the electors,
fearing to impose on themselves a master, offered it to
one of their own body—Frederick the Wise, Elector of
Saxony. This prince, however, showed himself worthy
of his name by inducing them to choose the King of
Spain. Of the three candidates Charles was the most
dangerous for German freedom, but he also was the most
capable of defending Germany against the Turks. Selim
and Soliman revived at that time the fear which had
been experienced by Europe in the days of Mahomet II.
The ruler of Spain, Naples and Austria could alone close
the civilised world against the barbarians of Africa and
Asia. -
With their candidature for the Imperial crown, burst
forth the inextinguishable rivalry between Francis I. and
Charles V. The former claimed Naples for himself and
Navarre for Henri d'Albret: the Emperor demanded
the Milanese as a fief of the Empire, and the Duchy of
Burgundy. Their resources were about equal. If the
empire of Charles were more extensive the kingdom of
France was more compact. The Emperor's subjects were
richer, but his authority more circumscribed. The repu-
tation of the French cavalry was not inferior to that of
the Spanish infantry. Victory would belong to the one
who should win over the King of England to his side.
Henry VIII. had reason to adopt as his device “Whom
A defend is master.” Both gave pensions to his Prime
Minister Cardinal Wolsey; they each asked the hand
of his daughter Mary, one for the dauphin, the other for
himself. Francis I. obtained from him an interview at
Calais, and forgetting that he wished to gain his favour,
eclipsed him by his elegance and magnificence." Charles
V., more adroit, had anticipated this interview by visiting
Henry VIII. in England. He had secured Wolsey by
* This assembly was called the Field of the Cloth of Gold tº G
in so much that many carried their mills, their forests, and their fields
on their shoulders. Martin du Bellay, vol. xvii. p. 285.
86 - 7T/QA2A SOAZ OA' BOO AEA'OAV. [I52ſ.
giving him hopes of the tiara. The negotiation was
much easier, indeed, for him than for Francis I. Henry
VIII. already owed the French King a grudge for govern-
Ting Scotland by means of the Duke of Albany, his pro-
tégé and subject" to the detriment of Margaret, widow
of James IV. and sister of the King of England. By
uniting with Charles V. he stood a chance of recovering
some of the dominions which his ancestors had formerly
possessed in France.
Everything succeeded with the Emperor. He gained
Leo X. to his side and thus obtained sufficient influence
to raise his tutor, Adrian of Utrecht, to the papacy. The
French penetrated into Spain, but, arrived too late to aid
the rising there (1521). The governor of the Milanese,
Lautrec, who is said to have exiled from Milan nearly
half its inhabitants, was driven out of Lombardy. He
met with the same fate again in the following year: the
Swiss, who were ill-paid, asked either for dismissal or
battle, and allowed themselves to be beaten at La
Bicoque. The money intended for the troops had been
used for other purposes by the Queen-mother, who hated
Lautrec. - -
At the moment when Francis I. was thinking of re-
entering Italy, an internal enemy threw France into the
utmost danger. Francis had given mortal offence to the
Constable of Bourbon, one of those who had most con-
tributed to the victory of Marignan. Charles, Count
of Montpensier and Dauphin of Auvergne, held by virtue
of his wife, a grand-daughter of Louis XI., the Duchy of
Bourbon, and the counties of Clermont, La Marche and
other domains, which made him the first noble in
the kingdom. On the death of his wife, the Queen-
mother Louise of Savoy, who had wanted to marry
the Constable and had been refused by him, resolved
to ruin him. She disputed with him this rich inherit-
ance and obtained from her son that the property
!. Pinkerton, vol. ii. p. 135. The Regent himself, in his dispatches
called the King of France “my master.” He set far more value
on his great possessions in France than on the Regency of Scotland.
I521.] DEATH OF BAYARD. 87
should be provisionally sequestered." Bourbon, exaspe-
rated, resolved to pass over to the Emperor (1523).
Half a century earlier, revolt did not mean disloyalty.
The most accomplished knights in France, Dunois and
John of Calabria, had joined the Zeague for the public weal.
Even recently Don Pedro de Giron, displeased with
Charles V., had declared to his face that he renounced
his service and should take the command of the Com-
mumeros.” But now it was no question of a revolt against
the King, such a thing was impossible in France at this
time. It was a conspiracy against the very existence of
France that Bourbon was plotting with foreigners. He
promised Charles V. to attack Burgundy as soon as
Francis I. had crossed the Alps, and to rouse into revolt
five provinces of which he believed himself master; the
Kingdom of Provence was to be re-established in”his
favour, and France partitioned between Spain and Eng-
land, would have ceased to exist as a nation. He was
Soon able to enjoy the reverses of his country. Having
become general of the Imperial army he saw the French
fly before him at La Biagrasse; he saw the Chevalier Bay-
ard mortally wounded and lying at the foot of a tree,
“his face turned toward the enemy, and he said to the
“ said Bayard that he had great compassion for him
“seeing him in this state, in that he had been such a vir-
“tuous knight.” The Captain Bayard made him this
answer, “Sir, you need have no pity for me, for I die an
“honest man, but I have pity on you, seeing you serve
“against your prince, your country and your oath.””
Bourbon had thought that on his first appearance in
France, his vassals would flock to serve with him under
the foreign standard. But not one came. The Imperialists
were driven back from the walls of Marseilles, and they
saved their exhausted army only by a retreat which
* See the Constable's letter to Francis I. in the Memoirs of Du.
Bellay, vol. xvii. p. 413.
* Sepulveda, vol. i. p. 79.
3 Du Bellay, vol. xvii. p. 45I.
88 AA 777A OF PAVA. [I525-
resembled a flight. Instead of overpowering them in
Provence the King chose to anticipate them in Italy.
In a period of military science and tactics Francis I. ,
always fancied himself in the age of chivalry. His point
of honour was not to draw back even in order to conquer.
He maintained obstinately the siege of Pavia (1525). He
gave no time to the Imperialists who were ill-paid to dis-
perse of themselves. He weakened himself by detaching
12,000 men against the Kingdom of Naples. His
superiority lay in artillery; he chose to decide the victory
as at Marignan by his cavalry, whose charge in front of
the artillery rendered it useless. The Swiss fled, the
Landsknechts with their colonel, the White Acose,” were
crushed. The whole weight of the battle then fell upon
the King and his cavalry. The old heroes of the
Italian wars, La Palisse and La Trémouille were struck
down ; the King of Navarre, Montmorency, Z'Aventu-
reux,” and many others were taken prisoners. Francis I.
defended himself on foot ; his horse had been killed
under him ; his armour, which we still possess, was
riddled by balls and thrusts of pike. Happily one of
the French nobles who had followed Bourbon caught
sight of him and saved him ; but he would not yield
to a traitor ; he called the Viceroy of Naples who re-
ceived his sword on his knees. At night he wrote these
words to his mother: “Madam, all is lost except
honour.” 8
Charles V. was well aware that all was not lost, he did
not exaggerate his success, he felt that France was strong
and entire, although she had lost an army. He en-
deavoured only to obtain from his prisoner an advan-
1 The Duke of Suffolk.
* The Maréchal de Fleuranges.
8 See the letter in which Charles V. acquaints the Marquis of
Denia with the captivity of Francis I. (Sandoval, vol. i. book xiii.
Sec. ii., p. 487, in fol., Antwerp I581), that which he wrote to
the Emperor in her son's behalf; that of Francis I. to the different
orders in the state, and the Act of Abdication ; vol. xxii. of the
collection of Memoirs, p. 69, 71, and 84.
-I526.] A'Aº VAZAC.S.A.S. OA' A'RAAVC/S Z. 89
tageous treaty. Francis I. arrived in Spain believing,
from the movements of his own heart that it would be
enough for him to meet his Good Brother to be sent back
honourably to his kingdom. Such was not the case.
The Emperor ill-treated his prisoner to obtain a larger
ransom. Europe, however, manifested deep interest in
the soldier-king." Erasmus, who was a subject of Charles
V., ventured to write to him in favour of his captive.
The Spanish nobles asked that he might be a prisoner
on parole, offering themselves as sureties. It was only at
the end of a year, when Charles V. feared to lose his
prisoner through death, and Francis I. had abdicated
in favour of the dauphin, that the Emperor made up his
mind to release him after forcing him to sign a shame-
ful treaty. The King of France renounced his pre-
tensions in Italy, promised to acknowledge the rights
of Bourbon, to give up Burgundy, to yield his two sons
as hostages, and to ally himself by a double marriage to
the family of Charles V. (1526).
At this price he was free. But he did not come out
whole from this fatal prison. He left behind the good
faith, the heroic trust which, till then, had been his glory.
Already at Madrid he entered a secret protest against
the treaty. Once more king, it was easy for him to elude
it. Henry VIII., alarmed by the victory of Charles V.,
allied himself with France. The Pope, Venice, Florence,
Genoa, even the Duke of Milan, who, since the battle of
IPavia found himself at the mercy of the Imperial armies,
saw only liberators in the French. Francis I. caused
the states of Burgundy to declare that he had no right
to give up any portion of the French territory, and when
Charles V. claimed the execution of the treaty, accusing
him of breach of faith, he replied that the Emperor /ied
in his throat, summoned him to mark out the field, and
left him the choice of arms.”
While Europe was expecting a terrible war, Francis I.
1 Expression used by Montluc when speaking to Francis I. him-
self, vol. xxi. p. 6.
* Du Bellay, vol. xviii. p. 38.
90 CAA'7"URAE OF ACOMAE. [I527.
was thinking only of compromising his allies in order to
frighten Charles V. and soften the conditions of the treaty
of Madrid. Italy continued a prey to the most hideous
war which ever disfigured humanity; it was less a war
than a long torture inflicted by a ferocious soldiery on an
unarmed people. The ill-paid troops of Charles V. be-
longed neither to him nor to anyone else, they commanded
their own generals. For full two months Milan was
abandoned to the cold barbarity of the Spaniards. As
Soon as it was known in Germany that Italy was thus de-
livered to pillage, 13, ooo or 14,000 Germans crossed the
Alps under George Freundsberg, a furious Lutheran, who
wore round his neck a gold chain with which he intended,
he said, to strangle the Pope. Bourbon and Leyva led,
or rather followed, this army of robbers. It was swelled
on the road by numbers of Italians who imitated the
vices of the barbarians as they could not emulate their
courage. The army marched by way of Ferrara and
Bologna ; it was on the point of entering Tuscany, and
the Spaniards swore by the glorious sack of Florence," but
a stronger impulse drew the Germans towards Rome, as
in former times it drew the Goths, their ancestors.
Clement VII., who had treated with the Viceroy of
Naples, and who nevertheless saw the army of Bourbon
approaching, endeavoured to blind himself, and seems to
have been fascinated by the very extremity of the danger.
He dismissed his best troops on the approach of the
Imperialists, fancying, perhaps, that Rome unarmed
would inspire them with respect. On the morning of
the 6th May, Bourbon commenced the assault (1527).
He wore a white shirt over his armour to be more con-
spicuous, both to his own troops and to those of the
enemy. In such an odious enterprise success alone could
justify him in his own eyes; perceiving that his German
infantry supported him feebly, he seized a ladder, and was
Scaling it when a ball struck him in the back; he felt
that it was his death blow, and ordered his men to cover
* Sismondi, vol. xv., from the Zettere de’ principi, vol. ii. ſol. 47.
I527. J . A’Aº VO/L 7" OA' ZDO/2/4. 9I
his body with his cloak and thus conceal his fall. His
soldiers avenged him only too annply. Seven or eight
thousand Romans were massacred on the first day, nothing
was spared, neither convents nor churches, nor even St.
Peter's itself; the streets were filled with relics and orna-
ments from the altars, which the Germans threw away after
having torn off the gold and silver. The Spaniards, still
more covetous and cruel, renewed every day, for more
than a year, the most frightful abuses of victory, the cries
were constantly heard of the unhappy victims who were
made to perish in tortures in order to force them to
own where they had hidden their money. The soldiers.
left them bound in their own houses, in order to find
them when they wanted to recommence torturing them.
Indignation reached its height in Europe when the
sack of Rome and the captivity of the Pontiff became
known. Charles V. ordered prayers for the deliverance of
the Pope who was more the prisoner of the Imperial army
than of the Emperor. Francis I. thought the moment
favourable for despatching to Italy the troops which, a
few months earlier, would have saved Rome and Milan.
Lautrec marched upon Naples while the Imperial generals
negotiated with their troops to induce them to leave
Rome; but Lautrec as in the first wars was not supplied
with money. Pestilence consumed his army. However,
nothing was lost as long as the communication by sea
with France was preserved. Francis I. had the impru-
dence to displease Doria, the Genoese, the first sailor of
the time. “It seemed,” says Montluc, “as if the sea
were afraid of that man.” ". The ransom of the Prince of
Orange had been withheld from him, his ships were not
paid, an admiral of the Levant had been named to
supersede him. Francis I. irritated him still more by
not respecting the privileges of Genoa and proposing to
remove the commerce of the town to Savona. Instead of
redressing these grievances, Francis ordered his arrest.
Doria, whose engagement with France had just expired,
* Montluc, vol. xx. p. 37
92 7A’AºA TY OF CA/WB/CAA. [I529-
passed over to the Emperor on condition that his country
should be independent and once more rule over Liguria.
Charles V. offered to acknowledge him as the Sovereign
of Genoa, but he preferred to be the first Citizen of
a free town.
Both parties, however, wished for peace. Charles V.
was alarmed by the progress of the Reformation and the
invasion of the terrible Soliman who sat down before
Vienna; Francis I., exhausted, sought only to secure his
own interests at the expense of his allies. He wanted
to get back his children and to retain Burgundy. Until
the eve of the treaty he protested to his Italian allies that
he would not separate his interests from theirs. He re-
fused permission to the Florentines to make a separate
treaty with the Emperor, and he signed the Peace of
Cambrai by which he abandoned them and the Vene-
tians and all his partisans to the vengeance of Charles
V. (1529). This odious treaty for ever banished the
French from Italy. Henceforth the chief theatre of war
was elsewhere ; in Savoy, in Picardy, in the Low Coun-
tries, and in Lorraine.
While Christendom was hoping for some repose, a
scourge unknown till then was ravaging the shores of Italy
and Spain. About this time the Barbarenes introduced
the practice of white slavery. The Turks first laid waste
the countries which they wanted to invade ; it is thus
that they turned almost into a desert Southern Hungary
and the western provinces of the old Greek Empire.
The Tartars and the Barbarenes, the forlorn hope of the
Ottoman Empire, seconded her in the east and south in
this system of depopulation. The Knights of Rhodes
whom Charles V. had established in the Island of Malta,
were not powerful enough to sweep from the sea the in-
numerable vessels commanded by Barbarossa, who was
the Dey of Tunis and Soliman’s Admiral. Charles V. re-
Solved to attack the pirate in his lair (1535). Five hun-
dred ships bore into Africa an army of 30,000 men, con-
* Guicciardini, book xix.
-1535.] ARANCIS I. RAEAVE WS THE WAA' 93
sisting in great part of the veteran bands who had been
engaged in the Italian wars. The Pope and the King of
Portugal had contributed vessels to this fleet. Doria sent
his galleys, and the Emperor joined in person with the
élite of the Spanish nobility. The fleet of Barbarossa
was not strong enough to resist the most formidable
armament which Christendom had directed against the
Infidels since the Crusades. The port of Tunis was
taken by assault, Tunis itself yielded, and 20, ooo Christ-
ians delivered from slavery and brought back to their
homes at the expense of the Emperor, caused the name
of Charles V. to be blessed throughout Europe.
The conduct of Francis I. presented a sad contrast.
He had just declared his alliance with Soliman (1534).
He negotiated with the German Protestants and with
Henry VIII., who had divorced the aunt of Charles V.
and abandoned the Church. He obtained from neither
the assistance which he expected. Soliman marched his
Janissaries to destruction in the boundless deserts of Asia.
Henry VIII. was too much engaged at home in the
religious revolution which he was effecting with so much
violence. The German confederates of Smalkeld could
not trust a prince who caressed the Protestants in Dres-
den and burnt them in Paris. Nevertheless Francis I.
renewed the war by invading Savoy and threatening the
Milanese (1535). The Duke of Savoy, alarmed by the
pretensions of the mother of the King of France (Louise
of Savoy), had married the sister-in-law of Charles V.
The Duke of Milan, accused by the Emperor of treating
with the French, had tried to exculpate himself by be-
heading on some foolish pretext the Ambassador of
Francis I. Charles V. announced in Rome, in presence
of the envoys of all Christendom, that he was sure of
victory, and declared that “if he had no more resources
“ than his rival he should go at once, with his arms tied,
“ and a rope round his neck to throw himself at his
“enemy's feet and ask for mercy.” Before entering upon
the campaign, he shared between his officers the estates
and principal charges belonging to the Crown of France.
94. AVVAS/OAV OA' A'/CO WºZAVC/E. [I538.
In truth, the whole world thought that Francis I.
was lost. They were not aware of the resources which
France contained. In the year 1533 the King had at
length decided on making a national infantry the main
force in the French army. He remembered that the
Swiss had caused the loss of the battle of Bicoque
and perhaps that of Pavia ; that the Landsknechts had
been recalled by the Emperor on the eve of the battle
of Ravenna. But thus to put arms, into the hands
of the people, was considered a great risk.” In an
edict respecting field sports proclaimed in 1517, Francis
I. had forbidden the people to carry arms on pain
of severe punishment. Yet he resolved to create seven
provincial legions, each 6,ooo strong and taken from the
provinces on the frontiers. These troops had not been
much disciplined when the armies of Charles V. entered
simultaneously Provence, Champagne, and Picardy.
Erancis I., therefore, not trusting to their steadiness, de-
termined to stop the enemy by opposing to him a desert.
All Provence, from the Alps to Marseilles and from the
sea to Dauphiny was laid waste with inflexible severity by
Marshal Montmorency ; villages, farms and mills were
burnt, and every appearance of culture destroyed. The
Marshal, established in an impregnable camp between
the Rhone and the Durance, waited patiently until the
Emperor's army had melted away before Marseilles.
Charles V. was forced to retire and to consent to a
truce in which the Pope became the intermediary. (Truce
of Nice, I 538.) A month afterwards Charles and Francis
met at Aigues-Mortes and these princes who had insulted
each other so grossly, one of whom accused the other
* “On the first symptom of war King Francis equipped legion-
aries, which was a fine invention, if it had been well carried out; for
it is the true way to have always a good army afoot, as the Romans
did ; and to keep the nation in the practice of war; though I do
not know if this be a good thing or not. It gives rise to no small
disputes; and yet for my part I should prefer trusting to my own
troops rather than to strangers.”—Montluc, vol. xx. p. 385.
1538.) AEXHAUSTION OF THE RIVAL POWERS. 95
of having poisoned the dauphin, gave each other every
assurance of fraternal affection.
The exhaustion of the two rivals was the only real
motive for the truce. Although Charles V. had en-
deavoured to gain over the Cortes of Castile by author-
ising constant sessions, after the manner of Aragon, and by
a renewal of the laws excluding foreigners from employ-
ment, he had not been able to obtain any supplies in 1527,
I 533, or 1538. Ghent had taken up arms rather than
pay a new tax. The administration of Mexico was not
yet organised; Peru still belonged only to the conquerors
who ravaged it by their civil wars. The Emperor had
been obliged to sell a great part of the royal domains,
he had contracted a debt of seven million ducats and
could no longer borrow from any bank, even at 13 or 14
per cent. This penury excited, about the year 1539, an
almost universal mutiny in the armies of Charles V.
They mutinied in Sicily, plundered Lombardy and
threatened to give up the Goletta to Barbarossa. It
was necessary at any price to give them the arrears of
their pay and to disband the greater number.
The King of France was equally embarrassed. Since
the accession of Charles VIII. the national resources
had developed rapidly in consequence of internal tram-
quillity, but the expenses were greatly in excess of the
resources. Charles VII. had had 1,700 men at arms.
Francis I. had as many as 3,000, without counting 6,000
light horse and often I2,000 or 15,000 Swiss. Charles VII.
raised less than two million francs by taxes ; Louis XI.
raised five, Francis I. nearly nine. After 1484 the kings
left off assembling the States-General to meet their ex-
penses." They substituted for them assemblies of the
notables (1526) and generally raised money by decrees
(ordonnances) which they obliged the Parliament of Paris
to register.
Louis XII., the Father of the People, at first diminished
* Only once at Tours, in 1506, and then only to annul the treaty
of Blois.
96 AZZZAA/CAE OF FRANCAE WITH ZAZ TURA.S. [1539-
the taxes and put up for sale the financial offices (1499);
but he was obliged, towards the end of his reign, to in-
crease the taxes, to raise loans, and to alienate the royal
domains (1511-1514). Francis I. established new taxes
(especially in 1523), sold and multiplied judicial places
(1515, 1522, 1524), founded the first perpetual annuities
upon the Hôtel de Ville, alienated the royal domains
(1532–1544), and finally established the royal lottery
I 539).
( #ºld a sort of advantage over Charles V. in being
able to ruin himself easily. He profited by it when the
Emperor failed in his great expedition against Algiers
(1541—1542). Two years before, Charles V., when
passing through France to repress the revolt of Ghent,
had amused the King by promising the investiture of the
Milanese to the Duke of Orleans, his second son. The
Duchess of Etampes, who governed the King, perceiving
that his health was failing, and fearing the hatred of Diana
of Poitiers, the dauphin's mistress, tried to procure for
the Duke of Orleans an independent position which
might afford her an asylum on the death of Francis I.
To this principal cause of the war must be added the as-
sassination of two French envoys, who in crossing through
Italy on their way to the Court of Soliman were killed in
the Milanese by Order of the Imperial government, who
wanted to seize their papers. Francis I. counted
upon the alliance with the Turks and on his friendship
with the Protestant princes of Germany, Denmark, and
Sweden ; he had especially attached to his side William
Duke of Cleves, by promising him the hand of his niece,
Jeanne d'Albret, afterwards the mother of Henri IV. He
invaded almost at the same time Roussillon, Piedmont,
Luxemburg, Brabant and Flanders. Soliman joined his
fleet to that of Francis ; they bombarded in vain the
castle of Nice. But the sight of the crescent united with
the fleur-de-lis set all Christendom against the King
of France. Even those who hitherto had favoured him
shut their eyes to the interests of Europe and joined
Charles V. The Empire declared itself against the ally
-I547.] DEATH OF FRANCIS I. 97
of Turkey. The King of England, reconciled to
Charles V. since the death of Catherine of Aragon,
took part against Francis I. who had given his daughter
to the King of Scotland. Henry VIII. defeated
James V. (1543), Charles V. overpowered the Duke
of Cleves (1453), and the two sovereigns, having
nothing to fear in their rear united to invade the king-
dom of Francis I. France, alone against all, displayed
unexpected vigour; she fought with five armies, and sur-
prised the confederates by the brilliant victory of Cérisoles
(the infantry gained this battle after the defeat of the
cavalry)." Charles V., ill-supported by Henry VIII., and
recalled by the progress of Soliman in Hungary, signed,
at thirteen leagues from Paris, a treaty by which Francis
resigned his claim to Naples, and Charles to Burgundy;
while the Duke of Orleans was promised the Milanese
(1545). The Kings of France and England soon after-
wards made peace, and both died in the same year
(1547). -
The long struggle between the two great European
powers was far from over, but it now became complicated
with religious interests, which cannot be understood with-
out comprehending the progress of the Reformation in
Germany. We will stop here to look back and examine the
internal state of France and Spain during the rivalry
between Francis I. and Charles V.
In Spain, monarchy was advancing rapidly towards the
absolute power which it had attained in France. Charles
V. followed the example of his father and made several
laws without the authorization of the Cortes. In 1538
the nobles and prelates of Castile having rejected the
general tax called Sisa, which would have affected the
sale of commodities in detail, the King of Spain ceased
to convoke them, alleging that they had no right to vote
taxes which they did not pay. The Cortes were hence-
forth composed only of the thirty-six deputies sent by the
eighteen towns which alone were represented. The nobles
* Montluc, book xxi. p. 31.
S.H. H
98 A’OYAZ 7"Y IN A RAAVCAE AAWD SPA/AW. [1516-
repented too late having joined the King to oppress the
communeros in 152 I.
The progress made by the power of the Inquisition in
Spain was all the more rapid as Charles V. became
more alarmed by the agitation in Germany, as to the
political consequences of the religious innovations. The
Inquisition was introduced into the Low Countries in
I 522; and if it had not been for the obstinate resist-
ance of the inhabitants it would have been established in
Naples in 1546. The right of exercising royal jurisdic-
tion was for some time withdrawn from the tribunals of
the inquisition (in Spain 1535–1545, in Sicily 1535–
1550), but was at length restored to them. From 1539,
the Chief Inquisitor Tabera governed Spain in the ab-
sence of the Emperor, in the name of the Infant, after-
wards Philip II.
The reign of Francis I. was the culminating point
of royalty in France, until the ministry of Cardinal
Richelieu. Francis began by concentrating in his own
hands the powers of the clergy by the treaty of the
Concordat (1515), he limited ecclesiastical jurisdictions
(1539), organised a system of police,” and silenced the
parliaments. That of Paris had already been weak-
ened under Charles VII. and Louis XI. by the cre-
ation of the parliaments of Grenoble, Bordeaux and
Dijon (1451, 1462, 1477); under Louis XII. by that
of the parliaments of Rouen and Aix (1499–1501).
During the captivity of Francis I., it endeavoured to
regain Some importance and commenced proceedings
against Chancellor Duprat. But the King, on his return,
forbade the parliament to interfere henceforth in politics
and deprived it further of influence by multiplying and
selling parliamentary employments.
Francis I. boasted of having set the King for the
future above the law (hors de page). But the growing
agitation of men's minds, which had been remarkable
in this reign, foretold new troubles. The spirit of liberty
* Instructions of Catherine de Medicis to her son.
- 1547.] FRAAVCAE AND 7'HE RAE FORMATION. 99
was animating religion: one day it was to return with
double vigour, and reanimate the political institutions of
the country. At first the reformers restricted themselves
to attacks against the morals of the clergy. Of the
Colloquies of Erasmus, 24;ooo copies were printed, but
the edition was quickly exhausted. The Psalms trans-
lated by Marot were soon sung to the same airs as the
songs of the day, by the nobles and ladies, while the
decree by which the laws were in future to be written in
French, enabled the public to understand and discuss
political affairs (1523–1524). The courts of Marguerite
of Navarre, and of the Duchess of Ferrara, Renée of
France, were the rendezvous of all who shared the
new opinions. The utmost frivolity and the most pro-
found fanaticism met together at Nerac in Marot and
Calvin. Francis I. at first saw without uneasiness this
intellectual agitation. He had protected the first French
Protestants against the clergy (1523–1524). In 1534,
when he drew closer his alliance with the Protestants
in Germany, he invited Melanchthon to present a conci-
liatory profession of faith. He had favoured the Revolu-
tion of Geneva, which became the hotbed of Calvinism
(1535). After his return from Madrid, however, he
treated the Protestants in France with greater severity.
In 1527 and in 1534, the ferment caused by the new
doctrines having manifested itself by outrages inflicted
on the holy images, and by placards on the walls of the
Louvre, several Protestants were burnt over a slow fire
in presence of the King and the whole court. In 1535,
he ordered the suppression of printing presses on pain
of the gallows, and on the remonstrance of parliament
he revoked this edict in the same year to establish in
its place the censorship."
The end of the reign of Francis I. was marked by a
frightful event. The Vaudois, inhabitants of some in-
accessible valleys in Provence and Dauphiny, had pre-
served Arian doctrines, and had just adopted those
* MSS. Registers of the Parliaments of Paris.
IH 2
FOO ZY/Z V.4 U/OO.A.S. [1545.
of Calvin. The strong position which they occupied
among the Alps gave rise to some uneasiness. In 1540
the parliament of Aix ordered Cabrières and Mérindol,
their chief places of meeting, to be burnt. After the re-
treat of Charles V. (1545) the decree was enforced, in
spite of the representations of Sadolet, Bishop of Car-
pentras. The President d'Oppède, Guérin, the King's
advocate, and Captain Paulin, formerly envoy from the
King in Turkey, penetrated into the valleys, extermi-
nated the inhabitants with unheard of cruelty, and laid
waste the whole country. This atrocious deed may be
considered as one of the principal causes of the civil
wars which afterwards took place.
CHAPTER VII.
LUTHER.
TIEFORMATION IN GERMANY. WAR WITH THE TURRS.
I5I 7–1555.
ALL the European states had attained monarchical unity,
the balance of power was beginning to be established,
when the ancient religious unity of the West was broken
by the Reformation. This event, the greatest in modern
times, except the French Revolution, separated half
Europe from the Roman Catholic Church, and occasioned
most of the revolutions and wars which occurred up
to the Peace of Westphalia. Since the Reformation
Europe has been divided so as to coincide with the
division of race. The nations of Latin origin have
remained Catholic. Protestantism prevails among the
Teutonic, and the Greek Church among the Sclavonic
I a CCS.
In the first period of the Reformation Luther and
Zwinglius were opposed to each other ; in the second
Calvin and Socinus. Luther and Calvin preserved some
portion of the ancient dogma and hierarchy. Zwinglius
and Socinus gradually reduced religion to deism. Pon-
tifical monarchy having been overthrown by the aristo-
cratic system of Luther, the latter was attacked by the
democratic system of Calvin ; it was a reform within a
reſorm. During the first two periods some old anar-
Chical sects, partly composed of apocalyptical visionaries,
revived and gave to the Reformation the formidable
IO2 OAC/GAAV OAF ZTAE/E /ø/ZAFO/CA/A 7TWOAW. [I517-
aspect of a war against Society; they were the Ana-
baptists in the first period, the Independents and Level-
lers in the second.
The principle of the Reformation was essentially
changing and progressive. Divided even in its 'cradle,
it spread throughout Europe under a hundred different
forms. Repulsed in Italy, Spain and Portugal (1526),
in Poland (1523), it established itself in Bohemia by
means of the privileges of the Calixtins; it was Sup-
ported in England by the memory of Wycliffe. It pro-
portioned itself to every degree of civilization, and con-
formed to the political needs of each country. Demo-
cratic in Switzerland (1523), aristocratic in Denmark
(1527), it identified itself in Sweden with the elevation
of the royal power (1529), in the Empire with the cause
of German liberty.
§ I. ORIGIN OF THE REFORMATION.
In the memorable year 1517, whence the beginning
of the Reformation is generally dated, neither Europe,
nor the Pope, nor even Luther anticipated this great
event. The Christian princes were in league against the
Turks. Leo X, invaded the Duchy of Urbino and
carried to its highest point the temporal power of the
Boly See. In spite of the embarrassment of his finances,
which obliged him to sell indulgences in Germany, and
to create thirty-one cardinals at one time, he lavished
the revenues of the Church with profusion on artists and
learned men. He even sent to Denmark and Sweden for
memorials of Northern history. He authorised by a bull
the sale of the Orlando Furioso,” and accepted Raphael's
eloquent letter on the “Restoration of Antiquities in
Rome.” In the midst of these occupations, he heard
that a professor of the new University of Wittenberg,
called Martin Luther, already known as having, in the
* Published in 1516.
-I555. J. n Z07//EK. IO3
preceding year, hazarded very bold opinions on matters
of faith, had just attacked the sale of indulgences.
Leo X., who corresponded with Erasmus, was not
alarmed by these novelties; he replied to the accusers
that Luther was a man of talent, and that the whole dis-
pute was only a monkish quarrel." .
The University of Wittenberg, recently founded by
Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, was one of the
first in Germany in which Platonism had triumphed
over scholastic philosophy, and in which letters were
taught as well as law, theology and philosophy. Luther
himself had first studied law ; then having adopted the
monk’s cowl in a fit of religious enthusiasm, he resolved
to search for philosophy in Plato, and for religion in the
Bible. But his chief distinction was not so much his
vast knowledge, as his vivid and ardent eloquence, and
the ease (a power unusual at that time) with which he
discussed religious and philosophical subjects in his
mother-tongue.” His impetuous temper when once ex-
cited, went farther than he intended.” He attacked first
the abuse and next the principle of indulgences, then
1 Che Fra Martino aveva bellissimo ingegno, e che coteste erano
invidie fratesche.
* Bossuet.
3 Luther, Preface to the Captivity of Babylon. “Whether I will
or not, I am forced to become every day more learned since such
celebrated doctors attack me, sometimes together, sometimes sepa-
rately. Two years ago I wrote upon indulgences, but I now repent
very much having published that little work. I was still irresolute,
from a superstitious reverence for the Tyranny of Rome: I thought
then that indulgences were not to be condemned; but, since that time,
thanks to Sylvester and the other defenders of indulgences, I have
understood that it was only an invention of the Papal court to make
men lose their faith in God and their money. Then came Eccius
and Emser with their band, to teach me the supremacy and omni-
potence of the Pope. I must own, not to appear ungrateful to such
learned men, that I profited greatly by their writings. I had denied
that the Papacy was by Divine right, but I conceded that it was by
IHuman right. After having heard and read the subtilties by means
of which these poor creatures wished to elevate their idol, I convinced
myself that the Papacy is the Kingdom of Babylon and the power
of Nimrod, the mighty hunter.” - -
IO4. J. UTAE/EA2 B UAEAVS PAA’A/, /3 (U/L/. [I517-
intercession of Saints, auricular confession, purgatory, the
celibacy of priests, transubstantiation, and finally the au-
thority of the Church and the character of her visible
Head. Pressed in vain by the legate Caietano to re-
tract, he appealed from the legate to the Pope, and
from the Pope to a general council; and when the
Pope had condemned him he dared to retaliate and
solemnly burnt in the public place of Wittenberg the
bull of condemnation and the volumes of canon law
(15th June, 1520). tº
So bold a stroke filled Europe with astonishment.
The greater number of sects and heresies had grown up
in the shade and would have been happy to remain
ignored. Zwinglius himself, whose sermons at this time
were estranging half Switzerland from the authority of
the Holy See, had not proclaimed himself with this
audacity.” Something still grander was looked for in the
man who constituted himself judge of the Head of the
Church. Luther proclaimed his courage and success to
be miraculous.
It was, however, easy to see how many favourable
circumstances encouraged the Reformer. The pontifical
monarchy, which at first had brought the chaos of the
Middle Ages in some measure into order, had been
* Zwinglius, minister of Zürich, began to preach in 1516; the
cantons of Zürich, Basle, Schaffhausen, Berne, and the allied towns
of St. Gall and Mulhausen embraced his doctrine. Those of Lucerne,
Uri, Schweitz, Unterwalden, Zug, Fribourg, Soleure, and the Valais,
remained faithful to the Catholic religion. Glarus and Appenzell
were divided. The inhabitants of the Catholic cantons, demo-
cratically governed and almost all living out of towns, held to their
ancient usages, and continued to receive pensions from the King of
France. Francis I. in vain offered himself as mediator to the Swiss :
the Catholic cantons would not accept the proposed pacification,
those of Zürich and Berne cut off their supplies. The Catholics
invaded the territory of Zürich and defeated the Protestants in a battle
in which Zwinglius was killed fighting at the head of his flock
(battle of Capel, 1531). The Catholics, ruder, more warlike, and
less rich, were victorious in the beginning, but could not sustain the
war as long as the Protestant cantons.—Sleidan, Müller, Hist.
Univ. vol. 4 (see for Geneva the following chapter).
-1555.] A. UAE O/2Z AAVZ) ZZZZ AAAWOAA)/A ZZOAV. IO5
weakened, first by the increased power of the Crown,
and secondly by that of the civil government. The scan-
dals with which many priests afflicted the Church mined
every day an edifice which was already shaken by the
spirit of doubt and contradiction. Two circumstances
coincided in determining its ruin. First, the invention
of printing gave to the innovators of the 15th century a
means of communication and propagation, the want of
which had prevented those of the Middle Ages from com-
bining to resist a power as strongly organised as that of the
Church. Secondly the financial embarrassments of many
of the princes convinced them beforehand of any doc-
trine which placed the riches of the clergy at their dis-
posal. Europe presented at that time a remarkable
phenomenon—a disproportion between its requirements
and its resources—resulting from the recent elevation
of a central power in each state. The Church paid
the deficit. Several Catholic sovereigns had already ob-
tained leave from the Holy See to exercise a portion
of its rights. The princes of Northern Germany, whose
independence was threatened by the sovereign of Mexico
and Peru, found in the secularisation of the ecclesiastical
revenues an equivalent for the wealth of the Indies.
The Reformation had already been several times
attempted: in Italy by Arnold of Brescia, by Waldo
in France, and by Wycliffe in England. It was in Ger-
many that it was to plant firmly its roots. The German
clergy were the richest, and, therefore, the most envied.
The episcopal sovereignties of the Empire were given
to cadets of great families, who carried the fierce and
scandalous manners of the lay world into the ecclesias-
tical order. But the most violent hatred was that inspired
by the Court of Rome—by the Italian clergy—whose fiscal
ingenuity was exhausting Germany. From the time of
the Roman Empire the eternal opposition between the
North and the South was, as it were, personified in Ger-
many and Italy. In the Middle Ages the struggle
became organised ; strength and dexterity, violence and
policy, feudal order and the Catholic hierarchy, here-
Ioé A. O. ZTA/AEA' A 7' WOAZA/S. [I5 I7-
ditary succession and the principle of election were en-
gaged in the quarrels of the Empire and the priesthood ;
the spirit of criticism, on its first appearance, preluded by
personal attacks its aggressions on Opinion. In the I5th
century the Hussites snatched some concessions by the
Thirty Years' War. In the 16th, the relations between the
Italians and Germans only increased the old antipathy.
Continually led into Italy by war, the men of the North
were scandalized when they beheld the magnificence of
the Popes, and the pomp with which religion loves to Sur-
round herself in southern countries. Their ignorance
increased their intolerance: they considered as profane
all that they did not understand, and when they re-
crossed the Alps, they filled their fellow-countrymen with
horror by describing the idolatrous festivals of the AVew
Aabylon.
The state of the public mind was well known to
Luther. When he was summoned by the Emperor be-
fore the Diet of Worms he did not hesitate to appear.
His friends reminded him of the fate of John Huss. “I
am legally summoned,” he replied, “before the Diet of
“Worms; I will go thither in the name of the Lord,
“should I see conspiring against me as many devils as
“there are tiles on the roofs.” Many of his followers
were determined at least to accompany him, and he
entered the town escorted by one hundred knights in full
armour., Having refused to retract, in spite of the public
entreaty and private solicitations of the princes and
electors, he was placed under the ban of the Empire a
few days after his departure. By this Charles V. declared
himself against the Reſormation. He was King of Spain;
he needed the Pope in his dealings with Italy, in fact his
title of Emperor seemed to constitute him Defender of
the Ancient Faith. Similar motives worked upon Francis
I. ; the new heresy was condemned by the University of
Paris. Finally the young King of England, Henry VIII.,
who prided himself upon his theological proficiency,
wrote a book against Luther. But he found ardent de-
fenders in the princes of Germany, especially in the
-I555.] J. UTAE/A2/8 A 7" Zł/E WAAC TB URG. IO 7
Elector of Saxony, who seems to have even urged him on.
This prince had been Vicar of the Empire in the inter-
regnum, and it was during this period that Luther had
ventured on burning the Papal bull. After the Diet of
Worms, the Elector believing that matters were not yet
ripe, resolved to preserve Luther from the results of his
own vehemence. As he was riding through the Thurin-
gian forest on his way home from the diet, some knights
in masks carried him off and concealed him in the castle
of Wartburg. Confined for nearly a year in this fortress,
which appears to command all Germany, the Reformer
began his translation of the Bible into the vulgar tongue
and flooded Europe with his writings.
These theological pamphlets, printed as soon as written,
penetrated into the most distant provinces; they were
read at night by every fireside, and the invisible preacher
was heard all over the Empire. No writer had ever so
warmly sympathized with the people. His violence, his
buffoonery, his apostrophes to the powers that be, to the
bishops, to the Pope, and to the King of England, whom
he treated with “a magnificent contempt for them and for
Satan,” charmed and inflamed Germany, and the bur-
lesque part of this popular drama made its effect all the
Surer. Erasmus and Melanchthon, and most of the other
divines forgave Luther his intemperance and coarseness,
for the sake of the violence with which he attacked
Scholastic theology. Princes applauded a reformation by
which they were the gainers. Luther, however, while he
stirred up the people, forbade the employment of any
other arm than that of speech. “It was the “Word,” he
said, “that whilst I was quietly sleeping or drinking my
beer with my dear Melanchthon, so shook the Papacy
as never Prince or Emperor had done before.”
But in vain he flattered himself that he would be able
to restrain passions, which had once been excited, within
the bounds of abstract discussion. Very soon more
rigorous deductions were made from his principles than
he intended. The princes laid their hands upon eccle-
siastical property. Albert of Brandenburg, Grand Master
f
IO3 A&AE WOZ 7" OA' 7"HAE AEAEASAAV7'R V. [I5 I7-
of the Teutonic order, secularised a whole state; he
married the daughter of the new King of Denmark, and
declared himself hereditary Duke of Prussia, to be held
as a fief of Poland,-a contagious example in an Empire
which was full of ecclesiastical princes who might be
tempted by the bait of a similar usurpation (1525).
And yet this was not the greatest danger. The lower
classes, the peasants who had so long been slumbering
under the weight of feudal oppression, heard the scholars
and princes talking of liberty and enfranchisement, and
applied to themselves what was not meant for them. The
memorial of the poor peasants of Swabia will always
remain, in its rude simplicity, a model of courageous
moderation." Gradually the perpetual hatred of the poor
against the rich woke up blind and furious, as in the
9 acquerie, but already affecting form and system, as in the
time of the Levellers. It became complicated with all
the germs of religious democracy which were supposed
to have been stifled in the Middle Ages. Lollards, Beg-
hards, numbers of apocalyptical visionaries arose. Their
rallying cry was the necessity for a second baptism, their
aim a terrible war against established order, against every
species of order. War against property was proclaimed,—
it was robbery of the poor—and war against science, for
it disturbed natural equality and tempted God, who re-
vealed everything to His saints; books and pictures were
inventions of the devil. The fiery Carlostadt had already
set the example; he ran from church to church, breaking
images and overthrowing altars. At Wittenberg, the
students burnt their books under the very eyes of Luther.
The peasants of Thuringia, imitating those of Swabia,
followed the enthusiast Muncer, threw Mulhausen into
confusion, called the miners from Mansfeld to take
arms, and tried to join their comrades in Franconia (1524).
On the Rhine, in Alsace and Lorraine, in the Tyrol, in
Carinthia and Styria the people everywhere took up arms.
* Die Zwoelf Artikel der Bauerschaft. See the end of Sartorius,
Bauerkrieg and the German works of Luther, Wittenberg, 1569,
vol. i. fol. 64.
-1555. CATA/OZZC AAVO PROTESTANT Z.Z.A.GUAES. Io9
Everywhere they deposed the magistrates, seized the
estates of the nobles, made them relinquish their names
and dresses, and gave them similar ones to their own. All
the princes, Catholic and Protestant, opposed them in
arms; they could not stand a moment against the heavy
cavalry of the nobles, and they were treated like wild
beasts.
§ II. FIRST STRUGGLE AGAINST THE REFORMATION.
The secularisation of Prussia, and above all the revolt
of the Anabaptists, gave an extremely threatening political
character to the Reformation. The two awakened
opinions became two parties, two leagues (the Catholic
at Ratisbon, I524, and at Dessau ; the Protestant at
Torgau, 1526). The Emperor watched for the moment
to overwhelm the one by the other, and subjugate at the
same time Catholics and Protestants. He thought that it
had come when the victory of Pavia placed his rival in his
hands. But in the following year a universal league was
formed against him in the West. The Pope and all Italy,
and Henry VIII., his ally, declared war against him. At
the same time the election of Ferdinand to the throne of
Dohemia and Hungary, drew the House of Austria into
the civil wars of this kingdom, laid bare, so to speak,
Germany, and brought her face to face with Soliman.
The progress of Ottoman barbarism which drew nearer
everyday, complicated alarmingly the affairs of the Empire.
Sultan Selim, that rapid conqueror, whose ferocity caused
even the Turks to tremble, had just doubled the extent
of the dominion of the Osmanlis. In three springs the
tiger had seized Syria, Egypt and Arabia. The brilliant
cavalry of the Mamelukes had perished at the foot of his
throne in the enormous massacre at Cairo. He had
sworn to conquer the red-heads," and afterwards to turn
against the Christians the whole strength of the Maho-
metan nations. A cancer dispensed him from keeping
* The Persians are so called by the Turks.
HIO SO///l/21/W TV/E /l/ACAV//7/C/ZAVT. [I517-
his oath. “In the year 926 of the Hegira (1521), Sultan
Selim passed into the eternal kingdom, leaving the
empire of the world to Soliman.”* Soliman the Mag-
nificent buckled on his scimitar at Stamboul in the same
year that Charles V. received the Imperial crown at Aix
la Chapelle. He began his reign by the conquests of
Belgrade and of Rhodes, on which the power of Mahomet
II. had twice been shipwrecked (1521-2). The latter
victory secured to the Turks the empire of the sea in the
eastern part of the Mediterranean ; the former opened
Hungary to them. When they invaded that kingdom, in
I526, the young king Louis had not been able to assemble
more than 25,000 men against I50,000. The Hun-
garians, who, according to ancient usage, had struck off
the spurs of the bearer of the Virgin’s standard,” were
nevertheless defeated at Mohacz. In the confusion,
Louis was killed with his general Paul Tomorri, Bishop
of Colocza, and many other bishops who bore arms
during the continual dangers of Hungary. Two kings
were elected at the same time, Ferdinand of Austria and
John Zapoly Waiwode of Transylvania. Zapoly, obtain-
ing no assistance from Poland, applied to the Turks
themselves. Ferdinand's ambassador, the gigantic
Hobordansc, celebrated for having vanquished, in single
combat, one of the most valiant pashas, had dared to
brave the Sultan, and Soliman had sworn that if he did
not find Ferdinand before Buda, he would seek him out
in Vienna. In the month of September 1529, the black
line of an innumerable army encircled the capital of
Austria. Happily a number of brave men, Germans and
Spaniards, had thrown themselves into it. Among them
were noticed Don Pedro of Navarre, and the Count of
Salm, who, if the Germans may be believed, took Francis
I. prisoner at Pavia. After twenty assaults, in as many
days, Soliman pronounced an amathema against any
Sultan who should again attack that fatal town. He left
it in the night, destroying the bridges behind him and
* Epitaph of Selim. * Istuanfi, p. 124–7.
-I530.] AZOST/ZZ 7TY OF CAZAA’Z/ZS V. I J I
killing the prisoners, and on the 5th day he had returned
to Buda. His pride found some consolation in crowning
Zapoly, who at the same time beheld from the windows
of the citadel of Pesth Io, ooo Hungarians carried off by
the Tartars in Soliman's service, who had been surprised
in the celebration of Christmas festivities, and whom the
Tartars drove before them like sheep.” What was
Germany doing while the Turks were crossing all the
old border lines, and Soliman was scattering his Tartars
beyond Vienna P. She was disputing about transubstan-
tiation and freewill. Her most illustrious warriors were
sitting in the Diet and interrogating doctors. Such was
the phlegmatic character of this great nation, and such
was its confidence in its strength and its weight.
The war with the Turks and that with the French, the
siege of Rome and the defence of Vienna occupied
Charles V. and his brother so fully that the Protestants
obtained tolerance until the approaching council. But
after the Peace of Cambray, Charles V.-now that France
was humbled, Italy enslaved, and Soliman repulsed—
determined to sit in judgment in the great case of the
Reformation. The two parties confronted each other at
Augsburg. The followers of Luther, designated by the
general name of Profesſants, since they profesſed against
the decree forbidding innovations (at Spire, 1529), wished
to be distinguished from all the other enemies of Rome,
whose excesses would have damaged their cause ; from
the republican Zwinglians of Switzerland, odious both to
princes and nobles; and above all, from the Anabaptists,
proscribed as enemies of order and society. Their con-
fession, softened by the learned and conciliatory Me-
lanchthon, who threw himself with tears in his eyes
between the two parties, was nevertheless rejected as
heretical. They were summoned to renounce their errors
on pain of being placed under the ban of the Empire
(Augsburg, 1530). Charles V. seemed even ready to
use violence, and for a short time ordered the gates of
* Istuanfi.
II 2 A. AEA GUAE OF SAMAZA A/C/D. [I53 I-
Augsburg to be closed. The Diet had scarcely been
dissolved when the Protestant princes assembled at Smal-
kald and there concluded a defensive league by means of
which they were to form a single body (1531). They
protested against the election of Ferdinand to the dignity
of King of the Romans. They settled their contingents;
they applied to the Kings of France, England and Den-
mark, and they held themselves ready for battle.
The Turks seemed charged with the task of again
bringing the Germans together. The Emperor heard
that Soliman had just entered Hungary at the head of
3oo,ooo men, while the pirate Khair-Eddyn (Barbarossa)
who had become Capitan Pasha, was joining the King-
dom of Tunis to that of Algiers, and was keeping the
whole of the Mediterranean in alarm. He hastened to
offer to the Protestants to grant all their demands—
tolerance, the preservation of secularised possessions
until the approaching Council, and admission into the
Imperial Chamber.
While this negotiation was pending, Soliman was
stopped for a month by the Dalmatian Juritzi before a
ruined fort. He attempted to make up for the time he
had lost by traversing the impracticable roads of Styria,
where Snow and ice had already blocked the mountains,
but the formidable aspect of Charles V.'s army decided
him on retiring. Germany, reunited by the promises
of the Emperor, had made enormous efforts. Italian,
Flemish, Burgundian, Bohemian, and Hungarian troops,
joining with those of the Empire, had carried his army to
90,000 foot and 30,000 horse, of whom a great number
were cased in steel.” Never had an army been so drawn
from all Europe since that of Godfrey of Bouillon. The
light Cavalry of the Turks was surrounded and cut to
pieces. The Sultan was not reassured until leaving the
narrow gorges of the Murr and the Drave, he re-entered
the plain of Waradin.
Francis I. and Soliman took turns in giving occupation
* P. Jovius, an ocular witness.
- I545.] COOAVC/Z OAP 7 RAEAV7. I £3
to Charles V. The Sultan, after invading Persia, went to
be crowned at Bagdad; and the Emperor was beginning
to breathe (see the expedition to Tunis in the preceding
chapter), when the King of France attacked him by attack-
ing his ally, Savoy. This new war postponed for twelve
years the final rupture between the Catholics and Pro-
testants of Germany. Nevertheless, the interval did not
amount to a peace. In the first place Anabaptism broke
out again in Munster under a more alarming form. From
the same anarchical disturbances as before, a strange
government emerged, a monstrous mixture of demagogy
and tyranny. The Anabaptists of Munster followed exclu-
sively the Old Testament: as Jesus Christ was of the race
of David, His kingdom was bound to assume the Judaic
form. They recognised two prophets sent by God: David,
and John of Leyden, their chief; and two prophets sent
by the devil: the Pope and Luther. John of Leyden was
a tailor's apprentice, a brave and cruel young man whom
they had taken for their king, and who was to spread the
kingdom of Christ all over the world. The princes pre-
vented him.
The Catholics and Protestants, united for an instant
against the Anabaptists, became afterwards only the more
bitter against each other. A general Council was con-
stantly talked of: but neither party seriously wished for
it. The Pope feared it, the Protestants rejected it before-
hand. The council (assembled at Trent in 1545) might
draw together the links of the Catholic hierarchy, but could
never restore the unity of the Church. The question
could be decided only by arms. Already the Protestants
had driven the Austrians out of Wirtemberg. They dis-
possessed Henry of Brunswick, who was executing in his
own interest the decrees of the Imperial Chamber. They
encouraged the Archbishop of Cologne to imitate the
example of Albert of Brandenburg, a step which would
have given them the majority in the Council of Electors.
When the war with France had ended, Charles V. and
his brother treated with the Turks and united themselves
closely with the Pope to destroy at once the religious and
S. H. I
I I4. Aſſ A 7"ZTV./2 OA' ZZOAZZ/3/2/3 G. [I547.
political liberties of Germany. The Lutherans, warned
by the imprudence of Paul III., who proclaimed the
war as a Crusade, rose up under the Elector of Saxony
and the Landgrave of Hesse to the number of 80,000.
Abandoned by France, England and Denmark, who had
excited them to war, separated from the Swiss by their
horror of the blasphemies of Zwing/ius, they would have
been sufficiently strong if they had remained united, but
while they were pressing hard Charles V., who lay en-
trenched behind the cannons of Ingoldstadt, young Maurice,
Duke of Saxony, who had secretly been treating with him,
betrayed the Protestant cause and invaded the states of
his relative the Elector. Charles V. had only to over-
power the scattered members of the league. As soon as
the deaths of Henry VIII. and Francis I. (28th January
and 31st March, 1547) had deprived the Protestants of
all hope of assistance, he marched against the Elector
of Saxony and defeated him at Muhlberg (24th of
April).
The two brothers abused their victory. Charles V.
caused the Elector to be condemned to death by a
council of Spanish officers, presided over by the Duke of
Alva, and wrested from him the cession of his electorate,
which he transferred to Maurice. He retained in prison
the Landgrave of Hesse, having deceived him by a
cowardly stratagem, and proved that he had conquered
neither for the sake of the Catholic faith nor for that of
the constitution of the Empire. Ferdinand imitated his
brother. From 1545 he had declared himself a feudatory
of Soliman for the Kingdom of Hungary, reserving his
whole strength for the struggle against Bohemia and
Germany. He had re-established the Archbishopric of
Prague, which had in old times been so formidable to
the Hussites, and had declared himself hereditary Sove.
reign of Bohemia. In 1547 he endeavoured without the
authorisation of the states to raise an army to attack the
Lutherans of Saxony who were allies of the Bohemians.
This army was indeed raised, but it turned its arms against
the prince who had violated his oath. The Bohemians
I547.] CAE O/C CAE /l/AA’ ZYZWOWZZZ. II5
united in defence of their constitution and their mother
tongue. The battle of Muhlberg left them at the mercy
of Ferdinand, who annulled their privileges.
Hungary had equal reason to complain of him. The
fatal struggle between Ferdinand and Zapoly had opened
this kingdom to the Turks. All the national party, all
who wished neither to be mastered by the Turks nor by
the Austrians, had gathered round the Cardinal George
Martinuzzi (Uthuysenitch) the guardian of the young son
of Zapoly. This extraordinary man, who at twenty was still
gaining his bread by supplying with wood the fires in
the royal palace at Buda, had become the real ruler of
Transylvania. On the Queen-mother's appealing to the
Turks he treated with Ferdinand, who at least was a
Christian. He caused the war-cry to be raised in every
direction," assembled in a few days 70,000 men and
carried at the head of his heidugues the town of Lippe,
which the Austrians had not been able to recover from
the infidels. These successes, this popularity alarmed
the brother of Charles V. Martinuzzi had authorised the
Transylvanians to restrain by force the license of the
German soldiers. Ferdinand caused his assassination :
but this crime cost him Transylvania. Zapoly’s son was
reinstated there and the Austrians preserved their posses-
sions in Hungary only by paying tribute to the Ottoman
Porte.
|Meanwhile, Charles V. oppressed Germany and
threatened Europe. On the one hand he excepted from
the , alliance which he proposed to , the Swiss, Basle,
Zurich and Schaffhausen, which, he said, belonged to the
Empire. On the other, he placed under the ban Albert
of Brandenburg, who had now become feudatory of the
King of Poland.” He offended even Ferdinand and
separated the interests of the two branches of the House
* Béchet, Histoire de Martinatsius, p.324. A man on horseback
in full armour and a man on ſoot holding a bloody sword travelled
all over the country shouting the war-cry according to the ancient
custom of Transylvania.
2 Sleidan, i. xxi.
I 2
I 16 Al/A CTA’ſ C/E OF SAA OAV)'. [I552-
of Austria by endeavouring to transfer from his brother
to his son the succession to the Empire. He had in-
troduced the Inquisition into the Low Countries. In
Germany he wanted to impose on Catholic and Pro-
testant his /n/a/#, or Interim, a conciliatory arrangement
which united them only on one point—hatred of the
Emperor. The Interim was compared with the Institu-
tions of Henry VIII., and not without reason. The
Emperor also assumed papal powers : when Maurice of
Saxony, the Landgrave's son-in-law, demanded his father-
in-law's liberty, which he had sworn to preserve, Charles
V. declared that he released him from his oath. He
carried everywhere in his train the Landgrave and the
venerable Elector of Saxony, as if triumphing in their
persons over the liberty of Germany. That ancient
country beheld for the first time strangers violating her
territory in the name of the Emperor; it was overrun
in every direction by Italian mercenaries and fierce
Spaniards who laid under contribution Catholics and
JProtestants, friends and enemies.
To overthrow this unjust power, which seemed to
be unassailable, was the work of young Maurice, the
principal instrument of the victory of Charles V. The
latter had only transferred to a more skilful prince the
electorate of Saxony and the leadership of the German
Protestants. While Maurice found himself the plaything
of the Emperor who detained his father-in-law, num-
bers of little books and caricatures, in which he was
called apostate, traitor and Scourge of his country, circu-
lated in Germany." Maurice concealed his plans with
profound dissimulation. First he was obliged to raise
an army without alarming the Emperor ; to do this, he
undertook the task of forcing Magdeburg to submit to
the Interim, and instead of attacking the town joined its
troops to his own. At the same time he treated secretly
with the King of France. The Emperor having again
refused to set the Landgrave at liberty received simul-
* Sleidan, i., xxii.
-I555.] AAEA CAE CAF A (WGSB UK’G. II 7
taneously two manifestoes, one from Maurice in the name
of Germany—pillaged by the Spaniards and insulted in
the official history of Louis d’Avila,” the other, from the
King of France, Henri II., who called himself the Pro-
tector of the Princes of the Empire, and who headed
his manifesto with a cap of liberty between two daggers.”
While the French took possession of the Three Bishop-
rics Maurice advanced by long marches on Innspruck
(1552). The old Emperor, who was at that time ill, and
without troops, set out at night in pouring rain and
had himself carried towards the mountains of Carinthia.
If Maurice had not been stopped by a mutiny, Charles
V. would have fallen into the hands of his enemy.
He was forced to submit. The Emperor concluded
with the Protestants the truce of Passau, and the ill-
success of the war which he sustained against France
changed this truce into a definitive peace (Augsburg,
1555). The Protestants exercised freely their religion,
preserved the ecclesiastical possessions which belonged
to them before 1552, and were permitted to sit in the Im-
perial Chamber. This was the first victory of religious
liberty. The spirit of free inquiry, having thus gained
a legal recognition, henceforth pursued its determined
course in spite of obstacles which could not stop it.
Farther on we shall have to notice the germs of war which
were concealed in this peace.
The Emperor, abandoned by fortune, who loves not the
old,” abandoned the Empire to his brother and his king-
doms to his son, and spent the remainder of his days in
the seclusion of San Yuste. The funeral which he
is said, though falsely, to have caused to be solemnized
during his lifetime would only have been too faithful an
image of the eclipsed glory which he survived.
* Idem, ix., xxiv. * Ibid.
* Expression used by Charles V. himself.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND AND IN THE NORTH
OF EUROPE.
§ I. ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND, I 527–1547.
THE northern Teutonic States, England, Sweden and
Denmark, followed the example of Germany; but while
they separated themselves from the Papacy, these three
states, governed by the aristocratic spirit, preserved in
part the Catholic hierarchy.
The revolution effected by Henry VIII. must not be
confounded with the national Reformation in England.
The former only separated England from Rome and con-
fiscated the power and riches of the Church to the
profit of the Crown. Rather political than religious, the
work of the King and the aristocracy, it was the
finishing stroke of the absolute power with which for the
last half-century the English had been investing the
Crown, and which was the result of their hatred of the
anarchy of the Roses. This official reform had nothing
in common with that which was going on at the same
time among the lower classes by means of the sponta-
neous enthusiasm excited by the Lutherans, Calvinists,
and Anabaptists who came over sea from Germany, the
Low Countries and Geneva. The latter prevailed from
the first in Scotland, and in the end conquered the former
in England.
The occasion for this royal and aristocratic reformation
seemed a trifling one : it was in appearance only the
1527-34.] ZX/VOA’CAE OF CA 7'HAERZAVE OF AACAGO.V. I 19
ephemeral passion of Henry VIII. for Anne Boleyn,
maid of honour to Queen Catherine of Aragon, the aunt
of Charles V. After a union of twenty years the King re-
membered that the Queen had been for a few months the
wife of his brother. It was, in fact, the moment when the
victory of Pavia, disturbing the balance of power in the
West, alarmed Henry VIII. as to the success of his ally
the Emperor; he passed over to the side of Francis I.
and asked Clement VII. for a divorce from his Spanish
queen. The Pope, threatened by Charles V., tried in
every way to gain time; after having delegated the judg-
ment of the case to his legates, he summoned it to Rome.
The English were not more favourable to the divorce ;
besides the interest inspired by Catherine they feared
lest a rupture with the Emperor should disturb their
trade with the Low Countries. They refused to attend
the French markets which the King wanted to substitute
for the Flemish. Some bolder counsellors, however,
who had succeeded the Cardinal-legate Wolsey, Crom-
well, the secretary of state, and Cranmer, a Cambridge
divine, whom Henry made Archbishop of Canterbury,
Overcame his scruples by promising to purchase the appro-
bation of the principal European universities. At length
the King's patience gave way, and he resolved to break
with the Papacy. The English clergy were charged with
having broken the law by recognising the disgraced
minister as legate. Their deputies in Convocation ob-
tained pardon Only by making the King a present of
Ioo, oool, and by acknowledging him as the protector and
supreme head of the English Church. On the 30th of
March, I 534, this decree, passed as a Bill in both Houses
of Parliament, was sanctioned by the King, and all appeal
to Rome forbidden. On the 23rd of the same month
Clement VIII. decided against the divorce by the almost
unanimous advice of his cardinals. England was thus
separated from the Holy See.
This change, which seemed to end the revolution, was
only its beginning. In the first place the King declared
all ecclesiastical power suspended; the bishops were
I 2C) REZ/GYOUS SYSTEM OF HEAVRY VIII. [1540-
ordered to present petitions in a month's time for the
restitution of their authority. The monasteries were sup-
pressed and their revenues confiscated to the Crown. But
the King soon dissipated this wealth ; he is said to have
rewarded one of his cooks for a good dish with an estate.
Surprise and indignation prevailed throughout the country.
The poor no longer found relief at the doors of the
monasteries. The nobles and country gentlemen declared
that if the convents were to be suppressed their estates
could not fall to the Crown, but ought to return to the
representatives of their founders. The inhabitants of the
five northern counties flew to arms and marched on Lon-
don to accomplish what they called the pilgrimage of
grace: but recourse was had to negotiation; many pro-
mises were made, and when the insurgents dispersed they
were hanged by hundreds.
The Protestants who crowded at this time into Eng-
land, thinking that they would settle there under the
favour of this reformation, were soon taught by Henry
VIII. that they were grossly deceiving themselves. For
nothing on earth would he have given up the title of
Defender of the Faith which he had earned by his book
against Luther. He maintained, therefore, the more im-
portant parts of the ancient faith by his Bill of the
Six Articles, and persecuted both parties with impartial
intolerance. In 1540 Protestants and Catholics were
dragged from the Tower to Smithfield on the same hurdle,
the former were burnt as heretics, the latter hanged as
traitors for having denied the King's supremacy.
The King having taken the place of the Pope in every
respect, solemnly proclaimed his own political and re-
ligious infallibility : he made the Parliament enact that
his proclamations should have the same value as of
bills passed by the two chambers. The most alarming
feature was that he himself believed in his infallibility
and considered all his passionate caprices sacred ; of his
six wives, two were repudiated and two beheaded, on the
pretext of adultery; the sixth nearly shared their fate for
professing Protestant opinions. He treated his family
-I547.] SCO 77A/V/O AAV/D ///ZAVAE V V/ZZ. I27.
with Sanguinary and quarrelsome despotism, and he
treated the whole nation as he treated his family. He
commanded one translation of the Bible to be made
and forbade every other, yet, with the exception of
heads of families, every person who expounded it
was subject to a month's imprisonment. He wrote
himself two books for the religious instruction of the
people (“The Institution” and “The Erudition of a
Christian Man") and actually disputed in person against
innovators. A schoolmaster named Lambert, accused of
having denied the Real Presence, appealed from the
Metropolitan to the Head of the Church; the King
argued against him, and after disputing for five hours,
asked him whether he would yield or die. Lambert
chose death and he was burnt by a slow fire. A still
stranger scene was the judgment of St. Thomas Becket,
who died in II 70. He was cited to appear at West-
minster to answer the charge of treason, and after the
ordinary thirty days’ delay was condemned in default;
his relics were burnt, and his property, that is to say his
shrine and the offerings which adorned it, were confis-
cated for the benefit of the Crown.
Henry VIII. would have liked to extend his religious
tyranny to Scotland : but the French party who prevailed
there was attached to the Catholic religion, and the whole
nation held the English yoke in horror. Speaking of the
Ring of England, Sir George Douglas wrote: “Even the
little boys would throw stones at him, the women would
break their distaffs. The whole nation would die rather
than receive him ; most of the nobles and the whole
of the clergy are against him.”
The young Queen of Scots (Mary) remained under
the charge of James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, son of
the one we have already mentioned ; the nobles ap-
pointed him to be her guardian although the will of the
late King had designated Cardinal Beaton as Regent;
and Scotland was comprehended in the treaty concluded
between England and France in 1546 (see Chap. VIII.).
The King of England died a year afterwords.
I22 AEAVR Y V/ZZ. AAVZ) ZRAEZAAWD. [I547.
During the latter years of his reign, Henry, having
spent the prodigious sums which he had gained by the
suppression of the monasteries, obtained fresh resources
from the servility of his Parliament. He had disciplined
it betimes, and on the least resistance he reprimanded
“ those varlets, the commons.” As early as I 543, that
is, four years afterwards, he asked for an enormous sub-
sidy. He dragged further sums out of it on every pre-
text, tax, gift, loan, alteration of the currency. At
last the Parliament, Sanctioning bankruptcy, abandoned
to him all that he had borrowed since the thirty-first
year of his reign. It was pretended that before the
twenty-sixth year the exchequer's receipts had surpassed
the amount of all the taxes imposed by his prede-
cessors, and that before his death the sum had more
than doubled.
It was in the reign of Henry VIII. that Wales was
placed under the regular administrative jurisdiction of
England and that some civil order was established in
Ireland. Henry VIII.'s innovations were ill-received
in that island both by the English colonists and the
natives. The government of the country had been gene-
rally delegated to the great nobles of Ireland, to the
Earls of Kildare or Ossory, the chiefs of the rival families
of Fitzgerald and Butler. Kildare's young son, believing
his father to have been killed in London, presented
himself before the Irish Council, and declared war in
his own name on Henry VIII. King of England; the
wise counsels of the Archbishop of Armagh could not
prevail over the song of an Irish bard, who in the
national language excited the hero to avenge his father's
blood. His courage was no match for English discipline :
he stipulated for a free pardon for himself and his
followers and was beheaded in London. After this and
more formidable revolts, peace was at last restored ; the
Irish chiefs themselves were forced to accept peerages
from the King as the sign of their subjection. O'Neil,
the most celebrated of them all, will appear later under
the name of the Earl of Tyrone. -
1515.] THE REFORMATION IV SCAA/DINA V/.4. J 23
§ II. DENMARK, SWEDEN, AND NORWAY, 1515–1560.
While Protestant Germany sought in political liberty a
guarantee for its religious independence, Denmark and
Sweden confirmed a political revolution by adopting the
Reformation.
Christian II. had equally irritated the Danish nobility,
against which he protected the peasantry, Sweden which
he deluged with blood (1520), and the Hanse Towns
against which he had closed the Danish ports by his pro-
hibitions (1517). He was soon punished both for the
good and the evil which he had done. Governed by the
German priest Slagheck, formerly a barber, and by the
daughter of a Dutch innkeeper, he followed but with less
skill the path which had led the other princes of Europe
to absolute power. He wanted to crush his own nobles
and to conquer Sweden. He had hired troops in Ger-
many, Poland and Scotland; he had obtained 4,000
men from Francis I. A battle gave him the mastery of
Sweden, which was torn to pieces by the quarrel between
the young Sten-Stur, the administrator of the kingdom,
and Gustave Troll, the Archbishop of Upsala. He tried
by an ecclesiastical commission all the bishops and sena-
tors who had voted for the deposition of Troll. In one
day they were beheaded and burnt at Stockholm in the
midst of a nation in tears. The gallows and the scaffold
rose in every province of Sweden through which Christian
passed. He insulted the vanquished. He declared
himself hereditary king, and proclaimed that he made
no knights in Sweden, as he owed the country entirely
to his own sword. *
The young Gustavus Vasa, however, a nephew of the
old King Charles Canutson, succeeded in escaping from
the prison in which he was detained by Christian. The
men of Lubeck, regarding the latter as the brother-
in-law of Charles V., who was the sovereign of their
I24 CUSTA IVUS IVASA. [I515-
enemies the Dutch ; and who knew that Christian had
asked the Emperor to bestow their town upon him, gave
Gustavus Vasa a passage into Sweden. Chased by the
Danes, Gustavus fled from one shelter to another, and
was on one occasion touched by the lances of those who
sought him while hidden in a haycock, The hiding-places
of the Liberator are still shown at Fahlun and Ornay. He
reached Dalecarlia, the home of those hardy and free
peasants who have always been the first to attempt revo-
lutions in Sweden. He mixed with the Dalecarlians of
Copperberg (a country of copper mines), adopted their
costume and entered the service of one of them. At
length in the Christmas festivities of 1521, seizing the
occasion of the crowd collected by the feast-day, he
harangued them in the great plain of Mora. They re-
marked with satisfaction that the north wind blew during
all the time he spoke; two hundred of them followed
him ; their example drew the whole nation, and at the
end of a few months the only possessions which the
Danes retained in Sweden were Abo, Calmar, and
Stockholm. p
Christian had chosen precisely this critical moment for
attempting in Denmark a revolution capable of shaking the
steadiest throne. He published two codes which excited
against him the two most powerful orders in that king-
dom—the clergy and the nobility. He suppressed the
temporal jurisdiction of the bishops, forbade the plunder
of wrecks, deprived the nobles of the right to sell their
peasants, and permitted the ill-used peasant to leave his
lord's estate. The protection of the peasantry, which had
made the Stures popular in Sweden, effected the ruin of
the King in Denmark. The nobles and the bishops
called to the throne his uncle, Frederick Duke of Hol-
stein. Thus Christian lost both Denmark and Sweden
at the same time.
