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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of Germany, by Bayard Taylor
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A History of Germany
+       From the Earliest Times to the Present Day
+
+Author: Bayard Taylor
+
+Release Date: June 21, 2011 [EBook #36484]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF GERMANY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Garcia, Neil Wyllie, Leonard Johnson and
+the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned
+images of public domain material from the Google Print
+project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE EMPEROR OF GERMANY.
+
+(_After a Photograph by J. C. Schaarwächter, Photographer to the
+Emperor._)]
+
+
+                A
+
+        HISTORY OF GERMANY
+
+    FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO
+         THE PRESENT DAY
+
+               BY
+         BAYARD TAYLOR
+
+  _WITH AN ADDITIONAL CHAPTER BY_
+       MARIE HANSEN-TAYLOR
+
+
+           NEW YORK
+     D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
+             1897
+
+
+     COPYRIGHT, 1874, 1893,
+   BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.
+
+
+    ELECTROTYPED AND PRINTED
+  AT THE APPLETON PRESS, U. S. A.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+When I assented to the request of the publishers that I would edit a new
+edition of the History of Germany, and write an additional chapter
+finishing the work down to the present date, I was fully aware of both
+my own shortcomings and the difficulty of the task. That I undertook it,
+nevertheless, is because I was strongly tempted to perform what I
+considered, in my case, an act of piety. Being naturally familiar with
+the aim and style of this book, I have tried to compile a new chapter in
+the simple narrative fashion by which the History has commended itself
+to its readers.
+
+In his "Introductory Words" to the original edition the author says:
+"The History of Germany is not the history of a nation, but of a race.
+It has little unity, therefore it is complicated, broken, and attached
+on all sides to the histories of other countries. In its earlier periods
+it covers the greater part of Europe, and does not return exclusively to
+Germany until after France, Spain, England and the Italian States have
+been founded. Thus, even before the fall of the Roman Empire, it becomes
+the main trunk out of which branch the histories of nearly all European
+nations, and must of necessity be studied as the connecting link between
+ancient and modern history. The records of no other race throw so much
+light upon the development of all civilized lands during a period of
+fifteen hundred years.
+
+"My aim has been to present a clear, continuous narrative, omitting no
+episode of importance, yet preserving a distinct line of connection
+from century to century. Besides referring to all the best authorities,
+I have based my labors mainly upon three recent German works--that of
+Dittmar, as the fullest; of Von Rochau, as the most impartial; and of
+Dr. David Müller, as the most readable. By constructing an entirely new
+narrative from these, compressing the material into less than half the
+space which each occupies, and avoiding the interruptions and changes by
+which all are characterized, I hope to have made this History convenient
+and acceptable to our schools."
+
+The book is, indeed, eminently fitted for use in the higher grades of
+schools. But the scope, comprehensiveness, and style of the work make it
+in no less a degree inviting and attractive to the general reader.
+
+The material for the preparation of the additional chapter was difficult
+of access, since the history of the last twenty years is on record
+chiefly in monographs and in the public press. The best guide I have
+found is the "Politische Geschichte der Gegenwart," by Prof. Wilhelm
+Müller. The author of the present book was fortunate in being able to
+close it with the glorious events of the years 1870 to 1871, and the
+birth of the new Empire. The additional chapter has no such ending. It
+deals with the beginning of a new era, and has to state facts, with an
+eye to their results in the future.
+
+                                                 MARIE HANSEN-TAYLOR.
+
+NEW YORK, _1893_.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+CHAPTER PAGE
+
+       I.--THE ANCIENT GERMANS AND THEIR COUNTRY.
+           (330 B. C.--70 B. C.)                                       1
+
+      II.--THE WARS OF ROME WITH THE GERMANS.
+           (70 B. C.--9 A. D.)                                        10
+
+     III.--HERMANN, THE FIRST GERMAN LEADER. (9--21 A. D.)            19
+
+      IV.--GERMANY DURING THE FIRST THREE CENTURIES OF OUR
+           ERA. (21--300 A. D.)                                       28
+
+       V.--THE RISE AND MIGRATIONS OF THE GOTHS. (300--412.)          37
+
+      VI.--THE INVASION OF THE HUNS, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.
+           (412--472.)                                                47
+
+     VII.--THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OSTROGOTHS. (472--570.)           55
+
+    VIII.--EUROPE, AT THE END OF THE MIGRATION OF THE RACES. (570.)   63
+
+      IX.--THE KINGDOM OF THE FRANKS. (486--638.)                     71
+
+       X.--THE DYNASTY OF THE ROYAL STEWARDS. (638--768.)             80
+
+      XI.--THE REIGN OF CHARLEMAGNE. (768--814.)                      92
+
+     XII.--THE EMPERORS OF THE CAROLINGIAN LINE. (814--911.)         103
+
+    XIII.--KING KONRAD, AND THE SAXON RULERS, HENRY I. AND
+           OTTO THE GREAT. (912--973.)                               116
+
+     XIV.--THE DECLINE OF THE SAXON DYNASTY. (973--1024.)            130
+
+      XV.--THE FRANK EMPERORS, TO THE DEATH OF HENRY IV.
+           (1024--1106.)                                             138
+
+     XVI.--END OF THE FRANK DYNASTY, AND RISE OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS.
+           (1106--1152.)                                             155
+
+    XVII.--THE REIGN OF FREDERICK I., BARBAROSSA. (1152--1197.)      164
+
+   XVIII.--THE REIGN OF FREDERICK II. AND END OF THE HOHENSTAUFEN
+           LINE. (1215--1268.)                                       175
+
+     XIX.--GERMANY AT THE TIME OF THE INTERREGNUM. (1256--1273.)     189
+
+      XX.--FROM RUDOLF OF HAPSBURG TO LUDWIG THE BAVARIAN.
+           (1273--1347.)                                             198
+
+     XXI.--THE LUXEMBURG EMPERORS, KARL IV. AND WENZEL.
+           (1347--1410.)                                             212
+
+    XXII.--THE REIGN OF SIGISMUND AND THE HUSSITE WAR.
+           (1410--1437.)                                             222
+
+   XXIII.--THE FOUNDATION OF THE HAPSBURG DYNASTY.
+           (1438--1493.)                                             235
+
+    XXIV.--GERMANY, DURING THE REIGN OF MAXIMILIAN I.
+           (1493--1519.)                                             246
+
+     XXV.--THE REFORMATION. (1517--1546.)                            255
+
+    XXVI.--FROM LUTHER'S DEATH TO THE END OF THE 16TH
+           CENTURY. (1546--1600.)                                    273
+
+   XXVII.--BEGINNING OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. (1600--1625.)         284
+
+  XXVIII.--TILLY, WALLENSTEIN AND GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. (1625--1634.)   295
+
+    XXIX.--END OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. (1634--1648.)               309
+
+     XXX.--GERMANY, TO THE PEACE OF RYSWICK. (1648--1697.)           320
+
+    XXXI.--The war of the Spanish succession. (1697--1714.)          331
+
+   XXXII.--THE RISE OF PRUSSIA. (1714--1740.)                        338
+
+  XXXIII.--THE REIGN OF FREDERICK THE GREAT. (1740--1786.)           347
+
+   XXXIV.--GERMANY UNDER MARIA THERESA AND JOSEPH II. (1740--1790.)  369
+
+    XXXV.--FROM THE DEATH OF JOSEPH II. TO THE END OF
+           THE GERMAN EMPIRE. (1790--1806.)                          377
+
+   XXXVI.--GERMANY UNDER NAPOLEON. (1806--1814.)                     392
+
+  XXXVII.--FROM THE LIBERATION OF GERMANY TO THE YEAR
+           1848. (1814--1848.)                                       409
+
+ XXXVIII.--THE REVOLUTION OF 1848 AND ITS RESULTS. (1848--1861.)     420
+
+   XXXIX.--THE STRUGGLE WITH AUSTRIA; THE NORTH-GERMAN UNION.
+           (1861--1870.)                                             429
+
+      XL.--THE WAR WITH FRANCE, AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE
+           GERMAN EMPIRE. (1870--1871.)                              437
+
+     XLI.--THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE. (1871--1893.)                      449
+
+           CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF GERMAN HISTORY.                    462
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF MAPS.
+
+
+                                                                    PAGE
+
+  Germany under the Cæsars                                            11
+
+  The Migrations of the Races, A. D. 500                              64
+
+  Empire of Charlemagne, with the Partition of the Treaty of Verdun,
+    A. D. 843                                                        107
+
+  Germany under the Saxons and Frank Emperors, Twelfth Century       139
+
+  Germany under Napoleon, 1812                                       401
+
+  Metz and Vicinity                                                  441
+
+  The German Empire, 1871                                            446
+
+
+
+
+A HISTORY OF GERMANY.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE ANCIENT GERMANS AND THEIR COUNTRY.
+
+(330 B. C.--70 B. C.)
+
+The Aryan Race and its Migrations. --Earliest Inhabitants of Europe.
+    --Lake Dwellings. --Celtic and Germanic Migrations. --Europe in the
+    Fourth Century B. C. --The Name "German." --Voyage of Pytheas.
+    --Invasions of the Cimbrians and Teutons, B. C. 113. --Victories of
+    Marius. --Boundary between the Gauls and the Germans.
+    --Geographical Location of the various Germanic Tribes. --Their
+    Mode of Life, Vices, Virtues, Laws, and Religion.
+
+
+The Germans form one of the most important branches of the Indo-Germanic
+or Aryan race--a division of the human family which also includes the
+Hindoos, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Celts, and the Slavonic tribes. The
+near relationship of all these, which have become so separated in their
+habits of life, forms of government and religious faith, in the course
+of many centuries, has been established by the evidence of common
+tradition, language, and physiological structure. The original home of
+the Aryan race appears to have been somewhere among the mountains and
+lofty table-lands of Central Asia. The word "Arya," meaning _the high_
+or _the excellent_, indicates their superiority over the neighboring
+races long before the beginning of history.
+
+When and under what circumstances the Aryans left their home, can never
+be ascertained. Most scholars suppose that there were different
+migrations, and that each movement westward was accomplished slowly,
+centuries intervening between their departure from Central Asia and
+their permanent settlement in Europe. The earliest migration was
+probably that of the tribes who took possession of Greece and Italy;
+who first acquired, and for more than a thousand years maintained, their
+ascendency over all other branches of their common family; who, in fact,
+laid the basis for the civilization of the world.
+
+[Sidenote: 330 B. C.]
+
+Before this migration took place, Europe was inhabited by a race of
+primitive savages, who were not greatly superior to the wild beasts in
+the vast forests which then covered the continent. They were
+exterminated at so early a period that all traditions of their existence
+were lost. Within the last fifty years, however, various relics of this
+race have been brought to light. Fragments of skulls and skeletons, with
+knives and arrow-heads of flint, have been found, at a considerable
+depth, in the gravel-beds of Northern France, or in caves in Germany,
+together with the bones of animals now extinct, upon which they fed. In
+the lakes of Switzerland, they built dwellings upon piles, at a little
+distance from the shore, in order to be more secure against the attacks
+of wild beasts or hostile tribes. Many remains of these lake-dwellings,
+with flint implements and fragments of pottery, have recently been
+discovered. The skulls of the race indicate that they were savages of
+the lowest type, and different in character from any which now exist on
+the earth.
+
+The second migration of the Aryan race is supposed to have been that of
+the Celtic tribes, who took a more northerly course, by way of the
+steppes of the Volga and the Don, and gradually obtained possession of
+all Central and Western Europe, including the British Isles. Their
+advance was only stopped by the ocean, and the tribe which first appears
+in history, the Gauls, was at that time beginning to move eastward
+again, in search of new fields of plunder. It is impossible to ascertain
+whether the German tribes immediately followed the Celts, and took
+possession of the territory which they vacated in pushing westward, or
+whether they formed a third migration, at a later date. We only know the
+order in which they were settled when our first historical knowledge of
+them begins.
+
+In the fourth century before the Christian Era, all Europe west of the
+Rhine, and as far south as the Po, was Celtic; between the Rhine and the
+Vistula, including Denmark and southern Sweden, the tribes were
+Germanic; while the Slavonic branch seems to have already made its
+appearance in what is now Southern Russia. Each of these three branches
+of the Aryan race was divided into many smaller tribes, some of which,
+left behind in the march from Asia, or separated by internal wars,
+formed little communities, like islands, in the midst of territory
+belonging to other branches of the race. The boundaries, also, were
+never very distinctly drawn: the tribes were restless and nomadic, not
+yet attached to the soil, and many of them moved through or across each
+other, so that some were constantly disappearing, and others forming
+under new names.
+
+[Sidenote: 113 B. C. THE CIMBRIANS AND TEUTONS.]
+
+The Romans first heard the name "Germans" from the Celtic Gauls, in
+whose language it meant simply _neighbors_. The first notice of a
+Germanic tribe was given to the world by the Greek navigator Pytheas,
+who made a voyage to the Baltic in the year 330 B. C. Beyond the
+amber-coast, eastward of the mouth of the Vistula, he found the Goths,
+of whom we hear nothing more until they appear, several centuries later,
+on the northern shore of the Black Sea. For more than two hundred years
+there is no further mention of the Germanic races; then, most
+unexpectedly, the Romans were called upon to make their personal
+acquaintance.
+
+In the year 113 B. C. a tremendous horde of strangers forced its way
+through the Tyrolese Alps and invaded the Roman territory. They numbered
+several hundred thousand, and brought with them their wives, children
+and all their movable property. They were composed of two great tribes,
+the Cimbrians and Teutons, accompanied by some minor allies, Celtic as
+well as Germanic. Their statement was that they were driven from their
+homes on the northern ocean by the inroads of the waves, and they
+demanded territory for settlement, or, at least, the right to pass the
+Roman frontier. The Consul, Papirius Carbo, collected an army and
+endeavored to resist their advance; but he was defeated by them in a
+battle fought near Noreia, between the Adriatic and the Alps.
+
+The terror occasioned by this defeat reached even Rome. The
+"barbarians," as they were called, were men of large stature, of
+astonishing bodily strength, with yellow hair and fierce blue eyes. They
+wore breastplates of iron and helmets crowned with the heads of wild
+beasts, and carried white shields which shone in the sunshine. They
+first hurled double-headed spears in battle, but at close quarters
+fought with short and heavy swords. The women encouraged them with cries
+and war-songs, and seemed no less fierce and courageous than the men.
+They had also priestesses, clad in white linen, who delivered prophecies
+and slaughtered human victims upon the altars of their gods.
+
+[Sidenote: 102 B. C.]
+
+Instead of moving towards Rome, the Cimbrians and Teutons marched
+westward along the foot of the Alps, crossed into Gaul, devastated the
+country between the Rhone and the Pyrenees, and even obtained temporary
+possession of part of Spain. Having thus plundered at will for ten
+years, they retraced their steps and prepared to invade Italy a second
+time. The celebrated Consul, Marius, who was sent against them, found
+their forces divided, in order to cross the Alps by two different roads.
+He first attacked the Teutons, two hundred thousand in number, at Aix,
+in southern France, and almost exterminated them in the year 102 B. C.
+Transferring his army across the Alps, in the following year he met the
+Cimbrians at Vercelli, in Piedmont (not far from the field of Magenta).
+They were drawn up in a square, the sides of which were nearly three
+miles long: in the centre their wagons, collected together, formed a
+fortress for the women and children. But the Roman legions broke the
+Cimbrian square, and obtained a complete victory. The women, seeing that
+all was lost, slew their children, and then themselves; but a few
+thousand prisoners were made--among them Teutoboch, the prince of the
+Teutons, who had escaped from the slaughter at Aix,--to figure in the
+triumph accorded to Marius by the Roman Senate. This was the only
+appearance of the German tribes in Italy, until the decline of the
+Empire, five hundred years later.
+
+The Roman conquests, which now began to extend northwards into the heart
+of Europe, soon brought the two races into collision again, but upon
+German or Celtic soil. From the earliest reports, as well as the later
+movements of the tribes, we are able to ascertain the probable order of
+their settlement, though not the exact boundaries of each. The territory
+which they occupied was almost the same as that which now belongs to the
+German States. The Rhine divided them from the Gauls, except towards its
+mouth, where the Germanic tribes occupied part of Belgium. A line drawn
+from the Vistula southward to the Danube nearly represents their eastern
+boundary, while, up to this time, they do not appear to have crossed the
+Danube on the south. The district between that river and the Alps, now
+Bavaria and Styria, was occupied by Celtic tribes. Northwards they had
+made some advance into Sweden, and probably also into Norway. They thus
+occupied nearly all of Central Europe, north of the Alpine chain.
+
+[Sidenote: 100 B. C. THE GERMAN TRIBES.]
+
+At the time of their first contact with the Romans, these Germanic
+tribes had lost even the tradition of their Asiatic origin. They
+supposed themselves to have originated upon the soil where they dwelt,
+sprung either from the earth, or descended from their gods. According to
+the most popular legend, the war-god Tuisko, or Tiu, had a son, Mannus
+(whence the word _man_ is derived), who was the first human parent of
+the German race. Many centuries must have elapsed since their first
+settlement in Europe, or they could not have so completely changed the
+forms of their religion and their traditional history.
+
+Two or three small tribes are represented, in the earliest Roman
+accounts, as having crossed the Rhine and settled between the Vosges and
+that river, from Strasburg to Mayence. From the latter point to Cologne
+none are mentioned, whence it is conjectured that the western bank of
+the Rhine was here a debatable ground, possessed sometimes by the Celts
+and sometimes by the Germans. The greater part of Belgium was occupied
+by the Eburones and Condrusii, Germanic tribes, to whom were afterwards
+added the Aduatuci, formed out of the fragments of the Cimbrians and
+Teutons who escaped the slaughters of Marius. At the mouth of the Rhine
+dwelt the Batavi, the forefathers of the Dutch, and, like them, reported
+to be strong, phlegmatic and stubborn, in the time of Cæsar. A little
+eastward, on the shore of the North Sea, dwelt the Frisii, where they
+still dwell, in the province of Friesland; and beyond them, about the
+mouth of the Weser, the Chauci, a kindred tribe.
+
+What is now Westphalia was inhabited by the Sicambrians, a brave and
+warlike people: the Marsi and Ampsivarii were beyond them, towards the
+Hartz, and south of the latter the Ubii, once a powerful tribe, but in
+Cæsar's time weak and submissive. From the Weser to the Elbe, in the
+north, was the land of the Cherusci; south of them the equally fierce
+and indomitable Chatti, the ancestors of the modern Hessians; and still
+further south, along the head-waters of the river Main, the Marcomanni.
+A part of what is now Saxony was in the possession of the Hermunduri,
+who together with their kindred, the Chatti, were called _Suevi_ by the
+Romans. Northward, towards the mouth of the Elbe, dwelt the Longobardi
+(Lombards); beyond them, in Holstein, the Saxons; and north of the
+latter, in Schleswig, the Angles.
+
+East of the Elbe were the Semnones, who were guardians of a certain holy
+place,--a grove of the Druids--where various related tribes came for
+their religious festivals. North of the Semnones dwelt the Vandals, and
+along the Baltic coast the Rugii, who have left their name in the island
+of Rügen. Between these and the Vistula were the Burgundiones, with a
+few smaller tribes. In the extreme north-east, between the Vistula and
+the point where the city of Königsberg now stands, was the home of the
+Goths, south of whom were settled the Slavonic Sarmatians,--the same who
+founded, long afterwards, the kingdom of Poland.
+
+Bohemia was first settled by the Celtic tribe of the Boii, whence its
+name--_Boiheim_, the home of the Boii--is derived. In Cæsar's day,
+however, this tribe had been driven out by the Germanic Marcomanni,
+whose neighbors, the Quadi, on the Danube, were also German. Beyond the
+Danube all was Celtic; the defeated Boii occupied Austria; the
+Vindelici, Bavaria; while the Noric and Rhætian Celts took possession of
+the Tyrolese Alps. Switzerland was inhabited by the Helvetii, a Celtic
+tribe which had been driven out of Germany; but the mountainous district
+between the Rhine, the Lake of Constance and the Danube, now called the
+Black Forest, seems to have had no permanent owners.
+
+The greater part of Germany was thus in possession of Germanic tribes,
+bound to each other by blood, by their common religion and their habits
+of life. At this early period, their virtues and their vices were
+strongly marked. They were not savages, for they knew the first
+necessary arts of civilized life, and they had a fixed social and
+political organization. The greater part of the territory which they
+inhabited was still a wilderness. The mountain chain which extends
+through Central Germany from the Main to the Elbe was called by the
+Romans the Hercynian Forest. It was then a wild, savage region, the home
+of the aurox (a race of wild cattle), the bear and the elk. The lower
+lands to the northward of this forest were also thickly wooded and
+marshy, with open pastures here and there, where the tribes settled in
+small communities, kept their cattle, and cultivated the soil only
+enough to supply the needs of life. They made rough roads of
+communication, which could be traversed by their wagons, and the
+frontiers of each tribe were usually marked by guard-houses, where all
+strangers were detained until they received permission to enter the
+territory.
+
+[Sidenote: HABITS OF THE GERMANS.]
+
+At this early period, the Germans had no cities, or even villages. Their
+places of worship, which were either groves of venerable oak-trees or
+the tops of mountains, were often fortified; and when attacked in the
+open country, they made a temporary defence of their wagons. They lived
+in log-houses, which were surrounded by stockades spacious enough to
+contain the cattle and horses belonging to the family. A few fields of
+rye and barley furnished each homestead with bread and beer, but hunting
+and fishing were their chief dependence. The women cultivated flax, from
+which they made a coarse, strong linen: the men clothed themselves with
+furs or leather. They were acquainted with the smelting and working of
+iron, but valued gold and silver only for the sake of ornament. They
+were fond of bright colors, of poetry and song, and were in the highest
+degree hospitable.
+
+The three principal vices of the Germans were indolence, drunkenness and
+love of gaming. Although always ready for the toils and dangers of war,
+they disliked to work at home. When the men assembled at night, and the
+great ox-horns, filled with mead or beer, were passed from one to the
+other, they rarely ceased drinking until all were intoxicated; and when
+the passion for gaming came upon them, they would often stake their
+dearest possessions, even their own freedom, on a throw of the dice. The
+women were never present on these occasions: they ruled and regulated
+their households with undisputed sway. They were considered the equals
+of the men, and exhibited no less energy and courage. They were supposed
+to possess the gift of prophecy, and always accompanied the men to
+battle, where they took care of the wounded, and stimulated the warriors
+by their shouts and songs.
+
+They honored the institution of marriage to an extent beyond that
+exhibited by any other people of the ancient world. The ceremony
+consisted in the man giving a horse, or a yoke of oxen, to the woman,
+who gave him arms or armor in return. Those who proved unfaithful to the
+marriage vow were punished with death. The children of freemen and
+slaves grew up together until the former were old enough to carry arms,
+when they were separated. The slaves were divided into two classes:
+those who lived under the protection of a freeman and were obliged to
+perform for him a certain amount of labor, and those who were wholly
+"chattels," bought and sold at will.
+
+Each family had its own strictly regulated laws, which were sufficient
+for the government of its free members, its retainers and slaves. A
+number of these families formed "a district," which was generally laid
+out according to natural boundaries, such as streams or hills. In some
+tribes, however, the families were united in "hundreds," instead of
+districts. Each of these managed its own affairs, as a little republic,
+wherein each freeman had an equal voice; yet to each belonged a leader,
+who was called "count" or "duke." All the districts of a tribe met
+together in a "General Assembly of the People," which was always held at
+the time of new or full moon. The chief priest of the tribe presided,
+and each man present had the right to vote. Here questions of peace or
+war, violations of right or disputes between the districts were decided,
+criminals were tried, young men acknowledged as freemen and warriors,
+and, in case of approaching war, a leader chosen by the people.
+Alliances between the tribes, for the sake of mutual defence or
+invasion, were not common, at first; but the necessity of them was soon
+forced upon the Germans by the encroachments of Rome.
+
+The gods which they worshipped represented the powers of Nature. Their
+mythology was the same originally which the Scandinavians preserved, in
+a slightly different form, until the tenth century of our era. The chief
+deity was named Wodan, or Odin, the god of the sky, whose worship was
+really that of the sun. His son, Donar, or Thunder, with his fiery beard
+and huge hammer, is the Thor of the Scandinavians. The god of war, Tiu
+or Tyr, was supposed to have been born from the Earth, and thus became
+the ancestor of the Germanic tribes. There was also a goddess of the
+earth, Hertha, who was worshipped with secret and mysterious rites. The
+people had their religious festivals, at stated seasons, when
+sacrifices, sometimes of human beings, were laid upon the altars of the
+gods, in the sacred groves. Even after they became Christians, in the
+eighth century, they retained their habit of celebrating some of these
+festivals, but changed them into the Christian anniversaries of
+Christmas, Easter and Whitsuntide.
+
+[Sidenote: OPEN TO CIVILIZATION.]
+
+Thus, from all we can learn respecting them, we may say that the
+Germans, during the first century before Christ, were fully prepared, by
+their habits, laws, and their moral development, for a higher
+civilization. They were still restless, after so many centuries of
+wandering; they were fierce and fond of war, as a natural consequence of
+their struggles with the neighboring races; but they had already
+acquired a love for the wild land where they dwelt, they had begun to
+cultivate the soil, they had purified and hallowed the family relation,
+which is the basis of all good government, and finally, although slavery
+existed among them, they had established equal rights for free men.
+
+If the object of Rome had been civilization, instead of conquest and
+plunder, the development of the Germans might have commenced much
+earlier and produced very different results.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE WARS OF ROME WITH THE GERMANS.
+
+(70 B. C.--9 A. D.)
+
+Roman Conquest of Gaul. --The German Chief, Ariovistus. --His Answer to
+    Cæsar. --Cæsar's March to the Rhine. --Defeat of Ariovistus.
+    --Cæsar's Victory near Cologne. --His Bridge. --His Second
+    Expedition. --He subjugates the Gauls. --He enlists a German
+    Legion. --The Romans advance to the Danube, under Augustus. --First
+    Expedition of Drusus. --The Rhine fortified. --Death of Drusus.
+    --Conquests of Tiberius. --The War of the Marcomanni. --The
+    Cherusci. --Tyranny of Varus. --Resistance of the Germans.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 70 B. C.]
+
+After the destruction of the Teutons and Cimbrians by Marius, more than
+forty years elapsed before the Romans again came in contact with any
+German tribe. During this time the Roman dominion over the greater part
+of Gaul was firmly established by Julius Cæsar, and in losing their
+independence, the Celts began to lose, also, their original habits and
+character. They and the Germans had never been very peaceable neighbors,
+and the possession of the western bank of the Rhine seems to have been,
+even at that early day, a subject of contention between them.
+
+About the year 70 B. C. two Gallic tribes, the Ædui in Burgundy and the
+Arverni in Central France, began a struggle for the supremacy in that
+part of Gaul. The allies of the latter, the Sequani, called to their
+assistance a chief of the German Suevi, whose name, as we have it
+through Cæsar, was Ariovistus. With a force of 15,000 men, he joined the
+Arverni and the Sequani, and defeated the Ædui in several battles. After
+the complete overthrow of the latter, he haughtily demanded as a
+recompense one-third of the territory of the Sequani. His strength had
+meanwhile been increased by new accessions from the German side of the
+Rhine, and the Sequani were obliged to yield. His followers settled in
+the new territory: in the course of about fourteen years, they
+amounted to 120,000, and Ariovistus felt himself strong enough to demand
+another third of the lands of the Sequani.
+
+[Sidenote: UNDER THE CÆSARS.]
+
+[Illustration: GERMANY UNDER THE CÆSARS.]
+
+[Sidenote: 57 B. C.]
+
+Southern France was then a Roman province, governed by Julius Cæsar. In
+the year 57 B. C. ambassadors from the principal tribes of Eastern Gaul
+appeared before him and implored his assistance against the inroads of
+the Suevi. It was an opportunity which he immediately seized, in order
+to bring the remaining Gallic tribes under the sway of Rome. He first
+sent a summons to Ariovistus to appear before him, but the haughty
+German chief answered: "When I need Cæsar, I shall come to Cæsar. If
+Cæsar needs me, let him seek me. What business has he in _my_ Gaul,
+which I have acquired in war?"
+
+On receiving this answer, Cæsar marched immediately with his legions
+into the land of the Sequani, and succeeded in reaching their capitol,
+Vesontio (the modern Besançon), before the enemy. It was then a
+fortified place, and its possession gave Cæsar an important advantage at
+the start. While his legions were resting there for a few days, before
+beginning the march against the Suevi, the Gallic and Roman merchants
+and traders circulated the most frightful accounts of the strength and
+fierceness of the latter through the Roman camp. They reported that the
+German barbarians were men of giant size and more than human strength,
+whose faces were so terrible that the glances of their eyes could not be
+endured. Very soon numbers of the Roman officers demanded leave of
+absence, and even the few who were ashamed to take this step lost all
+courage. The soldiers became so demoralized that many of them declared
+openly that they would refuse to fight, if commanded to do so.
+
+In this emergency, Cæsar showed his genius as a leader of men. He called
+a large number of soldiers and officers of all grades together, and
+addressed them in strong words, pointing out their superior military
+discipline, ridiculing the terrible stories in circulation, and sharply
+censuring them for their insubordination. He concluded by declaring that
+if the army should refuse to march, he would start the next morning with
+only the tenth legion, upon the courage and obedience of which he could
+rely. This speech produced an immediate effect. The tenth legion
+solemnly thanked Cæsar for his confidence in its men and officers, the
+other legions, one after the other, declared their readiness to follow,
+and the whole army left Vesontio the very next morning. After a rapid
+march of seven days, Cæsar found himself within a short distance of the
+fortified camp of Ariovistus.
+
+[Sidenote: 57 B. C. CÆSAR AND ARIOVISTUS.]
+
+The German chief now agreed to an interview, and the two leaders met,
+half-way between the two armies, on the plain of the Rhine. The place is
+supposed to have been a little to the northward of Basel. Neither Cæsar
+nor Ariovistus would yield to the demands of the other, and as the
+cavalry of their armies began skirmishing, the interview was broken off.
+For several days in succession the Romans offered battle, but the Suevi
+refused to leave their strong position. This hesitation seemed
+remarkable, until it was explained by some prisoners, captured in a
+skirmish, who stated that the German priestesses had prophesied
+misfortune to Ariovistus, if he should fight before the new moon.
+
+Cæsar, thereupon, determined to attack the German camp without delay.
+The meeting of the two armies was fierce, and the soldiers were soon
+fighting hand to hand. On each side one wing gave way, but the greater
+quickness and superior military skill of the Romans enabled them to
+recover sooner than the enemy. The day ended with the entire defeat of
+the Suevi, and the flight of the few who escaped across the Rhine. They
+did not attempt to reconquer their lost territory, and the three small
+German tribes, who had long been settled between the Rhine and the
+Vosges (in what is now Alsatia), became subject to Roman rule.
+
+Two years afterwards, Cæsar, who was engaged in subjugating the Belgæ,
+in Northern Gaul, learned that two other German tribes, the Usipetes and
+Tencteres, who had been driven from their homes by the Suevi, had
+crossed the Rhine below where Cologne now stands. They numbered 400,000,
+and the Northern Gauls, instead of regarding them as invaders, were
+inclined to welcome them as allies against Rome, the common enemy. Cæsar
+knew that if they remained, a revolt of the Gauls against his rule would
+be the consequence. He therefore hastened to meet them, got possession
+of their principal chiefs by treachery, and then attacked their camp
+between the Meuse and the Rhine. The Germans were defeated, and nearly
+all their foot-soldiers slaughtered, but the cavalry succeeded in
+crossing the river, where they were welcomed by the Sicambrians.
+
+Then it was that Cæsar built his famous wooden bridge across the Rhine,
+not far from the site of Cologne, although the precise point can not now
+be ascertained. He crossed with his army into Westphalia, but the tribes
+he sought retreated into the great forests to the eastward, where he was
+unable to pursue them. He contented himself with burning their houses
+and gathering their ripened harvests for eighteen days, when he returned
+to the other side and destroyed the bridge behind him. From this time,
+Rome claimed the sovereignty of the western bank of the Rhine to its
+mouth.
+
+[Sidenote: 53 B. C.]
+
+While Cæsar was in Britain, in the year 53 B. C., the newly subjugated
+Celtic and German tribes which inhabited Belgium rose in open revolt
+against the Roman rule. The rapidity of Cæsar's return arrested their
+temporary success, but some of the German tribes to the eastward of the
+Rhine had already promised to aid them. In order to secure his
+conquests, the Roman general determined to cross the Rhine again, and
+intimidate, if not subdue, his dangerous neighbors. He built a second
+bridge, near the place where the first had been, and crossed with his
+army. But, as before, the Suevi and Sicambrians drew back among the
+forest-covered hills along the Weser river, and only the small and
+peaceful tribe of the Ubii remained in their homes. The latter offered
+their submission to Cæsar, and agreed to furnish him with news of the
+movements of their warlike countrymen, in return for his protection.
+
+When another revolt of the Celtic Gauls took place, the following year,
+German mercenaries, enlisted among the Ubii, fought on the Roman side
+and took an important part in the decisive battle which gave
+Vercingetorix, the last chief of the Gauls, into Cæsar's hands. He was
+beheaded, and from that time the Gauls made no further effort to throw
+off the Roman yoke. They accepted the civil and military organization,
+the dress and habits, and finally the language and religion of their
+conquerors. The small German tribes in Alsatia and Belgium shared the
+same fate: their territory was divided into two provinces, called Upper
+and Lower Germania by the Romans. The vast region inhabited by the
+independent tribes, lying between the Rhine, the Vistula, the North Sea
+and the Danube, was thenceforth named _Germania Magna_, or "Great
+Germany."
+
+Cæsar's renown among the Germans, and probably also his skill in dealing
+with them, was so great, that when he left Gaul to return to Rome, he
+took with him a German legion of 6,000 men, which afterwards fought on
+his side against Pompey, on the battle-field of Pharsalia. The Roman
+agents penetrated into the interior of the country, and enlisted a great
+many of the free Germans who were tempted by the prospect of good pay
+and booty. Even the younger sons of the chiefs entered the Roman army,
+for the sake of a better military education.
+
+[Sidenote: 15 B. C. THE EXPEDITIONS OF DRUSUS.]
+
+No movement of any consequence took place for more than twenty years
+after Cæsar's last departure from the banks of the Rhine. The Romans,
+having secured their possession of Gaul, now turned their attention to
+the subjugation of the Celtic tribes inhabiting the Alps and the
+lowlands south of the Danube, from the Lake of Constance to Vienna. This
+work had also been begun by Cæsar: it was continued by the Emperor
+Augustus, whose step-sons, Tiberius and Drusus, finally overcame the
+desperate resistance of the native tribes. In the year 15 B. C. the
+Danube became the boundary between Rome and Germany on the south, as the
+Rhine already was on the west. The Roman provinces of Rhætia, Noricum
+and Pannonia were formed out of the conquered territory.
+
+Augustus now sent Drusus, with a large army, to the Rhine, instructing
+him to undertake a campaign against the independent German tribes. It
+does not appear that the latter had given any recent occasion for this
+hostile movement: the Emperor's design was probably to extend the
+dominions of Rome to the North Sea and the Baltic. Drusus built a large
+fleet on the Rhine, descended that river nearly to its mouth, cut a
+canal for his vessels to a lake which is now the Zuyder Zee, and thus
+entered the North Sea. It was a bold undertaking, but did not succeed.
+He reached the mouth of the river Ems with his fleet, when the weather
+became so tempestuous that he was obliged to return.
+
+The next year, 11 B. C., he made an expedition into the land of the
+Sicambrians, during which his situation was often hazardous; but he
+succeeded in penetrating rather more than a hundred miles to the
+eastward of the Rhine, and establishing--not far from where the city of
+Paderborn now stands--a fortress called Aliso, which became a base for
+later operations against the German tribes. He next set about building a
+series of fortresses, fifty in number, along the western bank of the
+Rhine. Around the most important of these, towns immediately sprang up,
+and thus were laid the foundations of the cities of Strasburg, Mayence,
+Coblenz, Cologne, and many smaller places.
+
+[Sidenote: 9 B. C.]
+
+In the year 9 B. C. Drusus marched again into Germany. He defeated the
+Chatti in several bloody battles, crossed the passes of the Thuringian
+Forest, and forced his way through the land of the Cherusci (the Hartz
+region) to the Elbe. The legend says that he there encountered a German
+prophetess, who threatened him with coming evil, whereupon he turned
+about and retraced his way towards the Rhine. He died, however, during
+the march, and his dejected army had great difficulty in reaching the
+safe line of their fortresses.
+
+Tiberius succeeded to the command left vacant by the death of his
+brother Drusus. Less daring, but of a more cautious and scheming nature,
+he began by taking possession of the land of the Sicambrians and
+colonizing a part of the tribe on the west bank of the Rhine. He then
+gradually extended his power, and in the course of two years brought
+nearly the whole country between the Rhine and Weser under the rule of
+Rome. His successor, Domitius Ænobarbus, built military roads through
+Westphalia and the low, marshy plains towards the sea. These roads,
+which were called "long bridges," were probably made of logs, like the
+"corduroy" roads of our Western States, but they were of great service
+during the later Roman campaigns.
+
+After the lapse of ten years, however, the subjugated tribes between the
+Rhine and the Weser rose in revolt. The struggle lasted for three years
+more, without being decided; and then Augustus sent Tiberius a second
+time to Germany. The latter was as successful as at first: he crushed
+some of the rebellious tribes, accepted the submission of others, and,
+supported by a fleet which reached the Elbe and ascended that river to
+meet him, secured, as he supposed, the sway of Rome over nearly the
+whole of _Germania Magna_. This was in the fifth year of the Christian
+Era. Of the German tribes who still remained independent, there were the
+Semnones, Saxons and Angles, east of the Elbe, and the Burgundians,
+Vandals and Goths along the shore of the Baltic, together with one
+powerful tribe in Bohemia. The latter, the Marcomanni, who seem to have
+left their original home in Baden and Würtemberg on account of the
+approach of the Romans, now felt that their independence was a second
+time seriously threatened. Their first measure of defence, therefore,
+was to strengthen themselves by alliances with kindred tribes.
+
+[Sidenote: 8 B. C. THE MARCOMANNI: VARUS.]
+
+The chief of the Marcomanni, named Marbod, was a man of unusual capacity
+and energy. It seems that he was educated as a Roman, but under what
+circumstances is not stated. This rendered him a more dangerous enemy,
+though it also made him an object of suspicion, and perhaps jealousy, to
+the other German chieftains. Nevertheless, he succeeded in uniting
+nearly all the independent tribes east of the Elbe under his command,
+and in organizing a standing army of 70,000 foot and 4,000 horse, which,
+disciplined like the Roman legions, might be considered a match for an
+equal number. His success created so much anxiety in Rome, that in the
+next year after Tiberius returned from his successes in Germany,
+Augustus determined to send a force of twelve legions against Marbod.
+Precisely at this time, a great insurrection broke out in Dalmatia and
+Pannonia, and when it was suppressed, after a struggle of three years,
+the Romans found it prudent to offer peace to Marbod, and he to accept
+it.
+
+By this time, the territory between the Rhine and the Weser had been
+fifteen years, and that between the Weser and the Elbe four years, under
+Roman government. The tribes inhabiting the first of these two regions
+had been much weakened, both by the part some of them had taken in the
+Gallic insurrections, and by the revolt of all against Rome, during the
+first three or four years of the Christian Era. But those who inhabited
+the region between the Weser and the Elbe, the chief of whom were the
+Cherusci, were still powerful, and unsubdued in spirit.
+
+While Augustus was occupied in putting down the insurrection in Dalmatia
+and Pannonia, with a prospect, as it seemed, of having to fight the
+Marcomanni afterwards, his representative in Germany was Quinctilius
+Varus, a man of despotic and relentless character. Tiberius, in spite of
+his later vices as Emperor, was prudent and conciliatory in his
+conquests; but Varus soon turned the respect of the Germans for the
+Roman power into the fiercest hate. He applied, in a more brutal form,
+the same measures which had been forced upon the Gauls. He overturned,
+at one blow, all the native forms of law, introduced heavy taxes, which
+were collected by force, punished with shameful death crimes which the
+people considered trivial, and decided all matters in Roman courts and
+in a language which was not yet understood.
+
+[Sidenote: 8 B. C.]
+
+This violent and reckless policy, which Varus enforced with a hand of
+iron, produced an effect the reverse of what he anticipated. The German
+tribes with hardly an exception, determined to make another effort to
+regain their independence; but they had been taught wisdom by seventy
+years of conflict with the Roman power. Up to this time, each tribe had
+acted for itself, without concert with its neighbors. They saw, now,
+that no single tribe could cope successfully with Rome: it was necessary
+that all should be united as one people: and they only waited until such
+a union could be secretly established, before rising to throw off the
+unendurable yoke which Varus had laid upon them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+HERMANN, THE FIRST GERMAN LEADER.
+
+(9--21 A. D.)
+
+The Cherusci. --Hermann's Early Life. --His Return to Germany. --Enmity
+    of Segestes. --Secret Union of the Tribes. --The Revolt.
+    --Destruction of Varus and his Legions. --Terror in Rome. --The
+    Battle-Field and Monument. --Dissensions. --First March of
+    Germanicus. --Second March and Battle with Hermann. --Defeat of
+    Cæcina. --Third Expedition of Germanicus. --Battles on the Weser.
+    --His Retreat. --Views of Tiberius. --War between Hermann and
+    Marbod. --Murder of Hermann. --His Character. --Tacitus.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 9 A. D. HERMANN.]
+
+The Cherusci, who inhabited a part of the land between the Weser and the
+Elbe, including the Hartz Mountains, were the most powerful of the
+tribes conquered by Tiberius. They had no permanent class of nobles, as
+none of the early Germans seem to have had, but certain families were
+distinguished for their abilities and their character, or the services
+which they had rendered to their people in war. The head of one of these
+Cheruscan families was Segimar, one of whose sons was named Hermann. The
+latter entered the Roman service as a youth, distinguished himself by
+his military talent, was made a Roman knight, and commanded one of the
+legions which were employed by Augustus in suppressing the great
+insurrection of the Dalmatians and Pannonians. It seems probable that he
+visited Rome at the period of its highest power and splendor: it is
+certain, at least, that he comprehended the political system by means of
+which the Empire had become so great.
+
+When Hermann returned to his people, he was a man of twenty-five and
+already an experienced commander. He is described by the Latin writers
+as a chief of fine personal presence, great strength, an animated
+countenance and bright eyes. He was always self-possessed, quick in
+action, yet never rash or heedless. He found the Cherusci and all the
+neighboring tribes filled with hate of the Roman rule and burning to
+revenge the injuries they had suffered. His first movement was to
+organize a secret conspiracy among the tribes, which could be called
+into action as soon as a fortunate opportunity should arrive. Varus was
+then--A. D. 9--encamped near the Weser, in the land of the Saxons, with
+an army of 40,000 men, the best of the Roman legions. Hermann was still
+in the Roman service, and held a command under him. But among the other
+Germans in the Roman camp was Segestes, a chief of the Cherusci, whose
+daughter, Thusnelda, Hermann had stolen away from him and married.
+Thusnelda was afterwards celebrated in the German legends as a
+high-hearted, patriotic woman, who was devotedly attached to Hermann:
+but her father, Segestes, became his bitterest enemy.
+
+[Sidenote: 9 A. D.]
+
+In engaging the different tribes to unite, Hermann had great
+difficulties to overcome. They were not only jealous of each other,
+remembering ancient quarrels between themselves, but many families in
+each tribe were disposed to submit to Rome, being either hopeless of
+succeeding or tempted by the chance of office and wealth under the Roman
+Government. Hermann's own brother, Flavus, had become, and always
+remained, a Roman; other members of his family were opposed to his
+undertaking, and it seems that only his mother and his wife encouraged
+him with their sympathy. Nevertheless, he formed his plans with as much
+skill as boldness, while serving in the army of Varus and liable to be
+betrayed at any moment. In fact he _was_ betrayed by his father-in-law,
+Segestes, who became acquainted with the fact of a conspiracy and
+communicated the news to the Roman general. But Varus, haughty and
+self-confident, laughed at the story.
+
+It was time to act; and, as no opportunity came Hermann created one. He
+caused messengers to come to Varus, declaring that a dangerous
+insurrection had broken out in the lands between him and the Rhine. This
+was in the month of September, and Varus, believing the reports, broke
+up his camp and set out to suppress the insurrection before the winter.
+His nearest way led through the wooded, mountainous country along the
+Weser, which is now called the Teutoburger Forest. According to one
+account, Hermann was left behind to collect the auxiliary German troops,
+and then, with them, rejoin his general. It is certain that he remained,
+and instantly sent his messengers to all the tribes engaged in the
+conspiracy, whose warriors came to him with all speed. In a few days he
+had an army probably equal in numbers to that of Varus. In the meantime
+the season had changed: violent autumn storms burst over the land, and
+the Romans slowly advanced through the forests and mountain-passes, in
+the wind and rain.
+
+[Sidenote: 9 A. D. HERMANN'S CONSPIRACY.]
+
+Hermann knew the ground and was able to choose the best point of attack.
+With his army, hastily organized, he burst upon the legions of Varus,
+who resisted him, the first day, with their accustomed valor. But the
+attack was renewed the second day, and the endurance of the Roman troops
+began to give way: they held their ground with difficulty, but exerted
+themselves to the utmost, for there was now only one mountain ridge to
+be passed. Beyond it lay the broad plains of Westphalia, with fortresses
+and military roads, where they had better chances of defence. When the
+third day dawned, the storm was fiercer than ever. The Roman army
+crossed the summit of the last ridge and saw the securer plains before
+them. They commenced descending the long slope, but, just as they
+reached three steep, wooded ravines which were still to be traversed,
+the Germans swept down upon them from the summits, like a torrent, with
+shouts and far-sounding songs of battle.
+
+A complete panic seized the exhausted and disheartened Roman troops, and
+the fight soon became a slaughter. Varus, wounded, threw himself upon
+his sword: the wooded passes, below, were occupied in advance by the
+Germans, and hardly enough escaped to carry the news of the terrible
+defeat to the Roman frontier on the Rhine. Those who escaped death were
+sacrificed upon the altars of the gods, and the fiercest revenge was
+visited upon the Roman judges, lawyers and civil officers, who had
+trampled upon all the hallowed laws and customs of the people. The news
+of this great German victory reached Rome in the midst of the rejoicings
+over the suppression of the insurrection in Dalmatia and Pannonia, and
+turned the triumph into mourning. The aged Augustus feared the overthrow
+of his power. He was unable to comprehend such a sudden and terrible
+disaster: he let his hair and beard grow for months, as a sign of his
+trouble, and was often heard to cry aloud: "O, Varus, Varus, give me
+back my legions!"
+
+The location of the battle-field where Hermann defeated Varus has been
+preserved by tradition. The long southern slope of the mountain, near
+Detmold, now bare, but surrounded by forests, is called to this day the
+_Winfield_. Around the summit of the mountain there is a ring of huge
+stones, showing that it was originally consecrated to the worship of the
+ancient pagan deities. Here a pedestal of granite, in the form of a
+temple, has been built, and upon it has been placed a colossal statue of
+Hermann in bronze, 90 feet high, and visible at a distance of fifty
+miles.
+
+[Sidenote: 14 A. D.]
+
+Hermann's deeds were afterwards celebrated in the songs of his people,
+as they have been in modern German literature; but, like many other
+great men, the best results of his victory were cast away by the people
+whom he had liberated. It was now possible to organize into a nation the
+tribes which had united to overthrow the Romans, and such seems to have
+been his intention. He sent the head of Varus to Marbod, Chief of the
+Marcomanni, whose power he had secured by carrying out his original
+design; but he failed to secure the friendship, or even the neutrality,
+of the rival leader. At home his own family--bitterest among them all
+his father-in-law, Segestes--opposed his plans, and the Cherusci were
+soon divided into two parties,--that of the people, headed by Hermann,
+and that of the nobility, headed by Segestes.
+
+When Tiberius, therefore, hastily collected a new army and marched into
+Germany the following year, he encountered no serious opposition. The
+union of the tribes had been dissolved, and each avoided an encounter
+with the Romans. The country was apparently subjugated for the second
+time. The Emperor Augustus died, A. D. 14: Tiberius succeeded to the
+purple, and the command in Germany then devolved upon his nephew,
+Germanicus, the son of Drusus.
+
+The new commander, however, was detained in Gaul by insubordination in
+the army and signs of a revolt among the people, following the death of
+Augustus, and he did not reach Germany until six years after the defeat
+of Varus. His march was sudden and swift, and took the people by
+surprise, for the apparent indifference of Rome had made them careless.
+The Marsi were all assembled at one of their religious festivals,
+unprepared for defence, in a consecrated pine forest, when Germanicus
+fell upon them and slaughtered the greater number, after which he
+destroyed the sacred trees. The news of this outrage roused the sluggish
+spirit of all the neighboring tribes: they gathered together in such
+numbers that Germanicus had much difficulty in fighting his way back to
+the Rhine.
+
+[Sidenote: 15 A. D. THE INVASION OF GERMANICUS.]
+
+Hermann succeeded in escaping from his father-in-law, by whom he had
+been captured and imprisoned, and began to form a new union of the
+tribes. His first design was to release his wife, Thusnelda, from the
+hands of Segestes, and then destroy the authority of the latter, who was
+the head of the faction friendly to Rome. Germanicus re-entered Germany
+the following summer, A. D. 15, with a powerful army, and to him
+Segestes appealed for help against his own countrymen. The Romans
+marched at once into the land of the Cherusci. After a few days they
+reached the scene of the defeat of Varus, and there they halted to bury
+the thousands of skeletons which lay wasting on the mountainside. Then
+they met Segestes, who gave up his own daughter, Thusnelda, to
+Germanicus, as a captive.
+
+The loss of his wife roused Hermann to fury. He went hither and thither
+among the tribes, stirring the hearts of all with his fiery addresses.
+Germanicus soon perceived that a storm was gathering, and prepared to
+meet it. He divided his army into two parts, one of which was commanded
+by Cæcina, and built a large fleet which transported one-half of his
+troops by sea and up the Weser. After joining Cæcina, he marched into
+the Teutoburger Forest. Hermann met him near the scene of his great
+victory over Varus, and a fierce battle was fought. According to the
+Romans, neither side obtained any advantage over the other; but
+Germanicus, with half the army, fell back upon his fleet and returned to
+the Rhine by way of the North Sea.
+
+Cæcina, with the remnant of his four legions, also retreated across the
+country, pursued by Hermann. In the dark forests and on the marshy
+plains they were exposed to constant assaults, and were obliged to fight
+every step of the way. Finally, in a marshy valley, the site of which
+cannot be discovered, the Germans suddenly attacked the Romans on all
+sides. Hermann cried out to his soldiers: "It shall be another day of
+Varus!" the songs of the women prophesied triumph, and the Romans were
+filled with forebodings of defeat. They fought desperately, but were
+forced to yield, and Hermann's words would have been made truth, had not
+the Germans ceased fighting in order to plunder the camp of their
+enemies. The latter were thus able to cut their way out of the valley
+and hastily fortify themselves for the night on an adjoining plain.
+
+[Sidenote: 15 A. D.]
+
+The German chiefs held a council of war, and decided, against the
+remonstrances of Hermann, to renew the attack at daybreak. This was
+precisely what Cæcina expected; he knew what fate awaited them all if he
+should fail, and arranged his weakened forces to meet the assault. They
+fought with such desperation that the Germans were defeated, and Cæcina
+was enabled, by forced marches, to reach the Rhine, whither the rumor of
+the entire destruction of his army had preceded him. The voyage of
+Germanicus was also unfortunate: he encountered a violent storm on the
+coast of Holland, and two of his legions barely escaped destruction. He
+had nothing to show, as the result of his campaign, except his captive
+Thusnelda and her son, who walked behind his triumphal chariot, in Rome,
+three years afterwards, and never again saw their native land; and his
+ally, the traitor Segestes, who ended his contemptible life somewhere in
+Gaul, under Roman protection.
+
+Germanicus, nevertheless, determined not to rest until he had completed
+the subjugation of the country as far as the Elbe. By employing all the
+means at his command he raised a new army of eight legions, with a great
+body of cavalry, and a number of auxiliary troops, formed of Gauls,
+Rhætians, and even of Germans. He collected a fleet of more than a
+thousand vessels, and transported his army to the mouth of the Ems,
+where he landed and commenced the campaign. The Chauci, living near the
+sea, submitted at once, and some of the neighboring tribes were disposed
+to follow their example; but Hermann, with a large force of the united
+Germans, waited for the Romans among the mountains of the Weser.
+Germanicus entered the mountains by a gorge, near where the city of
+Minden now stands, and the two armies faced each other, separated only
+by the river. The legends state that Hermann and his brother Flavus, who
+was still in the service of Germanicus, held an angry conversation from
+the opposite shores, and the latter became so exasperated that he
+endeavored to cross on horseback and attack Hermann.
+
+Germanicus first sent his cavalry across the Weser, and then built a
+bridge, over which his whole army crossed. The Romans and Germans then
+met in battle, upon a narrow place between the river and some wooded
+hills, called the Meadow of the Elves. The fight was long and bloody:
+Hermann himself, severely wounded, was at one time almost in the hands
+of the Romans. It is said that his face was so covered with blood that
+he was only recognized by some of the German soldiers on the Roman side,
+who purposely allowed him to escape. The superior military skill of
+Germanicus, and the discipline of his troops, won the day: the Germans
+retreated, beaten but not yet subdued.
+
+[Sidenote: 16 A. D. END OF THE INVASION.]
+
+In a short time the latter were so far recruited that they brought on a
+second battle. On account of his wounds, Hermann was unable to command
+in person, but his uncle, Ingiomar, who took his place, imitated his
+boldness and bravery. The fight was even more fierce than the first had
+been, and the Romans, at one time, were only prevented from giving way
+by Germanicus placing himself at their head, in the thick of the battle.
+It appears that both sides held their ground at the close, and their
+losses were probably equally great, so that neither was in a condition
+to continue the struggle.
+
+Germanicus erected a monument on the banks of the Weser, claiming that
+he had conquered Germany to the Elbe; but before the end of the summer
+of the year 16 he re-embarked with his army, without leaving any tokens
+of Roman authority behind him. A terrible storm on the North Sea so
+scattered his fleet that many vessels were driven to the English coast:
+his own ship was in such danger that he landed among the Chauci and
+returned across the country to the Rhine. The autumn was far advanced
+before the scattered remnants of his great army could be collected and
+reorganized: then, in spite of the lateness of the season, he made a new
+invasion into the lands of the Chatti, or Hessians, in order to show
+that he was still powerful.
+
+Germanicus was a man of great ambition and of astonishing energy. As
+Julius Cæsar had made Gaul Roman, so he determined to make Germany
+Roman. He began his preparations for another expedition the following
+summer; but the Emperor Tiberius, jealous of his increasing renown,
+recalled him to Rome, saying that it was better to let the German tribes
+exhaust themselves in their own internal discords, than to waste so many
+of the best legions in subduing them. Germanicus obeyed, returned to
+Rome, had his grand triumph, and was then sent to the East, where he
+shortly afterwards died, it was supposed by poison.
+
+[Sidenote: 19 A. D.]
+
+The words of the shrewd Emperor were true: two rival powers had been
+developed in Germany through the resistance to Rome, and they soon came
+into conflict. Marbod, Chief of the Marcomanni and many allied tribes,
+had maintained his position without war; but Hermann, now the recognized
+head of the Cherusci and their confederates, who had destroyed Varus and
+held Germanicus at bay, possessed a popularity, founded on his heroism,
+which spread far and wide through the German land. Even at that early
+day, the small chiefs in each tribe (corresponding to the later
+nobility) were opposed to the broad, patriotic union which Hermann had
+established, because it weakened their power and increased that of the
+people. They were also jealous of his great authority and influence, and
+even his uncle, Ingiomar, who had led so bravely the last battle against
+Germanicus, went over to the side of Marbod when it became evident that
+the rivalry of the two chiefs must lead to war.
+
+Our account of these events is obscure and imperfect. On the one side,
+it seems that Marbod's neutrality was a ground of complaint with
+Hermann; while Marbod declared that the latter had no right to draw the
+Semnones and Longobards--at first allied with the Marcomanni--into union
+with the Cherusci against Rome. In the year 19 the two marched against
+each other, and a great battle took place. Although neither was
+victorious, the popularity of Hermann drew so many of Marbod's allies to
+his side, that the latter fled to Italy and claimed the protection of
+Tiberius, who assigned to him Ravenna as a residence. He died there in
+the year 37, at a very advanced age. A Goth, named Catwalda, assisted by
+Roman influence, became his successor as chief of the Marcomanni.
+
+[Sidenote: 21 A. D. DEATH OF HERMANN.]
+
+After the flight of Marbod, Hermann seems to have devoted himself to the
+creation of a permanent union of the tribes which he had commanded. We
+may guess, but can not assert, that his object was to establish a
+national organization, like that of Rome, and in doing this, he must
+have come into conflict with laws and customs which were considered
+sacred by the people. But his remaining days were too few for even the
+beginning of a task which included such an advance in the civilization
+of the race. We only know that he was waylaid and assassinated by
+members of his own family in the year 21. He was then thirty-seven years
+old, and had been for thirteen years a leader of his people. The best
+monument to his ability and heroism may be found in the words of a
+Roman, the historian Tacitus; who says: "He was undoubtedly the
+liberator of Germany, having dared to grapple with the Roman power, not
+in its beginnings, like other kings and commanders, but in the maturity
+of its strength. He was not always victorious in battle, but in _war_ he
+was never subdued. He still lives in the songs of the Barbarians,
+unknown to the annals of the Greeks, who only admire that which belongs
+to themselves--nor celebrated as he deserves by the Romans, who, in
+praising the olden times, neglect the events of the later years."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+GERMANY DURING THE FIRST THREE CENTURIES OF OUR ERA.
+
+(21--300 A. D.)
+
+Truce between the Germans and Romans. --The Cherusci cease to exist.
+    --Incursions of the Chauci and Chatti. --Insurrection of the Gauls.
+    --Conquests of Cerealis. --The Roman Boundary. --German Legions
+    under Rome. --The _Agri Decumates_. --Influence of Roman
+    Civilization. --Commerce. --Changes among the Germans. --War
+    against Marcus Aurelius. --Decline of the Roman Power. --Union of
+    the Germans in Separate Nationalities. --The Alemanni. --The
+    Franks. --The Saxons. --The Goths. --The Thuringians. --The
+    Burgundians. --Wars with Rome in the Third Century. --The Emperor
+    Probus and his Policy. --Constantine. --Relative Position of the
+    two Races.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 50.]
+
+After the campaigns of Germanicus and the death of Hermann, a long time
+elapsed during which the relation of Germany to the Roman Empire might
+be called a truce. No serious attempt was made by the unworthy
+successors of Augustus to extend their sway beyond the banks of the
+Rhine and the Danube; and, as Tiberius had predicted, the German tribes
+were so weakened by their own civil wars that they were unable to cope
+with such a power as Rome. Even the Cherusci, Hermann's own people,
+became so diminished in numbers that, before the end of the first
+century, they ceased to exist as a separate tribe: their fragments were
+divided and incorporated with their neighbors on either side. Another
+tribe, the Ampsivarii, was destroyed in a war with the Chauci, and even
+the power of the fierce Chatti was broken by a great victory of the
+Hermunduri over them, in a quarrel concerning the possession of a sacred
+salt-spring.
+
+About the middle of the first century, however, an event is mentioned
+which shows that the Germans were beginning to appreciate and imitate
+the superior civilization of Rome. The Chauci, dwelling on the shores of
+the North Sea, built a fleet and sailed along the coast to the mouth of
+the Rhine, which they entered in the hope of exciting the Batavi and
+Frisii to rebellion. A few years afterwards the Chatti, probably for
+the sake of plunder, crossed the Rhine and invaded part of Gaul. Both
+attempts failed entirely; and the only serious movement of the Germans
+against Rome, during the century, took place while Vitellius and
+Vespasian were contending for the possession of the imperial throne. A
+German prophetess, of the name of Velleda, whose influence seems to have
+extended over all the tribes, promised them victory: they united,
+organized their forces, crossed the Rhine, and even laid siege to
+Mayence, the principal Roman city.
+
+[Sidenote: 70. THE INVASION OF CEREALIS.]
+
+The success of Vespasian over his rival left him free to meet this new
+danger. But in the meantime the Batavi, under their chief, Claudius
+Civilis, who had been previously fighting on the new Emperor's side,
+joined the Gauls in a general insurrection. This was so successful that
+all northern Gaul, from the Atlantic to the Rhine, threw off the Roman
+yoke. A convention of the chiefs was held at Rheims, in order to found a
+Gallic kingdom; but instead of adopting measures of defence, they
+quarrelled about the selection of a ruling family, the future capital of
+the kingdom, and other matters of small comparative importance.
+
+The approach of Cerealis, the Roman general sent by Vespasian with a
+powerful army in the year 70, put an end to the Gallic insurrection.
+Most of the Gallic tribes submitted without resistance: the Treviri, on
+the Moselle, were defeated in battle, the cities and fortresses on the
+western bank of the Rhine were retaken, and the Roman frontier was
+re-established. Nevertheless, the German tribes which had been allied
+with the Gauls--among them the Batavi--refused to submit, and they were
+strong enough to fight two bloody battles, in which Cerealis was only
+saved from defeat by what the Romans considered to be the direct
+interposition of the gods. The Batavi, although finally subdued in their
+home in Holland, succeeded in getting possession of the Roman admiral's
+vessel, by a night attack on his fleet on the Rhine. This trophy they
+sent by way of the river Lippe, an eastern branch of the Rhine, as a
+present to the great prophetess, Velleda.
+
+The defeat of the German tribes by Cerealis was not followed by a new
+Roman invasion of their territory. The Rhine remained the boundary,
+although the Romans crossed the river at various points and built
+fortresses upon the eastern bank. They appear, in like manner, to have
+crossed the Danube, and they also gradually acquired possession of the
+south-western corner of Germany, lying between the head-waters of that
+river and the Rhine. This region (now occupied by Baden and part of
+Würtemberg) had been deserted by the Marcomanni when they marched to
+Bohemia, and it does not appear that any other German tribe attempted to
+take permanent possession of it. Its first occupants, the Helvetians,
+were now settled in Switzerland.
+
+[Sidenote: 100.]
+
+The enlisting of Germans to serve as soldiers in the Roman army, begun
+by Julius Cæsar, was continued by the Emperors. The proofs of their
+heroism, which the Germans had given in resisting Germanicus, made them
+desirable as troops; and, since they were accustomed to fight with their
+neighbors at home, they had no scruples in fighting them under the
+banner of Rome. Thus one German legion after another was formed, taken
+to Rome, Spain, Greece or the East, and its veterans, if they returned
+home when disabled by age or wounds, carried with them stories of the
+civilized world, of cities, palaces and temples, of agriculture and the
+arts, of a civil and political system far wiser and stronger than their
+own.
+
+The series of good Emperors, from Vespasian to Marcus Aurelius (A. D. 70
+to 181) formed military colonies of their veteran soldiers, whether
+German, Gallic or Roman, in the region originally inhabited by the
+Marcomanni. They were governed by Roman laws, and they paid a tithe, or
+tenth part, of their revenues to the Empire, whence this district was
+called the _Agri Decumates_, or Tithe-Lands. As it had no definite
+boundary towards the north and north-east, the settlements gradually
+extended to the Main, and at last included a triangular strip of
+territory extending from that river to the Rhine at Cologne. By this
+time the Romans had built, in their provinces of Rhætia, Noricum and
+Pannonia, south of the Danube, the cities of Augusta Vindelicorum, now
+Augsburg, and Vindobona, now Vienna, with another on the north bank of
+the Danube, where Ratisbon stands at present.
+
+From the last-named point to the Rhine at Cologne they built a stockade,
+protected by a deep ditch, to keep off the independent German tribes,
+even as they had built a wall across the north of England, to keep off
+the Picts and Scots. Traces of this line of defence are still to be
+seen. Another and shorter line, connecting the head-waters of the Main
+with the Lake of Constance, protected the territory on the east. Their
+frontier remained thus clearly defined for nearly two hundred years. On
+their side of the line they built fortresses and cities, which they
+connected by good highways, they introduced a better system of
+agriculture, established commercial intercourse, not only between their
+own provinces but also with the independent tribes, and thus extended
+the influence of their civilization. For the first time, fruit-trees
+were planted on German soil: the rich cloths and ornaments of Italy and
+the East, the arms and armor, the gold and silver, and the wines of the
+South, soon found a market within the German territory; while the horses
+and cattle, furs and down, smoked beef and honey of the Germans, the
+fish of their streams, and the radishes and asparagus raised on the
+Rhine, were sent to Rome in exchange for those luxuries. Wherever the
+Romans discovered a healing spring, as at Baden-Baden, Aix-la-Chapelle
+and Spa, they built splendid baths; where they found ores or marble in
+the mountains, they established mines or hewed columns for their
+temples, and the native tribes were thus taught the unsuspected riches
+of their own land.
+
+[Sidenote: 150. THE ROMAN FRONTIER.]
+
+For nearly a hundred years after Vespasian's accession to the throne,
+there was no serious interruption to the peaceful intercourse of the two
+races. During this time, we must take it for granted that a gradual
+change must have been growing up in the habits and ideas of the Germans.
+It is probable that they then began to collect in villages; to use stone
+as well as wood in building their houses and fortresses; to depend more
+on agriculture and less on hunting and fishing for their subsistence;
+and to desire the mechanical skill, the arts of civilization, which the
+Romans possessed. The extinction of many smaller tribes, also, taught
+them the necessity of learning to subdue their internal feuds, and
+assist instead of destroying each other. On the north of them was the
+sea; on the east the Sarmatians and other Slavonic tribes, much more
+savage than themselves: in every other direction they were confronted by
+Rome. The complete subjugation of their Celtic neighbors in Gaul was
+always before their eyes. In Hermann's day, they were still too ignorant
+to understand the necessity of his plan of union; but now that tens of
+thousands of their people had learned the extent and power of the Roman
+Empire, and the commercial intercourse of a hundred years had shown them
+their own deficiencies, they reached the point where a new development
+in their history became possible.
+
+[Sidenote: 166.]
+
+Such a development came to disturb the reign of the noble Emperor,
+Marcus Aurelius, in the latter half of the second century. About the
+year 166, all the German tribes, from the Danube to the Baltic, united
+in a grand movement against the Roman Empire. The Marcomanni, who still
+inhabited Bohemia, appear as their leaders, and the Roman writers attach
+their name to the long and desperate war which ensued. We have no
+knowledge of the cause of this struggle, the manner in which the union
+of the Germans was effected, or even the names of their leaders: we only
+know that their invasion of the Roman territory was several times driven
+back and several times recommenced; that Marcus Aurelius died in Vienna,
+in 181, without having seen the end; and that his son and successor,
+Commodus, bought a peace instead of winning it by the sword. At one
+time, during the war, the Chatti forced their way through the
+Tithe-Lands and Switzerland, and crossed the Alps: at another, the
+Marcomanni and Quadi besieged the city of Aquileia, on the northern
+shore of the Adriatic.
+
+The ancient boundary between the Roman Empire and Germany was restored,
+but at a cost which the former could not pay a second time. For a
+hundred and fifty years longer the Emperors preserved their territory:
+Rome still ruled, in name, from Spain to the Tigris, from Scotland to
+the Desert of Sahara, but her power was like a vast, hollow shell.
+Luxury, vice, taxation and continual war had eaten out the heart of the
+Empire; Italy had grown weak and was slowly losing its population, and
+the same causes were gradually ruining Spain, Gaul and Britain. During
+this period the German tribes, notwithstanding their terrible losses in
+war, had preserved their vigor by the simplicity, activity and morality
+of their habits: they had considerably increased in numbers, and from
+the time of Marcus Aurelius on, they felt themselves secure against any
+further invasion of their territory.
+
+Then commenced a series of internal changes, concerning which,
+unfortunately, we have no history. We can only guess that their origin
+dates from the union of all the principal tribes under the lead of the
+Marcomanni; but whether they were brought about with or without internal
+wars; whether wise and far-seeing chiefs or the sentiment of the people
+themselves, contributed most to their consummation; finally, when these
+changes began and when they were completed--are questions which can
+never be accurately settled.
+
+[Sidenote: 250--300. GERMAN NATIONALITIES.]
+
+When the Germans again appear in history, in the third century of our
+era, we are surprised to find that the names of nearly all the tribes
+with which we are familiar have disappeared, and new names, of much
+wider significance, have taken their places. Instead of twenty or thirty
+small divisions, we now find the race consolidated into four chief
+nationalities, with two other inferior though independent branches. We
+also find that the geographical situation of the latter is no longer the
+same as that of the smaller tribes out of which they grew. Migrations
+must have taken place, large tracts of territory must have changed
+hands, many reigning families must have been overthrown, and new ones
+arisen. In short, the change in the organization of the Germans is so
+complete that it can hardly have been accomplished by peaceable means.
+Each of the new nationalities has an important part to play in the
+history of the following centuries, and we will therefore describe them
+separately:
+
+1. THE ALEMANNI.--The name of this division (_Allemannen_,[A] signifying
+"all men") shows that it was composed of fragments of many tribes. The
+Alemanni first made their appearance along the Main, and gradually
+pushed southward over the Tithe-Lands, where the military veterans of
+Rome had settled, until they occupied the greater part of South-western
+Germany, and Eastern Switzerland, to the Alps. Their descendants inhabit
+the same territory, to this day.
+
+[A] _Allemagne_ remains the French name for Germany.
+
+2. THE FRANKS.--It is not known whence this name was derived, nor what
+is its meaning. The Franks are believed to have been formed out of the
+Sicambrians in Westphalia, together with a portion of the Chatti and the
+Batavi in Holland, and other tribes. We first hear of them on the lower
+Rhine, but they soon extended their territory over a great part of
+Belgium and Westphalia. Their chiefs were already called kings, and
+their authority was hereditary.
+
+3. THE SAXONS.--This was one of the small original tribes, settled in
+Holstein: the name is derived from their peculiar weapon, a short sword,
+called _sahs_. We find them now occupying nearly all the territory
+between the Hartz Mountains and the North Sea, from the Elbe westward
+to the Rhine. The Cherusci, the Chauci, and other tribes named by
+Tacitus, were evidently incorporated with the Saxons, who exhibit the
+same characteristics. There appears to have been a natural enmity--no
+doubt bequeathed from the earlier tribes out of which both grew--between
+them and the Franks.
+
+[Sidenote: 250--300.]
+
+4. THE GOTHS.--The traditions of the Goths state that they were settled
+in Sweden before they were found by the Greek navigators on the southern
+shore of the Baltic, in 330 B. C. It is probable that only a portion of
+the tribe migrated, and that the present Scandinavian race is descended
+from the remainder. As the Baltic Goths increased in numbers, they
+gradually ascended the Vistula, pressed eastward along the base of the
+Carpathians and reached the Black Sea, in the course of the second
+century after Christ. They thus possessed a broad belt of territory,
+separating the rest of Europe from the wilder Slavonic races who
+occupied Central Russia. The Vandals and Alans, with the Heruli, Rugii
+and other smaller tribes, all Germanic, as well as a portion of the
+Slavonic Sarmatians, were incorporated with them; and it was probably
+the great extent of territory they controlled which occasioned their
+separation into Ostrogoths (East-Goths) and Visigoths (West-Goths). They
+first came in contact with the Romans, beyond the mouth of the Danube,
+about the beginning of the third century.
+
+5. THE THURINGIANS.--This branch had only a short national existence. It
+was composed of the Hermunduri, with fragments of other tribes, united
+under one king, and occupied all of Central Germany, from the Hartz
+southward to the Danube.
+
+6. THE BURGUNDIANS.--Leaving their original home in Prussia, between the
+Oder and the Vistula, the Burgundians crossed the greater part of
+Germany in a south-western direction, and first settled in a portion of
+what is now Franconia, between the Thuringians and the Alemanni. Not
+long afterwards, however, they passed through the latter, and took
+possession of the country on the west bank of the Rhine, between
+Strasburg and Mayence.
+
+[Sidenote: 270. INCURSIONS OF THE GOTHS.]
+
+Caracalla came into collision with the Alemanni in the year 213, and the
+Emperor Maximin, who was a Goth on his father's side, laid waste their
+territory, in 236. About the latter period, the Franks began to make
+predatory incursions into Gaul, and the Goths became troublesome to the
+Romans, on the lower Danube. In 251 the Emperor Decius found his death
+among the marshes of Dacia, while trying to stay the Gothic invasion,
+and his successor, Gallus, only obtained a temporary peace by agreeing
+to pay an annual sum of money, thus really making Rome a tributary
+power. But the Empire had become impoverished, and the payment soon
+ceased. Thereupon the Goths built fleets, and made voyages of plunder,
+first to Trebizond and the other towns on the Asiatic shore of the Black
+Sea; then they passed the Hellespont, took and plundered the great city
+of Nicomedia, Ephesus with its famous temple, the Grecian isles, and
+even Corinth, Argos and Athens. In the meantime the Alemanni had resumed
+the offensive: they came through Rhætiæ, and descended to the Garda
+lake, in Northern Italy.
+
+The Emperor, Claudius II., turned back this double invasion. He defeated
+and drove back the Alemanni, and then, in the year 270, won a great
+victory over the Goths, in the neighborhood of Thessalonica. His
+successor, Aurelian, followed up the advantage, and in the following
+year made a treaty with the Goths, by which the Danube became the
+frontier between them and the Romans. The latter gave up to them the
+province of Dacia, lying north of the river, and withdrew their
+colonists and military garrisons to the southern side.
+
+Both the Franks and Saxons profited by these events. They let their
+mutual hostility rest for awhile, built fleets, and sailed forth in the
+West on voyages of plunder, like their relatives, the Goths, in the
+East. The Saxons descended on the coasts of Britain and Gaul; the Franks
+sailed to Spain, and are said to have even entered the Mediterranean.
+When Probus became Emperor, in the year 276, he found a great part of
+Gaul overrun and ravaged by them and by the Alemanni, on the Upper
+Rhine. He succeeded, after a hard struggle, in driving back the German
+invaders, restored the line of stockade from the Rhine to the Danube,
+and built new fortresses along the frontier. On the other hand, he
+introduced into Germany the cultivation of the vine, which the previous
+Emperors had not permitted, and thus laid the foundation of the famous
+vineyards of the Rhine and the Moselle.
+
+[Sidenote: 300.]
+
+Probus endeavored to weaken the power of the Germans, by separating and
+colonizing them, wherever it was possible. One of his experiments,
+however, had a very different result from what he expected. He
+transported a large number of Frank captives to the shore of the Black
+Sea; but, instead of quietly settling there, they got possession of some
+vessels, soon formed a large fleet, sailed into the Mediterranean,
+plundered the coasts of Asia Minor, Greece and Sicily, where they even
+captured the city of Syracuse, and at last, after many losses and
+marvellous adventures, made their way by sea to their homes on the Lower
+Rhine.
+
+Towards the close of the third century, Constantine, during the reign of
+his father, Constantius, suppressed an insurrection of the Franks, and
+even for a time drove them from their islands on the coast of Holland.
+He afterward crossed the Rhine, but found it expedient not to attempt an
+expedition into the interior. He appears to have had no war with the
+Alemanni, but he founded the city of Constance, on the lake of the same
+name, for the purpose of keeping them in check.
+
+The boundaries between Germany and Rome still remained the Rhine and the
+Danube, but on the east they were extended to the Black Sea, and in
+place of the invasions of Cæsar, Drusus and Germanicus, the Empire was
+obliged to be content when it succeeded in repelling the invasions made
+upon its own soil. Three hundred years of very slow, but healthy growth
+on the one side, and of luxury, corruption and despotism on the other,
+had thus changed the relative position of the two races.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE RISE AND MIGRATIONS OF THE GOTHS.
+
+(300--412.)
+
+Rise of the Goths. --German Invasions of Gaul. --Victories of Julian.
+    --The Ostrogoths and Visigoths. --Bishop Ulfila. --The Gothic
+    Language. --The Gothic King, Athanaric. --The Coming of the Huns.
+    --Death of Hermanric. --The Goths take refuge in Thrace. --Their
+    Revolt. --Defeat of Valens. --The Goths under Theodosius. --The
+    Franks and Goths meet in Battle. --Alaric, the Visigoth. --He
+    invades Greece. --Battle with Stilicho. --Alaric besieges Rome.
+    --He enters Rome, A. D. 410. --His Death and Burial. --Succession
+    of Ataulf. --The Visigoths settle in Southern Gaul. --Beginning of
+    other Migrations.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 325. RISE OF THE GOTHS.]
+
+Rome, as the representative of the civilization of the world, and, after
+the year 313, as the political power which left Christianity free to
+overthrow the ancient religions, is still the central point of
+historical interest during the greater part of the fourth century. Until
+the death of the Emperor Valentinian, in 375, the ancient boundaries of
+the Empire, though frequently broken down, were continually
+re-established, and the laws and institutions of the Romans had
+prevailed so long throughout the great extent of conquered territory
+that the inhabitants now knew no other.
+
+But beyond the Danube had arisen a new power, the independence of which,
+after the time of Aurelian, was never disputed by the Roman Emperors.
+The Goths were the first of the Germanic tribes to adopt a monarchical
+form of government, and to acquire some degree of civilization. They
+were numerous and well organized; and Constantine, who was more of a
+diplomatist than a general, found it better to preserve peace with them
+for forty years, by presents and payments, than to provoke them to war.
+His best soldiers were enlisted among them, and it was principally the
+valor of his Gothic troops which enabled him to defeat the rival
+emperor, Licinius, in 325. From that time, 40,000 Goths formed the main
+strength of his army.
+
+[Sidenote: 350.]
+
+The important part which these people played in the history of Europe
+renders it necessary that we should now sketch their rise and growth as
+a nation. First, however, let us turn to Western and Northern Germany,
+where the development of the new nationalities was longer delayed, and
+describe the last of their struggles with the power of Rome, during the
+fourth century.
+
+After the death of Constantine, in 337, the quarrels of his sons and
+brothers for the Imperial throne gave the Germans a new opportunity to
+repeat their invasions of Gaul. The Franks were the first to take
+advantage of it: they got possession of Belgium, which was not
+afterwards retaken. The Alemanni followed, and planted themselves on the
+western bank of the Rhine, which they held, although Strasburg and other
+fortified cities still belonged to the Romans. About the year 350, a
+Frank or Saxon, of the name of Magnentius, was proclaimed Emperor by a
+part of the Roman army. He was defeated by the true Emperor, Constantius
+II., but the victory seems to have exhausted the military resources of
+the latter, for immediately afterwards another German invasion occurred.
+
+This time, the Franks took and pillaged Cologne, the Alemanni destroyed
+Strasburg and Mayence, and the Saxons, who had now become a sea-faring
+people, visited the northwestern coasts of Gaul. Constantius II. gave
+the command to his nephew, Julian (afterwards, as Emperor, called the
+Apostate), who first retook Cologne from the Franks, and then turned his
+forces against the Alemanni. The king of the latter, Chnodomar, had
+collected a large army, with which he encountered Julian on the banks of
+the Rhine, near Strasburg. The battle which ensued was fiercely
+contested; but Julian was completely victorious. Chnodomar was taken
+prisoner, and only a few of his troops escaped, like those of
+Ariovistus, 400 years before, by swimming across the Rhine. Although the
+season was far advanced, Julian followed them, crossed their territory
+to the Main, rebuilt the destroyed Roman fortresses, and finally
+accepted an armistice of ten months which they offered to him.
+
+He made use of this time to intimidate the Franks and Saxons. Starting
+from Lutetia (now Paris) early in the summer of 358, he drove the Franks
+beyond the Schelde, received their submission, and then marched a second
+time against the Alemanni. He laid waste their well-settled and
+cultivated land between the Rhine, the Main and the Neckar, crossed
+their territory to the frontiers of the Burgundians (in what is now
+Franconia, or Northern Bavaria), liberated 20,000 Roman captives, and
+made the entire Alemannic people tributary to the Empire. His accession
+to the imperial throne, in 360, delivered the Germans from the most
+dangerous and dreaded enemy they had known since the time of Germanicus.
+
+[Sidenote: 375. TERRITORY OF THE GOTHS.]
+
+Not many years elapsed before the Franks and Alemanni again overran the
+old boundaries, and the Saxons landed on the shores of England. The
+Emperor Valentinian employed both diplomacy and force, and succeeded in
+establishing a temporary peace; but after his death, in the year 375,
+the Roman Empire, the capital of which had been removed to
+Constantinople in 330, was never again in a condition to maintain its
+supremacy in Gaul, or to prevent the Germans from crossing the Rhine.
+
+We now return to the Goths, who already occupied the broad territory
+included in Poland, Southern Russia, and Roumania. The river Dniester
+may be taken as the probable boundary between the two kingdoms into
+which they had separated. The Ostrogoths, under their aged king,
+Hermanric, extended from that river eastward nearly to the Caspian Sea:
+on the north they had no fixed boundary, but they must have reached to
+the latitude of Moscow. The Visigoths stretched westward from the
+Dniester to the Danube, and northward from Hungary to the Baltic Sea.
+The Vandals were for some generations allied with the latter, but war
+having arisen between them, the Emperor Constantine interposed. He
+succeeded in effecting a separation of the two, and in settling the
+Vandals in Hungary, where they remained for forty years under the
+protection of the Roman Empire.
+
+From the time of their first encounter with the Romans, in Dacia, during
+the third century, the Goths appear to have made rapid advances in their
+political organization and the arts of civilized life. They were the
+first of the Germanic nations who accepted Christianity. On one of their
+piratical expeditions to the shores of Asia Minor, they brought away as
+captive a Christian boy. They named him Ulfila, and by that name he is
+still known to the world. He devoted his life to the overthrow of their
+pagan faith, and succeeded. He translated the Bible into their language,
+and, it is supposed, even invented a Gothic alphabet, since it is
+doubtful whether they already possessed one. A part of Ulfila's
+translation of the New Testament escaped destruction, and is now
+preserved in the library at Upsala, in Sweden. It is the only specimen,
+in existence of the Gothic language at that early day. From it we learn
+how rich and refined was that language, and how many of the elements of
+the German and English tongues it contained. The following are the
+opening words of the Lord's Prayer, as Ulfila wrote them between the
+years 350 and 370 of our era:
+
+  GOTHIC.   _Atta unsara,   thu in himinam,   veihnai       namo thein._
+  ENGLISH.  Father our,     thou in  heaven,  be hallowed   name thine.
+  GERMAN.   Vater unser,    du  im  Himmel,   geweiht werde Name dein.
+
+  GOTHIC.   _quimai Thiudinassus  Theins, vairthai  vilja  theins,_
+  ENGLISH.     come    Kingdom     thine,  be done  will   thine,
+  GERMAN.    komme    Herrschaft   dein,    werde   Wille  dein,
+
+  GOTHIC.    _sve in himina, jah  ana airthai._
+  ENGLISH.     as in heaven,   also on  earth.
+  GERMAN.     wie im Himmel,   auch auf Erden.
+
+[Sidenote: 350.]
+
+Ulfila was born in 318, became a bishop of the Christian Church, spent
+his whole life in teaching the Goths, and died in Constantinople, in the
+year 378. There is no evidence that he, or any other of the Christian
+missionaries of his time, were persecuted, or even seriously hindered in
+the good work, by the Goths: the latter seem to have adopted the new
+faith readily, and the Arian creed which Ulfila taught, although
+rejected by the Church of Rome, was stubbornly held by their descendants
+for a period of nearly five hundred years.
+
+Somewhere between 360 and 370, the long peace between the Romans and the
+Goths was disturbed; but the Emperor Valens and the Gothic king,
+Athanaric, had a conference on board a vessel on the Danube, and came to
+an understanding. Athanaric refused to cross the river, on account of a
+vow made on some former occasion. The Goths, it appears, were by this
+time learning the art of statesmanship, and they might have continued on
+good terms with the Romans, but for the sudden appearance on the scene
+of an entirely new race, coming, as they themselves had come so many
+centuries before, from the unknown regions of Central Asia.
+
+[Sidenote: 375. COMING OF THE HUNS.]
+
+In 375, the year of Valentinian's death, a race of people up to that
+time unknown, and whose name--the Huns--had never before been heard,
+crossed the Volga and invaded the territory of the Ostrogoths. Later
+researches render it probable that they came from the steppes of
+Mongolia, and that they belonged to the Tartar family; but, in the
+course of their wanderings, before reaching Europe, they had not only
+lost all the traditions of their former history, but even their
+religious faith. Their very appearance struck terror into the Goths, who
+were so much further advanced in civilization. They were short, clumsy
+figures, with broad and hideously ugly faces, flat noses, oblique eyes
+and long black hair, and were clothed in skins which they wore until
+they dropped in rags from their bodies. But they were marvellous
+horsemen, and very skilful in using the bow and lance. The men were on
+their horses' backs from morning till night, while the women and
+children followed their march in rude carts. They came in such immense
+numbers, and showed so much savage daring and bravery, that several
+smaller tribes, allied with the Ostrogoths, or subject to them, went
+over immediately to the Huns.
+
+The kingdom of the Ostrogoths, almost without offering resistance, fell
+to pieces. The king, Hermanric, now more than a hundred years old, threw
+himself upon his sword, at their approach: his successor, Vitimer, gave
+battle, but lost the victory and his life at the same time. The great
+body of the people retreated westward before the Huns, who, following
+them, reached the Dnieper. Here Athanaric, king of the Visigoths, was
+posted with a large army, to dispute their passage; but the Huns
+succeeded in finding a fording-place which was left unguarded, turned
+his flank, and defeated him with great slaughter. Nothing now remained
+but for both branches of the Gothic people, united in misfortune, to
+retreat to the Danube.
+
+Athanaric took refuge among the mountains of Transylvania, and the
+Bishop Ulfila was dispatched to Constantinople to ask the assistance of
+the Emperor Valens, who was entreated to permit that the Goths,
+meanwhile, might cross the Danube and find a refuge on Roman territory.
+Valens yielded to the entreaty, but attached very hard conditions to his
+permission: the Goths were allowed to cross unarmed, after giving up
+their wives and children as hostages. In their fear of the Huns, they
+were obliged to accept these conditions, and hundreds of thousands
+thronged across the Danube. They soon exhausted the supplies of the
+region, and then began to suffer famine, of which the Roman officers and
+traders took advantage, demanding their children as slaves in return for
+the cats and dogs which they gave to the Goths as food.
+
+[Sidenote: 376.]
+
+This treatment brought about its own revenge. Driven to desperation by
+hunger and the outrages inflicted upon them, the Goths secretly procured
+arms, rose, and made themselves masters of the country. The Roman
+governor marched against them, but their Chief, Fridigern, defeated him
+and utterly destroyed his army. The news of this event induced large
+numbers of Gothic soldiers to desert from the imperial army, and join
+their countrymen. Fridigern, thus strengthened, commenced a war of
+revenge: he crossed the Balkan, laid waste all Thrace, Macedonia and
+Thessaly, and settled his own people in the most fertile parts of the
+plundered provinces. The Ostrogoths had crossed the Danube at the first
+report of his success, and had taken part in his conquests.
+
+Towards the end of the year 377, the Emperor Valens raised a large army
+and marched against Fridigern. A battle was fought at the foot of the
+Balkan, and a second, the following year, before the walls of
+Adrianople. In both the Goths were victorious: in the latter two-thirds
+of the Roman troops fell, Valens himself, doubtless, among them,--for he
+was never seen or heard of after that day. His nephew, Gratian,
+succeeded to the throne, but associated with him Theodosius, a young
+Spaniard of great ability, as Emperor of the East. While Gratian marched
+to Gaul, to stay the increasing inroads of the Franks, Theodosius was
+left to deal with the Goths, who were beginning to cultivate the fields
+of Thrace, as if they meant to stay there.
+
+He was obliged to confirm them in the possession of the greater part of
+the country. They were called allies of the Empire, were obliged to
+furnish a certain number of soldiers, but retained their own kings, and
+were governed by their own laws. After the death of Fridigern,
+Theodosius invited Athanaric to visit him. The latter, considering
+himself now absolved from his vow not to cross the Danube, accepted the
+invitation, and was received in Constantinople on the footing of an
+equal by Theodosius. He died a few weeks after his arrival, and the
+Emperor walked behind his bier, in the funeral procession. For several
+years the relations between the two powers continued peaceful and
+friendly. Both branches of the Goths were settled together, south of the
+Danube, their relinquished territory north of that river being occupied
+by the Huns, who were still pressing westward.
+
+[Sidenote: 400. ALARIC INVADES GREECE.]
+
+In Italy, Valentinian II. succeeded his brother Gratian. His chief
+minister was a Frank, named Arbogast, who, learning that he was to be
+dismissed from his place, had the young Valentinian assassinated, and
+set up a new Emperor, Eugene, in his stead. This act brought him into
+direct conflict with Theodosius. Arbogast called upon his countrymen,
+the Franks, who sent a large body of troops to his assistance, while
+Theodosius strengthened his army with 20,000 Gothic soldiers. Then, for
+the first time, Frank and Goth--West-German and East-German--faced each
+other as enemies. The Gothic auxiliaries of Theodosius were commanded by
+two leaders, Alaric and Stilicho, already distinguished among their
+people, and destined to play a remarkable part in the history of Europe.
+The battle between the two armies was fought near Aquileia, in the year
+394. The sham Emperor, Eugene, was captured and beheaded, Arbogast threw
+himself upon his sword, and Theodosius was master of the West.
+
+The Emperor, however, lived but a few months to enjoy his single rule.
+He died at Milan, in 395, after having divided the government of the
+Empire between his two sons. Honorius, the elder, was sent to Rome, with
+the Gothic chieftain, Stilicho, as his minister and guardian; while the
+boy Arcadius, at Constantinople, was intrusted to the care of a Gaul,
+named Rufinus. Alaric, perhaps a personal enemy of the latter, perhaps
+jealous of the elevation of Stilicho to such an important place, refused
+to submit to the new government. He collected a large body of his
+countrymen, and set out on a campaign of plunder through Greece. Every
+ancient city, except Thebes, fell into his hands, and only Athens was
+allowed to buy her exemption from pillage.
+
+The Gaul, Rufinus, took no steps to arrest this devastation; wherefore,
+it is said, he was murdered at the instigation of Stilicho, who then
+sent a fleet against Alaric. This undertaking was not entirely
+successful, and the government of Constantinople finally purchased peace
+by making Alaric the Imperial Legate in Illyria. In the year 403, he was
+sent to Italy, as the representative of the Emperor Arcadius, to
+overthrow the power of his former fellow-chieftain, Stilicho, who ruled
+in the name of Honorius. His approach, with a large army, threw the
+whole country into terror. Honorius shut himself up within the walls of
+Ravenna, while Stilicho called the legions from Gaul, and even from
+Britain, to his support. A great battle was fought near the Po, but
+without deciding the struggle; and Alaric had already begun to march
+towards Rome, when a treaty was made by which he and his army were
+allowed to return to Illyria with all the booty they had gathered in
+Italy.
+
+[Sidenote: 408.]
+
+Five years afterwards, when Stilicho was busy in endeavoring to keep the
+Franks and Alemanni out of Gaul, and to drive back the incursions of
+mixed German and Celtic bands which began to descend from the Alps,
+Alaric again made his appearance, demanding the payment of certain sums,
+which he claimed were due to him. Stilicho, having need of his military
+strength elsewhere, satisfied Alaric's claim by the payment of 4,000
+pounds of gold; but the Romans felt themselves bitterly humiliated, and
+Honorius, listening to the rivals of Stilicho, gave his consent to the
+assassination of the latter and his whole family including the Emperor's
+own sister, Serena, whom Stilicho had married.
+
+When the news of this atrocious act reached Alaric, he turned and
+marched back to Italy. There was now no skilful commander to oppose him:
+the cowardly Honorius took refuge in Ravenna, and the Goths advanced,
+without resistance, to the gates of Rome. The walls, built by Aurelian,
+were too strong to be taken by assault, but all supplies were cut off,
+and the final surrender of the city became only a question of time. When
+a deputation of Romans represented to Alaric that the people still
+numbered half a million, he answered: "The thicker the grass, the better
+the mowing!" They were finally obliged to yield to his demands, and pay
+a ransom consisting of 5,000 pounds of gold, 30,000 pounds of silver,
+many thousands of silk robes, and a large quantity of spices,--a total
+value of something more than three millions of dollars. In addition to
+this, 40,000 slaves, mostly of Germanic blood, escaped to his camp and
+became free.
+
+Alaric only withdrew into Northern Italy, where he soon found a new
+cause of dispute with the government of Honorius, in Ravenna. He seems
+to have been a man of great military genius, but little capacity for
+civil rule; of much energy and ambition, but little judgment. The result
+of his quarrel with Honorius was, that he marched again to Rome,
+proclaimed Attalus, the governor of the city, Emperor, and then demanded
+entrance for himself and his troops, as an ally. The demand could not be
+refused: Rome was opened to the Goths, who participated in the festivals
+which accompanied the coronation of Attalus. It was nothing but a farce,
+and seems to have been partly intended as such by Alaric, who publicly
+deposed the new Emperor shortly afterwards, on his march to Ravenna.
+
+[Sidenote: 410. ALARIC IN ROME.]
+
+There were further negotiations with Honorius, which came to nothing;
+then Alaric advanced upon Rome the third time, not now as an ally, but
+as an avowed enemy. The city could make no resistance, and on the 24th
+of August, 410, the Goths entered it as conquerors. This event, so
+famous in history, has been greatly misrepresented. Later researches
+show that, although the citizens were despoiled of their wealth, the
+buildings and monuments were spared. The people were subjected to
+violence and outrage for the space of six days, after which Alaric
+marched out of Rome with his army, leaving the city, in its external
+appearance, very much as he found it.
+
+He directed his course towards Southern Italy, with the intention, it
+was generally believed, of conquering Sicily and then crossing into
+Africa. The plan was defeated by his death, in 411, at Cosenza, a town
+on the banks of the Busento, in Calabria. His soldiers turned the river
+from its course, dug a grave in its bed, and there laid the body of
+Alaric, with all the gems and gold he had gathered. Then the Busento was
+restored to its channel, and the slaves who had performed the work were
+slain, in order that Alaric's place of burial might never be known.
+
+His brother-in-law, Ataulf (Adolph), was his successor. He was also the
+brother-in-law of Honorius, having married the latter's sister,
+Placidia, after she was taken captive by Alaric. He was therefore
+strengthened by the conquests of the one and by his family connection
+with the other. The Visigoths, who had gradually gathered together under
+Alaric, seem to have had enough of marching to and fro, and they
+acquiesced in an arrangement made between Ataulf and Honorius, according
+to which the former led them out of Italy in 412, and established them
+in Southern Gaul. They took possession of all the region lying between
+the Loire and the Pyrenees, with Toulouse as their capital.
+
+[Sidenote: 412.]
+
+Thus, in the space of forty years, the Visigoths left their home on the
+Black Sea, between the Danube and the Dniester, passed through the whole
+breadth of the Roman Empire, from Constantinople to the Bay of Biscay,
+after having traversed both the Grecian and Italian peninsulas, and
+settled themselves again in what seemed to be a permanent home. During
+this extraordinary migration, they maintained their independence as a
+people, they preserved their laws, customs, and their own rulers; and,
+although frequently at enmity with the Empire, they were never made to
+yield it allegiance. Under Athanaric, as we have seen, they were united
+for a time with the Ostrogoths, and it was probably the renown and
+success of Alaric which brought about a second separation.
+
+Of course the impetus given to this branch of the Germanic race by the
+invasion of the Huns did not affect it alone. Before the Visigoths
+reached the shores of the Atlantic, all Central Europe was in movement.
+Leaving them there for the present, and also leaving the great body of
+the Ostrogoths in Thrace and Illyria, we will now return to the nations
+whom we left maintaining their existence on German soil.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE INVASION OF THE HUNS, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.
+
+(412--472.)
+
+General Westward Movement of the Races. --Stilicho's Defeat of the
+    Germans. --Migration of the Alans, Vandals, &c. --Saxon
+    Colonization of England. --The Vandals in Africa. --Decline of
+    Rome. --Spread of German Power. --Attila, king of the Huns. --Rise
+    of his Power. --Superstitions concerning him. --His March into
+    France. --He is opposed by Aëtius and Theodoric. --The Great Battle
+    near Châlons. --Retreat of Attila. --He destroys Aquileia.
+    --Invades Italy. --His Death. --Geiserich takes and plunders Rome.
+    --End of the Western Empire. --The Huns expelled. --Movements of
+    the Tribes on German Soil.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 412. MOVEMENT OF THE TRIBES.]
+
+The westward movement of the Huns was followed, soon afterwards, by an
+advance of the Slavonic tribes on the north, who first took possession
+of the territory on the Baltic relinquished by the Goths, and then
+gradually pressed onward towards the Elbe. The Huns themselves,
+temporarily settled in the fertile region north of the Danube, pushed
+the Vandals westward toward Bohemia, and the latter, in their turn,
+pressed upon the Marcomanni. Thus, at the opening of the fifth century,
+all the tribes, from the Baltic to the Alps, along the eastern frontier
+of Germany, were partly or wholly forced to fall back. This gave rise to
+a union of many of them, including the Vandals, Alans, Suevi and
+Burgundians, under a Chief named Radagast. Numbering half a million,
+they crossed the Alps into Northern Italy, and demanded territory for
+new homes.
+
+Stilicho, exhausted by his struggle with Alaric, whose retreat from
+Italy he had just purchased, could only meet this new enemy by summoning
+his legions from Gaul and Britain. He met Radagast at Fiesole (near
+Florence), and so crippled the strength of the invasion that Italy was
+saved. The German tribes recrossed the Alps, and entered Gaul the
+following year. Here they gave up their temporary union, and each tribe
+selected its own territory. The Alans pushed forwards, crossed the
+Pyrenees, and finally settled in Portugal; the Vandals followed and took
+possession of all Southern Spain, giving their name to (V-)Andalusia;
+the Suevi, after fighting, but not conquering, the native Basque tribes
+of the Pyrenees, selected what is now the province of Galicia; while the
+Burgundians stretched from the Rhine through western Switzerland, and
+southward nearly to the mouth of the Rhone. The greater part of Gaul was
+thus already lost to the Roman power.
+
+[Sidenote: 429.]
+
+The withdrawal of the legions from Britain by Stilicho left the
+population unprotected. The Britons were then a mixture of Celtic and
+Roman blood, and had become greatly demoralized during the long decay of
+the Empire; so they were unable to resist the invasions of the Picts and
+Scots, and in this emergency they summoned the Saxons and Angles to
+their aid. Two chiefs of the latter, Hengist and Horsa, accepted the
+invitation, landed in England in 449, and received lands in Kent. They
+were followed by such numbers of their countrymen that the allies soon
+became conquerors, and portioned England among themselves. They brought
+with them their speech and their ancient pagan religion, and for a time
+overthrew the rude form of Christianity which had prevailed among the
+Britons since the days of Constantine. Only Ireland, the Scottish
+Highlands, Wales and Cornwall resisted the Saxon rule, as across the
+Channel, in Brittany, a remnant of the Celtic Gauls resisted the sway of
+the Franks. From the year 449 until the landing of William the
+Conqueror, in 1066, nearly all England and the Lowlands of Scotland were
+in the hands of the Saxon race.
+
+Ataulf, the king of the Visigoths, was murdered soon after establishing
+his people in Southern France. Wallia, his successor, crossed the
+Pyrenees, drove the Vandals out of northern Spain, and made the Ebro
+river the boundary between them and his Visigoths. Fifteen years
+afterwards, in 429, the Vandals, under their famous king, Geiserich
+(incorrectly called Genseric in many histories), were invited by the
+Roman Governor of Africa to assist him in a revolt against the Empire.
+They crossed the Straits of Gibraltar in a body, took possession of all
+the Roman provinces, as far eastward as Tunis, and made Carthage the
+capital of their new kingdom. The Visigoths immediately occupied the
+remainder of Spain, which they held for nearly three hundred years
+afterwards.
+
+[Sidenote: 445. ATTILA, KING OF THE HUNS.]
+
+Thus, although the name and state of an Emperor of the West were kept up
+in Rome until the year 476, the Empire never really existed after the
+invasion of Alaric. The dominion over Italy, Gaul and Spain, claimed by
+the Emperors of the East, at Constantinople, was acknowledged in
+documents, but (except for a short time, under Justinian) was never
+practically exercised. Rome had been the supreme power of the known
+world for so many centuries, that a superstitious influence still clung
+to the very name, and the ambition of the Germanic kings seems to have
+been, not to destroy the Empire, but to conquer and make it their own.
+
+The rude tribes, which, in the time of Julius Cæsar, were buried among
+the mountains and forests of the country between the Rhine, the Danube
+and the Baltic Sea, were now, five hundred years later, scattered over
+all Europe, and beginning to establish new nations on the foundations
+laid by Rome. As soon as they cross the old boundaries of Germany, they
+come into the light of history, and we are able to follow their wars and
+migrations; but we know scarcely anything, during this period, of the
+tribes which remained within those boundaries. We can only infer that
+the Marcomanni settled between the Danube and the Alps, in what is now
+Bavaria; that, early in the fifth century, the Thuringians established a
+kingdom including nearly all Central Germany; and that the Slavonic
+tribes, pressing westward through Prussia, were checked by the valor of
+the Saxons, along the line of the Elbe, since only scattered bands of
+them were found beyond that river at a later day.
+
+The first impulse to all these wonderful movements came, as we have
+seen, from the Huns. These people, as yet unconquered, were so dreaded
+by the Emperors of the East, that their peace was purchased, like that
+of the Goths a hundred years before, by large annual payments. For fifty
+years, they seemed satisfied to rest in their new home, making
+occasional raids across the Danube, and gradually bringing under their
+sway the fragments of Germanic tribes already settled in Hungary, or
+left behind by the Goths. In 428, Attila and his brother Bleda became
+kings of the Huns, but the latter's death, in 445, left Attila sole
+ruler. His name was already famous, far and wide, for his strength,
+energy and intelligence. His capital was established near Tokay, in
+Hungary, where he lived in a great castle of wood, surrounded with moats
+and palisades. He was a man of short stature, with broad head, neck and
+shoulders, and fierce, restless eyes. He scorned the luxury which was
+prevalent at the time, wore only plain woollen garments, and ate and
+drank from wooden dishes and cups. His personal power and influence were
+so great that the Huns looked upon him as a demigod, while all the
+neighboring Germanic tribes, including a large portion of the
+Ostrogoths, enlisted under his banner.
+
+[Sidenote: 449.]
+
+After the Huns had invaded Thrace and compelled the Eastern Empire to
+pay a double tribute, the Emperor of the West, Valentinian III. (the
+grandson of Theodosius), sent an embassy to Attila, soliciting his
+friendship: the Emperor's sister, Honoria, offered him her hand. Both
+divisions of the Empire thus did him reverence, and he had little to
+fear from the force which either could bring against him; but the Goths
+and Vandals, now warlike and victorious races, were more formidable
+foes. Here, however, he was favored by the hostility between the aged
+Geiserich, king of the Vandals, and the young Theodoric, king of the
+Visigoths. The former sent messages to Attila, inciting him to march
+into Gaul and overthrow Theodoric, who was Geiserich's relative and
+rival. Soon afterwards, a new Emperor, at Constantinople, refused the
+additional tribute, and Valentinian III. withheld the hand of his sister
+Honoria.
+
+Attila, now--towards the close of the year 449--made preparations for a
+grand war of conquest. He already possessed unbounded influence over the
+Huns, and supernatural signs of his coming career were soon supplied. A
+peasant dug up a jewelled sword, which, it was said, had long before
+been given to a race of kings by the god of war. This was brought to
+Attila, and thenceforth worn by him. He was called "The Scourge of God,"
+and the people believed that wherever the hoofs of his horse had trodden
+no grass ever grew again. The fear of his power, or the hope of plunder,
+drew large numbers of the German tribes to his side, and the army with
+which he set out for the conquest, first of Gaul and then of Europe, is
+estimated at from 500,000 to 700,000 warriors. With this, he passed
+through the heart of Germany, much of which he had already made
+tributary, and reached the Rhine. Here Gunther, the king of the
+Burgundians, opposed him with a force of 10,000 men and was speedily
+crushed. Even a portion of the Franks, who were then quarrelling among
+themselves, joined him, and now Gaul divided between Franks, Romans and
+Visigoths, was open to his advance.
+
+[Sidenote: 451. THE SIEGE OF ORLEANS.]
+
+The minister and counsellor of Valentinian III. was Aëtius, the son of a
+Gothic father and a Roman mother. As soon as Attila's design became
+known, he hastened to Gaul, collected the troops still in Roman service,
+and procured the alliance of Theodoric and the Visigoths. The Alans,
+under their king Sangipan, were also persuaded to unite their forces:
+the independent Celts in Brittany, and a large portion of the Franks and
+Burgundians, all of whom were threatened by the invasion of the Huns,
+hastened to the side of Aëtius, so that the army commanded by himself
+and Theodoric became nearly if not quite equal in numbers to that of
+Attila. The latter, by this time, had marched into the heart of Gaul,
+laying waste the country through which he passed, and meeting no
+resistance until he reached the walled and fortified city of Orleans.
+This was in the year 451.
+
+Orleans, besieged and hard pressed, was about to surrender, when Aëtius
+approached with his army. Attila was obliged to raise the siege at once,
+and retreat in order to select a better position for the impending
+battle. He finally halted on the broad plains of the province of
+Champagne, near the present city of Châlons, where his immense body of
+armed horsemen would have ample space to move. Aëtius and Theodoric
+followed and pitched their camp opposite to him, on the other side of a
+small hill which rose from the plain. That night, Attila ordered his
+priests to consult their pagan oracles, and ascertain the fate of the
+morrow's struggle. The answer was: "Death to the enemy's leader,
+destruction to the Huns!"--but the hope of seeing Aëtius fall prevailed
+on Attila to risk his own defeat.
+
+The next day witnessed one of the greatest battles of history. Aëtius
+commanded the right and Theodoric the left wing of their army, placing
+between them the Alans and other tribes, of whose fidelity they were not
+quite sure. Attila, however, took the centre with his Huns, and formed
+his wings of the Germans and Ostrogoths. The battle began at dawn, and
+raged through the whole day. Both armies endeavored to take and hold the
+hill between them, and the hundreds of thousands rolled back and forth
+as the victory inclined to one side or the other. A brook which ran
+through the plain was swollen high by the blood of the fallen. At last
+Theodoric broke Attila's centre, but was slain in the attack. The
+Visigoths immediately lifted his son, Thorismond, on a shield,
+proclaimed him king, and renewed the fight. The Huns were driven back to
+the fortress of wagons where their wives, children and treasures were
+collected, when a terrible storm of rain and thunder put an end to the
+battle. Between 200,000 and 300,000 dead lay upon the plain.
+
+[Sidenote: 452.]
+
+All night the lamentations of the Hunnish women filled the air. Attila
+had an immense funeral pile constructed of saddles, whereon he meant to
+burn himself and his family, in case Aëtius should renew the fight the
+next day. But the army of the latter was too exhausted to move, and the
+Huns were allowed to commence their retreat from Gaul. Enraged at his
+terrible defeat, Attila destroyed everything in his way, leaving a broad
+track of blood and ashes from Gaul through the heart of Germany, back to
+Hungary.
+
+By the following year, 452, Attila had collected another army, and now
+directed his march towards Italy. This new invasion was so unexpected
+that the passes of the Alps were left undefended, and the Huns reached
+the rich and populous city of Aquileia, on the northern shore of the
+Adriatic, without meeting any opposition. After a siege of three months,
+they took and razed it to the ground so completely that it was never
+rebuilt, and from that day to this only a few piles of shapeless stones
+remain to mark the spot where it stood. The inhabitants who escaped took
+refuge upon the low marshy islands, separated from the mainland by the
+lagoons, and there formed the settlement which, two or three hundred
+years later, became known to the world as Venice.
+
+Attila marched onward to the Po, destroying everything in his way. Here
+he was met by a deputation, at the head of which was Leo, the Bishop (or
+Pope) of Rome, sent by Valentinian III. Leo so worked upon the
+superstitious mind of the savage monarch, that the latter gave up his
+purpose of taking Rome, and returned to Hungary with his army, which was
+suffering from disease and want. The next year he died suddenly, in his
+wooden palace at Tokay. The tradition states that his body was inclosed
+in three coffins, of iron, silver and gold, and buried secretly, like
+that of Alaric, so that no man might know his resting-place. He had a
+great many wives, and left so many sons behind him, that their quarrels
+for the succession to the throne divided the Huns into numerous parties,
+and quite destroyed their power as a people.
+
+[Sidenote: 455. GEISERICH TAKES ROME.]
+
+The alliance between Aëtius and the Visigoths ceased immediately after
+the great battle. Valentinian III., suspicious of the fame of Aëtius,
+recalled him to Rome, the year after Attila's death, and assassinated
+him with his own hand. The treacherous Emperor was himself slain,
+shortly afterwards, by Maximus, who succeeded him, and forced his widow,
+the Empress Eudoxia, to accept him as her husband. Out of revenge,
+Eudoxia sent a messenger to Geiserich, the old king of the Vandals, at
+Carthage, summoning him to Rome. The Vandals had already built a large
+fleet and pillaged the shores of Sicily and other Mediterranean islands.
+In 455, Geiserich landed at the mouth of the Tiber with a powerful
+force, and marched upon Rome. The city was not strong enough to offer
+any resistance: it was taken, and during two weeks surrendered to such
+devastation and outrage that the word _vandalism_ has ever since been
+used to express savage and wanton destruction. The churches were
+plundered of all their vessels and ornaments, the old Palace of the
+Cæsars was laid waste, priceless works of art destroyed, and those of
+the inhabitants who escaped with their lives were left almost as
+beggars.
+
+When "the old king of the sea," as Geiserich was called, returned to
+Africa, he not only left Rome ruined, but the Western Empire practically
+overthrown. For seventeen years afterwards, Ricimer, a chief of the
+Suevi, who had been commander of the Roman auxiliaries in Gaul, was the
+real ruler of its crumbling fragments. He set up, set aside or slew five
+or six so-called Emperors, at his own will, and finally died in 472,
+only four years before the boy, Romulus Augustulus, was compelled to
+throw off the purple and retire into obscurity as "the last Emperor of
+Rome."
+
+In 455, the year when Geiserich and his Vandals plundered Rome, the
+Germanic tribes along the Danube took advantage of the dissensions
+following Attila's death, and threw off their allegiance to the Huns.
+They all united under a king named Ardaric, gave battle, and were so
+successful that the whole tribe of the Huns was forced to retreat
+eastward into Southern Russia. From this time they do not appear again
+in history, although it is probable that the Magyars, who came later
+into the same region from which they were driven, brought the remnants
+of the tribe with them.
+
+[Sidenote: 450.]
+
+During the fourth and fifth centuries, the great historic achievements
+of the German race, as we have now traced them, were performed outside
+of the German territory. While from Thrace to the Atlantic Ocean, from
+the Scottish Highlands to Africa, the new nationalities overran the
+decayed Roman Empire, constantly changing their seats of power, we have
+no intelligence of what was happening within Germany itself. Both
+branches of the Goths, the Vandals and a part of the Franks had become
+Christians, but the Alemanni, Saxons and Thuringians were still
+heathens, although they had by this time adopted many of the arts of
+civilized life. They had no educated class, corresponding to the
+Christian priesthood in the East, Italy and Gaul, and even in Britain;
+and thus no chronicle of their history has survived.
+
+Either before or immediately after Attila's invasion of Gaul, the
+Marcomanni crossed the Danube, and took possession of the plains between
+that river and the Alps. They were called the Boiarii, from their former
+home of four centuries in Bohemia, and from this name is derived the
+German _Baiern_, Bavaria. They kept possession of the new territory,
+adapted themselves to the forms of Roman civilization which they found
+there, and soon organized themselves into a small but distinct and
+tolerably independent nation.
+
+But the period of the Migration of the Races was not yet finished. The
+shadow of the old Roman Empire still remained, and stirred the ambition
+of each successive king, so that he was not content with territory
+sufficient for the needs of his own people, but must also try to conquer
+his neighbors and extend his rule. The bases of the modern states of
+Europe were already laid, but not securely enough for the building
+thereof to be commenced. Two more important movements were yet to be
+made before this bewildering period of change and struggle came to an
+end.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OSTROGOTHS.
+
+(472--570.)
+
+Odoaker conquers Italy. --Theodoric leads the Ostrogoths to Italy. --He
+    defeats and slays Odoaker. --He becomes King of Italy. --Chlodwig,
+    king of the Franks, puts an End to the Roman Rule. --War between
+    the Franks and Visigoths. --Character of Theodoric's Rule. --His
+    Death. --His Mausoleum. --End of the Burgundian Kingdom. --Plans of
+    Justinian. --Belisarius destroys the Vandal Power in Africa. --He
+    conquers Vitiges, and overruns Italy. --Narses defeats Totila and
+    Teias. --End of the Ostrogoths. --Narses summons the Longobards.
+    --They conquer Italy. --The Exarchy and Rome. --End of the
+    Migrations of the Races.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 476. ODOAKER, KING OF ITALY.]
+
+After the death of Ricimer, in 472, Italy, weakened by invasion and
+internal dissension, was an easy prey to the first strong hand which
+might claim possession. Such a hand was soon found in a Chief named
+Odoaker, said to have been a native of the island of Rügen, in the
+Baltic. He commanded a large force, composed of the smaller German
+tribes from the banks of the Danube, who had thrown off the yoke of the
+Huns. Many of these troops had served the last half-dozen Roman Emperors
+whom Ricimer set up or threw down, and they now claimed one-third of the
+Italian territory for themselves and their families. When this was
+refused, Odoaker, at their head, took the boy Romulus Augustulus
+prisoner, banished him, and proclaimed himself king of Italy, in 476,
+making Ravenna his capital.
+
+The dynasty at Constantinople still called its dominion "The Roman
+Empire," and claimed authority over all the West. But it had not the
+means to make its claim acknowledged, and in this emergency the Emperor
+Zeno turned to Theodoric, the young king of the Ostrogoths, who had been
+brought up at his court, in Constantinople. He was the successor of
+three brothers, who, after the dispersion of the Huns, had united some
+of the smaller German tribes with the Ostrogoths, and restored the
+former power and influence of the race.
+
+[Sidenote: 489.]
+
+Theodoric (who must not be confounded with his namesake, the Visigoth
+king, who fell in conquering Attila) was a man of great natural ability,
+which had been well developed by his education in Constantinople. He
+accepted the appointment of General and Governor from the Emperor, yet
+the preparations he made for the expedition to Italy show that he
+intended to remain and establish his own kingdom there. It was not a
+military march, but the migration of a people, which he headed. The
+Ostrogoths and their allies took with them their wives and children,
+their herds and household goods: they moved so slowly up the Danube and
+across the Alps, now halting to rest and recruit, now fighting a passage
+through some hostile tribe, that several years elapsed before they
+reached Italy.
+
+Odoaker had reigned fourteen years, with more justice and discretion
+than was common in those times, and was able to raise a large force, in
+489, to meet the advance of Theodoric. After three severe battles had
+been fought, he was forced to take shelter within the strong walls of
+Ravenna; but he again sallied forth and attacked the Ostrogoths with
+such bravery that he came near defeating them. Finally, in 493, after a
+siege of three years, he capitulated, and was soon afterwards
+treacherously murdered, by order of Theodoric, at a banquet to which the
+latter had invited him.
+
+Having the power in his own hands, Theodoric now threw off his assumed
+subjection to the Eastern Empire, put on the Roman purple, and
+proclaimed himself king. All Italy, including Sicily, Sardinia and
+Corsica, fell at once into his hands; and, having left a portion of the
+Ostrogoths behind him, on the Danube, he also claimed all the region
+between, in order to preserve a communication with them. He was soon so
+strongly settled in his new realm that he had nothing to fear from the
+Emperor Zeno and his successors. The latter did not venture to show any
+direct signs of hostility towards him, but remained quiet; while, on his
+part, beyond seizing a portion of Pannonia, he refrained from
+interfering with their rule in the East.
+
+In the West, however, the case was different. Five years before
+Theodoric's arrival in Italy, the last relic of Roman power disappeared
+forever from Gaul. A general named Syagrius had succeeded to the
+command, after the murder of Aëtius, and had formed the central
+provinces into a Roman state, which was so completely cut off from all
+connection with the Empire that it became practically independent. The
+Franks, who now held all Northern Gaul and Belgium, from the Rhine to
+the Atlantic, with Paris as their capital, were by this time so strong
+and well organized, that their king, Chlodwig, boldly challenged
+Syagrius to battle. The challenge was accepted: a battle was fought near
+Soissons, in the year 486, the Romans were cut to pieces, and the river
+Loire became the southern boundary of the Frank kingdom. The territory
+between that river and the Pyrenees still belonged to the Visigoths.
+
+[Sidenote: 507. CHLODWIG CONQUERS GAUL.]
+
+While Theodoric was engaged in giving peace, order, and a new prosperity
+to the war-worn and desolated lands of Italy, his Frank rival, Chlodwig,
+defeated the Alemanni, conquered the Celts of Brittany--then called
+Armorica--and thus greatly increased his power. We must return to him
+and the history of his dynasty in a later chapter, and will now only
+briefly mention those incidents of his reign which brought him into
+conflict with Theodoric.
+
+In the year 500, Chlodwig defeated the Burgundians and for a time
+rendered them tributary to him. He then turned to the Visigoths and made
+the fact of their being Arian Christians a pretext for declaring war
+against them. Their king was Alaric II., who had married the daughter of
+Theodoric. A battle was fought in 507: the two kings met, and, fighting
+hand to hand, Alaric II. was slain by Chlodwig. The latter soon
+afterwards took and plundered Toulouse, the Visigoth capital, and
+claimed the territory between the Loire and the Garonne.
+
+Theodoric, whose grandson Amalaric (son of Alaric II.) was now king of
+the Visigoths, immediately hastened to the relief of the latter. His
+military strength was probably too great for Chlodwig to resist, for
+there is no report of any great battle having been fought. Theodoric
+took possession of Provence, re-established the Loire as the southern
+boundary of the Franks, and secured the kingdom of his grandson. The
+capital of the Visigoths, however, was changed to Toledo, in Spain. The
+Emperor Anastasius, to keep up the pretence of retaining his power in
+Gaul, appointed Chlodwig Roman Consul, and sent him a royal diadem and
+purple mantle. So much respect was still attached to the name of the
+Empire that Chlodwig accepted the title, and was solemnly invested by a
+Christian Bishop with the crown and mantle. In the year 511 he died,
+having founded the kingdom of France.
+
+[Sidenote: 511.]
+
+The power of Theodoric was not again assailed. As the king of the
+Ostrogoths, he ruled over Italy and the islands, and the lands between
+the Adriatic and the Danube; as the guardian of the young Amalaric, his
+sway extended over Southern France and all of Spain. He was peaceful,
+prudent and wise, and his reign, by contrast with the convulsions which
+preceded it, was called "a golden age" by his Italian subjects. Although
+he and his people were Germanic in blood and Arians in faith, while the
+Italians were Roman and Athanasian, he guarded the interests and subdued
+the prejudices of both, and the respect which his abilities inspired
+preserved peace between them. The murder of Odoaker is a lasting stain
+upon his memory: the execution of the philosopher Boëthius is another,
+scarcely less dark; but, with the exception of these two acts, his reign
+was marked by wisdom, justice and tolerance. The surname of "The Great"
+was given to him by his contemporaries, not so much to distinguish him
+from the Theodoric of the Visigoths, as on account of his eminent
+qualities as a ruler. From the year 500 to 526, when he died, he was the
+most powerful and important monarch of the civilized world.
+
+During Theodoric's life, Ravenna was the capital of Italy: Rome had lost
+her ancient renown, but her Bishops, who were now called Popes, were the
+rulers of the Church of the West, and she thus became a religious
+capital. The ancient enmity of the Arians and Athanasians had only grown
+stronger by time, and Theodoric, although he became popular with the
+masses of the people, was always hated by the priests. When he died, a
+splendid mausoleum was built for his body, at Ravenna, and still remains
+standing. It is a circular tower, resting on an arched base with ten
+sides, and surmounted by a dome, which is formed of a single stone,
+thirty-six feet in diameter and four feet in thickness. The sarcophagus
+in which he was laid was afterwards broken open, by the order of the
+Pope of Rome, and his ashes were scattered to the winds, as those of a
+heretic.
+
+When Theodoric died, the enmities of race and sect, which he had
+suppressed with a strong hand, broke out afresh. He left behind him a
+grandson, Athalaric, only ten years old, to whose mother, Amalasunta,
+was entrusted the regency during his minority. His other grandson,
+Amalaric, was king of the Visigoths, and sufficiently occupied in
+building up his power in Spain. In Italy, the hostility to Amalasunta's
+regency was chiefly religious; but the Eastern Emperor on the one side,
+and the Franks on the other, were actuated by political considerations.
+The former, the last of the great Emperors, Justinian, determined to
+recover Italy for the Empire: the latter only waited an opportunity to
+get possession of the whole of Gaul. Amalasunta was persuaded to sign a
+treaty, by which the territory of Provence was given back to the
+Burgundians. The latter were immediately assailed by the sons of
+Chlodwig, and in the year 534 the kingdom of Burgundy, after having
+stood for 125 years, ceased to exist. Not long afterwards the Visigoths
+were driven beyond the Pyrenees, and the whole of what is now France and
+Belgium, with a part of Western Switzerland, was in the possession of
+the Franks.
+
+[Sidenote: 534. END OF THE VANDALS.]
+
+While these changes were taking place in the West, Justinian had not
+been idle in the East. He was fortunate in having two great generals,
+Belisarius and Narses, who had already restored the lost prestige of the
+Imperial army. His first movement was to recover Northern Africa from
+the Vandals, who had now been settled there for a hundred years, and
+began to consider themselves the inheritors of the Carthaginian power.
+Belisarius, with a fleet and a powerful army, was sent against them.
+Here, again, the difference of religious doctrine between the Vandals
+and the Romans whom they had subjected, made his task easy. The last
+Vandal king, Gelimer, was defeated and besieged in a fortress called
+Pappua. After the siege had lasted all winter, Belisarius sent an
+officer, Pharas, to demand surrender. Gelimer refused, but added: "If
+you will do me a favor, Pharas, send me a loaf of bread, a sponge and a
+harp." Pharas, astonished, asked the reason of this request, and Gelimer
+answered: "I demand bread, because I have seen none since I have been
+besieged here; a sponge, to cool my eyes which are weary with weeping;
+and a harp, to sing the story of my misfortunes." Soon afterwards he
+surrendered, and in 534 all Northern Africa was restored to Justinian.
+The Vandals disappeared from history, as a race, but some of their
+descendants, with light hair, blue eyes and fair skins, still live among
+the valleys of the Atlas Mountains, where they are called Berbers, and
+keep themselves distinct from the Arab population.
+
+[Sidenote: 552.]
+
+Amalasunta, in the mean time, had been murdered by a relative whom she
+had chosen to assist her in the government. This gave Justinian a
+pretext for interfering, and Belisarius was next sent with his army to
+Italy. The Ostrogoths chose a new king, Vitiges, and the struggle which
+followed was long and desperate. Rome and Milan were taken and ravaged:
+in the latter city 300,000 persons are said to have been slaughtered.
+Belisarius finally obtained possession of Ravenna, the Gothic capital,
+took Vitiges prisoner and sent him to Constantinople. The Goths
+immediately elected another king, Totila, who carried on the struggle
+for eleven years longer. Visigoths, Franks, Burgundians and even
+Alemanni, whose alliance was sought by both sides, flocked to Italy in
+the hope of securing booty, and laid waste the regions which Belisarius
+and Totila had spared.
+
+When Belisarius was recalled to Constantinople, Narses took his place,
+and continued the war with the diminishing remnant of the Ostrogoths.
+Finally, in the year 552, in a great battle among the Apennines, Totila
+was slain, and the struggle seemed to be at an end. But the Ostrogoths
+proclaimed the young prince Teias as their king, and marched southward
+under his leadership, to make a last fight for their existence as a
+nation. Narses followed, and not far from Cumæ, on a mountain opposite
+Vesuvius, he cut off their communication with the sea, and forced them
+to retreat to a higher position, where there was neither water for
+themselves nor food for their animals. Then they took the bridles off
+their horses and turned them loose, formed themselves into a solid
+square of men, with Teias at their head, and for two whole days fought
+with the valor and the desperation of men who know that their cause is
+lost, but nevertheless will not yield. Although Teias was slain, they
+still stood; and on the third morning Narses allowed the survivors,
+about 1,000 in number, to march away, with the promise that they would
+leave Italy.
+
+Thus gloriously came to an end, after enduring sixty years, the Gothic
+power in Italy, and thus, like a meteor, brightest before it is
+quenched, the Gothic name fades from history. The Visigoths retained
+their supremacy in Spain until 711, when Roderick, their last king, was
+slain by the Saracens, but the Ostrogoths, after this campaign of
+Narses, are never heard of again as a people. Between Hermann and
+Charlemagne, there is no leader so great as Theodoric, but his empire
+died with him. He became the hero of the earliest German songs; his name
+and character were celebrated among tribes who had forgotten his
+history, and his tomb is one of the few monuments left to us from those
+ages of battle, migration and change. The Ostrogoths were scattered and
+their traces lost. Some, no doubt, remained in Italy, and became mixed
+with the native population; others joined the people which were nearest
+to them in blood and habits; and some took refuge among the fastnesses
+of the Alps. It is supposed that the Tyrolese, for instance, may be
+among their descendants.
+
+[Sidenote: 565. NARSES SUMMONS THE LONGOBARDS.]
+
+The apparent success of Justinian in bringing Italy again under the sway
+of the Eastern Empire was also only a flash, before its final
+extinction. The Ostrogoths were avenged by one of their kindred races.
+Narses remained in Ravenna as vicegerent of the Empire: his government
+was stern and harsh, but he restored order to the country, and his
+authority became so great as to excite the jealousy of Justinian. After
+the latter's death, in 565, it became evident that a plot was formed at
+Constantinople to treat Narses as his great cotemporary, Belisarius, had
+been treated. He determined to resist, and, in order to make his
+position stronger, summoned the Longobards (Long-Beards) to his aid.
+
+This tribe, in the time of Cæsar, occupied a part of Northern Germany,
+near the mouth of the Elbe. About the end of the fourth century we find
+them on the north bank of the Danube, between Bohemia and Hungary. The
+history of their wanderings during the intervening period is unknown.
+During the reign of Theodoric they overcame their Germanic neighbors,
+the Heruli, to whom they had been partially subject: then followed a
+fierce struggle with the Gepidæ, another Germanic tribe, which
+terminated in the year 560 with the defeat and destruction of the
+latter. Their king, Kunimund, fell by the hand of Alboin, king of the
+Longobards, who had a drinking-cup made of his skull. The Longobards,
+though victorious, found themselves surrounded by new neighbors, who
+were much worse than the old. The Avars, who are supposed to have been a
+branch of the Huns, pressed and harassed them on the East; the Slavonic
+tribes of the north descended into Bohemia; and they found themselves
+alone between races who were savages in comparison with their own.
+
+[Sidenote: 568.]
+
+The invitation of Narses was followed by a movement similar to that of
+the Ostrogoths under Theodoric. Alboin marched with all his people,
+their herds and household goods. The passes of the Alps were purposely
+left undefended at their approach, and in 568, accompanied by the
+fragments of many other Germanic tribes who gave up their homes on the
+Danube, they entered Italy and took immediate possession of all the
+northern provinces. The city of Pavia, which was strongly fortified,
+held out against them for four years, and then, on account of its
+strength and gallant resistance, was chosen by Alboin for its capital.
+
+Italy then became the kingdom of the Longobards, and the permanent home
+of their race, whose name still exists in the province of Lombardy. Only
+Ravenna, Naples and Genoa were still held by the Eastern Emperors,
+constituting what was called the Exarchy. Rome was also nominally
+subject to Constantinople, although the Popes were beginning to assume
+the government of the city. The young republic of Venice, already
+organized, was safe on its islands in the Adriatic.
+
+The Migrations of the Races, which were really commenced by the Goths
+when they moved from the Baltic to the Black Sea, but which first became
+a part of our history in the year 375, terminated with the settlement of
+the Longobards in Italy. They therefore occupied two centuries, and form
+a grand and stirring period of transition between the Roman Empire and
+the Europe of the Middle Ages. With the exception of the invasion of the
+Huns, and the slow and rather uneventful encroachment of the Slavonic
+race, these great movements were carried out by the kindred tribes who
+inhabited the forests of "Germania Magna," in the time of Cæsar.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+EUROPE, AT THE END OF THE MIGRATION OF THE RACES.
+
+(570.)
+
+Extension of the German Races in A. D. 570. --The Longobards. --The
+    Franks. --The Visigoths. --The Saxons in Britain. --The Tribes on
+    German Soil. --The Eastern Empire. --Relation of the Conquerors to
+    the Conquered Races. --Influence of Roman Civilization. --The
+    Priesthood. --Obliteration of German Origin. --Religion. --The
+    Monarchical Element in Government. --The Nobility. --The Cities.
+    --Slavery. --Laws in regard to Crime. --Privileges of the Church.
+    --The Transition Period.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 570. SPREAD OF THE GERMAN RACES.]
+
+Thus far, we have been following the history of the Germanic races, in
+their conflict with Rome, until their complete and final triumph at the
+end of six hundred years after they first met Julius Cæsar. Within the
+limits of Germany itself, there was, as we have seen, no united
+nationality. Even the consolidation of the smaller tribes under the
+names of Goths, Franks, Saxons and Alemanni, during the third century,
+was only the beginning of a new political development which was not
+continued upon German soil. With the exception of Denmark, Sweden,
+Russia, Ireland, Wales, the Scottish Highlands, and the Byzantine
+territory in Turkey, Greece and Italy, all Europe was under Germanic
+rule at the end of the Migration of the Races, in the year 570.
+
+The Longobards, after the death of Alboin and his successor, Kleph,
+prospered greatly under the wise rule of Queen Theodolind, daughter of
+king Garibald of Bavaria, and wife of Kleph's son, Authari. She
+persuaded them to become Christians; and they then gave up their nomadic
+habits, scattered themselves over the country, learned agriculture and
+the mechanic arts, and gradually became amalgamated with the native
+Romans. Their descendants form a large portion of the population of
+Northern Italy at this day.
+
+[Sidenote: 500.]
+
+[Illustration: THE MIGRATIONS OF THE RACES, A. D. 500.]
+
+[Sidenote: 570. LOCATION OF THE TRIBES.]
+
+The Franks, at this time, were firmly established in Gaul, under the
+dynasty founded by Chlodwig. They owned nearly all the territory west of
+the Rhine, part of Western Switzerland and the valley of the Rhone, to
+the Mediterranean. Only a small strip of territory on the east, between
+the Pyrenees and the upper waters of the Garonne, still belonged to the
+Visigoths. The kingdom of Burgundy, after an existence of 125 years,
+became absorbed in that of the Franks, in 534.
+
+After the death of Theodoric, the connection of the Visigoths with the
+other German races ceased. They conquered the Suevi, driving them into
+the mountains of Galicia, subdued the Alans in Portugal, and during a
+reign of two centuries more impressed their traces indelibly upon the
+Spanish people. Their history, from this time on, belongs to Spain.
+Their near relations, the Vandals, as we have already seen, had ceased
+to exist. Like the Ostrogoths, they were never named again as a separate
+people.
+
+The Saxons had made themselves such thorough masters of England and the
+lowlands of Scotland, that the native Celto-Roman population was driven
+into Wales and Cornwall. The latter had become Christians under the
+Empire, and they looked with horror upon the paganism of the Saxons.
+During the early part of the sixth century, they made a bold but brief
+effort to expel the invaders, under the lead of the half-fabulous king
+Arthur (of the Round Table), who is supposed to have died about the year
+537. The Angles and Saxons, however, not only triumphed, but planted
+their language, laws and character so firmly upon English soil, that the
+England of the later centuries grew from the basis they laid, and the
+name of Anglo-Saxon has become the designation of the English race all
+over the world.
+
+Along the northern coast of Germany, the Frisii and the Saxons who
+remained behind, had formed two kingdoms and asserted a fierce
+independence. The territory of the latter extended to the Hartz
+Mountains, where it met that of the Thuringians, who still held Central
+Germany southward to the Danube. Beyond that river, the new nation of
+the Bavarians was permanently settled, and had already risen to such
+importance that Theodolind, the daughter of its king, Garibald, was
+selected for his queen by the Longobard king, Authari.
+
+East of the Elbe, through Prussia, nearly the whole country was
+occupied by various Slavonic tribes. One of these, the Czechs, had taken
+possession of Bohemia, where they soon afterwards established an
+independent kingdom. Beyond them, the Avars occupied Hungary, now and
+then making invasions into German territory, or even to the borders of
+Italy; Denmark and Sweden, owing to their remoteness from the great
+theatre of action, were scarcely affected by the political changes we
+have described.
+
+[Sidenote: 570.]
+
+Finally, the Alemanni, though defeated and held back by the Franks,
+maintained their independence in the south-western part of Germany and
+in Eastern Switzerland, where their descendants are living at this day.
+Each of all these new nationalities included remnants of the smaller
+original tribes, which had lost their independence in the general
+struggle, and which soon became more or less mixed (except in England)
+with the former inhabitants of the conquered soil.
+
+The Eastern Empire was now too weak and corrupt to venture another
+conflict with these stronger Germanic races, whose civilization was no
+longer very far behind its own. Moreover, within sixty years after the
+Migration came to an end, a new foe arose in the East. The successors of
+Mahomet began that struggle which tore Egypt, Syria and Asia Minor from
+Christian hands, and which only ceased when, in 1453, the crescent
+floated from the towers of Constantinople.
+
+Nearly all Europe was thus portioned among men of German blood, very few
+of whom ever again migrated from the soil whereon they were now settled.
+It was their custom to demand one-third--in some few instances, two
+thirds--of the conquered territory for their own people. In this manner,
+Frank and Gaul, Longobard and Roman, Visigoth and Spaniard, found
+themselves side by side, and reciprocally influenced each other's speech
+and habits of life. It must not be supposed, however, that the new
+nations lost their former character, and took on that of the Germanic
+conquerors. Almost the reverse of this took place. It must be remembered
+that the Gauls, for instance, far outnumbered the Franks; that each
+conquest was achieved by a few hundred thousand men, all of them
+warriors, while each of the original Roman provinces had several
+millions of inhabitants. There must have been at least ten of the ruled,
+to one of the ruling race.
+
+[Sidenote: 570. SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY.]
+
+The latter, moreover, were greatly inferior to the former in all the
+arts of civilization. In the homes, the dress and ornaments, the social
+intercourse, and all the minor features of life, they found their new
+neighbors above them, and they were quick to learn the use of
+unaccustomed comforts or luxuries. All the cities and small towns were
+Roman in their architecture, in their municipal organization, and in the
+character of their trade and intercourse; and the conquerors found it
+easier to accept this old-established order than to change it.
+
+Another circumstance contributed to Latinize the German races outside of
+Germany. After the invention of a Gothic alphabet by Bishop Ulfila, and
+his translation of the Bible, we hear no more of a written German
+
+language until the eighth century. There was at least none which was
+accessible to the people, and the Latin continued to be the language of
+government and religion. The priests were nearly all Romans, and their
+interest was to prevent the use of written Germanic tongues. Such
+learning as remained to the world was of course only to be acquired
+through a knowledge of Latin and Greek.
+
+All the influences which surrounded the conquering races tended,
+therefore, to eradicate or change their original German characteristics.
+After a few centuries, their descendants, in almost every instance, lost
+sight of their origin, and even looked with contempt upon rival people
+of the same blood. The Franks and Burgundians of the present day speak
+of themselves as "the Latin race": the blonde and blue-eyed Lombards of
+Northern Italy, not long since, hated "the Germans" as the Christian of
+the Middle Ages hated the Jew; and the full-blooded English or American
+Saxon often considers the German as a foreigner with whom he has nothing
+in common.
+
+By the year 570, all the races outside of Germany, except the Saxons and
+Angles in Britain, had accepted Christianity. Within Germany, although
+the Christian missionaries were at work among the Alemanni, the
+Bavarians, and along the Rhine, the great body of the people still held
+to their old pagan worship. The influence of the true faith was no doubt
+weakened by the bitter enmity which still existed between the Athanasian
+and Arian sects, although the latter ceased to be powerful after the
+downfall of the Ostrogoths. But the Christianity which prevailed among
+the Franks, Burgundians and Longobards was not pure or intelligent
+enough to save them from the vices which the Roman Empire left behind
+it. Many of their kings and nobles were polygamists, and the early
+history of their dynasties is a chronicle of falsehood, cruelty and
+murder.
+
+[Sidenote: 570.]
+
+In each of the races, the primitive habit of electing chiefs by the
+people had long since given way to an hereditary monarchy, but in other
+respects their political organization remained much the same. The Franks
+introduced into Gaul the old German division of the land into provinces,
+hundreds and communities, but the king now claimed the right of
+appointing a Count for the first, a _Centenarius_, or centurion, for the
+second, and an elder, or head-man, for the third. The people still held
+their public assemblies, and settled their local matters; they were all
+equal before the law, and the free men paid no taxes. The right of
+declaring war, making peace, and other questions of national importance,
+were decided by a general assembly of the people, at which the king
+presided. The political system was therefore more republican than
+monarchical, but it gradually lost the former character as the power of
+the kings increased.
+
+The nobles had no fixed place and no special rights during the
+migrations of the tribes. Among the Franks they were partly formed out
+of the civil officers, and soon included both Romans and Gauls among
+their number. In Germany their hereditary succession was already
+secured, and they maintained their ascendancy over the common people by
+keeping pace with the knowledge and the arts of those times, while the
+latter remained, for the most part, in a state of ignorance.
+
+The cities, inhabited by Romans and Romanized Gauls, retained their old
+system of government, but paid a tax or tribute. Those portions of the
+other Germanic races which had become subject to the Franks were also
+allowed to keep their own peculiar laws and forms of local government,
+which were now, for the first time, recorded in the Latin language. They
+were obliged to furnish a certain number of men capable of bearing arms,
+but it does not appear that they paid any tribute to the Franks.
+
+Slavery still existed, and in the two forms of it which we find among
+the ancient Germans,--chattels who were bought and sold, and dependents
+who were bound to give labor or tribute in return for the protection of
+a freeman. The Romans in Gaul were placed upon the latter footing by the
+Franks. The children born of marriages between them and the free took
+the lower and not the higher position,--that is, they were dependents.
+
+[Sidenote: 570. PENALTIES FOR CRIME.]
+
+The laws in regard to crime were very rigid and severe, but not bloody.
+The body of the free man, like his life, was considered inviolate, so
+there was no corporeal punishment, and death was only inflicted in a few
+extreme cases. The worst crimes could be atoned for by the sacrifice of
+money or property. For murder the penalty was two hundred shillings (at
+that time the value of 100 oxen), two-thirds of which were given to the
+family of the murdered person, while one-third was divided between the
+judge and the State. This penalty was increased threefold for the murder
+of a Count or a soldier in the field, and more than fourfold for that of
+a Bishop. In some of the codes the payment was fixed even for the murder
+of a Duke or King. The slaying of a dependent or a Roman only cost half
+as much as that of a free Frank, while a slave was only valued at
+thirty-five shillings, or seventeen and a half oxen: the theft of a
+falcon trained for hunting, or a stallion, cost ten shillings more.
+
+Slander, insult and false-witness were punished in the same way. If any
+one falsely accused another of murder he was condemned to pay the
+injured person the penalty fixed for the crime of murder, and the same
+rule was applied to all minor accusations. The charge of witchcraft, if
+not proved according to the superstitious ideas of the people, was
+followed by the penalty of one hundred and eighty shillings. Whoever
+called another a _hare_, was fined six shillings; but if he called him a
+_fox_, the fine was only three shillings.
+
+As the Germanic races became Christian, the power and privileges of the
+priesthood were manifested in the changes made in these laws. Not only
+was it enacted that the theft of property belonging to the Church must
+be paid back ninefold, but the slaves of the priests were valued at
+double the amount fixed for the slaves of laymen. The Churches became
+sacred, and no criminal could be seized at the foot of the altar. Those
+who neglected to attend worship on the Sabbath three times in
+succession, were punished by the loss of one-third of their property. If
+this neglect was repeated a second time, they were made slaves, and
+could be sold as such by the Church.
+
+[Sidenote: 570.]
+
+The laws of the still pagan Thuringians and Saxons, in Germany, did not
+differ materially from those of the Christian Franks. Justice was
+administered in assemblies of the people, and, in order to secure the
+largest expression of the public will, a heavy fine was imposed for the
+failure to attend. The latter feature is still retained, in some of the
+old Cantons of Switzerland. In Thuringia and Saxony, however, the nobles
+had become a privileged class, recognized by the laws, and thus was laid
+the foundation for the feudal system of the Middle Ages.
+
+The transition was now complete. Although the art, taste and refinement
+of the Roman Empire were lost, its civilizing influence in law and civil
+organization survived, and slowly subdued the Germanic races which
+inherited its territory. But many characteristics of their early
+barbarism still clung to the latter, and a long period elapsed before we
+can properly call them a civilized people.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE KINGDOM OF THE FRANKS.
+
+(486--638.)
+
+Chlodwig, the Founder of the Merovingian Dynasty. --His Conversion to
+    Christianity. --His Successors. --Theuderich's Conquest of
+    Thuringia. --Union of the Eastern Franks. --Austria (or Austrasia)
+    and Neustria. --Crimes of the Merovingian Kings. --Clotar and his
+    Sons. --Sigbert's Successes. --His Wife, Brunhilde. --Sigbert's
+    Death. --Quarrel between Brunhilde and Fredegunde. --Clotar II.
+    --Brunhilde and her Grandsons. --Her Defeat and Death. --Clotar
+    II.'s Reign. --King Dagobert. --The Nobles and the Church. --War
+    with the Thuringians. --Picture of the Merovingian Line. --A New
+    Power.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 500. THE MEROVINGIAN DYNASTY.]
+
+The history of Germany, from the middle of the sixth to the middle of
+the ninth century, is that of France also. After having conducted them
+to their new homes, we take leave of the Anglo-Saxons, the Visigoths and
+the Longobards, and return to the Frank dynasty founded by Chlodwig,
+about the year 500, when the smaller kings and chieftains of his race
+accepted him as their ruler. In the histories of France, even those
+written in English, he is called "Clovis," but we prefer to give him his
+original Frank name. He was the grandson of a petty king, whose name was
+Merovich, whence he and his successors are called, in history, the
+_Merovingian_ dynasty. He appears to have been a born conqueror, neither
+very just nor very wise in his actions, but brave, determined and ready
+to use any means, good or bad, in order to attain his end.
+
+Chlodwig extinguished the last remnant of Roman rule in Gaul, in the
+year 486, as we have related in Chapter VII. He was then only 20 years
+old, having succeeded to the throne at the age of 15. Shortly afterwards
+he married the daughter of one of the Burgundian kings. She was a
+Christian, and endeavored, but for many years without effect, to induce
+him to give up his pagan faith. Finally, in a war with the Alemanni, in
+496, he promised to become a Christian, provided the God of the
+Christians would give him victory. The decisive battle was long and
+bloody, but it ended in the complete rout of the Alemanni, and
+afterwards all of them who were living to the west of the Rhine became
+tributary to the Franks.
+
+[Sidenote: 511.]
+
+Chlodwig and 3,000 of his followers were soon afterwards baptized in the
+cathedral at Rheims, by the bishop Remigius. When the king advanced to
+the baptismal font, the bishop said to him: "Bow thy head,
+Sicambrian!--worship what thou hast persecuted, persecute what thou hast
+worshipped!" Although nearly all the German Christians at this time were
+Arians, Chlodwig selected the Athanasian faith of Rome, and thereby
+secured the support of the Roman priesthood in France, which was of
+great service to him in his ambitious designs. This difference of faith
+also gave him a pretext to march against the Burgundians in 500, and the
+Visigoths in 507: both wars were considered holy by the Church.
+
+His conquest of the Visigoths was prevented, as we have seen, by the
+interposition of Theodoric. He then devoted his remaining years to the
+complete suppression of all the minor Frank kings, and was so successful
+that when he died, in 511, all the race, to the west of the Rhine, was
+united under his single sway. He was succeeded by four sons, of whom the
+eldest, Theuderich, reigned in Paris; the others chose Metz, Orleans and
+Soissons for their capitals. Theuderich was a man of so much energy and
+prudence that he was able to control his brothers, and unite the four
+governments in such a way that the kingdom was saved from dismemberment.
+
+The mother of Chlodwig was a runaway queen of Thuringia, whose son,
+Hermanfried, now ruled over that kingdom, after having deposed his two
+brothers. The relationship gave Theuderich a ground for interfering, and
+the result was a war between the Franks and the Thuringians. Theuderich
+collected a large army, marched into Germany in 530, procured the
+services of 9,000 Saxons as allies, and met the Thuringians on the river
+Unstrut, not far from where the city of Halle now stands. Hermanfried
+was taken prisoner, carried to France, and treacherously thrown from a
+tower, after receiving great professions of friendship from his nephew,
+Theuderich. His family fled to Italy, and the kingdom of Thuringia,
+embracing nearly all Central Germany, was added to that of the Franks.
+The northern part, however, was given to the Saxons as a reward for
+their assistance.
+
+[Sidenote: 530. AUSTRIA AND NEUSTRIA]
+
+Four years afterwards the brothers of Theuderich conquered the kingdom
+of Burgundy, and annexed it to their territory. About the same time, the
+Franks living eastward of the Rhine entered into a union with their more
+powerful brethren. Since both the Alemanni and the Bavarians were
+already tributary to the latter, the dominion of the united Franks now
+extended from the Atlantic nearly to the river Elbe, and from the mouth
+of the Rhine to the Mediterranean, with Friesland and the kingdom of the
+Saxons between it and the North Sea. To all lying east of the Rhine, the
+name of Austria (East-kingdom) or Austrasia was given, while Neustria
+(New-kingdom) was applied to all west of the Rhine. These designations
+were used in the historical chronicles for some centuries afterwards.
+
+While Theuderich lived, his brothers observed a tolerably peaceful
+conduct towards one another, but his death was followed by a season of
+war and murder. History gives us no record of another dynasty so steeped
+in crime as that of the Merovingians: within the compass of a few years
+we find a father murdering his son, a brother his brother and a wife her
+husband. We can only account for the fact that the whole land was not
+constantly convulsed by civil war, by supposing that the people retained
+enough of power in their national assemblies, to refuse taking part in
+the fratricidal quarrels. It is not necessary, therefore, to recount all
+the details of the bloody family history. Their effect upon the people
+must have been in the highest degree demoralizing, yet the latter
+possessed enough of prudence--or perhaps of a clannish spirit, in the
+midst of a much larger Roman and Gallic population--to hold the Frank
+kingdom together, while its rulers were doing their best to split it to
+pieces.
+
+The result of all the quarrelling and murdering was, that in 558 Clotar,
+the youngest son of Chlodwig, became the sole monarch. After forty-seven
+years of divided rule, the kingly power was again in a single hand, and
+there seemed to be a chance for peace and progress. But Clotar died
+within three years, and, like his father, left four sons to divide his
+power. The first thing they did was to fight; then, being perhaps rather
+equally matched, they agreed to portion the kingdom. Charibert reigned
+in Paris, Guntram in Orleans, Chilperic in Soissons, and Sigbert in
+Metz. The boundaries between their territories are uncertain; we only
+know that all of "Austria," or Germany east of the Rhine, fell to
+Sigbert's share.
+
+[Sidenote: 565.]
+
+About this time the Avars, coming from Hungary, had invaded Thuringia,
+and were inciting the people to rebellion against the Franks. Sigbert
+immediately marched against them, drove them back, and established his
+authority over the Thuringians. On returning home he found that his
+brother Chilperic had taken possession of his capital and many smaller
+towns. Chilperic was forced to retreat, lost his own kingdom in turn,
+and only received it again through the generosity of Sigbert,--the first
+and only instance of such a virtue in the Merovingian line of kings.
+Sigbert seems to have inherited the abilities, without the vices, of his
+grandfather Chlodwig. When the Avars made a second invasion into
+Germany, he was not only defeated but taken prisoner by them.
+Nevertheless, he immediately acquired such influence over their Khan, or
+chieftain, that he persuaded the latter to set him free, to make a
+treaty of peace and friendship, and to return with his Avars to Hungary.
+
+In the year 568 Charibert died in Paris, leaving no heirs. A new strife
+instantly broke out among the three remaining brothers; but it was for a
+time suspended, owing to the approach of a common danger. The
+Longobards, now masters of Northern Italy, crossed the Alps and began to
+overrun Switzerland, which the Franks possessed, through their victories
+over the Burgundians and the Alemanni. Sigbert and Guntram united their
+forces, and repelled the invasion with much slaughter.
+
+Then broke out in France a series of family wars, darker and bloodier
+than any which had gone before. The strife between the sons of Clotar
+and their children and grandchildren desolated France for forty years,
+and became all the more terrible because the women of the family entered
+into it with the men. All these Christian kings, like their father, were
+polygamists: each had several wives; yet they are described by the
+priestly chroniclers of their times as men who went about doing good,
+and whose lives were "acceptable to God"! Sigbert was the only
+exception: he had but one wife, Brunhilde, the daughter of a king of the
+Visigoths, a stately, handsome, intelligent woman, but proud and
+ambitious.
+
+[Sidenote: 570. FAMILY WARS IN FRANCE.]
+
+Either the power and popularity, or the rich marriage-portion, which
+Sigbert acquired with Brunhilde, induced his brother, Chilperic, to ask
+the hand of her sister, the Princess Galsunta of Spain. It was granted
+to him on condition that he would put away all his wives and live with
+her alone. He accepted the condition, and was married to Galsunta. One
+of the women sent away was Fredegunde, who soon found means to recover
+her former influence over Chilperic's mind. It was not long before
+Galsunta was found dead in her bed, and within a week Fredegunde, the
+murderess, became queen in her stead. Brunhilde called upon Sigbert to
+revenge her sister's death, and then began that terrible history of
+crime and hatred, which was celebrated, centuries afterwards, in the
+famous _Nibelungenlied_, or Lay of the Nibelungs.
+
+In the year 575, Sigbert gained a complete victory over Chilperic, and
+was lifted upon a shield by the warriors of the latter, who hailed him
+as their king. In that instant he was stabbed in the back, and died upon
+the field of his triumph. Chilperic resumed his sway, and soon took
+Brunhilde prisoner, while her young son, Childebert, escaped to Germany.
+But his own son, Merwig, espoused Brunhilde's cause, secretly released
+her from prison, and then married her. A war next arose between father
+and son, in which the former was successful. He cut off Merwig's long
+hair, and shut him up in a monastery; but, for some unexplained reason,
+he allowed Brunhilde to go free. In the meantime Fredegunde had borne
+three sons, who all died soon after their birth. She accused her own
+step-son of having caused their deaths by witchcraft, and he and his
+mother, one of Chilperic's former wives, were put to death.
+
+Both Chilperic and his brother Guntram, who reigned at Orleans, were
+without male heirs. At this juncture, the German chiefs and nobles
+demanded to have Childebert, the young son of Sigbert and Brunhilde, who
+had taken refuge among them, recognized as the heir to the Frankish
+throne. Chilperic consented, on condition that Childebert, with such
+forces as he could command, would march with him against Guntram, who
+had despoiled him of a great deal of his territory. The treaty was made,
+in spite of the opposition of Brunhilde, whose sister's murder was not
+yet avenged, and the civil wars were renewed. Both sides gained or lost
+alternately, without any decided result, until the assassination of
+Chilperic, by an unknown hand, in 584. A few months before his death,
+Fredegunde had borne him another son, Clotar, who lived, and was at once
+presented by his mother as Childebert's rival to the throne.
+
+[Sidenote: 597.]
+
+The struggle between the two widowed queens, Brunhilde and Fredegunde,
+was for a while delayed by the appearance of a new claimant, Gundobald,
+who had been a fugitive in Constantinople for many years, and declared
+that he was Chilperic's brother. He obtained the support of many
+Austrasian (German) princes, and was for a time so successful that
+Fredegunde was forced to take refuge with Guntram, at Orleans. The
+latter also summoned Childebert to his capital, and persuaded him to
+make a truce with Fredegunde and her adherents, in order that both might
+act against their common rival. Gundobald and his followers were soon
+destroyed: Guntram died in 593, and Childebert was at once accepted as
+his successor. His kingdom included that of Charibert, whose capital was
+Paris, and that of his father, Sigbert, embracing all Frankish Germany.
+But the nobles and people, accustomed to conspiracy, treachery and
+crime, could no longer be depended upon, as formerly. They were
+beginning to return to their former system of living upon war and
+pillage, instead of the honest arts of peace.
+
+Fredegunde still held the kingdom of Chilperic for her son Clotar. After
+strengthening herself by secret intrigues with the Frank nobles, she
+raised an army, put herself at its head, and marched against Childebert,
+who was defeated and soon afterwards poisoned, after having reigned only
+three years. His realm was divided between his two young sons, one
+receiving Burgundy and the other Germany, under the guardianship of
+their grandmother Brunhilde. Fredegunde followed up her success, took
+Paris and Orleans from the heirs of Childebert, and died in 597, leaving
+her son Clotar, then in his fourteenth year, as king of more than half
+of France. He was crowned as Clotar II.
+
+Death placed Brunhilde's rival out of the reach of her revenge, but she
+herself might have secured the whole kingdom of the Franks for her two
+grandsons, had she not quarrelled with one and stirred up war between
+them. The first consequence of this new strife was that Alsatia and
+Eastern Switzerland were separated from Neustria, or France, and
+attached to Austria, or Germany. Brunhilde, finding that her cause was
+desperate, procured the assistance of Clotar II. for herself and her
+favorite grandson, Theuderich. The fortune of war now turned, and before
+long the other grandson, Theudebert, was taken prisoner. By his
+brother's order he was formally deposed from his kingly authority, and
+then executed: the brains of his infant son were dashed out against a
+stone.
+
+[Sidenote: 613. MURDER OF BRUNHILDE.]
+
+It was not long before this crime was avenged. A quarrel in regard to
+the division of the spoils arose between Theuderich and Clotar II. The
+former died in the beginning of the war which followed, leaving four
+young sons to the care of their great-grandmother, the queen Brunhilde.
+Clotar II. immediately marched against her, but, knowing her ability and
+energy, he obtained a promise from the nobles of Burgundy and Germany
+who were unfriendly to Brunhilde, that they would come over to his side
+at the critical moment. The aged queen had called her people to arms,
+and, like her rival, Fredegunde, put herself at their head; but when the
+armies met, on the river Aisne in Champagne, the traitors in her own
+camp joined Clotar II. and the struggle was ended without a battle.
+Brunhilde, then eighty years old, was taken prisoner, cruelly tortured
+for three days, and then tied by her gray hair to the tail of a wild
+horse and dragged to death. The four sons of Theuderich were put to
+death at the same time, and thus, in the year 613, Clotar II. became
+king of all the Franks. A priest named Fredegar, who wrote his
+biography, says of him: "He was a most patient man, learned and pious,
+and kind and sympathizing towards every one!"
+
+Clotar II. possessed, at least, energy enough to preserve a sway which
+was based on a long succession of the worst crimes that disgrace
+humanity. In 622, six years before his death, he made his oldest son,
+Dagobert, a boy of sixteen, king of the German half of his realm, but
+was obliged, immediately afterwards, to assist him against the Saxons.
+He entered their territory, seized the people, massacred all who proved
+to be taller than his own two-handed sword, and then returned to France
+without having subdued the spirit or received the allegiance of the bold
+race. Nothing of importance occurred during the remainder of his reign;
+he died in 628, leaving his kingdom to his two sons, Dagobert and
+Charibert. The former easily possessed himself of the lion's share,
+giving his younger brother only a small strip of territory along the
+river Loire. Charibert, however, drove the last remnant of the Visigoths
+into Spain, and added the country between the Garonne and the Pyrenees
+to his little kingdom. The name of Aquitaine was given to this region,
+and Charibert's descendants became its Dukes, subject to the kings of
+the Franks.
+
+[Sidenote: 628.]
+
+Dagobert had been carefully educated by Pippin of Landen, the Royal
+Steward of Clotar II., and by Arnulf, the Bishop of Metz. He had no
+quality of greatness, but he promised to be, at least, a good and just
+sovereign. He became at once popular with the masses, who began to long
+for peace, and for the restoration of rights which had been partly lost
+during the civil wars. The nobles, however, who had drawn the greatest
+advantage from those wars, during which their support was purchased by
+one side or the other, grew dissatisfied. They cunningly aroused in
+Dagobert the love of luxury and the sensual vices which had ruined his
+ancestors, and thus postponed the reign of law and justice to which the
+people were looking forward.
+
+In fact, that system of freedom and equality which the Germanic races
+had so long possessed, was already shaken to its very base. During the
+long and bloody feuds of the Merovingian kings, many changes had been
+made in the details of government, all tending to increase the power of
+the nobles, the civil officers and the dignitaries of the Church.
+Wealth--the bribes paid for their support--had accumulated in the hands
+of these classes, while the farmers, mechanics and tradesmen, plundered
+in turn by both parties, had constantly grown poorer. Although the
+external signs of civilization had increased, the race had already lost
+much of its moral character, and some of the best features of its
+political system.
+
+There are few chronicles which inform us of the affairs of Germany
+during this period. The Avars, after their treaty of peace with Sigbert,
+directed their incursions against the Bavarians, but without gaining any
+permanent advantage. On the other hand, the Slavonic tribes, especially
+the Bohemians, united under the rule of a renegade Frank, whose name was
+Samo, and who acquired a part of Thuringia, after defeating the Frank
+army which was sent against him. The Saxons and Thuringians then took
+the war into their own hands, and drove back Samo and his Slavonic
+hordes. By this victory the Saxons released themselves from the payment
+of an annual tribute to the Frank kings, and the Thuringians became
+strong enough to organize themselves again as a people and elect their
+own Duke. The Franks endeavored to suppress this new organization, but
+they were defeated by the Duke, Radulf, nearly on the same spot where,
+just one hundred years before, Theuderich, the son of Chlodwig, had
+crushed the Thuringian kingdom. From that time, Thuringia was placed on
+the same footing as Bavaria, tributary to the Franks, but locally
+independent.
+
+[Sidenote: 638. END OF THE MEROVINGIAN POWER.]
+
+King Dagobert, weak, swayed by whatever influence was nearest, and
+voluptuous rather than cruel, died in 638, before he had time to do much
+evil. He was the last of the Merovingian line who exercised any actual
+power. The dynasty existed for a century longer, but its monarchs were
+merely puppets in the hands of stronger men. Its history, from the
+beginning, is well illustrated by a tradition current among the people,
+concerning the mother of Chlodwig. They relate that soon after her
+marriage she had a vision, in which she gave birth to a lion (Chlodwig),
+whose descendants were wolves and bears, and their descendants, in turn,
+frisky dogs.
+
+Before the death of Dagobert--in fact, during the life of Clotar II.--a
+new power had grown up within the kingdom of the Franks, which gradually
+pushed the Merovingian dynasty out of its place. The history of this
+power, after 638, becomes the history of the realm, and we now turn from
+the bloody kings to trace its origin, rise and final triumph.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE DYNASTY OF THE ROYAL STEWARDS.
+
+(638--768.)
+
+The Steward of the Royal Household. --His Government of the Royal
+    _Lehen_. --His Position and Opportunities. --Pippin of Landen.
+    --His Sway in Germany. --Gradual Transfer of Power. --Grimoald,
+    Steward of France. --Pippin of Heristall. --His Successes.
+    --Coöperation with the Church of Rome. --Quarrels between his
+    Heirs. --Karl defeats his Rivals. --Becomes sole Steward of the
+    Empire. --He favors Christian Missions. --The Labors of Winfried
+    (Bishop Bonifacius). --Invasion of the Saracens. --The Great Battle
+    of Poitiers. --Karl is surnamed Martel, the Hammer. --His Wars and
+    Marches. --His Death and Character. --Pippin the Short. --He
+    subdues the German Dukes. --Assists Pope Zacharias. --Is anointed
+    King. --Death of Bonifacius. --Pippin defeats the Lombards. --Gives
+    the Pope Temporal Power. --His Death.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 638.]
+
+We have mentioned Pippin of Landen as the Royal Steward of Clotar II.
+His office gave birth to the new power which grew up beside the
+Merovingian rule and finally suppressed it. In the chronicles of the
+time the officer is called the _Majordomus_ of the King,--a word which
+is best translated by "Steward of the Royal Household"; but in reality,
+it embraced much more extended and important powers than the title would
+imply. In their conquests, the Franks--as we have already
+stated--usually claimed at least one-third of the territory which fell
+into their hands. A part of this was portioned out among the chief men
+and the soldiers; a part was set aside as the king's share, and still
+another part became the common property of the people. The latter,
+therefore, fell into the habit of electing a Steward to guard and
+superintend this property in their interest; and, as the kings became
+involved in their family feuds, the charge of the royal estates was
+intrusted to the hands of the same steward.
+
+The latter estates soon became, by conquest, so extensive and important,
+that the king gave the use of many of them for a term of years, or for
+life, to private individuals in return for military services. This was
+called the _Lehen_ (lien, or loan) system, to distinguish it from the
+_Allod_ (allotment), whereby a part of the conquered lands were divided
+by lot, and became the free property of those to whom they fell. The
+_Lehen_ gave rise to a new class, whose fortunes were immediately
+dependent on the favor of the king, and who consequently, when they
+appeared at the national assemblies, voted on his side. Such a "loaned"
+estate was also called _feod_, whence the term "_feudal_ system," which,
+gradually modified by time, grew from this basis. The importance of the
+Royal Steward in the kingdom is thus explained. The office, at first,
+had probably a mere business character. After Chlodwig's time, the civil
+wars by which the estates of the king and the people became subject to
+constant change, gave the steward a political power, which increased
+with each generation. He stood between the monarch and his subjects,
+with the best opportunity for acquiring an ascendency over the minds of
+both. At first, he was only elected for a year, and his reëlection
+depended on the honesty and ability with which he had discharged his
+duties. During the convulsions of the dynasty, he, in common with king
+and nobles, gained what rights the people lost: he began to retain his
+office for a longer time, then for life, and finally demanded that it
+should be hereditary in his family.
+
+[Sidenote: 638. THE "LEHEN" SYSTEM.]
+
+The Royal Stewards of Burgundy and Germany played an important part in
+the last struggle between Clotar II. and Brunhilde. When the successful
+king, in 622, found that the increasing difference of language and
+habits between the eastern and western portions of his realm required a
+separation of the government, and made his young son, Dagobert, ruler
+over the German half, he was compelled to recognize Pippin of Landen as
+his Steward, and to trust Dagobert entirely to his hands. The dividing
+line between "Austria" and "Neustria" was drawn along the chain of the
+Vosges, through the forest of Ardennes, and terminated near the mouth of
+the Schelde,--almost the same line which divides the German and French
+languages, at this day.
+
+Pippin was a Frank, born in the Netherlands, a man of energy and
+intelligence, but of little principle. He had, nevertheless, shrewdness
+enough to see the necessity of maintaining the unity and peace of the
+kingdom, and he endeavored, in conjunction with Bishop Arnulf of Metz,
+to make a good king of Dagobert. They made him, indeed, amiable and
+well-meaning, but they could not overcome the instability of his
+character. After Clotar II.'s death, in 628, Dagobert passed the
+remaining ten years of his life in France, under the control of others,
+and the actual government of Germany was exercised by Pippin.
+
+[Sidenote: 670.]
+
+The period of transition between the power of the kings, gradually
+sinking, and the power of the Stewards, steadily rising, lasted about
+fifty years. The latter power, however, was not allowed to increase
+without frequent struggles, partly from the jealousy of the nobility and
+priesthood, partly from the Resistance of the people to the extinction
+of their remaining rights. But, after the devastation left behind by the
+fratricidal wars of the Merovingians, all parties felt the necessity of
+a strong and well-regulated government, and the long experience of the
+Stewards gave them the advantage.
+
+Grimoald, the son and successor of Pippin in the stewardship of Germany,
+made an attempt to usurp the royal power, but failed. This event, and
+the interference of a Steward of France with the rights of the dynasty,
+led the Franks, in 670--when the whole kingdom was again united under
+Childeric II.--to decree that the Stewards should be elected annually by
+the people, as in the beginning. But when Childeric II., like the most
+of his predecessors, was murdered, the deposed Steward of France
+regained his power, forced the people to accept him, and attempted to
+extend his government over Germany. In spite of a fierce resistance,
+headed by Pippin of Heristall, the grandson of Pippin of Landen, he
+partly maintained his authority until the year 681, when he was murdered
+in turn.
+
+Pippin of Heristall was also the grandson of Arnulf, Bishop of Metz,
+whose son, Anchises, had married Begga, the daughter of Pippin of
+Landen. He was thus of Roman blood by his father's, and Frank by his
+mother's side. As soon as his authority was secured, as Royal Steward of
+Germany, he invaded France, and a desperate struggle for the stewardship
+of the whole kingdom ensued. It was ended in 687 by a battle near St.
+Quentin, in which Pippin was victorious. He used his success with a
+moderation very rare in those days: he did honor to the Frank king,
+Theuderich III., who had fallen into his hands, spared the lives and
+possessions of all who had fought against him, on their promise not to
+take up arms against his authority, and even continued many of the chief
+officials of the Franks in their former places.
+
+[Sidenote: 687. PIPPIN OF HERISTALL.]
+
+From this date the Merovingian monarch became a shadow. Pippin paid him
+all external signs of allegiance, kept up the ceremonies of his Court,
+supplied him with ample revenues, and governed the kingdom in his name;
+but the actual power was concentrated in his own hands. France,
+Switzerland and the greater part of Germany were subjected to his
+government, although there were still elements of discontent within the
+realm, and of trouble outside of its borders. The dependent dukedoms of
+Aquitaine, Burgundy, Alemannia, Bavaria and Thuringia were restless
+under the yoke; the Saxons and Frisians on the north were hostile and
+defiant, and the Slavonic races all along the eastern frontier had not
+yet given up their invasions.
+
+Pippin, like the French rulers after him, down to the present day,
+perceived the advantage of having the Church on his side. Moreover, he
+was the grandson of a Bishop, which circumstance--although it did not
+prevent him from taking two wives--enabled him better to understand the
+power of the ecclesiastical system of Rome. In the early part of the
+seventh century, several Christian missionaries, principally Irish, had
+begun their labors among the Alemanni and the Bavarians, but the greater
+part of these people, with all the Thuringians, Saxons and Frisians,
+were still worshippers of the old pagan gods. Pippin saw that the latter
+must be taught submission, and accustomed to authority through the
+Church, and, with his aid, all the southern part of Germany became
+Christian in a few years. Force was employed, as well as persuasion;
+but, at that time, the end was considered to sanction any means.
+
+Pippin's rule (we can not call it _reign_) was characterized by the
+greatest activity, patience and prudence. From year to year the kingdom
+of the Franks became better organized and stronger in all its features
+of government. Brittany, Burgundy and Aquitaine were kept quiet; the
+northern part of Holland was conquered, and immediately given into
+charge of a band of Anglo-Saxon monks; and Germany, although restless
+and dissatisfied, was held more firmly than ever. Pippin of Heristall,
+while he was simply called a Royal Steward, exercised a wider power
+than any monarch of his time.
+
+[Sidenote: 714.]
+
+When he died, in the year 714, the kingdom was for a while convulsed by
+feuds which threatened to repeat the bloody annals of the Merovingians.
+His heirs were Theudowald, his grandson by his wife Plektrude, and Karl
+and Hildebrand, his sons by his wife Alpheid. He chose the former as his
+successor, and Plektrude, in order to suppress any opposition to this
+arrangement, imprisoned her step-son Karl. But the Burgundians
+immediately revolted, elected one of their chiefs, Raginfried, to the
+office of Royal Steward, and defeated the Franks in a battle in which
+Theudowald was slain. Karl, having escaped from prison, put himself at
+the head of affairs, supported by a majority of the German Franks. He
+was a man of strong personal influence, and inspired his followers with
+enthusiasm and faith; but his chances seemed very desperate. His
+step-mother, Plektrude, opposed him: the Burgundians and French Franks,
+led by Raginfried, were marching against him, and Radbod, Duke of
+Friesland, invaded the territory which he was bound by his office to
+defend.
+
+Karl had the choice of three enemies, and he took the one which seemed
+most dangerous. He attacked Radbod, but was forced to fall back, and
+this repulse emboldened the Saxons to make a foray into the land of the
+Hessians, as the old Germanic tribe of the Chatti were now called.
+Radbod advanced to Cologne, which was held by Plektrude and her
+followers: at the same time Raginfried approached from the west, and the
+city was thus besieged by two separate armies, hostile to each other,
+yet both having the same end in view. Between the two, Karl managed to
+escape, and retreated to the forest of Ardennes, where he set about
+reconstructing his shattered army.
+
+Cologne was too strong to be assailed, and Plektrude, who possessed
+large treasures, soon succeeded in buying off Radbod and Raginfried. The
+latter, on his return to France, came into collision with Karl, who,
+though repelled at first, finally drove him in confusion to the walls of
+Paris. Karl then suddenly wheeled about and marched against Cologne,
+which fell into his hands: Plektrude, leaving her wealth as his booty,
+fled to Bavaria. This victory secured to Karl the stewardship over
+Germany, but a king was wanting, to make the forms of royalty complete.
+The direct Merovingian line had run out, and Raginfried had been
+obliged to take a monk, an offshoot of the family, and place him on the
+throne, under the name of Chilperic II. Karl, after a little search,
+discovered another Merovingian, whom he installed in the German half of
+the kingdom, as Clotar III. That done, he attacked the invading Saxons,
+defeated and drove them beyond the Weser river.
+
+[Sidenote: 719. KARL, STEWARD OF THE EMPIRE.]
+
+He was now free to meet the rebellious Franks of France, who in the
+meantime had strengthened themselves by offering to Duke Eudo of
+Aquitaine the acknowledgment of his independent sovereignty in return
+for his support. A decisive battle was fought in the year 719, and Karl
+was again victorious. The nominal king, Chilperic II., Raginfried and
+Duke Eudo fled into the south of France. Karl began negotiations with
+the latter for the delivery of the fugitive king; but just at this time
+his own puppet, Clotar III., happened to die, and, as there was no other
+Merovingian left, the pretence upon which his stewardship was based
+obliged him to recognize Chilperic II. Raginfried resigned his office,
+and Karl was at last nominal Steward, and actual monarch, of the kingdom
+of the Franks.
+
+His first movement was to deliver Germany from its invaders, and
+reëstablish the dependency of its native Dukes. The death of the fierce
+Radbod enabled him to reconquer West Friesland: the Saxons were then
+driven back and firmly held within their original boundaries, and
+finally the Alemanni and Bavarians were compelled to make a formal
+acknowledgment of the Frank rule. As regards Thuringia, which seems to
+have remained a Dukedom, the chronicles of the time give us little
+information. It is probable, however, that the invasions of the Saxons
+on the north and the Slavonic tribes on the east gave the people of
+Central Germany no opportunity to resist the authority of the Franks.
+The work of conversion, encouraged by Pippin of Heristall as a political
+measure, was still continued by the zeal of the Irish and Anglo-Saxon
+missionaries, and in the beginning of the eighth century it received a
+powerful impulse from a new apostle, a man of singular ability and
+courage.
+
+He was a Saxon of England, born in Devonshire in the year 680, and
+Winfried by name. Educated in a monastery, at a time when the struggle
+between Christianity and the old Germanic faith was at its height, he
+resolved to devote his life to missionary labors. He first went to
+Friesland, during the reign of Radbod, and spent three years in a vain
+attempt to convert the people. Then he visited Rome, offered his
+services to the Pope, and was commissioned to undertake the work of
+christianizing Central Germany. On reaching the field of his labors, he
+manifested such zeal and intelligence that he soon became the leader and
+director of the missionary enterprise. It is related that at Geismar, in
+the land of the Hessians, he cut down with his own hands an aged
+oak-tree, sacred to the god Thor. This and other similar acts inspired
+the people with such awe that they began to believe that their old gods
+were either dead or helpless, and they submissively accepted the new
+faith without understanding its character, or following it otherwise
+than in observing the external forms of worship.
+
+[Sidenote: 725.]
+
+On a second visit to Rome, Winfried was appointed by the Pope Archbishop
+of Mayence, and ordered to take, thenceforth, the name of Bonifacius
+(Benefactor), by which he is known in history. He was confirmed in this
+office by Karl, to whom he had rendered valuable political services by
+the conversion of the Thuringians, and who had a genuine respect for his
+lofty and unselfish character. The spot where he built the first
+Christian church in Central Germany, about twelve miles from Gotha, at
+the foot of the Thuringian Mountains, is now marked by a colossal
+candle-stick of granite, surmounted by a golden flame.
+
+After Karl had been for several years actively employed in regulating
+the affairs of his great realm, and especially, with the aid of Bishop
+Bonifacius, in establishing an authority in Germany equal to that he
+possessed in France, he had every prospect of a powerful and peaceful
+rule. But suddenly a new danger threatened not only the Franks, but all
+Europe. The Saracens, crossing from Africa, defeated the Visigoths and
+slew Roderick, their king, in the year 711. Gradually possessing
+themselves of all Spain, they next collected a tremendous army, and in
+731, under the command of Abderrahman, Viceroy of the Caliph of
+Damascus, set out for the conquest of France. Thus the new Christian
+faith of Europe, still engaged in quelling the last strength of the
+ancient paganism, was suddenly called upon to meet the newer faith of
+Mohammed, which had determined to subdue the world.
+
+[Sidenote: 732. THE BATTLE OF POITIERS.]
+
+Not only France, but the Eastern Empire, Italy and England looked to
+Karl, in this emergency. The Saracens crossed the Pyrenees with 350,000
+warriors, accompanied by their wives and children, as if they were sure
+of victory and meant to possess the land. Karl called the military
+strength of the whole broad kingdom into the field, collected an army
+nearly equal in numbers, and finally, in October, 732, the two hosts
+stood face to face, near the city of Poitiers. It was a struggle almost
+as grand, and as fraught with important consequences to the world, as
+that of Aëtius and Attila, nearly 300 years before. Six days were spent
+in preparations, and on the seventh the battle began. The Saracens
+attacked with that daring and impetuosity which had gained them so many
+victories; but, as the old chronicle says, "the Franks, with their
+strong hearts and powerful bodies, stood like a wall, and hewed down the
+Arabs with iron hands." When night fell, 200,000 dead and wounded lay
+upon the field. Karl made preparations for resuming the battle on the
+following morning, but he found no enemy. The Saracens had retired
+during the night, leaving their camps and stores behind them, and their
+leader, Abderrahman, among the slain. This was the first great check the
+cause of Islam received, after a series of victories more wonderful than
+those of Rome. From that day the people bestowed upon Karl the surname
+of _Martel_, the Hammer, and as Charles Martel he is best known in
+history.
+
+He was not able to follow up his advantage immediately, for the
+possibility of his defeat by the Saracens had emboldened his enemies at
+home and abroad, to rise against his authority. The Frisians, under
+Poppo, their new Duke, made another invasion; the Saxons followed their
+example; the Burgundians attempted a rebellion, and the sons of Duke
+Eudo of Aquitaine, imitating the example of their ancestors, the
+Merovingian kings, began to quarrel about the succession. While Karl
+Martel (as we must now call him) was engaged in suppressing all these
+troubles, the Saracens, with the aid of the malcontent Burgundians,
+occupied all the territory bordering the Mediterranean, on both sides of
+the Rhone. He was not free to march against them until 737, when he made
+his appearance with a large army, retook Avignon, Arles and Nismes, and
+left them in possession only of Narbonne, which was too strongly
+fortified to be taken by assault.
+
+Karl Martel was recalled to the opposite end of the kingdom by a fresh
+invasion of the Saxons. When this had been repelled, and the northern
+frontier in Germany strengthened against the hostile race, the
+Burgundian nobles in Provence sought a fresh alliance with the Saracens,
+and compelled him to return instantly from the Weser to the shores of
+the Mediterranean. He suppressed the rebellion, but was obliged to leave
+the Saracens in possession of a part of the coast, between the Rhone and
+the Pyrenees. During his stay in the south of France, the Pope, Gregory
+II., entreated him to come to Italy and relieve Rome from the oppression
+of Luitprand, king of the Longobards. He did not accept the invitation,
+but it appears that, as mediator, he assisted in concluding a treaty
+between the Pope and king, which arranged their differences for a time.
+
+[Sidenote: 741.]
+
+Worn out by his life of marches and battles, Karl Martel became
+prematurely old, and died in 741, at the age of fifty, after a reign of
+twenty-seven years. He inherited the activity, the ability, and also the
+easy principles of his father, Pippin of Heristall. But his authority
+was greatly increased, and he used it to lessen the remnant of their
+original freedom which the people still retained. The free Germanic
+Franks were accustomed to meet every year, in the month of March (as on
+the _Champ de Mars_, or March-field, at Paris), and discuss all national
+matters. In Chlodwig's time the royal dependents were added to the free
+citizens and allowed an equal voice, which threw an additional power
+into the hands of the monarch. Karl Martel convoked the national
+assembly, declared war or made peace, without asking the people's
+consent; while, by adding the priesthood and the nobles, with their
+dependents, to the number of those entitled to vote, he broke down the
+ancient power of the state and laid the foundation of a more absolute
+system.
+
+Shortly before his death, Karl Martel summoned a council of the princes
+and nobles of his realm, and obtained their consent that his eldest son,
+Karloman, should succeed him as Royal Steward of Germany, and his second
+son, Pippin, surnamed the Short, as Royal Steward of France and
+Burgundy. The Merovingian throne had already been vacant for four years,
+but the monarch had become so insignificant that this circumstance was
+scarcely noticed. On his death-bed, however, Karl Martel was persuaded
+by Swanhilde, one of his wives, to bequeath a part of his dominions to
+her son, Grifo. This gave rise to great discontent among the people, and
+furnished the subject Dukes of Bavaria, Alemannia and Aquitaine with
+another opportunity for endeavoring to regain their lost independence.
+
+[Sidenote: 752. PIPPIN THE SHORT MADE KING.]
+
+Karloman and Pippin, in order to strengthen their cause, sought for a
+descendant of the Merovingian line, and, having found him, they
+proclaimed him king, under the name of Childeric III. This step secured
+to them the allegiance of the Franks, but the conflict with the
+refractory Dukedoms lasted several years. Battles were fought on the
+Loire, on the Lech, in Bavaria, and then again on the Saxon frontier:
+finally Aquitaine was subdued, Alemannia lost its Duke and became a
+Frank province, and Bavaria agreed to a truce. In this struggle,
+Karloman and Pippin received important support from Bonifacius, a part
+of whose aim it was to bring all the Christian communities to
+acknowledge the Pope of Rome as the sole head of the Church. They gave
+him their support in return, and thus the Franks were drawn into closer
+relations with the ecclesiastical power.
+
+In the year 747, Karloman resigned his power, went to Rome, and was made
+a monk by Pope Zacharias. Soon afterwards Grifo, the son of Karl Martel
+and Swanhilde, made a second attempt to conquer his rights, with the aid
+of the Saxons. Pippin the Short allied himself with the Wends, a
+Slavonic race settled in Prussia, and ravaged the Saxon land, forcing a
+part of the inhabitants, at the point of the sword, to be baptized as
+Christians. Grifo fled to Bavaria, where the Duke, Tassilo, espoused his
+cause, but Pippin the Short followed close upon his heels with so strong
+a force that resistance was no longer possible. A treaty was made
+whereby Grifo was consigned to private life, the hereditary rights of
+the Bavarian Dukes recognized by the Franks, and the sovereignty of the
+Franks accepted by the Bavarians.
+
+Pippin the Short had found, through his own experience as well as that
+of his ancestors, that the pretence of a Merovingian king only worked
+confusion in the realm of the Franks, since it furnished to the
+subordinate races and principalities a constant pretext for revolt.
+When, therefore, Pope Zacharias found himself threatened by Aistulf, the
+successor of Luitprand as king of the Longobards, and sent an embassy to
+Pippin the Short appealing for his assistance, the latter returned to
+him this question: "Does the kingdom belong to him who exercises the
+power, without the name, or to him who bears the name, without
+possessing the power?" The answer was what he expected: a general
+assembly was called together in 752, Pippin was anointed King by the
+Archbishop Bonifacius, then lifted on a shield according to the ancient
+custom and accepted by the nobles and people. The shadowy Merovingian
+king, Childeric III., was shorn of his long hair, the sign of royalty,
+and sent into a monastery, where he disappeared from the world. Pippin
+now possessed sole and unlimited sway over the kingdom of the Franks,
+and named himself "King by the Grace of God,"--an example which has been
+followed by most monarchs, down to our day. On the other hand, the
+decision of Zacharias was a great step gained by the Papal power, which
+thenceforth began to exalt its prerogatives over those of the rulers of
+nations.
+
+[Sidenote: 755.]
+
+Pippin's first duty, as king, was to repel a new invasion of the Saxons.
+His power was so much increased by his title that he was able, at once,
+to lead against them such a force that they were compelled to pay a
+tribute of 300 horses annually, and to allow Christian missionaries to
+reside among them. The latter condition was undoubtedly the suggestion
+of Bonifacius, who determined to carry the cross to the North Sea, and
+complete the conversion of Germany. He himself undertook a mission to
+Friesland, where he had failed as a young monk, and there, in 755, at
+the age of seventy-five, he was slain by the fierce pagans. He died like
+a martyr; refusing to defend himself, and was enrolled among the number
+of Saints.
+
+In the year 754, Pope Stephen II., the successor of Zacharias, appeared
+in France as a personal supplicant for the aid of King Pippin. Aistulf,
+the Longobard king, who had driven the Byzantines out of the Exarchy of
+Ravenna, was marching against Rome, which still nominally belonged to
+the Eastern Empire. To make his entreaty more acceptable, the Pope
+bestowed on Pippin the title of "Patrician of Rome," and solemnly
+crowned both him and his young sons, Karl and Karloman, in the chapel of
+St. Denis, near Paris. At the same time he issued a ban of
+excommunication against all persons who should support a monarch
+belonging to any other than the reigning dynasty.
+
+Pippin first endeavored to negotiate with Aistulf, but, failing therein,
+he marched into Italy, defeated the Longobards in several battles, and
+besieged the king in Pavia, his capital. Aistulf was compelled to
+promise that he would give up the Exarchy and leave the Pope in peace;
+but no sooner had Pippin returned to France than he violated all his
+promises. On the renewed appeals of the Pope, Pippin came to Italy a
+second time, again defeated the Longobards, and forced Aistulf not only
+to fulfil his former promises, but also to pay the expenses of the
+second war. He remained in Italy until the conditions were fulfilled,
+and his son Karl (Charlemagne), then fourteen years old, spent some time
+in Rome.
+
+[Sidenote: 768. DEATH OF PIPPIN.]
+
+The Byzantine Emperor demanded that the cities of the Exarchy should be
+given back to him, but Pippin transferred them to the Pope, who already
+exercised a temporal power in Rome. They were held by the latter, for
+some time afterwards, in the name of the Eastern Empire. The worldly
+sovereignty of the Popes grew gradually from this basis, but was not yet
+recognized, or even claimed. Pippin, nevertheless, greatly strengthened
+the influence of the Church by gifts of land, by increasing the
+privileges of the priesthood, and by allowing the ecclesiastical synods,
+in many cases, to interfere in matters of civil government.
+
+The only other events of his reign were another expedition against the
+unsubdued Saxons, and the expulsion of the Saracens from the territory
+they held between Narbonne and the Pyrenees. He died in 768, King
+instead of Royal Steward, leaving to his sons, Karl and Karloman, a
+greater, stronger and better organized dominion than Europe had seen
+since the downfall of the Roman Empire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE REIGN OF CHARLEMAGNE.
+
+(768--814.)
+
+The Partition made by Pippin the Short. --Death of Karloman.
+    --Appearance and Character of Charlemagne. --His Place in History.
+    --The Carolingian Dynasty. --His Work as a Statesman. --Conquest of
+    Lombardy. --Visit to Rome. --First Saxon Campaign. --The Chief,
+    Wittekind. --Assembly at Paderborn. --Expedition to Spain. --Defeat
+    at Roncesvalles. --Revolt of the Saxons. --Second Visit to Rome.
+    --Execution of Saxon Nobles, and Third War. --Subjection of
+    Bavaria. --Victory over the Avars. --Final Submission of the
+    Saxons. --Visit of Pope Leo III. --Charlemagne crowned Roman
+    Emperor. --The Plan of Temporal and Spiritual Empire. --Intercourse
+    with Haroun Alraschid. --Trouble with the Saracens. --Extent of
+    Charlemagne's Empire. --His Encouragement of Learning and the Arts.
+    --The Scholars at his Court. --Changes in the System of Government.
+    --Loss of Popular Freedom. --Charlemagne's Habits. --The Norsemen.
+    --His Son, Ludwig, crowned Emperor. --Charlemagne's Death.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 771.]
+
+When King Pippin the Short felt that his end was near, he called an
+assembly of Dukes, nobles and priests, which was held at St. Denis, for
+the purpose of installing his sons, Karl and Karloman, as his
+successors. As he had observed how rapidly the French and German halves
+of his empire were separating themselves from each other, in language,
+habits and national character, he determined to change the former
+boundary between "Austria" and "Neustria," which ran nearly north and
+south, and to substitute an arbitrary line running east and west. This
+division was accepted by the assembly, but its unpractical character was
+manifested as soon as Karl and Karloman began to reign. There was
+nothing but trouble for three years, at the end of which time the latter
+died, leaving Karl, in 771, sole monarch of the Frank Empire.
+
+This great man, who, looking backwards, saw not his equal in history
+until he beheld Julius Cæsar, now began his splendid single reign of
+forty-three years. We must henceforth call him Charlemagne, the French
+form of the Latin _Carolus Magnus_, Karl the Great, since by that name
+he is known in all English history. He was at this time twenty-nine
+years old, and in the pride of perfect strength and manly beauty. He was
+nearly seven feet high, admirably proportioned, and so developed by
+toil, the chase and warlike exercises that few men of his time equalled
+him in muscular strength. His face was noble and commanding, his hair
+blonde or light brown, and his eyes a clear, sparkling blue. He
+performed the severest duties of his office with a quiet dignity which
+heightened the impression of his intellectual power; he was terrible and
+inflexible in crushing all who attempted to interfere with his work; but
+at the chase, the banquet, or in the circle of his family and friends,
+no one was more frank, joyous and kindly than he.
+
+[Sidenote: 771. CHARLEMAGNE.]
+
+His dynasty is called in history, after him, the _Carolingian_, although
+Pippin of Landen was its founder. The name of Charlemagne is extended
+backwards over the Royal Stewards, his ancestors, and after him over a
+century of successors who gradually faded out like the Merovingian line.
+He stands alone, midway between the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages, as
+the one supreme historical landmark. The task of his life was to extend,
+secure, regulate and develop the power of a great empire, much of which
+was still in a state of semi-barbarism. He was no imitator of the Roman
+Emperors: his genius, as a statesman, lay in his ability to understand
+that new forms of government, and a new development of civilization, had
+become necessary. Like all strong and far-seeing rulers, he was
+despotic, and often fiercely cruel. Those who interfered with his
+plans--even the members of his own family--were relentlessly sacrificed.
+On the other hand, although he strengthened the power of the nobility,
+he never neglected the protection of the people; half his days were
+devoted to war, yet he encouraged learning, literature and the arts; and
+while he crushed the independence of the races he gave them a higher
+civilization in its stead.
+
+Charlemagne first marched against the turbulent Saxons, but before they
+were reduced to order he was called to Italy by the appeal of Pope
+Adrian for help against the Longobards. The king of the latter,
+Desiderius, was the father of Hermingarde, Charlemagne's second wife,
+whom he had repudiated and sent home soon after his accession to the
+throne. Karloman's widow had also claimed the protection of Desiderius,
+and she, with her sons, was living at the latter's court. But these ties
+had no weight with Charlemagne; he collected a large army at Geneva,
+crossed the Alps by the pass of St. Bernard, conquered all Northern
+Italy, and besieged Desiderius in Pavia. He then marched to Rome, where
+Pope Adrian received him as a liberator. A procession of the clergy and
+people went forth to welcome him, chanting, "Blessed is he that comes in
+the name of the Lord!" He took part in the ceremonies of Easter, 774,
+which were celebrated with great pomp in the Cathedral of St. Peter.
+
+[Sidenote: 775.]
+
+In May Pavia fell into Charlemagne's hands. Desiderius was sent into a
+monastery, the widow and children of Karloman disappeared, and the
+kingdom of the Longobards, embracing all Northern and Central Italy, was
+annexed to the empire of the Franks. The people were allowed to retain
+both their laws and their dukes, or local rulers, but, in spite of these
+privileges, they soon rose in revolt against their conqueror.
+Charlemagne had returned to finish his work with the Saxons, when in 776
+this revolt called him back to Italy. The movement was temporarily
+suppressed, and he hastened to Germany to resume his interrupted task.
+
+The Saxons were the only remaining German people who resisted both the
+Frank rule and the introduction of Christianity. They held all of what
+is now Westphalia, Hannover and Brunswick, to the river Elbe, and were
+still strong, in spite of their constant and wasting wars. During his
+first campaign, in 772, Charlemagne had overrun Westphalia, taken
+possession of the fortified camp of the Saxons, and destroyed the
+"Irmin-pillar," which seems to have been a monument erected to
+commemorate the defeat of Varus by Hermann. The people submitted, and
+promised allegiance; but the following year, aroused by the appeals of
+their duke or chieftain, Wittekind, they rebelled in a body. The
+Frisians joined them, the priests and missionaries were slaughtered or
+expelled, and all the former Saxon territory, nearly to the Rhine, was
+retaken by Wittekind.
+
+Charlemagne collected a large army and renewed the war in 775. He
+pressed forward as far as the river Weser, when, carelessly dividing his
+forces, one half of them were cut to pieces, and he was obliged to
+retreat. His second expedition to Italy, at this time, was made with all
+possible haste, and a new army was ready on his return. Westphalia was
+now wasted with fire and sword, and the people generally submitted,
+although they were compelled to be baptized as Christians. In May, 777,
+Charlemagne held an assembly of the people at Paderborn: nearly all the
+Saxon nobles attended, and swore fealty to him, while many of them
+submitted to the rite of baptism.
+
+[Sidenote: 777. ASSEMBLY AT PADERBORN.]
+
+At this assembly suddenly appeared a deputation of Saracen princes from
+Spain, who sought Charlemagne's help against the tyranny of the Caliph
+of Cordova. He was induced by religious or ambitious motives to consent,
+neglecting for the time the great work he had undertaken in his own
+Empire. In the summer of 778 he crossed the Pyrenees, took the cities of
+Pampeluna and Saragossa, and delivered all Spain north of the Ebro river
+from the hands of the Saracen Caliph. This territory was attached to the
+Empire as the Spanish Mark, or province: it was inhabited both by
+Saracens and Franks, who dwelt side by side and became more or less
+united in language, habits and manners.
+
+On his return to France, Charlemagne was attacked by a large force of
+the native Basques, in the pass of Roncesvalles, in the Pyrenees. His
+warriors, taken by surprise in the narrow ravine and crushed by rocks
+rolled down upon them from above, could make little resistance, and the
+rear column, with all the plunder gathered in Spain, fell into the
+enemy's hands. Here was slain the famous paladin, Roland, the Count of
+Brittany, who became the theme of poets down to the time of Ariosto.
+Charlemagne was so infuriated by his defeat that he hanged the Duke of
+Aquitaine, on the charge of treachery, because his territory included a
+part of the lands of the Basques.
+
+Upon the heels of this disaster came the news that the Saxons had again
+arisen under the lead of Wittekind, destroyed their churches, murdered
+the priests, and carried fire and sword to the very walls of Cologne and
+Coblentz. Charlemagne sent his best troops, by forced marches, in
+advance of his coming, but he was not able to take the field until the
+following spring. During 779 and a part of 780, after much labor and
+many battles, he seemed to have subdued the stubborn race, the most of
+whom accepted Christian baptism for the third time. Charlemagne
+thereupon went to Italy once more, in order to restore order among the
+Longobards, whose local chiefs were becoming restless in his absence.
+His two young sons, Pippin and Ludwig, were crowned by Pope Adrian as
+kings of Longobardia, or Lombardy (which then embraced the greater part
+of Northern and Central Italy), and Aquitaine.
+
+[Sidenote: 783.]
+
+After his return to Germany, he convoked a parliament, or popular
+assembly, at Paderborn, in 782, partly in order to give the Saxons a
+stronger impression of the power of the Empire. The people seemed quiet,
+and he was deceived by their bearing; for, after he had left them to
+return to the Rhine, they rose again, headed by Wittekind, who had been
+for some years a fugitive in Denmark. Three of Charlemagne's chief
+officials, who immediately hastened to the scene of trouble with such
+troops as they could collect, met Wittekind in the Teutoburger Forest,
+not far from the field where Varus and his legions were destroyed. A
+similar fate awaited them: the Frank army was so completely cut to
+pieces that but few escaped to tell the tale.
+
+Charlemagne marched immediately into the Saxon land: the rebels
+dispersed at his approach and Wittekind again became a fugitive. The
+Saxon nobles humbly renewed their submission, and tried to throw the
+whole responsibility of the rebellion upon Wittekind. Charlemagne was
+not satisfied: he had been mortified in his pride as a monarch, and for
+once he cast aside his usual moderation and prudence. He demanded that
+4,500 Saxons, no doubt the most prominent among the people, should be
+given up to him, and then ordered them all to be beheaded on the same
+day. This deed of blood, instead of intimidating the Saxons, provoked
+them to fury. They arose as one man, and in 783 defeated Charlemagne
+near Detmold. He retreated to Paderborn, received reinforcements, and
+was enabled to venture a second battle, in which he was victorious. He
+remained for two years longer in Thuringia and Saxony, during which time
+he undertook a winter campaign, for which the people were not prepared.
+By the summer of 785, the Saxons, finding their homes destroyed and
+themselves rapidly diminishing in numbers, yielded to the mercy of the
+conqueror. Wittekind, who, the legend says, had stolen in disguise into
+Charlemagne's camp, was so impressed by the bearing of the king and the
+pomp of the religious services, that he also submitted and received
+baptism. One account states that Charlemagne named him Duke of the
+Saxons and was thenceforth his friend; another, that he sank into
+obscurity.
+
+[Sidenote: 788. SUBJECTION OF BAVARIA.]
+
+Charlemagne was now free to make another journey to Italy, where he
+suppressed some fresh troubles among the Lombards (as we must henceforth
+style the Longobards), and forced Aragis, the Duke of Benevento, to
+render his submission. Then, for the first time, he turned his attention
+to the Bavarians, whose Duke, Tassilo, had preserved an armed neutrality
+during the previous wars, but was suspected of secretly conspiring with
+the Lombards, Byzantines, and even the Avars, for help to enable him to
+throw off the Frank yoke. At a general diet of the whole empire, held in
+Worms in 787, Tassilo did not appear, and Charlemagne made this a
+pretext for invading Bavaria.
+
+Three armies, in Italy, Suabia and Thuringia, were set in motion at the
+same time, and resistance appeared so hopeless that Tassilo surrendered
+at once. Charlemagne pardoned him at first, under stipulations of
+stricter dependence, but he was convicted of conspiracy at a diet held
+the following year, when he and his sons were found guilty and sent into
+a monastery. His dynasty came to an end, and Bavaria was portioned out
+among a number of Frank Counts, the people, nevertheless, being allowed
+to retain their own political institutions.
+
+The incorporation of Bavaria with the Frank empire brought a new task to
+Charlemagne. The Avars, who had gradually extended their rule across the
+Alps, nearly to the Adriatic, were strong and dangerous neighbors. In
+791 he entered their territory and laid it waste, as far as the river
+Raab; then, having lost all his horses on the march, he was obliged to
+return. At home, a new trouble awaited him. His son, Pippin, whom he had
+installed as king of Lombardy, was discovered to be at the head of a
+conspiracy to usurp his own throne. Pippin was terribly flogged, and
+then sent into a monastery for the rest of his days; his
+fellow-conspirators were executed.
+
+When Charlemagne applied his system of military conscription to the
+Saxons, to recruit his army before renewing the war with the Avars, they
+rose once more in rebellion, slew his agents, burned the churches, and
+drove out the priests, who had made themselves hated by their despotism
+and by claiming a tenth part of the produce of the land. Charlemagne was
+thus obliged to subdue them and to fight the Avars, at the same time.
+The double war lasted until 796, when the residence of the Avar Khan,
+with the intrenched "ring" or fort, containing all the treasures
+amassed by the tribe during the raids of two hundred years, was
+captured. All the country, as far eastward as the rivers Theiss and
+Raab, was wasted and almost depopulated. The remnant of the Avars
+acknowledged themselves Frank subjects, but for greater security,
+Charlemagne established Bavarian colonies in the fertile land along the
+Danube. The latter formed a province, called the East-Mark, which became
+the foundation upon which Austria (the East-kingdom) afterwards rose.
+
+[Sidenote: 799.]
+
+The Saxons were subjected--or seemed to be--about the same time. Many of
+the people retreated into Holstein, which was then called
+North-Albingia; but Charlemagne allied himself with a branch of the
+Slavonic Wends, defeated them there, and took possession of their
+territory. He built fortresses at Halle, Magdeburg, and Büchen, near
+Hamburg, colonized 10,000 Saxons among the Franks, and replaced them by
+an equal number of the latter. Then he established Christianity for the
+fifth time, by ordering that all who failed to present themselves for
+baptism should be put to death. The indomitable spirit of the people
+still led to occasional outbreaks, but these became weaker and weaker,
+and finally ceased as the new faith struck deeper root.
+
+In the year 799, Pope Leo III. suddenly appeared in Charlemagne's camp
+at Paderborn, a fugitive from a conspiracy of the Roman nobles, by which
+his life was threatened. He was received with all possible honors, and
+after some time spent in secret councils, was sent back to Rome with a
+strong escort. In the autumn of the following year, Charlemagne followed
+him. A civil and ecclesiastical assembly was held at Rome, and
+pronounced the Pope free from the charges made against him; then (no
+doubt according to previous agreement) on Christmas-Day, 800, Leo III.
+crowned Charlemagne as Roman Emperor, in the Cathedral of St. Peter's.
+The people greeted him with cries of "Life and victory to Carolo
+Augusto, crowned by God, the great, the peace-bringing Emperor of the
+Romans!"
+
+If, by this step, the Pope seemed to forget the aspirations of the
+Church for temporal power, on the other hand he rendered himself forever
+independent of his nominal subjection to the Byzantine Emperors. For
+Charlemagne, the new dignity gave his rule its full and final authority.
+The people, in whose traditions the grandeur of the old Roman Empire
+were still kept alive, now beheld it renewed in their ruler and
+themselves. Charlemagne stood at the head of an Empire which was to
+include all Christendom, and to imitate, in its civil organization, the
+spiritual rule of the Church. On the one side were kingdoms, duchies,
+countships and the communities of the people, all subject to him; on the
+other side, bishoprics, monasteries and their dependencies, churches and
+individual souls, subject to the Pope. The latter acknowledged the
+Emperor as his temporal sovereign: the Emperor acknowledged the Pope as
+his spiritual sovereign. The idea was grand, and at that time did not
+seem impossible to fulfil; but the further course of history shows how
+hostile the two principles may become, when they both grasp at the same
+power.
+
+[Sidenote: 800. CHARLEMAGNE'S EMPIRE.]
+
+The Greek Emperors at Constantinople were not strong enough to protest
+against this bestowal of a dignity which they claimed for themselves. A
+long series of negotiations followed, the result of which was that the
+Emperor Nicephorus, in 812, acknowledged Charlemagne's title. The
+latter, immediately after his coronation in Rome, drew up a new oath of
+allegiance, which he required to be taken by the whole male population
+of the Empire. About this time, he entered into friendly relations with
+the famous Caliph, Haroun Alraschid of Bagdad. They sent embassies,
+bearing magnificent presents, to each other's courts, and at
+Charlemagne's request, Haroun took the holy places in Palestine under
+his special protection, and allowed the Christians to visit them.
+
+With the Saracens in Spain, however, the Emperor had constant trouble.
+They made repeated incursions across the Ebro, into the Spanish Mark,
+and ravaged the shores of Majorca, Minorca and Corsica, which belonged
+to the Frank Empire. Moreover, the extension of his frontier on the east
+brought Charlemagne into collision with the Slavonic tribes in the
+territory now belonging to Prussia beyond the Elbe, Saxony and Bohemia.
+He easily defeated them, but could not check their plundering and roving
+propensities. In the year 808, Holstein as far as the Elbe was invaded
+by the Danish king, Gottfried, who, after returning home with much
+booty, commenced the construction of that line of defence along the
+Eider river, called the _Dannewerk_, which exists to this day.
+
+Charlemagne had before this conquered and annexed Friesland. His Empire
+thus included all France, Switzerland and Germany, stretching eastward
+along the Danube to Presburg, with Spain to the Ebro, and Italy to the
+Garigliano river, the later boundary between Rome and Naples. There were
+no wars serious enough to call him into the field during the latter
+years of his reign, and he devoted his time to the encouragement of
+learning and the arts. He established schools, fostered new branches of
+industry, and sought to build up the higher civilization which follows
+peace and order. He was very fond of the German language, and by his
+orders a complete collection was made of the songs and poetical legends
+of the people. Forsaking Paris, which had been the Frank capital for
+nearly three centuries, he removed his Court to Aix-la-Chapelle and
+Ingelheim, near the Rhine, founded the city of Frankfort on the Main,
+and converted, before he died, all that war-wasted region into a
+peaceful and populous country.
+
+[Sidenote: 810.]
+
+No ruler before Charlemagne, and none for at least four centuries after
+him, did so much to increase and perpetuate the learning of his time.
+During his meals, some one always read aloud to him out of old
+chronicles or theological works. He spoke Latin fluently, and had a good
+knowledge of Greek. In order to become a good writer, he carried his
+tablets about with him, and even slept with them under his pillow. The
+men whom he assembled at his Court were the most intelligent of that
+age. His chaplain and chief counsellor was Alcuin, an English monk, and
+a man of great learning. His secretary, Einhard (or Eginhard) wrote a
+history of the Emperor's life and times. Among his other friends were
+Paul Diaconus, a learned Lombard, and the chronicler, Bishop Turpin.
+These men formed, with Charlemagne, a literary society, which held
+regular meetings to discuss matters of science, politics and literature.
+
+Under Charlemagne the political institutions of the Merovingian kings,
+as well as those which existed among the German races, were materially
+changed. As far as possible, he set aside the Dukes, each of whom, up to
+that time, was the head of a tribe or division of the people, and broke
+up their half-independent states into districts, governed by Counts.
+These districts were divided into "hundreds," as in the old Germanic
+times, each in charge of a noble, who every week acted as judge in
+smaller civil or criminal cases. The Counts, in conjunction with from
+seven to twelve magistrates, held monthly courts wherein cases which
+concerned life, freedom or landed property were decided. They were also
+obliged to furnish a certain number of soldiers when called upon. The
+same obligation rested upon the archbishops, bishops, and abbots of the
+monasteries, all of whom, together with the Counts, were called Vassals
+of the Empire.
+
+[Sidenote: 810. POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS.]
+
+The free men, in case of war, were compelled to serve as horsemen or
+foot-soldiers, according to their wealth, either three or five of the
+very poorest furnishing one well-equipped man. The soldiers were not
+only not paid, but each was obliged to bear his own expenses; so the
+burden fell very heavily upon this class of the people. In order to
+escape it, large numbers of the poorer freemen voluntarily became
+dependents of the nobility or clergy, who in return equipped and
+supported them. The national assemblies were still annually held, but
+the people, in becoming dependents, gradually lost their ancient
+authority, and their votes ceased to control the course of events. The
+only part they played in the assemblies was to bring tribute to the
+Emperor, to whom they paid no taxes, and whose court was kept up partly
+from their offerings and partly from the revenues of the "domains" or
+crown-lands. Thus, while Charlemagne introduced throughout his whole
+empire a unity of government and an order unknown before, while he
+anticipated Prussia in making all his people liable, at any time, to
+military service, on the other hand he was slowly and unconsciously
+changing the free Germans into a race of lords and serfs.
+
+It is not likely, either, that the people themselves saw the tendency of
+his government. Their respect and love for him increased, as the
+comparative peace of the Empire allowed him to turn to interests which
+more immediately concerned their lives. In his ordinary habits he was as
+simple as they. His daughters spun and wove the flax for his plain linen
+garments; personally he looked after his orchards and vegetable gardens,
+set the schools an example by learning to improve his own reading and
+writing, treated high and low with equal frankness and heartiness, and,
+even in his old age, surpassed all around him in feats of strength or
+endurance. There seemed to be no serfdom in bowing to a man so
+magnificently endowed by nature and so favored by fortune.
+
+One event came to embitter his last days. The Scandinavian Goths, now
+known as Norsemen, were beginning to build their "sea-dragons" and
+sally forth on voyages of plunder and conquest. They laid waste the
+shores of Holland and Northern France, and the legend says that
+Charlemagne burst into tears of rage and shame, on perceiving his
+inability to subdue them or prevent their incursions. One of his last
+acts was to order the construction of a fleet at Boulogne, but when it
+was ready the Norse Vikings suddenly appeared in the Mediterranean and
+ravaged the southern coast of France. Charlemagne began too late to make
+the Germans either a naval or a commercial people: his attempt to unite
+the Main and Danube by a canal also failed, but the very design shows
+his wise foresight and his energy.
+
+[Sidenote: 813.]
+
+Towards the end of the year 813, feeling his death approaching, he
+called an Imperial Diet together at Aix-la-Chapelle, to recognize his
+son Ludwig as his successor. After this was done, he conducted Ludwig to
+the Cathedral, made him vow to be just and God-fearing in his rule, and
+then bade him take the Imperial crown from the altar and set it upon his
+head. On the 28th of January, 814, Charlemagne died, and was buried in
+the Cathedral, where his ashes still repose.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE EMPERORS OF THE CAROLINGIAN LINE.
+
+(814--911.)
+
+Character of Ludwig the Pious. --His Subjection to the Priests.
+    --Injury to German Literature. --Division of the Empire.
+    --Treatment of his Nephew, Bernard. --Ludwig's Remorse. --The
+    Empress Judith and her Son. --Revolt of Ludwig's Sons. --His
+    Abdication and Death. --Compact of Karl the Bald and Ludwig the
+    German. --The French and German Languages. --The Low-German.
+    --Lothar's Resistance. --The Partition of Verdun. --Germany and
+    France separated. --The Norsemen. --Internal Troubles. --Ludwig the
+    German's Sons. --His Death. --Division of Germany. --Karl the Fat.