After having delivered Sweden from the foreigner,
Gustavus wrested her from the bishops. He deprived
the clergy of their tithes and jurisdiction, encouraged
the nobles to claim all the ecclesiastical estates over
-I56O.] A&AE FOR/l/ATMOAV ZAV S J WAE ZOAZAV. I25
which they had any right; finally he took from the
bishops their castles and strong places. By the Suppres-
sion of appeals to Rome, the Swedish Church became in-
dependent of the Papacy while retaining the hierarchy and
most of the ceremonies of the Catholic Church (1529). It
is said that the number of estates or farms seized by
the King amounted to 13,000. Having thus diminished
the chief power of the aristocracy in the persons of the
bishops, he was able to manage the nobles more easily :
he laid taxes without opposition on their estates, and he
caused the crown to be declared hereditary in the House
of Vasa.
The Danish bishops, although they had contributed to
the Revolution, were not more fortunate than the Swedish.
It turned entirely to the advantage of the nobles, who
exacted from Frederick I. the right of life and death
over their peasants. Lutheranism was preached by Com-
mand of the King ; the States of Odensee (1527) decreed
liberty of conscience, abolished the celibacy of the
priests and severed every link between the clergy of
Denmark and the see of Rome.
The more distant peoples of the North, less accessible
to new ideas, did not accept this religious revolution
without resistance. The Dalecarlians were armed by their
clergy against the King whom they themselves had set
up. The Norwegians and the Icelanders considered the
introduction of Protestantism only as a new instance of
tyranny on the part of the Danes. Christian II., who
had taken refuge in the Low Countries, thought that he
might turn this disposition to account. This man, who
on one occasion had hunted a bishop with dogs, now
associated his cause with that of the Catholic religion.
With the help of several princes of Germany, of Charles
V., and of some Dutch merchants, he equipped a fleet,
landed in Norway, and thence penetrated into Sweden.
The Hanse Towns took up arms against the Dutch for
supporting Christian. Repulsed and forced to shut him-
self up in Opslo, he surrendered to the Danes who
promised him liberty, but kept him a prisoner for
I26 TF//2 “COUAV7”.S EPAA’.” [I5 I5-
twenty-nine years in the dungeon of Saenderbourg,
with a dwarf for his sole companion.
On the death of Frederick I. (1534) the bishops made
an effort to postpone their imminent ruin. They at-
tempted to place on the throne the King's younger son,
who was only eight years old, and who was not yet im-
bued with Protestant ideas like his elder brother Christian
III. ; they put forward that this child, who was born in
Denmark, “had spoken from his cradle the language of
the country,” while his brother was considered as a Ger-
man. This struggle between the clergy and the nobles, be-
tween the Catholic faith and the new doctrines, of Danish
patriotism against foreign influence, encouraged the am-
bition of Lubeck. That republic had profited little by
the downfall of Christian II. Frederick had created
trading-guilds, Gustavus favoured the English. The de-
mocratic administration which had replaced the ancient
oligarchy at Lubeck was animated more by the spirit of
conquest than by that of commerce. Its new leaders,
the Burgomaster Wullenwever and the Commandant
Meyer, formerly a locksmith, conceived the project of re-
peating in a kingdom the revolution which they had ef-
fected in a town. They resolved to conquer and dismember
Denmark. They confided the management of this revolu-
tionary war to an illustrious adventurer, Count Chris-
topher, of Oldenburg, who had distinguished himself
against the Turks ; he had nothing but his name and
his sword, but he consoled himself, they say, for his
poverty by reading Homer in the original. He pene-
trated into Denmark by stirring up the lower classes
in the name of Christian II., a magic name which always
rallied the Catholics and the peasantry. All was decep-
tion in this Machiavellian war, the republicans of Lubeck
excited the people with the name of Christian II. and
thought only of themselves; their general Christopher
acted neither for the sake of Christian nor of Lubeck, but
in his own interests. The calamities of this revolution
were so great that the Count's war has remained a pro-
verbial expression in Denmark. The general consterna-
-I 560.] CAE/A2/S 7TWAAV ZAZ. 127
tion caused the nation to rally round Christian III. The
senate which had retreated into Jutland, the only pro-
vince which remained true to it, called him from his refuge
in Holstein: Gustavus sent him assistance. The young
King besieged Lubeck and forced her to recall her troops.
The peasants, beaten in every direction, lost all hope of
liberty. Christian III. entered Copenhagen after a long
siege. The Senate arrested the bishops, stripped them
of their estates and substituted for them superintendents
charged with the propagation of the evangelical religion.
Thus the absolute power of the nobles was established
by the defeat of the clergy and peasantry. Christian III.
declared the monarchy elective, and promised to consult the
Grand Master of the kingdom, the Chancellor and the
Marshal, who were to receive all plaints against the King.
The Danish nobility decided that Norway was in future
to be only a province. Protestantism was established
there. The powerful Archbishopric of Drontheim having
become a simple bishopric, the old spirit of resistance
ceased to manifest itself, with the exception of the
troubles excited at Bergen by the tyranny of the Han-
seatic merchants, and the revolt of the peasants who
were forced to work in the mines under the orders of
German miners.
Poor Iceland amidst its Snows and volcanoes en-
deavoured also to resist the new faith which was being
imposed on her. The Icelanders had the same repug-
nance for Danish domination as the Danes had for
German influence. The Bishops Augmund and Arneson
resisted at the head of their flocks until the Danes be-
headed the latter. Arneson was not esteemed for the
purity of his life, but he was lamented as the man
of the people and poet of the nation ; it is he who
in 1528 introduced printing into this remote island.
The revolution, both political and religious, was thus
firmly established throughout Denmark in spite of a new
attempt on the part of Charles V. in favour of the Elector
Palatine, the husband of his niece, who was a daughter
of Christian II. At length Christian III.'s alliance with
I28 FAZZ OF THE HANSEA 77C ZEAGUE. [I560.
the Protestants of Germany and Francis I. decided the
Emperor on recognising him. He obtained for his
subjects in the Low Countries permission to navigate
the Baltic, a last blow to the Hanseatic League from
which it never recovered.
CHAPTER IX.
CALVIN.
THE REFORMATION IN FRANCE, ENGLAND, SCOTLAND
AND THE LOW COUNTRIES UP TO THE MASSACRE OF
ST. BARTHOLOMEW.
• I555–1572.
IN its first phase the Reformation had scarcely done
more than pull down, in its second it endeavoured to
build up. At the outset it had compromised with the
civil authority; the Lutheran Reformation had been in
§ I. If we described separately the Histories of Spain and the Low
Countries, of France, England and Scotland in the latter half of the
16th century, we should be condemned to continual repetitions. We
will, however, give for the assistance of the student a separate table
of these different histories. Many dates and details will be found
in it which could not be admitted into a general picture of the
period.
REVOLUTIONS AND WAR IN THE LOW COUNTRIES, 1556–1669.
Geographical situation of the Low Countries. Belgian popula-
tion (grandees, nobles, burghers, manufacturers); Batavian popula-
tion (burghers, traders or sailors). Differences in their constitutions
and privileges. Their commercial industry in the latter cen-
turies of the Middle Ages. Their spirit of resistance encouraged
by the natural features of a country covered with populous towns
and intersected by canals.-Condition of the Zow Countries after the
death of Charles the Bold, I477. Mary of Burgundy marries Maxi-
milian of Austria, I481. On the death of this princess the States of
Flanders assume the guardianship of her children. Wars of Maxi-
S.H. K
I3O , ZUTHER. [I535-
many respects the work of the princes to whom it made
the Church subservient. The lower classes wanted a
reformation of their own; they obtained one from John
milian against France, I488. Maximilian a prisoner to his own
subjects at Bruges. Popular administration of Philip the Fair and
of Charles V. Charles completes the seventeen provinces of the
Netherlands by the union of Utrecht and Over Yssel, I 527, of
Groningen and of Guelderland, I543; he places them under the
protection of the Empire, and proclaims their indissolubility, I548–9.
Towards the end of his reign he persecutes the Protestants.- Under
Charles V., a Flemish prince, Flanders ruled over Spain, Italy,
and in Germany; Philip II., a Castilian prince, undertakes to
place them under the laws and customs of Spain.—One of the most
remarkable characteristics of the Revolution of the Low Countries,
is that the insurgents offer, in vain, to submit themselves to
France, to the German branch of the House of Austria and to
England, and determine at last, for want of a sovereign, to remain
a Republic, Elizabeth refuses them, because she thinks that they
will resist Spain better if they are independent; she does not foresee
that Holland is destined to anticipate England in the Empire of the
Seas, and the commerce of the world.—Division; (I) I556–1567,
Troubles which prepare the way for Civil War. (2) 1568–1579,
Civil War before the Union of Utrecht. (3) I579–1609, continua-
tion of the Civil War until the peace ; the Union of Utrecht invests
the Northern insurgents with the character of a nation; victory is
assured to them by the diversion of the energies of Spain through
the troubles of France.
(1) 1556–1567. I556, Accession of Philip II. New bishoprics,
persecution of the Protestants, Inquisition, occupation by the Spanish
troops. Margaret of Parma, regent ; the ministry of Granvelle.
Chiefs of the malcontents: William the Silent, Prince of Orange,
the Counts of Egmont and Horn.-1563, Granvelle recalled.—I566,
the Conſederation of Breda. The Beggars (“Gueux”). (2) I567—
1568, tyranny of the Duke of Alva, Council of Troubles. Execu-
tions, confiscations. Flight of the Prince of Orange and, IOO,OOO
Protestants. “Beggars” of the sea, and “Beggars” of the woods.
(2) 1568–1569, Civil War. Attempts of the Prince of Orange
and his brother. Execution of the Counts of Egmont and Horn.
1569, the new taxes extend the insurrection, I572. Capture of Brill
by the Beggars of the Sea. Insurrection of Zealand and of Holland;
Union of Dordrecht. Siege of Haarlem. —I574—1576, Moderation
of Requesens, successor of the Duke of Alva, Defeat, and death at
Mook, of Louis and Henry of Nassau. Invasion of Holland and
Zealand. Siege of Leyden. 1576, Sack of Antwerp. Pacification
of Ghent; union of the Belgian and Batavian provinces of I577—
1578; Don Juan of Austria. His craſty conduct. The Archduke
-I 572.] - CA / V/AV. I3 I
Calvin, a French Protestant who had taken refuge in
Geneva. The first Reformation subdued Northern Ger-
many, the second disturbed France, the Low Countries,
Mathias called into the Low Countries.—The Prince of Parma suc-
ceeds Don Juan, I 579.
(3) 1579–1609. I 577, Union of Utrecht. Foundation of the
Republic of the Seven United Provinces. I580, the Duke of Anjou
invited by the Republic. I581, Declaration of Independence. Per-
fidy and departure of the Duke of Anjou. I584, William of Orange
Assassinated.—Success of the Prince of Parma ; Siege of Antwerp,
1585, 1586. I586, Treaty of the United Provinces with Elizabeth ;
blunders and treachery, of Leicester. [1588, Philip II. attacks
England in vain. I 591–1598, he divides his forces, by taking part
in the Civil War in France..] I 592, Death of the Prince of Parma.
1588–1609, success of Maurice, son of William the Silent. I595,
League of Henri IV. with the United Provinces against Spain.
1598 (Peace of Vervins), Marriage of the Archduke Albert, governor
of the Low Countries with Clara Isabella, daughter of Philip II., to
whom he transfers the sovereignty of the Low Countries. Death of
Philip II. Philip III. The Spaniards arm their allies in Germany
against themselves. 1600, the United States assume the offensive.
Siege and Battle of Nieuport. I6OI—1604, Siege of Ostend.
1606, skilful Campaign of Spinola. I607–1609, Peace Negotia-
tions. Naval Victory of Gibraltar. 1609, Truce of twelve years,
concluded by the mediation of Henri IV.
§ II. INTERNAL STATE OF FRANCE FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE
I5TH CENTURY, I450–1559.—TROUBLES OF RELIGION.—
CIVIL AND FOREIGN WARS, I559–16IO.
The power of the Crown increased by Charles VII. and by Louis
XI., after the wars with the English, becomes absolute in the hands
of their four successors, falls to pieces in the religious wars until again
restored by Henri IV., and by Richelieu : it triumphs and culminates
under Louis XIV.-Rapid development of the national wealth,
after the disturbed periods: under Louis XII., Henry IV., and
Louis XIV.-Increase of expenses, chiefly caused by the increase
of the military forces.—ſncrease of the Military Forces. Charles VII.,
one thousand seven hundred men-at-arms, free archers (Franc-
archers). Francis I., three thousand lances, six thousand light
horse, and often from twelve to fifteen thousand Swiss.—Louis XI
substituted the mercenary infantry of the Swiss for the national in-
fantry of the free archers; Francis I. substitutes the Landsknechts for
the Swiss, and when the Landsknechts are destroyed at Pavia, he forms
a national infantry under the name of the Provincial Zegions [I534].—
K 2
I32 A UTHER. [I535.
England and Scotland. In every direction it met with
an obstinate enemy in the power of Spain, which, how-
ever, it overcame everywhere. -
Mncrease of the Taxes. Charles VII., less than two millions. Louis XI.,
five millions.—Francis I. nearly nine millions (Expenses: nine millions
and a half). The resources increase considerably, but not in pro-
portion to the expenses.—Means and Aesources. In order to defray
these expenses the kings do not assemble the States-General after
1484 [assembled once at Tours, in I506, and only to annul the
Treaty of Blois]. They substitute for them the assemblies of
notables I526, I558, and more often raise money by means of
decrees (ordonnances) which they make the Parliament of Paris
register.—The Parliament of Paris is weakened under Charles VII.
and Louis XI. by the creation of the Parliaments of Grenoble,
Bordeaux, and Dijon [I451, I462, I477]; under Louis XII., by
that of the Parliaments of Rouen and Aix [I499, I5OI]. It is for-
bidden by Francis I. to interfere in political affairs [I527]. At
the same time its venality and the multiplication of offices diminish its
influence.—Four means of obtaining money : increased taxes, loans,
the alienation of royal lands, sale of financial and judicial appoint-
ments.-Louis XII, the Aſad/ter of the People, at first diminishes the
taxation, and sells the financial appointments [I499]; but he is forced,
towards the end of his reign, to increase the taxation, to borrow, and
to alienate the royal lands [I5 II, I5 I4]. The royal power in the
reign of Francis I. reaches a higher point than it attained until
the advent of Richelieu.-1515, Concordat.—I 539, Decree restraining
ecclesiastical jurisdiction.—Police organised.—1517, Decree regu-
lating field sports.-New taxes [particularly in 1523]. Sale and
multiplication of the judicial appointments [I515, 1522, 1544]. First
perpetual annuities on the Hôtel de Ville. I 532, 1544, Alienation
of the royal lands. Royal lottery. —IHenry II. forced to abolish the
salt tax in the provinces on the other side of the Loire, taxes the
churches, alienates the Royal lands [I552, 1559], creates a great
number of tribunals [I552, I555, I559], doubles all the appoint-
ments in Parliament, all the financial appointments [I553] and
borrows from the towns. Debt of forty-three millions. The
expenses exceed the receipts by two and a half millions of francs
a year.—The progress of Calvinism is a cause of revolution even
more active that the confusion of the finances. I535, first persecu-
tions. I 545, massacre of the Vaudois. I551, Edict of Château-
briant. I552, Edict of the Parliament against field-preachers.
Establishment of the Inquisition. 1558, the Protestants make a
public procession in Paris. I559, the King himself seizes several
councillors in Parliament.
Ateligious Zºotables. Ist Period.—1559–1570, religious and
financial crisis; rivalry for power between the Guises, the Bourbons
1535.] CA/L WZAV. § 33
When Calvin left Nérac for Geneva (1535) he found
the town delivered from its Bishop and the Dukes of
Savoy, but kept in the most violent fermentation by the
and Catherine de Medicis. (2) 1570–1577, struggle between the
two religions; it is less mixed at this period with political interests.
(3) I577–1594, anarchical faction of the League. Philip II.
covets the crown of France. The French monarchy is on the
point of being dissolved or being made dependent on Spain. Henri
IV. saves it from this double danger. (4) I 594—16IO, Henri re-
stores the unity of France, renders. her again formidable, and
is preparing to complete the abasement of the House of Austria,
when he is assassinated.
(I) Francis II. I560. The Guises govern by the influence of
their niece Mary Stuart over the young King. Their secret un-
derstanding with Philip II. Opposition of the Bourbons (the
King of Navarre and the Prince of Condé), supported by the
Châtillons (Coligni and Dandelot), the inferior nobility, and the
Protestants. The vacillation of Catherine de Medicis and modera-
tion of L’Hôpital are equally useless. Embarrassment of the Guises.
They take back the alienated lands, but are obliged to withdraw
the tax which maintained fifty thousand men, that is to say to
disarm the government at the very moment the revolution is break-
ing out.—Conspiracy of Amboise. L’Hôpital, Chancellor. He
mitigates the edict of Châteaubriant by that of Romorantin. Arrest
of the Prince of Condé. I 560—1574, Charles IX. Regency of
Catherine de Medicis. States-General of Orleans. Conference of
Poissy. Edict of January (favourable to the Protestants). Guise,
profiting by the indignation of the Catholics, again seizes, as leader
of a party, the power which he lost, as minister, on the death of
Trancis II. ; the opposite party loses its unity by the abjuration of
the King of Navarre, and the deſection of Montmorency. Massacre
of Vassi.-First Civil War, I562–1563.−Strength of the Zwo
Aarties. The Court predominates in the Isle of France, Picardy,
Champagne, Brittany, Burgundy, and Guyenne. The Protestants
predominate in the West, and in the South, especially in the towns
of Rouen, Orleans, Blois, Tours, Angers, Le Mans, Poitiers,
Bourges, Angoulême, La Rochelle, Montauban, and Lyons. Thus
scattered, they cannot easily join with the Protestants in Germany
and the Low Countries. The Catholics receive help from Philip
II., from the Pope and the Dukes of Savoy, Ferrara, Mantua, and
Tuscany. They hire German troops; but the Empire favours the
Protestants, in the hope that they will give up the Three Bishoprics,
as they gave up Havre to the English. The Protestants receive
troops from the Queen of England, the Landgrave of Hesse, above
all from the Ælector Palatine. —I 562, the Siege of Rouen, Battle of
Dreux. —I563, Assassination of Guise. The Queen now fears only
I34 ACASAE OA’ CAZ V/AV/SAZ. [I54I-
plots of the Mamelus (serviles), and by the continued
insults of the Confrérie de la Cuillère (Brethren of the
Spoon). He became its apostle and legislator (1541
the Protestants and concludes with them the Treaty of Amboise.—
J563—1567, the Catholics of Guyenne and Languedoc form, under
the guidance of the Parliament of Toulouse, an association which
is to be the first model of the League. Distress of the Court, which
sells a hundred thousand crowns worth of ecclesiastical estates.—
Expenditure of the state eighteen millions of francs, receipts ten
millions.—Peace is troubled by the hatred of the Guises against
Coligni, by the increase of the Swiss guard, and the creation of the
French guards, by the embassy from the Pope, Philip II. and the
T)uke of Savoy, by the plot laid to give up Jeanne d'Albret, and her
son to Philip II. ; and lastly, by the edict of Roussillon, which
modifies the treaty of Amboise, I564. Journey of the King and his
mother in the Southern provinces, I564—1565. Interview of Catherine
de Medicis with the Duke of Alva at Bayonne.—1567, 1568, the
Court levies troops and enlists six thousand Swiss. Second War,
1567. The Protestants try to take possession of the King, they lose
Orleans; they are defeated at St. Denis, they cannot take Chartres,
and the Court amuses them by the Peace of Longjumeau, which
confirms that of Amboise. I568, the Court does not send away
the foreign troops, and the Protestants do not restore the places of
which they are masters. The attempt to make the leaders of the
Protestants pay the expenses of the war, and to seize Condé and
Coligni in Burgundy, occasions the Zhird War, I568 — I570.
L'Hôpital gives up the seals. The Protestant army itself pays its
German auxiliaries. La Rochelle becomes their basis of operations.
—1569, the Protestants conquered at Jarnac (death of Condé), and at
Moncontour (Coligni wounded). Henri of Béarn at the head of the
Protestant party, of which Coligni is the real chief.-The King
deserted by the Italian and Spanish troops, the Protestants on
the point of being abandoned by the German troops, conclude a
peace at St. Germain, I570. Advantageous conditions for the Pro-
testants; free worship in two towns in every province, strongholds
(La Rochelle, Montauban, Cognac and La Charité); the projected
marriage of the King of Navarre; hope given to Coligni of com-
manding the troops which the Court will send to the help of the
Protestants in the Low Countries.
(2) I570–1577. The Protestants drawn to Paris by the mar-
riage of the King of Navarre.—I572, St. Bartholomew. The Court
allows the Protestants time to regain their courage, and shows its
weakness by besieging uselessly La Rochelle, 1573. Creation of the
party of Politigates, which soon becomes an ally of the Protestants.
Of the two brothers of the King, the elder is absent for one year
from France (by becoming King of Poland); the younger puts him-
tºs
-I564.] CA / V/AV A 7" GAZAVAE VA. I35
–64) offering himself as mediator between the “ pagan-
“ism of Zwinglius and the papistry of Luther.” The
Church of Calvin was a democracy and absorbed the
self at the head of the Politiques.—1574, death of Charles IX. —
1574–1589, Henri III. Flight of Henry of Navarre, and of the Duke
of Alençon. Vacillation of Henri III., and the behaviour of the Duke
of Alençon, who places himself at the head of the French Protestants,
and afterwards at the head of the Protestants of the Low Countries,
decide the Catholic party on looking for a leader out of the Royal
family. The treaty of 1576 determines the formation of the League.
By this treaty the King cedes to his brother Anjou, Touraine, and
Berri; ſreedom of worship is granted everywhere except in Paris;
every Parliament to consist of equal numbers of Catholics and Protest-
ants; Fortresses, Angoulême, Niort, La Charité, Bourges, Saumur,
and Mézières, in which the Protestants might place garrisons paid by
the King. (For the rest see the Synchronical Tables XII. #and
XIII).
(3) I577—I 594. I577, formation of the League. Henry of
Guise, le Balaſrā, Policy of Philip II.-States of Blois. Henry
III. declares himself head of the League.—I577–1579, Fifth and
Sixth Wars. Taking of Cahors.-I580, Seventh War.—1584, death
of the Duke of Anjou (formerly Duke of Alençon). Pretensions
of the Cardinal of Bourbon, secret hopes of Henry of Guise, and
of Philip II. I585, treaty of Henry III. with the League, as con-
cluded at Nemours.-1586–1598, Æighth War. I587, battle of
Coutras. Success of Henri of Guise. Organization of the League.
Council of the Sixteen. I588, Battle of the Barricades. States of
Blois. Assassination of Henry of Guise. I589, Alliance of Henry
III. with the King of Navarre. Siege of Paris. Assassination of
Henri III. Extinction of the branch of Valois [1328–1589]. Im-
minent dissolution of the monarchy. I 589—16IO, Henri IV. King
of France and Navarre, first King of the House of Bourbon. Charles
X., King of the League. Mayenne. Battle of Arques, I 590.
1592, Battle of Ivry. Sieges of Paris and of Rouen. Skilful cam-
paigns of the Prince of Parma, who saves these two places.
Battle of Aumale.—I593, States of Paris. Philip II. demands
the throne of France for his daughter. Abjuration of Henri IV.,
I 594; he enters Paris.
(4) 1594–16IO. Submission of Normandy, of Picardy, of Cham-
pagne, of Burgundy, of Provence, and of Brittany; the Dukes of
Guise, of Mayenne, and of Mercoeur.—I 594–1598, Henri IV. recog-
mised by the Pope.—1595–1598, War against the Spaniards. They
take Cambrai, Calais, Amiens, 1598. Aeace of Verzines (in spite of
Elizabeth and the Dutch). Philip II. loses all his conquests, except
the county of Charolais.-Edict of Nantes. The Reformers obtain
the public exercise of their worship, and all civil privileges; they
136 GAEAVE VA AAVAD 7TH/AE SWISS. [I535,
State. Calvinism, like Catholicism held a ground which
was completely independent of the temporal power.
The alliance between Berne and Fribourg enabled the
preserve their importance as a political party.—1600–16OI, conquests
over the Duke of Savoy. Marriage of the King with Marie de Medi.
cis. I6O2, Conspiracy of Biron. I604, Conspiracy of the family of
Entragues. The King mediates between the Pope and Venice, 1607,
between Spain and the United Provinces, 1609. His projects for
the abasement of the House of Austria and for the organisation
of the European Republic. I6IO. Assassination of Henri IV.
—Administration of Henari / W. State of the finances on his
accession. Attempts at reform.—1596, Assembly of the notables
at Rouen. The King confides the finances to Sully. Order and
economy. Agriculture protected (Olivier de Serres). New manu-
factures. Encouragement given to Commerce, and to Art. I604,
Treaty of Commerce with the Sultan. Canal of Briare. Embel-
lishment of Paris.—Reform of Justice. 1603, edict against duels.
I6O4, institution of the AEazºleče.—Colonies [I557, in Brazil, 1564 in
Florida] in Cayenne and in Canada. Foundation of Quebec, in
I608. Prosperity of France and its powerful condition at the end
of the reign of Henri IV. •
§ III. RIVALRIES BETWEEN ENGLAND, SCOTLAND AND SPAIN.
REIGN OF ELIZABETH, I558—1603.
The intervention of England in the affairs of the continent, hither-
to limited and capricious, becomes extensive and regular under
Elizabeth. Political interests in Lngland as in Spain are subordi-
nated to religious interests. –Dangers which surround Elizabeth.
Her contested legitimacy. Pretensions of Mary Stuart Queen of
Scots (and soon of France) to the throne of England. Philip II.
aſter vainly seeking the hand of Elizabeth makes common cause with
Mary Stuart as soon as she ceases to be Queen of France (June,
1560). Discontent of the Catholics and Calvinists in England.
When Scotland is no longer open to the intrigues of Philip II. Ire-
land revolts and ſavours the disembarkation of the Spanish troops.
While Protestantism weakened France, Switzerland and Germany, it
strengthened England, where the Sovereign continued armed with
all the power of the ancient hierarchy.—Elizabeth postpones for
thirty years (from 1558 to I588) open war with Spain, but she excites
the Protestants in Scotland, succours feebly those in France, and gives
effectual aid to those in the Low Countries, to whom she is united
still more closely by the commercial interests of England. At length
war breaks out; it developes the strength of England and gives her
the Supremacy on Sea.—1558, accession of Elizabeth; 1559, she gives
I535.] AºA2ZA CAE/ZAVG OA’ CAZ //ZAV. I 37
reformer to preach from behind the shelter of the Swiss
lances. From his post between Italy, Switzerland and
France, Calvin shook the whole of Western Europe. He
its presentform to the Anglican Church. Her intervention in the wars
between France and the Low Countries (see above).-I559–1587,
her rivalry with Mary Stuart. Troubles of Presbyterian Scotland.
I560, Treaty of Edinburgh and abolition of the Catholic religion.
Mary renounces the arms of England.—I565, marriage of the
Queen of Scotland with Darnley, who was soon afterwards mur-
dered. I 567, James VI. proclaimed by the rebel Scots.-Mary
takes reſuge in England where she is kept prisoner by Elizabeth,
1568–1587. Conspiracies in her favour.—1587, Mary Stuart be-
headed.—1588–1603, Philip II. attempts the conquest of Eng-
land. I 588, destruction of the “Invincible Armada.” I589, expe-
dition to Portugal; I 599, to Cadiz ; and France, I591–1597.
I595, rebellion of Ireland, stirred up by Spain. I6OI, death of the
Earl of Essex; 1603, death of Elizabeth and end of the House of Tudor.
—Administration of Elizabeth. Extent of the royal prerogative.
She represses the nonconſormists, but with less cruelty than Henry
VIII., and the Puritans only aſter her victory over the “Invincible
Armada.” By her economy she clears off the debts of the former
governments (four millions sterling), favours the increase of com-
merce and industry; rather than assemble frequent parliaments she
has recourse to monopolies, loans, &c. The English navy raised
from 42 vessels to 1,232. Brilliant expeditions of Hawkins, Fro-
bisher, Davis, Drake and Cavendish. I584, first settlements in
northern America.
§ IV. STATE OF THE FOUR BELLIGERENT POWERS AFTER THE
STRUGGLE OF THE REFORMATION AND THE IMMEDIATE CON-
SEQUENCES OF THAT STRUGGLE.
Spain—Internal administration of Philip II. His revenues sur-
pass those of all the Christian princes put together, yet several of
his enterprises fall through for want of money.—1568, death of Don
Carlos. I568–1571, extermination of the Moors of Granada.
I580, conquest of Portugal, which does not compensate for the los.
of the Low Countries. Decline of Portugal, slow under John III.,
I52I–I557; rapid under Sebastian, I557–1578, who dies when
on an expedition against the African Moors. I578–1580, Henri
the Cardinal. Victory of the Duke of Alva over Antonio of
Crato, at Alcantara. I59I, insurrection of the Aragonese. Their
“Justiza” put to death by order of Philip II.-Reign of favourites, of
the Duke of Lerma under Philip III., I598—1621; of Olivarès under
Philip IV., 1621–1665. Exhaustion of Spain in respect of the
I3S SA’’’ EA/D OA’ CAZ V/AV/S/l/. ÍI535-
had neither the impetuosity, nor the geniality, nor the
sense of humour which distinguished Luther. His style
was dry and bitter, but powerful, concise and penetrating.
More consistent in his writings than in his conduct, he
began by demanding tolerance from Francis I. * and
ended by burning Servetus.
The Vaudois and all the clever, restless population of
the south of France, who, in the Middle Ages, had been
the first to try to shake off the yoke of Rome, were the
first to rally round the new doctrine. From Geneva
and Navarre it spread to the commercial town of
La Rochelle, and thence to the, at that time, learned
cities of the interior—Poitiers, Bourges, and Orleans ;
it penetrated into the Low Countries and strengthened the
bands of Æederikers who overran the country declaiming
against abuses. From thence it crossed the Sea and
precious metals and population. (See the years I600 and I603
XIV. and XVI. Synchronical Tables.) Spain no longer producing
commodities to exchange for the precious metals of America ceases
to be enriched by them. Of all the American importations less than
one-twentieth are manufactured in Spain. At Seville the 16,OOO
looms manufacturing wool and silk towards I556 are reduced to
4OO towards I621.—In 1609 Spain drives away a million industrious
subjects (the Moors from Valencia) and is ſorced to grant a truce of
twelve years to the United Provinces.—The Spanish fleet, towards
I52O I, OOO vessels strong, gradually sinks to nothing from I588 to
I639. The Spanish infantry yields the pre-eminence to the French
infantry, especially after 1643 (battle of Rocroi).--I640, revolt of
Catalonia. Revolution in Portugal ; accession of the House of
Braganza in the person of Juan IV.
Onited Arozinces, 1609–1621. The new Republic grows rapidly
in prosperity and importance ; but symptoms of its decline may
already be perceived in the quarrels between the Stadtholders and
the States-General—Maurice and Barneveldt. Gomarists and Arme-
nians I618–1619, Synod of Dordrecht; 1619, Barneveldt beheaded.
1621–1648 renewal of the Spanish war under Spinola and Frederick
Henry, 1625, siege of Breda by the Spanish, 1628, siege of Bois-le
Duc by the Dutch. Battle of Bergen-op-Zoom. I622, siege of
Maestricht.—1635, alliance of the United Provinces with France for
* Præſatio ad Christianissimum regem, 77tá ſtic ei liber pro con-
ſessionee ſide offerſity. This eloquent preface opens the “Calvin's
Institutes,” published in 1536, and translated into French by himself.
-I550.] CALVINISM IN FRANCE. 139
disturbed the victory of Henry VIII. over the Pope ; it
mounted the throne of England with Edward VI. (1547),
and was carried into the wilds of Scotland by John
Knox ; it stopped only at the foot of the mountains, in
which the Highlanders preserved the faith of their an-
cestors together with hatred of the Saxon heretics. e
In the beginning the meetings of the Calvinists were
held in secret. The first which took place in France
were in Paris, in the Rue St. Jaques (about 1550); they
soon became frequent. The scaffold did not put an end
to them, it was such a happiness for the people to hear
the word of God in their own language. Many were
attracted by curiosity, others by compassion, some even
by the danger itself. In 1550, there was but one Re-
formed church in France, in 1561 there were more than
2,000. Sometimes they assembled in the open fields
the partition of the Spanish Netherlands. (See below the conse-
quences of this war.)—Philip II. by closing the port of Lisbon to the
Dutch had forced them to procure their oriental merchandise from
India. I 595, expedition of Cornelius Hautman. I602, East India
Company. First established in the islands, its depôts spread along
the coasts of the continent. I619, foundation of Batavia. I621, East
India Company. I630–1640, attempt on Brazil. Establishments
in the American islands.-1648, Peace of Münster. Spain recognises.
the independence of the United Provinces, leaves them their con-
quests in Europe and beyond the seas, and consents to close the
Scheldt. -
Aºrance and Ængland. The internal tranquillity and the political
importance of these two kingdoms seem to depend upon the lives
of their sovereigns, Henri IV. and Elizabeth, –In France the Pro-
testants and nobles have been restrained rather than weakened. Two
consequences from the death of Henri IV. (I) France, once again
feeble and divided, falls again under the influence of Spain until the
ministry of Richelieu ; (2) the religious war destined to set Europe in
a blaze will burst out later, but last longer for want of a powerſul
moderator to dominate and direct it. —In England the necessity for
the national defence and the personal character of Elizabeth have
rendered the power of the Crown unlimited ; but the changes in
the habits of the nation, the growing importance of the Commons,
the ſamaticism of the Puritans, will, under sovereigns of weaker will
and abilities, occasion the dislocation of the kingdom.—From the
deaths of Elizabeth and Henri IV. we may perceive in the distance
the English Revolution and the Thirty Years' War.
I.40 CAZ V/AV/SIV AAVZ) PAI/ZZP ZZ. [I5OI-
in numbers amounting to eight or ten thousand ; the
minister mounted a cart or the stump of a tree ; the
people stood to windward that they might hear him
better, and then they all, men, women, and children,
joined in singing psalms. Those who had arms kept
watch all round, their hands on their swords. Then
there came pedlers, who sold catechisms, books, and
pictures against the bishops and the Pope.*
They were not long satisfied with these meetings. No
less intolerant than their persecutors they tried to exter-
minate what they called idolatry. They began by over-
turning altars, burning pictures and demolishing churches.
As early as 1561 they summoned the King of France to
destroy the images of Jesus Christ and of the saints.”
These were the adversaries whom Philip II. under-
took to fight and to annihilate. They were for ever
Crossing his path : in England they prevented his marry-
ing Elizabeth (1558); in France they balanced the
power of his allies the Guises (1561); in the Low
Countries they supported with their fanaticism the cause
of public liberty.” g
To the cosmopolitan Charles V. had succeeded in
Philip an entirely Castilian prince, who despised every
other language, who held in abhorrence every belief but
his own, who wanted to establish everywhere the
regular Spanish forms of administration, legislation,
and religion. At first he had restrained himself in order
to marry Mary Queen of England (1555), but he had
not deceived the English. The glass of beer which he
Solemnly drank on landing, the sermons of his confessor
* Such, for example, as the Cardinal of Lorraine with the little
Trancis II. in a sack trying to get his head out to breathe from time
to time. In the Low Countries they sold caricatures of Cardinal
Granvelle, Philip's Prime Minister, sitting upon eggs out of which
bishops were creeping, while the devil hovered over his head,
blessing him and saying, “This is my beloved son.” Memoirs of
Condé, vol. ii. 656, and Schiller's History of the Revolt in the
Low Countries, book ii. chap. I.
* Memoirs of Condé, book iii. p. IoI.
3 Especially after 1563.
-1559.] SAEAZAV AAVZ) ZZZZ A&AEA'OA&MA ZZOAV. I4 I
on tolerance did not procure for him any popularity.
The scaffolds raised by his wife made more impression.
After the death of Mary (1558) he no longer dissimu-
lated, he introduced Spanish troops into the Low
Countries, maintained the Inquisition there, and on his
departure declared, as it were, war to all defenders of
the liberty of the country in the person of the Prince of
Orange.” Finally he united with Henri II. against the
internal enemies who threatened both sovereigns by
marrying his daughter, Elizabeth of France (peace of
Château-Cambresis, I559). The rejoicings at this omi-
nous peace were marked by a fatal incident. A tourna-
ment took place at the very foot of the Bastille in which
the Protestant Anne Dubourg was awaiting death. The
Ring was wounded, and the marriage was solemnised at
night during his last moments.”
Philip II. On returning to his own dominions, which
he never left again, commemorated his victory of St.
Quentin by building the monastery of the Escurial at
the cost of fifty million piastres. This gloomy edifice,
constructed entirely of granite, is seen from seven leagues
off. No Sculptures adorn its walls. Its sole beauty
consists in the boldness of the arches. It is built in the
form of a gridiron.3
At this period the Spanish mind had reached the
highest point of religious excitement. The rapid pro-
gress throughout Europe of the heretics, the victory
which by the treaty of Augsburg they had gained over
Charles V., their violence against images and their out-
rages on the Host, which were related to the frightened
Spaniards by Orthodox preachers, had produced a renewal
of fervour. Ignatius Loyola had founded the order of
Jesuits, who were entirely devoted to the Holy See (1534
1 The King on landing said to the Prince of Orange, who sheltered
himself behind the States, “No, not the States—but you, you, you!”
See Van der Vyncht.
* Memoirs of Vielleville, vol. xxvii. p. 417.
* Instrument of the martyrdom of St. Lawrence. The battle
of St. Quentin was gained by the Spaniards on the day consecrated
to his memory.
I42 A/('O TESTAAWZZ.S.]/ /AV ZEAVC/AAZZO. [I559-
—40), St. Theresa of Jesus reformed the Carmelite
nuns and fired every soul with mystic enthusiasm. Soon
the Carmelite friars and other mendicant orders were re-
formed in their turn. The Inquisition was permanently
constituted in 1561. With the exception of the Moors,
Spain became united as a single man in a violent fit
of horror of the miscreants and heretics. Closely united
with Portugal which was governed by the Jesuits, having
the veterans of Charles V. and the treasures of two hemi-
spheres at her disposal, she determined to force all
Europe to submit to her religion and Supremacy.
The Protestants, scattered over the world, rallied in
the name of Queen Elizabeth, who offered shelter and .
protection to them. In every direction she encouraged
their resistance to Philip II. and the Catholics. Ab-
solute in their own dominions, these two monarchs
acted abroad with all the violence of two chiefs of fac-
tion. The ostentatious devotion of Philip, the chival-
rous spirit of Elizabeth's court, were combined with a
system of intrigue and corruption. But the victory could
not fail to be Elizabeth’s ; the times were on her side.
She ennobled despotism by the enthusiasm with which
she inspired her people. Those, even, whom she per-
secuted were, in spite of everything, devoted to her. A
Puritan, who was condemned to have his hand struck off,
had scarcely lost it, when he waved his hat with the other,
exclaiming “God save the Queen.”
Thirty years were to elapse before the two rivals en-
countered each other face to face. Their struggle at first
went on indirectly in Scotland, France, and the Low
Countries.
It did not last long in Scotland (1559–67). Eliza-
beth's rival, the fascinating Mary Stuart, widow at the
age of eighteen of Francis II., found herself a foreigner
in the midst of her subjects, who detested in her the
Guises, her uncles, the chiefs of the Catholic party in
France. Her barons, supported by England, united with
her husband Lord Darnley, and assassinated under her
eyes her favourite, Rizzio, an Italian musician. Soon
-I56O.] COZAGAV/ AAVZ) 7://Z GU/SAE.S. I43
afterwards the house in which Darnley lay sick near
Holyrood was blown up : he was buried under its ruins,
and Mary was carried off and married by Lord Bothwell,
the principal author of the crime, either with her own
consent or in spite of it. The Queen and the barons
accused each other with mutual recrimination. But
Mary proved the weaker party of the two. She could
find no refuge except in the dominions of her mortal
enemy Elizabeth, who kept her a prisoner, gave the
guardianship of her little son to whomsoever she pleased,
reigned over Scotland in his name, and henceforth was
able to dispute with Philip II. On more equal terms.
It was especially in France and the Netherlands that
Elizabeth and Philip carried on their secret war. In
these two countries the Soul of the Protestant party
was William the Silent, Prince of Orange, and his father-
in-law, Admiral Coligni, both of them unfortunate as
generals, but profound statesmen, men of stubborn and
sombre genius, animated by the democratic instincts
of Calvinism in spite of the blood of Nassau and Mont-
morency. Colonel-General of Infantry under Henri II.,
Coligni rallied round him all the lesser nobles. He gave
a republican organization to La Rochelle, while the
Prince of Orange encouraged the Confederacy of the
Beggars (gueux) and laid the foundation of a more
durable republic.
The great Guise and his brother the Cardinal of
Lorraine” governed France under Francis II., the
husband of their niece Mary Stuart (1560). Guise
had been the idol of the people ever since he had
taken Calais in eight days from the English. But
he found the finances of France in utter disorder.
He was forced to take back the alienated estates and
to suppress the tax for the maintenance of 50,000
men, that is, to disarm the government at the moment
when the revolution burst out. Thousands of peti-
1 See the Memoirs of Gaspard de Tavannes for a comparison of
the advantages obtained from Henri II. by the rival Houses of Guise
and Montmorency, vol. xxiii. p. 4 IO.
I44 CA 7TA://7/8/AVE ZX/Z MAZZ) ZCZS. [I56I-
tioners thronged Fontainebleau, and the Cardinal of
Lorraine, not knowing what answer to give them, posted
up announcements that all who had not left the town in
twenty-four hours should be hanged. -
The Bourbons, Antoine King of Navarre, and Louis
Prince of Condé, who did not like seeing the manage-
ment of public affairs in the hands of two cadets of the
House of Lorraine, profited by the general discontent.
They united with the Calvinists, with Coligni, and the
English, who came to negotiate with them after nightfall,
at St. Denis. The Protestants marched under arms towards
Amboise to take possession of the King's person. But
they were denounced to the Guises, and massacred on the
road. Some of them who had been reserved for execution
in the presence of the King and the whole Court, dipped
their hands in the blood of their already beheaded
brothers, and raised them to Heaven, crying against those
who had betrayed them. This funereal scene appeared
to bring misfortune to all who witnessed it, to Francis II.,
to Mary Stuart, to Guise, and to the Chancellor Olivier,
who, though a Protestant at heart, had condemned them,
and who died of remorse."
On the accession of the little Charles IX., in 1561, the
sovereign power devolved upon his mother Catherine of
Medicis, but she was incapable of retaining possession
of it; she only withheld it for a time from the Guises, the
chiefs of the Catholic party, and during this interval the
government remained suspended between the two parties.
It was not for an Italian woman, with the old Borgian
policy, to hold the balance between the determined men
who despised her: she was not worthy of this age of
conviction, nor was the age itself worthy of the Chancellor
L'Hôpital,” that noble image of cool wisdom, but a
wisdom powerless against passion. Guise Once more, as
chief of his party, seized the power which he had lost.
The Court furnished him with a pretext, by issuing the
* Vielleville, vol. xxxii. p. 425.
* The Chancellor de L’Hôpital, “who carried the Fleur de Lys
in his heart.” See L’Etoile, vol. xlv. p. 57
-I572.] REZIGIOUS WARS IN FRANCE. I4.5
moderate decrees of St. Germain and of January, and by
admitting the Huguenot preachers to share in a solemn
discussion in the conference of Poissy. While the
Calvinists were rising at Nîmes, the Duke of Guise was
passing through Vassy in Champagne. His followers
quarrelled with some Huguenots, who were celebrating
divine service, and massacred them (1562). Civil war
began. “Casar,” said the Prince of Condé, “has crossed
Ž/he ſº?/52C07.”
At the outset of this terrible struggle neither party hesi-
tated to invoke foreign aid." The old political barriers
which separated nations fell before the interests of religion.
The Protestants asked their brothers in Germany for help,
they gave up Havre to the English, while the Guises
entered into a vast combination, formed, it was said, by
the King of Spain, to crush Geneva and Navarre, the
two strongholds of heresy, to exterminate the Calvinists in
France, and afterwards subdue the Lutherans in the
Empire.” The two parties assembled in every direction,
both animated by fierce enthusiasm. In these first armies
there were neither games of chance, nor blasphemy, nor
debauchery; united prayer took place morning and
evening.3 But hearts were just as hard under this holy
exterior. Montluc, Governor of Guyenne, travelled all
over his province with executioners. “One could
tell,” he says of himself, “which way he had passed,
for the signs might be seen on the trees and roads.”4
In Dauphiny, a Protestant, the Baron des Adrets, pre-
cipitated his prisoners from the top of a tower on to the
pikes of their enemies. -
At first Guise was victorious at Dreux; 9 he took
+ La Noue, vol. xxxiv. p. 123—I57. “The foreigners opened
their eyes in astonishment, and longed to enter France.”
* Memoirs of Condé, vol. iii. p. 2 IO.
* La Noue, vol. xxxiv. p. 125. “Most of the nobles determined on
coming to Paris, imagining that their patrons might require them
... with IO, 20, or 3O of their friends, bearing their arms con-
cealed, and lodging in inns or in the open fields, paying well.”
4 Montluc, vol. xx. -
* See in the Memoirs of Condé vol. iv., the accounts of the
S. H. L
146 TAFA TIAES OF AMBO/SE & ZOAVG90MAA U. [1555-
Condé, the Protestant general, prisoner, shared his bed
with him, and slept soundly by the side of his deadly
enemy. Orleans, the chief stronghold of the Hugue-
nots, was saved only by the assassination of the Duke
of Guise, who was wounded by a Protestant with a pistol-
shot from behind (1563).
The Queen-Mother having thus got rid of a master,
treated with the Protestants (at Amboise, 1563), and
found herself obliged by the indignation of the Catholics
to violate in succession every article in the treaty.
Condé and Coligni tried in vain to obtain possession of
the young King; they were defeated at St. Denis, but
were still powerful enough to dictate to the Court the
peace of Longjumeau (1568), which was nicknamed
“boiteuse et mal assise ’’ (lame and inconclusive); and
which confirmed that of Amboise. An attempt on the
part of the Court to seize the two chiefs led to a third
war. With the Chancellor L’Hôpital, the councils of the
King lost all moderation ; the Protestants made La
Pochelle their stronghold instead of Orleans; they taxed
themselves to pay their German auxiliaries who were
being brought to them across France by the Duke of
Zweibrücken and the Prince of Orange. In spite of their
defeat at Jarnac and at Montcontour (1569), notwith-
standing the death of Condé and the wound of Coligni,
the Court was forced to grant them a third peace (St.
Germain, 1570). They were to be free to exercise their
religion in two towns in every province ; they were
allowed to keep as fortresses La Rochelle, Montaubon,
Cognac, and La Charité. The young King of Navarre
was to marry the sister of Charles IX. (Marguerite de
Valois). Coligni was even allowed to hope for the com-
mand of the contingent which, it was said, the King was
to send to help the Huguenots in the Low Countries. The
Catholics were indignant with Such a humiliating treaty
after four victories; the Protestants themselves could
battle of Dreux, attributed to Coligni, p. 176, and to François de
Guise, p. 688.
•I572.] AAEA2S/2 COZTAOAVS OA' A' HAZZA ZZ. I47
scarcely credit it, and accepted it only froln lassitude," and
the far-seeing expected some frightful catastrophe to
ensue from this hostile peace.
In the Low Countries the situation was no less alarming.
Philip II. was incapable of understanding either liberty,
or the Northern character, or commercial interest. All his
subjects, Belgians and Batavians, turned against him ; the
Calvinists, who were persecuted by the Inquisition ; the
nobles, henceforth without the hope of re-establishing
their fortunes, which had been ruined in the service of
Charles V. ; the clergy, who dreaded the reforms ordered
by the Council of Trent, and the endowment of new
Bishoprics at their expense; and, lastly, all good citi-
zens, who beheld with indignation the introduction of
Spanish troops, and the destruction of the old liberties
of the country. At first the opposition of the Flamands
forced the King to recall his old minister, Cardinal
Granvelle (1563); the highest nobility formed the con-
federation of the Beggars (gueux), and hung round their
necks wooden bowls, as a sign of their union with the
people (1566). The Calvinists lifted up their heads in
every direction, printed more than 5,000 books against
the ancient Faith, and in the provinces of Brabant and
Flanders alone pillaged and desecrated 4oo churches.”
These last excesses caused the measure to overflow.
The cruel mind of Philip II. was already hatching the
most sinister projects; he determined to pursue and to
exterminate these terrible enemies whom he encountered
everywhere, even in his own family. He included in the
same detestation both the legal opposition of the Flemish
nobles, the iconoclast fury of the Calvinists, and the
obstinate attachment of the poor Moors to the religion,
language, and costume of their fathers. But he would
not act without the Sanction of the Church : he ob-
* “The Admiral said that he would rather die than fall again into
such confusion, and see such horrors committed before his eyes.”
La Noue, vol. xxxiv. p. 29O.
* Schiller, vol. i. p. 253, and the beginning of vol. ii.
L 2
I48 Aſ 7A/AE ZO J.W COUAV7A2ZZ.S. [I555-
tained from the Inquisition a secret condemnation of
his rebels in the Low Countries;" he even interro-
gated the most celebrated doctors, amongst others
Oraduy, professor of theology at the University of Alcala,
on the measures he ought to take with regard to the
Moors. Oraduy replied with the proverb “The fewer
enemies the better.”” The King, confirmed in his project
of vengeance, swore to give such an example in the
persons of his enemies as “should make the ears of
Christendom tingle, even though he should endanger
all his dominions.” & -
The sanguinary counsels which the court of Philip had
given to France through the Duke of Alva,4 he now
began to follow without any distinction of person, and
with an atrocious inflexibility. His son, Don Carlos,
talked of going to place himself at the head of the rebels
in the Low Countries; Philip caused the physicians to
hasten his death (1568). He established the Inquisition
in America (1570). He disarmed on the same day all
the Moors in Valencia, forbade those in Granada to use
the Arab language and costume, prohibited the bath, the
Zambras, the Zeilas, and even the green branches with
which these unhappy people covered their tombs; while
their children above the age of five were forced into
schools to learn the Castilian language and religion
(1563-8). At the same time the sanguinary Duke of
Alva marched from Italy into Flanders at the head of
an army as fanatical as Spain, and as corrupt as Italy.”
On hearing of this march the Swiss armed to protect
Geneva. One hundred thousand persons imitated the
1 Meteren, fol. 54,
* Ferrera, vol. ix. p. 525.
* Letter from the Spanish Envoy in Paris, addressed to the
Duchess of Parma, regent of the Low Countries, quoted by Schiller
in his 2nd vol. . -
* Interview at Bayonne, 1566. The Duke of Alva was heard to
say to the Queen-Mother, Catherine de' Medicis, that the head
of one salmon zvas word/, more than the heads of IOO frogs.
* See the details in Meteren, book iii. p. 52.
º
-1572.] AV SAEA/AW. I49
Prince of Orange, in flying from the Low Countries." On
his arrival the Duke of Alva established the Council of
Troubles—the Council of Blood as the Belgians called it
—which was partly composed of Spaniards (1567). All
who refused to abjure, all who had been present at the
Huguenot services—even though they were Catholics—all
who had tolerated them, were equally put to death. The
“gueux” or Beggars, as the leaders of the resistance to
Philip's despotism called themselves, were punished as
severely as the heretics; those even who had only solicited
the recall of Granvelle were sought out and punished.
Count Egmont, whose victories at St. Quentin and
Gravelines had thrown a lustre over the beginning of the
reign of Philip II., the people's idol and one of the most
loyal servants of the Crown, perished on the scaffold.
The efforts of the Protestants of Germany and France,
who furnished Louis of Nassau, a brother of the Prince of
Orange, with an army, were baffled by the Duke of Alva,
and to insult his victims the more he set up in his citadel
of Antwerp a bronze statue of himself, trampling slaves
under foot, and threatening the town.
The same barbarity and the same success attended
Philip in Spain; he seized with joy the opportunity given
by the revolt of the Moors to overpower that unhappy
people. While he turned his forces against foreigners
he would not leave any resistance behind him. The
rigour of oppression had restored some courage to the
Moors. A carmine merchant belonging to the family of
the Abencerrages combined with others; thick clouds of
Smoke rose up from mountain to mountain ; the red flag
was raised; even the women armed themselves with long
packing needles to pierce the bellies of the horses ;
everywhere the priests were massacred. But soon the
Spanish veterans arrived. The Moors received some
feeble assistance from Algiers, they implored in vain for
that of the Sultan Selim. Old men, children, and
* “We have done nothing,” said Granvelle, “since the Silent One
has been allowed to escape.”
I 53 ..ST. AAA’ ZTA/O ZO///? W. [I572-
supplicating women were massacred without mercy.
The King ordered that all above the age of ten who
remained should become slaves (1571)."
The weak and shameful government of France did not
choose to be behindhand. The exasperation of the
Catholics had reached its highest pitch, when on the
marriage of the King of Navarre to Marguerite of Valois,
they beheld amongst them those serious determined mer.
whom they had often met upon the battle field, and
whose presence here they look on as a personal disgrace.
They counted their own numbers, and began to throw
sinister glances on their enemies. Without giving the
Queen-Mother or her sons the credit of so deeply laid a
plan and such profound dissimulation, we may believe
that the possibility of such an event as followed had had
some weight in bringing about the peace of St. Germain.
Such a daring crime, however, would have been too much
for their resolution if they had not feared for an instant
the influence of Coligni over the young Charles IX.
The King's mother and his brother the Duke of Anjou,
whom he had begun to threaten, recovered by means
of intimidation their influence over a mind feeble,
Capricious, and verging on the brink of madness, and
made him resolve upon the massacre of the Huguenots,
as easily as he would have ordered that of the principal
Catholics. -
On the 24th of August, I 572, about two or three in
the morning, the bell of St. Germain l'Auxerrois tolled,
and young Henry of Guise, thinking to avenge the death
of his father, began the massacre by murdering Coligni.
Then there was but one cry heard, “IGill Kill!”. Most
of the Protestants were surprised in their beds. A
gentleman was pursued with halberds into the room and
even to the bedside of the Queen of Navarre. One
Catholic boasted of having ransomed from the “massa-
creurs’ more than thirty Huguenots in order to torture
them at leisure. Charles IX. sent for his brother-in-law
* Ferrera, vols. ix. and X. Cabrera, I619, p. 465–661, passima.
-I572.] ST, AEAA’ 7TA/OA. O/l/A2 W. I5 I
and the Prince of Condé, and said to them “The Mass
or death !” It is asserted that from one of the windows
of the Louvre he fired upon the Huguenots who were
flying on the opposite side of the river. On the next
day a thorn having flowered in the Cemetery of the
Innocents, this pretended miracle revived the spirit of
fanaticism, and the massacre was renewed. The King,
Queen-Mother, and the whole Court went to Monfaucon
to see the remains of the Admiral's body. L'Hôpital
must be added to the victims of St. Bartholomew ; when
he heard the execrable news he ordered his doors to be
opened to the “massacreurs;” and he survived it only six
months, during which he repeated constantly, “Excidat
illa, dies aevo l’”
* De Thou, vol. xxxvii. p. 233.
* Collection des Mémoires, vol. xxxvii., Marguerite de Valois,
49–59, and de Thou, 230–3 ; xxxv, Report of the Maréchal de
Tavannes to the King on the affairs of his kingdom after the peace
of St. Germain ; xlv. l'Etoile, 73–8; Ist vol. of the 2nd series.
Sully, 225–246; see especially in vol. xliv. of the first series of the
speech of King Henri III. to a person of honour and quality
(Miron, his physician), who was with his master at Cracow, on
the causes and motives of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, 496
— tº IO :—
5. Now, after having rested only two hours in the night, as soon
as the day began to break, the King, the Queen my mother, and I
went to the portico of the Louvre, joining the tennis-court, and a
room which looks into the lower courtyard, to see the beginning of the
execution. We had not been there long, and were considering the
event and consequences of this great undertaking, which, to tell the
truth, we had not until now thought much about, when we suddenly
heard a pistol-shot ; we knew not in what direction or if any one was
hurt. Well I know that the sound struck us all three so sharply that
it affected our senses and the calmness of our judgment. We were all
seized with terror and apprehension of the great disorders which
were then about to be committed, and to obviate them we sent Sud-
denly, and in all diligence, a messenger to M. de Guise to tell and
expressly command him on our part to return to his lodgings, and
that he should take care to do nothing against the Admiral ; this
one command would have stopped all the rest. But soon aſter the
messenger returned and told us that M. de Guise had answered him
that the command had come too late, that the Admiral was dead,
and that the execution was beginning all over the town. Therefore
we returned to our first intentions, and Soon afterwards we allowed
I52 S7. BARTHOLOMEW. [I572
One fact, as horrible as the massacre itself, was the
rejoicing which it excited. Medals were struck in its
honour at Rome, and Philip II. congratulated the
Court of France. He thought that Protestantism was
conquered. He associated the day of St. Bartholomew,
and the massacres ordered by the Duke of Alva, with the
glorious victory of Lepanto, in which the fleets of Spain,
of the Pope, and of Venice, commanded by Don John,
of Austria, the natural son of Charles V., had in the
preceding year annihilated the Ottoman fleet. The Turks
vanquished at sea, the Moors reduced, the heretics
exterminated in France and the Netherlands, seemed to
open to the King of Spain the road to that universal
monarchy to which his father had aspired in vain.
the undertaking and the execution to take its course. This, sir, is
the true history of the St. Bartholomew, of which the hearing hath
troubled me much this night.”
CHAPTER X.
CONTINUATION TO THE DEATH OF HENRI IV., I572–
IóIo. VIEW OF THE SITUATION OF THE BELLIGERENT
POWERS AFTER THE RIELIGIOUS WAR.
Peºff, of Charles ZX., I574—Insurrection of the Zozo Countries,
I572—Union of U/recht, 1579–7%e Zeague formed in Arance,
1577—Battle of Coutras, 1587—Barricades, 1588—Assassinatione
of Aſenry Z/Z., 1589—Accession of Zenry IV.-Deat/, of AZary
Stuart, I587 — Zhe Spazzis/. Armada, 1588 — Grea/yeess of
Alizabeth.
§ 1. To THE PEACE OF VERVINS-1572–1598.
“Ring Charles, hearing on the evening of the same day
and all the next, stories of the murders of old men,
women, and children which had been committed, drew
aside Master Ambroise Paré, his first surgeon, whom he
loved greatly, although he was of the Religion (that is a
Huguenot), and said to him : Ambroise, I know not
what has ailed me the last two or three days, but I feel
much shaken both in mind and body, just as if I had
a fever, for it seems every moment, whether I am waking
or sleeping, that those massacred bodies are lifting up to
me their hideous faces all covered with blood. I wish
that they had spared the helpless and innocent.” He
languished from that time, and eighteen months after-
wards was carried off by a bloody flux (1574).
* Sully, Ist vol. of the Collection of Memoirs, 2nd series, p. 245.
I54 7A/E PERSECUTIONS FRUZZZESS. [I572-
The crime had been fruitless. In many towns the
governors refused to carry it into effect. The Calvinists
threw themselves into La Rochelle, Sancerre and other
fortresses in the South, and defended themselves
desperately. The horror inspired by the St. Bartholomew
gave them auxiliaries by creating among the Catholics
a moderate party, the “Politiques” as they were called.
The new king, Henri III., who came back from Poland
to succeed his brother was known as one of the authors
of the massacre. His own brother, the Duke of Alençon,
escaped from Court with the young King of Navarre, and
thus united the Politiques and the Calvinists.
In the Netherlands the tyranny of the Duke of Alva
had met with no better success. As long as he was
satisfied with setting up scaffolds the people were
quiet, and saw the heads of the most illustrious nobles
fall without repugnance. There was but one way of
inspiring with equal disgust the Catholics and the Pro-
testants, the nobles and the citizens, the Netherlanders
of north and south, and this was the establishment of
vexatious taxes, and leaving the troops unpaid to prey
upon the inhabitants. The Duke of Alva did both.
The tithe tax, which was levied on provisions, caused
the agents of Spanish taxation to interfere in the most
petty Sales, in the market and in the shops. Innumer-
able fines and continual vexations irritated the whole
population. While the shops were being closed and the
Duke of Alva was hanging the shopkeepers for closing
them, the sea-beggars, such was the name given to the
fugitives who lived by piracy, driven from the ports of
England by the remonstrances of Philip II., took posses-
sion of the fortress of Brill in Holland (1572), and opened
the war in that country, which is intersected by arms of
the sea, by rivers and Canals. Many towns drove out
the Spaniards. Perhaps there might yet have been some
means of pacification, but the Duke of Alva announced
to the first towns which surrendered that they were to
hope neither for good faith nor clemency. At Rotter-
dam, Mechlin, Zutphen, and Naerden capitulations were
-1610.] IMSURRECTION IN THE ZOW COUNTRIES. 155
violated and the inhabitants massacred. Haarlem, know-
ing what to expect, broke the sea-dykes, and sent ten
Spanish heads to pay their tithes. After a memorable
resistance, the town obtained forgiveness, and the Duke
of Alva included the sick and wounded in the general
massacre. Even the Spanish soldiers had some remorse
for this want of faith, and to expiate it they devoted part
of the spoil to building a house for the Jesuits at Brussels.
|Under the successors of the Duke of Alva, the license
of the Spanish troops who pillaged Antwerp forced the
Walloon provinces of the Southern Netherlands to rise
up in conjunction with those of the north (1576); but
this alliance could not last. The revolution acquired
Solid strength and concentration in the north by means
of the Union of Utrecht, which was the foundation of
the Republic of the United Provinces (1579). The
intolerance of the Protestants drove the southern pro-
vinces back under the yoke of Spain. The population
of the Northern Netherlands, which was thoroughly
Protestant and German both in character and language,
and entirely composed of citizens addicted to maritime
commerce, attracted all the analogous elements in the
Southern provinces; the Spaniards might recover the
towns and territory of the Southern Netherlands, but
the most industrious portion of the people escaped
them.
The insurgents offered successively to submit to the
German branch of the House of Austria, to France, and
to England. The Archduke Matthias gave them no
assistance. Don John, the brother and general of Philip
II., the Duke of Anjou, brother of Henri III., Leicester,
Elizabeth's favourite, one after the other, wanted to be
sovereigns of the Low Countries, and proved them.
selves to be all equally perfidious (1577, 1582, 1587).
At length the United Provinces, considered as a prey
by all to whom they applied, determined, as they
could find no king, to remain a republic. The genius
of this new-born state was the Prince of Orange, who
abandoning the southern provinces to the invincible
I 56 AA/ZZZP ZZ. SZZZZS AOATUGAZ. [I572-
Duke of Parma, maintained the struggle by statesman-
ship, until a fanatic, armed by Spain, assassinated him
in 1584. -
While Philip was losing half of the Netherlands he
was gaining Portugal. The young king Don Sebastian
had thrown himself on the coast of Africa with Io, ooo
men, in the vain hope of conquering it and penetrating
to India. In the time of the Crusades he would have
been a hero ; in the 16th century he was only an adven-
turer. His uncle, Cardinal Don Henry, who succeeded
him, died soon afterwards, and Philip II. seized Portugal
in the teeth of France and of the Portuguese themselves
(1580).
In France everything was playing into his hands.
The vacillation of Henri III. and that of the Duke of
Alençon, who placed himself at the head of the Protes-
tants in France and afterwards of the Low Countries,
had decided the Catholic party on seeking for a head
outside of the royal family. By the treaty of 1576 the
King granted to the Calvinists the liberty of exercising
their religion throughout the kingdom with the excep-
tion of Paris; he allowed them to share a chamber
with the Catholics in every parliament and gave them
several fortified towns (Angoûlème, Niort, La Charité,
Bourges, Saumur, and Mezières) in which they might
keep a garrison paid by the King. This treaty brought
about the formation of the League (1577). Its members
swore to defend religion, to restore to the provinces the
same rights, franchises, and liberties which f/hey enjoyed in
the #7me of CZozis, to take measures against all who
might persecute the League without a single exception, that
so they might render prompt obedience and faithful service
to the chief z0/hom they should nominate.” The King thought
that he should be master of the association by appoint-
ing himself its chief. He began to suspect the designs
of the Duke of Guise ; in the papers of a lawyer who
died at Lyons on his way from Rome, a document had
* First vol. of the Collection of Memoirs, 2nd series, p. 66.
-I6 IO.] 7A/AE CA 7TA:/O Z/C ZAZA GOA. I57
been found which said that the descendants of Hugh
Capet had reigned till then illegitimately, and by means
of an usurpation which was accursed of God; and that
the throne belonged to the Princes of Lorraine, of whom
the Guises were a part, as the real posterity of Charle-
magne. The death of the King's brother encouraged
these pretensions (1584). Henri III. having no children
and the majority of the Catholics rejecting the sove-
reignty of the heretical prince on whom the crown would
devolve at his death the Duke of Guise and the King of
Spain, Henri's brother-in-law, united to dethrone the
Ring, leaving the distribution of the spoil a future subject
of dispute. It was only too easy for them to make him
detested. The reverses of his armies were attributed to
treachery ; the feeble prince was at the same time beaten
by the Protestants and accused by the Catholics. The
victory of Coutras, in which the King of Navarre dis-
tinguished himself by his valour and by his clemency to
the vanquished (1587) put the finishing stroke to the
irritation of the Catholics. While the League was being
organised in the capital, Henri III. divided between
the cares of a monastic devotion and the excesses of a
disgusting debauchery, exhibited to the whole of Paris
his scandalous prodigality and his childish tastes. He
spent 1,200,ooo francs on the marriage of his favourite
Joyeuse, and had not money enough to pay a messenger
to send to the Duke of Guise a letter on which the
safety of his kingdom depended. He passed his time
in arranging his Queen's ruff and curling his own hair.
He caused himself to be nominated prior of the brother-
hood of White Penitents. “In the beginning of November
the King posted on all the churches of Paris, and on the
oratories, otherwise called the ‘paradis, whither he went
every day to distribute alms and to pray with great
devoutness, an announcement that he was about to leave
off the shirts with large plaits in which he had formerly
been so curious, in order to adopt those with the collar
turned back in the Italian fashion. He generally went
in a coach with the Queen, his wife, all over the streets
I 58 AA’OGA2/2.SS OA' ZTEX/Z ZAZA GOAZ. [I572-
of Paris, taking with him little lapdogs, and having the
grammar read to him while he learnt the declensions.”
In this way the crisis became imminent in France
and throughout the west (1585–1588). It seemed likely
to be favourable to Spain ; the seizure of Antwerp by
the Prince of Parma, the most memorable feat of arms
in the 16th century, completed the reduction of the
Southern Netherlands (1585). The King of France was
obliged to surrender at discretion to the Guises in the
same year and the League took Paris for its centre, an
immense town in which religious fanaticism was re-
inforced by democratic fanaticism (1588). But the King
of Navarre, against every expectation, resisted the whole
united force of the Catholics (1586–7). Elizabeth gave
an army to the United Provinces (1585), and money to
the King of Navarre (1585); she baffled every conspiracy
(1584–5–6), and struck at Spain and the Guises in the
person of Mary Stuart.
For a long time Elizabeth had replied to the solicita-
tions of her councillors by saying “Can / Ai// the bird
which has taken refuge in my bosom ?” She had accepted
the embroideries and the dresses from Paris which her
prisoner presented to her. But the growing irritation
caused by the great European struggle, the fears con-
stantly impressed upon Elizabeth for her own life, the
mysterious power of the Jesuit Parsons, who from the
Continent managed to stir up England to revolt, pushed
the Queen to the last extremities.
In spite of the intervention of the Kings of France and
Scotland, Mary was condemned to death by a commis-
sion, as guilty of having conspired with foreigners to in-
vade England and compass the death of Elizabeth. A
room was hung with black in Fotheringay Castle; the
Queen of Scots appeared at the block in her richest
garments; she consoled her weeping servants, protested
her innocence, and pardoned her enemies. Elizabeth
aggravated the horror of this cruel resolution by affected
regrets and hypocritical denials (1587).
* L'Etoile, vol. xlv. p. 123.
-16IO.] TA//2 ZO UKAE OF GOVZ.S.A. I59.
The death of Mary was felt nowhere more than in
France. But who was there to avenge it? Her brother-
in-law Henri III. was falling from the throne, her
cousin Henri of Guise was hoping to reach it. “A”ance
zwas infatuated zyż żał man, it would be too ſittle to say
she Zºas in Moze zwith him.” Since his victories over the
German troops who crossed the border as allies of the
Ring of Navarre, the people always called him f/he new
Gideon, the new Maccabacus, the nobles named him.
“notre grand” (our great chief). He had only to come
to Paris to be her master ; the King forbade him and
still he came ; all the town ran to meet him, crying
“Along live the Duke of Guise / Hosanna ſilio ZXavid /*
He braved the King in his palace of the Louvre, at the
head of 400 noblemen. From that time the house of
Lorraine thought its cause was gained. The King was
to be thrown into a convent ; and the Duchess of Mont-
pensier, sister of the Duke of Guise, exhibited the golden
scissors with which she intended to cut off the hair of
the “Valois.” Everywhere the people raised barricades,
disarmed the Swiss whom the King had just called into
Paris, and would have massacred them all had it not
been for the Duke. A moment’s irresolution madé him
lose everything. While he hesitated to attack the Ilouvre
the old Catherine of Medicis amused him by parleyings
and the King escaped to Chartres. In vain Guise
attempted to unite with the parliament. “It is a great
pity, sir,” said the President, Achille de Harlai, to him,
“when the valet turns off the master; for the rest my
soul belongs to God, my heart to the King, even if my
body be in the power of the wicked.”
The King, free but abandoned by everyone, was
obliged to yield ; he approved of all that had been done,
gave up several towns to the Duke, named him Gene-
ralissimo of the Kingdom, and convened the States-
General at Blois. The Duke of Guise wanted a higher
title, he poured so many insults upon the King that he
inspired the most timid of men with a bold resolution,
that of assassination.