+    --His Cowardice. --The Empire restored. --Karl's Death. --Duke
+    Arnulf made King. --He defeats the Norsemen and Bohemians. --His
+    Favors to the Church. --The "Isidorian Decretals." --Arnulf Crowned
+    Emperor. --His Death. --Ludwig the Child. --Invasions of the
+    Magyars. --End of the Carolingian line in Germany.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 814. LUDWIG THE PIOUS.]
+
+The last act of Charlemagne's life in ordering the manner of his son's
+coronation,--which was imitated, a thousand years afterwards, by
+Napoleon, who, in the presence of the Pope, Pius VII., himself set the
+crown upon his own head--showed that he designed keeping the Imperial
+power independent of that of the Church. But his son, Ludwig, was
+already a submissive and willing dependent of Rome. During his reign as
+king of Aquitaine he had covered the land with monasteries: he was the
+pupil of monks, and his own inclination was for a monastic life. But at
+Charlemagne's death he was the only legitimate heir to the throne. Being
+therefore obliged to wear the Imperial purple, he exercised his
+sovereignty chiefly in the interest of the Church. His first act was to
+send to the Pope the treasures amassed by his father; his next, to
+surround himself with prelates and priests, who soon learned to control
+his policy. He was called "Ludwig the Pious," but in those days, when so
+many worldly qualities were necessary to the ruler of the Empire, the
+title was hardly one of praise. He appears to have been of a kindly
+nature, and many of his acts show that he meant to be just; the
+weakness of his character, however, too often made his good intentions
+of no avail.
+
+[Sidenote: 816.]
+
+It was a great misfortune for Germany that Ludwig's piety took the form
+of hostility to all learning except of a theological nature. So far as
+he was able, he undid the great work of education commenced by
+Charlemagne. The schools were given entirely into the hands of the
+priests, and the character of the instruction was changed. He inflicted
+an irreparable loss on all after ages by destroying the collection of
+songs, ballads and legends of the German people, which Charlemagne had
+taken such pains to gather and preserve. It is not believed that a
+single copy escaped destruction, although some scholars suppose that a
+fragment of the "Song of Hildebrand," written in the eighth century, may
+have formed part of the collection. In the year 816, Ludwig was visited
+in Rheims by the Pope, Stephen IV., who again crowned him Emperor in the
+Cathedral, and thus restored the spiritual authority which Charlemagne
+had tried to set aside. Ludwig's attempts to release the estates
+belonging to the Bishops, monasteries and priesthood from the payment of
+taxes, and the obligation to furnish soldiers in case of war, created so
+much dissatisfaction among the nobles and people, that, at a diet held
+the following year, he was summoned to divide the government of the
+Empire among his three sons. He resisted at first, but was finally
+forced to consent: his eldest son, Lothar, was crowned as Co-Emperor of
+the Franks, Ludwig as king of Bavaria, and Pippin, his third son, as
+king of Aquitaine.
+
+In this division no notice was taken of Bernard, king of Lombardy, also
+a grandson of Charlemagne. The latter at once entered into a conspiracy
+with certain Frank nobles, to have his rights recognized; but, while
+preparing for war, he was induced, under promises of his personal
+safety, to visit the Emperor's court. There, after having revealed the
+names of his fellow-conspirators, he was treacherously arrested, and his
+eyes put out; in consequence of which treatment he died. The Empress,
+Irmingarde, died soon afterwards, and Ludwig was so overcome both by
+grief for her loss and remorse for having caused the death of his
+nephew, that he was with great difficulty restrained from abdicating and
+retiring into a monastery. It was not in the interest of the priesthood
+to lose so powerful a friend, and they finally persuaded him to marry
+again.
+
+[Sidenote: 822. LUDWIG'S PENITENCE.]
+
+His second wife was Judith, daughter of Welf, a Bavarian count, to whom
+he was united in 819. Although this gave him another son, Karl,
+afterwards known as Karl (Charles) the Bald, he appears to have found
+very little peace of mind. At a diet held in 822, at Attigny, in France,
+he appeared publicly in the sackcloth and ashes of a repentant sinner,
+and made open confession of his misdeeds. This act showed his sincerity
+as a man, but in those days it must have greatly diminished the
+reverence which the people felt for him as their Emperor. The next year
+his son Lothar, who, after Bernard's death, became also King of
+Lombardy, visited Rome and was recrowned by the Pope. For a while,
+Lothar made himself very popular by seeking out and correcting abuses in
+the administration of the laws.
+
+During the first fifteen years of Ludwig's reign, the boundaries of the
+Empire were constantly disturbed by invasions of the Danes, the Slavonic
+tribes in Prussia, and the Saracens in Spain, while the Basques and
+Bretons became turbulent within the realm. All these revolts or
+invasions were suppressed; the eastern frontier was not only held but
+extended, and the military power of the Frank Empire was everywhere
+recognized and feared. The Saxons and Frisians, who had been treated
+with great mildness by Ludwig, gave no further trouble; in fact, the
+whole population of the Empire became peaceable and orderly in
+proportion as the higher civilization encouraged by Charlemagne was
+developed among them.
+
+The remainder of Ludwig's reign might have been untroubled, but for a
+family difficulty. The Empress Judith demanded that her son, Karl,
+should also have a kingdom, like his three step-brothers. An Imperial
+Diet was therefore called together at Worms, in 829, and, in spite of
+fierce opposition, a new kingdom was formed out of parts of Burgundy,
+Switzerland and Suabia. The three sons, Lothar, Pippin and Ludwig,
+acquiesced at first; but when a Spanish count, Bernard, was appointed
+regent during Karl's minority, the two former began secretly to conspire
+against their father. They took him captive in France, and endeavored,
+but in vain, to force him to retire into a monastery. The sympathies of
+the people were with him, and by their help he was able, the following
+year, to regain his authority, and force his sons to submit.
+
+[Sidenote: 833.]
+
+Ludwig, however, manifested his preference for his last son, Karl, so
+openly that in 833 his three other sons united against him, and a war
+ensued which lasted nearly five years. Finally, when the two armies
+stood face to face, on a plain near Colmar, in Alsatia, and a bloody
+battle between father and sons seemed imminent, the Pope, Gregory IV.,
+
+suddenly made his appearance. He offered his services as a mediator,
+went to and fro, and at last treacherously carried all the Emperor's
+chief supporters over to the camp of the sons. Ludwig, then sixty years
+old and broken in strength and spirit, was forced to surrender. The
+people gave the name of "The Field of Lies" to the scene of this event.
+
+The old Emperor was compelled by his sons to give up his sword, to
+appear as a penitent in Church, and to undergo such other degradations,
+that the sympathies of the people were again aroused in his favor. They
+rallied to his support from all sides: his authority was restored,
+Lothar, the leader of the rebellion, fled to Italy, Pippin had died
+shortly before, and Ludwig proffered his submission. The old man now had
+a prospect of quiet; but the machinations of the Empress Judith on
+behalf of her son, Karl, disturbed his last years. His son Ludwig was
+marching against him for the second time, when he died, in 840, on an
+island in the Rhine, near Ingelheim.
+
+The death of Ludwig the Pious was the signal for a succession of
+fratricidal wars. His youngest son, Karl the Bald, first united his
+interests with those of his eldest step-brother, Lothar, but he soon
+went over to Ludwig's side, while Lothar allied himself with the sons of
+Pippin, in Aquitaine. A terrific battle was fought near Auxerre, in
+France, in the summer of 841. Lothar was defeated, and Ludwig and Karl
+then determined to divide the Empire between them. The following winter
+they came together, with their nobles and armies, near Strasburg, and
+vowed to keep faith with each other thenceforth. The language of France
+and Germany, even among the descendants of the original Franks, was no
+longer the same, and the oath which was drawn up for the occasion was
+pronounced by Karl in German to the army of Ludwig, and by Ludwig in
+French to the army of Karl. The text of it has been preserved, and it is
+a very interesting illustration of the two languages, as they were
+spoken a thousand years ago. We will quote the opening phrases:
+
+  LUDWIG (_French_).  Pro Deo  amur  et  (pro)     Christian   poblo
+  KARL (_German_).    In Godes minna ind (in thes) Christianes folches
+  _English_.          In God's love and (that of the) Christian folk
+
+  LUDWIG. et nostro comun salvament,--        dist    di   in avant,
+  KARL.   ind unser bedhero gehaltnissi,--fon thesemo dage framordes,
+  _English_.  and our mutual preservation,--from  this day  forth,
+
+  LUDWIG. --    in quant      Deus   savir    et  podir me dunat, &c.
+  KARL.  --  so fram so     mir God gewiczi   ind mahd furgibit,  &c.
+  _English_. --as long as to me God knowledge and might gives,    &c.
+
+[Illustration: EMPIRE of CHARLEMAGNE, (with the Treaty of Verdun,
+ A. D. 843.)]
+
+[Sidenote: 843.]
+
+It is very easy to see, from this slight specimen, how much the language
+of the Franks had been modified by the Gallic-Latin, and how much of the
+original tongue (taking the Gothic Bible of Ulfila as an evidence of its
+character) has been retained in German and English. About the same time
+there was written in the Low-German, or Saxon dialect, a Gospel
+narrative in verse, called the _Heliand_ ("Saviour"), many lines of
+which are almost identical with early English; as the following:
+
+  _Slogun  cald isarn_
+  They drove cold iron
+
+  _hardo mit  hamuron_
+  hard   with hammers
+
+  _thuru is hendi enti thuru  is  fuoti;_
+  through his hands and through his feet;
+
+  _is blod ran an ertha._
+  his blood ran on earth.
+
+This separation of the languages is a sign of the difference in national
+character which now split asunder the great empire of Charlemagne.
+Lothar, after the solemn alliance between Karl the Bald and Ludwig,
+resorted to desperate measures. He offered to give the Saxons their old
+laws and even to allow them to return to their pagan faith, if they
+would support his claims; he invited the Norsemen to Belgium and
+Northern France; and, by retreating towards Italy when his brothers
+approached him in force, and then returning when an opportunity favored,
+he disturbed and wasted the best portions of the Empire. Finally the
+Bishops intervened, and after a long time spent in negotiations, the
+three rival brothers met in 843, and agreed to the famous "Partition of
+Verdun" (so called from Verdun, near Metz, where it was signed), by
+which the realm of Charlemagne was divided among them.
+
+[Sidenote: 843. SEPARATION OF GERMANY AND FRANCE.]
+
+Lothar, as the eldest, received Italy, together with a long, narrow
+strip of territory extending to the North Sea, including part of
+Burgundy, Switzerland, Eastern Belgium and Holland. All west of this,
+embracing the greater part of France, was given to Karl the Bald; all
+east, with a strip of territory west of the Rhine, from Basle to
+Mayence, "for the sake of its wine," as the document stated, became the
+kingdom of Ludwig, who was thenceforth called "The German." The
+last-named also received Eastern Switzerland and Bavaria, to the Alps.
+This division was almost as arbitrary and unnatural as that which Pippin
+the Short attempted to make. Neither Karl's nor Ludwig's shares included
+all the French or German territory; while Lothar's was a long, narrow
+slice cut out of both, and attached to Italy, where a new race and
+language were already developed out of the mixture of Romans, Goths and
+Lombards. In fact, it became necessary to invent a name for the northern
+part of Lothar's dominions, and that portion between Burgundy and
+Holland was called, after him, Lotharingia. As _Lothringen_ in German,
+and _Lorraine_ in French, the name still remains in existence.
+
+Each of the three monarchs received unrestricted sway over his realm.
+They agreed, however, upon a common line of policy in the interest of
+the dynasty, and admitted the right of inheritance to each other's
+sovereignty, in the absence of direct heirs. The Treaty of Verdun,
+therefore, marks the beginning of Germany and France as distinct
+nationalities; and now, after following the Germanic races over the
+greater part of Europe for so many centuries, we come back to recommence
+their history on the soil where we first found them. In fact, the word
+_Deutsch_, "German," signifying _of the people_, now first came into
+general use, to designate the language and the races--Franks, Alemanni,
+Bavarians, Thuringians, Saxons, etc.--under Ludwig's rule. There was, as
+yet, no political unity among these races; they were reciprocally
+jealous, and often hostile; but, by contrast with the inhabitants of
+France and Italy, they felt their blood-relationship as never before,
+and a national spirit grew up, of a narrower but more natural character
+than that which Charlemagne endeavored to establish.
+
+Internal struggles awaited both the Roman Emperor, Lothar, and the Frank
+king, Karl the Bald. The former was obliged to suppress revolts in
+Provence and Italy; the latter in Brittany and Aquitaine, while the
+Spanish Mark, beyond the Pyrenees, passed out of his hands. Ludwig the
+German inherited a long peace at home, but a succession of wars with the
+Wends and Bohemians along his eastern frontier. The Norsemen came down
+upon his coasts, destroyed Hamburg, and sailed up the Elbe with 600
+vessels, burning and plundering wherever they went. The necessity of
+keeping an army almost constantly in the field gave the clergy and
+nobility an opportunity of exacting better terms for their support; the
+independent dukedoms, suppressed by Charlemagne, were gradually
+re-established, and thus Ludwig diminished his own power while
+protecting his territory from invasion.
+
+[Sidenote: 858.]
+
+The Emperor, Lothar, soon discovered that he had made a bad bargain. His
+long and narrow empire was most difficult to govern, and in 855, weary
+with his annoyances and his endless marches to and fro, he abdicated and
+retired into a monastery, where he died within a week. The empire was
+divided between his three sons: Ludwig received Italy and was crowned by
+the Pope; to Karl was given the territory between the Rhone, the Alps
+and the Mediterranean, and to Lothar II. the portion extending from the
+Rhone to the North Sea. When the last of these died, in 869, Ludwig the
+German and Karl the Bald divided his territory, the line running between
+Verdun and Metz, then along the Vosges, and terminating at the Rhine
+near Basle,--almost precisely the same boundary as that which France has
+been forced to accept in 1871.
+
+But the conditions of the oath taken by the two kings in 842 were not
+observed by either. Karl the Bald was a tyrannical and unpopular
+sovereign, and when he failed in preventing the Norsemen from ravaging
+all Western France, the nobles determined to set him aside and invite
+Ludwig to take his place. The latter consented, marched into France with
+a large army, and was hailed as king; but when his army returned home,
+and he trusted to the promised support of the Frank nobles, he found
+that Karl had repurchased their allegiance, and there was no course left
+to him but to retreat across the Rhine. The trouble was settled by a
+meeting of the two kings, which took place at Coblentz, in 860.
+
+Ludwig the German had also, like his father, serious trouble with his
+sons, Karlmann and Ludwig. He had made the former Duke of Carinthia,
+but ere long discovered that he had entered into a conspiracy with
+Rastitz, king of the Moravian Slavonians. Karlmann was summoned to
+Regensburg (Ratisbon), which was then Ludwig's capital, and was finally
+obliged to lead an army against his secret ally, Rastitz, who was
+conquered. A new war with Zwentebold, king of Bohemia, who was assisted
+by the Sorbs, Wends, and other Slavonic tribes along the Elbe, broke out
+soon afterwards. Karlmann led his father's forces against the enemy, and
+after a struggle of four years forced Bohemia, in 873, to become
+tributary to Germany.
+
+[Sidenote: 876. DEATH OF LUDWIG THE GERMAN.]
+
+In 875, the Emperor, Ludwig II. (Lothar's son), who ruled in Italy, died
+without heirs. Karl the Bald and Ludwig the German immediately called
+their troops into the field and commenced the march to Italy, in order
+to divide the inheritance or fight for its sole possession. Ludwig sent
+his sons, but their uncle, Karl the Bald, was before them. He was
+acknowledged by the Lombard nobles at Pavia, and crowned in Rome by the
+Pope, before it could be prevented. Ludwig determined upon an instant
+invasion of France, but in the midst of the preparations he died at
+Frankfort, in 876. He was seventy-one years old; as a child he had sat
+on the knees of Charlemagne; as an independent king of Germany, he had
+reigned thirty-six years, and with him the intelligence, prudence and
+power which had distinguished the Carolingian line came to an end.
+
+Again the kingdom was divided among three sons, Karlmann, Ludwig the
+Younger, and Karl the Fat; and again there were civil wars. Karl the
+Bald made haste to invade Germany before the brothers were in a
+condition to oppose him; but he was met by Ludwig the Younger and
+terribly defeated, near Andernach on the Rhine. The next year he died,
+leaving one son, Ludwig the Stammerer, to succeed him.
+
+The brothers, in accordance with a treaty made before their father's
+death, thus divided Germany: Karlmann took Bavaria, Carinthia, the
+provinces on the Danube, and the half-sovereignty over Bohemia and
+Moravia; Ludwig the Younger became king over all Northern and Central
+Germany, leaving Suabia (formerly Alemannia) for Karl the Fat.
+Karlmann's first act was to take possession of Italy, which acknowledged
+his rule. He was soon afterwards struck with apoplexy, and died in 880.
+Karl the Fat had already crossed the Alps; he forced the Lombard nobles
+to accept him, and was crowned Emperor at Rome, as Karl III., in 881.
+Meanwhile the Germans had recognized Ludwig the Younger as Karlmann's
+heir, and had given to Arnulf, the latter's illegitimate son, the Duchy
+of Carinthia.
+
+[Sidenote: 882.]
+
+Ludwig the Younger died, childless, in 882, and thus Germany and Italy
+became one empire under Karl the Fat. By this time Friesland and Holland
+were suffering from the invasions of the Norsemen, who had built a
+strong camp on the banks of the Meuse, and were beginning to threaten
+Germany. Karl marched against them, but, after a siege of some weeks, he
+shamefully purchased a truce by giving them territory in Holland, and
+large sums in gold and silver, and by marrying a princess of the
+Carolingian blood to Gottfried, their chieftain. They then sailed down
+the Meuse, with 200 vessels laden with plunder.
+
+All classes of the Germans were filled with rage and shame, at this
+disgrace. The Dukes and Princes who were building up their local
+governments profited by the state of affairs, to strengthen their power.
+Karl was called to Italy to defend the Pope against the Saracens, and
+when he returned to Germany in 884, he found a Count Hugo almost
+independent in Lorraine, the Norsemen in possession of the Rhine nearly
+as far as Cologne, and Arnulf of Carinthia engaged in a fierce war with
+Zwentebold, king of Bohemia. Karl turned his forces against the last of
+these, subdued him, and then, with the help of the Frisians, expelled
+the Norsemen. The two grand-sons of Karl the Bald, Ludwig and Karlmann,
+died about this time, and the only remaining one, Charles (afterwards
+called the Silly), was still a young child. The Frank nobles therefore
+offered the throne to Karl the Fat, who accepted it and thus restored,
+for a short time, the Empire of Charlemagne.
+
+Once more he proved himself shamefully unworthy of the power confided to
+his hands. He suffered Paris to sustain a nine months' siege by the
+Norsemen, before he marched to its assistance, and then, instead of
+meeting the foemen in open field, he paid them a heavy ransom for the
+city and allowed them to spend the following winter in Burgundy, and
+plunder the land at their will. The result was a general conspiracy
+against his rule, in Germany as well as in France. At the head of it was
+Bishop Luitward, Karl's chancellor and confidential friend, who, being
+detected, fled to Arnulf in Carinthia, and instigated the latter to
+rise in rebellion. Arnulf was everywhere victorious: Karl the Fat,
+deserted by his army and the dependent German nobles, was forced, in
+887, to resign the throne and retire to an estate in Suabia, where he
+died the following year.
+
+[Sidenote: 887. ARNULF OF CARINTHIA KING.]
+
+Duke Arnulf, the grandson of Ludwig the German, though not legitimately
+born, now became king of Germany. Being accepted at Ratisbon and
+afterwards at Frankfort by the representatives of the people, he was
+able to keep them united under his rule, while the rest of the former
+Frank Empire began to fall to pieces. As early as 879, a new kingdom,
+called Burgundy, or Arelat, from its capital Arles, was formed between
+the Rhone and the Alps; Berengar, the Lombard Duke of Friuli, in Italy,
+usurped the inheritance of the Carolingian line there; Count Rudolf, a
+great-grandson of Ludwig the Pious, established the kingdom of Upper
+Burgundy, embracing a part of Eastern France, with Western Switzerland;
+and Count Odo of Paris, who gallantly defended the city against the
+Norsemen, was chosen king of France by a large party of the nobles.
+
+King Arnulf, who seems to have possessed as much wisdom as bravery, did
+not interfere with the pretensions of these new rulers, so long as they
+forbore to trespass on his German territory, and he thereby secured the
+friendship of all. He devoted himself to the liberation of Germany from
+the repeated invasions of the Danes and Norsemen on the north, and the
+Bohemians on the east. The former had entrenched themselves strongly
+among the marshes near Louvain, where Arnulf's best troops, which were
+cavalry, could not reach them. He set an example to his army by
+dismounting and advancing on foot to the attack: the Germans followed
+with such impetuosity that the Norse camp was taken, and nearly all its
+defenders slaughtered. From that day Germany was free from Northern
+invasion.
+
+Arnulf next marched against his old enemy, Zwentebold (in some histories
+the name is written _Sviatopulk_) of Bohemia. This king and his people
+had recently been converted to Christianity by the missionary Methodius,
+but it had made no change in their predatory habits. They were the more
+easily conquered by Arnulf, because the Magyars, a branch of the Finnish
+race who had pressed into Hungary from the east, attacked them at the
+same time. The Magyars were called "Hungarians" by the Germans of that
+day--as they are at present--because they had taken possession of the
+territory which had been occupied by the Huns, more than four centuries
+before; but they were a distinct race, resembling the Huns only in their
+fierceness and daring. They were believed to be cannibals, who drank the
+blood and devoured the hearts of their slain enemies; and the panic they
+created throughout Germany was as great as that which went before Attila
+and his barbarian hordes.
+
+[Sidenote: 894.]
+
+After the subjection of the Bohemians, Arnulf was summoned to Italy, in
+the year 894, where he assisted Berengar, king of Lombardy, to maintain
+his power against a rival. He then marched against Rudolf, king of Upper
+Burgundy, who had been conspiring against him, and ravaged his land. By
+this time, it appears, his personal ambition was excited by his
+successes: he determined to become Emperor, and as a means of securing
+the favor of the Pope, he granted the most extraordinary privileges to
+the Church in Germany. He ordered that all civil officers should execute
+the orders of the clerical tribunals; that excommunication should affect
+the civil rights of those on whom it fell; that matters of dispute
+between clergy and laymen should be decided by the Bishops, without
+calling witnesses,--with other decrees of the same character, which
+practically set the Church above the civil authorities.
+
+The Popes, by this time, had embraced the idea of becoming temporal
+sovereigns, and the dissensions among the rulers of the Carolingian line
+already enabled them to secure a power, of which the former Bishops of
+Rome had never dreamed. In the early part of the ninth century, the
+so-called "Isidorian Decretals" (because they bore the name of Bishop
+Isidor, of Seville) came to light. They were forged documents,
+purporting to be decrees of the ancient Councils of the Church, which
+claimed for the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) the office of Vicar of Christ
+and Vicegerent of God upon earth, with supreme power not only over all
+Bishops, priests and individual souls, but also over all civil
+authorities. The policy of the Papal chair was determined by these
+documents, and several centuries elapsed before their fictitious
+character was discovered.
+
+Arnulf, after these concessions to the Church, went to Italy in 895. He
+found the Pope, Formosus, in the power of a Lombard prince, whom the
+former had been compelled against his will, to crown as Emperor. Arnulf
+took Rome by force of arms, liberated the Pope, and in return was
+crowned Roman Emperor. He fell dangerously ill immediately afterwards,
+and it was believed that he had been poisoned. Formosus, who died the
+following year, was declared "accurst" by his successor, Stephen VII.,
+and his body was dug up and cast into the Tiber, after it had lain nine
+months in the grave.
+
+[Sidenote: 899. LUDWIG THE CHILD.]
+
+Arnulf returned to Germany as Emperor, but weak and broken in body and
+mind. He never recovered from the effects of the poison, but lingered
+for three years longer, seeing his Empire becoming more and more weak
+and disorderly. He died in 899, leaving one son, Ludwig, only seven
+years old. This son, known in history as "Ludwig the Child," was the
+last of the Carolingian line in Germany. In France, the same line, now
+represented by Charles the Silly, was also approaching its end.
+
+At a Diet held at Forchheim (near Nuremberg), Ludwig the Child was
+accepted as king of Germany, and solemnly crowned. On account of his
+tender years, he was placed in charge of Archbishop Hatto of Mayence,
+who was appointed, with Duke Otto of Saxony, to govern temporarily in
+his stead. An insurrection in Lorraine was suppressed; but now a more
+formidable danger approached from the East. The Hungarians invaded
+Northern Italy in 899, and ravaged part of Bavaria on their return to
+the Danube. Like the Huns, they destroyed everything in their way,
+leaving a wilderness behind their march.
+
+The Bavarians, with little assistance from the rest of Germany, fought
+the Hungarians until 907, when their Duke, Luitpold, was slain in
+battle, and his son Arnulf purchased peace by a heavy tribute. Then the
+Hungarians invaded Thuringia, whose Duke, Burkhard, also fell fighting
+against them, after which they plundered a part of Saxony. Finally, in
+910, the whole strength of Germany was called into the field; Ludwig,
+eighteen years old, took command, met the Hungarians on the banks of the
+Inn, and was utterly defeated. He fled from the field, and was forced,
+thenceforth, to pay tribute to Hungary. He died in 911, and Germany was
+left without a hereditary ruler.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+KING KONRAD, AND THE SAXON RULERS, HENRY I. AND OTTO THE GREAT.
+
+(912--973.)
+
+Growth of Small Principalities in Germany. --Changes in the Lehen, or
+    Royal Estates. --Diet at Forchheim. --The Frank Duke, Konrad,
+    chosen King. --Events of his Reign. --The Saxon, Henry the Fowler,
+    succeeds him. --Henry's Policy towards Bavaria, Lorraine and
+    France. --His Truce with the Hungarians. --His Military
+    Preparations. --Defeat of the Hungarians. --Henry's Achievements.
+    --His Death. --Coronation of Otto. --His first War. --Revolt of
+    Duke Eberhard and Prince Henry. --War with Louis IV. of France.
+    --Otto's Victories. --Henry pardoned. --Conquest of Jutland.
+    --Otto's Empire. --His March to Italy. --Marriage with Adelheid of
+    Burgundy. --Revolt of Ludolf and Konrad. --The Hungarian Army
+    destroyed. --The Pope calls for Otto's Aid. --Otto crowned Roman
+    Emperor. --Quarrel with the Pope. --Third Visit to Italy. --His Son
+    married to an Eastern Princess. --His Triumph and Death.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 912.]
+
+When Ludwig the Child died, the state of affairs in Germany had greatly
+changed. The direct dependence of the nobility and clergy upon the
+Emperor, established by the political system of Charlemagne, was almost
+at an end; the country was covered with petty sovereignties, which stood
+between the chief ruler and the people. The estates which were formerly
+given to the bishops, abbots, nobles, and others who had rendered
+special service to the Empire, were called _Lehen_, or "liens" of the
+monarch (as explained in Chapter X.); they were granted for a term of
+years, or for life, and afterwards reverted to the royal hands. In
+return for such grants, the endowed lords were obliged to secure the
+loyalty of their retainers, the people dwelling upon their lands, and,
+in case of war, to follow the Emperor's banner with their proportion of
+fighting men.
+
+So long as the wars were with external foes, with opportunities for both
+glory and plunder, the service was willingly performed; but when they
+came as a consequence of family quarrels, and every portion of the
+empire was liable to be wasted in its turn, the Emperor's "vassals,"
+both spiritual and temporal, began to grow restive. Their military
+service subjected them to the chance of losing their _Lehen_, and they
+therefore demanded to have absolute possession of the lands. The next
+and natural step was to have the possession, and the privileges
+connected with it, made hereditary in their families; and these claims
+were very generally secured, throughout Germany, during the reign of
+Karl the Fat. Only in Saxony and Friesland, and among the Alps, were the
+common people proprietors of the soil.
+
+[Sidenote: 912. THE WARS OF KING KONRAD.]
+
+The nobles, or large land-owners, for their common defence against the
+exercise of the Imperial power, united under the rule of Counts or
+Dukes, by whom the former division of the population into separate
+tribes or nations was continued. The Emperors, also, found this division
+convenient, but they always claimed the right to set aside the smaller
+rulers, or to change the boundaries of their states for reasons of
+policy.
+
+Charles the Silly, of the Carolingian line, reigned in France in 911,
+and was therefore, according to the family compact, the heir to Ludwig
+the Child. Moreover, the Pope, Stephen IV., had threatened with the
+curse of the Church all those who should give allegiance to an Emperor
+who was not of Carolingian blood. Nevertheless, the German princes and
+nobles were now independent enough to defy both tradition and Papal
+authority. They held a Diet at Forchheim, and decided to elect their own
+king. They would have chosen Otto, Duke of the Saxons,--a man of great
+valor, prudence and nobility of character--but he felt himself to be too
+old for the duties of the royal office, and he asked the Diet to confer
+it on Konrad, Duke of the Franks. The latter was then almost unanimously
+chosen, and immediately crowned by Archbishop Hatto of Mayence.
+
+Konrad was a brave, gay, generous monarch, who soon rose into high favor
+with the people. His difficulty lay in the jealousy of other princes,
+who tried to strengthen themselves by restricting his authority. He
+first lost the greater part of Lorraine, and then, on attempting to
+divide Thuringia and Saxony, which were united under Henry, the son of
+Duke Otto, his army was literally cut to pieces. A Saxon song of
+victory, written at the time, says, "The lower world was too small to
+receive the throngs of the enemies slain."
+
+[Sidenote: 917.]
+
+Arnulf of Bavaria and the Counts Berthold and Erchanger of Suabia
+defeated the Hungarians in a great battle near the river Inn, in 913,
+and felt themselves strong enough to defy Konrad. He succeeded in
+defeating and deposing them; but Arnulf fled to the Hungarians and
+incited them to a new invasion of Germany. They came in two bodies, one
+of which marched through Bavaria and Suabia to the Rhine, the other
+through Thuringia and Saxony to Bremen, plundering, burning and slaying
+on their way. The condition of the Empire became so desperate that
+Konrad appealed for assistance to the Pope, who ordered an Episcopal
+Synod to be held in 917, but not much was done by the Bishops except to
+insist upon the payment of tithes to the Church. Then Konrad, wounded in
+repelling a new invasion of the Hungarians, looked forward to death as a
+release from his trouble. Feeling his end approaching, he summoned his
+brother Eberhard, gave him the royal crown and sceptre, and bade him
+carry them to Duke Henry of Saxony, the enemy of his throne, declaring
+that the latter was the only man with power and intelligence enough to
+rule Germany.
+
+Henry was already popular as the son of Otto, and it was probably quite
+as much their respect for his character as for Konrad's last request,
+which led many of the German nobles to accompany Eberhard and join him
+in offering the crown. They found Henry in a pleasant valley near the
+Hartz, engaged in catching finches, and he was thenceforth generally
+called "Henry the Fowler" by the people. He at once accepted the trust
+confided to his hands: a Diet of the Franks and Saxons was held at
+Fritzlar the next year, 919, and he was there lifted upon the shield and
+hailed as King. But when Archbishop Hatto proposed to anoint him king
+with the usual religious ceremonies, he declined, asserting that he did
+not consider himself worthy to be more than a king of the people. Both
+he and his wife Mathilde were descendants of Wittekind, the foe and
+almost the conqueror of Charlemagne.
+
+Neither Suabia nor Bavaria were represented at the Diet of Fritzlar.
+This meant resistance to Henry's authority, and he accordingly marched
+at once into Southern Germany. Burkhard, Duke of Suabia, gave in his
+submission without delay; but Arnulf of Bavaria made preparations for
+resistance. The two armies came together near Ratisbon: all was ready
+for battle, when king Henry summoned Arnulf to meet him alone, between
+their camps. At this interview he spoke with so much wisdom and
+persuasion that Arnulf finally yielded, and Henry's rights were
+established without the shedding of blood.
+
+[Sidenote: 921. TREATY WITH FRANCE.]
+
+In the meantime Lorraine, under its Duke, Giselbert, had revolted, and
+Charles the Silly, by unexpectedly crossing the frontier, gained
+possession of Alsatia, as far as the Rhine. Henry marched against him,
+but, as in the case of Arnulf, asked for a personal interview before
+engaging in battle. The two kings met on an island in the Rhine, near
+Bonn: the French army was encamped on the western, and the German army
+on the eastern bank of the river, awaiting the result. Charles the Silly
+was soon brought to terms by his shrewd, intelligent rival: on the 7th
+of November, 921, a treaty was signed by which the former boundary
+between France and Germany was reaffirmed. Soon afterwards, Giselbert of
+Lorraine was sent as a prisoner to Henry, but the latter, pleased with
+his character, set him free, gave him his daughter in marriage, and thus
+secured his allegiance to the German throne.
+
+In this manner, within five or six years after he was chosen king, Henry
+had accomplished his difficult task. Chiefly by peaceful means, by a
+combination of energy, patience and forbearance, he had subdued the
+elements of disorder in Germany, and united both princes and people
+under his rule. He was now called upon to encounter the Hungarians, who,
+in 924, again invaded both Northern and Southern Germany. The walled and
+fortified cities, such as Ratisbon, Augsburg and Constance, were safe
+from their attacks, but in the open field they were so powerful that
+Henry found himself unable to cope with them. His troops only dared to
+engage in skirmishes with the smaller roving bands, in one of which, by
+great good fortune, they captured one of the Hungarian chiefs, or
+princes. A large amount of treasure was offered for his ransom, but
+Henry refused it, and asked for a truce of nine years, instead. The
+Hungarians finally agreed to this, on condition that an annual tribute
+should be paid to them during the time.
+
+This was the bravest and wisest act of king Henry's life. He took upon
+himself the disgrace of the tribute, and then at once set about
+organizing his people and developing their strength. The truce of nine
+years was not too long for the work upon which he entered. He began by
+forcing the people to observe a stricter military discipline, by
+teaching his Saxon foot-soldiers to fight on horseback, and by
+strengthening the defences along his eastern frontier. Hamburg,
+Magdeburg and Halle were at this time the most eastern German towns, and
+beyond or between them, especially towards the south, there were no
+strong points which could resist invasion. Henry carefully surveyed the
+ground and began the erection of a series of fortified enclosures. Every
+ninth man of the district was called upon to serve as garrison-soldier,
+while the remaining eight cultivated the land. One-third of the harvests
+was stored in these fortresses, wherein, also, the people were required
+to hold their markets and their festivals. Thus Quedlinburg, Merseburg,
+Meissen and other towns soon arose within the fortified limits. From
+these achievements Henry is often called in German History, "the Founder
+of Cities."
+
+[Sidenote: 928.]
+
+Having somewhat accustomed the people to this new form of military
+service, and constantly exercised the nobles and their men-at-arms in
+sham fights and tournaments (which he is said to have first instituted),
+Henry now tested them in actual war. The Slavonic tribes east of the
+Elbe had become the natural and hereditary enemies of the Germans, and
+an attack upon them hardly required a pretext. The present province of
+Brandenburg, the basis of the Prussian kingdom, was conquered by Henry
+in 928; and then, after a successful invasion of Bohemia, he gradually
+extended his annexation to the Oder. The most of the Slavonic population
+were slaughtered without mercy, and the Saxons and Thuringians,
+spreading eastward, took possession of their vacant lands. Finally, in
+932, Henry conquered Lusatia (now Eastern Saxony); Bohemia was already
+tributary, and his whole eastern frontier was thereby advanced from the
+Baltic at Stettin to the Danube at Vienna.
+
+[Sidenote: 933. VICTORY OVER THE HUNGARIANS.]
+
+By this time the nine years of truce with the Hungarians were at an end,
+and when the ambassadors of the latter came to the German Court to
+receive their tribute, they were sent back with empty hands. A tradition
+states that Henry ordered an old, mangy dog to be given to them, instead
+of the usual gold and silver. A declaration of war followed, as he had
+anticipated; but the Hungarians seem to have surprised him by the
+rapidity of their movements. Contrary to their previous custom, they
+undertook a winter campaign, overrunning Thuringia and Saxony in such
+immense numbers that the king did not immediately venture to oppose
+them. He waited until their forces were divided in the search for
+plunder, then fell upon a part and defeated them. Shortly afterwards he
+moved against their main army, and on the 15th of March, 933, after a
+bloody battle (which is believed to have been fought in the vicinity of
+Merseburg), was again conqueror. The Hungarians fled, leaving their
+camp, treasures and accumulated plunder in Henry's hands. They were
+never again dangerous to Northern Germany.
+
+After this came a war with the Danish king, Gorm, who had crossed the
+Eider and taken Holstein. Henry brought it to an end, and added
+Schleswig to his dominion rather by diplomacy than by arms. After his
+long and indefatigable exertions, the Empire enjoyed peace; its
+boundaries were extended and secured; all the minor rulers submitted to
+his sway, and his influence over the people was unbounded. But he was
+not destined to enjoy the fruits of his achievements. A stroke of
+apoplexy warned him to set his house in order; so, in the spring of 936,
+he called together a Diet at Erfurt, which accepted his second son,
+Otto, as his successor. Although he left two other sons, no proposition
+was made to divide Germany among them. The civil wars of the Merovingian
+and Carolingian dynasties, during nearly 400 years, compelled the
+adoption of a different system of succession; and the reigning Dukes and
+Counts were now so strong that they bowed reluctantly even to the
+authority of a single monarch.
+
+Henry died on the 20th of July, 936, not sixty years old. His son and
+successor, Otto, was twenty-four,--a stern, proud man, but brave, firm,
+generous and intelligent. He was married to Editha, the daughter of
+Athelstan, the Saxon king of England. A few weeks after his father's
+death, he was crowned with great splendor in the cathedral of
+Charlemagne, at Aix-la-Chapelle. All the Dukes and Bishops of the realm
+were present, and the new Emperor was received with universal
+acclamation. At the banquet which followed, the Dukes of Lorraine,
+Franconia, Suabia, and Bavaria, served as Chamberlain, Steward,
+Cupbearer and Marshal. It was the first national event of a spontaneous
+character, which took place in Germany, and now, for the first time, a
+German Empire seemed to be a reality.
+
+The history of Otto's reign fulfilled, at least to the people of his
+day, the promise of his coronation. Like his father, his inheritance
+was to include wars with internal and external foes; he met and carried
+them to an end, with an energy equal to that of Henry I., but without
+the same prudence and patience. He made Germany the first power of the
+civilized world, yet he failed to unite the discordant elements of which
+it was composed, and therefore was not able to lay the foundation of a
+distinct _nation_, such as was even then slowly growing up in France.
+
+[Sidenote: 937.]
+
+He was first called upon to repel invasions of the Bohemians and the
+Wends, in Prussia. He entrusted the subjection of the latter to a Saxon
+Count, Hermann Billung, and marched himself against the former. Both
+wars lasted for some time, but they were finally successful. The
+Hungarians, also, whose new inroad reached even to the banks of the
+Loire, were twice defeated, and so discouraged that they never
+afterwards attempted to invade either Thuringia or Saxony.
+
+Worse troubles, however, were brewing within the realm. Eberhard, Duke
+of the Franks (the same who had carried his brother Konrad's crown to
+Otto's father), had taken into his own hands the punishment of a Saxon
+noble, instead of referring the case to the king. The latter compelled
+Eberhard to pay a fine of a hundred pounds of silver, and ordered that
+the Frank freemen who assisted him should carry dogs in their arms to
+the royal castle,--a form of punishment which was then considered very
+disgraceful. After the order had been carried into effect, Otto received
+the culprits kindly and gave them rich presents; but they went home
+brooding revenge.
+
+Eberhard allied himself with Thankmar, Otto's own half-brother by a
+mother from whom Henry I. had been divorced before marrying Mathilde.
+Giselbert, Duke of Lorraine, Otto's brother-in-law, joined the
+conspiracy, and even many of the Saxon nobles, who were offended because
+the command of the army sent against the Wends had been given to Count
+Hermann, followed his example. Otto's position was very critical, and if
+there had been more harmony of action among the conspirators, he might
+have lost his throne. In the struggle which ensued, Thankmar was slain
+and Duke Eberhard forced to surrender. But the latter was not yet
+subdued. During the rebellion he had taken Otto's younger brother,
+Henry, prisoner; he secured the latter's confidence, tempted him with
+the prospect of being chosen king in case Otto was overthrown, and then
+sent him as his intercessor to the conqueror.
+
+[Sidenote: 939. REVOLT OF OTTO'S BROTHER, HENRY.]
+
+Thus, while Otto supposed the movement had been crushed, Eberhard,
+Giselbert of Lorraine and Henry, who had meantime joined the latter,
+were secretly preparing a new rebellion. As soon as Otto discovered the
+fact, he collected an army and hastened to the Rhine. He had crossed the
+river with only a small part of his troops, the remainder being still
+encamped upon the eastern bank, when Giselbert and Henry suddenly
+appeared with a great force. Otto at first gave himself up for lost, but
+determined at least to fall gallantly, he and his followers fought with
+such desperation that they won a signal victory. Giselbert retreated to
+Lorraine, whither Otto was prevented from following him by new troubles
+among the Saxons and the subject Wends between the Elbe and Oder.
+
+The rebellious princes now sought the help of the king of France, Louis
+IV. (called _d'Outre-mer_, or "from beyond sea," because he had been an
+exile in England). He marched into Alsatia with a French army, while
+Duke Eberhard and the Archbishop of Mayence added their forces to those
+of Giselbert and Henry. All the territory west of the Rhine fell into
+their hands, and the danger seemed so great that many of the smaller
+German princes began to waver in their fidelity to Otto. He, however,
+hastened to Alsatia, defeated the French, and laid siege to the fortress
+of Breisach (half-way between Strasburg and Basel), although Giselbert
+was then advancing into Westphalia. A small band who remained true to
+him met the latter and forced him back upon the Rhine; and there, in a
+battle fought near Andernach, Eberhard was slain and Giselbert drowned
+in attempting to fly.
+
+This was the turning-point in Otto's fortunes. The French retreated, all
+the supports of the rebellion fell away from it, and in a short time the
+king's authority was restored throughout the whole of Germany. These
+events occurred during the year 939. The following year Otto marched to
+Paris, which, however, was too strongly fortified to be taken. An
+irregular war between the two kingdoms lasted for some time longer, and
+was finally terminated by a personal interview between Otto and Louis
+IV., at which the ancient boundaries were reaffirmed, Lorraine remaining
+German.
+
+[Sidenote: 940.]
+
+Henry, pardoned for the second time, was unable to maintain himself as
+Duke of Lorraine, to which position Otto had appointed him. Enraged at
+being set aside, he united with the Archbishop of Mayence in a
+conspiracy against his brother's life. It was arranged that the murder
+should be committed during the Easter services, in Quedlinburg. The plot
+was discovered, the accomplices tried and executed, and Henry thrown
+into prison. During the celebration of the Christmas mass, in the
+cathedral at Frankfort, the same year, he suddenly appeared before Otto,
+and, throwing himself upon his knees before him, prayed for pardon. Otto
+was magnanimous enough to grant it, and afterwards to forget as well as
+forgive. He bestowed new favors upon Henry, who never again became
+unfaithful.
+
+During this time the Saxon Counts, Gero and Hermann, had held the Wends
+and other Slavonic tribes at bay, and gradually filled the conquered
+territory beyond the Elbe with fortified posts, around which German
+colonists rapidly clustered. Following the example of Charlemagne, the
+people were forcibly converted to Christianity, and new churches and
+monasteries were founded. The Bohemians were made tributary, the
+Hungarians repelled, and in driving back an invasion of the king of
+Denmark, Harold Blue-tooth, Otto marched to the extremity of the
+peninsula of Jutland, and there hurled his spear into the sea, as a sign
+that he had taken possession of the land.
+
+He now ruled a wider, and apparently a more united realm, than his
+father. The power of the independent Dukes was so weakened, that they
+felt themselves subjected to his favor; he was everywhere respected and
+feared, although he never became popular with the masses of the people.
+He lacked the easy, familiar ways with them which distinguished his
+father and Charlemagne; his manner was cold and haughty, and he
+surrounded himself with pomp and ceremony. He married his eldest son,
+Ludolf, to the daughter of the Duke of Suabia, whom the former soon
+succeeded in his rule; he gave Lorraine to his son-in-law, Konrad, and
+Bavaria to his brother Henry, while he retained the Franks, Thuringians
+and Saxons under his own personal rule. Germany might have grown into a
+united nation, if the good qualities of his line could have been
+transmitted without its inordinate ambition.
+
+While thus laying, as he supposed, the permanent basis of his power,
+Otto was called upon by the king of France, who, having married the
+widow of Giselbert of Lorraine, was now his brother-in-law, for help
+against Duke Hugo, a powerful pretender to the French throne. In 946 he
+marched at the head of an army of 32,000 men, to assist king Louis; but,
+although he reached Normandy, he did not succeed in his object, and
+several years elapsed before Hugo was brought to submission.
+
+[Sidenote: 951. OTTO'S VISIT TO ITALY.]
+
+In the year 951, Otto's attention was directed to Italy, which, since
+the fall of the Carolingian Empire, had been ravaged in turn by
+Saracens, Greeks, Normans and even Hungarians. The Papal power had
+become almost a shadow, and the title of Roman Emperor was practically
+extinct. Berengar of Friuli, a rough, brutal prince, called himself king
+of Italy, and demanded for his son the hand of Adelheid, the widow of
+his predecessor. On her refusal to accept Berengar's offer, she was
+imprisoned and treated with great indignity, but finally she succeeded
+in sending a messenger to Germany, imploring Otto's intervention. His
+wife, Editha of England, was dead: he saw, in Adelheid's appeal, an
+opportunity to acquire an ascendency in Italy, and resolved to claim her
+hand for himself.
+
+Accompanied by his brother Henry of Bavaria, his son Ludolf of Suabia,
+and his son-in-law Konrad of Lorraine, with their troops, Otto crossed
+the Alps, defeated Berengar, took possession of Verona, Pavia, Milan and
+other cities of Northern Italy, and assumed the title of king of
+Lombardy. He then applied for Adelheid's hand, which was not refused,
+and the two were married with great pomp at Pavia. Ludolf, incensed at
+his father for having taken a second wife, returned immediately to
+Germany, and there stirred up such disorder that Otto relinquished his
+intention of visiting Rome, and followed him. After much negotiation,
+Berengar was allowed to remain king of Lombardy, on condition of giving
+up all the Adriatic shore, from near Venice to Istria, which was then
+annexed to Bavaria.
+
+[Sidenote: 954.]
+
+Duke Henry, therefore, profited most by the Italian campaign, and this
+excited the jealousy of Ludolf and Konrad, who began to conspire both
+against him, and against Otto's authority. The trouble increased until
+it became an open rebellion, which convulsed Germany for nearly four
+years. If Otto had been personally popular, it might have been soon
+suppressed; but the petty princes and the people inclined to one side or
+the other, according to the prospects of success, and the Empire,
+finally, seemed on the point of falling to pieces. In this crisis, there
+came what appeared to be a new misfortune, but which, most unexpectedly,
+put an end to the wasting strife. The Hungarians again broke into
+Germany, and Ludolf and Konrad granted them permission to pass through
+their territory to reach and ravage their father's lands. This alliance
+with an hereditary and barbarous enemy turned the whole people to Otto's
+side; the long rebellion came rapidly to an end, and all troubles were
+settled by a Diet held at the close of 954.
+
+The next year the Hungarians came again in greater numbers than ever,
+and, crossing Bavaria, laid siege to Augsburg. But Otto now marched
+against them with all the military strength of Germany, and on the 10th
+of August, 955, met them in battle. Konrad of Lorraine led the attack
+and decided the fate of the day, but, in the moment of victory, having
+lifted his visor to breathe more freely, a Hungarian arrow pierced his
+neck and he fell dead. Nearly all the enemy were slaughtered or drowned
+in the river Lech. Only a few scattered fugitives returned to Hungary to
+tell the tale, and from that day no new invasion was ever undertaken
+against Germany. On the contrary, the Bavarians pressed eastward and
+spread themselves along the Danube and among the Styrian Alps, while the
+Bohemians took possession of Moravia, so that the boundary lines between
+the three races then became very nearly what they are at the present
+day.
+
+Soon afterwards, Otto lost his brother Henry of Bavaria, and, two years
+later, his son Ludolf, who died in Italy, while endeavoring to make
+himself king of the Lombards. A new disturbance in Saxony was
+suppressed, and with it there was an end of civil war in Germany, during
+Otto's reign. We have already stated that he was proud and ambitious:
+the crown of a "Roman Emperor," which still seemed the highest title on
+earth, had probably always hovered before his mind, and now the
+opportunity of attaining it came. The Pope, John XII., a boy of
+seventeen, who found himself in danger of being driven from Rome by
+Berengar, the Lombard, sent a pressing call for help to Otto, who
+entered upon his second journey to Italy in 961.
+
+[Sidenote: 962. OTTO'S CORONATION IN ROME.]
+
+He first called a Diet together at Worms, and procured the acceptance of
+his son Otto, then only 6 years old, as his successor. The child was
+solemnly crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle; the Archbishop Bruno of Cologne
+was appointed his guardian and vicegerent of the realm during Otto's
+absence, and the latter was left free to carry out his designs beyond
+the Alps. He was received with rejoicing by the Lombards, and the iron
+crown of the kingdom was placed on his head by the Archbishop of Milan.
+He then advanced to Rome and was crowned Emperor in St. Peter's by the
+boy-pope, on the 2d of February, 962. Nearly a generation had elapsed
+since the title had been held or claimed by any one, and its renewal at
+this time was the source of centuries of loss and suffering to Germany.
+It was a sham and a delusion,--a will-o'-the wisp which led rulers and
+people aside from the true path of civilization, and left them
+floundering in quagmires of war.
+
+Otto had hardly returned to Lombardy before the Pope, who began to see
+that he had crowned his own master, conspired against him. The Pope
+called on the Byzantine Emperor for aid, incited the Hungarians, and
+even entered into correspondence with the Saracens in Corsica. All Italy
+became so turbulent that three years elapsed before the Emperor Otto
+succeeded in restoring order. He took Rome by force of arms, deposed the
+Pope and set up another of his own appointment, banished Berengar, and
+compelled the universal recognition of his own sovereignty. Then, with
+the remnants of an army which had almost been destroyed by war and
+pestilence, he returned to Germany in 965.
+
+A grand festival was held at Cologne, to celebrate his new honors and
+victories. His mother, the aged queen Mathilde, Lothar, reigning king of
+France, and all the Dukes and Princes of Germany, were present, and the
+people came in multitudes from far and wide. The internal peace of the
+Empire had not been disturbed during Otto's absence, and his journey of
+inspection was a series of peaceful and splendid pageants. An
+insurrection having broken out among the Lombards the following year, he
+sent Duke Burkhard of Suabia to suppress it in his name; but it soon
+became evident that his own presence was necessary. He thereupon took a
+last farewell of his old mother, and returned to Italy in the autumn of
+966.
+
+Lombardy was soon brought to order, and the rebellious nobles banished
+to Germany. As Otto approached Rome, the people restored the Pope he had
+appointed, whom they had in the meantime deposed: they were also
+compelled to give up the leaders of the revolt, who were tried and
+executed. Otto claimed the right of appointing the Civil Governor of
+Rome, who should rule in his name. He gave back to the Pope the
+territory which the latter had received from Pippin the Short, two
+hundred years before, but nearly all of which had been taken from the
+Church by the Lombards. In return, the Pope agreed to govern this
+territory as a part, or province, of the Empire, and to crown Otto's son
+as Emperor, in advance of his accession to the throne.
+
+[Sidenote: 966.]
+
+These new successes seem to have quite turned Otto's mind from the duty
+he owed to the German people; henceforth he only strove to increase the
+power and splendor of his house. His next step was to demand the hand of
+the Princess Theophania, a daughter of one of the Byzantine Emperors,
+for his son Otto. The Eastern Court neither consented nor refused;
+ambassadors were sent back and forth until the Emperor became weary of
+the delay. Following the suggestion of his offended pride, he undertook
+a campaign against Southern Italy, parts of which still acknowledged the
+Byzantine rule. The war lasted for several years, without any positive
+result; but the hand of Theophania was finally promised to young Otto,
+and she reached Rome in the beginning of the year 972. Her beauty, grace
+and intelligence at once won the hearts of Otto's followers, who had
+been up to that time opposed to the marriage. Although her betrothed
+husband was only seventeen, and she was a year younger, the nuptials
+were celebrated in April, and the Emperor then immediately returned to
+Germany with his Court and army.
+
+[Sidenote: 973. DEATH OF OTTO THE GREAT.]
+
+All that Otto could show, to balance his six years' neglect of his own
+land and people, was the title of "the Great," which the Italians
+bestowed upon him, and a Princess of Constantinople, who spoke Greek and
+looked upon the Germans as barbarians, for his daughter-in-law. His
+return was celebrated by a grand festival held at Quedlinburg, at
+Easter, 973. All the Dukes and reigning Counts of the Empire were
+present, the kings of Bohemia and Poland, ambassadors from
+Constantinople, from the Caliph of Cordova, in Spain, from Bulgaria,
+Russia, Denmark and Hungary. Even Charlemagne never enjoyed such a
+triumph; but in the midst of the festivities, Otto's first friend and
+supporter, Hermann Billung, whom he had made Duke of Saxony, suddenly
+died. The Emperor became impressed with the idea that his own end was
+near: he retired to Memleben in Thuringia, where his father died, and on
+the 6th of May was stricken with apoplexy, at the age of sixty-one. He
+died, seated in his chair and surrounded by his princely guests, and was
+buried in Magdeburg, by the side of his first wife, Editha of England.
+
+Otto completed the work which Henry commenced, and left Germany the
+first power in Europe. Had his mind been as clear and impartial, his
+plans as broad and intelligent, as Charlemagne's, he might have laid the
+basis of a permanent Empire; but, in an evil hour, he called the phantom
+of the sceptre of the world from the grave of Roman power, and,
+believing that he held it, turned the ages that were to follow him into
+the path of war, disunion and misery.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE DECLINE OF THE SAXON DYNASTY.
+
+(973--1024.)
+
+Otto II., "The Red." --Conquest of Bavaria. --Invasion of Lothar of
+    France. --Otto's March to Paris. --His Journey to Italy. --His
+    Defeat by the Saracens, and Escape. --Diet at Verona. --Otto's
+    Death. --Theophania as Regent. --Alienation of France. --Otto III.
+    --His Dealings with the Popes. --Negotiations with the Poles. --His
+    Fantastic Actions. --His Death in Rome. --Youthful Popes. --Henry
+    of Bavaria chosen by the Germans. --His character. --War with
+    Poland. --March to Italy, and Coronation. --Other Wars. --Henry
+    repels the Byzantines. --His Death. --The Character of his Reign.
+    --His Piety.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 973.]
+
+Otto II., already crowned as king and Emperor, began his reign as one
+authorized "by the grace of God." Although only eighteen years old, and
+both physically and intellectually immature, his succession was
+immediately acknowledged by the rulers of the smaller German States. He
+was short and slender, and of such a ruddy complexion that the people
+gave him the name of "Otto the Red." He had been carefully educated, and
+possessed excellent qualities of heart and mind, but he had not been
+tried by adversity, like his father and grandfather, and failed to
+inherit either the patience or the energy of either. At first his
+mother, the widowed Empress Adelheid, conducted the government of the
+Empire, and with such prudence that all were satisfied. Soon, however,
+the Empress Theophania became jealous of her mother-in-law's influence,
+and the latter was compelled to retire to her former home in Burgundy.
+
+The first internal trouble came from Henry II., Duke of Bavaria, the son
+of Otto the Great's rebellious brother, and cousin of Otto II. He was
+ambitious to convert Bavaria into an independent kingdom: in fact he had
+himself crowned king at Ratisbon, but in 976 he was defeated, taken
+prisoner and banished to Holland by the Emperor. Bavaria was united to
+Suabia, and the Eastern provinces on the Danube were erected into a
+separate principality, which was the beginning of Austria as a new
+German power.
+
+[Sidenote: 978. BATTLE WITH THE SARACENS.]
+
+At the same time Otto II. was forced to carry on new wars with Bohemia
+and Denmark, in both of which he maintained the frontiers established by
+his father. But Lothar, king of France, used the opportunity to get
+possession of Lorraine and even to take Aix-la-Chapelle, Charlemagne's
+capital, in the summer of 978. The German people were so enraged at this
+treacherous invasion that Otto II. had no difficulty in raising an army
+of 60,000 men, with which he marched to Paris in the autumn of the same
+year. The city was so well fortified and defended that he found it
+prudent to raise the siege as winter approached; but first, on the
+heights of Montmartre, his army chanted a _Te Deum_ as a warning to the
+enemy within the walls. The strife was prolonged until 980, when it was
+settled by a personal interview of the Emperor and the king of France,
+at which Lorraine was restored to Germany.
+
+In 981 Otto II. went to Italy. His mother, Adelheid, came to Pavia to
+meet him, and a complete reconciliation took place between them. Then he
+advanced to Rome, quieted the dissensions in the government of the city,
+and received as his guests Konrad, king of Burgundy, and Hugh Capet,
+destined to be the ancestor of a long line of French kings. At this time
+both the Byzantine Greeks and the Saracens were ravaging Southern Italy,
+and it was Otto II.'s duty, as Roman Emperor, to drive them from the
+land. The two bitterly hostile races became allies, in order to resist
+him, and the war was carried on fiercely until the summer of 982 without
+any result; then, on the 13th of July, on the coast of Calabria, the
+Imperial army was literally cut to pieces by the Saracens. The Emperor
+escaped capture by riding into the Mediterranean and swimming to a ship
+which lay near. When he was taken on board he found it to be a Greek
+vessel; but whether he was recognized or not (for the accounts vary), he
+prevailed upon the captain to set him ashore at Rossano, where the
+Empress Theophania was awaiting his return from battle.
+
+This was a severe blow, but it aroused the national spirit of Germany.
+Otto II., having returned to Northern Italy, summoned a general Diet of
+the Empire to meet at Verona in the summer of 983. All the subject Dukes
+and Princes attended, even the kings of Burgundy and Bohemia. Here, for
+the first time, the Lombard Italians appeared on equal footing with the
+Saxons, Franks and Bavarians, acknowledged the authority of the Empire,
+and elected Otto II.'s son, another Otto, only three years old, as his
+successor. Preparations were made for a grand war against the Saracens
+and the Eastern Empire, but before they were completed Otto II. died, at
+the age of twenty-eight, in Rome. He was buried in St. Peter's.
+
+[Sidenote: 991.]
+
+The news of his death reached Aix-la-Chapelle at the very time when his
+infant son was crowned king as Otto III., in accordance with the decree
+of the Diet of Verona. A dispute now arose as to the guardianship of the
+child, between the widowed Empress Theophania and Henry II. of Bavaria,
+who at once returned from his exile in Holland. The latter aimed at
+usurping the Imperial throne, but he was incautious enough to betray his
+design too soon, and met with such opposition that he was lucky in being
+allowed to retain his former place as Duke of Bavaria. The Empress
+Theophania reigned in Germany in her son's name, while Adelheid, widow
+of Otto the Great, reigned in Italy. The former, however, had the
+assistance of Willigis, Archbishop of Mayence, a man of great wisdom and
+integrity. He was the son of a poor Saxon wheelwright, and chose for his
+coat-of-arms as an Archbishop, a wheel, with the words: "Willigis,
+forget not thine origin." When Theophania died, in 991, her place was
+taken by Otto III.'s grandmother, Adelheid, who chose the Dukes of
+Saxony, Suabia, Bavaria and Tuscany as her councillors.
+
+During this time the Wends in Prussia again arose, and after a long and
+wasting war, in which the German settlements beyond the Elbe received
+little help from the Imperial government, the latter were either
+conquered or driven back. The relations between Germany and France were
+also actually those of war, although there were no open hostilities. The
+struggle for the throne of France, between Duke Charles, the last of the
+Carolingian line, and Hugh Capet, which ended in the triumph of the
+latter, broke the last link of blood and tradition connecting the two
+countries. They had been jealous relatives hitherto; now they became
+strangers, and it is not long until History records them as enemies.
+
+[Sidenote: 996. OTTO III.'S CORONATION IN ROME.]
+
+When Otto III. was sixteen years old, in 996, he took the Imperial
+government in his own hands. His education had been more Greek than
+German; he was ashamed of his Saxon blood, and named himself, in his
+edicts, "a Greek by birth and a Roman by right of rule." He was a
+strange, unsteady, fantastic character, whose only leading idea was to
+surround himself with the absurd ceremonies of the Byzantine Court, and
+to make Rome the capital of his Empire. His reign was a farce, compared
+with that of his grandfather, the great Otto, and yet it was the natural
+consequence of the latter's perverted ambition.
+
+Otto III.'s first act was to march to Rome, in order to be crowned as
+Emperor by the Pope, John XV., in exchange for assisting him against
+Crescentius, a Roman noble who had usurped the civil government. But the
+Pope died before his arrival, and Otto thereupon appointed his own
+cousin, Bruno, a young man of twenty-four, who took the Papal chair as
+Gregory V. The new-made Pope, of course, crowned him as Roman Emperor, a
+few days afterward. The people, in those days, were accustomed to submit
+to any authority, spiritual or political, which was strong enough to
+support its own claims, but this bargain was a little too plain and
+barefaced; and Otto had hardly returned to Germany, before the Roman,
+Crescentius, drove away Gregory V. and set up a new Pope, of his own
+appointment.
+
+The Wends, in Prussia, were giving trouble, and the Scandinavians and
+Danes ravaged all the northern coast of Germany; but the boy emperor,
+without giving a thought to his immediate duty, hastened back to Italy
+in 997, took Crescentius prisoner and beheaded him, barbarously
+mutilated the rival Pope, and reinstated Gregory V. When the latter
+died, in 999, Otto made his own teacher, Gerbert of Rheims, Pope, under
+the name of Sylvester II. In spite of the reverence of the common people
+for the Papal office, they always believed Pope Sylvester to be a
+magician, and in league with the Devil. He was the most learned man of
+his day, and in his knowledge of natural science was far in advance of
+his time; but such accomplishments were then very rare in Italy, and
+unheard of in a Pope. Otto III. remained three years longer in Italy,
+dividing his time between pompous festivals and visits to religious
+anchorites.
+
+In the year 1000 he was recalled to Germany. His father's sister,
+Mathilde, who had governed the country as well as she was able, during
+his absence, was dead, and there were difficulties, not of a political
+nature (for to such he paid no attention), but in the organization of
+the Church, which he was anxious to settle. The Poles were converted to
+Christianity by this time, and their spiritual head was the Archbishop
+of Magdeburg; but now they demanded a separate and national diocese.
+This Otto granted to their Duke, or king, Boleslaw, with such other
+independent rights, that the authority of the German Empire soon ceased
+to be acknowledged by the Poles. He made a pilgrimage to the tomb of St.
+Adalbert of Prague, who was slain by the Prussian pagans, then visited
+Aix-la-Chapelle, where, following a half-delirious fancy, he descended
+into the vault where lay the body of Charlemagne, in the hope of hearing
+a voice, or receiving a sign, which might direct him how to restore the
+Roman Empire.
+
+[Sidenote: 1001.]
+
+The new Pope, Sylvester II., after Otto III.'s departure from Rome,
+found himself in as difficult a position as his predecessor, Gregory V.
+He was also obliged to call the Emperor to his aid, and the latter
+returned to Italy in 1001. He established his Court in a palace on Mount
+Aventine, in Rome, and maintained his authority for a little while, in
+spite of a fierce popular revolt. Then, becoming restless, yet not
+knowing what to do, he wandered up and down Italy, paid a mysterious
+visit to Venice by night, and finally returned to Rome, to find the
+gates barred against him. He began a siege, but before anything was
+accomplished, he died in 1002, as was generally believed, of poison. The
+nobles and the imperial guards who accompanied him took charge of his
+body, cut their way through a population in rebellion against his rule,
+and carried him over the Alps to Germany, where he was buried in
+Aix-la-Chapelle.
+
+The next year Pope Sylvester II. died, and Rome fell into the hands of
+the Counts of Tusculum, who tried to make the Papacy a hereditary
+dignity in their family. One of them, a boy of seventeen, became Pope as
+John XVI., and during the following thirty years four other boys held
+the office of Head of the Christian Church, crowned Emperors, and
+blessed or excommunicated at their will. This was the end of the grand
+political and spiritual Empire which Charlemagne had planned, two
+centuries before--a fantastic, visionary youth as Emperor, and a weak,
+ignorant boy as Pope! The effect was the rapid demoralization of princes
+and people, and nothing but the genuine Christianity still existing
+among the latter, from whom the ranks of the priests were recruited,
+saved the greater part of Europe from a relapse into barbarism.
+
+[Sidenote: 1002. HENRY II. ELECTED.]
+
+At Otto III.'s death there were three claimants to the throne, belonging
+to the Saxon dynasty; but his nearest relative, Henry, third Duke of
+Bavaria, and great-grandson of king Henry I. the Fowler, was finally
+elected. Suabia, Saxony and Lorraine did not immediately acquiesce in
+the choice, but they soon found it expedient to submit. Henry's
+authority was thus established within Germany, but on its frontiers and
+in Italy, which was now considered a genuine part of "the Roman Empire,"
+the usual troubles awaited him. He was a man of weak constitution, and
+only average intellect, but well-meaning, conscientious, and probably as
+just as it was possible for him to be under the circumstances. His life,
+as Emperor, was "a battle and a march," but its heaviest burdens were
+inherited from his predecessors. He was obliged to correct twenty years
+of misrule, or rather _no rule_, and he courageously gave the remainder
+of his life to the task.
+
+The Polish Duke, Boleslaw, sought to unite Bohemia and all the Slavonic
+territory eastward of the Elbe, under his own sway. This brought him
+into direct collision with the claims of Germany, and the question was
+not settled until after three long and bloody wars. Finally, in 1018, a
+treaty was made between Henry II. and Boleslaw, by which Bohemia
+remained tributary to the German Empire, and the province of Meissen (in
+the present kingdom of Saxony) became an appanage of Poland. By this
+time the Wends had secured possession of Northern Prussia, between the
+Elbe and the Oder, thrown off the German rule, and returned to their
+ancient pagan faith.
+
+In Italy, Arduin of Ivrea succeeded in inciting the Lombards to revolt,
+and proclaimed himself king of an independent Italian nation. Henry II.
+crossed the Alps in 1006, and took Pavia, the inhabitants of which city
+rose against him. In the struggle which followed, it was burned to the
+ground. After his return to Germany Arduin recovered his influence and
+power, became practically king, and pressed the Pope, Benedict VIII., so
+hard, that the latter went personally to Henry II. (as Leo III. had gone
+to Charlemagne) and implored his assistance. In the autumn of 1013,
+Henry went with the Pope to Italy, entered Pavia without resistance,
+restored the Papal authority in Rome, and was crowned Emperor in
+February, 1014. He returned immediately afterwards to Germany; and
+Italy, after Arduin's death, the following year, remained comparatively
+quiet.
+
+[Sidenote: 1018.]
+
+Even before the wars with Poland came to an end, in 1018, other troubles
+broke out in the west. There were disturbances along the frontier in
+Flanders, rebellions in Luxemburg and Lorraine, and finally a quarrel
+with Burgundy, the king of which, Rudolf III., was Henry II.'s uncle,
+and had chosen him as his heir. This inheritance gave Germany the
+eastern part of France, nearly to the Mediterranean, and the greater
+portion of Switzerland. But the Burgundian nobles refused to be thus
+transferred, and did not give their consent until after Henry's armies
+had twice invaded their country.
+
+Finally, in 1020, when there was temporary peace throughout the Empire,
+the Cathedral at Bamberg, which the Emperor had taken great pride in
+building, was consecrated with splendid ceremonies. The pope came across
+the Alps to be present, and he employed the opportunity to persuade
+Henry to return to Italy, and free the southern part of the peninsula
+from the Byzantine Greeks, who had advanced as far as Capua and
+threatened Rome. The Emperor consented: in 1021 he marched into Southern
+Italy with a large army, expelled the Greeks from the greater portion of
+their conquered territory, and then, having lost his best troops by
+pestilence, returned home. He there continued to travel to and fro,
+settling difficulties and observing the condition of the people. After
+long struggles, the power of the Empire seemed to be again secured; but
+when he began to strengthen it by the arts of peace, his own strength
+was exhausted. He died near Göttingen, in the summer of 1024, and was
+buried in the Cathedral of Bamberg. With him expired the dynasty of the
+Saxon Emperors, less pitifully, however, than either the Merovingian or
+Carolingian line.
+
+When Otto the Great, towards the close of his reign, neglected Germany
+and occupied himself with establishing his dominion in Italy, he
+prepared the way for the rapid decline of the Imperial power at home, in
+the hands of his successors. The reigning Dukes, Counts, and even the
+petty feudal lords, no longer watched and held subordinate, soon became
+practically independent: except in Friesland, Saxony and the Alps, the
+people had no voice in political matters; and thus the growth of a
+general national sentiment, such as had been fostered by Charlemagne and
+Henry I., was again destroyed. In proportion as the smaller States were
+governed as if they were separate lands, their populations became
+separated in feeling and interest. Henry II. tried to be an Emperor of
+_Germany_: he visited Italy rather on account of what he believed to be
+the duties of his office than from natural inclination to reign there;
+but he was not able to restore the same authority at home, as Otto the
+Great had exercised.
+
+[Sidenote: 1024. END OF HENRY II.'S REIGN.]
+
+Henry II. was a pious man, and favored the Roman Church in all
+practicable ways. He made numerous and rich grants of land to churches
+and monasteries, but always with the reservation of his own rights, as
+sovereign. After his death he was made a Saint, by order of the Pope,
+but he failed to live, either as Saint or Emperor, in the traditions of
+the people.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE FRANK EMPERORS, TO THE DEATH OF HENRY IV.
+
+(1024--1106.)
+
+Konrad II. elected Emperor. --Movements against him. --Journey to
+    Italy. --Revolt of Ernest of Suabia. --Burgundy attached to the
+    Empire. --Siege of Milan. --Konrad's Death. --Henry III. succeeds.
+    --Temporary Peace. --Corruptions in the Church. --The "Truce of
+    God." --Henry III.'s Coronation in Rome. --Rival Popes. --New
+    Troubles in Germany. --Second Visit to Italy. --Return and Death.
+    --Henry IV.'s Childhood. --His Capture. --Archbishops Hanno and
+    Adalbert. --Henry IV. begins to reign. --Revolt and Slaughter of
+    the Saxons. --Pope Gregory VII. --His Character and Policy. --Henry
+    IV. excommunicated. --Movement against him. --He goes to Italy.
+    --His Humiliation at Canossa. --War with Rudolf of Suabia. --Henry
+    IV. besieges Rome. --Death of Gregory VII. --Rebellions of Henry
+    IV.'s Sons. --His Capture, Abdication and Death. --The First
+    Crusade.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1024.]
+
+On the 4th of September, 1024, the German nobles, clergy and people came
+together on the banks of the Rhine, near Mayence, to elect a new
+Emperor. There were fifty or sixty thousand persons in all, forming two
+great camps: on the western bank of the river were the Lorrainese and
+the Rhine-Franks, on the eastern bank the Saxons, Suabians, Bavarians
+and German-Franks. There were two prominent candidates for the throne,
+but neither of them belonged to the established reigning houses, the
+members of which seemed to be so jealous of one another that they
+mutually destroyed their own chances. The two who were brought forward
+were cousins, both named Konrad, and both great-grandsons of Duke
+Konrad, Otto the Great's son-in-law, who fell so gallantly in the great
+battle with the Hungarians, in 955.
+
+For five days the claims of the two were canvassed by the electors. The
+elder Konrad had married Gisela, the widow of Duke Ernest of Suabia,
+which gave him a somewhat higher place among the princes; and therefore
+after the cousins had agreed that either would accept the other's
+election as valid and final, the votes turned to his side. The people,
+who were present merely as spectators (for they had now no longer any
+part in the election), hailed the new monarch with shouts of joy, and he
+was immediately crowned king of Germany in the Cathedral of Mayence.
+
+[Illustration: GERMANY under the Saxon and Frank Emperors.
+
+Twelfth Century]
+
+[Sidenote: 1024.]
+
+Konrad--who was Konrad II. in the list of German Emperors--had no
+subjects of his own to support him, like his Saxon predecessors: his
+authority rested upon his own experience, ability and knowledge of
+statesmanship. But his queen, Gisela, was a woman of unusual
+intelligence and energy, and she faithfully assisted him in his duties.
+He was a man of stately and commanding appearance, and seemed so well
+fitted for his new dignity that when he made the usual journey through
+Germany, neither Dukes nor people hesitated to give him their
+allegiance. Even the nobles of Lorraine, who were dissatisfied with his
+election, found it prudent to yield without serious opposition.
+
+The death of Henry II., nevertheless, was the signal for three
+threatening movements against the Empire. In Italy the Lombards rose,
+and, in their hatred of what they now considered to be a foreign rule
+(quite forgetting their own German origin), they razed to the ground the
+Imperial palace at Pavia: in Burgundy, king Rudolf declared that he
+would resist Konrad's claim to the sovereignty of the country, which,
+being himself childless, he had promised to Henry II.; and in Poland,
+Boleslaw, who now called himself king, declared that his former treaties
+with Germany were no longer binding upon him. But Konrad II. was favored
+by fortune. The Polish king died, and the power which he had built
+up--for his kingdom, like that of the Goths, reached from the Baltic to
+the Danube, from the Elbe to Central Russia--was again shattered by the
+quarrels of his sons. In Burgundy, Duke Rudolf was without heirs, and
+finally found himself compelled to recognize the German sovereign as his
+successor. With Canute, who was then king of Denmark and England, Konrad
+II. made a treaty of peace and friendship, restoring Schleswig to the
+Danish crown, and re-adopting the river Eider as the boundary.
+
+In the spring of 1026, Konrad went to Italy. Pavia shut her gates
+against him, but those of Milan were opened, and the Lombard Bishops and
+nobles came to offer him homage. He was crowned with the iron crown, and
+during the course of the year, all the cities in Northern Italy--even
+Pavia, which promised to rebuild the Imperial palace--acknowledged his
+sway. In March, 1027, he went to Rome and was crowned Emperor by the
+Pope, John XIX., one of the young Counts of Tusculum, who had succeeded
+to the Papacy as a boy of twelve! King Canute and Rudolf of Burgundy
+were present at the ceremony, and Konrad betrothed his son Henry to the
+Danish princess Gunhilde, daughter of the former.
+
+[Sidenote: 1027. KONRAD II.'S VISIT TO ITALY.]
+
+After the coronation, the Emperor paid a rapid visit to Southern Italy,
+where the Normans had secured a foothold ten years before, and, by
+defending the country against the Greeks and Saracens, were rapidly
+making themselves its rulers. He found it easier to accept them as
+vassals than to drive them out, but in so doing he added a new and
+turbulent element to those which already distracted Italy. However,
+there was now external quiet, at least, and he went back to Germany.
+
+Here his step-son, Ernest II. of Suabia, who claimed the crown of
+Burgundy, had already risen in rebellion against him. He was not
+supported even by his own people, and the Emperor imprisoned him in a
+strong fortress until the Empress Gisela, by her prayers, procured his
+liberation. Konrad offered to give him back his Dukedom, provided he
+would capture and deliver up his intimate friend, Count Werner of
+Kyburg, who was supposed to exercise an evil influence over him. Ernest
+refused, sought his friend, and the two after living for some time as
+outlaws in the Black Forest, at last fell in a conflict with the
+Imperial troops. The sympathies of the people were turned to the young
+Duke by his hard fate and tragic death, and during the Middle Ages the
+narrative poem of "Ernest of Suabia" was sung everywhere throughout
+Germany.
+
+Konrad II. next undertook a campaign against Poland, which was wholly
+unsuccessful: he was driven back to the Elbe with great losses. Before
+he could renew the war, he was called upon to assist Count Albert of
+Austria (as the Bavarian "East-Mark" along the Danube must henceforth be
+called) in a war against Stephen, the first Christian king of Hungary.
+The result was a treaty of peace, which left him free to march once more
+against Poland and reconquer the provinces which Henry II. had granted
+to Boleslaw. The remaining task of his reign, the attachment of Burgundy
+to the German Empire, was also accomplished without any great
+difficulty. King Rudolf, before his death in 1032, sent his crown and
+sceptre to Konrad II., in fulfilment of a promise made when they met at
+Rome, six years before. Although Count Odo of Champagne, Rudolf's
+nearest relative, disputed the succession, and all southern Burgundy
+espoused his cause, he was unable to resist the Emperor. The latter was
+crowned King of Burgundy at Payerne, in Switzerland, and two years later
+received the homage of nearly all the clergy and nobles of the country
+in Lyons.
+
+[Sidenote: 1037.]
+
+At that time Burgundy comprised the whole valley of the Rhone, from its
+cradle in the Alps to the Mediterranean, the half of Switzerland, the
+cities of Dijon and Besançon and the territory surrounding them. All
+this now became, and for some centuries remained, a part of the German
+Empire. Its relation to the latter, however, resembled that of the
+Lombard Kingdom in Italy: its subjection was acknowledged, it was
+obliged to furnish troops in special emergencies, but it preserved its
+own institutions and laws, and repelled any closer political union. The
+continual intercourse of its people with those of France slowly
+obliterated the original differences between them, and increased the
+hostility of the Burgundians to the German sway. But the rulers of that
+day were not wise enough to see very far in advance, and the sovereignty
+of Burgundy was temporarily a gain to the German power.
+
+Early in 1037 Konrad was called again to Italy by complaints of the
+despotic rule of the local governors, especially of the Archbishop
+Heribert of Milan. This prelate resisted his authority, incited the
+people of Milan to support his pretensions, and became, in a short time,
+the leader of a serious revolt. The Emperor deposed him, prevailed upon
+the Pope, Benedict IX., to place him under the ban of the Church, and
+besieged Milan with all his forces; but in vain. The Bishop defied both
+Emperor and Pope; the city was too strongly fortified to be taken, and
+out of this resistance grew the idea of independence which was
+afterwards developed in the Italian Republics, until the latter
+weakened, wasted, and finally destroyed the authority of the German (or
+"Roman") Emperors in Italy. Konrad was obliged to return home without
+having conquered Archbishop Heribert and the Milanese.
+
+In the spring of 1039 he died suddenly at Utrecht, aged sixty, and was
+buried in the Cathedral at Speyer, which he had begun to build. He was a
+very shrewd and intelligent ruler, who planned better than he was able
+to perform. He certainly greatly increased the Imperial power during
+his life, by recognizing the hereditary rights of the smaller princes,
+and replacing the chief reigning Dukes, whenever circumstances rendered
+it possible, by members of his own family. As the selection of the
+bishops and archbishops remained in his hands, the clergy were of course
+his immediate dependents. It was their interest, as well as that of the
+common people among whom knowledge and the arts were beginning to take
+root, that peace should be preserved between the different German
+States, and this could only be done by making the Emperor's authority
+paramount. Nevertheless, Konrad II. was never popular: a historian of
+the times says "no one sighed when his sudden death was announced."
+
+[Sidenote: 1039. HENRY III.]
+
+His son, Henry III., already crowned King of Germany as a boy, now
+mounted the throne. He was twenty-three years old, distinguished for
+bodily as well as mental qualities, and was apparently far more
+competent to rule than many of his predecessors had been. Germany was
+quiet, and he encountered no opposition. The first five years of his
+reign brought him wars with Bohemia and Hungary, but in both, in spite
+of some reverses at the beginning, he was successful. Bohemia was
+reduced to obedience; a part of the Hungarian territory was annexed to
+Austria, and the king, Peter, as well as Duke Casimir of Poland,
+acknowledged themselves dependents of the German Empire. The Czar of
+Muscovy (as Russia was then called) offered Henry, after the death of
+Queen Gunhilde, a princess of his family as a wife; but he declined, and
+selected, instead, Agnes of Poitiers, sister of the Duke of Aquitaine.
+
+But, although the condition of Germany, and, indeed, of the greater part
+of Europe, was now more settled and peaceful than it had been for a long
+time, the consequences of the previous wars and disturbances were very
+severely felt. The land had been visited both by pestilence and famine,
+and there was much suffering; there was also notorious corruption in the
+Church and in civil government; the demoralization of the Popes,
+followed by that of the Romans, and then of the Italians, had spread
+like an infection over all Christendom. When things seemed to be at
+their worst, a change for the better was instituted in a most unexpected
+quarter and in a very singular manner.
+
+[Sidenote: 1040.]
+
+In the monastery of Cluny, in Burgundy, the monks, under the leadership
+of their Abbot, Odilo, determined to introduce a sterner, a more pious
+and Christian spirit into the life of the age. They began to preach what
+they called the _treuga Dei_, the "truce" or "peace of God," according
+to which, from every Wednesday evening until the next Monday morning,
+all feuds or fights were forbidden throughout the land. Several hundred
+monasteries in France and Burgundy joined the "Congregation of Cluny";
+the Church accepted the idea of the "peace of God," and the worldly
+rulers were called upon to enforce it. Henry III. saw in this new
+movement an agent which might be used to his own advantage no less than
+for the general good, and he favored it as far as lay in his power. He
+summoned a Diet of the German princes, urged the measure upon them in an
+eloquent speech, and set the example by proclaiming a full and free
+pardon to all who had been his enemies. The change was too sudden to be
+acceptable to many of the princes, but they obeyed as far as convenient,
+and the German people, almost for the first time in their history,
+enjoyed a general peace and security.
+
+The "Congregation of Cluny" preached also against the universal simony,
+by which all clerical dignities were bought and sold. Priests, abbots,
+bishops, and even in some cases, Popes, were accustomed to buy their
+appointment, and the power of the Church was thus often exercised by the
+most unworthy hands. Henry III. saw the necessity of a reform; he sought
+out the most pious, pure and intelligent priests, and made them abbots
+and bishops, refusing all payments or presents. He then undertook to
+raise the Papal power out of the deplorable condition into which it had
+fallen. There were then _three_ rival Popes in Rome, each of whom
+officially excommunicated and cursed the others and their followers.
+
+In the summer of 1046, Henry III. crossed the Alps with a magnificent
+retinue. The quarrels between the nobles and the people, in the cities
+of Lombardy, were compromised at his approach, and he found order and
+submission everywhere. He called a Synod, which was held at Sutri, an
+old Etruscan town, 30 miles north of Rome, and there, with the consent
+of the Bishops, deposed all three of the Popes, appointing the Bishop of
+Bamberg to the vacant office. The latter took the Papal chair under the
+name of Clement II., and the very same day crowned Henry III. as Roman
+Emperor. To the Roman people this seemed no less a bargain than the
+case of Otto III., and they grew more than ever impatient of the rule of
+both Emperor and Pope. Their republican instincts, although repressed by
+a fierce and powerful nobility, were kept alive by the examples of
+Venice and Milan, and they dreamed as ardently of a free Rome in the
+twelfth century as in the nineteenth.
+
+[Sidenote: 1046. APPOINTMENT OF POPES.]
+
+Up to this time the Roman clergy and people had taken part, so far as
+the mere forms were concerned, in the election of the Popes. They were
+now compelled (of course very unwillingly) to give up this ancient
+right, and allow the Emperor to choose the candidate, who was then sure
+to be elected by Bishops of Imperial appointment. In fact, during the
+nine remaining years of Henry III.'s reign, he selected three other
+Popes, Clement II. and his first two successors having all died
+suddenly, probably from poison, after very short reigns. But this was
+the end of absolute German authority and Roman submission: within thirty
+years the Christian world beheld a spectacle of a totally opposite
+character.
+
+Henry III. visited Southern Italy, confirmed the Normans in their rule,
+as his father had done, and then returned to Germany. He had reached the
+climax of his power, and the very means he had taken to secure it now
+involved him in troubles which gradually weakened his influence in
+Germany. He was generous, but improvident and reckless: he bestowed
+principalities on personal friends, regardless of hereditary claims or
+the wishes of the people, and gave away large sums of money, which were
+raised by imposing hard terms upon the tenants of the crown-lands. A new
+war with Hungary, and the combined revolt of Godfrey of Lorraine,
+Baldwin of Flanders and Dietrich of Holland against him, diminished his
+military resources; and even his success, at the end of four weary
+years, did not add to his renown. Leo IX., the third Pope of his
+appointment, was called upon to assist him by hurling the ban of the
+Church against the rebellious princes. He also called to his assistance
+Danish and English fleets which assailed Holland and Flanders, while he
+subdued Godfrey of Lorraine. The latter soon afterwards married the
+widowed Countess Beatrix of Tuscany, and thus became ruler of nearly all
+Italy between the Po and the Tiber.
+
+By the year 1051, all the German States except Saxony were governed by
+relatives or personal friends of the Emperor. In order to counteract
+the power of Bernhard, Duke of the Saxons, of whom he was jealous, he
+made another friend, Adalbert, Archbishop of Bremen, with authority over
+priests and churches in Northern Germany, Denmark, Scandinavia and even
+Iceland. He also built a stately palace at Goslar, at the foot of the
+Hartz Mountains, and made it as often as possible his residence, in
+order to watch the Saxons. Both these measures, however, increased his
+unpopularity with the German people.
+
+[Sidenote: 1054.]
+
+Leo IX., in 1054, marched against the Normans who were threatening the
+southern border of the Roman territory, but was defeated and taken
+prisoner. The victors treated him with all possible reverence, and he
+soon saw the policy of making friends of such a bold and warlike people.
+A treaty of peace was concluded, wherein the Normans acknowledged
+themselves dependents of the Papal power: no notice was taken of the
+fact that they had already acknowledged that of the German-Roman
+Emperors. This event, and the increasing authority of his old enemy,
+Godfrey, in Tuscany, led Henry III. to visit Italy again in 1055.
+Although he held the Diet of Lombardy and a grand review on the
+Roncalian plains near Piacenza, he accomplished nothing by his journey:
+he did not even visit Rome. Leo IX. died the same year, and Henry
+appointed a new Pope, Victor II., who, like his predecessor, became an
+instrument in the hands of Hildebrand of Savona, a monk of Cluny, who
+was even then, although few suspected it, the real head and ruler of the
+Christian world.
+
+The Emperor discovered that a plot had been formed to assassinate him on
+his way to Germany. This danger over, he had an interview with king
+Henri of France, which became so violent that he challenged the latter
+to single combat. Henri avoided the issue by marching away during the
+following night. The Emperor retired to his palace at Goslar, in
+October, 1056, where he received a visit from Pope Victor II. He was
+broken in health and hopes, and the news of a defeat of his army by the
+Slavonians in Prussia is supposed to have hastened his end. He died
+during the month, not yet forty years old, leaving a boy of six as his
+successor.
+
+[Sidenote: 1062. HENRY IV.]
+
+The child, Henry IV., had already been crowned King of Germany, and his
+mother, the Empress Agnes, was chosen regent during his minority. The
+Bishop of Augsburg was her adviser, and her first acts were those of
+prudence and reconciliation. Peace was concluded with Godfrey of
+Lorraine and Baldwin of Flanders, minor troubles in the States were
+quieted, and the Empire enjoyed the promise of peace. But the Empress,
+who was a woman of a weak, yielding nature, was soon led to make
+appointments which created fresh troubles. The reigning princes used the
+opportunity to make themselves more independent, and their mutual
+jealousy and hostility increased in proportion as they became stronger.
+The nobles and people of Rome renewed their attempt to have a share in
+the choice of a Pope; and, although the appointment was finally left to
+the Empress, the Pope of her selection, Nicholas II., instead of being
+subservient to the interests of the German Empire, allied himself with
+the Normans and with the republican party in the cities of Lombardy.
+
+At home, the troubles of the Empress Agnes increased year by year. A
+conspiracy to murder the young Henry IV. was fortunately discovered;
+then a second, at the head of which was the Archbishop Hanno of Cologne,
+was formed to take him from his mother's care and give him into stronger
+hands. In 1062, when Henry IV. was twelve years old, Hanno visited the
+Empress at Kaiserswerth, on the Rhine. After a splendid banquet, he
+invited the young king to look at his vessel, which lay near the palace;
+but no sooner had the latter stepped upon the deck, than the
+conspirators seized their oars and pushed into the stream. Henry boldly
+sprang into the water; Count Ekbert of Brunswick sprang after him, and
+both, after nearly drowning in their struggle, were taken on board. The
+Empress stood on the shore, crying for help, and her people sought to
+intercept the vessel, but in vain: the plot was successful. A meeting of
+reigning princes, soon afterwards, appointed Archbishop Hanno guardian
+of the young king.
+
+He was a hard, stern master, and Henry IV. became his enemy for life.
+Within a year, Hanno was obliged to yield his place to Adalbert,
+Archbishop of Bremen, who was as much too indulgent as the former had
+been too rigid. The jealousy of the other priests and princes was now
+turned against Adalbert, and his position became so difficult that in
+1065, when Henry IV. was only fifteen years old, he presented him to an
+Imperial Diet, held at Worms, and there invested him with the sword,
+the token of manhood. Thenceforth Henry reigned in his own name,
+although Adalbert's guardianship was not given up until a year later.
+Then he was driven away by a union of the other Bishops and the reigning
+princes, and his rival, Hanno, was forced, as chief counsellor, upon the
+angry and unwilling king.
+
+[Sidenote: 1066.]
+
+The next year Henry was married to the Italian princess, Bertha, to whom
+his father had betrothed him as a child. Before three years had elapsed,
+he demanded to be divorced from her; but, although the Archbishop of
+Mayence and the Imperial Diet were persuaded to consent, the Pope,
+Alexander II., following the advice of his Chancellor, Hildebrand of
+Savona, refused his sanction. Henry finally decided to take back his
+wife, whose beauty, patience and forgiving nature compelled him to love
+her at last. About the same time, his father's enemy and his own,
+Godfrey of Lorraine and Tuscany, died; another enemy, Otto, Duke of
+Bavaria, fell into his hands, and was deposed; and there only remained
+Magnus, Duke of the Saxons, who seemed hostile to his authority. The
+events of Henry's youth and the character of his education made him
+impatient and mistrustful: he inherited the pride and arbitrary will of
+his father and grandfather, without their prudence: he surrounded
+himself with wild and reckless princes of his own age, whose counsels
+too often influenced his policy.
+
+No Frank Emperor could be popular with the fierce, independent Saxons;
+but when it was rumored that Henry IV. had sought an alliance with the
+Danish king, Swen, against them,--when he called upon them, at the same
+time, to march against Poland,--their suspicions were aroused, and the
+whole population rose in opposition. To the number of 60,000, headed by
+Otto, the deposed Duke of Bavaria (who was a Saxon noble), they marched
+to the Harzburg, the Imperial castle near Goslar. Henry rejected their
+conditions: the castle was besieged, and he escaped with difficulty,
+accompanied only by a few followers. He endeavored to persuade the other
+German princes to support him, but they refused. They even entered into
+a conspiracy to dethrone him; the Bishops favored the plan, and his
+cause seemed nearly hopeless.
+
+In this emergency the cities along the Rhine, which were very weary of
+priestly rule, and now saw a chance to strengthen themselves by
+assisting the Emperor, openly befriended him. They were able, however,
+to give him but little military support, and in February, 1074, he was
+compelled to conclude a treaty with the Saxons, which granted them
+almost everything they demanded, even to the demolition of the
+fortresses he had built on their territory. But, in the flush of
+victory, they also tore down the Imperial palace at Goslar, the Church,
+and the sepulchre wherein Henry III. was buried. This placed them in the
+wrong, and Henry IV. marched into Saxony with an immense army which he
+had called together for the purpose of invading Hungary. The Saxons
+armed themselves to resist, but they were attacked when unprepared,
+defeated after a terrible battle, and their land laid waste with fire
+and sword. Thus were again verified, a thousand years later, the words
+of Tiberius--that it was not necessary to attempt the conquest of the
+Germans, for, if let alone, they would destroy themselves.
+
+[Sidenote: 1074. POPE GREGORY VII.]
+
+The power of Henry IV. seemed now to be assured; but the lowest
+humiliation which ever befell a monarch was in store for him. The monk
+of Cluny, Hildebrand of Savona, who had inspired the policy of four
+Popes during twenty-four years, became Pope himself in 1073, under the
+name of Gregory VII. He was a man of iron will and inexhaustible energy,
+wise and far-seeing beyond any of his contemporaries, and unquestionably
+sincere in his aims. He remodelled the Papal office, gave it a new
+character and importance, and left his own indelible mark on the Church
+of Rome from that day to this. For the first five hundred years after
+Christ the Pope had been merely the Bishop of Rome; for the second five
+hundred years he had been the nominal head of the Church, but
+subordinate to the political rulers, and dependent upon them. Gregory
+VII. determined to make the office a spiritual power, above all other
+powers, with sole and final authority over the bishops, priests and
+other servants of the Church. It was to be a religious Empire, existing
+by Divine right, independent of the fate of nations or the will of
+kings.
+
+He relied mainly upon two measures to accomplish this change,--the
+suppression of simony and the celibacy of the priesthood. He determined
+that the priests should belong wholly to the Church; that the human ties
+of wife and children should be denied to them. This measure had been
+proposed before, but never carried into effect, on account of the
+opposition of the married Bishops and priests; but the increase of the
+monastic orders and their greater influence at this time favored
+Gregory's design. Even after celibacy was proclaimed as a law of the
+Church, in 1074, it encountered the most violent opposition, and the law
+was not universally obeyed by the priests until two or three centuries
+later.
+
+[Sidenote: 1075.]
+
+In 1075, Gregory promulgated a law against simony, in which he not only
+prohibited the sale of all offices of the Church, but claimed that the
+Bishops could only receive the ring and crozier, the symbols of their
+authority, from the hands of the Pope. The same year, he sent messengers
+to Henry IV. calling upon him to enforce this law in Germany, under
+penalty of excommunication. The surprise and anger of the King may
+easily be imagined: it was a language which no Pope had ever before
+dared to use toward the Imperial power. Indeed, when we consider that
+Gregory at this time was quarrelling with the Normans, the Lombard
+cities and the king of France, and that a party in Rome was becoming
+hostile to his rule, the act seems almost that of a madman.
+
+Henry IV. called a Synod, which met at Worms. The Bishops, at his
+request, unanimously declared that Gregory VII. was deposed from the
+Papacy, and a message was sent to the people at Rome, ordering them to
+drive him from the city. But, just at that time, Gregory had put down a
+conspiracy of the nobles to assassinate him, by calling the people to
+his aid, and he was temporarily popular with the latter. He answered
+Henry IV. with the ban of excommunication,--which would have been
+harmless enough, but for the deep-seated discontent of the Germans with
+the king's rule. The Saxons, whom he had treated with the greatest
+harshness and indignity since their subjection, immediately found a
+pretext to throw off their allegiance: the other German States showed a
+cold and mistrustful temper, and their princes failed to come together
+when Henry called a National Diet. In the meantime the ambassadors of
+Gregory were busy, and the petty courts were filled with secret
+intrigues for dethroning the king and electing a new one.
+
+[Sidenote: 1077. THE HUMILIATION AT CANOSSA.]
+
+In October, 1076, finally, a Convention of princes was held on the
+Rhine, near Mayence. Henry was not allowed to be present, but he sent
+messengers, offering to yield to their demands if they would only guard
+the dignity of the crown. The princes rejected all his offers, and
+finally adjourned to meet in Augsburg early in 1077, when the Pope was
+asked to be present. As soon as Henry IV. learned that Gregory had
+accepted the invitation, he was seized with a panic as unkingly as his
+former violence. Accompanied only by a small retinue, he hastened to
+Burgundy, crossed Mont Cenis in the dead of winter, encountering many
+sufferings and dangers on the way, and entered Italy with the single
+intention of meeting Pope Gregory and persuading him to remove the ban
+of the Church.
+
+At the news of his arrival in Lombardy, the Bishops and nobles from all
+the cities flocked to his support, and demanded only that he should lead
+them against the Pope. The movement was so threatening that Gregory
+himself, already on his way to Germany, halted, and retired for a time
+to the Castle of Canossa (in the Apennines, not far from Parma), which
+belonged to his devoted friend, the Countess Matilda of Tuscany. Victory
+was assured to Henry, if he had but grasped it; but he seems to have
+possessed no courage except when inspired by hate. He neglected the
+offered help, went to Canossa, and, presenting himself before the gate
+barefoot and clad only in a shirt of sackcloth, he asked to be admitted
+and pardoned as a repentant sinner. Gregory, so unexpectedly triumphant,
+prolonged for three whole days the satisfaction which he enjoyed in the
+king's humiliation: for three days the latter waited at the gate in snow
+and rain, before he was received. Then, after promising to obey the
+Pope, he received the kiss of peace, and the two took communion together
+in the castle-chapel! This was the first great victory of the Papal
+power: Gregory VII. paid dearly for it, but it was an event which could
+not be erased from History. It has fed the pride and supported the
+claims of the Roman Church, from that day to this.
+
+Gregory had dared to excommunicate Henry, because of the political
+conspirators against the latter; but he had not considered that his
+pardon would change those conspirators into enemies. The indignant
+Lombards turned their backs on Henry, the Bishops rejected the Pope's
+offer to release them from the ban, and the strife became more fierce
+and relentless than ever. In the meantime the German princes, encouraged
+by the Pope, proclaimed Rudolf of Suabia King in Henry's place. The
+latter, now at last supported by the Lombards, hastened back to Germany.
+A terrible war ensued, which lasted for more than two years, and was
+characterized by the most shocking barbarities on both sides. Gregory a
+second time excommunicated the king, but without the slightest political
+effect. The war terminated in 1080 by the death of Rudolf in battle, and
+Henry's authority became gradually established throughout the land.
+
+[Sidenote: 1084.]
+
+His first movement, now, was against the Pope. He crossed the Alps with
+a large army, was crowned King of Lombardy, and then marched towards
+Rome. Gregory's only friend was the Countess Matilda of Tuscany, who
+resisted Henry's advance until the cities of Pisa and Lucca espoused his
+cause. Then he laid siege to Rome, and a long war began, during which
+the ancient city suffered more than it had endured for centuries. The
+end of the struggle was a devastation worse than that inflicted by
+Geiserich. When Henry finally gained possession of the city, and the
+Pope was besieged in the castle of St. Angelo, the latter released
+Robert Guiscard, chief of the Normans in Southern Italy, from the ban of
+excommunication which he had pronounced against him, and called him to
+his aid. A Norman army, numbering 36,000 men, mostly Saracens,
+approached Rome, and Henry was compelled to retreat. The Pope was
+released, but his allies burned all the city between the Lateran and the
+Coliseum, slaughtered thousands of the inhabitants, carried away
+thousands as slaves, and left a desert of blood and ruin behind them.
+Gregory VII. did not dare to remain in Rome after their departure: he
+accompanied them to Salerno, and there died in exile, in 1085.
+
+Henry IV. immediately appointed a new Pope, Clement III., by whom he was
+crowned Emperor in St. Peter's. After Gregory's death, the Normans and
+the French selected another Pope, Urban II., and until both died,
+fifteen years afterwards, they and their partisans never ceased
+fighting. The Emperor Henry, however, who returned to Germany
+immediately alter his coronation, took little part in this quarrel. The
+last twenty years of his reign were full of trouble and misfortune. His
+eldest son, Konrad, who had lived mostly in Lombardy, was in 1092
+persuaded to claim the crown of Italy, was acknowledged by the hostile
+Pope, and allied himself with his father's enemies. For a time he was
+very successful, but the movement gradually failed, and he ended his
+days in prison, in 1101.
+
+[Sidenote: 1105. TREACHERY OF HENRY IV.'S SON.]
+
+Henry's hopes were now turned to his younger son, Henry, who was of a
+cold, calculating, treacherous disposition. The political and religious
+foes of the Emperor were still actively scheming for his overthrow, and
+they succeeded in making the young Henry their instrument, as they had
+made his brother Konrad. During the long struggles of his reign, the
+Emperor's strongest and most faithful supporter had been Frederick of
+Hohenstaufen, a Suabian count, to whom he had given his daughter in
+marriage, and whom he finally made Duke of Suabia. The latter died in
+1104, and most of the German princes, with the young Henry at their
+head, arose in rebellion. For nearly a year, the country was again
+desolated by a furious civil war; but the cities along the Rhine, which
+were rapidly increasing in wealth and population, took the Emperor's
+side, as before, and enabled him to keep the field against his son. At
+last, in December, 1105, their armies lay face to face, near the river
+Moselle, and an interview took place between the two. Father and son
+embraced each other; tears were shed, repentance offered and pardon
+given; then both set out together for Mayence, where it was agreed that
+a National Diet should settle all difficulties.
+
+On the way, however, the treacherous son persuaded his father to rest in
+the Castle of Böckelheim, there instantly shut the gates upon him and
+held him prisoner until he compelled him to abdicate. But, after the
+act, the Emperor succeeded in making his escape: the people rallied to
+his support, and he was still unconquered when death came to end his
+many troubles, in Liege, in August, 1106. He was perhaps the most
+signally unfortunate of all the German Emperors. The errors of his
+education, the follies and passions of his youth, the one fatal weakness
+of his manhood, were gradually corrected by experience; but he could not
+undo their consequences. After he had become comparatively wise and
+energetic, the internal dissensions of Germany, and the conflict between
+the Roman Church and the Imperial power, had grown too strong to be
+suppressed by his hand. When he might have done right, he lacked either
+the knowledge or the will; when he finally tried to do right, he had
+lost the power.
+
+[Sidenote: 1099.]
+
+During the latter years of his reign occurred a great historical event,
+the consequences of which were most important to Europe, though not
+immediately so to Germany. Peter the Hermit preached a Crusade to the
+Holy Land for the purpose of conquering Jerusalem from the Saracens.
+The "Congregation of Cluny" had prepared the way for this movement: one
+of the two Popes, Urban II., encouraged it, and finally Godfrey of
+Bouillon (of the Ducal family of Lorraine) put himself at its head. The
+soldiers of this, the First Crusade, came chiefly from France, Burgundy
+and Italy. Although many of them passed through Germany on their way to
+the East, they made few recruits among the people; but the success of
+the undertaking, the capture of Jerusalem by Godfrey in 1099, and the
+religious enthusiasm which it created, tended greatly to strengthen the
+Papal power, and also that faction in the Church which was hostile to
+Henry IV.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+END OF THE FRANK DYNASTY, AND RISE OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS.
+
+(1106--1152.)
+
+Henry V.'s Character and Course. --The Condition of Germany. --Strife
+    concerning the Investiture of Bishops. --Scene in St. Peter's.
+    --Troubles in Germany and Italy. --The "Concordat of Worms."
+    --Death of Henry V. --Absence of National Feeling. --Papal
+    Independence. --Lothar of Saxony chosen Emperor. --His Visits to
+    Italy, and Death. --Konrad of Hohenstaufen succeeds. --His Quarrel
+    with Henry the Proud. --The Women of Weinsberg. --Welf (Guelph) and
+    Waiblinger (Ghibelline). --The Second Crusade. --March to the Holy
+    Land. --Konrad invited to Rome. --Arnold of Brescia. --Konrad's
+    Death.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1106. HENRY V. AS EMPEROR.]
+
+Henry V. showed his true character immediately after his accession to
+the throne. Although he had been previously supported by the Papal
+party, he was no sooner acknowledged king of Germany than he imitated
+his father in opposing the claims of the Church. The new Pope, Paschalis
+II., had found it expedient to recognize the Bishops whom Henry IV. had
+appointed, but at the same time he issued a manifesto declaring that all
+future appointments must come from him. Henry V. answered this with a
+letter of defiance, and continued to select his own Bishops and abbots,
+which the Pope, not being able to resist, was obliged to suffer.