36O AZS A SSASS/AVA 7TWOAV [I572-
“On Thursday, December 22nd, 1588, the Duke of
Guise on sitting down to dinner found under his napkin
a note on which was written “Beware they are on the
point of playing you a scurvy trick.’ After reading it he
wrote at the bottom ; he said “They dare not,’ and threw
it under the table. ‘This,” he said, ‘is the ninth to-
day.” In spite of these warnings, he persisted in attend-
ing the council; and as he was crossing the room in
which sat the forty-five gentlemen in 20aiting he was
murdered.” +
1 “On the 23rd, at 4 a.m., the King asked his valet-de-chambre
for the keys of the little cells which he had prepared for the Capu-
cines. He went down and from time to time looked himself into
his room to see if the forty-five had arrived, and as théy came he
sent them up and locked them in . . . . . Soon aſter the Duke of
Guise was seated at the council, and said, ‘I am cold, I feel ill, let
a fire be lighted ;’ and addressing himself to M. de Morſontaine,
treasurer of the privy purse, said “Monsieur de Morſontaine, I beg
of you to tell M. de Saint-Prix, the King's first valet-de-chambre,
that I beg of him to give me some Damask raisins or some conserve
of roses.’ The Duke put the sweetmeats into his box and threw
the remainder upon the table. “Gentlemen,” said he, “does any-
body wish for them P' and he rose. But when he was only two
steps from the door of the old closet, he took his beard in his right
hand, and looked round to see who was following ; his arm was
suddenly seized by the elder Sieur de Montséry, who was near the
mantelpiece, and who believing that the Duke had fallen back in
the attitude of defence, struck him himself at the same time in the
breast with his dagger, exclaiming, ‘Ah ! traitor, thou shalt die.’
And at the same moment the Sieur des Effrenets seized him by the
legs, and the Sieur de Saint-Malimes stabbed him in the back near
the throat, and the Sieur de Loignac with his sword in the loins.
And although the Duke's Sword was entangled in his cloak and his
legs seized, he was able (so powerful was he) to drag them from one
end, of the room to the other to the foot of the King's bed, where he
ſell. . . The King was in his closet, and asking them if they had
finished, came out and kicked the poor corpse in the face just as the
Duke of Guise had treated the late admiral. Strange to say, that
when the King had looked at him a little while, he said aloud,
& Good God how tall he is . He seems much taller dead than
alive 1
“The Sieur de Beaulieu perceiving that the body stirred a little,
said, ‘Sir, as it seems that you still have some flicker of life left,
ask forgiveness of God and the King.” Then not being able to
speak, the Duke gave a deep hoarse sigh and yielded up the ghost,
-1588.] 777A2 SAPAAVYSAſ A ACA/AZOA. I6 I
During this tragedy, which favoured rather than im-
peded the designs of Spain, Philip II. undertook the
conquest of England and the task of avenging Mary
Stuart. On the 3rd of June, I 588, the most formidable
armament that had ever terrified Christendom was seen
issuing from the mouth of the Tagus : with 135 vessels of
a size till then unknown, 8,000 sailors, 19,000 soldiers,
the flower of the Spanish nobility, and Lope de Vega on
board to sing its victories. The Spaniards, intoxicated
with the sight, bestowed on the fleet the name of the
“Invincible Armada.” It was to join the Prince of
Parma in the Netherlands and protect the passage of his
32,000 veteran troops. The forest of Waes, in Flanders,
had been turned into transports for them. In England
the alarm was extreme. Instruments of torture similar
to those which were said to be carried on board the
Spanish fleet by the Inquisitors were exhibited at the
doors of the churches. The Queen appeared on horse-
back before her troops at Tilbury, and promised to die
for her people. But the strength of England lay in her
fleet. The greatest sailors of the age, Drake, Hawkins,
Frobisher were serving under Admiral Howard. The
little English ships harassed the Spanish fleet, which
had already suffered much from the elements; it was
thrown into disorder by their fire-ships, while the Prince
of Parma was not able to sail out of the port of Flanders;
and the remains of this formidable Armada, driven by
and was covered with a grey mantle and a straw cross laid on the
top. For two hours he was left in this fashion, and then was given
into the hands of the Sieur de Richelieu, Provost Marshal of France,
who, by command of the King, had the body burned by the ex-
ecutioner in the first chamber at the bottom, on the right hand as
you enter the castle, and aſterwards the ashes thrown into the river.”
Accounts of the deaths of M.M. the Duke and the Cardinal de
Guise, by the Sieur Miron, physician of the King Henri III., 45th
vol. of the Collection of Memoirs ; l'Etoile, same vol. ; Palma
Cayet, xxxviii.; and Sully, vol. i. p. IOO–6.
On the Barricades, see the same Memoirs, and especially the
procès verbal of Nicolas Poulain, Provost Lieutenant of the Isle of
France, vol. xv. -
S.H.] M
I62 JºAVD OF EXIZABETH'S RE/G/W. [1603–
storms along the coast of Scotland and Ireland, returned
to hide themselves in the harbours of Spain.
The remainder of Elizabeth's life was a continued
triumph : she baffled the attempts of Philip II. on
Ireland, and followed up her victories on all seas. The
enthusiasm of Europe, excited by so much success, took
the most flattering of all forms for a woman, that of an
ingenious gallantry. The Queen's age (55) was forgotten.
Henri IV. declared to the English ambassador that he
thought her handsomer than Gabrielle d’Estrées. Shake-
speare spoke of her as the “fair Vestal, throned in the
Wes: ;” but no homage was more grateful to her than
that of the gifted Walter Raleigh and the young and
brilliant Earl of Essex. The former made his fortune by
throwing his mantle, the most costly which he then
possessed, under the feet of the Queen, who was stepping
over a dirty road; while Essex captivated her by his
heroism. In spite of her orders he escaped from the Court
to take part in the Cadiz expedition, he was the first to
land, and if he had been listened to, Cadiz might,
perhaps, have remained in the possession of England.
His ingratitude and tragical end were the only reverses
which saddened the last days of Elizabeth.
§ II. To THE DEATH OF HENRI IV. VIEW OF THE
SITUATION OF THE BELLIGERENTS.
Mayenze—Battle of Argates—Battle of Zvºy, I 590—States-Generaž
at Paris, I593—4%juration and absolution of Henry ZV., I593-5—
Adict of AWazates—Peace of Verzins, 1598–Zxhazzstion of Spain.
7%e Moors driven from Valencia, 1609—Administration of Henry
IV.-Riches of France—Assassination of Henry Z.V., 16Io.
Philip II., repulsed by the Netherlands and England,
turned all his forces against France. The brother of
Guise, the Duc de Mayenne, possessed of equal talent,
but less popular, had not sufficient influence to balance
the gold and intrigues of Spain.
As soon as the news of the death of Guise reached
-- I 590. AZEAVA’A Z V. I63
Paris, the people put on mourning, and the preachers
thundered ; the churches were hung with black, and on
the altars were placed waxen images of the King, which
were pierced with needles. Mayenne was created Chief
of the League ; the States placed the Government in the
hands of forty persons. Bussi-Leclerc, who from a
fencing-master had become Governor of the Bastille,
imprisoned there half the parliament. Henri III. had no
other resource than to throw himself into the arms of
the King of Navarre; and they besieged Paris together.
They were encamping at St. Cloud, when a young monk
named Clement struck Henri III. with a knife in the
bowels. The Duchess of Montpensier, sister of the
Duke of Guise, who was expecting this news on the
road, was the first to carry it, almost distracted with joy,
to Paris.
The image of Clement was exhibited in the churches
for adoration ; his mother, a poor peasant from Burgundy,
came to Paris, and a crowd went out to meet her, crying,
“Blessed is the womb that bore thee and the paps which
thou hast sucked ” (1589). • .
Henri IV. abandoned for the most part by the Catholics,
was soon severely pressed by Mayenne, who made sure
of bringing him with his hands and feet bound into Paris.
Already windows were hired to see him pass. But
Mayenne had to do with an adversary who never slept,
and “who wore out,” as the Prince of Parma said, “more
boots than slippers.”* He awaited Mayenne near Arques,
in Normandy, and held 30,000 men at bay with 3,000.
Then Henri, strengthened by a crowd of nobles, came
in his turn to attack Paris, and pillaged the Faubourg St.
Germain. In the following year (1590) he was again
victorious at Ivry on the Eure over Mayenne and the
Spaniards. His address to his soldiers before the battle
is well known. “My friends, if you share my fortunes,
I also share yours. I will either conquer or die. I beg
* Satire Ménippée, 1712, p. 49. The Duke of Mayenne was
fat, and a heavy sleeper. -
M 2
I64 A)/SSO/ O TVOAV OA' TH/AE ZAZA GUAE. [I593-
of you to keep well in line, and if you should lose your
standards rally round my white plume, you will always
find it in the path of honour and victory !” (Péréfixe).
From Ivry he came to blockade Paris. That unhappy
town, a prey to the violence of the “Sixteen " (faction
des Seize), and the tyranny of the Spanish Soldiers, was
reduced by famine to the last extremity; bread was
made of dead men's bones, mothers ate their children.
The Parisians, oppressed by their defenders, found mercy
only in the Prince who was besieging them. He
allowed a great many useless mouths to pass out. “Must
I then feed them P” said he. “Paris must not become
a graveyard ; I do not want to reign over the dead. I
am like like the real mother in Solomon's judgment. I
had rather never possess Paris at all than have her torm
in pieces.” Paris was not delivered until the arrival of
the Prince of Parma, whose skilful manoeuvres forced
Henri IV. to raise the siege and who then fell back on
the Netherlands.
The party of the League, however, grew weaker every
day. It had been bound together by hatred of the King; it
prepared its own dissolution by assassinating Henri III. It
was divided into two principal factions: that of the Guises,
supported chiefly by the nobles and the Parliament, and
that of Spain, sustained by obscure demagogues. The
latter, concentrated in the larger towns, and without
military Spirit, distinguished itself by persecuting the
magistrates (1589-91); Mayenne repressed it, but at the
same time deprived the League of its democratic energy.
The Guises, however, twice beaten, twice blockaded in
Paris, could not maintain their position without the help
of the very Spaniards, whose agents they proscribed.
Dissensions burst out at the meeting of the States-
General in Paris (1593), where the pretensions of Philip
II, were foiled by Mayenne, but not to his own advantage.
The League, virtually dissolved from this moment, lost
its ground of existence by the abjuration and especially
by the absolution of Henri IV. (1593-95), and its
principal stronghold by the entry of the King into the
-I598.] AZZO/C 7" OA' AWAAV7'E.S. * I65
capital (1594). He forgave everybody, and on the same
evening that he entered Paris, played at cards with
Madame de Montpensier. Henceforth the League was
simply ridiculous, and the Satire Ménippée gave it the
last blow. Henri redeemed his kingdom bit by bit from
the hands of the nobles, who were dividing it among
themselves. - -
In 1595 civil war made way for foreign war. The
Ring turned the military ardour of the nation against
Spain. In the memorable year 1598, Philip II. at length
gave way ; all his projects had failed, his resources were
exhausted, his fleet almost destroyed. He renounced his
pretensions on France by the Peace of Vervins, which
he concluded with Henry (2nd May), and transferred the
Netherlands to his daughter (6th May). Elizabeth and
the United Provinces were alarmed at the Peace of
Vervins, and drew closer together ; but Henri IV. had
perceived with more Sagacity that there was nothing
more to fear from Philip II., who died on the 13th of
September. The King of France terminated his internal
troubles at the same time as his foreign wars, by granting
religious toleration and political guarantees to the Pro-
testants (Edict of Nantes, April).
The situation of the belligerent powers after these long
wars presented a striking contrast. The master of the two
Indies was ruined. The exhaustion of Spain only increased
under the reign of the Cardinal Duke of Lerma and the
Duke of Olivarès, favourites of Philip III. and Philip IV.
As Spain no longer produced merchandize to exchange
for the precious metals of America, she was no longer
enriched by them. Of all America's importations a
twentieth part was the most that was manufactured in
Spain. At Seville the 1,600 looms which manufactured
wool and silk in 1536 were reduced in 162 I to 4oo. In
one and the same year (1621) Spain drove away a million
of industrious subjects (the Moors from Valencia), and
was forced to grant a truce of twelve years to the United
Provinces.
On the other hand, France, England, and the United
I66 WAA’ ZAV ZAZZ ZO W COO/WZT/C/AE.S. [I595-
|Provinces had grown rapidly in population, wealth, and
importance,
From 1595 Philip II., by closing the port of Lisbon
against the Dutch, obliged them to obtain Eastern com-
modities from India, and to found there an empire on
the ruins of the Portuguese. The Republic was troubled
within by the quarrels of the Stadtholder and of the
Syndic (Maurice of Orange and Barneveldt), by the
struggle between military power and civil liberty, be-
tween the war and the peace parties (Gomarists and
Armenians), but the necessity for national defence
assured the victory to the former of the two parties.
The victory cost the venerable Barneveldt his life; he
was beheaded at 70 years of age (1619).
After the expiration of the twelve years' truce the war
became no longer a civil war, but a regular strategical
war, a school for all the soldiers in Europe. The skill of
the Spanish general, the celebrated Spinola, was balanced
by that of Prince Frederick Henry, the brother and suc-
cessor of Maurice.
France, however, rose from her ruins under Henri IV.
In spite of the foibles of this great King, in spite even
of the blunders, which an attentive examination may dis-
cover, in his reign, he nevertheless deserved the title to
which he aspired, that of Restorer of France.” “He
i “If I wanted to gain the title of orator,” he said in the As-
sembly of Notables at Rouen, “I should have learnt by heart some
fine harangue, and have gravely pronounced it ; but, gentlemen, my
desires are raised to much more glorious titles, those of Liberator
and Restorer of this State ; as a means to which I have assembled
you. You know, to your Sorrow, as I do to mine, that when God
called me to this throne, I found France not only, as one may say,
in ruins but almost lost to Frenchmen. By the Divine grace, by
prayer, by the good counsels of such of my subjects as do not follow
the profession of arms ; by the Swords of my brave and generous
nobles (among whom, faith of a gentleman, I do not consider my
Princes as the most distinguished); by my own struggles and en-
deavours, I have saved her from being utterly lost. Let us save her
in this hour of ruin; participate, O my subjects a second time
with me in this glorious work as you did the first time. I have not
called you together, as my predecessors did, that you might approve
-I640.] A ZO/l/ZAV/STRA TVOAW OF AZIAEAVA2Z ZTV. 167
made every endeavour to embellish and render prosperous
the kingdom he had conquered ; he discharged super-
fluous troops; in the finances Order succeeded to the
most odious system of pillage; he gradually paid all the
debts of the Crown, without grinding the people. To this
day the peasants repeat his saying that he ‘wanted each
of his subjects to have a fowl in the pot every Sunday,’
a paternal sentiment, trivially expressed. It was very ad-
mirable that, in spite of plunder and exhaustion, he was
able in less than fifteen years to diminish the burden of
the capitation-tax by four millions of francs; that all other
taxes were diminished by one-half; and that he paid
debts to the amount of a hundred millions of francs. He
bought land to the value of 50,000,ooof.; all the fortresses
were repaired, the magazines and arsenals filled, the high
roads kept up : to the eternal glory of Sully and of the
King who dared to choose a soldier to re-establish the
finances of the empire, and who worked with his minister.
“Justice was reformed, and, what was much more diffi-
cult, the two religions lived peaceably side by side, at
least in appearance. Agriculture was encouraged. ‘Zł/-
/age and Žasſurage,’ said Sully, ‘ these are the £zwo £afts
which feed France; the real mines and treasures of Peru.’
Commerce and art, although less encouraged by Sully,
were still held in honour; the manufacture of gold and
silver stuffs enriched Lyons and France. Henri estab-
lished manufactories of high warp tapestry in wool and
silk, enriched with gold; small mirrors in the Venetian
taste became an article of manufacture. To him we
owe the introduction of silkworms, and the cultivation
of mulberry-trees, in spite of the remonstrance of Sully.
Henri IV. dug the canal of Briare, which unites the
my intentions; I have assembled you to receive your counsels, to
believe in them, and to follow them—in short, to put myself under
your guardianship ; a desire which is seldom experienced by kings,
grey-beards, or by conquerors. But the violent love I feel for my
people, the extreme desire that I have to add two grand titles to
that of king, makes everything easy and honourable to me. My
Chancellor will explain my wishes to you in detail.”
I68 REZGN OF HEAVAZ /V [I598-
Seine and the Loire. Paris was enlarged and embel-
lished; he formed the Place Royale, and restored the
bridges. The Faubourg St. Germain was not joined to
the town, it was not paved; the King undertook every-
thing. Under him was constructed the fine bridge, on
which the people still contemplate his statue with tender-
ness. St. Germain, Monceaux, Fontainebleaux, and
especially the Louvre, were enlarged and almost entirely
re-built. He gave apartments in the Louvre, under the
long gallery, which was his own work, to artists of every
kind, whom he encouraged as much by his presence as
by rewards. Finally, he was the real founder of the
Bibliothèque Royale. When Don Pedro of Toledo was
sent by Philip III. as ambassador to Henri IV., he could
scarcely recognise the town which he had formerly seen so
wretched and so languishing. ‘It is that the father was
absent at that time,’ said Henri; ‘now that he has the
charge of his children, the family prospers.’” (Voltaire.)
France had become the arbiter of Europe. Thanks
to her powerful intervention, the Pope and Venice were
reconciled (1607); Spain and the United Provinces at
length ceased their long struggle (truce of 1609). Henri
IV. was preparing to humiliate the House of Austria ;
if we may believe his minister, he meditated the foun-
dation of perpetual peace and the substitution of a
System of international law for the system of mere brute
force which still governs the relations of the nations of
Europe. All was ready, a numerous army, provisions of
all kinds, the most formidable artillery in the world, and
42 millions in the cellars of the Bastille. The stroke of
a dagger Saved the house of Austria. The nation sus-
pected the Emperor, the King of Spain, the Queen of
France, the Duke of Epernon, the Jesuits—all profited
by the crime; but it is sufficiently explained by the
fanaticism which pursued throughout his reign a prince
who was always suspected of being a Protestant at heart,
and of wishing to make his religion triumphant in Europe.
His assassination had been attempted seventeen times
before Ravaillac succeeded in accomplishing it.
-16IO.] A.S.S.A.S.S/AWA 7TWOAV OA' A'ZAVRA / W. I69
“On Friday, the 14th of May, 16 ro, sad and fatal day
for France, the King, about ten in the morning, went to
attend mass at the Feuillants; on his return he retired to
his closet, where the Duke of Vendôme, his natural son,
whom he greatly loved, came to tell him that one La
Brosse, an astrologer, had informed him that the constel-
lation under which his Majesty was born threatened him
that day with a great danger, therefore, he warned him to be
on his guard. To which the King replied, laughing, to M. de
Vendôme, “La Brosse is an old slyboots, who wants your
money, and you are a young fool to believe him. Our
days are numbered by God.’ And on this the Duke of
Vendôme went to warn the Queen, who entreated the
King not to leave the Louvre that day. To whom he
made the same answer.
“After dinner the King lay down on his bed to rest, but
not being able to sleep he rose, full of anxious, melancholy
thoughts, and after walking about his room for some time
threw himself once more upon his bed. But again not
being able to sleep he got up and asked the officer of the
guard what o'clock it was. The officer answered that it
was 4 o'clock, and said, “Sire, I see that your Majesty is
sad and anxious ; it would be better to take some air, it
would raise your spirits.’ ‘That is well said,' replied the
King. ‘ Order my carriage to be got ready, I will drive
to the Arsenal, to see the Duke of Sully, who is unwell,
and who is to take the bath to-day.”
“As soon as the carriage was ready he left the Louvre,
accompanied by the Duke of Montbazon and the Duke
of Epernon, Marshal Lavardin, Roquelaure, La Force,
Mirabeau, and Liancourt, his first equerry. At the same
time he charged the Sieur de Vitry, Captain of his Guard,
to go to the palace and hasten the preparations which
were being made for the entry of the Queen; and ordered
his guards to remain at the Louvre. So that the King
was followed only by a small number of gentlemen on
horseback, and some valets on foot. Unfortunately both
doors of the carriage were open, because the weather was
fine, and the King wished to see the preparations which
I7O ASSASSINATION OF HENRI IV. [16IO.
were being made in the town. His carriage in passing
from the Rue St. Honoré into the Rue de la Ferronnerie,
found on one side a cart laden with wine and on the
other a cart laden with hay, which caused great embarrass-
ment; he was forced to stop, because the street is very
narrow there, on account of the shops, which are built
against the wall of the cemetery of St. Innocent.
“During this delay a great many of the valets on foot
passed through the cemetery, that they might run more
easily and reach the end of the street before the King's
carriage. Of the only two valets who remained beside
the carriage, one had run forward to make way, and the
other was stooping to fasten his garter, when a wretch
come out of hell, called François Ravaillac, a native of
Angoulême, who had had time during the confusion to
notice on which side was the King, got upon the wheel of
the carriage, and with a knife sharpened on both sides
dealt him a blow between the second and third ribs, a
little above the heart, which caused the King to cry, ‘I
am wounded !’ But the wretch, undaunted, began again,
and struck him a second time in the heart, of which the
Ring died, without having time to do more than fetch a
deep sigh. This second blow was followed by a third,
so much did this parricide hate his King, but this reached
only the sleeve of the Duke of Montbazon.
“Strange to say, not one of the gentlemen in the coach
saw the King struck; and if this infernal monster had
thrown away his knife no one would have known who
had done it. But he remained on the spot, as if to
exhibit himself, and to boast of this most horrible
assassination.””
* L’Etoile, vol. xlviii. p. 447—450.
CHAPTER XI.
THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION, 1603–1649."
Şames Z., 1603—Charles Z., 1625—War zvith France, 1627—Govern-
ment without Parliament, 1628–40–7%rial of Hampden, 1636—
Covenant of Scotland, 1638—Zong Parliament, 1641—Civil War,
I642—Charles surrenders to the Scots, 1645–7%rial of Charles and
abolition of Monarchy, 1649.
WHEN James I. Succeeded to Elizabeth, the long reign
of that princess had exhausted the enthusiasm and the
obedience of the nation. The character of the new
Ring was not calculated to efface this impression. Eng-
land beheld with a jealous eye a Scottish King, surrounded
by Scotchmen, belonging, through his mother, to the
House of Guise; more versed in theology than in politics,”
and turning pale at the sight of a sword. Everything
about him was displeasing to the English ; his imprudent
declaration in favour of the Divine Right of Kings, his
project for the union of England and Scotland, and his
tolerance towards the Catholics, who conspired against
him (Gunpowder Plot, 1605). On the other hand, Scot-
land was not better pleased with his attempt to impose
upon her the Anglican form of worship. James I., in the
* If this chapter has any interest, it owes it in a great measure to
the works of Guizot and Villemain, from which I have extracted
and often copied. I have ſound also valuable information in
M. Mazure's account, although the subject of his book is in general
; to that of this chapter. (History of the Revolution of
1688.) *.
2 Henri IV. called him “Maître Jacques.”
º
172 }AMES Y. [I603-
hands of his favourites, made himself by his prodigality
dependent on the Parliament, which at the same time he
irritated by the contrast between his weakness and pre-
tensions.
Elizabeth's glory had consisted in raising England in
her own estimation; the misfortune of the Stuarts lay in
humiliating her. James gave up the part which his pre-
decessor had played of the enemy of Spain and Chief
of the Protestants in Europe. He did not declare war
with Spain until 1625, and then in spite of his own wishes.
He married his son to a Catholic princess (Henrietta of
France).
On the accession of Charles I. (1625), the King and the
people did not themselves know how strange they already
were to each other. While the monarchical power
triumphed on the continent, the Commons had acquired
an importance in England which was irreconcilable with
the ancient form of government. The abasement of
the nobles under the Tudors, the division of property,
the sale of ecclesiastical estates, had enriched and em-
boldened the mass of the people by teaching them their
own strength. They sought for political guarantees. The
institutions which could afford them already existed, they
had been respected by the Tudors, who used them as
instruments of their own despotism. But a mainspring
was wanted as powerful as religion to restore life to these
institutions. The Presbyterian party, the enemy from
the first of the moderate Reformation which had been
brought about in England found the throne an obstacle
between itself and episcopacy, so the throne was attacked.
The first Parliament of Charles endeavoured, by stopping
the supplies, to obtain the redressal of public grievances
(1625). The second accused as the author of them the
King's favourite, the Duke of Buckingham (1626). During
the session of these two Parliaments, the unfortunate wars
with France and Spain deprived the Government of all
remains of popularity, although the latter war had been
undertaken for the sake of the Protestants and the deliver-
ance of La Rochelle (defeat of Buckingham in the Isle of
-1625.] - CA/AR/CAE.S. ſ. X73
Thé, 1627). The third Parliament, adjourning all dis-
cussions, demanded in the “Petition of Right” an
explicit sanction of those public liberties, which were
recognised sixty years afterwards in the “Declaration of
Right.” Charles finding all his demands rejected, made
peace with France and Spain, and tried to govern without
convoking a Parliament (1630–1638).
He no longer expected to find any resistance. His only
difficulty was to reconcile the two parties who were
quarrelling for the control of the despotism he had set up,
the Queen and the ministers, the court and the council.
The Earl of Strafford and Archbishop Laud, who at least
wanted to govern in the general interests of the King,
were hurried into a number of violent and vexatious
measures. Most commodities were burthened with mono-
polies, illegal taxes were enforced by servile judges and
extraordinary tribunals; excessive punishments were in-
flicted for mere misdemeanours. The Government, ill-
supported by the high aristocracy, turned to the Anglican
clergy, who gradually invaded the province of civil power.
The nonconformists were persecuted. A band of them
who could no longer endure so odious a government
crossed over to America.
Public indignation burst forth on the occasion of the
trial of John Hampden, who chose to be imprisoned
rather than pay an illegal tax of 20s. A month after his
condemnation the Bishop of Edinburgh having tried to
introduce the new Anglican liturgy in a church of that
town, a frightful tumult took place ; the bishop was in-
sulted and the magistrates driven off. The Scotch swore
a “covenant” by which they engaged themselves to
defend against all dangers the Sovereign, the religion, the
laws, and the liberties of the country. Messengers
carried the covenant from village to village into the most
distant quarters of the kingdom, just as the burning cross
had been formerly carried into the mountains to call all
the vassals of a Highland chief to war. The covenanters
asked for arms and money from Cardinal Richelieu ; and
the English army having refused to fight against its
I 74 THAE ZOAVG PA/C/.../A1///ZAV7. [1640-
“brothers in religion,” the King was obliged to put
himself at the mercy of a fifth Parliament (the Long
Parliament, 1640). *
The new assembly, which had so much to avenge,
persecuted eagerly all the ministers of the past tyrant or
as they were called “delinquents,” especially Strafford,
who had irritated the nation less by his real crimes than
by the violence of an imperious character. He himself
begged the King to sign the bill for his condemnation,
and Charles had the deplorable weakness to consent.
The Parliament took possession of the government,
directed the expenditure of subsidies, reversed the judg-
ments of the tribunals, and disarmed the royal authority
by extorting the King's consent to its own indissolubility.
A frightful massacre of the Protestants in Ireland gave
Parliament the opportunity of seizing the military power;
the Irish Catholics rose at this moment in every direction
against the English who were established among them,
and put their tyrants to the Sword in the Queen's name,
showing a false commission from the King. Charles,
annoyed past bearing by a threatening remonstrance,
repaired in person to the House of Commons to arrest
five of the members. He failed in this “coup d'état,”
and left London to enter upon civil war. (IIth January
I642.)*
The Parliamentary party had the advantage in num-
bers and enthusiasm; it held the capital, the large towns,
the ports, and the fleet. The King retained the majority
of the nobles, who were more accustomed to arms than
the Parliamentary troops. In the northern and western
Counties the royalists prevailed ; the parliamentarians in
the Southern, the midland, and the eastern—the richest
and most populous. The latter counties which join on
to each other formed a girdle round London.
The King Soon marched on the capital, but the inde-
* The Queen asked for an asylum in France. “Answer to the
Queen,” wrote Cardinal Richelieu to the French minister, “that on
these occasions, he who leaves his place at the table, loses the same.”
(Mazure, Pièces Justificatives.)
-I644.] JO AE AEAEA 7" OA’ CAE/AAC/A.S. I75
cisive battle of Edgehill saved the Parliamentary party.
They had leisure to organise themselves. Colonel
Cromwell formed, in the eastern counties, squadrons of
volunteers, whose religious enthusiasm balanced the spirit
of honour which animated the royalist cavaliers.
The Parliament conquered again at Newbury, and
united with Scotland in a solemn covenant (1643). The
King's understanding with the Highlanders and the Irish
Catholics hastened this unexpected union between two
countries hitherto hostile. It was asserted that a great
many Irish Catholics were among the troops recalled from
that island by the King ; and that even women, armed
with long knives and Savagely accoutred, had been seen
in their ranks. The Long Parliament would receive no
letters from the rival Parliament which the King assem-
bled at Oxford, and it pushed on the war with renewed
vigour. Enthusiasm was carried to such lengths by some
families that they deprived themselves of a meal a week
and gave the value of it to Parliament; an ordinance con-
verted this offer into a forced tax on all the inhabitants
of London and its environs. Prince Rupert, the King's
nephew, was defeated at Marston Moor after a desperate
struggle, by the invincible obstimacy of the Saints of the
Parliamentary army and Cromwell’s soldiers, who received
upon the field of battle the surname of Zronsides. The
King lost York and all the north. The Queen escaped
into France (1644).
At one moment this disaster seemed to have been re-
paired. In Cornwall the King ſorced the Parliamentary
general, the Earl of Essex, to capitulate. Bands of Irish
'soldiers had disembarked on the coast of Scotland, and
Montrose, one of the bravest of the cavaliers, appearing
suddenly in their camp in Highland costume roused the
northern clans, gained two battles, and scattered terror
up to the very walls of Edinburgh. The King marched
on London ; the people shut their shops, prayed and
fasted, when suddenly they heard that Charles had been
defeated for the second time at Newbury. The Parlia-
mentary troops did wonders in this battle ; when they
176 A’IS/E OF TAZE ZAVNOAZAFAWDAEAVT.S. [I644-
saw the guns which they had formerly lost in Cornwall,
they flung themselves upon the royal batteries, seized
their pieces, and brought them back embracing them
with tears of joy.
Misunderstandings now broke out among the con-
querors. Power passed from the hands of the Presby-
terians into those of the Independents. The latter party
numbered in its ranks enthusiasts, philosophers, and
libertines, but it derived its unity from one principle
which all of these held—that of liberty of conscience.
In spite of their crimes and their visions, this principle
gave them the victory over less energetic and consistent
adversaries. While the Presbyterians thought that they
were preparing peace by useless negotiations with the
Ring, the Independents seized the management of the
war. Cromwell declared that the generals protracted it
on purpose, and the Parliament, influenced either by
public spirit or the fear of losing popularity, enacted the
“self-denying ordinance,” and excluded its own members
from all civil and military employment.
Cromwell found means, by fresh successes, of exempt-
ing himself from the general rule, and the Independents
defeated the royal army at Naseby, near Northampton.
The papers of the King, found after the victory and read
publicly in London, proved that, in spite of his protesta-
tions, a thousand times repeated, he had invited foreigners
and especially Irish Catholics to his aid. At the same
time Montrose, abandoned by the Highlanders who fled
to their homes with their booty, was surprised and defeated.
rince Rupert, until that time famous for his impetuous
courage, gave up Bristol on the first Summons. The
Ring wandered for a long time from town to town and
from house to house, continually changing his disguise;
he halted for a moment on Harrow hill deliberating
whether he should return to his capital which he could
see in the distance. At length he took refuge, more
from weariness than choice, in the Scottish camp, in which
the French minister had promised him protection, but
where he soon found himself a prisoner. His hosts
-1644.] CA’O/l/WZZZ. 177
spared him no humiliation. A Scotch minister preaching
before him at Newcastle gave out the following psalm to
be sung by the Congregation :
“Why dost thou, tyrant, boast thyself,
Thy wicked deeds to praise?” e
On which the King stood up, and commenced singing
the psalm which begins with these words:
“Have mercy, Lord, on me, I pray,
For men would me devour,”
and with one consent the whole Congregation joined with
him. Nevertheless, the Scotch who despaired of making
him accept the covenant, delivered him to the English,
who offered to pay their war-expenses.
The unhappy prince was no longer anything better
than an instrument whose possession was quarrelled for
by the Independents and Presbyterians until they de-
stroyed it. The misunderstanding between the Parliament
and the army increased. The King was withdrawn from
the custody of the Parliamentary commissioners, and
without any orders on the part of the commander-in-chief,
Pairfax, he was carried off by command of Cromwell to
the army.
A reaction, however, took place in favour of the King.
Bands of citizens and apprentices, of discharged officers
and sailors forced the doors of Westminster Hall and
obliged the members to vote for the return of the King.
But sixty of them took refuge with the army which at
once marched upon London. Its entry into the capital
was the triumph of the Independents. Cromwell, seeing
the Presbyterians eclipsed, and fearing his own party,
hesitated a moment whether he should not work for the
re-establishment of the King. But seeing that it was
impossible to trust Charles, his views became more
ambitious, and he conceived the design of withdrawing
the King from the army as he had carried him off from
S. H. N
178 A/0//D/E’.S. AOA2C/. - [1648-
the Parliament. Charles, alarmed by threatening notices,
escaped into the Isle of Wight, where he found himself
at the mercy of Cromwell.
The ruin of the King sealed Cromwell's reconciliation
with the republicans. He had been obliged to repress
in the army the anarchical faction of levellers, he had
seized one of them in the middle of a regiment, and had
at once condemned and executed him in the presence
of the army; but he had taken care not to break for
ever with so powerful a party.
He regained his influence over them by beating the
Scotch, whose army came to assist in the reaction in the
Ring's favour. The English Parliament, frightened by a
victory which was so rapid and likely to turn to the
advantage of the Independents, hastened once more to
negotiate with the King. While Charles was disputing
with its commissioners and loyally rejecting the means
of escape which his servants prepared for him, the
army carried him off from the Isle of Wight, and purged
the Parliament. Colonel Pride, with a list of the pro-
scribed members in his hand, stood at the door of the
House, at the head of two regiments, and excluded with
violence those who attempted to enter. Henceforth the
party of the Independents was supreme, and the en-
thusiasm of the famatics reached its height.
The King was brought before a court presided over
by John Bradshaw, a cousin of Milton. In spite of the
opposition of several members, among whom was the
young and virtuous Sidney; in spite of the remonstrances
of Charles, who maintained that the House of Commons
could not exercise parliamentary authority without the
concurrence of the King and the Peers; in spite of the
intervention of the Scotch commissioners and of the
ambassadors from the States-General, the King was con-
demned to death. When the charge was read representing
that Charles Stuart was brought there to answer to an
accusation of treason and other such crimes presented
against him in the name of the people of England, “Not
a tenth part of them,” cried a voice, “where are the
-1649.] Aº XAECOWT/OAV OZ’ CA/AA’ Z.Z.S. Z. I79
people? where is their consent P Oliver Cromwell is a
traitor.”
A thrill passed through the assembly, every eye was
turned to the gallery. “Down with the women,” cried
Colonel Axtel: “Soldiers, fire upon them " Lady Fairfax
was recognised as the speaker. -
Before, as well as after, the sentence, the court refused
to hear the King; he was dragged from the chamber amid
the insults of the soldiers, and cries of “justice / execut-
tion /* When the death-warrant had to be signed, there was
great difficulty in collecting the commissioners. Cromwell,
almost the only one who was gay, bold and noisy,
behaved with his usual buffoonery; after being the third
to sign, he splashed with ink the face of Henry Martyn,
who was sitting next to him, and who at once played
him a similar trick. At last fifty-nine signatures were
obtained, some of the names so ill-written, either from in-
decision, Or on purpose, that it was almost impossible to
decipher them. -
The scaffold had been raised against a window in
Whitehall. The King after blessing his children walked
firmly towards it, with head erect, outstepping the
soldiers who guarded him. Many of the bystanders
dipped their handkerchiefs in his blood. Cromwell
desired to see the body after it had been placed in
the coffin. He considered it attentively, and raised
the head with his hand, as if to make sure that it was
Severed from the trunk, observing, “How sound the body
was, and how well made for longevity.”
The House of Lords was abolished two days after-
wards. A great seal was engraved, with this legend,
“In the first year of freedom, by God’s blessing,
restored, 1648.”!
* Old style. This date corresponds with February 9, 1649.
CHAPTER XII.
THIRTY YEARS' WAR, 1618–1648.
Maximilian Z.Z., 1564-1576 — A'aldolf //, I576-1612 — Matthias,
1612-1619– Jeszczºrecſion of Zºo/emia, beginning of 7%irty Years'
War—PWar of 4/ie A'alatinate, 1619-1623–/n/erzſention of ZXen-
mark, I625-1629 — Jntervention of Sweden, 1630 — Gustavus
Adolphus wins battle of Leipsic, 1631 — F/is death at Ziffzez,
1632—Assassination of Wallenstein, 1634—/mierzſention of Prayece,
I635—Battle of the Downs, 1640--Battles of Fribourg, AWordlingen,
Alejas—ZYeady of West/alia, 1648.
THE Thirty Years' War was the last struggle which
marked the progress of the Reformation. This war,
whose direction and object were equally undetermined,
may be divided into four distinct portions, in which the
Blector Palatine, Denmark, Sweden, and France played in
succession the principal part. It became more and more
complicated, until it spread over the whole of Europe.
It was prolonged indefinitely by various causes.
I. The intimate union between the two branches of the
House of Austria and of the Catholic party—their
opponents, on the other hand, were not homogeneous.
II. The inaction of England, the tardy intervention of
France, the poverty of Denmark and Sweden, &c.
The armies which took part in the Thirty Years' War
were no longer feudal militias, they were permanent
armies, although their sovereigns were incapable of Sup-
porting them. They lived at the expense of the
countries which they laid waste. The ruined peasant
turned soldier and sold himself to the first comer. The
1618-48.] PROGRAESS OF PROTESTANTISM. ISI
war as it continued formed armies which belonged
to no country, an immense military force which spread
over all Germany, and encouraged the most gigantic
projects both in princes and private individuals.
Germany once more became the centre of European
politics. The first struggle between the Reformation and
the House of Austria was renewed there after an interval
of sixty years. Every power took part in it.
The natural result would have been to alter the face
of all Europe, only one important change, however, can
be perceived : France succeeded to the supremacy of the
House of Austria : but the influence of the Reformation
diminished from this period, and the Treaty of West-
phalia introduced a new era.
Whether from fear of the Turks, or from the personal
moderation of its princes, the German branch of the
House of Austria followed, in the latter half of the six-
teenth century, a policy which was entirely opposed to that
of Philip II. The tolerance of Ferdinand I. and of
Maximilian II. favoured the progress of Protestantism
in Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary ; Maximilian was even
suspected of being a Protestant at heart (1555–1576).
The feeble Rudolph II., who succeeded him, possessed
neither his talent nor his moderation. While he shut
himself up with Tycho Brahe to study astrology and
alchemy, the Protestants of Hungary, Austria, and Bo-
hemia made common cause. Rudolph's brother, the
Archduke Matthias, favoured them, and forced the
Emperor to yield to him Austria and Hungary (1607–
1609).
The Empire was as much disturbed as the hereditary
States of the House of Austria. Aix-la-Chapelle and
Donauwörth, where the Protestants were masters, were
placed under the ban of the Empire. The Elector-
Archbishop of Cologne, who wished to secularize his
states, was dispossessed. The succession to Cleves and
Juliers which came into question at this time compli-
cated still further the situation of Germany. Protestant
and Catholic princes, the Elector of Brandenburg, the
182 OUTERAEAK OF 7"HE THIRTY VEARS’ WAA’. [1618-
Duke of Neuburg, the Duke of Zweibrücken, and others
besides, pretended to it. The Empire was split up into
two leagues. Henri IV., who favoured the Protestants,
was about to enter Germany and take advantage of the
state of affairs to humiliate the House of Austria, when
he was assassinated (1610). The Thirty Years' War was
none the less terrible for being postponed.
|Matthias, after obliging Rudolph to give up Bohemia
to him, succeeded him in the Empire (1612–19), and
also in all the difficulties of his position. The Spaniards
and the Dutch occupied the duchies of Cleves and of
Juliers. The Bohemians, led by the Count of Thurn,
rose in defence of their religion. Thurn, at the head of
some deputies from the estates of Bohemia, marched into
the council-chamber, and the four imperial commissioners
were thrown into the ditch of the castle of Prague (1618).
The Bohemians pretended that it was an ancient custom
in their country to throw prevaricating ministers out of
the window. They raised troops, and not choosing to
recognise the pupil of the Jesuits, Ferdinand II. of
Austria, as the Successor to Matthias, they gave their
crown to Frederick V., the Elector Palatine, son-in-law
of the King of England and nephew of the Stadtholder
of Holland (Palatinate period of the Zhirty Years' War,
1619—1623). At the same time the Hungarians, equally
rejecting Ferdinand, elected for their King the Waiwode of
Transylvania, Bethlem Gabor. Ferdinand, besieged for
a short time in Vienna by the Bohemians, was supported
by the Duke of Bavaria, by the Catholic League in
Germany, and by Spain. Frederick, who was a Calvinist,
was abandoned by the Lutheran Union: while James I.
of England, his father-in-law, contented himself with
negotiating in his favour. Attacked in the very capital
of Bohemia, he lost the battle of Prague through his
own negligence or Cowardice. He was dining quietly
in the castle, while his soldiers were dying for him in
the plain (1621). In spite of the bravery of Mansfeld
and other partizans, who ravaged Germany in his name,
he was driven out of the Palatinate ; the Protestant
-1629.] WAZZEWSZŽIV. 183
TJnion was dissolved, and the electoral dignity of the
Palatine transferred to the Duke of Bavaria.
Panish ſeriod, 1625–1629.-The states of Lower
Saxony, threatened by the Emperor with a speedy
restitution of the ecclesiastical property they had con-
fiscated, called to the assistance of Germany those
northern princes who shared their religious interests.
The young King of Sweden, Gustavus Adolphus, was at
this time occupied by a glorious war against Poland, the
ally of Austria. The King of Denmark, Christian IV.,
undertook the defence of Saxony. In this new war,
Ferdinand II. wished not to depend upon the Catholic
League, of which the Duke of Bavaria was chief, and
whose troops were commanded by the celebrated Tilly.
Count Wallenstein, an officer of the Emperor, offered to
raise an army for him, if he might be allowed to carry it to
50,000 men. He kept his word. All the adventurers who
wanted to live by pillage flocked round him, and he laid
down the law equally to the friends and to the enemies
of the Emperor. Christian IV. was beaten at Lutter.
Wallenstein subdued Pomerania, and received from the
Emperor the possessions of the two Dukes of Mecklen-
burgh, and the title of General of the Baltic. If the
Swedes had not thrown some succours into the fortress,
he would have taken the strong town of Stralsund (1628).
All the north trembled. In order to divide his enemies
the Emperor granted an humiliating peace to Denmark
(1629). He ordered the Protestants to restore all the
ecclesiastical estates secularised since 1555. Then Wal-
lenstein's army fell once more upon Germany, and
trampled upon her without restraint; many states were
taxed with enormous contributions; the distress of the
inhabitants was extreme, some of them disinterred the
dead to Satisfy their hunger; dead bodies were found
with their mouths still full of raw weeds.
Germany was rescued by Sweden and France. Cardinal
|Richelieu freed the hands of the Swedes by arranging
for them a peace with Poland. He disarmed the Em-
I84 - GOSZTA VOS A ZXO Z/2A/OS. [1630-
peror by persuading him that he would not be able to
secure the election of his son as King of the Romans
unless he sacrificed Wallenstein to the resentment of
Germany. And as soon as the Emperor was deprived of
his best general, Gustavus Adolphus fell upon the Empire
(1630). l tº
Ferdinand II, at first was not much disturbed, he said
that the “Snow King” would melt as he penetrated into
the south, As yet the world knew not the worth of those
men of iron—that heroic and pious army—as compared
with the mercenary troops of Germany. A little while
after the arrival of Gustavus, Torquato Conti, one of the
Emperor's generals, on asking for a truce on account of
the severe cold, received as an answer from Gustavus
that the Swedes knew not what winter meant. The
conqueror's genius disconcerted the German routine
by an impetuous system of tactics which sacrificed
everything to the rapidity of movement, and was pro-
digal of life in order to shorten war. His plan was
to make himself master of the strong places along the
principal rivers, to render Sweden safe by closing the
Baltic to the Imperialists, to detach all their allies, and
to surround Austria before attacking her. If he had
marched straight upon Vienna, Germany would have
regarded him as a foreign conqueror : by driving out the
Imperialists from the Northern and Western States which
they were crushing, he appeared in the light of a cham-
pion of the Empire against the Emperor. Tilly, who
first encountered him, could not stop the torrent ; he
only drew down the execration of Europe on the armies
of the Empire by the sack of Magdeburg. Saxony and
Brandenburg, which would have liked to remain neutral,
were drawn into the alliance with Gustavus by the rapi-
dity of his victories. He defeated Tilly at the bloody
battle of Leipsic in 1631. While the Saxons were pre-
paring to attack Bohemia, he defeated the Duke of
Lorraine, penetrated into Alsace and subdued the elec-
torates of Treves, Mayence, and the Rhine, which
Richelieu would have allowed to remain neutral ; but
-1632.] DEA 7// OF GOSTAVU.S. I85.
Gustavus would have either friends or enemies. Finally
Bavaria was invaded at the same time as Bohemia ;
Tilly died in defending the line of the Lech, and Austria
was left unprotected on all sides.
Perdinand was then obliged to have recourse to the
proud general whom he had dismissed. For a long
time Wallenstein had the Emperor and the Catholics at
his feet; “He was too happy,” he said, “in his retire-
ment.” His philosophical moderation could only be
overcome by giving him power equal to that of the
Emperor.
At this price he saved Bohemia and marched upon
Nuremberg to stop the progress of Gustavus. It was a
grand spectacle for Europe to see these two invincible
generals encamped for three months face to face, hesitat-
ing to make use of an opportunity which had been so
long watched for. At length Wallenstein marched upon
Saxony, and was joined near Lützen by the King of
Sweden. Gustavus commenced the attack. After several
charges, the King, deceived by the fog, threw himself
in front of the enemy's ranks, and fell struck by two
balls. The Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg, who afterwards
joined the Imperialists, was behind him at the fatal
moment, and was accused of his death. The buff jerkin
worn by the Swedish hero was sent to Vienna (1632).
All Europe wept for Gustavus, but perhaps her tears
were out of place. He may have died at a moment
which was fortunate for his renown. He had saved
Germany and had not had time to oppress her. He
had not restored the Palatinate to the despoiled Elector;
he intended Mayence for his Chancellor, Oxenstierna;
he had manifested a liking for Augsburg which would
have become the seat of a new empire.
While the skilful Oxenstierna carried on the war, and
declared himself at Heilbronn Chief of the League of
the circles of Franconia, Swabia, and the Rhine, Wal-
lenstein remained in Bohemia in formidable inaction.
It seemed as if Gustavus had been working in the
interests of his rival when he subdued the Imperial party
I86 ANZA ZTA/ OA' WAl ZZAZAVSTAE/AV. [1634-
throughout Germany. He had served him both by his
victories and by his death. “Germany,” said Wallenstein,
“could not hold two such men as we were.” After the
death of Gustavus he reigned alone. Secluded in his
palace at Prague, with a royal retinue, surrounded by a
crowd of adventurers who had attached themselves to
his fortunes, he watched his opportunity. This terrible
man, who never laughed, who addressed his soldiers
only to make their fortunes or pronounce their death-
warrant, commanded the attention of all Europe. The
King of France called him his cousin, and Richelieu
advised him to make himself King of Bohemia. It was
time for the Emperor to come to a decision—he chose
that of Henry III. with regard to the Duke of Guise.
Wallenstein was assassinated at Egra, and Ferdinand,
in memory of his former services, ordered 3,000 masses
to be said for the benefit of his soul (1634).
The Elector of Saxony had however made peace with
the Emperor, and the Swedes were not strong enough to
maintain themselves unsupported in Germany. France,
in her turn, had to come down into the field of battle.
Aºrench. Żeriod, I635–1648.—Richelieu, who at that
time governed France, had found her abandoned to
Spanish influence, disturbed by the Princes and the
nobles, by the Queen-Mother, by the Protestants (Go-
vernment of Mary of Medicis, I6Io—1617 ; of the
favourite, the Duke de Luynes, 1617 — 1621). He
adopted the system of Henri IV., with this difference,
that he had no anterior obligation, no motive of gratitude
to force him to keep terms with the Protestants. He
took from them La Rochelle by throwing across the sea
a stone dyke more than half a mile long, as Alexander
did at the siege of Tyre; he conquered, disarmed, and
nevertheless reassured them. (1627–28.)
His next measures were against the princes and nobles.
He turned the mother and brother of the King out of
France, and struck off the heads of a Marillac and a
Montmorency (1630–32). He had his own prison in
-1635.] - A’/CAE//ZZZZO. 187
his house at Ruel; where he caused his enemies to be
condemned and afterwards turned their judges into
ridicule. There remained for him only to gild these
internal victories with the glory of foreign conquests
I635).
( #!. he purchased Bernard of Weimar, the best pupil
of Gustavus Adolphus, with his army. He allied himself
with the Dutch to share the Spanish portion of the Low
Countries, whilst at the other end of France he set him-
self to recover Roussillon ; the alliance with the Duke of
Savoy secured for him a passage into Italy. France
gained more glory than Solid advantage in Italy, for she
was herself invaded at this time on the side of the Low
Countries. But her allies, the Dutch, destroyed the
Spanish fleet in the Battle of the Downs (1639). Ber-
nard of Weimar took the four forest towns (Waldshut,
Luffenberg, Seckingen and Rhineld), Fribourg and .
Brisach, and gained four victories beneath their walls. He
forgot that he had already sold his conquest to France, and
was about to make himself independent when he died—as
opportunely for Richelieu as Wallenstein for Ferdinand.
Everything became easy for the French from the
moment that the revolt of Catalonia and Portugal reduced
Spain to a defensive war. The House of Braganza
ascended the throne of Portugal with the applause of all
Europe (1640). The French, already victorious in Italy,
took Arras and Thionville in the Netherlands. The
great Condé gained the battle of Rocroy five days after
the accession of Louis XIV. ; a success which reassured
France, deprived by death of Louis XIII. and Richelieu.
The war had then for the second time changed its
character. To the fanaticism of Tilly and his master,
Ferdinand II., to the revolutionary genius of Wallenstein
and Weimar, had succeeded skilful tacticians, such as
Piccolomini and Merci, generals of the Emperor, and the
pupils of Gustavus Adolphus, Banner, Torstenson, and
Wrangel. As war had become a profession for so many,
peace became more and more difficult. France, entirely
occupied in securing her conquests of Lorraine and
I88 (Z)ZATH OF AZCHEZ/EU. [I643-
Alsace, refused to join Sweden against Austria. At one
time Torstenson hoped to succeed without the assistance
of France. This paralytic general, who astonished Europe
with the rapidity of his movements, had renewed the
glory of Gustavus Adolphus at Leipsic (1642); in the
Danes he had struck down the secret friends of the
Emperor; an alliance with the Transylvanians permitted
him to penetrate at length into Austria (1645). The
defection of the Transylvanians and the death of Tor-
stenson saved the Emperor.
Negotiations, however, had been opened in 1636; and
the accession of Ferdinand III. to the Empire appeared
likely to favour them (1637). Although the intervention
of the Pope, of Venice, and of the Kings of Denmark,
Poland, and England had been rejected, the preliminaries
of peace were signed in 1642. The death of Richelieu
reawakened the hopes of the House of Austria, and post-
poned the peace.
The victories of Condé at Fribourg, Nordlingen, and
Lens (1644–45–48), that of Turenne and the Swedes
at Sommershausen, and finally the seizure of the Lesser
Prague by Wrangel (1648), had to take place before the
Emperor could make up his mind to sign the Treaty of
Westphalia, after which the war continued only between
France, Spain, and Portugal. Its principal Articles were
these :— -
I. The Peace of Augsbourg (1555) was confirmed, and
extended to the Calvinists.
II. The Sovereignty of the different Germanic States in
the whole extent of their territory was formally recognized,
as well as their rights in the general diets of the Empire.
These rights were guaranteed, at home, by the composition
of the Imperial Chambers and the Aulic Council, which
were in future to be composed of equal numbers of
IProtestants and Catholics; abroad, by the mediation of
|France and Sweden.
III. Indemnities were granted to several states; and
in order to discharge them many ecclesiastical possessions
were secularised. France obtained Alsace, the Three
-1648.] TREATY OF WESTPAEAZIA. 189
Bishoprics, Philipsburg, and Pignerol — the keys of
Germany and Piedmont. Szweden, part of Pomerania,
Bremen, Werden, Wismar, &c.; three votes in the diets
of the Empire and five million crowns. 7%e AE/ector of
Arandenburg, Magdeburg, Halberstadt, &c. Saxony,
Mecklenburgh, and Æſesse-Casse! were also indemnified.
IV. Frederick W.’s son recovered the lower Palatinate
of the Rhine (the higher Palatinate remained Bavarian);
an 8th Electorate was created in his favour.
V. The United Provinces were recognised as indepen-
dent of Spain ; the United Provinces and the Swiss
Cantons as independent of the German Empire.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE EAST AND THE NORTH IN THE FIFTEENTH:
CENTURY. .
§ I. TURKEY, HUNGARY. I 566–1648.
THE reign of Solyman the Magnificent had been the
culminating point of Ottoman glory. Under him the
Turks were as formidable on land as on sea ; they entered
into the politics of Europe by their alliance with France
against the House of Austria. Solyman endeavoured
to give a system of legislation to his people ; he col-
lected the maxims and ordinances of his predecessors,
filled up their deficiencies, and organized the civil service
of the state. He embellished Constantinople by restoring
the ancient aqueduct, whence the water flows into 8oo
fountains ; he founded the Mosque Souleimanieh, which
contains four colleges, a hospital for the poor, another for
the sick, and a library Containing 2,000 manuscripts.
The Turkish language was ennobled by the admixture of
Arabic and Persian ; Solyman himself made verses in
both languages. In his old age the Sultan was entirely
governed by his wife Roxelana, who induced him to put
to death all the children of his first marriage. The
Empire, exhausted by war, seemed to grow old with its
Sultan under the influence of the Seraglio. Solyman
prepared its decline by excluding the members of the
Imperial family from all military commands.
Under his indolent successor, Selim II. (1566–74)
the Turks took Cyprus from the Venetians, who were
I566-1648.] ZTCWA’ſ A. Y. AAV/O AMOWAVGAA’ V. I9 I
ill-seconded by Spain; but they were defeated in the
Gulf of Lepanto by the combined fleets of Philip II., of
Venice, and of the Pope, under the command of Don
John of Austria. After this check, the Turks owned that
God who had given them the empire of the earth had ièft
that of the sea to the infidels.
Under Amurath III., Mahomet III., and Achmet I.
(1574–1617), the Turks kept up with variable success
long wars against the Persians and Hungarians. The
Janissaries, who had disturbed the reigns of these princes
with mutinies, put their successors, Mustapha and Otho-
man, to death (1617–1623). The Empire raised its
head again under the intrepid Amurath IV., who occupied
the turbulent spirit of the Janissaries in foreign parts,
took Bagdad, and intervened in the troubles of India.
Under the imbecile Ibrahim the Turks, following the
impulse given to them by Amurath, took Candia from
the Venetians.
Aſungary.—Since 1562 this kingdom had been divided
between the House of Austria and the Turks. Continual
wars arose in consequence of this partition. The sove-
reignty of Transylvania was another cause of war between
Austria and the Porte. Hungary was not more tranquil
at home. The Austrian princes, hoping to increase their
power by restoring uniformity in religion to Hungary,
persecuted the Protestants and violated the privileges of
the nation, The Hungarians rose under Rudolph II.,
Ferdinand II., and Ferdinand III. ; and the princes of
Transylvania, Stephen Botschkai, Bethlem Gabor, George
Ragocki, offered themselves successively as chiefs to the
malcontents. By the pacification of Vienna (1606),
and of Linz (1645), by the decrees of the diets of
AEdenbourg and of Presburg (1647), the Kings of Hungary
were forced to grant the public exercise of their religion
to the Protestants, and to respect the national privileges.
I92 AOZA.V/D, ARUSSIA, AAWD Aº VSSZA. [I505-
§ II. POLAND, PRUSSIA, RUSSIA. I 505–1648.
Poland overcame the Teutonic order, a German power
which had pushed Edward from Germany into the midst
of the Sclavonian States, and was ill-supported by the
Emperor; but on the other hand she neglected to pro-
tect the Bohemians and Hungarians in their revolts against
Austria.
Close as were the relations of the two great nations of
Sclavonic origin with each other, neither had much to do
with the Scandinavian States before the revolutions in
Livonia entangled them in a common war, towards the
middle of the sixteenth century. Livonia then became
to the north of Europe what the Milanese had been to
the south. º
States of Poland and Russia in the first half of the
sixteenth century.—Accession of Wasili IV., Zvamozyitch,
(1505), and of Sigismund I. (1506). The feeble Wasili
had the imprudence to break with the Tartars of the
Crimea, who had served Ivan III. So well; he accom-
plished the subjection of Plescof, and took Smolensk
from the Lithuanians, but he was beaten by them in the
same year (1514). He allied himself with the Teutonic
order against the Poles, but could not prevent Prussia
from submitting to Poland. The Grand Master, Albert of
Brandenburg, embraced Lutheranism (1525), and turned
Prussia into a secular state or Duchy, which was granted
to him in fief by Sigismund I.
1533.−Accession of Ivan IV. Wasiliezwiſch in Russia;
I 548, of Sigismund II., Surnamed Augustus, in Poland.
During the minority of Ivan IV., the power passed from
the hands of the Regent Helena into those of several of the
nobles who supplanted each other in turn. 1547. Under
the influence of the Czarina Anastasia, Ivan IV. at first
moderated the violence of his character. He completed
the subjection of the Tartars by the final annexation of
Kasan, and by the conquest of Astracan (1552–54).
-I583.] A/VOAV/A. I93
1552–1583. War in Zivonia.-The order of The
Sword which had vanquished the Russians in 1502, was
independent of the Teutonic order after 1521. But about
this period all the northern powers claimed Livonia.
Ivan IV. having invaded her in 1558, the Grand Master
Gotthard Kettler preferred to unite her to Poland by the
Treaty of Wilna (1561), while creating himself Duke of
Courland. The King of Denmark, Frederick II., who was
master of the island of CEsel and of some of the districts,
and the King of Sweden, Eric XIV., who was invited
by the town of Revel and the nobles of Esthonia, took
part in this war, which was continued by land and on
SC2,
The Czar encountered two obstacles in his project of
conquest: the jealousy of the Russians against foreigners,
whom he himself preferred, and the fear which his cruelty
inspired in the Livonians. He trampled upon all his
subjects belonging either to the commercial classes, or to
the nobility, who were capable of resisting him (1570),
and afterwards invaded Livonia in the name of the King
of Denmark's brother (1575). But Poland and Sweden
united against the Czar, who made peace with Poland
by giving up to her Livonia, and concluded a truce with
Sweden, which retained possession of Carilia (1582–83).
He died in 1584.
[Code of Ivan IV., 1550, containing a system of all
the ancient laws. Gratuitous justice. All the holders of
lands subjected to military service. Establishment of
military pay. Institution of a permanent militia called
the Strelitz.-Commerce with Tartary, Turkey, and Lithu-
ania. The wars of Livonia and Lithuania closing the
Baltic, the Russians could communicate with the rest of
Europe only by sailing round Sweden along the Northern
Ocean. 1555, the Englishman, Chancellor, sent by
Queen Mary to discover a northern passage to India,
lands on the spot on which Archangel was afterwards
founded. Regular commerce between England and
Russia until the civil wars in Russia, 1605. I577––81,
discovery of Siberia.] -
S.H. - O
I94 A USS/A AAV/O APOZAA7/). [I572-
The dynasty of the Jagellons was extinguished in 1572,
by the death of Sigismund Augustus; that of Rurik in
1598 by the death of the Czar Fedor I., son and suc-
cessor of Ivan IV. From these two events resulted,
directly or indirectly, two long and bloody wars, which
again set all the northern powers at variance ; the object
of the one was the succession of Sweden; of the other,
that of Russia. The former, which lasted sixty-seven
years (1593–1660), was twice interrupted : first by the
latter war (1609–1619), and afterwards by the Thirty
Years' War (1629–1655).
The throne of Poland became purely elective. I 573–
1575, Henri of Valois. He set foot in the kingdom only
to sign the first facta convenia. I575–1587, Stephen
Batthori, Prince of Transylvania. His accession put off
the moment when Poland was to lose her importance.
He restrained his own subjects (Dantzic and Riga, 1578
—1586); he humbled Russia and Denmark (1582–85).
—1587, Sigismund III., Son of John III., King of Sweden,
elected King of Poland, found himself, on succeeding
to his father's Crown, in a difficult position. Sweden was
Protestant ; Poland Catholic ; and both countries alike
laid claim to Livonia. Sigismund's uncle (Charles IX.)
chief of the Lutheran party in Sweden, prevailed over him
by policy (1595), as well as by arms (1598). Hence arose
a war between the two nations, which continued until they
made Russia their battle-field. The usurpation of Boris
Godunow, and the imposture of several false claimants,
who pretended to be heirs to the throne of Moscow, gave
the Poles and Swedes hopes either of dismembering
Russia, or of setting one of their own princes on her throne.
Their hopes were defeated. A Russian (1613–1645),
Michael Federowitsch, founded the House of Romanow,
—(1616–1618), Russia ceded Ingria and Russian Carilja
to Sweden, and the territories of Smolensko, of Tscher-
nigow, and of Novogorod-Severkvi to Poland, and lost all
communication with the Baltic.
1620–1629. War was renewed between Poland and
Sweden until the period when Gustavus Adolphus took
-1625.] PROSS/A, DEAVMAA’A, AAWD SWAEA)/2AW. I95
part in the Thirty Years' War. (1629, a truce of six years
prolonged in 1635, for twenty-six years more).
Sigismund III. and his successor Ladislas VII. (1632
—I648), Sustained long wars against the Turks, the
Russians, and the Cossacks of Ukraine.
Poland yielded to Sweden the position of chief power in
the north ; but she preserved her superiority over Russia,
whose development had been retarded by civil war.
A russia.-1563, Joachim II., Elector of Branden-
burgh, obtained from the King of Poland the joint investi-
ture of the fief of Prussia. In 1618, on the death of the
Prussian Duke Albert Frederick (son of Albert of Branden-
burg), his son-in-law, the Elector of Brandenburg, John
Sigismund, succeeded him in his Duchy. I614–1666,
the electoral branch acquired likewise part of the succes-
sion to Juliers through the right of Anne, daughter of the
Duke of Prussia, Albert Frederick, and wife of John
Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg. The son of the
latter, Frederick William, founded the real greatness of
Prussia.
§ III. DENMARK AND SWEDEN.
In the 16th century these two States were each a prey
to internal troubles and carried on protracted wars, which
developed their energies and prepared them for the
Thirty Years' War. Sweden was already anticipating the
heroic part which she sustained throughout the 18th
century.
The lassitude of Denmark and the internal troubles of
Sweden brought to an end in the peace of Stettin (1570)
the long quarrel which had continued between the two
kingdoms ever since the Union of Calmar. Denmark
was at peace during the long reigns of Frederick II.
(1559–1588) and of Christian IV., until the moment
when the latter, who was more skilful as an administrator
than as a general, compromised the tranquillity of Denmark
by attacking Gustavus Adolphus (16II–1613), and
taking part in the Thirty Years' War (1625).
O 2
196 AO/CAAV/D. [I560-92.
The unworthy son of Gustavus Vasa Eric XIV. (1560)
had been dispossessed by his brother John III. (1560
—1592), who undertook to re-establish the Catholic
religion in Sweden. John's son, Sigismund, King of
Sweden and Poland, was supplanted by his uncle,
Charles IX. (1604), father of Gustavus Adolphus. (See
above, the article Poland).
CHAPTER XIV.
§ I. DISCOVERIES AND Colon[ES OF THE MODERN
WORLD.
Arincipal motives which have induced Modern Mations to
seek mezº) countries, and to establish themselves ºn them —
(1) A warlike and adventurous spirit, the desire of ac-
quisition by means of Conquest or pillage. (2) Com-
mercial spirit, desire of acquisition by the legitimate
means of trade. (3) Religious spirit, desire to convert
idolatrous nations to the Christian faith, or to escape
from religious troubles. •
The ſoundation of the principal modern colonies was
due to the five nations of the extreme west, who have
successively obtained the empire of the sea ; to the
Portuguese and Spaniards (15th and 16th centuries); to
the Dutch and the French (17th century), finally to the
English (17th and 18th centuries). The Spanish colonists
had, in the beginning, for their principal object, mining
operations; the objects of the Portuguese were commerce,
and raising money by means of tribute; the Dutch were
essentially commercial, and the English both commercial
and agricultural.
The principal difference between the ancient and modern
colonies is that the ancient were united to their mother-
country only by the ties of relationship; the modern
are considered always as the offspring of their parent,
who forbade them in early times any intercourse with
foreigners.
198 AOA” 7 O GUESAE COZOAVIAE.S. [I412-
AXirecſ results of the discoveries and establishments of
modern colonies.—Commerce changed its form and direc-
tion. Commerce by Sea was generally substituted for
commerce by land; the whole of the trade of the world
passed from the shores of the Mediterranean to the
western coasts. The 2nd/7tect 7 espeſºs are innumerable ; one
of the most remarkable was the development of the
maritime powers.
Arincipal directions of Oriental commerce during f/he
Middle Ages.—In the first half of the Middle Ages the
Greeks carried on their commerce with India through
Egypt, afterwards by the Euxine and Caspian seas; in
the second half the Italians carried theirs through Syria
and the Persian Gulf, and afterwards through Egypt.
Crusades.—Expeditions of Rubruquis, of Marco Polo,
and John Mandeville, from the IIth to the 14th century.
In the beginning of the 14th century the Spaniards dis-
covered the Canaries.
§ II. DiscoverIES AND ESTABLISHMENTS OF THE
PORTUGUESE. I.412–1582.
It was the destiny of the most western nation in
Europe to begin the series of discoveries which have
extended European civilization throughout the world.
The Portuguese, closely pressed by the power of Spain,
and always at war with the Moors, from whom they had
wrested their country, naturally turned their ambition
towards Africa. After this crusade, which lasted through
several centuries, the ideas of the Conquerors were ex-
tended ; they conceived the project of seeking out new
infidel nations to convert and subdue. A thousand ancient
tales inflamed their curiosity, their bravery, and their
avarice ; they longed to see those mysterious countries
which nature had filled with monsters, and in which gold
lay like seed upon the ground. The infant Don Henry,
the third son of John I., favoured the enterprise of the
nation. He passed his life at Sagra, near Cape St. Vin-
cent, whence, with his eyes fixed on the Southern Seas,
-I (97.] - VASCO /O A GA/l/A. I99
he directed the adventurous pilots who were the first to visit
those unknown shores. Cape Horn, fatal boundary of
the ancient navigators, had already been doubled; beyond
it they discovered Madeira (1412–1413). After doubling
Cape Bajador and Cape de Verde, they found the Azores
(1448), and the formidable line where the air was supposed
to burn like fire was crossed. When they had penetrated
beyond Sénégal they saw with astonishment that the men
who were dark on the north bank became black on the
south side of the river. When they reached Congo they
found a new heaven and new stars (1484). But the Spirit
of enterprise was still more powerfully stimulated by the
gold that was discovered in Guinea.
The stories of the ancient Phoenicians who pretended
to have sailed round Africa were now no longer despised,
and men hoped that by following the same route they
might reach the East Indies. While King John II. sent
two noblemen to India by land (Covillam and Payva), Bar-
tholomew Diaz touched the promontory at the southern
extremity of Africa, and called it the Cape of Storms;
but the king, henceforth certain of discovering the route to
the Indies, surnamed it the Cape of Good Hope (1486).
It was then that the discovery of the New World struck
the Portuguese with astonishment, and redoubled their
energy. But the two nations might have disputed for the
empire of the sea, recourse was therefore had to the
mediation of the Pope. Alexander VI. divided the two
New Worlds—all that lay to the east of the Azores was
to belong to Portugal; and all that lay to the West was
given to Spain. A line was traced across the globe which
marked the limits of these reciprocal rights, and was called
the line of demarcation. New discoveries soon displaced
this line.
At length the King of Portugal, Emmanuel the For-
tunate, gave the Command of a fleet to the famous Vasco
da Gama (1497–98). He received from the prince the ac-
count of Covillam's expedition: he took with him ten men
who had been condemned to death, whose lives might be
risked in an emergency, and who by their daring might
2OO AZA UQUAEA’QUE. [I507-
earn their pardon. He spent a night in prayer in the
chapel of the Virgin, and partook of the Holy Sacrament
on the day before he set out. The people accompanied
him in tears to the shore. A splendid convent has been
founded on the spot whence Gama sailed.
The fleet was approaching the terrible Cape when the
crew, frightened by the tempestuous ocean and fearing
famine, revolted against Gama. Nothing, however, could
stop him ; he put the leaders into irons, and seizing the
rudder, doubled the extremity of Africa. Still greater
dangers awaited him on its eastern coast, which as yet had
been visited by no European vessel. The Moors, to
whom the commerce of Africa and India belonged, laid
traps for these new comers who came to share their spoil.
But they were frightened by the Portuguese artillery, and
Gama, crossing the gulf of 7oo leagues which separates
Africa from India, reached Calicut 13 months after his
departure from Lisbon.
On landing on these unknown shores, Vasco forbade
his men to follow him, or to come to his rescue if they
learnt what he was in danger. In spite of the conspiracies
of the Moors he forced the alliance of Portugal on Zamora.
A new expedition soon followed on the heels of the first,
under the orders of Alvarès Cabral. The admiral received
a hat blessed by the Pope from the hands of the king. After
passing the Cape de Verde, he stood out to sea, sailed to
the west, and saw a new, rich, and fertile land—the reign
of eternal Spring : it was Brazil, the nearest point to
Africa of the American Continent. There are only 30
degrees of longitude between this country and Mount
Atlas; it was naturally the first to be discovered (1500).
(1501–1515).-The ability of Cabral, of Gama, and of
Almeida—the first Portuguese Viceroy in India—dis-
concerted the efforts of the Moors, set the natives at
variance, and armed Cochin against Calicut and Cananor.
In Africa, Quiloa and Sofala received their laws from the
Europeans. But the principal founder of the Empire of
the Portuguese in India was the brave Albuquerque; he
took, at the entrance of the Persian Gulf, Ormuz, the
-1542.] ZXFCL/AVE OF PORTUGVESAE COLONIAES. 2OX.
most brilliant and polished town in Asia (1507). The
King of Persia, on whom it depended, asked the Portu-
guese to pay tribute ; Albuquerque pointed to his cannon-
balls and grenades : “This,” said he to the ambassadors,
“is the coin in which the King of Portugal pays tribute.”