+
+During the disturbed fifty years of Henry IV.'s reign, Burgundy and
+Italy had become practically independent of Germany; Hungary and Poland
+had thrown off their dependent condition, and even the Wends beyond the
+Elbe were no longer loyal to the Empire. Within the German States, the
+Imperial power was already so much weakened by the establishment of
+hereditary Dukes and Counts, not related to the ruling family, that the
+king (or Emperor) exercised very little direct authority over the
+people. The crown-lands had been mostly either given away in exchange
+for assistance, or lost during the civil wars; the feudal system was
+firmly fastened upon the country, and only a few free cities--like those
+in Italy--kept alive the ancient spirit of liberty and political
+equality. Under such a system a monarch could accomplish little, unless
+he was both wiser and stronger than the reigning princes under him:
+there was no general national sentiment to which he could appeal. Henry
+V. was cold, stern, heartless and unprincipled; but he inspired a
+wholesome fear among his princely "vassals," and kept them in better
+order than his father had done.
+
+[Sidenote: 1110.]
+
+After giving the first years of his reign to the settlement of troubles
+on the frontiers of the Empire, Henry V. prepared, in 1110, for a
+journey to Italy. So many followers came to him that when he had crossed
+the Alps and mustered them on the plains of Piacenza, there were 30,000
+knights present. With such a force, no resistance was possible: the
+Lombard cities acknowledged him, Countess Matilda of Tuscany followed
+their example, and the Pope found it expedient to meet him in a friendly
+spirit. The latter was willing to crown Henry as Emperor, but still
+claimed the right of investing the Bishops. This Henry positively
+refused to grant, and, after much deliberation, the Pope finally
+proposed a complete separation of Church and State,--that is, that the
+lands belonging to the Bishops and abbots, or under their government,
+should revert to the crown, and the priests themselves become merely
+officials of the Church, without any secular power. Although the change
+would have been attended with some difficulty in Germany, Henry
+consented, and the long quarrel between Pope and Emperor was apparently
+settled.
+
+On the 12th of February, 1111, the king entered Rome at the head of a
+magnificent procession, and was met at the gate of St. Peter's by the
+Pope, who walked with him hand in hand to the platform before the high
+altar. But when the latter read aloud the agreement, the Bishops raised
+their voices in angry dissent. The debate lasted so long that one of the
+German knights cried out: "Why so many words? Our king means to be
+crowned Emperor, like Karl the Great!" The Pope refused the act of
+coronation, and was immediately made prisoner. The people of Rome rose
+in arms, and a terrible fight ensued. Henry narrowly escaped death in
+the streets, and was compelled to encamp outside the city. At the end of
+two months, the resistance both of Pope and people was crushed; he was
+crowned Emperor, and Paschalis II. gave up his claim for the investiture
+of the Bishops.
+
+[Sidenote: 1122. THE CONCORDAT OF WORMS.]
+
+Henry V. returned immediately to Germany, defeated the rebellious
+Thuringians and Saxons in 1113, and the following year was married to
+Matilda, daughter of Henry I. of England. This was the climax of his
+power and splendor: it was soon followed by troubles with Friesland,
+Cologne, Thuringia and Saxony, and in the course of two years his
+authority was set at nought over nearly all Northern Germany. Only
+Suabia, under his nephew, Frederick of Hohenstaufen, and Duke Welf II.
+of Bavaria, remained faithful to him.
+
+He was obliged to leave Germany in this state and hasten to Italy in
+1116, on account of the death of the Countess Matilda, who had
+bequeathed Tuscany to the Church, although she had previously
+acknowledged the Imperial sovereignty. Henry claimed and secured
+possession of her territory; he then visited Rome, the Pope leaving the
+city to avoid meeting him. The latter died soon afterwards, and for a
+time a new Pope, of the Emperor's own appointment, was installed in the
+Vatican. The Papal party, which now included all the French Bishops,
+immediately elected another, who excommunicated Henry V., but the act
+was of no consequence, and was in fact overlooked by Calixtus II., who
+succeeded to the Papal chair in 1118.
+
+The same year Henry returned to Germany, and succeeded, chiefly through
+the aid of Frederick of Hohenstaufen, in establishing his authority. The
+quarrel with the Papal power concerning the investiture of the Bishops
+was still unsettled: the new Pope, Calixtus II., who was a Burgundian
+and a relation of the Emperor, remained in France, where his claims were
+supported. After long delays and many preliminary negotiations, a Diet
+was held at Worms in September, 1122, when the question was finally
+settled. The choice of the Bishops and their investiture with the ring
+and crozier were given to the Pope, but the nominations were required to
+be made in the Emperor's presence, and the candidates to receive from
+him their temporal power, before they were consecrated by the Church.
+This arrangement is known as _the Concordat of Worms_. It was hailed at
+the time as a fortunate settlement of a strife which had lasted for
+fifty years; but it only increased the difficulty by giving the German
+Bishops two masters, yet making them secretly dependent on the Pope. So
+long as they retained the temporal power, they governed according to the
+dictates of a foreign will, which was generally hostile to Germany. Then
+began an antagonism between the Church and State, which was all the more
+intense because never openly acknowledged, and which disturbs Germany
+even at this day.
+
+[Sidenote: 1125.]
+
+Pope Calixtus II. took no notice of the ban of excommunication, but
+treated with Henry V. as if it had never been pronounced. The troubles
+in Northern Germany, however, were not subdued by this final peace with
+Rome,--a clear evidence that the humiliation of Henry IV. was due to
+political and not to religious causes. Henry V. died at Utrecht, in
+Holland, in May, 1125, leaving no children, which the people believed to
+be a punishment for his unnatural treatment of his father. There was no
+one to mourn his death, for even his efforts to increase the Imperial
+authority, and thereby to create a national sentiment among the Germans,
+were neutralized by his coldness, haughtiness and want of principle, as
+a man. The people were forced, by the necessities of their situation, to
+support their own reigning princes, in the hope of regaining from the
+latter some of their lost political rights.
+
+Another circumstance tended to prevent the German Emperors from
+acquiring any fixed power. They had no capital city, as France already
+possessed in Paris: after the coronation, the monarch immediately
+commenced his "royal ride," visiting all portions of the country, and
+receiving, personally, the allegiance of the whole people. Then, during
+his reign, he was constantly migrating from one castle to another,
+either to settle local difficulties, to collect the income of his
+scattered estates, or for his own pleasure. There was thus no central
+point to which the Germans could look as the seat of the Imperial rule:
+the Emperor was a Frank, a Saxon, a Bavarian or Suabian, by turns, but
+never permanently a _German_, with a national capital grander than any
+of the petty courts.
+
+The period of Henry V.'s death marks, also, the independence of the
+Papal power. The "Concordat of Worms" indirectly took away from the
+Roman (German) Emperor the claim of appointing the Pope, which had been
+exercised, from time to time, during nearly five hundred years. The
+celibacy of the priesthood was partially enforced by this time, and the
+Roman Church thereby gained a new power. It was now able to set up an
+authority (with the help of France) nearly equal to that of the Empire.
+These facts must be borne in mind as we advance; for the secret rivalry
+which now began underlies all the subsequent history of Germany, until
+it came to a climax in the Reformation of Luther.
+
+[Sidenote: 1125. LOTHAR OF SAXONY ELECTED.]
+
+Henry V. left all his estates and treasures to his nephew, Frederick of
+Hohenstaufen, but not the crown jewels and insignia, which were to be
+bestowed by the National Diet upon his successor. Frederick, and his
+brother Konrad, Duke of Franconia, were the natural heirs to the crown;
+but, as the Hohenstaufen family had stood faithfully by Henry IV. and V.
+in their conflicts with the Pope, it was unpopular with the priests and
+reigning princes. At the Diet, the Archbishop of Mayence nominated
+Lothar of Saxony, who was chosen after a very stormy session. His first
+acts were to beg the Pope to confirm his election, and then to give up
+his right to have the Bishops and abbots appointed in his presence. He
+next demanded of Frederick of Hohenstaufen the royal estates which the
+latter had inherited from Henry V. Being defeated in the war which
+followed, he strengthened his party by marrying his only daughter,
+Gertrude, to Henry the Proud, Duke of Bavaria (grandson of Duke Welf,
+Henry IV.'s friend, whence this family was called the _Welfs_--Guelphs).
+By this marriage Henry the Proud became also Duke of Saxony; but a part
+of the Dukedom, called the North-mark, was separated and given to a
+Saxon noble, a friend of Lothar, named Albert the Bear.
+
+Lothar was called to Italy in 1132 by Innocent II., one of two Popes,
+who, in consequence of a division in the college of Cardinals, had been
+chosen at the same time. He was crowned Emperor in the Lateran, in June,
+1133, while the other Pope Anaclete II. was reigning in the Vatican. He
+acquired the territory of the Countess Matilda of Tuscany, but only on
+condition of paying 400 pounds of silver annually to the Church. The
+former state of affairs was thus suddenly reversed: the Emperor
+acknowledged himself a dependent of the _temporal_ Papal power. When he
+returned to Germany, the same year, Lothar succeeded in subduing the
+resistance of the Hohenstaufens, and then bound the reigning princes of
+Germany, by oath, to keep peace for the term of twelve years.
+
+[Sidenote: 1137.]
+
+This truce enabled him to return to Italy for the purpose of assisting
+Pope Innocent, who had been expelled from Rome. The rival of the latter,
+Anaclete II., was supported by the Norman king, Roger II. of Sicily,
+who, in the summer of 1137, was driven out of Southern Italy by Lothar's
+army. But quarrels broke out with the Pisans, who were his allies, and
+with Pope Innocent, for whose cause he was fighting, and he finally set
+out for Germany, without even visiting Rome. At Trient, in the Tyrol, he
+was seized with a mortal sickness, and died on the Brenner pass of the
+Alps, in a shepherd's hut. His body was taken to Saxony and buried in
+the chapel of a monastery which he had founded there.
+
+A National Diet was called to meet in May, 1138, and elect a successor.
+Lothar's son-in-law, Henry the Proud, Duke of Bavaria, Saxony and
+Tuscany (which latter the Emperor had transferred also to him), seemed
+to have the greatest right to the throne; but he was already so
+important that the jealousy of the other reigning princes was excited
+against him. Their policy was, to choose a weak rather than a strong
+ruler,--one who would not interfere with their authority in their own
+lands. Konrad of Hohenstaufen took advantage of this jealousy; he
+courted the favor of the princes and the bishops, and was chosen and
+crowned by the latter, three months before the time fixed for the
+meeting of the Diet. The movement, though in violation of all law,
+succeeded perfectly: a new Diet was called, for form's sake, and all the
+German princes, except Henry the Proud, acquiesced in Konrad's election.
+
+In order to maintain his place, the new king was compelled to break the
+power of his rival. He therefore declared that Henry the Proud should
+not be allowed to govern two lands at the same time, and gave all Saxony
+to Albert the Bear. When Henry rose in resistance, Konrad proclaimed
+that he had forfeited Bavaria, which he gave to Leopold of Austria. In
+this emergency, Henry the Proud called upon the Saxons to help him, and
+had raised a considerable force when he suddenly died, towards the end
+of the year 1139. His brother, Welf, continued the struggle in Bavaria,
+in the interest of his young son, Henry, afterwards called "the Lion."
+He attempted to raise the siege of the town of Weinsberg, which was
+beleaguered by Konrad's army, but failed. The tradition relates that
+when the town was forced to surrender, the women sent a deputation to
+Konrad, begging to be allowed to leave with such goods as they could
+carry on their backs. When this was granted and the gates were opened,
+they came out, carrying their husbands, sons or brothers as their
+dearest possessions. The fame of this deed of the women of Weinsberg has
+gone all over the world.
+
+[Sidenote: 1140. GUELPH AND GHIBELLINE.]
+
+In this struggle, for the first time, the names of _Welf_ and
+_Waiblinger_ (from the little town of Waiblingen, in Würtemberg, which
+belonged to the Hohenstaufens) were first used as party cries in battle.
+In the Italian language they became "Guelph" and "Ghibelline," and for
+hundreds of years they retained a far more intense and powerful
+significance than the names "Whig" and "Tory" in England. The term
+_Welf_ (Guelph) very soon came to mean the party of the Pope, and
+_Waiblinger_ (Ghibelline) that of the German Emperor. The end of this
+first conflict was, that in 1142, young Henry the Lion (great-grandson
+of Duke Welf of Bavaria) was allowed to be Duke of Saxony. From him
+descended the later Dukes of Brunswick and Hannover, who retained the
+family name of Welf, or Guelph, which, through George I., is also that
+of the royal family of England at this day. Albert the Bear was obliged
+to be satisfied with the North-mark, which was extended to the eastward
+of the Elbe and made an independent principality. He called himself
+Markgraf (Border Count) of Brandenburg, and thus laid the basis of a new
+State, which, in the course of centuries developed into Prussia.
+
+About this time the Christian monarchy in Jerusalem began to be
+threatened with overthrow by the Saracens, and the Pope, Eugene III.,
+responded to the appeals for help from the Holy Land, by calling for a
+Second Crusade. He not only promised forgiveness of all sins, but
+released the volunteers from payment of their debts and whatever
+obligations they might have contracted under oath. France was the first
+to answer the call: then Bernard of Clairvaux (St. Bernard, in the Roman
+Church) visited Germany and made passionate appeals to the people. The
+first effect of his speeches was the plunder and murder of the Jews in
+the cities along the Rhine; then the slow German blood was roused to
+enthusiasm for the rescue of the Holy Land, and the impulse became so
+great that king Konrad was compelled to join in the movement. His
+nephew, the red-bearded Frederick of Suabia, also put the cross on his
+mantle: nearly all the German princes and people, except the Saxons,
+followed the example.
+
+[Sidenote: 1147.]
+
+In May, 1147, the Crusaders assembled at Ratisbon. There were present
+70,000 horsemen in armor, without counting the foot-soldiers and
+followers. All the robber-bands and notorious criminals of Germany
+joined the army for the sake of the full and free pardon offered by the
+Pope. Konrad led the march down the Danube, through Austria and Thrace,
+to Constantinople. Louis VII., king of France, followed him, with a
+nearly equal force, leaving the German States through which he passed in
+a famished condition. The two armies, united at Constantinople, advanced
+through Asia Minor, but were so reduced by battles, disease and
+hardships on the way, that the few who reached Palestine were too weak
+to reconquer the ground lost by the king of Jerusalem. Only a band of
+Flemish and English Crusaders, who set out by sea, succeeded in taking
+Lisbon from the Saracens.
+
+During the year 1149 the German princes returned from the East with
+their few surviving followers. The loss of so many robbers and
+robber-knights was, nevertheless, a great gain to the country: the
+people enjoyed more peace and security than they had known for a long
+time. Duke Welf of Bavaria (brother of Henry the Proud) was the first to
+reach Germany: Konrad, fearing that he would make trouble, sent after
+him the young Duke of Suabia, Frederick Red-Beard (Barbarossa) of
+Hohenstaufen. It was not long, in fact, before the war-cries of
+"Guelph!" and "Ghibelline!" were again heard; but Welf, as well as his
+nephew, Henry the Lion, of Saxony, was defeated. During the Crusade, the
+latter had carried on a war against the Wends and other Slavonic tribes
+in Prussia, the chief result of which was the foundation of the city of
+Lübeck.
+
+[Sidenote: 1152. KONRAD'S DEATH.]
+
+King Konrad now determined to pay his delayed visit to Rome, and be
+crowned Emperor. Immediately after his return from the East, he had
+received a pressing invitation from the Roman Senate to come, to
+recognize the new order of things in the ancient city, and make it the
+permanent capital of the united German and Italian Empire. Arnold of
+Brescia, who for years had been advocating the separation of the Papacy
+from all temporal power, and the re-establishment of the Roman Church
+upon the democratic basis of the early Christian Church, had compelled
+the Pope, Eugene III., to accept his doctrine. Rome was practically a
+Republic, and Arnold's reform, although fiercely opposed by the Bishops,
+abbots and all priests holding civil power, made more and more headway
+among the people. At a National Diet, held at Würzburg in 1151, it was
+decided that Konrad should go to Rome, and the Pope was officially
+informed of his intention. But before the preparations for the journey
+were completed, Konrad died, in February, 1152, at Bamberg. He was
+buried there in the Cathedral built by Henry II.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE REIGN OF FREDERICK I., BARBAROSSA.
+
+(1152--1197.)
+
+Frederick I., Barbarossa. --His Character. --His First Acts. --Visit to
+    Italy. --Coronation and Humiliation. --He is driven back to
+    Germany. --Restores Order. --Henry the Lion and Albert the Bear.
+    --Barbarossa's Second Visit to Italy. --He conquers Milan. --Roman
+    Laws revived. --Destruction of Milan. --Third and Fourth Visits to
+    Italy. --Troubles with the Popes. --Barbarossa and Henry the Lion.
+    --The Defeat at Legnano. --Reconciliation with Alexander III.
+    --Henry the Lion banished. --Tournament at Mayence. --Barbarossa's
+    Sixth Visit to Italy. --Crusade for the Recovery of Jerusalem.
+    --March through Asia Minor. --Barbarossa's Death. --His Fame among
+    the German People. --His Son, Henry VI., Emperor. --Richard of the
+    Lion-Heart Imprisoned. --Last Days of Henry the Lion. --Henry VI.'s
+    Deeds and Designs. --His Death.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1152.]
+
+Konrad left only an infant son at his death, and the German princes, who
+were learning a little wisdom by this time, determined not to renew the
+unfortunate experiences of Henry IV.'s minority. The next heir to the
+throne was Frederick of Suabia, who was now thirty-one years old,
+handsome, popular, and already renowned as a warrior. He was elected
+immediately, without opposition, and solemnly crowned at
+Aix-la-Chapelle. When he made his "royal ride" through Germany,
+according to custom, the people hailed him with acclamations, hoping for
+peace and a settled authority after so many civil wars. His mother was a
+Welf princess, whence there seemed a possibility of terminating the
+rivalry between Welf and Waiblinger, in his election. The Italians
+always called him "Barbarossa," on account of his red beard, and by this
+name he is best known in history.
+
+Since the accession of Otto the Great, no German monarch had been
+crowned under such favorable auspices, and none had possessed so many of
+the qualities of a great ruler. He was shrewd, clear-sighted,
+intelligent, and of an iron will: he enjoyed the exercise of power, and
+the aim of his life was to extend and secure it. On the other hand he
+was despotic, merciless in his revenge, and sometimes led by the
+violence of his passions to commit deeds which darkened his name and
+interfered with his plans of empire.
+
+[Sidenote: 1154. BARBAROSSA'S CAMP IN ITALY.]
+
+Frederick first assured to the German princes the rights which they
+already possessed as the rulers of States, coupled with the declaration
+that he meant to exact the full and strict performance of their duties
+to him, as King. On his first royal journey, he arbitrated between Swen
+and Canute, rival claimants to the throne of Denmark, conferred on the
+Duke of Bohemia the title of king, and took measures to settle the
+quarrel between Henry the Lion of Saxony, and Henry of Austria, for the
+possession of Bavaria. In all these matters he showed the will, the
+decision and the imposing personal bearing of one who felt that he was
+born to rule; and had he remained in Germany, he might have consolidated
+the States into one Nation. But the phantom of a Roman Empire beckoned
+him to Italy. The invitation held out to Konrad was not renewed, for
+Pope Eugene III. was dead, and his successor, Adrian IV. (an Englishman,
+by the name of Breakspeare), rejected Arnold of Brescia's doctrines. It
+was in Frederick's power to secure the success of either side; but his
+first aim was the Imperial crown, and he could only gain it without
+delay by assisting the Pope.
+
+In 1154 Frederick, accompanied by Henry the Lion and many other princes,
+and a large army, crossed the Brenner Pass, in the Tyrol, and descended
+into Italy. According to old custom, the first camp was pitched on the
+Roncalian fields, near Piacenza, and the royal shield was set up as a
+sign that the chief ruler was present and ready to act as judge in all
+political troubles. Many complaints were brought to him against the City
+of Milan, which had become a haughty and despotic Republic, and began to
+oppress Lodi, Como, and other neighboring cities. Frederick saw plainly
+the trouble which this independent movement in Lombardy would give to
+him or his successors; but after losing two months and many troops in
+besieging and destroying Tortona, one of the towns friendly to Milan, he
+was not strong enough to attack the latter city: so, having been crowned
+King of Lombardy at Pavia, he marched, in 1155, towards Rome.
+
+[Sidenote: 1154.]
+
+At Viterbo he met Pope Adrian IV., and negotiations commenced in regard
+to his coronation as Emperor, which, it seems, was not to be had for
+nothing. Adrian's first demand was the suppression of the Roman
+Republic, which had driven him from the city. Frederick answered by
+capturing Arnold of Brescia, who was then in Tuscany, and delivering him
+into the Pope's hands. The latter then demanded that Frederick should
+hold his stirrup when he mounted his mule. This humiliation, second only
+to that which Henry IV. endured at Canossa, was accepted by the proud
+Hohenstaufen in his ambitious haste to be crowned; but even then Rome
+had to be first taken from the Republicans. By some means an entrance
+was forced into that part of the city on the right bank of the Tiber;
+Frederick was crowned in all haste and immediately retreated, but not
+before he and his escort were furiously attacked in the streets by the
+Roman people. Henry the Lion, by his bravery and presence of mind, saved
+the new Emperor from being slain. The same night, Arnold of Brescia was
+burned to death by the Pope's order. (Since 1870, his bust has been
+placed upon the Pincian Hill, in Rome, among those of the other great
+men who gave their lives for Italian freedom.)
+
+The news of the Pope's barbarous revenge drove the Romans to madness.
+They rushed forth by thousands, threw themselves upon the Emperor's
+camp, and fought until the next night with such desperation that
+Frederick deemed it prudent to retreat to Tivoli. The heats of summer
+and the fevers they brought soon compelled him to leave for Germany; the
+glory of his coming was already exhausted. He fought his way through
+Spoleto; Verona shut its gates upon him, and one robber-castle in the
+Alps held the whole army at bay, until it was taken by Otto of
+Wittelsbach. The unnatural composition of the later "Roman Empire" was
+again demonstrated. If, during the four centuries which had elapsed
+since Charlemagne's accession to power, the German rule was the curse of
+Italy, Italy (or the fancied necessity of ruling Italy) was no less a
+curse to Germany. The strength of the German people, for hundreds of
+years, was exhausted in endeavoring to keep up a high-sounding
+sovereignty, which they could not truly possess, and--in the best
+interests of the two countries--_ought not_ to have possessed.
+
+On returning to Germany, Frederick found enough to do. He restored the
+internal peace and security of the country with a strong hand, executing
+the robber-knights, tearing down their castles, and even obliging
+fourteen reigning princes, among whom was the Archbishop of Mayence, to
+undergo what was considered the shameful punishment of carrying dogs in
+their arms before the Imperial palace. By his second marriage with
+Beatrix, Princess of Burgundy, he established anew the German authority
+over that large and rich kingdom; while, at a diet held in 1156, he gave
+Bavaria to Henry the Lion, and pacified Henry of Austria by making his
+territory an independent Dukedom. This was the second phase in the
+growth of Austria.
+
+[Sidenote: 1156. BARBAROSSA'S RULE IN GERMANY.]
+
+Henry the Lion, however, was more a Saxon than a Bavarian. Although he
+first raised Munich from an insignificant cluster of peasants' huts to
+the dignity of a city, his energies were chiefly directed towards
+extending his sway from the Elbe eastward, along the Baltic. He
+conquered Mecklenburg and colonized the country with Saxons, made Lübeck
+an important commercial center, and slowly Germanized the former
+territory of the Wends. Albert the Bear, Count of Brandenburg, followed
+a similar policy, and both were encouraged by the Emperor, who was quite
+willing to see his own sway thus extended. A rhyme current among the
+common people, at the time, says:
+
+    "Henry the Lion and Albert the Bear,
+    Thereto Frederick with the red hair,
+    Three Lords are they,
+    Who could change the world to their way."
+
+The grand imperial character of Frederick, rather than what he had
+actually accomplished, had already given him a great reputation
+throughout Europe. Pope Adrian IV. endeavored to imitate Gregory VII.'s
+language to Henry IV. in treating with him, but soon found that he was
+deserted by the German Bishops, and thought it prudent to apologize. His
+manner, nevertheless, and the increasing independence of Milan, called
+Frederick across the Alps with an army of 100,000 men, in 1158. Milan,
+then surrounded with strong walls, nine miles in circuit, was besieged,
+and, at the end of a month, forced to surrender, to rebuild Lodi, and
+pay a fine of 9,000 pounds of silver. Afterwards the Emperor pitched his
+camp on the Roncalian fields, with a splendor before unknown.
+Ambassadors from England, France, Hungary and Constantinople were
+present, and the Imperial power, almost for the first time, was thus
+recognized as the first in the civilized world.
+
+Frederick used this opportunity to revive the old Roman laws, or at
+least, to have a code of laws drawn up, which should define his rights
+and those of the reigning princes under him. Four doctors of the
+University of Bologna were selected, who discovered so many ancient
+imperial rights which had fallen into disuse that the Emperor's treasury
+was enriched to the amount of 30,000 pounds of silver annually, by their
+enforcement. When this system came to be practically applied, Milan and
+other Lombard cities which claimed the right to elect their own
+magistrates, and would have lost it under the new order of things,
+determined to resist. A war ensued: the little city of Crema was first
+besieged, and, after a gallant defence of seven months, taken and razed
+to the ground.
+
+[Sidenote: 1162.]
+
+Now came the turn of Milan. In the meantime the Pope, Adrian IV., had
+died, after threatening the Emperor with excommunication. The college of
+cardinals was divided, each party electing its own Pope. Of these,
+Victor IV. was recognized by Frederick, who claimed the right to decide
+between them, while most of the Italian cities, with France and England,
+were in favor of Alexander III. The latter immediately excommunicated
+the Emperor, who, without paying any regard to the act, prepared to take
+his revenge on Milan. In March, 1162, after a long siege, he forced the
+city to surrender: the magistrates appeared before him in sackcloth,
+barefoot, with ashes upon their heads and ropes around their necks, and
+begged him, with tears, to be merciful; but there was no mercy in his
+heart. He gave the inhabitants eight days to leave the city, then
+levelled it completely to the earth, and sowed salt upon the ruins as a
+token that it should never be rebuilt. The rival cities of Pavia, Lodi
+and Como rejoiced over this barbarity, and all the towns of northern
+Italy hastened to submit to all the Emperor's claims, even that they
+should be governed by magistrates of his appointment.
+
+In spite of this apparent submission, he had no sooner returned to
+Germany than the cities of Lombardy began to form a union against him.
+They were instigated, and secretly assisted, by Venice, which was
+already growing powerful through her independence. The Pope whom
+Frederick had supported, was also dead, and he determined to set up a
+new one instead of recognizing Alexander III. He went to Italy with a
+small escort, in 1163, but was compelled to go back without
+accomplishing anything but a second destruction of Tortona, which had
+been rebuilt. In Germany new disturbances had broken out, but his
+personal influence was so great that he subdued them temporarily: he
+also prevailed upon the German bishops to recognize Paschalis III., the
+Pope whom he had appointed. He then set about raising a new army, and
+finally, in 1166, made his _fourth_ journey to Italy.
+
+[Sidenote: 1166. FOURTH JOURNEY TO ITALY.]
+
+This was even more unfortunate than the third journey had been. The
+Lombard cities, feeling strong through their union, had not only rebuilt
+Milan and Tortona, but had constructed a new fortified town, which they
+named, after the Pope, Alessandria. Frederick did not dare to attack
+them, but marched on to Ancona, which he besieged for seven months,
+finally accepting a ransom instead of surrender. He then took that part
+of Rome west of the Tiber, and installed his Pope in the Vatican. Soon
+afterward, in the summer of 1167, a terrible pestilence broke out, which
+carried off thousands of his best soldiers in a few weeks. His army was
+so reduced by death, that he stole through Lombardy almost as a
+fugitive, remained hidden among the Alps for months, and finally crossed
+Mont Cenis with only thirty followers, himself disguised as a common
+soldier.
+
+Having reached Germany in safety, Frederick's personal influence at once
+gave him the power and popularity which he had forever lost in Italy. He
+found Henry the Lion, who in addition to Bavaria now governed nearly all
+the territory from the Rhine to the Vistula, north of the Hartz
+Mountains, at enmity with Albert the Bear and a number of smaller
+reigning princes. As Emperor, he settled the questions in dispute,
+deciding in favor of Henry the Lion, although the increasing power of
+the latter excited his apprehensions. Henry was too cautious to make the
+Emperor his enemy, but in order to avoid another march to Italy, he set
+out upon a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Frederick, however, did not succeed
+in raising a fresh army to revenge his disgrace until 1174, when he made
+his _fifth_ journey to Italy. He first besieged the new city of
+Alessandria, but in vain; then, driven to desperation by his failure, he
+called for help upon Henry the Lion, who had now returned from the Holy
+Land. The two met at Chiavenna, in the Italian Alps; but Henry
+steadfastly refused to aid the Emperor, although the latter conquered
+his own pride so far as to kneel before him.
+
+[Sidenote: 1177.]
+
+Bitterly disappointed and humiliated, Frederick appealed to all the
+German States for aid, but did not receive fresh troops until the spring
+of 1176. He then marched upon Milan, but was met by the united forces of
+Lombardy at Legnano, near Como. The latter fought with such desperation
+that the Imperial army was completely routed, and its camp equipage and
+stores taken, with many thousands of prisoners, who were treated with
+the same barbarity which the Emperor himself had introduced anew into
+warfare. He fell from his horse during the fight, and had been for some
+days reported to be dead, when he suddenly appeared before the Empress
+Beatrix, at Pavia, having escaped in disguise.
+
+His military strength was now so broken that he was compelled to seek a
+reconciliation with Pope Alexander III. Envoys went back and forth
+between the two, the Lombard cities and the king of Sicily; conferences
+were held at various places, but months passed and no agreement was
+reached. Then the Pope, having received Frederick's submission to all
+his demands, proposed an armistice, which was solemnly concluded in
+Venice, in August, 1177. There the Emperor was released from the Papal
+excommunication; he sank at Alexander's feet, but the latter caught and
+lifted him in his arms, and there was once more peace between the two
+rival powers. The other Pope, whose claims Frederick had supported up to
+that time, was left to shift for himself. Before the armistice ceased,
+in 1183, a treaty was concluded at Constance, by which the Italian
+cities recognized the Emperor as chief ruler, but secured for themselves
+the right of independent government. Thus twenty years had been wasted,
+the best blood of Germany squandered, the worst barbarities of war
+renewed, and Frederick, after enduring shame and humiliation, had not
+attained one of his haughty personal aims. Yet he was as proud in his
+bearing as ever; his court lost none of its splendor, and his influence
+over the German princes and people was undiminished.
+
+He reached Germany again in 1178, full of wrath against Henry the Lion.
+It was easy to find a pretext for proceeding against him, for the
+Archbishop of Cologne, the Bishop of Halberstadt, and many nobles had
+already made complaints. Henry, in fact, was much like Frederick in his
+nature, but his despotic sternness and pride were more directly
+exercised upon the people. He raised an army and boldly resisted the
+Imperial power: again Westphalia, Thuringia and Saxony were wasted by
+civil war, and the struggle was prolonged until 1181, when Henry was
+forced to surrender unconditionally. He was banished to England for
+three years: his Duchy of Bavaria was given to Otto of Wittelsbach; and
+the greater part of Saxony, from the Rhine to the Baltic, was cut up and
+divided among the reigning Bishops and smaller princes. Only the
+province of Brunswick was left to Henry the Lion, of all his
+possessions. This was Frederick's policy for diminishing the power of
+the separate States: the more they were increased in number, the greater
+would be the dependence of each on the Emperor.
+
+[Sidenote: 1184. TOURNAMENT AT MAYENCE.]
+
+The ruin of Henry the Lion fully restored Frederick's authority over all
+Germany. In May, 1184, he gave a grand tournament and festival at
+Mayence, which surpassed in pomp everything that had before been seen by
+the people. The flower of knighthood, foreign as well as German, was
+present: princes, bishops and lords, scholars and minstrels, 70,000
+knights, and probably hundreds of thousands of the soldiers and common
+people were gathered together. The Emperor, still handsome and towering
+in manly strength, in spite of his sixty-three years, rode in the lists
+with his five blooming sons, the eldest of whom, Henry, was already
+crowned King of Germany, as his successor. For many years afterwards,
+the wandering minstrels sang the glories of this festival, which they
+compared to those given by the half-fabulous king Arthur.
+
+Immediately afterwards, Frederick made his _sixth_ journey to Italy,
+without an army, but accompanied by a magnificent retinue. The temporary
+union of the cities against him was at an end, and their former
+jealousies of each other had broken out more fiercely than ever; so
+that, instead of meeting him in a hostile spirit, each endeavored to
+gain his favor, to the damage of the others. It was easy for him to turn
+this state of affairs to his own personal advantage. The Pope, now Urban
+III., endeavored to make him give up Tuscany to the Church, and opposed
+his design of marrying his son Henry to Constance, daughter of the king
+of Sicily, since all Southern Italy would thus fall to the Hohenstaufen
+family. Another excommunication was threatened, and would probably have
+been hurled upon the Emperor's head, if the Pope had not died before
+pronouncing it. The marriage of Henry and Constance took place in 1186.
+
+[Sidenote: 1190.]
+
+The next year, all Europe was shaken by the news that Jerusalem had been
+taken by Sultan Saladin. A call for a new Crusade was made from Rome,
+and the Christian kings and people of Europe responded to it. Richard of
+the Lion-Heart, of England; Philip Augustus of France; and first of all
+Frederick Barbarossa, Roman Emperor, put the cross on their mantles, and
+prepared to march to the Holy Land. Frederick left his son Henry behind
+him, as king, but he was still suspicious of Henry the Lion, and
+demanded that he should either join the Crusade or retire again to
+England for three years longer. Henry the Lion chose the latter
+alternative.
+
+The German Crusaders, numbering about 30,000, met at Ratisbon in May,
+1189, and marched overland to Constantinople. Then they took the same
+route through Asia Minor which had been followed by the second Crusade,
+defeating the Sultan and taking the city of Iconium by the way, and
+after threading the wild passes of the Taurus, reached the borders of
+Syria. While on the march, the Emperor received the false message that
+his son Henry was dead. The tears ran down his beard, no longer red, but
+silver-white; then, turning to the army, he cried: "My son is dead, but
+Christ lives! Forwards!" On the 10th of June, 1190, either while
+attempting to ford, or bathing in the little river Calycadnus, not far
+from Tarsus, he was drowned. The stream, fed by the melted snows of the
+Taurus, was ice-cold, and one account states that he was not drowned,
+but died in consequence of the sudden chill. A few of his followers
+carried his body to Palestine, where it was placed in the Christian
+church at Tyre. Notwithstanding the heroism of the English Richard at
+Ascalon, the Crusade failed, since the German army was broken up after
+Frederick's death, most of the knights returning directly home.
+
+The most that can be said for Frederick Barbarossa as a ruler, is, that
+no other Emperor before or after his time maintained so complete an
+authority over the German princes. The influence of his personal
+presence seems to have been very great: the Imperial power became
+splendid and effective in his hands, and, although he did nothing to
+improve the condition of the people, beyond establishing order and
+security, they gradually came to consider him as the representative of a
+grand _national_ idea. When he went away to the mysterious East, and
+never returned, the most of them refused to believe that he was dead. By
+degrees the legend took root among them that he slumbered in a vault
+underneath the Kyffhäuser--one of his castles, on the summit of a
+mountain, near the Hartz,--and would come forth at the appointed time,
+to make Germany united and free. Nothing in his character, or in the
+proud and selfish aims of his life, justifies this sentiment which the
+people attached to his name; but the legend became a symbol of their
+hopes and prayers, through centuries of oppression and desolating war,
+and the name of "Barbarossa" is sacred to every patriotic heart in
+Germany, even at this day.
+
+[Sidenote: 1191. HENRY VI. EMPEROR.]
+
+Henry the Lion hastened back to Germany at once, and attempted to regain
+possession of Saxony. King Henry took the field against him, and the
+interminable strife between Welf and Waiblinger was renewed for a time.
+The king was twenty-five years old, tall and stately like his father,
+but even more stern and despotic than he. He was impatient to proceed to
+Italy, both to be crowned Emperor and to secure the Norman kingdom of
+Sicily as his wife's inheritance: therefore, making a temporary truce
+with Henry the Lion, he hastened to Rome and was there crowned as Henry
+VI. in 1191. His attempt to conquer Naples, which was held by the Norman
+prince, Tancred, completely failed, and a deadly pestilence in his army
+compelled him to return to Germany before the close of the same year.
+
+The fight with Henry the Lion was immediately renewed, and during the
+whole of 1192 Northern Germany was ravaged worse than before. In
+December of that year, King Richard of the Lion-Heart, returning home
+overland from Palestine, was taken prisoner by Duke Leopold of Austria,
+whom he had offended during the Crusade, and was delivered to the
+Emperor. As king Richard was the brother-in-law of Henry the Lion, he
+was held partly as a hostage, and partly for the purpose of gaining an
+enormous ransom for his liberation. His mother came from England, and
+the sum of 150,000 silver marks which the Emperor demanded was paid by
+her exertions: still Richard was kept prisoner at Trifels, a lonely
+castle among the Vosges mountains. The legend relates that his minstrel,
+Blondel, discovered his place of imprisonment by singing the king's
+favorite song under the windows of all the castles near the Rhine, until
+the song was answered by the well-known voice from within. The German
+princes, finally, felt that they were disgraced by the Emperor's
+conduct, and they compelled him to liberate Richard, in February, 1194.
+
+[Sidenote: 1197.]
+
+The same year a reconciliation was effected with Henry the Lion. The
+latter devoted himself to the improvement of the people of his little
+state of Brunswick: he instituted reforms in their laws, encouraged
+their education, collected books and works of art, and made himself so
+honored and beloved before his death, in August, 1195, that he was
+mourned as a benefactor by those who had once hated him as a tyrant. He
+was sixty-six years old, three years younger than his rival, Barbarossa,
+whom he fully equalled in energy and ability. Although defeated in his
+struggle, he laid the basis of a better civil order, a higher and firmer
+civilization, throughout the North of Germany.
+
+Henry VI., enriched by king Richard's ransom, went to Italy, purchased
+the assistance of Genoa and Pisa, and easily conquered the Sicilian
+kingdom. He treated the family of Tancred (who was now dead) with
+shocking barbarity, tortured and executed his enemies with a cruelty
+worthy of Nero, and made himself heartily feared and hated. Then he
+hastened back to Germany, to have the Imperial dignity made hereditary
+in his family. Even here he was on the point of succeeding, in spite of
+the strong opposition of the Saxon princes, when a Norman insurrection
+recalled him to Sicily. He demanded the provinces of Macedonia and
+Epirus from the Greek Emperor, encouraged the project of a new Crusade,
+with the design of conquering Constantinople, and evidently dreamed of
+making himself ruler of the whole Christian world, when death cut him
+off, in 1197, in his thirty-second year. His widow, Constance of Sicily,
+was left with a son, Frederick, then only three years old.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE REIGN OF FREDERICK II. AND END OF THE HOHENSTAUFEN LINE.
+
+(1215--1268.)
+
+Rival Emperors in Germany. --Pope Innocent III. --Murder of Philip of
+    Hohenstaufen. --Otto IV. becomes Emperor. --Frederick of
+    Hohenstaufen goes to Germany. --His Character. --Decline of Otto's
+    Power. --Frederick II. crowned Emperor. --Troubles with the Pope.
+    --His Crusade to the Holy Land. --Frederick's Court at Palermo.
+    --Henry, Count of Schwerin. --Gregory IX.'s Persecution of
+    Heretics. --Meeting of Frederick II. and his son, King Henry. --The
+    Emperor returns to Germany. --His Marriage with Isabella of
+    England. --He leaves Germany for Italy. --War in Lombardy.
+    --Conflict with Pope Gregory IX. --Capture of the Council. --Course
+    of Pope Innocent III. --Wars in Germany and Italy. --Conspiracies
+    against Frederick II. --His Misfortunes and Death. --The Character
+    of his Reign. --His son, Konrad IV., succeeds. --William of Holland
+    rival Emperor. --Death of Konrad IV. --End of William of Holland.
+    --The Boy, Konradin. --Manfred, King of Naples. --Usurpation of
+    Charles of Anjou. --Konradin goes to Italy. --His Defeat and
+    Capture. --His Execution. --The Last of the Hohenstaufens.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1215. TWO EMPERORS ELECTED.]
+
+A story was current among the German people, that, shortly before Henry
+VI.'s death, the spirit of Theodoric the Great, in giant form on a black
+war-steed, rode along the Rhine presaging trouble to the Empire. This
+legend no doubt originated after the trouble came, and was simply a
+poetical image of what had already happened. The German princes were
+determined to have no child again, as their hereditary Emperor; but only
+one son of Frederick Barbarossa still lived,--Philip of Suabia. The
+bitter hostility between Welf and Waiblinger still existed, and although
+Philip was chosen by a Diet held in Thuringia, the opposite party,
+secretly assisted by the Pope and by Richard of the Lion-heart, of
+England (who had certainly no reason to be friendly to the
+Hohenstaufens!) met at Aix-la-Chapelle, and elected Otto, son of Henry
+the Lion.
+
+Just at this crisis, Innocent III. became Pope. He was as haughty,
+inflexible and ambitious as Gregory VII., whom he took for his model:
+under him, and with his sanction, the Inquisition, which linked the
+Christian Church to barbarism, was established. So completely had the
+relation of the two powers been changed by the humiliation of Henry IV.
+and Barbarossa, that the Pope now claimed the right to decide between
+the rival monarchs. Of course he gave his voice for Otto, and
+excommunicated Philip. The effect of this policy, however, was to awaken
+the jealousy of the German Bishops as well as the Princes,--even the
+former found the Papal interference a little too arbitrary--and Philip,
+instead of being injured, actually derived advantage from it. In the war
+which followed, Otto lost so much ground that in 1207 he was obliged to
+fly to England, where he was assisted by king John; but he would
+probably have again failed, when an unexpected crime made him
+successful. Philip was murdered in 1208, by Otto of Wittelsbach, Duke of
+Bavaria, on account of some personal grievance.
+
+[Sidenote: 1208.]
+
+As he left no children, and Frederick, the son of Henry VI., was still a
+boy of fourteen, Otto found no difficulty in persuading the German
+princes to accept him as king. His first act was to proceed against
+Philip's murderer and his accomplice, the Bishop of Bamberg. Both fled,
+but Otto of Wittelsbach was overtaken near Ratisbon, and instantly
+slain. In 1209, king Otto collected a magnificent retinue at Augsburg,
+and set out for Italy, in order to be crowned Emperor at Rome. As the
+enemy of the Hohenstaufens, he felt sure of a welcome; but Innocent
+III., whom he met at Viterbo, required a great many special concessions
+to the Papal power before he would consent to bestow the crown. Even
+after the ceremony was over, he inhospitably hinted to the new Emperor,
+Otto IV., that he should leave Rome as soon as possible. The gates of
+the city were shut upon the latter, and his army was left without
+supplies.
+
+The jurists of Bologna soon convinced Otto that some of his concessions
+to the Pope were illegal, and need not be observed. He therefore took
+possession of Tuscany, which he had agreed to surrender to the Pope, and
+afterwards marched against Southern Italy, where the young Frederick of
+Hohenstaufen was already acknowledged as king of Sicily. The latter had
+been carefully educated under the guardianship of Innocent III., after
+the death of Constance in 1198, and threatened to become a dangerous
+rival for the Imperial crown. Otto's invasion so exasperated the Pope
+that he excommunicated him, and called upon the German princes to
+recognize Frederick in his stead. As Otto had never been personally
+popular in Germany, the Waiblinger, or Hohenstaufen party, responded to
+Innocent's proclamation. Suabia and Bavaria and the Archbishop of
+Mayence pronounced for Frederick, while Saxony, Lorraine and the
+northern Bishops remained true to Otto. The latter hastened back to
+Germany in 1212, regained some of his lost ground, and attempted to
+strengthen his cause by marrying Beatrix, the daughter of Philip. But
+she died four days after the marriage, and in the meantime Frederick,
+supplied with money by the Pope, had crossed the Alps.
+
+[Sidenote: 1212. FREDERICK GOES TO GERMANY.]
+
+The young king, who had been educated wholly in Sicily, and who all his
+life was an Italian rather than a German, was now eighteen years old. He
+resembled his grandfather, Frederick Barbarossa, in person, was perhaps
+his equal in strength and decision of character, but far surpassed him
+or any of his imperial predecessors in knowledge and refinement. He
+spoke six languages with fluency; he was a poet and minstrel; he loved
+the arts of peace no less than those of war, yet he was a statesman and
+a leader of men. On his way to Germany, he found the Lombard cities,
+except Pavia, so hostile to him that he was obliged to cross the Alps by
+secret and dangerous paths, and when he finally reached the city of
+Constance, with only sixty followers, Otto IV. was close at hand, with a
+large army. But Constance opened its gates to the young Hohenstaufen:
+Suabia, the home of his fathers, rose in his support, and the Emperor,
+without even venturing a battle, retreated to Saxony.
+
+[Sidenote: 1220.]
+
+For nearly three years, the two rivals watched each other without
+engaging in open hostilities. The stately bearing of Frederick, which he
+inherited from Barbarossa, the charm and refinement of his manners, and
+the generosity he exhibited towards all who were friendly to his claims,
+gradually increased the number of his supporters. In 1215, Otto joined
+King John of England and the Count of Flanders in a war against Philip
+Augustus of France, and was so signally defeated that his influence in
+Germany speedily came to an end. Lorraine and Holland declared for
+Frederick, who was crowned in Aix-la-Chapelle with great pomp the same
+year. Otto died near Brunswick, three years afterwards, poor and
+unhonored.
+
+Pope Innocent III. died in 1216, and Frederick appears to have
+considered that the assistance which he had received from him was
+_personal_ and not _Papal_; for he not only laid claim to the Tuscan
+possessions, but neglected his promise to engage in a new Crusade for
+the recovery of Jerusalem, and even attempted to control the choice of
+Bishops. At the same time he took measures to secure the coronation of
+his infant son, Henry, as his successor. His journey to Rome was made in
+the year 1220. The new Pope, Honorius III., a man of a mild and yielding
+nature, nevertheless only crowned him on condition that he would observe
+the violated claims of the Church, and especially that he would strictly
+suppress all heresy in the Empire. When he had been crowned Emperor as
+Frederick II., he fixed himself in Southern Italy and Sicily for some
+years, quite neglecting his German rule, but wisely improving the
+condition of his favorite kingdom. He was signally successful in
+controlling the Saracens, whose language he spoke, whom he converted
+into subjects, and who afterwards became his best soldiers.
+
+The Pope, however, became very impatient at the non-fulfilment of
+Frederick's promises, and the latter was compelled, in 1226, to summon a
+Diet of all the German and Italian princes to meet at Verona, in order
+to make preparations for a new crusade. But the cities of Lombardy,
+fearing that the army to be raised would be used against them, adopted
+all possible measures against the meeting of the Diet, took possession
+of the passes of the Adige, and prevented the Emperor's son, the young
+king Henry of Germany, and his followers, from entering Italy. Angry and
+humiliated, Frederick was compelled to return to Sicily. The next year,
+1227, Honorius died, and the Cardinals elected as his successor Gregory
+IX., a man more than eighty years old, but of a remarkably stubborn and
+despotic nature. He immediately threatened the Emperor with
+excommunication in case the crusade for the recovery of Jerusalem was
+not at once undertaken, and the latter was compelled to obey. He hastily
+collected an army and fleet, and departed from Naples, but returned at
+the end of three days, alleging a serious illness as the cause of his
+sudden change of plan.
+
+[Sidenote: 1228. VISIT TO JERUSALEM.]
+
+He was instantly excommunicated by Gregory IX., and he replied by a
+proclamation addressed to all kings and princes,--a document breathing
+defiance and hate against the Pope and his claims. Nevertheless, in
+order to keep his word in regard to the Crusade, he went to the East
+with a large force in 1228, and obtained, by a treaty with the Sultan of
+Egypt, the possession of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and Mount
+Carmel, for ten years. His second wife, the Empress Iolanthe, was the
+daughter of Guy of Lusignan, the last king of Jerusalem; and therefore,
+when Frederick visited the holy city, he claimed the right, as Guy's
+heir, of setting the crown of Jerusalem upon his own head. The entire
+Crusade, which was not marked by any deeds of arms, occupied only eight
+months.
+
+Although he had fulfilled his agreement with Rome, the Pope declared
+that a crusade undertaken by an excommunicated Emperor was a sin, and
+did all he could to prevent Frederick's success in Palestine. But when
+the latter returned to Italy, he found that the Roman people, a majority
+of whom were on his side, had driven Gregory IX. from the city. It was
+therefore comparatively easy for him to come to an agreement, whereby
+the Pope released him from the ban, in return for being reinstated in
+Rome. This was only a truce, however, not a lasting peace: between two
+such imperious natures, peace was impossible. The agreement,
+nevertheless, gave Frederick some years of quiet, which he employed in
+regulating the affairs of his Southern-Italian kingdom. He abolished, as
+far as possible, the feudal system introduced by the Normans, and laid
+the foundation of a representative form of government. His Court at
+Palermo became the resort of learned men and poets, where Arabic,
+Provençal, Italian and German poetry was recited, where songs were sung,
+where the fine arts were encouraged, and the rude and warlike pastimes
+of former rulers gave way to the spirit of a purer civilization.
+Although, as we have said, his nature was almost wholly Italian, no
+Emperor after Charlemagne so fostered the growth of a German literature
+as Frederick II.
+
+But this constitutes his only real service to Germany. While he was
+enjoying the peaceful and prosperous development of Naples and Sicily,
+his great empire in the north was practically taking care of itself, for
+the boy-king, Henry, governed chiefly by allowing the reigning bishops,
+dukes and princes to do very much as they pleased. There was a season of
+peace with France, Hungary and Poland, and Denmark, which was then the
+only dangerous neighbor, was repelled without the Imperial assistance.
+Frederick II., in his first rivalry with Otto, had shamefully purchased
+Denmark's favor by giving up all the territory between the Elbe and the
+Oder. But when Henry, Count of Schwerin, returned from a pilgrimage to
+the Holy Land, and found the Danish king, Waldemar, in possession of his
+territory, he organized a revolt in order to recover his rights, and
+succeeded in taking Waldemar and his son prisoners. Frederick II. now
+supported him, and the Pope as a matter of course supported Denmark. A
+great battle was fought in Holstein, and the Danes were so signally
+defeated that they were forced to give up all the German territory,
+except the island of Rügen and a little strip of the Pomeranian coast,
+beside paying 45,000 silver marks for the ransom of Waldemar and his
+son.
+
+[Sidenote: 1230.]
+
+About this time, in consequence of the demand of Pope Innocent III. that
+all heresy should be treated as a crime and suppressed by force, a new
+element of conflict with Rome was introduced into Germany. Among other
+acts of violence, the Stedinger, a tribe of free farmers of Saxon blood,
+who inhabited the low country near the mouth of the Weser, were
+literally exterminated by order of the Archbishop of Bremen, to whom
+they had refused the payment of tithes. In 1230, Gregory IX. wrote to
+king Henry, urging him to crush out heresy in Germany: "Where is the
+zeal of Moses, who destroyed 23,000 idolaters in one day? Where is the
+zeal of Elijah, who slew 450 prophets with the sword, by the brook
+Kishon? Against this evil the strongest means must be used: there is
+need of steel and fire." Conrad of Marburg, a monk, who inflicted years
+of physical and spiritual suffering upon Elizabeth, Countess of
+Thuringia, in order to make a saint of her, was appointed Inquisitor for
+Germany by Gregory, and for three years he tortured and burned at will.
+His horrible cruelty at last provoked revenge: he was assassinated on
+the highway near Marburg, and his death marks the end of the Inquisition
+in Germany.
+
+In 1232, Frederick II., in order that he might seem to fulfil his
+neglected duties as German Emperor, summoned a general Diet to meet at
+Ravenna, but it was prevented by the Lombard cities, as the Diet of
+Verona had been prevented six years before. Befriended by Venice,
+however, Frederick marched to Aquileia, and there met his son, king
+Henry, after a separation of twelve years. Their respective ages were
+thirty-seven and twenty-one: there was little personal sympathy or
+affection between them, and they only came together to quarrel.
+Frederick refused to sanction most of Henry's measures; he demanded,
+among other things, that the latter should rebuild the strongholds of
+the robber-knights of Hohenlohe, which had been razed to the ground.
+This seemed to Henry an outrage as well as a humiliation, and he
+returned home with rebellion in his heart. After proclaiming himself
+independent king, he entered into an alliance with the cities of
+Lombardy and even sought the aid of the Pope.
+
+[Sidenote: 1235. FREDERICK'S MARRIAGE AT WORMS.]
+
+Early in 1235, after an absence of fifteen years, Frederick II. returned
+to Germany. The revolt, which had seemed so threatening, fell to pieces
+at his approach. He was again master of the Empire, without striking a
+blow: Henry had no course but to surrender without conditions. He was
+deposed, imprisoned, and finally sent with his family to Southern Italy,
+where he died seven years afterwards. The same summer the Emperor, whose
+wife, Iolanthe, had died some years before, was married at Worms to
+Isabella, sister of king Henry III. of England. The ceremony was
+attended with festivals of Oriental splendor; the attendants of the new
+Empress were Saracens, and she was obliged to live after the manner of
+Eastern women. Immense numbers of the nobles and people flocked to
+Worms, and soon afterwards to Mayence, where a Diet was held. Here, for
+the first time, the decrees of the Diet were publicly read in the German
+language. Frederick also, as the head of the Waiblinger party, effected
+a reconciliation with Otto of Brunswick, the head of the Welfs, whereby
+the rivalry of a hundred years came to an end in Germany; but in Italy
+the struggle between the Ghibellines and the Guelphs was continued long
+after the Hohenstaufen line became extinct.
+
+In the autumn of 1236, Frederick conquered and deposed Frederick the
+Quarrelsome, Duke of Austria, and made Vienna a free Imperial city. A
+Diet was held there, at which his second son, Konrad, then nine years
+old, was accepted as king of Germany. This choice was confirmed by
+another Diet, held the following year at Speyer. The Emperor now left
+Germany, never to return. This brief visit, of a little more than a
+year, was the only interruption in his thirty years of absence; but it
+revived his great personal influence over princes and people, it was
+marked by the full recognition of his authority, and it contributed, in
+combination with his struggle against the power of Rome which followed,
+to impress upon his reign a more splendid and successful character than
+his acts deserved. Although the remainder of his history belongs to
+Italy, it was not without importance for the later fortunes of Germany,
+and must therefore be briefly stated.
+
+[Sidenote: 1237.]
+
+On returning to Italy, Frederick found himself involved in new
+difficulties with the independent cities. He was supported by his
+son-in-law, Ezzelin, and a large army from Naples and Sicily, composed
+chiefly of Saracens. With this force he won such a victory at
+Cortenuovo, that even Milan offered to yield, under hard conditions.
+Then Frederick II. made the same mistake as his grandfather, Barbarossa,
+in similar circumstances. He demanded a complete and unconditional
+surrender, which so aroused the fear and excited the hate of the
+Lombards, that they united in a new and desperate resistance, which he
+was unable to crush. Gregory IX., who claimed for the Church the Island
+of Sardinia, which Frederick had given as a kingdom to his son Enzio,
+hurled a new excommunication against the Emperor, and the fiercest of
+all the quarrels between the two powers now began to rage.
+
+The Pope, in a proclamation, asserted of Frederick: "This pestilential
+king declares that the world has been deceived by three impostors,
+Moses, Mohammed and Christ, the two former of whom died honorably, but
+the last shamefully, upon the cross." He further styled the Emperor,
+"that beast of Revelations which came out of the sea, which now destroys
+everything with its claws and iron teeth, and, assisted by the heretics,
+arises against Christ, in order to drive his name out of the world."
+Frederick, in an answer which was sent to all the kings and princes of
+Christendom, wrote: "The Apostolic and Athanasian Creeds are mine; Moses
+I consider a friend of God, and Mohammed an arch-impostor." He described
+the Pope as "that horse in Revelations, from which, as it is written,
+issued another horse, and he that sat upon him took away the peace of
+the world, so that the living destroyed each other," and named him
+further: "the second Balaam, the great dragon, yea, even the
+Antichrist."
+
+[Sidenote: 1241. CAPTURE OF THE POPE'S COUNCIL.]
+
+Gregory IX. endeavored, but in vain, to set up a rival Emperor: the
+Princes, and even the Archbishops, were opposed to him. Frederick, who
+was not idle meanwhile, entered the States of the Church, took several
+cities, and advanced towards Rome. Then the Pope offered to call
+together a Council in Rome, to settle all matters in dispute. But those
+who were summoned to attend were Frederick's enemies, whereupon he
+issued a proclamation declaring the Council void, and warning the
+bishops and priests against coming to it. The most of them, however, met
+at Nice, in 1241, and embarked for Rome on a Genoese fleet of sixty
+vessels; but Frederick's son, Enzio, intercepted them with a Pisan and
+Sicilian fleet, captured one hundred cardinals, bishops and abbots, one
+hundred civil deputies and four thousand men, and carried them to
+Naples. The Council, therefore, could not be held, and Pope Gregory died
+soon afterwards, almost a hundred years old.
+
+After quarreling for nearly two years, the Cardinals finally elected a
+new Pope, Innocent IV. He had been a friend of the Emperor, but the
+latter exclaimed, on hearing of his election: "I fear that I have lost a
+friend among the Cardinals, and found an enemy in the chair of St.
+Peter: no Pope can be a Ghibelline!" His words were true. After
+fruitless negotiations, Innocent IV. fled to Lyons, and there called
+together a Council of the Church, which declared that Frederick had
+forfeited his crowns and dignities, that he was cast out by God, and
+should be thenceforth accursed. Frederick answered this declaration with
+a bold statement of the corruptions of the clergy, and the dangers
+arising from the temporal power of the Popes, which, he asserted, should
+be suppressed for the sake of Christianity, the early purity of which
+had been lost. King Louis IX. of France endeavored to bring about a
+suspension of the struggle, which was now beginning to disturb all
+Europe; but the Pope angrily refused.
+
+In 1246, the latter persuaded Henry Raspe, Landgrave of Thuringia, to
+claim the crown of Germany, and supported him with all the influence and
+wealth of the Church. He was defeated and wounded in the first battle,
+and soon afterwards died, leaving Frederick's son, Konrad, still king of
+Germany. In Italy, the civil war raged with the greatest bitterness, and
+with horrible barbarities on both sides. Frederick exhibited such
+extraordinary courage and determination that his enemies, encouraged by
+the Church, finally resorted to the basest means of overcoming him. A
+plot formed for his assassination was discovered in time, and the
+conspirators executed: then an attempt was made to poison him, in which
+his chancellor and intimate friend, Peter de Vinea--his companion for
+thirty years,--seems to have been implicated. At least he recommended a
+certain physician, who brought to the Emperor a poisoned medicine.
+Something in the man's manner excited Frederick's mistrust, and he
+ordered him to swallow a part of the medicine. When the latter refused,
+it was given to a condemned criminal, who immediately died. The
+physician was executed and Peter de Vinea sent to prison, where he
+committed suicide by dashing his head against the walls of his cell.
+
+[Sidenote: 1249.]
+
+In the same year, 1249, Frederick's favorite son, Enzio, king of
+Sardinia, who even surpassed his father in personal beauty, in
+accomplishments, in poetic talent and heroic courage, was taken prisoner
+by the Bolognese. All the father's offers of ransom were rejected, all
+his menaces defied: Enzio was condemned to perpetual imprisonment, and
+languished twenty-two years in a dungeon, until liberated by death.
+Frederick was almost broken-hearted, but his high courage never flagged.
+He was encompassed by enemies, he scarcely knew whom to trust, yet he
+did not yield the least of his claims. And fortune, at last, seemed
+inclined to turn to his side: a new rival king, William of Holland, whom
+the Pope had set up against him in Germany, failed to maintain himself:
+the city of Piacenza, in Lombardy, espoused his cause: the Romans, tired
+of Innocent IV.'s absence, began to talk of electing another Pope in his
+stead: and even Innocent himself was growing unpopular in France. Then,
+while he still defiantly faced the world, still had faith in his final
+triumph, the body refused to support his fiery spirit. He died in the
+arms of his youngest son, Manfred, on the 13th of December, 1250,
+fifty-six years old. He was buried at Palermo; and when his tomb there
+was opened, in the year 1783, his corpse was found to have scarcely
+undergone any decay.
+
+Frederick II. was unquestionably one of the greatest men who ever bore
+the title of German (or Roman) Emperor; yet all the benefits his reign
+conferred upon Germany were wholly of an indirect character, and were
+more than balanced by the positive injury occasioned by his neglect.
+There were strong contradictions in his nature, which make it difficult
+to judge him fairly as a ruler. As a man of great learning and
+intelligence, his ideas were liberal; as a monarch, he was violent and
+despotic. He wore out his life, trying to crush the republican cities of
+Italy; he was jealous of the growth of the free cities of Germany, yet
+granted them a representation in the Diet; and in Sicily, where his sway
+was undisputed, he was wise, just and tolerant. Representing in himself
+the highest taste and refinement of his age, he was nevertheless as
+rash, passionate and relentless as the monarchs of earlier and ruder
+times. In his struggle with the Popes, he was far in advance of his age,
+and herein, although unsuccessful, he was not subdued: in reality, he
+was one of the most powerful forerunners of the Reformation. There are
+few figures in European history so bright, so brave, so full of heroic
+and romantic interest.
+
+[Sidenote: 1250. KONRAD IV.'S REIGN.]
+
+Frederick's son and successor, Konrad IV., inherited the hate and enmity
+of Pope Innocent IV. The latter threatened with excommunication all who
+should support Konrad, and forbade the priests to administer the
+sacraments of the Church to his followers. The Papal proclamations were
+so fierce that they incited the Bishop of Ratisbon to plot the king's
+murder, in which he came very near being successful. William of Holland,
+whom the people called "the Priests' King," was not supported by any of
+the leading German princes, but the gold of Rome purchased him enough of
+troops to meet Konrad in the field, and he was temporarily successful.
+The hostility of the Pope seems scarcely to have affected Konrad's
+position in Germany; but both rulers and people were growing indifferent
+to the Imperial power, the seat of which had been so long transferred to
+Italy. They therefore took little part in the struggle between William
+and Konrad, and the latter's defeat was by no means a gain to the
+former.
+
+The two rivals, in fact, were near their end. Konrad IV. went to Italy
+and took possession of the kingdom of his father, which his
+step-brother, Manfred, governed in his name. He made an earnest attempt
+to be reconciled with the Pope, but Innocent IV. was implacable. He then
+collected an army of 20,000 men, and was about to lead it to Germany
+against William of Holland, when he suddenly died, in 1254, in the 27th
+year of his age. It was generally believed that he had been poisoned.
+William of Holland, since there was no one to dispute his claim,
+obtained a partial recognition of his sovereignty in Germany; but,
+having undertaken to subdue the free farmers in Friesland, he was
+defeated. While attempting to escape, his heavy war-horse broke through
+the ice, and the farmers surrounded and slew him. This was in 1256, two
+years after Konrad's death. Innocent IV. had expended no less than
+400,000 silver marks--a very large sum in those days--in supporting him
+and Henry Raspe against the Hohenstaufens.
+
+[Sidenote: 1256.]
+
+Konrad IV. left behind him, in Suabia, a son Konrad, who was only two
+years old at his father's death. In order to distinguish him from the
+latter, the Italians gave him the name of _Conradino_ (Little Konrad),
+and as Konradin he is known in German history. He was educated under the
+charge of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, and his uncle Ludwig II., Duke of
+Bavaria. When he was ten years old, the Archbishop of Mayence called a
+Diet, at which it was agreed that he should be crowned King of Germany,
+but the ceremony was prevented by the furious opposition of the Pope.
+Konradin made such progress in his studies and exhibited so much
+fondness for literature and the arts, that the followers of the
+Hohenstaufens saw in him another Frederick II. One of his poems is still
+in existence, and testifies to the grace and refinement of his youthful
+mind.
+
+After Konrad IV.'s death, the Pope claimed the kingdom of Naples and
+Sicily as being forfeited to the Church, but found it prudent to allow
+Manfred to govern in his name. The latter submitted at first, but only
+until his authority was firmly established: then he declared war,
+defeated the Papal troops, drove them back to Rome, and was crowned king
+in 1258. The news of his success so agitated the Pope that he died
+shortly afterwards. His successor, Urban IV., a Frenchman, who imitated
+his policy, found Manfred too strongly established to be defeated
+without foreign aid. He therefore offered the crown of Southern Italy to
+Charles of Anjou, the brother of king Louis IX. of France. Physically
+and intellectually, there could be no greater contrast than between him
+and Manfred. Charles of Anjou was awkward and ugly, savage, ignorant and
+bigoted: Manfred was a model of manly beauty, a scholar and poet, a
+patron of learning, a builder of roads, bridges and harbors, a just and
+noble ruler.
+
+Charles of Anjou, after being crowned king of Naples and Sicily by the
+Pope, and having secured secret advantages by bribery and intrigue,
+marched against Manfred in 1266. They met at Benevento, where, after a
+long and bloody battle, Manfred was slain, and the kingdom submitted to
+the usurper. By the Pope's order, Manfred's body was taken from the
+chapel where it had been buried, and thrown into a trench: his widow and
+children were imprisoned for life by Charles of Anjou.
+
+[Sidenote: 1268. KONRADIN IN ITALY.]
+
+The boy Konradin determined to avenge his uncle's death, and recover his
+own Italian inheritance. His mother sought to dissuade him from the
+attempt, but Ludwig of Bavaria offered to support him, and his dearest
+friend, Frederick of Baden, a youth of nineteen, insisted on sharing his
+fortunes. Towards the end of 1267, he crossed the Alps and reached
+Verona with a force of 10,000 men. Here he was obliged to wait three
+months for further support, and during this time more than two-thirds of
+his German soldiers returned home. But a reaction against the Guelphs
+(the Papal party) had set in; several Lombard cities and the Republic of
+Pisa declared in Konradin's favor, and finally the Romans, at his
+approach, expelled Pope Urban IV. A revolt against Charles of Anjou
+broke out in Naples and Sicily, and when Konradin entered Rome, in July,
+1268, his success seemed almost assured. After a most enthusiastic
+reception by the Roman people, he continued his march southward, with a
+considerable force.
+
+On the 22d of August he met Charles of Anjou in battle, and was at first
+victorious. But his troops, having halted to plunder the enemy's camp,
+were suddenly attacked, and at last completely routed. Konradin and his
+friend, Frederick of Baden, fled to Rome, and thence to the little port
+of Astura, on the coast, in order to embark for Sicily; but here they
+were arrested by Frangipani, the Governor of the place, who had been
+specially favored by the Emperor Frederick II., and now sold his
+grandson to Charles of Anjou for a large sum of money. Konradin having
+been carried to Naples, a court of distinguished jurists was called, to
+try him for high treason. With one exception, they pronounced him
+guiltless of any crime; yet Charles, nevertheless, ordered him to be
+executed.
+
+[Sidenote: 1268.]
+
+On the 29th of October, 1268, the last Hohenstaufen, a youth of sixteen,
+and his friend Frederick, were led to the scaffold. Charles watched the
+scene from a window of his palace; the people, gloomy and mutinous, were
+overawed by his guards. Konradin advanced to the edge of the platform
+and threw his glove among the crowd, asking that it might be carried to
+some one who would avenge his death. A knight who was present took it
+afterwards to Peter of Aragon, who had married king Manfred's eldest
+daughter. Then, with the exclamation: "Oh, mother, what sorrow I have
+prepared for thee!" Konradin knelt and received the fatal blow. After
+him Frederick of Baden and thirteen others were executed.
+
+The tyranny and inhuman cruelty of Charles of Anjou provoked a
+conspiracy which, in the year 1282, gave rise to the massacre called
+"the Sicilian Vespers." In one night all the French officials and
+soldiers in Sicily were slaughtered, and Peter of Aragon, the heir of
+the Hohenstaufens, became king of the island. But in Germany the proud
+race existed no more, except in history, legend and song.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+GERMANY AT THE TIME OF THE INTERREGNUM.
+
+(1256--1273.)
+
+Change in the Character of the German Empire. --Richard of Cornwall and
+    Alphonso of Castile purchase their election. --The Interregnum.
+    --Effect of the Crusades. --Heresy and Persecution. --The Orders of
+    Knighthood. --Conquests of the German Order. --Rise of the Cities.
+    --Robber-Knights. --The Hanseatic League. --Population and Power of
+    the Cities. --Gothic Architecture. --The Universities. --Seven
+    Classes of the People. --The small States. --Service of the
+    Hohenstaufens to Germany. --Epic Poetry of the Middle Ages.
+    --Historical writers.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1256. CHANGES IN GERMANY.]
+
+The end of the Hohenstaufen dynasty marks an important phase in the
+history of Germany. From this time the character of the Empire is
+radically changed. Although still called "Roman" in official documents,
+the term is henceforth an empty form, and even the word "Empire" loses
+much of its former significance. The Italian Republics were now
+practically independent, and the various dukedoms, bishoprics,
+principalities and countships, into which Germany was divided, were fast
+rendering it difficult to effect any unity of feeling or action among
+the people. The Empire which Charlemagne designed, which Otto the Great
+nearly established, and which Barbarossa might have founded, but for the
+fatal ambition of governing Italy, had become impossible. Germany was,
+in reality, a loose confederation of differently organized and governed
+States, which continued to make use of the form of an Empire as a
+convenience rather than a political necessity.
+
+The events which followed the death of Konrad IV. illustrate the corrupt
+condition of both Church and State at that time. The money which Pope
+Innocent IV. so freely expended in favor of the anti-kings, Henry Raspe
+and William of Holland, had already taught the Electors the advantage of
+selling their votes: so, when William was slain by the farmers of
+Friesland, and no German prince seemed to care much for the title of
+Emperor (since each already had independent power over his own
+territory), the high dignity so recently possessed by Frederick II., was
+put up at auction. Two bidders made their appearance, Richard of
+Cornwall, brother of Henry III. of England, and king Alphonso of
+Castile, surnamed "the Wise." The Archbishop of Cologne was the business
+agent of the former: he received 12,000 silver marks for himself, and
+eight or nine thousand apiece for the Dukes of Bavaria, the Archbishop
+of Mayence, and several other electors. The Archbishop of Treves, in the
+name of king Alphonso, offered the king of Bohemia, the Dukes of Saxony
+and the Margrave of Brandenburg 20,000 marks each. Of course both
+purchasers were elected, and they were proclaimed kings of Germany
+almost at the same time. Alphonso never even visited his realm: Richard
+of Cornwall came to Aix-la-Chapelle, was formally crowned, and returned
+now and then, whenever the produce of his tin-mines in Cornwall enabled
+him to pay for an enthusiastic reception by the people. He never
+attempted, however, to govern Germany, for he probably had intelligence
+enough to see that any such attempt would be disregarded.
+
+[Sidenote: 1256.]
+
+This period was afterwards called by the people "the Evil Time when
+there was no Emperor"--and, in spite of the two kings, who had fairly
+paid for their titles, it is known in German history as "the
+Interregnum." It was a period of change and confusion, when each prince
+endeavored to become an absolute ruler, and the knights, in imitating
+them, became robbers; when the free cities, encouraged by the example of
+Italy, united in self-defence, and the masses of the people, although
+ground to the dust, began to dream again of the rights which their
+ancestors had possessed a thousand years before.
+
+First of all, the great change wrought in Europe by the Crusades was
+beginning to be felt by all classes of society. The attempt to retain
+possession of Palestine, which lasted nearly two hundred years,--from
+the march of the First Crusade in 1096 to the fall of Acre in
+1291,--cost Europe, it is estimated, six millions of lives, and an
+immense amount of treasure. The Roman Church favored the undertaking in
+every possible way, since each Crusade instantly and greatly
+strengthened its power; yet the result was the reverse of what the
+Church hoped for, in the end. The bravery, intelligence and refined
+manners of the Saracens made a great impression on the Christian
+knights, and they soon began to imitate those whom they had at first
+despised. New branches of learning, especially astronomy, mathematics
+and medicine, were brought to Europe from the East; more luxurious
+habits of life, giving rise to finer arts of industry, followed; and
+commerce, compelled to supply the Crusaders and Christian colonists at
+such a distance, was rapidly developed to an extent unknown since the
+fall of the Roman Empire.
+
+[Sidenote: 1256. GROWTH OF INDEPENDENT SECTS.]
+
+As men gained new ideas from these changes, they became more independent
+in thought and speech. The priests and monks ceased to monopolize all
+knowledge, and their despotism over the human mind met with resistance.
+Then, first, the charge of "heresy" began to be heard; and although
+during the thirteenth and a part of the fourteenth centuries the Pope of
+Rome was undoubtedly the highest power in Europe, the influences were
+already at work which afterwards separated the strongest races of the
+world from the Roman Church. On the one hand, new orders of monks were
+created, and monasteries increased everywhere: on the other hand,
+independent Christian sects began to spring up, like the Albigenses in
+France and the Waldenses in Savoy, and could not be wholly suppressed,
+even with fire and sword.
+
+The orders of knighthood which possessed a religious character, were
+also established during the Crusades. First the Knights of St. John,
+whose badge was a black mantle with a white cross, formed a society to
+guard pilgrims to the Holy Land, and take care of the sick. Then
+followed the Knights Templar, distinguished by a red cross on a white
+mantle. Both these orders originated among the Italian chivalry, and
+they included few German members. During the Third Crusade, however
+(which was headed by Barbarossa), the German Order of Knights was
+formed, chiefly by the aid of the merchants of Bremen and Lübeck. They
+adopted the black cross on a white mantle as their badge, took the
+monkish vows of celibacy, poverty and obedience, like the Templars and
+the Knights of St. John, and devoted their lives to war with the
+heathen. The second Grand-Master of this order, Hermann of Salza,
+accompanied Frederick II. to Jerusalem, and his character was so highly
+estimated by the latter that he made him a prince of the German Empire.
+
+[Sidenote: 1256.]
+
+Inasmuch as the German Order really owed its existence to the support
+of the merchants of the Northern coast, Hermann of Salza sought for a
+field of labor wherein the knights might fulfil their vows, and at the
+same time achieve some advantage for their benefactors. As early as
+1199, the Bremen merchants had founded Riga, taken possession of the
+eastern shore of the Baltic and established German colonies there. The
+native Finnish or Lithuanian inhabitants were either exterminated or
+forcibly converted to Christianity, and an order, called "the Brothers
+of the Sword," was established for the defence of the colonies. This new
+German territory was separated from the rest of the Empire by the
+country between the mouths of the Vistula and the Memel, claimed by
+Poland, and inhabited by the Borussii, or _Prussians_, a tribe which
+seems to have been of mixed Slavic and Lithuanian blood. Hermann of
+Salza obtained from Poland the permission to possess this country for
+the German Order, and he gradually conquered or converted the native
+Prussians. In the meantime the Brothers of the Sword were so hard
+pressed by a revolt of the Livonians that they united themselves with
+the German Order, and thenceforth formed a branch of it. The result of
+this union was that the whole coast of the Baltic, from Holstein to the
+Gulf of Finland, was secured to Germany, and became civilized and
+Christian.
+
+During the thirty-five years of Frederick II.'s reign and the seventeen
+succeeding years of the Interregnum, Germany was in a condition which
+allowed the strong to make themselves stronger, yet left the weaker
+classes without any protection. The reigning Dukes and Archbishops were,
+of course, satisfied with this state of affairs; the independent counts
+and barons with large possessions maintained their power by temporary
+alliances; the inferior nobles, left to themselves, became robbers of
+land, and highwaymen. With the introduction of new arts and the wider
+extension of commerce, the cities of Germany had risen in wealth and
+power, and were beginning to develop an intelligent middle-class,
+standing between the farmers, who had sunk almost into the condition of
+serfs, and the lesser nobles, most of whom were equally poor and proud.
+Upwards of sixty cities were free municipalities, belonging to the
+Empire on the same terms as the dukedoms; that is, they contributed a
+certain proportion of men and money, and were bound to obey the decrees
+of the Imperial Diets.
+
+[Sidenote: 1256. ROBBER-KNIGHTS.--CITIES.]
+
+As soon, therefore, as there was no superior authority to maintain order
+and security in the land, a large number of the knights became
+freebooters, plundering and laying waste whenever opportunity offered,
+attacking the caravans of travelling merchants, and accumulating the
+ill-gotten wealth in their strong castles. Many an aristocratic family
+of the present day owes its inheritance to that age of robbery and
+murder. The people had few secured rights and no actual freedom in
+Germany, with the exception of Friesland, some parts of Saxony and the
+Alpine districts.
+
+In this condition of things, the free cities soon found it advisable to
+assist each other. Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck first formed a union,
+chiefly for commercial purposes, in 1241, and this was the foundation of
+the famous Hanseatic League. Immediately after the death of Konrad IV.,
+Mayence, Speyer, Worms, Strasburg and Basel formed the "Union of Rhenish
+Cities," for the preservation of peace and the mutual protection of
+their citizens. Many other cities, and even a number of reigning princes
+and bishops, soon became members of this league, which for a time
+exercised considerable power. The principal German cities were then even
+more important than now; few of them have gained in population or in
+relative wealth in the course of 600 years. Cologne had then 120,000
+inhabitants, Mayence 90,000, Worms 60,000, and Ratisbon on the Danube
+upwards of 120,000. The cities of the Rhine had agencies in England and
+other countries, carried on commerce on the high seas, and owned no less
+than 600 armed vessels, with which they guarded the Rhine from the
+land-pirates whose castles overlooked its course.
+
+During this age of civil and religious despotism, the German cities
+possessed and preserved the only free institutions to be found. They
+owed this privilege to the heroic resistance of the republican cities of
+Italy to the Hohenstaufens, which not only set them an example but
+fought in their stead. Sure of the loyalty of the German cities, the
+Emperors were not so jealous of their growth; but some of the rights
+which they conferred were reluctantly given, and probably in return for
+men or money during the wars in Italy. The decree which changed a
+vassal, or dependent, into a free man after a year's residence in a
+city, helped greatly to build up a strong and intelligent middle-class.
+The merchants, professional men and higher artisans gradually formed a
+patrician society, out of which the governing officers were selected,
+while the mechanics, for greater protection, organized themselves into
+separate guilds, or orders. Each of the latter was very watchful of the
+character and reputation of its members, and thus exercised a strong
+moral influence. The farmers, only, had no such protection: very few of
+them were not dependent vassals of some nobleman or priest.
+
+[Sidenote: 1260.]
+
+The cities, in the thirteenth century, began to exhibit a stately
+architectural character. The building of splendid cathedrals and
+monasteries, which began two centuries before, now gave employment to
+such a large number of architects and stone-cutters, that they formed a
+free corporation, under the name of "Brother-builders," with especial
+rights and privileges, all over Germany. Their labors were supported by
+the power of the Church, the wealth of the merchants and the toil of the
+vassals, and the masterpieces of Gothic architecture arose under their
+hands. The grand Cathedrals of Strasburg, Freiburg and Cologne with many
+others, yet remain as monuments of their genius and skill. But the
+private dwellings, also, now began to display the wealth and taste of
+their owners. They were usually built very high, with pointed gables
+facing the street, and adorned with sculptured designs: frequently the
+upper stories projected over the lower, forming a shelter for the open
+shops in the first story. As the cities were walled for defence, the
+space within the walls was too valuable to be given to wide squares and
+streets: hence there was usually one open market-place, which also
+served for all public ceremonies, and the streets were dark and narrow.
+
+In spite of the prevailing power of the Roman Church, the Universities
+now began to exercise some influence. Those of Bologna and Padua were
+frequented by throngs of students, who attended the schools of law,
+while the University of Salerno, under the patronage of Manfred, became
+a distinguished school of medicine. The Arabic university of Cordova, in
+Spain, also attracted many students from all the Christian lands of
+Europe. Works on all branches of knowledge were greatly multiplied, so
+that the copying of them became a new profession. For the first time,
+there were written forms of law for the instruction of the people. In
+the northern part of Germany appeared a work called "The Saxon's
+Looking-Glass," which was soon accepted as a legal authority by the
+people. But it was too liberal for the priests, and under their
+influence another work, "The Suabian's Looking-Glass," was written and
+circulated in Southern Germany. The former book declares that the
+Emperor has his power from God; the latter that he has it from the Pope.
+The Saxon is told that no man can justly hold another man as property,
+and that the people were made vassals through force and wrong; the
+Suabian is taught that obedience to rulers is his chief duty.
+
+[Sidenote: 1260. CLASSES OF THE PEOPLE.]
+
+From these two works, which are still in existence, we learn how
+complicated was the political organization of Germany. The whole free
+population was divided into seven classes, each having its own
+privileges and rules of government. First, there was the Emperor;
+secondly, the Spiritual Princes, as they were called (Archbishops,
+reigning Bishops, &c.); thirdly, the Temporal Princes, some of whom were
+partly or wholly "Vassals" of the Spiritual authority; and fourthly, the
+Counts and Barons who possessed territory, either independently, or as
+_Lehen_ of the second and third classes. These four classes constituted
+the higher nobility, by whom the Emperor was chosen, and each of whom
+had the right to be a candidate. Seven princes were specially entitled
+"Electors," because the nomination of a candidate for Emperor came from
+them. There were three Spiritual--the Archbishops of Mayence, Treves and
+Cologne; and four Temporal--the Dukes of Bavaria and Saxony, the
+Margrave of Brandenburg and the King of Bohemia.
+
+The fifth class embraced the free citizens from among whom magistrates
+were chosen, and who were allowed to possess certain privileges of the
+nobles. The sixth and seventh classes were formed out of the remaining
+freemen, according to their circumstances and occupations. The serfs and
+dependents had no place in this system of government, so that a large
+majority of the German people possessed no other recognized right than
+that of being ruled and punished. In fact, the whole political system
+was so complicated and unpractical that we can only wonder how Germany
+endured it for centuries afterwards.
+
+At the end of the Hohenstaufen dynasty there were one hundred and
+sixteen priestly rulers, one hundred ruling dukes, princes, counts and
+barons, and more than sixty independent cities in Germany. The larger
+dukedoms had been cut up into smaller states, many of which exist,
+either as states or provinces, at this day. Styria and Tyrol were
+separated from Bavaria; the principalities of Westphalia, Anhalt,
+Holstein, Jülich, Berg, Cleves, Pomerania and Mecklenburg were formed
+out of Saxony; Suabia was divided into Würtemberg and Baden, the
+Palatinate of the Rhine detached from Franconia and Hesse from
+Thuringia. Each of the principal German races was distinguished by two
+colors--the Franks red and white, the Suabians red and yellow, the
+Bavarians blue and white, and the Saxons black and white. The Saxon
+_black_, the Frank _red_, and the Suabian _gold_ were set together as
+the Imperial colors.
+
+[Sidenote: 1260.]
+
+The chief service of the Hohenstaufens to Germany lay in their direct
+and generous encouragement of art, learning and literature. They took up
+the work commenced by Charlemagne and so disastrously thwarted by his
+son Ludwig the Pious, and in the course of a hundred years they
+developed what might be called a golden age of architecture and epic
+poetry, so strongly does it contrast with the four centuries before and
+the three succeeding it. The immediate connection between Germany and
+Italy, where the most of Roman culture had survived and the higher forms
+of civilization were first restored, was in this single respect a great
+advantage to the former country. We cannot ascertain how many of the
+nobler characteristics of knighthood, in that age, sprang from the
+religious spirit which prompted the Crusades, and how many originated
+from intercourse with the refined and high-spirited Saracens; both
+elements, undoubtedly, tended to revive the almost forgotten love of
+poetry in the German race.
+
+[Sidenote: 1270. GERMAN EPIC POEMS.]
+
+When the knights of Provence and Italy became as proud of their songs as
+of their feats of arms; when minstrels accompanied the court of
+Frederick II. and the Emperor himself wrote poems in rivalry with them;
+when the Duke of Austria and the Landgrave Hermann of Thuringia invited
+the best poets of the time to visit them and received them as
+distinguished guests, and when wandering minstrels and story-tellers
+repeated their works in a simpler form to the people everywhere, it was
+not long before a new literature was created. Walter von der Vogelweide,
+who accompanied Frederick II. to Jerusalem, wrote not only songs of love
+and poems in praise of Nature, but satires against the Pope and the
+priesthood. Godfrey of Strasburg produced an epic poem describing the
+times of king Arthur of the Round Table, and Wolfram of Eschenbach, in
+his "Parcival," celebrated the search for the Holy Grail; while inferior
+poets related the histories of Alexander the Great, the Siege of Troy,
+or Charlemagne's knight, Roland. Among the people arose the story of
+Reynard the Fox, and a multitude of fables; and finally, during the
+thirteenth century, was produced the celebrated _Nibelungenlied_, or
+Song of the Nibelungen, wherein traditions of Siegfried of the
+Netherlands, Theodoric the Ostrogoth and Attila with his Huns are mixed
+together in a powerful story of love, rivalry and revenge. The most of
+these poems are written in a Suabian dialect, which is now called the
+"Middle (or Mediæval) High-German."
+
+Among the historical writers were Bishop Otto of Friesing, whose
+chronicles of the time are very valuable, and Saxo Grammaticus, in whose
+history of Denmark Shakspeare found the material for his play of
+_Hamlet_. Albertus Magnus, the Bishop of Ratisbon, was so distinguished
+as a mathematician and man of science that the people believed him to be
+a sorcerer. There was, in short, a general intellectual awakening
+throughout Germany, and, although afterwards discouraged by many of the
+276 smaller powers, it was favored by others and could not be
+suppressed. Besides, greater changes were approaching. A hundred years
+after Frederick II.'s death gunpowder was discovered, and the common
+soldier became the equal of the knight. In another hundred years,
+Gutenberg invented printing, and then followed, rapidly, the Discovery
+of America and the Reformation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+FROM RUDOLF OF HAPSBURG TO LUDWIG THE BAVARIAN.
+
+(1273--1347.)
+
+Rudolf of Hapsburg. --His Election as Emperor. --Meeting with Pope
+    Gregory X. --War with Ottokar II. of Bohemia. --Rudolf's Victories.
+    --Diet of Augsburg. --Suppression of Robber-Knights. --Rudolf's
+    Second Marriage. --His Death. --His Character and Habits. --Adolf
+    of Nassau elected. --His Rapacity and Dishonesty. --Albert of
+    Hapsburg Rival Emperor. --Adolf's Death. --Albert's Character.
+    --Quarrel with Pope Bonifacius. --Albert's Plans. --Revolt of the
+    Swiss Cantons. --John Parricida murders the Emperor. --The Popes
+    remove to Avignon. --Henry of Luxemburg elected Emperor. --His
+    Efforts to restore Peace. --His Welcome to Italy, and Coronation.
+    --He is Poisoned. --Ludwig of Bavaria elected. --Battle of
+    Morgarten. --Frederick of Austria captured. --The Papal
+    "Interdict." --Conspiracy of Leopold of Austria. --Ludwig's Visit
+    to Italy. --His Superstition and Cowardice. --His Efforts to be
+    reconciled to the Pope. --Treachery of Philip VI. of France. --The
+    Convention at Rense. --Alliance with England. --Ludwig's
+    Unpopularity. --Karl of Bohemia Rival Emperor. --Ludwig's Death.
+    --The German Cities.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1272.]
+
+Richard of Cornwall died in 1272, and the German princes seemed to be in
+no haste to elect a successor. The Pope, Gregory X., finally demanded an
+election, for the greater convenience of having to deal with one head,
+instead of a multitude; and the Archbishop of Mayence called a Diet
+together at Frankfort, the following year. He proposed, as candidate,
+Count Rudolf of Hapsburg (or Habsburg), a petty ruler in Switzerland,
+who had also possessions in Alsatia. Up to his time the family had been
+insignificant; but, as a zealous partisan of Frederick II. in whose
+excommunication he had shared, as a crusader against the heathen
+Prussians, and finally, in his maturer years, as a man of great
+prudence, moderation and firmness, he had made the name of Hapsburg
+generally and quite favorably known. His brother-in-law, Count Frederick
+of Hohenzollern, the Burgrave, or Governor, of the city of Nuremburg
+(and the founder of the present house of the Hohenzollerns), advocated
+Rudolf's election among the members of the Diet. The chief
+considerations in his favor were his personal character, his lack of
+power, and the circumstance of his possessing six marriageable
+daughters. There were also private stipulations which secured him the
+support of the priesthood, and so he was elected King of Germany.
+
+[Sidenote: 1273. RUDOLF OF HABSBURG.]
+
+Rudolf was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle. At the close of the ceremony it
+was discovered that the Imperial sceptre was missing, whereupon he took
+a crucifix from the altar, and held it forth to the princes, who came to
+swear allegiance to his rule. He was at this time fifty-five years of
+age, extremely tall and lank, with a haggard face and large aquiline
+nose. Although he was always called "Emperor" by the people, he never
+received, or even desired, the imperial Crown of Rome. He was in the
+habit of saying that Rome was the den of the lion, into which led the
+tracks of many other animals, but none were seen leading out of it
+again.
+
+It was easy for him, therefore, to conclude a peace with the Pope. He
+met Gregory X. at Lausanne, and there formally renounced all claim to
+the rights held by the Hohenstaufens in Italy. He even recognized
+Charles of Anjou as king of Sicily and Naples, and betrothed one of his
+daughters to the latter's son. The Church of Rome received possession of
+all the territory it had claimed in Central Italy, and the Lombard and
+Tuscan republics were left for awhile undisturbed. He further promised
+to undertake a new Crusade for the recovery of Jerusalem, and was then
+solemnly recognized by Gregory X. as rightful king of Germany.
+
+But, although Rudolf had so readily given up all for which the
+Hohenstaufens had struggled in Italy, he at once claimed their estates
+in Germany as belonging to the crown. This brought him into conflict
+with Counts Ulric and Eberhard II. of Würtemberg, who were also allied
+with king Ottokar II. of Bohemia in opposition to his authority. The
+latter had obtained possession of Austria, through marriage, and of all
+Styria and Carinthia to the Adriatic by purchase. He was ambitious and
+defiant: some historians suppose that he hoped to make himself Emperor
+of Germany, others that his object was to establish a powerful Slavonic
+nation. Rudolf did not delay long in declaring him outlawed, and in
+calling upon the other princes for an army to lead against him. The call
+was received with indifference: no one feared the new Emperor, and hence
+no one obeyed.
+
+[Sidenote: 1278.]
+
+Gathering together such troops as his son-in-law, Ludwig of the Bavarian
+Palatinate, could furnish, Rudolf marched into Austria, after he had
+restored order in Würtemberg. A revolt of the Austrian and Styrian
+nobles against Bohemian rule followed this movement: the country was
+gradually reconquered, and Vienna, after a siege of five weeks, fell
+into Rudolf's hands. Ottokar II. then found it advisable to make peace
+with the man whom he had styled "a poor Count," by giving up his claim
+to Austria, Styria and Carinthia, and paying homage to the Emperor of
+Germany. In October, 1276, the treaty was concluded. Ottokar appeared in
+all the splendor he could command, and was received by Rudolf in a
+costume not very different from that of a common soldier. "The Bohemian
+king has often laughed at my gray coat," he said; "but now my coat shall
+laugh at him." Ottokar was enraged at what he considered an insulting
+humiliation, and secretly plotted revenge. For nearly two years he
+intrigued with the States of Northern Germany and the Poles, collected a
+large army under the pretext of conquering Hungary, and suddenly
+declared war against Rudolf.
+
+The Emperor was only supported by the Count of Tyrol, by Frederick of
+Hohenzollern and a few bishops, but he procured the alliance of the
+Hungarians, and then marched against Ottokar with a much inferior force.
+Nevertheless, he was completely victorious in the battle which took
+place, on the river March, in August, 1278. Ottokar was killed, and his
+Saxon and Bavarian allies scattered. Rudolf used his victory with a
+moderation which secured him new advantages. He married one of his
+daughters to Wenzel, Ottokar's son, and allowed him the crown of Bohemia
+and Moravia; he gave Carinthia to the Count of Tyrol, and Austria and
+Styria to his own sons, Rudolf and Albert. Towards the other German
+princes he was so conciliatory and forbearing that they found no cause
+for further opposition. Thus the influence of the House of Hapsburg was
+permanently founded, and--curiously enough, when we consider the later
+history of Germany--chiefly by the help of the founder of the House of
+Hohenzollern.
+
+[Sidenote: 1285. RUDOLF'S SUCCESSES.]
+
+After spending five years in Austria, and securing the results of his
+victory, Rudolf returned to the interior of Germany. A Diet held at
+Augsburg in 1282 confirmed his sons in their new sovereignties, and his
+authority as German Emperor was thenceforth never seriously opposed. He
+exerted all his influence over the princes in endeavoring to settle the
+numberless disputes which arose out of the law by which the territory
+and rule of the father were divided among many sons,--or, in case there
+were no direct heirs, which gave more than one relative an equal claim.
+He proclaimed a National Peace, or cessation of quarrels between the
+States, and thereby accomplished some good, although the order was only
+partially obeyed. At a Diet which he held in Erfurt, he urged the
+strongest measures for the suppression of knightly robbery. Sixty
+castles of the noble highwaymen were razed to the ground, and more than
+thirty of the titled vagabonds expiated their crimes on the scaffold. In
+all the measures which he undertook for the general welfare of the
+country he succeeded as far as was possible at such a time.
+
+In his schemes of personal ambition, however, the Emperor was not so
+successful. His attempt to make his eldest son Duke of Suabia failed
+completely. Then in order to establish a right to Burgundy, he married,
+at the age of sixty-six, the sister of Count Robert, a girl of only
+fourteen. Although he gained some few advantages in Western Switzerland,
+he was resisted by the city of Berne, and all he accomplished in the end
+was the stirring up of a new hostility to Germany and a new friendship
+for France throughout the whole of Burgundy. On the eastern frontier,
+however, the Empire was enlarged by the voluntary annexation of Silesia
+to Bohemia, in exchange for protection against the claims of Poland.
+
+In 1290 Rudolf's eldest son, of the same name, died, and at a Diet held
+in Frankfort the following year he endeavored to procure the election of
+his son Albert, as his successor. A majority of the bishops and princes
+decided to postpone the question, and Rudolf left the city, deeply
+mortified. He soon afterwards fell ill, and, being warned by the
+physician that his case was serious, he exclaimed: "Well, then, now for
+Speyer!"--the old burial-place of the German Emperors. But before
+reaching there he died, in July, 1291, aged seventy-three years.
+
+[Sidenote: 1291.]
+
+Rudolf of Hapsburg was very popular among the common people, on account
+of his frank, straightforward manner, and the simplicity of his habits.
+He was a complete master of his own passions, and in this respect
+contrasted remarkably with the rash and impetuous Hohenstaufens. He
+never showed impatience or irritation, but was always good-humored, full
+of jests and shrewd sayings, and accessible to all classes. When
+supplies were short, he would pull up a turnip, peel and eat it in the
+presence of his soldiers, to show that he fared no better than they, he
+would refuse a drink of water unless there was enough for all; and it is
+related that once, on a cold day, he went into the shop of a baker in
+Mayence to warm himself, and was greatly amused when the good housewife
+insisted on turning him out as a suspicious character. Nevertheless, he
+could not overcome the fascination which the Hohenstaufen name still
+exercised over the people. The idea of Barbarossa's return had already
+taken root among them, and more than one impostor, who claimed to be the
+dead Emperor, found enough of followers to disturb Rudolf's reign.
+
+An Imperial authority like that of Otto the Great or Barbarossa had not
+been restored; yet Rudolf's death left the Empire in a more orderly
+condition, and the many small rulers were more willing to continue the
+forms of Government. But the Archbishop Gerard of Mayence, who had
+bargained secretly with Count Adolf of Nassau, easily persuaded the
+Electors that it was impolitic to preserve the power in one family, and
+he thus secured their votes for Adolf, who was crowned shortly
+afterwards. The latter was even poorer than Rudolf of Hapsburg had been,
+but without either his wisdom or honesty. He was forced to part with so
+many Imperial privileges to secure his election, that his first policy
+seems to have been to secure money and estates for himself. He sold to
+Visconti of Milan the Viceroyalty over Lombardy, which he claimed as
+still being a German right, and received from Edward I. of England
+£100,000 sterling as the price of his alliance in a war against Philip
+IV. of France. Instead, however, of keeping his part of the bargain, he
+used some of the money to purchase Thuringia of the Landgrave Albert,
+who was carrying on an unnatural quarrel with his two sons, Frederick
+and Dietzmann, and thus disposed of their inheritance. Albert (surnamed
+the Degenerate) also disposed of the Countship of Meissen in the same
+way, and when the people resisted the transfer, their lands were
+terribly devastated by Adolf of Nassau. This course was a direct
+interference with the rights of reigning families, a violation of the
+law of inheritance, and it excited great hostility to Adolf's rule among
+the other princes.
+
+[Sidenote: 1298. ALBERT OF HABSBURG.]
+
+The rapacity of the new Emperor, in fact, was the cause of his speedy
+downfall. In order to secure the support of the Bishops, he had promised
+them the tolls on vessels sailing up and down the Rhine, while the
+abolition of the same tolls was promised to the free cities on that
+river. The Archbishop of Mayence sent word to him that he had other
+Emperors in his pocket, but Adolf paid little heed to his remonstrances.
+Albert of Hapsburg, son of Rudolf, turned the general dissatisfaction to
+his own advantage. He won his brother-in-law, Wenzel II. of Bohemia, to
+his side, and purchased the alliance of Philip the Fair of France by
+yielding to him the possession of portions of Burgundy and Flanders.
+After private negotiations with the German princes, both spiritual and
+temporal, the Archbishop of Mayence called a Diet together in that city,
+in June, 1298. Adolf was declared to have forfeited the crown, and
+Albert was elected in his stead by all the Electors except those of
+Treves and Bavaria.
+
+Within ten days after the election the rivals met in battle: both had
+foreseen the struggle, and had made hasty preparations to meet it. Adolf
+fought with desperation, even after being wounded, and finally came face
+to face with Albert, on the field. "Here you must yield the Empire to
+me!" he cried, drawing his sword. "That rests with God," was Albert's
+answer, and he struck Adolf dead. After this victory, the German princes
+nevertheless required that Albert should be again elected before being
+crowned, since they feared that this precedent of choosing a rival
+monarch might lead to trouble in the future.
+
+Albert of Hapsburg was a hard, cold man, with all of his father's will
+and energy, yet without his moderation and shrewdness. He was haughty
+and repellent in his manner, and from first to last made no friends. He
+was one-eyed, on account of a singular cure which had been practised
+upon him. Having become very ill, his physicians suspected that he was
+poisoned: they thereupon hung him up by the heels, and took one eye out
+of its socket, so that the poison might thus escape from his head! The
+single aim of his life was to increase the Imperial power and secure it
+to his own family. Whether his measures conduced to the welfare of
+Germany, or not, was a question which he did not consider, and
+therefore whatever good he accomplished was simply accidental.
+
+[Sidenote: 1307.]
+
+Although Albert had agreed to yield many privileges to the Church, the
+Pope, Bonifacius VIII., refused to acknowledge him as king of Germany,
+declaring that the election was null and void. But the same Pope, by his
+haughty assumptions of authority over all monarchs, had drawn upon
+himself the enmity of Philip the Fair, of France, and Albert made a new
+alliance with the latter. He also obtained the support of the cities, on
+promising to abolish the Rhine-dues, and with their help completely
+subdued the Archbishops, who claimed the dues and refused to give them
+up. This was a great advantage, not only for the Rhine-cities, but for
+all Germany: it tended to strengthen the power of the increasing
+middle-class.
+
+The Pope, finding his plans thwarted and his authority defied, now began
+to make friendly overtures to Albert. He had already excommunicated
+Philip the Fair, and claimed the right to dispose of the crown of
+France, which he offered to Albert in return for the latter's subjection
+to him and armed assistance. There was danger to Germany in this
+tempting bait; but in 1303, Bonifacius, having been taken prisoner near
+Rome by his Italian enemies, became insane from rage, and soon died.
+
+Albert's stubborn and selfish attempts to increase the power of his
+house all failed: their only result was a wider and keener spirit of
+hostility to his rule. He claimed Thuringia and Meissen, alleging that
+Adolf of Nassau had purchased those lands, not for himself but for the
+Empire; he endeavored to get possession of Holland, whose line of ruling
+Counts had become extinct; and after the death of Wenzel II. of Bohemia,
+in 1307, he married his son, Rudolf, to the latter's widow. But Counts
+Frederick and Dietzmann of Thuringia defeated his army: the people of
+Holland elected a descendant of their Counts on the female side, and the
+Emperor's son, Rudolf, died in Bohemia, apparently poisoned, before two
+years were out. Then the Swiss cantons of Schwyz, Uri and Unterwalden,
+which had been governed by civil officers appointed by the Emperors,
+rose in revolt against him, and drove his governors from their Alpine
+valleys. In November, 1307, that famous league was formed, by which the
+three cantons maintained their independence, and laid the first
+corner-stone of the Republic of Switzerland.
+
+[Sidenote: 1308. MURDER OF ALBRECHT OF HABSBURG.]
+
+The following May, 1308, Albert was in Baden, raising troops for a new
+campaign in Thuringia. His nephew, John, a youth of nineteen, who had
+vainly endeavored to have his right to a part of the Hapsburg territory
+in Switzerland confirmed by the Emperor, was with him, accompanied by
+four knights, with whom he had conspired. While crossing a river, they
+managed to get into the same boat with the Emperor, leaving the rest of
+his retinue upon the other bank; then, when they had landed, they fell
+upon him, murdered him, and fled. A peasant woman, who was near, lifted
+Albert upon her lap and he died in her arms. His widow, the Empress
+Elizabeth, took a horrible revenge upon the families of the
+conspirators, whose relatives and even their servants, to the number of
+one thousand, were executed. One of the knights, who was captured, was
+broken upon the wheel. John, called in history _John Parricida_, was
+never heard of afterwards, although one tradition affirms that he fled
+to Rome, confessed his deed to the Pope, and passed the rest of his
+life, under another name, in a monastery.
+
+Thus, within five years, the despotic plans of both Pope Bonifacius
+VIII. and Albert of Hapsburg came to a tragic end. The overwhelming
+power of the Papacy, after a triumph of two hundred years, was broken.
+The second Pope after Bonifacius, Clement V., made Avignon, in Southern
+France, his capital instead of Rome, and the former city continued to be
+the residence of the Popes, from 1308, the year of Albert's murder,
+until 1377.
+
+The German Electors were in no hurry to choose a new Emperor. They were
+only agreed as to who should not be elected,--that is, no member of a
+powerful family; but it was not so easy to pick out an acceptable
+candidate from among the many inferior princes. The Church, as usual,
+decided the question. Peter, of Mayence (who had been a physician and
+was made Archbishop for curing the Pope), intrigued with Baldwin,
+Archbishop of Treves, in favor of the latter's brother, Count Henry of
+Luxemburg. A Diet was held at the "King's Seat," on the hill of Rense,
+near Coblentz, where the blast of a hunting-horn could be heard in four
+Electorates at the same time, and Henry was chosen King. He was crowned
+at Aix-la-Chapelle on the 6th of January, 1309, as Henry VII.
+
+[Sidenote: 1310.]