Venice, meanwhile, beheld the sources of her wealth
drying up ; for the route by Alexandria was beginning to
be neglected. The Sultan of Egypt ceased to receive duty
upon eastern commodities. The Venetians, in league with
him, sent to Alexandria planks for shipbuilding which were
transported to Suez, and thus enabled him to construct a
fleet (1508), which at first obtained some advantages over.
the Portuguese, who were dispersed ; but it was after-
wards beaten as well as the other expeditions which foi-
lowed each other down the Red Sea. To prevent fresh
attacks Albuquerque proposed to the King of Abyssinia
to turn the course of the Nile, a measure which would
have changed Egypt into a desert. He made Goa the
head-quarters of the Portuguese establishment in India
(15 fo). Their occupation of Malacca and Ceylon gave the
Portuguese the dominion over the vast ocean of which
the northern boundary is the Gulf of Bengal (1511–1518).
But the conqueror died in poverty and disgrace at Goa,
and with him disappeared all justice and humanity among
the Portuguese. Long after his death the Indians used to
visit the tomb of the great Albuquerque, praying to be
delivered from the oppressions of his successors.
The Portuguese after introducing themselves into China
and Japan (1517–42), kept for some time the whole
maritime commerce of Asia in their hands. Their empire
extended to the coast of Guinea, Melinda, Mozambique,
and Sofala, to those of the two peninsulas of India, to
Malacca, Ceylon, and the islands of Sunda. But in all
this vast extent of country they held only a chain of
counting-houses and fortresses. The decline of their
colonies was accelerated by various causes; (1) the dis-
tance of their conquests; (2) the scanty population of
Portugal, out of proportion to the extent of her establish-
ments, for the vanity of the nation prevented the fusion
2O2 }JAAW DE CAST/CO & ATAIDAES. [1545-72.
of conquerors and conquered ; (3) the love for plunder
which was soon substituted for the spirit of commerce;
(4) disorders in the administration; (5) crown monopolies;
(6 and lastly), the Portuguese were satisfied with trans-
porting merchandise to Lisbon instead of distributing it
over Europe. Sooner or later they were to be supplanted
by more industrious rivals. -
Their decline was retarded by two heroes, Juan de
Castro (1545–48) and Atăides (1568–72). The former
had to fight the Indians and Turks united. The King
of Cambay received from Solyman the Great engineers,
foundries, and all the means of European warfare.
Nevertheless, Castro succeeded in delivering the citadel
of Diu, and held a triumph at Goa after the fashion of the
heroes of antiquity. He raised a loan in his own name
from the citizens of Goa, and gave them his mustachios
in pledge. He expired in the arms of St. Francis Xavier
in 1548. Only three reals were found upon this man who
had handled all the treasures of India.
Buring the government of Atăides there was a general
rising of the Indians against the Portuguese; he faced
them all round, defeated the army of the King of Cambay,
Ioo, ooo strong, beat Zamora and made him swear to
have no more ships of war. Even while he was being
pressed at Goa he refused to abandon his more distant
possessions, and despatched the vessels which carried
every year the tributes of India to Lisbon.
After him everything declined rapidly. The division
of its Indian possessions into three governments enfeebled
still more the power of Portugal. After the death of
Sebastian, and of his successor the Cardinal Henry (1581),
Portuguese India shared the fate of Portugal, and passed
into the incompetent hands of the Spaniards (1582),
until the Dutch came to relieve them from the cares of
this vast Empire.
CHAPTER XV.
DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.
CONQUESTS AND ESTABLISHMENTS OF THE SPAN IARDS IN
THE I 5TH AND I6TH CENTURIES.
“THE discovery of America,” says Voltaire, “is the
greatest event which has ever taken place in this world of
ours, one half of which had hitherto been unknown to
the other. All that until now appeared extraordinary
seems to disappear before this sort of new creation.
“Columbus, struck by the achievements of the Portu-
guese, conceived that something still greater might be
effected, and from the inspection of a map of this hemi-
sphere, believed that there must be another, and that it
would be discovered by sailing continually towards the
west. His courage was equal to his ability, and it was tried
to the uttermost by the necessity of combating the preju-
dices of the princes of that time. His country, Genoa,
treated him as a visionary, and lost the only opportunity
which was offered her of distinction. Henry VII. of
England, too ſond of money to risk any in such a noble
undertaking, would not listen to the brother of Columbus.
Juan II., of Portugal, whose eyes were turned exclusively
in the direction of Africa, refused to listen to Columbus.
He could not address himself to France where the navy
was always neglected, and whose affairs were in the
greatest possible confusion during the minority of Charles
VIII. The Emperor Maximilian had neither harbours
for a fleet, money to equip one, nor Sufficient magnani-
2O4. AºA'S 2". VO V.4 GA2 OA’ COZOA/AE U.S. [I492-
mity for such an enterprise. Venice might have under-
taken it, but whether it was that the aversion of the
Genoese to the Venetians prevented Columbus from ad-
dressing himself to the rival of his country, or that Venice
could imagine nothing greater than her commerce with
Alexandria and the Levant, the only hope of Columbus
was in Spain. However, it was not until after spending
eight years in solicitations that the Court of Isabella Con-
sented to accept the benefit which the Genoese citizen
wished to confer upon her. The Spanish Court was poor;
the Prior Perez and two merchants called Pinzone were
obliged to advance 17,ooo ducats to defray the expenses
of the expedition. Columbus received a patent from the
Court and sailed at length from the port of Palós in
Andalusia, with three small vessels and the empty title of
Admiral.
“From the Canaries, where he anchored, he took only
thirty-three days to discover the first American island
(October 12, 1492); and during this short voyage he
had to bear more murmurs on the part of his crew than
he had borne refusals from the sovereigns of Europe.
This island, about a thousand leagues from the Canaries,
was called San Salvador ; inmediately afterwards he dis-
covered the other islands, Lucayès, Cuba, and Hispaniola,
now called St. Domingo. Ferdinand and Isabella were
greatly surprised at seeing him return seven months after-
wards with Americans from Hispaniola, as well as some
of the curiosities of the country, especially gold, with
which he presented them. The King and Queen made
him sit down covered in their presence like a grandee of
Spain; they named him chief Admiral and Viceroy of the
New World. He was treated everywhere as an exceptional
being, a man sent from God. Then everyone wanted
to share in his enterprise, to embark under his flag. He
set sail again with a fleet of seventeen vessels (1493).
He found more new islands, the Antilles and Jamaica.
Admiration had succeeded to distrust on the occasion of
his first voyage ; but envy took the place of admiration
on his return from the second Z
(498.] COAVTEMPTUO US 7TRAEA 7TMEAV 7. 2O5
“He was Admiral, Viceroy, and might add to his titles
that of the benefactor of Ferdinand and Isabella. Never-
theless, the judges who had actually been sent with the
fleet to watch over his conduct brought him back to
Spain. The people, hearing that Columbus had arrived,
ran to meet him as the tutelary genius of Spain ; they
dragged him from the ship. Columbus appeared with
irons on his feet and hands.
“He had been treated in this way by order of Fonseca,
Bishop of Burgos, Superintendent of the Armaments."
The ingratitude displayed was as great as his services.
Isabella was ashamed, and, endeavoured to repair the
affront as well as she was able ; but Columbus was kept
at home for four years, either because the Court was
afraid of his retaining his discoveries for his own benefit,
or to gain time for the investigation of his conduct. At
length he was sent back to his New World (1498). It was
on his third voyage that he first sighted the Continent ten
degrees beyond the equator, and the coast on which was
founded Carthagena.”
* “Codice diplomatico Colombo Americano, ossia raccolta di docu-
menti inediti, &c.” Genoa, 1823, lib. lv. See in the same collec-
tion a letter from Columbus to the Nurse of Prince Juan, when he
returned a prisoner to Spain, p. 297.
* In his fourth voyage (I 501–3) the unfortunate Columbus was
refused shelter in the very port which he had discovered. He
foundered upon the coast of Jamaica, and remained there a year
deprived of all assistance; from thence he wrote a pathetic letter to
Ferdinand and Isabella. He returned, exhausted with ſatigue, to
Spain, and the intelligence of the death of his patroness, Isabella,
dealt him the last blow. (I 506.) !
“Of what profit,” says he in this letter, “ have been to me these
twenty years of labour, fatigue, and peril? At this day I have not
so much as a house in Castile. If I want to dine, sup, or sleep, my
only shelter is the inn. Oſtener than not I have no money to pay
my expenses . . . . . If I had not the patience of Job, should I not
have died in despair, seeing that in such tempestuous weather, and
in the extremity of our danger, I and my young son, my brother
and my friends were shut out from the very land and port which I
had won for Spain, and in discovering which I had sweated blood.
“However, I climbed to the highest point of the vessel, sending
forth cries of distress and calling the four winds to my assistance;
2O6 AURZY/AA DISCOVAERIAES. [I5 I3-
“The ashes of Columbus are not affected by the glorious
achievement of his life—that of doubling the works of
Creation ; but men like to do justice to the dead, either
because they flatter themselves that more justice will be
done to the living or from the natural love of truth. Amerigo
Vespucci, a Florentine merchant, enjoyed the glory of
giving his name to the new hemisphere in which he had
not an inch of ground. He pretended to have been the
first to discover the Continent. Even if it be true that
this discovery was his, the glory would not belong to him ;
it belongs incontestably to the man whose genius and
courage induced him to make the first voyage” (Voltaire).
Whilst other hardy navigators were continuing the work
of Columbus, the Portuguese and English discovered
North America, and Bilbao spied out from the heights
of Panama the Southern Ocean (1513). Meanwhile, the
blind Cupidity of the Spanish colonists was depopulating
but no answer came. Exhausted, I fell asleep, and I heard a voice
full of sweetness and pity which pronounced these words: “O
man without sense, slow to believe and serve thy God, how has he
not cared for thee ever since thy birth ! What more did he do for
Moses or for David his servant? The Indies, that rich quarter of the
globe, he has given thee to bestow on whomsoever thou pleasest.
He has given the keys of the Ocean, until now locked in with such
strong bolts, unto thee.’ And I, although half dead, could hear
everything, but could find no answer. I could only bewail my faults.
Whoever it was that was addressing me, concluded in these words:
“Be comforted, restore thy faith; for the tribulations of men are written
upon stone and marble.” If it should please your Majesties to do me
the favour to send me a ship of sixty-four tons with some biscuits and
other provisions, it would be enough to carry me and these poor
people back to Spain. I pray your Majesties to have pity upon
me. May Heaven and Earth weep for me ! Let all who have any
charity, who love truth and justice, weep for me. I have stayed
here in these Indian Islands, isolated, sick, in great trouble, expecting
death every day, surrounded by innumerable cruel savages, far from
the sacraments of our Holy Mother Church I have not one mara-
vedi for a spiritual offering ! I implore your Majesties, if God permit
me to leave this place, to allow me to go to Rome and to accomplish
other pilgrimages. May the Holy Trinity preserve the liſe and
power of your Majesties. – Written in the Indies, in the island of
Jamaica — July 7th, 1503.” Zetters from Columbus, reprinted
zºnder the direction of Abbé Morcſ/l aſ Bassano, 1860.
-I513.] 7 RAEATMENT OF THE MAZYVA.S. 2O7
were the dregs of the Old. Mere adventurers, impatient
to go back to their own country, they could not wait for
the slow returns of agriculture or industry: they believed
in no other wealth than gold. This mistake cost America.
ten millions of her inhabitants. The feeble, effeminate
race, which occupied the country, soon fell victims to
excessive and unhealthy labour. The population of
Hispaniola was reduced by 1507 from one million to
60,000. In spite of the benevolent laws of Isabella, in
spite of the efforts of Ximenes, and the pathetic ex-
postulation of the Dominicans, this depopulation extended
between the Tropics. No one raised his voice in favour
of the Americans, with more courage and pertinacity,
than the celebrated Bartholomew de Las Casas, Bishop
sº wº.
the Antilles. These first conquerors of the New W ord .
of Chiapa and protector of the Indians. Twice he re-
turned to Europe and solemnly pleaded their cause before
Charles V. It is heart-rending to read in the ZXestruyclon
de Zas Indias of the barbarous treatment endured by these
unhappy natives."
* Las Casas, AErevissima Relacion de la Destruccion de las Indias,
edition of Venice, 1643 : “The women were obliged to work in the
fields, the men in the mines. , Whole generations were perishing.
Many Indians strangled themselves. I know one Spaniard whose
cruelty induced more than two hundred Indians to kill themselves.”
—p. 29. “There was one of the King's officers who had three
hundred Indians; at the end of three months only thirty remained.
Three hundred more were given to him ; he caused their deaths.
More and more were given to him, till he died, and the devil carried
him off.-If it had not been for the Franciscans and a wise tribunal
which was established, Mexico would have been depopulated
like Hispaniola.”—p. I42. “In Peru one Alonzo Sanchez met a
troop of women with provisions, who gave them to him without
attempting to run away ; he seized the food and massacred the
women.—(58.) They dug ditches, filled them with stakes and threw in
pell-mell the Indians whom they seized alive, old men, women with
child, little children, until the ditch was full.–(61.) They dragged
the Indians after them to force them to fight against their brothers,
and obliged them to eat their flesh.--(83.) When the Spaniards
dragged them into the mountains and they ſell down exhausted, they
broke their teeth with the handles of their swords; and the Indians
cried out ‘Kill us now ! we will die now.’—(72.) A Spaniard who
2O3 FERNANDo Corzzz. [1519-
One does not know whether most to admire the daring
of the conquerors of America or to detest their cruelty.
They had discovered in four expeditions the coasts of
Florida, Yucatan, and Mexico, when Fernando Cortez
sailed from the island of Cuba to make new explorations
on the Continent (1519). -
“This simple lieutenant of the governor of a newly-
discovered island, followed by less than 600 men, with
only 18 horses and a few field-pieces, set off to subjugate
the most powerful State in America. In the beginning
he was so fortunate as to meet with a Spaniard who had
been for nine years a prisoner at Yucatan, on the road to
Mexico, and who acted as his interpreter. Cortez advanced
along the Gulf of Mexico, sometimes caressing the natives,
sometimes making war on them. He found polished
towns where the arts were held in honour. The powerful
republic of Tlascala, which was flourishing under an
aristocratic government, opposed his passage ; but the
sight of the horses and the noise of the cannon were
enough to put these ill-armed multitudes to flight. He
made as favourable a peace as he chose ; 6,ooo of his
new allies in Tlascala accompanied him on his Mexican
expedition. He entered Mexico without encountering
was out shooting had nothing to give to his dogs. He met a woman
with a little child; he took the child, cut it in pieces, and gave it to
the dogs.-(II6.) I have seen with my eyes Spaniards cut off hands,
noses, and ears from men and women, with no other motive than
caprice, in so many places and so often, that it would take too long
to enumerate. I have seen them train dogs to hunt the Indians.
I have seen them tear infants from their mothers' breasts and throw
them into the air with all their strength. A priest named Ocagna
took a child out of the fire into which it had been thrown ; a Spaniard
came by, tore it from his arms and threw it back. This man died
suddenly on the following day. I decided that he ought not to be
buried.—(132.) I protest on my conscience and before God that
I have not exaggerated the ten thousandth part of what has been
done, and is being done. —(134.) Finished at Valencia, 1542,
December 8.” See also the work entitled : “Aquí ſe comediene zema
dispuſa o controversia entre el obispo Pozº Fray Bartolomé de las
Casas, obispo que ſué de la ciudad real de Chiapa, el doctor /nes de
Sepulveda, chronista del emperador nºtestro, sobre 7zee el doctor coſt-
tendia gue las conquistas de (as Indias eran licitas.” Valladolid 1550.
-I519.] - MEX/CO. 209
any opposition, in spite of the proclamation of the Sove-
reign, although that sovereign had thirty vassals, each of
whom might have appeared at the head of Ioo, ooo men
armed with darts and sharp stones which they used instead
of steel.
“The town of Mexico, built in the midst of a great
lake, was the finest monument of American industry; im-
mense causeways intersected the lake, which was covered
with little boats made of bark. In the town were spacious
and convenient houses built of stone; markets and shops
full of shining gold and silver work, glazed earthenware,
cotton stuffs, and tissues of feathers, in which the most
striking designs were formed, in the brightest colours.
Near the principal market was a town-hall, where sum-
mary justice was dealt to traders. Several royal palaces
belonging to the Emperor Montezuma increased the
splendour of the town ; one of them was surrounded by
large gardens, in which only medicinal, plants were culti-
vated ; managers distributed them gratuitously to the
sick; the king received a report of the success which
followed their use, and the doctors kept a register of
them in their own manner, for writing was unknown.
All their other magnificence marked only the develop-
ment of art; this one denoted moral progress. If it
were not in human nature to mingle good and evil,
we should be perplexed to reconcile this benevolence
with the human sacrifices whose blood welled up at
Mexico before the idol Visiliputsli, the god of armies. It
is said that Montezuma's ambassadors told Cortez that
their master sacrificed in his wars nearly 20, ooo enemies
every year, in the great temple at Mexico. This is a great
exaggeration ; we see the intention to excuse the injustice
of Montezuma's conqueror ; however, when the Spaniards
entered the temple they found among its ornaments, skulls
hung as trophies. Their government was in other respects
wise and humane ; the education of youth formed one of
its chief objects. There were public schools established
for both sexes. We admire the ancient Egyptians for
knowing that the year consisted of about 365 days : the
S. H. P
2 IO AºA2C/2AX77OAV OAP CO/07/2Z. [I520-
astronomy of the Mexicans was equally advanced. War
with them was reduced to an art; it is this which gave
them so much superiority over their neighbours. A wise
financial administration maintained the greatness of this
empire, which was feared and envied by its neighbours.
“But the warlike animals on which the principal
Spaniards were mounted, the artificial thunder which they
produced with their hands, those wooden castles which
had carried them over the ocean, the steel with which
they were covered, their marches which were as many
victories, all these real subjects of admiration, besides
the weakness which inclines nations to admire, caused
Cortez when he entered the town of Mexico to be re-
ceived by Montezuma as a master, and by the people
as a god. If a Spanish servant passed in the street the
people fell on their knees. It is said that a Mexican
Cazique presented a Spanish captain, who was passing
over his land, with slaves and game. ‘If thou art a god,’
he said, “here are men, eat them; if thou art a man, here
is food, which these slaves will prepare for thee.’ -
“Little by little Montezuma's courtiers became familiar
with their guests, and ventured to treat them as men.
Some of the Spaniards were at Vera Cruz on the road to
Mexico; one of the Emperor's generals who had secret
orders attacked them, and although his troops were
beaten, three or four of the Spaniards were killed ; the
head of one was even carried to Montezuma. Then
Cortez performed one of the most daring actions on
record; he went to the Palace, followed by fifty Spaniards,
Carried the Emperor a prisoner to the Spanish quarters,
forced him to give up those who had attacked his men
at Vera Cruz, and loaded the feet and hands of the
Emperor with irons as a general might punish a common
soldier; afterwards he induced him to declare himself
publicly as a vassal of Charles V. Montezuma and the
principal personages of the empire gave as the tribute
attached to their homage 6oo, Ooo marks of pure gold,
with an incredible amount of jewels, of gold-work, and
of the most valuable products of the industry of many
-I 52 I.] A/OAVZ.A.Z UAE/A. 2II
centuries. Cortez set aside one-fifth for his master, took
another fifth for himself, and distributed the remainder
among his soldiers.
“It may be mentioned as one of the most extraordinary
facts in history, that although the conquerors of this New
World tried to destroy each other, their conquests did not
suffer. Never was fact so contrary to probability. When
Cortez had nearly subdued Mexico with the 5oo men he
had remaining, the Governor of Cuba, Velasquez, more
offended by the fame acquired by his lieutenant, Cortez,
than by his want of submission, sent almost all his troops,
consisting of 8oo foot, eighty well-mounted horse, and two
small field-pieces, to subdue Cortez, take him prisoner,
and supplant him in his victories. Cortez having, on the
one hand, to fight I, ooo Spaniards, and on the other to
retain the continent in subjection, left eighty men to
answer for the whole of Mexico, and marched against his
countrymen with the rest of his troops. He obtained the
victory. The remainder of the army which came to
destroy him took service under his standard, and he
returned with it to Mexico.
“The Emperor was still imprisoned in his capital,
guarded by eighty soldiers. The officer who com-
manded them, on a true or false report that the Mexicans
were conspiring to deliver their master, had chosen the
opportunity of a festival, during which 2,000 of the chiefs
were steeped in drink to fall upon them with fifty of his
men, massacre them and their followers without en-
countering any resistance, and strip them of all the
jewels, and gold and silver ornaments, with which they
were covered for this festivity. This crime, rightly
attributed by the people to the greed of avarice, at length
tired out their patience ; and when Cortez arrived he
found 200,ooo Americans in arms against eighty Spaniards
occupied in defending themselves and in guarding the
Emperor. They implored Cortez to deliver their king;
they precipitated themselves in numbers against the
cannon and the muskets. The Spaniards grew tired of
killing them, and the Mexicans succeeded each other
P 2
2 I 2 S/AEGAE OF MEX/CO. [I52 I-
intrepidly." Cortez was obliged to abandon the town, in
which he would have been famished ; but the Mexicans
had broken up all the roads. The Spaniards made
bridges with the bodies of their enemies; in their bloody
retreat they lost all the treasures which they had seized
for Charles V. as well as for themselves. Having won
the battle of Otumba, Cortez prepared to lay siege to
Mexico. He made his soldiers and the Tlascalans whom
he had with him construct nine vessels, to re-enter the
town by the very lake which seemed to forbid his entrance.
The Mexicans were not afraid of a naval combat ; 4,000 or
5,ooo Canoes, each containing two men, covered the lake
and attacked the nine ships of Cortez, on which he had
about 300 men. These nine brigantines, armed with
guns, soon overpowered the fleet of the enemy. Cortez
with the remainder of his troops was fighting upon the
causeways which traversed the lake. Seven or eight
Spanish prisoners were sacrificed in the Temple of
Mexico. At length, after renewed struggles, the new
Emperor was taken. It was the same Gatimozin who
became so famous for his speech when a Receiver of
the King of Spain placed him on burning coals to dis-
cover in which part of the lake he had thrown his riches.
While his High Priest, condemned to the same tortures,
uttered loud cries, Gatinozin called out, “And I, am I
upon a bed of roses?’” :
Cortez was absolute master of the town of Mexico
(1521); all the remainder fell with it under the Spanish
dominion, as well as the adjoining provinces. What
* “I declared to them that if they continued obstinate I should not
stop as long as there remained any vestige of the town and its inhabi-
tants. They answered that they were all determined to die in order
to finish with us, that I might see the terraces, streets, and squares
filled with men and that they had calculated that by sacrificing
twenty-five thousand for one we should perish first.” Hernando
Cortez, Aſistoria de la AVueva Zspaña, for sat conquistador. First
letter to Charles V. October 30, 1520. “They asked me wherefore
I, son of the Sun who travels round the world in twenty-four hours,
was longer in exterminating them, in satisfying their desire for death
and joining the God of Rest.” 2nd letter.
-1521.] AAEA’ U. 2I 3
was the reward of the extraordinary services of Cortez P
The same that Columbus received—he was persecuted
Notwithstanding the titles with which his country had
decorated him, he met with little consideration, and he
could scarcely obtain an audience from Charles V. One day
he penetrated the crowd which surrounded the Emperor’s
coach, and got upon the doorstep. Charles asked who
that man was. “It is a man,” replied Cortez, “who
has given you more kingdoms than your fathers left you
towns.”
The Spaniards, however, sought new countries to con-
quer and lay waste. Magalhaens had sailed round Southern
America, crossed the Pacific Ocean, and was the first to
circumnavigate the globe. But the greatest of the
American States after Mexico remained to be discovered.
One day when the Spaniards were weighing some gold, an
Indian, overturning their scales, told them that in two
suns’ march southwards they would find a country in
which gold was so plentiful as to serve for the vilest
usages. Two adventurers, Pizarro and Almagro, one a
foundling and the other a keeper of Swine who had turned
soldier, undertook the discovery and the conquest of the
vast countries which the Spaniards have called by the
name of Peru.
“From Cusco and the environs of Cape Capricorn to
the Isle of Pearls a single monarch ruled over about
thirty degrees; he was of the race of conquerors called
Incas. The first of these Incas, who had subdued and
given laws to the Country, was Supposed to be the son
of the Sun. The Peruvians transmitted the record of their
events to posterity by knots which they placed on cords.
They had obelisks and regular gnomons to mark the
points of the equinox and the solstices. Their year con-
sisted of 365 days. They had raised prodigies of archi-
tecture, and were great in the art of sculpture. It was the
most polished and industrious nation in the New World.
“The Inca Huescar, father of Atahualpa the last Inca,
under whom the empire was destroyed, had greatly
increased and embellished it. This Inca, who had con-
2I4. A/ZA RA’O. [I532-
quered the whole of Quito, had constructed by means of
his soldiers and prisoners a high road of 5oo leagues
from Cusco to Quito, through ravines which had been
filled up and hills which had been laid plain. Relays of
men, placed at each half league, Carried the orders of
the Sovereign throughout his empire. Such was the
administration : the King's magnificence is sufficiently
proved by the fact that when he travelled he was carried
upon a throne of gold weighing 25,000 ducats; the litter
of golden shafts on which the throne rested was borne
by the first men in the kingdom.
“Pizarro attacked this empire with 250 foot, sixty horse,
and a dozen small cannon. He landed from the
Southern Ocean in the latitude of Quito, below the
equator. Atahualpa, Son of Huescar, reigned at that
time (1532); he resided near Quito Surrounded by 40,000
soldiers armed with arrows and gold and silver pikes.
Like Cortez, Pizarro began by offering the friendship of
Charles V. to the Inca. When the army of Atahualpa
and the little Castilian troop were in each other's presence,
the Spaniards endeavoured to colour their conduct with
the appearance of religion. A monk called Valverde
approached the Inca with an interpreter, and holding
out a Bible told him that he must believe all that the
Book said. The Inca put it to his ear, and hearing nothing
flung it on the ground. This was the sign of battle.
“The guns, horses, and steel arms made on the Peru-
vians the same effect as on the Mexicans: they were
killed without resistance. Atahualpa, torn from his golden
throne by the conquerors, was loaded with irons. To be
speedily set at liberty he promised to give them as much
gold as one of the halls in his palace could contain, ‘up
to the height of his hand,’ and he raised his hand in the
air. Every Spanish horse-soldier had 240 marks in pure
gold; each foot-soldier I60. Ten times as much silver was
shared in the same proportions. The officers amassed
immense treasures; and they sent to Charles V. 30,000
marks in silver, 3,000 in unwrought gold, and productions
of the industry of the country weighing 20,000 marks in
-1542 J QUARRAEZS OF THAE CONQUERORS. 2 I 5
silver and 2,000 in gold. The unfortunate Atahualpa
was, notwithstanding, put to death. -
“Diego of Almagro marched to Cusco through oppos-
ing multitudes; he penetrated as far as Chili. Every-
where possession was taken in the name of Charles V.
Soon afterwards dissensions broke out between the Con-
querors as they had between Velasquez and Hernando
Cortez in North America.
“Almagro and the brothers of Pizarro made war upon
each other in Cusco itself, the capital of the Incas ; all
the European recruits took sides and fought for the chief
whom they selected. They had a bloody battle under
the walls of Cusco, yet the Peruvians did not venture to
profit by the weakness of their common enemy. At
length Almagro was taken prisoner and beheaded by his
rival; but soon afterwards the latter was assassinated by
the friends of his victim.
“Already the government of Spain was extending
throughout the New World ; the large provinces had
their Governors ; tribunals called audiences were esta-
blished ; Archbishops, Bishops, tribunals of the Inquisi-
tion, the whole ecclesiastical hierarchy was exercising its
functions as at Madrid, when the captains who had con-
quered Peru for Charles V. tried to take it for them-
selves. A son of Almagro caused himself to be recognized
as the Governor of Peru; but some other Spaniards
preferring to obey their sovereign in Europe rather
than one of their own companions, who had become
their master, had him beheaded by the executioner.”
(Voltaire.) -
A new civil war was also suppressed. Charles V.,
yielding at length to the representations of Las Casas,
had guaranteed the personal liberty of the Indians, while
he imposed tribute and services upon them (1542).
The Spanish colonists took up arms and chose Gonzalo
Pizarro for their chief. But the name of the King was so
much respected that it was sufficient to send an old man,
an inquisitor (Pedro de la Gasca), to restore order. He
rallied round him most of the Spaniards, overcame some
216 PROGRAESS OF THE SPAAZARA).S. [1546-70.
by persuasion, and others by force, and secured the pos-
Session of Peru to Spain (1546).
Axtent of the Spanish Empire in America.-If we
except Mexico and Peru, Spain really possessed only the
coasts. The nations in the interior could only be sub-
dued gradually as they were converted by Missionaries
and attached to the soil. -
Z)iscoveries and Establishments of different kinds. – 1540.
Enterprise of Gonzalo Pizarro for discovering the country
to the east of the Andes; Orellana sails round South
America, a voyage of 2,000 leagues. AEstablishments,
I 527, province of Venezuela ; 1535, Buenos Ayres ;
1536, province of Granada ; I 540, Santiago ; I550, the
Concession ; 1555, Carthagena and Porto Bello ; I 567,
Caraccas. -
Administrations.—Political Government: in Spain,
Council for India, and Court of Commerce and Justice ;
in America, two Viceroys, Audiences, Municipalities,
Caziques and Protectors of the Indians, Ecclesiastical
Government (entirely dependent on the King), Arch-
bishops, Bishops, Curates or Doctors, Missionaries,
Monks.-Inquisition established in 1570 by Philip II.
Commercial Administration: Monopoly. Privileged
Ports: in America, Vera Cruz, Carthagena, and Porto
Bello; in Europe, Seville (later on, Cadiz); Fleet and
Galleons. Agriculture and Manufactures neglected in
Spain and in America for the sake of mining operations;
slow growth of the colonies, and ruin of the metropolis
before 16oo. But during the course of the sixteenth
century the enormous quantity of precious metals which
Spain obtained from America contributed to make
her the preponderating power in Europe.
CHAPTER XVI.
LETTERs, ARTs AND scLENCES IN THE SIXTEENTH
CENTURY.
LEO X. AND FRANCIS I.
THE 15th century was devoted to classical learning,
enthusiasm for antiquity caused the road which had been
so happily opened by Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch to
be abandoned. In the sixteenth century the genius of
the moderns shone once more and was never again
extinguished. -
The progress of intellect at this time presents two per-
fectly distinct movements; the former, ſavoured by the
influence of Leo X. and Francis I., was peculiar to Italy
and France ; the latter was European.-The former,
characterized by the progress of literature and the arts,
was interrupted in France by civil, and diminished in Italy
by foreign, wars; in the latter country the genius of litera-
ture was crushed under the yoke of Spain ; but the
impulse given to art was felt into the middle of the
following century.—The second movement was the
development of an entirely new spirit of doubt and
inquiry. t
In the seventeenth century this spirit was checked
partly by a return to religious belief, partly by a diversion
in favour of natural Sciences, but it reappeared in the
eighteenth.
218 AOAZ TR V. [I500-
§ I. LITERATURE AND ART.
Besides the general causes which produced the revival
of letters, such as the progress of Security and Opulence,
the discovery of the monuments of antiquity, &c., several
special causes united to give new life to literature in the Italy
of the sixteenth century. (I) In consequence of the art of
printing, books became common; (2) The people of Italy
having no longer any influence in politics, sought for
consolation in the pleasures of the intellect ; (3) a num-
ber of Princes, especially the Medici, encouraged
Ścientific men and artists; the great writers profited less
by their protection. º
Poetry, with the arts, was Italy's chief glory in the
sixteenth century, and was distinguished by both genius
and elegance in the first part of this period. The Epic
Muse raised two immortal monuments. Comedy and
Tragedy made some rather mediocre attempts. The most
opposite styles, satires and pastorals were cultivated.
The rapid decline of good taste is most remarkable in
the latter.
Died in Died in
Boiardo . º ge . I490 Trissino º - . I 550
Macchiavelli . s . I529 Tasso . º e . I 596
Ariosto. - k . I533 Guarini. º - . I 6 I9
Eloquence, that tardy offspring of Literature, had not
had time to form itself. But many historians rivalled
the ancients in excellence.
Died in - Dicq in
Macchiavelli. e . I 529 Paolo Giovio. - . I 552
Guicciardini . º . I54O Baronius g - . I607
Bembo . & g . I 547
The dead languages were cultivated as much as in the
preceding period, but this distinction is lost sight of
among so many others. *
-1600.] A/87. 2 (9.
Died in Died in
Pontanas o . I 503 Sado Petus . I 547
Aldus Manutius . . I 5.16 Fracastorius . -> . I 553
Johannes Secundus . I523 J. C. Scaliger e . I 558
Sannazarius , e . I 530 Vida . e e . I 563
A. J. Lascaris º . I 535 Paulus Manutius . . I S7.4
Bembo . e © . I 547 Aldus Manutius . . I 597
Superiority in art was the characteristic feature of the
Italy of the sixteenth century. The ancients remained
unrivalled in sculpture; but the moderns equalled them in
architecture, and in painting probably surpassed them.
The Roman school was celebrated for perfection in
design, the Venetian for beauty of colour.
Died in Died in
Giorgione e . I 5 II Primaticcio e . I564.
Bramante . º . I 5 I4 Palladio & º . I 568
Leonardo da Vinci. . I 518 Tiziano. e e . I 576
Raphael te e . I 520 Paulo Veronese . . I 588
Correggio . . . . 1534 Tintoretto . e . I 594
Parmegiano .. º . I 534 Augustino Carracci . I6O1
Giulio Romano . . I 546 Caravaggio . e . I 609
Michel Angelo . . I 564 Annibale Carracci. . I 609
Giovanni of Udino. . I 564 Ludovico Carracci. . I 6 Io.
France followed Italy at a great distance. The historian
Comines died in 1509. Francis I. founded the Collége
de France and the Imprimerie Royale. He encouraged
the poet Marot (1544), and the brothers du Bellay (1543
—1560), diplomatists and historians. His sister Mar-
guerite of Navarre (1549) herself cultivated letters.
Francis I. honoured Titian and invited Primaticcio and
Leonardo da Vinci to France. He built Fontainebleau,
St. Germain, and Chambord, and began the Louvre.
Under him flourished Jean Cousin (1589), designer and
painter; Germain Pilon, Philibert de l'Orme, Jean
Goujon (1572), sculptors and architects ; Scholars—
Budaeus (1540), Turnebus (1563), Muretus (1585); Henry
Stephens, the celebrated printer; the illustrious lawyers,
Dumoulin (1566), and Cujas (1590). After the reign of
Francis I. the poet Ronsard (1585) enjoyed a short-lived
fame; but Montaigne (1592), Amyot (1593), and the
azo AAIZLOSOPHY. [I500-
Safire Ménippée gave a new character to the French
language.
Other countries were less rich in illustrious men.
Germany, however, may boast of her Luther, the poet
shoemaker, Hans Sachs, and the painters, Albert Dürer
and Lucas Cranach. Portugal and Spain had their
illustrious writers, Camoens, Lope de Vega, and Cer-
vantes ; Flanders and Scotland their scholars and his-
torians, Juste Lipsius (1616) and Buchanan (1592). Of
the forty-three universities founded in the sixteenth
century, fourteen were founded by the kings of Spain
alone, and ten of them by Charles V.
§ II. PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE.
In the preceding century philosophy was cultivated only
by the learned. It contented itself with attacking scho-
lastic, and setting up Platonic philosophy in its stead.
Swept away gradually into a more rapid current, it
carried the spirit of inquiry into every subject. But
sufficient observations had not been made, there was no
method, human intellect was searching at random. Many
men were discouraged and afterwards became the most
audacious sceptics.
Died in Died in
Erasmus e . I 533 Montaigne * . I 592
Vives . & * . I 54O Gordano Bruno . ... I6OO
Rabelais ſº {j . I553 Charron. & * . I603
Cardan º & . I 576 Boehm . * g . I624
Telesio . tº g . I 588 Campanello . e . I639
Theoretical politics began with Macchiavelli; but in the
commencement of the sixteenth century the Italians had
not made sufficient progress in this science to find that it
was reconcileable with morality.
- Died in - Died in
Macchiavelli ſº . I529 Bodin . o te . I 596
Thomas More sº • I533
1600.] SCIAEAVCE. 22 I
The natural sciences left the fruitless systems they had
hitherto accepted to follow the road of observation and
experience.
Died in
Paracelsus . e . I54I
Copernicus . i. • I543
Fallopius tº { } . I 562
Vesalius. se e . I564
Died in
Gessner tº . I565
Paré . tº o . I 592
Visto . e . I605
Van Heimont gº • I644
CHAPTER XVII,
TROU BICES IN THE BEGINNING OF THE REIGN OF
LOUIS XIII.
NICHELIEU, IGIo–I613.
THE chief characteristic of the seventeenth century is
the simultaneous progress of the monarchy and of the
1ower classes (tiers État). The progress of monarchy
was twice suspended by the minorities of Louis XIII.
and Louis XIV. That of the tiers État was stopped only
towards the end of the reign of Louis XIV., when the
King, who no longer feared the nobles, allowed the
government to fall into their hands. Until that time all
the ministers, Concini, Luynes, Richelieu, Mazarin, Col-
bert, and Louvois, had been plebeians, or at the most,
belonged quite to the inferior nobility. A few of the
admirals and chief officers in the armies of Louis XIV.
came from the very lowest ranks of the people.
In the first portion of this century political action may
be said to have been negative. The object was to destroy
the obstacles to monarchical centralization—the higher
nobles and the Protestants; this was the work of Riche-
lieu. In the second portion there was under Colbert
an attempt at legislative, and especially at administrative,
organization. Manufactures took their rise. France was
active both at home and abroad ; she fought as well as
produced. But her productions did not equal her con-
Sumption. France exhausted herself in enlarging her
territory by means of necessary and glorious victories.
I6 IO-I 5.] CZAZAZS OF 77/7Z A/OAZAZ.S. 223
Her interior prosperity was retarded by the pressure of
her wars and conquests, and by aristocratic reaction. The
nobility seized upon the power of the crown, stood be-
tween the King and the people and communicated their
own decrepitude to the monarchy.
Henri IV. found great difficulty in holding the balance
between the Protestants and Catholics. At the time of
his death he could no longer have maintained this inde-
cision, he must have joined one of the two parties, and
he would have chosen the Protestants, for the great
German war which was just beginning offered him the
magnificent part of chief of the European opposition
against the House of Austria—the part which was played
twenty years later by Gustavus Adolphus. After the
King's death, Louis XIII., a child; an Italian regent,
Marie de Medicis, and her Italian minister, Concini,
were not able to continue the policy of Henri IV. This
child and this woman could not mount on horseback and
fight against Austria. As they could not oppose, they
were obliged to make friends with Austria. They could
not lead the nobles and Protestants into Germany on a
Protestant crusade, they were therefore obliged to try to
gain the nobles and weaken the Protestants. This policy
of Concini’s, justly blamed by the historians, is defended
by Richelieu in one of his writings. The nobles whom
Henri IV. had not been able to deprive of their fortresses,
such as Condé, Epernon, Bouillon, and Longueville, were
all in arms on his death ; they demanded money, and in
order to avoid civil war it was necessary to give up to
them the treasure amassed by Henri IV. (twelve millions
and not thirty, according to Richelieu). They next
called for the States General (1614).
This assembly of the States, which after all effected
nothing, did not answer the expectations of the nobles ;
it showed a devotion to the monarchy; and the fiers
état called on the Crown to proclaim its independence
of the Pope. The nobles, as they could obtain nothing
from the States General, had recourse to force, and allied
themselves with the Protestants (1615); a strange
224 AA’OGAEASS OF 7A/AE PROTES 7AAV7 S. . [1621-
alliance between old feudalism and the religious reforma-
tion of the 16th century | Concini, tired of middle
courses, arrested the Prince of Condé, the chief of the
coalition. This daring step was the beginning of a new
policy ; Concini had just enlisted the services of the
young Richelieu (16Io).
A court intrigue overthrew Concini for the benefit of the
young Luynes, the little king’s favourite servant, who per-
suaded him to emancipate himself from his mother and
his minister (1617). Concini was assassinated, and his
widow, Leonora Galigai, executed as a sorceress. Their
real crimes were theft and venality. Luynes only con-
tinued the ministry of Concini. He had one more enemy
in the queen-mother who twice nearly brought on civil
war. The Protestants became every day more formidable.
They demanded, arms in hand, the execution of the Edict
of Nantes, which allowed a Republic to exist within the
kingdom. Luynes pushed them to extremities by uniting
Béarn to the crown, and declaring that in that province
the ecclesiastical property should be restored to the
Catholics. This is precisely what the Emperor tried to do
in Germany, and it was the principal cause of the Thirty
Years' War. Richelieu was afterwards more prudent in
his measures. He did not annoy the Protestants with
regard to their usurped possessions, he attacked only their
fortresses. Their Assembly at La Rochelle, in 1621, pub-
lished a declaration of independence, divided into eight
circles the 7oo reformed churches in France, regulated
the levies of money and men—in a word, organised the
Protestant Republic. They offered Ioo, ooo crowns a
month to Lesdiguières to place himself at their head and
organise their army. But the old soldier would not at 8o
years of age quit his little sovereignty of Dauphiny to
accept the government of such an undisciplined party.
Luynes, who had taken the command of the royal army
and the title of Constable, failed miserably before Mon-
tauban, whither he had led the king. He died in this
campaign (1621).
It was only three years afterwards that the queen-, .
-I624.] AOZACY OF AC/CAA. ZZZ U. 225
mother succeeded in introducing her creature Richelieu
into the Council (1624). The King had an antipathy
against this man, in whom he had a presentiment that he
would find a master. Richelieu's first thought was to
neutralise England, the only ally of the Protestants in
France. He did this in two ways. On the one hand, he
supported Holland and lent her money to build ships ; on
the other, the marriage of the King of England with the
beautiful Henrietta of France, daughter of Henri IV., in-
creased the natural indecision of Charles I. and the
distrust of the English in his government. The Cardinal
thus began by an alliance with the English and Dutch
heretics, and a war against the Pope ; from this we may
see how free his policy was from prejudice. The Pope,
who was entirely under the influence of Spain, occupied
in her favour the little Swiss canton of the Valteline, thus
holding for her the door of the Alps, through which her
Italian possessions communicated with Austria. Richelieu
hired Swiss troops, sent them against the Pope's army,
and restored the Valteline to the Grisons; but not until
he had assured himself by a decision of the Sorbonne that
he might do so with a clear conscience. After having
beaten the Pope, in the following year (1625) he con-
quered the Protestants, who had again taken up arms;
he subdued them and temporised with them, not being
able as yet to destroy them. He was embarrassed in the
execution of his great projects by the most despicable
intrigues. The young followers of Gaston, Duke of Orleans,
who were under the influence of women, stimulated their
master's lazy ambition. They wanted to give him an
external Support by marrying him to a foreign princess.
Bichelieu at first attempted to gain them over. He gave
a marshal's bâton to Ornano, Gastón's governor. This
encouraged them still further, and they plotted Richelieu’s
death. The Cardinal sent for their chief accomplice,
Chalais, but could get nothing from him. Then, changing
his policy, he gave Chalais up to a commission of the Par-
liament of Brittanyand executed him (1626). Gaston, while
his friend was being beheaded, married, without saying a
S.H. Q
226 SIEGE of LA Rocãºzzº [1628-
word, Mademoiselle de Montpensier. Ornano, imprisoned
in the Bastille, soon afterwards died there, no doubt of
poison. Gaston's favourites were in the habit of dying in
the Bastille (Paylaurens, 1635). Such was the policy of the
time, as we read in the Machiavelli of the 17th century,
Gabriel Naudé, Mazarin's librarian. The device of these
politicians, as given by Naudé, was Sa/us Zoftuſ, suprema
/ex esto. In other respects they agreed well in the choice
of means. It was the same doctrine that inspired the
terrorists in 1793. It seems to have been followed by
neither remorse nor doubt in the mind of Richelieu. As .
he was expiring the priest asked if he forgave his enemies:
“I have never had any,” he replied, “except those of the
State.” At another time he uttered the following terrible
words: “I never venture to undertake anything without
having well reflected upon it; but when once I have
resolved, I go straight to my object, I cut through
everything, I hew down everything, and afterwards cover
all with my red robe.”
He did in truth walk in a straight line with a terrible
inflexibility. He suppressed the post of constable ; that
of high admiral he took for himself, under the name of
general superintendent of the navy. This title meant
from the first the destroyer of La Rochelle. On the pre-
tence of economy he ordered the reduction of pensions,
and the demolition of fortresses. The fortress of Protest-
antism, La Rochelle, was at length attacked. A fop who
governed the King of England, the handsome Bucking-
ham, had solemnly proclaimed his love for Anne of
Austria; he was forbidden to enter the kingdom of France,
and he caused war to be declared between the two
Countries. The English promised assistance to La
|Rochelle ; it revolted and fell under the claws of
Richelieu (1627-8). Buckingham came with a few
thousand men to be beaten in the Isle of Rhé. Charles I.
had soon something else to do. With the famous “Peti-
tion of Right” (1628), the English revolution began ; and
Richelieu was by no means foreign to it. La Rochelle,
abandoned by the English, found herself divided from
- IC3o.] 500RAWAEE Z)ZS ZXVPAES. 227
the sea by a prodigious dyke—the remains may still be seen
at low tide. It had taken more than a year to construct,
more than once the sea carried the dyke away,+Richelieu
would not desist. The Amsterdam of France, of which
Coligni had intended to make himself the William of
Orange, was seized in the midst of her waters and enclosed
by land; parted from her native element, she did nothing
from this time but waste away. Protestantism, at least,
as a political party, was killed with the same blow. The
war still lingered in the south, but the famous Duke of
Rohan at length came to terms.
After having broken the Protestant party in France,
Richelieu conquered the Catholic party in Europe; he
beat the Spaniards in the corner of Italy where they
had reigned ever since Charles V. By means of a sharp,
short war he cut the knot of the succession to Mantua and
Montſerrat, small countries, but strong military positions.
The last duke had bequeathed them to a French prince,
the Duke of Nevers. The Savoyards, fortified at Susa,
thought themselves impregnable, and Richelieu himself
believed them to be so. The King, in his own person,
carried this terrible barrier. The Duke of Nevers was
Secured, France obtained an advanced post in Italy, and
the Duke of Savoy knew that the French might march
through his dominions whenever they pleased (1630).
During this splendid war, the Queen-mother, the
Courtiers, the ministers even, were waging an underhand
and cowardly opposition against Richelieu. They thought
that they had dethroned him. He met Louis XIII.,
talked to him for a quarter of an hour, and found him-
Self master again. This day was called the ZXay of the
Zuffes. It was a comedy. The Cardinal packed up his
goods in the morning, and his enemies did the same in the
evening. But the play had its tragic side ; the Cardinal
seized the two Marillacs, as well as the Superintendent,
both creatures of his own, who had turned against
him. Without mentioning the crimes of peculation and
extortion, so common at this period, they were guilty
of having endeavoured to cause the failure of the Italian
Q 2
228 AN/2/7/5A 7" OA' TH/AE AWOAZAZ.S. [1632-
war by keeping back sums intended for its support. One
of them was beheaded. The odious part of the business
was that he was tried by a commission of his personal
enemies in a private house, the palace of the Cardinal
himself, at Ruel.
The Queen-mother, who was more embarrassing, was
arrested and intimidated. She was persuaded to escape
to Brussels with her son Gaston. The latter, assisted by
the Duke of Lorraine, whose daughter he had married
after the death of his first wife, collected a few vagabonds
and fell upon France. He had been invited by the
nobles, among others by Montmorency, the Governor of
Languedoc. The nobles were determined this time to
stake all on their game. In order to join Montmorency it
was necessary to march across the whole kingdom.
Gaston's ill-paid soldiers supplied themselves by their
exactions as they went. All the towns shut their gates
against these robbers. The encounter took place at
Castelnaudry, and they were beaten (1632). Gaston
threw down his arms and made peace by giving up his
friends ; he swore emphatically “to love the King's
ministers, especia/Zy His Eminence the Cardina/.” Mont-
morency, wounded and taken prisoner, was cruelly
beheaded at Toulouse. The fate of this last representa-
tive of chivalry and feudalism excited commiseration.
His relation, the Duke of Bouteville, father of the cele-
brated Luxembourg, had been beheaded in 1627 for
fighting a duel. When heads of such importance were
seen to fall, the nobles began to understand that the State
and the laws were no longer to be trifled with.
The Thirty Years' War was raging at that time. Riche-
lieu would not take a direct part in it as long as he had
the nobles on his hands. The Emperor had by that time
damaged the Protestant party : the Palatine was ruined
(1623), the King of Denmark was giving up the war
(1629). The Catholic armies were under the command
of their greatest generals, the tactician Tilly, and that
demon of war Wallenstein. To give the Protestants a lift,
to excite the phlegmatic Germans, some external movement
-1632.] DEA 7// OF GOSTA VOS A DOLPH/U.S. 229
was necessary. Richelieu searched for an ally northward
of Denmark, and summoned Gustavus Adolphus from
Sweden. First he relieved him from the war with Poland :
he gave him money and negotiated for him an alliance
with the United Provinces and the King of England. He
was skilful enough at the same time to persuade the
Emperor to disarm. The Swede, whose poverty was so
great that he had more probabilities of gaining than
losing, precipitated himself into Germany, let loose all
the thunders of war, disconcerted the famous tacticians,
and beat them easily while they were studying his
manoeuvres : with one blow he deprived them of the
Rhine and all the west of Germany. Richelieu had
not foreseen that his success would be so rapid. For-
tunately Gustavus perished at Lützen, happily for his
enemies, his friends, and his own glory. He died pure
and invincible (1632).
Richelieu continued his subsidies to the Swedes, closed
France on the side of Germany by confiscating Lorraine,
and declared war against Spain (1635). He thought that
he had subdued Austria, so thoroughly that he might
venture upon despoiling her. He had bought the best
pupil of Gustavus Adolphus, Bernard of Saxe-Weimar.
Nevertheless the war presented some difficulty at first.
The Imperialists entered by way of Burgundy, and the
Spaniards by Picardy. They were only thirty leagues
from Paris. The inhabitants were preparing to leave the
capital; the minister himself seems to have lost his head.
The Spaniards, however, were repulsed (1636). Bernard of
Weimar gained for the benefit of France the famous battles
of Rheinfeld and Brisach. Brisach and Fribourg, con-
sidered as impregnable fortresses, were nevertheless taken.
The temptation was becoming too strong for Bernard :
he wished with the money of France to create for himself
a little sovereignty on the other side of the Rhine ; his
master, the great Gustavus, had not had time for this, nor
had Bernard. He died at the age of thirty-six, very
opportunely for France and for Richelieu (1639).
In the following year (1640) the Cardinal found means
23O AXAZA 7TAZ OA' ACACA/A2ZAZ (V. [I642.
of simplifying the war. It was to create more than
one civil war in Spain. The east and the west, Catalonia
and Portugal, caught fire at the same time. The Cata-
lans placed themselves under the protection of France.
Spain tried to imitate Richelieu by fostering for him an
embarrassing civil war. She treated with Gaston and
the nobles. The Count of Soissons, who also rose in
revolt, soon was obliged to take refuge with the Spaniards,
and was killed in fighting for them at Sedan (1641). The
party was not discouraged; and a new conspiracy was
framed in concert with Spain. The young Cinq-Mars,
chief equerry and favourite of Louis XIII., threw himself
into it with the same thoughtlessness which ruined Chalais.
The discreet De Thou, son of the historian, knew of the
plot and concealed it. The King himself was aware that
his minister's life was conspired against. Richelieu,
who was then very ill, seemed to be hopelessly lost.
He succeeded, however, in obtaining a copy of the treaty
with Spain, and had just time to bring his enemies to
justice before his death. He beheaded Cinq-Mars and
De Thou. The Duke of Bouillon, who already felt the
knife at his throat, purchased his life by giving up his
town of Sedan, the hot-bed of all these intrigues. At
the other extremity of France, Richelieu was taking Per-
pignan from Spain. These two strongholds which cover
France on the north and south were the Cardinal’s
legacy to the country. In the same year the great
Richelieu died (1642). -
THIRD PERIOD OF MODERN HISTORY
I648–1789.
FIRST DIVISION OF THE THIRD PERIOD.
I648–1715.
CHAPTER XVIII.
TRO U BLES UN DER MAZARIN.—BEGINNING OF
COLBERT'S MINISTRY. —LOUIS XIV.
I643–1661.
THE death of Richelieu was a deliverance for everyone.
The world began to breathe again. The people com-
posed songs, in which the King on his death-bed took
part. His widow, Anne of Austria, became regent in
the name of the young King Louis XIV., who was six
years old. France, after the deaths of Richelieu and
Louis XIII., found herself, as after that of Henri IV.,
under the soft hand of a woman who could neither re-
sist nor retain. “The French language,” says a Con-
temporary, “seemed to consist of these little words:
‘The Queen is so kind.’ The Concini of this new
Medicis was an extremely clever Italian, Cardinal
Mazarin. His administration, as deplorable at home
as it was glorious abroad, was disturbed by the Revo-
lution of the Fronde, and crowned by the two treaties
of Westphalia and the Pyrenees: the former of which
232 g AZAZA/C/A/. - [I643-
continued to be the diplomatic map of Europe until the
French Revolution. Both the good and the evil of this
time were equally the heritage of Richelieu. He had
stretched the springs of government too far—they gave
way of themselves under Mazarin. Richelieu, who had
every day to wage some mortal combat, supplied his
finances by means of tyrannical expedients: he devoured
the present and even the future by destroying credit.
Mazarin, receiving them in this condition, increased their
disorder by allowing plunder and plundering himself.
When he died he left wealth to the amount of 200 millions.
He had too much sense, however, to despise economy.
On his death-bed he told Louis XIV. that he considered
that he had discharged all his obligations to him by giving
him Colbert. Some of this stolen money was, however,
honourably employed. He sent Gabriel Naudé all over
Europe to buy valuable books at any price: in this way
he formed his admirable Bibliothèque Mazarine, and
opened it to the public. This was the first public library
in Paris. At the same time he gave a pension of I, ooo
Crowns, which he caused to be paid regularly, to Descartes,
who had retired to Holland.
The new reign was inaugurated by victories. The
French infantry took its place in the world for the first
time at the battle of Rocroy (1643). This was much
more than a battle, it was a great Social event. Cavalry
is the aristocratic, infantry the democratic arm of the
service. The birth of the infantry is that of the people.
Whenever the people rises in importance the infantry
distinguishes itself. During the century and a half that
Spain had been a nation, the Spanish foot-soldier had
reigned in every battle-field, brave under fire, respecting
himself even in rags, and making the señor soldado
respected everywhere. He was gloomy, avaricious, and
greedy, ill-paid, but patient while waiting to plunder
some fine town in Germany or Flanders. In the time of
Charles V. the troops had sworn by the “sack of Florence:”
they had pillaged Rome, Antwerp, and numberless towns
in the Low Countries. Among the Spanish troops there
-1643.] . CONDE. i 233
were men of every nation, especially Italians. National
character was disappearing, but the army was still Sustained
by its esprit de corps and ancient honour when it was
demolished at the battle of Rocroy. The soldier who
took the place of the Spaniard was the French soldier, the
ideal soldier—disciplined impetuosity. Although still far
from understanding the sentiment of patriotism, he had
an ardent love for his country. This dashing troop was
composed of sons of labourers, whose grandfathers had
been engaged in the last religious wars. Those party
strifes and pistol skirmishes made soldiers of the whole
nation ; they left traditions of honour and bravery in
families. The grandsons of these combatants enlisted
and led by a young man of twenty—the great Condé–
broke through the Spanish lines at Rocroy, Cutting to
pieces the veteran bands as gaily as their descendants,
under another young hero, crossed the bridges of Arcola
and Lodi.
From the time of Gustavus Adolphus war had been
carried on in a freer spirit. Less was thought of
material and more of moral strength. Tactics had
become, so to speak, more spiritual. As soon as men
felt the divine spark within them, they marched on
without considering the enemy. They required for their
leader a daring young man, one who believed in Success.
Condé, at Fribourg, threw his bâton into the enemy's
ranks; and every Frenchman ran to pick it up.
Victory begets victory. The lines at Rocroy once
broken, the barrier of Spanish and Imperial honour was
broken for ever. In the following year (1644) the skilful
veteran Mercy allowed the lines at Thionville to be
carried : Condé took Philipsburg and Mayence, the
Central position of the Rhine. Mercy was again and
completely beaten at Nordlingen (1645). In 1646 Condé
took Dunkerque, the key of the Low Countries and of
the Channel. Finally, on the 20th August, I 648, he
gained in Artois the battle of Lens. The treaty of West-
phalia was signed on the 24th of October. Condé had
simplified the negotiations. -
234. 7A/AE AWA’OAVADA2. [1648.
These five years of unparalleled success were fatal to
the good sense of Condé. He never thought of the
soldiers who had gained his victories for him ; he claimed
them for himself, and everyone, it must be owned,
thought as he did. This is what made him play in the
Fronde the part of a matamore, a stage-hero ; and after-
wards, deceived, disappointed, powerless, and ridiculous,
he lost his temper and joined the enemy ; but he was
beaten as soon as he ceased to command Frenchmen. &
This revolution broke out in the very year of the
glorious treaty of Westphalia, which terminated the Euro-
pean war, and gave Alsace to France. The Fronde" (so
childish a war was well named after a childish game)
was no doubt comic in its details, but still more so in its
principle ; it was, in truth, a revolt on the part of the
lawyers against the law. The Parliament took up arms
against the royal authority whence it derived its power.
It seized on the power of the States General, and pre-
tended to be the delegate of the nation which had nothing
to do with it. At this time the English Parliament—a
real Parliament in the political sense of the word—
beheaded its king (1649). On the other hand, the Nea-
politan populace was growning a fisherman (Masaniello,
1648). Our Parliament, composed of lawyers who pur-
chased their charges, had no antipathy to the dynasty or
to royalty, but only to the royal authority. Their con-
duct for two centuries had led to no such anticipations.
During the wars of religion they had exhibited much
timidity and docility. Favourable for the most part to
the new ideas, they nevertheless registered the Massacre
of St. Bartholomew.
Under Richelieu they were equally docile; the Parlia-
ments had furnished him with commissions for his Sangui-
nary justice, and nevertheless had been ill-treated, sub-
jected to compulsion, and interdicted (Paris, 1635, Rouen,
I640). At this time they hung their heads very low.
When they raised them and found them still upon their
* A ſronde is a sling with which the children in Paris used to
throw stones.—7%.
I648. CAA’A)/AVAZ /XA' A' AE 72. 235
shoulders, and saw that their master was really dead,
they felt brave and spoke loud. It resembled the noisy
outbreak of merriment among schoolboys between the
lessons of two severe masters—Richelieu and Louis XIV.,
—violence and strength.
In this tragi-comedy the most amusing figures after
that of the French Mars, as Condé was called, were the
chiefs of the opposite parties in Parliament: on the one
hand the impassible President Molé, a simple bar of iron
who softened under the influence neither of men nor of
opinions; on the other hand, restlessness itself personified
in the coadjutor-archbishop of Paris, the famous Cardinal
de Retz. This petulant young man had begun by writing
at seventeen a history of the conspiracy of Fiesco ; after-
wards in order to unite practice with theory, he entered
into a conspiracy against Richelieu. His delight was to
hear himself called the little Catilina. When he entered
the Parisian Senate he allowed a dagger to peep out of
his pocket. As he read that Caesar had debts, he also
had debts. Like Caesar he left commentaries. Only
Pharsalus was wanting to him.
The extreme poverty of the people admitting of no
new taxes, Mazarin lived by means of chance resources
and vexatious exactions. His Superintendent, Emery,
another Italian, having cut off four years' pay from the
Sovereign Companies in exchange for an onerous tax, he
exempted the Parliament. The Parliament did not
choose to be alone exempted, and refused to register the
edict. It declared its union with the sovereign com-
panies, and invited the other parliaments to agree (13th
May, I 5th June, 1648). Mazarin thought that he struck a
great blow when he arrested four councillors while the Te
Deum was being sung, and the standards taken at the
battle of Lens were being carried into Notre Dame.
This was the beginning of the insurrection. Of the four
prisoners, the one whom the people liked best was an old
Councillor who pleased them by his bluntness and his
white hair. His name was Broussel. The people crowded
before his door. An old servant held forth to the mob.
*
236 AºAV/D OA' 7THA. Aſ ROA/AOZ. [1653-
The disturbance spread, and Ioo, ooo voices Cried,
“Liberty and Broussel.”
The princes, the nobles, the Parliament, and the popu-
lace were all of one mind against Mazarin. The Queen
was obliged to leave Paris with her little son. They slept
upon straw at St. Germain. It was a bad time for kings.
The Queen of England, who had taken refuge in Paris,
spent the winter in bed for want of fuel. The Parliament,
however, raised troops, the lawyers mounted on horseback,
every large house furnished an armed lacquey. Viscount
Turenne, a member of the intriguing house of Bouillon,
believed the moment come for recovering Sedan, and for
a short time became the General of the Fronde. This .
cold, grave man hoped by this means to please Madame
de Longueville : every general, every party leader, every
hero of romance or history thought it necessary to have
a “dame de ses ſensées,” and to be in love.
The Spaniards, who took advantage of this crisis (1649)
to enter France, reconciled the two parties for a short time
by fear. Condé, who until then had remained faithful to
the court, thought that they could not do without him,
and became insupportably exacting. It was then that the
name of Żefits maîtres was invented for him and the young
men who surrounded him. He made both parties bid for
him at the same time: it was necessary to arrest him
(1650). This was a pretext for Turenne, who had just
gone over to the Spaniards, and who declared that he
was fighting for his deliverance. The prince's party, that
of the Frondeurs, was united and sustained by Spain,
and Mazarin was forced to yield. He withwrew for a
time from France, and let the storm pass by ; in the
following year he returned, gained over Turenne, and
tried in vain to carry the King back to Paris (battle of
the Porte St. Antoine, 1652). In one more year both
parties were thoroughly tired out, and the Parisians
themselves pressed the king to return (1653). The
frondeurs crowded into Mazarin's anti-chamber. Condé
and the Spaniards were beaten by the royal army, com-
manded by Turenne. Mazarin, allying himself without
-1659.] A. OOZS X/ V. 237
scruple with the English Republic under Cromwell, over-
powered the Spaniards. Turenne defeated them in
the Battle of the Dunes (1658), which gave Dunkerque
to the English, and the Peace of the Pyrenees to France
(1659). The treaty of Westphalia had guaranteed to her
the barriers of Artois, Alsace, and Rousillon ; that of the
IPyrenees gave her Gravelines, Landrecies, Thionville, and
Montmédy in addition.
The young King of France married the Infanta with a
dowry of Ioo,ooo crowns, which was never paid. The
Infanta renounced her right of succession to the crown
of Spain. Mazarin did not object; he foresaw the value
of these renunciations (1659).
Then followed the most complete triumph of royalty,
the most perfect acquiescence of a people, in the Sove-
reignty of one man, that had ever existed. Richelieu
had subdued the nobles and the Protestants; and the
Fronde ruined the Parliament by showing what it was
worth. Only the King and the people were left standing
in France: the latter lived in the former.
The young Louis XIV. was perfectly suited for this
magnificent part. His cold and dignified countenance
reigned over France for fifty years with unimpaired
majesty. During the first thirty years he sat eight hours
a day at the Council, reconciling business with pleasure,
listening, consulting ; but deciding for himself. His
ministers changed, or died, but he remained always the
same, accomplishing the duties, ceremonies, and festivities
of royalty with the regularity of the sun which he chose
for his emblem.
One of the merits of Louis XIV. was that he kept in
office for twenty-two years one of the ministers who have
done most for the glory of France—Colbert. He was the
grandson of a wool-merchant of Rheims; his character
was somewhat stiff and heavy, but he was full of solid
qualities, active and indefatigable. He united the duties
of Minister of the Interior, of Commerce, of the Exchequer,
and even of the Admiralty, to which he appointed his son:
the departments of War and Justice were all that was
23S Zovyo/S AND COLBERZ, [1661-
wanting to make him ruler of France. From the year
1666 the War Office was in the hands of Louvois, an
exact, violent, and unbending administrator, whose in-
fluence balanced that of Colbert. Louis XIV. seemed
to stand between them as between his good and his bad
genius; together they held this illustrious reign in equi-
librium."
When Colbert came into office in 1661, the taxes
amounted to eighty-four millions, and the King received
of them hardly thirty-two. In 1670, in spite of wars, he
had raised the net revenue to seventy millions, and
reduced the charges to twenty-five. His first financial
operation, the reduction of interest on the debt, gave a
severe shock to credit. His industrial regulations were
singularly vexatious and tyrannical, but his commercial
views were enlightened. He created chambers of com-
merce, established free markets, made roads, and secured
commerce on Sea by destroying the pirates. At the
1 Administration of Louis XIV. —Finances.—Development of
national wealth under the Ministry of Colbert, 1661–1683. Multi-
plied regulations. Encouragement given to manufactures (linen,
silk, tapestry, mirrors, &c.), 1664–1680. Canal in Languedoc.
Embellishment of Paris, I 698. Description of the Kingdom, 1660.
Obstacles to trade in cereals, I664. Reduction of interest on the
National Debt, towards I691. Financial disorder, 1695. Poll-tax,
1710. Tithe and other taxes, 1715. The National Debt amounts
to 450 millions of ſrancs. Admiralty.—Large Merchant Navy,
I60,000 sailors, 1672. IOo men-of-war, I68 I ; 230, 1692. First
defeat at La Hogue. War.—1666–1691. –Ministry of Louvois.
Military Reform. Uniform, 1667.-Establishment of studs for
breeding horses, 1671. Use of the bayonet. Companies of
grenadiers. Regiment of huzzars. Corps of engineers. Schools of
artillery. 1688.-Militia. Regular Commissary Department.
Invalides, 1693. Order of St. Louis. The army raised to
450,000 men. Zegislation, 1667. –Civil ordinances, 1670. Criminal
ordinance, 1673. Commercial code, 1685. Code anoir. —Towards
1663. Repression of duelling. Keligious Affairs.-Struggles of
Jansenism, which survives, throughout the reign of Louis XIV.,
1648–1709. Port Royal des Champs, 1661. Formula dictated by
the French clergy, 1713. Bull Onigemitats, 1673. Controversy
respecting the Regalia, 1682. Assembly of clergy in France, 1685–-
1699. Quietism, 1685. Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 1701—
1704. Revolt of the Cévennes.
-1661.] AºAVZ/GATEAVE/O Z/B ERA //TY. 239
same time he carried a bold reform into the civil Service.
He forbade sales or legacies to religious bodies.
He restricted the exemptions from taxes extended by
the nobles and citizens of free towns to their farmers,
whom they registered as servants. He revoked in
1664 all the patents of nobility granted since 1630. He
declared all salaried offices to be temporary, so as in
time to suppress them. -
Colbert has been reproached with encouraging Com-
merce more than agriculture. He, however, forbade the
seizure, in payment of taxes, of the beds, clothes, horses,
oxen, and tools of labourers, and took Only a fifth of their
flocks. He maintained corn at a low price by forbidding
exportation. It must be remembered that as the greater
portion of the land was at that time in the hands of the
nobles, encouragement to agriculture would have bene-
fited the people less than the aristocracy; commerce
was in the hands of the middle class, which was be-
ginning to rise into importance.
This man, who had risen from a counting-house, had
a sense of the grandeur of France. The principal edifices
erected by Louis XIV., his finest establishments, the
observatory, library and academies, all were the work of
Colbert. He gave pensions to men of letters, and to
artists in France, and even in other countries. “There
was not one distinguished Scholar,” says a contemporary,
“however far from France, who was not reached by the
Ring's munificence.” “Although the King is not your
sovereign,” Colbert wrote to Isaac Vossius of Holland,
“he chooses to be your benefactor.”
Such letters are admirable testimonies. One may add
to them the Invalides, Dunkerque, and the canal which
united the two seas. Versailles, likewise, may be in-
cluded. This prodigious edifice, with which no country
in the world has anything to compare, testifies to the
greatness of France—united for the first time in the 17th
century. Those wonderful erections of architecture and
verdure, terrace above terrace, and fountain beyond
fountain, those ranks of bronzes, marbles, jets and
24U) • . VE/2.S.A./Z.Z.E.S. . [1661.
cascades marshalled on the royal mountain; from the
monsters and tritons which proclaim at its base the
triumphs of the Great King, to the beautiful antique
statues which crown the platform with the tranquil images
of the gods,-in all this there is a grandiose idea of
monarchy. Those waters which rise and fall with so
much grace and majesty express the wide social circu-
lation which then took place for the first time, power
and wealth flowing from the people to the King, to
return from the King to the people. The charming
Latona, who presides over the garden, silences with a
few drops of water the insolent clamours of the group
which surrounds her ; they are transformed from men into
Croaking frogs—an emblem of royalty triumphing over
the Fronde.
CHAPTER XIX.
CONTINUATION OF THE REIGN OF LOUIS XIV.
STRONG and united while most of the states of Europe
were growing weaker, France 1 claimed and obtained
1 REVOLUTION IN ENGLAND AND THE UNITED PROVINCES.
Angland. The military government of the Protectorate contrary
to the customs of the country. The Stuarts destroy the loyalty of
the English by the favours which they bestow on the Catholics, and
by their alliance with Louis XIV. William and Anne win over the
English by a contrary policy. However, the union between the
prince and the nation is only completed under the House of
Hanover. *
CONTINUATION OF THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION.
1649–1660. English Republic. Charles II. proclaimed king in Scot-
land, and supported by the Irish. Cromwell subdues Ireland and Scot-
land. Battles of Dunbar and Worcester. I651, Navigation Act. 1652–
I654, War against Holland. I653, Cromwell turns out the Parliament.
1653–1658, Cromwell, Protector. Alliance with France against
Spain. Dunkerk given back to Cromwell. His home government.
1658. His death. I658—1660, Richard Cromwell, Protector. His
abdication. The AEump soon dissolved. Monk recalls the Stuarts.
1660–1685, Charles II. I660–1667, Ministry of Clarendon.
Trial of the regicides. Re-establishment of Episcopacy. Bill of
Uniformity. Declaration of tolerance. Dunkerk sold to France.
—I664–1667, War against Holland. Fire of Tondon imputed to
the Catholics. I667, Disgrace of Clarendon. Revolt of the Scotch
Presbyterians. I670–1683, The Cabal. Secret alliance with Louis
XIV. 1672–1674, War with Holland. Test Bill. Pretended con-
spiracy of the Catholics. 1679, the Duke of York excluded from
succession to the throne. Habeas Corpus Bill. 1680, Whigs ana.
S.H. R.