+
+His first aim was to restore peace and order to Germany. He was obliged
+to reëstablish the Rhine-dues, in the interest of the Archbishops who
+had supported him, but he endeavored to recompense the cities by
+granting them other privileges. At a Diet held in Speyer, he released
+the three Swiss cantons from their allegiance to the house of Hapsburg,
+gave Austria to the sons of the murdered Albert, and had the bodies of
+the latter and his rival, Adolf of Nassau, buried in the Cathedral, side
+by side. Soon afterwards the Bohemians, dissatisfied with Henry of
+Carinthia (who had become their king after the death of Albert's son,
+Rudolf), offered the hand of Wenzel II.'s youngest daughter, Elizabeth,
+to Henry's son, John. Although the latter was only fourteen, and his
+bride twenty-two years of age, Henry gave his consent to the marriage,
+and John became king of Bohemia.
+
+In 1310 the new Emperor called a Diet at Frankfort, in order to enforce
+a universal truce among the German States. He outlawed Count Eberhard of
+Würtemberg, and took away his power to create disturbance; and then,
+Germany being quiet, he turned his attention to Italy, which was in a
+deplorable state of confusion, from the continual wars of the Guelphs
+and the Ghibellines. In Lombardy, noble families had usurped the control
+of the former republican cities, and governed with greater tyranny than
+even the Hohenstaufens. Henry's object was to put an end to their civil
+wars, institute a new order, and--be crowned Roman Emperor. The Pope,
+Clement V., who was tired of Avignon and suspicious of France, was
+secretly in favor of the plan, and the German princes openly supported
+it.
+
+Towards the close of 1310, Henry VII. crossed Mont Cenis with an army of
+several thousand men, and was welcomed with great pomp in Milan, where
+he was crowned with the iron crown of Lombardy. The poet Dante hailed
+him as a saviour of Italy, and all parties formed the most extravagant
+expectations of the advantage they would derive from his coming. The
+Emperor seems to have tried to act with entire impartiality, and
+consequently both parties were disappointed. The Guelphs first rose
+against him, and instead of peace a new war ensued. He was not able to
+march to Rome until 1312, and by that time the city was again divided
+into two hostile parties. With the help of the Colonnas, he gained
+possession of the southern bank of the Tiber, and was crowned Emperor in
+the Lateran Church by a Cardinal, since there was no Pope in Rome: the
+Orsini family, who were hostile to him, held possession of the other
+part of the city, including St. Peter's and the Vatican.
+
+[Sidenote: 1314. LUDWIG THE BAVARIAN ELECTED.]
+
+There were now indications that all Italy would be convulsed with a
+repetition of the old struggle. The Guelphs rallied around king Robert
+of Naples as their head, while king Frederick of Sicily and the Republic
+of Pisa declared for the Emperor. France and the Pope were about to add
+new elements to the quarrel, when in August, 1313, Henry VII. died of
+poison, administered to him by a monk in the sacramental wine,--one of
+the most atrocious forms of crime which can be imagined. He was a man of
+many noble personal qualities, and from whom much was hoped, both in
+Germany and Italy; but his reign was too short for the attainment of any
+lasting results.
+
+When the Electors came together at Frankfort, in 1314, it was found that
+their votes were divided between two candidates. Henry VII.'s son, king
+John of Bohemia, was only seventeen years old, and the friends of his
+house, not believing that he could be elected, united on Duke Ludwig of
+Bavaria, a descendant of Otto of Wittelsbach. On the other hand, the
+friends of the house of Hapsburg, with the combined influence of France
+and the Pope on their side, proposed Frederick of Austria, the son of
+the Emperor Albert. There was a division of the Diet, and both
+candidates were elected; but Ludwig had four of the seven Electors on
+his side, he reached Aix-la-Chapelle first and was there crowned, and
+thus he was considered to have the best right to the Imperial dignity.
+
+Ludwig of Bavaria and Frederick of Austria had been bosom-friends until
+a short time previous; but they were now rivals and deadly enemies. For
+eight long years a civil war devastated Germany. On Frederick's side
+were Austria, Hungary, the Palatinate of the Rhine, and the Archbishop
+of Cologne, with the German nobles, as a class: on Ludwig's side were
+Bavaria, Bohemia, Thuringia, the cities and the middle class.
+Frederick's brother, Leopold, in attempting to subjugate the Swiss
+cantons, the freedom of which had been confirmed by Ludwig, suffered a
+crushing defeat in the famous battle of Morgarten, fought in 1315. The
+Austrian force in this battle was 9,000, the Swiss 1,300: the latter
+lost 15 men, the former 1,500 soldiers and 640 knights. From that day
+the freedom of the Swiss was secured.
+
+[Sidenote: 1322.]
+
+The Pope, John XXII., declared that he only had the right of deciding
+between the two rival sovereigns, and used all the means in his power to
+assist Frederick. The war was prolonged until 1322, when, in a battle
+fought at Mühldorf, near Salzburg, the struggle was decided. After a
+combat of ten hours, the Bavarians gave way, and Ludwig narrowly escaped
+capture; then the Austrians, mistaking a part of the latter's army for
+the troops of Leopold, which were expected on the field, were themselves
+surrounded, and Frederick with 1,400 knights taken prisoner. The battle
+was, in fact, an earlier Waterloo in its character. Ludwig saluted
+Frederick with the words: "We are glad to see you, Cousin!" and then
+imprisoned him in a strong castle.
+
+There was now a truce in Germany, but no real peace. Ludwig felt himself
+strong enough to send some troops to the relief of Duke Visconti of
+Milan, who was hard pressed by a Neapolitan army in the interest of the
+Pope. For this act, John XXII. not only excommunicated and cursed him
+officially, but extended the Papal "Interdict" over Germany. The latter
+measure was one which formerly occasioned the greatest dismay among the
+people, but it had now lost much of its power. The "Interdict"
+prohibited all priestly offices in the lands to which it was applied.
+The churches were closed, the bells were silent, no honors were paid to
+the dead, and it was even ordered that the marriage ceremony should be
+performed in the churchyards. But the German people refused to submit to
+such an outrage; the few priests who attempted to obey the Pope, were
+either driven away or compelled to perform their religious duties as
+usual.
+
+The next event in the struggle was a conspiracy of Leopold of Austria
+with Charles IV. of France, favored by the Pope, to overthrow Ludwig.
+But the other German princes who were concerned in it quietly withdrew
+when the time came for action, and the plot failed. Then Ludwig, tired
+of his trials, sent his prisoner Frederick to Leopold as a mediator, the
+former promising to return and give himself up, if he should not
+succeed. Leopold was implacable, and Frederick kept his word, although
+the Pope offered to relieve him of his promise, and threatened him with
+excommunication for not breaking it. Ludwig was generous enough to
+receive him as a friend, to give him his full liberty and dignity, and
+even to divide his royal rule privately with him. The latter
+arrangement was so unpractical that it was not openly proclaimed, but
+the good understanding between the two contributed to the peace of
+Germany. Leopold died in 1326, and Ludwig enjoyed an undisputed
+authority.
+
+[Sidenote: 1327. QUARREL WITH THE POPE.]
+
+In 1327, the Emperor felt himself strong enough to undertake an
+expedition to Italy, his object being to relieve Lombardy from the
+aggressions of Naples, and to be crowned Emperor in Rome in spite of the
+Pope. In this, he was tolerably successful. He defeated the Guelphs and
+was crowned in Milan the same year, then marched to Rome, and was
+crowned Emperor early in 1328, under the auspices of the Colonna family,
+by two excommunicated Bishops. He presided at an assembly of the Roman
+people, at which John XXII. was declared a heretic and renegade, and a
+Franciscan monk elected Pope under the name of Nikolaus V. Ludwig,
+however, soon became as unpopular as any of his predecessors, and from
+the same cause--the imposition of heavy taxes upon the people, in order
+to keep up his imperial state. He remained two years longer in Italy,
+encountering as much hate as friendship, and was then recalled to
+Germany by the death of Frederick of Austria.
+
+The Papal excommunication, which the Hohenstaufen Emperors had borne so
+easily, seems to have weighed sorely upon Ludwig's mind. His nature was
+weak and vacillating, capable of only a limited amount of endurance. He
+began to fear that his soul was in peril, and made the most desperate
+efforts to be reconciled with the Pope. The latter, however, demanded
+his immediate abdication as a preliminary to any further negotiation,
+and was supported in this demand by the king of France, who was very
+ambitious of obtaining the crown of Germany, with the help of the
+Church. King John of Bohemia acted as a go-between, but he was also
+secretly pledged to France, and an agreement was nearly concluded, of a
+character so cowardly and disgraceful to Ludwig that when some hint of
+it became known, there arose such an angry excitement in Germany that
+the Emperor did not dare to move further in the matter.
+
+[Sidenote: 1338.]
+
+John XXII. died about this time (1334) and was succeeded by Benedict
+XII., a man of a milder and more conciliatory nature, with whom Ludwig
+immediately commenced fresh negotiations. He offered to abdicate, to
+swear allegiance to the Pope, to undergo any humiliation which the
+latter might impose upon him. Benedict was quite willing to be
+reconciled to him on these conditions, but the arrangement was prevented
+by Philip VI. of France, who hoped, like his father, to acquire the
+crown of Germany. As soon as this became evident, Ludwig adopted a
+totally different course. In the summer of 1338 he called a Diet at
+Frankfort (which was afterwards adjourned to Rense, near Coblentz), and
+laid the matter before the Bishops, princes and free cities, which were
+now represented.
+
+The Diet unanimously declared that the Emperor had exhausted all proper
+means of reconciliation, and the Pope alone was responsible for the
+continuance of the struggle. The excommunication and interdict were
+pronounced null and void, and severe punishments were decreed for the
+priests who should heed them in any way. As it was evident that France
+had created the difficulty, an alliance was concluded with England,
+whose king, Edward III., appeared before the Diet at Coblentz, and
+procured the acknowledgment of his claim to the crown of France. Ludwig,
+as Emperor, sat upon the Royal Seat at Rense, and all the German
+princes--with the exception of king John of Bohemia, who had gone over
+to France--made the solemn declaration that the King and Emperor whom
+they had elected, or should henceforth elect, derived his dignity and
+power from God, and did not require the sanction of the Pope. They also
+bound themselves to defend the rights and liberties of the Empire
+against any assailant whatever. These were brave words: but we shall
+presently see how much they were worth.
+
+The alliance with England was made for seven years. Ludwig was to
+furnish German troops for Edward III.'s army, in return for English
+gold. For a year he was faithful to the contract, then the old
+superstitious fear came over him, and he listened to the secret counsels
+of Philip VI. of France, who offered to mediate with the Pope in his
+behalf. But, after Ludwig had been induced to break his word with
+England, Philip, having gained what he wanted, prevented his
+reconciliation with the Pope. This miserable weakness on the Emperor's
+part destroyed his authority in Germany. At the same time he was
+imitating every one of his Imperial predecessors, in trying to
+strengthen the power of his family. He gave Brandenburg to his eldest
+son, Ludwig, married his second son, Henry, to Margaret of Tyrol, whom
+he arbitrarily divorced from her first husband, a son of John of
+Bohemia, and claimed the sovereignty of Holland as his wife's
+inheritance.
+
+[Sidenote: 1347. DEATH OF LUDWIG THE BAVARIAN.]
+
+Ludwig had now become so unpopular, that when another Pope, Clement VI.,
+in April, 1346, hurled against him a new excommunication, expressed in
+the most horrible terms, the Archbishops made it a pretext for openly
+opposing the Emperor's rule. They united with the Pope in selecting
+Karl, the son of John of Bohemia (who fell by the sword of the Black
+Prince the same summer, at the famous battle of Crecy), and proclaiming
+him Emperor in Ludwig's stead. All the cities, and the temporal princes,
+except those of Bohemia and Saxony, stood faithfully by Ludwig, and Karl
+could gain no advantage over him. He went to France, then to Italy, and
+finally betook himself to Bohemia, where he was a rival monarch only in
+name.
+
+In October, 1347, Ludwig, who was then residing in Munich, his favorite
+capital, was stricken with apoplexy while hunting, and fell dead from
+his horse. He was sixty-three years old, and had reigned thirty-three
+years. In German history, he is always called "Ludwig the Bavarian."
+During the last ten years of his reign many parts of Germany suffered
+severely from famine, and a pestilence called "the black death" carried
+off thousands of persons in every city. These misfortunes probably
+confirmed him in his superstition, and partly account for his shameful
+and degrading policy. The only service which his long rule rendered to
+Germany sprang from the circumstance, that, having been supported by the
+free cities in his war with Frederick of Austria, he was compelled to
+protect them against the aggressions of the princes afterwards, and in
+various ways to increase their rights and privileges. There were now 150
+such cities, and from this time forward they constituted a separate
+power in the Empire. They encouraged learning and literature, favored
+peace and security of travel for the sake of their commerce, organized
+and protected the mechanic arts, and thus, during the fourteenth and
+fifteenth centuries, contributed more to the progress of Germany than
+all her spiritual and temporal rulers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+THE LUXEMBURG EMPERORS, KARL IV. AND WENZEL.
+
+(1347--1410.)
+
+The Imperial Crown in the Market --Günther of Schwarzburg. --Karl IV.
+    Emperor. --His Character and Policy. --The University of Prague.
+    --Rienzi Tribune of Rome. --Karl's Course in Italy. --The "Golden
+    Bull." --Its Provisions and Effect. --Coronation in Rome. --The
+    Last Ten Years of his Reign. --His Death. --Eberhard the Greiner.
+    --The "Hansa" and its Victories. --Achievements of the German
+    Order. --Wenzel becomes Emperor. --The Suabian League. --The Battle
+    of Sempach. --Independence of Switzerland. --Defeat of the Suabian
+    Cities. --Wenzel's Rule in Prague. --Conspiracy against him.
+    --Schism in the Roman Church. --Count Rupert Rival Emperor.
+    --Convention of Marbach. --Anarchy in Germany. --Death-Blow to the
+    German Order. --Rupert's Death.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1347.]
+
+Although the German princes were nearly unanimous in the determination
+that no member of the house of Wittelsbach (Bavaria) should again be
+Emperor, they were by no means willing to accept Karl of Bohemia.[B]
+Ludwig's son, Ludwig of Brandenburg, made no claim to his father's
+crown, but he united with Saxony, Mayence and the Palatinate of the
+Rhine, in offering it to Edward III. of England. When the latter
+declined, they chose Count Ernest of Meissen, who, however, sold his
+claim to Karl for 10,000 silver marks. Then they took up Günther of
+Schwarzburg, a gallant and popular prince, who seemed to have a good
+prospect of success. In this emergency Karl supported the pretensions of
+an adventurer, known as "the False Waldemar," to Brandenburg, against
+Ludwig, and thus compelled the latter to treat with him. Soon afterwards
+Günther of Schwarzburg died, poisoned, it was generally believed, by a
+physician whom Karl had bribed, and by the end of 1348 the latter was
+Emperor of Germany, as Karl IV.
+
+[B] Of the House of Luxemburg.
+
+[Sidenote: 1348. KARL IV.]
+
+At this time he was thirty-three years old. He had been educated in
+France and Italy, and was an accomplished scholar: he both spoke and
+wrote the Bohemian, German, French, Italian and Latin languages. He was
+a thorough diplomatist, resembling in this respect Rudolf of Hapsburg,
+from whom he differed in his love of pomp and state, and in the care he
+took to keep himself always well supplied with money, which he well knew
+how and when to use. He had first purchased the influence of the Pope by
+promising to disregard the declarations of the Diet of 1338 at Rense,
+and by relinquishing all claims to Italy. Then he won the free cities to
+his side by offers of more extended privileges; and the German princes,
+for form's sake, elected him a second time, thus acknowledging the Papal
+authority which they had so boldly defied, ten years before.
+
+One of Karl's first acts was to found, in Prague--the city he selected
+as his capital--the _first_ German University, which he endowed so
+liberally and organized so thoroughly that in a few years it was
+attended by six or seven thousand students. For several years afterwards
+he occupied himself in establishing order throughout Germany, and
+meanwhile negotiated with the Pope in regard to his coronation as Roman
+Emperor. In spite of his complete submission to the latter, there were
+many difficulties to be overcome, arising out of the influence of France
+over the Papacy, which was still established at Avignon. Karl arrested
+Rienzi, "the last Tribune of Rome," and kept him for a time imprisoned
+in Prague; but when the latter was sent back to Rome as Senator by Pope
+Innocent VI., in 1354, Karl was allowed to commence his Italian journey.
+He was crowned Roman Emperor on the 5th of April, 1355, by a Cardinal
+sent from Avignon for that purpose. In compliance with his promise to
+Pope Innocent, he remained in Rome only a single day.
+
+Instead of attempting to settle the disorders which convulsed Italy,
+Karl turned his journey to good account by selling all the remaining
+Imperial rights and privileges to the republics and petty rulers, for
+hard cash. The poet Petrarch had looked forward to his coming as Dante
+had to that of his grandfather, Henry VII., but satirized him bitterly
+when he returned to Bohemia with his money. He left Italy ridiculed and
+despised, but reached Germany with greatly increased power. His next
+measure was to call a Diet, for the purpose of permanently settling the
+relation of the German princes to the Empire, and the forms to be
+observed in electing an Emperor. All had learned, several centuries too
+late to be of much service, the necessity of some established order in
+these matters, and they came to a final agreement at Metz, on Christmas
+Day, 1356.
+
+[Sidenote: 1356.]
+
+Then was promulgated the decree known as the "Golden Bull," which
+remained a law in Germany until the Empire came to an end, just 450
+years afterwards. It commences with these words: "Every kingdom which is
+not united within itself will go to ruin: for its princes are the
+kindred of robbers, wherefore God removes the light of their minds from
+their office, they become blind leaders of the blind, and their darkened
+thoughts are the source of many misdeeds." The Golden Bull confirms the
+former custom of having seven Chief Electors--the Archbishops of
+Mayence, Treves and Cologne, the first of whom is Arch-Chancellor; the
+King of Bohemia, Arch-Cupbearer; the Count Palatine of the Rhine,
+Arch-Steward; the Duke of Saxony, Arch-Marshal, and the Margrave of
+Brandenburg, Arch-Chamberlain. The last four princes receive full
+authority over their territories, and there is no appeal, even to the
+Emperor, from their decisions. Their rule is transmitted to the eldest
+son; they have the right to coin money, to work mines, and to impose all
+taxes which formerly belonged to the Empire.
+
+These are its principal features. The claims of the Pope to authority
+over the Emperor are not mentioned; the position of the other
+independent princes is left very much as it was, and the cities are
+prohibited from forming unions without the Imperial consent. The only
+effect of this so-called "Constitution" was to strengthen immensely the
+power of the four favored princes, and to encourage all the other rulers
+to imitate them. It introduced a certain order, and therefore was better
+than the previous absence of all law upon the subject; but it held the
+German people in a state of practical serfdom, it perpetuated their
+division and consequent weakness, and it gave the spirit of the Middle
+Ages a longer life in Germany than in any other civilized country in the
+world.
+
+The remaining events of Karl IV.'s life are of no great historical
+importance. In 1363 his son, Wenzel, only two years old, was crowned at
+Prague as king of Bohemia, and soon afterwards he was called upon by the
+Pope, Urban V., who found that his residence in Avignon was becoming
+more and more a state of captivity, to assist him in returning to Rome.
+In 1365, therefore, Karl set out with a considerable force, entered
+Southern France, crowned himself king of Burgundy at Arles--which was a
+hollow and ridiculous farce--and in 1368 reached Rome, whither Pope
+Urban had gone in advance. Here his wife was formally crowned as Roman
+Empress, and he humiliated himself by walking from the Castle of St.
+Angelo to St. Peter's, leading the Pope's mule by the bridle,--an act
+which drew upon him the contempt of the Roman people. He had few or no
+more privileges to sell, so he met every evidence of hostility with a
+proclamation of amnesty, and returned to Germany with the intention of
+violating his own Golden Bull, by having his son Wenzel proclaimed his
+successor. His departure marks the end of German interference in Italy.
+
+[Sidenote: 1376. WENZEL ELECTED SUCCESSOR.]
+
+For ten years longer Karl IV. continued to strengthen his family by
+marriage, by granting to the cities the right of union in return for
+their support, and by purchasing the influence of such princes as were
+accessible to bribes. He was so cool and calculating, and pursued his
+policy with so much patience and skill, that the most of his plans
+succeeded. His son Wenzel was elected his successor by a Diet held at
+Frankfort in January, 1376, each of the chief Electors receiving 100,000
+florins for his vote, and this choice was confirmed by the Pope. To his
+second son, Sigismund, he gave Brandenburg, which he had obtained partly
+by intrigue and partly by purchase, and to his third son, John, the
+province of Lusatia, adjoining Silesia. His health had been gradually
+failing, and in November, 1378, he died in Prague, sixty-three years
+old, leaving the German Empire in a more disorderly state than he had
+found it. His tastes were always Bohemian rather than German: he
+preferred Prague to any other residence, and whatever good he
+intentionally did was conferred on his own immediate subjects. More than
+a century afterwards, the Emperor Maximilian of Hapsburg very justly
+said of him: "Karl IV. was a genuine father to Bohemia, but only a
+step-father to the rest of Germany."
+
+During the latter years of his reign, two very different movements,
+independent of the Imperial will, or in spite of it, had been started in
+Southern and Northern Germany. In Würtemberg the cities united, and
+carried on a fierce war with Count Eberhard, surnamed the _Greiner_
+(Whiner). The struggle lasted for more than ten years, and out of it
+grew various leagues of the knights for the protection of their rights
+against the more powerful princes. In the North of Germany, the
+commercial cities, headed by Lübeck, Hamburg and Bremen, formed a
+league, which soon became celebrated under the name of "The Hansa,"
+which gradually drew the cities of the Rhine to unite with it, and,
+before the end of the century, developed into a great commercial, naval
+and military power.
+
+[Sidenote: 1375.]
+
+The Hanseatic League had its agencies in every commercial city, from
+Novgorod in Russia to Lisbon; its vessels filled the Baltic and the
+North Sea, and almost the entire commerce of Northern Europe was in its
+hands. When, in 1361, king Waldemar III. of Denmark took possession of
+the island of Gothland, which the cities had colonized, they fitted out
+a great fleet, besieged Copenhagen, finally drove Waldemar from his
+kingdom and forced the Danes to accept their conditions. Shortly
+afterwards they defeated king Hakon of Norway: their influence over
+Sweden was already secured, and thus they became an independent
+political power. Karl IV. visited Lübeck a few years before his death,
+in the hope of making himself head of the Hanseatic League; but the
+merchants were as good diplomatists as himself, and he obtained no
+recognition whatever. Had not the cities been so widely scattered along
+the coast, and each more or less jealous of the others, they might have
+laid the foundation of a strong North-German nation; but their bond of
+union was not firm enough for that.
+
+The German Order, by this time, also possessed an independent realm, the
+capital of which was established at Marienburg, not far from Dantzic.
+The distance of the territory it had conquered in Eastern Prussia from
+the rest of the Empire, and the circumstance that it had also
+acknowledged itself a dependency of the Papal power, enabled its Grand
+Masters to say, openly: "If the Empire claims authority over us, we
+belong to the Pope; if the Pope claims any such authority, we belong to
+the Emperor." In fact, although the Order had now been established for a
+hundred and fifty years, it had never been directly assisted by the
+Imperial power; yet it had changed a great tract of wilderness,
+inhabited by Slavonic barbarians, into a rich and prosperous land, with
+fifty-five cities, thousands of villages, and an entire population of
+more than two millions, mostly German colonists. It adopted a fixed code
+of laws, maintained order and security throughout its territory,
+encouraged science and letters, and made the scholar and minstrel as
+welcome at its stately court in Marienburg, as they had been at that of
+Frederick II. in Palermo.
+
+[Sidenote: 1386. THE BATTLE OF SEMPACH.]
+
+There could be no more remarkable contrast than between the weakness,
+selfishness and despotic tendencies of the German Emperors and Electors
+during the fourteenth century, and the strong and orderly development of
+the Hanseatic League and the German Order in the North, or of the
+handful of free Swiss in the South.
+
+King Wenzel (Wenczeslas in Bohemian) was only seventeen years old when
+his father died, but he had been well educated and already possessed
+some experience in governing. In fact, Karl IV.'s anxiety to secure the
+succession to the throne in his own family led him to force Wenzel's
+mind to a premature activity, and thus ruined him for life. He had
+enjoyed no real childhood and youth, and he soon became hard, cynical,
+wilful, without morality and even without ambition. In the beginning of
+his reign, nevertheless, he made an earnest attempt to heal the
+divisions of the Roman Church, and to establish peace between Count
+Eberhard the Whiner and the United Cities of Suabia.
+
+In the latter quarrel, Leopold of Austria also took part. He had been
+appointed Governor of several of the free cities by Wenzel, and he
+seized the occasion to attempt to restore the authority of the Hapsburgs
+over the Swiss Cantons. The latter now numbered eight, the three
+original cantons having been joined by Lucerne, Zurich, Glarus, Zug and
+Berne. They had been invited to make common cause with the Suabian
+cities, more than fifty of which were united in the struggle to maintain
+their rights; but the Swiss, although in sympathy with the cities,
+declined to march beyond their own territory. Leopold decided to
+subjugate each, separately. In 1386, with an army of 4,000 Austrian and
+Suabian knights, he invaded the Cantons. The Swiss collected 1,300
+farmers, fishers and herdsmen, armed with halberds and battle-axes, and
+met Leopold at Sempach, on the 9th of July.
+
+The 4,000 knights dismounted, and advanced in close ranks, presenting a
+wall of steel, defended by rows of levelled spears, to the Swiss in
+their leathern jackets. It seemed impossible to break their solid front,
+or even to reach them with the Swiss weapons. Then Arnold of Winkelried
+stepped forth and said to his countrymen: "Dear brothers, I will open a
+road for you: take care of my wife and children!" He gathered together
+as many spears as he could grasp with both arms, and threw himself
+forward upon them: the Swiss sprang into the gap, and the knights began
+to fall on all sides from their tremendous blows. Many were smothered in
+the press, trampled under foot in their heavy armor: Duke Leopold and
+nearly 700 of his followers perished, and the rest were scattered in all
+directions. It was one of the most astonishing victories in history. Two
+years afterwards the Swiss were again splendidly victorious at Näfels,
+and from that time they were an independent nation.
+
+[Sidenote: 1389.]
+
+The Suabian cities were so encouraged by these defeats of the party of
+the nobles, that in 1388 they united in a common war against the Duke of
+Bavaria, Count Eberhard of Würtemberg and the Count Palatine Rupert.
+After a short but very fierce and wasting struggle, they were defeated
+at Döffingen and Worms, deprived of the privileges for which they had
+fought, and compelled to accept a truce of six years. In 1389, a Diet
+was held, which prohibited them from forming any further union, and thus
+completely re-established the power of the reigning princes. Wenzel
+endeavored to enforce an internal peace throughout the whole Empire, but
+could not succeed: what was law for the cities was not allowed to be
+equally law for the princes. It seems probable, from many features of
+the struggle, that the former designed imitating the Swiss cantons, and
+founding a Suabian republic, if they had been successful; but the entire
+governing class of Germany, from the Emperor down to the knightly
+highwayman, was against them, and they must have been crushed in any
+case, sooner or later.
+
+For eight or nine years after these events, Wenzel remained in Prague
+where his reign was distinguished only by an almost insane barbarity. He
+always had an executioner at his right hand, and whoever refused to
+submit to his orders was instantly beheaded. He kept a pack of
+bloodhounds, which were sometimes let loose even upon his own guests: on
+one occasion his wife, the Empress Elizabeth, was nearly torn to pieces
+by them. He ordered the confessor of the latter, a priest named John of
+Nepomuck, to be thrown into the Moldau river for refusing to tell him
+what the Empress had confessed. By this act he made John of Nepomuck the
+patron saint of Bohemia. Some one once wrote upon the door of his palace
+the words: "_Venceslaus, alter Nero_" (Wenzel, a second Nero); whereupon
+he wrote the line below: "_Si non fui adhuc, ero_" (If I have not been
+one hitherto, I will be now). When the city of Rothenberg refused to
+advance him 4,000 florins, he sent this message to the authorities: "The
+devil began to shear a hog, and spake thus, 'Great cry and little
+wool'!"
+
+[Sidenote: 1398. QUARREL WITH THE POPE.]
+
+In short, Wenzel was so little of an Emperor and so much of a brutal
+madman, that a conspiracy, at the head of which were his cousin Jodocus
+of Moravia, and Duke Albert of Austria, was formed against him. He was
+taken prisoner and conveyed to Austria, where he was held in close
+confinement until his brother Sigismund, aided by a Diet of the other
+German princes, procured his release. In return for this service, and
+probably, also, to save himself the trouble of governing, he appointed
+Sigismund Vicar of the Empire. In 1398 he called a Diet at Frankfort,
+and again endeavored, but without much success, to enforce a general
+peace. The schism in the Roman Church, which lasted for forty years, the
+rival popes in Rome and Avignon cursing and making war upon each other,
+had at this time become a scandal to Christendom, and the Papal
+authority had sunk so low that the temporal rulers now ventured to
+interfere. Wenzel went to Rheims, where he had an interview with Charles
+VI. of France, in order to settle the quarrel. It was agreed that the
+former should compel Bonifacius IX. in Rome, and the latter Benedict
+XIII. in Avignon, to abdicate, so that the Church might have an
+opportunity to unite on a single Pope; but neither monarch succeeded in
+carrying out the plan.
+
+On the contrary, Bonifacius IX. went secretly to work to depose Wenzel.
+He gained the support of the four Electors of the Rhine, who, headed by
+the Archbishop of Mayence, came together in 1400, proclaimed that Wenzel
+had forfeited his Imperial dignity, and elected the Count Palatine
+Rupert, a member of the house of Wittelsbach (Bavaria), in his place.
+The city of Aix-la-Chapelle shut its gates upon the latter, and he was
+crowned in Cologne. A majority of the smaller German princes, as well as
+of the free cities, refused to acknowledge him; but, on the other hand,
+none of them made any movement in Wenzel's favor, and so there were,
+practically, two separate heads to the Empire.
+
+Rupert imagined that his coronation in Rome would secure his authority
+in Germany. He therefore collected an army, entered into an alliance
+with the republic of Florence against Milan, and marched to Italy in
+1401. Near Brescia he met the army of the Lombards, commanded by the
+Milanese general, Barbiano, and was so signally defeated that he was
+compelled to return to Germany. In the meantime Wenzel had come to a
+temporary understanding with Jodocus of Moravia and the Hapsburg Dukes
+of Austria, and his prospects improved as Rupert's diminished. It was
+not long, however, before he quarrelled with his brother Sigismund, and
+was imprisoned by the latter. Then ensued a state of general confusion,
+the cause of which is easy to understand, but the features of which it
+is not easy to make clear.
+
+[Sidenote: 1405.]
+
+A number of reigning princes and cities held a convention at Marbach in
+1405, and formed a temporary union, the object of which was evidently to
+create a third power in the Empire. Both Rupert and Wenzel at first
+endeavored to break up this new league, and then, failing in the
+attempt, both intrigued for its support. The Archbishop of Mayence and
+the Margrave of Baden, who stood at its head, were secretly allied with
+France; the smaller princes were ambitious to gain for themselves a
+power equal to that of the seven Electors, and the cities hoped to
+recover some of their lost rights. The League of Marbach, as it is
+called in history, had as little unity or harmony as the Empire itself.
+All Germany was given up to anarchy, and seemed on the point of falling
+to pieces: so much had the famous Golden Bull of Karl IV. accomplished
+in fifty years!
+
+On the eastern shore of the Baltic, also, the march of German
+civilization received an almost fatal check. The two strongest neighbors
+of the German Order, the Poles and Lithuanians, were now united under
+one crown, and they defeated the army of the Order, 60,000 strong, under
+the walls of Wilna, in 1389. After an unsatisfactory peace of some
+years, hostilities were again resumed, and both sides prepared for a
+desperate and final struggle. Each raised an army of more than 100,000
+men, among whom, on the Polish side, there were 40,000 Russians and
+Tartars. The decisive battle was fought at Tannenberg, in July, 1410,
+and the German Order, after losing 40,000 men, retreated from the field.
+It was compelled to give up a portion of its territory to Poland, and
+pay a heavy tribute: from that day its power was broken, and the
+Slavonic races encroached more and more upon the Germans along the
+Baltic.
+
+[Sidenote: 1410. THE ANTI-EMPEROR RUPERT.]
+
+During this same period Holland was rapidly becoming estranged from the
+German Empire, and France had obtained possession of the greater part of
+Flanders. Luxemburg and part of Lorraine were incorporated with
+Burgundy, which was rising in power and importance, and had become
+practically independent of Germany. There was now no one to guard the
+ancient boundaries, and probably nothing but the war between England and
+France prevented the latter kingdom from greatly increasing her
+territory at the expense of the Empire.
+
+Although Rupert of the Palatinate acquired but a limited authority in
+Southern Germany, he is generally classed among the German Emperors,
+perhaps because Wenzel's power, after the year 1400, was no greater than
+his own. The confusion and uncertainty in regard to the Imperial dignity
+lasted until 1410, when Rupert determined to make war upon the
+Archbishop of Mayence--who had procured his election, and since the
+League of Marbach was his chief enemy--as the first step towards
+establishing his authority. In the midst of his preparations he died, on
+the 18th of May, 1410.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+THE REIGN OF SIGISMUND AND THE HUSSITE WAR.
+
+(1410--1437.)
+
+Three Emperors in Germany and Three Popes in Rome. --Sigismund sole
+    Emperor. --His Appearance and Character. --Religious Movements in
+    Bohemia. --John Huss and his Doctrines. --Division of the
+    University of Prague. --A Council of the Church called at
+    Constance. --Grand Assembly of all Nations. --Organization of the
+    Council. --Flight and Capture of Pope John XXIII. --Treatment of
+    Huss. --His Trial and Execution. --Jerome of Prague burned.
+    --Religious Revolt in Bohemia. --Frederick of Hohenzollern receives
+    Brandenburg. --The Bohemians rise under Ziska. --Their two Parties.
+    --Ziska's Character. --The Bohemian Demands. --Ziska's Victories.
+    --Negotiations with Lithuania and Poland. --Ziska's Death.
+    --Victories of Procopius. --Hussite Invasions of Germany. --The
+    Fifth "Crusade" against Bohemia. --The Hussites Triumphant. --The
+    Council of Basel. --Peace made with the Hussites. --Their Internal
+    Wars. --Revolt against Sigismund. --His Death.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1410.]
+
+In 1410, the year of Rupert's death, Europe was edified by the spectacle
+of three Emperors in Germany, and three Popes of the Church of Rome, all
+claiming to rule at the same time. The Diet was divided between
+Sigismund and Jodocus of Moravia, both of whom were declared elected,
+while Wenzel insisted that he was still Emperor. A Council held at Pisa,
+about the same time, deposed Pope Gregory XII. in Rome and Pope Benedict
+XIII. in Avignon, and elected a third, who took the name of Alexander V.
+But neither of the former obeyed the decrees of the Council: Gregory
+XII. betook himself to Rimini, Alexander, soon succeeded by John XXIII.,
+reigned in Rome, and the three spiritual rivals began a renewed war of
+proclamations and curses. In order to obtain money, they sold priestly
+appointments to the highest bidder, carried on a trade in pardons and
+indulgences, and brought such disgrace on the priestly office and the
+Christian name, that the spirit of the so-called "heretical" sects,
+though trampled down in fire and blood, was kept everywhere alive among
+the people.
+
+[Sidenote: 1411. THE EMPEROR SIGISMUND.]
+
+The political rivalry in Germany did not last long. Jodocus of Moravia,
+of whom an old historian says: "He was considered a great man, but there
+was nothing great about him, except his beard," died soon after his
+partial election, Wenzel was persuaded to give up his opposition, and
+Sigismund was generally recognized as the sole Emperor. In addition to
+the Mark of Brandenburg, which he had received from his father, Karl
+IV., he had obtained the crown of Hungary through his wife, and he
+claimed also the kingdoms of Bosnia and Dalmatia. He had fought the
+Turks on the lower Danube, had visited Constantinople, and was already
+distinguished for his courage and knightly bearing. Unlike his brother
+Wenzel, who had the black hair and high cheek-bones of a Bohemian, he
+was blonde-haired, blue-eyed and strikingly handsome. He spoke several
+languages, was witty in speech, cheerful in demeanor, and popular with
+all classes, but, unfortunately, both fickle and profligate. Moreover,
+he was one of the vainest men that ever wore a crown.
+
+Before Sigismund entered upon his reign, the depraved condition of the
+Roman clergy, resulting from the general demoralization of the Church,
+had given rise to a new and powerful religious movement in Bohemia. As
+early as 1360, independent preachers had arisen among the people there,
+advocating the pure truths of the Gospel, and exhorting their hearers to
+turn their backs on the pride and luxury which prevailed, to live simply
+and righteously, and do good to their fellow-men. Although persecuted by
+the priests, they found many followers, and their example soon began to
+be more widely felt, especially as Wickliffe, in England, was preaching
+a similar doctrine at the same time. The latter's translation of the
+Bible was finished in 1383, and portions of it, together with his other
+writings in favor of a Reformation of the Christian Church, were carried
+to Prague soon afterwards.
+
+The great leader of the movement in Bohemia was John Huss, who was born
+in 1369, studied at the University of Prague, became a teacher there,
+and at the same time a defender of Wickliffe's doctrines, in 1398, and
+four years afterwards, in spite of the fierce opposition of the clergy,
+was made Rector of the University. With him was associated Jerome
+(Hieronymus), a young Bohemian nobleman, who had studied at Oxford, and
+was also inspired by Wickliffe's writings. The learning and lofty
+personal character of both gave them an influence in Prague, which
+gradually extended over all Bohemia. Huss preached with the greatest
+earnestness and eloquence against the Roman doctrine of absolution, the
+worship of saints and images, the Papal trade in offices and
+indulgences, and the idea of a purgatory from which souls could be freed
+by masses celebrated on their behalf. He advocated a return to the
+simplicity of the early Christian Church, especially in the use of the
+sacrament (communion). The Popes had changed the form of administering
+the sacrament, giving only bread to the laymen, while the priests
+partook of both bread and wine: Huss, and the sect which took his name,
+demanded that it should be administered to all "in both forms." Thus the
+cup or sacramental chalice, became the symbol of the latter, in the
+struggle which followed.
+
+[Sidenote: 1409.]
+
+The first consequence of the preaching of Huss was a division between
+the Bohemians and Germans, in the University of Prague. The Germans took
+the part of Rome, but the Bohemians secured the support of king Wenzel
+through his queen, who was a follower of Huss, and maintained their
+ascendency. Thereupon the German professors and students, numbering
+5,000, left Prague in a body, in 1409, and migrated to Leipzig, where
+they founded a new University. These matters were reported to the Roman
+Pope, who immediately excommunicated Huss and his followers. Soon
+afterwards, the Pope (John XXIII.), desiring to subdue the king of
+Naples, offered pardons and indulgences for crimes to all who would take
+up arms on his side. Huss and Jerome preached against this as an
+abomination, and the latter publicly burned the Pope's bull in the
+streets of Prague. The conflict now became so fierce that Wenzel
+banished both from the city, many of Huss's friends among the clergy
+fell away from him, and he offered to submit his doctrines to a general
+Council of the Church.
+
+Such a Council, in fact, was then demanded by all Christendom. The
+intelligent classes in all countries felt that the demoralization caused
+by the corruption of the clergy and the scandalous quarrels of three
+rival Popes could no longer be endured. The Council at Pisa, in 1409,
+had only made matters worse by adding another Pope to the two at Rome
+and Avignon; for, although it claimed the highest spiritual authority on
+earth, it was not obeyed. The Chancellor of the University of Paris
+called upon the Emperor Sigismund to move in favor of a new Council; all
+the Christian powers of Europe promised their support, and finally one
+of the Popes, John XXIII., being driven from Rome, was persuaded to
+agree, so that a grand OEcumenical Council, with authority over the
+Papacy, was summoned to meet in the city of Constance, in the autumn of
+the year 1414.
+
+[Sidenote: 1414. THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE.]
+
+It was one of the most imposing assemblies ever held in Europe. Pope
+John XXIII. personally appeared, accompanied by 600 Italians; the other
+two Popes sent ambassadors to represent their interests. The patriarchs
+of Jerusalem, Constantinople and Aquileia, the Grand-Masters of the
+knightly Orders, thirty-three Cardinals, twenty Archbishops, two hundred
+Bishops and many thousand priests and monks, were present. Then came the
+Emperor Sigismund, the representatives of all Christian powers,
+including the Byzantine Emperor, and even an envoy from the Turkish
+Sultan, with sixteen hundred princes and their followers. The entire
+concourse of strangers at Constance was computed at 150,000, and thirty
+different languages were heard at the same time. A writer of the day
+thus describes the characteristics of the four principal races: "The
+Germans are impetuous, but have much endurance, the French are boastful
+and arrogant, the English prompt and sagacious, and the Italians subtle
+and intriguing." Gamblers, mountebanks and dramatic performers were also
+on hand; great tournaments, races and banquets were constantly held;
+yet, although the Council lasted four years, there was no disturbance of
+the public order, no increase in the cost of living, and no epidemic
+diseases in the crowded camps.
+
+The professed objects of the Council were: a reformation of the Church,
+its reorganization under a single head, and the suppression of heresy.
+The members were divided into four "Nations"--the _German_, including
+the Bohemians, Hungarians, Poles, Russians and Greeks; the _French_,
+including Normans, Spaniards and Portuguese; the _English_, including
+Irish, Scotch, Danes, Norwegians and Swedes; and the _Italian_,
+embracing all the different States from the Alps to Sicily. Each of
+these nations held its own separate convention, and cast a single vote,
+so that no measure could be carried, unless _three_ of the four nations
+were in favor of it. Germany and England advocated the reformation of
+the Church, as the first and most important question; France and Italy
+cared only to have the quarrel of the Popes settled, and finally
+persuaded England to join them. Thus the reformation was postponed, and
+that was practically the end of it.
+
+[Sidenote: 1415.]
+
+As soon as it became evident that all three of the Popes would be
+deposed by the Council, John XXIII. fled from Constance in disguise,
+with the assistance of the Hapsburg Duke, Frederick of Austria. Both
+were captured; the Pope, whose immorality had already made him infamous,
+was imprisoned at Heidelberg, and Frederick was declared to have
+forfeited his lands. Although Austria was afterwards restored to him,
+all the Hapsburg territory lying between Zurich, the Rhine and the Lake
+of Constance was given to Switzerland, and has remained Swiss ever
+since. A second Pope, Gregory XII., now voluntarily abdicated, but the
+third, Benedict XIII., refused to follow the example, and maintained a
+sort of Papal authority in Spain until his death. The Council elected a
+member of the family of Colonna, in Rome, who took the name of Martin V.
+He was no sooner chosen and installed in his office than, without
+awaiting the decrees of the Council, he began to conclude separate
+"Concordats" (agreements) with the princes. Thus the chief object of the
+Council was already thwarted, and the four nations took up the question
+of suppressing heresy.
+
+Huss, to whom the Emperor had sent a safe-conduct for the journey to and
+from Constance, and who was escorted by three Bohemian knights, was
+favorably received by the people, on the way. He reached
+Constance in November, 1414, and was soon afterwards--before any
+examination--arrested and thrown into a dungeon so foul that he became
+seriously ill. Sigismund insisted that he should be released, but the
+cardinals and bishops were so embittered against him that they defied
+the Emperor's authority. All that the latter could (or did) do for him,
+was to procure for him a trial, which began on the 7th of June, 1415.
+But instead of a trial, it was a savage farce. He was accused of the
+absurdest doctrines, among others of asserting that there were four
+Gods, and every time he attempted to speak in his own defence, his voice
+was drowned by the outcries of the bishops and priests. He offered to
+renounce any doctrine he had taught, if it were proved contrary to the
+Gospel of Christ; but this proposition was received with derision. He
+was simply offered the choice between instantly denying all that he
+held as truth or being burned at the stake as a heretic.
+
+[Sidenote: 1415. HUSS AND JEROME BURNED.]
+
+On the 6th of July, the Council assembled in the Cathedral of Constance.
+After mass had been celebrated, Huss, who had steadfastly refused to
+recant, was led before the congregation of priests and princes, and
+clothed as a priest, to make his condemnation more solemn. A bishop read
+the charges against him, but every attempt he made to speak was forcibly
+silenced. Once, however, he raised his voice and demanded the fair
+hearing which had been promised, and to obtain which he had accepted the
+Emperor's protection,--fixing his eyes sternly upon Sigismund, who could
+not help blushing with shame. The sacramental cup was then placed in
+Huss's hands, and immediately snatched from him with the words: "Thou
+accursed Judas! we take from thee this cup, wherein the blood of Christ
+is offered up for the forgiveness of sins!" to which Huss replied: "I
+trust that to-day I shall drink of this cup in the Kingdom of God." Each
+article of his priestly dress was stripped from him with a new curse,
+and when, finally, all had been removed, his soul was solemnly commended
+to the Devil; whereupon he exclaimed: "And _I_ commend it to my Lord
+Jesus Christ."
+
+Huss was publicly burned to death the same day. On arriving at the stake
+he knelt and prayed so fervently, that the common people began to doubt
+whether he really was a heretic. Being again offered a chance to
+retract, he declared in a loud voice that he would seal by his death the
+truth of all he had taught. After the torch had been applied to the
+pile, he was heard to cry out, three times, from the midst of the
+flames: "Jesus Christ, son of the Living God, have mercy upon me!" Then
+his voice failed, and in a short time nothing was left of the body of
+the immortal martyr, except a handful of ashes which were thrown into
+the Rhine.
+
+Huss's friend, Jerome, who came to Constance on the express promise of
+the Council that he should not be imprisoned before a fair hearing, was
+thrown into a dungeon as soon as he arrived, and so broken down by
+sickness and cruelty that in September, 1415, he promised to give up his
+doctrines. But he soon recovered from this weakness, declared anew the
+truth of all he had taught, and defended himself before the Council in a
+speech of remarkable power and eloquence. He was condemned, and burned
+at the stake on the 30th of May, 1416.
+
+[Sidenote: 1416.]
+
+The fate of Huss and Jerome created an instant and fierce excitement
+among the Bohemians. An address, defending them against the charge of
+heresy and protesting against the injustice and barbarity of the
+Council, was signed by four or five hundred nobles, and forwarded to
+Constance. The only result was that the Council decreed that no
+safe-conduct could be allowed to protect a heretic, that the University
+of Prague must be recognized, and the strongest measures applied to
+suppress the Hussite doctrines in Bohemia. This was a defiance which the
+Bohemians courageously accepted. Men of all classes united in
+proclaiming that the doctrines of Huss should be freely taught and that
+no Interdict of the Church should be enforced: the University, and even
+Wenzel's queen, Sophia, favored this movement, which soon became so
+powerful that all priests who refused to administer the sacrament "in
+both forms" were driven from their churches.
+
+The Council sat at Constance until May, 1418, when it was dissolved by
+Pope Martin V. without having accomplished anything whatever tending to
+a permanent reformation of the Church. The only political event of
+importance during this time was a business transaction of Sigismund's,
+the results of which, reaching to our day, have decided the fate of
+Germany. In 1411, the Emperor was in great need of ready money, and
+borrowed 100,000 florins of Frederick of Hohenzollern, the Burgrave
+(_Burggraf_, "Count of the Castle") of Nuremberg, a direct descendant of
+the Hohenzollern who had helped Rudolf of Hapsburg to the Imperial
+crown. Sigismund gave his creditor a mortgage on the territory of
+Brandenburg, which had fallen into a state of great disorder. Frederick
+at once removed thither, and, in his own private interests, undertook to
+govern the country. He showed so much ability, and was so successful in
+quelling the robber-knights and establishing order, that in 1415
+Sigismund offered to sell him the sovereignty of Brandenburg (which made
+him, at the same time, an Elector of the Empire), for the additional sum
+of 300,000 gold florins. Frederick accepted the terms, and settled
+permanently in the little State which afterwards became the nucleus of
+the kingdom of Prussia, of which his own lineal descendants are now the
+rulers.
+
+[Sidenote: 1419. ZISKA HEADS THE BOHEMIANS.]
+
+When the Council of Constance was dissolved, Sigismund hastened to
+Hungary to carry on a new war with the Turks, who were already extending
+their conquests along the Danube. The Hussites in Bohemia employed this
+opportunity to organize themselves for resistance; 40,000 of them, in
+July, 1419, assembled on a mountain to which they gave the name of
+"Tabor," and chose as their leader a nobleman who was surnamed _Ziska_,
+"the one-eyed." The excitement soon rose to such a pitch that several
+monasteries were stormed and plundered. King Wenzel arrested some of the
+ringleaders, but this only inflamed the spirit of the people. They
+formed a procession in Prague, marched through the city, carrying the
+sacramental cup at their head, and took forcible possession of several
+churches. When they halted before the city-hall, to demand the release
+of their imprisoned brethren, stones were thrown at them from the
+windows, whereupon they broke into the building and hurled the
+Burgomaster and six other officials upon the upheld spears of those
+below. The news of this event so excited Wenzel that he was stricken
+with apoplexy, and died two weeks afterwards.
+
+The Hussites were already divided into two parties, one moderate in its
+demands, called the "Calixtines," from the Latin _calix_, a chalice,
+which was their symbol, the other radical and fanatic, called the
+"Taborites," who proclaimed their separation from the Church of Rome and
+a new system of brotherly equality through which they expected to
+establish the Millennium upon earth. The exigencies of their situation
+obliged these two parties to unite in common defence against the forces
+of the Church and the Empire, during the sixteen years of war which
+followed; but they always remained separated in their religious views,
+and mutually intolerant. Ziska, who called himself "John Ziska of the
+Chalice, commander in the hope of God of the Taborites," had been a
+friend and was an ardent follower of Huss. He was an old man,
+bald-headed, short, broad-shouldered, with a deep furrow across his
+brow, an enormous aquiline nose, and a short red moustache. In his
+genius for military operations, he ranks among the great commanders of
+the world: his quickness, energy and inventive talent were marvellous,
+but at the same time he knew neither tolerance nor mercy.
+
+[Sidenote: 1420.]
+
+Ziska's first policy was to arm the Bohemians. He introduced among them
+the "thunder-guns"--small field-pieces, which had been first used at the
+battle of Agincourt, between England and France, three years before; he
+shod the farmers' flails with iron, and taught them to crack helmets and
+armor with iron maces; and he invented a system of constructing
+temporary fortresses by binding strong wagons together with iron chains.
+Sigismund does not seem to have been aware of the formidable character
+of the movement until the end of his war with the Turks, some months
+afterwards, and he then persuaded the Pope to summon all Christendom to
+a crusade against Bohemia. During the year 1420 a force of 100,000
+soldiers was collected, and Sigismund marched at their head to Prague.
+The Hussites met him with the demand for the acceptance of the following
+articles: 1.--The word of God to be freely preached; 2.--The sacrament
+to be administered in both forms; 3.--The clergy to possess no property
+or temporal authority; 4.--All sins to be punished by the proper
+authorities. Sigismund was ready to accept these articles as the price
+of their submission, but the Papal Legate forbade the agreement, and war
+followed.
+
+On the 1st of November, 1420, the "Crusaders" were totally defeated by
+Ziska, and all Bohemia was soon relieved of their presence. The dispute
+between the moderates and the radicals broke out again; the idea of a
+community of property began to prevail among the Taborites, and most of
+the Bohemian nobles refused to act with them. Ziska left Prague with his
+troops and for a time devoted himself to the task of suppressing all
+opposition through the country with fire and sword. He burned no less
+than 550 convents and monasteries, slaying the priests and monks who
+refused to accept the new doctrines; but he proceeded with equal
+severity against a new sect called the Adamites, who were endeavoring to
+restore Paradise by living without clothes. While besieging the town of
+Raby, an arrow destroyed his remaining eye, yet he continued to plan
+battles and sieges as before. The very name of the blind warrior became
+a terror throughout Germany.
+
+In September, 1421, a second Crusade of 200,000 men, commanded by five
+German Electors, entered Bohemia from the west. It had been planned that
+the Emperor Sigismund, assisted by Duke Albert of Austria, to whom he
+had given his daughter in marriage, and who was now also supported by
+many of the Bohemian nobles, should invade the country from the east at
+exactly the same time. The Hussites were thus to be crushed between the
+upper and the nether millstones. But the blind Ziska, nothing daunted,
+led his wagons, his flail-men and mace-wielders against the Electors,
+whose troops began to fly before them. No battle was fought; the 200,000
+Crusaders were scattered in all directions, and lost heavily during
+their retreat. Then Ziska wheeled about and marched against Sigismund,
+who was late in making his appearance. The two armies met on the 8th of
+January, 1422, and the Hussite victory was so complete that the Emperor
+narrowly escaped falling into their hands. It is hardly to be wondered
+that they should consider themselves to be the chosen people of God,
+after such astonishing successes.
+
+[Sidenote: 1422. DEFEAT OF THE SECOND CRUSADE.]
+
+At this juncture, Prince Witold of Lithuania, supported by king Jagello
+of Poland, offered to accept the four articles of the Hussites, provided
+they would give him the crown of Bohemia. The Moderates were all in his
+favor, and even Ziska left the Taborites when, true to their republican
+principles, they refused to accept Witold's proposition. The separation
+between the two parties of the Hussites was now complete. Witold sent
+his nephew Koribut, who swore to maintain the four articles, and was
+installed at Prague, as "Vicegerent of Bohemia." Thereupon Sigismund
+made such representations to king Jagello of Poland, that Koribut was
+soon recalled by his uncle. About the same time a third Crusade was
+arranged, and Frederick of Brandenburg (the Hohenzollern) selected to
+command it, but the plan failed from lack of support. The dissensions
+among the Hussites became fiercer than ever; Ziska was at one time on
+the point of attacking Prague, but the leaders of the moderate party
+succeeded in coming to an understanding with him, and he entered the
+city in triumph. In October, 1424, while marching against Duke Albert of
+Austria, who had invaded Moravia, he fell a victim to the plague. Even
+after death he continued to terrify the German soldiers, who believed
+that his skin had been made into a drum, and still called the Hussites
+to battle.
+
+[Sidenote: 1426.]
+
+A majority of the Taborites elected a priest, called Procopius the
+Great, as their commander in Ziska's stead; the others, who thenceforth
+styled themselves "Orphans," united under another priest, Procopius the
+Little. The approach of another Imperial army, in 1426, compelled them
+to forget their differences, and the result was a splendid victory over
+their enemies. Procopius the Great then invaded Austria and Silesia,
+which he laid waste without mercy. The Pope called a _fourth_ Crusade,
+which met the same fate as the former ones: the united armies of the
+Archbishop of Treves, the Elector Frederick of Brandenburg and the Duke
+of Saxony, 200,000 strong, were utterly defeated, and fled in disorder,
+leaving an enormous quantity of stores and munitions of war in the hands
+of the Bohemians.
+
+Procopius, who was almost the equal of Ziska as a military leader, made
+several unsuccessful attempts to unite the Hussites in one religious
+body. In order to prevent their dissensions from becoming dangerous to
+the common cause, he kept the soldiers of all sects under his command,
+and undertook fierce invasions into Bavaria, Saxony and Brandenburg,
+which made the Hussite name a terror to all Germany. During these
+expeditions one hundred towns were destroyed, more than fifteen hundred
+villages burned, tens of thousands of the inhabitants slain, and such
+quantities of plunder collected that it was impossible to transport the
+whole of it to Bohemia. Frederick of Brandenburg and several other
+princes were compelled to pay heavy tributes to the Hussites: the Empire
+was thoroughly humiliated, the people weary of slaughter, yet the Pope
+refused even to call a Council for the discussion of the difficulty.
+
+As for the Emperor Sigismund, he had grown tired of the quarrel, long
+before. Leaving the other German States to fight Bohemia, he withdrew to
+Hungary and for some years found enough to do in repelling the inroads
+of the Turks. It was not until the beginning of the year 1431, when
+there was peace along the Danube, that he took any measures for putting
+an end to the Hussite war. Pope Martin V. was dead, and his successor,
+Eugene IV., reluctantly consented to call a Council to meet at Basel.
+First, however, he insisted on a _fifth_ Crusade, which was proclaimed
+for the complete extermination of the Hussites. The German princes made
+a last and desperate effort: an army of 130,000 men, 40,000 of whom were
+cavalry, was brought together, under the command of Frederick of
+Brandenburg, while Albert of Austria was to support it by invading
+Bohemia from the south.
+
+[Sidenote: 1434. END OF THE HUSSITE WARS.]
+
+Procopius and his dauntless Hussites met the Crusaders on the 14th of
+August, 1431, at a place called Thauss, and won another of their
+marvellous victories. The Imperial army was literally cut to pieces:
+8,000 wagons, filled with provisions and munitions of war, and 150
+cannons, were left upon the field. The Hussites marched northward to the
+Baltic, and eastward into Hungary, burning, slaying and plundering as
+they went. Even the Pope now yielded, and the Hussites were invited to
+attend the Council at Basel, with the most solemn stipulations in regard
+to personal safety and a fair discussion of their demands. Sigismund, in
+the meantime, had gone to Italy and been crowned Emperor in Rome, on
+condition of showing himself publicly as a personal servant of the Pope.
+He spent nearly two years in Italy, leading an idle and immoral life,
+and went back to Germany when his money was exhausted.
+
+In 1433, finally, three hundred Hussites, headed by Procopius, appeared
+in Basel. They demanded nothing more than the acceptance of the four
+articles upon which they had united in 1420; but after seven weeks of
+talk, during which the Council agreed upon nothing and promised nothing,
+they marched away, after stating that any further negotiation must be
+carried on in Prague. This course compelled the Council to act; an
+embassy was appointed, which proceeded to Prague, and on the 30th of
+November, the same year, concluded a treaty with the Hussites. The four
+demands were granted, but each with a condition attached which gave the
+Church a chance to regain its lost power. For this reason, the Taborites
+and "Orphans" refused to accept the compact; the moderate party united
+with the nobles and undertook to suppress the former by force. A fierce
+internal war followed, but it was of short duration. In 1434, the
+Taborites were defeated, their fortified mountain taken, Procopius the
+Great and the Little were both slain, and the members of the sect
+dispersed. The Bohemian Reformation was never again dangerous to the
+Church of Rome.
+
+[Sidenote: 1437.]
+
+The Emperor Sigismund, after proclaiming a general amnesty, entered
+Prague in 1436. He made some attempt to restore order and prosperity to
+the devastated country, but his measures in favor of the Church provoked
+a conspiracy against him, in which his second wife, the Empress Barbara,
+was implicated. Being warned by his son-in-law, Duke Albert of Austria,
+he left Prague for Hungary. On reaching Znaim, the capital of Moravia,
+he felt the approach of death, whereupon, after naming Albert his
+successor, he had himself clothed in his Imperial robes and seated in a
+chair, so that, after a worthless life, he was able to die in great
+state, on the 9th of December, 1437. With him expired the Luxemburg
+dynasty, after having weakened, distracted, humiliated and almost ruined
+Germany for exactly ninety years.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+THE FOUNDATION OF THE HAPSBURG DYNASTY.
+
+(1438--1493.)
+
+Albert of Austria Chosen Emperor. --His Short Reign. --Frederick III.
+    succeeds. --His Character. --The Council of Basel. --The French
+    Mercenaries and the Swiss. --The Suabian Cities. --George Podiebrad
+    in Bohemia and John Hunyádi in Hungary. --Condition of the German
+    Empire. --Losses of the German Order. --Rise of Burgundy. --Charles
+    the Bold and his Plans. --The Battles of Grandson and Morat.
+    --Death of Charles the Bold. --Marriage of Maximilian of Hapsburg
+    and Mary of Burgundy. --Frederick III.'s Troubles. --Aid of the
+    Suabian Cities. --Maximilian's Humiliation. --Frederick's Death.
+    --The Fall of the Eastern Empire. --Gutenberg's Invention of
+    Printing.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1438. ALBERT OF HAPSBURG EMPEROR.]
+
+The German Electors seemed to be acting contrary to their usual policy,
+when, on the 18th of March, 1438, they unanimously voted for Albert of
+Austria, who became Emperor as Albert II. With him commences the
+Hapsburg dynasty, which kept sole possession of the Imperial office
+until Francis II. gave up the title of Emperor of Germany, in 1806.
+Albert II. was Duke of Austria, and, as the heir of Sigismund, he was
+also king of Hungary and Bohemia; consequently the power of his house
+was much greater than that of any other German prince; but the Electors
+were influenced by the consideration that his territories lay mostly
+outside of Germany proper, that they were in a condition which would
+demand all his time and energy, and therefore the other States and
+principalities would probably be left to themselves, as they had been
+under Sigismund. Nothing is more evident in the history of Germany, from
+first to last, than the opposition of the ruling princes to any close
+political union of a _national_ character, but it was seldom so
+selfishly and shamelessly manifested as in the fourteenth and fifteenth
+centuries.
+
+[Sidenote: 1440.]
+
+The events of Albert II.'s short reign are not important. He appears to
+have been a man of strong character, honest and well-meaning, but a new
+war with the Turks called him to Hungary soon after his accession to the
+throne, and he was obliged to leave the interests of the Empire in the
+hands of his Chancellor, Schlick, a man who shared his views but could
+not exercise the same authority over the princes. Before anything could
+be accomplished, Albert died in Hungary, in October, 1439, in the
+forty-second year of his age. He left one son, Ladislas, an infant, born
+a few days after his death.
+
+The Electors again met, and in February, 1440, unanimously chose
+Albert's cousin, Frederick of Styria and Carinthia, who, after waiting
+three months before he could make up his mind, finally accepted, and was
+crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle as Frederick III. His indolence, eccentricity
+and pedantic stiffness seemed to promise just such a wooden figure-head
+as the princes required: it is difficult to imagine any other reason for
+the selection. He was more than a servant, he was almost an abject slave
+of the Papal power, and his secretary, Æneas Sylvius (who afterwards
+became Pope as Pius II.), ruled him wholly in the interest of the Church
+of Rome, at a time when a majority of the German princes, and even many
+of the Bishops, were endeavoring to effect a reformation.
+
+The Council at Basel had not adjourned after concluding the Compact of
+Prague with the Hussites. The desire for a correction of the abuses
+which had so weakened the spiritual authority of the Church was strong
+enough to compel the members to discuss plans of reform. Their course
+was so distasteful to the Pope, Eugene IV., that he threatened to
+excommunicate the Council, which, in return, deposed him and elected
+Amadeus, Duke of Savoy, who took the name of Pope Felix V. The prospect
+of a new schism disturbed the Christian world; many of the reigning
+princes refused to support Eugene unless he would grant entire freedom
+to the Church in Germany, and he would have probably been obliged to
+yield, but for the help extended to him by Frederick III., under the
+influence of Æneas Sylvius. The latter, who was no less unscrupulous
+than cunning, succeeded in destroying the work of reform in its very
+beginning. By the Concordat of Vienna, in 1448, Frederick neutralized
+the action of the Council and restored the Papal authority in its most
+despotic form. Felix V. was forced to abdicate, and the Council of
+Basel--which had meanwhile adjourned to Lausanne--was finally
+dissolved, after a session of seventeen years.
+
+[Sidenote: 1444. ATTEMPT TO CONQUER THE SWISS.]
+
+In his political course, during this time, Frederick III. was equally
+infamous, but less successful. After making a temporary arrangement with
+Hungary and Bohemia, he determined to reconquer the former Hapsburg
+possessions from the Swiss. A quarrel between Zurich and the other
+Cantons seemed to favor his plan; but, not being able to obtain any
+troops in Germany, he applied to Charles VII. of France for 5,000 of the
+latter's mercenaries. As Charles, with the help of Joan D'Arc, the Maid
+of Orleans, had just victoriously concluded his war with England, he had
+plenty of men to spare; so, instead of 5,000, he sent 30,000, under the
+command of the Dauphin. This force marched into Switzerland, and was
+met, on the 26th of August, 1444, at St. Jacob, near Basel, by an army
+of 1600 devoted Swiss, every man of whom fell, after a battle which
+lasted ten hours. The French were so crippled and discouraged that they
+turned back and for months afterwards laid waste Baden and Alsatia; so
+that only German territory suffered by this transaction.
+
+The Suabian cities, inspired by the heroic attitude of the Swiss, now
+made another attempt to protect themselves against the encroachment of
+the reigning princes upon their ancient rights. For two years a fierce
+war was waged between them and the latter, who were headed by the
+Hohenzollern Count, Albert Achilles of Brandenburg. The struggle came to
+an end in 1450, and so greatly to the disadvantage of the cities that
+the people of Schaffhausen annexed themselves and their territory to
+Switzerland. The following year, as there was a temporary peace,
+Frederick III. undertook a journey to Italy, with an escort of 3,000
+men. His object was to be crowned Emperor at Rome, and the Pope could
+not refuse the request of such an obedient servant, especially after the
+latter had kissed his foot and appeared publicly as his groom. He was
+the last German Emperor who amused the Roman people by playing such a
+part. During the year he spent in Italy he avoided Milan, and made no
+attempt to claim, or even to sell, any of the former Imperial rights.
+
+[Sidenote: 1457.]
+
+Disturbances in Hungary and Bohemia hastened his return to Germany. Both
+countries demanded that he should give up the boy Ladislas, son of
+Albert II., whom he still kept with him. In Bohemia George Podiebrad, a
+Hussite nobleman, was at the head of the government; in Hungary the
+ruler was John Hunyádi (often called _Hunniades_ by English historians),
+one of the most heroic and illustrious characters in Hungarian annals.
+The Emperor was compelled to give up Austria at once to Ladislas, who,
+at the age of sixteen, was also chosen king of Hungary and Bohemia. But
+he died soon afterwards, in 1457, and then Matthias Corvinus, the son of
+Hunyádi, was elected king by the Hungarians, and George Podiebrad by the
+Bohemians. Even Austria, which Frederick attempted to retain, passed
+partly into the hands of his brother Albert. The German princes looked
+on well-pleased, and saw the power of the Hapsburg house diminished;
+only its old ally, the house of Hohenzollern, still exhibited an active
+friendship for Frederick III.
+
+The condition of the Empire, at this time, was most deplorable. While
+France, England and Spain were increasing their power by better
+political organization, Germany was weakened by an almost unbroken
+series of internal wars. The 340 independent Dukes, Bishops, Counts,
+Abbots, Barons and Cities, fought or made peace, leagued themselves
+together or separated, just as they pleased. So wanton became the spirit
+of destruction that Albert Achilles of Brandenburg openly declared:
+"Conflagration is the ornament of war,"--and the people described one of
+his campaigns by saying: "They can read at night, in Franconia."
+Frederick III. called a number of National Diets, but as he never
+attended any, the smaller rulers soon followed his example. Although the
+Turks began to ravage the borders of Styria and Carinthia, and carried
+away thousands of the inhabitants as slaves, he spent his time in
+Austria, quarrelling with his brother Albert, and intriguing alternately
+with the Hungarians and the Bohemians, in the attempt to secure for
+himself the crowns worn by Matthias Corvinus and George Podiebrad.
+
+Along the Baltic shore the growth of the German element was checked, and
+almost destroyed. After its crushing defeat at Tannenberg, the German
+Order not only lost its power, but its liberal and intelligent
+character. It began to impose heavy taxes on the cities, and to rule
+with greater harshness the population under its sway. The result was a
+combined revolt of the cities and the country nobility, who compelled
+the Order to grant them a constitution, guaranteeing the rights for
+which they contended. They purchased Frederick III.'s consent to this
+measure for 54,000 gold florins. Soon afterwards, however, the Order
+paid the Emperor 80,000 gold florins to withdraw his consent. Then the
+cities and nobles, exasperated at this treachery, rose again, and called
+the Poles to their help. The Order appealed to the Empire, but received
+no assistance: it was defeated and its territory overrun; West-Prussia
+was annexed to Poland, which held it for three centuries afterwards, and
+East-Prussia, detached completely from the Empire, was left as a little
+German island, surrounded by Slavonic races. The responsibility for this
+serious loss to Germany, as well as for the internal anarchy and
+barbarity which prevailed, rests directly upon the Electors, who
+selected Frederick III. precisely because they knew his character, and
+who never attempted to depose him during his long and miserable reign of
+fifty-three years.
+
+[Sidenote: 1467. THE GROWTH OF BURGUNDY.]
+
+Germany was also seriously threatened on the west, not by France, but by
+the sudden growth of a new power which was equally dangerous to France.
+This was the Duchy of Burgundy, which in the course of a hundred years
+had grown to the dimensions of a kingdom, and was now strong enough to
+throw off the dependency of the territories it embraced, to France on
+the one side, and to the German Empire on the other. The foundation of
+its growth was laid in 1363, when king John of France made his fourth
+son, called Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and the latter, by
+marrying the Countess Margaret of Flanders, extended his territory to
+the mouth of the Rhine. He died in 1404, and was succeeded by his
+grandson, Philip the Good, who extended the sway of Burgundy, by
+purchase, inheritance, or force of arms, over all Belgium and Holland,
+so that it then reached from the Rhine to the North Sea. His court was
+one of the most splendid in Europe, and during his reign of sixty-three
+years Flanders became the rival of Italy in wealth, architecture and the
+fine arts.
+
+Philip the Good died in 1467, and was succeeded by his son, Charles the
+Bold, a man whose boldness was his only virtue. He was rash, vindictive,
+and almost insanely ambitious; and the only purpose of his life seems to
+have been to extend his territory to the Alps and the Mediterranean, to
+gain possession of Lorraine and Alsatia, and thus to found a kingdom of
+Burgundy, almost corresponding to that given to Lothar by the Treaty of
+Verdun, in 843. (See Chapter XII.) He first acquired additional
+territory in Belgium, then took a mortgage on all the possessions of the
+Hapsburgs in Alsatia and Baden by making a loan to Sigismund of Tyrol.
+Frederick III. not only permitted these transactions, but met Charles at
+Treves in 1473 to arrange a marriage between the latter's only daughter,
+Mary of Burgundy, and his own son, Maximilian. During the visit, which
+lasted two months, Charles the Bold displayed so much pomp and splendor
+that the Emperor, unable to make an equal show, finally left without
+saying good-bye. The interests of Germany did not move him, but when his
+personal vanity was touched, he was capable of action.
+
+[Sidenote: 1473.]
+
+For a short time, Frederick exhibited a little energy and intelligence.
+In order to secure the alliance of the Swiss, who were equally
+threatened by the designs of Charles the Bold, he concluded a Perpetual
+Peace with them, relinquishing forever the claims of the house of
+Hapsburg to authority over any part of their territory. The cities of
+Alsatia and Baden advanced money to Sigismund of Tyrol to pay his debt,
+and when Charles the Bold nevertheless refused to give up Alsatia and
+part of Lorraine, which he had seized in the meantime, war was declared
+against him. Louis XI. of France, equally jealous of Burgundy, favored
+the movement, but took no active part in it. Although Charles was driven
+out of Alsatia, and failed to take the city of Neuss after a siege of
+ten months, he succeeded in negotiating a peace, by offering a truce of
+nine years to Louis XI. and promising his daughter's hand to Frederick's
+son, Maximilian. In this treaty the Emperor, who had persuaded
+Switzerland and Lorraine to become his allies, infamously gave them up
+to Charles the Bold's revenge.
+
+The latter instantly seized the whole of Lorraine, transferred his
+capital from Brussels to Nancy, and, considering his future kingdom
+secured, prepared first to punish the Swiss. He collected a magnificent
+army of 50,000 men, crossed the Jura, and appeared before the town of
+Grandson, on the Lake of Neufchatel. The place surrendered, on condition
+that the citizens should be allowed to leave unharmed; but Charles
+seized them, hanged a number and threw the rest into the lake. By this
+time the Swiss army, numbering 18,000, appeared before Grandson. Before
+beginning the battle, they fell upon their knees and prayed fervently;
+whereupon Charles cried out: "See, they are begging for mercy, but not
+one of them shall escape!" For several hours the fight raged fiercely;
+then the horns of the mountaineers--the "bulls of Uri and the cows of
+Unterwalden," as the Swiss called them--were heard in the distance, as
+they hastened to join their brethren. A panic seized the Burgundians,
+and after a short and desperate struggle they fled, leaving all their
+camp equipage, 420 cannon, and such enormous treasures in the hands of
+the Swiss that the soldiers divided the money by hatfuls.
+
+[Sidenote: 1476. BATTLES OF GRANDSON AND MORAT.]
+
+This grand victory occurred on the 3d of May, 1476. Charles made every
+effort to retrieve his fortunes: he called fresh troops into the field,
+reorganized his army, and on the 22d of June again met the Swiss near
+the little town and lake of Morat. The battle fought there resulted in a
+more crushing defeat than that of Grandson: 15,000 Burgundians were left
+dead upon the field. The aid which the Swiss had begged the German
+Empire to give them had not been granted, but it was not needed. Charles
+the Bold seems to have become partially insane after this overthrow of
+his ambitious plans. He refused the proffered mediation of Frederick
+III. and the Pope, and endeavored to resume the war. In the meantime
+Duke René of Lorraine had recovered his land, and when Charles marched
+to retake Nancy, the Swiss allied themselves with the former. A final
+battle was fought before the walls of Nancy, in January, 1477. After the
+defeat and flight of the Burgundians, the body of Charles was found on
+the field, so covered with blood and mud as scarcely to be recognized.
+
+Up to this time, the German Empire had always claimed that its
+jurisdiction extended over Switzerland, but henceforth no effort was
+ever made to enforce it. The little communities of free people, who had
+defied and humiliated Austria, and now, within a few months, crushed the
+splendid and haughty house of Burgundy, were left alone, an eye-sore to
+the neighboring princes, but a hope to their people. The Hapsburg
+dynasty, nevertheless, profited by the fall of Charles the Bold. Mary of
+Burgundy gave her hand to Maximilian, in 1477, and he established his
+court in Flanders. He was both handsome and intellectually endowed, and
+was reputed to be the most accomplished knight of his day. Louis XI. of
+France attempted to gain possession of those provinces of Burgundy
+which had French population, but was signally defeated by Maximilian in
+1479. Three years afterwards, however, when Mary of Burgundy was killed
+by a fall from her horse, the cities of Bruges and Ghent, instigated by
+France, claimed the guardianship of her two children, Philip and
+Margaret, the latter of whom was sent to Paris to be educated as the
+bride of the Dauphin. A war ensued which lasted until 1485, when
+Maximilian was reluctantly accepted as Regent of Flanders.
+
+[Sidenote: 1485.]
+
+While these events were taking place, Frederick III. was involved in a
+quarrel with Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary, who easily succeeded in
+driving him from Vienna, and then from Austria. Still the German princes
+looked carelessly on, and the weak old Emperor wandered from one to the
+other, everywhere received as an unwelcome guest. In 1486 he called a
+Diet at Frankfort, and endeavored, but in vain, to procure a union of
+the forces of the Empire against Hungary. All that was accomplished was
+Maximilian's election as King of Germany. Immediately after being
+crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle, he made a formal demand on Matthias Corvinus
+for the surrender of Austria. Before any further steps could be taken,
+he was recalled to Flanders by a new rebellion, which lasted for three
+years.
+
+Frederick III., deserted on all sides, and seeing the Hapsburg
+possessions along the frontiers of Austria and Tyrol threatened by
+Bavaria, finally appealed to the Suabian cities for help. He succeeded
+in establishing a new Suabian League, which was composed of twenty-two
+free cities, the Count of Würtemberg and a number of independent nobles.
+A force was raised, with which he first marched to the relief of
+Maximilian, who had been taken and imprisoned at Bruges and was
+threatened with death. The undertaking was successful: Maximilian was
+released, and in 1489 his authority was established over all the
+Netherlands.
+
+The next step was to rescue Austria from the Hungarians. An interview
+between Frederick III. and Matthias Corvinus was arranged, but before it
+could take place the latter died, in April, 1490. Maximilian, with the
+troops of the Suabian League, retook Vienna, and even advanced into
+Hungary, the crown of which country he claimed for himself, but was
+forced to conclude peace at Presburg, the following year, without
+obtaining it. Austria, however, was completely restored to the house of
+Hapsburg.
+
+[Sidenote: 1493. DEATH OF FREDERICK III.]
+
+Before the year 1491 came to an end, Maximilian suffered a new
+humiliation. The last Duke of Brittany (in Western France) had died,
+leaving, like Charles the Bold of Burgundy, a single daughter, Anna, as
+his only heir. Maximilian, who had been a widower since 1482, applied
+for her hand, which she promised to him: the marriage ceremony was even
+performed by proxy. But Charles VIII. of France, although betrothed to
+Maximilian's young daughter, Margaret, now fourteen years old, saw in
+this new alliance a great danger for his kingdom; so he prevented Anna
+from leaving Brittany, married her himself, and sent Margaret home to
+Austria. Maximilian entered into an alliance with Henry VII. of England,
+secured the support of the Suabian League, and made war upon France. The
+Netherlands, nevertheless, refused to aid him; whereupon Henry VII.
+withdrew from the alliance, and the matter was settled by a treaty of
+peace in 1493, which left the duchy of Burgundy in the hands of France.
+
+Frederick III. had already given up the government of Germany (that is,
+what little he exercised) to his son. He settled at Linz and devoted his
+days to religion and alchemy. He had a habit of thrusting back his right
+foot and closing the doors behind him with it; but one day, kicking out
+too violently, he so injured his leg that the physicians were obliged to
+amputate it. This accident hastened his death, which took place in
+August, 1493. He was seventy-eight years old, and had reigned
+fifty-three years, wretchedly enough--but of this fact he was not aware.
+He evidently considered himself a great and successful monarch. All his
+books were stamped with the vowels, A. E. I. O. U.--which was a mystery
+to every one, until the meaning was discovered after his death. The
+letters are the initials of the words, _Alles Erdreich Ist Oesterreich
+Unterthan_, "All Earth is subject to Austria"!
+
+Two events occurred during Frederick's reign, one of which illustrated
+the declining power of the Roman Church, while the other, unnoticed in
+the confusion of civil war, was destined to be the chief weapon for the
+overthrow of the priestly power. The first of these was the fall of the
+Eastern Empire, when Sultan Mohammed II. conquered Constantinople in
+1453. Although this catastrophe had been long foreseen, the news of it
+nevertheless created a powerful excitement throughout Europe. One-fourth
+of the zeal expended on any one of the Crusades would have saved Turkey
+to Christendom: the German Empire, alone, could have easily repelled the
+Ottoman invasion; but each petty ruler thought only of himself, and the
+Popes were solely interested in preventing the Reformation of the
+Church. The latter, now--especially Pius II. (Æneas Sylvius)--were very
+eager for a new Crusade for the recovery of Constantinople: there was
+much talk, but no action, and finally even the talk ceased.
+
+[Sidenote: 1440.]
+
+The other event was a simple invention, which is chiefly remarkable for
+not having been made long before. The great use of cards for gambling
+first led to the employment of wooden blocks, upon which the figures
+were cut and then printed in colors. Wood-engraving, of a rude kind,
+gradually came into use, and as early as the year 1420 Lawrence Coster,
+of Harlem, in Holland, produced entire books, each page of which was
+engraved upon a single block. But John Gutenberg, of Mayence, about the
+year 1436, originated the plan of casting movable types and setting them
+together to form words. His chief difficulty was in discovering a proper
+metal of which to cast them, and a kind of ink which would give a clear
+impression. Paper made of linen had already been in use, in Germany, for
+about a hundred and thirty years.
+
+Gutenberg was poor, and therefore took a man named Fust, who had
+considerable means, as his partner. They completed the first
+printing-press in 1440, but several more years elapsed before the
+invention achieved any result. There was a quarrel between the two;
+Gutenberg withdrew, and Fust took his own assistant, Peter Schoeffer, as
+partner in the former's place. Schoeffer discovered the right
+combination of metal for the types, as well as an excellent ink. In 1457
+appeared the first printed book, a Latin psalter; in 1461 the Latin
+Bible, and two years afterwards a German Bible. These Bibles are
+masterpieces of the printer's art: they were sold at from thirty to
+sixty gold florins a copy, which was just one-tenth the cost of a
+written Bible at that time. The art was at first kept a profound secret,
+and the people supposed that the books were produced by magic, as they
+were multiplied so rapidly and sold so cheaply; but when Mayence was
+taken by Adolf of Nassau, in 1462, during one of the civil wars, the
+invention became known to the world, and printing-presses were soon
+established in Holland, Italy and England.
+
+[Sidenote: 1462. THE INVENTION OF PRINTING.]
+
+The clergy, and especially the monks, would have suppressed the art, if
+they had been able. It took away from the latter the profitable business
+of copying manuscript works, and it placed within the reach of the
+people the knowledge, of which the former had preserved the monopoly. By
+the simple invention of movable types, the darkness of centuries began
+to recede from the world: the life of the Middle Ages grew faint and
+feeble, and a mighty, irresistible change swept over the minds and
+habits of men. But the rulers of that day, great or little, were the
+last persons to suspect that any such change was at hand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+GERMANY, DURING THE REIGN OF MAXIMILIAN I.
+
+(1493--1519.)
+
+Maximilian I. as Man and Emperor. --The Diet of 1495, at Worms. --The
+    Perpetual Peace declared. --The Imperial Court. --Marriage of
+    Philip of Hapsburg to Joanna of Spain. --War with Switzerland.
+    --March to Italy. --League against Venice. --The "Holy League"
+    against France. --The Diet of 1512. --The Empire divided into Ten
+    Districts. --Revolts of the Peasants. --The "Bond-Shoe" and "Poor
+    Konrad." --Change in Military Service. --Character of Maximilian's
+    Reign. --The Cities of Germany. --Their Wealth and Architecture.
+    --The Order of the "Holy Vehm." --Other Changes under Maximilian.
+    --Last Years of his Reign. --His Death.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1493.]
+
+As Maximilian had been elected in 1486, he began to exercise the full
+Imperial power, without any further formalities, after his father's
+death. For the first time since the death of Henry VII. in 1313, the
+Germans had a popular Emperor. They were at last weary of the prevailing
+disorder and insecurity, and partly conscious that the power of the
+Empire had declined, while that of France, Spain, and even Poland, had
+greatly increased. Therefore they brought themselves to submit to the
+authority of an Emperor who was in every respect stronger than any of
+the Electors by whom he had been chosen.
+
+Maximilian had all the qualities of a great ruler, except prudence and
+foresight. He was tall, finely-formed, with remarkably handsome
+features, clear blue eyes, and blonde hair falling in ringlets upon his
+shoulders; he possessed great muscular strength, his body was developed
+by constant exercise, and he was one of the boldest, bravest and most
+skilful knights of his day. While his bearing was stately and dignified,
+his habits were simple: he often marched on foot, carrying his lance, at
+the head of his troops, and was able to forge his armor and temper his
+sword, as well as wear them. Yet he was also well-educated, possessed a
+taste for literature and the arts, and became something of a poet in
+his later years. Unlike his avaricious predecessors, he was generous
+even to prodigality; but, inheriting his father's eccentricity of
+character, he was whimsical, liable to act from impulse instead of
+reflection, headstrong and impatient. If he had been as wise as he was
+honest and well-meaning, he might have regenerated Germany.
+
+[Sidenote: 1495. PERPETUAL PEACE PROCLAIMED.]
+
+The commencement of his reign was signalized by two threatening events.
+The Turks were renewing their invasions, and boldly advancing into
+Carinthia, between Vienna and the Adriatic; Charles VIII. of France had
+made himself master of Naples, and was apparently bent on conquering and
+annexing all of Italy. Maximilian had just married Blanca Maria Sforza,
+niece of the reigning Duke of Milan, which city, with others in
+Lombardy, and even the Pope--forgetting their old enmity to the German
+Empire--demanded his assistance. He called a Diet, which met at Worms in
+1495; but many of the princes, both spiritual and temporal, had learned
+a little wisdom, and they were unwilling to interfere in matters outside
+of the Empire until something had been done to remedy its internal
+condition. Berthold, Archbishop of Mayence, Frederick the Wise of
+Saxony, John Cicero of Brandenburg, and Eberhard of the Beard, first
+Duke of Würtemberg, with many of the free cities, insisted so strongly
+on the restoration of order, security, and the establishment of laws
+which should guarantee peace, that the Emperor was forced to comply. For
+fourteen weeks the question was discussed with the greatest earnestness:
+the opposition of many princes and nearly the whole class of nobles was
+overcome, and a Perpetual National Peace was proclaimed. By this
+measure, the right to use force was prohibited to all; the feuds which
+had desolated the land for a thousand years were ordered to be
+suppressed; and all disputes were referred to an Imperial Court,
+permanently established at Frankfort, and composed of sixteen
+Councillors. It was also agreed that the Diet should meet annually, and
+remain in session for one month, in order to insure the uninterrupted
+enforcement of its decrees. A proposition to appoint an Imperial Council
+of State (equivalent to a modern "Ministry"), of twenty members, which
+should have power, in certain cases, to act in the Emperor's name, was
+rejected by Maximilian, as an assault upon his personal rights.
+
+[Sidenote: 1496.]
+
+Although the decree of Perpetual Peace could not be carried into effect
+immediately, it was not a dead letter, as all former decrees of the kind
+had been. Maximilian bound himself, in the most solemn manner, to
+respect the new arrangements, and there were now several honest and
+intelligent princes to assist him. One difficulty was the collection of
+a government tax, called "the common penny," to support the expenses of
+the Imperial Court. Such a tax had been for the first time imposed
+during the war with the Hussites, but very little of it was then paid.
+Even now, when the object of it was of such importance to the whole
+people, several years elapsed before the Court could be permanently
+established. The annual sessions of the Diet, also, were much less
+effective than had been anticipated: princes, priests and cities were so
+accustomed to a selfish independence, that they could not yet work
+together for the general good.
+
+Before the Diet at Worms adjourned, it agreed to furnish the Emperor
+with 9,000 men, to be employed in Italy against the French, and
+afterwards against the Turks on the Austrian frontier. Charles VIII.
+retreated from Italy on hearing of this measure, yet not rapidly enough
+to avoid being defeated, near Parma, by the combined Germans and
+Milanese. In 1496 Sigismund of Tyrol died, and all the Hapsburg lands
+came into Maximilian's possession. The same year, he married his son
+Philip, then eighteen years old and accepted as Regent by the
+Netherlands, to Joanna, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of
+Castile. The other heirs to the Spanish throne died soon afterwards, and
+when Isabella followed them, in 1504, she appointed Philip and Joanna
+her successors. The pride and influence of the house of Hapsburg were
+greatly increased by this marriage, but its consequences were most
+disastrous to Germany, for Philip's son was Charles V.
+
+The next years of Maximilian's reign were disturbed, and, on the whole,
+unfortunate for the Empire. An attempt to apply the decrees of the Diet
+of Worms to Switzerland brought on a war, which, after occasioning the
+destruction of 2,000 villages and castles, and the loss of 20,000 lives,
+resulted in the Emperor formally acknowledging the independence of
+Switzerland in a treaty concluded at Basel in 1499. Then Louis XII. of
+France captured Milan, interfered secretly in a war concerning the
+succession, which broke out in Bavaria, and bribed various German
+princes to act in his interest, when Maximilian called upon the Diet to
+assist him in making war upon France. After having with much difficulty
+obtained 12,000 men, the Emperor marched to Italy, intending to replace
+the Sforza family in Milan and then be crowned by Pope Julius II. in
+Rome. But the Venetians stopped him at the outset of the expedition, and
+he was forced to return ingloriously to Germany.
+
+[Sidenote: 1508. WARS WITH VENICE AND FRANCE.]
+
+Maximilian's next step was another example of his want of judgment in
+political matters. In order to revenge himself upon Venice, he gave up
+his hostility to France, and in 1508 became a party to the League of
+Cambray, uniting with France, Spain and the Pope in a determined effort
+to destroy the Venetian Republic. The war, which was bloody and
+barbarous, even for those times, lasted three years. Venice lost, at the
+outset, Trieste, Verona, Padua and the Romagna, and seemed on the verge
+of ruin, when Maximilian suddenly left Italy with his army, offended, it
+was said, at the refusal of the French knights, to fight side by side
+with his German troops. The Venetians then recovered so much of their
+lost ground that they purchased the alliance of the Pope, and finally of
+Spain. A new alliance, called "the Holy League," was formed against
+France; and Maximilian, after continuing to support Louis XII. a while
+longer, finally united with Henry VII. of England in joining it. But
+Louis XII., who was a far better diplomatist than any of his enemies,
+succeeded, after he had suffered many inevitable losses, in dissolving
+this powerful combination. He married the sister of Henry of England,
+yielded Navarre and Naples to Spain, promised money to the Swiss, and
+held out to Maximilian the prospect of a marriage which would give Milan
+to the Hapsburgs.
+
+Thus the greater part of Europe was for years convulsed with war chiefly
+because instead of a prudent and intelligent _national_ power in
+Germany, there was an unsteady and excitable _family_ leader, whose
+first interest was the advantage of his house. After such sacrifices of
+blood and treasure, such disturbance to the development of industry, art
+and knowledge among the people, the same confusion prevailed as before.
+
+[Sidenote: 1512.]
+
+Before the war came to an end, another general Diet met at Cologne, in
+1512, to complete the organization commenced in 1495. Private feuds and
+acts of retaliation had not yet been suppressed, and the Imperial
+Council was working under great disadvantages, both from the want of
+money and the difficulty of enforcing obedience to its decisions. The
+Emperor demanded the creation of a permanent military force, which
+should be at the service of the Empire; but this was almost unanimously
+refused. In other respects, the Diet showed itself both willing and
+earnest to complete the work of peace and order. The whole Empire was
+divided into ten Districts, each of which was placed under the
+jurisdiction of a Judicial Chief and Board of Councillors, whose duty it
+was to see that the decrees of the Diet and the judgments of the
+Imperial Court were obeyed.
+
+The Districts were as follows: 1.--THE AUSTRIAN, embracing all the lands
+governed by the Hapsburgs, from the Danube to the Adriatic, with the
+Tyrol, and some territory on the Upper Rhine: Bohemia, Silesia and
+Hungary were not included. 2.--THE BAVARIAN, comprising the divisions on
+both sides of the Danube, and the bishopric of Salzburg. 3.--THE
+SUABIAN, made up of no less than 90 spiritual and temporal
+principalities, including Würtemberg, Baden, Hohenzollern, and the
+bishoprics of Augsburg and Constance. 4.--THE FRANCONIAN, embracing the
+Brandenburg possessions, Ansbach and Baireuth, with Nuremberg and the
+bishoprics of Bamberg, Würzburg, &c. 5.--THE UPPER-RHENISH, comprising
+the Palatinate, Hesse, Nassau, the bishoprics of Basel, Strasburg,
+Speyer, Worms, &c., the free cities of the Rhine as far as Frankfort,
+and a number of petty States. 6.--THE ELECTORAL-RHENISH, with the
+Archbishoprics of the Palatinate, Mayence, Treves, Cologne, and the
+principality of Amberg. 7.--THE BURGUNDIAN, made up of 21 States, four
+of them dukedoms and eight countships. 8.--THE WESTPHALIAN, with the
+dukedoms of Jülich, Cleves and Berg, Oldenburg, part of Friesland, and 7
+bishoprics. 9.--THE LOWER SAXON, embracing the dukedoms of
+Brunswick-Lüneburg, Saxe-Lauenburg, Holstein and Mecklenburg, the
+Archbishoprics of Magdeburg and Lübeck, the free cities of Bremen,
+Hamburg and Lübeck, and a number of smaller States. 10.--THE UPPER
+SAXON, including the Electorates of Saxony and Brandenburg, the dukedom
+of Pomerania, the smaller States of Anhalt, Schwarzburg, Mansfeld,
+Reuss, and many others of less importance.
+
+[Sidenote: 1512. MILITARY CHANGES.]
+
+This division of Germany into districts had the external appearance of
+an orderly political arrangement; but the States, great and little, had
+been too long accustomed to having their own way. The fact that an
+independent baron, like Franz von Sickingen, could still disturb a large
+extent of territory for a number of years, shows the weakness of the new
+national power. Moreover, nothing seems to have been done, or even
+attempted, by the Diet, to protect the agricultural population from the
+absolute despotism of the landed nobility. In Alsatia, as early as 1493,
+there was a general revolt of the peasants (called by them the
+_Bond-shoe_), which was not suppressed until much blood had been shed.
+It excited a spirit of resistance throughout all Southern Germany. In
+1514, Duke Ulric of Würtemberg undertook to replenish his treasury by
+using false weights and measures, and provoked the common people to rise
+against him. They formed a society, to which they gave the name of "Poor
+Konrad," which became so threatening that, although it was finally
+crushed by violence, it compelled the reform of many flagrant evils and
+showed even the most arrogant rulers that there were bounds to tyranny.
+
+But, although the feudal system was still in force, the obligation to
+render military service, formerly belonging to it, was nearly at an end.
+The use of cannon, and of a rude kind of musket, had become general in
+war: heavy armor for man and horse was becoming not only useless, but
+dangerous; and the courage of the soldier, not his bodily strength or
+his knightly accomplishments, constituted his value in the field. The
+Swiss had set the example of furnishing good troops to whoever would pay
+for them, and a similar class, calling themselves _Landsknechte_
+(Servants of the Country), arose in Germany. The robber-knights, by this
+time, were nearly extinct: when Frederick of Hohenzollern began to use
+artillery against their castles, it was evident that their days of
+plunder were over. The reign of Maximilian, therefore, marks an
+important turning-point in German history. It is, at the same time, the
+end of the stormy and struggling life of the Middle Ages, and the
+beginning of a new and fiercer struggle between men and their
+oppressors. Maximilian, in fact, is called in Germany "the Last of the
+Knights."
+
+[Sidenote: 1512.]
+
+The strength of Germany lay chiefly in the cities, which, in spite of
+their narrow policy towards the country, and their jealousy of each
+other, had at least kept alive and encouraged all forms of art and
+industry, and created a class of learned men outside of the Church.
+While the knighthood of the Hohenstaufen period had sunk into corruption
+and semi-barbarism, and the people had grown more dangerous through
+their ignorance and subjection, the cities had gradually become centres
+of wealth and intelligence. They were adorned with splendid works of
+architecture; they supported the early poets, painters and sculptors;
+and, when compelled to act in concert against the usurpations of the
+Emperor or the inferior rulers, whatever privileges they maintained or
+received were in favor of the middle-class, and therefore an indirect
+gain to the whole people.
+
+The cities, moreover, exercised an influence over the country population
+by their markets, fairs, and festivals. The most of them were as largely
+and as handsomely built as at present, but in times of peace the life
+within their walls was much gayer and more brilliant. Pope Pius II.,
+when he was secretary to Frederick III. as Æneas Sylvius, wrote of them
+as follows: "One may veritably say that no people in Europe live in
+cleaner or more cheerful cities than the Germans; their appearance is as
+new as if they had only been built yesterday. By their commerce they
+amass great wealth: there is no banquet at which they do not drink from
+silver cups, no dame who does not wear golden ornaments. Moreover, the
+citizens are also soldiers, and each one has a sort of arsenal in his
+own house. The boys in this country can ride before they can talk, and
+sit firmly in the saddle when the horses are at full speed: the men move
+in their armor without feeling its weight. Verily, you Germans might be
+masters of the world, as formerly, but for your multitude of rulers,
+which every wise man has always considered an evil!"
+
+During the fifteenth century a remarkable institution, called "the
+Vehm"--or, by the people, "the Holy Vehm"--exercised a great authority
+throughout Northern Germany. Its members claimed that it was founded by
+Charlemagne, to assist in establishing Christianity among the Saxons;
+but it is not mentioned before the twelfth century, and the probability
+is that it sprang up from the effort of the people to preserve their old
+democratic organization, in a secret form, after it had been overthrown
+by the reigning princes. The object of the Vehm was to enforce impartial
+justice among all classes, and for this purpose it held open courts for
+the settlement of quarrels and minor offences, while graver crimes were
+tried at night, in places known only to the members. The latter were
+sworn to secrecy, and also to implicit obedience to the judgments of the
+courts or the orders of the chiefs, who were called "Free Counts." The
+head-quarters of the Vehm were in Westphalia, but its branches spread
+over a great part of Germany, and it became so powerful during the reign
+of Frederick III. that it even dared to cite him to appear before its
+tribunal.
+
+[Sidenote: 1515. LAST YEARS OF MAXIMILIAN.]
+
+In all probability the dread of the power of the Vehm was one of the
+causes which induced both Maximilian and the princes to reorganize the
+Empire. In proportion as order and justice began to prevail in Germany,
+the need of such a secret institution grew less; but about another
+century elapsed before its courts ceased to be held. After that, it
+continued to exist in Westphalia as an order for mutual assistance,
+something like that of the Freemasons. In this form it lingered until
+1838, when the last "Free Count" died.
+
+Among the other changes introduced during Maximilian's reign were the
+establishment of a police system, and the invention of a postal system
+by Franz of Taxis. The latter obtained a monopoly of the post routes
+throughout Germany, and his family, which afterwards became that of
+Thurn and Taxis, received an enormous revenue from this source, from
+that time down to the present day. Maximilian himself devoted a great
+deal of time and study to the improvement of artillery, and many new
+forms of cannon, which were designed by him, are still preserved in
+Vienna.
+
+Although the people of Germany did not share to any great extent in the
+passion for travel and adventure which followed the discovery of America
+in 1492 and the circumnavigation of Africa in 1498, they were directly
+affected by the changes which took place in the commerce of the world.
+The supremacy of Venice in the South and of the Hanseatic League in the
+North of Europe, began slowly to decline, while the powers which
+undertook to colonize the new lands--England, Spain and Portugal--rose
+in commercial importance.
+
+[Sidenote: 1518.]
+
+The last years of Maximilian promised new splendors to the house of
+Hapsburg. In 1515 his younger grandson, Ferdinand, married the daughter
+of Ladislas, king of Bohemia and Hungary, whose only son died shortly
+afterwards, leaving Ferdinand heir to the double crown. In 1516, the
+Emperor's elder grandson, Karl, became king of Spain, Sicily and Naples,
+in addition to Burgundy and Flanders, which he held as the
+great-grandson of Charles the Bold. At a Diet held at Augsburg, in 1518,
+Maximilian made great exertions to have Karl elected his successor, but
+failed on account of the opposition of Pope Leo X. and Francis I. of
+France, whose agents were present with heavy bribes in their pockets.
+
+Disappointed and depressed, the Emperor left Augsburg, and went to
+Innsbruck, but the latter city refused to entertain him until some money
+which he had borrowed of it should be refunded. His strength had been
+failing for years before, and he always travelled with a coffin among
+his baggage. He now felt his end approaching, took up his abode in the
+little town of Wels, and devoted his remaining days to religious
+exercises. There he died, on the 11th of January, 1519, in the sixtieth
+year of his age.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+THE REFORMATION.
+
+(1517--1546.)
+
+Martin Luther. --Signs of the Coming Reformation. --Luther's Youth and
+    Education. --His Study of the Bible. --His Professorship at
+    Wittenberg. --Visit to Rome. --Tetzel's Sale of Indulgences.
+    --Luther's Theses. --His Meeting with Cardinal Cajetanus. --Escape
+    from Augsburg. --Meeting with the Pope's Nuncio. --Excitement in
+    Germany. --Luther burns the Pope's Bull. --Charles V. elected
+    German Emperor. --Luther before the Diet at Worms. --His Abduction
+    and Concealment. --He Returns to Wittenberg. --Progress of the
+    Reformation. --The Anabaptists. --The Peasants' War. --Luther's
+    Manner of Translating the Bible. --Leagues For and Against the
+    Reformation. --Its Features. --The Wars of Charles V. --Diet at
+    Speyer. --The Protestants. --The Swiss Reformer, Zwingli. --His
+    Meeting with Luther. --Charles V. returns to Germany. --The
+    Augsburg Confession. --Measures against the Protestants. --The
+    League of Schmalkalden. --The Religious Peace of Nuremberg. --Its
+    Consequences. --John of Leyden. --Another Diet. --Charles V.
+    Invades France. --The Council of Trent. --Luther's last Years.
+    --His Death and Burial.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1519. MARTIN LUTHER.]
+
+When the Emperor Maximilian died, a greater man than himself or any of
+his predecessors on the Imperial throne had already begun a far greater
+work than was ever accomplished by any political ruler. Out of the ranks
+of the poor, oppressed German people arose the chosen Leader who became
+powerful above all princes, who resisted the first monarch of the world,
+and defeated the Church of Rome after an undisturbed reign of a thousand
+years. We must therefore leave the succession of the house of Hapsburg
+until we have traced the life of Martin Luther up to the time of
+Maximilian's death.
+
+The Reformation, which was now so near at hand, already existed in the
+feelings and hopes of a large class of the people. The persecutions of
+the Albigenses in France, the Waldenses in Savoy and the Wickliffites in
+England, the burning of Huss and Jerome, and the long ravages of the
+Hussite war had made all Europe familiar with the leading doctrine of
+each of these sects--that the Bible was the highest authority, the only
+source of Christian truth. Earnest, thinking men in all countries were
+thus led to examine the Bible for themselves, and the great
+dissemination of the study of the ancient languages, during the
+fifteenth century, helped very much to increase the knowledge of the
+sacred volume. Then came the art of printing, as a most providential
+aid, making the truth accessible to all who were able to read it.
+
+[Sidenote: 1483.]
+
+The long reign of Frederick III., as we have seen, was a period of
+political disorganization, which was partially corrected during the
+reign of Maximilian. Internal peace was the first great necessity of
+Germany, and, until it had been established, the people patiently
+endured the oppressions and abuses of the Church of Rome. When they were
+ready for a serious resistance to the latter, the man was also ready to
+instruct and guide them, and the Church itself furnished the occasion
+for a general revolt against its authority.
+
+Martin Luther, the son of a poor miner, was born in the little Saxon
+town of Eisleben (not far from the Hartz), on the 10th of November,
+1483. He attended a monkish school at Magdeburg, and then became what is
+called a "wandering-scholar"--that is, one who has no certain means of
+support, but chants in the church, and also in the streets for alms--at
+Eisenach, in Thuringia. As a boy he was so earnest, studious and
+obedient, and gave such intellectual promise, that his parents stinted
+themselves in order to save enough from their scanty earnings to secure
+him a good education. But their circumstances gradually improved, and in
+1501 they were able to send him to the University of Erfurt. Four years
+afterwards he was graduated with honor, and delivered a course of
+lectures upon Aristotle.
+
+Luther's father desired that he should study jurisprudence, but his
+thoughts were already turned towards religion. A copy of the Bible in
+the library of the University excited in him such a spiritual struggle
+that he became seriously ill; and he had barely recovered, when, while
+taking a walk with a fellow-student, the latter was struck dead by
+lightning at his side. Then he determined to renounce the world, and in
+spite of the strong opposition of his father, became a monk of the
+Augustine Order, in Erfurt. He prayed, fasted, and followed the most
+rigid discipline of the order, in the hope of obtaining peace of mind,
+but in vain: he was tormented by doubt and even by despair, until he
+turned again to the Bible. A zealous study of the exact language of the
+Gospels gave him not only a firm faith, but a peace and cheerfulness
+which was never afterwards disturbed by trials or dangers.
+
+[Sidenote: 1517. TETZEL'S SALE OF INDULGENCES.]
+
+The Elector, Frederick the Wise, of Saxony, had founded a new University
+at Wittenberg, and sought to obtain competent professors for it. The
+Vicar-General of the Augustine Order, to whom Luther's zeal and ability
+were known, recommended him for one of the places, and in 1508 he began
+to lecture in Wittenberg, first on Greek philosophy, and then upon
+theology. His success was so marked that in 1510 he was sent by the
+Order on a special mission to Rome, where the corruptions of the Church
+and the immorality of the Pope and Cardinals made a profound and lasting
+impression upon his mind. He returned to Germany, feeling as he never
+had felt before, the necessity of a reformation of the Church. In 1512
+he was made Doctor of Theology, and from that time forward his
+teachings, which were based upon his own knowledge of the Bible, began
+to bear abundant fruit.