242 e A.OOZS X/ V. [1664.
the supremacy. The Pope, having suffered the French
ambassador to be grievously insulted and his hotel
plundered, Louis XIV. insisted upon the most public
Zories. I681–1685, Charles II. no longer assembles a Parliament.
1683, death of Russell and of Sidney. I685–1688, James II.
Invasion and execution of Argyle and Monmouth. Jeffreys. Solemn
embassy to Rome. Exemption from the Test. Trial of the bishops.
Policy of William Prince of Orange. 1688, he enters England.
Flight of James (see text). I689–1714, William III. and Mary II.
—1689, Declaration of Rights. I690–1691, War with Ireland.
I694, Triennial Parliaments. I'701, Act of Succession in favour of
the House of Hanover; limitation of the Prerogative. I702–1714,
Anne. I706, England and Scotland re-united.
Onited Provinces. I647–1650, William II. I650–1672,
Vacancy of the Stadtholdership, suppressed in 1667. Administration
of . John de Witt. I652–1654, 1664–1667, 1672–1674, Wars
with England. Tromp and Ruyter. I672, the Stadtholdership re-
established in favour of William III. on the invasion of Holland by
Louis XIV. (For the events which follow, see text.) I 702—1747,
Second vacancy of the Stadtholdership, from the death of William III.
to the accession of William IV. 1715, Barrier treaty.
EUROPEAN COLONIES DURING THE I7TH CENTURY.
In the beginning of the 17th century, the Dutch and the English
snatched from Spain the empire of the seas; in the middle, they dis-
puted with each other the possession of that empire; towards the
end, they united against France, who threatened to take it. The
Dutch factories were henceforth without rivals in the East, likewise
the Spanish settlements in South America. But two new powers,
the English and French, established themselves in the northern con-
tinent of America, and in the Antilles, and introduced themselves
into India. The colonies, which in the beginning of the century were
little more than private speculations authorized by the Government,
assumed more and more the character of provinces of the mother-
country. Wars often spread from the mother-country to the
colonies; but the colonies were not yet occasions of war in
Europe. -
/Jutch Colonies. The preponderance of the power of the Mogul
hindered the Dutch from making large establishments on the con-
tinent. Masters of the islands, they occupied themselves almost ex-
clusively with the trade in spices and drugs. There was no national
emigration as in England; they were more factories than colonies.
Continuation of the Dutch conquests on the coasts and in the Indian
Isles. I653, colony of the Cape of Good Hope. I667, conquest of
Surinam. 1645–1661, war in Brazil against the Portuguese,
I664.] ATO//ZZZA 7T/ES 7A/E A*OAZ. 243
reparation. The Pope was obliged to send away his own
brother, and to raise a pyramid to perpetuate his humilia-
tion (1664). While he was treating the Spiritual Head
Anglisſ, Colonies. Policy invariably favourable to the colonies in
spite of the revolutions of the mother-country. Foundation of English
colonies in North America (Expeditions of Raleigh from the year
1583).-1606, companies of London and Plymouth formed to conduct
the trade of Virginia and New England. Foundation of the State
of Mässachusetts, 1621; of the town of Boston, I627; of the States
of Maryland, 1632; of Rhode Island, I634; of New York, and of
New Jersey, 1635; of Connecticut, 1636; of Carolina, 1663 ; of
Pennsylvania, 1682 ; towards 1619, fisheries of Newfoundland and
of Greenland. I625–1632, establishment of the Antilles. I655,
Conquest of Jamaica. First East India Company founded, 1600.
1623, Massacre of Amboine. I662, Acquisition of Bombay. Foun-
dation of Calcutta. Towards I690, war against Aureng-Zebe. I698,
Second East Indian Company. Union of the two companies in 1702.
In Africa several privileged companies. Towards I679–1680, Con-
struction of the forts of St. James and Sierra Leone.
Arrench Colonies. The system of the French less exclusive than
that of other countries; but their principal colonies were only fisheries,
factories for trade in furs, or plantations of colonial productions
which were not yet the objects of universal consumption in Europe.
I625–1635, Private settlements at the Antilles, at Cayenne, and at
Senegal. Colbert buys in the king's name all the colonies of the
Antilles. I630, origin of the buccaneers and filibusters. I664,
France takes under her protection their establishment at St. Domingo;
that part of the island remains hers at the peace of Ryswick, 1698–
1664. 1674, First privileged company in the West Indies.—1661,
Nova Scotia, the possession of which is disputed by France and
England, remains in possession of the former till the peace of Utrecht.
1680, Expedition of Louisiana. I679–1685, African companies.
I664, East India companies. Attempts on Madagascar. I675,
Factory at Surat. I679, Foundation of Pondicherry. The industrial
products of India forbidden to be exported. Ruin of the Company
Alamish Colonies of little importance: at Tranquebar towards I62O,
and at St. Thomas, I671.
PORTUGAL, SPAIN, ITALY.
All the Southern States seemed to have lost their energy. Portugal
had recovered her independence ; but abandoned by France, she
turned to England, on which she became more and more dependent. .
Spain reached the last degree of weakness, but rose a little under a
new dynasty. Italy seemed still dependent on Spain; but she felt
the influence of the King of France, and of the Emperor, whose.
rival families were soon to quarrel for her possession. • *
R 2
244 SUAEAR/2.SSAE.S. AZAZAC V. [1664.
of Christendom so severely, he defended Christian
interests by sea and land; he swept the sea of the Barbary
pirates (1664). He sent to the Emperor Leopold, who
Portugal. 1656–1667, Alfonso VI., successor of John IV. He
allies himself with England. Victory of Schomberg over the
Spaniards. I667, Alphonso obliged to appoint his brother Regent.
1668, Peace with Spain, which acknowledges the independence of
Portugal. 1669, Peace with the United Provinces, who retain their
conquests over the Portuguese in the East Indies. I667–1706,
Peter II. I'703, Portugal joins the great alliance against France,
and at the peace of Utrecht obtains only a better frontier for her
colonies in South America. I703, Methuen Treaty of commerce
with England.
Spain. 1665–1700, Charles II., successor of Philip IV. Want
of energy in the Spanish monarchy, which was repeatedly despoiled
by France. Extinction of the Spanish branch of the House of
Austria. Accession of the House of Bourbon. I700–1746, Philip
V. 1701—1713, War of Succession (see the reign of Louis XIV.)
Italy. The weakness of Spain in the 17th century seems to have
allowed some liberty to the small Italian princes. Too little en-
couraged by France, they turned towards the emperor. Venice alone
in her wars against the Turks seems to have retained some vigour.
1647–1648, Revolt of Naples under Masaniello and the Duke of
Guise; Revolt of Palermo. I674—1678, Revolt of Messina. Louis
XIV. proclaimed King of Sicily. The King of France makes his
supremacy in Italy again felt on three occasions. I664, 1687, Insults
against the Pope. I684, bombardment of Genoa. I708–1709, The
Duchies of Mantua and of the Mirandola confiscated by the emperor.
Grandeur of the House of Savoy under Victor Amadaeus II., 1675–
1730. England gives him royal dignity and the possession of Sicily
in order to secure the balance of power by the treaty of Utrecht
(1713).
THE EMPIRE, HUNGARy, TURKEY.
.Empire. The principal events which took place from 1648 to
1713 in the German empire seem to have prepared its dissolution :
Ist, the religious and political divisions, which the treaty of West-
phalia had by no means settled, induced a schism among the Protes-
tants (creation of an Evangelical body); 2ndly, France, in negotiating
with each prince separately, gave to all the members of the German
body an individual importance; 3rdly, the elevation of the Electors
of Saxony and of Hanover (later on that of the Prince of Hesse-
Cassel) to foreign thrones, involved Germany in all European trans-
actions; 4thly, the creation of the kingdom of Prussia broke the
unity of the empire. Germany found, however, the principles of
union in its state of hostility towards the French and the Turks, and
I664.] AAFAA’S 7THA. AEMPEROR. 245
was engaged in a war against the Turks, Some troops
who played the most brilliant part in the battle of St.
Gotthard.
in the foundation of Permanent ZXiefs. The empire did not see at
first that the ancient system had ceased to exist, and still looked to
France as her protector against the House of Austria.
The Chambres de Réunion, established by Louis XIV. in Alsace,
opened her eyes, and the House of Austria found itself once more at
the head of the Germanic body. All-powerful under Joseph I., she
again lost strength in spite of her material aggrandisement, through the
incapacity of Charles VI., who, thinking only of obtaining a guarantee
for his Pragmatic Sanction, continually sacrificed the present to the
future. I657, End of the reign of Ferdinand III. I654, Formation
of the AEvangelical Body. I656, Division of the succession of Saxony.
1658–1705, Leopold I. elected in preſerence to Louis XIV. and
the Elector of Bavaria. -
1658, League of the Rhine under the influence of France. 1663,
Permanent Diet of Ratisbon. I680, Chambres de Réunion of Alsace.
1685, Extinction of the Palatine branch of Zimmern. I688, Election
of the Archbishop of Cologne. I692, Creation of a new Electorate
in favour of the House of Hanover (recently increased by the
succession of Saxe-Lauenburg). I697, Augustus II., Elector of
Saxony, raised to the throne of Poland. I700–17OI, Prussia con-
stituted a kingdom under Frederick I. I705, Confiscation of Bavaria.
1705–171 I, Joseph I., Emperor. Restoration of Mantua to the
empire. I7II –1740, Charles VI., Emperor. Perpetual capitula-
tions. I713, Charles VI.'s Pragmatic Sanction. I714, The House of
Hanover called to the throne of England in the person of the Elector
George.
*ary and Turkey. The House of Austria put an end for
ever to the resistance of Hungary; made the kingdom hereditary, and
after the restoration of Transylvania had no longer anything to fear
from the Turks. Turkey, still exhibited some vigour, but she was a
prey to anarchy; she suffered the most bloody defeats, and did not
compensate by her victories over the Venetians for her losses ori the
side of Hungary. I655–1687, Leopold I. I648–1687, Mahomet
IV. Discontent of the Hungarians. Troubles in Translyvania.
Conquests of the Turks stopped by the victory of Montecuculi at
St. Gotthard, 1644. Zºece of Zemeszwar; the Turks keep their
conquests (1669). Candia taken from the Venetians by the Turks
after a blockade of twenty years. New troubles in Hungary. Exe-
cution of the Counts, Zrini, Frangepani, &c. Religious perse-
cutions. Suppression of the title of Palatine. I677, Civil War.
Tekeli supported by the Turks. I683, Vienna beseiged by the
Grand Vizier, Kara Mustapha, and rescued by Sobieski. Venice'
and Russia take part with Austria. Victories of Charles of Lorraine,
246 7"WO WESTEACAV AO WAERS. [1664.
Against whom did France intend to exercise the
strength which she thus exhibited P. There were only
two Western powers: the return of the Stuarts having
of Louis of Baden, and of Prince Eugène. 1686, Conquest of
the part of Hungary which had been subdued by the Türks, of
Transylvania, and of Sclavonia. 1687, Diet of Presburg; the
throne of Hungary declared hereditary. I687–1740, Joseph I.,
Charles VI. 1687–1730, Solyman III., Achmet II., Mustapha
II., Achmet III. The Austrians invade Bulgaria, Servia, and
Bothnia, soon, however, retaken by the Grand Vizier, Mustapha
Ičiuperli. 1691, Defeat and death of Kiuperli at Salankemen.
I697, Defeat of the Sultan, Mustapha II., at Zentha. I699, Peace
of Carlowitz ; the Emperor master of Hungary (except Temeswar
and Belgrade), of Transylvania, and Sclavonia. The Porte gives
up the Morea to the Venetians, J&aminiec to the Poles, and Azof to
the Russians. I703, Revolt of the Hungarians and Transylvanians
under Francis Rakoczi, subdued in 1711. I 715, The Morea re-
conquered from the Venetians by the Turks. The Emperor Charles
VI., the Pope, and the King of Spain join the Venetians. Siege
of Corfu. 1666, Victory of Prince Eugène at Peterwaradin; I717,
before Belgrade. 1718, Peace of Passarowitz. The Venetians lose the
Morea ; the Emperor gains Temeswar, Belgrade, and a part of
Wallachia and of Servia. -
NoFTHERN STATES, CHARLES XII. AND PETER THE GREAT.
Sweden, which, from the reign of Gustavus Adolphus, ex-
ercised an influence beyond her real strength, was still supreme, and
tended towards the Empire of the North. Charles Gustavus, more
skilled in war than in politics, only succeeded in securing to her the
coasts of the Baltic. After him the Senate, which governed, sold its
alliance to France, and compromised the military glory of Sweden.
Once more united under the power of the crown, Sweden again be-
came victorious, and realised for a moment under Charles XII. all
the projects of Charles Gustavus. But she fell back, exhausted by
her heroic efforts, into the place which her weakness and the great-
ness of Russia marked out for her henceforth. Denmark seemed
to profit less than Sweden by the establishment of absolute power.
She saw the Supremacy of the North pass from Sweden to Russia, as
formerly it passed from Poland to Sweden. But the thing of most
consequence to her was that any other power than Sweden should have
the preponderance in the Baltic. Poland received with the con-
stitution new elements of anarchy. She needed a legislator ; John
Sobieski was only a hero. The new brilliancy which she acquired
under him belonged entirely to the sovereign. With the eighteenth
century began for Poland an age of dependence on strangers; the
I664.] ,SA’AZZV. , 247
rendered England insignificant. These powers were Spain
and Holland, the conquered and the conquerors. Spain
was still the great shift whose fºozy zvas in the Indian
religious dissensions developed within her caused the annihilation
of Poland as an independent state towards the end of the century.
Russia having as yet no regular organization, had not any power-
ful external influence. She yielded at first to Sweden, but acquired
an ever-increasing ascendency over Poland. The levelling of ranks
made way for the establishment of absolute power, which was to con-
fer internal organization and external influence on Russia. Under
Peter the Great all her strength was concentrated in the hand of the
sovereign. Russia cleared the way to the three seas which surround
her, and became in one single reign an European nation and the
dominant power of the North.
NorthERN STATES IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE I7TPI
CENTURY.
Sweden and ZXenmark. I654, Abdication of Christina, daughter
of Gustavus Adolphus. I654–1660, Charles Gustavus, tenth of that
name. He breaks the truce with Poland. I656, Battle of Warsaw.
1657, The Czar Alexis, Emperor Leopold, King of Denmark,
Frederick III., and Frederick William, the Elector of Brandenburg,
league themselves against Sweden; Charles Gustavus evacuates
Poland and invades Denmark. I658, Peace of Rothschild, soon
broken by the King of Sweden. He is defeated before Copen-
hagen. Intervention of Holland. I660, Death of Charles Gustavus;
minority of Charles XI. I660, Zºreaty of Copenhagen: Denmark
surrenders up to Sweden the provinces of Scania, of Blecking, of
Halland, and of Bahus. Treaty of Oliva: The King of Poland
renounces his pretensions to the crown of Sweden, and gives up to
her the provinces of Livonia and Esthonia ; he acknowledges the
independence of ducal Prussia. I661, Zºreaty of Kardis : Russia
restores to Sweden her conquests in Livonia. I675–1679, Reverses
of Sweden allied to Louis XIV. Superiority of Denmark, allied to
the Elector of Brandenburg. I679, Sweden recovers her provinces
at the Peace of Nimeguem. The Governments of Denmark (1660)
and of Sweden (1680), formerly aristocratic, become purely monar-
chical. I680, The kingdom of Denmark declared by the States to
be hereditary and absolute. 1680, 1683, 1698, The King of Sweden
set free by the States from the domination of the Senate, and
declared absolute ; forced union of the royal possessions. 1680–
1697, Sweden under Charles XI., increases her forces, as if in pre-
paration for the war which she will have to carry on in the begin-
ning of the 18th century. I660–1669, The power of Denmark
increased in the same way by the new form of government under
248 SA’A/AW. - [1664.
Ocean, and z0/zose Zooſ z0as in the Atlantic, but the vessel
had been dismasted and unrigged and had foundered
on the coast, in the tempest of Protestantism. A gale of
Frederick III. and Christian V., is weakened by the quarrel of the
two branches of the royal family (the reigning branch and the ducal
branch of Holstein-Gottorp); this quarrel will be the occasion of a
general war in the north. -
Aoland. I648–1674, The unfortunate reigns of John Casimir
and Michael Wiesniowicki. I652, Origin of the liberum veto.
Casimir in vain tries to obtain for successor the son of the great
Condé. I647—1667, Revolt of the Cossacks, supported by the
Tartars and (after 1654) by the Russians. I668, Abdication of John
Casimir. I671, New wars with the Cossacks, supported by the
Turks. I673, Victory of John Sobieski over the Turks at Choczim.
1664–1791, John Sobieski. This hero defends Poland against the
Turks, and delivers Austria ; but he is obliged, in 1686, to buy the
alliance of the Russians against the Ottomans, by giving up to them
Smolensko, Tschernigow, Novogorod-Severskoi, Kiovia, Little
Prussia, and the Sovereignty of the Zaporogian Cossacks. I697,
Blection of Augustus II., Elector of Saxony.
A’zessia. I648–1688, Alexis Michałłowitsch. Russia begins to
increase in importance at the expense of Poland. Internal troubles.
1676–1682, Feodore II., Alexiewitsch. Abolition of the hereditary
rank, and privileges of the nobles. I682—1689, Ivan V. and Peter
I., their sister Sophia governs in their name. I685, Revolt of the
Strelitz. I689, Peter the Great alone. -
* t
NORTHERN STATES IN THE BEGINNING OF THE ISTH CENTURY.
CHARLES XII. AND PETER THE GREAT.
1699, Secret. Alliance of Denmark, Poland, and Prussia against
Sweden. I700, Invasion of Schleswig by the Danes and of Livonia
by the King of Poland and by the Czar. Charles XII. disembarks
in Zealand, and, assisted by the English and Dutch, obliges Frederick
IV. to sign the Peace of Traventhal. Victory of the King of
Sweden over the Russians at Narva. 1702–1706, More victories
over the Poles and the Saxons. Charles XII. causes the deposition
of Augustus and the elevation to the throne of Poland of Stanislas
Leczinski. I706, Invasion of Saxony; Augustus renounces the
crown of Poland. I'708, Charles XII. attacks Peter the Great, who
has just invaded a part of Ingria, of Livonia, and of Poland. He
penetrates into Ukrania. I709, Defeat of Charles XII. before
Pultawa. Renewal of the alliance between Augustus II., Frederick
IV., and Peter the Great against Sweden. Augustus II. re-estab-
lished in Poland. Invasion of Holstein and Scania, of the Swedish
provinces in Germany, and definitive conquest of Ingria, Livonia, and
I664.] - AſO/LCAAWD. * 249
wind had carried away her long-boat Holland, another
had deprived her of Portugal and uncovered her side, a
third had torn away the East Indies. The remainder,
vast and imposing, but inert and motionless, was calmly
awaiting its destruction.
On the one hand, there was Holland, a little nation,
but obstinate, laborious, and taciturn, and effecting
Carelia. I709–1713, Charles XII., having taken refuge at Bender,
excites the Turks against the Russians. His hopes destroyed by the
Treaty of Pruth. 1714, Return of Charles XII. to Sweden. 1715,
League of Russia, Denmark, and Poland with Prussia and England
against Sweden. Ministry of Goertz. Negotiation with Peter the
Great. 1718, Charles XII. killed before Friedrichshall in Norway.
1719, 1720, 1721, 7%reaties of Stockholm and of AVystadt. Sweden
surrenders Bremen and Werden to Hanover; Stettin and a part of
Pomerania to Prussia; she recognizes Frederick Augustus, King of
Poland; she renounces with regard to Denmark the exemption from
paying toll on the Sound, and guarantees to her the possession of
Schleswig': finally she abandons Livonia, Esthonia, Ingria, and Carelia
to Russia. These immense losses, and especially the decline of
royal authority, deprive Sweden of all political influence for half a
century. I689–1725, Reign of Peter the Great.—Large views of
this prince, who carries out the plans of Ivan III. and Ivan IV.
(I) He undertakes to civilize Russia and to make her resemble other
European nations ; he invites foreigners ; and himself travels
extensively; first (1697), in Holland and in England for in-
struction in the mechanical arts and in navigation; secondly, in (1717)
Germany, in Denmark, and in France, for the better understanding
of political interests in Europe. (2) He makes Russia a maritime
power. To open the navigation in the Black Sea, he attacks the
Turks, and takes from them, in 1696, the Port of Azoſ, which he
loses again in I7II ; to open the navigation of the Baltic, he
makes war on Sweden (1700–1721), and founds in 1703 St. Peters-
burg, which becomes the capital of his empire. Towards the
beginning of his reign he gives a new importance to the Port of
Archangel, on the White Sea, and towards the end (1722) he takes
from the Persians Derbent, on the Caspian Sea. (3) He overturns
every obstacle to absolute power; he suppresses the Strelitz, 1698;
he abolishes the Patriarchal dignity, I721. Organization of the
army Schools; reformation of finances, of legislation, of ecclesias-
tical discipline, and of the calendar, police, manufactures, canals,
caravan trade with China. The Fort Menzikoff. Peter marries
Catherine, 1707; has his son Alexis condemned to death, 1718;
takes the title of Emperor, 1721; ordains that reigning princes may
name their successors.
250 AAVVAS/OAV OA' FZAAVZ) ZAZ.S. |[1668-
many great things. First of all they lived, in spite of the
ocean—this was the first miracle ; they next salted their
cheese and their herrings, and transmuted their unsavoury
barrels into barrels of gold; they then made this gold
fruitful by putting it out to interest. Their gold pieces
begot others. By the middle of the 17th century they had
taken as much as they pleased of the spoils of Spain, had
deprived her of the sea, and of the Indies. The Spanish
Netherlands were declared in a state of siege, by virtue of
a treaty. Spain had signed the closing of the Scheldt and
the ruin of Antwerp (1648). The Belgians were forbidden
to sell the produce of their soil.
Such was the condition of the West when France
attained the summit of her strength. The land still be-
longed to Spain, and the sea to Holland. The work of
IFrance in the seventeenth century was to dismember the
one and enfeeble the other. The former task was easier
than the latter. France had already an army, but not yet
a navy. She began therefore by Spain. At first France
allied herself apparently with Holland against Spain and
England, who were fighting for the dominion of the
sea. France promised assistance to the Dutch, but she
allowed the three powers to damage each other's vessels
and to exhaust their fleets in Some of the most obstinate
naval battles which had ever been waged. Then, Philip
IV. being dead (1667), Louis XIV., in virtue of the civil
law in the Low Countries, pretended that his wife, the
eldest daughter of the deceased, Ought to Succeed in pre-
ference to the younger son (right of devolution). She had
indeed renounced the succession, but the promised dowry
had not been paid. The French army entered Flanders
in all the pomp of the new reign : Turenne at the head,
the King, ministers, and ladies in the gilded Court equip-
ages; then Vauban, who, as fast as they advanced, es-
tablished himself in the towns and fortified them. Flanders
was taken in two months. Even in the winter when war
was supposed to be suspended (January 1668), the troops
defiled through Champagne into Burgundy, and fell upon
Franche Comté. Spain had not expected an attack. The
-1670.jS7RUGGZAE BAE 7"WEAEAVARANCE & HOZZAMD. 251
authorities of the country had been bought up before-
hand. It was all over in seventeen days. The court of
Spain wrote in indignation to the governor that the King
of France should have sent his lacqueys to take the province
Žnstead of coming himself. This rapid success reconciled
Spain to Holland. The latter did not care to have the
great King for a neighbour. The Dutch began to take
an interest in Spain, to defend her, and to unite in her
favour with England and Sweden; the Dutch had the
dexterity to induce England to ask them to form this
union. Three Protestant nations took up arms to defend
Catholic Spain against Catholic France. This curious
event shows how far they already were from the 16th
century and the religious wars (triple alliance of the
Hague, 1668). Louis XIV. was obliged to content him-
self with French Flanders, and to restore Franche
Comté.
Holland had protected Spain and forced France to
retire. A citizen, an alderman of Amsterdam, came to
warn the King, in the midst of his glory, to go no further.
Insulting medals had been struck. It was said that the
chief alderman of Amsterdam had himself represented
with a sun, and this motto, Zn conspectu meo Stetić sol.
Henceforth the struggle was between France and
Holland. The former could not advance a step with-
out encountering the latter. To begin with, the King
bought, for a sum down, the alliance of England, and
Sweden. Charles II., who had already betrayed Eng-
land by selling Mardyck and Dunkerk to France,
once more sold the interests of his country. The
nation was promised some of the Dutch islands, the
king money for his festivities and his mistresses, – the
young and fascinating Duchess of Orleans, sister-in-law
of Louis XIV. and sister of Charles II., negotiating, in
a triumphal visit, her brother's shame. She was the
princess who died so young and so lamented, in honour
of whom Corneille and Racine each composed their
tragedies of “Bérénice,” and Bossuet recited his famous
funeral Oration.
252 . FREAVCA VICTORIES. [1672-
The army of Louis XIV. had been carried to 180,000
men. It received its formidable organization from
Louvois. The bayonet, which became such an effective
weapon in French hands, was introduced at this period.
The indefatigable genius of Colbert had created a navy.
France, which had formerly been obliged to borrow
ships from Holland, had one hundred vessels of her own
in 1672. Five naval arsenals were established—Brest,
|Rochefort, Toulon, Dunkerk, and Havre. Dunkerk was
unfortunately destroyed ; but Toulon, and likewise Brest,
—with its vast establishment and mountains cut down
to make room for vessels—still testify to the herculean
efforts made at that time by France in her perilous
struggle with Holland for the dominion of the ocean.
Holland held the sea and thought that she held every-
thing. The naval party governed, the De Witts at the
council, and Ruyter on the waves; the De Witts, states-
men, geometricians, and pilots, were sworn enemies of the
land-party, of the House of Orange, and of the Stadt-
holders. They seemed to forget that Holland was con-
nected with the continent ; they considered her as an
island. The fortresses were falling into ruins, Holland
had 25,000 worthless troops, and this when the French
frontier had advanced until it almost touched her own.
Suddenly Ioo,ooo men moved from France towards
Holland (1672). “It was,” says Temple, “a thunder
clap in a fair sky.” They left behind them Maestricht,
which they did not care to take ; seized Guelder, Utrecht,
and Over-Yssel; they were four leagues distant from
Amsterdam. Nothing could save Holland ; her only .
allies, Spain and Brandenburg, would not have stayed the
hand of Louis XIV. The conqueror alone might save
her by his blunders, and he did so. Condé and Turenne
wished the fortresses to be dismantled ; Louvois that they
might be garrisoned, the effect of which was to scatter
the army. The King listened to Louvois. They trusted
in stone walls to secure the possession of Holland : thus
Holland escaped. In the first moment the amphibious
republic wanted to throw herself into the sea and embark
-1674.] WILL/AM OF ORAAWGE. 253
with her wealth for Batavia. The war diminished its
fury, and she regained the hope of resisting on land;
the people fell upon the chiefs of the naval party—the
De Witts. They were torn in pieces; and Te Ruyter
expected the same fate. All the forces of the republic
were confided to the young William of Orange.
This general of twenty-two, who for his first essay
undertook, almost without an army, to make head against
the greatest sovereign in the world, concealed within a
feeble, sickly body the cold, hard obstinacy of his grand-
father, William the Taciturn, the adversary of Philip II.
He was a man of bronze, strange to every feeling of
nature and humanity. Brought up by the De Witts, he
compassed their ruin. Stuart by his mother's side, he
overturned the Stuarts; son-in-law of James II., he de-
throned him and left the England which he had taken
from his own relations to the objects of his hatred, the
princes of the House of Hanover. He had but one
passion, but that was overwhelming—hatred of France.
It is said that at the peace of Nimeguen, when he en-
deavoured to Surprise Luxembourg, he was already aware
of the treaty, but he still thirsted for French blood. He
was not more successful than usual. It is a remarkable
fact that this great and intrepid general always made war
in retreat ; but his admirable retreats were as good as
victories.
At first, in order to defend Holland, he drowned her;
he opened the sluices, while Ruyter held the sea by
beating the English and French, and bringing his vic-
torious fleet to anchor in the inundated plain of Amster-
dam. William next armed against France, Spain, and
Austria. He separated England from Louis XIV.
Charles II. was forced by his parliament to sign a peace.
The Catholic neighbours of Holland, the Bishop of
Münster, the Elector of Cologne, then Brandenburg,
Denmark, the Empire and the whole of Europe, declared
themselves against Louis XIV. (1674).
It was then necessary to abandon the Dutch fortresses;
Louis was obliged to retreat. As usual compensation was
254. ZOAZA 7TA/ OA' 7"OA&AEAVAWAE. [1675-
made at the expense of Spain. Louis XIV. took Franche
Comté, which has continued to be part of France. In
the Low Countries, Condé, whose force was the weaker
by 20,000 men, challenged the Prince to the furious
battle of Senef. Condé conquered ; but it was a victory
for the Prince of Orange to have held his ground with no
more loss than was sustained by Condé. On the Rhine,
Turenne, who, according to Buonaparte, became more
daring as he grew older, held the whole Empire in check.
Twice he saved Alsace, twice he penetrated into Germany.
It was then that, on an order from Louvois, the Palatinate
was ravaged. The Palatine was secretly allied with the
Emperor: Louis wished to leave only a desert to the
Imperialists. • .
Turenne, on his return to Germany, was about to Strike
a decisive blow, when he was killed at Salzbach (1675).
Condé's infirmitiés obliged him to retire in the same year.
The destiny of France was then seen not to depend
on a single man. The allies, who fancied her disarmed
by the retirement of the two great generals, failed to
break through the frontier of the Rhine, and lost in the
Low Countries the towns of Condé, Bouchain, Aire,
Valenciennes, Cambrai, Ghent and Ypres. Duquesne,
who had been sent to succour Messina in revolt against
Spain, fought a terrible naval battle with Ruyter within
sight of Mount Etna : the allies alone lost in it twelve
ships, six galleys, 7,ooo men, 7oo guns, and, what was
worth all the rest, Ruyter. Duquesne destroyed their
fleet in a second battle. (1677.) -
The allies at that time wished for peace : France and
Holland also were exhausted. Colbert determined to
resign if the war went on. The peace of Nimeguen was
once more favourable to France. She kept Franche
Comté and twelve strong places in the Netherlands, she
received Fribourg in exchange for Philipsburg. Den-
mark and Brandenburg restored what they had taken
from Sweden, the ally of France. Holland alone lost
nothing and the great European question remained un-
altered. (1678).
-1678.] 7TRA UMAPA/ OA' ZO U/S X Y.W. 255
This was the culminating point of the reign of Louis
XIV. Europe had risen against him and he had resisted
her attack : he was greater than ever. It was then that
he accepted the title of Louis “the Great.” The Duke .
of La Feuillade went still farther. He kept a light burn-
ing before the King's statue as if on an altar. It was like
the worship of the Roman Emperors,
The brilliant literature of this period is nothing but a
hymn in praise of royalty. The voice heard above all
others was that of BOSSuet. It is thus that Bossuet him-
self, in his “Discourse on Universal History,” describes
the Kings of Egypt as praised in the temples by the
priests in the presence of their gods. The first period
of the great reign, that of Descartes, of Port Royal, of
Pascal and Corneille, did not present the same unanimity;
literature was still animated by a ruder and freer spirit.
At the period we have now reached Molière had just
died (1673), Racine had completed “Phèdre.” (1677), La
Eontaine was writing the last six books of his Fables (1678),
and Madame de Sévigné her Letters. Bossuet was com-
posing his “Knowledge of God and of Oneself” and
preparing the “Discourse on Universal History” (1681).
The Abbé Fénelon, still young, and only the director of
a convent of young girls, was living under the patronage
of Bossuet, who fancied him his disciple. Bossuet
was the leader of the triumphal chorus of the great cem-
tury, secure with regard both to the past and the future,
between Jansenism which was disappearing and Quietism
which had not yet risen, between the austere Pascal and
the mystic Fénelon. Cartesianism, however, was being
pushed to its most formidable extremities; Malebranche
made the human mind return to God ; and in Protestant
Holland, now struggling with Catholic France, there was
about to open—for the absorption alike of Catholicism,
of Protestantism, of liberty, of morality, of Religion and
of the whole world—the bottomless gulf of Spinoza,
Meanwhile Louis XIV. reigned over Europe. The
proof of sovereignty is jurisdiction. He chose that other
powers should recognize the decisions of his Parliaments.
256 AO WEA OF LOU/S XYV. [1678-
The Court called “Chambres de Réunion” interpreted
the treaty of Nimeguen to mean that with the strong
places the dependencies belonging to them should be
- reunited. One of these dependencies was no less than
Strasburg (1681). Obedience was delayed : Louis bom-
barded Luxembourg (1684). He bombarded Algiers
(1683), Tripoli (1685); he bombarded Genoa and would
have crushed her in her marble palaces if the Doge
had not come to Versailles to ask pardon (1684). He
bought Casale, the gate of Italy; he built Huminguen,
the door of Switzerland. He interfered in the Empire;
he wished to make an Elector of Cologne (1689). In
the name of his sister-in-law, the Duchess of Orleans, he
claimed a portion of the Palatinate, invoking in this as in
the case of Flanders civil against feudal rights. The
decisions of civil law were sustained by force ; Europe
disarmed, while Louis XIV. remained in arms; he
carried his fleet to 230 ships: towards the end of his
reign his army amounted to more than 4oo, ooo men.
At the same time the monarchy attained the highest
possible centralisation. The two obstacles, papal power
and Protestant opposition, were annulled. In 1673 an
edict declared all the Bishoprics in the kingdom subject
to the “régale.” In 1682 an assembly of thirty-five
Bishops of whom Bossuet was the soul decided that “the
Pope has no authority except in spiritual matters; ” “that
in these very matters the General Councils are superior to
him, and that his decisions are infallible only after they
have been accepted by the Church.” From that time the
Bope refused Bulls to all the Bishops and Abbés appointed
by the King, so that in 1689 there were twenty-nine
dioceses in France without Bishops. There was a ques-
tion of establishing a Patriarchate. In 1687 the Pope
wanted to abolish the right of asylum enjoyed by all the
ambassadors in Rome for their own residences. Louis
YIV. alone stood out, and the French ambassador entered
Rome at the head of 8oo men and maintained his privi-
leges at the point of the sword.
* In the gift of the crown.—-7.
-1685.] REVOCATION OF THE EDICT OF NAAVTES. 257
Louis XIV. silenced his conscience in this matter by
crushing the Protestants while he humiliated the Pope.
Richelieu had destroyed them as a political party, but he
left them their places in Parliament, their synods, and a
portion of their interior organization. He vainly flattered
himself that he would overcome them by persuasion.
Louis XIV. tried money, and thought that he had made
great progress by this means: every morning he was told
that a new centre or town had been converted ; only a
little vigour was requisite, it was said, to accomplish the
unity of the Church and of France (Revocation of the
Edict of Nantes, 1685). This was the idea of most of
the great men of the time, particularly of Bossuet. The
employment of violence in matters of faith, the applica-
tion of temporal evil to cure eternal evil, shocked nobody.
It must be owned that there still was great exasperation
against the Protestants. France, limited in her victories
by Holland, felt that there was another Holland in her
bosom, which, it was said, rejoiced over the success of
the former. As long as Colbert lived he protected them ;
excluded from posts under Government they had turned
their activity towards manufactures and commerce; they
no longer troubled France, they enriched her. After
Colbert, Louis XIV. was governed by Louvois, the enemy
of Colbert, and by Madame de Maintenon, whom he
secretly married towards 1685. Born a Calvinist, and
the grand-daughter of the famous Theodore Agrippa
d'Aubigné, one of the chiefs of the Huguenot opposition
against Henri IV., this discreet and judicious person had
abjured her creed, and wished to force her fellow-Protes-
tants to do likewise; she had a cold heart, which the priva-
tions of her early life seem to have hardened and dried
up. She had been married to the author of the “AFneid
Travestied ”—Scarron the Cripple—before she became
the wife of Louis the Great. She never had a child; she
was unacquainted with maternal love. It was she who
advised the most odious measure in this persecution, to
take away children from their parents in order to convert
them.
S. H. S
258 A //, /AAVC/º OA' A UGS/30/0 G. [1686.
The power of Louis XIV. met its boundary abroad in
the Protestant opposition of Holland. At home he
found it in the resistance of the Calvinists. The Govern-
ment finding itself disobeyed for the first time, exhibited
a savage violence which was not natural to Louis XIV.
Vexations of every kind, confiscation, the galleys, the
wheel, the gibbet, every means was employed. The
dragoons, who were quartered in numbers upon the
Calvinists, helped the missionaries after their fashion. The
King did not know the tenth part of the excesses which,
were committed. It was in vain that exit from the king-
dom was forbidden, the possessions of the fugitives.
confiscated, and those who favoured their escape sent to
the galleys. The State lost 200,ooo subjects, some say
5oo, ooo. They escaped in crowds; they established them-
selves in England, Holland, Germany, especially in
Prussia, and became afterwards the most inveterate
enemies to France. William of Orange charged the
French more than once at the head of a French regiment.
He owed his success in Ireland in a great measure to old
Marshal Schomberg, who preferred his religion to his
country. The infernal machine, which nearly blew up.
St. Malo in 1693, was invented by a refugee.
It was just at this time that most of the European
powers formed the Alliance of Augsburg (1686). Catholics.
and Protestants, William and Innocent XI., Sweden and
Savoy, Denmark and Austria, Bavaria, Saxony, Branden-
burg — all the world combined against Louis XIV.
Among other things he was accused of having, by his
intelligence with the revolutionists in Hungary, opened
Germany to the Turks, and brought about the frightful
invasion from which Vienna was saved by John Sobieski.
Louis XIV. had only the King of England, James II., on
his side. An unexpected revolution overthrew James and
gave England to William. The second and last catas-
trophe of the Stuarts, prepared long before by the
shameful government of Charles II., occurred under his.
brother’s reign. James did not imitate the hypocritical
tergiversations of Charles; he was brave, narrow-minded,
I689-1714.] If/-1A’S OA” SUCC/ESS/OAV. 259
and obstimate ; he declared himself a Catholic and a
Jesuit (this was the literal truth); he did all he could to
ensure a fall, and he fell. His son-in-law, William, was
Called from Holland and took his place without striking
a blow (1688).
Louis XIV. gave James II. a magnificent reception
and took up his cause ; he challenged the whole of
Europe; he declared war on England, Holland, on the
Empire, and on Spain. While the French Calvinists
were strengthening the armies of the League, crowds of
all nations came to serve in the armies of Louis XIV.
He had regiments of Hungarians and Irish. One day
that he was complimented on the success of the French
army, “Say, rather,” he replied, “the army of France.”
This second period of the reign of Louis XIV. was
filled by two Wars of Succession : succession to the
English and succession to the Spanish crown. The
former war was terminated honourably for France, by the
Treaty of Ryswick (1698); and yet the result was against
her, for William was recognised. In the second war
(terminated by the peaces of Utrecht and Rastadt, 1712-14)
France sustained the most humiliating reverses, and the
result was in her favour. Spain, secured to a grandson
of Louis XIV., was henceforth open to the influence of
France.
To these results we must add the elevation of two
secondary States, indispensable in future to the balance
of power in Europe—Prussia and Piedmont—which may
be defined as German and Italian resistance. Prussia, at
the same time German and Sclavonic, gradually absorbed
Northern Germany, and served as a counterpoise to
Austria. The kingdom of Savoy and Piedmont guarded
the Alps and closed them in her Italian character against
France, and in her French character against Italy.
One must note beforehand these excellent and useful
results as a consolation for the many reverses in store for
France.
In 1689 she gave a cruel defiance to Germany. She
placed a desert between herself and her enemies. The
y S 2
360 ZUXE/BOURG AND CAZYVA 7. [1686-90.
whole Palatinate was burned for the second time—Spires,
Worms, more than forty towns and villages, were fired.
Two generals reigned in Flanders and in the Alps—
Luxembourg and Catinat; it was Condé and Turenne
over again. Luxembourg, full of inspiration, and Sudden
in his movements, made war like a fine gentleman : he
was often surprised, but never beaten. After the skilful
batties of Fleurus, Steinkerk, and Neerwinden (1680–
92–95), whence he carried away So many standards, he
was called the “Upholsterer of Notre Dame.” This
brilliant general was ill-favoured by nature. William of
Orange said “Shall I never be able to beat that little
hunchback P”
Catinat treated war as a science. He was a soldier
of fortune, one of a family of lawyers; he began life as
an advocate, and was the first instance of a plebeian
general. He bore some resemblance to the generals of
antiquity. He made his way slowly by force of merit;
it was long before he obtained a command, and he never
was a favourite. He asked for nothing, received little,
and often refused. The soldiers, who liked his simplicity
and good nature, called him “Father Thoughtful” (le
Père la Pensée). The court made use of him with regret.
When he had beaten the Duke of Savoy at Staffarde, taken
Saluces, and forced the enemy at Susa (1690), Louvois
wrote to him : “Although you have served the King
rather ill in this campaign; his Majesty is willing to
confer on you the ordinary gratification.” Catinat never
took offence at anything ; he bore with the same patience
the rough speeches of Louvois, and the hardships of the
Alpine war.
The severest blows were dealt in Ireland and on sea.
Louis XIV. wanted to restore the influence of France in
England. He conveyed James to Ireland : he sent him
one reinforcement after another, and fleet upon fleet.
James failed. The odious assistance of the French and
Irish confirmed the English in their hatred of him.
Instead of stirring up Scotland, where he was expected,
he remained in Ireland; he amused himself by sieges,
I692.] J3A 7'7"Z/2 OA' AA A/OGUAE. 26 I
and was beaten at the Boyne. Louis XIV. was not dis-
couraged; he gave James money to arm and equip
30,000 men, and he tried to send 20,000 ; Tourville and
d'Estrées were to escort them with seventy-five ships.
D'Estrées was delayed by the wind, and Tourville found
himself with forty-four vessels against eighty-four. He
asked the Court for orders; Louis XIV. believed in his
own good fortune, and ordered him to force the passage.
This terrible battle of La Hogue cost France only seven-
teen ships, but the pride and confidence of her navy
perished. It was reduced, in 1707, to thirty-five vessels;
and revived only a short time under Louis XVI.
England may date her dominion of the seas from the
battle of La Hogue (1692). Louis XIV. struck one of
his medals with a figure of Neptune in a menacing attitude,
and these words of the poet, “Quos ago.” The Dutch
struck another with the following legend: “Maturate
fugam, regigue haic dicite vestro ; AVon illi imperium
felagº.” *
The terrible ravages of the Corsairs, of such men as
John Bart and Duguay Trouin, the bloody battle of
Neerwinden gained by Luxembourg, and the success of
Catinat at Marsiglia (1693), gradually disposed the allies
to treat. The Duke of Savoy was the first to yield.
The war was over for him : all his fortresses were in
the hands of the French. He was offered them back
again, and for his daughter the reversal of the crown of
Prance. She was to marry the Duke of Burgundy, the
grandson of Louis XIV., and heir to the throne. The
defection of Savoy (1696) was followed in time by that
of the other allies. France kept Rousillon, Artois, the
Franche Comté, and Strasburg; but she recognised
William : in reality she was beaten. (Peace of Ryswick,
I696.) .
This peace was no more than a truce granted to the
sufferings of the people. Europe was occupied with a
great event; the question was no longer of some pro-
vince or other of Spain, but of the whole of the Spanish
monarchy, including Naples, the Low Countries, and the
262 A FA2A2AVCAEZ AIZVG OA” SA’.4/AV. [I700.
Indies. Charles V. extended himself alive in his coffin,
and was present at his own funeral. Charles VI., the last
of his descendants, beheld that of the monarchy. This
man, decrepit at thirty-nine, governed by his wife, his
mother, and his confessor, under the influence of all who
approached him, was constantly making and unmaking
his will. The King of France, the Emperor, the Elector
of Bavaria, and the Duke of Savoy, all sons of Spanish
princesses, were disputing his spoils beforehand. Some-
times the Bavarian gained the ascendant, sometimes the
Austrian prince : sometimes they talked of partition.
The poor King saw it all, and was indignant. He was
determined, in spite of his ignorance and indecision, to
guarantee the unity of the monarchy of Spain. He
chose the prince who would be most able to maintain
this unity—a grandson of Louis XIV. He then had
the tombs in the Escurial opened, exhumed his father
and mother and his first wife, and kissed their bones.
It was not long before he joined them (17oo).
Louis XIV. accepted the legacy with all its difficulties.
He sent his second grandson to Spain—the Duke of
Anjou, afterwards Philip V. On his departure he ad-
dressed these words to him : “The Pyrenees have dis-
appeared.” The immediate consequence was an Euro-
pean war. At the same time, in spite of the advice of
his ministers, he decided on recognizing the son of
James II. as Prince of Wales, thus supporting simulta-
neously the succession to Spain and to England.
It was, however, very late for undertaking such a war.
He had reigned for fifty-seven years, he had grown old
himself, and all around him was old. France seemed to
have faded with the old age of her King. One by one
lis glories seemed to be vanishing : Colbert was dead,
and Louvois was dead (1682, 1691); likewise Arnaud,
Boileau, Racine, La Fontaine, and Madame de Sévigné.
Soon the grand voice of the century (Bossuet) would be
no more heard (1704). Instead of Colbert and Louvois,
France had Chamillart, who united their offices. Cha-
millart was governed by Madame de Maintenon, and
1700.] MARZAOROUGH ANZ) ARZAVCAE AEOGAEAVE. 263
Madame de Maintenon by Babbien, her old maidservant.
It was strange that England likewise was governed by a
woman after William and Mary—by Queen Anne, the
daughter of James II. and granddaughter, through her
mother, of the historian Clarendon; as Madame de
Maintenon was of Agrippa d'Aubigné.
The government, although in the hands of citizens
recently raised to the nobility (Chamillart, Le Tellier,
Pontchartrain, &c.), was none the less favourable to the
nobles. Prodigiously increased of late, standing aloof
from commerce and manufactures, scornful and incapable,
they had invaded the antechamber, the army, and espe-
cially the Government offices. The lesser nobles had
their choice between becoming officers or officials. There
were soon as many officers as soldiers, as many adminis-
trators as administered. The great nobles bought regi-
ments for their little children, commanded armies, and
allowed themselves to be beaten at Cremona and Hoch-
stadt.
There were at that time at the head of the allied
armies two men who were capable of taking advantage
of all this, an Englishman and a Frenchman — Marl-
borough and Eugène. The latter, a cadet of the house
of Savoy, but son of the Count of Soissons and one of
Mazarin's nieces, may be called a Frenchman. Marl-
borough, the “handsome Englishman,” was cold and
acute; he had studied under Turenne, and gave back to
IFrance the lessons which he had learnt from her.
Eugène, although Vendôme called him “a miserable
charlatan,” was a man of extraordinary tact, who cared
little for rules, but who was thoroughly acquainted with
places, things, and people, and knew the strong and
weak points of the enemy. His most splendid and
easiest victories were over the half-civilized Ottomans.
This gifted general, who always appeared at the right
moment, gained his victories alternately at both ends of
Europe, over Louis the Great and over the Turks, and
apparently saved both liberty and Christianity.
Both these generals had this great advantage in war,
264 OPPOSZZYOM OF ZHZ DUKE OF SAVOY. [1703.
that they were supreme in their own countries; in the
summer they fought and in the winter they governed and
negotiated : they had carte blanche, and were not forced
on the eve of a battle to write to Versailles to obtain
leave to conquer. -
In 17 OI, Catinat gave up his command to the mag-
nificent Villeroi, whom the Prince Eugène seized in his
bed at Cremona. Eugène gained nothing by this feat.
Villeroi was replaced by Vendôme, a grandson of Henri
IV., and a thorough soldier, although effeminate in his
habits. Vendôme, like his brother the Grand Prior,
stayed in bed till four in the afternoon. He was one of
the youngest generals of Louis XIV. ; he was only
fifty. The soldiers adored him even for his faults. There
was little order, foresight, or discipline in his army, but
much daring and gaiety. He repaired all his blunders
by his gallantry. ---
Catinat commanded in the German campaign, and
under him was Villars. The latter, impatient of the
prudence of his chief, won rashly the battle of Friedlingen
(1702); then penetrating into Germany he gained once
more, in spite of the Elector of Bavaria, the ally of
Louis XIV., the battle of Hochstadt (1703). Villars
excited the enthusiasm of his soldiers by his bravery, his
boasting, and his fine military figure. At Friedlingen they
proclaimed him Marshal of France on the field of battle.
The road to Austria was just open when they heard
that the Duke of Savoy had placed himself in opposition
to France and Spain—against his two Sons-in-law (1703),
Until this movement the Allies had reaped no signal
advantage over France, notwithstanding that she was
fighting on all her frontiers and at home : against the
world and against herself. The Calvinists of the Cévennes,
exasperated by the clergy and by their Governor, Basville,
had been in arms ever since 1702. Villars and Berwick,
among other generals, were sent to subdue them. The
latter was a Stuart, a natural Son of James II., and
became one of the first tacticians of the time.
Villars was away in Languedoc, and Catinat had
1704-9.] FRENCH DAEFAATS AAWD DISTRAESS. 265
retired when the army in Germany, under Generals de
Marsin and Tallard, suffered at Hochstadt, on the very
theatre of Villars' victory, one of the most terrible defeats
ever experienced by France. They had entered Germany
incautiously, and were on the road to Vienna when
Marlborough and Eugène cut them off. Their disposi-
tion was so unskilful that, besides those who were killed,
I4,000 men yielded without the possibility of strik-
ing a blow (1704). Villars arrived in time to cover
Lorraine, while Vendôme gained an advantage over
Eugène in the bloody engagement of Cassano (1705). In
1706 Vendôme was replaced in Italy by La Feuillade.
France suffered two signal defeats. At Turin, Eugène
deprived her of all her Italian possessions; at Ramillies,
Marlborough drove her out of the Spanish Netherlands.
In 1707, the Allies penetrated into France through
I’rovence ; in 1708, through Flanders (defeat of Ouden-
arde). I709 was a terrible year : first a deadly winter
followed by a famine. Want was felt in all directions.
The King's servants were begging at the doors of Ver-
sailles ; Madame de Maintenon ate black bread. Whole
Companies of Cavalry deserted, their colours flying, to gain
their bread by plunder. The recruiting officers had to
take men by force. Taxation assumed every form in
order to reach the people, the common incidents of their
lives were taxed, they paid for being born and for dying.
The peasants, pursued into the Woods by the tax-gatherers,
armed themselves and took the town of Castries by
assault. The King could no longer borrow even at 4oo
per cent. Before the death of Louis XIV. the debt
reached nearly three billions.
The Allies also suffered. England ruined herself in
Order to ruin France. But Europe was led by two men
who chose to have war, and the humiliation of Louis
XIV. was a delightful sight to them. His ambassadors
were answered only by derisive proposals. He was told
that he must undo his own work and dethrone Philip V.
He condescended even to offer money to the Allies to
Support the war against his grandson. But this was not
266 7 RAEA 7"Y OA’ UTRAE CAE/7. I712-
enough, they insisted upon his driving Philip out himself,
and that a French army should be sent against a French:
prince. -
The venerable King then declared that he would put
himself at the head of his nobles and go to the frontier to
die. For the first time he turned to his people, he took
them for his judges, and rose by his own humiliation.
The way in which the French fought this year (1709),
shows how national the war had become. On the 9th of
September, near the village of Malplaquet, the soldiers,
who had had no food for a whole day, had just received
their rations; they threw their bread away in order to fight
again. Villars was carried, seriously wounded, off the
field ; the army retired in good order, having lost less than
8,000 men ; the Allies left I5,ooo or 20,000 on the ground.
In Spain, the throne of Philip V., founded by Berwick at
Almanza (1707), was secured at Villaviciosa by Vendôme
(17 Io); he put the young King to sleep upon a bed of
standards. Nevertheless the elevation of the Archduke
Charles to the Imperial Crown (1711), caused Europe to
fear the reunion of Spain to the Empire. It was not
worth while to have pulled down Louis XIV, in order to
set up a Charles V. England was tired of spending: she
saw Marlborough, who had been seduced by the Dutch,
fighting in their interests. Finally, the unexpected victory
of Villars at Demain damaged the reputation of Prince
Eugène (1712). This terrible war, by means of which
the Allies expected to dismember France, did not deprive
her of a single province. (Treaties of Utrecht and
Rastadt, 1712 ; Barrier Treaty, 1715).
She gave up only a few colonies. She maintained the
grandson of Louis XIV. on the throne of Spain. The
Spanish monarchy lost, it is true, its possessions in Italy
and the Low Countries; it yielded Sicily to the Duke
of Savoy, and the Spanish Netherlands, Naples, and the
Milanese to Austria ; but it gained by compression, by
getting rid of the distant possessions which it could
neither govern nor defend ; the two Sicilies soon, how-
ever, were restored to a branch of the Spanish Bourbons.
I 715.] . Z)/2A 7TAZ OA' ZOOZS XYV. 267
Holland received several strongholds in the Netherlands,
with the obligation to defend them in concert with Austria.
The new dynasty was recognized in England, which took
possession of Gibraltar and Minorca, thus securing a foot-
ing in Spain and the Mediterranean. She obtained for
herself and Holland a commercial treaty which was dis-
advantageous to France. She exacted the demolition of
Dunkerque, and prevented France from supplying its loss
by the canal of Mardyck. She sent, and this was the most
humiliating part, an English commissioner to watch lest
France should restore the ruins of Jean Bart's town.
“They are setting to work to demolish Dunkerk,” says
a contemporary ; “they ask 8oo, ooo francs to pull down
only the third part.” To this day one cannot read with-
Out Scorn and indignation the pathetic supplication
addressed to the Queen of England by the inhabitants.
Such was the end of this famous reign. Louis XIV.
survived only for a short time the Treaty of Utrecht (he
died in 1715). In the course of a few years he had
witnessed the deaths of almost all his children, of the
Dauphin, of the Duke and Duchess of Burgundy, and of
one of their sons. In the deserted palace there remained
only one old man, nearly eighty, and a child of five years
of age. All the great men of the age had gone before
him, a new generation had sprung up. The ancient land-
marks of Society and literature were about to be moved.
This period of softness and laxity had been anticipated
by the mild quietism of Madame Guyon, who reduced
religion to love. The clever and eloquent Massillon set
aside dogma and spoke only of morality in his sermons,
and the bold political ideas of Fénelon already belonged
to the 18th century.
CHAPTER XX.
LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART, IN THE REIGN OF
LOUIS XIV.
THE genius of Literature and Art was still shining in the
South during the first half of the 18th century. The
genius of Philosophy and Science illuminated the North,
especially during the second half. France, placed between
the two, concentrated the rays of both, extended her
language over every polished nation, and assumed in
future the lead in European civilization.
§ I. FRANCE.
In France, as in Italy, the great literary age was pre-
ceded by a period of considerable agitation. Under
Louis XIV. genius was animated and encouraged by
a monarch who was the object of national enthusiasm.
The religious spirit was at this time the chief inspirer of
letters. Catholicism, in the interval between the attacks
of the 16th and 18th centuries, animated its defenders
with new energy. Another impulse was likewise given to
letters by the social spirit natural to the French, but which
requires well-being and security for its development; this
tendency is the source of the superiority of French litera-
ture in dramatic poetry, and in all representations of
manners. A capital and a court form the best school of
Criticism for literary art; perhaps it may not be favourable
to originality, but it cultivates the perfection of taste and
style.
46OO-17OO.] A2O AE 7.S. 269
The 17th century presents two distinct periods. In
France the first period ends in the year 1661, when
Touis XIV. began to reign for himself, and to exercise
some influence over letters. The writers who flourished
or were maturing in this period, retained some of the
energy of the 16th century; their speculations were more
daring and often more profound. Taste was still the
privilege of a few men of genius. To this period belonged
the painters Poussin and Le Sueur, and a great many
writers: Malherbe, Racan, Bréboeuf, Rotrou, and the great
Corneille. Balzac and Voiture, Sarrazin and Mézérai,
Descartes and Pascal, Cardinal de Retz and Molière,
extend from the first to the second period.
Tragedy first attained majesty, strength and Sublimity
she afterwards added grace and pathos.-Comedy of life
and manners (genteel comedy) unrivalled by other nations
now arose. There were three phases of French comedy:
profound philosophy and natural gaiety, gaiety without
philosophy, and interest without gaiety.—The opera rose
to the rank of literature. Didactic poetry was remark-
able for its wisdom and elegance. Satire was directed
more against foibles than vices, and especially against
literary absurdities. Apologues became little dramatic
poems. Lyrical poetry flourished later, and exhibited
more art than passion. Pastoral poetry was feeble and
too ingenious. Light, occasional verses had more grace
than force in them.
AX7'a/eaſſic Abeds. .
Died in Died in
l{otrou . & * . 1630 Th. Corneille . I 709
Molière . º e . I 673 Regnard * . . . I 709
Pierre Corneille . . . I684 Brueys . * . I 723
Quinault . . * . I688 Campistron . o . I 723
Racine . * tº . I699 Dancourt gº * . I 726
Boursault ge & . I708 Crébillon o * . I 762
Poels of other kinds.
Died in - Died in
Malherbe g * . I628 Racan . g ge . I67o
Bréboeuf tº gº . I661 Benserade . * . IG9 I
27O OA’Al 7 OA'S AAWZO //ZSZ"O/C/A AWS. [I6oo-
Died in Died in
Madame Deshoulières . I694 La Fare * * . I7I3
La Fontaine . * . 1695 Chaulieu º * . I 72O
Ségrais * e . I7OI J. B. Rousseau . . I 74I
Doileau. o e . I 7II
The eloquence of the bar was checked in its develop-
ment (Le Maistre, 1658; Patrie, 1681 ; Pélisson, 1693).
The eloquence of the pulpit surpassed the models of
antiquity. Funeral orations reappeared in a form unknown
to the ancients.
Orators.
Died in Died in
Cheminais . tº . 1689 Fléchier e º ... I'7IO.
Mascaron . e . I703 Fénelon . & . I 715
I3ourdaloue . o . I7O4 Massillon e * . I 743
Bossuet e e . I 704
History was written with stiff elegance and little regard
to truth, or else it was valuable only for its research.
The “Discourse on Universal History” seems to have
opened a new path.-Abundant materials were stored up
in memoirs and in mercantile correspondence. Many
other walks of literature were pursued with Success.
Novels rivalled comedy. In the carelessness of intimate
correspondence women attained the perfection of familiar
style. Translation made some progress. Finally, literary
criticism sprang into existence.
Aſistoriazes.
Died in Died in
Sarrazin tº . I654 Amelot de la Houssaie . I7O6
Péréfixe © * . I67o Boulainvilliers . . . I'722
Cardinal de Retz . . I679 Fleuri . gº ſº . I 723.
Mézérai g © . I683 Rapin de Thoiras . . I 725
Père Maimbourg . . I686 Daniel . * e . I728
Madame de Motteville . I689 Vertot . e º . I 735
Saint Réal . o . I692 Dubos’. ſº & . I 742
Varillas cº e . I696 St. Simon . © . I 755.
P. d’Orléans . e . 1698
-I7Oo.] JV/?Z7T/E/?S AAVZO APA/ZZO S'OP/7AE/?S. 27I
A/2storic Sc/io/a7.s.
Died in Died in
Th. Godefroi . . I646 Herbelot 6 © . I695
Soimond © © . I65I Tillemont . © . I698
Pétau . © $ . I652 Cousin © © . I7O7
Labbe . © $ . I667 Mabillon G © . I7o7
Valois . C $ . 1676 Ruinard 1 ! © . I7O9
Moréri . © d . I68o Baluze @ éº . 1718
Godefroi © 6 . I68I Basnage 6 © . I723
Ducange 62 © . I688 Le Clerc ſ# º . I736
Pagi . . . . I695 Montfaucon . º . I74I
Writers of diffèrent kinds.
Died in Died in
Voiture © ſº . I648 Scarron 6 © . I66O
Vaugelas C $ . I649 D'Ablancourt 49 . I664
Balzac © $ . I654 Arnault d'Andilly . . I674
Du Ryer º ) g . I656 Le Bossu º éº . I68O
De Saci © @ . I684 Tourreil 5 . I7I5
Chapelle º 0 . I686 Madame de Maintenon . I7I6
Ant. Arnaud . G . I694 Hamilton © . I 72O
Lancelot 4 $ . I695 Dufresni G © . I724
Madame de Sévigné . I696 La Motte Houdard . I73I
Madame de la Fayette . I699 Dubos © . I742
Bachaumont @ . . I7O2 Mongault $ © . I747
Bouhours. © © . I7O2 Le Sage © º . I747
Perrault - 6 . I7o3 Madame de Lambert . I753
St. Évremond se . I7O3 Fontenelle . 6> . I757
Fénelon © t# . I7I5
Intellect received a new impulse from the study of
metaphysics. The moralists accumulated facts without
trying to establish a system of moral science. The
philosophical spirit began to enter the domain of natural
science. A few sceptics, rare in this age, united the
16th with the 18th century.
Philosophers.
Died in Died in
Descartes . ， . I65o Bayle º 62 . I7o6
Gassendi 0» 6 ! . I655 Malebranche Cº . I7I5
Pascal • © . I662 Huet G © , I72I
La Motte le Vayer . I672 Buffier ! . 9 . I737
La Rochefoucauld . . I68o Abbé St. Pierre . . I743
Nicole . C) 6 . I695 Fontenelle . 9 . I757
La Bruyère . | e . I696
272 SC/AEAVCAE & CZASS/CAZ ZZZZA'A TOKA. [16oo-
Science was not neglected. Mathematics were deve-
loped, and geography first systematized. Travels were
for the first time undertaken for scientific purposes.
Scholars ared Mathematicia/23,
Died in Died in
Descartes g . I65o L'Hôpital . e . I 7O4.
|Fermat * & . Iſ 52 Jacques Bernouilli . . I 705
Pascal § te . I662 Nicolas Bernouilli . . 1726
Pecquet e º . I674. Jean Bernouilli . . I 748
Rohault tº e . I675
Geographers and Travellers.
Died in - Died in
Samson ºp g . I667 Tournefort . º . I 708
Bochard & g . I669 Chardin e & . I 7 I 3
IBernier & # . I688 De l'Isle º º . I 726
Vaillant tº & . I7O6
Classical literature was cultivated as much as in the
16th century, but it was less conspicuous.
Słudents of Classical Zilerature.
Died in . Died in
Saumaise g . I653 Jouvenci * . I 716
Lefèvre e º . I672 Madame Dacier . . I 722
Rapin g & . 1687 Dacier . ſº º . I 722
Furetière * º . I688 De la Rue . gº . I 725
Ménage te * . I69 I De la Monnaie . . I 728
Santenil & ſº . I697 Cardinal Polignac . . . I 741
Commire g * . I702 Brumoi e & . I 742
Danet tº * . I709
Although the fine arts were not the most striking
features of the age of Louis XIV, they contributed to
the splendour of this brilliant period. Architecture
flourished exceedingly. Painting, at first pursued with
genius, fell into a decline which became still more rapid
in the following century. g
Aainters.
Died in Died in
Le Sueur tº . I655 Mignard tº & . I 695
Poussin g wº . I665 Jouvenet * e . I 717
Le Brun g g . I690 Rigaud o tº . I 744.
-17CO.] A. MTEACA 7TO/CAE /AV AZAWGZAAVZ). 273
Sculptors. -
IDied in IDied in
Puget . ſe & . I695 Coysevox . wº . I 72O
Girardon © o . I 715 Coustou ſº tº • I 733
Architects.
Died in Died in
Pr. Mansard © . I666 Claude Perrault . ... I'7O3
Le Nôtre o º , I'700 H. Mansard g . I 708
Angravers.
Died in Died in
Callot . ſº ſº . I635 Audran e º . I 7O3
Nanteuil gº e . I678
Musical Composer.
Lulli, Died in 1687.
§ II. ENGLAND, HOLLAND, GERMANY,-ITALY, SPAIN.
England, Italy, and Spain followed closely upon France
in the career of letters; the two former, with Holland,
preceded her in science. In spite of the rise of a few
men of ability, Germany had not yet begun to develop.
In the first half of the 17th century Italy still bore
the palm in painting, with Flanders for her rival.
(1) Ziterature.—The names of Bacon and Shakespeare
mark the first development of English genius, but for a
long time the religious wars put a stop to intellectual
progress, although that great masterpiece the “Paradise
Iost” must be referred to their date (in spite of its
appearing as late as 1669). Under Charles II. England
was under the literary as she was under the political in-
fluence of France ; and this imitative tendency manifests
itself in all the classical period of English literature (from
the accession of Charles II. to the death of Queen Anne,
1661–1714). In this period England produced three
celebrated poets (Dryden, Addison, and Pope), a great
many wits and several distinguished prose writers.
S. H. * T
274 AOZ 7.S. Al AZO Z//S 7TOA’/AAVS. II 600-
c Fnglish Poets.
Died in Died in
Shakespeare I616 Rochester . I68o
Denham I666 Butler . . I68o
Cowley 1667 Roscommon . . I684
Milton I674. Otway . . I685
Waller C 1687 Prior ſº e . I 729
Dryden 17or Congreve tº gº I729
Rowe . & 1718 Gay & ſº I732
Addison I719 Pope . ſº e I744.
Anglish Arose Writers.
g Died in - T)ied in
Clarendon . I694. Addison gº 1719
Tillotson I694 Steele . & te I729
Temple 1698 Swift tº e I745
Burnet 1715 Bolingbroke . º I75I
The golden age of Italian literature was over. An
original and profound thinker (Vico, who died in 1744)
founded in Naples the philosophy of History; some good
historians appeared, but poetry was disfigured by affec-
tation.
Ata/ia72 Poets.
- Died in Died in
Marini . ſº . I625 Salvator Rosa ſº 1673
Tassoni . tº tº . I635
Atalianz AZästorians. .
Died in Died in
Sarpi I625 Bentivoglio I644
IDavila I634 Nami 1678
Spanish literature was prodigiously fertile in philoso-
phers and humourists: after the names of Cervantes and
of two great tragic poets came those of several historians.
Spanish Azºthors.
Died in Died in
Cervantes 1616 Lope de Vega I635
Mariana I624 Solis . º I686
Herrera 1625 Calderone 1687
-1700.] AZZZZOSO/?//ZCAZ & AEOZZZYCA/ WAZZZA'.S. 275
(2) Philosophy.— England, prepared by theological
and political controversies, opened new paths to meta-
physics and political science. Germany opposed a single
man (Leibnitz) to all the English scholars and meta-
physicians. A Dutchman (Spinoza) systematized athe-
ism, another Dutchman (Grotius) gave a scientific form to
morality, and proved that society as well as individuals
should be regulated by it. The new science, at first
founded upon the classical system, was afterwards included
in philosophy.
Anglish Philosophical and Political Writers.
Died in Died in
Bacon . & ſº . I626 Locke . e g . I 7O4.
Hobbes. º ts . I679 Shaftesbury . tº . I7I5
Sidney . g ſº . I683 Clarke . e e . I 729
Cudworth . . . . . I688
Putch Philosophical and Political Writers.
Died in Died in
Grotius g gº . IG45 St. Gravesande . . I 742
Spinoza & à . 1677
German Ahilosophical and Political Writers.
Died in Died in
Puffendorf . . . . I695 Wolf . • • . I784
Leibnitz tº e . I716 .
(3) Science.—Bacon discovered its laws, and as it were
prophesied the great results which might be expected,
but Galileo and Newton were the first to direct its use.
Many scholars and students followed in the wake of these
extraordinary men.
Anglish Scientific and Literary Men.
Died in Died in
Bacon . * * * . 1626 The Gregorys, 1646, 1675, 1708
Harvey * . . I657 Newton * * . I 726
Barrow . e e . 1677 Halley . & q} . I 74I
T}oyle . . . tº . I69 I
276 SCIENCE, ZZTERATURE, RESEARCH, &c. [1600-
Italian Scientific and Ziterary Mezz.
Died in - Died in
Aldovrandus . . 1615 Borelli * º . I679
Sanctorius, towards . 1636 Viviani dº e . I703
Galileo tº o . I642 Cassini † º . I7 I2
Torricelli . e . I647
ZXutch Scientific and Literary Men.
Died in Died in
Huyghens . º . I 702 Boerhaave . e . I 738
German and Danish Scientific and Ziterary Men.
Died in Died in
Ičepler e e . 1630 Kircher e º . I683
Tycho Brahé e . 1636 Stahl . e & . I 733
(4) Antiquarian Research,--It was exercised in every
possible direction. The antiquities of the middle ages
and of the East shared the labours of the learned, who,
until then, had been exclusively engaged with classical
antiquities.
Anglish Antiquarians.
Owen, Farnaby, Aster, Bentley, Marsham, Stanley, Hyde,
Pocock.
Dutch and Flemish Students of Antiquity.
Barlaeus, Schrevelius, Heinsius, Vossius.
German Słudents of Antiquity.
Frenshemius, Gronovius, Morhof, Fabricius, Spanheim.
Italian Antiquarians.
Muratori, &c.
(5) The Fine Arts.-In Italy the decline of Art fol-
lowed that of Letters. Painting alone was an exception.
It flourished in the Lombard and Flemish schools.
-I/OO.] AAAW T/AVG. 277
JZaliazz Aainters.
Died in Died in
Guido . wº tº . I642 Guercino e t . I666
Albano tº . I647 Salvator Rosa e . I675
Lanſranco . º . I647 Bernini (sculptor, architect
Domenichino. tº . I648 and painter) ge . I68o
Flemish and Dutch Painters.
Died in Died in
Rubens. to ge . I64O Rembrandt . * . I688
Vandyke * & . I64I The younger Teniers . I694
The elder Teniers . . I649
SECOND DIVISION OF THE THIRD PERIOD."
I715–1789.
CHAPTER XXI.
DISSOLUTION OF THE MONARCHY, I 715—I'789.
BETWEEN the reigns of Louis the Great and Napoleon
the Great, France slid down a rapid incline, at the foot
of which the ancient monarchy, striking on the people,
was dashed to pieces and gave place to the principles on
which the existing political system of Europe is based.
1 CONDITION OF THE PRINCIPAL POWERS AFTER THE PEACE OF
UTRECHT.
Angland. I'714—1727.-Accession of the House of Hanover in
the person of George I. This prince was entirely devoted to the
Whigs. England, which had become more and more powerful
since the Treaty of Utrecht, continued to exercise the same influence
over Holland, which imperceptibly declined. Aºrance, I715–1723.
Minority of Louis XV. Regency of the Duke of Orleans. This
prince, alarmed by the King of Spain and the legitimatized princes,
makes a firm alliance with England, afraid on her side of the attempts
of the Pretender. Søain, 1700–1746. Philip V. He was influenced
first by the Princess des Ursins, then by his second wife, Elizabeth
of Parma. I715—I'719, Administration of Alberoni. Aztstria, I'7II
—1740. Charles VI. The power of the House of Austria was con-
siderably extended, but not strengthened by the Treaty of Utrecht.