+
+In the year 1517, the Pope, Leo X., famous both for his luxurious habits
+and his love of art, found that his income was not sufficient for his
+expenses, and determined to increase it by issuing a series of
+absolutions for all forms of crime, even perjury, bigamy and murder. The
+cost of pardon was graduated according to the nature of the sin. Albert,
+Archbishop of Mayence, bought the right of selling absolutions in
+Germany, and appointed as his agent a Dominican monk of the name of
+Tetzel. The latter began travelling through the country like a pedlar,
+publicly offering for sale the pardon of the Roman Church for all
+varieties of crime. In some places he did an excellent business, since
+many evil men also purchased pardons in advance for the crimes they
+intended to commit: in other districts Tetzel only stirred up the
+abhorrence of the people, and increased their burning desire to have
+such enormities suppressed.
+
+Only one man, however, dared to come out openly and condemn the Papal
+trade in sin and crime. This was Dr. Martin Luther, who, on the 31st of
+October, 1517, nailed upon the door of the Church at Wittenberg a series
+of ninety-five theses, or theological declarations, the truth of which
+he offered to prove, against all adversaries. The substance of them was
+that the pardon of sins came only from God, and could only be purchased
+by true repentance; that to offer absolutions for sale, as Tetzel was
+doing, was an unchristian act, contrary to the genuine doctrines of the
+Church; and that it could not, therefore, have been sanctioned by the
+Pope. Luther's object, at this time, was not to separate from the Church
+of Rome, but to reform and purify it.
+
+[Sidenote: 1518.]
+
+The ninety-five theses, which were written in Latin, were immediately
+translated, printed, and circulated throughout Germany. They were
+followed by replies, in which the action of the Pope was defended;
+Luther was styled a heretic, and threatened with the fate of Huss. He
+defended himself in pamphlets, which were eagerly read by the people;
+and his followers increased so rapidly that Leo X., who had summoned him
+to Rome for trial, finally agreed that he should present himself before
+the Papal Legate, Cardinal Cajetanus, at Augsburg. The latter simply
+demanded that Luther should retract what he had preached and written, as
+being contrary to the Papal bulls; whereupon Luther, for the first time,
+was compelled to declare that "the command of the Pope can only be
+respected as the voice of God, when it is not in conflict with the Holy
+Scriptures." The Cardinal afterwards said: "I will have nothing more to
+do with that German beast, with the deep eyes and the whimsical
+speculations in his head!" and Luther said of him: "He knew no more
+about the Word than a donkey knows of harp-playing."
+
+The Vicar-General of the Augustines was still Luther's friend, and,
+fearing that he was not safe in Augsburg, he had him let out of the city
+at daybreak, through a small door in the wall, and then supplied with a
+horse. Having reached Wittenberg, where he was surrounded with devoted
+followers, Frederick the Wise was next ordered to give him up. About the
+same time Leo X. declared that the practices assailed by Luther were
+doctrines of the Church, and must be accepted as such. Frederick began
+to waver; but the young Philip Melanchthon, Justus Jonas, and other
+distinguished men connected with the University exerted their influence,
+and the Elector finally refused the demand. The Emperor Maximilian, now
+near his end, sent a letter to the Pope, begging him to arrange the
+difficulty, and Leo X. commissioned his Nuncio, a Saxon nobleman named
+Karl von Miltitz, to meet Luther. The meeting took place at Altenburg in
+1519: the Nuncio, who afterwards reported that he "would not undertake
+to remove Luther from Germany with the help of 10,000 soldiers, for he
+had found ten men for him where one was for the Pope"--was a mild and
+conciliatory man. He prayed Luther to pause, for he was destroying the
+peace of the Church, and succeeded, by his persuasions, in inducing him
+to promise to keep silence, provided his antagonists remained silent
+also.
+
+[Sidenote: 1520. BURNING THE POPE'S BULL.]
+
+This was merely a truce, and it was soon broken. Dr. Eck, one of the
+partisans of the Church, challenged Luther's friend and follower,
+Carlstadt, to a public discussion in Leipzig, and it was not long before
+Luther himself was compelled to take part in it. He declared his views
+with more clearness than ever, disregarding the outcry raised against
+him that he was in fellowship with the Bohemian heretics. The struggle,
+by this time, had affected all Germany, the middle class and smaller
+nobles being mostly on Luther's side, while the priests and reigning
+princes, with a few exceptions, were against him. In order to defend
+himself from misrepresentation and justify his course, he published two
+pamphlets, one called "An Appeal to the Emperor and Christian Nobles of
+Germany," and the other, "Concerning the Babylonian Captivity of the
+Church." These were read by tens of thousands, all over the country.
+
+Pope Leo X. immediately issued a bull, ordering all Luther's writings to
+be burned, excommunicating those who should believe in them, and
+summoning Luther to Rome. This only increased the popular excitement in
+Luther's favor, and on the 10th of December, 1520, he took the step
+which made impossible any reconciliation between himself and the Papal
+power. Accompanied by the Professors and students of the University, he
+had a fire kindled outside of one of the gates of Wittenberg, placed
+therein the books of canonical law and various writings in defence of
+the Pope, and then cast the Papal bull into the flames, with the words:
+"As thou hast tormented the Lord and His Saints, so may eternal flame
+torment and consume thee!" This was the boldest declaration of war ever
+hurled at such an overwhelming authority; but the courage of this one
+man soon communicated itself to the people. The knight, Ulric von
+Hutten, a distinguished scholar, who had been crowned as poet by the
+Emperor Maximilian, openly declared for Luther: the rebellious baron,
+Franz von Sickingen, offered him his castle as a safe place of refuge.
+Frederick the Wise was now his steadfast friend, and, although the
+dangers which beset him increased every day, his own faith in the
+righteousness of his cause only became firmer and purer.
+
+[Sidenote: 1519.]
+
+By this time the question of electing a successor to Maximilian had been
+settled. When the Diet came together at Frankfort, in June, 1519, two
+prominent candidates presented themselves,--king Francis I. of France,
+and king Charles of Spain, Naples, Sicily and the Spanish possessions in
+the newly-discovered America. The former of these had no other right to
+the crown than could be purchased by the wagon-loads of money which he
+sent to Germany; the latter was the grandson of Maximilian, and also
+represented, in his own person, Austria, Burgundy and the Netherlands.
+Again the old jealousy of so much power arose among the Electors, and
+they gave their votes to Frederick the Wise, of Saxony. He, however,
+shrank from the burden of the imperial rule, at such a time, and
+declined to accept. Then Charles of Spain, who had ruined the prospects
+of Francis I. by distributing 850,000 gold florins among the members of
+the Diet, was elected without any further difficulty. The following year
+he was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle, and became Karl V. in the list of
+German Emperors. Although he reigned thirty-six years, he always
+remained a foreigner: he never even learned to speak the German language
+fluently: his tastes and habits were Spanish, and his election, at such
+a crisis in the history of Germany, was a crime from the effects of
+which the country did not recover for three hundred years afterwards.
+
+Luther wrote to the new Emperor, immediately after the election, begging
+that he might not be condemned unheard, and was so earnestly supported
+by Frederick the Wise, who had voted for Charles at the Diet, that the
+latter sent Luther a formal invitation to appear before him at Worms,
+where a new Diet had been called, specially to arrange the Imperial
+Court in the ten districts of the Empire, and to raise a military force
+to drive the French out of Lombardy, which Francis I. had seized. Luther
+considered this opportunity "a call from God:" he set out from
+Wittenberg, and wherever he passed the people flocked together in great
+numbers to see him and hear him speak. On approaching Worms, one of his
+friends tried to persuade him to turn back, but he answered: "Though
+there were as many devils in the city as tiles on the roofs, yet would I
+go!" He entered Worms in an open wagon, in his monk's dress, stared at
+by an immense concourse of people. The same evening he received visits
+from a number of princes and noblemen.
+
+[Sidenote: 1521. LUTHER AT THE DIET OF WORMS.]
+
+On the 17th of April, 1521, Luther was conducted by the Marshal of the
+Empire to the City Hall, where the Diet was in session. As he was
+passing through the outer hall, the famous knight and general, George
+von Frundsberg, clapped him upon the shoulder, with the words: "Monk,
+monk! thou art in a strait, the like of which myself and many leaders,
+in the most desperate battles, have never known. But if thy thoughts are
+just, and thou art sure of thy cause, go on in God's name, and be of
+good cheer, He will not forsake thee!" Charles V. is reported to have
+said, when Luther entered the great hall: "That monk will never make a
+heretic of me!" After having acknowledged all his writings, Luther was
+called upon to retract them. He appeared to be somewhat embarrassed and
+undecided, either confused by the splendor of the Imperial Court, or
+shaken by the overwhelming responsibility resting upon him. He therefore
+asked a little time for further consideration, and was allowed
+twenty-four hours.
+
+When he reappeared before the Diet, the next day, he was calm and firm.
+In a plain, yet most earnest address, delivered both in Latin and German
+so that all might understand, he explained the grounds of his belief,
+and closed with the solemn words: "Unless, therefore, I should be
+confuted by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures and by clear and
+convincing reasons, I cannot and will not retract, because there is
+neither wisdom nor safety in acting against conscience. Here I stand; I
+cannot do otherwise: God help me! Amen."
+
+Charles V., without allowing the matter to be discussed by the Diet,
+immediately declared that Luther should be prosecuted as a heretic, as
+soon as the remaining twenty-one days of his safe-conduct had expired.
+He was urged by many of the partisans of Rome, not to respect the
+promise, but he answered: "I do not mean to blush, like Sigismund."
+Luther's sincerity and courage confirmed the faith of his princely
+friends. Frederick the Wise and the Landgrave Philip of Hesse walked by
+his side when he left the Diet, and Duke Eric of Brunswick sent him a
+jug of beer. His followers among the nobility greatly increased in
+numbers and enthusiasm.
+
+[Sidenote: 1521.]
+
+It was certain, however, that he would be in serious danger as soon as
+he had been formally outlawed by the Emperor. A plot, kept secret from
+all his friends, was formed for his safety, and successfully carried out
+during his return from Worms to Wittenberg. Luther travelled in an open
+wagon, with only one companion. On entering the Thuringian Forest, he
+sent his escort in advance, and was soon afterwards, in a lonely glen,
+seized by four knights in armor and with closed visors, placed upon a
+horse and carried away. The news spread like wild-fire over Germany that
+he had been murdered, and for nearly a year he was lost to the world.
+His writings were only read the more: the Papal bull and the Imperial
+edict which ordered them to be burned were alike disregarded. Charles V.
+went back to Spain immediately after the Diet of Worms, after having
+transferred the German possessions of the house of Hapsburg to his
+younger brother, Ferdinand, and the business of suppressing Luther's
+doctrines fell chiefly to the Archbishops of Mayence and Cologne, and
+the Papal Legate.
+
+Luther, meanwhile, was in security in a castle called the Wartburg, on
+the summit of a mountain near Eisenach. He was dressed in a knightly
+fashion, wore a helmet, breastplate and sword, allowed his beard to
+grow, and went by the name of "Squire George." But in the privacy of his
+own chamber--all the furniture of which is preserved to this day, as
+when he lived in it--he worked zealously upon a translation of the New
+Testament into German. In the spring of 1522 he was disturbed in his
+labors by the report of new doctrines which were being preached in
+Wittenberg. His friend Carlstadt had joined a fanatical sect, called the
+Anabaptists, which advocated the abolition of the mass, the destruction
+of pictures and statues, and proclaimed the coming of God's Kingdom upon
+the Earth.
+
+The experience of the Bohemians showed Luther the necessity of union in
+his great work of reforming the Christian Church. Moreover, his enemies
+triumphantly pointed to the excesses of the Anabaptists as the natural
+result of his doctrines. There was no time to be lost: in spite of the
+remonstrance of the Elector Frederick, he left the Wartburg, and rode
+alone, as a man-at-arms, to Wittenberg, where even Melanchthon did not
+recognize him on his arrival. He began preaching, with so much power and
+eloquence, that in a few days the new sect lost all the ground it had
+gained, and its followers were expelled from the city. The necessity of
+arranging another and simpler form of divine service was made evident by
+these occurrences; and after the publication of the New Testament in
+German, in September, 1522, Luther and Melanchthon united in the former
+task.
+
+[Sidenote: 1523. THE PEASANTS' WAR.]
+
+The Reformation made such progress that by 1523, not only Saxony, Hesse
+and Brunswick had practically embraced it, but also the cities of
+Frankfort, Strasburg, Nuremberg and Magdeburg, the Augustine order of
+monks, a part of the Franciscans, and quite a large number of priests.
+Now, however, a new and most serious trouble arose, partly from the
+preaching of the Anabaptists, headed by their so-called Prophet, Thomas
+Münzer, and partly provoked by the oppressions which the common people
+had so long endured. In the summer of 1524 the peasants of Würtemberg
+and Baden united, armed themselves, and issued a manifesto containing
+twelve articles. They demanded the right to choose their own priests;
+the restriction of tithes to their harvests; the abolition of feudal
+serfdom; the use of the forests; the regulation of the privilege of the
+nobles to hunt and fish; and protection, in certain other points,
+against the arbitrary power of the landed nobility. They seemed to take
+it for granted that Luther would support them; but he, dreading a civil
+war and desirous to keep the religious reformation free from any
+political movement, published a pamphlet condemning their revolt. At the
+same time he used his influence on their behalf, with the reigning
+priests and princes.
+
+The excitement, however, was too great to be subdued by admonitions of
+patience and forbearance. A dreadful war broke out in 1525: the army of
+30,000 peasants ravaged a great part of Southern Germany, destroying
+castles and convents, and venting their rage in the most shocking
+barbarities, which were afterwards inflicted upon themselves, when they
+were finally defeated by the Count of Waldburg. The movement extended
+through Middle Germany even to Westphalia, and threatened to become
+general: some parts of Thuringia were held for a short time by the
+peasants, and suffered terrible ravages. Another army of 8,000, headed
+by Thomas Münzer, was cut to pieces near Mühlhausen, in Saxony, and by
+the end of the year 1525, the rebellion was completely suppressed. In
+this short time, some of the most interesting monuments of the Middle
+Ages, among them the grand castle of the Hohenstaufens, in Suabia, had
+been levelled to the earth; whole provinces were laid waste; tens of
+thousands of men, women and children were put to the sword, and a
+serious check was given to the progress of the Reformation, through all
+Southern Germany.
+
+[Sidenote: 1525.]
+
+The stand which Luther had taken against the rebellion preserved the
+friendship of those princes who were well-disposed towards him, but he
+took no part in the measures of defence against the Imperial and Papal
+power, which they were soon compelled to adopt. He devoted himself to
+the completion of his translation of the Bible, in which he was
+faithfully assisted by Melanchthon and others. In this great work he
+accomplished even more than a service to Christianity; he created the
+modern German language. Before his time, there had been no tongue which
+was known and accepted throughout the whole Empire. The poets and
+minstrels of the Middle Ages wrote in Suabian; other popular works were
+in low-Saxon, Franconian or Alsatian. The dialect of Holland and
+Flanders had so changed that it was hardly understood in Germany; that
+of Brandenburg and the Baltic provinces had no literature as yet, and
+the learned or scientific works of the time were written in Latin.
+
+No one before Luther saw that the simplest and most expressive qualities
+of the German language must be sought for in the mouths of the people.
+With all his scholarship, he never used the theological style of
+writing, but endeavored to express himself so that he could be clearly
+understood by all men. In translating the Old Testament, he took
+extraordinary pains to find words and phrases as simple and strong as
+those of the Hebrew writers. He frequented the market-place, the
+merry-making, the house of birth, marriage or death, to learn how the
+common people expressed themselves in all the circumstances of life. He
+enlisted his friends in the same service, begging them to note down for
+him any peculiar, characteristic phrase; "for," said he, "I cannot use
+the words heard in castles and courts." Not a sentence of the Bible was
+translated until he had found the best and clearest German expression
+for it. He wrote, in 1530: "I have exerted myself, in translating, to
+give pure and clear German. And it has verily happened, that we have
+sought and questioned a fortnight, three, four weeks, for a single word,
+and yet it was not always found. In Job, we so labored, Philip
+Melanchthon, Aurogallus and I, that in four days we sometimes barely
+finished three lines."
+
+[Sidenote: 1525. LUTHER'S MARRIAGE.]
+
+Pope Leo X. died in 1521, and was succeeded by Adrian VI., the last
+German who wore the Papal crown. He admitted many of the corruptions of
+the Roman Church, and seemed inclined to reform them; but he only lived
+two years, and his successor was Clement VII., a nephew of Leo. The
+latter induced Ferdinand of Austria, the Dukes of Bavaria and several
+Bishops to unite in a league for suppressing the spread of Luther's
+doctrines. Thereupon the Elector John of Saxony (Frederick the Wise
+having died in 1525), Philip of Hesse, Albert of Brandenburg, the Dukes
+of Brunswick and Mecklenburg, the Counts of Mansfeld and Anhalt and the
+city of Magdeburg formed a counter-alliance at Torgau, in 1526. At the
+Diet held in Speyer the same year, the party of the Reformation was so
+strong that no decree against it could be passed; the question was left
+free.
+
+The organization of the Christian Church which was by this time adopted
+in Saxony, soon spread over all Northern Germany. Its principal features
+were: the abolition of the monastic orders and of priestly celibacy;
+divine service in the language of the country; the distribution of the
+Bible, in German, to all persons; the communion in both forms, for
+laymen; and the instruction of the people and their children in the
+truths of Christianity. The former possessions of the Church were given
+up to the State, and Luther, against Melanchthon's advice, even insisted
+on uniting the episcopal authority with the political, in the person of
+the reigning prince. He set the example of giving up priestly celibacy,
+by marrying, in 1525, Catharine von Bora, a nun of a noble family. This
+step created a great sensation; even many of Luther's friends condemned
+his course, but he declared that he was right, and he was rewarded by
+twenty-one years of unalloyed domestic happiness.
+
+The Emperor Charles V., during all these events, was absent from
+Germany. His first war with France was brought to a conclusion by the
+battle of Pavia, in February, 1525, when Francis I. was obliged to
+surrender, and was sent as a prisoner to Madrid. But having purchased
+his freedom the following year, by giving up his claims to Italy,
+Burgundy and Flanders, he no sooner returned to France than he
+recommenced the war,--this time in union with Pope Clement VII., who was
+jealous of the Emperor's increasing power in Italy. The old knight
+George von Frundsberg and the Constable de Bourbon--a member of the
+royal family of France, who had gone over to Charles V.'s side,--then
+united their forces, which were principally German, and marched upon
+Rome. The city was taken by storm, in 1527, terribly ravaged and the
+Pope made prisoner. Charles V. pretended not to have known of or
+authorized this movement; he liberated the Pope, who promised, in
+return, to call a Council for the Reformation of the Church. The war
+continued, however,--Venice, Genoa and England being also
+involved--until 1529, when it was terminated by the Peace of Cambray.
+
+[Sidenote: 1529.]
+
+Charles V. and the Pope then came to an understanding, in virtue of
+which the former was crowned king of Lombardy and Emperor of Rome in
+Bologna, in 1530, and bound himself to extirpate the doctrines of Luther
+in Germany. In Austria, Bavaria and Würtemberg, in fact, the persecution
+had already commenced: many persons had been hanged or burned at the
+stake for professing the new doctrines. Ferdinand of Austria, who had
+meanwhile succeeded to the crowns of Bohemia and Hungary, was compelled
+to call a Diet at Speyer, in 1529, to take measures against the Turks,
+then victorious in Transylvania and a great part of Hungary; a majority
+of Catholics was present, and they passed a decree repeating the
+outlawry of Luther and his doctrines by the Diet of Worms. Seven
+reigning princes, headed by Saxony, Brandenburg and Hesse, and fifteen
+imperial cities, joined in a solemn protest against this measure,
+asserting that the points in dispute could only be settled by a
+universal Council, called for the purpose. From that day, the name of
+"Protestants" was given to both the followers of Luther, and the Swiss
+Reformers, under the lead of Zwingli.
+
+The history of the Reformation in Switzerland cannot be here given. It
+will be enough to say that Zwingli, who was born in the Canton of St.
+Gall, in 1484, resembled Luther in his purity of character, his earnest
+devotion to study, and the circumstance that his ideas of religious
+reform were derived from an intimate knowledge of the Bible. It was the
+passionate desire of Philip of Hesse that both branches of the
+Protestants should become united, in order to be so much the stronger to
+meet the dangers which all felt were coming. Luther, who labored and
+prayed to prevent the struggle from becoming political, and who had
+opposed even the league of the Protestant princes at Torgau, in 1526,
+was with difficulty induced to meet Zwingli. He was still busy with his
+translation of the Bible, with the preparation of a Catechism for the
+people, a collection of hymns to be used in worship, and other works
+necessary to the complete organization of the Protestant Church.
+
+[Sidenote: 1539. MEETING OF LUTHER AND ZWINGLI.]
+
+The meeting between the two Reformers finally took place in Marburg, in
+1529. Melanchthon, Jonas, and many other distinguished men were present:
+both Luther and Zwingli fully and freely compared their doctrines, but,
+although they were united on all essential points, they differed in
+regard to the nature of the Eucharist, and Luther positively refused to
+give way, or even to make common cause with the Swiss Protestants. This
+was one of several instances, wherein the great Reformer injured his
+cause through his lack of wisdom and tolerance: in small things, as in
+great, he was inflexible.
+
+So matters stood, in the beginning of 1530, when Charles V. returned to
+Germany, after an absence of nine years. He established his court at
+Innsbruck, and summoned a Diet to meet at Augsburg, in April, but it was
+not opened until the 20th of June. Melanchthon, with many other
+Protestant professors and clergymen, was present: Luther, being under
+the ban of the Empire, remained in Coburg, where he wrote his grand
+hymn, "Our Lord, He is a Tower of Strength." The Protestant princes and
+cities united in signing a Confession of Faith, which had been very
+carefully drawn up by Melanchthon, and the Emperor was obliged to
+consent that it should be read before the Diet. He ordered, however,
+that the reading should take place, not in the great hall where the
+sessions were held, but in the Bishop's chapel, and at a very early hour
+in the morning. The object of this arrangement was to prevent any but
+the members of the Diet from hearing the document.
+
+But the weather was intensely warm, and it was necessary to open the
+windows; the Saxon Chancellor, Dr. Bayer, read the Confession in such a
+loud, clear voice, that a thousand or more persons, gathered on the
+outside of the Chapel, were able to hear every word. The principles
+asserted were:--That men are justified by faith alone; that an assembly
+of true believers constitutes the Church; that it is not necessary that
+forms and ceremonies should be everywhere the same; that preaching, the
+sacraments, and infant baptism, are necessary; that Christ is really
+present in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, which should be
+administered to the congregation in both forms; that monastic vows,
+fasting, pilgrimages and the invocation of saints are useless, and that
+priests must be allowed to marry. After the Confession had been read,
+many persons were heard to exclaim: "It is reasonable that the abuses of
+the Church should be corrected: the Lutherans are right, for our
+spiritual lords have carried it with too high a hand." The general
+impression was favorable to the Protestants, and the princes who had
+signed the Confession determined that they would maintain it at all
+hazards. This "Augsburg Confession," as it was thenceforth called, was
+the foundation of the Lutheran Church throughout Germany.
+
+[Sidenote: 1530.]
+
+The Emperor ordered a refutation of the Protestant doctrines to be
+prepared by the Catholic theologians who were present, but refused to
+furnish a copy to the Protestants and prohibited them from making any
+reply. He declared that the latter must instantly return to the Roman
+Church, the abuses of which would be corrected by himself and the Pope.
+Thus the breach was made permanent between Rome and more than half of
+Germany. Charles V. procured the election of his brother Ferdinand to
+the crown of Germany, although Bavaria united with the Protestant
+princes in voting against him.
+
+The Imperial Courts in the ten districts were now composed entirely of
+Catholics, and they were ordered to enforce the suppression of
+Protestant worship. Thereupon the Protestant princes and delegates from
+the cities met at the little town of Schmalkalden, in Thuringia, and on
+the 29th of March, 1531, bound themselves to unite, for the space of six
+years, in resisting the Imperial decree. Even Luther, much as he dreaded
+a religious war, could not oppose this movement. The League of
+Schmalkalden, as it is called, represented so much military strength,
+that king Ferdinand became alarmed and advised a more conciliatory
+course towards the Protestants. Sultan Solyman of Turkey, who had
+conquered all Hungary, was marching upon Vienna with an immense army,
+and openly boasted that he would subdue Germany.
+
+It thus became impossible for Charles V. either to suppress the
+Protestants at this time, or to repel the Turkish invasion without their
+help. He was compelled to call a new Diet, which met at Nuremberg, and
+in August, 1532, concluded a Religious Peace, both parties agreeing to
+refrain from all hostilities until a General Council of the Church
+should be called. Then the Protestants contributed their share of troops
+to the Imperial army, which soon amounted to 80,000 men, commanded by
+the famous general, Sebastian Schertlin, himself a Protestant. The Turks
+were defeated everywhere; the siege of Vienna was raised, and the whole
+of Hungary might have been reconquered, but for Ferdinand's unpopularity
+among the Catholic princes.
+
+[Sidenote: 1539. THE LEAGUE OF SCHMALKALDEN.]
+
+Other cities and smaller principalities joined the League of
+Schmalkalden, the power of which increased from year to year. The
+Religious Peace of Nuremberg greatly favored the spread of the
+Reformation, although it was not very strictly observed by either side.
+In 1534 Würtemberg, which was then held by Ferdinand of Austria, was
+conquered by Philip of Hesse, who reinstated the exiled Duke, Ulric. The
+latter became a Protestant, and thus Würtemberg was added to the League.
+Charles V. would certainly have interfered in this case, but he had left
+Germany for another nine years' absence, and was just then engaged in a
+war with Tunis. The reigning princes of Brandenburg and Ducal Saxony
+(Thuringia), who had been enemies of the Reformation, died and were
+succeeded by Protestant sons: in 1537 the League of Schmalkalden was
+renewed for ten years more, and the so-called "holy alliances," which
+were attempted against it by Bavaria and the Archbishops of Mayence and
+Salzburg, were of no avail. The Protestant faith continued to spread,
+not only in Germany, but also in Denmark, Sweden, Holland and England.
+The first of these countries even became a member of the Schmalkalden
+League, in 1538.
+
+Out of the "Freedom of the Gospel," which was the first watch-word of
+the Reformers, smaller sects continued to arise, notwithstanding they
+met with almost as much opposition from the Protestants as the
+Catholics. The Anabaptists obtained possession of the city of Münster in
+1534, and held it for more than a year, under the government of a Dutch
+tailor, named John of Leyden, who had himself crowned king of Zion,
+introduced polygamy, and cut off the heads of all who resisted his
+decrees. When the Bishop of Münster finally took the city, John of
+Leyden and two of his associates were tortured to death, and their
+bodies suspended in iron cages over the door of the cathedral. About the
+same time Simon Menno, a native of Friesland, founded a quiet and
+peaceful sect which was named, after him, the Mennonites, and which
+still exists, both in Germany and the United States.
+
+[Sidenote: 1544.]
+
+While, therefore, Charles V. was carrying on his wars, alternately with
+the Barbary States, and with Francis I. of France, the foundations of
+the Protestant Church, in spite of all divisions and disturbances, were
+permanently laid in Germany. Although he had been brilliantly successful
+in Tunis, in 1535, he failed so completely before Algiers, in 1541, that
+Francis I. was emboldened to make another attempt, in alliance with
+Sultan Solyman of Turkey, Denmark and Sweden. So formidable was the
+danger that the Emperor was again compelled to seek the assistance of
+the German Protestants, and even of England. He returned to Germany for
+the second time and called a Diet to meet in Speyer, which renewed the
+Religious Peace of Nuremberg, with the assurance that Protestants should
+have equal rights before the Imperial courts, and that they would be
+left free until the meeting of a _Free_ Council of the Church.
+
+Having obtained an army of 40,000 men by these concessions, Charles V.
+marched into France, captured a number of fortresses, and had reached
+Soissons on his way to Paris, when Francis I. acknowledged himself
+defeated and begged for peace. In the Treaty of Crespy, in 1544, he gave
+up his claim to Lombardy, Naples, Flanders and Artois, while the Emperor
+gave him a part of Burgundy, and both united in a league against the
+Turks and Protestants, the allies of one and the other. In order,
+however, to preserve some appearance of fidelity to his solemn pledges,
+the Emperor finally prevailed upon the Pope, Paul III., to order an
+OEcumenical Council. It was just 130 years since the Roman Church had
+promised to reform itself. The delay had given rise to the Protestant
+Reformation, which was now so powerful that only a just and conciliatory
+course on the part of Rome could settle the difficulty. Instead of this,
+the Council was summoned to meet at Trent, in the Italian part of the
+Tyrol, the Pope reserved the government of it for himself, and the
+Protestants, although invited to attend, were thus expected to
+acknowledge his authority. They unanimously declared, therefore, that
+they would not be bound by its decrees. Even Luther, who had ardently
+hoped to see all Christians again united under a purer organization of
+the Church, saw that a reconciliation was impossible, and published a
+pamphlet entitled: "The Roman Papacy Founded by the Devil."
+
+[Sidenote: 1546. LUTHER'S LAST DAYS.]
+
+The publication of the complete translation of the Bible in 1534 was not
+the end of Luther's labors. His leadership in the great work of
+Reformation was acknowledged by all, and he was consulted by princes and
+clergymen, by scholars and jurists, even by the common people. He never
+relaxed in his efforts to preserve peace, not only among the Protestant
+princes, who could not yet overcome their old habit of asserting an
+independent authority, but also between Protestants and Catholics. Yet
+he could hardly help feeling that, with such a form of government, and
+such an Emperor, as Germany then possessed, peace was impossible: he
+only prayed that it might last while he lived.
+
+Luther's powerful constitution gradually broke down under the weight of
+his labors and anxieties. He became subject to attacks of bodily
+suffering, followed by great depression of mind. Nevertheless, the
+consciousness of having in a great measure performed the work which he
+had been called upon to do, kept up his faith, and he was accustomed to
+declare that he had been made "a chosen weapon of God, known in Heaven
+and Hell, as well as upon the earth." In January, 1546, he was summoned
+to Eisleben, the place of his birth, by the Counts of Mansfeld, who
+begged him to act as arbitrator between them in a question of
+inheritance. Although much exhausted by the fatigues of the
+winter-journey, he settled the dispute, and preached four times to the
+people. His last letter to his wife, written on the 14th of February, is
+full of courage, cheerfulness and tenderness.
+
+Two days afterwards, his strength began to fail. His friend, Dr. Jonas,
+was in Eisleben at the time, and Luther forced himself to sit at the
+table with him and with his own two sons; but it was noticed that he
+spoke only of the future life, and with an unusual earnestness and
+solemnity. The same evening it became evident to all that his end was
+rapidly approaching: he grew weaker from hour to hour, and occasionally
+repeated passages from the Bible, in German and Latin. After midnight he
+seemed to revive a little: Dr. Jonas, the Countess of Mansfeld, the
+pastor of the church at Eisleben, and his sons, stood near his bed. Then
+Jonas said: "Beloved Father, do you acknowledge Christ, the Son of God,
+our Redeemer?" Luther answered "Yes," in a strong and clear voice; then,
+folding his hands, he drew one deep sigh and died, between two and
+three o'clock on the morning of the 17th of February.
+
+[Sidenote: 1546.]
+
+After solemn services in the church at Eisleben, the body was removed on
+its way to Wittenberg. In every village through which the procession
+passed, the bells were tolled, and the people flocked together from all
+the surrounding country. The population of Halle, men and women, came
+out of the city with loud cries and lamentations, and the throng was so
+great that it was two hours before the coffin could be placed in the
+church. "Here," says an eyewitness of the scene, "we endeavored to raise
+the funeral psalm, _De profundis_ ('Out of the depths have I cried unto
+thee'); but so heavy was our grief that the words were rather wept than
+sung." On the 22d of February the remains of the great Reformer were
+given to the earth at Wittenberg, with all the honors which the people,
+the authorities and the University could render.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+FROM LUTHER'S DEATH TO THE END OF THE 16TH CENTURY.
+
+(1546--1600.)
+
+Attempt to Suppress the Protestants. --Treachery of Maurice of Saxony.
+    --Defeat and Capture of the Elector, John Frederick. --Philip of
+    Hesse Imprisoned. --Tyranny of Charles V. --The Augsburg Interim.
+    --Maurice of Saxony turns against Charles V. --The Treaty of
+    Passau. --War with France. --The Religious Peace of Augsburg. --The
+    Jesuits. --Abdication of Charles V. --Ferdinand of Austria becomes
+    Emperor. --End of the Council of Trent. --Protestantism in Germany.
+    --Weakness of the Empire. --Loss of the Baltic Provinces.
+    --Maximilian II. Emperor. --His Tolerance. --The Last Private Feud.
+    --Revolt of the Netherlands. --Death of Maximilian II. --Rudolf
+    II.'s Character. --Persecution of Protestants. --Condition of
+    Germany at the End of the 16th Century.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1546. HOSTILITIES TO THE PROTESTANTS.]
+
+The woes which the German Electors brought upon the country, when they
+gave the crown to a Spaniard because he was a Hapsburg, were only
+commencing when Luther died. Charles V. had just enough German blood in
+him to enable him to deceive the German people; he had no interest in
+them further than the power they gave to his personal rule; he used
+Germany to build up the strength of Spain, and then trampled it under
+his feet.
+
+The Council of Trent, which was composed almost entirely of Spanish and
+Italian prelates, followed the instructions of the Pope and declared
+that the traditions of the Roman Church were of equal authority with the
+Bible. This made a reconciliation with the Protestants impossible, which
+was just what the Pope desired: his plan was to put them down by main
+force. In fact, if the spirit of the Protestant faith had not already
+entered into the lives of the mass of the people, the Reformation might
+have been lost through the hesitation of some princes and the treachery
+of another. The Schmalkalden League was at this time weakened by
+personal quarrels among its members; yet it was still able to raise an
+army of 40,000 men, which was placed under the command of Sebastian
+Schertlin. Charles V. had a very small force with him at Ratisbon; the
+troops he had summoned from Flanders and Italy had not arrived; and an
+energetic movement by the Protestants could not have failed to be
+successful.
+
+[Sidenote: 1547.]
+
+But the two chiefs of the Schmalkalden League, John Frederick of Saxony
+and Philip of Hesse, showed a timidity almost amounting to cowardice in
+this emergency. In spite of Schertlin's entreaties, they refused to
+allow him to move, fearing, as they alleged, to invade the neutrality of
+Bavaria, or to excite Ferdinand of Austria against them. For months they
+compelled their army to wait, while the Emperor was constantly receiving
+reinforcements, among them 12,000 Italian troops furnished by the Pope.
+Then, when they were absolutely forced to act, a new and unexpected
+danger rendered them powerless. Maurice, Duke of Saxony (of the younger
+line), suddenly abjured the Protestant faith, declared for Charles V.,
+and took possession of the territory of Electoral Saxony, belonging to
+his cousin, John Frederick. The latter hastened home with his own
+portion of the army, and defeated and expelled Maurice, it is true, but
+in doing so, gave up the field to the Emperor. Duke Ulric of Würtemberg
+first humbly submitted to the latter, then Ulm, Augsburg, Strasburg, and
+other cities: Schertlin was not left with troops enough to resist, and
+the Imperial and Catholic power was restored throughout Southern
+Germany, without a struggle.
+
+In the spring of 1547, Charles V. marched into Northern Germany,
+surprised and defeated John Frederick of Saxony at Mühlberg on the Elbe,
+and took him prisoner. The Elector was so enormously stout and heavy
+that he could only mount his horse by the use of a ladder; so the
+Emperor's Spanish cavalry easily overtook him in his flight. Charles V.
+now showed himself in his true character: he appointed the fierce Duke
+of Alba President of a Court which tried John Frederick and condemned
+him to death. The other German princes protested so earnestly against
+this sentence that it was not carried out, but John Frederick was
+compelled to give up the greater part of Saxony to the traitor Maurice,
+and be content with Thuringia or Ducal Saxony--the territory embraced in
+the present duchies of Meiningen, Gotha, Weimar and Altenburg. He
+steadfastly refused, however, to submit to the decrees of the Council of
+Trent, and remained firm in the Protestant faith during the five years
+of imprisonment which followed.
+
+[Sidenote: 1548. TYRANNY OF CHARLES V.]
+
+His wife, the Duchess Sibylla, heroically defended Wittenberg against
+the Emperor, but when John Frederick had been despoiled of his
+territory, she could no longer hold the city, which was surrendered.
+Charles V. was urged by Alba and others to burn Luther's body and
+scatter the ashes, as those of a heretic; but he answered, like a man:
+"I wage no war against the dead." Herein he showed the better side of
+his nature, although only for a moment. Philip of Hesse was not strong
+enough to resist alone, and finally, persuaded by his son-in-law,
+Maurice of Saxony, he promised to beg the Emperor's pardon on his knees,
+to destroy all his fortresses except Cassel, and to pay a fine of
+150,000 gold florins, on condition that he should be allowed to retain
+his princely rights. These were Charles V.'s own conditions; but when
+Philip, kneeling before him, happened (or seemed) to smile while his
+application for pardon was being read, the Emperor cried out: "Wait,
+I'll teach you to laugh!" Breaking his solemn word without scruple, he
+sent Philip instantly to prison, and the latter was kept for years in
+close confinement, both in Germany and Flanders.
+
+Charles V. was now also master of Northern Germany, except the city of
+Magdeburg, which was strongly fortified, and refused to surrender. He
+entrusted the siege of the place to Maurice of Saxony, and returned to
+Bavaria, in order to be nearer Italy. He had at last become the
+arbitrary ruler of all Germany: he had not only violated his word in
+dealing with the princes, but defied the Diet in subjecting them by the
+aid of foreign soldiers. His court, his commanders, his prelates, were
+Spaniards, who, as they passed through the German States, abused and
+insulted the people with perfect impunity. The princes were now reaping
+only what they themselves had sown; but the mass of the people, who had
+had no voice in the election,--who saw their few rights despised and
+their faith threatened with suppression--suffered terribly during this
+time.
+
+[Sidenote: 1548.]
+
+In May, 1548, the Emperor proclaimed what was called the "Augsburg
+Interim," which allowed the communion in both forms and the marriage of
+priests to the Protestants, but insisted that all the other forms and
+ceremonies of the Catholic Church should be observed, until the Council
+should pronounce its final judgment. This latter body had removed from
+Trent to Bologna, in spite of the Emperor's remonstrance, and it did not
+meet again at Trent until 1551, after the death of Pope Paul III. There
+was, in fact, almost as much confusion in the Church as in political
+affairs. A number of intelligent, zealous prelates desired a correction
+of the former abuses, and they were undoubtedly supported by the Emperor
+himself; but the Pope with the French and Spanish cardinals and bishops,
+controlled a majority of the votes of the Council, and thus postponed
+its action from year to year.
+
+The acceptance of the "Interim" was resisted both by Catholics and
+Protestants. Charles V. used all his arts,--persuasion, threats, armed
+force,--and succeeded for a short time in compelling a sort of external
+observance of its provisions. His ambition, now, was to have his son
+Philip chosen by the Diet as his successor, notwithstanding that
+Ferdinand of Austria had been elected king in 1530, and had governed
+during his brother's long absence from Germany. The Protestant Electors,
+conquered as they were, and abject as many of them had seemed, were not
+ready to comply; Ferdinand's jealousy was aroused, and the question was
+in suspense when a sudden and startling event changed the whole face of
+affairs.
+
+Maurice of Saxony had been besieging Magdeburg for a year, in the
+Emperor's name. The city was well-provisioned, admirably defended, and
+the people answered every threat with defiance and ridicule. Maurice
+grew tired of his inglorious position, sensitive to the name of
+"Traitor" which was everywhere hurled against him, and indignant at the
+continued imprisonment of Philip of Hesse. He made a secret treaty with
+Henry II. of France, to whom he promised Lorraine, including the cities
+of Toul, Verdun and Metz, in return for his assistance; and then, in the
+spring of 1552, before his plans could be divined, marched with all
+speed against the Emperor, who was holding his court in Innsbruck. The
+latter attempted to escape to Flanders, but Maurice had already seized
+the mountain-passes. Nothing but speedy flight across the Alps, in night
+and storm, attended only by a few followers, saved Charles V. from
+capture. The Council of Trent broke up and fled in terror; John
+Frederick of Saxony and Philip of Hesse were freed from their long
+confinement, and the Protestant cause gained at one blow all the ground
+it had lost.
+
+[Sidenote: 1553. ALBERT OF BRANDENBURG'S RAID.]
+
+Maurice returned to Passau, on the Danube, where Ferdinand of Austria
+united with him in calling a Diet of the German Electors. The latter,
+bishops as well as princes, admitted that the Protestants could be no
+longer suppressed by force, and agreed to establish a religious peace,
+independent of any action of the Pope and Council. The "Treaty of
+Passau," as it was called, allowed freedom of worship to all who
+accepted the Augsburg Confession, and postponed other questions to the
+decision of a German Diet. The Emperor at first refused to subscribe to
+the treaty, but when Maurice began to renew hostilities, there was no
+other course left. The French in Lorraine and the Turks in Hungary were
+making rapid advances, and it was no time to assert his lost despotism
+over the Empire.
+
+With the troops which the princes now agreed to furnish, the Emperor
+marched into France, and in October, 1552, arrived before Metz, which he
+besieged until the following January. Then, with his army greatly
+reduced by sickness and hardship, he raised the siege and marched away,
+to continue the war in other quarters. But it was four years before the
+quarrel with France came to an end, and during this time the Protestant
+States of Germany had nothing to fear from the Imperial power. The
+Margrave Albert of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, who was on the Emperor's side,
+attempted to carry fire and sword through their territories, in order to
+pay himself for his military services. After wasting, plundering and
+committing shocking barbarities in Saxony and Franconia, he was defeated
+by Maurice, in July, 1553. The latter fell in the moment of victory,
+giving his life in expiation of his former apostasy. The greater part of
+Saxony, nevertheless, has remained in the hands of his descendants to
+this day, while the descendants of John Frederick, although representing
+the elder line, possess only the little principalities of Thuringia, to
+each of which the Saxon name is attached, as Saxe-Weimar, Saxe-Gotha,
+&c.
+
+[Sidenote: 1555.]
+
+Charles V., who saw his ambitious plans for the government of the world
+failing everywhere, and whose bodily strength was failing also, left
+Germany in disgust, commissioning his brother Ferdinand to call a Diet,
+in accordance with the stipulations of the Treaty of Passau. The Diet
+met at Augsburg, and in spite of the violent opposition of the Papal
+Legate, on the 25th of September, 1555, concluded the treaty of
+Religious Peace which finally gave rest to Germany. The Protestants who
+followed the Augsburg Confession received religious freedom, perfect
+equality before the law, and the undisturbed possession of the Church
+property which had fallen into their hands. In other respects their
+privileges were not equal. By a clause called the "spiritual
+reservation," it was ordered that when a Catholic Bishop or Abbot became
+Protestant he should give up land and title in order that the Church
+might lose none of its possessions. The rights and consciences of the
+people were so little considered that they were not allowed to change
+their faith unless the ruling prince changed his. The monstrous doctrine
+was asserted that religion was an affair of the government,--that is,
+that he to whom belonged the rule, possessed the right to choose the
+people's faith. In accordance with this law the population of the
+Palatinate of the Rhine was afterwards compelled to be alternately
+Calvinistic and Lutheran, four times in succession!
+
+The Treaty of Augsburg did not include the followers of Zwingli and
+Calvin, who were getting to be quite numerous in Southern and Western
+Germany, and they were left without any recognized rights. Nevertheless,
+what the Lutherans had gained was also gained for them, in the end; and
+the Treaty, although it did not secure equal justice, gave the highest
+sanction of the Empire to the Reformation. The Pope rejected and
+condemned it, but without the least effect upon the German Catholics,
+who were no less desirous of peace than the Protestants. Moreover, their
+hopes of a final triumph over the latter were greatly increased by the
+zeal and activity of the Jesuits, who had been accepted and commissioned
+by the Church of Rome fifteen years before, who were rapidly increasing
+in numbers, and professed to have made the suppression of Protestant
+doctrines their chief task.
+
+This treaty was the last political event of Charles V.'s reign. One
+month later, to a day, he formally conferred on his son, Philip II., at
+Brussels, the government of the Netherlands, and on the 15th of January,
+1556, he resigned to him the crowns of Spain and Naples. He then sailed
+for Spain, where he retired to the monastery of St. Just and lived for
+two years longer as an Imperial monk. He was the first monarch of his
+time and he made Spain the leading nation of the world: his immense
+energy, his boundless ambition, and his cold, calculating brain
+reëstablished his power again and again, when it seemed on the point of
+giving way; but he died at last without having accomplished the two
+chief aims of his life--the reunion of all Christendom under the Pope,
+and the union of Germany with the Spanish Empire. The German people,
+following the leaders who had arisen out of their own breast,--Luther,
+Melanchthon, Reuchlin and Zwingli--defeated the former of these aims:
+the princes, who had found in Charles V. much more of a despot than they
+had bargained for, defeated the latter.
+
+[Sidenote: 1558. FERDINAND OF AUSTRIA EMPEROR.]
+
+The German Diet did not meet until March, 1558, when Ferdinand of
+Austria was elected and crowned Emperor, at Frankfort. Although a
+Catholic, he had always endeavored to protect the Protestants from the
+extreme measures which Charles V. attempted to enforce, and he
+faithfully observed the Treaty of Augsburg. He even allowed the
+Protestant form of the sacrament and the marriage of priests in Austria,
+which brought upon him the condemnation of the Pope. Immediately after
+the Diet, a meeting of Protestant princes was held at Frankfort, for the
+purpose of settling certain differences of opinion which were not only
+disturbing the Lutherans but also tending to prevent any unity of action
+between them and the Swiss Protestants. Melanchthon did his utmost to
+restore harmony, but without success. He died in 1560, at the age of
+sixty-three, and Calvin four years afterwards, the last of the leaders
+of the Reformation.
+
+On the 4th of December, 1563, the Council of Trent finally adjourned,
+eighteen years after it first came together. The attempts of a portion
+of the prelates composing it to reform and purify the Roman Church had
+been almost wholly thwarted by the influence of the Popes. It adopted a
+series of articles, to each one of which was attached an anathema,
+cursing all who refused to accept it. They contained the doctrines of
+priestly celibacy, purgatory, masses for the dead, worship of saints,
+pictures and relics, absolution, fasts, and censorship of books--thus
+making an eternal chasm between Catholicism and Protestantism. At the
+close of the Council the Cardinal of Lorraine cried out: "Accursed be
+all heretics!" and all present answered: "Accursed! accursed!" until the
+building rang. In Italy, Spain and Poland, the articles were accepted at
+once, but the Catholics in France, Germany and Hungary were dissatisfied
+with many of the declarations, and the Church, in those countries, was
+compelled to overlook a great deal of quiet disobedience.
+
+[Sidenote: 1559.]
+
+At this time, although the Catholics had a majority in the Diet (since
+there were nearly 100 priestly members), the great majority of the
+German people had become Protestants. In all Northern Germany, except
+Westphalia, very few Catholic congregations were left: even the
+Archbishops of Bremen and Magdeburg, and the Bishops of Lübeck, Verden
+and Halberstadt had joined the Reformation. In the priestly territories
+of Cologne, Treves, Mayence, Worms and Strasburg, the population was
+divided; the Palatinate of the Rhine, Baden and Würtemberg were almost
+entirely Protestant, and even in Upper-Austria and Styria the Catholics
+were in a minority. Bavaria was the main stay of Rome: her princes, of
+the house of Wittelsbach, were the most zealous and obedient champions
+of the Pope in all Germany. The Roman Church, however, had not given up
+the struggle: she was quietly and shrewdly preparing for one more
+desperate effort to recover her lost ground, and the Protestants,
+instead of perceiving the danger and uniting themselves more closely,
+were quarrelling among themselves concerning theological questions upon
+which they have never yet agreed.
+
+There could be no better evidence that the reign of Charles V. had
+weakened instead of strengthening the German Empire, than the losses and
+the humiliations which immediately followed. Ferdinand I. gave up half
+of Hungary to Sultan Solyman, and purchased the right to rule the other
+half by an annual payment of 300,000 ducats. About the same time, the
+Emperor's lack of power and the selfishness of the Hanseatic cities
+occasioned a much more important loss. The provinces on the eastern
+shore of the Baltic, which had been governed by the Order of the
+Brothers of the Sword after the downfall of the German Order, were
+overrun and terribly devastated by the Czar Ivan of Russia. The Grand
+Master of the Order appealed to Lübeck and Hamburg for aid, which was
+refused; then, in 1559, he called upon the Diet of the German Empire and
+received vague promises of assistance, which had no practical value.
+Then, driven to desperation, he turned to Poland, Sweden and Denmark,
+all of which countries took instant advantage of his necessities. The
+Baltic provinces were defended against Russia--and lost to Germany. The
+Swedes and Danes took Esthonia, the Poles took Livonia, and only the
+little province of Courland remained as an independent State, the Grand
+Master becoming its first Duke.
+
+[Sidenote: 1567. THE GRUMBACH REBELLION.]
+
+Ferdinand I. died in 1564, and was immediately succeeded by his eldest
+son, Maximilian II. The latter was in the prime of life, already popular
+for his goodness of heart, his engaging manners and his moderation and
+justice. The Protestants cherished great hopes, at first, that he would
+openly join them; but, although he so favored and protected them in
+Austria that Vienna almost became a Protestant city, he refused to leave
+the Catholic Church, and even sent his son Rudolf to be educated in
+Spain, under the bitter and bigoted influence of Philip II. His daughter
+was married to Charles IX. of France, and when he heard of the massacre
+of St. Bartholomew (in August, 1572) he cried out: "Would to God that my
+son-in-law had asked counsel of me! I would so faithfully have persuaded
+him as a father, that he certainly would never have done this thing." He
+also endeavored, but in vain, to soften the persecutions and cruelties
+of Philip II.'s reign in the Netherlands.
+
+Maximilian II.'s reign of twelve years was quiet and uneventful. Only
+one disturbance of the internal peace occurred, and it is worthy of note
+as the last feud, after so many centuries of free fighting between the
+princes. An independent knight, William von Grumbach, having been
+dispossessed of his lands by the Bishop of Würzburg, waylaid the latter,
+who was slain in the fight which occurred. Grumbach fled to France, but
+soon allied himself with several dissatisfied Franconian knights, and
+finally persuaded John Frederick of Saxony (the smaller Dukedom) to
+espouse his cause. The latter was outlawed by the Emperor, yet he
+obstinately determined to resist, in the hope of wresting the Electorate
+of Saxony from the younger line and restoring it to his own family. He
+was besieged by the Imperial army in Gotha, in 1567, and taken prisoner.
+Grumbach was tortured and executed, and John Frederick kept in close
+confinement until his death, twenty-eight years afterwards. His sons,
+however, were allowed to succeed him. The severity with which this
+breach of the internal peace was punished put an end forever, to petty
+wars in Germany: the measures adopted by the Diet of 1495, under
+Maximilian I., were at last recognized as binding laws.
+
+[Sidenote: 1576.]
+
+The Revolt of the Netherlands, which broke out immediately after
+Maximilian II.'s accession to the throne, had little, if any, political
+relation to Germany. Under Charles V. the Netherlands had been quite
+separated from any connection with the German Empire, and he was free to
+introduce the Inquisition there and persecute the Protestants with all
+the barbarity demanded by Rome. Philip II. followed the same policy: the
+torture, fire and sword were employed against the people until they
+arose against the intolerable Spanish rule, and entered upon that
+struggle of nearly forty years which ended in establishing the
+independence of Holland.
+
+On the 12th of October, 1576, at a Diet where he had declared his policy
+in religious matters to be simply the enforcement of the Treaty of
+Augsburg, Maximilian II. suddenly fell dead. According to the custom
+which they had now followed for 140 years, of keeping the Imperial
+dignity in the house of Hapsburg, the Electors immediately chose his
+son, Rudolf II., an avowed enemy of the Protestants. Unlike his father,
+his nature was cold, stern and despotic: he was gloomy, unsocial and
+superstitious, and the circumstance that he aided and encouraged the
+great astronomers, Kepler and Tycho de Brahe, was probably owing to his
+love for astrology and alchemy. He was subject to sudden and violent
+attacks of passion, which were followed by periods of complete
+indifference to his duties. Like Frederick III., a hundred years before,
+he concerned himself with the affairs of Austria, his direct
+inheritance, rather than with those of the Empire; and thus, although
+internal wars had been suppressed, he encouraged the dissensions in
+religion and politics, which were gradually bringing on a more dreadful
+war than Germany had ever known before.
+
+One of Rudolf II.'s first measures was to take from the Austrian
+Protestants the right of worship which his father had allowed them. He
+closed their churches, removed them from all the offices they held, and,
+justifying himself by the Treaty of Augsburg that whoever ruled the
+people should choose their religious faith, did his best to make Austria
+wholly Catholic. Many Catholic princes and priests, emboldened by his
+example, declared that the articles promulgated by the Council of Trent
+abolished the Treaty of Augsburg and gave them the right to put down
+heresy by force. When the Archbishop of Cologne became a Protestant and
+married, the German Catholics called upon Alexander of Parma, who came
+from the Netherlands with a Spanish army, took possession of the
+former's territory, and installed a new Catholic Archbishop, without
+resistance on the part of the Protestant majority of Germany. Thus the
+hate and bitterness on both sides increased from year to year, without
+culminating in open hostilities.
+
+[Sidenote: 1600. GROWTH AND CONDITION OF GERMANY.]
+
+The history of Germany, from the accession of Rudolf II. to the end of
+the century, is marked by no political event of importance. Spain was
+fully occupied in her hopeless attempt to subdue the Netherlands: in
+France Henry of Navarre was fighting the Duke of Guise; Hungary and
+Austria were left to check the advance of the Turkish invasion, and
+nearly all Germany enjoyed peace for upwards of fifty years. During this
+time, population and wealth greatly increased, and life in the cities
+and at courts became luxurious and more or less immoral. The arts and
+sciences began to flourish, the people grew in knowledge, yet the spirit
+out of which the Reformation sprang seemed almost dead. The elements of
+good and evil were strangely mixed together--intelligence and
+superstition, piety and bigotry, civilization and barbarism were found
+side by side. As formerly in her history, it appeared nearly impossible
+for Germany to grow by a gradual and healthy development: her condition
+must be bad enough to bring on a violent convulsion, before it could be
+improved.
+
+Such was the state of affairs at the end of the sixteenth century. In
+spite of the material prosperity of the country, there was a general
+feeling among the people that evil days were coming; but the most
+desponding prophet could hardly have predicted worse misfortunes than
+they were called upon to suffer during the next fifty years.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+BEGINNING OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR.
+
+(1600--1625.)
+
+Growth of the Calvinistic or "Reformed" Church. --Persecution of
+    Protestants in Styria. --The Catholic League. --The Struggle for
+    the Succession of Cleves. --Rudolf II. set aside. --His Death.
+    --Matthias becomes Emperor. --Character of Ferdinand of Styria.
+    --Revolt in Prague. --War in Bohemia. --Death of Matthias.
+    --Ferdinand besieged in Vienna. --He is Crowned Emperor.
+    --Blindness of the Protestant Princes. --Frederick of the
+    Palatinate chosen King of Bohemia. --Barbarity of Ferdinand II.
+    --The Protestants Crushed in Bohemia and Austria. --Count Mansfeld
+    and Prince Christian of Brunswick. --War in Baden and the
+    Palatinate. --Tilly. --His Ravages. --Miserable Condition of
+    Germany. --Union of the Northern States. --Christian IV. of
+    Denmark. --Wallenstein. --His History. --His Proposition to
+    Ferdinand II.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1600.]
+
+The beginning of the seventeenth century found the Protestants in
+Germany still divided. The followers of Zwingli, it is true, had
+accepted the Augsburg Confession as the shortest means of acquiring
+freedom of worship; but the Calvinists, who were now rapidly increasing,
+were not willing to take this step, nor were the Lutherans any more
+tolerant towards them than at the beginning. The Dutch, in conquering
+their independence of Spain, gave the Calvinistic, or, as it was called
+in Germany, the Reformed Church, a new political importance; and it was
+not long before the Palatinate of the Rhine, Baden, Hesse-Cassel and
+Anhalt also joined it. The Protestants were split into two strong and
+unfriendly sects at the very time when the Catholics, under the teaching
+of the Jesuits, were uniting against them.
+
+Duke Ferdinand of Styria, a young cousin of Rudolf II., began the
+struggle. Styria was at that time Protestant, and refused to change its
+faith at the command of the Duke, whereupon he visited every part of the
+land with an armed force, closed the churches, burned the hymn-books and
+Bibles, and banished every one who was not willing to become a Catholic
+on the spot. He openly declared that it was better to rule over a desert
+than a land of heretics. Duke Maximilian of Bavaria followed his
+example: in 1607 he seized the free Protestant city of Donauwörth, on
+the Danube, on account of some quarrel between its inhabitants and a
+monastery, and held it, in violation of all laws of the Empire. A
+protest made to the Diet on account of this act was of no avail, since a
+majority of the members were Catholics. The Protestants of Southern
+Germany formed a "Union" for mutual protection, in May, 1608, with
+Frederick IV. of the Palatinate at their head; but, as they were mostly
+of the Reformed Church, they received little sympathy or support from
+the Protestant States in the North.
+
+[Sidenote: 1609. THE "SUCCESSION OF CLEVES."]
+
+Maximilian of Bavaria then established a "Catholic League" in
+opposition, relying on the assistance of Spain, while the "Protestant
+Union" relied on that of Henry IV. of France. Both sides began to arm,
+and they would soon have proceeded to open hostilities, when a dispute
+of much greater importance diverted their attention to the North of
+Germany. This was the so-called "Succession of Cleves." Duke John
+William of Cleves, who governed the former separate dukedoms of Jülich,
+Cleves and Berg, and the countships of Ravensberg and Mark, embracing a
+large extent of territory on both sides of the Lower Rhine, died in 1609
+without leaving a direct heir. He had been a Catholic, but his people
+were Protestants. John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, and Wolfgang
+William of the Bavarian Palatinate, both relatives on the female side,
+claimed the splendid inheritance; and when it became evident that the
+Catholic interest meant to secure it, they quickly united their forces
+and took possession. The Emperor then sent the Archduke Leopold of
+Hapsburg to hold the State in his name, whereupon the Protestant Union
+made an instant alliance with Henry IV. of France, who was engaged in
+organizing an army for its aid, when he fell by the dagger of the
+assassin, Ravaillac, in 1610. This dissolved the alliance, and the
+"Union" and "League," finding themselves agreed in opposing the creation
+of another Austrian State, on the Lower Rhine, concluded peace before
+any serious fighting had taken place between them.
+
+[Sidenote: 1606.]
+
+The two claimants to the succession adopted a similar policy. Wolfgang
+William became a Catholic, married the sister of Maximilian of Bavaria,
+and so brought the "League" to support him, and the Elector John
+Sigismund became a Calvinist (which almost excited a rebellion among the
+Brandenburg Lutherans), in order to get the support of the "Union." The
+former was assisted by Spanish troops from Flanders, the latter by Dutch
+troops from Holland, and the war was carried on until 1614, when it was
+settled by a division which gave John Sigismund the lion's share.
+
+Meanwhile the Emperor Rudolf II. was becoming so old, so whimsical and
+so useless, that in 1606 the princes of the house of Hapsburg held a
+meeting, declared him incapable of governing, "on account of occasional
+imbecilities of mind," and appointed his brother Matthias regent for
+Austria, Hungary and Moravia. The Emperor refused to yield, but, with
+the help of the nobility, who were mostly Protestants, Matthias
+maintained his claim. He was obliged, in return, to grant religious
+freedom, which so encouraged the oppressed Protestants in Bohemia that
+they demanded similar rights from the Emperor. In his helpless situation
+he gave way to the demand, but soon became alarmed at the increase of
+the heretics, and tried to take back his concession. The Bohemians
+called Matthias to their assistance, and in 1611 Rudolf lost his
+remaining kingdom and his favorite residence of Prague. As he looked
+upon the city for the last time, he cried out: "May the vengeance of God
+overtake thee, and my curse light on thee and all Bohemia!" In less than
+a year (on the 20th of January, 1612) he died.
+
+Matthias was elected Emperor of Germany, as a matter of course. The
+house of Hapsburg was now the strongest German power which represented
+the Church of Rome, and the Catholic majority in the Diet secured to it
+the Imperial dignity then and thenceforward. The Protestants, however,
+voted also for Matthias, for the reason that he had already shown a
+tolerant policy towards their brethren in Austria, Hungary and Bohemia.
+His first measures, as Emperor, justified this view of his character. He
+held a Diet at Ratisbon for the purpose of settling the existing
+differences between the two, but nothing was accomplished: the
+Protestants, finding that they would be outvoted, withdrew in a body and
+thus broke up the Diet. Matthias next endeavored to dissolve both the
+"Union" and the "League," in which he was only partially successful. At
+the same time his rule in Hungary was menaced by a revolt of the
+Transylvanian chief, Bethlen Gabor, who was assisted by the Turks: he
+grew weary of his task, and was easily persuaded by the other princes of
+his house to adopt his nephew, Duke Ferdinand of Styria, as his
+successor, in the year 1617, having no children of his own.
+
+[Sidenote: 1618. BEGINNING OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR.]
+
+Ferdinand, who had been carefully educated by the Jesuits for the part
+which he was afterwards to play, and whose violent suppression of the
+Protestant faith in Styria made him acceptable to all the German
+Catholics, was a man of great energy and force of character. He was
+stern, bigoted, cruel, yet shrewd, cunning and apparently conciliatory
+when he found it necessary to be so, resembling, in both respects, his
+predecessor, Charles V. of Spain. In return for being chosen by the
+Bohemians to succeed Matthias as king, he confirmed them in the
+religious freedom which they had extorted from Rudolf II., and then
+joined the Emperor in an expedition to Hungary, leaving Bohemia to be
+governed in the interim by a Council of ten, seven Catholics and three
+Protestants.
+
+The first thing that happened was the destruction of two Protestant
+churches by Catholic Bishops. The Bohemian Protestants appealed
+immediately to the Emperor Matthias, but, instead of redress, he gave
+them only threats. Thereupon they rose in Prague, stormed the Council
+Hall, seized two of the Councillors and one of their Secretaries, and
+hurled them out of the windows. Although they fell a distance of
+twenty-eight feet, they were not killed, and all finally escaped. This
+event happened on the 23d of May, 1618, and marks the beginning of the
+Thirty Years' War. After such long chronicles of violence and slaughter,
+the deed seemed of slight importance; but the hundredth anniversary of
+the Reformation (counting from Luther's proclamation against Tetzel, on
+the 31st of October, 1517) had been celebrated by the Protestants the
+year before, England was lost and France barely restored to the Church
+of Rome, the power of Spain was declining, and the Catholic priests and
+princes were resolved to make one more desperate struggle to regain
+their supremacy in Germany. Only the Protestant princes, as a body,
+seemed blind to the coming danger. Relying on the fact that four-fifths
+of the whole population of the Empire were Protestants, they still
+persisted in regarding all the political forms of the Middle Ages as
+holy, and in accepting nearly every measure which gave advantage to
+their enemies.
+
+[Sidenote: 1619.]
+
+Although the Protestants had only three Councillors out of ten, they
+were largely in the majority in Bohemia. They knew what retaliation the
+outbreak in Prague would bring upon them, and anticipated it by making
+the revolution general. They chose Count Thun as their leader,
+overturned the Imperial government, banished the Jesuits from the
+country, and entered into relations with the Protestant nobles of
+Austria, and the insurgent chief Bethlen Gabor in Hungary. The Emperor
+Matthias was willing to compromise the difficulty, but Ferdinand,
+stimulated by the Jesuits, declared for war. He sent two small armies
+into Bohemia, with a proclamation calling upon the people to submit. The
+Protestants of the North were at last aroused from their lethargy. Count
+Mansfeld marched with a force of 4,000 men to aid the Bohemians, and
+3,000 more came from Silesia; the Imperial army was defeated and driven
+back to the Danube. At this juncture the Emperor Matthias died, on the
+20th of May, 1619.
+
+Ferdinand lost not a day in taking the power into his own hands. But
+Austria threatened revolution, Hungary had made common cause with
+Bohemia, Count Thun was marching on Vienna, and he was without an army
+to support his claims. Count Thun, however, instead of attacking Vienna,
+encamped outside the walls and began to negotiate. Ferdinand, hard
+pressed by the demands of the Austrian Protestants, was on the very
+point of yielding--in fact, a member of a deputation of sixteen noblemen
+had seized him by the coat,--when trumpets were heard, and a body of 500
+cavalry, which had reached the city without being intercepted by the
+besiegers, appeared before the palace. This enabled him to defend the
+city, until the defeat of Count Mansfeld by another portion of his army,
+which had entered Bohemia, compelled Count Thun to raise the siege. Then
+Ferdinand hastened to Frankfort to look after his election as Emperor by
+the Diet, which met on the 28th of August, 1619.
+
+It seems almost incredible that now, knowing his character and designs,
+the three Chief Electors who were Protestants should have voted for him,
+without being conscious that they were traitors to their faith and their
+people. It has been charged, but without any clear evidence, that they
+were bribed: it is probable that Ferdinand, whose Jesuitic education
+taught him that falsehood and perjury are permitted in serving the
+Church, misled them by promises of peace and justice; but it is also
+very likely that they imagined their own sovereignty depended on
+sustaining every tradition of the Empire. The people, of course, had not
+yet acquired any rights which a prince felt himself called upon to
+respect.
+
+[Sidenote: 1620. FREDERICK V. DRIVEN FROM BOHEMIA.]
+
+Ferdinand was elected, and properly crowned in the Cathedral at
+Frankfort, as Ferdinand II. The Bohemians, who were entitled to one of
+the seven chief voices in the Diet, claimed that the election was not
+binding upon them, and chose Frederick V. of the Palatinate as their
+king, in the hope that the Protestant "Union" would rally to their
+support. It was a fatal choice and a false hope. When Maximilian of
+Bavaria, at the head of the Catholic "League," took the field for the
+Emperor, the "Union" cowardly withdrew. Frederick V. went to Bohemia,
+was crowned, and idled his time away in fantastic diversions for one
+winter, while Ferdinand was calling Spain to attack the Palatinate of
+the Rhine, and borrowing Cossacks from Poland to put down his Protestant
+subjects in Austria. The Emperor assured the Protestant princes that the
+war should be confined to Bohemia, and one of them, the Elector John
+George of Saxony, a Lutheran, openly went over to his side in order to
+defeat Frederick V., a Calvinist. The Bohemians fell back to the walls
+of Prague before the armies of the Emperor and Bavaria; and there, on
+the White Mountain, a battle of an hour's duration, in November, 1620,
+decided the fate of the country. The former scattered in all directions;
+Frederick V. left Prague never to return, and Spanish, Italian and
+Hungarian troops overran Bohemia.
+
+Ferdinand II. acted as might have been expected from his despotic and
+bigoted nature. The 8,000 Cossacks which he had borrowed from his
+brother-in-law, king Sigismund of Poland, had already closed all
+Protestant Churches and suppressed freedom of worship in Austria; he now
+applied the same measures to Bohemia, but in a more violent and bloody
+form. Twenty-seven of the chief Protestant nobles were beheaded at
+Prague in one day; thousands of families were stripped of all their
+property and banished; the Protestant churches were given to the
+Catholics, the Jesuits took possession of the University and the
+schools, until finally, as a historian says, "the quiet of a sepulchre
+settled over Bohemia." The Protestant faith was practically obliterated
+from all the Austrian realm, with the exception of a few scattered
+congregations in Hungary and Transylvania.
+
+[Sidenote: 1621.]
+
+There is hardly anywhere, in the history of the world, such an instance
+of savage despotism. A large majority of the population of Austria,
+Bohemia and Styria were Protestants; they were rapidly growing in
+intelligence, in social order and material prosperity; but the will of
+one man was allowed to destroy the progress of a hundred years, to crush
+both the faith and freedom of the people, plunder them of their best
+earnings and make them ignorant slaves for 200 years longer. The
+property which was seized by Ferdinand II., in Bohemia alone, was
+estimated at forty millions of florins! And the strength of Germany,
+which was Protestant, looked on and saw all this happen! Only the common
+people of Austria arose against the tyrant, and gallantly struggled for
+months, at first under the command of a farmer named Stephen Fadinger,
+and, when he was slain in the moment of victory, under an unknown young
+hero, who had no other name than "the Student." The latter defeated the
+Bavarian army, resisted the famous Austrian general, Pappenheim, in many
+battles, and at last fell, after the most of his followers had fallen,
+without leaving his name to history. The Austrian peasants rivalled the
+Swiss of three centuries before in their bravery and self-sacrifice: had
+they been successful (as they might have been, with small help from
+their Protestant brethren), they would have changed the course of German
+history, and have become renowned among the heroes of the world.
+
+The fate of Austria, from that day to this, was now sealed. Both
+parties--the Catholics, headed by Ferdinand II., and the Protestants,
+without any head,--next turned to the Palatinate of the Rhine, where a
+Spanish army, sent from Flanders, was wasting and plundering in the name
+of the Emperor. Count Ernest of Mansfeld and Prince Christian of
+Brunswick, who had supported Frederick V. in Bohemia, endeavored to save
+at least the Palatinate for him. They were dashing and eccentric young
+generals, whose personal reputation attracted all sorts of wild and
+lawless characters to take service under them. Mansfeld, who had been
+originally a Catholic, was partly supported by contributions from
+England and Holland, but he also took what he could get from the country
+through which he marched. Christian of Brunswick was a fantastic prince,
+who tried to imitate the knights of the Middle Ages. He was a great
+admirer of the Countess Elizabeth of the Palatinate (sister of Charles
+I. of England), and always wore her glove on his helmet. In order to
+obtain money for his troops, he plundered the bishoprics in Westphalia,
+and forced the cities and villages to pay him heavy contributions. When
+he entered the cathedral at Paderborn and saw the silver statues of the
+Apostles around the altar, he cried out: "What are you doing here? You
+were ordered to go forth into the world, but wait a bit--I'll send you!"
+So he had them melted and coined into dollars, upon which the words were
+stamped: "Friend of God, foe of priests!" He afterwards gave himself
+that name, but the soldiers generally called him "Mad Christian."
+
+[Sidenote: 1621. PRINCE CHRISTIAN OF BRUNSWICK.]
+
+Against these two, and George Frederick of Baden, who joined them,
+Ferdinand II. sent Maximilian of Bavaria, to whom he promised the
+Palatinate as a reward, and Tilly, a general already famous both for his
+military talent and his inhumanity. The latter, who had been educated by
+the Jesuits for a priest, was in the Bavarian service. He was a small,
+lean man, with a face almost comical in its ugliness. His nose was like
+a parrot's beak, his forehead seamed with deep wrinkles, his eyes sunk
+in their sockets and his cheek-bones projecting. He usually wore a dress
+of green satin, with a cocked hat and long red feather, and rode a
+small, mean-looking gray horse.
+
+Early in 1622 the Imperial army under Tilly was defeated, or at least
+checked, by the united forces of Mansfeld and Prince Christian. But in
+May of the same year, the forces of the latter, with those of George
+Frederick of Baden, were almost cut to pieces by Tilly, at Wimpfen. They
+retreated into Alsatia, where they burned and plundered at will, while
+Tilly pursued the same course on the eastern side of the Rhine. He took
+and destroyed the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg, closed the
+Protestant churches, banished the clergymen and teachers, and supplied
+their places with Jesuits. The invaluable library of Heidelberg was sent
+to Pope Gregory XV. at Rome, and remained there until 1815, when a part
+of it came back to the University by way of Paris.
+
+[Sidenote: 1623.]
+
+Frederick V., who had fled from the country, entered into negotiations
+with the Emperor, in the hope of retaining the Palatinate. He dissolved
+his connection with Mansfeld and Prince Christian, who thereupon
+offered their services to the Emperor, on condition that he would pay
+their soldiers! Receiving no answer, they marched through Lorraine and
+Flanders, laying waste the country as they went, and finally took refuge
+in Holland. Frederick V.'s humiliation was of no avail; none of the
+Protestant princes supported his claim. The Emperor gave his land, with
+the Electoral dignity, to Maximilian of Bavaria, and this act, although
+a direct violation of the laws which the German princes held sacred, was
+acquiesced in by them at a Diet held at Ratisbon in 1623. John George of
+Saxony, who saw clearly that it was a fatal blow aimed both at the
+Protestants and at the rights of the reigning princes, was persuaded to
+be silent by the promise of having Lusatia added to Saxony.
+
+By this time, Germany was in a worse condition than she had known for
+centuries. The power of the Jesuits, represented by Ferdinand II., his
+councillors and generals, was supreme almost everywhere; the Protestant
+princes vied with each other in meanness, selfishness and cowardice; the
+people were slaughtered, robbed, driven hither and thither by both
+parties: there seemed to be neither faith nor justice left in the land.
+The other Protestant nations--England, Holland, Denmark and
+Sweden--looked on with dismay, and even Cardinal Richelieu, who was then
+practically the ruler of France, was willing to see Ferdinand II.'s
+power crippled, though the Protestants should gain thereby. England and
+Holland assisted Mansfeld and Prince Christian with money, and the
+latter organized new armies, with which they ravaged Friesland and
+Westphalia. Prince Christian was on his way to Bohemia, in order to
+unite with the Hungarian chief, Bethlen Gabor, when, on the 6th of
+August, 1623, he met Tilly at a place called Stadtloon, near Münster,
+and, after a murderous battle which lasted three days, was utterly
+defeated. About the same time Mansfeld, needing further support, went to
+England, where he was received with great honor.
+
+Ferdinand II. had in the meantime concluded a peace with Bethlen Gabor,
+and his authority was firmly established over Austria and Bohemia. Tilly
+with his Bavarians was victorious in Westphalia; all armed opposition to
+the Emperor's rule was at an end, yet instead of declaring peace
+established, and restoring the former order of the Empire, his agents
+continued their work of suppressing religious freedom and civil rights
+in all the States which had been overrun by the Catholic armies. The
+whole Empire was threatened with the fate of Austria. Then, at last, in
+1625, Brunswick, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg, Hamburg, Lübeck and Bremen
+formed a union for mutual defence, choosing as their leader king
+Christian IV. of Denmark, the same monarch who had broken down the power
+of the Hanseatic League in the Baltic and North Seas! Although a
+Protestant, he was no friend to the North-German States, but he
+energetically united with them in the hope of being able to enlarge his
+kingdom at their expense.
+
+[Sidenote: 1625. ALLIANCE WITH CHRISTIAN IV.]
+
+Christian IV. lost no time in making arrangements with England and
+Holland which enabled both Mansfeld and Prince Christian of Brunswick to
+raise new forces, with which they returned to Germany. Tilly, in order
+to intercept them, entered the territory of the States which had united,
+and thus gave Christian IV. a pretext for declaring war. The latter
+marched down from Denmark at once, but found no earnest union among the
+States, and only 7,000 men collected. He soon succeeded, however, in
+bringing together a force much larger than that commanded by Tilly, and
+was only hindered in his plan of immediate action by a fall from his
+horse, which crippled him for six weeks. The city of Hamelin was taken,
+and Tilly compelled to fall back, but no other important movements took
+place during the year 1625.
+
+Ferdinand II. was already growing jealous of the increasing power of
+Bavaria, and determined that the Catholic and Imperial cause should not
+be entrusted to Tilly alone. But he had little money, his own military
+force had been wasted by the wars in Bohemia, Austria and Hungary, and
+there was no other commander of sufficient renown to attract men to his
+standard. Yet it was necessary that Tilly should be reinforced as soon
+as possible, or his scheme of crushing the whole of Germany, and laying
+it, as a fettered slave, at the feet of the Roman Church, might fail,
+and at the very moment when success seemed sure.
+
+In this emergency, a new man presented himself. Albert of Waldstein,
+better known under his historical name of Wallenstein, was born at
+Prague in 1583. He was the son of a poor nobleman, and violent and
+unruly as a youth, until a fall from the third story of a house effected
+a sudden change in his nature. He became brooding and taciturn, gave up
+his Protestant faith, and was educated by the Jesuits at Olmütz. He
+travelled in Spain, France and the Netherlands, fought in Italy against
+Venice and in Hungary against Bethlen Gabor and the Turks, and rose to
+the rank of Colonel. He married an old and rich widow, and after her
+death increased his wealth by a second marriage, so that, when the
+Protestants were expelled from Bohemia, he was able to purchase 60 of
+their confiscated estates. Adding these to that of Friedland, which he
+had received from the Emperor in return for military services, he
+possessed a small principality, lived in great splendor, and paid and
+equipped his own troops. He was first made Count, and then Duke of
+Friedland, with the authority of an independent prince of the Empire.
+
+[Sidenote: 1625.]
+
+Wallenstein was superstitious, and his studies in astrology gave him the
+belief that a much higher destiny awaited him. Here was the opportunity:
+he offered to raise and command a second army, in the Emperor's service.
+Ferdinand II. accepted the offer with joy, and sent word to Wallenstein
+that he should immediately proceed to enlist 20,000 men. "My army," the
+latter answered, "must live by what it can take: 20,000 men are not
+enough. I must have 50,000, and then I can demand what I want!" The
+threat of terrible ravage contained in these words was soon carried out.
+
+Wallenstein was tall and meagre in person. His forehead was high but
+narrow, his hair black and cut very short, his eyes small, dark and
+fiery, and his complexion yellow. His voice was harsh and disagreeable:
+he never smiled, and spoke only when it was necessary. He usually
+dressed in scarlet, with a leather jerkin, and wore a long red feather
+on his hat. There was something cold, mistrustful and mysterious in his
+appearance, yet he possessed unbounded power over his soldiers, whom he
+governed with severity and rewarded splendidly. There are few more
+interesting personages in German history.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+TILLY, WALLENSTEIN AND GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS.
+
+(1625--1634.)
+
+The Winter of 1625--6. --Wallenstein's Victory. --Mansfeld's Death.
+    --Tilly defeats Christian IV. --Wallenstein's Successes in Saxony,
+    Brandenburg and Holstein. --Siege of Stralsund. --The Edict of
+    Restitution. --Its Effects. --Wallenstein's Plans. --Diet at
+    Ratisbon. --Wallenstein's Removal. --Arrival of Gustavus Adolphus.
+    --His Positions and Plans. --His Character. --Cowardice of the
+    Protestant Princes. --Tilly sacks Magdeburg. --Decision of Gustavus
+    Adolphus. --Tilly's Defeat at Leipzig. --Bohemia invaded.
+    --Gustavus at Frankfort. --Defeat and Death of Tilly. --Gustavus in
+    Munich. --Wallenstein restored. --His Conditions. --He meets
+    Gustavus at Nuremberg. --He invades Saxony. --Battle of Lützen.
+    --Death of Gustavus Adolphus. --Wallenstein's Retreat. --Union of
+    Protestant Princes with Sweden. --Protestant Successes. --Secret
+    Negotiations with Wallenstein. --His Movements. --Conspiracy
+    against him. --His Removal. --His March to Eger. --His
+    Assassination.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1626. WALLENSTEIN.]
+
+Before the end of the year 1625, and within three months after Ferdinand
+II. had commissioned Wallenstein to raise an army, the latter marched
+into Saxony at the head of 30,000 men. No important operations were
+undertaken during the winter: Christian IV. and Mansfeld had their
+separate quarters on the one side, Tilly and Wallenstein on the other,
+and the four armies devoured the substance of the lands where they were
+encamped. In April, 1626, Mansfeld marched against Wallenstein, to
+prevent him from uniting with Tilly. The two armies met at the bridge of
+the Elbe, at Dessau, and fought desperately: Mansfeld was defeated,
+driven into Brandenburg, and then took his way through Silesia towards
+Hungary, with the intention of forming an alliance with Bethlen Gabor.
+Wallenstein followed by forced marches, and compelled Gabor to make
+peace with the Emperor: Mansfeld disbanded his troops and set out for
+Venice, where he meant to embark for England. But he was already worn
+out by the hardships of his campaigns, and died on the way, in
+Dalmatia, in November, 1626, 45 years of age. A few months afterwards
+Prince Christian of Brunswick also died, and the Protestant cause was
+left without any native German leader.
+
+[Sidenote: 1628.]
+
+During the same year the cause received a second and severer blow. On
+the 26th of August Christian IV. and Tilly came together at Lutter, a
+little town on the northern edge of the Hartz, and the army of the
+former was cut to pieces, himself barely escaping with his life. There
+seemed, now, to be no further hope for the Protestants: Christian IV.
+retreated to Holstein, the Elector of Brandenburg gave up his connection
+with the Union of the Saxon States, the Dukes of Mecklenburg were
+powerless, and Maurice of Hesse was compelled by the Emperor to
+abdicate. New measures in Bohemia and Austria foreshadowed the probable
+fate of Germany: the remaining Protestants in those two countries,
+including a large majority of the Austrian nobles, were made Catholics
+by force.
+
+In the summer of 1627 Wallenstein again marched northward with an army
+reorganized and recruited to 40,000 men. John George of Saxony, who
+tried to maintain a selfish and cowardly neutrality, now saw his land
+overrun, and himself at the mercy of the conqueror. Brandenburg was
+subjected to the same fate; the two Mecklenburg duchies were seized as
+the booty of the Empire; and Wallenstein, marching on without
+opposition, plundered and wasted Holstein, Jutland and Pomerania. In
+1628 the Emperor bestowed Mecklenburg upon him: he gave himself the
+title of "Admiral of the Baltic and the Ocean," and drew up a plan for
+creating a navy out of the vessels of the Hanseatic League, and
+conquering Holland for the house of Hapsburg. After this should have
+been accomplished, his next project was to form an alliance with Poland
+against Denmark and Sweden, the only remaining Protestant powers.
+
+While the rich and powerful cities of Hamburg and Lübeck surrendered at
+his approach, the little Hanseatic town of Stralsund closed its gates
+against him. The citizens took a solemn oath to defend their religious
+faith and their political independence to the last drop of their blood.
+Wallenstein exclaimed: "And if Stralsund were bound to Heaven with
+chains, I would tear it down!" and marched against the place. At the
+first assault he lost 1,000 men; at the second, 2,000; and then the
+citizens, in turn, made sallies, and inflicted still heavier losses upon
+him. They were soon reinforced by 2,000 Swedes, and then Wallenstein
+was forced to raise the siege, after having lost, altogether, 12,000 of
+his best troops. At this time the Danes appeared with a fleet of 200
+vessels, and took possession of the port of Wolgast, in Pomerania.
+
+[Sidenote: 1629. THE EDICT OF RESTITUTION.]
+
+In spite of this temporary reverse, Ferdinand II. considered that his
+absolute power was established over all Germany. After consulting with
+the Catholic Chief-Electors (one of whom, now, was Maximilian of
+Bavaria), he issued, on the 6th of March, 1629, an "Edict of
+Restitution," ordering that all the former territory of the Roman
+Church, which had become Protestant, should be restored to Catholic
+hands. This required that two archbishoprics, twelve bishoprics, and a
+great number of monasteries and churches, which had ceased to exist
+nearly a century before, should be again established; and then, on the
+principle that the religion of the ruler should be that of the people,
+that the Protestant faith should be suppressed in all such territory.
+The armies were kept in the field to enforce this edict, which was
+instantly carried into effect in Southern Germany, and in the most
+violent and barbarous manner. The estates of 6,000 noblemen in
+Franconia, Würtemberg and Baden were confiscated; even the property of
+reigning princes was seized; but, instead of passing into the hands of
+the Church, much of it was bestowed upon the Emperor's family and his
+followers. The Archbishoprics of Bremen and Magdeburg were given to his
+son Leopold, a boy of 15! In carrying out the measure, Catholics began
+to suffer, as well as Protestants, and the jealousy and alarm of all the
+smaller States were finally aroused.
+
+Wallenstein, while equally despotic, was much more arrogant and reckless
+than Ferdinand II. He openly declared that reigning princes and a
+National Diet were no longer necessary in Germany; the Emperor must be
+an absolute ruler, like the kings of France and Spain. At the same time
+he was carrying out his own political plans without much reference to
+the Imperial authority. Both Catholics and Protestants united in calling
+for a Diet: Ferdinand II. at first refused, but there were such signs of
+hostility on the part of Holland, Denmark, Sweden and even France, that
+he was forced to yield. The Diet met on the 5th of June, 1630, at
+Ratisbon, and Maximilian of Bavaria headed the universal demand for
+Wallenstein's removal. The Protestants gave testimony of the merciless
+system of plunder by which he had ruined their lands; the Catholics
+complained of the more than Imperial splendors of his court, upon which
+he squandered uncounted millions of stolen money. He travelled with 100
+carriages and more than 1,000 horses, kept 15 cooks for his table, and
+was waited upon by 16 pages of noble blood. Jealousy of this pomp and
+state, and fear of Wallenstein's ambitious designs, and not the latter's
+fiendish inhumanity, induced Ferdinand II. to submit to the entreaties
+of the Diet, and remove him.
+
+[Sidenote: 1630.]
+
+The Imperial messengers who were sent to his camp with the order of
+dismissal, approached him in great dread and anxiety, and scarcely dared
+to mention their business. Wallenstein pointed to a sheet covered with
+astrological characters, and quietly told them that he had known
+everything in advance; that the Emperor had been misled by the Elector
+of Bavaria, but, nevertheless, the order would be obeyed. He entertained
+them at a magnificent banquet, loaded them with gifts, and then sent
+them away. With rage and hate in his heart, but with all the external
+show and splendor of an independent sovereign, he retired to Prague,
+well knowing that the day was not far off when his services would be
+again needed.
+
+Tilly was appointed commander-in-chief of the Imperial armies. At the
+very moment, however, when Wallenstein was dismissed, and his forces
+divided among several inferior generals, the leader whom the German
+Protestants could not furnish came to them from abroad. Their ruin and
+the triumph of Ferdinand II. seemed inevitable; twelve years of war in
+its most horrible form had desolated their lands, reduced their numbers
+to less than half, and broken their spirit. Then help and hope suddenly
+returned. On the 4th of July, 1630, Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden,
+landed on the coast of Pomerania, with an army of 15,000 men. As he
+stepped upon the shore, he knelt in the sight of all the soldiers and
+prayed that God would befriend him. Some of his staff could not restrain
+their tears; whereupon he said to them: "Weep not, friends, but pray,
+for prayer is half victory!"
+
+Gustavus Adolphus, who had succeeded to the throne in 1611, at the age
+of 17, was already distinguished as a military commander. He had
+defeated the Russians in Livonia and banished them from the Baltic; he
+had fought for three years with king Sigismund of Poland, and taken
+from him the ports of Elbing, Pillau and Memel, and he was now burning
+with zeal to defend the falling Protestant cause in Germany. Cardinal
+Richelieu, in France, helped him to the opportunity by persuading
+Sigismund to accept an armistice, and by furnishing Sweden with the
+means of carrying on a war against Ferdinand II. The latter had assisted
+Poland, so that a pretext was not wanting; but when Gustavus laid his
+plans before his council in Stockholm, a majority of the members advised
+him to wait for a new cause of offence. Nevertheless, he insisted on
+immediate action. The representatives of the four orders of the people
+were convoked in the Senate-house, where he appeared before them with
+his little daughter, Christina, in his arms, asked them to swear fealty
+to her, and then bade them a solemn farewell. All burst into tears when
+he said: "perhaps for ever," but nothing could shake his resolution to
+undertake the great work.
+
+[Sidenote: 1630. GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS.]
+
+Gustavus Adolphus was at this time 34 years old; he was so tall and
+powerfully built that he almost seemed a giant; his face was remarkably
+frank and cheerful in expression, his hair light, his eyes large and
+gray and his nose aquiline. Personally, he was a striking contrast to
+the little, haggard and wrinkled Tilly and the dark, silent and gloomy
+Wallenstein. Ferdinand II. laughed when he heard of his landing, called
+him the "Snow King," and said that he would melt away after one winter;
+but the common people, who loved and trusted him as soon as they saw
+him, named him the "Lion of the North." He was no less a statesman than
+a soldier, and his accomplishments were unusual in a ruler of those
+days. He was a generous patron of the arts and sciences, spoke four
+languages with ease and elegance, was learned in theology, a ready
+orator and--best of all--he was honest, devout and conscientious in all
+his ways. The best blood of the Goths from whom he was descended beat in
+his veins, and the Germans, therefore, could not look upon him as a
+foreigner; to them he was a countryman as well as a deliverer.
+
+The Protestant princes, however, although in the utmost peril and
+humiliated to the dust, refused to unite with him. If their course had
+been cowardly and selfish before, it now became simply infamous. The
+Duke of Pomerania shut the gates of Stettin upon the Swedish army, until
+compelled by threats to open them; the Electors of Brandenburg and
+Saxony held themselves aloof, and Gustavus found himself obliged to
+respect their neutrality, lest they should go over to the Emperor's
+side! Out of all Protestant Germany there came to him a few petty
+princes whose lands had been seized by the Catholics, and who could only
+offer their swords. His own troops, however, had been seasoned in many
+battles; their discipline was perfect; and when the German people found
+that the slightest act of plunder or violence was severely punished,
+they were welcomed wherever they marched.
+
+[Sidenote: 1631.]
+
+Moving slowly, and with as much wisdom as caution, Gustavus relieved
+Pomerania from the Imperial troops, by the end of the year. He then took
+Frankfort-on-the-Oder by storm, and forced the Elector of Brandenburg to
+give him the use of Spandau as a fortress, until he should have relieved
+Magdeburg, the only German city which had forcibly resisted the "Edict
+of Restitution," and was now besieged by Tilly and Pappenheim. As the
+city was hard pressed, Gustavus demanded of John George, Elector of
+Saxony, permission to march through his territory: it was refused!
+Magdeburg was defended by 2,300 soldiers and 5,000 armed citizens
+against an army of 30,000 men, for more than a month; then, on the 10th
+of May, 1631, it was taken by storm, and given up to the barbarous fury
+of Tilly and his troops. The city sank in blood and ashes: 30,000 of the
+inhabitants perished by the sword, or in the flames, or crushed under
+falling walls, or drowned in the waters of the Elbe. Only 4,000, who had
+taken refuge in the Cathedral, were spared. Tilly wrote to the Emperor:
+"Since the fall of Troy and Jerusalem, such a victory has never been
+seen; and I am sincerely sorry that the ladies of your imperial family
+could not have been present as spectators!"
+
+Gustavus Adolphus has been blamed, especially by the admirers and
+defenders of the houses of Brandenburg and Saxony, for not having saved
+Magdeburg. This he might have done, had he disregarded the neutrality
+asserted by John George; but he had been bitterly disappointed at his
+reception by the Protestant princes, he could not trust them, and was
+not strong enough to fight Tilly with possible enemies in his rear. In
+fact, George William of Brandenburg immediately ordered him to give up
+Spandau and leave his territory. Then Gustavus did what he should have
+done at first: he planted his cannon before Berlin, and threatened to
+lay the city in ashes. This brought George William to his senses; he
+agreed that his fortresses should be used by the Swedes, and contributed
+30,000 dollars a month towards the expenses of the war. So many recruits
+flocked to the Swedish standard that both Mecklenburgs were soon cleared
+of the Imperial troops, the banished Dukes restored, and an attack by
+Tilly upon the fortified camp of Gustavus was repulsed with heavy
+losses.
+
+[Sidenote: 1631. DEFEAT OF TILLY.]
+
+Landgrave William of Hesse Cassel was the first Protestant prince who
+voluntarily allied himself with the Swedish king. He was shortly
+followed by the unwilling but helpless John George of Saxony, whose
+territory was invaded and wasted by Tilly's army. Ferdinand II. had
+given this order, meaning that the Elector should at least support his
+troops. Tilly took possession of Halle, Naumburg and other cities,
+plundered and levied heavy contributions, and at last entered Leipzig,
+after bombarding it for four days. Then John George united his troops
+with those of Gustavus Adolphus, who now commanded an army of 35,000
+men.
+
+Tilly and Pappenheim had an equal force to oppose him. After a good deal
+of cautious manoeuvring, the two armies stood face to face near
+Leipzig, on the 17th of September, 1631. The Swedes were without armor,
+and Gustavus distributed musketeers among the cavalry and pikemen.
+Banner, one of his generals, commanded his right, and Marshal Horn his
+left, where the Saxons were stationed. The army of Tilly was drawn up in
+a long line, and the troops wore heavy cuirasses and helmets: Pappenheim
+commanded the left, opposite Gustavus, while Tilly undertook to engage
+the Saxons. The battle-cry of the Protestants was "God with us!"--that
+of the Catholics "Jesu Maria!" Gustavus, wearing a white hat and green
+feather, and mounted on a white horse, rode up and down the lines,
+encouraging his men. The Saxons gave way before Tilly, and began to fly;
+but the Swedes, after repelling seven charges of Pappenheim's cavalry,
+broke the enemy's right wing, captured the cannon and turned them
+against Tilly. The Imperial army, thrown into confusion, fled in
+disorder, pursued by the Swedes, who cut them down until night put an
+end to the slaughter. Tilly, severely wounded, narrowly escaped death,
+and reached Halle with only a few hundred men.
+
+[Sidenote: 1632.]
+
+This splendid victory restored the hopes of the Protestants everywhere.
+Duke Bernard of Saxe-Weimar had joined Gustavus before the battle: in
+his zeal for the cause, his honesty and bravery, he resembled the king,
+whose chief reliance as a military leader, he soon became. John George
+of Saxony consented, though with evident reluctance, to march into
+Bohemia, where the crushed Protestants were longing for help, while the
+Swedish army advanced through Central Germany to the Rhine. Tilly
+gathered together the scattered Imperial forces left in the North,
+followed, and vainly endeavored to check Gustavus. The latter took
+Würzburg, defeated 17,000 men under Charles of Lorraine, who had crossed
+the Rhine to oppose him, and entered Frankfort in triumph. Here he fixed
+his winter-quarters, and allowed his faithful Swedish troops the rest
+which they so much needed.
+
+The territory of the Archbishop of Mayence, and of other Catholic
+princes, which he overran, was not plundered or laid waste: Gustavus
+proclaimed everywhere religious freedom, not retaliation for the
+barbarities inflicted on the Protestants. He soon made himself respected
+by his enemies, and his influence spread so rapidly that the idea of
+becoming Emperor of Germany was a natural consequence of his success.
+His wife, Queen Eleanor, had joined him; he held a splendid court at
+Frankfort, and required the German princes whom he had subjected to
+acknowledge themselves his dependents. The winter of 1631--32 was given
+up to diplomacy, rather than war. Richelieu began to be jealous of the
+increasing power of the Swedish king, and entered into secret
+negotiations with Maximilian of Bavaria. The latter also corresponded
+with Gustavus Adolphus, who by this time had secured the neutrality of
+the States along the Rhine, and the support of a large majority of the
+population of the Palatinate, Baden and Würtemberg.
+
+In the early spring of 1632, satisfied that no arrangement with
+Maximilian was possible, Gustavus reorganized his army and set out for
+Bavaria. The city of Nuremberg received him with the wildest rejoicing:
+then he advanced upon Donauwörth, drove out Maximilian's troops and
+restored Protestant worship in the churches. Tilly, meanwhile, had added
+Maximilian's army to his own, and taken up a strong position on the
+eastern bank of the river Lech, between Augsburg and the Danube.
+Gustavus marched against him, cannonaded his position for three days
+from the opposite bank, and had partly crossed under cover of the smoke
+before his plan was discovered. On the 15th of April Tilly was mortally
+wounded, and his army fled in the greatest confusion: he died a few
+days afterwards, at Ingolstadt, 73 years old.
+
+[Sidenote: 1632. WALLENSTEIN RESTORED TO POWER.]
+
+The city of Augsburg opened its gates to the conqueror and acknowledged
+his authority. Then, after attacking Ingolstadt without success, he
+marched upon Munich, which was unable to resist, but was spared, on
+condition of paying a heavy contribution. The Bavarians had buried a
+number of cannon under the floor of the arsenal, and news thereof came
+to the king's ears. "Let the dead arise!" he ordered; and 140 pieces
+were dug up, one of which contained 30,000 ducats. Maximilian, whose
+land was completely overrun by the Swedes, would gladly have made peace,
+but Gustavus plainly told him that he was not to be trusted. While the
+Protestant cause was so brilliantly victorious in the south, John George
+of Saxony, who had taken possession of Prague without the least trouble,
+remained inactive in Bohemia during the winter and spring, apparently as
+jealous of Gustavus as he was afraid of Ferdinand II.
+
+The Emperor had long before ceased to laugh at the "Snow King." He was
+in the greatest strait of his life: he knew that his trampled Austrians
+would rise at the approach of the Swedish army, and then the Catholic
+cause would be lost. Before this he had appealed to Wallenstein, who was
+holding a splendid court at Znaim, in Moravia; but the latter refused,
+knowing that he could exact better terms for his support by waiting a
+little longer. The danger, in fact, increased so rapidly that Ferdinand
+II. was finally compelled to subscribe to an agreement which practically
+made Wallenstein the lord and himself the subject. He gave the Duchies
+of Mecklenburg to Wallenstein, and promised him one of the Hapsburg
+States in Austria; he gave him the entire disposal of all the territory
+he should conquer, and agreed to pay the expenses of his army. Moreover,
+all appointments were left to Wallenstein, and the Emperor pledged
+himself that neither he nor his son should ever visit the former's camp.
+
+Having thus become absolute master of his movements, Wallenstein offered
+a high rate of payment and boundless chances of plunder to all who might
+enlist under him, and in two or three months stood at the head of an
+army of 40,000 men, many of whom were demoralized Protestants. He took
+possession of Prague, which John George vacated at his approach, and
+then waited quietly until Maximilian should be forced by necessity to
+give him also the command of the Bavarian forces. This soon came to
+pass, and then Wallenstein, with 60,000 men, marched against Gustavus
+Adolphus, who fell back upon Nuremberg, which he surrounded with a
+fortified camp. Instead of attacking him, Wallenstein took possession of
+the height of Zirndorf, in the neighborhood of the city, and strongly
+intrenched himself. Here the two commanders lay for nine weeks, watching
+each other, until Gustavus, whose force amounted to about 35,000, grew
+impatient of the delay, and troubled for the want of supplies.
+
+[Sidenote: 1632.]
+
+He attacked Wallenstein's camp, but was repulsed with a loss of 2,000
+men; then, after waiting two weeks longer, he marched out of Nuremberg,
+with the intention of invading Bavaria. Maximilian followed him with the
+Bavarian troops, and Wallenstein, whose army had been greatly diminished
+by disease and desertion, moved into Franconia. Then, wheeling suddenly,
+he crossed the Thuringian Mountains into Saxony, burning and pillaging
+as he went, took Leipzig, and threatened Dresden. John George, who was
+utterly unprepared for such a movement, again called upon Gustavus for
+help, and the latter, leaving Bavaria, hastened to Saxony by forced
+marches. On the 27th of October he reached Erfurt, where he took leave
+of his wife, with a presentiment that he should never see her again.
+
+As he passed on through Weimar to Naumburg, the country-people flocked
+to see him, falling on their knees, kissing his garments, and expressing
+such other signs of faith and veneration, that he exclaimed: "I pray
+that the wrath of the Almighty may not be visited upon me, on account of
+this idolatry towards a weak and sinful mortal!" Wallenstein's force
+being considerably larger than his own, he halted in Naumburg, to await
+the former's movements. As the season was so far advanced, Wallenstein
+finally decided to send Pappenheim with 10,000 men into Westphalia, and
+then go into winter-quarters. As soon as Gustavus heard of Pappenheim's
+departure he marched to the attack, and the battle began on the morning
+of November 6th, 1632, at Lützen, between Naumburg and Leipzig.
+
+On both sides the troops had been arranged with great military skill.
+Wallenstein had 25,000 men and Gustavus 20,000. The latter made a
+stirring address to his Swedes, and then the whole army united in
+singing Luther's grand hymn: "Our Lord He is a Tower of Strength." For
+several hours the battle raged furiously, without any marked advantage
+on either side; then the Swedes broke Wallenstein's left wing and
+captured the artillery. The Imperialists rallied and retook it, throwing
+the Swedes into some confusion. Gustavus rode forward to rally them and
+was carried by his horse among the enemy. A shot, fired at close
+quarters, shattered his left arm, but he refused to leave the field, and
+shortly afterwards a second shot struck him from his horse. The sight of
+the steed, covered with blood and wildly galloping to and fro, told the
+Swedes what had happened; but, instead of being disheartened, they
+fought more furiously than before, under the command of Duke Bernard of
+Saxe-Weimar.
+
+[Sidenote: 1632. THE BATTLE OF LÜTZEN.]
+
+At this juncture Pappenheim, who had been summoned from Halle the day
+before, arrived on the field. His first impetuous charge drove the
+Swedes back, but he also fell, mortally wounded, his cavalry began to
+waver, and the lost ground was regained. Night put an end to the
+conflict, and before morning Wallenstein retreated to Leipzig, leaving
+all his artillery and colors on the field. The body of Gustavus Adolphus
+was found after a long search, buried under a heap of dead, stripped,
+mutilated by the hoofs of horses, and barely recognizable. The loss to
+the Protestant cause seemed irreparable, but the heroic king, in
+falling, had so crippled the power of its most dangerous enemy that its
+remaining adherents had a little breathing-time left them, to arrange
+for carrying on the struggle.
+
+Wallenstein was so weakened that he did not even remain in Saxony, but
+retired to Bohemia, where he vented his rage on his own soldiers. The
+Protestant princes felt themselves powerless without the aid of Sweden,
+and when the Chancellor of the kingdom, Oxenstierna, decided to carry on
+the war, they could not do otherwise than accept him as the head of the
+Protestant Union, in the place of Gustavus Adolphus. A meeting was held
+at Heilbronn, in the spring of 1633, at which the Suabian, Franconian
+and Rhenish princes formally joined the new league. Duke Bernard and the
+Swedish Marshal Horn were appointed commanders of the army. Electoral
+Saxony and Brandenburg, as before, hesitated and half drew back, but
+they finally consented to favor the movement without joining it, and
+each accepted 100,000 thalers a year from France, to pay them for the
+trouble. Richelieu had an ambassador at Heilbronn, who promised large
+subsidies to the Protestant side: it was in the interest of France to
+break the power of the Hapsburgs, and there was also a chance, in the
+struggle, of gaining another slice of German territory.
+
+[Sidenote: 1633.]
+
+Hostilities were renewed, and for a considerable time the Protestant
+armies were successful everywhere. William of Hesse and Duke George of
+Brunswick defeated the Imperialists and held Westphalia; Duke Bernard
+took Bamberg and moved against Bavaria; Saxony and Silesia were
+delivered from the enemy, and Marshal Horn took possession of Alsatia.
+Duke Bernard and Horn were only prevented from overrunning all Bavaria
+by a mutiny which broke out in their armies, and deprived them of
+several weeks of valuable time.