Religious troubles of the Empire. Civil war in Hungary. Turkish
war. All the powers, except Spain, are interested in the observance
of the Peace of Utrecht, and for twenty years endeavour to prolong it
1715–1789.] THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 279
The central idea of the 18th century consists in the pre-
paration for this great change. First came the literary
and philosophical struggle for religious liberty; next the
by negotiations. Ambitious plans of Alberoni for recovering the dis-
membered countries of the Spanish monarchy—to deprive the Duke
of Orleans of the Regency, and to re-establish the Pretender on the
throne of England. His negotiations with Charles XII. and Peter
the Great. I717, Triple Alliance (the Regent of France with the
Ring of England and with Holland). I'717–1718, Sardinia and
Sicily reconquered by the Spaniards. Conspiracy of Cellamare
against the Regent. I718, Qatadruple Alliance (France, England,
and Holland with the Emperor). Spain forced to join it. 1720,
the Emperor gives up Spain and the Indies; the King of Spain,
Italy and the Low Countries; the Infant Don Carlos receives the
investiture of the Duchies of Tuscany, of Parma and Piacenza,
which, considered as fieſs of the Empire, are to be occupied pro-
visionally by neutral troops. Austria takes Sicily, and gives Sar-
dinia in exchange to the Duke of Savoy. I721–1725, Congress
of Cambray. Difficulties raised by the Emperor and the King of
Spain as to the form of the renunciations; by the Emperor with
regard to the acceptance of his Aragmatic Sanction f by Holland
and England as to the Ostend Company ; by the Dukes of Parma.
and Tuscany concerning the investitures granted to the Infant Don
Carlos. I'725, Rupture of the Congress of Cambray. The Duke
of Bourbon, prime minister of France, decides the event by sending
away the Infant, and arranging the marriage of Louis XV. with the
daughter of the exiled King of Poland, Stanislaus Leczinski. Peace
of Vienna between Austria and Spain; defensive alliance, joined by
Russia and the chief Catholic states of the Empire. Alliance of
Hanover, between France, England, and Prussia, joined by Holland,
Sweden, and Denmark. Several reasons prevent the general war
which was on the point of breaking out : Ist, the death of Catherine
I., Empress of Russia ; the pacific characters of the prime ministers
of France and England, Cardinal Fleury (1726–1743), and Sir Robert
Walpole (1721–1742). Intervention of the Pope ; preliminaries
of Paris. I728, Congress of Soissons ; 1729, Peace of Seville,
between France, England, and Spain ; 1731, 7%reaty of Vienezza :
England and Holland guarantee the Pragmatic Sanction of Charles
VI. ; he gives up carrying on the trade of India through Holland,
and consents to the occupation of Parma and Placentia by the
Spaniards. I735, Death of Augustus II., King of Poland. Two
pretenders to the throne—Augustus III., Elector of Saxony, son of
the deceased King, Supported by Russia and Austria ; Stanislaus
Leczinski, father-in-law of Louis XV., supported by France, allied
with Spain and Sardinia. England and Holland remain neutral,
notwithstanding their alliance with Austria. Stanislaus is driven
28O RELAEGIOUS AAWD AOZYZZCAA. Z/BAERTY. [1715-
great and bloody battle for political liberty, a victory
which proved ruinous to Europe; and lastly, in spite
of a passing reaction, the definitive confirmation of civil
equality.
out by the Russians and Saxons; but France and Spain attack
Austria with success. Occupation of Lorraine ; capture of Kehl.
1734, the Empire declares war against France. Capture of Philips-
burg. Conquest of the Milanese by the Sardinian and French armies.
Victories of Parma and of Guastalla. I734—1735, Conquest of
the kingdom of Naples and Sicily by the Spaniards. Victory
of Bitonto. The Infant Don Carlos crowned King of the Two
Sicilies. The arrival of ten thousand Russians on the Rhine, the
intervention of the maritime powers, and the desire to confirm the
establishment of the Bourbons of Spain in Italy, in spite of the
jealousy of England, determine Cardinal Fleury on treating with
Austria. I738, 77-eaty of Vienna. Stanislaus receives as compen-
sation for the throne of Poland, Lorraine, which, at his death, is
to fall to France; Francis, Duke of Lorraine, nephew of the
Emperor, receives in exchange the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, as fief
of the Empire (the last of the Medicis having died without issue);
the Two Sicilies and the port of Tuscany secured to the Infant Don
Carlos ; the Emperor recovers the Milanese, Mantua, Parma, and
Placentia. Novara and Tortona remain in the possession of the
Išing of Sardinia. --.
WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION, I'74I—I 748, AND SEVEN
YEARS' WAR, 1756–1763.
The middle of the 18th century is marked by two European
leagues tending to the annihilation of the two great German powers.
One of these powers, formerly supreme in its influence, excites, by
its feebleness and isolation, the ambition of every other state; the
other, by its sudden elevation, inflames their jealousy. Each of them
engages all Europe in the struggle that it maintains against its rival ;
each of them defends itself with Success, which was fortunate even
for the aggressors whose imprudence threatened to disturb the balance
of power on the Continent. The two wars are in reality only one,
scparated by a truce of six years. Although they had the same
duration, the name of Seven Years' War is applied exclusively to the
second.
WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION, 1741–1748.
Contradictory pretensions of the princes allied against Austria.
The King of Prussia alone knows what he wants, and obtains it.
At first (1741–1744) the object was to annihilate Austria, then to
-1789.] C/V/Z ZQUAZZZY. - 281
Whilst the body of Louis XIV. was being carried all
alone and without ceremony to St. Denis, the Duke
of Orleans forced the Parliament to set aside his will.
deliver Bavaria. Until 1744 Germany was the theatre of the war;
Prussia and France were the principal enemies of Austria. During
the rest of the war, France, which had become the sole enemy of
importance, carried the war chiefly into Italy and the Low Countries.
England supported Austria by negotiations and troops. She began
on this occasion the system of subsidies, by means of which she
bought the direction of continental affairs. Austria maintains her
existence, and only loses three provinces; but she is greatly humbled
by the loss of Silesia, and cannot reconcile herself to the elevation
of the King of Prussia, nor become, with England, the arbiter of
Europe. I 740, Death of the Emperor Charles XI., the last male
beir of the House of Habsburg—Austria. His Pragmatic Sanction,
guaranteed by all the states of Europe, secures his succession to his
eldest daughter, Maria Theresa, wiſe of Francis of Lorraine, Duke
of Tuscany, to the exclusion of the daughters of Joseph I. The
husbands of these princesses, Charles Albert, Elector of Bavaria
(descendant of the Emperor Ferdinand I.), and Augustus II., Elector
of Saxony and King of Poland, put forward their pretensions to
the throne of Austria. Philip V., King of Spain, claims Bohemia
and Hungary; Frederick II., King of Prussia, a portion of Silesia ;
Charles Emmanuel, King of Sardinia, the Milanese. France, per-
suaded by the brothers Belle Isle, in spite of Cardinal Fleury, sup-
ports the pretensions of these different powers.-Friendless position
of Maria. Theresa ; England still under the Walpole Ministry, and
£ngaged in a war with Spain; Sweden, through the intrigues of
France, engaged in an unfortunate war with Russia. I740–1744,
the King of Prussia invades Silesia, and gains the battle of Molwitz.
1741, the Elector of Bavaria and the French army seize Upper
Austria, and invade Bohemia. I 742, the Elector of Bavaria elected
Emperor under the title of Charles VII. Heroism of Maria. Theresa;
devotion of the Hungarians to her cause. She receives subsidies
from Holland and England. I 742, Fall of the pacific minister
Walpole. Sardinia declares in favour of Maria. Theresa. An
English squadron forces the King of Naples to preserve his neutrality.
The mediation of England, and the defeat of Czaslau, decide Maria
Theresa on yielding Silesia to the King of Prussia, who separates
himself from the league. Treaty of Berlin. The Elector of
Saxony, King of Poland, follows the example of the King of
Prussia. I 743, the Pragmatic army of George II. Successful at
Dettingen. Treaty of Worms (between Maria. Theresa and the
King of Sardinia). The French evacuate Bohemia, Austria, and
Bavaria, and are driven to the other side of the Rhine. I 744, France
declares war against the Queen of Hungary and the King of
282 JAA; EA’A/LATY OF . [I715–
The politics of the Regent, his whole life and character,
were in opposition to the preceding reign. All the
ancient barriers gave way; the Regent invited private
England. Alliance of Frankfort concluded between France,
Prussia, the Elector Palatine, the Landgrave of Hesse, and the
Emperor, to effect the recognition of the latter, and to establish him
in his hereditary states. Frederick invades Bohemia. The French
re-enter Germany; the Imperialists retake Bavaria. I745, Death of
Charles VII. ; Maximilian Joseph, his son, treats with the Queen
of Hungary at Fuessen. Election of Francis I., husband of Maria
Theresa, to the Imperial throne. Frederick secures the possession
of Silesia by the victories of Hohenfriedburg, of Sorr, and of Kessel-
dorf, and, by the invasion of Saxony, forces the Elector and the
Queen to sign the treaty of Dresden. . The French carry on the
war with success; in Italy, I'744, seconded by the Genoese, the
IGing of Naples, and the Spaniards, they establish the Infant Don
Philip in the Duchies of Milan and Parma ; in the Low Countries,
under Marshal Saxe, they gain the battles of Fontenoy and Roucoux
(1746). I745—1746, Expedition of Charles Edward, son of the
Pretender, who forces England to recall the Duke of Cumberland
from the Low Countries (battles of Preston Pans and Culloden).
1746, the French and Spaniards beaten at Piacenza ; the Spanish
army recalled by the new king, Ferdinand VI. The Austrians
drive the French from Lombardy, take possession of Genoa, and
invade Provence. The revolution of Genoa obliges them to re-cross
the Alps. 1747, Conquest of Dutch Flanders by the French. The
Stadtholdership re-established and declared hereditary in favour of
William IV., Prince of Nassau Dietz. Victory of the French at
Laufeld, and capture of Berg-op-Zoom. I748, the siege of Maestricht
decides Holland and England to make negotiations. France is
induced so to do by the arrival of the Russians on the Rhine, the
destruction of her navy and the loss of colonies (see below). Peace
of Aix-la-Chapelle. France, England, and Holland give back their
conquests in Europe and the two Indies; Parma, Piacenza, and
Guastalla are yielded to Don Philip, brother of the kings of Naples
and Spain, and nephew of the King of France. The Pragmatic
Sanction of Charles VI., the succession of the House of Hanover in
England and in Germany, the possession of Silesia by the King of
Prussia, are confirmed and guaranteed. *.
SEVEN YEARS' WAR, 1756–1763. 2.
The jealousy of Austria arms Europe against a sovereign who does
not threaten the common independence. England struggles at the
same time against France and Spain. Frederick and William Pitt,
with like interests, conduct separately the continental and the naval
war. Superiority of Frederick; his military genius; discipline of the
- -1723.] 7A/A2 /º/, GZAVZ. 2S3,
individuals to give their opinions on politics, he proclaimed
the maxims of Fénelon, he printed Telemachus at his own
expense, and opened the Royal Library to the public.
troops, skill of his officers, Prince Henry, Ferdinand of Brunswick,
Schwerin, Seidlitz, Schmettau, and Keith. Austria opposes him, her
generals are Brown, Daun, Tandon; her negotiator, Kaunitz France,
attacking England in Hanover, forces that kingdom and the neigh-
bouring states to become the rampart of Frederick, and neglects
naval warſare. The family compact too late to be of use to France.
IFrederick comes out conqueror from his struggle against Europe.
Prussia survives and keeps Silesia. England gains its object, mamély,
the destruction of the maritime power of France. Frederick, though
weakened, still shares the first place with England, but he no longer
wishes for war, and the union of France and Austria promises a long
peace to the Continent. Misunderstanding between France and
England, 1754. First hostilities against America, I 756. Alliance of
England with Prussia, of France with Austria. Projected division
of the states of the King of Prussia, 1756. The King of Prussia
anticipates his enemies by attacking Saxony; he occupies Dresden;
beats the Austrians at Lowositz, and makes the Saxons lay down
their arms at Pirna. France seizes Minorca, and sends troops into
Corsica ; but soon she neglects naval warfare to attack England in
Hanover. I757, success of the French. Victory of Hastenbech.
Convention of Closter-Seven. Sweden, Russia, and the Empire
join the league against the King of Prussia. Frederick enters
Bohemia, and wins the battle of Prague ; he is repulsed and defeated
at Kolin. One of his officers is beaten by the Russians at Joegerns-
dorf. Danger of his situation. He evacuates Bohemia, passes into
Saxony, and beats the French and the Imperialists at Rosbach.
Frederick returns to Silesia, and repairs the defeat of Breslau
by the victory of Lissa. He invades successively Moravia and
Bohemia, and prevents the junction of the Austrians with the
Russians, I758; he gains over the latter the hardly-contested victory
of Zornsdorf. He is surprised at Hochkirchen by the Austrians.
I759, the Prussians beaten by the Russians at Palzig ; by the Russians
and Austrians at Kunersdorf; by the Austrians at Maxen. The
conquerors do not profit by their success. The Prussians, beaten
again at Landshut, are conquerors at Liegnitz and Torgau, I'76O.
They recapture Silesia, and again invade Saxony. I'758–1762, un-
fortunate campaigns of the French. I758, Ferdinand of Brunswick,
having driven them from Hanover, crosses the Rhine, and gains the
battle of Crevelt. The French occupy Hesse, and Ferdinand re-
crosses the Rhine. I'759, Victory of Broglie at Bergen. Defeat of
the French at Minden. 1760, Victory of the French at Corbach and
Closter-camp ; devotion of the Chevalier d’Assas. I761, the French
conquer at Grunberg; conquered at Fillingshausen, 1759, Death
284 AAEAAZZZA'S GAAVAERA U.Y. [I715-
The farmers of the Revenue, who had grown fat upon
the troubles of France, were judged by a Star Chamber,
fined, and condemned haphazard. This rigorous treat-
of the King of Spain, Ferdinand VI. ; he is succeeded by his brother,
the King of Naples, Charles III., who leaves the throne of Naples
to his third son, Ferdinand IV. 1761, family compact, negotiated
by the Duke of Choiseul, between the different branches of the House
of Bourbon (France, Spain, Naples, Parma). Spain declares war
against England and Portugal. I760, Death of the King of England,
George II. George III. I762, Resignation of Pitt. 1762, Death of
Elizabeth, Empress of Russia. Peter III. Catherine II. recalls
the Russian troops from Silesia, and declares herself neutral. I'762,
Peace of Hamburg between Prussia and Sweden. Peace of Paris
between France, England, Spain, and Portugal. The King of
Prussia, by the victory of Freyburg and the capture of Schweidnitz,
induces the Empress and the King of Poland, Elector of Saxony,
to sign the Peace of Hubertsöerg. The first and the last treaty place
Germany in the same condition as she was before the war.
EUROPEAN COLONIES DURING THE 18TH CENTURY.
Growing importance of the colonies, above all of the English and
French, in consequence of the calm that they enjoyed at the beginning
of the 18th century. Immense increase of the duty on foreign pro-
duce. Decline of the system of monopolies, especially in England,
after the accession of the House of Hanover. The colonies become
for Europe a continual source of war until the principal ones separate
themselves from the mother-country. The maritime supremacy is
secured to England by the humiliation of France (Treaty of Utrecht),
and above all by the influence which she has acquired over Holland.
The struggle, however, soon recommences between France and
England. The theatre of this struggle is the North of America, the
Antilles, and the East Indies, where the fall of the Mogul Empire
opens a wide field to Europeans. France succumbs at first in
Northern America. But the English Colonies, no longer fearing the
vicinity of the French or Spaniards, free themselves from the yoke of
Fngland. The latter finds compensation in the Indian establish-
ments of the Dutch, to which it succeeds, and in the conquest of the
continent of India. Division ; (I) I 713–1739, history of the
colonies, from the Peace of Utrecht to the first war. (2) I739–
1765, wars of the mother-countries on behalf of the colonies. (3)
1765–1783, first war of the colonies against their mother-countries.
(4) 1739–1789, end of the history of the colonies in the 18th
century. -
(1) 1713–1739, history of the colonies from the Peace of Utrecht
to the first war. Contraband trade of the French, and especially
-I723.] AOPOZAR/TY OF 7//Z RAEGEAVT. 285.
ment of the financiers only added to the popularity of
the Duke. It was not enough, however, to condemn
them ; it was necessary to replace them by some other
of the English, between each other and the Spanish colonies. New
liberty of commerce granted to the colonies by England, I739
—I75I : and by France, I 717. Introduction of the cultivation
of coffee at Surinam, I 718 ; at Martinique, 1728; in the Isle of
France and the Isle of Bourbon, about 1736; in the English colonies
of Northern America, I 732. I7II, English South Sea Company.
1732, formation of the province of Georgia. New importance of the
Prench Antilles. I 771, French Mississippi and African Company,
to which is united an East Indian Company, I712, the French
acquire the Isle of France and the Isle of Bourbon. I736, La
Bourdonnais is nominated governor. I 728–1733, Disputes between
the French and English relative to the neutral islands. Falling
off of the eastern colonies of the Dutch, prosperity of Surinam.
Rich products of the Portuguese colony of Brazil. I719—1733,
Extension of the Danish possessions in the Antilles. I734, Founda-
tion of a Danish Company in the West Indies. 1731, Trade of
Sweden with China.
(2) I739–1765, first wars of the mother-countries on account of the
colonies. I739, war between England and Spain, in consequence of
the contraband commerce of the latter country with the Spanish
colonies. The English take Porto Bello, and besiege Carthagena.
This war becomes involved with that of the Austrian Succession.
I740, Expedition of Admiral Anson. I745, Capture of Louisbourg.
I746–1748, success of the French in India. La Bourdonnais takes
Madras from the English ; Dupleix repulses them from Pondicherry.
I758, mutual restitution of conquests at the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.
New conquests of Dupleix. Differences which arise as to the limits
of Nova Scotia and Canada, and relatively to the neutral islands,
I734, Assassination of Jumonville, and capture of the fort of Necessity.
I758, Battle of Quebec; deaths of Wolfe and Montcalm. Loss of
Canada, the Antilles, and the possessions in the East Indies. 1762,
By the Treaty of Paris, France recovers its colonies, except Canada
and its dependencies, and Senegal, and some of the Antilles ; she
promises no longer to keep troops in Bengal; Spain gives up Florida
to England, and France indemnifies Spain by the cession of Louisiana.
I757–1765, Conquests of Lord Clive in the East Indies. Acquisi-
tion of Bengal, and foundation of the English empire in India.
(3) I765–1783, First war of the colonies against their mother-
countries. Extent, population, and wealth of the English colonies
in North America. Their democratic institutions. They feel the
less the want of a mother-country since Canada no longer belongs
to France nor. Florida to Spain. Their subjection to the British
monopoly. The English Government undertakes to introduce taxes.
2S6 J.A Pl'. [I717.
means, so as to liquidate the enormous debt left by Louis
XIV. A great enterprise was then attempted ; a Scotch
banker named Law, who called himself a disciple of
into these colonies. 1765, Timber Act. 1766, Declaratory Bill.
I757–1770, Duty on tea. I?73, insurrection at Boston. Restraining
Act. I'774, Congress of Philadelphia. I775, commencement of
hostilities. Washington, Commander-in-chief of the American
forces. I'776, Declaration of Independence. Establishment of the
Federal Government of the United States of America. Capitulation
of Saratoga. Embassy of Franklin. I'778, France allies itself with
the Americans; war between France and England. France gains
over to its interests Spain and Holland. I?80, armed neutrality.
England declares war against Holland. The French seize the
English Antilles and Senegal; the English, several of the French
and Dutch Antilles and the Dutch possessions in Guiana. 1779–
1782, Spain takes Minorca and Western Florida, but in vain besieges
Gibraltar. I782, Victory of I'odney over the Count de Grasse, in
the Antilles. I779–1785, the English take the French and Dutch
possessions on the continent of India. I'777–1781, indecisive
engagements between the English and Americans, helped by the
French. 1781, Capitulation of Cornwallis in Yorktown. (1782,
Ministry of Fox in England.) I783–4, Treaty of Versailles and
Paris; the independence of the United States of America is recog-
nized by England; France and Spain recover their colonies, and
keep, the former Senegal and the islands of Tobago, Santa Lucia,
St. Peter, and Miquelon; the latter, Minorca and the Tloridas.
Holland Surrenders Negapatam, and guarantees to them free navi-
gation in the Indian Seas.
(4) 1739–1789, end of the history of the colonies in the 18th
century. Progress of the English in the East Indies. 1767–1769,
and 1774–1784, their wars against the Sultans of Mysore, Hyder
Ali, and Tippoo Sahib, and against the Mahrattas. I773 and 1784,
new organization of the East India Company, tending to give more
unity to the administration, and to render it more dependent on the
English Government. I768–1770, Voyages of Captain Cook. 1786,
Colony of free negroes at Sierra Leone. 1788, Colony of Port Sidney,
in New South Wales. Spanish colonies. Capture of Porto Bello by
the English, I'740, and of Havanna, I762. I764, acquisition of
French Guiana and Louisiana, yielded by France, and, in 1778, the
islands of Annobon and Fernando Po, yielded by Portugal. New
organization of Spanish America. , 1776, four viceroyalties and eight
independent governorships. I748–1784, successive relaxation of
the system of monopolies. 1785, Company of the Philippines.
French colonies. 1763, Attempt to colonize Cayenne. Prosperity of
St. Domingo. Establishment of a monopoly for the cultivation of
spices in the Isle of France. I780, Dutch colonies. Their decline
1717. ) A 'AAAEA' /l/OAV/? Y. 287
Newton and Locke, came to make the first experiment that
France had seen on the resources of credit. He opened
a bank and substituted paper-money for coin. This bank
since the commencement of the century in the East Indies, since the
American war in the West Indies. Portuguese colonies. I777,
War between Spain and Portugal, Spain seizes St. Sacramento.
Division of Brazil into nine governments. I755–1759, the Marquis
of Pombal takes trade away from the Jesuits, and places it in
the hands of several privileged Companies. I755, Emancipation of
the natives of Brazil. Danish colonies. I764, the commerce of the
West Indies becomes free by the dissolution of the Company. I'777,
the East India Company gives up its possessions to the Government.
Swedish colonies. I784, acquisition of St. Bartholomew. I762,
freedom of the Russian commerce with China. I786, Russian
Company for the fur trade in North America.
INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE WESTERN STATES, 1715–1789.
Ataly. In the first half of the 18th century, as in the first half of
the 16th, the French, the Spanish, and the Germans dispute the
possession of Italy; but the wars of the 16th century had changed
the principal Italian States into provinces of foreign monarchies;
those of the 18th restore their national sovereigns. Beneficial
administration of the princes of the House of Lorraine, in Tuscany.
I765–1790, Leopold. I7SO, Abdication of Victor Amadeus II.,
Ičing of Sardinia, in favour of Charles Emmanuel III. Captivity
of the old King. The House of Savoy loses its splendour. Victor
Amadeus III. I775–1796, the Two Sicilies show some life
under the princes of the House of Bourbon. Charles I., 1734–
1759, and Ferdinand. IV. I759–1824.
Corsica. Rising of this island against the Genoese, at the com-
mencement of the 18th century. I733, the Genoese implore the help
of the Emperor. I734, Corsica declares itself an independent
republic. I736, King Theodore. I737, the Genoese appeal to the
Prench. I755, Pascal Paoli. I768, Genoa gives up Corsica to
France.
Geneva. I768, Intervention of France in the troubles of this
republic. I772, fresh troubles. Armed mediation of the three
neighbouring powers. I789, new constitution.
Switzerlazzd; her neutrality. Home troubles. I712–1719, War
of the Protestant cantons, Berne and Zurich, against the Abbot of
St. Gall, supported by the Catholic cantons, Uri, Zug, Schweitz, and
|Unterwalden.
Spain ; her weakness, notwithstanding the establishment of the
royal family in Italy. I'724, temporary abdication of Philip IV.,
in favour of Louis I. , 1746–1759, Ferdinand VI. 1758–1786,
, 288 . SO Ú 7TH SAEA AUBA5 Z/E. [1717.
was converted by the Regent into a Royal Bank. Law
associated with this bank the Mississippi or West Indian
Company scheme. The Regent granted to the Company
Charles III. passes from the throne of Naples to that of Spain.
Close alliances with France. Administration of Aranda, Campo-
mane, &c.
Aortugal. Languor of this kingdom under John V., 1706–1750.
I750–1777, Joseph I. Universal and violent reform of the Marquis
of Pombal. Humiliation of the nobility. I759, Expulsion of the
Jesuits. The revolution brought about by Pombal leaves few traces.
I777–1788, Pedro and Maria.
Angland. Attachment of the nation to the House of Hanover.
Enterprise of the Pretender. Increasing influence of the Crown
in Parliament. Immense development of industry and trade at
home and abroad. The loan system. Alarming increase of the
National Debt. I 714—1727, George I. I727–1760, George II.
I760, George III. I'721–1742, Walpole Ministry. I756–1761,
Ministry of William Pitt (Lord Chatham). Rivalry between Fox
and the second Pitt, who commences his Ministry in 1783.
Fºmpire. Sudden disturbance occasioned by the Austrian succes-
sion. The conquest of Silesia, by rendering Prussia and Austria
irreconcilable, breaks for ever the unity of the Empire. Whilst
the political tie is loosened, a moral tie is formed in Germany by
the development of a language, a literature, and a philosophy in
common. I7II—I 740, Charles VI. I742—I745, Charles VII.
I745–1763, Francis I. and Maria. Theresa. I'765–1790, Joseph
II. Mildmess of the Government of Maria. Theresa in her hereditary
states. Innovations of Joseph II. I787, rising of the Austrian
portion of the Low Countries.
Arussia. She doubles in this century her extent and population.
Strength and unity of the Government. Revenue. Organization
altogether military. I 713–1740, Frederick William I. I74O—
1786, Frederick II., called the Great. 1786, Frederick William II.
Aazaria. I 71 I, Extinction of the youngest branch of the House
of Wittelsbach, by the death of the Elector, Maximilian Joseph.
The succession returns by right to the Elector Palatine. Preten-
sions of the Emperor Joseph II. and of Maria. Theresa ; of the
dowager Electress of Saxony and the Dukes of Mecklenburg.
1788, agreement of the Court of Vienna with the Elector Palatine.
The King of Prussia supports the pretensions of the Duke of Zwei-
brücken, heir of the Elector Palatine, and invades Bohemia and
Austrian Silesia. Intervention of France and Russia. I 779, the
succession of Bavaria is secured to the Elector Palatine, who
indemnifies the other pretenders.
Aolland. She becomes enfeebled by her long dependence on
England. Formation of the anti-English party. I747–1754, re-
-I7 I7.] AA WºS SCALEMAE.S. 289
a lease of the public taxes, in return for which the Com-
pany lent him 1,200 millions of francs towards paying
the debts of the State. The public creditors were paid
establishment of the Stadtholdership in favour of William IV., of
the younger branch of Nassau-Orange. I751–1795, William V.
1781–1785, differences between the Dutch and Joseph II. 1783–
1788, revolt against the Stadtholder. Intervention of the Courts of
Berlin and Versailles. A Prussian army supports the Stadtholder.
Holland renounces the alliance of France for that of England and of
Prussia. -
GENERAL AFFAIRS OF THE NORTH AND. THE EAST.
REVOLUTION OF RUSSIA AND POLAND.
The impulse given to Russia by Peter the Great lasts until the
accession of Catherine the Great, although diminished during the
period when foreigners were excluded from the government (1741–
1762). The accession of Catherine is a new era for Russia. Her
development favoured by the condition of her neighbours. Sweden,
however, is saved by an internal revolution; Turkey, by the jealousy
of the European States. Russia, by putting herself at the head of an
opposition against the all-powerful maritime supremacy of England,
becomes incapable of executing her projects against Turkey. She
is more, fortunate as regards Poland. The vigour of the Polish
character becomes impaired under Augustus II. and Augustus III. ;
Poland receives a sovereign from Russia, is abandoned by France,
helped unsuccessfully by Turkey, and condemned to keep her anar-
chical constitution. Those who were interested in her existence,
seeing her irrecoverably lost, divide her spoils with Russia. They
gain some provinces; but they allow the Russians to advance to
the frontiers of Germany. I725–1727, Catherine I., widow of Peter
the Great. Ministry of Menzikoff. 1727–1730, Peter II., grandson
of Peter the Great, by his son Alexis Menzikoff, overthrown by
Dolgorouki. I730–1740, Anne Ivanovna, niece of Peter the Great,
widow of the Duke of Courland. Influence of Biron, Munich, and
other foreigners. Russia again extends her influence abroad. I733,
affairs of Poland. I737, Biron, Duke of Courland. I736, the
Russians ally themselves with Thamas-Kouli-Khan against the
Turks, in the hope of recapturing Azov and opening the Black Sea.
1737, the Emperor makes an alliance with the Russians. The latter,
under Munich, take Azov, invade the Crimea, gain the battle of
Choczim, and make themselves masters of Moldavia; but the Turks
drive the Imperialists out of Wallachia and Servia, and besiege
Belgrade. I739, Peace of Belgrade; Austria retains only Temeswar
S.H. TJ
29O SOUTH-SAEA BUB B/A2. [I717-
henceforth, not in cash, but in shares of the Mississippi
Company, taken at their present fabulous market price.
Enormous dividends were paid on these, and the anxiety to
of all the conquests which were secured to her at the Peace of
Passarowitz. Russia also gives up her new possessions as well as the
navigation of the Black Sea. I740–1741, Ivan VI., great-nephew
of Peter the Great, son of Anne of Mecklenburg, under the regency
of Biron, then under that of his mother. I 741, Sweden declares war
against Russia. 1741–1762, Elizabeth, second daughter of Peter the
Great, overthrows the young Ivan. Expulsion of foreigners. I741–
1743, the Swedes beaten near Villemanstrand, and obliged to leave
Finland. Peace of Abo ; Russia retains a portion of Finland. I775
—1762, Russia joins the European coalition against the King of
Prussia. 1762, Peter III., grandson of Peter the Great, by his
mother, Anne Petrowna, and son of the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp.
He makes an alliance with Prussia, and prepares in concert with her
to attack Denmark. 1762–1796, Catherine II. dethrones Peter III.
Situation of . Poland under Augustus III. (1734–1763). I764,
Stanislaus Poniatowski raised to the throne of Poland, through the
influence of Russia. I768, the dissidents re-established in their rights.
Confederation of Bar. Turkey makes a declaration of war against
Russia. I769–1770, the Russians invade Moldavia and Wallachia.
Victories of Pruth and Kagul. The Russian fleet penetrates into the
Mediterranean, stirs up the Morea, and burns the Turkish fleet in
the Archipelago. I771, Dolgorouki invades the Crimea. Inter-
vention of Austria. I774, the Turks blockaded by Romanzov.
Aeace of Kaymardji. The Tartars of the Crimea are declared in-
dependent ; Russia returns her conquests, except Azov and some
strong places on the Black Sea, and obtains free navigation in the
Turkish seas. I773, first dismemberment of Æoland. Russia, Austria,
and Prussia seize the frontier provinces. I780, Armed neutrality.
Russia, at the head of the powers of the North, causes her flag to be
respected by England and France. I775, reduction of the Cossacks.
I784, Russia re-unites the Crimea to her empire, with the consent
of Turkey. I787–1791, War between the Turks and Russians.
. The Emperor Joseph II. declares himself on the side of Russia; the
King of Sweden, Gustavus III., on that of Turkey. The latter
prince, attacked by the Danes, allies of Russia, concludes a peace
with the Empress. 1790, Brilliant victories of the Russians over
the Turks. 1791, Peace of Szisłowa between the Austrians and
Turkey. Peace of Z’Yassi between the Russians and Turkey. 1788–
I79I, new constitution of Poland. I793, second dismemberment.
I795, final division of Poland between Russia, Austria, and Prussia.
Courland submits to Russia (revolution in this duchy). 1737,
extinction of the House of Kettler, and accession of Biron. 1759,
Charles of Saxony, son of Augustus III., King of Poland. 1762,
-1718.] SOUTH-SEA BUBBZE. 29I
obtain them amounted to infatuation. For the first time
gold was at a discount, and the price of shares increased
every hour. The Rue Quincampoix was thronged ; men
elbowed each other at the doors of the offices where they
re-establishment of Biron. His son Peter, after reigning twenty-five
years, abdicates in favour of the Empress of Russia. 1796, Death
of Catherine the Great. Her brilliant administration. Legislation.
Schools. Foundation of Cherson, 1778, and Odessa, I796. Manu-
factures. Caravan trade with Persia and China. Rise of commerce
in the Black Sea. Construction of a great canal between the Baltic
and the Caspian. Voyages of discovery, &c.
SWEDEN AND DENMARK, TURKEY.
Sweden. I719–1720–1751, Ulrica Eléonora, sister of Charles
XII. (to the exclusion of the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, son of an
elder sister of this prince), and Frederick I. of Hesse-Cassel. The
government, nominally monarchical, becomes oligarchical. Feeble-
ness of the Government. The two parties of war and of peace, of
France and Russia, of hats and caps. I 743, as a condition of the
Peace of Abo, Russia designates Adolphus Frederick, of Holstein-
Gottorp, Bishop of Lübeck (uncle of the new Grand Duke of
Russia), to the succession of Sweden, in preference to the Prince
Royal of Denmark, whose election would have restored the old
union of the three kingdoms of the North. I751–1771, Adolphus
Frederick II. The royal power is again enfeebled. I771, Gustavus
III. Character of this prince. I772, restoration of the royal
authority. The new constitution maintains all the rights of the
States; but the Senate is only to be a Council presided over by
the King. Vigour of the Government. Sweden withdrawn from
the influence of Russia, resumes her old alliance with France and
Turkey. I792, Assassination of Gustavus III.
AXan/taré. Internal peace and well-being. The revolutions of the
palace do not disturb the nation. Fatal rivalry of the reigning
house with the branch of Holstein-Gottorp. 1730, Death of Frederick
IV. 1730–1746, Christian VI. I 740, acquisition of Schleswig.
1746–1766, Frederick V. I'762, imminent war with Russia. I'767,
arrangement relating to Schleswig and Holstein. I766, Christian
VII. Fall and execution of Struensee. I 714—1808, Regency of
the Prince Royal, aſterwards Frederick VI.
Turkey. She need no longer fear the Empire. She offers an
unexpected resistance to Russia; nevertheless the loss of the Crimea
and the establishment of Russia in the Black Sea, lays Turkey open
to all the attacks of her enemy. I'703—1754, Achmet, III.
Mahmoud I. War with Persia. I 721–1727, the Turks regain in
the East what they had lost in the West. I'730–1736, Thamas-
Rouli-Khan strips them of their conquests ; but they retake from
U 2
292 A.Y.AGAZ7" OA’ CA W. [I72 I-
could exchange this inconvenient metal for paper. The
Regent was one of the directors. The confidence of
the public, however, was shaken : this paper religion had
its unbelievers; it fell rapidly; woe betided the last
holders | Strange metamorphoses were seen : the rich
man became poor, and the poor rich ; wealth, which
hitherto had been connected with land and was permanent
in families, for the first time seemed to take to itself wings;
in future it was to follow the requirements of commerce
and industry. A similar movement took place all over
Europe; the inhabitants detached themselves, as it were,
from the soil. Law, who disappeared amidst the male-
dictions of the nation, left behind him at least this benefit
(1717–1721). - -
The Regent, in his easy reception of new ideas, his
interest in science, and his dissolute manners, is one of
the types of the 18th century. He maintained the Bull
unigenitus for the sake of the Pontiff, but he was utterly
without religion. His roué companions belonged to the
nobility, but his devoted adherent, his Minister, the real
King of France, was the rascally Cardinal Dubois, the
son of an apothecary at Brives-la-Gaillarde. The natural
ally of the Regent was England, which, under the House
of Hanover, was likewise a representative of modern ideas,
as was also the new monarchy of Prussia in Germany.
The common enemy was Spain, at whose expense the
Treaty of Utrecht had been concluded. Spain and
France, whose relationship made them all the more
hostile, looked at each other with an unfriendly eye. The
Spanish Minister, the intriguing Alberoni, undertook to
re-establish the old system throughout Europe. He
wanted to restore to Spain all that she had lost, to give
the Regency of France to Philip V., and to establish the
Pretender in England. To effect this Alberoni hired the
first General of the time—the Swedish King, Charles XII.
the Emperor the provinces yielded to him by the Treaty of Passaro-
witz. 1743–1746, a second 'disastrous war with Thamas Kouli-
Khan. 1754–1789, Othman III., Mustapha III., Abdul-Hamed.
Disastrous wars against Russia...
-1730.] AºAV7'H/US/ASM AſOA” AAVGZAAWAD. 293
This royal adventurer was to be paid by Spain as Gustavus
Adolphus had been by France. This great project failed
everywhere. Charles XII. was killed; the Pretender was
beaten. The Spanish Ambassador was found conspiring
with the Duchess of Maine, wife of a legitimatized son of
Louis XIV. This clever little princess had expected to
change the face of Europe. The memoirs of the Fronde,
which had recently appeared, inspired her with emula-
tion. The Regent and Dubois, incapable alike of friend-
ship or enmity, thought the whole affair so absurd that they
punished no one, except some unfortunate gentlemen
from Brittany, who had put themselves forward (1718).
France, England, Holland, and the Emperor combined
against Alberoni, and formed the Quadruple Alliance.
In 17 20 Spain obtained in compensation Tuscany, Parma,
and Placentia; and the Emperor, after investing Spain
with these states, obliged the Duke of Savoy to exchange
Sicily ſoi Sardinia. Europe was determined upon peace,
and was willing to make any sacrifice for it.
The severe and unskilful Ministry of the Duke of
Bourbon, who governed after the death of the Regent
(1723–1726), was soon replaced by that of the cautious
Fleury who had formerly been preceptor to the young
King, and who quietly took possession of the King
and the kingdom (1726–1745). Louis XV., who up
to the age of seven was kept in leading strings, and
until twelve wore stays, was destined to be ruled all
his lifetime. Under the timid and economical govern-
ment of the old priest, France was disturbed only by
the Papal Bull, by the convulsions of Jansenism, and
the apºtations of the parliaments. France slumbered
under Fleury, and had for her ally England, who was
slumbering under Walpole—an unequal alliance from
which France derived no kind of advantage. The
French at that time were full of admiration for Eng-
land; they went to study under the freeſ/linkers of
Great Britain, as in ancient times the Greek philosophers
sat under the Egyptian priests. Voltaire went thither to
Jisten to Locke and Newton, and to gather materials for
294. TREATY OF VIEWAVA. [1738.
his tragedy of Brutus (1730). Montesquieu, who had
become more careful since the scandal created by his
brilliarit “Lettres Persanes” (published in 1721), took from
England the type which he held up for the imitation of
all nations. No attention was paid to Germany, where
Leibnitz had died; nor to Italy, where Vico was still living.
There were so many inflammable substances hidden
beneath this apparent calm, that a spark from the north
was enough to set all Europe in a blaze.
|Under the Duke of Bourbon a court intrigue had
married the King of France to the daughter of a landless
prince, Stanislas Leczinski, the knight-errant whom
Charles XII. had set up for a moment as King of Poland,
and who retired into France. On the death of Augustus
II. (1733), the party of Stanislas revived, in opposition
to that of Augustus III., Elector of Saxony and son of
the late King. Stanislas obtained 60,000 votes. Villars
and the old generals were eager for war; they pretended
that it was impossible to refuse support to the father-in-
law of the King of France. Fleury allowed himself to
be persuaded. His preparations were not sufficient for
Success, but they were enough to compromise France.
He sent three millions (francs) and 5oo men against
50, ooo Russians. A Frenchman, Count de Plélo, am-
bassador to Denmark, who happened to be present when
the troops arrived, blushed for his country, placed him-
self at their head, and was killed.
Spain had taken the side of Stanislas against Austria,
which sustained Augustus. She made this distant war in
Poland a pretext for recovering her Italian possessions,
and succeeded to a certain extent, with the assistance of
France. Whilst Villars was invading the Milanese, the
Spaniards recovered the Two Sicilies, and established
there the infant Don Carlos (1734–5). They retained
this conquest at the Treaty of Vienna (1738). In ex-
change for the throne of Poland, Stanislas received
Lorraine, which on his death was to fall to France ;
Francis, Duke of Lorraine and son-in-law of the Emperor,
and husband of the famous Maria. Theresa, received in
I70I.] A2/SAE OF A/8 U.S.SYA, 295
its stead Tuscany, as a fief of the empire. The last of the
Medicis having died without issue, Fleury immediately
negotiated for the purpose of securing the Two Sicilies
to the Spanish .Bourbons, in spite of the jealousy of
Fngland. Meanwhile Io,000 Russians had reached the
Rhine. It occurred to the French for the first time that
this European Asia might stretch out her long arms to
France.
Although she had grown old with Fleury and Villars,
France had, nevertheless, under her octogenarian minister
and general, acquired Lorraine. Spain, revived by the
Bourbons, had won two kingdoms from Austria. The
latter, still subject to the descendants of Charles V.,
represented the ancient European system, fated to dis-
appear and make way for the modern. The Emperor
Charles VI., who was as uneasy as Charles II. of Spain
in 17oo, had made the greatest possible sacrifices to
secure his possessions to his daughter Maria. Theresa,
wife of the Duke of Lorraine, now Duke of Tuscany.
In the face of old Austria the youthful kingdom of
Prussia was rising up. It was partly German, partly
Sclavonic, and partly French : no other country re-
ceived so many exiles after the revocation of the Edict
of Nantes. It was the destiny of Prussia to renew the old
Saxon opposition against the Emperors. This state, poor
and without natural frontiers, having neither the canals
of Holland nor the mountains of Savoy to protect her
against her enemies, nevertheless, grew in size and im-
portance, the pure creation of war and of policy—of the
human will triumphing over nature. The first king,
William, a hard and barbarous soldier, who had spent
thirty years in Saving money and in disciplining his
troops with the lash, considered a kingdom in the same
light as a regiment. He was afraid that his son would
not carry out his plans, and he was tempted to behead
him, as the Czar Peter his son Alexis. This son, after-
wards Frederick II., was no favourite with a father who
valued nothing but size and strength, who carried off men
of six feet, wherever he could find them, to compose
296 AERAE Z)AA’/CA //. - [1740-
regiments of giants. Young Frederick was short, with
heavy shoulders; he had large, cold, and piercing eyes :
there was something eccentric about him. He was a
wit, a musician, and a philosopher ; he had depraved
and ridiculous tastes, one of his favourite occupa-
tions was writing French verses; he knew no Latin,
and despised German ; he was a pure logician, in-
capable of appreciating either the beauty of ancient
art, or the secrets of modern science. He had, how-
ever, one quality by which he earned the epithet of
Great—a strong will. He willed to be a general ; he
willed that Prussia should become one of the leading
States in Europe; he willed to be a legislator ; he willed
that his deserted plains should be peopled. . He was one
of the founders of the art of war, midway between
Turenne and Napoleon. When the latter entered Berlin
he asked to see only the tomb of Frederick ; he took
away his sword, saying, “this sword is mine by right.”
Prussia, a new state, and owing her most industrious
citizens to the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, was
sooner or later to become the centre of modern philo-
sophy. Frederick II. understood the part which he was
to play, and declared himself the disciple of Voltaire in
poetry as well as philosophy. This was a stroke of policy;
his apparently frivolous tastes forwarded his most deeply
laid schemes. The Emperor Julian had copied Marcus
Aurelius, Frederick imitated Julian. First, in honour of
the Antonines, whom Voltaire proposed to him as models,
he wrote a sentimentally virtuous book against Machia-
velli. He was not yet a king. Voltaire took it all in
good faith, corrected the proofs, and enthusiastically
praised the royal author. He promised a Titus to the
world. On his accession Frederick tried to destroy the
whole edition. -
In the same year the Emperor Charles VI. died, and
Frederick became a king (1740). All the states which
had guaranteed the succession to Maria. Theresa declared
war upon her. The moment seemed to have arrived for
dismembering the great body of Austria, and all ran to be
-1743.] AA.A.A.A 7" OA' A'RAA/CAE. 297
present at the division. The most superannuated rights
were revived. Spain claimed Bohemia and Hungary;
the King of Sardinia, the Milanese ; Frederick, Silesia ;
France asked for nothing but the Empire for the Elector
of Bavaria, who had been for more than half a century
a devoted adherent of the French crown. The Elector
was named Emperor without opposition, and at the same
time generalissimo of the French forces. .
The brothers Belle-Isle, grandsons of Fouquet, dis.
turbed France with their chimerical projects. Fleury
made war for the second time against his will, and for
the second time failed. The French army, ill-paid and
ill-fed, dispersed after gaining easy victories wherever it
found means of subsistence. It left Vienna on one side
and spread into Bohemia. On the other hand, Frederick
conquered at Molwitz and seized Silesia (1741).
Maria. Theresa stood alone; her cause seemed to be
lost. She was advanced in pregnancy, and she feared
that she would not have one town left in which she might
give birth to her child. But England and Holland could
not contemplate calmly the triumph of France. The
peace-loving Walpole fell; subsidies were granted to Maria
Theresa, and an English squadron imposed neutrality on
the King of Naples. The King of Prussia, who had
obtained all he wanted, made peace. The French wasted
themselves in Bohemia, lost Prague, and made their way
back with great difficulty through the snow. Belle-Isle con-
Soled himself by comparing himself with Xenophon (1742).
The English landed on the continent and at Dettingen
fell into the jaws of the French army, which let them
escape and afterwards was beaten by them (1743).
The French troops were driven back to the other side of
the Rhine, and the unfortunate Bavarian emperor left to
the vengeance of Austria. This was not what the King
of Prussia had intended. Maria. Theresa in her recovered
strength would have been certain to retake Silesia. He
sided with France and Bavaria, returned to the charge,
entered Bohemia, secured Silesia in three victories,
invaded Saxony, and obliged Maria. Theresa and the
298 PAEFAA 7 OA. THE PRETENDERS. [I745.
Saxons to sign the Treaty of Dresden. After the death
of the Emperor, Maria. Theresa had caused her husband
to be chosen as his successor (Francis I., I'745).
The French, however, had the advantage in Italy.
With the assistance of Spain, Naples, and Geneva, they
established the Infant Don Philip in the duchies of Milan
and Parma. In the ‘Netherlands, under Marshal Saxe,
they gained the battles of Fontenoy (1745) and of
Roucoux (1746). The former celebrated engagement
would have been hopelessly lost if an Irishman—Lally—
inspired by hatred of the English, had not proposed to
break their line with four guns. A skilful courtier, the
Duke of Richelieu, appropriated the idea and the glory.
The Irishman, sword in hand, was the first to break
through the English column. In the same year France
let loose upon England her most formidable enemy, the
Pretender. The Scotch Highlanders received him,
poured down the mountains with irresistible fury, carried
off the guns, and cut the infantry in pieces with their
broadswords. These successes ought to have been sup-
ported by France, but her navy had been reduced to
nothing. Lally obtained a few ships; but the English
held the sea and prevented the Scotch from receiving
assistance. They had the advantage over the Scotch
in numbers, resources, and in the possession of an
excellent army. The Scotch were finally beaten at
Culloden (1745-6).
The Spaniards retreated from Italy, and the French
were driven out of that country. They advanced in the
Netherlands. England was alarmed for Holland, and re-
established the Stadtholderate. The French victories
in Holland had at any rate the effect of procuring
peace. She had lost her ships and her colonies; the
Russians appeared for the second time on the Rhine.
The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle restored to France her
colonies, secured Silesia to Prussia, and Parma and Pla.
centia to the Spanish Bourbons. Against all expectation,
Austria maintained her position (1748).
France had had a melancholy experience of her weak-
1748-56.] VOA. TA/AEA, MOAV7'ESQUIAEO, BOAA’OAV. 299
ness, but she was not able to profit by it. The Govern-
ment of the old priest, Fleury, had been followed by that
of the King's mistress. Mademoiselle Poisson, Mar-
chioness of Pompadour, reigned twenty years. Although
of mean birth, she had some patriotic ideas. Her
creature, the Comptroller Machaut, wanted to tax the
clergy; d'Argenson organized the war department with
the talent and integrity of Louvois. In the midst of
the petty warfare between the parliament and the clergy,
philosophy was gaining ground. Even within the Court it
had its partisans; although the King was opposed to the
new ideas, he had his own little printing-press, and amused
himself by printing the financial theories of his physician,
Quesnay, who proposed a single tax, to be levied on the
land. The nobility and clergy, who were its principal
proprietors, would at length have been forced to contri-
bute. All these projects ended in vain talk; the ancient
corporations resisted, and the King, although courted by
the philosophers, who wished to strengthen him against
the clergy, became alarmed at their progress. Voltaire
was writing a general anti-Christian History (“Essai
sur les Moeurs,” 1786). The new philosophy gradually
emerged from the polemical character which Voltaire had
given to it. In 1748, the President Montesquieu, founder
of the Academy of Natural Science at Bordeaux, pub-
lished, in a somewhat weak and desultory form, a material-
istic theory of legislation derived from the influence of
climate; such at least is the prevailing idea in the “Esprit
des Lois,” a book as ingenious and brilliant as it is
sometimes profound. In 1749 the colossal “Histoire
Naturelle” of Buffon appeared, and in 1751 the first
volumes of the “Encyclopédie,” a gigantic work, con-
taining the essence of the 18th century, polemical, dog-
matical, economical and mathematical, full of irreligion
and philanthropy, atheism and pantheism, by d'Alem-
bert and Diderot. The century is described by Condillac
in a single phrase, the title of his book, “A Treatise on
Sensation,” 1754. The religious war was carried on by
Voltaire, who had just occupied a central point of obser-
3OO AOzzcy of PIZZ. * [1756.
vation between France, Switzerland, and Germany, at
the gates of Geneva, the stronghold of the ancient
Vaudois, of Arnold of Brescia, of Zwingli, and of Calvin.
It was the culminating point of the power of Frederick
II. Since his conquest of Silesia he had cast off all
reserve. In his extraordinary Court at Potsdam this man
of wit and war laughed at God, and at his brother philo-
sophers and sovereigns; he ill-treated Voltaire, the
chief organ of the new opinions; he wounded kings and
queens with his epigrams; he believed neither in the
beauty of Madame de Pompadour nor in the poetical
genius of the Abbé Bernis, Prime Minister of France.
The Empress thought the moment favourable for the
recovery of Silesia ; she stirred up Europe, especially the .
queens; she persuaded the Queen of Poland and the
Empress of Russia ; she paid court to the mistress
of Louis XV. The monstrous alliance of France with
the ancient state of Austria against a sovereign who
maintained the equilibrium of Germany united all Europe
against him. England alone supported him and gave him
subsidies. She was governed at that time by a gouty
lawyer, the famous William Pitt, afterwards Lord Chatham,
who raised himself by his eloquence and by his hatred
of the French. England wanted two things; the mainte-
nance of the balance of power in Europe, and the destruc-
tion of the French and Spanish colonies. Her griefs
were serious: the Spaniards had ill-treated her smugglers
and the French wanted to prevent her from settling on
their territory in Canada. In India, La Bourdonnaie
and his successor Dupleix threatened to found a great
empire in the face of the English. As a declaration of
war the English-confiscated 300 French ships (1756).
The marvel of the war was to see this little kingdom of
Prussia, interposed between the huge powers of Austria,
France, and Russia, run from one to the other and defy
them all. This was the second period of the art of war.
The unskilful adversaries of Frederick thought that he
owed all his success to the precision of the manoeuvres
of the Prussian soldiers, to their excellent drill and rapid
1756.] 7TAC 7TWCS OF APRAE ZOAZAC MCA /Z. 3OI
firing. Frederick had certainly carried the soldier-
machine to perfection. This was capable of imitation :
the Czar Peter III. and the Count of St. Germain created
military automatons by means of the lash. But they
could not imitate the quickness of his manoeuvres; the
happy arrangement of his marches, which gave him
great facility for moving and concentrating large masses,
and directing them on the weak points of the enemy.
In this terrible chase given by the large unwieldy
armies of the allies to the agile Prussian, one cannot help
noticing the amusing circumspection of the Austrian
tacticians and the stupid folly of the fine gentlemen who
led the armies of France. The Fabius of Austria, the
sage and heavy Daun, was Satisfied with a war of positions;
he could not find encampments strong enough or moun-
tains sufficiently inaccessible : his stationary troops were
always beaten by Frederick.
To begin with, he freed himself from the enmity of
Saxony. He did not hurt, he only disarmed her. He
struck his next blow in Bohemia. Repulsed by the
Austrians, and abandoned by the English army, which
determined at Kloster-seven to fight no more, threatened
by the Russians, who were victorious at Joegerndorf,
he passed into Saxony and found the French and
Imperialists combined there. Prussia was surrounded
by four armies. Frederick fancied himself lost and
determined on suicide. He wrote to his sister and to
d’Argens announcing his intention. There was only
one thing which frightened him : it was, that when once
he was dead the great distributor of glory—Voltaire—
might make free with his name: he wrote an epistle to
disarm him : so Julian, mortally wounded, drew from his
robe a speech which he had composed for the occasion.
“Pour moi,” said Frederick,
“Pour moi, menacé du naufrage
Je dois, en affrontant l'orage,
Penser, vivre et mourir en roi.” 1
1 As for me, threatened by shipwreck, it is my duty, while I face
the storm, to think, live, and die as becomes a King. --2%.
3O2 S/. W/'AV YEARS’ WAA’. [I756-63.
Having written this epistle, he defeated the enemy at
Rosbach. The Prince of Soubise, who thought that he
fled, set off rashly in pursuit; then the Prussians un-
masked their batteries, killed 3,000 men, and took
7,ooo prisoners. In the French camp were found an
army of cooks, actors, hairdressers ; a number of par-
rots, parasols, and huge cases of lavender-water, &c.
(1757). e * e
None but a tactician could follow the King of Prussia
in this series of brilliant and skilful battles. The Seven
Years' War, however various its incidents, was a political
and strategical war: it has not the interest of the wars
for ideas, the struggles for religion and for freedom of the
16th century and of our own time.
The defeat of Rosbach was followed by another at
Crevelt, and by great reverses balanced by small ad-
vantages; the total ruin of the French navy and colonies;
the English masters of the ocean and conquerors of
India; the exhaustion and humiliation of old Europe in
the presence of young Prussia. This is the history of
the Seven Years' War. It was terminated under the
ministry of the Duke of Choiseul. This minister, who
was a man of ability, believed that he had made a
masterstroke in negotiating the Family Compact between
the different branches of the House of Bourbon (1761).
Amid the humiliations of the Seven Years' War, and
by means of these very humiliations, the drama of the
18th century was rapidly advancing towards its catas-
trophe. Who was the loser in this and the former
wars? Not France, but the nobility, whence alone the
officers and generals were taken. Even her enemies
could not deny the bravery of France after the instances
of Chevert and d’Assas; and at the battle of Exiles the
French troops had been seen scaling the Alps under
grape-shot, rushing into the mouth of the cannon, at the
moment of their discharge. The only generals worthy of
mention at this time, Saxe and Broglie, were foreigners.
He who appropriated to himself the glory of Fontenoy,
the great general of the age in the opinion of women and
1762,] s A’OO/SS/EA U. 3O3
courtiers, the Conqueror of Mahon, the old Alcibiades
of the old Voltaire—Richelieu-had proved sufficiently
during the five campaigns of the war how much he
deserved the reputation which he had so cleverly ob-
tained. At any rate his campaigns were lucrative; he
brought back money enough to construct upon the
Boulevards the elegant “Pavillon de Hanovre.”
Towards the end of this shameful Seven Years' War,
during which aristocracy fell so low, the great intellectual
development of democracy took place. It was as if
France cried out to the nations, “It is not I who am
vanquished.” In 1750, the son of a Geneva watchmaker,
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, by turns a vagabond, a writer,
and a lacquey, had cursed science in detestation of philo-
sophy and the profession of literature ; and then cursed
aristocracy on account of the degeneracy of the nobility
(1754). His feverish energy burns in every page of the
“Nouvelle Héloïse.” (1759). Naturalism is the theme
of the “Emile,” and deism of the “Profession de la Foi
du Vicaire Savoyard” (1762). Finally in the “Contrat
Social,” the three watchwords of the Revolution are
traced in characters of fire. The march of the Revolu-
tion was so irresistible that the King, who trembled at its
approach, was nevertheless forced to labour in its favour
and to pave the way for its advance. In 1763 he founded
its temple, the Pantheon, which was destined to receive
Rousseau and Voltaire. In 1764 he abolished the
Jesuits, and in 1771 the Parliament. The docile instru-
ment of necessity, he destroyed with a careless hand all
that remained standing of the ruins of the Middle Ages.
The Society of the Jesuits, whose roots were supposed
to have struck so deep, was overthrown all over Europe
without a blow being struck. The Templars had perished
in a similar manner in the 14th century, when the system
of which they were a part had had its day. The Jesuits
were leſt at the mercy of their bitter enemies—the
parliaments. But just as the ruins of Port Royal had
overwhelmed the Jesuits, the fall of the latter was fatal
to the parliaments. These corporations, carried away by
3O4 DEA TH OF LOUIS XV. [I774.
their increasing popularity and their recent victory,
attempted to strike out new paths. The imperfect
balance of the ancient monarchy had been kept by the
elastic opposition of the parliaments, who remonstrated,
adjourned and in the end yielded respectfully. A few
bold and headstrong spirits, among others La Chalotais,
a native of Brittany, undertook to carry their authority
farther. In the trial of the Duke of Aiguillon they
insisted on exercising their prerogative and they were
suppressed (1771). The judges of Lally, of Calas,
of Sirven, and of Labarre, were not to be the
engines of Revolution, still less the cabal who
upset them. The witty Abbé Terray and the amusing
Chancellor Maupéou, friends of the Duke of Aiguillon
and Madame du Barry, had not sufficient honesty to be
allowed to do good. Terray, who became Minister of
Finance, remedied their disorder in a measure, but
by means of a bankruptcy. Maupéou announced that
justice in future should be gratuitously administered, and
abolished the venality of the old system, but no one
would believe in the disinterested administration of the
creatures of Maupéou. Everyone laughed at the idea of
their reformation, none so much as themselves. The
pleadings of Beaumarchais were received with inextin-
guishable shouts of amusement. Louis XV. read them,
and enjoyed them as much as his subjects. The selfish
monarch saw more clearly than anyone else the growing
danger of royalty, but he was right in his supposition that
it would last his time. He died in 1774.
His unfortunate successor, Louis XVI., inherited all
this confusion. Sad forebodings took place on the
occasion of his marriage festivities, when many hundreds
of spectators were killed. Nevertheless, the sight of this
virtuous young King, taking his seat with his graceful
consort upon the purified throne of Louis XV., had filled
the country with hope. The worn-out society had an
interval of happiness, of childlike emotion ; it shed tears,
admired itself in the midst of them, and thought that it
had regained its youth. The Idyll came into fashion :
I774.] SEAVT/MEAV 7.4/. AA/VCOSO/2H. V. 305
first the sentimentalities of Florian, then the innocence of
Gessner, and at length the immortal eclogue of Paul and
Virginia. The Queen built for herself a hamlet and a
farm at Trianon. Philosophers drove the plough, at least
with their pens. “Choiseul is a labourer and Voltaire a
farmer.” Everyone was interested in the people, loved
the people, wrote for the people ; philanthropy was in
vogue; a little money was spent in charity, and a great
deal in magnificent festivities.
While the higher classes were sincerely playing this
sentimental comedy, the great universal movement which
was to sweep away the whole system was continuing its
march. The real confidant of the public, the Figaro of
Beaumarchais, became every day more and more bitter;
from comedy it turned to satire, from satire to tragedy.
The throne, the parliament, the nobles, all were falling
from weakness; a sort of general intoxication prevailed.
Philosophy itself went mad under the contagion of
Rousseau and Gilbert. There was no longer any belief or
disbelief in religion, and yet society would have liked to
believe ; the strong-minded went in disguise to seek for
faith in the phantasmagoria of Cagliostro and the
magnetising tub of Mesmer. All round France, how-
ever, and unheard by her, echoed the eternal dialogue of
rational scepticism ; the apparent dogmatism of Kant was
answering the nihilism of Hume, and, above all, the
powerful voice of Goethe, harmonious and poetical, but
immoral and egotistical. France, excited and preoccu-
pied, heard nothing of the tumult around her. Germany
was continuing the sceptical epic, while France was
finishing the social drama.
The serio-comic aspect of these latter days of the old
system is produced by the contrast between great pro-
mise and utter incompetence. Incompetence is the
distinguishing feature of all the ministers of the time.
They all promised everything, and effected nothing. M.
de Choiseul wanted to protect Poland, humiliate England,
and raise France by an European war, and yet he could
not pay the ordinary expenses; if he had insisted on his
S. H. X
306 TURGOT AND MECAFA. [I774-84.
projects, the parliament which supported him would have
abandoned him. Maupéou and Terray suppressed the
parliament, but could not put anything in its place ;
they tried to reform the finances, and they depended
upon the thieves of the public purse. Under Louis XVI.,
the great, virtuous, and courageous Turgot (1774–1776)
proposed the true remedy: economy, and the abolition
of privileges. But to whom did he make these pro-
posals P. To the privileged classes who overthrew him.
Necessity, however, forced them to call to their assistance
a skilful banker, an eloquent foreigner, a second but a
virtuous Law. Necker promised wonders, he reassured
all classes; he did not propose any fundamental reform,
he would proceed gently. He inspired confidence, he
applied to the public credit and obtained a loan. Con-
fidence and a wise administration were to extend com-
merce ; commerce would develop resources. Successive
loans were secured upon uncertain, slow, and distant re-
sources. Necker ended by throwing down his cards, and
returning to the means proposed by Turgot—economy
and equal taxation. His Compte rendu was a con-
clusive avowal of his impotence (1781).
It must be owned that Necker had to sustain a com-
plicated struggle. Besides the home expenses, he was
obliged to meet those of a war which France was carrying
on in favour of America (1778–1784). She was helping
to create a rival England in opposition to the old
country. Although America has shown that it has for-
gotten this war, the French have never employed their
money more wisely. The last naval victories of France
and the creation of Cherbourg could not be over-paid.
It was an extraordinary moment of confidence and en-
thusiasm. France envied America the possession of
Franklin; her young nobles embarked in the crusade of
liberty.
Having tried in vain the patriotic ministers, Turgot and
Necker, the King turned to the Queen and the Court;
he chose ministers among the courtiers. It was im-
possible to have a more agreeable minister than M. de
1789.] ASSEMBLY OF THE STATES GAEAVERAZ. 3C7
Calonne, a more reassuring guide to lead gaily to ruin.
When he had exhausted the credit which the wise govern-
ment of Necker had created, he was at a loss what next
to do, and he assembled the Notables (1787). He was
obliged to own to them that the loans had risen in a few
years to 1,646,ooo,000 francs (65,840,ooo!), and that
there was an annual deficit of 140 millions. The Not-
ables, who themselves belonged to the privileged classes,
gave instead of money advice and accusations. Brienne,
whom they raised to the position of Calonne, had recourse
to taxation ; the parliament refused to register the taxes,
and asked for the States General, in other words, for its
own ruin and that of the ancient monarchy.
The philosophers fell with Turgot, the bankers with
Necker, and the courtiers with Calonne and Brienne.
The privileged classes would not pay, and the people
could no longer do so. In the words of an eminent
historian, the States General only decreed a revolution,
which had already taken place. Assembly of the States
General, May 5, 1789.4
1 This is the end of M. Michelet's book.
FOURTH PERIOD OF MODERN HISTORY.
1789–1874.
CHAPTER XXII.]
THE history of the important and eventful period on
which we are now entering will be rendered more in-
telligible by dividing it into three parts.
I. From 1789 to 1815 (to the downfall of Napoleon).
II. From 1815 to 1852 (to the establishment of the
second French Empire).
III. From 1852 to 1874.
PART I.
FROM 1789 TO 1815.
FIRST SUBDIVISION.
I. In the beginning of this period all eyes were turned
upon France. The French Revolution is the greatest
event of modern times. It opened with the summoning
by Necker of the States General, on the 5th of May, 1789,
for the purpose of raising money to meet the immense
deficit, The third and lowest estate of the realm formed
an overwhelming majority. The Nobles refused to meet
them on equal terms, and the Commons, conscious of
their own strength, and inflamed by the harangues of
the Abbé Sieyès and of Mirabeau (who now made his
appearance on the scene), declared themselves the true
representatives of France, and took the name of the
* Continuation by the translator.
I789.] THE WEU DE PAUME, - 309
National Assembly. They were soon joined by the
majority of the clergy; and the Assembly was forced to
retire to a neighbouring tennis-court, where the members
swore to maintain their rights, and to continue to meet
for the despatch of business as long as their services
should be required. This was the celebrated oath of
the “Jeu de paume” (June 20th, 1789).
From thence the Assembly removed to the church
of St. Louis, and here the King held a royal sitting
On June 23rd. He offered many concessions, but
in too peremptory a manner to suit the temper of the
Assembly. He withdrew, yet the Assembly continued to
sit in the same independent temper; and four days after-
wards the remainder of the clergy and the nobles joined
the Assembly at the express desire of Louis XVI.
The King's next false move was to dismiss Necker, and
at the same time to concentrate an army of 20,000 men
round Paris. Camille Desmoulins stirred up the popu-
lace into revolt, and the first blood was shed on the
IIth of July. On the 14th the Bastile was stormed and
taken. The King proceeded to the Assembly alone,
gave way on every point, recalled Necker, appointed
Lafayette to command the National Guards, and assumed
the tricolour cockade. These concessions could not
restore order. Two of the late ministers were hanged
by the mob, and the insurrection spread to the provinces,
while the farmers feared to send corn to the capital,
which was thus menaced by famine. The nobles deter-
mined to give up their privileges, and the 4th of August
saw the abolition of all feudal tenures and rights.
Medals were struck, and the event was celebrated by a
Te ZXeum in Notre Dame.
The court party induced the King to summon one
of the regiments of the line to Versailles; a banquet
was given to the officers, and the Queen and Dauphin
appeared carrying white cockades, which they distributed
with great applause. The report of this occurrence no
sooner reached Paris than an infuriated mob marched
to Versailles, on the 5th of October, seized the royal
3IO AZZGA/T 7'O VARAE AWAVES. [I79 I-
family and brought them back in triumph to the
Tuileries. For the next two years France was supposed
to be a constitutional monarchy; and Louis, who had
taken the oath to the new constitution, assumed the title
of King of the French.
Mirabeau’s influence was predominant in the As-
sembly, which was now generally called the Constituent
Assembly; he intrigued with the court while he professed
to serve the popular cause. His death in April, 1791,
threw the power into the hands of men of more ad-
vanced opinions.
Necker in vain attempted to restore order to the
finances. The whole property of the clergy, and of
many of the nobles, being sequestered, the municipality
of Paris contracted to take a certain portion of the
Confiscated estates, and, as it was impossible to pay in
specie, promissory notes, secured in the national laws,
were issued to serve instead of money. This was the
famous system of assignals. In the end, the over-issue
of these notes left them unredeemable and worthless.
Lafayette and Necker procured the exile of the Duke
of Orleans, while the brothers of the King and immense
numbers of the nobility emigrated. Iouis XVI.
would willingly have followed them, and once indeed
made his escape, with the Queen and their children,
from Paris; but the whole measure was so ill-conceived
and ill-executed, that they were arrested at Varennes,
and brought back on the 25th of June, 1791. From
this time they became mere prisoners in the Tuileries.
The Constituent Assembly was dissolved, and succeeded
by the Legislative Assembly on the 1st of October ;
none of the members of the former Assembly were
allowed a seat in it. -
The extraordinary influence of the Clubs now made
itself felt. To that of the AEacobins belonged Robespierre;
and to that of the Cordeliers, Danton, Marat, Camille
Desmoulins, and Fabre d’Eglantine. The club of the
Moderate party was the Feuil/ants, to which Barnave,
Lameth, and Lafayette belonged. Another formidable
-I 792.] AZZAV/STRY OA' A'OZAAVO. 3II
party was that of the Gironde (its leaders being the
representatives of the Southern departments of which
the Gironde was one), less revolutionary than the Jacobins,
and less constitutional than the Feuillants.
To this party belonged the minister Roland, and his
far more distinguished wife. The threatening attitude of
foreign nations carried him to power. England refused
to interfere in the internal affairs of France, but the
Empire, and the House of Austria, the Kings of Prussia,
Sardinia, and Spain, in dread of the extension of the
principles of the Revolution, were preparing to attack
France on all sides. The Legislative Assembly was
alarmed, and suspected the constitutional ministry of
collusion with foreign powers ; the ministers resigned, and
were succeeded by Roland, Clavière, and Dumouriez, in
March 1792.
War with the allied powers was announced by Louis
in person to the Assembly, and was received with accla-
mations and cries of “Vive le roi!”
This was the beginning of the long continental wars in
which every country in turn took part against France, even
England being soon drawn into the struggle by a French
declaration of war. The French arms at first met with re-
verses, and the ministers endeavoured to impose upon the
King certain decrees, which he refused to ratify. Roland
resigned, a feeble ministry succeeded, and the Girondists
and Jacobins coalesced and instigated an attack by the
mob of Paris on the Tuileries on the 20th of June.
Lafayette, who had always been treated by the royal
family with marked distrust, made a final effort to save
them. He hurried from the camp and demanded the
punishment of the insurgents; but he failed in this, and
likewise in persuading the King to escape. He returned
to the army, and on the 3rd of August, Pétion, the
Mayor of Paris, whose election to that office had been
favoured by the Court in opposition to Lafayette, pro-
ceeded at the head of the sections (the new divisions
of Paris) to demand for the Assembly the deposition
of the King. On being refused, the mob again rose on
3I2 A2A2/GAV 6) F 7TEA’A’OA’. [1793.
the Ioth of August, expelled the members of the Com-
mune, and attacked the Tuileries. The King and royal
family escaped to the Assembly, while the Swiss guard,
who defended the Tuileries, were slaughtered. The Con-
vention succeeded at this time to the Legislative Assembly,
and the royal family was imprisoned in the prison-fortress
of the Temple. It was now a fight between the Giron-
dists and the Montagnards, or extreme Republicans.
On the night of the 3oth of August all the barriers of
Paris, were closed and strictly guarded, and 3,000 persons
were arrested and crowded into the prisons. On the
2nd of September a mad panic that the royalists were in
league with the Prussians spread through Paris, and a
mob of ruffians, hired by the Commune, began a general
massacre ; the prisons were emptied, and their unfortunate
inmates slaughtered on the spot. Above 2,000 persons
are said to have perished during these horrible scenes,
which continued for four days; and the Commune
applauded and recompensed the murderers, who were
elevated into patriots. All the effects of the slaughtered
captives were confiscated, the jewel-office in the Tuileries
pillaged, and the costly ornaments of the Crown disap-
peared for ever. The whole thing was passed over in
silence by the Assembly.
The King was brought before the Convention, con-
demned on the 26th of December, and on the 21st of
January, I 793, beheaded. -
On the following I oth of March, the Revolutionary
Tribunal was set up for the speedier trial of state offences,
and on the 27th of May the celebrated Committee of
Public Safety, of which Marat was president, became the
executive ministry. Two months afterwards he was assas-
sinated by Charlotte Corday.
The principal Girondists were arrested on the 2nd
of June, and the Reign of Terror began. Marie An-
toinette was guillotined on the 16th of October, the
Girondists on the 31st, and Madame Roland before the
end of the year.
Robespierre and Danton had now become the con-
-1794.] AXAZA 7TH OF ACOAEA2,SA’AAA’A&AE. 3I 3
servative members of the Convention. They were opposed
by the followers of Hébert, the worship of the Goddess of
Reason was established, the names of the months changed,
and the country, which was now declared an Indivisible
Republic in compliance with the Girondist scheme for
establishing a system of Federal States, was divided into
Departments in the place of the ancient provinces.
But Robespierre was sufficiently powerful to cause the
destruction of all his opponents. First he demolished
the Hébertists, and he next determined to get rid of
Danton, his sole remaining rival. g
He caused the execution of the Dantonists on the
6th of April, 1794, and set to work to establish some
semblance of religion and order, but the means that he
employed were more arbitrary than ever, and the scaffolds
ran with blood. Some of his own followers discovered
that their names were on the list of the condemned, and
in their turn they conspired, and stirred up the Convention
against Robespierre. His arrest was decreed by the Con-
vention in his-presence; the members drowning in uproar
all his attempts to make himself heard. He was carried
off to prison, and attempted to commit suicide, but failed,
and was borne mangled and bleeding to the guillotine.
His head fell amid the execrations of the crowd ; on the
28th July, 1794. With him ended the Reign of Terror
—a tyranny more Cruel and despotic than any age had
yet witnessed.
SECOND SUBDIVISION OF PART I.
It is now necessary to take a short retrospective view
of the foreign affairs in which France became involved by
the Revolution.
The year 1789 was the last of the life and reign of the
Emperor Joseph II. With the best intentions, his
attempts at civil reform, which were carried out with
utter disregard of the constitutional privileges of the
various states over which he ruled, had in a great measure
3I4. COAV7'YAVAEAV7.4/. WAA’.S. [I792-
undermined the fabric of power erected by his mother,
Maria. Theresa, and a revolt of his Flemish subjects in
1789 broke his heart. He was succeeded by his brother,
Leopold II. -
The monarchs of Europe were secretly solicited by
Louis XVI. to intervene in his cause. The Emperor and
the Kings of Spain and Sardinia concluded a treaty at
Mantua in May, I 791, agreeing to make a formidable
display of troops on the French frontier for this purpose.
The disastrous flight to Varennes showed the futility of
this project, and in August, I 791, the Emperor and King
of Prussia concluded a treaty at Pilnitz, in which they
formally espoused the cause of the French monarch.
His liberation and acceptance of a constitutional
government rendered this treaty sterile in its effects,
but the Republicans were bent on war; the Girondists
continually insulted Austria in the Assembly, and Louis
XVI. (as we have already stated) was compelled to de-
Clare war on April 20, 1792.
In this struggle Austria was joined by Prussia and at
a later period by Holland; Russia at this time holding
aloof.
The French army was much larger than that of the
allies. It chose Flanders as the field of battle, and was
disgracefully routed. The allies accumulated on the
frontier, and prepared to enter Champagne under the
command of the Duke of Brunswick. They entered
Prance on July 30, fortress after fortress surrendered ;
Lafayette abandoned the command, and was replaced
by Dumouriez. The allies succeeded in interposing
themselves between the French army and Paris, and
a partial engagement, in which for the first time the
French troops made a successful resistance, took place
at Valmy on the 20th September. Paris was, neverthe-
less, really open to the allies, but the Duke of Bruns-
wick was intriguing for his own purposes with the
French ministers, and on the 29th an armistice was con-
cluded. The allies restored Longwy and Verdun, and
retired unmolested.
-1793.] FAWGZAAWD 70/AVS ZY/Z AZZAAA/CAE. 3I5
Early in the year 1793 the French, irritated by the
speeches in the English House of Commons consequent
upon the execution of Louis XVI., declared war against
England. Unluckily for her the great Chatham had
passed away, and William Pitt, who had now governed
England for thirteen years, although great in peace, did
not possess the qualities which ought to distinguish a
minister in time of war. His policy had been marked
by an enlightened liberality ; and he passed several useful
measures (administrative reform, constitution given to
Canada, a new commercial system, new policy with regard
to Ireland, &c.).
TJntil the moment when he was dragged into war, the
intention of Pitt had been to leave France to settle her own
affairs without foreign intervention. But the democratic
principles of the French Revolution roused a vigorous
hatred in the wealthier classes, while the horrible excesses
which disgraced it disgusted the whole English people.
The eloquence of Edmund Burke, who until that time
had been an advocate of liberal measures, exasperated
this horror and indignation : and Fox, Pitt's great rival,
and the head of the popular party, found it difficult to re-
strain the desertion of his followers when he protested
against Burke's attacks on the French Revolution.
The generalissimo of the allies, among whom Eng-
land was now included, was the Prince of Coburg, who
was slow and inefficient; the Duke of York commanded
the British contingent. &
Dumouriez invaded the Dutch territory, and a general
action was fought at Neerwinden on March 18, in which
the French were unsuccessful, and soon afterwards
evacuated Flanders. Dumouriez, disgusted, as Lafayette
had been before him, with the barbarities then going on
in Paris, left his army, and deserted to the Austrian lines.
The allies were everywhere successful, and advanced to
within fifteen days' march of Paris, but their mutual
jealousies saved France. The British fleet, under Lord
Hood, was driven back from Toulon; but Hood contrived
on retiring to destroy the French ships; and Lord Howe's
316 WAR IN LA VENDEE. [1795.
victory over the French fleet, on the 1st of June, restored
in a measure the prestige of England.
The reactionary panic continued to rage in England,
and the Government was engaged in harshly repressing
every symptom of disturbance at home. The Habeas
Corpus Bill was suspended, public meetings placed under
severe restraint, and seditious writers unmercifully
punished. Severe laws were also enacted against aliens.
In Scotland, still more tyrannical methods of repression
were exercised.
The English army was so small and demoralized that
Mr. Pitt was forced to confine the assistance given by
England mainly to subsidies, and he agreed to pay a large
sum both to Austria and Prussia for this purpose. It was
languidly and inefficiently spent, and the war continued
with varying fortunes, and little material result.
The royalists in the French provinces seized this
opportunity for stirring up civil war, which assumed its
most important proportions in La Vendée, where it was
headed by the heroic Henri de la Rochejaquelin ; but
after a series of brilliant, engagements the royalists were
obliged to submit to the Superior force of their adversaries,
who revenged themselves with frightful barbarity.
Meanwhile a totally different state of things had risen
up in Paris.
After the death of Robespierre a new constitution was
drawn up; and the Directory, a council of five, assumed the
conduct of the government (22nd August, 1795). Mode-
rate measures were in favour, and Barras was appointed
to command the armed force which was to oppose the
still refractory Jacobins.
Now first rose into notice the man who for more than
twenty years was to attract the attention of the whole
world—Napoleon Buonaparte, who had already earned
some distinction by raising the siege of Toulon in 1793.
Barras intrusted the direction of the military operations
against the insurgent Sections of Paris to Buonaparte,
who was so successful that he was shortly afterwards
appointed commander-in-chief of the army of Italy, and
I795-7.] V/C7 OA’AºS OA' B &/OAVAAAA’ 7TE. 3I 7.
joined its head-quarters at Nice on the 27th March,
#796.
The first confederacy against France having been dis-
solved by the withdrawal of Prussia and of Holland, a new
alliance was signed between Austria, Russia, and Great
Britain, on Feb. 8, 1795. Russia, however, furnished only
a small naval contingent in the North Sea.
The chief seat of the war was in Italy, where the
Sardinian troops, reinforced by the Austrians, obtained
at first some trifling advantages over the French, but the
latter receiving powerful reinforcements, attacked the
Austrians at Loano, and utterly routed them. On the
Rhine, however, the Imperialists were successful, and in
December, 1795, a 'suspension of hostilities was agreed
upon.
The year 1796 found the Directory still in power, and
the Austrian Archduke Charles, “whose soul,” said
Napoleon, “Delonged to the heroic age,” first rose into
fame. In the month of September he drove the French in
the utmost disorganization from the Rhine, and by the 20th
of October Germany was delivered from her invaders.
Meanwhile, Buonaparte was gaining victory after vic-
tory in Italy, and under the pretence of delivering her
from Austrian rule was preparing for her a still more iron
tyranny. Her money, and even her celebrated works of
art, were gradually taken to supply the wants and minister
to the vanity of France.
After conquering the Austrians in Lombardy, Buona-
parte resolved to recross the Alps and pursue them into
the heart of their hereditary provinces; but both parties
were so exhausted by their struggles that a suspension of
arms was agreed upon at Leoben, on the 7th of April,
I797. As soon as the armistice was concluded the
French troops overran Venetia, the Senate was forced to
abdicate, the French landed on the Piazza of St. Mark,
and the celebrated bronze horses were carried off to
Paris. By the peace of Campo Formio, which followed,
between Austria and France, Flanders and Savoy were
ceded to France, and a Cisalpine Republic, including
3.18 WAA/L/KE SPIRIT OF 7:HE AEAVGZASA. [1796.
Lombardy with Modena, Cremona, and Venice, was to
be established. This treaty was signed on the 17th of
October, I 797.
During this time the English had not been idle. Pitt
wished for peace, but the negotiations for the purpose
were unsuccessful, the Directory confiding in its power
to crush England now that she was left to fight single-
handed. The warlike spirit of the nation was raised by the
perfidy of France, for even while negotiations for peace
were being carried on in Paris, a French fleet sailed for
Bantry Bay, hoping to strike the English nation in its
most vulnerable point ; but a great storm having dis-
persed his ships, the French admiral sailed back with the
scattered remnant to Brest (December 24, 1796).
An absurd attempt was also made by the French, in
February 1797, to land in Pembrokeshire. It was utterly
unsuccessful ; but the fear of invasion struck great con-
sternation throughout England. A commercial panic
ensued; and an Order in Council was issued suspend-
ing cash payments. Spain, which was now entirely
subservient to the French republic, declared war on
England in October, I 796; but on the 14th of February,
1797, her fleet was defeated by Sir John Jervis off Cape
St. Vincent.
A more alarming event than could be produced by the
hostility of Spain or France took place in this year—the
mutiny of the British sailors in the Channel (April 22),
at the Nore (May 22), and at the Texel (June 6). Many
of the sailors' grievances were real, and the mutinies
were repressed as much by judicious concessions as by
vigorous measures.
Once more. Lord Malmesbury opened negotiations for
peace ; but the attempt failed, to the disappointment of
Pitt. -
The invasion of Ireland by the French had been
hailed by the inhabitants, who had for a century been
suffering from misgovernment. Led on by their priests,
they attempted a rebellion, which was vigorously but
barbarously put down at Vinegar Hill, near Enniscorthy.
-1799.] A UOAVA PAA’ 7A. A./R.S 7" COAVSUZ. 3 I-9
A humane and judicious Viceroy was appointed (Lord
Cornwallis), and peace was restored. This outbreak led
Pitt to propose the legislative union of Ireland with Great
Britain—a measure long desired. It passed both Houses
of Parliament in 18oo, and became a reality on 1st
January in the following year.
For two years after the peace of Campo Formio, the
Continent was at peace, if peace it could be called, during
which France was occupied in draining her resources and
in exciting dissensions in every country in which she set
her foot. Buonaparte remained for a short time at home,
but in May, 1798, sailed with an army and fleet for
Egypt. He escaped the vigilance of Nelson, who did
not succeed in reaching the bay of Aboukir until after
the French army had disembarked, but who afterwards
almost destroyed the French fleet in the battle of the
Nile (August 1, 1798). In Syria, likewise, the French
expedition was foiled by the defence of Acre under Sir
Sydney Smith. .
Meanwhile, things had been going on in such an
unsatisfactory manner in Paris, that Buonaparte, seeing
his opportunity, Suddenly returned from Egypt, and by
means of the army upset the Directory and effected the
revolution of the 18th Brumaire (November 9, 1799),
changed the Directory into a Consulate of three persons,
and assumed the title of First Consul. From this
moment the government of France was nothing but a
sheer despotism. •
The news of the battle of the Nile had encouraged
the Southern Italians, aided by Austria, to resume hos-
tilities, but the French drove them back on every point,
and the King of Naples took refuge under the British
flag in Sicily. Naples was proclaimed a Republic under
the name of the Parthenopaean Republic, and affiliated
to that of France (1798).
During the absence of Napoleon a new alliance had
been formed between Russia, Austria, and Great Britain
against France, and the French met with reverses in
Northern Italy and Switzerland.
32O A UOW.4A, 1A27 E AEA)/A2/EA’OA’. [1804-
Early in the year 1800, Buonaparte ventured to leave
Paris, in order to retrieve the disasters in Northern
Italy. His genius carried all before it, and the hardly
contested battle of Marengo (June 14, 1800), in which
Desaix was killed, decided the fate of Italy. An arm-
istice was concluded on the following day at Alessandria.
Austria lost no time in preparing for a fresh attack, but
her power was completely broken in the next campaign
by Moreau at Hohenlinden (December 3, 1800).
Further victories of Buonaparte led to the treaty of
Luneville, and the Continent had a short respite.
On the 27th of March, 1802, the peace of Amiens
was signed between England and France, a peace in
which England gave up nearly all the colonies she had
won through her naval Supremacy. -
On the 12th of May, 1803, hostilities again broke out.
All the English travelling in France were arrested and
detained. The French occupied Hanover and Northern
Germany. Both Russia and Austria took umbrage at
this; and they were still further exasperated by the
seizure on German soil and the judicial murder of the
Duc d'Enghien, one of the Bourbon princes. The King
of Sweden, likewise, was revolted by this act, and a new
coalition was formed between England and the continental
powers, with the exception of Prussia and Spain.
Italy was at this time under the dominion of the
brothers and generals of Napoleon, who now called him-
self Emperor, and was crowned by the Pope himself
(December 2, 1804). A few months afterwards he as-
sumed the title of King of Italy.
In 1803-4, Napoleon Organized an immense army at
Boulogne for the invasion of England, the whole force
amounting to 155,000 men, with 14,654 horses and 432
pieces of cannon, provisions for a long war, and 2,293
vessels of transport; he superintended every detail him-
self. He counted upon combined action on the part
of the French and Spanish navies to protect the disem-
barkation of his troops.
A general outburst of patriotism took place in England;
- 1805.] TRAAEA LGAA’ AAVZ) A U.S.Z.ZA’ CATZ. 32 I
supplies of all kinds were voted, 5o,ooo men were added
to the army, and the volunteer force amounted to 3oo, ooo,
while the fleet was increased to 6oo vessels of war.
The French and Spanish fleets under Villeneuve were
baffled in their attempts to carry out the programme of
Napoleon by the vigilance and activity of Nelson, and
retired to Cadiz. On 19th Oct., they left that port under
peremptory orders from Napoleon, and Nelson came
up with them off Cape Trafalgar. He totally annihilated
the French and Spanish navies, gained his most brilliant
victory, and lost his life on the 21st October, 1805.
In the meantime Napoleon had given up all hope of in-
vading England, and had turned his attention towards,the
Rhine. Prussia still hesitated. She would neither join the
allies, nor permit the passage of the French, and Napoleon
directed his troops towards Ulm, crossing the territory
of Prussia in disregard of her.neutrality. The Archduke
Charles was in Italy, and Napoleon obtained an easy
victory over General Mack, who surrendered on October
18th with his whole army.
Russia and Austria united their armies to make a
simultaneous attack. Napoleon concentrated his forces at
Austerlitz, and induced the allied army to make a false
move and expose their flank. “Before to-morrow night,”
he exclaimed, “that army will be mine !” On the
morning of the following day, the 2nd December, 1805,
the engagement took place. The allies were completely
routed ; Prussia changed her projected declaration of
war to an offer of congratulation, and was rewarded for
her perfidy by the cession of Hanover. “Roll up that
map,” said Mr. Pitt, pointing to the map of Europe which
was hanging from the wall, “for it will not be wanted
these ten years.” . This victory broke his heart. Pitt
died in the following January, and Fox a few months
afterwards. The confederacy of the allies was dissolved,
and on the 27th December, 1805, peace between France
and Austria was signed at Presburg.
* See Lord Stanhope’s “Life of Pitt,” vol. iv. p. 369.
S.H. Y
322 AUMIZIATION OF PRUSSIA. [1806-
Several of the German princes joined Napoleon in the
Confederation of the Rhine, and Francis II. formally
renounced all pretensions to be the head of the Empire,
and took the title of Emperor of Austria, one of his
hereditary states, of which he had until then been Grand
Duke. Thus ended the famous Empire of the West,
which had carried the traditions of the Roman Empire
down to modern times. Francis II. henceforth ruled
Over only Hungary, Austria, Bohemia, and his other
hereditary states, and at the same time the German
princes dropped the title of Elector and assumed that
of King. -
In the course of Some abortive negotiations for peace
Napoleon had offered to restore Hanover to England.
Immense indignation at this offer was felt by Prussia,
who had hoped to retain this price of her perfidy, and
who roused by this and other humiliations, at length
took the field against France. Outnumbered and out-
witted in every direction, her army sustained repeated
defeats at Saalfeld (October Io) Jena and Auerstadt,
(October 14), Lübeck (November 6), and Magdeburg
(November 8, 1806). The King of Saxony joined the
Confederation of the Rhine ; Napoleon took up his
residence in the royal palace at Berlin, and added every
insult to the victory which his arms had achieved.
Neither Russia nor England had, however, been either
conquered or gained over, in spite of the Machiavellian
policy of Talleyrand. Poland hoped to find a champion
in Napoleon, who took up his quarters in Warsaw.
The Russian general, Benningsen, fell upon the French
army, and drove it towards the Vistula; Napoleon,
alarmed, took the field in person, and the hardly-fought
battle of Eylau, in which Napoleon, as at Marengo,
narrowly escaped defeat, was the result (February 8, 1807).
Napoleon returned to Paris to make preparations for
renewing the war. In the next campaign the French
arms were Successful, and the battle of Friedland led to
an armistice, which was succeeded by the peace of Tilsit,
settled on a raft in the middle of the river by the two
-:SoS.] 7T///2 PAEAWAAVSO/LA. 323
Emperors, who, on this occasion, made up their griev-
ances, and agreed to combine against England (July 7,
1807). The Prussian acquisitions in Poland were bestowed
upon the King of Saxony, the Prussian provinces on
the left bank of the Elbe were given under the name
of the “Kingdom of Westphalia.” to Jerome Buonaparte.
Poland gained nothing. The two Emperors thought
that henceforth they would have nothing to do but to
divide the world between them. -
By a secret article in the treaty, which was betrayed
to the English Government, Denmark was to be sum-
moned to declare war upon Great Britain, and in order
to prevent the Danish fleet from falling into the hands
of the two Emperors, Copenhagen was bombarded by
the English, and her fleet captured (September 5, 1807).
On this occasion Sir Arthur Wellesley, who had distin-
guished himself by a succession of victories in India
gained his first European laurels.
Napoleon was now turning his thoughts towards the
Peninsula, and his first move was to join Spain in a
campaign for the division of Portugal, whose cause was
espoused by Great Britain. The Portuguese royal family
set sail from Lisbon in British ships, and Napoleon's
generals scourged the Country. Spain was soon to ex-
perience the perfidy of her ally, who, after formenting
disagreement between the king and his son, the Prince
of the Asturias, seized and dethroned them both, and
Joseph Buonaparte was forced to leave Naples and be-
come the unwilling usurper of the Spanish crown. He
entered Madrid on July 21, 1808. Meanwhile, Great
Britain and Spain had made up their differences, and
Sir A. Wellesley.landed in Portugal, and defeated Junot
at Vimiera on August 21, 1808. Another expedition,
under Sir John Moore, advanced into the north of Spain.
His Spanish allies failing him, he was forced to fall back;
but he baffled the attempt of the French to cut off his
communication with the Sea-Coast, and obtained a brilliant
victory at Corunna, for which he paid with his life on
the 17th of January, 1809.
Y 2
324. BA 7'7E.E OF WAGA-AM. [1809–
The French army in Germany had been greatly reduced
by draughts for Spain, and Austria saw that the moment
was opportune for an attack. As soon as Napoleon
became aware of her preparations he left the peninsula for
Paris and Subsequently joined his army at Donauworth.
He found the Archduke's force interposed between
Davoust and Massena, and a little more quickness on the
part of the Austrians might have destroyed the French.
Leaving his own army to his marshals, Napoleon com-
manded in person the troops of the German Confederation.
He harassed the Austrian forces, succeeded in dividing
them, cut off their communication with Vienna, and gained
the victory of Eckmühl (April 22).
On the Ioth of May the French army entered Vienna.
The Austrians collected before the capital, Eugène Beau-
harnais, with his army from Italy, Succeeded in joining
Napoleon, and the eyes of Europe were fixed upon the
scene of the approaching struggle. Several unimportant
engagements took place, but at length the village of
Aspern became the theatre of a murderous conflict (May
19, 20), in which the Austrians had the advantage; the
heroic Marshal Lannes was killed, and the French suc-
ceeded with difficulty in escaping into the island of
Lobau, after the loss of 35,000 men.
Napoleon was now in a situation of extreme danger:
the Tyrolese were in open revolt, and the German people
were everywhere stimulated to oppose their conqueror.
During the month of June the French remained in the
island of Lobau, making active preparations. On the
5th of July Napoleon collected his forces, took the
Austrian lines in reverse, and cut off their communica-
tion with Hungary. The Austrians fell back upon the
field of Wagram, and it was here that the great battle
was fought in which, at One moment, Buonaparte was
nearly checkmated. The cry of “All is lost l” was
heard in the French lines, when Macdonald, who was
commanding under Davoust, on the one side, and
Napoleon in fle centre gave Orders for a general charge,
and the Austrians were driven back. They effected a
-181 I-13.] VZCTOR/ES OA' WAE/ZZAVGTOA/. 325
skilful retreat, leaving Napoleon master of the field. An
armistice was proposed by the Archduke and Buona-
parte, Austria purchased peace by a fresh surrender of
territory, and Germany submitted for another three years
to the yoke of her conqueror.
Assoon as he returned from Wagram, Napoleon resolved
upon divorcing the Empress Josephine, and on April
1, 1810, he married Maria Louisa, the daughter of the
Emperor of Austria. In due course a son was born to
him, and he believed his dynasty to be secured. The
world seemed at his feet; but in reality we may date his
decline from this period.
In Spain, Wellington was reaping new laurels day by
day. Forced by the failure of his Spanish allies to retire
into Portugal, he constructed the lines of Torres Vedras,
whence, after his repulse of a great army under Marshal
Massena, he issued, in March 1811, to gain victory after
victory—of Fuentes d’Onore, May 5, of Albuera, May 16,
181 I ; capitulation of Ciudad Rodrigo, January 19, 1812;
storming of Badajoz, April 6; battle of Salamanca, July
22. He entered Madrid on the 12th of August, 1812. —
He received a temporary, check at Burgos in October,
retreated to Ciudad Rodrigo, gained a decisive victory
over King Joseph at Vittoria (June 21, 1813), occupied
the passes of the Pyrenees, took San Sebastian on the 31st
of August, and advanced successfully as far as the walls
of Bayonne in the following September.
While Wellington was gaining these victories, the star
of Napoleon was declining in the east. In the spring of
1812 he resolved upon invading Russia, and in the
middle of May set out for Dresden to take command
of the army. While there he held the most brilliant
court upon record : all the sovereigns of Germany were
assembled to do him honour ; kings waited in his ante-
room, and queens were among Maria Louisa's ladies of
honour. This invasion was planned upon an altogether
unprecedented scale. “Never,” he said, “was the suc-
cess of an expedition more certain.”
On the 24th of June he crossed the Niemen with a
326 A&AE //CAEA 7" /º/('O/l/ /('OSS/.4. [1813.
prodigious host. The patriotism of the Russians was
roused to the utmost. They resolved to call in the aid of
natural causes to subdue their almost invincible enemy,
and they retreated before him so as to lure him into the
heart of the country. The very largeness of the scale of
Napoleon’s operations was an element of destruction.
The men suffered from the effects of the climate, the
horses could get no provender, and consequently the
greater part of the guns had to be abandoned.
In Lithuania, many of the inhabitants flocked to his
standard, and several indecisive engagements took place
during the following month. The Russians continued to
retire, and the French to advance, until they reached the
plain between Smolensko and Moscow, on which, on the
7th of September, the great battle of Borodino was fought,
the immense losses of which were about equal on both
sides. The Russians continued their policy, and retired
upon Moscow, to which city they were followed by their
enemy. On the morning of the 14th, Napoleon first
beheld its minarets and cupolas. The cry of “Moscow !
Moscow !” burst from the ranks as the army entered the
famous city,+but found it a city of the dead, for its
3oo, ooo inhabitants had left with the Russian troops,
after making preparations for burning it to the ground.
Scarcely three days had passed before fire burst out in
all directions; the city was in flames, and Napoleon
escaped with difficulty from the Kremlin. Napoleon
negotiated for peace ; but the Czar gave him no definite
reply, well knowing the distress of the French army. It
was constantly harassed by small skirmishes, and in want
of the bare necessaries of life. In the kitchen of the
brilliant Murat were found roasted cats and horseflesh.
At length Napoleon resolved upon retreat. He left
the ruins of Moscow on the 20th of October, with a
sadly diminished but still formidable army. The hard-
ships they endured on the march are unparalleled in
history. The winter set in unusually early, and the
French suffered frightfully from the cold. Their fingers
and toes fell off, the sentinels were frozen at their posts,
1813. ] AºA 7'7/./2 OA' M.A.//’S ſG'. 327
and the men gladly dropped down to die. Blinding
snowstorms impeded the way, and the stragglers were
slaughtered by the Cossacks and the peasants. Among
the most horrible incidents was the passage of the
IBeresina, with the Russians in pursuit. Only a portion
of the French managed to cross the bridge in safety;
the remainder fell into the frozen river, and were either
drowned or cut in pieces by the enemy. In Poland,
Napoleon received news of a conspiracy at home ; so,
leaving the relics of his army under the command of
Murat, he set off, with a couple of attendants, and reached
Paris at the same time as the famous Twenty-ninth Bulletin,
which described these disasters and filled the country
with consternation. .
The presence of Napoleon, the frankness with which
he told the tale of the unparalleled sufferings and heroic
endurance of his army, restored in a measure his waning
popularity. His first act was to raise a new army; for
on the appearance of the Russians on the Niemen,
Prussia had thrown off the French yoke, and Murat had
been forced to fall back on the Elbe. Had Napoleon
been willing to withdraw even a portion of the men.
who were scattered over the fortresses in Germany, he
might have secured the services of veteran troops, instead
of taking the field with a force consisting chiefly of raw
recruits added to the miserable remnant of the brilliant
army which had set out for Russia in the preceding
year. He fixed his head-quarters at Dresden. The
first encounter was at Lutzen, where Napoleon barely
gained the victory. Two terrible but indecisive battles
were fought at Bautzen, on the 20th and 21st of May.
After an armistice of some months, Austria joined the
allies. t -
The final struggle took place at Leipsic. At 9 A.M. on
the 18th of October the great battle began. The allies
are said to have assembled 230,000 combatants. Napo-
leon had not chosen his position with his accustomed
skill, nor had he many left of the men who had fought
at Wagram. The troops of Saxony and Würtemberg
328 AAEA)/CA 7TWOAV OA; AVAAOZAZOAV. [1814-
deserted and joined, the ranks of the allies in the midst
of the battle. Overwhelmed by numbers, Napoleon was
forced to retreat across, the Rhine, and the three sove-
reigns of Austria, Russia, and Prussia met in triumph in
the great square of Leipsic in the afternoon of the 19th.
The garrisons of Napoleon on the Elbe, the Vistula, and
the Oder, all surrendered before the close of the year, and
the Confederation of the Rhine was dissolved. Italy fell
under the yoke of Austria, the Prince of Orange returned
to Holland from England, and the French were forced
to abandon the Low Countries.
Napoleon, on his return to Paris, laid before the Senate
a statement of his position and of the dangers which
threatened the country. Again levies of raw troops were
raised and supplies voted. At midnight on the 31st of
December, 1813, the united armies of the Russians,
Prussians; and Austrians crossed the Rhine ; ; Bernadotte,
a French marshal, who had been chosen as a Crown
Prince by Sweden, was advancing against his former
chief from Holstein, and Wellington was marching up
from the south. -
Napoleon left Paris, early on the 25th, of January, to
take the command of his army at Châlons. He is said
never to have exhibited more skill than in this disastrous
campaign. He won every battle where he commanded
in person. After the victory of Montereau (February
8, 1814) he resolved upon diverting the allies from
Paris by placing himself in their rear, so as to carry
the war in a new direction. But, after some hesitation,
secret intelligence received from Paris determined the
allies to march on to the capital. Napoleon counter-
marched with prodigious celerity, but the allies had
the advance, and by the time he reached Fontaine-
teau, on the evening of the 3oth of March, Paris was in
the hands of his enemies. Napoleon remained at Fon-
tainebleau while the fickle populace received the Emperor
of Russia, the King of Prussia, and their followers, with
enthusiasm and cries of “Vive l'Empereur Alexandre I’”
and “Vive Louis XVIII. ” Napoleon signed his
-1815.] THE REIGN OF ONE HUMDRAED DAYS. 329
abdication on the IIth of April, and on the same day
the brother of Louis XVI. left his exile in England to
ascend the throne of France. Napoleon was banished,
with the empty title of emperor, to the island of Elba.
Louis XVIII., however, found his throne anything but
a bed of roses : the emigrants expected to have their
estates and privileges restored to them, the new men of
the Empire were by no means inclined to relinquish their
acquisitions, and general discontent prevailed in Paris.
A congress of ambassadors from the European powers
met at Vienna in the following September to readjust the
map of Europe. Its proceedings were anything but
harmonious, for every nation except England made the
most extravagant demands. Just when at length it
appeared likely to settle its differences, the news of the
escape of Buonaparte from Elba fell like a bomb upon
the assembly. He landed at Cammes on the 1st of
March, I815, and had not gone far before he met a
regiment of his old soldiers, by whom he was enthusias-
tically received. Marshal, Ney, who had taken service
under Louis XVIII., could not resist an appeal from his
old master, and troop after troop joined the Emperor.
Louis XVIII. left Paris for Ghent, and Napoleon once
more took up his quarters in the Tuileries. He was
carried up the staircase in the arms of his followers to
the state apartments, where a brilliant crowd was waiting
to welcome him. Then followed the “reign of a hundred
days.”
Napoleon found his position one of extreme peril and
difficulty. He granted liberal institutions to France in
the “Acte Additionnel,” and endeavoured once more to
reorganize the army. He resolved to anticipate the
movements of the allies, who had refused to negotiate,
by concentrating his troops on the Belgian frontier, and
destroying the English and Prussian armies under Blucher
and Wellington before the Austrians and Russians had
time to come up. -
He crossed the frontier on the 14th of June, and
wrested Ligny from the Prussians on the 16th. Mean-
33o WAZERZoo. [1815.
while Wellington prevented Ney from gaining the position
of Quatre Bras, and on the 17th established himself near
the village of Waterloo, for the purpose of covering
Brussels. On the following day was fought the celebrated
battle of Waterloo. Early in the morning the two armies
were drawn up face to face. Wellington's force was
composed of 68, ooo men, of whom scarcely 24,000
were British, while the army of Napoleon amounted
to 72,000 picked troops. The French had also greatly
the advantage in artillery. Nevertheless, relying in well-
deserved confidence on the co-operation of Blucher,
Wellington calmly awaited the attack.
Heavy rain had fallen during the night, and Napoleon
deferred the battle as long as possible, in order to give
time for the ground to dry. He hoped to intimidate the
enemy by exhibiting the imposing lines of his army, and
thought to make short work of the small force opposed
to him. “At last,” he exclaimed, “I hold those English
in my hand 1’’ - s
The first gun was fired about II A.M. The English
army fought with a vigour which could not be surpassed,
and for many hours resisted, unaided, the repeated attacks
of the French. Towards four o'clock the approach of a
large body of Prussians, who had been delayed by the
state of the roads and other obstacles, diverted a portion
of the French army. The remainder continued their
attacks on the British forces until about half-past seven,
when a second large body of Prussians attacked and routed
the right wing of the French just when the Imperial
Guard, which Napoleon had kept in hand to the last,
made the final attempt on the British right centre, which
has been well called the “madness of despair.” The
defeat of the French was completed when Blucher's
columns soon after poured across the sole line of escape.
Seeing the overthrow of his chosen troops and total rout
of his army, Napoleon galloped from the field, exclaim-
ing “All is lost l’ and hastened to carry the first news
of the disaster to Paris, which he reached on the 21st.
Once more he resigned his crown, and proceeded to
1815.] SZAZE OF EUROPE. 33r
Rochefort, whence he hoped to embark for America.
But the sea was as full of his enemies as the land, and
he finally resolved upon surrendering to the British
Government. He was conveyed on board a British
frigate to the island of St. Helena, where he passed the
remainder of his days, and died at the age of fifty-two,
on the 5th of May, 1821. -
PART II.
- FROM 1815 To 1852.
“The world was at peace.” .
It is a relief to turn from the incessant aggressions
of Napoleon to a period of comparative tranquillity.
France had gained scarcely anything by the brilliant
victories of Buonaparte. Her limits, as settled by the
peace of Paris, were nearly those of 1790. Her navy
was destroyed, and the blood of her people had been
poured out like water. *
By the treaty of Vienna, Holland and Belgium were
united into one kingdom, under the Prince of Orange.
The Rhenish provinces, half of Saxony and a slice of
the duchy of Warsaw, were bestowed on Prussia.
The kingdom of Poland was annexed to Russia, but its
independence was provided for. Norway was sepa-
rated from Denmark and joined to Sweden. Austria
acquired the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom. Genoa was
given to Sardinia, which thus laid the foundation of her
future greatness. The Papal Government was re-estab-
lished in the States of the Church. Naples and Sicily
were restored to their Bourbon rulers, and Tuscany
became again a grand, duchy. Spain continued in a
constant state of insurrection. Ferdinand VII. refused
to abide by the constitution which had been established
1 Martineau's History of the Thirty Years' Peace.
332 D/SINTERAESTED POLICY OF ANGLAND. [1818-
during the wars of Buonaparte. It was restored in 1820,
and in 1822 French troops again entered Spain, brought
back the king, and occupied the country for seven years.
In Portugal also there was much confusion and civil
war until 1828, when Donna Maria was settled on the
throne.
England retained some important colonies, especially
Ceylon and the Cape of Good Hope, but in Europe
nothing, save moral prestige. As Napoleon said at St.
Helena, “You give up everything and gain nothing.”
She had, however, been raised to the highest point of
influence by the victories of Nelson and of Wellington,
and in the thirty years of peace which followed 1815, her
prosperity increased enormously, although the close of the
war was followed by much distress and discontent. George
III., who had become insane in 1811, remained in the
same condition until his death in 1820, and the Prince of
Wales, as Regent, performed the functions of the sove-
reign.
An attack on the Prince Regent as he returned from
opening Parliament in 1817 was followed by a renewed
suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act. The bread riots,
consequent on the corn laws and the scarcity in the
north, were likewise put down with great severity.
Mr. Peel now rose into notice, and passed an act for
the resumption of Cash payments and the regulation of
the currency. -
Meanwhile, Louis XVIII. was governing France in a
constitutional Spirit, although he was greatly hampered
by the conflicting claims of the old and the new nobility.
A congress of European powers was held at Aix-la-
Chapelle, in September, 1818, for the purpose of with-
drawing the army of occupation, and generally settling
the affairs of the Continent. To the disinterested efforts
of the Duke of Wellington (who supported as much as
possible the expostulations of the French Government)
it is mainly due that some agreement at length took place
between the different powers; but they exhibited so
much unscrupulous rapacity that England, henceforth
-1829.] CA 7TP/OZAC /º/l/AAVC/AEA 7TWOAV. 333
held still more aloof. The Zollverein—an important com-
mercial union—was established in this year, and was
gradually joined by all the German States with the ex-
ception of Austria.
The most striking figure in the English cabinet after
the death of Lord Londonderry was Canning. Too in-
dependent to be popular, envied for his brilliant talents,
disliked by the great Whig families as an adventurer, and
by the Tories on account of his liberal tendencies, the
inevitable anxieties of his position were increased by
factious opposition, but the death of Lord Liverpool
rendered his services necessary to the nation, and for
three months he was Prime Minister. Before he had
time to obtain recognition for his statesmanlike qualities
the hand of death was laid upon him (August 6, 1827).
One of the first acts of his ministry had been an inter-
vention in favour of Greece, which had risen in revolt
against Turkey; and in the October following his death
Sir Edward Codrington, in conjunction with the French
and the Russians, destroyed at Navarino the Turkish and
Egyptian fleet, that were devastating the Morea. Greece
finally became an independent kingdom, under Otho of
Bavaria.
Lord Goderich succeeded Canning, but he held office
for only a few months; in January, 1828, the Duke of
Wellington became Prime Minister. The chief question
of the day was the emancipation of the Roman Catholics.
The great mob orator, Q’Connell, had an unbounded
influence over his countrymen ; and while he persuaded
them to refuse to pay tithes, he levied upon them a
heavy “rent” for the support of the agitation which he
directed. He found that he might offer himself as a
candidate, although he could not sit in Parliament, and
his return for Clare led to a reconsideration of the ques-
tion. Canning had been favourable to this measure, and
the Duke of Wellington strongly opposed to it. But
now, he felt that he could resist the Catholic claims no
longer; and on the 13th of April, 1829, the Catholic
Relief Bill received the royal assent. Henceforth O'Con-
334 T//Z 7//RAEAE GZOAZOOS Z24 Y.S. [1830-
nell took up the repeal of the union between England
and Ireland as his rallying Cry.
On the 25th of June, 1830, George IV. died, little
regretted, and was succeeded by his brother William,
Duke of Clarence. In the same year a new revolution
took place in France.
Louis XVIII. had done his best to be faithful to the
constitution. He died in 1824, and was succeeded by
his brother, Charles X.
The policy of the new sovereign was as reactionary as
possible, and his minister, Prince Polignac, endeavoured
even more zealously to bring back the tyranny of the
Ancien Régime. They attempted to set aside the Charter
which Louis XVIII. had faithfully maintained, to annihi-
late the press, and to govern by means of arbitrary decrees
(ordonnances). Even the conquest of Algiers under
Marshal Bourmont (July 4th, 1830) failed to diminish
the unpopularity of the government. -
The three celebrated “ordonnances”" were signed on
the 25th July. On the 27th the police seized the news-
papers and destroyed the printing-presses amidst much
disturbance, and on Wednesday the 28th barricades rose
in all directions throughout Paris. The Hôtel de Ville
was seized by the insurgents, but the King would make
no concessions. The troops refused to fire on the
people, Paris was in the hands of the Revolutionists, the
Ring abdicated and set sail for Spithead. So ended
the “three glorious days” of July 1830.
The Duke of Orleans, a cousin of Charles X., became
the “Citizen King,” Louis Philippe.
Belgium revolted, and separated itself from Holland in
this year, and with the assistance of England and France
became an independent kingdom under Prince Leopold
of Saxe-Coburg in 183 I.
1 The first was to suspend the liberty of the Press, the second to
dissolve the Parliament, and the third to set aside the Charter.
A meeting of journalists was held to protest against the first of these
decrees, at the head of whom was Adolphe Thiers, at that time
editor of the A'alional.
-183 I.] TA://2 A*/2 FOA'ſ/ A# // C. 3.35
The disturbances in Paris produced considerable
excitement in England. The Duke of Wellington per-
emptorily refused to entertain the question of parlia-
mentary reform, and was forced to retire from office.
He was succeeded by Earl Grey, who came in on the
declaration of “Peace, Retrenchment, and Reform.”
The Reform Bill was carried after a year and a half of
tempestuous excitement, and the first Reformed Parlia-
ment met under the ministry of Lord Grey on February
5th, 1833. One of its first measures was the total aboli-
tion of slavery. In June 1834 Lord Grey was replaced
by Viscount Melbourne. The AVezº Poor Zazy Bill, which
had for some time been preparing by a commission
headed by Nassau William Senior, became law under
this administration. In December of the same year
, the King, for whom his ministers were too liberal, Sud-
denly dismissed them, and sent for the Duke of Wel-
lington, who held every office in the cabinet until his
colleague, Sir Robert Peel, came back in all haste
from Italy. -
Peel on his return promised and endeavoured to carry
out Liberal measures, but Parliament would not trust him,
and after two or three parliamentary defeats he resigned
office in April 1835.
Meanwhile Louis Philippe was endeavouring to rule by
means of the middle classes; the government interfered
largely in the elections, bribery and corruption prevailed
to a great extent, and there was a growing disaffection
on the part of the more liberal members of the Chamber.
Russia, Austria, and Prussia were using every exertion
to fetter the press and extinguish liberty in their
dominions, and by her warlike advance in Circassia,
Russia, which had been steadily advancing in civilization
and power, threatened to obtain the mastery in the
Black Sea. She terminated a series of successful aggres-
sions on Turkey by the treaty of Adrianople (Sept. 14,
1829), which was eminently favourable to herself. In
1830 a revolution broke out at Warsaw, and spread to
Wilna and Volhynia. It was suppressed by the Russians
336 ACCESSION OF QUEEN VICTORIA. [1837-
in 1831, and the Emperor Nicholas incorporated the
Kingdom of Poland with the Russian Empire. Cracow,
which had been declared a free state under the pro-
tection of Russia, Austria, and Prussia, by the Treaty of
Vienna in 1815, was invaded on some trifling pretext
by the three powers in 1836, and occupied by the
Austrians, who afterwards took advantage of an insig-
nificant insurrection on the part of the inhabitants in
1846 to incorporate Cracow in the Austrian dominions.
Affairs wore a threatening aspect throughout Europe
when William IV. died, in June 1837, and the English
nation enthusiastically welcomed the accession of his
niece, the young Princess Victoria. There was great
need of her popularity, for two bad seasons had occa-
sioned a scarcity ; Ireland was disturbed, and Canada
in open rebellion. The English settlers in that colony
joined their efforts to those of the troops. Lord
Durham was sent out as Governor-General, and by
means of a firm but judicious clemency the revolt was
quickly subdued. The union of the two provinces im-
mediately followed (February 18th, 1840).
On the Ioth of February the fortunate alliance of
Queen Victoria with her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-
Coburg, took place. - .
In 1840 was formed the Quadruple Alliance between
England, Austria, Prussia and Russia, for the protection.
of the Sultan of Turkey against his vassal Mehemet Ali,
Viceroy of Egypt, whose intrigues were formented by
France, and whose army occupied Syria and threatened
to advance upon Constantinople. The British fleet was
successful in driving the Viceroy's army out of Syria, and
Mehemet Ali was suffered to retain Egypt as a hereditary
Viceroyalty.
In 1842 England had a successful but inglorious war
with China, and in the same year she met with terrible
reverses in Cabul, where an English army was cut to
pieces in the Khyber Pass. The honour of her arms
was vindicated by the occupation of the country, after
which the English troops were peacefully withdrawn from
- 1846.] AAV77- COACAV. Z.A. W. Z.A.A. COE. 337,
Cabul. Scinde was conquered by Sir Charles Napier in
the following year (battle of Meeanee, February 17, 1843),
and in 1845–46 the Sikhs were repulsed and the Punjaub
conquered by Sir Henry Hardinge and Sir Hugh Gough.
(Battles of Ferozeshah, Deeember 22, 1845; Sobraon,
February Io, 18463).
The most important of the questions which moved the
English nation at home was the Repeal of the Corn Laws.
It was rendered necessary by the growing discontent
occasioned by the dearness of food.
An extension of political rights was demanded by the
working classes. Their demands were embodied in a
charter consisting of five points:—1: Universal suffrage.
2. Vote by ballot. 3. Annual Parliaments. 4. Payment
of members. 5. Abolition of a property qualification.
The riots occasioned by the Chartists were quickly put
down and the ringleaders punished.
The Anti-Corn-Law League was now formed by
some of the most enlightened men of the day, among
whom were Cobden, Bright, and Charles Villiers. Their
arguments were strictly in accordance with the principles
of political economy, a science which rose into import-
ance at this period. Although his interest lay with
the Protectionists, Sir Robert Peel could not avoid
being convinced by his opponents. A terrible famine
in Ireland came to their aid, and Peel braved the
charge of inconsistency by bringing in a bill for securing
free trade in corn in 1846. Immediately after passing
this great measure he retired from office.
The government endeavoured by every means to
mitigate the sufferings of the Irish consequent on the
failure of the potato, but in spite of public and private
exertions numbers of people died, and a great impetus
was given to emigration.
Meanwhile France was growing daily more and more
tired of her Citizen King, and the enten'e cordiale
between France and England had been seriously com-
promised by the aggressions of French officers in the
Pacific islands, and by the practical renewal of the
S.H. Z
338 A&AE VO/ O ZT/OAV ZAV AºA2AAVC/2. ' [1848-
“family compact” with Spain. In 1833 Ferdinand died,
and civil war broke out again between the partisans of his
daughter Isabella and those of his brother, Don Carlos.
The party of Queen Isabella ultimately gained the day.
She had been supported by Louis Philippe, who now,
in spite of the remonstrances of the British Cabinet,
succeeded in marrying Isabella to her cousin, Don
Trancisco, and at the same time her sister the Infanta to
his youngest son, the Duke of Montpensier, with a view
to the succession to the throne. The double marriages
of the Queen and the Infanta took place according to
Louis Philippe's wishes on the Ioth of October, 1846.
The demands on the part of Louis Philippe for the
establishment of his children, together with the restric-
tions on the press and on the liberty of public speaking,
exasperated the French, and in February 1848 a dis-
turbance broke out, which, owing to the hesitation of
the King, grew into a revolution, and ended in his abdi-
cation and the proclamation of a republic. Once more
a King of France was seen flying to England, where he
remained until his death in 1850.
A Provisional government was set up in Paris, of
which Lamartine was the most influential member. In
the following June there was an outbreak on the part of
the Red Republicans, but they were put down after three
days' desperate fighting in the streets.
The French Revolution of 1848 shook every throne
on the Continent. An attempted revolution in Prussia
was put down, and the King promised his subjects a
constitution. Shortly afterwards there was an abortive
attempt to form a united German empire, and the King
of Prussia declined the imperial crown (April 29th, 1849).
The King of Bavaria abdicated in favour of his son, and
the Emperor of Austria in favour of his nephew. Hungary
rose, but the revolt was put down, with the aid of Russia.
Italy now attempted to shake off the Austrian rule,
which she had in vain risen against in 1820. Pope Pius
IX., who in 1846 had begun his long reign with liberal
principles, which were received enthusiastically by his
-1851.] COUP D’A 74 7. 339
subjects, now became frightened, and endeavoured to go
back. He was forced, however, to send a contingent to
the army of Charles Albert, King of Sardinia, who led
the van in the war of liberation. This disastrous cam-
paign ended in the battle of Novara, between Sardinia
and Austria (March 23rd, 1849), and Charles Albert,
who was utterly defeated, abdicated in favour of his son,
Victor Emmanuel. The Pope had been driven from
Tome, but was restored by a French army under General
Oudinot, and the French troops remained at Rome. The
kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which had revolted with
some success, was forced once more to submit to its
bigoted and tyrannical sovereign, and the Grand Duke
of Tuscany, who had been obliged to fly, was restored
by Austria to his unwilling subjects (July 1850).
Owing in a great measure to the steady maintenance
by Queen Victoria of her position as a constitutional
sovereign, the French Revolution of 1848 produced very
little echo in England. A great Chartist demonstration
on the Ioth of April was the most striking result. Several
processions of the disaffected marched through the streets
to Kennington Common, but 200,ooo of the middle and
upper classes were sworn in as special constables, and
the demonstration excited more contempt than alarm.
Amongst those arrayed on the side of order was Prince
Louis Napoleon, a nephew of the great Emperor.
A few months afterwards Louis Napoleon was elected
I’resident of the French Republic by universal suffrage,
and swore to observe the constitution. At first he ap-
peared disposed to govern in accordance with his oath, but
as time went on the encroachments of the President and
the resistance of the Assembly made their relative posi-
tions untenable, and on the 2nd December, 1851, the
Assembly was surrounded with troops, the most influential
members imprisoned, and Louis Napoleon proclaimed
President for another ten years. In the words of Toc-
queville, “the army seized France, bound and gagged
her, and laid her at the feet of its ruler.” This was the
celebrated coup d'état. Hundreds were killed in the
- Z 2
340 CAE/MAZAAW PVAA’. [1854-
streets, many more who were supposed to be hostile to
the government were shipped off to die in the marshes
of Cayenne, others disappeared and were heard of no
more. The President became nearly absolute, and pro-
claimed himself Emperor in the following year with the
title of Napoleon III.
Three months before the coup d'état, the successful
rival in war of the first Napoleon— the great Duke of
Wellington—died at the age of 83 (14th September,
1852). . . - e
PART III.
(1852 to 1874.)
The reign of peace, which had practically lasted
between the European nations ever since the Treaty of
Vienna, was interrupted soon after 1852 by the aggres-
sions of Russia in the Black Sea. She looked upon
Turkey as her lawful prey, as a hopelessly “sick man,”
whose death it was rather merciful to expedite ; and a
dispute, originating in the relative claims of the Greek
and Latin Churches, led, after protracted and futile ne-
gotiations, to the outbreak of hostilities. Russia seized
the provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia, and on her
rejection of the intervention of the four powers, England
joined with France in enforcing their evacuation.
The magnitude of the enterprise was not at first ap-
preciated, and sufficient preparations were not made for
the long campaign which followed:
Part of the British fleet held the Baltic, while the re-
mainder, joined by the French, sailed into the Black Sea.
The war began in the Danubian Principalities, but it
soon concentrated itself in the Crimea, where the English
and French armies disembarked on the 14th September,
1854. - -
The Russians were encamped on the hills overlooking
the river Alma, and on September 20th the allies, under
-1855.] AºA ZZ. OA' S/E/3.4 S 7 OAO Z. 34I
Lord Raglan and Marshal St. Arnaud, successfully
stormed the heights and drove the enemy back into the
stronghold of Sebastopol.
Iord Raglan wished to push on and carry Sebastopol
by storm, but he was overruled by St. Arnaud, and the
allies encamped before it and began the ordinary pre-
parations for a siege.
One of the first incidents in the siege took place on the
25th October—the celebrated Balaklava charge, which
displayed the extraordinary discipline and gallantry of
the British soldiers. Owing to a misunderstanding of
lord Raglan's orders, the “Light Brigade,” numbering
607 men, charged a Russian battery. Only 198 returned,
after inflicting a loss of 55o killed and 190 wounded,
on the enemy. A few days afterwards, on the 5th of
November, at 6 in the morning, 40,000 Russians crept
up and, in the midst of a dense fog, Surprised 3,500 of
the English, who fought them hand to hand, unassisted,
until 9.30, when the French came up. At II the battle
appeared to be won, and the French retired, but the
fighting continued until 1 P.M., when the English were
finally victorious. This was the battle of Inkermann.
A dreadful storm on the 15th of November sank the
provision ships of the English, and hunger was added to
the miseries of the campaign. During this winter their
sufferings were intense, and the accounts received of
them caused much dissatisfaction with the ministers at
home.
In February 1855, Lord Aberdeen was replaced in
the post of Prime Minister by Lord Palmerston; the
Emperor Nicholas died in March, but still the war went on.
After one or two unsuccessful assaults, Sebastopol was
taken on the 8th of September, 1855. England had by
this time learned to use her strength, and it would have
been for her interest to prolong the war, but the French
soldiers suffered almost as much in the second winter as
the English had done during the first ; disease thinned
their ranks, Louis Napoleon began to feel a strain on the
resources of the country, and was now as anxious to end
342 AVAD/AAV /l/ UTZAVV. [1857.
the war as he had been to begin it. The strength of
Russia was so much impaired that she was only too
happy to put an end to hostilities; negotiations were
entered into, and a peace was concluded on the 3oth of
March, 1856, by which Russia relinquished the right of
intervention in the affairs of Turkey, given to her by the
treaty of Adrianople, and that of maintaining a fleet in
the Black Sea. The latter restriction was removed in 1871.
The English troops were not long to be without employ-
ment. In the month of October there was a dispute with
China, and Lord Elgin was despatched to Singapore to
open negotiations. When he reached the east, however, he
heard some news that induced him to alter the destination
of the troops which were following him ; for the natives
of India believed that the moment was come when, in
accordance with ancient prophecy, they were to throw off
the yoke of England, which they had endured for Ioo
years. The terrible Indian mutiny had been long pre-
paring, and was intended to be a general massacre of the
white faces. It broke out on the occasion of some un-
accustomed cartridges, supposed to be greased with cow's
fat, being served out to a native regiment in the month
of January, 1857. These cartridges were immediately
discontinued, yet regiment after regiment mutinied, and
had to be disbanded. On the Ioth of May a more
serious outbreak took place at Meerut. It was quickly
put down, but the fugitives escaped to Delhi, seized the
city, set up as their sovereign the titular King of Delhi,
a descendant of the Mogul Emperors, and committed
the most frightful atrocities. The siege of Delhi was at
once undertaken by the aid of reinforcements from the
Punjaub, but the city was not recaptured until the
following September. w
Meanwhile the English garrison at Cawnpore, on the
banks of the Ganges, was surrounded by an army of
insurgents, under the command of the infamous Nana
Sahib, whose promises induced the English general,
Sir Henry Wheeler, when the case was becoming des-
perate, to Surrender. Nana Sahib, instead of allowing
1857-9. CA WAVPOAZ AAWD ZUCAAVO IV. 343
the English to retire unmolested as he had promised, at
once killed all except 150 women and children, whom
he afterwards massacred in cold blood on the victorious
approach of General Havelock, who, at the head of 2,000
troops, retook Cawnpore, on the 16th July. Havelock
defeated the rebels again at Bithoor, and, joined by
General Outram, who, although sent out as a Superior
officer, fought under him as a volunteer, proceeded
to relieve the residency of Lucknow, then reduced to
the last extremity by a protracted siege. After desperate
fighting and terrible losses, Havelock and Outram pene-
trated into the residency (Sept. 25), but their strength
was so diminished, that they were unable to withdraw the
garrison. They therefore joined their forces to those of
General Neill, extended the fortifications, and remained
on the defensive. -
By this time troops were arriving every day from
England, and Sir Colin Campbell had been appointed
Commander-in-Chief. He reached Cawnpore on the
3rd of November, and met Havelock and Outram on
the outskirts of Lucknow on the 18th ; but it was not
until the middle of the following March that, after suc-
cessive assaults, the garrison of Lucknow was at last set
free. The remainder of the war was conducted with the
utmost skill by Sir Colin Campbell, who was during the
campaign raised to the peerage by the title of Lord
Clyde. The Punjaub was saved by the sagacity of Sir
John Lawrence and Sir Robert Montgomery. The native
princes with scarcely an exception adhered to the British,
and the Madras Presidency remained at peace throughout.
Oude, of which Lucknow was the capital, and which had
been annexed to the British dominions by Lord Dalhousie
on the very eve of the mutiny, was the most disaffected
of all the provinces; it was not finally subdued until
January 1859. Soon afterwards the East India Com-
pany (established 16oo) was abolished, the army amal-
gamated with that of the mother country, and the
Queen of England added to her other titles that of
Empress of India.
344 TP/Z “A 7'7"EAV7.4 T.” [1858-
While England was engaged in this anxious struggle,
the rest of Europe was by no means at peace. The little
kingdom of Sardinia had for some time been growing in
importance. She had sent a Contingent which did good
service in the Crimea, and her great statesman, Count
Cavour, was allowed a voice in the subsequent negotia-
tions. The object of his schemes was nothing less than
the liberation of Italy, which had become, according to
her conquerors, a mere geographical designation. Cavour
counted on the assistance of France, for the Emperor
was known to sympathize with his cause, and in fact, in
early days, had belonged to the secret patriotic associa-
tion of the Carbonari, and was bound by their laws to
help them. As years passed on and nothing was done,
they became impatient, and Orsini and four others at-
tempted to assassinate Louis Napoleon on the I4th of
January, 1858.
The colonels of the French army addressed a con-
gratulatory letter to the Emperor, reflecting at the same
time on England for harbouring assassins, because
some of the conspirators had resided there. The
tone of this letter was so threatening that it awoke a
burst of indignation throughout England. For a moment
war appeared probable, and its anticipation gave rise to
the formation of the large volunteer force which has
become a permanent auxiliary of the British army.
Surprised at the warlike spirit thus displayed, Louis
Napoleon, after the first irritation had subsided, en-
deavoured to calm the French nation, and soon after-
wards inclined a favourable ear to the proposals of
Cavour, who was increasing the Sardinian army to an
extent which excited the suspicions of Austria, who sent
a peremptory message to Sardinia to disarm, but Cavour,
being able to count upon the assistance of France, de-
clined to submit to this demand, and in spite of the
attempted mediation of England, warlike preparations
went on, and on the first day of the New Year the
Emperor Napoleon addressed a menacing speech to the
Austrian ambassador, Baron Hübner. The Austrian
-1859. PEACE OF VIZZA FRANCA. 345
army crossed the Ticino on the Ist of May, 1859, and on
the 13th the French army joined the Sardinians, Louis
Napoleon and Victor Emmanuel commanding in person.
After some preliminary skirmishes the battle of Magenta,
in which the Austrians were defeated, was fought on the
4th of June, and was followed by the victory of Solferino
on the 24th. After these two victories, Louis Napoleon,
Seeing dangers ahead, agreed to an armistice, and for-
getting a promise with which he had opened the war, to
“free Italy from the Alps to the Adriatic,” patched up a
hasty peace at Villa Franca on the IIth of July, by which
Austria surrendered Lombardy to Louis Napoleon through
whom it was transferred to Sardinia.
Cavour was indignant at this check in the full tide of
conquest. He immediately resigned, and Rattazzi be-
came Prime Minister. But the spirit of Italian patriotism
was far from contenting itself with the terms of Villa
Franca. The duchies of Parma, Modena, and Tuscany,
which Louis Napoleon had agreed to restore to their
former rulers, one and all chose Victor Emmanuel for their
king, and their example was followed by Bologna and
the AEmilia, which threw off the Papal government. This
movement was secretly supported by Cavour, who con-
tinued to sway the destinies of Italy from his country house
at Leri. Louis Napoleon insisted upon receiving the pro-
vinces of Nice and Savoy as the condition of his assent
to the aggrandisement of Victor Emmanuel, and Cavour
was recalled to the premiership in January 1860, to give
his official support. The cession of these provinces was
never forgiven by Garibaldi, a hero who was now to
attract the attention of Europe, and whose character
proved a marked contrast to that of his rival Cavour.
Unable to endure the slow progress of events, and
neither discouraged nor openly supported by the govern-
ment, in the following May Garibaldi set out on an expe-
dition to Sicily, at the head of a small band of devoted
followers. In three months he had conquered the island,
and on the 18th of August crossed over to Calabria.
Everywhere he was welcomed by an enthusiastic popu-
346 VICTORIES OF GA RAAAZZZ. [1860.
lation; Francis II. fled before him to his army at Gaeta,
and on the 7th of September Garibaldi entered Naples
without opposition.
These revolutionary proceedings greatly alarmed Pius
IX., who fourteen years previously had been a leading
champion of Italian liberty, but under the influence of
his minister Cardinal Antonelli, had now become one of its
strongest opponents. He placed General Lamoricière
at the head of an army collected from all countries, ready
to fight for the Papacy, and to support Francis II., who
threatened an invasion of his former dominions from
Gaeta, while Austria from Mantua and Verona was pre-
paring to join in their cause. Cavour hesitated no longer,
but determined at once to take possession of the Papal
states in Umbria and the Marches, already in open revolt, .
push forward the army to Naples and Sicily, and wrest from
Garibaldi the leadership of the nation. The deputations
from those provinces demanding immediate annexation
were favourably listened to, Cardinal Antonelli was sum-
moned in the name of Italy to disband his mercenaries,
the Sardinian army crossed the frontier, and the fleet set
sail for the Adriatic. The Sardinians defeated the Papal
troops at Castelfidardo on the 18th September, besieged
and took Ancona (29th September, 1860) and entered
the kingdom of Naples, under Victor Emmanuel, on the
I5th of October, having taken Lamoricière prisoner, and
scattered his army to the winds. *
Garibaldi had meanwhile defeated the Neapolitan
troops in the battle of Volturno, and driven them under
the guns of Gaeta. The two victorious armies met at
Capua, and Garibaldi was the first to salute Victor
Emmanuel with the title of King of Italy. * g
But while Rome and Venice were still severed from
the rest of Italy, Garibaldi did not consider his work as
accomplished, and it was with great mortification that he
found himself obliged to yield to men of more moderate
views, bid farewell to his army, and retire to his home in
the island of Caprera. - º
The first Italian Parliament assembled at Turin in the
1861-5.] A/M/º/ö/CAAW RAE BAE/AOAV. 347
following February 1861, and in June the great minister
Cavour died, at the early age of fifty-two. Soon after his
death, Louis Napoleon, to put an end to the Italian cry
for Rome as the capital of the new kingdom, forced
Victor Emmanuel to make Florence his capital. De-
prived of her master spirit, Italy for a time ceased to
advance.
Extreme distress was at this time prevalent in the
manufacturing districts of England, on account of the
American war, which stopped the supply of cotton.
There had long been a growing hostility between the
Northern and Southern States. The North was far more
prosperous and populous than the South, and the prim-
ciples adopted by its candidates for the Presidency were
diametrically opposed to those put forward by the South,
which advocated the institution of slavery and free trade,
while the North was for limiting the area of slavery and
for a highly protective tariff. At length, on the election
of the Northern or Republican candidate, President
Lincoln, in 1860, seven of the Southern States deter-
mined on secession, and elected Mr. Jefferson Davis
as their President in the following February. On the
12th of April, 1861, the Southern forces attacked and
carried Fort Sumter, four other states joined the Southern
Confederates, and civil war began. At first the South
was victorious ; but after a struggle of three years, during
which much heroism was shown by both parties, and the
emancipation of all negro slaves was declared by Presi-
dent Lincoln, the North, which had the advantage
both in wealth and population, prevailed, and early in
April, 1865, the war virtually ended by the battle of
Richmond, and the subsequent surrender of the Con-
federate army, under General Lee. Three days afterwards
President Lincoln, whose firmness, Sagacity, and patriot-
ism had won universal admiration, was assassinated in a
theatre at Boston, by a fanatic named Booth.
England had endeavoured to preserve a strict neutrality
during this war. Both parties were therefore indignant
with her, and the North especially was furious at the
348 SCHLESWIG, AOZSTEIN. [1864-
depredations committed by the Alabama and other
cruisers, built in England, but which were armed in foreign
waters, and had escaped from English ports. After seven
years of discussion, England consented to refer the ques-
tion of compensation claimed by America to foreign arbi-
tration. The arbitrators met at Geneva, and to the
amazement of all Sober judges, awarded to America an
indemnity of three millions and a half.
In 1863 Prince George of Denmark was elected
King of Greece, whence Otho of Bavaria had been dis-
missed. England soon afterwards gave up the Ionian
Islands, which were henceforth annexed to Greece.
In October 1865 the veteran statesman, Lord Pal-
merston, who had resumed office in 1859, died, and
was succeeded as Prime Minister by Earl Russell,
who resigned on the failure of a measure for extending
the suffrage, and was succeeded by a Tory administration
under Lord Derby;-two years afterwards, in 1868, a
still more extensive measure of reform than had been
proposed by Lord Russell was passed by Mr. Disraeli.
In 1865 Prussia was rising enormously in importance,
under the guidance of Count Bismarck. The duchies
of Holstein and Schleswig, which formed part of the
German Confederation, but whose Duke was at the
same time King of Denmark, with which they had no
constitutional connection, had against their will been
deprived of their separate existence and rights by that
country. After years of useless remonstrance, the German
Diet, in 1864, decreed the restitution of these rights, and
committed the execution of this decree to troops from
Saxony and Hanover; but the matter was taken out of
their hands by the march of a joint army of Prussians
and Austrians. After a gallant but hopeless resistance,
the Danish troops were driven from the two duchies and
Lauenburg in October 1864.
Prussia would have liked to annex the duchies, or, at
any rate, to place at their head a prince who should
be entirely under the influence of the court of Berlin.
Austria on the other hand wished to form them into
- 1866.1 AºA 7'7"ZAZ OA' SA/DO WA. 349
an independent state, so as to balance the power of
Prussia. The duchies were a bone of contention through-
out the following year, and the old rivalry for Supremacy
in Germany between Austria and Prussia broke out with
renewed vigour. In the month of August the rival sove-
reigns met at Gastein, and apparently made up their diſ-
ferences; but Prussia soon began to exhibit her dissatis-
faction with the result of this convention. She secured
Italy, which was always on the look-out to obtain Venetia,
as an ally, and began to arm, as also did Austria. The
great struggle for the German Supremacy was now entered
upon.
The superior extent and importance of Austria in-
clined the rest of the world to believe that she would be
the gainer in a struggle which was expected to be long
and difficult; but, besides her great minister Bismarck,
Prussia possessed the elements of success in her admirable
military organization, in her commander-in-chief, Moltke,
and other generals, among whom Prince Frederick
Charles and the Crown Prince were two of the most
distinguished. The Prussian army, which took the
offensive by marching into Bohemia, met with scarcely a
reverse, and the war, which lasted only seven weeks,
terminated with the bloody victory of Sadowa or König-
grätz, which was fought on July 3rd, 1866, and entirely
crippled the power of Austria, which was forced to with-
draw from all influence in Germany. The Germanic
Confederation was broken up. Hanover and other states
of North Germany which had taken part with Austria, were
joined to Prussia in a North-German Confederation, of
which she was the predominant member, while those south
of the Main were soon bound to her by military conven-
tions. The Italian army under Garibaldi and La Marmora,
and the fleet under Persano, had met with nothing but
reverses; yet Austria, which at the outset of the war
had resolved to give up Venetia when victory enabled
her to do so with honour, surrendered it to the Emperor
of the French, who handed it over to Victor Emmanuel.
France asked for the frontiers of the Rhine as some
350 IV.1/0 BAE Z"WZAEAW ARAMCAE & GZA'AZAAVY. [1870-
compensation for the increase of Prussian power; but
Bismarck could afford to treat the proposal with scorn,
and it was immediately withdrawn.
France still kept the Pope in the possession of temporal
power in spite of the general desire of Italy to obtain
Bome as the capital. The impatient spirit of Garibaldi
could not brook this delay, and in spite of the formal
prohibition of his sovereign, he made two unsuccessful
attempts to take possession of the Eternal City. Pius
IX. continued to issue violent allocutions, and to pub-
lish new doctrines. The dogma of the Immaculate
Conception was proclaimed in 1868, and in 1869 he sum-
moned an OEcumenical Council, which met in the follow-
ing year, and in which his own infallibility was declared.
In France the empire was growing daily more and
more unpopular. In 1862 Louis Napoleon had tried to
amuse his people with a war against the republic of
Mexico, which turned out ill, and ended in the execution
of the heroic Archduke Maximilian, who had accepted
the crown of Mexico at Napoleon's hands. It seemed
as if nothing but a successful war or an accession of
territory could restore the popularity of the emperor and
establish his dynasty. He endeavoured in 1867 to
obtain from the King of Holland the cession of the
duchy of Luxembourg, a part of the German Confede-
ration, but Bismarck violently opposed him, and the dis-
pute ended in the neutralization of the duchy.
Mutual distrust continued to subsist between France and
Prussia, and when, on the forced abdication of Queen
Isabella of Spain, in Consequence of a revolt of the
Spanish troops, a prince of Hohenzollern was invited to
ascend the Spanish throne, Louis Napoleon saw his way
to an open quarrel. He believed his army to be in the
highest point of efficiency, he was egged on by evil
counsellors, and although, on the remonstrance of
England, and by the advice of Prussia, the candida-
ture of the prince was withdrawn, Louis Napoleon
declared war on the 15th July, 1870. Prussia was joined
by all the minor German states, Austria remaining neutral.
-1871.] FAZZ OF THE SECOND FRZACA/ AEMPIRZ. 351
The war opened with a series of astounding victories.
on the part of Prussia, which from the first took the part
of assailant, culminating in the utter defeat of the French
at Sedan, on the 2nd of September. On the next day
the Emperor surrendered himself and his entire army
prisoners of war to the King of Prussia. Paris went
nearly mad with rage and disappointment when the news
reached the capital, the Emperor was deposed, and the
Empress, who was acting as regent, fled to England. A
Provisional Government was formed, which opened ne-
gotiations for peace. These, however, came to nothing,
in consequence of a declaration of the foreign minister,
Jules Favre, that not a stone of the French fortresses,
nor an inch of French territory should be ceded. The
Prussians continued to advance, and Paris was soon
encircled by the enemy. The siege lasted 131 days.
After enduring horrible privations, and making several
unsuccessful sorties, the town was forced to surrender on
28th January, 1871. At the same time a general armistice
was agreed upon. This was followed by a treaty of peace
(26th February, 1871), under which the French gave up
Alsace and Lorraine, consented to dismantle several for-
tresses and to pay the enormous indemnity of 200
millions sterling.
Pending these events, the King of Prussia was elected
German Emperor (18th January, 1871); the distinction
between the two confederations north and south of the
Main was done away, and a new constitution for the
whole empire was drawn up.
When the French troops were withdrawn in conse-
quence of the war, the Italian troops entered Rome after
a faint resistance, and the city became the capital of the
kingdom of Italy on the 9th October, 1870.