+
+While these movements were going on, Wallenstein remained idle at
+Prague, in spite of the repeated and pressing entreaties of the Emperor
+that he would take the field. He seems to have considered his personal
+power secured, and was only in doubt as to the next step which he should
+take in his ambitious career. Finally, in May, he marched into Silesia,
+easily out-generaled Arnheim, who commanded the Protestant armies, but
+declined to follow up his advantage, and concluded an armistice. Secret
+negotiations then began between Wallenstein, Arnheim and the French
+ambassador: the project was that Wallenstein should come over to the
+Protestant side, in return for the crown of Bohemia. Louis XIII. of
+France promised his aid, but Chancellor Oxenstierna, distrusting
+Wallenstein, refused to be a party to the plan. There is no positive
+evidence, indeed, that Wallenstein consented: it rather seems that he
+was only courting offers from the Protestant side, in order to have a
+choice of advantages, but without binding himself in any way.
+
+Ferdinand II., in his desperation, summoned a Spanish army from Italy to
+his aid. This was a new offence to Wallenstein, since the new troops
+were not placed under his command. In the autumn of 1633, however, he
+felt obliged to make some movement. He entered Silesia, defeated a
+Protestant army under Count Thurn, overran the greater part of Saxony
+and Brandenburg, and threatened Pomerania. In the meantime the Spanish
+and Austrian troops in Bavaria had been forced to fall back, Duke
+Bernard had taken Ratisbon, and the road to Vienna was open to him.
+Ferdinand II. and Maximilian of Bavaria sent messenger after messenger
+to Wallenstein, imploring him to return from the North without delay. He
+moved with the greatest slowness, evidently enjoying their anxiety and
+alarm, crossed the northern frontier of Bavaria, and then, instead of
+marching against Duke Bernard, he turned about and took up his
+winter-quarters at Pilsen, in Bohemia.
+
+[Sidenote: 1634. WALLENSTEIN'S CONSPIRACY.]
+
+Here he received an order from the Emperor, commanding him to march
+instantly against Ratisbon, and further, to send 6,000 of his best
+cavalry to the Spanish army. This step compelled him, after a year's
+hesitation, to act without further delay. He was already charged, at
+Vienna, with being a traitor to the Imperial cause: he now decided to
+become one, in reality. He first confided his design to his
+brothers-in-law, Counts Kinsky and Terzky, and one of his Generals,
+Illo. Then a council of war, of all the chief officers of his army, was
+called on the 11th of January, 1634; Wallenstein stated what Ferdinand
+II. had ordered, and in a cunning speech commented on the latter's
+ingratitude to the army which had saved him, ending by declaring that he
+should instantly resign his command. The officers were thunderstruck:
+they had boundless faith in Wallenstein's military genius, and they saw
+themselves deprived of glory, pay and plunder by his resignation. He and
+his associates skilfully made use of their excitement: at a grand
+banquet, the next day, all of them, numbering 42, signed a document
+pledging their entire fidelity to Wallenstein.
+
+General Piccolomini, one of the signers, betrayed all this to the
+Emperor, who, twelve days afterwards, appointed General Gallas, another
+of the signers, commander in Wallenstein's stead. At the same time a
+secret order was issued for the seizure of Wallenstein, Illo and Terzky,
+dead or alive. Both sides were now secretly working against each other,
+but Wallenstein's former delay told against him. He could not go over to
+the Protestant side, unless certain important conditions were secured in
+advance, and while his agents were negotiating with Duke Bernard, his
+own army, privately worked upon by Gallas and other agents of the
+Emperor, began to desert him. What arrangement was made with Duke
+Bernard, is uncertain; the chief evidence is that he, and Wallenstein
+with the few thousand troops who still stood by him, moved rapidly
+towards each other, as if to join their forces.
+
+[Sidenote: 1634.]
+
+On the 24th of February, 1634, Wallenstein reached the town of Eger,
+near the Bohemian frontier: only two or three more days were required,
+to consummate his plan. Then Colonel Butler, an Irishman, and two Scotch
+officers, Gordon and Leslie, conspired to murder him and his
+associates--no doubt in consequence of instructions received from
+Vienna. Illo, Terzky and Kinsky accepted an invitation to a banquet in
+the citadel, the following evening; but Wallenstein, who was unwell,
+remained in his quarters in the Burgomaster's house. Everything had been
+carefully prepared, in advance: at a given signal, Gordon and Leslie put
+out the lights, dragoons entered the banquet-hall, and the three victims
+were murdered in cold blood. Then a Captain Devereux, with six soldiers,
+forced his way into the Burgomaster's house, on pretence of bearing
+important dispatches, cut down Wallenstein's servant and entered the
+room where he lay. Wallenstein, seeing that his hour had come, made no
+resistance, but silently received his death-blow.
+
+When Duke Bernard arrived, a day or two afterwards, he found Eger
+defended by the Imperialists. Ferdinand II. shed tears when he heard of
+Wallenstein's death, and ordered 3,000 masses to be said for his soul;
+but, at the same time, he raised the assassins, Butler and Leslie, to
+the rank of Count, and rewarded them splendidly for the deed.
+Wallenstein's immense estates were divided among the officers who had
+sworn to support him, and had then secretly gone over to the Emperor.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+END OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR.
+
+(1634--1648.)
+
+The Battle of Nördlingen. --Aid furnished by France. --Treachery of
+    Protestant Princes. --Offers of Ferdinand II. --Duke Bernard of
+    Saxe-Weimar visits Paris. --His Agreement with Louis XIII. --His
+    Victories. --Death of Ferdinand II. --Ferdinand III. succeeds.
+    --Duke Bernard's Bravery, Popularity and Death. --Banner's
+    Successes. --Torstenson's Campaigns. --He threatens Vienna. --The
+    French victorious in Southern Germany. --Movements for Peace.
+    --Wrangel's Victories. --Capture of Prague by the Swedes. --The
+    Peace of Westphalia. --Its Provisions. --The Religious Settlement.
+    --Defeat of the Church of Rome. --Desolation of Germany.
+    --Sufferings and Demoralization of the People. --Practical
+    Overthrow of the Empire. --A Multitude of Independent States.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1634. DEFEAT OF THE PROTESTANTS.]
+
+The Austrian army, composed chiefly of Wallenstein's troops and
+commanded nominally by the Emperor's son, the Archduke Ferdinand, but
+really by General Gallas, marched upon Ratisbon and forced the Swedish
+garrison to surrender before Duke Bernard, hastening back from Eger,
+could reach the place. Then, uniting with the Spanish and Bavarian
+forces, the Archduke took Donauwörth and began the siege of the
+fortified town of Nördlingen, in Würtemberg. Duke Bernard effected a
+junction with Marshal Horn, and, with his usual daring, determined to
+attack the Imperialists at once. Horn endeavored to dissuade him, but in
+vain: the battle was fought on the 6th of September, 1634, and the
+Protestants were terribly defeated, losing 12,000 men, beside 6,000
+prisoners, and nearly all their artillery and baggage-wagons. Marshal
+Horn was among the prisoners, and Duke Bernard barely succeeded in
+escaping with a few followers.
+
+The result of this defeat was that Würtemberg and the Palatinate were
+again ravaged by Catholic armies. Oxenstierna, who was consulting with
+the Protestant princes in Frankfort, suddenly found himself nearly
+deserted: only Hesse-Cassel, Würtemberg and Baden remained on his side.
+In this crisis he turned to France, which agreed to assist the Swedes
+against the Emperor, in return for more territory in Lorraine and
+Alsatia. For the first time, Richelieu found it advisable to give up his
+policy of aiding the Protestants with money, and now openly supported
+them with French troops. John George of Saxony, who had driven the
+Imperialists from his land and invaded Bohemia, cunningly took advantage
+of the Emperor's new danger, and made a separate treaty with him, at
+Prague, in May, 1635. The latter gave up the "Edict of Restitution" so
+far as Saxony was concerned, and made a few other concessions, none of
+which favored the Protestants in other lands. On the other hand, he
+positively refused to grant religious freedom to Austria, and excepted
+Baden, the Palatinate and Würtemberg from the provision which allowed
+other princes to join Saxony in the treaty.
+
+[Sidenote: 1635.]
+
+Brandenburg, Mecklenburg, Brunswick, Anhalt, and many free cities
+followed the example of Saxony. The most important, and--apparently for
+the Swedes and South-German Protestants--fatal provision of the treaty
+was that all the States which accepted it should combine to raise an
+army to enforce it, the said army to be placed at the Emperor's
+disposal. The effect of this was to create a union of the Catholics and
+German Lutherans against the Swedish Lutherans and German Calvinists--a
+measure which gave Germany many more years of fire and blood. Duke
+Bernard of Saxe-Weimar and the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel scorned to be
+parties to such a compact: the Swedes and South-Germans were outraged
+and indignant: John George was openly denounced as a traitor, as, on the
+Catholic side, the Emperor was also denounced, because he had agreed to
+yield anything whatever to the Protestants. France, only, enjoyed the
+miseries of the situation.
+
+Ferdinand II. was evidently weary of the war, which had now lasted
+nearly eighteen years, and he made an effort to terminate it by offering
+to Sweden three and a half millions of florins and to Duke Bernard a
+principality in Franconia, provided they would accept the treaty of
+Prague. Both refused: the latter took command of 12,000 French troops
+and marched into Alsatia, while the Swedish General Banner defeated the
+Saxons, who had taken the field against him, in three successive
+battles. The Imperialists, who had meanwhile retaken Alsatia and invaded
+France, were recalled to Germany by Banner's victories, and Duke
+Bernard, at the same time, went to Paris to procure additional support.
+During the years 1636 and 1637 nearly all Germany was wasted by the
+opposing armies; the struggle had become fiercer and more barbarous than
+ever, and the last resources of many States were so exhausted that
+famine and disease carried off nearly all of the population whom the
+sword had spared.
+
+[Sidenote: 1636. DUKE BERNARD IN PARIS.]
+
+Duke Bernard made an agreement with Louis XIII. whereby he received the
+rank of Marshal of France, and a subsidy of four million livres a year,
+to pay for a force of 18,000 men, which he undertook to raise in
+Germany. After the death of Gustavus Adolphus, the hope of the
+Protestants was centred on him; soldiers flocked to his standard at
+once, and his fortunes suddenly changed. The Swedes were driven from
+Northern Germany, with the aid of the Elector of Brandenburg, who
+surrendered to the Emperor the most important of his rights as reigning
+prince: by the end of 1637, Banner was compelled to retreat to the
+Baltic coast, and there await reinforcements. At the same time, Duke
+Bernard entered Alsatia, routed the Imperialists, took their commander
+prisoner, and soon gained possession of all the territory with the
+exception of the fortress of Breisach, to which he laid siege.
+
+On the 15th of February, 1637, the Emperor Ferdinand II. died, in the
+fifty-ninth year of his age, after having occasioned, by his policy, the
+death of 10,000,000 of human beings. Yet the responsibility of his fatal
+and terrible reign rests not so much upon himself, personally, as upon
+the Jesuits who educated him. He appears to have sincerely believed that
+it was better to reign over a desert than a Protestant people. As a man
+he was courageous, patient, simple in his tastes, and without personal
+vices. But all the weaknesses and crimes of his worst predecessors,
+added together, were scarcely a greater curse to the German people than
+his devotion to what he considered the true faith. His son, Ferdinand
+III., was immediately elected to succeed him. The Protestants considered
+him less subject to the Jesuits and more kindly disposed towards
+themselves, but they were mistaken: he adopted all the measures of his
+father, and carried on the war with equal zeal and cruelty.
+
+[Sidenote: 1638.]
+
+More than one army was sent to the relief of Breisach, but Duke Bernard
+defeated them all, and in December, 1638, the strong fortress
+surrendered to him. His compact with France stipulated that he should
+possess the greater part of Alsatia as his own independent principality,
+after conquering it, relinquishing to France the northern portion,
+bordering on Lorraine. But now Louis XIII. demanded Breisach, making its
+surrender to him the condition of further assistance. Bernard refused,
+gave up the French subsidy, and determined to carry on the war alone.
+His popularity was so great that his chance of success seemed good: he
+was a brave, devout and noble-minded man, whose strong personal ambition
+was always controlled by his conscience. The people had entire faith in
+him, and showed him the same reverence which they had manifested towards
+Gustavus Adolphus; yet their hope, as before, only preceded their loss.
+In the midst of his preparations Duke Bernard died suddenly, on the 18th
+of July, 1639, only thirty-six years old. It was generally believed that
+he had been poisoned by a secret agent of France, but there is no
+evidence that this was the case, except that a French army instantly
+marched into Alsatia and held the country.
+
+Duke Bernard's successes, nevertheless, had drawn a part of the
+Imperialists from Northern Germany, and in 1638 Banner, having recruited
+his army, marched through Brandenburg and Saxony into the heart of
+Bohemia, burning and plundering as he went, with no less barbarity than
+Tilly or Wallenstein. Although repulsed in 1639, near Prague, by the
+Archduke Leopold (Ferdinand III.'s brother), he only retired as far as
+Thuringia, where he was again strengthened by Hessian and French troops.
+In this condition of affairs, Ferdinand III. called a Diet, which met at
+Ratisbon in the autumn of 1640. A majority of the Protestant members
+united with the Catholics in their enmity to Sweden and France, but they
+seemed incapable of taking any measures to put an end to the dreadful
+war: month after month went by and nothing was done.
+
+Then Banner conceived the bold design of capturing the Emperor and the
+Diet. He made a winter march, with such skill and swiftness, that he
+appeared before the walls of Ratisbon at the same moment with the first
+news of his movement. Nothing but a sudden thaw, and the breaking up of
+the ice in the Danube, prevented him from being successful. In May,
+1641, he died, his army broke up, and the Emperor began to recover some
+of the lost ground. Several of the Protestant princes showed signs of
+submission, and ambassadors from Austria, France and Sweden met at
+Hamburg to decide where and how a Peace Congress might be held.
+
+[Sidenote: 1642. VICTORIES OF TORSTENSON.]
+
+In 1642 the Swedish army was reorganized under the command of
+Torstenson, one of the greatest of the many distinguished generals of
+the time. Although he was a constant sufferer from gout and had to be
+carried in a litter, he was no less rapid than daring and successful in
+all his military operations. His first campaign was through Silesia and
+Bohemia, almost to the gates of Vienna; then, returning through Saxony,
+towards the close of the year, he almost annihilated the army of
+Piccolomini before the walls of Leipzig. The Elector John George,
+fighting on the Catholic side, was forced to take refuge in Bohemia.
+
+Denmark having declared war against Sweden, Torstenson made a campaign
+in Holstein and Jutland in 1643, in conjunction with a Swedish fleet on
+the coast, and soon brought Denmark to terms. The Imperialist general,
+Gallas, followed him, but was easily defeated, and then Torstenson, in
+turn, followed him back through Bohemia into Austria. In March, 1645,
+the Swedish army won such a splendid victory near Tabor, that Ferdinand
+III. had scarcely any troops left to oppose their march. Again
+Torstenson appeared before Vienna, and was about commencing the siege of
+the city, when a pestilence broke out among his troops and compelled him
+to retire, as before, through Saxony. Worn out with the fatigues of his
+marches, he died before the end of the year, and the command was given
+to General Wrangel.
+
+During this time the French, under the famous Marshals, Turenne and
+Condé, had not only maintained themselves in Alsatia, but had crossed
+the Rhine and ravaged Baden, the Palatinate, Würtemberg and part of
+Franconia. Although badly defeated by the Bavarians in the early part of
+1645, they were reinforced by the Swedes and Hessians, and, before the
+close of the year, won such a victory over the united Imperialist
+forces, not far from Donauwörth, that all Bavaria lay open to them. The
+effect of these French successes, and of those of the Swedes under
+Torstenson, was to deprive Ferdinand III. of nearly his whole military
+strength. John George of Saxony concluded a separate armistice with the
+Swedes, thus violating the treaty of Prague, which had cost his people
+ten years of blood. He was followed by Frederick William, the young
+Elector of Brandenburg; and then Maximilian of Bavaria, in March, 1647,
+also negotiated a separate armistice with France and Sweden. Ferdinand
+III. was thus left with a force of only 12,000 men, the command of
+which, as he had no Catholic generals left, was given to a renegade
+Calvinist named Melander von Holzapfel.
+
+[Sidenote: 1645.]
+
+The chief obstacle to peace--the power of the Hapsburgs--now seemed to
+be broken down. The wanton and tremendous effort made to crush out
+Protestantism in Germany, although helped by the selfishness, the
+cowardice or the miserable jealousy of so many Protestant princes, had
+signally failed, owing to the intervention of three foreign powers, one
+of which was Catholic. Yet the Peace Congress, which had been agreed
+upon in 1643, had accomplished nothing. It was divided into two bodies:
+the ambassadors of the Emperor were to negotiate at Osnabrück with
+Sweden, as the representative of the Protestant powers, and at Münster
+with France, as the representative of the Catholic powers which desired
+peace. Two more years elapsed before all the ambassadors came together,
+and then a great deal of time was spent in arranging questions of rank,
+title and ceremony, which seem to have been considered much more
+important than the weal or woe of a whole people. Spain, Holland,
+Venice, Poland and Denmark also sent representatives, and about the end
+of 1645 the Congress was sufficiently organized to commence its labors.
+But, as the war was still being waged with as much fury as ever, one
+side waited and then the other for the result of battles and campaigns;
+and so two more years were squandered.
+
+After the armistice with Maximilian of Bavaria, the Swedish general,
+Wrangel, marched into Bohemia, where he gained so many advantages that
+Maximilian finally took sides again with the Emperor and drove the
+Swedes into Northern Germany. Then, early in 1648, Wrangel effected a
+junction with Marshal Turenne, and the combined Swedish and French
+armies overran all Bavaria, defeated the Imperialists in a bloody
+battle, and stood ready to invade Austria. At the same time Königsmark,
+with another Swedish army, entered Bohemia, stormed and took half the
+city of Prague, and only waited the approach of Wrangel and Turenne to
+join them in a combined movement upon Vienna. But before this movement
+could be executed, Ferdinand III. had decided to yield. His ambassadors
+at Osnabrück and Münster had received instructions, and lost no time in
+acting upon them: the proclamation of peace, after such heartless
+delays, came suddenly and put an end to thirty years of war.
+
+[Sidenote: 1648. THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA.]
+
+The Peace of Westphalia, as it is called, was concluded on the 24th of
+October, 1648. Inasmuch as its provisions extended not to Germany alone,
+but fixed the political relations of Europe for a period of nearly a
+hundred and fifty years, they must be briefly stated. France and Sweden,
+as the military powers which were victorious in the end, sought to draw
+the greatest advantages from the necessities of Germany, but France
+opposed any settlement of the religious questions (in order to keep a
+chance open for future interference), and Sweden demanded an immediate
+and final settlement, which was agreed to. France received Lorraine,
+with the cities of Metz, Toul and Verdun, which she had held nearly a
+hundred years, all Southern Alsatia with the fortress of Breisach, the
+right of appointing the governors of ten German cities, and other rights
+which practically placed nearly the whole of Alsatia in her power.
+Sweden received the northern half of Pomerania, with the cities of
+Wismar and Stettin, and the coast between Bremen and Hamburg, together
+with an indemnity of 5,000,000 thalers. Electoral Saxony received
+Lusatia and part of the territory of Magdeburg. Brandenburg received the
+other half of Pomerania, the archbishopric of Magdeburg, the bishoprics
+of Minden and Halberstadt, and other territory which had belonged to the
+Roman Church. Additions were made to the domains of Mecklenburg,
+Brunswick, and Hesse-Cassel, and the latter was also awarded an
+indemnity of 600,000 thalers. Bavaria received the Upper Palatinate
+(north of the Danube), and Baden, Würtemberg and Nassau were restored to
+their banished rulers. Other petty States were confirmed in the position
+which they had occupied before the war, and the independence of
+Switzerland and Holland was acknowledged.
+
+In regard to Religion, the results were much more important to the
+world. Both Calvinists and Lutherans received entire freedom of worship
+and equal civil rights with the Catholics. Ferdinand II.'s "Edict of
+Restitution" was withdrawn, and the territories which had been
+secularized up to the year 1624 were not given back to the Church.
+Universal amnesty was decreed for everything which had happened during
+the war, except for the Austrian Protestants, whose possessions were not
+restored to them. The Emperor retained the authority of deciding
+questions of war and peace, taxation, defences, alliances, &c. with the
+concurrence of the Diet: he acknowledged the absolute sovereignty of the
+several Princes in their own States, and conceded to them the right of
+forming alliances among themselves or with foreign powers! A special
+article of the treaty prohibited all persons from writing, speaking or
+teaching anything contrary to its provisions.
+
+[Sidenote: 1648.]
+
+The Pope (at that time Innocent X.) declared the Treaty of Westphalia
+null and void, and issued a bull against its observance. The parties to
+the treaty, however, did not allow this bull to be published in Germany.
+The Catholics in all parts of the country (except Austria, Styria and
+the Tyrol) had suffered almost as severely as the Protestants, and would
+have welcomed the return of peace upon any terms which simply left their
+faith free.
+
+Nothing shows so conclusively how wantonly and wickedly the Thirty
+Years' War was undertaken than the fact that the Peace of 1648, in a
+religious point of view, yielded even more to the Protestants than the
+Religious Peace of Augsburg, granted by Charles V. in 1555. After a
+hundred years, the Church of Rome, acting through its tools, the
+Hapsburg Emperors, was forced to give up the contest: the sword of
+slaughter was rusted to the hilt by the blood it had shed, and yet
+religious freedom was saved to Germany. It was not zeal for the spread
+of Christian truth which inspired this fearful Crusade against
+twenty-five millions of Protestants, for the Catholics equally
+acknowledged the authority of the Bible: it was the despotic
+determination of the Roman Church to rule the minds and consciences of
+all men, through its Pope and its priesthood.
+
+Thirty years of war! The slaughters of Rome's worst Emperors, the
+persecution of the Christians under Nero and Diocletian, the invasions
+of the Huns and Magyars, the long struggle of the Guelphs and
+Ghibellines, left no such desolation behind them. At the beginning of
+the century, the population of the German Empire was about thirty
+millions: when the Peace of Westphalia was declared, it was scarcely
+more than twelve millions! Electoral Saxony, alone, lost 900,000 lives
+in two years. The population of Augsburg had diminished from 80,000 to
+18,000, and out of 500,000 inhabitants, Würtemberg had but 48,000 left.
+The city of Berlin contained but three hundred citizens, the whole of
+the Palatinate of the Rhine but two hundred farmers. In Hesse-Cassel
+seventeen cities, forty-seven castles and three hundred villages were
+entirely destroyed by fire: thousands of villages, in all parts of the
+country, had but four or five families left out of hundreds, and landed
+property sank to about one-twentieth of its former value. Franconia was
+so depopulated that an Assembly held in Nuremberg ordered the Catholic
+priests to marry, and permitted all other men to have two wives. The
+horses, cattle and sheep were exterminated in many districts, the
+supplies of grain were at an end, even for sowing, and large cultivated
+tracts had relapsed into a wilderness. Even the orchards and vineyards
+had been wantonly destroyed wherever the armies had passed. So terrible
+was the ravage that in a great many localities, the same amount of
+population, cattle, acres of cultivated land and general prosperity, was
+not restored until the year 1848, two centuries afterwards!
+
+[Sidenote: 1648. DESOLATION OF GERMANY.]
+
+This statement of the losses of Germany, however, was but a small part
+of the suffering endured. Only two commanders, Gustavus Adolphus and
+Duke Bernard of Saxe-Weimar, preserved rigid discipline among their
+troops, and prevented them from plundering the people. All others
+allowed, or were powerless to prevent, the most savage outrages. During
+the last ten or twelve years of the war both Protestants and Catholics
+vied with each other in deeds of barbarity; the soldiers were nothing
+but highway robbers, who maimed and tortured the country people to make
+them give up their last remaining property, and drove hundreds of
+thousands of them into the woods and mountains to die miserably or live
+as half-savages. Multitudes of others flocked to the cities for refuge,
+only to be visited by fire and famine. In the year 1637, when Ferdinand
+II. died, the want was so great that men devoured each other, and even
+hunted down human beings like deer or hares, in order to feed upon them.
+Great numbers committed suicide, to avoid a slow death by hunger: on the
+island of Rügen many poor creatures were found dead, with their mouths
+full of grass, and in some districts attempts were made to knead earth
+into bread. Then followed a pestilence which carried off a large
+proportion of the survivors. A writer of the time exclaims: "A thousand
+times ten thousand souls, the spirits of innocent children butchered in
+this unholy war, cry day and night unto God for vengeance, and cease
+not: while those who have caused all these miseries live in peace and
+freedom, and the shout of revelry and the voice of music are heard in
+their dwellings!"
+
+[Sidenote: 1648.]
+
+In character, in intelligence and in morality, the German people were
+set back two hundred years. All branches of industry had declined,
+commerce had almost entirely ceased, literature and the arts were
+suppressed, and except the astronomical discoveries of Copernicus and
+Kepler there was no contribution to human knowledge. Even the modern
+High-German language, which Luther had made the classic tongue of the
+land, seemed to be on the point of perishing. Spaniards and Italians on
+the Catholic, Swedes and French on the Protestant side, flooded the
+country with foreign words and expressions, the use of which soon became
+an affectation with the nobility, who did their best to destroy their
+native language. Wallenstein's letters to the Emperor were a curious
+mixture of German, French, Spanish, Italian and Latin.
+
+Politically, the change was no less disastrous. The ambition of the
+house of Hapsburg, it is true, had brought its own punishment; the
+imperial dignity was secured to it, but henceforth the head of the "Holy
+Roman Empire" was not much more than a shadow. Each petty State became,
+practically, an independent nation, with power to establish its own
+foreign relations, make war and contract alliances. Thus Germany, as a
+whole, lost her place among the powers of Europe, and could not possibly
+regain it under such an arrangement: the Emperor and the Princes,
+together, had skilfully planned her decline and fall. The nobles who, in
+former centuries, had maintained a certain amount of independence, were
+almost as much demoralized as the people, and when every little prince
+began to imitate Louis XIV. and set up his own Versailles, the nobles in
+his territory became his courtiers and government officials. As for the
+mass of the people, their spirit was broken: for a time they gave up
+even the longing for rights which they had lost, and taught their
+children abject obedience in order that they might simply _live_.
+
+[Sidenote: 1648. THE GERMAN STATES.]
+
+After the Thirty Years' War, Germany was composed of nine Electorates,
+twenty-four Religious Principalities (Catholic), nine princely Abbots,
+ten princely Abbesses, twenty-four Princes with seat and vote in the
+Diet, thirteen Princes without seat and vote, sixty-two Counts of the
+Empire, fifty-one Cities of the Empire, and about one thousand Knights
+of the Empire. These last, however, no longer possessed any political
+power. But, without them, there were two hundred and three more or less
+independent, jealous and conflicting States, united by a bond which was
+more imaginary than real; and this confused, unnatural state of things
+continued until Napoleon came to put an end to it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+GERMANY, TO THE PEACE OF RYSWICK.
+
+(1648--1697.)
+
+Contemporary History. --Germany in the Seventeenth Century. --Influence
+    of Louis XIV. --Leopold I. of Austria. --Petty Despotisms. --The
+    Great Elector. --Invasions of Louis XIV. --The Elector Aids
+    Holland. --War with France. --Battle of Fehrbellin. --French
+    Ravages in Baden. --The Peace of Nymwegen. --The Hapsburgs and
+    Hohenzollerns. --Louis XIV. seizes Strasburg. --Vienna besieged by
+    the Turks. --Sobieski's Victory. --Events in Hungary. --Prince
+    Eugene of Savoy. --Victories over the Turks. --French Invasion of
+    Germany. --French Barbarity. --Death of the Great Elector. --The
+    War with France. --Peace of Ryswick. --Position of the German
+    States. --The Diet. --The Imperial Court. --State of Learning and
+    Literature.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1648.]
+
+The Peace of Westphalia coincides with the beginning of great changes
+throughout Europe. The leading position on the Continent, which Germany
+had preserved from the treaty of Verdun until the accession of Charles
+V.--nearly 700 years--was lost beyond recovery: it had passed into the
+hands of France, where Louis XIV. was just commencing his long and
+brilliant reign. Spain, after a hundred years of supremacy, was in a
+rapid decline; the new Republic of Holland was mistress of the seas, and
+Sweden was the great power of Northern Europe. In England, Charles I.
+had lost his throne, and Cromwell was at work, laying the foundation of
+a broader and firmer power than either the Tudors or the Stuarts had
+ever built. Poland was still a large and strong kingdom, and Russia was
+only beginning to attract the notice of other nations. The Italian
+Republics had seen their best days: even the power of Venice was slowly
+crumbling to pieces. The coast of America, from Maine to Virginia, was
+dotted with little English, Dutch and Swedish settlements, only a few of
+which had safely passed through their first struggle for existence.
+
+[Sidenote: 1657. ELECTION OF LEOPOLD I.]
+
+The history of Germany, during the remainder of the seventeenth
+century, furnishes few events upon which the intelligent and patriotic
+German of to-day can look back with any satisfaction. Austria was the
+principal power, through her territory and population, as well as the
+Imperial dignity, which was thenceforth accorded to her as a matter of
+habit. The provision of religious liberty had not been extended to her
+people, who were now forcibly made Catholic; the former legislative
+assemblies, even the privileges of the nobles, had been suppressed, and
+the rule of the Hapsburgs was as absolute a despotism as that of Louis
+XIV. When Ferdinand III. died, in 1657, the "Great Monarch," as the
+French call him, made an attempt to be elected his successor: he
+purchased the votes of the Archbishops of Mayence, Treves and Cologne,
+and might have carried the day but for the determined resistance of the
+Electors of Brandenburg and Saxony. Even had he been successful, it is
+doubtful whether his influence over the most of the German Princes would
+have been greater than it was in reality.
+
+Ferdinand's son, Leopold I., a stupid, weak-minded youth of eighteen,
+was chosen Emperor in 1658. Like his ancestor, Frederick III., whom he
+most resembled, his reign was as long as it was useless. Until the year
+1705 he was the imaginary ruler of an imaginary Empire: Vienna was a
+faint reflection of Madrid, as every other little capital was of Paris.
+The Hapsburgs and the Bourbons being absolute, all the ruling princes,
+even the best of them, introduced the same system into their
+territories, and the participation of the other classes of the people in
+the government ceased. The cities followed this example, and their
+Burgomasters and Councillors became a sort of aristocracy, more or less
+arbitrary in character. The condition of the people, therefore, depended
+entirely on the princes, priests, or other officials who governed them:
+one State or city might be orderly and prosperous, while another was
+oppressed and checked in its growth. A few of the rulers were wise and
+humane: Ernest the Pious of Gotha was a father to his land, during his
+long reign; in Hesse, Brunswick and Anhalt learning was encouraged, and
+Frederick William of Brandenburg set his face against the corrupting
+influences of France. These small States were exceptions, yet they kept
+alive what of hope and strength and character was left to Germany, and
+were the seeds of her regeneration in the present century.
+
+[Sidenote: 1660.]
+
+Throughout the greater part of the country the people relapsed into
+ignorance and brutality, and the higher classes assumed the stiff,
+formal, artificial manners which nearly all Europe borrowed from the
+court of Louis XIV. Public buildings, churches and schools were allowed
+to stand as ruins, while the petty sovereign built his stately palace,
+laid out his park in the style of Versailles, and held his splendid and
+ridiculous festivals. Although Saxony had been impoverished and almost
+depopulated, the Elector, John George II., squandered all the revenues
+of the land on banquets, hunting-parties, fireworks and collections of
+curiosities, until his treasury was hopelessly bankrupt. Another prince
+made his Italian singing-master prime minister, and others again
+surrendered their lives and the happiness of their people to influences
+which were still more disastrous.
+
+The one historical character among the German rulers of this time is
+Frederick William of Brandenburg, who is generally called "The Great
+Elector." In bravery, energy and administrative ability, he was the
+first worthy successor of Frederick of Hohenzollern. No sooner had peace
+been declared than he set to work to restore order to his wasted and
+disturbed territory: he imitated Sweden in organizing a standing army,
+small at first, but admirably disciplined; he introduced a regular
+system of taxation, of police and of justice, and encouraged trade and
+industry in all possible ways. In a few years a war between Sweden and
+Poland gave him the opportunity of interfering, in the hope of obtaining
+the remainder of Pomerania. He first marched to Königsberg, the capital
+of the Duchy of Prussia, which belonged to Brandenburg, but under the
+sovereignty of Poland. Allying himself first with the Swedes, he
+participated in a great victory at Warsaw in July, 1656, and then found
+it to his advantage to go over to the side of John Casimir, king of
+Poland, who offered him the independence of Prussia. This was his only
+gain from the war; for, by the peace of 1660, he was forced to give up
+Western Pomerania, which he had in the mean time conquered from Sweden.
+
+[Sidenote: 1667. WAR WITH LOUIS XIV.]
+
+Louis XIV. of France was by this time aware that his kingdom had nothing
+to fear from any of its neighbors, and might easily be enlarged at their
+expense. In 1667, he began his wars of conquest, by laying claim to
+Brabant, and instantly sending Turenne and Condé over the frontier. A
+number of fortresses, unprepared for resistance, fell into their hands;
+but Holland, England and Sweden formed an alliance against France, and
+the war terminated in 1668 by the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. Louis's next
+step was to ally himself with England and Sweden against Holland, on the
+ground that a Republic, by furnishing a place of refuge for political
+fugitives, was dangerous to monarchies. In 1672 he entered Holland with
+an army of 118,000 men, took Geldern, Utrecht and other
+strongly-fortified places, and would soon have made himself master of
+the country, if its inhabitants had not shown themselves capable of the
+sublimest courage and self-sacrifice. They were victorious over France
+and England on the sea, and defended themselves stubbornly on the land.
+Even the German Archbishop of Cologne and Bishop of Münster furnished
+troops to Louis XIV. and the Emperor Leopold promised to remain neutral.
+Then Frederick William of Brandenburg allied himself with Holland, and
+so wrought upon the Emperor by representing the danger to Germany from
+the success of France, that the latter sent an army under General
+Montecuccoli to the Rhine. But the Austrian troops remained inactive;
+Louis XIV. purchased the support of the Archbishops of Mayence and
+Treves; Westphalia was invaded by the French, and in 1673 Frederick
+William was forced to sign a treaty of neutrality.
+
+About this time Holland was strengthened by the alliance of Spain, and
+the Emperor Leopold, alarmed at the continual invasions of German
+territory on the Upper Rhine, ordered Montecuccoli to make war in
+earnest. In 1674 the Diet formally declared war against France, and
+Frederick William marched with 16,000 men to the Palatinate, which
+Marshal Turenne had ravaged with fire and sword. The French were driven
+back and even out of Alsatia for a time; but they returned the following
+year, and were successful until the month of July, when Turenne found
+his death on the soil which he had turned into a desert. Before this
+happened, Frederick William had been recalled in all haste to
+Brandenburg, where the Swedes, instigated by France, were wasting the
+land with a barbarity equal to Turenne's. His march was so swift that he
+found the enemy scattered: dividing and driving them before him, on the
+18th of June, 1675, at Fehrbellin, with only 7,000 men, he attacked the
+main Swedish army, numbering more than double that number. For three
+hours the battle raged with the greatest fury; Frederick William fought
+at the head of his troops, who more than once cut him out from the ranks
+of the enemy, and the result was a splendid victory. The fame of this
+achievement rang through all Europe, and Brandenburg was thenceforth
+mentioned with the respect due to an independent power.
+
+[Sidenote: 1677.]
+
+Frederick William continued the war for two years longer, gradually
+acquiring possession of all Swedish Pomerania, including Stettin and the
+other cities on the coast. He even built a small fleet, and undertook to
+dispute the supremacy of Sweden on the Baltic. During this time the war
+with France was continued on the Upper Rhine, with varying fortunes.
+Though repulsed and held in check after Turenne's death, the French
+burned five cities and several hundred villages west of the Rhine, and
+in 1677 captured Freiburg in Baden. But Louis XIV. began to be tired of
+the war, especially as Holland proved to be unconquerable. Negotiations
+for peace were commenced in 1678, and on the 5th of February, 1679, the
+"Peace of Nymwegen" was concluded with Holland, Spain and the German
+Empire--except Brandenburg! Leopold I. openly declared that he did not
+mean to have a Vandal kingdom in the North.
+
+Frederick William at first determined to carry on the war alone, but the
+French had already laid waste Westphalia, and in 1679 he was forced to
+accept a peace which required that he should restore nearly the whole of
+Western Pomerania to Sweden. Austria, moreover, took possession of
+several small principalities in Silesia, which had fallen to Brandenburg
+by inheritance. Thus the Hapsburgs repaid the support which the
+Hohenzollerns had faithfully rendered to them for four hundred years:
+thenceforth the two houses were enemies, and they were soon to become
+irreconcilable rivals. Leopold I. again betrayed Germany in the peace of
+Nymwegen, by yielding the city and fortress of Freiburg to France.
+
+[Sidenote: 1681. THE SEIZURE OF STRASBURG.]
+
+Louis XIV., nevertheless, was not content with this acquisition. He
+determined to possess the remaining cities of Alsatia which belonged to
+Germany. The Catholic Bishop of Strasburg was his secret agent, and
+three of the magistrates of the city were bribed to assist. In the
+autumn of 1681, when nearly all the merchants were absent, attending the
+fair at Frankfort, a powerful French army, which had been secretly
+collected in Lorraine, suddenly appeared before Strasburg. Between force
+outside and treachery within the walls, the city surrendered: on the 23d
+of October Louis XIV. made his triumphant entry, and was hailed by the
+Bishop with the blasphemous words: "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant
+depart in peace, for his eyes have seen thy Saviour!" The great
+Cathedral, which had long been in the possession of the Protestants, was
+given up to this Bishop: all Protestant functionaries were deprived of
+their offices, and the clergymen driven from the city. French names were
+given to the streets, and the inhabitants were commanded, under heavy
+penalties, to lay aside their German costume, and adopt the fashions of
+France. No official claim or declaration of war preceded this robbery;
+but the effect which it produced throughout Germany was comparatively
+slight. The people had been long accustomed to violence and outrage, and
+the despotic independence of each State suppressed anything like a
+national sentiment.
+
+Leopold I. called upon the Princes of the Empire to declare war against
+France, but met with little support. Frederick William positively
+refused, as he had been shamefully excepted from the Peace of Nymwegen.
+He gave as a reason, however, the great danger which menaced Germany
+from a new Turkish invasion, and offered to send an army to the support
+of Austria. The Emperor, equally stubborn and jealous, declined this
+offer, although his own dominions were on the verge of ruin.
+
+[Sidenote: 1683.]
+
+The Turks had remained quiet during the whole of the Thirty Years' War,
+when they might easily have conquered Austria. In the early part of
+Leopold's reign they recommenced their invasions, which were terminated,
+in 1664, by a truce of twenty years. Before the period came to an end,
+the Hungarians, driven to desperation by Leopold's misrule, especially
+his persecution of the Protestants, rose in rebellion. The Turks came to
+an understanding with them, and early in 1683, an army of more than
+200,000 men, commanded by the Grand Vizier Kara Mustapha, marched up the
+Danube, carrying everything before it, and encamped around the walls of
+Vienna. There is good evidence that the Sultan, Mohammed IV., was
+strongly encouraged by Louis XIV. to make this movement. Leopold fled at
+the approach of the Turks, leaving his capital to its fate. For two
+months Count Stahremberg, with only 7,000 armed citizens and 6,000
+mercenary soldiers under his command, held the fortifications against
+the overwhelming force of the enemy; then, when further resistance was
+becoming hopeless, help suddenly appeared. An army commanded by Duke
+Charles of Lorraine, another under the Elector of Saxony, and a third,
+composed of 20,000 Poles, headed by their king, John Sobieski, reached
+Vienna about the same time. The decisive battle was fought on the 12th
+of September, 1683, and ended with the total defeat of the Turks, who
+fled into Hungary, leaving their camp, treasures and supplies to the
+value of 10,000,000 dollars in the hands of the conquerors.
+
+The deliverance of Vienna was due chiefly to John Sobieski, yet, when
+Leopold I. returned to the city which he had deserted, he treated the
+Polish king with coldness and haughtiness, never once thanking him for
+his generous aid. The war was continued, in the interest of Austria, by
+Charles of Lorraine and Max Emanuel of Bavaria, until 1687, when a great
+victory at Mohacs in Hungary forced the Turks to retreat beyond the
+Danube. Then Leopold I. took brutal vengeance on the Hungarians,
+executing so many of their nobles that the event is called "the Shambles
+of Eperies," from the town where it occurred. The Jesuits were allowed
+to put down Protestantism in their own way; the power and national pride
+of Hungary were trampled under foot, and a Diet held at Presburg
+declared that the crown of the country should thenceforth belong to the
+house of Hapsburg. This episode of the history of the time, the taking
+of Strasburg by Louis XIV., the treatment of Frederick William of
+Brandenburg, and other contemporaneous events, must be borne in mind,
+since they are connected with much that has taken place in our own day.
+
+In spite of the defeat of the Turks in 1687, they were encouraged by
+France to continue the war. Max Emanuel took Belgrade in 1689, the
+Margrave Ludwig of Baden won an important victory, and Prince Eugene of
+Savoy (a grandnephew of Cardinal Mazarin, whom Louis XIV. called, in
+derision, the "Little Abbé," and refused to give a military command)
+especially distinguished himself as a soldier. After ten years of
+varying fortune, the war was brought to an end by the magnificent
+victory of Prince Eugene at Zenta, in 1697. It was followed by the
+Treaty of Carlowitz, in 1699, in which Turkey gave up Transylvania and
+the Slavonic provinces to Austria, Morea and Dalmatia to Venice, and
+agreed to a truce of twenty-five years.
+
+[Sidenote: 1686. RENEWED WAR WITH FRANCE.]
+
+While the best strength of Germany was engaged in this Turkish war,
+Louis XIV. was busy in carrying out his plans of conquest. He claimed
+the Palatinate of the Rhine for his brother, the Duke of Orleans, and
+also attempted to make one of his agents Archbishop of Cologne. In 1686,
+an alliance was formed between Leopold I., several of the German States,
+Holland, Spain and Sweden, to defend themselves against the aggressions
+of France, but nothing was accomplished by the negotiations which
+followed. Finally, in 1688, two powerful French armies suddenly appeared
+upon the Rhine: one took possession of the territory of Treves and
+Cologne, the other marched through the Palatinate into Franconia and
+Würtemberg. But the demands of Louis XIV. were not acceded to; the
+preparation for war was so general on the part of the allied countries
+that it was evident his conquests could not be held; so he determined,
+at least, to ruin the territory before giving it up.
+
+No more wanton and barbarous deed was ever perpetrated. The "Great
+Monarch," the model of elegance and refinement for all Europe, was
+guilty of brutality beyond what is recorded of the most savage
+chieftains. The vines were pulled up by the roots and destroyed; the
+fruit-trees were cut down, the villages burned to the ground, and
+400,000 persons were made beggars, besides those who were slain in cold
+blood. The castle of Heidelberg, one of the most splendid monuments of
+the Middle Ages in all Europe, was blown up with gunpowder; the people
+of Mannheim were compelled to pull down their own fortifications, after
+which their city was burned, Speyer, with its grand and venerable
+Cathedral, was razed to the ground, and the bodies of the Emperors
+buried there were exhumed and plundered. While this was going on, the
+German Princes, with a few exceptions (the "Great Elector" being the
+prominent one), were copying the fashions of the French Court, and even
+trying to unlearn their native language!
+
+[Sidenote: 1688.]
+
+Frederick William of Brandenburg, however, was spared the knowledge of
+the worst features of this outrage. He died the same year, after a reign
+of forty-eight years, at the age of sixty-eight. The latter years of his
+reign were devoted to the internal development of his State. He united
+the Oder and Elbe by a canal, built roads and bridges, encouraged
+agriculture and the mechanic arts, and set a personal example of
+industry and intelligence to his people while he governed them. His
+possessions were divided and scattered, reaching from Königsberg to the
+Rhine, but, taken collectively, they were larger than any other German
+State at the time, except Austria. None of the smaller German rulers
+before him took such a prominent part in the intercourse with foreign
+nations. He was thoroughly German, in his jealousy of foreign rule; but
+this did not prevent him from helping to confirm Louis XIV. in his
+robbery of Strasburg, out of revenge for his own treatment by Leopold I.
+When personal pride or personal interest was concerned, the
+Hohenzollerns were hardly more patriotic than the Hapsburgs.
+
+The German Empire raised an army of about 60,000 men, to carry on the
+war with France; but its best commanders, Max Emanuel and Prince Eugene,
+were fighting the Turks, and the first campaigns were not successful.
+The other allied powers, Holland, England and Spain, were equally
+unfortunate, while France, compact and consolidated under one despotic
+head, easily held out against them. In 1693, finally, the Margrave
+Ludwig of Baden obtained some victories in Southern Germany which forced
+the French to retreat beyond the Rhine. The seat of war was then
+gradually transferred to Flanders, and the task of conducting it fell
+upon the foreign allies. At the same time there were battles in Spain
+and Savoy, and sea-fights in the British Channel. Although the fortunes
+of Germany were influenced by these events, they belong properly to the
+history of other countries. Victory inclined sometimes to one side and
+sometimes to the other; the military operations were so extensive that
+there could be no single decisive battle.
+
+All parties became more or less weary and exhausted, and the end of it
+all was the Treaty of Ryswick, concluded on the 20th of September, 1697.
+By its provisions France retained Strasburg and the greater part of
+Alsatia, but gave up Freiburg and her other conquests east of the Rhine,
+in Baden. Lorraine was restored to its Duke, but on conditions which
+made it practically a French province. The most shameful clause of the
+Treaty was one which ordered that the districts which had been made
+Catholic by force during the invasion were to remain so.
+
+[Sidenote: 1697. DECLINE OF THE EMPIRE.]
+
+Nearly every important German State, at this time, had some connection
+or alliance which subjected it to foreign influence. The Hapsburg
+possessions in Belgium were more Spanish than German; Pomerania and the
+bishoprics of Bremen and Verden were under Sweden; Austria and Hungary
+were united; Holstein was attached to Denmark, and in 1697 Augustus the
+Strong of Saxony, after the death of John Sobieski, purchased his
+election as king of Poland by enormous bribes to the Polish nobles.
+Augustus the Strong, of whom Carlyle says that "he lived in this world
+regardless of expense," outdid his predecessor, John George II., in his
+monstrous imitation of French luxury. For a time he not only ruined but
+demoralized Saxony, starving the people by his exactions, and living in
+a style which was infamous as well as reckless.
+
+The National German Diet, from this time on, was no longer attended by
+the Emperor and ruling Princes, but only by their official
+representatives. It was held, permanently, in Ratisbon, and its members
+spent their time mostly in absurd quarrels about forms. When any
+important question arose, messengers were sent to the rulers to ask
+their advice, and so much time was always lost that the Diet was
+practically useless. The Imperial Court, established by Maximilian I.,
+was now permanently located at Wetzlar, not far from Frankfort, and had
+become as slow and superannuated as the Diet. The Emperor, in fact, had
+so little concern with the rest of the Empire, that his title was only
+honorary; the revenues it brought him were about 13,000 florins
+annually. The only change which took place in the political organization
+of Germany, was that in 1692 Ernest Augustus of Hannover (the father of
+George I. of England) was raised to the dignity of Elector, which
+increased the whole number of Electors, temporal and spiritual, to nine.
+
+[Sidenote: 1697.]
+
+During the latter half of the seventeenth century, learning, literature
+and the arts received little encouragement in Germany. At the petty
+courts there was more French spoken than German, and the few authors of
+the period--with the exception of Spener, Francke, and other devout
+religious writers--produced scarcely any works of value. The
+philosopher, Leibnitz, stands alone as the one distinguished
+intellectual man of his age. The upper classes were too French and too
+demoralized to assist in the better development of Germany, and the
+lower classes were still too poor, oppressed and spiritless to think of
+helping themselves. Only in a few States, chief among them Brunswick,
+Hesse, Saxe-Gotha and Saxe-Weimar, were the Courts on a moderate scale,
+the government tolerably honest, and the people prosperous.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION.
+
+(1697--1714.)
+
+New European Troubles. --Intrigues at the Spanish Court. --Leopold I.
+    declares War against France. --Frederick I. of Brandenburg becomes
+    King of Prussia. --German States allied with France. --Prince
+    Eugene in Italy. --Operations on the Rhine. --Marlborough enters
+    Germany. --Battle of Blenheim. --Joseph I. Emperor. --Victory of
+    Ramillies. --Battle of Turin. --Victories in Flanders. --Louis XIV.
+    asks for Peace. --Battle of Malplaquet. --Renewed Offer of France.
+    --Stupidity of Joseph I. --Recall of Marlborough. --Karl VI.
+    Emperor. --Peace of Utrecht. --Karl VI.'s Obstinacy. --Prince
+    Eugene's Appeal. --Final Peace. --Loss of Alsatia. --The Kingdom of
+    Sardinia.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1700. TROUBLES IN SWEDEN AND SPAIN.]
+
+The beginning of the new century brought with it new troubles for all
+Europe, and Germany--since it was settled that her Emperors must be
+Hapsburgs--was compelled to share in them. In the North, Charles XII. of
+Sweden and Peter the Great of Russia were fighting for "the balance of
+power"; in Spain king Charles II. was responsible for a new cause of
+war, simply because he was the last of the Hapsburgs in a direct line,
+and had no children! Louis XIV. had married his elder sister and Leopold
+I. his younger sister; and both claimed the right to succeed him. The
+former, it is true, had renounced all claim to the throne of Spain when
+he married, but he put forth his grandson, Duke Philip of Anjou, as the
+candidate. There were two parties at the Court of Madrid,--the French,
+at the head of which was Louis XIV.'s ambassador, and the Austrian,
+directed by Charles II.'s mother and wife. The other nations of Europe
+were opposed to any division of Spain between the rival claimants, since
+the possession of even half her territory (which still included Naples,
+Sicily, Milan and Flanders, besides her enormous colonies in America)
+would have made either France or Austria too powerful. Charles II.,
+however, was persuaded to make a will appointing Philip of Anjou his
+successor, and when he died, in 1700, Louis XIV. immediately sent his
+grandson over the Pyrenees and had him proclaimed as king Philip V. of
+Spain.
+
+[Sidenote: 1701.]
+
+Leopold I. thereupon declared war against France, in the hope of gaining
+the crown of Spain for his son, the Archduke Karl. England and Holland
+made alliances with him, and he was supported by most of the German
+States. The Elector, Frederick III. of Brandenburg (son of "the Great
+Elector"), who was a very proud and ostentatious prince, furnished his
+assistance on condition that he should be authorized by the Emperor to
+assume the title of King. Since the traditional customs of the German
+Empire did not permit another king than that of Bohemia among the
+Electors, Frederick was obliged to take the name of his detached Duchy
+of Prussia, instead of Brandenburg. On the 18th of January, 1701, he
+crowned himself and his wife at Königsberg, and was thenceforth called
+king Frederick I. of Prussia. But his capital was still Berlin, and thus
+the names of "Prussia" and "the Prussians"--which came from a small
+tribe of mixed Slavonic blood--were gradually transferred to all his
+other lands and their population, German, and especially Saxon, in
+character. Prince Eugene of Savoy saw the future with a prophetic glance
+when he declared: "the Emperor, in his own interest, ought to have
+hanged the Ministers who counselled him to make this concession to the
+Elector of Brandenburg!"
+
+The Elector Max Emanuel of Bavaria and his brother, the Archbishop of
+Cologne, openly espoused the cause of France. Several smaller princes
+were also bribed by Louis XIV., but one of them, the Duke of Brunswick,
+after raising 12,000 men for France, was compelled by the Elector of
+Hannover to add them to the German army. With such miserable disunion at
+home, Germany would have gone to pieces and ceased to exist, but for the
+powerful participation of England and Holland in the war. The English
+Parliament, it is true, only granted 10,000 men at first, but as soon as
+Louis XIV. recognized the exiled Stuart, Prince James, as rightful heir
+to the throne of England, the grant was enlarged to 40,000 soldiers and
+an equal number of sailors. The value of this aid was greatly increased
+by the military genius of the English commander, the famous Duke of
+Marlborough.
+
+[Sidenote: 1703. FIGHTING ALONG THE RHINE.]
+
+The war was commenced by Louis XIV. who suddenly took possession of a
+number of fortified places in Flanders, which Max Emanuel of Bavaria,
+then governor of the province, had purposely left unguarded. While the
+recovery of this territory was left to England and Holland, Prince
+Eugene undertook to drive the French out of Northern Italy. He made a
+march across the Alps as daring as that of Napoleon, transporting cannon
+and supplies by paths only known to the chamois-hunters. For nearly a
+year he was entirely successful; then, having been recalled to Vienna,
+the French were reinforced and recovered their lost ground. An important
+result of the campaign, however, was that Victor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy
+(ancestor of the present king of Italy), quarrelled with the French,
+with whom he had been allied, and joined the German side.
+
+The struggle now became more and more confused, and we cannot undertake
+to follow all its entangled episodes. France encouraged a rebellion in
+Hungary; the Archbishop of Cologne laid waste the Lower Rhine; Max
+Emanuel seized Ulm and held it for France; Marshal Villars, in 1703,
+pressed back Ludwig of Baden (who had up to that time been successful in
+the Palatinate and Alsatia), marched through the Black Forest and
+effected a junction with the Bavarian army. His plan was to cross the
+Alps and descend into Italy in the rear of the German forces which
+Prince Eugene had left there; but the Tyrolese rose against him and
+fought with such desperation that he was obliged to fall back on
+Bavaria.
+
+Marshal Villars and Max Emanuel now commanded a combined army of 60,000
+men, in the very heart of Germany. They had defeated the Austrian
+commander, and Ludwig of Baden's army was too small to take the field
+against them. But the Duke of Marlborough had been brilliantly
+victorious in Belgium and on the Lower Rhine, and he was thus able to
+march on towards the Danube. Prince Eugene hastened from Hungary with
+such troops as he could collect, and the two, with Ludwig of Baden, were
+strong enough to engage the French and Bavarians. They met on the 13th
+of August, 1704, on the plain of the Danube, near the little village of
+Blenheim. After a long and furious battle, the French left 14,000 men
+upon the field, lost 13,000 prisoners, and fled towards the Rhine in
+such haste that scarcely one-third of their army reached the river.
+Marlborough and Eugene were made Princes of the German Empire, and all
+Europe rang with songs celebrating the victory, in which Marlborough's
+name appeared as "Malbrook." His proposal to follow up the victory with
+an invasion of France was rejected by the Emperor, and the war, which
+might then have been pressed to a termination, continued for ten years
+longer.
+
+[Sidenote: 1705.]
+
+In 1705 Leopold I. relieved Germany, by his death, of the dead weight of
+his incapacity. He was succeeded by his son, Joseph I., who possessed,
+at least, a little ordinary common sense. He manifested it at once by
+making Prince Eugene his counsellor, instead of surrounding him with
+spies, as his jealous and spiteful father had done. Both sides were
+preparing for new movements, and the principal event for the year took
+place in Spain, where the Archduke, who had been conveyed to Barcelona
+by an English fleet, obtained possession of Catalonia and Aragon, and
+threatened Philip V. with the loss of his crown. The previous year,
+1704, the English had taken Gibraltar.
+
+In 1706 operations were recommenced, on a larger scale, and with results
+which were very disastrous to the plans of France. Marlborough's great
+victory at Ramillies, on the 23d of May, gave him the Spanish
+Netherlands, and enabled the Emperor to declare Max Emanuel and the
+Archbishop of Cologne outlawed. The city of Turin, held by an Austrian
+garrison, was besieged, about the same time, by the Duke of Orleans,
+with 38,000 men. Then Prince Eugene hastened across the Alps with an
+army of 24,000, was reinforced by 13,000 more under Victor Amadeus of
+Savoy, and on the 7th of September attacked the French with such
+impetuosity that they were literally destroyed. Among the spoils were
+211 cannon, 80,000 barrels of powder, and a great amount of money,
+horses and provisions. By this victory Prince Eugene became also a hero
+to the German people, and many of their songs about him are sung at this
+day. The "Prussian" troops, under Prince Leopold of Dessau, especially
+distinguished themselves: their commander was afterwards one of
+Frederick the Great's most famous generals.
+
+The first consequence of this victory was an armistice with Louis XIV.,
+so far as Italian territory was concerned: nevertheless, a part of the
+Austrian army was sent to Naples in 1707, to take possession of the
+country in the name of Spain. The Archduke Karl, after some temporary
+successes over Philip V., was driven back to Barcelona, and Louis XIV.
+then offered to treat for peace. Austria and England refused: in 1708
+Marlborough and Prince Eugene, again united, won another victory over
+the French at Oudenarde, and took the stronghold of Lille, which had
+been considered impregnable. The road to Paris was apparently open to
+the allies, and Louis XIV. offered to give up his claim, on behalf of
+Philip V., to Spain, Milan, the Spanish-American colonies and the
+Netherlands, provided Naples and Sicily were left to his grandson.
+Marlborough and Prince Eugene required, in addition, that he should
+expel Philip from Spain, in case the latter refused to conform to the
+treaty. Louis XIV.'s pride was wounded by this demand, and the
+negotiations were broken off.
+
+[Sidenote: 1708. PEACE REJECTED BY JOSEPH I.]
+
+With great exertion a new French army was raised, and Marshal Villars
+placed in command. But the two famous commanders, Marlborough and
+Eugene, achieved such a new and crushing victory in the battle of
+Malplaquet, fought on the 11th of September, 1709, that France made a
+third attempt to conclude peace. Louis XIV. now offered to withdraw his
+claim to the Spanish succession, to restore Alsatia and Strasburg to
+Germany, and to pay one million livres a month towards defraying the
+expenses of expelling Philip V. from Spain. It will scarcely be believed
+that this proposal, so humiliating to the extravagant pride of France,
+and which conceded more than Germany had hoped to obtain, was rejected!
+The cause seems to have been a change in the fortunes of the Archduke
+Karl in Spain: he was again victorious, and in 1710 held his triumphal
+entry in Madrid. Yet it is difficult to conceive what further advantages
+Joseph I. expected to secure, by prolonging the war.
+
+Germany was soon punished for this presumptuous refusal of peace. A
+Court intrigue, in England, overthrew the Whig Ministry and gave the
+power into the hands of the Tories: Marlborough was at first hampered
+and hindered in carrying out his plans, and then recalled. While keeping
+up the outward forms of her alliance with Holland and Germany, England
+began to negotiate secretly with France, and thus the chief strength of
+the combination against Louis XIV. was broken. In 1711 the Emperor
+Joseph I. died, leaving no direct heirs, and the Archduke Karl became
+his successor to the throne. The latter immediately left Spain, was
+elected before he reached Germany, and crowned in Mayence on the 22d of
+September, as Karl VI. Although, by deserting Spain, he had seemed to
+renounce his pretension to the Spanish crown, there was a general fear
+that the success of Germany would unite the two countries, as in the
+time of Charles V., and Holland's interest in the war began also to
+languish. Prince Eugene, without English aid, was so successful in the
+early part of 1712 that even Paris seemed in danger; but Marshal
+Villars, by cutting off all his supplies, finally forced him to retreat.
+
+[Sidenote: 1713.]
+
+During this same year negotiations were carried on between France,
+England, Holland, Savoy and Prussia. They terminated, in 1713, in the
+Peace of Utrecht, by which the Bourbon, Philip V., was recognized as
+king of Spain and her colonies, on condition that the crowns of Spain
+and France should never be united. England received Gibraltar and the
+island of Minorca from Spain, Acadia, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and the
+Hudson's Bay Territory from France, and the recognition of her
+Protestant monarchy. Holland obtained the right to garrison a number of
+strong frontier fortresses in Belgium, and Prussia received Neufchatel
+in Switzerland, some territory on the Lower Rhine, and the
+acknowledgment of Frederick I.'s royal dignity.
+
+Karl VI. refused to recognize his rival, Philip V., as king of Spain,
+and therefore rejected the Treaty of Utrecht. But the other princes of
+Germany were not eager to prolong the war for the sake of gratifying the
+Hapsburg pride. Prince Eugene, who was a devoted adherent of Austria, in
+vain implored them to be united and resolute. "I stand," he wrote, "like
+a sentinel (a watch!) on the Rhine; and as mine eye wanders over these
+fair regions, I think to myself how happy, and beautiful, and
+undisturbed in the enjoyment of Nature's gifts they might be, if they
+possessed courage to use the strength which God hath given them. With an
+army of 200,000 men I would engage to drive the French out of Germany,
+and would forfeit my life if I did not obtain a peace which should
+gladden our hearts for the next twenty years." With such forces as he
+could collect he carried on the war along the Upper Rhine, but he lost
+the fortresses of Landau and Freiburg. Louis XIV., however, who was now
+old and infirm, was very tired of the war, and after these successes, he
+commissioned Marshal Villars to treat for peace with Prince Eugene. The
+latter was authorized by the Emperor to negotiate: the two commanders
+met at Rastatt, in Baden, and in spite of the unreasonable stubbornness
+of Karl VI. a treaty was finally concluded on the 7th of March, 1714.
+
+[Sidenote: 1714. END OF THE WAR.]
+
+Austria received the Spanish Netherlands, Naples, Milan, Mantua and the
+Island of Sardinia. Freiburg, Old-Breisach and Kehl were restored to
+Germany, but France retained Landau, on the west bank of the Rhine, as
+well as all Alsatia and Strasburg. Thus the recovery of the latter
+territory, which Joseph I. refused to accept in 1710, was lost to
+Germany until the year 1870.
+
+By the Treaty of Utrecht, Duke Victor Amadeus of Savoy had received
+Sicily as an independent kingdom. A few years afterwards he made an
+exchange with Austria, giving Sicily for Sardinia: thus originated the
+Kingdom of Sardinia, which continued to exist until the year 1860, when
+Victor Emanuel became king of Italy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+THE RISE OF PRUSSIA.
+
+(1714--1740.)
+
+Wars of Charles XII. of Sweden. --Invasion of Saxony. --Enlargement of
+    Prussia and Hannover. --The "Pragmatic Sanction." --Sacrifices of
+    Austria. --Battle of Peterwardein. --Treaty of Passarowitz. --War
+    in Italy. --Frederick I. of Prussia. --Frederick William I. --His
+    Character and Habits. --His Policy as a Ruler. --His Giant
+    Body-Guards. --The Tobacco College. --Decay of Austria. --The other
+    German States. --First Emigration to America. --War of the Polish
+    Succession. --French Invasion. --German Disunion. --The Treaty of
+    Vienna. --Marriage of Maria Theresa. --Disastrous War with Turkey.
+    --Prussia at the Death of Frederick William I. --Austria at the
+    Death of Karl VI.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1714.]
+
+While the War of the Spanish Succession raged along the Rhine, in
+Bavaria and the Netherlands, the North of Germany was convulsed by
+another and very different struggle. The ambitious designs of Charles
+XII. of Sweden, who succeeded to the throne in 1697, aroused the
+jealousy and renewed the old hostility, of Denmark, Russia and Poland,
+and in 1700 they formed an alliance against Sweden. Denmark began the
+war, the same year, by invading Holstein-Gottorp, the Duke of which was
+the brother-in-law of Charles XII. The latter immediately attacked
+Copenhagen, and conquered a peace. A few months afterwards he crushed
+the power of Peter the Great, in the battle of Narva, and was then free
+to march against Poland. Augustus the Strong was no match for the young
+Northern hero, who compelled the Polish nobles to depose him and elect
+Stanislas Lesczinsky in his stead, then marched through Silesia into
+Saxony, in the year 1706, and from his camp near Leipzig dictated his
+own terms to Augustus.
+
+A year later, having exhausted what resources were left to the people
+after the outrageous exactions of their own Electors, Charles XII.
+evacuated Saxony with an army of 40,000 men, many of them German
+recruits, and marched through Poland on his way to the fatal field of
+Pultowa. The immediate consequences of his terrible defeat there, in
+1709, were that Peter the Great took possession of the Baltic provinces,
+and prepared to found his new capital of St. Petersburg on the Neva.
+Then Denmark and Saxony entered into an alliance with Russia, Augustus
+the Strong was again placed on the throne of Poland, and the
+Swedish-German provinces on the Baltic and the North Sea were overrun
+and ravaged by the Danish and Russian armies. Towards the end of the
+year 1714, after peace had been concluded with France, Charles XII.
+suddenly appeared in Stralsund, having escaped from his long exile in
+Turkey and travelled day and night on horseback across Europe, from the
+shores of the Black Sea. Then Prussia and Hannover, both eager to
+enlarge their dominions at the expense of Sweden, united against him. He
+had not sufficient military strength to resist them, and after his death
+at Frederickshall, in 1718, Sweden was compelled to make peace on
+conditions which forever destroyed her supremacy among the northern
+powers.
+
+[Sidenote: 1714. THE PRAGMATIC SANCTION.]
+
+By the Treaties of Stockholm, made in 1719 and 1720, Prussia acquired
+Stettin and all of Pomerania except a strip of the coast with Wismar,
+Stralsund and the island of Rügen, paying 2,000,000 thalers to Sweden:
+Hannover acquired the territories of Bremen and Verden, paying 1,000,000
+thalers: Denmark received Schleswig, and Russia all of her conquests
+except Finland. The power of Poland, already weakened by the corruptions
+and dissensions of her nobles, began steadily to decline after this long
+and exhausting war.
+
+The collective history of the German States,--for we can hardly say
+"History of Germany" when there really was no Germany--at this time, is
+a continuous succession of wars and diplomatic intrigues, which break
+out in one direction before they are settled in another. In 1713,
+Frederick I. of Prussia died, and was succeeded by his son, Frederick
+William I.: in 1714, George I., Elector of Hannover, was made king of
+England, and about the same time the Emperor Karl VI. issued a decree
+called the "Pragmatic Sanction," establishing the order of succession to
+the throne, for his dynasty. He was led to this step by the example of
+Spain, where the failure of the direct line had given rise to thirteen
+years of European war, and by the circumstance that he himself had
+neither sons nor brothers. A daughter, Maria Theresa, was born in 1717,
+and thus the provision of the Pragmatic Sanction that the crown should
+descend to female heirs in the absence of male, preserved the succession
+in his own family, and forestalled the claim of the Elector of Bavaria
+and other princes who were more or less distantly related to the
+Hapsburgs.
+
+[Sidenote: 1714.]
+
+The Pragmatic Sanction was accepted in Austria without difficulty, as
+there was no power to dispute the Emperor's will, but it was not
+recognized by the other States of Germany and other nations of Europe
+until after twenty years of diplomatic negotiations and serious
+sacrifices on the part of Austria. Prussia received more territory on
+the Lower Rhine, the Duchies of Parma and Piacenza in Italy were given
+to Spain, and the claims of Augustus III. of Saxony and Poland were so
+strenuously supported that in 1733 the so-called "War of the Polish
+Succession" broke out. In the meantime, however, two other wars had
+occurred, and, although both of them affected Austria rather than the
+German Empire, they must be briefly described.
+
+In 1714 the Emperor Karl VI. formed an alliance with the Venetians
+against the Turks, who had taken the Morea from Venice. The command was
+given to Prince Eugene, who marched against his old enemy, determined to
+win back what remaining Hungarian or Slavonic territory was still held
+by Turkey. The Grand-Vizier, Ali, opposed him with a powerful force, and
+after various minor engagements a great battle was fought at
+Peterwardein, in August, 1716. Eugene was completely victorious: the
+Turks were driven beyond the Save and sheltered themselves behind the
+strong walls of Belgrade. Eugene followed, and, after a siege which is
+famous in military annals, took Belgrade by storm. The victory is
+celebrated in a song which the German people are still in the habit of
+singing. The war ended with the Treaty of Passarowitz, in 1718, by which
+Turkey was compelled to surrender to Austria the Banat, Servia,
+including Belgrade, and a part of Wallachia, Bosnia and Croatia.
+
+Before this treaty was concluded, a new war had broken out in Italy.
+Philip V. of Spain, incensed at not being recognized by Karl VI., took
+possession of Sardinia and Sicily, with the intention of conquering
+Naples from Austria. England, France, Holland and Austria then formed
+the "Quadruple Alliance," as it was called, for the purpose of enforcing
+the Treaty of Utrecht, and Spain was compelled to yield.
+
+[Sidenote: 1711. RISE OF PRUSSIA.]
+
+The power of Prussia, during these years, was steadily increasing.
+Frederick I., it is true, was among the imitators of Louis XIV.: he
+built stately palaces, and spent a great deal of money on showy Court
+festivals, but he did not completely exhaust the resources of the
+country, like the Electors of Saxony and the rulers of many smaller
+States. On the other hand, he founded the University of Halle in 1694,
+and commissioned the philosopher Leibnitz to draw up a plan for an
+Academy of Science, which was established in Berlin, in 1711. He was a
+zealous Protestant, and gave welcome to all who were exiled from other
+States on account of their faith. As a ruler, however, he was equally
+careless and despotic, and his government was often entrusted to the
+hands of unworthy agents. Frederick the Great said of him: "He was great
+in small matters, and little in great matters."
+
+His son, Frederick William I., was a man of an entirely different
+nature. He disliked show and ceremony: he hated everything French with a
+heartiness which was often unreasonable, but which was honestly provoked
+by the enormous, monkey-like affectation of the manners of Versailles by
+some of his fellow-rulers. While Augustus of Saxony spent six millions
+of thalers on a single entertainment, he set to work to reduce the
+expenses of his royal household. While the court of Austria supported
+40,000 officials and hangers-on, and half of Vienna was fed from the
+Imperial kitchen, he was employed in examining the smallest details of
+the receipts and expenditures of his State, in order to economize and
+save. He was miserly, fierce, coarse and brutal; he aimed at being a
+_German_, but he went back almost to the days of Wittekind for his ideas
+of German culture and character; he was a tyrant of the most savage
+kind,--but, after all has been said against him, it must be acknowledged
+that without his hard practical sense in matters of government, his
+rigid, despotic organization of industry, finance and the army,
+Frederick the Great would never have possessed the means to maintain
+himself in that struggle which made Prussia a great power.
+
+Some illustrations of his policy as a ruler and his personal habits must
+be given, in order to show both sides of his character. He had the most
+unbounded idea of the rights and duties of a king, and the aim of his
+life, therefore, was to increase his own authority by increasing the
+wealth, the order and the strength of Prussia. He was no friend of
+science, except when it could be shown to have some practical use, but
+he favored education, and one of his first measures was to establish
+four hundred schools among the people, by the money which he saved from
+the expenditures of the royal household. His personal economy was so
+severe that the queen was only allowed to have one waiting-woman. At
+this time the Empress of Germany had several hundred attendants,
+received two hogsheads of Tokay, daily, for her parrots, and twelve
+barrels of wine for her baths! Frederick William I. protected the
+industry of Prussia by imposing heavy duties upon all foreign products;
+he even went so far as to prohibit the people from wearing any but
+Prussian-made cloth, setting them the example himself. He also devoted
+much attention to agriculture, and when 17,000 Protestants were driven
+out of Upper Austria by the Archbishop of Salzburg, after the most
+shocking and inhuman persecutions, he not only furnished them with land
+but supported them until they were settled in their new homes.
+
+[Sidenote: 1725.]
+
+The organization of the Prussian army was entrusted to Prince Leopold of
+Dessau, who distinguished himself at Turin, under Prince Eugene.
+Although during the greater part of Frederick William's reign peace was
+preserved, the military force was kept upon a war footing, and gradually
+increased until it amounted to 84,000 men. The king had a singular mania
+for giant soldiers: miserly as he was in other respects, he was ready to
+go to any expense to procure recruits, seven feet high, for his
+body-guard. He not only purchased such, but allowed his agents to kidnap
+them, and despotically sent a number of German mechanics to Peter the
+Great in exchange for an equal number of Russian giants. For forty-three
+such tall soldiers he paid 43,000 dollars, one of them, who was
+unusually large, costing 9,000. The expense of keeping these guardsmen
+was proportionately great, and much of the king's time was spent in
+inspecting them. Sometimes he tried to paint their portraits, and if the
+likeness was not successful, an artist was employed to paint the man's
+face until it resembled the king's picture.
+
+Frederick William's regular evening recreation was his "Tobacco
+College," as he called it. Some of his ministers and generals, foreign
+ambassadors, and even ordinary citizens, were invited to smoke and drink
+beer with him in a plain room, where he sat upon a three-legged stool,
+and they upon wooden benches. Each was obliged to smoke, or at least to
+have a clay pipe in his mouth and appear to smoke. The most important
+affairs of State were discussed at these meetings, which were conducted
+with so little formality that no one was allowed to rise when the king
+entered the room. He was not so amiable upon his walks through the
+streets of Berlin or Potsdam. He always carried a heavy cane, which he
+would apply without mercy to the shoulders of any who seemed to be idle,
+no matter what their rank or station. Even his own household was not
+exempt from blows; and his son Frederick was scarcely treated better
+than any of his soldiers or workmen.
+
+[Sidenote: 1725. CONDITION OF GERMANY.]
+
+This manner of government was rude, but it was also systematic and
+vigorous, and the people upon whom it was exercised did not deteriorate
+in character, as was the case in almost all other parts of Germany.
+Austria, in spite of the pomp of the Emperor's court, was in a state of
+moral and intellectual decline. Karl VI. was a man of little capacity,
+an instrument in the hands of the Jesuits, and the minds of the people
+whom he ruled gradually became as stolid and dead as the latter order
+wished to make them. Their connection with Germany was scarcely felt;
+they spoke of "the Empire outside" almost as a foreign country, and the
+strength of the house of Hapsburg was gradually transferred to the
+Bohemian, Hungarian and Slavonic races which occupied the greater part
+of its territory. The industry of the country was left without
+encouragement; what little education was permitted was in the hands of
+the priests, and all real progress came to an end. But, for this very
+reason, Austria became the ideal of the German nobility, nine-tenths of
+whom were feudalists and sighed for the return of the Middle Ages:
+hundreds of them took service under the Emperor, either at court or in
+the army, and helped to preserve the external forms of his power.
+
+In most of the other German States the condition of affairs was not much
+better. Bavaria, the Palatinate, and the three Archbishops of Mayence,
+Treves and Cologne, were abject instruments in the hands of France:
+Hannover was governed by the interests of England, and Saxony by those
+of Poland. After George I. went to England, the government of Hannover
+was exercised by a council of nobles, who kept up the Court ceremonials
+just as if the Elector were present. His portrait was placed in a chair,
+and they observed the same etiquette towards it as if his real self
+were there! In Würtemberg the Duke, Eberhard Ludwig, so oppressed the
+people that many of them emigrated to America between the years 1717 and
+1720, and settled in Pennsylvania. This was the first German emigration
+to the New World.
+
+[Sidenote: 1733.]
+
+After a peace of nineteen years, counting from the Treaty of Rastatt, or
+thirteen years from the Treaty of Stockholm, Germany--or rather the
+Emperor Karl VI.--became again involved in war. The Pragmatic Sanction
+was at the bottom of it. Karl's endless diplomacy to insure the
+recognition of this decree led him into an alliance with Russia to place
+Augustus III. of Saxony on the throne of Poland. Louis XV. of France,
+who had married the daughter of the Polish king, Stanislas Lesczinsky,
+took the latter's part. Prussia was induced to join Austria and Russia,
+but the cautious and economical Frederick William I. withdrew from the
+alliance as soon as he found that the expense to him would be more than
+the advantage. The Polish Diet was divided: the majority, influenced by
+France, elected Stanislas, who reached Warsaw in the disguise of a
+merchant and was crowned in September, 1733. The minority declared for
+Augustus III., in whose aid a Russian army was even then entering
+Poland.
+
+France, in alliance with Spain and Sardinia, had already declared war
+against Germany. The plan of operations had evidently been prepared in
+advance, and was everywhere successful. One French army occupied
+Lorraine, another crossed the Rhine and captured Kehl (opposite
+Strasburg), and a third, under Marshal Villars, entered Lombardy. Naples
+and Sicily, powerless to resist, fell into the hands of Spain. Prince
+Eugene of Savoy, now more than seventy years of age, was sent to the
+Rhine with such troops as Austria, taken by surprise, was able to
+furnish: the other German States either sympathized with France, or were
+indifferent to a quarrel which really did not concern them. Frederick
+William of Prussia finally sent 10,000 well-disciplined soldiers; but
+even with this aid Prince Eugene was unable to expel the French from
+Lorraine. In Poland, however, the plans of France utterly failed: in
+June, 1734, King Stanislas fled in the disguise of a cattle-dealer. The
+following year, 10,000 Russians appeared on the Rhine, as allies of
+Austria, and Louis XV. found it prudent to negotiate for peace.
+
+[Sidenote: 1740. DEATH OF FREDERICK WILLIAM I.]
+
+The Treaty of Vienna, concluded in October, 1735, put an end to the War
+of the Polish Succession. Francis of Lorraine, who was betrothed to Karl
+VI.'s daughter, Maria Theresa, was made Grand-Duke of Tuscany, and
+Lorraine (now only a portion of the original territory, with Nancy as
+capital) was given to the Ex-King Stanislas of Poland, with the
+condition that it should revert to France at his death. Spain received
+Naples and Sicily; Tortona and Novara were added to Sardinia, and
+Austria was induced to consent to all these losses by the recognition of
+the Pragmatic Sanction, and the annexation of the Duchies of Parma and
+Piacenza, in Italy. Prussia got nothing; and Frederick William I., who
+had been expecting to add Jülich and Berg to his possessions on the
+Lower Rhine, was so exasperated that he entered into secret arrangements
+with France in order to carry out his end. The enmity of Austria and
+Prussia was now confirmed, and it has been the chief power in German
+politics from that day to this.
+
+In 1736 Francis of Lorraine and Maria Theresa were married, and Prince
+Eugene of Savoy died, worn out with the hardships of his long and
+victorious career. The next year, the Empress Anna of Russia persuaded
+Karl VI. to unite with her in a war against Turkey, her object being to
+get possession of Azov. By this unfortunate alliance Austria lost all
+which she had gained by the Treaty of Passarowitz, twenty years before.
+There was no commander like Prince Eugene, her military strength had
+been weakened by useless and unsuccessful wars, and she was compelled to
+make peace in 1739, by yielding Belgrade and all her conquests in Servia
+and Wallachia to Turkey.
+
+On the 31st of May, 1740, Frederick William I. died, fifty-two years of
+age. He left behind him a State containing more than 50,000 square
+miles, and about 2,500,000 of inhabitants. The revenues of Prussia,
+which were two and a half millions of thalers on his accession to the
+throne, had increased to seven and a half millions annually, and there
+were nine millions in the treasury. Berlin had a population of nearly
+100,000, and Stettin, Magdeburg, Memel and other cities had been
+strongly fortified. An army of more than 80,000 men was perfectly
+organized and disciplined. There was the beginning of a system of
+instruction for the people, feudalism was almost entirely suppressed,
+and the charge of witchcraft (which, since the fifteenth century, had
+caused the execution of several hundred thousand victims, throughout
+Germany!) was expunged from the pages of the law. Although the land was
+almost wholly Protestant, there was entire religious freedom, and the
+Catholic subjects could complain of no violation of their rights.
+
+[Sidenote: 1740.]
+
+On the 24th of October, 1740, Karl VI. died, leaving a diminished realm,
+a disordered military organization, and a people so demoralized by the
+combined luxury and oppression of the government that for more than a
+century afterwards all hope and energy and aspiration seemed to be
+crushed among them. The outward show and trappings of the Empire
+remained with Austria, and kept alive the political superstitions of
+that large class of Germans who looked backward instead of forward; but
+the rude, half-developed strength, which cuts loose from the Past and
+busies itself with the practical work of its day and generation, was
+rapidly creating a future for Prussia.
+
+Frederick William I. was succeeded by his son, Frederick II., called
+Frederick the Great. Karl VI. was succeeded by his daughter, the Empress
+Maria Theresa. The former was twenty-eight, the latter twenty-three
+years old.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+THE REIGN OF FREDERICK THE GREAT.
+
+(1740--1786.)
+
+Youth of Frederick the Great. --His attempted Escape. --Lieutenant von
+    Katte's Fate. --Frederick's Subjection. --His Marriage. --His first
+    Measures as King. --Maria Theresa in Austria. --The First Silesian
+    war. --Maria Theresa in Hungary. --Prussia acquires Silesia.
+    --Frederick's Alliance with France and the Emperor Karl VII. --The
+    Second Silesian war. --Frederick alone against Austria. --Battles
+    of Hohenfriedberg, Sorr and Kesselsdorf. --War of the Austrian
+    Succession. --Peace. --Frederick as a Ruler. --His Habits and
+    Tastes. --Answers to Petitions. --Religious Freedom. --Development
+    of Prussia. --War between England and France. --Designs against
+    Prussia. --Beginning of the Seven Years' War. --Battle at Prague.
+    --Defeat at Kollin. --Victory of Rossbach. --Battle of Leuthen.
+    --Help from England. --Campaign of 1758. --Victory of Zorndorf.
+    --Surprise at Hochkirch. --Campaign of 1759. --Battle of
+    Kunnersdorf. --Operations in 1760. --Frederick victorious. --Battle
+    of Torgau. --Desperate Situation of Prussia. --Campaign of 1761.
+    --Alliance with Russia. --Frederick's Successes. --The Peace of
+    Hubertsburg. --Frederick's Measures of Relief. --His arbitrary
+    Rule. --His literary Tastes. --First Division of Poland.
+    --Frederick's last Years. --His Death.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1728. YOUTH OF FREDERICK THE GREAT.]
+
+Few royal princes ever had a more unfortunate childhood and youth than
+Frederick the Great. His mother, Sophia Dorothea of Hannover, a sister
+of George II. of England, was an amiable, mild-tempered woman who was
+devotedly attached to him, but had no power to protect him from the
+violence of his hard and tyrannical father. As a boy his chief tastes
+were music and French literature, which he could only indulge by
+stealth: the king not only called him "idiot!" and "puppy!" when he
+found him occupied with a flute or a French book, but threatened him
+with personal chastisement. His whole education, which was gained almost
+in secret, was chiefly received at the hands of French _émigrés_, and
+his taste was formed in the school of ideas which at that time ruled in
+France, and which was largely formed by Voltaire, whom Frederick during
+his boyhood greatly admired, and afterward made one of his chief
+correspondents and intimates. The influence of this is most clearly to
+be traced throughout his life.
+
+[Sidenote: 1728.]
+
+His music became almost a passion with him, though it is doubtful
+whether any of the praises of his proficiency that have come down to us
+are more than the remains of the flatteries of the time. His
+compositions, which were performed at his concerts, to which leading
+musicians were often invited, do not give any evidence of the genius
+claimed for him in this respect; but it is certain that he attained a
+considerable degree of mechanical skill in playing the flute. In
+after-life his musical taste continued to influence him greatly, and the
+establishment of the opera at Berlin was chiefly due to him. His
+father's persistent opposition rather fanned than suppressed the
+eagerness which he showed in this and other studies, as a boy; and
+doubtless contributed to a thoroughness which afterward stood him in
+good stead.
+
+In 1728, when only sixteen years old, he accompanied his father on a
+visit to the court of Augustus the Strong, at Dresden, and was for a
+time led astray by the corrupt society into which he was there thrown.
+The wish of his mother, that he should marry the Princess Amelia, the
+daughter of George II., was thwarted by his father's dislike of England;
+the tyranny to which he was subjected became intolerable, and in 1730,
+while accompanying his father on a journey to Southern Germany, he
+determined to run away.
+
+His accomplice was a young officer, Lieutenant von Katte, who had been
+his bosom-friend for two or three years. A letter written by Frederick
+to the latter fell by accident into the hands of another officer of the
+same name, who sent it to the king, and the plot was thus discovered.
+Frederick had already gone on board of a vessel at Frankfort, and was on
+the point of sailing down the Rhine, when his father followed, beat him
+until his face was covered with blood, and then sent him as a prisoner
+of State to Prussia. Katte was arrested before he could escape, tried by
+a court-martial and sentenced to several years' imprisonment. Frederick
+William annulled the sentence and ordered him to be immediately
+executed. To make the deed more barbarous, it was done before the window
+of the cell in which Frederick was confined. The young Prince fainted,
+and lay so long senseless that it was feared he would never recover. He
+was then watched, allowed no implements except a wooden spoon, lest he
+might commit suicide, and only permitted to read a Bible and hymn-book.
+The officer who had him in charge could only converse with him by means
+of a hole bored through the ceiling of his cell.
+
+[Sidenote: 1731. FREDERICK'S RESTORATION.]
+
+The king insisted that he should be formally tried; but the
+court-martial, while deciding that "Colonel Fritz" was guilty, as an
+officer, asserted that it had no authority to condemn the Crown-Prince.
+The king overruled the decision, and ordered his son to be executed.
+This course excited such horror and indignation among the officers that
+Frederick was pardoned, but not released from imprisonment until his
+spirit was broken and he had promised to obey his father in all things.
+For a year he was obliged to work as a clerk in the departments of the
+Government, beginning with the lowest position and rising as he acquired
+practical knowledge. He did not appear at Court until November, 1731,
+when his sister Wilhelmine was married to the Margrave of Baireuth. The
+ceremony had already commenced when Frederick, dressed in a plain suit
+of grey, without any order or decoration, was discovered among the
+servants. The King pulled him forth, and presented him to the Queen with
+these words: "Here, Madam, our Fritz is back again!"
+
+In 1732 Frederick was forced to marry the Princess Elizabeth of
+Brunswick-Bevern, whom he disliked, and with whom he lived but a short
+time. His father gave him the castle of Rheinsberg, near Potsdam, and
+there, for the first time, he enjoyed some independence: his leisure was
+devoted to philosophical studies, and to correspondence with Voltaire
+and other distinguished French authors. During the war of the Polish
+Succession he served for a short time under Prince Eugene of Savoy, but
+had no opportunity to test or develop his military talent. Until his
+father's death he seemed to be more of a poet and philosopher than
+anything else: only the few who knew him intimately perceived that his
+mind was occupied with plans of government and conquest.
+
+When Frederick William I. died, the people rejoiced in the prospect of a
+just and peaceful rule. Frederick II. declared to his ministers, on
+receiving their oath of allegiance, that no distinction should be
+allowed between the interests of the country and the king, since they
+were identical; but if any conflict of the two should arise, the
+interests of the country must have the preference. Then he at once
+corrected the abuses of the game and recruiting laws, disbanded his
+father's body-guard of giants, abolished torture in criminal cases,
+reformed the laws of marriage, and established a special Ministry for
+Commerce and Manufactures. When he set out for Königsberg to receive the
+allegiance of Prussia proper, his whole Court travelled in three
+carriages. On arriving, he dispensed with the ceremony of coronation, as
+being unnecessary, and then succeeded in establishing a much closer
+political union between Prussia and Brandenburg, which, in many
+respects, had been independent of each other up to that time.
+
+[Sidenote: 1740.]
+
+The death of the Emperor Karl VI. was the signal for a general
+disturbance. Maria Theresa, as the events of her reign afterwards
+proved, was a woman of strong, even heroic, character; stately, handsome
+and winning in her personal appearance, and morally irreproachable. No
+Hapsburg Emperor before her inherited the crown under such discouraging
+circumstances, and none could have maintained himself more bravely and
+firmly than she did. The ministers of Karl VI. flattered themselves that
+they would now have unlimited sway over the Empire, but they were
+mistaken. Maria Theresa listened to their counsels, but decided for
+herself: even her husband, Francis of Lorraine and Tuscany, was unable
+to influence her judgment. The Elector Karl Albert of Bavaria, whose
+grandmother was a Hapsburg, claimed the crown, and was supported by
+Louis XV. of France, who saw another opportunity of weakening Germany.
+The reigning Archbishops on the Rhine were of course on the side of
+France. Poland and Saxony, united under Augustus III., at the same time
+laid claim to some territory along the northern frontier of Austria.
+
+Frederick II. saw his opportunity, and was first in the field. His
+pretext was the right of Brandenburg to four principalities in Silesia,
+which had been relinquished to Austria under the pressure of
+circumstances. The real reason was, as he afterwards confessed, his
+determination to strengthen Prussia by the acquisition of more
+territory. The kingdom was divided into so many portions, separated so
+widely from each other, that it could not become powerful and permanent
+unless they were united. He had secretly raised his military force to
+100,000 men, and in December, 1740, he marched into Silesia, almost
+before Austria suspected his purpose. His army was kept under strict
+discipline; the people were neither plundered nor restricted in their
+religious worship, and the capital, Breslau, soon opened its gates.
+Several fortresses were taken during the winter, and in April, 1741, a
+decisive battle was fought at Mollwitz. The Austrian army had the
+advantage of numbers and its victory seemed so certain that Marshal
+Schwerin persuaded Frederick to leave the field; then, gathering
+together the remainder of his troops, he made a last and desperate
+charge which turned defeat into victory. All Lower Silesia was now in
+the hands of the Prussians.
+
+[Sidenote: 1741. MARIA THERESA IN HUNGARY.]
+
+France, Spain, Bavaria and Saxony immediately united against Austria. A
+French army crossed the Rhine, joined the Bavarian forces, and marched
+to Linz, on the Danube, where Karl Albert was proclaimed Arch-Duke of
+Austria. Maria Theresa and her Court fled to Presburg, where the
+Hungarian nobles were already convened, in the hope of recovering the
+rights they had lost under Leopold I. She was forced to grant the most
+of their demands; after which she was crowned with the crown of St.
+Stephen, galloped up "the king's hill," and waved her sword towards the
+four quarters of the earth, with so much grace and spirit that the
+Hungarians were quite won to her side. Afterwards, when she appeared
+before the Diet in their national costume, with her son Joseph in her
+arms, and made an eloquent speech, setting forth the dangers which beset
+her, the nobles drew their sabres and shouted: "We will die for our
+_King_, Maria Theresa!"
+
+While the support of Hungary and Austria was thus secured, the combined
+German and French force did not advance upon Vienna, but marched to
+Prague, where Karl Albert was crowned King of Bohemia. This act was
+followed, in February, 1742, by his coronation in Frankfort as Emperor,
+under the name of Karl VII. Before this took place, Austria had been
+forced to make a secret treaty with Frederick II. The latter, however,
+declared that the conditions of it had been violated, and in the spring
+of 1742 he marched into Bohemia. He was victorious in the first great
+battle: England then intervened, and persuaded Maria Theresa to make
+peace by yielding to Prussia both Upper and Lower Silesia and the
+principality of Glatz. Thus ended the First Silesian War, which gave
+Prussia an addition of 1,200,000 to her population, with 150 large and
+small cities, and about 5,000 villages.
+
+[Sidenote: 1742.]
+
+The most dangerous enemy of Austria being thus temporarily removed, the
+fortunes of Maria Theresa speedily changed, especially since England,
+Holland and Hannover entered into an alliance to support her against
+France. George II. of England took the field in person, and was
+victorious over the French in the battle of Dettingen (not far from
+Frankfort), in June, 1743. After this Saxony joined the Austrian
+alliance, and the Landgrave of Hesse, who cared nothing for the war, but
+was willing to make money, sold an equal number of soldiers to France
+and to England. Frederick II. saw that France would not be able to stand
+long against such a coalition, and he knew that the success of Austria
+would probably be followed by an attempt to regain Silesia; therefore,
+regardless of appearances, he entered into a compact with France and the
+Emperor Karl VII., and prepared for another war.
+
+In the summer of 1744 he marched into Bohemia with an army of 80,000
+men, took Prague on the 16th of September, and conquered the greater
+part of the country. But the Bohemians were hostile to him, the
+Hungarians rose again in defence of Austria, and an army under Charles
+of Lorraine, which was operating against the French in Alsatia, was
+recalled to resist his advance. He was forced to retreat in the dead of
+winter, leaving many cannon behind him, and losing a large number of
+soldiers on the way. On the 20th of January, 1745, Karl VII. died, and
+his son, Max Joseph, gave up his pretensions to the Imperial crown, on
+condition of having Bavaria (which Austria had meanwhile conquered)
+restored to him. France thereupon practically withdrew from the
+struggle, leaving Prussia in the lurch. Frederick stood alone, with
+Austria, Saxony and Poland united against him, and a prospect of England
+and Russia being added to the number: the tables had turned, and he was
+very much in the condition of Maria Theresa, four years before.
+
+In May, 1745, Silesia was invaded with an army of 100,000 Austrians and
+Saxons. Frederick marched against them with a much smaller force, met
+them at Hohenfriedberg, and gave battle on the 4th of June. He began
+with a furious charge of Prussian cavalry at dawn, and by nine o'clock
+the enemy was utterly routed, leaving sixty-six standards, 5,000 dead
+and wounded, and 7,000 prisoners. This victory produced a great effect
+throughout Europe. England intervened in favor of peace, and Frederick
+declared that he would only fight until the possession of Silesia was
+firmly guaranteed to him; but Maria Theresa (who hated Frederick
+intensely, as she had good reason to do) answered that she would sooner
+part with the clothes on her body than give up Silesia.
+
+[Sidenote: 1745. THE SECOND SILESIAN WAR.]
+
+Frederick entered Bohemia with 18,000 men, and on the 30th of September
+was attacked, at a village called Sorr, by a force of 40,000.
+Nevertheless he managed his cavalry so admirably, that he gained the
+victory. Then, learning that the Saxons were preparing to invade Prussia
+in his rear, he garrisoned all the passes leading from Bohemia into
+Silesia, and marched into Saxony with his main force. The "Old
+Dessauer," as Prince Leopold was called, took Leipzig, and, pressing
+forwards, won another great victory on the 15th of December, at
+Kesselsdorf. Frederick, who arrived on the field at the close of the
+fight, embraced the old veteran in the sight of the army. The next day,
+the Prussians took possession of Dresden: the capital was not damaged,
+but, like the other cities of Saxony, was made to pay a heavy
+contribution. Peace was concluded with Austria ten days afterwards:
+Prussia was confirmed in the possession of all Silesia and Glatz, and
+Frederick agreed to recognize Francis of Lorraine, Maria Theresa's
+
+husband, who had already been crowned Emperor at Frankfort, as Francis
+I. Thus ended the Second Silesian War. Frederick was first called "the
+Great," on his return to Berlin, where he was received with boundless
+popular rejoicings.
+
+The "War of the Austrian Succession," as it was called, lasted three
+years longer, but its character was changed. Its field was shifted to
+Italy and Flanders: in the latter country Maurice of Saxony (better
+known as Marshal de Saxe), one of the many sons of Augustus the Strong,
+was signally successful. He conquered the greater part of the
+Netherlands for France, in the year 1747. Then Austria, although she had
+regained much of her lost ground in Northern Italy, formed an alliance
+with the Empress Elizabeth of Russia, who furnished an army of 40,000
+men. The money of France was exhausted, and Louis XV. found it best to
+make peace, which was concluded at Aix-la-Chapelle in October, 1748. He
+gave up all the conquests which France had made during the war. Austria
+yielded Parma and Piacenza to Spain, a portion of Lombardy to Sardinia,
+and again confirmed Frederick the Great in the possession of Silesia.
+
+[Sidenote: 1747.]
+
+After the Peace of Dresden, in 1745, Prussia enjoyed a rest of nearly
+eleven years. Frederick's first care was to heal the wounds which his
+two Silesian wars had made in the population and the industry of his
+people. He called himself "the first official servant of the State," and
+no civil officer under him labored half so earnestly and zealously. He
+looked upon his kingdom as a large estate, the details of which must be
+left to agents, while the general supervision devolved upon him alone.
+Therefore he insisted that all questions which required settlement, all
+changes necessary to be made, even the least infractions of the laws,
+should be referred directly to himself, so that his secretaries had much
+more to do than his ministers. While he claimed the absolute right to
+govern, he accepted all the responsibility which it brought upon him. He
+made himself acquainted with every village and landed estate in his
+kingdom, watched, as far as possible, over every official, and
+personally studied the operation of every reform. He rose at four or
+five o'clock, labored at his desk for hours, reading the multitude of
+reports and letters of complaint or appeal, which came simply addressed
+"to the King," and barely allowed himself an hour or two towards evening
+for a walk with his greyhounds, or a little practise on his beloved
+flute. His evenings were usually spent in conversation with men of
+culture and intelligence. His literary tastes, however, remained French
+all his life: his many works were written in that language, he preferred
+to speak it, and he sneered at German literature at a time when authors
+like Lessing, Klopstock, Herder and Goethe were gradually lifting it to
+such a height of glory as few other languages have ever attained.
+
+His rough, practical common-sense as a ruler is very well illustrated by
+his remarks upon the documents sent for his inspection, many of which
+are still preserved. On the back of the "Petition from the merchant
+Simon of Stettin, to be allowed to purchase an estate for 40,000
+thalers," he wrote: "40,000 thalers invested in commerce will yield
+eight per cent., in landed property only four per cent.; this man does
+not understand his own business." On the "Petition from the city of
+Frankfort-on-Oder, against the quartering of troops upon them," he
+wrote: "Why, it cannot be otherwise. Do they think I can put the
+regiment in my pocket? But the barracks shall be rebuilt." And finally,
+on the "Petition of the Chamberlain, Baron Müller, for leave to visit
+the baths of Aix-la-Chapelle," he wrote: "What would he do there? He
+would gamble away the little money he has left, and come back like a
+beggar." The expenses of Frederick's own Court were restricted to about
+100,000 dollars a year, at a time when nearly every petty prince in
+Germany was spending from five to ten times that sum.
+
+[Sidenote: 1748. FREDERICK AS RULER.]
+
+In the administration of justice and the establishment of entire
+religious liberty, Prussia rapidly became a model which put to shame and
+disturbed the most of the other German States. Frederick openly
+declared: "I mean that every man in my kingdom shall have the right to
+be saved in his own way:" in Silesia, where the Protestants had been
+persecuted under Austria, the Catholics were now free and contented.
+This course gave him a great popularity outside of Prussia among the
+common people, and for the first time in two hundred years, the hope of
+better times began to revive among them. Frederick was as absolute a
+despot as any of his fellow-rulers of the day; but his was a despotism
+of intelligence, justice and conscience, opposed to that of ignorance,
+bigotry and selfishness.
+
+Frederick's rule, however, was not without its serious faults. He
+favored the education of his people less than his father, and was almost
+equally indifferent to the encouragement of science. The Berlin Academy
+was neglected, and another in which the French language was used, and
+French theories discussed, took its place. Prussian students were for a
+while prohibited from visiting Universities outside of the kingdom. On
+the other hand, agriculture was favored in every possible way: great
+tracts of marshy land, which had been uninhabited, were transformed into
+fertile and populous regions; canals, roads and bridges were built, and
+new markets for produce established. The cultivation of the potato, up
+to that time unknown in Germany as an article of food, was forced upon
+the unwilling farmers. In return for all these advantages, the people
+were heavily taxed, but not to such an extent as to impoverish them, as
+in Saxony and Austria. The army was not only kept up, but largely
+increased, for Frederick knew that the peace which Prussia enjoyed could
+not last long.
+
+[Sidenote: 1755.]
+
+The clouds of war slowly gathered on the political horizon. The peace of
+Europe was broken by the quarrel between England and France, in 1755, in
+regard to the boundaries between Canada and the English Colonies. This
+involved danger to Hannover, which was not yet disconnected from
+England, and the latter power proposed to Maria Theresa an alliance
+against France. The minister of the Empress was at this time Count
+Kaunitz, who fully shared her hatred of Frederick II., and determined,
+with her, to use this opportunity to recover Silesia. She therefore
+refused England's proposition, and wrote a flattering letter to Madame
+de Pompadour, the favorite of Louis XV., to prepare the way for an
+alliance between Austria and France. At the same time secret
+negotiations were carried on with Elizabeth of Russia, who was mortally
+offended with Frederick II., on account of some disparaging remarks he
+had made about her. Louis XV., nevertheless, hesitated until Maria
+Theresa promised to give him the Austrian (the former Spanish)
+Netherlands, in return for his assistance: then the compact between the
+three great military powers of the Continent was concluded, and
+everything was quietly arranged for commencing the war against Prussia
+in the spring of 1757. So sure were they of success that they agreed
+beforehand on the manner in which the Prussian kingdom should be cut up
+and divided among themselves and the other States.
+
+Through his paid agents at the different courts, and especially through
+the Crown Prince Peter of Russia, who was one of his most enthusiastic
+admirers, Frederick was well-informed of these plans. He saw that the
+coalition was too powerful to be defeated by diplomacy: his ruin was
+determined upon, and he could only prevent it by accepting war against
+such overwhelming odds. England was the only great power which could
+assist him, and Austria's policy left her no alternative: she concluded
+an alliance with Prussia in January, 1756, but her assistance,
+afterwards, was furnished in the shape of money rather than troops. The
+small States of Brunswick, Hesse-Cassel and Saxe-Gotha were persuaded to
+join Prussia, but they added very little to Frederick's strength,
+because Bavaria and all the principalities along the Rhine were certain
+to go with France, in a general German war.
+
+[Sidenote: 1756. WAR IN BOHEMIA.]
+
+Knowing when the combined movement against him was to be made,
+Frederick boldly determined to anticipate it. Disregarding the
+neutrality of Saxony, he crossed its frontier on the 29th of August,
+1756, with an army of 70,000 men. Ten days afterwards he entered
+Dresden, besieged the Saxon army of 17,000 in their fortified camp on
+the Elbe, and pushed a column forwards into Bohemia. Maria Theresa
+collected her forces, and sent an army of nearly 70,000 in all haste
+against him. Frederick met them with 20,000 men at Lobositz, on the 1st
+of October, and after hard fighting gained a victory by the use of the
+bayonet. He wrote to Marshal Schwerin: "Never have my Prussians
+performed such miracles of bravery, since I had the honor to command
+them." The Saxons surrendered soon afterwards, and Frederick went into
+winter-quarters, secure against any further attack before the spring.
+
+This was a severe check to the plans of the allied powers, and they made
+every effort to retrieve it. Sweden was induced to join them, and "the
+German Empire," through its almost forgotten Diet, declared war against
+Prussia. All together raised an armed force of 430,000 men, while
+Frederick, with the greatest exertion, could barely raise 200,000:
+England sent him an utterly useless general, the Duke of Cumberland, but
+no soldiers. He dispatched a part of his army to meet the Russians and
+Swedes, marched with the rest into Bohemia, and on the 6th of May won a
+decided but very bloody victory before the walls of Prague. The old
+hero, Schwerin, charging at the head of his troops, was slain, and the
+entire loss of the Prussians was 18,000 killed and wounded. But there
+was still a large Austrian army in Prague: the city was besieged with
+the utmost vigor for five weeks, and was on the very point of
+surrendering when Frederick heard that another Austrian army, commanded
+by Daun, was marching to its rescue.
+
+He thereupon raised the siege, hastened onwards and met Daun at Kollin,
+on the Elbe, on the 18th of June. He had 31,000 men and the Austrians
+54,000: he prepared an excellent plan of battle, then deviated from it,
+and commenced the attack against the advice of General Zieten, his chief
+commander. His haste and stubbornness were well nigh proving his ruin;
+he tried to retrieve the fortunes of the day by personally leading his
+soldiers against the Austrian batteries, but in vain,--they were
+repulsed, with a loss of 14,000 dead and wounded. That evening
+Frederick was found alone, seated on a log, drawing figures in the sand
+with his cane. He shed tears on hearing of the slaughter of all his best
+guardsmen; then, after a long silence, said: "It is a day of sorrow for
+us, my children, but have patience, for all will yet be well."
+
+[Sidenote: 1757.]
+
+The defeat at Kollin threw Frederick's plans into confusion: it was now
+necessary to give up Bohemia, and simply act on the defensive, on
+Prussian soil. Here he was met by the news of fresh disasters. His other
+army had been defeated by a much superior Russian force, and the useless
+Duke of Cumberland had surrendered Hannover to the French. But the
+Russians had retreated after their victory, instead of advancing, and
+Frederick's general, Lehwald, then easily repulsed the Swedes, who had
+invaded Pomerania. By this time a combined French and German array of
+60,000 men, under Marshal Soubise, was approaching from the west,
+confident of an easy victory and comfortable winter-quarters in Berlin.