The son of Victor Emmanuel was elected sovereign of
Spain in November 1870, but the Spaniards soon grew
tired of their foreign king, although he displayed great
courage and Sagacity; and several attempts were made to
assassinate him. At length, finding that he could
obtain no real influence, he laid down the crown, and
352 COMSERVAZYVAE MINISTRY IN EAWGZAAWD. [1874.
returned to Italy early in the year 1873. Since that time
Spain has been in a state of constant revolution.
In Paris the Red Republicans were indignant with
the terms which had been agreed upon by the govern-
ment: they seized the Hôtel de Ville, shot two generals
of the National Guard (March 18, 1871); and the
National Assembly, with M. Thiers, who had been
chosen by it as President, at its head, escaped to Ver-
sailles. A second siege of Paris by French troops took
place on the 24th of May ; the insurgents, being hope-
lessly defeated, revenged themselves by setting fire to
the town in many places, and shooting their hostages.
But the government, which had established its seat at
Versailles, ultimately prevailed, and M. Thiers remained
president of the French Republic until the end of 1873,
when he was overthrown by a vote of the Assembly, and
replaced by Marshal MacMahon.
In England Mr. Gladstone, the Prime Minister who
succeeded Mr. Disraeli in December 1868, passed
several very important measures : (disestablishment of
the Irish Church, Irish Land Act, extension of public
education in England, abolition of purchase in the
army, and finally the establishment of voting by ballot).
Towards the end of the year 1873 Mr. Gladstone, find-
ing his majority daily diminishing, dissolved Parliament.
The new House of Commons which was elected in
February, 1874, proved more Conservative than any
which had been assembled since 1841. Mr. Gladstone
therefore retired, and was succeeded by Mr. Disraeli
at the head of a Conservative government in February
1874. During the various continental disturbances,
England maintained a strict neutrality; but she was
involved in two distant contests with savage tribes—
with Abyssinia in the year 1871, and with the Ashantees,
in Western Africa, in 1873-4—and on both occasions
her troops met with rapid and complete success.
I N D E X.
I N D E X.
A.
Abyssinian War, 352
Achmet I., Sultan, his reign,
I9I
Achmet, Vizier, his death, 66
Adrianople, treaty of, 335
Africa, l’ortuguese colonies in,
2OO
Aignadel, battle of, 78
Aix-la-Chapelle, peace of, 298;
congress of, 332
Alberoni, Julius, Spanish mi-
nister, his projects, 292
Albert of Brandenburg, and the
Reformation, IO7, 192
Albuera, battle of, 325
Albuquerque, Edwardd’, founder
of the Portuguese Empire in
India, 200, 20I
Alexander of Poland, his wars,
9 -
Alexander VI., Pope, his as-
sumption of the tiara, I8; he
hides himself in the castle of
St. Angelo, 72 ; he poisons
the brother of Bajazet II., ió. ;
and burns Savomarola, 74; his
death, 75 -
Alfonzo the African, King of
Portugal, 46
Alſonzo II. of Naples, his ab-
dication, 72
Algiers, its conquest by the
French, 334
Alma, battle of the, 340
Almagro, Diego de, and the
conquest of Peru, 213, 215
Alva, Duke of, his cruelties in
the Low Countries, I47, 148,
I54, I55
Amboise, treaty of, I46
America, Portuguese discoveries
in, 200 ; discoveries, conquests
and establishments of the
Spaniards, 203–216
American rebellion, 347
Amiens, peace of, 32O -
Amurath III., Sultan, his reign,
I9 I
Amurath IV., Sultan, his
foreign wars, 191
Anabaptism proscribed, I I I ;
creed of its disciples, I 13
Anne of Austria, widow of
Louis XIII., 231
Antoine of Navarre unites with
the Protestants, I44
Armada, the Invincible, I61
Armagnac, Counts of, 21, 26
Arneson, Bp., of Iceland, 127
Arragonese proverb, 44
Arts, in the sixteenth century,
217-22O ; in the seventeenth,
272, 276
Ashantee War, 352
A A 2
356
Aspern, battle of, 324
Astracan, its conquest by Ivan
IV., 192
Atahualpa, Inca of Peru, 2I4,
2 I
Atăides, Portuguese governor in
India, 202
Auerstadt, battle of 322
Augsburg, alliance of, 258
Augsburg, peace of, I 17; its
confirmation, 188
Augustus III. of Poland, his
accession disputed, 294
Austerlitz, battle of, 321
Austria, beginning of the rivalry
with France, 29 ; in the
fifteenth century, 58; invasion
by Soliman, I Io; and Hungary,
I IS ; her policy in the six-
teenth century, 181 ; and the
Thirty Years' War, 182; wars
with Hungary and the Turks,
I9 I, 245, 246; under Charles
VI., 278; the Succession War,
28o, 297 ; the Seven Years'
War, 282, 3O2; and Augustus
III. of Poland, 294 ; war
with France, 314; renewed
alliances against France, 317,
319, 32O ; defeat at Austerlitz,
32I ; at Wagram, 324; the
battle of Leipsic, 327 ; revolt
of Italy, 338; war with France
and Italy, 345; peace of Villa
Franca, ib.; war with Prussia,
349
Austrian Succession, war of the
28O, 297
Azores, discovered by the
Portuguese, I99
B.
Badajoz, storming of, 325
Bajazet II., Sultan, his brother
Zizim, 66; his wars, iſ, ; he is
dethroned and put to death ib.
AVZ)/2 X.
Balaklava charge, 341
Barbarenes, their introduction
of white slavery, 92; they
are defeated by Charles V.,
Żó.
Barbarossa, 92; his defeat at
Tunis, 93 -
Barnet, battle of, 3
Barrier Treaty, 266
Bastile, stormed and taken, 309
Batthori, Stephen, Prince of
Transylvania and King of
Poland, 'IQ4
Bautzen, battles of 327
Bayard, Chevalier, and the
Genoese, 77 ; his death, 87
Beggars, or “Gueux,” con-
federation of, 147; their severe
punishment, I49
Belgium, its union with Holland,
331; its revolt and inde-
pendence, 334. See Zozº,
Cozz72/7°ies.
Belgrade, siege of, I 5 ; its con-
quest, I IO
Bellinzona, taken by the Swiss,
74.
Bernard of Weimar, his victories,
187, 229 ; his ambition and
death, 229
Blois, treaty of 78
Bohemia and Hungary in the
fifteenth century, 67 ; and the
Thirty Years' War, 182
Borgia, Caesar, his character,
75, 76; his fruitless schemes,
76; he surrenders himself to
Gonsalvo of Cordova, ib.; his
imprisonment, ió.
Borodino, battle of, 326
Bosworth, battle of, 37
Bourbon, . Constable of, his
quarrel with Francis I., 86,
87 ; his ſailure at Marseilles,
87 ; his death at the assault
of Rome, 90
Brazil, its discovery, 200
Brisach, battle of, 229
AVADA. Y.
Brunswick, Duke of, his com-
mand of the allies, 3I4
Buonaparte, Jerome, his “Ring-
dom of Westphalia,” 323
Buonaparte, Joseph, leaves
Naples and usurps the Spanish
Crown, 323
Buonaparte, Napoleon, raises
the siege of Toulon, 316; he
is appointed to the command
of the army of Italy, ió.; his
victories in Italy, 317 ; his
war in Egypt, 319; he assumes
the title of First Consul, ib.;
the battle of Marengö, 320 ;
he is crowned emperor by the
Pope, ib.; his projected in-
vasion of England, ib.; battle
of Austerlitz, 321 ; his humili-
ation of Prussia, 322; the
peace of Tilsit, ib.; the Penin-
Sular war, 323; the battle of
Wagram, 324; his divorce and
marriage, 325 ; the victories
of Wellington in the Peninsula,
ið. ; his invasion of Russia,
ib.; his retreat, 326; he is
defeated at Leipsic, 327 ; his
abdication, 328; he is banished
to Elba, 329; his escape, ió.;
the Reign of One Hundred
Days, 10. ; the battle of Water-
loo, 330 ; he surrenders him-
self to the British, 331 ; his
death at St. Helena, ib.
Burgundy, Duke of, his oath to
fight the Infidels, I 5 ; the
provinces under his rule, 22
Bussi-Leclerc, governor of the
Bastile, I63
C.
Cabot, Sebastian, his discovery
of North America, 39
Cabral, Alvarès, his discoveries,
2OO
Calmar Union, 63
357
Calvin, John, his rise as a Re-
former, I29–136; the effect
of his preachings, I37; the
spread of his doctrines, 138–
I40 ; the intolerance and zeal
of his disciples, I4O -
Cambrai, league of, 78; peace
of, 92; congress of, 279
Campo Formio, peace of, 317
Canada, rebellion in, 336; union
of the two Provinces, 70.
Canning, George, his character
and abilities, 333; his death,
zó.
Capel, battle of, IO4
Casimir V. of Poland, protects
the Prussians, 69
Castelnaudry, battle of, 228
Castro, Juan de, Portuguese
governor in India, 202
Catherine de Medicis, her brief
retention of power, I44;
favours the Massacre of St.
Bartholomew, I 50
Catherine of Arragon, her
divorce, I I9
Catherine the Great of Russia,
chief events of her reign, 290
Catholic Emancipation, 333
Catinat, Nicholas, his general-
ship, 26o ; his victories, 261 ;
he surrenders his command,
264
Cavour, Count, his policy, 344;
his indignation at the peace
of Villa Franca, 345; his
secret influ, nce, ib.; he is
recalled to the premiership,
ib.; his death, 347
Cawnpore, massacre at, 343; re-
taken by Havelock, ió.
Cerignola, battle of, 75
Chancellor, the English naviga-
tor, I93
Charles Albert of Sardinia, his
defeat and abdication, 339
Charles, Austrian Archduke,
defeats the French, 317
358 JAW/D/EAT.
Charles the Bold, Duke of 99 ; he declares against the
Burgundy, leagues with the Reformation, Ioë, I I I ; his
nobles against Louis XI., 24, negotiations with the Re-
25 ; he is repulsed from
Picardy, 26; his wars with
the Germans and Swiss, 27 ;
his defeats by the Swiss, 28 :
his death, 29
Charles Canutson, elected King
of Sweden, 63
Charles I. of England, differences
with Parliament, #72, I 73 ;
war with France and Spain,
172; he tries government with-
out a parliament, I 73; he
summons the Long Parlia-
ment, 174 ; beginning of the
civil war, Żó. ; his defeat, I'75 ;
he takes refuge with the Scots,
176; he is given up to the
English, I'77; his escape to
the Isle of Wight, 178; his
impeachment, ib. ; his trial
and execution, 178, 179
Charles II. of England, chief
events of his reign, 241, 242
Charles V. of Spain, his accession,
55 ; discontent of the people,
ió.; he suppresses their revolt,
56; his character, 84; his
candidature for the imperial
crown, 85 ; and Henry VIII.
of England, ió. ; his success,
86; alliance with the Constable
of Burgundy, 87 ; he takes
Francis I. a prisoner, 88 ; his
ill treatment of him, 89 ; he
releases him, ió. ; the capture
of Rome, 9o, 91 ; the peace
of Cambrai, 92; he attacks
the Barbarenes, ib.; renewal
of war with Francis I., 93 ;
the truce of Nice, 94 ; his
reconciliation with Francis I.,
tó. ; his financial difficulties,
95; failure of his expedition
against Algiers, 96; Spain
under his government, 97–
formers, I 12 ; he defeats the
Elector of Saxony, I 14; his
oppressive conduct, I I5 ; his
Interim, I 16; the peace of
Augsburg, I I7; his last days, ió.
Charles VII. of France, feuda-
lism in his reign, 21 ; he is
Supported by the citizens, 22 ;
his parliamentary reforms, ib.;
he creates a permanent army,
23; his death, Żó.
Charles VIII. of France, his
minority, 29 ; the provinces
he lost, 30 ; his soldiers in
Italy, 72, 73 ; his return to
France, 73; his death, 74
Charles IX. of France, his
minority, I44; his share in
the Massacre of St. Bartholo-
mew, I 5 I ; his death, I 53
Charles IX. of Sweden, his war
with Sigismund III., IQ4
Charles X. of France, his reign
and abdication, 324
Charles XII. of Sweden, chief
events of his reign, 248, 249
Charolais, Comte de. See Charles
the AEo/a/.
Chartist demonstration in Eng-
land, 339
Château-Cambresis, peace of,
I4 I
China, Portuguese in, 2OI ; war
with England, 336
Christian I. of Denmark and
Norway, revolt of the Swedes,
3
Christian II. of Denmark, his
conquest of Sweden. I23; his
defeat by Gustavus Vasa, I24 ;
the unpopularity of his reforms,
ið. ; his loss of the Swedish
crown, ib.; he tries to regain
it, 125 ; his defeat and long.
imprisonment, I25, 126
JAWADAE.Y.
#
Christian III. of Denmark, be-
sieges Lübeck, I27; takes
Copenhagen, ió.; his reign, ió.;
his alliance with the Protest-
ants of Germany, 128
Christian IV. of Denmark, and
the Thirty Years' War, 183,
I 95
Christopher of Oldenburg,Count,
raises a revolt in Denmark,
I26
Christopher of Sweden, the Bark
Aïng, 63
Cinq-Mars, Marquis of, his
revolt and death, 230
Circassia depopulated by the
Turks, 66
Ciudad Rodrigo, its capitulation,
325
Clarence, Duke of, joins Earl
Warwick, 34; his treachery
at Barnet, 35 ; his death, ió.
Clement VII., Pope, and the
capture of Rome, 90 ; his
captivity, 91 ; his quarrel with
Henry VIII., I 19
Colbert, John Baptist, minister
of Louis XIV., 237—239
Coligni, Admiral, his character,
I43; his defeat at St. Denis,
I46; he is massacred, I5 I
Colonies, their discovery and
ſoundation, IQ7 ; difference
between ancient and modern,
ió. ; their results, IQ8; Portu-
guese, 198—2O2; Spanish, 203
—216 ; Dutch, 242 ; English,
243 ; French, ib.; European
during the eighteenth century,
28
Columbus, Christopher, his dis-
covery of America, 2O3, 204 ;
his second voyage, 2O4; he is
treated with ingratitude, 205,
his other voyages, ió.; his
death, ió.; his letters quoted,
15. ; his title to be deemed the
discoverer of America, 206
359
Concini, Marshal d'Ancre, his
policy, 223; he arrests the
Prince of Condé, 224 ; his
assassination, ió.
Condé, Louis, Prince of, joins
the Protestants, 144 ; he is
taken prisoner, I46; his defeat
at St. Denis, 26. ; his death, 76.
Condé, Louis II., Prince of, his
victories, 188, 233; and the
Fronde, 234—236; war with
Holland, 254
Condottieri of Italy, 12
Conflams, treaty of 24, 25
Constantinople, its siege by the
barbarians, 14 ; flight of the
fugitives to Europe, ió.
Copenhagen bombarded by the
English, 323
Copenhagen University founded,
4. -
Cordeliers, Club of the, 3 Io
Corn Laws, their repeal, 337
Corsica, its revolt against the
Genoese and union with
France, 287
Cortes, the Spanish, their an-
tiquity, 49; under Charles V.,
9
Cortez, Fernando, his conquest
of Mexico, 208—213; his
treatment by Charles V., 213
Corunna, battle of, 323
Corvinus, Matthias, of Hungary,
his accomplishments and love
of letters, 16; he refuses to
Aoison his father-in-law, ib. ;
his excellence recorded in a
proverb, ió. ; his opposition to
Frederick III., 67; his wars,
ib.; his character as a king,
68 .
Council of Troubles or Blood, 149
Count's War in Denmark, 126
Coutras, battle of, I 57
Cracow, its annexation to Austria,
336
Crimean war, 340–342
360
Cromwell, Oliver, his share in
the civil war, 176—178; and
the execution of Charles I.,
I79 ; his government, 24I ;
his death, ió.
Crusade of the fifteenth century,
I5, 16, 42
Cyprus, its conquest by the
Turks, I90
Czar, first assumption of the
title, 70
D.
Danton, Geo. James, and the
Convention, 312 ; his execu-
tion, 313
Decretum Majus of Matthias
Corvinus, 68
Delhi, its siege, 342
Denain, battle of, 266
Denmark, its preponderance in
Scandinavia, 62; the Calmar
Union, 63; the Reformation
in, I23; conquest of Sweden,
10.; defeat by Gustavus Vasa,
124 ; the Count's War, I26;
the Thirty Years' War, 183;
internal troubles, 195; chief
events from 1654 to 1669,246,
247; from 1699 to I72I, 248;
from 1722 to 1808, 29I ; war
with Prussia, 348
Desmoulins, Camille, stirs up
the people of Paris, 309
Dessau, league at, IO9
i)ettingen, battle of, 297
Diaz, Bartholomew, Portuguese
navigator, I09
Doria, the Genoese Admiral,
Francis I. irritates him, 91 ;
Charles V. offers him the
sovereignty of Genoa, 92
Douglases in Scotland in the
fifteenth century, 40
J)owns, battle of the, 187
Dumouriez, Charles François, is
appointed commander, 3I4;
AVDAX.
he invades and evacuates
Flanders, 315; he deserts to
the Austrian lines, ió.
Dutch colonies, 242
E.
Eckmühl, battle of, 324.
Edgehill, battle oſ, I75
Edward IV. of England, pro-
claimed King, 33; at the battle
of Towton, 10. ; his marriage,
34; his flight to Burgundy,
ib. ; he lands at Ravenspur,
10.; his victory at Barnet, 35 ;
he puts his brother to death,
ib.; his expedition to France,
26; his death, 35
Edward V. of England, his
ministry, 35 ; his death, 36
Egmont, Count, his execution,
I49
Egypt becomes a Viceroyalty,
33
Elizabeth of England, synopsis
of the history of her reign,
I36; her championship of
Protestantism, I42; she im-
prisons Mary Stuart, I43; the
execution of Mary, I58; the
fate of the Spanish Armada,
161 ; her continued triumph,
I62
Emmanuel the Fortunate, of Por-
tugal, and Vasco da Gama,
I99 .
England, I454–1509, 30; de-
feats in France, 30—31 ; Wars
of the Roses, 32—35, 37–38;
decimation of the nobility, 38;
1527–47, II8; revolution
effected by Henry VIII., II8
—I2O ; Protestantism in, I2O,
I42 ; under Elizabeth, I36,
139; defeat of the Armada,
161 ; James I., I 72 ; Charles
I., 172, 173; the Long Par-
AVZ)/2 X. 361
liament, 174; defeat of Charles,
I75; rise of the Independents,
I76; trial and execution of
Charles I., I78, I?9; govern-
ment of the Protector, 24I ;
his death, 10.; reign of Charles
II., 70. ; reign and abdication
of James II., 242 ; James II.
and Louis XIV., 26o ; battle
of La Hogue, 261 ; art and
literature in the seventeenth
century, 273 ; accession of the
House of Hanover, 278; the
Seven Years' War, 282, 301,
3O2; 1743—83, 288; battle of
Dettingen, 297 ; defeat of the
Pretender, 298; joins the alli-
ance against France, 315 ;
suspension of the Habeas
Corpus Act, 316; a new alli-
ance against France, 317 ;
warlike spirit of the nation,
318; French attempts at in-
vasion, ib. ; defeat of the
Spanish fleet, ib.; mutiny of the
English sailors, ió.; Napoleon's
preparations for invasion, 32O;
battle of the Nile, 321 ; bom-
bardmentof Copenhagen, 323,
the Peninsular War, 323—325;
Thirty Years' Peace, 332; in-
tervention in the affairs of
Greece, 333; Catholic Eman-
cipation, ió. ; the Reform Bill,
335; accession of Queen Vic-
toria, 336; the Quadruple
* Alliance, ib.; war with China,
ib. ; reverses in Cabul, ib. ;
conquest of Scinde and the
Punjaub, 337; Anti-Corn
Law League, ió.; Chartist de-
monstration, 339 ; the Cri-
mean war, 340–342 ; the
Indian Mutiny, 342 ; the es-
tablishment of the Volunteers,
344 ; the Geneva award, 348;
the second Reform Bill, ió. ;
the ministries of Mr. Glad-
stone and Mr. Disraeli, 352 ;
Abyssinian and Ashantee .
wars, āb.
English colonies, 243
Erasmus and Luther, IO3, IO7
Eric XIV. of Sweden, his war
in Livonia, I93; his deposi-
tion, 196
Escurial, its erection, I4I
Essex, Earl of, is favoured by
Queen Elizabeth, 162 ; his
ingratitude and tragical end,
ib.
Eugène, Prince, his capability,
263; his victories, 265
Eylau, battle of 322
F.
Federowitsch, Michael, founds
the House of Romanow, IQ4
Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain,
their accession and reign, 46
–50, 53; and Columbus, 204,
2O
Ferdinand of Austria, his elec-
tion, I IO; his war with Zapoly,
ió.; his hostility to the Refor-
mers, II.4.
Ferdinand II. of Naples, his
short reign, 73, 75
Feudalism superseded by mon-
archy, IQ
Feuillants, club of the, 3 Io
Flanders, its invasion by Louis
XIV., 250
Fleury, Cardinal, his regency,
293
Flodden, battle of, 42
Florence in the fiſteenth century,
II ; its government, I 3
Foix, Gaston de, his brilliant
victories, 79 ; his death, 80
Fontenoy, battle of, 298
Fornovo, battle of, 73
France, I452–94, 20 ; rise of
royalty in, 2I–23; Confe-
deracy of the Public Weal, 24,
362
25 ; invasion of Edward
IV., 26, 27 ; establishment of
the royal dynasty, 29 ; humi-
liation of the nobles, 29, 30;
rivalry between France and
Spain, 85 ; treason of Bour-
bon, 86, 87 ; battle of Pavia,
88; reverses of Francis I., 89;
treaty of Cambrai, 92; renewal
of the war with Spain, 93 ;
foundation of a national army,
94; invasion of Provence and
truce of Nice, 94 ; exhaustion
of the country, 95 ; alliance
with the Turks, 96; state of
the country under Francis I.,
98—IOO ; and the Reforma-
tion, 99, I 38, I44–146; in-
ternal state, I450–1559, I3 I;
religious troubles in, I32 ;
civil and foreign wars, I.33—
I35; internal state, I 560–
I6 Io, I 33–136; after the
Reſormation, I39 ; Coligni
and the Guises, I43—I45; re-
ligious wars, I45, 146; treaties
of Amboise and Longjumeau,
I46; St. Bartholomew, I 50—
I52 ; the Catholic League,
I56–159, 164; battle of Ivry,
163 ; Edict of Nantes, 165 ;
under Henry IV., 166–168;
intervention in the Thirty
Years' War, 186, 228, 233;
peace of Augsburg, 188;
letters and arts in the sixteenth
century, 219 ; progress of the
monarchy, 222 ; balance be-
tween Catholics and Protest-
ants, 223; claims of the
nobles, ió. ; progress of the
Protestants, 224 ; policy of
Richelieu, 225—230; troubles
under Mazarin, 23.I ; rise of
the French infantry soldier,
232 ; the Fronde, 234–236;
administration of Louis XIV.,
237–250 ; invasion of Flan-
AV/DEX.
ders, 250 ; struggle with Hol-
land, 25I-254; triumph and
power of Louis XIV., 255,
256; revocation of the Edict
of Nantes, 257; alliance of
Augsburg, 258; wars of suc-
cession, 259 ; battle of La
Hogue, 261 ; peace of Rys-
wick, 261 ; defeat by the
Allies, 265; treaty of Utrecht,
266; death of Louis XIV.,
267 ; art and literature in the
seventeenth century, 255, 268,
299; regency of the Duke of
Orleans, 28.1–293; of Fleury,
293; war of the Austrian Suc-
cession, 297 ; peace of Aix-la-
Chapelle, 298; the Seven
Years' War, 302 ; death of
Louis XV., 3O4 ; Assembly of
the States General, 307, 308;
the Jeu de Paume, 309; flight
of the king, 3IO ; beginning
of the continental wars, 3 II;
Reign of Terror, 312; death’
of Robespierre, 313 ; war in
Flanders, 3I4 ; England joins
the alliance, 315 ; war in La
Vendée, 316; victories of
Buonaparte, 317 ; he assumes
the title of First Consul, 319;
peace of Amiens, 32O ; pro-
jected invasion of England,
70. ; Trafalgar and Austerlitz,
32I ; humiliation of Prussia,
322 ; the Peninsular war, 323
—325 ; the retreat from
Russia, 326; battle of Leipsic,
, 327 ; abdication of Buona-
parte, 328; his escape, 329 ;
the Reign of One Hundred
Days, ib.; Waterloo, 330; the
“Three glorious days,” 331;
Revolution of I848, 338; the
Coup d'État, 339; the Cri.
mean War, 34O, 34 I ; Con-
spiracy of Orsini, 344; the
war with Austria, 344, 345;
A.V/D/EX.
the Mexican war, 350 ; war
with Prussia, 350; siege of
Paris and fall of the second
Empire, 351 ; revolt and de-
feat of the Red Republicans,
352 ; M. Thiers elected Presi-
dent of the National Assembly,
352 ; he is succeeded by Mar-
shal MacMahon, ib.
Francis I. of France, at the
battle of Marignan, 80, 81 ;
he signs the treaty of Noyon,
8I ; his character, 84 ; his
candidature for the imperial
crown, 85; and Henry VIII.
of England, ib.; the revolt of
the Constable of Bourbon,
86, 87 ; his defeat at Pavia,
88; his imprisonment, 87, 88;
his release, 88 ; he repudiates
the treaty with Charles V.,
- ib.; and Doria, 91 ; he signs
the peace of Cambrai, 92; he
renews the war, 93 ; he estab-
lishes a national army, 94 ;
his invasion of Provence, ib. ;
peace, ió.; his embarrassments,
95 ; the taxes he established,
96; his alliance with Soliman,
it. ; his last war, and death,
97 ; state of France during his
reign, 97 ; and Protestantism,
99 ; his patronage of literature
and the arts, 217, 219
Francis II. of Austria, 322
Francis II. of France, influence
of the Guises during his reign,
I43
Frederick the Wise, Elector of
Saxony, his reſusal of the im-
perial crown, 85
Frederick I. of Denmark, his
election, I24 ; the reforms he
effected, 125; his death, 126
Frederick II. of Denmark, his
war in Livonia, IQ3
Frederick II. of Prussia, his
character and reign, 28O, 296,
363
3oo ; the Seven Years' War,
282, 3OO–3O2
Frederick III. of Austria, 58,
59 ; and Matthias Corvinus,
6
Frederick V., Elector Palatine,
182 ; his son recovers the Pala-
tinate, I89
Free Companies, their end, 22
French colonies, 243
Freundsberg, George, German
commander, 90
Friedland, battle of, 322
Friedlingen, battles oſ, 264, 265
Pronde, insurrection of the, 234
—236
G.
Gabor, Bethlem, Waiwode of
Transylvania, 182, 191
Gama, Vasco da, his voyages and
adventures, 199, 200
Garibaldi, General, conquers
Sicily, 345; defeats the Nea-
politans, 346; retires to Cap-
rera, ib.; his attempts to take
Rome, 350
Gaston, Duke of Orleans, 225,
226; his defeat with the
nobles, 228
Gatimozin, Emperor of Mexico,
2 I 2 -
Geneva arbitration, 348
Germanic States in the fifteenth
century, 57
Germany, reformation in, IOI —
Io8; revolt of the peasantry,
IoS ; phlegmatic character of
the nation, I I I ; council of
Trent, I 13 ; battle of Muhl-
berg, I I4; peace of Augsburg,
117, 188; the Thirty Years'
War, 182—188, 228, 229 :
peace of Westphalia, 188; arts
and literature in the sixteenth
century, 220; principal events
364 A.VD/Z.A.
from I648 to 1714, 244, 245 ;
war of the Austrian Succession,
28o ; the Seven Years' War,
282
Girondists, 3II, 3I2; their exe-
cution, 312
Gloucester, Duke of, is pro-
claimed Protector, 35 ; he be-
heads Lord Hastings, 36; the
fate of his nephews, ió. ; he
succeeds to the throne, ib.
Granada, its siege, 48
Greece, intervention of the Bri-
tish, 333; its independence
established, ib.
Guinegate, battle of, 80
Guise, Francis de Lorraine,
Duke of, his influence, I43;
his share in the religious wars,
I45, 146; his assassination,
I46
4.
Guise, Henry, Duke of, his hopes
of reaching the throne, I59;
he is disappointed, ió. ; he is
made Generalissimo, 70. ; his
assassination, I6O ; how the
Parisians mourned for him,
I62, 163
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden,
his war with Poland, 183;
and the Thirty Years' War,
184, 185, 229 ; his death, I85
Gustavus Vasa of Sweden, es-
capes from prison, I23; his
wanderings, I24; he frees
Sweden ſrom the Danes, ib. ;
his ecclesiastical reforms, I24,
I 25
H.
Haarlem, siege of, I55
Hague, triple alliance of the, 25 I
Hampden, John, his trial, I 73
Hanseatic League, 60–62, 126
—I28 -
Hastings, Lord, his execution,
36
J
Henry of Navarre.
IV. of France
Henry of Portugal, his brief
reign, I56; his favour to dis-
coverers, 198
Henry of Valois, in Poland, 194
Henry II. of France, his mani-
festo to Charles V., II 7
Henry III. of France, his acces-
Sion, I54; his concession to
the Calvinists, I56; formation
of the League, ió. ; death of
his brother, I57; his debau-
chery and folly, ib. ; he sur-
renders to the League, I58;
his escape to Chartres, I59 ;
he is obliged to yield, ió. ; the
assassination of the Duke of
Guise, 16O ; his assassination,
I63
Henry IV. of France and Na-
varre, his marriage, I5O ; he
resists the League, I58; he
defeats Mayenne, 163; the
battle of Ivry, ió.; he block-
ades Paris, I64; his absolution,
ib.; he redeems his kingdom
bit by bit, 165; his foreign
wars, ib. ; he is called the
Restorer of France, 166 ; his
administration, 167, 168 ; his
contemplated humiliation of
Austria frustrated by his assas-
sination, 168–17o ; the diffi-
culties of his reign, 223 -
Henry IV. of Spain, his troubled
reign, 45; his death, 46
Henry VI. of England, his in-
competence, 30 ; the dower
he paid for his wife, 31 ; the
French victories during his
reign, ib.; and the Wars of
the Roses, 32––34 ; his death,
See Affewery
35 -
Henry VII. of England, his title
to the crown, 36 ; he defeats
King Richard at Bosworth, 37;
his marriage, ió.; claimants to
AVADA2 X.
the crown, 37, 38; his reign,
38, 39
Henry VIII. of England, joins
the League against Louis XII.,
79, 80 ; his intrigues with
Charles V. and Francis I., 85,
86, 89, 93, 97 ; his book
against Luther, IOS ; the revo-
lution effected by him, I 18;
his passion for Anne Boleyn,
I 19 ; he breaks with the
Papacy, ió.; his persecution of
Protestants and Catholics, I2O,
his despotism, I2O, I21 ; his
disputations, I2 I ; how the
Scotch detested him, 76.; his
death, ib.; the money he ob-
tained from the Parliaments,
I22 ; his innovations in Wales
and Ireland, ib.
Héricourt, battle of, 27
Hermandad, Spanish fraternity,
49, 55
Hesse, Landgrave of, heads the
Reformers, I I4 ; his defeat,
70. ; and imprisonment, ió.
Hexham, battle of, 33
Historians of the sixteenth cen-
tury, 218 ; of the seventeenth,
27O, 274
Hochstadt, battle of, 264
Holland, temp. William II. and
William III., 242 ; character
of the nation, 249 ; war with
France, 250—254; 1747—
1788, 288; battle of Fontenoy,
298; its union with Belgium,
331; the revolt of Belgium,
334. See Zozy Countries
Howe, Lord, his defeat of the
French fleet, 315
Huescar, Inca of Peru, 213, 214
Hungary, under Matthias Cor-
vinus, I6, 67, 68; its Magna
Charta, 16; and Bohemia, 67 ;
wars with the Turks, I Io, I 15,
191 ; the Thirty Years' War,
182 ; continual wars with
365
Austria, 191 ; wars which led
to its subjection to Austria,
245, 246; revolts against
Austria, 246, 338
Hunniades of Hungary, his share
in the Crusade, I5 ; he re-
pulses the Ottomans at Bel-
grade, ió.
I.
Iceland, the Reformation in,
I25, 127; revolt against the
Danes, I27
India, Portuguese Empire in,
2OO–2O2 ; English reverses
at Cabul, 336; English con-
quests in, 337 ; the Mutiny,
342, 343; 'abolition of the
Company, 343
Inkermann, battle of, 341
Inquisition in Spain, 50, 5 I,
98; in Portugal and India,
52 ; its permanent establish-
ment in Spain, I42
Interim of Charles V., II6
Ionian Islands, their cession to
Greece, 348
Ireland under Henry VIII.,
I22 ; massacre of Protestants,
temſ. Charles I., I 74; attemp-
ted invasion by the French,
318; rebellion in, ió.; union
with England, 319; famine
in, 337
Isabella of Spain, her accession
and reign, 46–50; her death.
52 ; her character and reputa-
tion, 53
Issus, battle of, 66
Italy, I453–94, II; her civiliza-
tion, II ; the cultivation of
literature in, I2; signs of her
decadence, ib. ; the govern-
ments of Venice and Florence
I3; the Turkish war, 14—17 ;
Savonarola, I8, 74; Charles
VIII. in, 72–73; Louis
366
XII. in, 74, 75 ; the Borgias,
75, 76; conspiracy against
Venice, 78; the victories of
Gaston de Foix, 79 ; humilia-
tion of France, 80 ; battle of
Marignan, 81 ; capture of
Rome, 90 ; revolt of Doria,
91 ; treaty of Cambrai, 92;
poetry and the arts in the
sixteenth century, 218, 219;
Trench successes under Riche-
lieu’s policy, 227; 1715–89,
287 ; victories of Buonaparte,
317; renewed war with France
319, 32O ; revolts against
Austria, 338, 344, 345; vic-
tories of Garibaldi, 345, 346;
the Papal war, 346
Ivan III. of Russia, his vigorous
reign, 70; he assumes the
title of Czar, ib. ; his wife, ió.
Ivan IV. of Russia, his minority,
192 ; the influence of his wife,
ib.; war in Livonia, 193; his
death, ib.; his code, ib.
Ivangorod, founded by Ivan III.,
7o
Ivry, battle of, I63
J.
Jacobins, Club of the, 3IO, 3II
James, I. of England, his un-
popularity, I7I
James II. of England, chief
events of his reign, 242 ; his
character, 258; the aid given
him by Louis XIV., 259, 260
James II. of Scotland and the
T}ouglases, 40
James III. of Scotland, his un-
popularity, 4 I ; he imprisons
his brothers, ib.; his favourites
are hanged, ib. ; his death, 42
James IV. of Scotland, his
reign, 42 ; his defeat at Flod-
dem, 70.
Japan, Portuguese in, 20I
AVDAX.
Jean d’Albert, his defeat, 54;
his marriage, ió.
Jena, battle of 322
Jesuits, Order of the, 141 ; its
overthrow, 303
“Jeu de Paume,” 309
Jews in Spain in the fifteenth
century, 44 : their expulsion,
5I, 52 ; in Portugal, 52
Joachim II. of Brandenburg,
obtains the fief of Prussia, 195
Jº Albert of Poland, his wars,
John of Calabria, his attempts
on the kingdom of Naples,
I5, 2I ; his death, 22
Joseph II. of Germany, his re-
forms, 313; his death, 3I4
Josephine, Empress, her divorce,
2
“Journée des Dupes,” 227
Juan II. of Arragon, 25, 26, 45,
46; his death, 47
Juan II. of Portugal, 50
Juan II. of Spain, his son's re-
bellion, 44
Julius II., Pope, and Caesar
Borgia, 76; his schemes, ió. ;
he encourages the Genoese to
revolt, 77 ; his imprudence,
78; his wars, 79–81
I.
La Biagrasse, battle of 87
La Bicoque, battle of, 86
Ladislas Jagellon, unites Lithu-
ania to Poland, 68
Ladislas of Poland, ISing of
Bohemia and Hungary, 68
Ladislas VII. of Poland, his
wars, IQ5
Lafayette, Marquis de, is ap-
pointed to the command of
the National Guard, 309;
procures the exile of the Duke
of Orleans, 3IO ; his attempt
to save the royal family, 3II
AVZ) ZX. 367
La Hogue, battle of 261
Lancaster and York, wars of,
32—35, 37,38 .
La Rochelle, its siege, 226, 227
Las Casas, Bartholomew de,
Bishop of Chiapa, 207, 215
Lautrec, governor of the Milan-
ese, 86; his march
Naples, 91
Law, John, his schemes, 286—
292 ; his flight, 292
League, the Catholic, its for-
mation, I56; its progress,
I58; its dissolution, 164
Leipsic, battles of, 184, 327
Leno, battle of, I88, 233
Leo X., Pope, his character, 84;
he invades the Duchy of
Urbino, IO2; his patronage of
artists and men of letters, I2O,
2I7; and Luther, IO2, IO3 ;
Luther's appeal to him, IO4
Leoben, truce of, 317
Leonora, Queen of Navarre, 54
Lepanto, battle of, 152
Leyden, John of, chief of the
Anabaptists, II3
L'Hôpital, Chancellor, his cha-
racter, I44; his death, I5 I
Ligny, battle of, 329
Literature in the sixteenth cen-
tury, 217–220; in the seven-
teenth, 255, 269—276
Lithuania, its union with Poland,
68, 69
Livonia, war in, I552–85, 193
Lodi, treaty of, I5
Longjumeau, treaty of, I46
Lorraine, Cardinal of, his influ-
ence, I43
Louis of Hungary, his death, I Io
Louis Philippe, his accession,
332 ; France grows tired of
him, 337; the Spanish mar-
riages, 338; his abdication,
ió. ; his death in England, Żó.
Louis the Moor, how he was
aided by the French, 71
upon
Louis II. of Hungary, 68
Louis XI. of France, he humili-
ates and offends the nobles,
23 ; the nobles coalesce
against him, 24 ; he grants
their demands, ió. ; and Charles
of Burgundy, 25; his brother
conspires against him, ib. ;
death of his brother, 26; he
secures all his enemies, ib. ;
bribes the English army, 70. ;
the establishment of his dynasty,
29 ; his death, 20.
Louis XII. of France, his acces-
Sion and marriage, 74 ; he
invades Italy, ió. ; his treaty
and war with Spain, 75 ; his
influence in Italy, 26. ; revolt
of the Geonese, 77 ; he defeats
the Venetians, 78; his mer-
cenaries, 78, 79 ; his failures,
8O
Louis XIII. of France, his
minority, 223; the policy of
Richelieu, 225–230 ; his
death, 232
Louis XIV. of France, his
minority, 23 I ; war with
Spain, 232 ; the Thirty Years'
war, 233 ; and the Fronde,
234–236 ; his flight from and
return to Paris, 236 ; his
marriage, 237 ; character of
his reign, 237–24O ; he
humiliates the Pope, 243 ;
Suppresses piracy, 244 ; helps
the emperor, 245; invasion
of Flanders, 250 ; struggle
with Holland, 251–254 ; his
triumph and power, 255, 256;
revocation of t, we Edict of
Nantes, 257 ; flight of the
Calvinists, 258 ; alliance of
Augsburg, 258; wars of suc-
cession, 259 ; he assists James
II., 26o ; battle of La Hogue,
261 ; he sends his grandson to
Spain, 262 ; his deſeat and
d
368
humiliation by the allies, 265;
the treaty of Utrecht, 266;
his death, 267 *
Louis XV. of France, regency
of the Duke of Orleans, 281–
293; of Fleury, 293 ; and
Madame de Pompadour, 299;
he abolishes parliaments and
the Jesuits, 303; his death,
304
Louis XVI. of France, his
accession, 3O4 ; his ministers,
306 ; he assembles the Nota-
bles, 307; his concessions,
309 ; he assumes the title of
King of the French, 3IO ; his
escape and arrest, 20. ; declar-
ation of war, 3II ; the sections
demand his deposition, 3II ;
imprisonment of his family,
312 ; he is condemned by the
Convention, and beheaded, 26.
Louis XVIII., his accession,
329 ; he leaves Paris for
Ghent, ió. ; the character of
his reign, 332, 334; his death,
334 tº º
Louvois, Marquis de, minister of
Louis XIV., 238
Low Countries, revolutions and
war in, I 556–1669, I29 ;
their state after the struggle
of the Reformation, I 38 ; the
inhabitants turn against Philip
II., 147 ; excesses of the
Calvinists, ió. ; persecutions of
Philip II., 148; cruelty of the
JDuke of Alva, I49 ; its fruit-
lessness, I 54 ; imposition of
vexatious taxes, I 54; massacre
of the people, 155 ; insurrec-
tions, ib. ; foundation of a
republic, ib.; trade with India,
166; war, ib. ; peace with
Spain, 168
Loyola, Ignatius, founds the
order of the Jesuits, 141
Lübeck, battle of 322
AVADA2 X.
Lübeck, Republic of, and the
Count's War in Denmark,
I26, 127 - .
Lucknow, the relief of, 343
Ludovico the Moor, imprisons
his nephew, 18 -
Luna, Alvaro de, his death, 44
Luneville, treaty of, 32O
Luther, Martin, and Leo X.,
IO2 ; his abilities, studies, and
opinions, IO3; he attacks the
Church of Rome, ib. ; burns
the Pope's bull at Wittemberg,
IO4 ; the circumstances which
encouraged him, ió. ; he ap-
pears before the diet of Worms,
Ioé ; his concealment in the
castle of Wartburg, Ioy ; his
theological writings, ib. ; the
deductions made from his
principles, IO7, IOS; his fol-
lowers are designated Protest-
ants, III
Lutter, battle of, 183
Lützen, battles of, I85, 327
Luxembourg, Duchy of, its neu-
tralization, 350
Luxembourg, Duke of, his
generalship, 260
Luynes, minister of Louis XIII.,
224; and the Protestants, ib. ;
his failure as a commander,
ið. ; his death, ió.
M.
Madeira, its discovery by the
Portuguese, I99
Magalhaens, Ferdinand, his
Voyages, 2I3
Magdeburg, battle of, 322
Magenta, battle of, 345
Mahomet II., his siege of Con-
stantinople, I4, his love of
letters, I6 ; he swears the ruin
of Christianity, 17; his death,
fö.
INDEX. - 369
Mahomet III., Sultan, his reign,
I
Maine, Duchess of, her projects,
293 . . . . . . .
Maintenance, right of, its aboli-
tion, 38
Maintenon, Madame de, her
character and influence, 257,
262
Malaga, its conquest by Spain,
47
Manuel of Portugal, and the
Jews, 52 ; his attempt to con-
vert the Moors, ió.
Marat, Jean Paul, his assassi-
nation, 312
Maremma, its ruins, 7 I
Marengo, battle of, 32O
Margaret of Anjou, her marriage,
31 ; and the wars between
York and Lancaster, 32—35
Margaret of Valois, her marri-
age, I 5O
Maria. Theresa of Hungary, and
the war of the Austrian Suc-
cession, 281, 297
Marie Antoinette of France, her
execution, 312
Marie de Medicis, her regency,
223; her opposition to Riche-
lieu, 227 ; her arrest and
'escape to Brussels, 228
Marignan, battle of, 60, 80, 81.
Marlborough, Duke of, his cha-
racter, 263 ; his victories,
265
Marston Moor, battle of, I 75
Martinuzzi, Cardinal George, the
real ruler of Transylvania,
I I5 ; his assassination, ió.
Mary I. of England, her marri-
age, I4O ; her death, 14.I
Mary Queen of Scots, her
minority, I2 I ; her reign, I2 I,
I42 ; Elizabeth imprisons her,
I43; her execution, 158;
a synopsis of her history,
I36
Matthias of Austria, the diffi- -
culties of his reign, 182
Maximilian, Archduke, his exe-
cution in Mexico, 350
Maximilian II. of Austria,
favours Protestantism, I81
Mayenne, Duc de, is created
chief of the League, 163; his
defeat by Henry IV., ió. .
Mazarin, Cardinal, his adminis-
tration, 231 ; the wealth he
amassed, 232; and the Fronde,
35, 236 -
Medici, Giuliano de, is stabbed
in church, I 3
Medici, Lorenzo de, his regal
munificence, I 3 ; his refusal of
absolution, 18
Medina del Campo, battle of,
45
Mehemet Ali, his intrigues
against the Sultan of Turkey,
336
Mexico, its conquest by Cortez,
208–213 ; war with France,
35O -
Mirabeau, Count de, his influ-
ence, 3 IO; his death, ib.
Mohacz, battle of, I Io
Monarchy triumphant over Feu-
dalism, IQ ; its progress in the
sixteenth century, 221
Montereau, battle of 328
Montesquieu, Baron de, his ad-
miration of England, 294
Montezuma, Emperor of Mexico,
his palaces, 209; he is im-
prisoned by Cortez, 2 IO
Montlhéri, battle of 24
Montmorency, Duke de, Gover-
nor of Languedoc, his revolt
and execution, 228
Montrose, Marquis of, his vic-
tories, 175 ; his defeat, I76
Moore, Sir John, his death at
Corunna, 323
Moors in Spain, 43; their defeat
by the Christians, 47; violent
|B B
37O
attempts to convert them, 52 ;
their persecution by Philip II.,
I4 I, I42 \
Morat, battle of, 28
Moscow, Grand Duchy of, 69
Mühlberg, battle of, I 14
N.
Nantes, Edict of,
revocation, 257
Naples, its conquest by the
Portuguese, 52
Napoleon I. See Buonaparſe
Napoleon III., a special con-
stable, 339; he is elected
President of the Republic, ib.;
the Coup d’Aºtat, ib.; he pro-
claims himself Emperor, 34o ;
the Crimean war, 340–342 ;
his attempted assassination by
Orsini, 344; the war with
Austria, 344, 345; the Mexi-
can war, 350 ; war with
Prussia, 350, 351 ; his sur-
render at Sedan, 351
Naseby, battle of, 176
Navarino, battle of, 333
Navarre, seized by Ferdinand of
Spain, 54; shared between
France and Spain, ib.
Necker, James, his financial ad-
ministration, 306; his dis-
missal, 309; he is recalled,
fö. ; his attempts to restore
order, 3 Io
Neerwinden, battle of, 261, 315
Netherlands. See Low Coun-
tries
Neuss, siege of, 27
Newbury, battles of, 175
Nice, truce oſ, 94; its cession to
France, 34
Nicholas V., Pope, preaches the
Crusade, 15
Nile, battle of the, 319
I65 ; its
AVDA2_X.
Nimeguen, peace of, 254, 256
Nordlingen, battle of, 233
Northampton, battle oſ, 32
Norway, the Reformation in,
I25, 127; declared a province
of Denmark, I27; united to
Sweden, 331
Notables, assembly of the, 307
Novara, battles of 80, 339
Novogorod, its submission to
Ivan III., 62, 70
Noyon, treaty of, 81
O.
O'Connell, Daniel, his influence,
33
Olivier, Chancellor, his death
and remorse, I44
Orators of the seventeenth cen-
tury, 270
Orleans, Duchess of, sister-in-
law of Louis XIV., 251, 256
Orleans, Duke of, son of Charles
V., 96
Orleans, Philip, Duke of, his
Regency, 28.1–293
Ottoman conquests in the fifteenth
century, 65
P.
Padilla, Juan de, revolutionary
hero, 56
Painters of the sixteenth century,
219 ; of the seventeenth, 272,
277 e
Palaeologus, Sophia,
Ivan III., 70
Palatinate, war of the, 182
Paris, parliament of, 22, 98 ; its
siege by Henry IV., 164; its
capture by the allies, 328; its
siege by the Prussians, 351 ;
its second siege by French
troops, 352
Parliament, the Long, I74, I75
wife of
AAWD EX.
Parma, Prince of his seizure of
Antwerp, 158; and the Ar-
mada, 161; he raises the siege
of Paris, 164
Passau, truce of, 1 17
Paul II., Pope, abandons the
policy of Pius II., 17
Pavia, battle of, 88
Peel, Sir Robert, and the repeal
of the Corn Laws, 337
Peninsular war, 323–325
Peru, its conquest by Pizarro,
213
|Beter the Great of Russia, chief
events of his reign, 249
Philip the Fair of Castile, his
brief reign, 53
Philip II. of Spain, his cha-
racter, 140 ; and the Low
Countries, 141 ; he builds the
Escurial, ió.; his persecutions
in the Low Countries and
in Spain, 147–149; his per-
secutions fruitless, 154, 155;
he seizes Portugal, 156; the
Spanish Armada, 161–162 ;
the peace of Vervins, 165; his
death, ib.
Philip V. of Spain, leaves France,
262
Philosophers of the sixteenth
century, 220 ; of the seven-
teenth, 271, 275
Piedmont, rise of, 239
Pilnitz, treaty of, 314
Pitt, William, his policy, 315 ;
his negotiations for peace,
318; his death, 321
Pius II., Pope, his zeal for the
Crusade, 16; his death, 17
Pius IX., Pope, aids the revoſt
against Austria, 338; his flight
from and return to Rome,
339; war with Sardinia, 346;
his allocutions and doctrines,
350 . . .
Pizarro, Francis, his conquest of
Peru, 2.13
371
Plescow, its submission to Ivan
III., 62, 70 r
T'lettemberg, Master of the
Knights of Livonia, 70
Podiebrad, George, King of Bo-
hemia, 67
Poets of the sixteenth century,
218, 219; of the seventeenth,
269, 274 -
Poland, the chief of the Sclavonic
States, 68, 69 ; its anarchical
government, 69; during 1550
—1600, 192; war of Livonia,
193; wars with Sweden, 194,
195; wars with Turks, Rus-
sians and Cossacks, 195; chief
events from 1648 to 1697, 248;
from 1725 to 1793, 289; its
annexation to Russia, 331 ;
revolt and subjection to Russia ,
335, 336
Politicians of the sixteenth cen-
tury, 22O t
Pompadour, Madame de, mis-
tress of Louis XV., 299
Porcare, endeavours to restore
republican government, 12
Porte St. Antoine, battle of,
23 -
Portugal, from 1454 to 1521, 42;
its seizure by Philip of Spain.
156; recovery of its independ-
ence, 244; peace of Utrecht,
ib.; 1706–88, 288; the Pen-
insular War, 323–325; after
the treaty of Vienna, 332
Portuguese colonies, 198—2O2 ;
discoveries in America, 206
Pragmatic Sanction, its abolition,
23, 81
Prague, battle of, 182
Presburg, treaty of 321
Printing, its invention, IOS
Protestants, their progress in
France, 224; and Richelieu,
225 ; the siege of La Rochelle,
226. See Reformation, Zuther,
and Calvin
372
Prussia, protected by the Poles,
69 ; from 1563 to 1666, 192,
195; beginning of her rise,
259; war of the Austrian Suc-
cession, 28o; the Seven Years'
War, 282, 299–302 ; progress
of the kingdom, 295; reign of
Frederick II., 296, 297, 300 ;
war with France, 3I4; new
alliance against France, 317 ;
her perfidy rewarded by the
cession of Hanover, 321 ; her
humiliation by Napoleon, 322;
the peace of Tilsit, 322; battle
of Leipsic, 327; entry into
Paris, 328; battle of Ligny,
329; battle of Waterloo, 330;
attempted revolution, 338;
war with Denmark, 348; war
with Austria, 349 ; war with
France, 350, 35I
Public Weal, Confederacy of the,
24, 25
Q.
Quadruple Alliance, 279, 293,
336
R.
Raleigh, Sir Walter, how he
made his fortune, I62
Ramillies, battle of, 265
Rastadt, peace of, 259, 266
Ratisbon, lèague at, IO9
Ravenna, battle of, 79, 80
Reformation in France, 99 ; per-
secution of the Vaudois, 99 ;
its characteristics, IOI ; its
origin, IO2; first struggles
against it, Io9; in England
and the North of Europe, I 18,
I23; in France, England,
Scotland, and the Low Coun-
tries, up to the Massacre of
St. Bartholomew, I29
IVDEX.
Reform Bill, 335
Reign of Terror, 312
René, Duke of Lorraine, 18
René, King, exploits of his chil-
dren, 2 I ; his employments in
his latter days, 22
Retz, Cardinal de, his character,
235
Rheinfeld, battle of, 229
Rhine, confederation of the, 322
JRhodes, siege of, I'7; its con-
quest, I IO ; Knights of, 92
Richard III. of England, his
accession, 36 ; his defeat and
death, 37
Richelieu, Cardinal, his govern-
ment of France, I86; and the
monarchy, 22I ; his policy,
225, 226; siege of La Rochelle,
226; war in Italy, 227; Jour-
née des Dupes, ib.; defeat of
the nobles, 228 ; and the
Thirty Years' War, 187, 228 ;
war with Spain, 229, 230 ; his
death, 188, 230
Robespierre, F.M.J. T., and the
Convention, 312 ; he causes
the execution of Dantom, 313;
his death, ió.
Rocroy, battle of, I87, 232
Roland, Jean Marie, his ministry,
I
Roland, Madame, her execution,
312
Rome, its capture in I527, 90 ;
becomes the capital of Italy,
35 I
Rosbach, battle of, 302
Roses, Wars of the, 32–25, 37,
3
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, his in-
fluence, 303
Roxelana, wife of Soliman the
Magnificent, 190
Rudolph II. of Austria, 181,
9 I
Russia, in the fifteenth century,
65, 69, 70; under Ivan III.,
WAV/) A. Y.
7o ; during 1550–16OO, IQ2 ;
war in Livonia, 193; code of
Ivan IV., ió.; dynastic wars,
194; chief events from 1648
to 1689, 248 ; reign of Peter
the Great, 249 ; chief events,
1725–96, 289 ; joins the alli-
ance against France, 317, 319,
32O ; defeat at Austerlitz, 32 I ;
invasion by Napoleon, 325,
326, her aggressions in Turkey
and Circassia,335; the Crimean
War, 340–342
Ryswick, treaty of, 259 ; peace
of, 261
S.
Saalfeld, battle of 322
Sadowa, battle of, 349
St. Albans, battle of, 32
St. Bartholomew, Massacre of,
150–152; rejoicings after it,
I52; its fruitlessness, I54
St. Jacques, battle of, 22, 27
St. Theresa of Jesus, reſorms
the Carmelite nuns, I42
St. Vincent, battle of, 318
Salamanca, battle of, 325
Sante-Fé, its erection in eighty
days, 48
Sardinia, revolt against Austria,
339; accession of Victor Em-
manuel, ib.; the kingdom in-
creases in importance, 344 ;
alliance with France and de-
feat of the Austrians, 345; the
Papal war, 346; entry into
Rome, 35I
Savonarola, his denunciations,
18; his reception of Charles
VIII., 72 ; the Italians take
him to task, 73 ; his death, 74
Savoy, its cession to France, 345
Saxony, Elector of, his conceal-
ment of Luther, IO7 ; his de-
feat at Mühlberg, I I4 ; his
captivity, ió.
373
Saxony, Maurice Duke of, be-
trays the Protestants, I I4 ;
his intrigue against Charles
V., II6, II?
Scanderbeg of Albania, his
Savage heroism, I5
Scandinavian States in the
fifteenth century, 62
Schleswig, annexed to Denmark,
63; war with Prussia, 358
Sciences in the sixteenth century,
217, 220, 221 ; in the seven-
teenth, 272, 275, 276
Sclavonic States in the fifteenth
century, 65
Scotland, I452—I 513, 39 ; its
disordered state, 39 ; the
Douglases in, 40; under James
III., 41 ; battle of Flodden,
42 ; and Henry VIII., 121 ;
minority of Mary Stuart, ib.;
femp. Mary Stuart, 136, 142,
I43 -
Sebastian of Portugal, his expe-
dition to Africa, 156 -
Sebastopol, its siege, 341
Selim, Sultan, dethrones and
murders his father, 66; his
character, ió. ; his conquests,
IO9 ; his oath, ib.; his death
and Successor, Io9, HIO
Selim II., Sultan, his reign, 190
Seminara, battle of, 75
Seven Years' War, 282, 300–
3O2
Sforza, Galeazzo, is stabbed in
church, I3 *
Siberia, its discovery, 193
Sigismund I. of Poland, 69, 192
Sigismund II. of Poland, 192
Sigismund III. of Poland, his
war with Sweden, 194; his
foreign wars, I95
Smalkald, League of, I 12
Soissoms, Count of his revolt and
death, 230 3.
Solferino, battle of, 345
Soliman the Magnificent, his
374
alliance with France, 96; his
accession, I Io; he conquers
Belgrade and Rhodes, ib.; his
assaults. on Vienna, ib.; he
invades Hungary, and is re-
pulsed, I I2 ; his invasion of
Persia, I 13 ; he is crowned at
Bagdad, ió.; his character and
reign, I90
South Sea Bubble, 290–292
Spain, I 452–1521, 42 ; cha-
racter of the Spaniards, 43 ;
the “New Christians,” 44;
accession of Ferdinand and
Isabella, 46; war with the
Moors, 47, 48; the Inquisi-
tion in, 51, 98; union of the
kingdom, 54; under Charles
V., 55, 56, 85, 97, 98; rivalry
with France, 86; battle of
Pavia, 88 ; treaty of Cambrai,
92 ; defeat of the Barbarenes,
ið. ; renewal of war with
France, 93; invasion of Pro-
vence and truce of Nice, 94 ;
exhaustion of the country, 95 ;
and the Reformation, 141 ; the
fate of the Armada, I61 ;
peace of Vervins, 165; effect
of the wars, 165; war with
France, temp. Richelieu, 229,
230 ; battle of Rocroy, 232 ;
character of the Spanish sol-
dier, ib. ; renewed war with
France, 236; during 1665–
17OO, 244; accession of Philip
V., 262 ; treaty of Utrecht,
266; 1724–86, 287; projects
of Alberoni, 292 ; recovery of
Italian possessions, 294; de-
clares war against England,
318; defeat of her fleet, ib.;
the Peninsular war, 323—325;
aſter the treaty of Vienna,
331 ; civil wars, 338, 351,
352 *
Spanish discoveries and con-
quests in America, 203—216
INDAEx.
Stanislas Leczinski of Poland,
294
State inquisitors of Venice, 13
Stettin, peace of, IQ5
Stuart, Charles Edward, the
Pretender, his defeat, 298
Stures, their reign in Sweden,
63, 64
Swabia, memorial of its peasants,
IO8
Sweden, peasantry in, 62, 63 ;
the Calmar Union, 63; its
conquest by Christian II.,
I23; under Gustavus Vasa,
I24; reformation in, I25 ;
and the Thirty Years' War,
183; war in Livonia, IQ3 ;
wars with Poland, 194; in-
ternal troubles, I95, 196;
principal events from 1654 to
I697, 246, 247; from 1699 to
I721, 248; from 172 I to 1792,
29I
Swiss, their aid sought by the
Venetians, 18; their wars
with Charles the Bold, 27, 28,
60; their mercenary wars, 60,
74, 78, 79 e
Switzerland, rise of its power,
59; accession of new cantons,
ÖO
T.
Tabera, Chief Inquisitor, governs
Spain, 98
Tewkesbury, battle of, 35
Thirty Years' War, 180–189,
228, 229
Thorn, treaty of, 69
Tºgº, revolt of its peasants,
IO
Tilly, General, his defeat by
Gustavus Adolphus, 184
Tilsit, peace of 322
Torgau, league at, Io9
Toro, battle of, 46
AW/D/E_Y. f 375
Torstenson, General, his career
and death, 188
Toulouse, foundation of the
Parliament of, 22
Towton, battle of, 33
Trafalgar, battle of, 32 I
Trent, council of II.3
Triana, inscription at the Castle
of, 5 I
Tunis, taken by the Christians,
93
Turenne, Viscount de, and the
Fronde, 236; and the war
with Holland, 254; his death,
Zh.
Turkey, wars of Mahomet II.,
I4—18; progress of the empire
in the fifteenth century, 65;
Bajazet II., 66; Selim I., 66,
Io9 ; wars of Soliman the
Magnificent, 96, IIo–II3;
Turkey under his reign, 190 ;
Selim II., 190, 191 ; from
Selim II. to Amurath IV.,
I91 ; principal events from
I648 to 1718, 245, 246; from
1719 to 1789, 29I ; battle of
Navarino, 333; aggressions of
Russia, 335 ; the Quadruple
Alliance, 336; the intrigues
of Mehemet Ali, ië. ; the
Crimean war, 340, 341
U.
Ulm, surrender of the Austrian
army at, 32 I
United States, the rebellion in,
34.7
Universities founded in the six-
teenth century, 220
Upsala University founded, 64
Utrecht, peace of, 259; Europe
aſter it, 278
Utrecht, union oſ, 155 ; treaty
of, 266
• V.
Vaudois, the, persecution of its
inhabitants, 99, IOO
Vendôme, Louis Joseph, Duke
de, his faults and gallantry,
264; he defeats Eugène at
Cassano, 265
Venice, rise of the city, II; its
extensive trade, ib. ; tyranny
of the Council of Ten, 13;
war with the Turks, 16, 17 ;
strangers admitted to her dis-
sensions, 18; revolt against
Louis XII., 77, 78; jealousy
of the Italian powers, 77; her
Sagacity, 78; naval war with
the Portuguese, 201
Versailles, a type of monarchy,
239 i
Vervins, peace of, 165
Vespucci, Amerigo, gives his
name to America, 206
Viana, Don Carlos of, 45, 46
Victor Emmanuel, his father
abdicates in his favour, 339;
he takes the field against
Austria, 345; and the Papal
War, 346
Vienna, its siege by Soliman,
I IO; treaty of 279, 280, 294,
329, 33 I
Villa Franca, peace of, 345
Vimiera, battle of, 323
Vittoria, battle of, 325
Voltaire, F. M. A., visits Eng-
land, 293; and Frederick II.
of Prussia, 296
W.
Wagram, battle, of 324
Wakefield, battle near, 32
Wales under Henry VIII., 122
376
Wallenstein, Count, his cam-
paigns, 183, 185 ; his death,
I86
Warbeck, Perkin, the Pretender,
37, 38
Wartburg Castle, Luther's con-
cealment at, IO7
Warwick, Earl of, his feudal
hospitality, 3 I ; his share in
the Wars of the Roses, 33, 34;
his defeat and death, 35 ;
death of his grandson, 38
Wasili IV., of Russia, 192
Waterloo, battle of 330
Wellington, Duke of, his first
successes, 323; he defeats
Juno at Vimiera, ib. ; his vic-
tories in the Peninsula, 325;
the battle of Waterloo, 330 ;
his ministry, 333, 335 ; his
death, 340
Westphalia, treaty of, 188, 189
William, first King of Prussia,
295
William of Orange, grandson of
William the Silent, his charac-
ter, 253 ; he drowns Holland
in order to defend her, ib.;
his alliance against France, ió.
William the Silent, Prince of
Orange, his character, I43;
he founds the Republic, 155 ;
his death, 156
Wilna, treaty of, 193
Wittemberg, university of, Iog
A ZO/2 \,
Wolsey, Cardinal, his intrigues
with Francis I. and Charles
V., 85
Woodville, Elizabeth, Queen of
Edward IV., 34
Worms, Luther at, IO6
X.
Ximenes, Cardinal, his obscure
origin, 20; and Ferdinand of
Spain, 53; his expedition
against Oran, 54; he is ap-
pointed Regent, 16.
Y.
York and Lancaster, wars of,
32–35, 37, 38
York, Richard Duke of, and the
Wars of the Roses, 32; his
death, ib.
Z.
Zapoly, John, Waiwode of
Transylvania, I IO ; he is
crowned King of Hungary, III
Zizim, brother of Bajazet II.,
66, 72
Zollverein, its establishment,
r) ºn ro
J
Zwinglius, the Reformer, his
doctrines in Switzerland, IO4;
his death at Capel, ió.
THE IND.
LONDON .
R. C.L.A.Y., SONS, AN ID TAYLOR, I'RINTERs.
Recently published, in Crown 8vo. price 8s. 6d.
A SHORT HISTORY OF THE
ENGLISH PEOPLE. By J. R. GREEN, M.A., Examiner
in the School of Modern History, Oxford. With Coloured
Maps and Genealogical Tables. - - - - -
“This is a single völume, of the modest dimensions and unpre-
tending appearance of a schoolbook ; , but the wealth of material,
of learning, thought, and fancy which the author has lavished upon
it might easily have supplied a stately library work of some eight or
ten volumes. Perhaps what most strikes one on a first perusal is its
character of freshness and originality. Some previous knowledge,
some time and attention, may be required rightly to appreciate the
extent of Mr. Green's historical scholarship, or the depth and thought-
ſulness of his comments on historical events ; but the most indolent
reader can hardly take it up without finding that he has lighted upon
a book which is never commonplace and never dull. . . . We
counsel the English people to gratify its desire for information by
reading its own story in Mr. Green's pages.”—Saturday A'eview.
“We kno" of no record of the whole drama of English history
to be compared with it. We know of none that is so distinctly a
work of genius. . . . Mr. Green's volume is a really wonderful pro-
duction. There is a freshness and originality breathing from one
end to the other, a charm of style, and a power, both narrative and
descriptive, which liſts it altogether out of the class of books to
which at first sight it might seem to belong. The range too of sub-
ject, and the capacity which the writer shows of dealing with so
many different sides of English history, witness to powers of no
common order. And with all this Mr. Green shows throughout that
he is on all points up to the last lights, that he has made himself
thoroughly master both of original authorities and of their modern
interpreters. . . . The Early History is admirably done ; the clear
and full marrative which Mr. Green is able to put together of the
earliest days of the English people is a wonderful contrast to the
confined and pre-scientific talk so common in most of the books
which it is to be hoped that Mr. Green's volume will displace.”—
Aall Mall Gazette.
“To say that Mr. Green's book is better than those which have
preceded it, would be to convey a very inadequate impression of its
merits. It stands alone as the one general history of the country,
for the sake of which all others, if young and old are wise, will be
speedily and surely set aside. It is perhaps the highest praise that
can be given to it, that it is impossible to discover whether it was
intended ſor the young or for the old. The size and general look of
the book, its vividness of narration, and its avoidance of abstruse
argument, would place it, among Schoolbooks; but its fresh and
original views, and its general historical power are only to be appre-
ciated by those who have tried their own hand at writing history,
and who know the enormous difficulties of the task.”—MR.
SAMUEL R. GARDINER in the Academy. f
MACMILLAN AND CO., LONDON.
HISTORICAL WORKS.
OLD ENGLISH HISTORY.
By EDWARD A. FREEMAN, D.C. L., LL.D. With Five
Coloured Maps. Third Edition, ſcap. 8vo. 6s.
SCANDINAVIAN HISTORY.
By E. C. OTTÉ. With Maps. Extra ſcap. 8vo. 6s,
CAMEOS FROM ENGLISH HISTORY.
By CHARLOTTE M. Yong E.
FIRST SERIES.–From Rollo to Edward II. Second Edition.
Extra feap. 8vo. 53.
SECOND SERIES.—The Wars in France. Second Edition.
Extra feap. 8vo. 5s.
A PARALLEL HISTORY OF FRANCE AND
ENGLAND : consisting of Outlines and Dates.
By CHARLOTTE M. Yong E, Author of “The Heir of Red-
clyffe,” “Cameos from English History,” &c. &c. Oblong 4to.
3s. 6d. -
EUROPEAN HISTORY.
Narrated in a Series of Historical Selections from the best
Authorities. Edited and Arranged by E. M. SEWELL and
CHARLOTTE M. Yon GE.
FIRST SERIES, IOO3–1154. Third Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s.
sº SERIES, 1088–1228. Second Edition. Crown
vo. 6s.
MACMILLAN AND CO., LONDON.
HISTORIGAL 00URSE FOR SGH00LS,
EDITED BY EDWARD A, FREEMAN, D.C. L., LL.D., &c.
I. GENERAL SKETCH OF EUROPEAN HISTORY.
By EDWARD A. FREEMAN, D.C. L. Third Edition. 18mo.
cloth. 3s. 6d.
“It supplies the great want of a good foundation for historical
teaching. The scheme is an excellent one, and this instalment has
been executed in a way that promises much for the volumes that are
yet to appear.”—Educational Zºmes.
II. HISTORY OF ENGLAND. By EDITH THOMP-
SON. Third Edition. I8mo. 2s. 6d.
“Freedom from prejudice, simplicity of style, and accuracy of
statement, are the characteristics of this little volume. It is a trust:
worthy text-book, and likely to be generally serviceable in schools.”
—Pall Mall Gazette. “Upon the whole, this manual is the best
sketch of English history for the use of young people we have yet
met with.”—Athenaeum.
III. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. By MARGARET
MACARTHUR. 18mo. 2s.
“An excellent summary, unimpeachable as to facts, and putting
them in the clearest and most impartial light attainable.”—Guardian.
“Miss Macarthur has performed her task with admirable care, clear-
ness, and fulness, and we have now for the first time a really good
School History of Scotland.”—Educational Times.
IV. HISTORY OF ITALY. By the Rev. W. HUNT,
M.A. 18mo. 33.
“It possesses the same solid merit as its predecessors . . . . the
same scrupulous care about fidelity in details, . . . It is distin-
guished, too, by information on art, architecture, and social politics,
in which the writer's grasp is seen by the firmness and clearness of
his touch.”—/2ducational Times.
V. HISTORY OF GERMANY. By J. SIME, M.A.
I8mo. 3s.
“A remarkably clear and impressive History of Germany. Its
great events are wisely kept as central figures, and the smaller events
are carefully kept, not only subordinate and subservient, but most
skilfully woven into the texture of the historical tapestry presented
to the eye.”—Standard.
The following will shortly be issued:—
GREECE. By J. ANNAN BRycE, B.A.
AMERICA. By JoHN A. Doyle.
MACMILLAN AND CO., LONDON.
HISTORY PRIMERS,
ED ITED BY
J. R. GREEN, M.A.,
Author of “A Short History of the AEnglish People.”
EUROPEAN HISTORY.
By EDWARD A. FREEMAN, D.C. L., LL.D., &c.
GREEK HISTORY.
By C. A. FYFFE, M.A., Fellow and late Tutor of University
College, Oxford.
ROMAN HISTORY.
By the REV. M. CREIGHTON, M.A., Fellow and Tutor of
Merton College, Oxford.
ENGLISH HISTORY.
By J. R. GREEN, M.A., Examiner in the School of Modern
History, Oxford.
FRIENCH HISTORY.
By CHARLOTTE M. Yong E, Author of “The Heir of
Redclyffe.”
Others żo Fo//ozy.
MACMILLAN AND CO., LONDON.

Lilliii.
3 9015 06362 2073
º N
- º sº. º
ºš Nºs
ſº
:
:
.*.* tº 3
º “f*
t".
ºğ.
}º
&ly
º
AT
§§§
§.
* , " . . . . . . . . . . . . . "
S \, , , , , , , , , w tº , "... . . . . a yº