+Frederick united his scattered and diminished forces: they only amounted
+to 22,000, and great was the amusement of the French when they learned
+that he meant to dispute their advance.
+
+After some preliminary manoeuvring the two armies approached each
+other, on the 5th of November, at Rossbach, not far from Naumburg. When
+Marshal Soubise saw the Prussian camp, he said to his officers: "It is
+only a breakfast for us!" and ordered his forces to be spread out so as
+to cut off the retreat of the enemy. Frederick was at dinner when he
+received the news of the approaching attack: he immediately ordered
+General Seidlitz to charge with his cavalry, broke up his camp and
+marshalled his infantry in the rear of a range of low hills which
+concealed his movements. The French, supposing that he was retreating,
+pressed forwards with music and shouts of triumph; then, suddenly,
+Seidlitz burst upon them with his 8,000 cavalry, and immediately
+afterwards Frederick's cannon began to play upon their ranks from a
+commanding position. They were thrown into confusion by this surprise:
+Frederick and his brother, Prince Henry, led the infantry against them,
+and in an hour and a half from the commencement of the battle they were
+flying from the field in the wildest panic, leaving everything behind
+them. Nine generals, 320 other officers and 7,000 men were made
+prisoners, and all the artillery, arms and stores captured. The
+Prussian loss was only 91 dead and 274 wounded.
+
+[Sidenote: 1757. THE BATTLE OF LEUTHEN.]
+
+The remnant of the French army never halted until it reached the Rhine.
+All danger from the west was now at an end, and Frederick hastened
+towards Silesia, which had in the mean time been occupied by a powerful
+Austrian army under Charles of Lorraine. By making forced marches, in
+three weeks Frederick effected a junction near Breslau with his
+retreating Prussians, and found himself at the head of an army of about
+32,000 men. Charles of Lorraine and Marshal Daun had united their
+forces, taken Breslau, and opposed him with a body of more than 80,000;
+but, instead of awaiting his attack, they moved forward to meet him.
+Near the little town of Leuthen, the two came together. Frederick
+summoned his generals, and addressed them in a stirring speech: "Against
+all the rules of military science," he said, "I am going to engage an
+army nearly three times greater than my own. We must beat the enemy, or
+all together make for ourselves graves before his batteries. This I
+mean, and thus will I act: remember that you are Prussians. If one among
+you fears to share the last danger with me, he may resign now, without
+hearing a word of reproof from me."
+
+The king's heroic courage was shared by his officers and soldiers. At
+dawn, on the 5th of December, the troops sang a solemn hymn, after which
+shouts of "It is again the 5th!" and "Rossbach!" rang through the army.
+Frederick called General Zieten to him, and said: "I am going to expose
+myself more than ordinarily, to-day. Should I fall, cover my body with
+your cloak, and say nothing to any one. The fight must go on and the
+enemy must be beaten." He concealed the movement of his infantry behind
+some low hills, as at Rossbach, and surprised the left flank of the
+Austrian army, while his cavalry engaged its right flank. Both attacks
+were so desperate that the Austrians struggled in vain to recover their
+ground: after several hours of hard fighting they gave way, then broke
+up and fled in disorder, losing more than 20,000 in killed, wounded and
+prisoners. The Prussian loss was about 5,000. The cold winter night came
+down on the battle-field, still covered with wounded and dying and
+resounding with cries of suffering. All at once a Prussian grenadier
+began to sing the hymn: "Now let all hearts thank God;" the regiment
+nearest him presently joined, then the military bands, and soon the
+entire army united in the grand choral of thanksgiving. Thus gloriously
+for Prussia closed the second year of this remarkable war.
+
+[Sidenote: 1758.]
+
+Frederick immediately took Breslau, with its garrison of 17,000
+Austrians, and all of Silesia except the fortress of Schweidnitz. During
+the winter Maria Theresa made vigorous preparations for a renewal of the
+war, and urged Russia and France to make fresh exertions. The reputation
+which Frederick had gained, however, brought him also some assistance:
+after the victories of Rossbach and Leuthen, there was so much popular
+enthusiasm for him in England that the Government granted him a subsidy
+of 4,000,000 thalers annually, and allowed him to appoint a commander
+for the troops of Hannover and the other allied States. Frederick
+selected Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick, who operated with so much skill
+and energy that by the summer of 1758 he had driven the French from all
+Northern Germany.
+
+Frederick, as usual, resumed his work before the Austrians were ready,
+took Schweidnitz, re-established his rule over Silesia, penetrated into
+Moravia and laid siege to Olmütz. But the Austrian Marshal Laudon cut
+off his communications with Silesia and forced him to retreat across the
+frontier, where he established himself in a fortified camp near
+Landshut. The Russians by this time had conquered the whole of the Duchy
+of Prussia, invaded Pomerania, which they plundered and laid waste, and
+were approaching the river Oder. On receiving this news, Frederick left
+Marshal Keith in command of his camp, took what troops could be spared
+and marched against his third enemy, whom he met on the 25th of August,
+1758, near the village of Zorndorf, in Pomerania. The battle lasted from
+nine in the morning until ten at night. Frederick had 32,000 men, mostly
+new recruits, the Russian General Fermor 50,000. The Prussian lines were
+repeatedly broken, but as often restored by the bravery of General
+Seidlitz, who finally won the battle by daring to disobey Frederick's
+orders. The latter sent word to him that he must answer for his
+disobedience with his head, but Seidlitz replied: "Tell the king he may
+have my head when the battle is over, but until then I must use it in
+his service." When, late at night, the Russians were utterly defeated,
+leaving 20,000 dead upon the field--for the Prussians gave them no
+quarter--Frederick embraced Seidlitz, crying out: "I owe the victory to
+you!"
+
+[Sidenote: 1758. THE SURPRISE AT HOCHKIRCH.]
+
+The three great powers had been successively repelled, but the strength
+of Austria was not yet broken. Marshal Daun marched into Saxony and
+besieged the fortified camp of Prince Henry, thus obliging Frederick to
+hasten to his rescue. The latter's confidence in himself had been so
+exalted by his victories, that he and his entire army would have been
+lost but for the prudent watchfulness of Zieten. All except the latter
+and his hussars were quietly sleeping at Hochkirch, on the night of the
+13th of October, when the camp was suddenly attacked by Daun, in
+overwhelming force. The village was set on fire, the Prussian batteries
+captured, and a terrible fight ensued. Prince Francis of Brunswick and
+Marshal Keith were killed and Prince Maurice of Dessau severely wounded:
+the Prussians defended themselves heroically, but at nine o'clock on the
+morning of the 14th they were compelled to retreat, leaving all their
+artillery and camp equipage behind them. This was the last event of the
+campaign of 1758, and it was a bad omen for the following year.
+
+Frederick tried to negotiate for peace, but in vain. The strength of his
+army was gone; his victories had been dearly bought with the loss of all
+his best regiments. Austria and Russia reinforced their armies and
+planned, this time, to unite in Silesia, while the French, who defeated
+the Duke of Brunswick in April, 1759, regained possession of Hannover.
+Frederick was obliged to divide his troops and send an army under
+General Wedel against the Russians, while he, with a very reduced force,
+attempted to check the Austrians in Silesia. Wedel was defeated, and the
+junction of his two enemies could no longer be prevented; they marched
+against him, 70,000 strong, and took up a position at Kunnersdorf,
+opposite Frankfort-on-Oder. Frederick had but 48,000 men, after calling
+together almost the entire military strength of his kingdom, and many of
+these were raw recruits who had never smelt powder.
+
+On the 12th of August, 1759, after the good news arrived that Ferdinand
+of Brunswick had defeated the French at Minden, Frederick gave battle.
+At the end of six hours the Russian left wing gave way; then Frederick,
+against the advice of Seidlitz, ordered a charge upon the right wing,
+which occupied a very strong position and was supported by the Austrian
+army. Seidlitz twice refused to make the charge; and then when he
+yielded, was struck down, severely wounded, after his cavalry had been
+cut to pieces. Frederick himself led the troops to fresh slaughter, but
+all in vain: they fell in whole battalions before the terrible artillery
+fire, until 20,000 lay upon the field. The enemy charged in turn, and
+the Prussian army was scattered in all directions, only about 3,000
+accompanying the king in his retreat. For some days after this Frederick
+was in a state of complete despair, listless, helpless, unable to decide
+or command in anything.
+
+[Sidenote: 1759.]
+
+Prussia was only saved by a difference of opinion between Marshal Daun
+and the Russian general, Soltikoff. The latter refused to advance on
+Berlin, but fell back upon Silesia to rest his troops: Daun marched into
+Saxony, took Dresden, which the Prussians had held up to that time, and
+made 12,000 prisoners. Thus ended this unfortunate year. Prussia was in
+such an exhausted condition that it seemed impossible to raise more men
+or more money, to carry on the war. Frederick tried every means to break
+the alliance of his enemies, or to acquire new allies for himself, even
+appealing to Spain and Turkey, but without effect. In the spring of
+1760, the armies of Austria, "the German Empire," Russia and Sweden
+amounted to 280,000, to meet which he was barely able, by making every
+sacrifice, to raise 90,000. In Hannover Ferdinand of Brunswick had
+75,000, opposed by a French army of 115,000.
+
+Silesia was still the bone of contention, and it was planned that the
+Austrian and Russian armies should unite there, as before, while
+Frederick was equally determined to prevent their junction, and to hold
+the province for himself. But he first sent Prince Henry and General
+Fouqué to Silesia, while he undertook to regain possession of Saxony. He
+bombarded Dresden furiously, without success, and was then called away
+by the news that Fouqué with 7,000 men had been defeated and taken
+prisoners near Landshut. All Silesia was overrun by the Austrians,
+except Breslau, which was heroically defended by a small force. Marshal
+Laudon was in command, and as the Russians had not yet arrived, he
+effected a junction with Daun, who had followed Frederick from Saxony.
+On the 15th of August, 1760, they attacked him at Liegnitz with a
+combined force of 95,000 men. Although he had but 35,000, he won such a
+splendid victory that the Russian army turned back on hearing of it, and
+in a short time Silesia, except the fortress of Glatz, was restored to
+Prussia.
+
+[Sidenote: 1760. CAPTURE OF BERLIN.]
+
+Nevertheless, while Frederick was engaged in following up his victory,
+the Austrians and Russians came to an understanding, and moved suddenly
+upon Berlin,--the Russians from the Oder, the Austrians and Saxons
+combined from Lusatia. The city defended itself for a few days, but
+surrendered on the 9th of October: a contribution of 1,700,000 thalers
+was levied by the conquerors, the Saxons ravaged the royal palace at
+Charlottenburg, but the Russians and Austrians committed few
+depredations. Four days afterwards, the news that Frederick was
+hastening to the relief of Berlin compelled the enemy to leave. Without
+attempting to pursue them, Frederick turned and marched back to Silesia,
+where, on the 3d of November, he met the Austrians, under Daun, at
+Torgau. This was one of the bloodiest battles of the Seven Years' War:
+the Prussian army was divided between Frederick and Zieten, the former
+undertaking to storm the Austrian position in front, while the latter
+attacked their flank. But Frederick, either too impetuous or mistaken in
+the signals, moved too soon: a terrible day's fight followed, and when
+night came 10,000 of his soldiers, dead or wounded, lay upon the field.
+He sat all night in the village church, making plans for the morrow;
+then, in the early dawn, Zieten came and announced that he had been
+victorious on the Austrian flank, and they were in full retreat. After
+which, turning to his soldiers, Zieten cried: "Boys, hurrah for our
+King!--he has won the battle!" The men answered: "Hurrah for Fritz, our
+King, and hurrah for Father Zieten, too!" The Prussian loss was 13,000,
+the Austrian 20,000.
+
+Although Prussia had been defended with such astonishing vigor and
+courage during the year 1760, the end of the campaign found her greatly
+weakened. The Austrians held Dresden and Glatz, two important strategic
+points, Russia and France were far from being exhausted, and every
+attempt of Frederick to strengthen himself by alliance--even with Turkey
+and with Cossack and Tartar chieftains--came to nothing. In October,
+1760, George II. of England died, there was a change of ministry, and
+the four, millions of thalers which Prussia had received for three years
+were cut off. The French, under Marshals Broglie and Soubise, had been
+bravely met by Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, but he was not strong
+enough to prevent them from quartering themselves for the winter in
+Cassel and Göttingen. Under these discouraging aspects the year 1761
+opened.
+
+[Sidenote: 1761.]
+
+The first events were fortunate. Prince Ferdinand moved against the
+French in February and drove them back nearly to the Rhine; the army of
+"the German Empire" was expelled from Thuringia by a small detachment of
+Prussians, and Prince Henry, Frederick's brother, maintained himself in
+Saxony against the much stronger Austrian army of Marshal Daun. These
+successes left Frederick free to act with all his remaining forces
+against the Austrians in Silesia, under Laudon, and their Russian allies
+who were marching through Poland to unite with them a third time. But
+their combined force was 140,000 men, his barely 55,000. By the most
+skilful military tactics, marching rapidly back and forth, threatening
+first one and then the other, he kept them asunder until the middle of
+August, when they effected a junction in spite of him. Then he
+entrenched himself so strongly in a fortified camp near Schweidnitz,
+that they did not dare to attack him immediately. Marshal Laudon and the
+Russian commander, Buturlin, quarrelled, in consequence of which a large
+part of the Russian army left, and marched northwards into Pomerania.
+Then Frederick would have given battle, but on the 1st of October,
+Laudon took Schweidnitz by storm and so strengthened his position
+thereby that it would have been useless to attack him.
+
+Frederick's prospects were darker than ever when the year 1761 came to a
+close. On the 16th of December, the Swedes and Russians took the
+important fortress of Colberg, on the Baltic coast: half Pomerania was
+in their hands, more than half of Silesia in the hands of the Austrians,
+Prince Henry was hard pressed in Saxony, and Ferdinand of Brunswick was
+barely able to hold back the French. On all sides the allied enemies
+were closing in upon Prussia, whose people could no longer furnish
+soldiers or pay taxes. For more than a year the country had been hanging
+on the verge of ruin, and while Frederick's true greatness had been
+illustrated in his unyielding courage, his unshaken energy, his
+determination never to give up, he was almost powerless to plan any
+further measures of defence. With four millions of people, he had for
+six years fought powers which embraced eighty millions; but now half his
+territory was lost to him and the other half utterly exhausted.
+
+[Sidenote: 1762. PRUSSIA AGAIN SUCCESSFUL.]
+
+Suddenly, in the darkest hour, light came. In January, 1762, Frederick's
+bitter enemy, the Empress Elizabeth of Russia, died, and was succeeded
+by Czar Peter III., who was one of his most devoted admirers. The first
+thing Peter did was to send back all the Prussian prisoners of war; an
+armistice was concluded, then a peace, and finally an alliance, by which
+the Russian troops in Pomerania and Silesia were transferred from the
+Austrian to the Prussian side. Sweden followed the example of Russia,
+and made peace, and the campaign of 1762 opened with renewed hopes for
+Prussia. In July, 1762, Peter III. was dethroned and murdered, whereupon
+his widow and successor, Catharine II., broke off the alliance with
+Frederick; but she finally agreed to maintain peace, and Frederick made
+use of the presence of the Russian troops in his camp to win a decided
+victory over Daun, on the 21st of July.
+
+Austria was discouraged by this new turn of affairs; the war was
+conducted with less energy on the part of her generals, while the
+Prussians were everywhere animated with a fresh spirit. After a siege of
+several months Frederick took the fortress of Schweidnitz on the 9th of
+October; on the 29th of the same month Prince Henry defeated the
+Austrians at Freiberg, in Saxony, and on the 1st of November Ferdinand
+of Brunswick drove the French out of Cassel. After this Frederick
+marched upon Dresden, while small detachments were sent into Bohemia and
+Franconia, where they levied contributions on the cities and villages
+and kept the country in a state of terror.
+
+In the meantime negotiations for peace had been carried on between
+England and France. The preliminaries were settled at Fontainebleau on
+the 3d of November, and, although the Tory Ministry of George II. would
+have willingly seen Prussia destroyed, Frederick's popularity was so
+great in England that the Government was forced to stipulate that the
+French troops should be withdrawn from Germany. The "German Empire,"
+represented by its superannuated Diet at Ratisbon, became alarmed at its
+position and concluded an armistice with Prussia; so that, before the
+year closed, Austria was left alone to carry on the war. Maria
+Theresa's personal hatred of Frederick, which had been the motive power
+in the combination against him, had not been gratified by his ruin: she
+could only purchase peace with him, after all his losses and dangers, by
+giving up Silesia forever. It was a bitter pill for her to swallow, but
+there was no alternative; she consented, with rage and humiliation in
+her heart. On the 15th of February, 1763, peace was signed at
+Hubertsburg, a little hunting-castle near Leipzig, and the Seven Years'
+War was over.
+
+[Sidenote: 1763.]
+
+Frederick was now called "the Great" throughout Europe, and Prussia was
+henceforth ranked among the "Five Great Powers," the others being
+England, France, Austria and Russia. His first duty, as after the Second
+Silesian War, was to raise the kingdom from its weak and wasted
+condition. He distributed among the farmers the supplies of grain which
+had been hoarded up for the army, gave them as many artillery and
+cavalry horses as could be spared, practised the most rigid economy in
+the expenses of the Government, and bestowed all that could be saved
+upon the regions which had most suffered. The nobles derived the
+greatest advantage from this support, for he considered them the main
+pillar of his State, and took all his officers from their ranks. In
+order to be prepared for any new emergency, he kept up his army, and
+finally doubled it, at a great cost; but, as he only used one-sixth of
+his own income and gave the rest towards supporting this burden, the
+people, although often oppressed by his system of taxation, did not
+openly complain.
+
+Frederick continued to be sole and arbitrary ruler. He was unwilling to
+grant any participation in the Government to the different classes of
+the people, but demanded that everything should be trusted to his own
+"sense of duty." Since the people _did_ honor and trust him,--since
+every day illustrated his desire to be just towards all, and his own
+personal devotion to the interests of the kingdom,--his policy was
+accepted. He never reflected that the spirit of complete submission
+which he was inculcating weakened the spirit of the people, and might
+prove to be the ruin of Prussia if the royal power should fall into base
+or ignorant hands. In fact, the material development of the country was
+seriously hindered by his admiration of everything French. He introduced
+a form of taxation borrowed from France, appointed French officials who
+oppressed the people, granted monopolies to manufacturers, prohibited
+the exportation of raw material, and in other ways damaged the interests
+of Prussia, by trying to _force_ a rapid growth.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. FREDERICK'S POLICY AS KING.]
+
+The intellectual development of the country was equally hindered. In
+1750 Frederick invited Voltaire to Berlin, and the famous French author
+remained there nearly three years, making many enemies by his arrogance
+and intolerance of German habits, until a bitter quarrel broke out and
+the two parted, never to resume their intimacy. It is doubtful whether
+Frederick had the least consciousness of the swift and splendid rise of
+German Literature during the latter years of his reign. Although he
+often declared that he was perfectly willing his subjects should think
+and speak as they pleased, provided they _obeyed_, he maintained a
+strict censorship of the press, and was very impatient of all opinions
+which conflicted with his own. Thus, while he possessed the clearest
+sense of justice, the severest sense of duty, his policy was governed by
+his own personal tastes and prejudices, and therefore could not be
+universally just. What strength he possessed became a part of his
+government, but what weakness also.
+
+One other event, of a peaceful yet none the less of a violent character,
+marks Frederick's reign. Within a year after the Peace of Hubertsburg
+Augustus III. of Poland died, and Catharine of Russia persuaded the
+Polish nobles to elect Prince Poniatowsky, her favorite, as his
+successor. The latter granted equal rights to the Protestant sects,
+which brought on a civil war, as the Catholics were in a majority in
+Poland. A long series of diplomatic negotiations followed, in which
+Prussia, Austria, and indirectly France, were involved: the end was,
+that on the 5th of August, 1772, Frederick the Great, Catharine II. and
+Maria Theresa (the latter most unwillingly) united in taking possession
+of about one-third of the kingdom of Poland, containing 100,000 square
+miles and 4,500,000 inhabitants, and dividing it among them. Prussia
+received the territory between Pomerania and the former Duchy of
+Prussia, except only the cities of Dantzig and Thorn, with about 700,000
+inhabitants. This was the region lost to Germany in 1466, when the
+incapable Emperor Frederick III. failed to assist the German Order: its
+population was still mostly German, and consequently scarcely felt the
+annexation as a wrong, yet this does not change the character of the
+act.
+
+[Sidenote: 1786.]
+
+The last years of Frederick the Great were peaceful. He lived to see the
+American Colonies independent of England, and to send a sword of honor
+to Washington: he lived when Voltaire and Maria Theresa were dead,
+preserving to the last his habits of industry and constant supervision
+of all affairs. Like his father, he was fond of walking or riding
+through the parks and streets of Berlin and Potsdam, talking familiarly
+with the people and now and then using his cane upon an idler. His Court
+was Spartan in its simplicity, and nothing prevented the people from
+coming personally to him with their complaints. On one occasion, in the
+streets of Potsdam, he met a company of school-boys, and roughly
+addressed them with: "Boys, what are you doing here? Be off to your
+school!" One of the boldest answered: "Oh, you are king, are you, and
+don't know that there is no school to-day!" Frederick laughed heartily,
+dropped his uplifted cane, and gave the urchins a piece of money that
+they might better enjoy their holiday. The windmill at Potsdam, which
+stood on some ground he wanted for his park, but could not get because
+the miller would not sell and defied him to take it arbitrarily, stands
+to this day, as a token of his respect for the rights of a poor man.
+
+When Frederick died, on the 17th of August, 1786, at the age of
+seventy-four, he left a kingdom of 6,000,000 inhabitants, an army of
+more than 200,000 men, and a sum of 72 millions of thalers in the
+treasury. But, what was of far more consequence to Germany, he left
+behind him an example of patriotism, of order, economy and personal
+duty, which was already followed by other German princes, and an example
+of resistance to foreign interference which restored the pride and
+revived the hopes of the German people.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+GERMANY UNDER MARIA THERESA AND JOSEPH II. (1740--1790.)
+
+Maria Theresa and her Government. --Death of Francis I. --Character of
+    Joseph II. --The Partition of Poland. --The Bavarian Succession.
+    --Last Days of Maria Theresa. --Republican Ideas in Europe.
+    --Joseph II. as a Revolutionist. --His Reforms. --Visit of Pope
+    Pius VI. --Alarm of the Catholics. --Joseph among the People. --The
+    Order of Jesuits dissolved by the Pope. --Joseph II's
+    Disappointments. --His Death. --Progress in Germany. --A
+    German-Catholic Church proposed by four Archbishops. --"Enlightened
+    Despotism." --The small States. --Influence of the great German
+    Authors.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1750. MARIA THERESA.]
+
+In the Empress Maria Theresa, Frederick the Great had an enemy whom he
+was bound to respect. Since the death of Maximilian II., in 1576,
+Austria had no male ruler so prudent, just and energetic as this woman.
+One of her first acts was to imitate the military organization of
+Prussia: then she endeavored to restore the finances of the country,
+which had been sadly shattered by the luxury of her predecessors. Her
+position during the two Silesian Wars and the Seven Years' War was
+almost the same as that of her opponent: she fought to recover
+territory, part of which had been ceded to Austria and part of which she
+had held by virtue of unsettled claims. The only difference was that the
+very existence of Austria did not depend on the result, as was the case
+with Prussia.
+
+Maria Theresa, like all the Hapsburgs after Ferdinand I., had grown up
+under the influence of the Jesuits, and her ideas of justice were
+limited by her religious bigotry. In other respects she was wise and
+liberal: she effected a complete reorganization of the government,
+establishing special departments of justice, industry and commerce; she
+sought to develop the resources of the country, abolished torture,
+introduced a new criminal code,--in short, she neglected scarcely any
+important interests of the people, except their education and their
+religious freedom. Nevertheless, she was always jealous of the
+assumptions of Rome, and prevented, as far as she was able, the
+immediate dependence of the Catholic clergy upon the Pope.
+
+[Sidenote: 1765.]
+
+In 1765, her husband, Francis I. (of Lorraine and Tuscany) suddenly
+died, and was succeeded, as German Emperor, by her eldest son, Joseph
+II., who was then twenty-four years of age. He was an earnest,
+noble-hearted, aspiring man, who had already taken his mother's enemy,
+Frederick the Great, as his model for a ruler. Maria Theresa, therefore,
+kept the Government of the Austrian dominions in her own hands, and the
+title of "Emperor" was not much more than an empty dignity while she
+lived. In August, 1769, Joseph had an interview with Frederick at
+Neisse, in Silesia, at which the Polish question was discussed. The
+latter returned the visit, at Neustadt in Moravia, the following year,
+and the terms of the partition of Poland appear to have been then agreed
+upon between them. Nevertheless, after the treaty had been formally
+drawn up and laid before Maria Theresa for her signature, she added
+these words: "Long after I am dead, the effects of this violation of all
+which has hitherto been considered right and holy will be made
+manifest." Joseph, with all his liberal ideas, had no such scruples of
+conscience. He was easily controlled by Frederick the Great, who,
+notwithstanding, never entirely trusted him.
+
+In 1777 a new trouble arose, which for two years held Germany on the
+brink of internal war. The Elector Max Joseph of Bavaria, the last of
+the house of Wittelsbach in a direct line, died without leaving brother
+or son, and the next heir was the Elector Karl Theodore of the
+Palatinate. The latter was persuaded by Joseph II. to give up about half
+of Bavaria to Austria, and Austrian troops immediately took possession
+of the territory. This proceeding created great alarm among the German
+princes, who looked upon it as the beginning of an attempt to extend the
+Austrian sway over all the other States. Another heir to Bavaria, Duke
+Karl of Zweibrücken (a little principality on the French frontier), was
+brought forward and presented by Frederick the Great, who, in order to
+support him, sent two armies into the field. Saxony and some of the
+smaller States took the same side; even Maria Theresa desired peace, but
+Joseph II. persisted in his plans until both France and Russia
+intervened. The matter was finally settled in May, 1779, by giving
+Bavaria to the Elector Karl Theodore, and annexing a strip of territory
+along the river Inn, containing about 900 square miles and 139,000
+inhabitants, to Austria.
+
+[Sidenote: 1780. DEATH OF MARIA THERESA.]
+
+Maria Theresa had long been ill of an incurable dropsy, and on the 29th
+of November, 1780, she died, in the sixty-fourth year of her age. A few
+days before her death she had herself lowered by ropes and pulleys into
+the vault where the coffin of Francis I. reposed. On being drawn up
+again, one of the ropes parted, whereupon she exclaimed: "He wishes to
+keep me with him, and I shall soon come!" She wrote in her prayer-book
+that in regard to matters of justice, the Church, the education of her
+children, and her obligations towards the different orders of her
+people, she found little cause for self-reproach; but that she had been
+a sinner in making war from motives of pride, envy and anger, and in her
+speech had shown too little charity for others. She left Austria in a
+condition of order and material prosperity such as the country had not
+known for centuries.
+
+When Frederick the Great heard of her death, he said to one of his
+ministers: "Maria Theresa is dead; now there will be a new order of
+things!" He evidently believed that Joseph II. would set about indulging
+his restless ambition for conquest. But the latter kept the peace, and
+devoted himself to the interests of Austria, establishing, indeed, a new
+and most astonishing order of things, but of a totally different nature
+from what Frederick had expected. Joseph II. was filled with the new
+ideas of human rights which already agitated Europe. The short but
+illustrious history of the Corsican Republic, the foundation of the new
+nation of the United States of America, the works of French authors
+advocating democracy in society and politics, were beginning to exercise
+a powerful influence in Germany, not so much among the people as among
+the highly educated classes. Thus at the very moment when Frederick and
+Maria Theresa were exercising the most absolute form of despotism, and
+the smaller rulers were doing their best to imitate them, the most
+radical theories of republicanism were beginning to be openly discussed,
+and the great Revolution which they occasioned was only a few years off.
+
+[Sidenote: 1781.]
+
+Joseph II. was scarcely less despotic in his habits of government than
+Frederick the Great, and he used his power to force new liberties upon a
+people who were not intelligent enough to understand them. He stands
+almost alone among monarchs, as an example of a Revolutionist upon the
+throne, not only granting far more than was ever demanded of his
+predecessors, but compelling his people to accept rights which they
+hardly knew how to use. He determined to transform Austria, by a few
+bold measures, into a State which should embody all the progressive
+ideas of the day, and be a model for the world. The plan was high and
+noble, but he failed because he did not perceive that the condition of a
+people cannot be so totally changed, without a wise and gradual
+preparation for it.
+
+He began by reforming the entire civil service of Austria; but, as he
+took the reform into his own hands and had little practical knowledge of
+the position and duties of the officials, many of the changes operated
+injuriously. In regard to taxation, industry and commerce, he followed
+the theories of French writers, which, in many respects, did not apply
+to the state of things in Austria. He abolished the penalty of death,
+put an end to serfdom among the peasantry, cut down the privileges of
+the nobles, and tried, for a short time, the experiment of a free press.
+His boldest measure was in regard to the Church, which he endeavored to
+make wholly independent of Rome. He openly declared that the priests
+were "the most dangerous and most useless class in every country"; he
+suppressed seven hundred monasteries and turned them into schools or
+asylums, granted the Protestants freedom of worship and all rights
+enjoyed by Catholics, and continued his work in so sweeping a manner
+that the Pope, Pius VI., hastened to Vienna in 1782, in the greatest
+alarm, hoping to restore the influence of the Church. Joseph II.
+received him with external politeness, but had him carefully watched and
+allowed no one to visit him without his own express permission. After a
+stay of four weeks during which he did not obtain a single concession of
+any importance, the Pope returned to Rome.
+
+Not content with what he had accomplished, Joseph now went further. He
+gave equal rights to Jews and members of the Greek Church, ordered
+German hymns to be sung in the Catholic Churches and the German Bible to
+be read, and prohibited pilgrimages and religious processions. These
+measures gave the priesthood the means of alarming the ignorant people,
+who were easily persuaded that the Emperor intended to abolish the
+Christian religion. They became suspicious and hostile towards the one
+man who was defying the Church and the nobles in his efforts to help
+them. Only the few who came into direct contact with him were able to
+appreciate his sincerity and goodness. He was fond of going about alone,
+dressed so simply that few recognized him, and almost as many stories of
+his intercourse with the lower classes are told of him in Austria as of
+Frederick the Great in Prussia. On one occasion he attended a poor sick
+woman whose daughter took him for a physician: on another he took the
+plough from the hands of a peasant, and ploughed a few furrows around
+the field. If his reign had been longer, the Austrian people would have
+learned to trust him, and many of his reforms might have become
+permanent; but he was better understood and loved after his death than
+during his life.
+
+[Sidenote: 1785. JOSEPH II.'S REFORMS.]
+
+One circumstance must be mentioned, in explanation of the sudden and
+sweeping character of Joseph II.'s measures towards the Church. The
+Jesuits, by their intrigues and the demoralizing influence which they
+exercised, had made themselves hated in all Catholic countries, and were
+only tolerated in Bavaria and Austria. France, Spain, Naples and
+Portugal, one after the other, banished the Order, and Pope Clement XIV.
+was finally induced, in 1773, to dissolve its connection with the Church
+of Rome. The Jesuits were then compelled to leave Austria, and for a
+time they found refuge only in Russia and Prussia, where, through a most
+mistaken policy, they were employed by the governments as teachers.
+Their expulsion was the sign of a new life for the schools and
+universities, which were released from their paralyzing sway, and Joseph
+II. evidently supposed that the Church of Rome itself had made a step in
+advance. The Archbishop of Mayence and the Bishop of Treves were noted
+liberals; the latter even favored a reformation of the Catholic Church,
+and the Emperor had reason to believe that he would receive at least a
+moral support throughout Germany. He neither perceived the thorough
+demoralization which two centuries of Jesuit rule had produced in
+Austria, nor the settled determination of the Papal power to restore the
+Order as soon as circumstances would permit.
+
+Joseph II.'s last years were disastrous to all his plans. In Flanders,
+which was still a dependency of Austria, the priests incited the people
+to revolt; in Hungary the nobles were bitterly hostile to him, on
+account of the abolition of serfdom, and an alliance with Catharine II.
+of Russia against Turkey, into which he entered in 1788,--chiefly, it
+seems, in the hope of achieving military renown--was in every way
+unfortunate. At the head of an army of 200,000 men, he marched against
+Belgrade, but was repelled by the Turks, and finally returned to Vienna
+with the seeds of a fatal fever in his frame. Russia made peace with
+Turkey before the fortunes of war could be retrieved; Flanders declared
+itself independent of Austria, and a revolution in Hungary was only
+prevented by his taking back most of the decrees which had been issued
+for the emancipation of the people. Disappointed and hopeless, Joseph
+II. succumbed to the fever which hung upon him: he died on the 20th of
+February, 1790, only forty-nine years of age. He ordered these words to
+be engraved upon his tomb-stone: "Here lies a prince, whose intentions
+were pure, but who had the misfortune to see all his plans shattered!"
+History has done justice to his character, and the people whom he tried
+to help learned to appreciate his efforts when it was too late.
+
+[Sidenote: 1790.]
+
+The condition of Germany, from the end of the Seven Years' War to the
+close of the eighteenth century, shows a remarkable progress, when we
+contrast it with the first half of the century. The stern, heroic
+character of Frederick the Great, the strong, humane aspirations of
+Joseph II., and the rapid growth of democratic ideas all over the world,
+affected at last many of the smaller German States. Their imitation of
+the pomp and state of Louis XIV., which they had practised for nearly a
+hundred years, came to an end; the princes were now possessed with the
+idea of "an enlightened despotism"--that is, while retaining their
+absolute power, they endeavored to exercise it for the good of the
+people. There were some dark exceptions to this general change for the
+better. The rulers of Hesse-Cassel and Würtemberg, for example, sold
+whole regiments of their subjects to England, to be used against the
+American Colonies in the War of Independence. Although many of these
+soldiers remained in the United States, and encouraged, by their
+satisfaction with their new homes, the later German emigration to
+America, the princes who sold them covered their own memories with
+infamy, and deservedly so.
+
+[Sidenote: 1790. "ENLIGHTENED DESPOTISM."]
+
+There was a remarkable movement, about the same time, among the Catholic
+Archbishops, who were also temporal rulers, in Germany. The dominions of
+these priestly princes, especially along the Rhine, showed what had
+been the character of such a form of government. There were about 1,000
+inhabitants, fifty of whom were priests and two hundred and sixty
+beggars, to every twenty-two square miles! The difference between the
+condition of their States and that of the Protestant territories
+adjoining them was much more strongly marked than it now is between the
+Protestant and Catholic Cantons of Switzerland. By a singular
+coincidence, the chief Catholic Archbishops were at this time men of
+intelligence and humane aspirations, who did their best to remedy the
+scandalous misrule of their predecessors. In the year 1786, the
+Archbishops of Mayence, Treves, Cologne and Salzburg came together at
+Ems, and agreed upon a plan of founding a national German-Catholic
+Church, independent of Rome. The priests, in their incredible ignorance
+and bigotry, opposed the movement, and even Joseph II., who had planned
+the very same thing for Austria, most inconsistently refused to favor
+it; therefore the plan failed.
+
+It must be admitted, as an apology for the theory of "an enlightened
+despotism," that there was no representative government in Europe at the
+time, where there was greater justice and order than in Prussia or in
+Austria under Joseph II. The German Empire had become a mere mockery;
+its perpetual Diet at Ratisbon was little more than a farce. Poland,
+Holland and Sweden, where there was a Legislative Assembly, were in a
+most unfortunate condition: the Swiss Republic was far from being
+republican, and even England, under George III., did not present a
+fortunate model of parliamentary government. The United States of
+America were too far off and too little known, to exercise much
+influence. Some of the smaller German States, which were despotisms in
+the hands of wise and humane rulers, thus played a most beneficent part
+in protecting, instructing and elevating the people.
+
+Baden, Brunswick, Anhalt-Dessau, Holstein, Saxe-Gotha, and especially
+Saxe-Weimar, became cradles of science and literature. Karl Augustus, of
+the last-named State, called Herder, Wieland, Goethe, Schiller and other
+illustrious authors to his court, and created such a distinguished
+circle in letters and the arts that Weimar was named "the German
+Athens." The works of these great men, which had been preceded by those
+of Lessing and Klopstock, gave an immense impetus to the intellectual
+development of Germany. It was the first great advance made by the
+people since the days of Luther, and its effect extended gradually to
+the courts of less intelligent and humane princes. Even the profligate
+Duke Karl Eugene of Würtemberg reformed in a measure, established the
+Karl's-School where Schiller was educated, and tried, so far as he knew
+how, to govern justly. Frederick Augustus of Saxony refrained from
+imitating his dissolute and tyrannical ancestors, and his land began to
+recover from its long sufferings. As for the scores of petty States,
+which contained--as was ironically said--"twelve subjects and one Jew,"
+and were not much larger than an average Illinois farm, they were mostly
+despotic and ridiculous; but they were too weak to impede the general
+march of progress.
+
+[Sidenote: 1790.]
+
+Among the greater States, only Bavaria remained in the background.
+Although temporarily deprived of his beloved Jesuits, the Elector held
+fast to all the prejudices they had inculcated, and kept his people in
+ignorance.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+FROM THE DEATH OF JOSEPH II. TO THE END OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE.
+
+(1790--1806.)
+
+The Crisis in Europe. --Frederick William II. in Prussia. --Leopold II.
+    in Austria. --His short Reign. --Francis II. succeeds. --French
+    Claims in Alsatia. --War declared against Austria. --The Prussian
+    and Austrian Invasion of France. --Valmy and Jemappes. --THE FIRST
+    COALITION. --Campaign of 1793. --French Successes. --Hesitation of
+    Prussia. --The Treaty of Basel. --Catharine II.'s Designs. --Second
+    Partition of Poland. --Kosciusko's Defeat. --Suwarrow takes Warsaw.
+    --End of Poland. --French Invasion of Germany. --Success of the
+    Republic. --Bonaparte in Italy. --Campaign of 1796. --Austrian
+    Successes. --Bonaparte victorious. --Peace of Campo Formio. --New
+    Demands of France. --THE SECOND COALITION. --Suwarrow in Italy and
+    Switzerland. --Bonaparte First Consul. --Victories at Marengo and
+    Hohenlinden. --Peace of Luneville. --The German States
+    reconstructed. --Character of the political Changes. --Supremacy of
+    France. --Hannover invaded. --Bonaparte Emperor. --THE THIRD
+    COALITION. --French march to Vienna. --Austerlitz. --Treaty of
+    Presburg. --End of the "Holy Roman Empire."
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1790. CONDITION OF EUROPE.]
+
+The mantles of both Frederick the Great and Joseph II. fell upon
+incompetent successors, at a time when all Europe was agitated by the
+beginning of the French Revolution, and when, therefore, the greatest
+political wisdom was required of the rulers of Germany. It was a crisis,
+the like of which never before occurred in the history of the world, and
+probably never will occur again; for, at the time when it came, the
+people enjoyed fewer rights than they had possessed during the Middle
+Ages, and the monarchs exercised more power than they had claimed for at
+least fifteen hundred years before, while general intelligence and the
+knowledge of human rights were increasing everywhere. The fabrics of
+society and government were ages behind the demands of the time: a
+change was inevitable, and because no preparation had been made, it came
+through violence.
+
+[Sidenote: 1792.]
+
+Frederick the Great was succeeded by his nephew, Frederick William II.,
+whom, with unaccountable neglect, he had not instructed in the duties
+of government. The latter, nevertheless, began with changes which gave
+him a great popularity. He abolished the French system of collecting
+duties, the monopolies which were burdensome to the people, and
+lightened the weight of their taxes. But, by unnecessary interference in
+the affairs of Holland (because his sister was the wife of William V. of
+Orange), he spent all the surplus which Frederick had left in the
+Prussian treasury; he was weak, dissolute and fickle in his character;
+he introduced the most rigid measures in regard to the press and
+religious worship, and soon taught the people the difference between a
+bigoted and narrow-minded and an intelligent and conscientious king.
+
+Joseph II. was succeeded by his brother, Leopold II., who for
+twenty-five years had been Grand-Duke of Tuscany, where he had governed
+with great mildness and prudence. His policy had been somewhat similar
+to that of Joseph II., but characterized by greater caution and
+moderation. When he took the crown of Austria, and immediately
+afterwards that of the German Empire, he materially changed his plan of
+government. He was not rigidly oppressive, but he checked the evidences
+of a freer development among the people, which Joseph II. had fostered.
+He limited, at once, the pretensions of Austria, cultivated friendly
+relations with Prussia, which was then inclined to support the Austrian
+Netherlands in their revolt, and took steps to conclude peace with
+Turkey. He succeeded, also, in reconciling the Hungarians to the
+Hapsburg rule, and might, possibly, have given a fortunate turn to the
+destinies of Austria, if he had lived long enough. But he died on the
+1st of March, 1792, after a reign of exactly two years, and was
+succeeded by his son, Francis II., who was elected Emperor of Germany on
+the 5th of July, in Frankfort.
+
+By this time the great changes which had taken place in France began to
+agitate all Europe. The French National Assembly very soon disregarded
+the provisions of the Peace of Westphalia (in 1648), which had only
+ceded the possessions of _Austria_ in Alsatia to France, allowing
+various towns and districts on the West bank of the Upper Rhine to be
+held by German Princes. The entire authority over these scattered
+possessions was now claimed by France, and neither Prussia, under
+Frederick William II., nor Austria under Leopold II. resisted the act
+otherwise than by a protest which had no effect. Although the French
+queen, Marie Antoinette, was Leopold II.'s sister, his policy was to
+preserve peace with the Revolutionary party which controlled France.
+Frederick William's minister, Hertzberg, pursued the same policy, but so
+much against the will of the king, who was determined to defend the
+cause of absolute monarchy by trying to rescue Louis XVI. from his
+increasing dangers, that before the close of 1791 Hertzberg was
+dismissed from office. Then Frederick William endeavored to create a
+"holy alliance" of Prussia, Austria, Russia and Sweden against France,
+but only succeeded far enough to provoke a bitter feeling of hostility
+to Germany in the French National Assembly.
+
+[Sidenote: 1792. FRANCE AND PRUSSIA.]
+
+The nobles who had been driven out of France by the Revolution were
+welcomed by the Archbishops of Mayence and Treves, and the rulers of
+smaller States along the Rhine, who allowed them to plot a
+counter-revolution. An angry diplomatic intercourse between France and
+Austria followed, and in April, 1792, the former country declared war
+against "the king of Bohemia and Hungary," as Francis II. was styled by
+the French Assembly. In fact, war was inevitable; for the monarchs of
+Europe were simply waiting for a good chance to intervene and crush the
+republican movement in France, which, on its side, could only establish
+itself through military successes. Although neither party was prepared
+for the struggle, the energy and enthusiasm of the new men who governed
+France gained an advantage, at the start, over the lumbering slowness of
+the German governments. It was not the latter, this time, but their
+enemy, who profited by the example of Frederick the Great.
+
+Prussia and Austria, supported by some but not by all of the smaller
+States, raised two armies, one of 110,000 men under the Duke of
+Brunswick, which was to march through Belgium to Paris, while the other,
+50,000 strong, was to take possession of Alsatia. The movement of the
+former was changed, and then delayed by differences of opinion among the
+royal and ducal commanders. It started from Mayence, and consumed three
+weeks in marching to the French frontier, only ninety miles distant.
+Longwy and Verdun were taken without much difficulty, and then the
+advance ceased. The French under Dumouriez and Kellermann united their
+forces, held the Germans in check at Valmy, on the 20th of September,
+1792, and then compelled them to retrace their steps towards the Rhine.
+While the Prussians were retreating through storms of rain, their ranks
+thinned by disease, Dumouriez wheeled upon Flanders, met the Austrian
+army at Jemappes, and gained such a decided victory that by the end of
+the year all Belgium, and even the city of Aix-la-Chapelle, fell into
+the hands of the French.
+
+[Sidenote: 1793.]
+
+At the same time another French army, under General Custine, marched to
+the Rhine, took Speyer, Worms and finally Mayence, which city was made
+the head-quarters of a republican movement intended to influence
+Germany. But these successes were followed, on the 21st of January,
+1793, by the execution of Louis XVI., and on the 16th of October of
+Marie Antoinette,--acts which alarmed every reigning family in Europe
+and provoked the most intense enmity towards the French Republic. An
+immediate alliance--called the FIRST COALITION--was made by England,
+Holland, Prussia, Austria, "the German Empire," Sardinia, Naples and
+Spain, against France. Only Catharine II. of Russia declined to join,
+not because she did not favor the design of crushing France, but because
+she would thus be left free to carry out her plans of aggrandizing
+Russia at the expense of Turkey and Poland.
+
+The greater part of the year 1793 was on the whole favorable to the
+allied powers. An Austrian victory at Neerwinden, on the 18th of March,
+compelled the French to evacuate Belgium: in July the Prussians
+reconquered Mayence, and advanced into Alsatia; and a combined English
+and Spanish fleet took possession of Toulon. But there was no unity of
+action among the enemies of France; even the German successes were soon
+neutralized by the mutual jealousy and mistrust of Prussia and Austria,
+and the war became more and more unpopular. Towards the close of the
+year the French armies were again victorious in Flanders and along the
+Rhine: their generals had discovered that the rapid movements and rash,
+impetuous assaults of their new troops were very effectual against the
+old, deliberate, scientific tactics of the Germans. Spain, Holland and
+Sardinia proved to be almost useless as allies, and the strength of the
+Coalition was reduced to England, Prussia and Austria.
+
+[Sidenote: 1795. THE TREATY OF BASEL.]
+
+In 1794 a fresh attempt was made. Prussia furnished 50,000 men, who
+were paid by England, and were hardly less mercenaries than the troops
+sold by Hesse-Cassel twenty years before. In June, the French under
+Jourdan were victorious at Fleurus, and Austria decided to give up
+Belgium: the Prussians gained some advantages in Alsatia, but showed no
+desire to carry on the war as the hirelings of another country.
+Frederick William II. and Francis II. were equally suspicious of each
+other, equally weak and vacillating, divided between their desire of
+overturning the French Republic on the one side, and securing new
+conquests of Polish territory on the other. Thus the war was prosecuted
+in the most languid and inefficient manner, and by the end of the year
+the French were masters of all the territory west of the Rhine, from
+Alsatia to the sea. During the following winter they assisted in
+overturning the former government of Holland, where a new "Batavian
+Republic" was established. Frederick William II. thereupon determined to
+withdraw from the Coalition, and make a separate peace with France. His
+minister, Hardenberg, concluded a treaty at Basel, on the 5th of April,
+1795, by which Cleves and other Prussian territory west of the Lower
+Rhine was relinquished to France, and all of Germany north of a line
+drawn from the river Main eastward to Silesia, was declared to be in a
+state of peace during the war which France still continued to wage with
+Austria.
+
+The chief cause of Prussia's change of policy seems to have been her
+fear that Russia would absorb the whole of Poland. This was probably the
+intention of Catharine II., for she had vigorously encouraged the war
+between Germany and France, while declining to take part in it. The
+Poles themselves, now more divided than ever, soon furnished her with a
+pretext for interference. They had adopted an hereditary instead of an
+elective monarchy, together with a Constitution similar to that of
+France; but a portion of the nobility rose in arms against these
+changes, and were supported by Russia. Then Frederick William II.
+insisted on being admitted as a partner in the business of interference,
+and Catharine II. reluctantly consented. In January, 1793, the two
+powers agreed to divide a large portion of Polish territory between
+them, Austria taking no active part in the matter. Prussia received the
+cities of Thorn and Dantzig, the provinces of Posen, Gnesen and Kalisch,
+and other territory, amounting to more than 20,000 square miles, with
+1,000,000 inhabitants. The only resistance made to the entrance of the
+Russian army into Poland, was headed by Kosciusko, one of the heroes of
+the American war of Independence. Although defeated at Dubienka, where
+he fought with 4,000 men against 16,000, the hopes of the Polish
+patriots centred upon him, and when they rose in 1794 to prevent the
+approaching destruction of their country, they made him Dictator. Russia
+was engaged in a war with Turkey, and had not troops enough to quell the
+insurrection, so Prussia was called upon to furnish her share. In June,
+1794, Frederick William himself marched to Warsaw, where a Russian army
+arrived about the same time: the city was besieged, but not attacked,
+owing to quarrels and differences of opinion among the commanders. At
+the end of three months, the king got tired and went back to Berlin;
+several small battles were fought, in which the Poles had the greater
+advantage, but nothing decisive happened until the end of October, when
+the Russian General Suwarrow arrived, after a forced march, from the
+seat of war on the Danube.
+
+[Sidenote: 1795.]
+
+He first defeated Kosciusko, who was taken prisoner, and then marched
+upon Warsaw. On the 4th of November the suburb of Praga was taken by
+storm, with terrible slaughter, and three days afterwards Warsaw fell.
+This was the end of Poland, as an independent nation. Although Austria
+had taken no part in the war, she now negotiated for a share in the
+Third (and last) Partition, which had been decided upon by Russia and
+Prussia, even before the Polish revolt furnished a pretext for it.
+Catharine II. favored the Austrian claims, and even concluded a secret
+agreement with Francis II. without consulting Prussia. When this had
+been made known, in August, 1795, Prussia protested violently against
+it, but without effect: Russia took more than half the remaining
+territory, Austria nearly one-quarter, and Prussia received about 20,000
+square miles more, including the city of Warsaw.
+
+After the Treaty of Basel, which secured peace to the northern half of
+Germany, Catharine II., victorious over Turkey and having nothing more
+to do in Poland, united with England and Austria against France. It was
+agreed that Russia should send both an army and a fleet, Austria raise
+200,000 men, and England contribute 4,000,000 pounds sterling annually
+towards the expenses of the war. During the summer of 1795, however,
+little was done. The French still held everything west of the Rhine, and
+the Austrians watched them from the opposite bank: the strength of both
+was nearly equal. Suddenly, in September, the French crossed the river,
+took Düsseldorf and Mannheim, with immense quantities of military
+stores, and completely laid waste the country in the neighborhood of
+these two cities, treating the people with the most inhuman barbarity.
+Then the Austrians rallied, repulsed the French, in their turn, and
+before winter recovered possession of nearly all the western bank.
+
+[Sidenote: 1796. BONAPARTE'S CAMPAIGN IN ITALY.]
+
+In January, 1796, an armistice was declared: Spain and Sardinia had
+already made peace with France, and Austria showed signs of becoming
+weary of the war. The French Republic, however, found itself greatly
+strengthened by its military successes: its minister of war, Carnot, and
+its ambitious young generals, Bonaparte, Moreau, Massena, &c., were
+winning fame and power by the continuance of hostilities, and the system
+of making the conquered territory pay all the expenses of the war (in
+some cases much more), was a great advantage to the French national
+treasury. Thus the war, undertaken by the Coalition for the destruction
+of the French Republic, had only strengthened the latter, which was in
+the best condition for continuing it at a time when the allies (except,
+perhaps, England) were discouraged, and ready for peace.
+
+The campaign of 1796 was most disastrous to Austria. France had an army
+under Jourdan on the Lower Rhine, another under Moreau--who had replaced
+General Pichegru--on the Upper Rhine, and a third under Bonaparte in
+Italy. The latter began his movement early in April; he promised his
+unpaid, ragged and badly-fed troops that he would give them Milan in
+four weeks, and he kept his word. Plunder and victory heightened their
+faith in his splendid military genius: he advanced with irresistible
+energy, passing the Po, the Adda at Lodi, subjecting the Venetian
+Republic, forming new republican States out of the old Italian Duchies,
+and driving the Austrians everywhere before him. By the end of the year
+the latter held only the strong fortress of Mantua.
+
+[Sidenote: 1797.]
+
+The French armies on the Rhine were opposed by an Austrian army of equal
+strength, commanded by the Archduke Karl, a general of considerable
+talent, but still governed by the military ideas of a former
+generation. Instead of attacking, he waited to be attacked; but neither
+Jourdan nor Moreau allowed him to wait long. The former took possession
+of the Eastern bank of the Lower Rhine: when the Archduke marched
+against him, Moreau crossed into Baden and seized the passes of the
+Black Forest. Then the Archduke, having compelled Jourdan to fall back,
+met the latter and was defeated. Jourdan returned a second time, Moreau
+advanced, and all Baden, Würtemberg, Franconia, and the greater part of
+Bavaria fell into the hands of the French. These States not only
+submitted without resistance, but used every exertion to pay enormous
+contributions to their conquerors. One-fourth of what they gave would
+have prevented the invasion, and changed the subsequent fate of Germany.
+Frankfort paid ten millions of florins, Nuremberg three, Bavaria ten,
+and the other cities and principalities in proportion, besides
+furnishing enormous quantities of supplies to the French troops. All
+these countries purchased the neutrality of France, by allowing free
+passage to the latter, and agreeing further to pay heavy monthly
+contributions towards the expenses of the war. Even Saxony, which had
+not been invaded, joined in this agreement.
+
+Towards the end of summer the Archduke twice defeated Jourdan and forced
+him to retreat across the Rhine. This rendered Moreau's position in
+Bavaria untenable: closely followed by the Austrians, he accomplished
+without loss that famous retreat through the Black Forest which is
+considered a greater achievement than many victories in the annals of
+war. Thus, at the close of the year 1796, all Germany east of the Rhine,
+plundered, impoverished and demoralized, was again free from the French.
+This defeated Bonaparte's plan, which was to advance from Italy through
+the Tyrol, effect a junction with Moreau in Bavaria, and then march upon
+Vienna. Nevertheless, he determined to carry out his portion of it,
+regardless of the fortunes of the other French armies. On the 2d of
+February, 1797, Mantua surrendered; the Archduke Karl, who had been sent
+against him, was defeated, and Bonaparte followed with such daring and
+vigor that by the middle of April he had reached the little town of
+Leoben, in Styria, only a few days' march from Vienna. Although he had
+less than 50,000 men, while the Archduke still had about 25,000, and
+the Austrians, Styrians and Tyrolese, now thoroughly aroused, demanded
+weapons and leaders, Francis II., instead of encouraging their
+patriotism and boldly undertaking a movement which might have cut off
+Bonaparte, began to negotiate for peace. Of course the conqueror
+dictated his own terms: the preliminaries were settled at once, an
+armistice followed, and on the 17th of October, 1797, peace was
+concluded at Campo Formio.
+
+[Sidenote: 1798. THE CONGRESS OF RASTATT.]
+
+Austria gave Lombardy and Belgium to France, to both of which countries
+she had a tolerable claim; but she also gave all the territory west of
+the Rhine, which she had no right to do, even under the constitution of
+the superannuated "German Empire." On the other hand, Bonaparte gave to
+Austria Dalmatia, Istria, and nearly all the territory of the Republic
+of Venice, to which he had not the shadow of a right. He had already
+conquered and suppressed the Republic of Genoa, so that these two old
+and illustrious States vanished from the map of Europe, only two years
+after Poland.
+
+Nevertheless, the illusion of a German Empire was kept up, so far as the
+form was concerned. A Congress of all the States was called to meet at
+Rastatt, in Baden, and confirm the Treaty of Campo Formio. But France
+had become arrogant through her astonishing success, and in May, 1798,
+her ambassadors suddenly demanded a number of new concessions, including
+the annexation of points east of the Rhine, the levelling of the
+fortress of Ehrenbreitstein (opposite Coblentz), and the possession of
+the islands at the mouth of the river. At this time Bonaparte was
+absent, on his expedition to Egypt, and only England, chiefly by means
+of her navy, was carrying on the war with France. The new demands made
+at the Congress of Rastatt not only prolonged the negotiations, but
+provoked throughout Europe the idea of another Coalition against the
+French Republic. The year 1798, however, came to an end without any
+further action, except such as was secretly plotted at the various
+Courts.
+
+Early in 1799, the SECOND COALITION was formed between England, Russia
+(where Paul I. had succeeded Catharine II. in 1796), Austria, Naples and
+Turkey: Spain and Prussia refused to join. An Austrian army under the
+Archduke defeated Jourdan in March, while another, supported by Naples,
+was successful against the French in Italy. Meanwhile, the Congress
+continued to sit at Rastatt, in the foolish hope of making peace after
+the war had again begun. The approach of the Austrian troops finally
+dissolved it; but the two French ambassadors, who left for France on the
+evening of April 28th, were waylaid and murdered near the city by some
+Austrian hussars. No investigation of this outrage was ever ordered; the
+general belief is that the Court of Vienna was responsible for it. The
+act was as mad as it was infamous, for it stirred the entire French
+people into fury against Germany.
+
+[Sidenote: 1799.]
+
+In the spring of 1799, a Russian army commanded by Suwarrow arrived in
+Italy, and in a short time completed the work begun by the Austrians.
+The Roman Republic was overthrown and Pope Pius VII. restored: all
+Northern Italy, except Genoa, was taken from the French; and then,
+finding his movements hampered by the jealousy of the Austrian generals,
+Suwarrow crossed the St. Gothard with his army, fighting his way through
+the terrific gorges of the Alps. To avoid the French General, Massena,
+who had been victorious at Zurich, he was compelled to choose the most
+lofty and difficult passes, and his march over them was a marvel of
+daring and endurance. This was the end of his campaign, for the Emperor
+Paul, suspicious of Austria and becoming more friendly to France, soon
+afterwards recalled him and his troops. During the campaign of this
+year, the English army under the Duke of York, had miserably failed in
+the Netherlands, but the Archduke, although no important battle was
+fought, held the French thoroughly in check along the frontier of the
+Rhine.
+
+The end of the year, and of the century, brought a great change in the
+destinies of France. Bonaparte had returned from Egypt, and on the 9th
+of November, by force of arms, he overthrew the Government and
+established the Consulate in the place of the Republic, with himself as
+First Consul for ten years. Being now practically Dictator, he took
+matters into his own hands, and his first measure was to propose peace
+to the Coalition, on the basis of the Treaty of Campo Formio. This was
+rejected by England and Austria, who stubbornly believed that the
+fortune of the war was at last turning to their side. In Prussia,
+Frederick William II. had died in November, 1797, and was succeeded by
+his son, Frederick William III., who was a man of excellent personal
+qualities, but without either energy, ambition or clear intelligence.
+Bonaparte's policy was simply to keep Prussia neutral, and he found no
+difficulty in maintaining the peace which had been concluded at Basel
+nearly five years before. England chiefly took part in the war by means
+of her navy, and by contributions of money, so that France, with the
+best generals in the world and soldiers flushed with victory, was only
+called upon to meet Austria in the field.
+
+[Sidenote: 1799. BONAPARTE FIRST CONSUL.]
+
+At this crisis, the Archduke Karl, Austria's single good general, threw
+up his command, on account of the interference of the Court of Vienna
+with his plans. His place was filled by the Archduke John, a boy of
+nineteen, under whom was an army of 100,000 men, scattered in a long
+line from the Alps to Frankfort. Moreau easily broke through this
+barrier, overran Baden and Würtemberg, and was only arrested for a short
+time by the fortifications of Ulm. While these events were occurring,
+another Austrian army under Melas besieged Massena in Genoa. Bonaparte
+collected a new force, with such rapidity and secrecy that his plan was
+not discovered, made a heroic march over the St. Bernard pass of the
+Alps in May, and came down upon Italy like an avalanche. Genoa,
+thousands of whose citizens perished with hunger during the siege, had
+already surrendered to the Austrians; but, when the latter turned to
+repel Bonaparte, they were cut to pieces on the field of Marengo, on the
+14th of June, 1800. This magnificent victory gave all Northern Italy, as
+far as the river Mincio, into the hands of the French.
+
+Again Bonaparte offered peace to Austria, on the same basis as before.
+An armistice was concluded, and Francis II. made signs of accepting the
+offer of peace, but only that he might quietly recruit his armies. When,
+therefore, the armistice expired, on the 25th of November, Moreau
+immediately advanced to attack the new Austrian army of nearly 90,000
+men, which occupied a position along the river Inn. On the 3d of
+December, the two met at Hohenlinden, and the French, after a bloody
+struggle, were completely victorious. There was now, apparently, nothing
+to prevent Moreau from marching upon Vienna, and the Archduke Karl, who
+had been sent in all haste to take command of the demoralized Austrians,
+was compelled to ask for an armistice upon terms very humiliating to the
+Hapsburg pride.
+
+[Sidenote: 1801.]
+
+After all its combined haughtiness and incompetency, the Court of Vienna
+gratefully accepted such terms as it could get. Francis II. sent one of
+his ministers, Cobenzl, who met Joseph Bonaparte at Lunéville (in
+Lorraine), and there, on the 9th of February, 1801, peace was concluded.
+Its chief provisions were those of the Treaty of Campo Formio: all the
+territory west of the Rhine, from Basel to the sea, was given to France,
+together with all Northern Italy west of the Adige. The Duke of Modena
+received part of Baden, and the Duke of Tuscany Salzburg. Other temporal
+princes of Germany, who lost part or the whole of their territory by the
+treaty, were compensated by secularizing the dominions of the priestly
+rulers, and dividing them among the former. Thus the States governed by
+Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots or other clerical dignitaries, nearly one
+hundred in number, were abolished at one blow, and what little was left
+of the fabric of the old German Empire fell to pieces. The division of
+all this territory among the other States gave rise to new difficulties
+and disputes, which were not settled for two years longer. The Diet
+appointed a special Commission to arrange the matter; but, inasmuch as
+Bonaparte, through his Minister Talleyrand, and Alexander I. of Russia
+(the Emperor Paul having been murdered in 1801), intrigued in every
+possible way to enlarge the smaller German States and prevent the
+increase of Austria, the final arrangements were made quite as much by
+the two foreign powers as by the Commission of the German Diet.
+
+On the 27th of April, 1803, the decree of partition was issued, suddenly
+changing the map of Germany. Only six free cities were left out of
+fifty-two,--Frankfort, Hamburg, Bremen, Lübeck, Nuremberg and Augsburg:
+Prussia received three bishoprics (Hildesheim, Münster and Paderborn),
+and a number of abbeys and cities, including Erfurt, amounting to four
+times as much as she had lost on the left bank of the Rhine. Baden was
+increased to double its former size by the remains of the Palatinate
+(including Heidelberg and Mannheim), the city of Constance, and a number
+of abbeys and monasteries: a great part of Franconia, with Würzburg and
+Bamberg, was added to Bavaria. Würtemberg, Hesse-Darmstadt and Nassau
+were much enlarged, and most of the other States received smaller
+additions. At the same time the rulers of Baden, Würtemberg,
+Hesse-Cassel and Salzburg were dignified by the new title of
+"Electors"--when they never would be called upon to elect another German
+Emperor!
+
+[Sidenote: 1803. FRENCH INVASION OF HANNOVER.]
+
+An impartial study of these events will show that they were caused by
+the indifference of Prussia to the general interests of Germany, and the
+utter lack of the commonest political wisdom in Francis II. of Austria
+and his ministers. The war with France was wantonly undertaken, in the
+first place; it was then continued with stupid obstinacy after two
+offers of peace. But except the loss of the left bank of the Rhine, with
+more than three millions of German inhabitants, Germany, though
+humiliated, was not yet seriously damaged. The complete overthrow of
+priestly rule, the extinction of a multitude of petty States, and the
+abolition of the special privileges of nearly a thousand "Imperial"
+noble families, was an immense gain to the whole country. The influence
+which Bonaparte exercised in the partition of 1803, though made solely
+with a view to the political interests of France, produced some very
+beneficial changes in Germany. In regard to religion, the Chief Electors
+were now equally divided, five being Catholic and five Protestant; while
+the Diet of Princes, instead of having a Catholic majority of twelve, as
+heretofore, acquired a Protestant majority of twenty-two.
+
+France was now the ruling power on the Continent of Europe. Prussia
+preserved a timid neutrality, Austria was powerless, the new Republics
+in Holland, Switzerland and Italy were wholly subjected to French
+influence, Spain, Denmark and Russia were friendly, and even England,
+after the overthrow of Pitt's ministry, was persuaded to make peace with
+Bonaparte in 1802. The same year, the latter had himself declared First
+Consul for life, and became absolute master of the destinies of France.
+A new quarrel with England soon broke out, and this gave him a pretext
+for invading Hannover. In May, 1803, General Mortier marched from
+Holland with only 12,000 men, while Hannover, alone, had an excellent
+army of 15,000. But the Council of Nobles, who governed in the name of
+George III. of England, gave orders that "the troops should not be
+allowed to fire, and might only use the bayonet _moderately_, in extreme
+necessity!" Of course no battle was fought; the country was overrun by
+the French in a few days, and plundered to the amount of 26,000,000
+thalers. Prussia and the other German States quietly looked on, and--did
+nothing.
+
+[Sidenote: 1804.]
+
+In March, 1804, the First Consul sent a force across the Rhine into
+Baden, seized the Duke d'Enghien, a fugitive Bourbon Prince, carried him
+into France and there had him shot. This outrage provoked a general cry
+of indignation throughout Europe. Two months afterwards, on the 18th of
+May, Bonaparte assumed the title of Napoleon, Emperor of the French: the
+Italian Republics were changed into a Kingdom of Italy, and that period
+of arrogant and selfish personal government commenced which brought
+monarchs and nations to his feet, and finally made him a fugitive and a
+prisoner. On the 11th of August, 1804, Francis II. imitated him, by
+taking the title of "Emperor of Austria," in order to preserve his
+existing rank, whatever changes might afterwards come.
+
+England, Austria and Russia were now more than ever determined to
+cripple the increasing power of Napoleon. Much time was spent in
+endeavoring to persuade Prussia to join the movement, but Frederick
+William III. not only refused, but sent an army to prevent the Russian
+troops from crossing Prussian territory, on their way to join the
+Austrians. By the summer of 1805, the THIRD COALITION, composed of the
+three powers already named and Sweden, was formed, and a plan adopted
+for bringing nearly 400,000 soldiers into the field against France.
+Although the secret had been well kept, it was revealed before the
+Coalition was quite prepared; and Napoleon was ready for the emergency.
+He had collected an army of 200,000 men at Boulogne for the invasion of
+England: giving up the latter design, he marched rapidly into Southern
+Germany, procured the alliance of Baden, Würtemberg and Bavaria, with
+40,000 more troops, and thus gained the first advantage before the
+Russian and Austrian armies had united.
+
+The fortress of Ulm, held by the Austrian General Mack, with 25,000 men,
+surrendered on the 17th of October. The French pressed forwards,
+overcame the opposition of a portion of the allied armies along the
+Danube, and on the 13th of November entered Vienna. Francis II. and his
+family had fled to Presburg: the Archduke Karl, hastening from Italy,
+was in Styria with a small force, and a combined Russian and Austrian
+army of nearly 100,000 men was in Moravia. Prussia threatened to join
+the Coalition, because the neutrality of her territory had been violated
+by Bernadotte in marching from Hannover to join Napoleon: the allies,
+although surprised and disgracefully defeated, were far from
+appreciating the courage and skill of their enemy, and still believed
+they could overcome him. Napoleon pretended to avoid a battle and
+thereby drew them on to meet him in the field: on the 2d of December at
+Austerlitz, the "Battle of the Three Emperors" (as the Germans call it)
+occurred, and by the close of that day the allies had lost 15,000 killed
+and wounded, 20,000 prisoners and 200 cannon.
+
+[Sidenote: 1806. END OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE.]
+
+Two days after the battle Francis II. came personally to Napoleon and
+begged for an armistice, which was granted. The latter took up his
+quarters in the Palace of the Hapsburgs, at Schönbrunn, as a conqueror,
+and waited for the conclusion of a treaty of peace, which was signed at
+Presburg on the 26th of December. Austria was forced to give up Venice
+to France, Tyrol to Bavaria, and some smaller territory to Baden and
+Würtemberg; to accept the policy of France in Italy, Holland and
+Switzerland, and to recognize Bavaria and Würtemberg as independent
+kingdoms of Napoleon's creation. All that she received in return was the
+archbishopric of Salzburg. She also agreed to pay one hundred millions
+of francs to France, and to permit the formation of a new Confederation
+of the smaller German States, which should be placed under the
+protectorship of Napoleon. The latter lost no time in carrying out his
+plan: by July, 1806, the _Rheinbund_ (Confederation of the Rhine) was
+entered into by seventeen States, which formed, in combination, a third
+power, independent of either Austria or Prussia.
+
+Immediately afterwards, on the 6th of August, 1806, Francis II. laid
+down his title of "Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German
+Nation," and the political corpse, long since dead, was finally buried.
+Just a thousand years had elapsed since the time of Charlemagne: the
+power and influence of the Empire had reached their culmination under
+the Hohenstaufens, but even then the smaller rulers were undermining its
+foundations. It existed for a few centuries longer as a system which was
+one-fourth fact and three-fourths tradition: during the Thirty Years'
+War it perished, and the Hapsburgs, after that, only wore the ornaments
+and trappings it left behind. The German people were never further from
+being a nation than at the commencement of this century; but the most of
+them still clung to the superstition of an Empire, until the compulsory
+act of Francis II. showed them, at last, that there was none.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+GERMANY UNDER NAPOLEON.
+
+(1806--1814.)
+
+Napoleon's personal Policy. --The "Rhine-Bund." --French Tyranny.
+    --Prussia declares War. --Battles of Jena and Auerstädt. --Napoleon
+    in Berlin. --Prussia and Russia allied. --Battle of Friedland.
+    --Interviews of the Sovereigns. --Losses of Prussia. --Kingdom of
+    Westphalia. --Frederick William III.'s Weakness. --Congress at
+    Erfurt. --Patriotic Movements. --Revolt of the Tyrolese. --Napoleon
+    marches on Vienna. --Schill's Movement in Prussia. --Battles of
+    Aspera and Wagram. --The Peace of Vienna. --Fate of Andreas Hofer.
+    --The Duke of Brunswick's Attempt. --Napoleon's Rule in Germany.
+    --Secret Resistance in Prussia. --War with Russia. --The March to
+    Moscow. --The Retreat. --York's Measures. --Rising of Prussia.
+    --Division of Germany. --Battle of Lützen. --Napoleon in Dresden.
+    --The Armistice. --Austria joins the Allies. --Victories of Blücher
+    and Bülow. --Napoleon's Hesitation. --The Battle of Leipzig.
+    --Napoleon's Retreat from Germany. --Cowardice of the allied
+    Monarchs. --Blücher crosses the Rhine.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1806.]
+
+After the peace of Presburg there was nothing to prevent Napoleon from
+carrying out his plan of dividing the greater part of Europe among the
+members of his own family, and the Marshals of his armies. He gave the
+kingdom of Naples to his brother Joseph; appointed his step-son Eugene
+Beauharnais Viceroy of Italy, and married him to the daughter of
+Maximilian I. (formerly Elector, now King) of Bavaria; made a Kingdom of
+Holland, and gave it to his brother Louis; gave the Duchy of Jülich,
+Cleves and Berg to Murat, and married Stephanie Beauharnais, the niece
+of the Empress Josephine, to the son of the Grand-Duke of Baden. There
+was no longer any thought of disputing his will in any of the smaller
+German States: the princes were as submissive as he could have desired,
+and the people had been too long powerless to dream of resistance.
+
+[Sidenote: 1806. THE "RHINE-BUND."]
+
+The "Rhine-Bund," therefore, was constructed just as France desired.
+Bavaria, Würtemberg, Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt and Nassau united with
+twelve small principalities--the whole embracing a population of
+thirteen millions--in a Confederation, which accepted Napoleon as
+Protector, and agreed to maintain an army of 63,000 men, at the disposal
+of France. This arrangement divided the German Empire into three parts,
+one of which (Austria) had just been conquered, while another (Prussia)
+had lost all its former prestige by its weak and cowardly policy.
+Napoleon was now the recognized master of the third portion, the action
+of which was regulated by a Diet held at Frankfort. In order to make the
+Union simpler and more manageable, all the independent countships and
+baronies within its limits were abolished, and the seventeen States were
+thus increased by an aggregate territory of about 12,000 square miles.
+Bavaria took possession, without more ado, of the free cities of
+Nuremberg and Augsburg.
+
+Prussia, by this time, had agreed with Napoleon to give up Anspach and
+Bayreuth to Bavaria, and receive Hannover instead. This provoked the
+enmity of England, the only remaining nation which was friendly to
+Prussia. The French armies were still quartered in Southern Germany,
+violating at will not only the laws of the land, but the laws of
+nations. A bookseller named Palm, in Nuremberg, who had in his
+possession some pamphlets opposing Napoleon's schemes, was seized by
+order of the latter, tried by court-martial and shot. This brutal and
+despotic act was not resented by the German princes, but it aroused the
+slumbering spirit of the people. The Prussians, especially, began to
+grow very impatient of their pusillanimous government; but Frederick
+William III. did nothing, until in August, 1806, he discovered that
+Napoleon was trying to purchase peace with England and Russia by
+offering Hannover to the former and Prussian Poland to the latter. Then
+he decided for war, at the very time when he was compelled to meet the
+victorious power of France alone!
+
+Napoleon, as usual, was on the march before his enemy was even properly
+organized. He was already in Franconia, and in a few days stood at the
+head of an army of 200,000 men, part of whom were furnished by the
+Rhine-Bund. Prussia, assisted only by Saxony and Weimar, had 150,000,
+commanded by Prince Hohenlohe and the Duke of Brunswick, who hardly
+reached the bases of the Thuringian Mountains when they were met by the
+French and hurled back. On the table-land near Jena and Auerstädt a
+double battle was fought on the 14th of October, 1806. In the first
+(Jena) Napoleon simply crushed and scattered to the winds the army of
+Prince Hohenlohe; in the second (Auerstädt) Marshal Davoust, after some
+heavy fighting, defeated the Duke of Brunswick, who was mortally
+wounded. Then followed a season of panic and cowardice which now seems
+incredible: the French overwhelmed Prussia, and almost every defence
+fell without resistance as they approached. The strong fortress of
+Erfurt, with 10,000 men, surrendered the day after the battle of Jena;
+the still stronger fortress-city of Magdeburg, with 24,000 men, opened
+its gates before a gun was fired! Spandau capitulated as soon as asked,
+on the 24th of October, and Davoust entered Berlin the same day. Only
+General Blücher, more than sixty years old, cut his way through the
+French with 10,000 men, and for a time gallantly held them at bay in
+Lübeck; and the young officers, Gneisenau and Schill, kept the fortress
+of Colberg, on the Baltic, where they were steadily besieged until the
+war was over.
+
+[Sidenote: 1806.]
+
+When Napoleon entered Berlin in triumph, on the 27th of November, he
+found nearly the whole population completely cowed, and ready to
+acknowledge his authority; seven Ministers of the Prussian Government
+took the oath of allegiance to him, and agreed, at once, to give up all
+of the kingdom west of the Elbe for the sake of peace! Frederick William
+III., who had fled to Königsberg, refused to confirm their action, and
+entered into an alliance with Alexander I. of Russia, to continue the
+war. Napoleon, meanwhile, had made peace with Saxony, which, after
+paying heavy contributions and joining the Rhine-Bund, was raised by him
+to the rank of a kingdom. At the same time he encouraged a revolt in
+Prussian Poland, got possession of Silesia, and kept Austria neutral by
+skilful diplomacy. England had the power, by prompt and energetic
+action, of changing the face of affairs, but her government did nothing.
+
+Pressing eastward during the winter, the French army, 140,000 strong,
+met the Russians and Prussians on the 8th of February, 1807, in the
+murderous battle of Eylau, after which, because its result was
+undecided, Napoleon concluded a truce of several months. Frederick
+William appointed a new Ministry, with the fearless and patriotic
+statesmen, Hardenberg and Stein, who formed a fresh alliance with
+Russia, which was soon joined by England and Sweden. Nevertheless, it
+was almost impossible to reinforce the Prussian army, and Alexander I.
+made no great exertions to increase the Russian, while Napoleon, with
+all Prussia in his rear, was constantly receiving fresh troops. Early in
+June he resumed hostilities, and on the 14th, with a much superior
+force, so completely defeated the Allies in the battle of Friedland,
+that they were driven over the river Memel into Russian territory.
+
+[Sidenote: 1807. THE PEACE OF TILSIT.]
+
+The Russians immediately concluded an armistice: Napoleon had an
+interview with Alexander I. on a raft in the river Memel, and acquired
+such an immediate influence over the enthusiastic, fantastic nature of
+the latter, that he became a friend and practically an ally. The next
+day, there was another interview, at which Frederick William III. was
+also present: the Queen, Louise of Mecklenburg, a woman of noble and
+heroic character, whom Napoleon had vilely slandered, was persuaded to
+accompany him, but only subjected herself to new humiliation. (She died
+in 1810, during Germany's deepest degradation, but her son, William I.,
+became German Emperor in 1871.) The Peace of Tilsit was declared on the
+9th of July, 1807, according to Napoleon's single will. Hardenberg had
+been dismissed from the Prussian Ministry, and Talleyrand gave his
+successor a completed document, to be signed without discussion.
+
+Prussia lost very nearly the half of her territory: her population was
+diminished from 9,743,000 to 4,938,000. A new "Grand-Duchy of Warsaw"
+was formed by Napoleon out of her Polish acquisitions. The contributions
+which had been levied and which Prussia was still forced to pay amounted
+to a total sum of three hundred million thalers, and she was obliged to
+maintain a French army in her diminished territory until the last
+farthing should be paid over. Russia, on the other hand, lost nothing,
+but received a part of Polish Prussia. A new Kingdom of Westphalia was
+formed out of Brunswick, and parts of Prussia and Hannover, and
+Napoleon's brother, Jerome, was made king. The latter, whose wife was an
+American lady, Miss Patterson of Baltimore, was compelled to renounce
+her, and marry the daughter of the new king of Würtemberg, although, as
+a Catholic, he could not do this without a special dispensation from the
+Pope, and Pius VII. refused to give one. Thus he became a bigamist,
+according to the laws of the Roman Church. Jerome was a weak and
+licentious individual, and made himself heartily hated by his two
+millions of German subjects during his six years' rule in Cassel.
+
+[Sidenote: 1808.]
+
+Frederick William III. was at last stung by his misfortunes into the
+adoption of another and manlier policy. He called Stein to the head of
+his Ministry, and allowed the latter to introduce reforms for the
+purpose of assisting, strengthening and developing the character of the
+people. But 150,000 French troops still fed like locusts upon the
+substance of Prussia, and there was an immense amount of poverty and
+suffering. The French commanders plundered so outrageously and acted
+with such shameless brutality, that even the slow German nature became
+heated with a hate so intense that it is not yet wholly extinguished.
+But this was not the end of the degradation. Napoleon, at the climax of
+his power, having (without exaggeration) the whole Continent of Europe
+under his feet, demanded that Prussia should join the Rhine-Bund, reduce
+her standing army to 42,000 men, and, in case of necessity, furnish
+France with troops against Austria. The temporary courage of the king
+dissolved: he signed a treaty on the 8th of September, 1808, without the
+knowledge of Stein, granting nearly everything Napoleon claimed,--thus
+compelling the patriotic statesman to resign, and making what was left
+of Prussia tributary to the designs of France.
+
+At the same time Napoleon held a so-called Congress at Erfurt, at which
+all the German rulers (except Austria) were present, but the decisions
+were made by himself, with the connivance of Alexander I. of Russia. The
+latter received Finland and the Danubian Principalities. Napoleon simply
+carried out his own personal policy. He made his brother Joseph king of
+Spain, gave Naples to his brother-in-law, Murat, and soon afterwards
+annexed the States of the Church, in Italy, to France, abolishing the
+temporal sovereignty of the Pope. Every one of the smaller German States
+had already joined the Rhine-Bund, and the Diet by which they were
+governed abjectly obeyed his will. Princes, nobles, officials, and
+authors vied with each other in doing homage to him. Even the battles of
+Jena and Friedland were celebrated by popular festivals in the capitals
+of the other States: the people of Southern Germany, especially,
+rejoiced over the shame and suffering of their brethren in the North.
+Ninety German authors dedicated books to Napoleon, and the newspapers
+became contemptible in their servile praises of his rule.
+
+[Sidenote: 1809. REVOLT OF THE TYROLESE.]
+
+Austria, always energetic at the wrong time and weak when energy was
+necessary, prepared for war, relying on the help of Prussia and possibly
+of Russia. Napoleon had been called to Spain, where a part of the
+people, supported by Wellington, with an English force, in Portugal, was
+making a gallant resistance to the French rule. A few patriotic and
+courageous men, all over Germany, began to consult together concerning
+the best means for the liberation of the country. The Prussian
+Ex-minister, Baron Stein, the philosopher Fichte, the statesman and poet
+Arndt, the Generals Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, the historian Niebuhr,
+and also the Austrian minister, Count Stadion, used every effort to
+increase and extend this movement; but there was no German prince,
+except the young Duke of Brunswick, ready or willing to act.
+
+The Tyrolese, who are still the most Austrian of Austrians, and the most
+Catholic of Catholics, organized a revolt against the French-Bavarian
+rule, early in 1809. This was the first purely popular movement in
+Germany, which had occurred since the revolt of the Austrian peasants
+against Ferdinand II. nearly two hundred years before. The Tyrolese
+leaders were Andreas Hofer, a hunter named Speckbacher and a monk named
+Haspinger; their troops were peasants and mountaineers. The plot was so
+well organized that the Alps were speedily cleared of the enemy, and on
+the 13th of April, Hofer captured Innsbruck, which he held for Austria.
+When the French and Bavarian troops entered the mountain-passes, they
+were picked off by skilful riflemen or crushed by rocks and trees rolled
+down upon them. The daring of the Tyrolese produced a stirring effect
+throughout Austria; for the first time, the people came forward as
+volunteers, to be enrolled in the army, and the Archduke Karl, in a
+short time, had a force of 300,000 men at his disposal.
+
+Napoleon returned from Spain at the first news of the impending war. As
+the Rhine-Bund did not dream of disobedience, as Prussia was crippled,
+and the sentimental friendship of Alexander I. had not yet grown cold,
+he raised an army of 180,000 men and entered Bavaria by the 9th of
+April. The Archduke was not prepared: his large force had been divided
+and stationed according to a plan which might have been very successful,
+if Napoleon had been willing to respect it. He lost three battles in
+succession, the last, at Eckmühl on the 22d of April, obliging him to
+give up Ratisbon, and retreat into Bohemia. The second Austrian army,
+which had been victorious over the Viceroy Eugene, in Italy, was
+instantly recalled, but it was too late: there were only 30,000 men on
+the southern bank of the Danube, between the French and Vienna.
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+The movement in Tyrol was imitated in Prussia by Major Schill, one of
+the defenders of Colberg in 1807. His heroism had given him great
+popularity, and he was untiring in his efforts to incite the people to
+revolt. The secret association of patriotic men, already referred to,
+which was called the _Tugendbund_, or "League of Virtue," encouraged him
+so far as it was able; and when he entered Berlin at the head of four
+squadrons of hussars, immediately after the news of Hofer's success, he
+was received with such enthusiasm that he imagined the moment had come
+for arousing Prussia. Marching out of the city, as if for the usual
+cavalry exercise, he addressed his troops in a fiery speech, revealed to
+them his plans and inspired them with equal confidence. With his little
+band he took Halle, besieged Bernburg, was victorious in a number of
+small battles against the increasing forces of the French, but at the
+end of a month was compelled to retreat to Stralsund. The city was
+stormed, and he fell in resisting the assault; the French captured and
+shot twelve of his officers. The fame of his exploits helped to fire the
+German heart; the courage of the people returned, and they began to grow
+restless and indignant under their shame.
+
+By the 13th of May, Napoleon had entered Vienna and taken up his
+quarters in the palace of Schönbrunn. The Archduke Karl was at the same
+time rapidly approaching with an army of 75,000 men, and Napoleon, who
+had 90,000, hastened to throw a bridge across the Danube, below the
+city, in order to meet him before he could be reinforced. On the 21st,
+however, the Archduke began the attack before the whole French army had
+crossed, and the desperate battle of Aspern followed. After two days of
+bloody fighting, the French fell back upon the island of Lobau, and
+their bridge was destroyed. This was Napoleon's first defeat in Germany,
+but it was dearly purchased: the loss on each side was about 24,000.
+Napoleon issued flaming bulletins of victory which deceived the German
+people for a time, meanwhile ordering new troops to be forwarded with
+all possible haste. He deceived the Archduke by a heavy cannonade,
+rapidly constructed six bridges further down the river, crossed with his
+whole army, and on the 6th of July fought the battle of Wagram, which
+ended with the defeat and retreat of the Austrians.
+
+[Sidenote: 1809. THE DUKE OF BRUNSWICK'S ATTEMPT.]
+
+An armistice followed, and the war was concluded on the 14th of October
+by the Peace of Vienna. Francis II. was compelled to give up Salzburg
+and some adjoining territory to Bavaria; Galicia to Russia and the
+Grand-Duchy of Warsaw; and Carniola, Croatia and Dalmatia with Trieste
+to the kingdom of Italy,--a total loss of 3,500,000 of population. He
+further agreed to pay a contribution of eighty-five millions of francs
+to France, and was persuaded, shortly afterwards, to give the hand of
+his daughter, Maria Louisa, to Napoleon, who had meanwhile divorced
+himself from the Empress Josephine. The Tyrolese, who had been
+encouraged by promises of help from Vienna, refused to believe that they
+were betrayed and given up. Hofer continued his struggle with success
+after the conclusion of peace, until near the close of the year, when
+the French and Bavarians returned in force, and the movement was
+crushed. He hid for two months among the mountains, then was betrayed by
+a monk, captured, and carried in chains to Mantua. Here he was tried by
+a French court-martial and shot on the 20th of February, 1810. Francis
+II. might have saved his life, but he made no attempt to do it. Thus, in
+North and South, Schill and Hofer perished, unsustained by their kings;
+yet their deeds remained, as an inspiration to the whole German people.
+
+During the summer of 1809, the Duke of Brunswick, whose land Napoleon
+had added to Jerome's kingdom of Westphalia, made a daring attempt to
+drive the French from Northern Germany. He had joined a small Austrian
+army, sent to operate in Saxony, and when it was recalled after the
+battle of Eckmühl, he made a desperate effort to reconquer Brunswick
+with a force of only 2,000 volunteers. The latter dressed in black, and
+wore a skull and cross-bones on their caps. The Duke took Halberstadt,
+reached Brunswick, then cut his way through the German-French forces
+closing in upon him, and came to the shore of the North Sea, where, it
+was expected, an English army would land. He and his troops escaped in
+small vessels: the English, 40,000 strong, landed on the island of
+Walcheren (on the coast of Belgium), where they lay idle until driven
+home by sickness.
+
+[Sidenote: 1810.]
+
+For three years after the peace of Vienna, Napoleon was all-powerful in
+Germany. He was married to Maria Louisa on the 2d of April, 1810; his
+son, the King of Rome, was born the following March, and Austria, where
+Metternich was now Minister instead of Count Stadion, followed the
+policy of France. All Germany accepted the "Continental Blockade," which
+cut off its commerce with England: the standing armies of Austria and
+Prussia were reduced to one-fourth of their ordinary strength; the king
+of Prussia, who had lived for two years in Königsberg, was ordered to
+return to Berlin, and the French ministers at all the smaller Courts
+became the practical rulers of the States. In 1810, the kingdom of
+Holland was taken from Louis Bonaparte and annexed to the French Empire;
+then Northern Germany, with Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck, was annexed in
+like manner, and the same fate was evidently intended for the States of
+the Rhine-Bund, if the despotic selfishness of Napoleon had not put an
+end to his marvellous success. The king of Prussia was next compelled to
+suppress the "League of Virtue": Germany was filled with French spies
+(many of them native Germans), and every expression of patriotic
+sentiment was reported as treason to France.
+
+In the territory of the Rhine-Bund, there was, however, very little real
+patriotism among the people: in Austria the latter were still kept down
+by the Jesuitic rule of the Hapsburgs: only in the smaller Saxon
+Duchies, and in Prussia, the idea of resistance was fostered, though in
+spite of Frederick William III. Indeed, the temporary removal of the
+king was for awhile secretly advocated. Hardenberg and Scharnhorst did
+their utmost to prepare the people for the struggle which they knew
+would come: the former introduced new laws, based on the principle of
+the equality of all citizens before the law, their equal right to
+development, protection and official service. Scharnhorst, the son of a
+peasant, trained the people for military duty, in defiance of France: he
+kept the number of soldiers at 42,000, in accordance with the treaty,
+but as fast as they were well-drilled, he sent them home and put fresh
+recruits in their place. In this manner he gradually prepared 150,000
+men for the army.
+
+[Illustration: GERMANY under NAPOLEON, 1812.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1811.]
+
+Alexander I. of Russia had by this time lost his sentimental friendship
+for Napoleon. The seizure by the latter of the territory of the Duke of
+Oldenburg, who was his near relation, greatly offended him: he grew
+tired of submitting to the Continental Blockade, and in 1811 adopted
+commercial laws which amounted to its abandonment. Then Napoleon showed
+his own overwhelming arrogance; and his course once more illustrated the
+abject condition of Germany. Every ruler saw that a great war was
+coming, and had nearly a year's time for decision; but all submitted!
+Early in 1812 the colossal plan was put into action: Prussia agreed to
+furnish 20,000 soldiers, Austria 30,000, and the Rhine-Bund, which
+comprised the rest of Germany, was called upon for 150,000. France
+furnished more than 300,000, and this enormous military force was set in
+motion against Russia, which was at the time unable to raise half that
+number of troops. In May Napoleon and Maria Louisa held a grand Court in
+Dresden, which a crowd of reigning princes attended, and where even
+Francis I. and Frederick William III. were treated rather as vassals
+than as equals. This was the climax of Napoleon's success. Regardless of
+distance, climate, lack of supplies and all the other impediments to his
+will, he pushed forward with an army greater than Europe had seen since
+the days of Attila, but from which only one man, horse and cannon out of
+every ten returned.
+
+After holding a grand review on the battle-field of Friedland, he
+crossed the Niemen and entered Russia on the 24th of June, met the
+Russians in battle at Smolensk on the 16th and 17th of August, and after
+great losses continued his march towards Moscow through a country which
+had been purposely laid waste, and where great numbers of his soldiers
+perished from hunger and fatigue. On the 7th of September, the Russian
+army of 120,000 men met him on the field of Borodino, where occurred the
+most desperate battle of all his wars. At the close of the fight 80,000
+dead and wounded (about an equal number on each side) lay upon the
+plain. The Russians retreated, repulsed but not conquered, and on the
+14th of September Napoleon entered Moscow. The city was deserted by its
+inhabitants: all goods and treasures which could be speedily removed
+had been taken away, and the next evening flames broke out in a number
+of places. The conflagration spread so that within a week four-fifths of
+the city were destroyed: Napoleon was forced to leave the Kremlin and
+escape through burning streets; and thus the French army was left
+without winter-quarters and provisions.
+
+[Sidenote: 1812. THE RETREAT FROM RUSSIA.]
+
+After offering terms of peace in vain, and losing a month of precious
+time in waiting, nothing was left for Napoleon but to commence his
+disastrous retreat. Cut off from the warmer southern route by the
+Russians on the 24th of October, his army, diminishing day by day,
+endured all the horrors of the Northern winter, and lost so many in the
+fearful passage of the Beresina and from the constant attacks of the
+Cossacks, that not more than 30,000 men, famished, frozen and mostly
+without arms, crossed the Prussian frontier about the middle of
+December. After reaching Wilna, Napoleon had hurried on alone, in
+advance: his passage through Germany was like a flight, and he was safe
+in Paris before the terrible failure of his campaign was generally known
+throughout Europe.
+
+When Frederick William III. agreed to furnish 20,000 troops to France,
+his best generals--Blücher, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau--and three hundred
+officers resigned. The command of the Prussian contingent was given to
+General York, who was sent to Riga during the march to Moscow, and
+escaped the horrors of the retreat. When the fate of the campaign was
+decided, he left the French with his remaining 17,000 Prussian soldiers,
+concluded a treaty of neutrality with the Russian general Diebitsch,
+called an assembly of the people together in Königsberg, and boldly
+ordered that all men capable of bearing arms should be mustered into the
+army. Frederick William, in Berlin, disavowed this act, but the Prussian
+people were ready for it. The excitement became so great, that the men
+who had influence with the king succeeded in having his Court removed to
+Breslau, where an alliance was entered into with Alexander I., and on
+the 17th of March, 1813, an address was issued in the king's name,
+calling upon the people to choose between victory and ruin. The measures
+which York had adopted were proclaimed for all Prussia, and the
+patriotic schemes of Stein and Hardenberg, so long thwarted by the
+king's weakness, were thus suddenly carried into action.
+
+[Sidenote: 1813.]
+
+The effect was astonishing, when we consider how little real liberty
+the people had enjoyed. But they had been educated in patriotic
+sentiments by another power than the Government. For years, the works of
+the great German authors had become familiar to them: Klopstock taught
+them to be proud of their race and name; Schiller taught them resistance
+to oppression; Arndt and Körner gave them songs which stirred them more
+than the sound of drum and trumpet, and thousands of high-hearted young
+men mingled with them and inspired them with new courage and new hopes.
+Within five months Prussia had 270,000 soldiers under arms, part of whom
+were organized to repel the coming armies of Napoleon, while the
+remainder undertook the siege of the many Prussian fortresses which were
+still garrisoned by the French. All classes of the people took part in
+this uprising: the professors followed the students, the educated men
+stood side by side with the peasants, mothers gave their only sons, and
+the women sent all their gold and jewels to the treasury and wore
+ornaments of iron. The young poet, Theodor Körner, not only aroused the
+people with his fiery songs, but fought in the "free corps" of Lützow,
+and finally gave his life for his country: the _Turner_, or gymnasts,
+inspired by their teacher Jahn, went as a body into the ranks, and even
+many women disguised themselves and enlisted as soldiers.
+
+With the exception of Mecklenburg and Dessau, the States of the
+Rhine-Bund still held to France: Saxony and Bavaria especially
+distinguished themselves by their abject fidelity to Napoleon. Austria
+remained neutral, and whatever influence she exercised was against
+Prussia. But Sweden, under the Crown Prince Bernadotte (Napoleon's
+former Marshal) joined the movement, with the condition of obtaining
+Norway in case of success. The operations were delayed by the slowness
+of the Russians, and the disagreement, or perhaps jealousy, of the
+various generals; and Napoleon made good use of the time to prepare
+himself for the coming struggle. Although France was already exhausted,
+he enforced a merciless conscription, taking young boys and old men,
+until, with the German soldiers still at his disposal, he had a force of
+nearly 500,000 men.
+
+The campaign opened well for Prussia. Hamburg and Lübeck were delivered
+from the French, and on the 5th of April the Viceroy Eugene was defeated
+at Möckern (near Leipzig) with heavy losses. The first great battle was
+fought at Lützen, on the 2d of May, on the same field where Gustavus
+Adolphus fell in 1632. The Russians and Prussians, with 95,000 men, held
+Napoleon, with 120,000, at bay for a whole day, and then fell back in
+good order, after a defeat which encouraged instead of dispiriting the
+people. The greatest loss was the death of Scharnhorst. Shortly
+afterwards Napoleon occupied Dresden, and it became evident that Saxony
+would be the principal theatre of war. A second battle of two days took
+place on the 20th and 21st of May, in which, although the French
+outnumbered the Germans and Russians two to one, they barely achieved a
+victory. The courage and patriotism of the people were now beginning to
+tell, especially as Napoleon's troops were mostly young, physically
+weak, and inexperienced. In order to give them rest he offered an
+armistice on the 4th of June, an act which he afterwards declared to
+have been the greatest mistake of his life. It was prolonged until the
+10th of August, and gave the Germans time both to rest and recruit, and
+to strengthen themselves by an alliance with Austria.
+
+[Sidenote: 1813. ALLIANCE OF AUSTRIA.]
+
+Francis II. judged that the time had come to recover what he had lost,
+especially as England formally joined Prussia and Russia on the 14th of
+June. A fortnight afterwards an agreement was entered into between the
+two latter powers and Austria, that peace should be offered to Napoleon
+provided he would give up Northern Germany, the Dalmatian provinces and
+the Grand-Duchy of Warsaw. He rejected the offer, and so insulted
+Metternich during an interview in Dresden, that the latter became his
+bitter enemy thenceforth. The end of all the negotiations was that
+Austria declared war on the 12th of August, and both sides prepared at
+once for a final and desperate struggle. The Allies now had 800,000 men,
+divided into three armies, one under Schwarzenberg confronting the
+French centre in Saxony, one under Blücher in Silesia, and a third in
+the North under Bernadotte. The last of these generals seemed reluctant
+to act against his former leader, and his participation was of little
+real service. Napoleon had 550,000 men, less scattered than the Germans,
+and all under the government of his single will. He was still,
+therefore, a formidable foe.
+
+[Sidenote: 1813.]
+
+Just sixteen days after the armistice came to an end, the old Blücher
+won a victory as splendid as many of Napoleon's. He met Marshal
+Macdonald on the banks of a stream called the Katzbach, in Silesia, and
+defeated him with the loss of 12,000 killed and wounded, 18,000
+prisoners and 103 cannon. From the circumstance of his having cried out
+to his men: "Forwards! forwards!" in the crisis of the battle, Blücher
+was thenceforth called "Marshal Forwards" by the soldiers. Five days
+before this the Prussian general Bülow was victorious over Oudinot at
+Grossbeeren, within ten miles of Berlin; and four days afterwards the
+French general Vandamme, with 40,000 men, was cut to pieces by the
+Austrians and Prussians, at Kulm on the southern frontier of Saxony.
+Thus, within a month, Napoleon lost one-fourth of his whole force, while
+the fresh hope and enthusiasm of the German people immediately supplied
+the losses on their side. It is true that Schwarzenberg had been
+severely repulsed in an attack on Dresden, on the 27th of August, but
+this had been so speedily followed by Vandamme's defeat, that it
+produced no discouragement.
+
+The month of September opened with another Prussian victory. On the 6th,
+Bülow defeated Ney at Dennewitz, taking 15,000 prisoners and 80 cannon.
+This change of fortune seems to have bewildered Napoleon: instead of his
+former promptness and rapidity, he spent a month in Dresden, alternately
+trying to entice Blücher or Schwarzenberg to give battle. The latter
+two, meanwhile, were gradually drawing nearer to each other and to
+Bernadotte, and their final junction was effected without any serious
+movement to prevent it on Napoleon's part. Blücher's passage of the Elbe
+on the 3d of October compelled him to leave Dresden with his army and
+take up a new position in Leipzig, where he arrived on the 13th. The
+Allies instantly closed in upon him: there was a fierce but indecisive
+cavalry fight on the 14th, the 15th was spent in preparations on both
+sides, and on the 16th the great battle began.
+
+Napoleon had about 190,000 men, the Allies 300,000: both were posted
+along lines many miles in extent, stretching over the open plain, from
+the north and east around to the south of Leipzig. The first day's fight
+really comprised three distinct battles, two of which were won by the
+French and one by Blücher. During the afternoon a terrific charge of
+cavalry under Murat broke the centre of the Allies, and Frederick
+William and Alexander I. narrowly escaped capture: Schwarzenberg, at the
+head of a body of Cossacks and Austrian hussars, repulsed the charge,
+and night came without any positive result. Napoleon sent offers of
+peace, but they were not answered, and the Allies thereby gained a day
+for reinforcements. On the morning of the 18th the battle was resumed:
+all day long the earth trembled under the discharge of more than a
+thousand cannon, the flames of nine or ten burning villages heated the
+air, and from dawn until sunset the immense hosts carried on a number of
+separate and desperate battles at different points along the line.
+Napoleon had his station on a mound near a windmill: his centre held its
+position, in spite of terrible losses, but both his wings were driven
+back. Bernadotte did not appear on the field until four in the
+afternoon, but about 4,000 Saxons and other Germans went over from the
+French to the Allies during the day, and the demoralizing effect of this
+desertion probably influenced Napoleon quite as much as his material
+losses. He gave orders for an instant retreat, which was commenced on
+the night of the 18th. His army was reduced to 100,000 men: the Allies
+had lost, in killed and wounded, about 50,000.
+
+[Sidenote: 1813. THE BATTLE OF LEIPZIG.]
+
+All Germany was electrified by this victory; from the Baltic to the
+Alps, the land rang with rejoicings. The people considered, and justly
+so, that they had won this great battle: the reigning princes, as later
+events proved, held a different opinion. But, from that day to this, it
+is called in Germany "the Battle of the Peoples": it was as crushing a
+blow for France as Jena had been to Prussia or Austerlitz to Austria. On
+the morning of the 19th of October the Allies began a storm upon
+Leipzig, which was still held by Marshal Macdonald and Prince
+Poniatowsky to cover Napoleon's retreat. By noon the city was entered at
+several gates; the French, in their haste, blew up the bridge over the
+Elster river before a great part of their own troops had crossed, and
+Poniatowsky, with hundreds of others, was drowned in attempting to
+escape. Among the prisoners was the king of Saxony, who had stood by
+Napoleon until the last moment. In the afternoon Alexander I. and
+Frederick William entered Leipzig, and were received as deliverers by
+the people.
+
+The two monarchs, nevertheless, owed their success entirely to the
+devotion of the German people, and not at all to their own energy and
+military talent. In spite of the great forces still at their disposal,
+they interfered with the plans of Blücher and other generals who
+insisted on a rapid and vigorous pursuit, and were at any time ready to
+accept peace on terms which would have ruined Germany, if Napoleon had
+not been insane enough to reject them. The latter continued his march
+towards France, by way of Naumburg, Erfurt and Fulda, losing thousands
+by desertion and disease, but without any serious interference until he
+reached Hanau, near Frankfort. At almost the last moment (October 14),
+Maximilian I. of Bavaria had deserted France and joined the Allies: one
+of his generals, Wrede, with about 55,000 Bavarians and Austrians,
+marched northward, and at Hanau intercepted the French. Napoleon, not
+caring to engage in a battle, contented himself with cutting his way
+through Wrede's army, on the 25th of October. He crossed the Rhine and
+reached France with less than 70,000 men, without encountering further
+resistance.
+
+[Sidenote: 1814.]
+
+Jerome Bonaparte fled from his kingdom of Westphalia immediately after
+the battle of Leipzig: Würtemberg joined the Allies, the Rhine-Bund
+dissolved, and the artificial structure which Napoleon had created fell
+to pieces. Even then, Prussia, Russia and Austria wished to discontinue
+the war: the popular enthusiasm in Germany was taking a _national_
+character, the people were beginning to feel their own power, and this
+was very disagreeable to Alexander I. and Metternich. The Rhine was
+offered as a boundary to Napoleon: yet, although Wellington was by this
+time victorious in Spain and was about to cross the Pyrenees, the French
+Emperor refused and the Allies were reluctantly obliged to resume
+hostilities. They had already wasted much valuable time: they now
+adopted a plan which was sure to fail, if the energies of France had not
+been so utterly exhausted.
+
+Three armies were formed: one, under Bülow, was sent into Holland to
+overthrow the French rule there; another, under Schwarzenberg, marched
+through Switzerland into Burgundy, about the end of December, hoping to
+meet with Wellington somewhere in Central France; and the third under
+Blücher, which had been delayed longest by the doubt and hesitation of
+the sovereigns, crossed the Rhine at three points, from Coblentz to
+Mannheim, on the night of New-Year, 1814. The subjection of Germany to
+France was over: only the garrisons of a number of fortresses remained,
+but these were already besieged, and they surrendered one by one, in the
+course of the next few months.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+FROM THE LIBERATION OF GERMANY TO THE YEAR 1848.
+
+(1814--1848.)
+
+Napoleon's Retreat. --Halting Course of the Allies. --The Treaty of
+    Paris. --The Congress of Vienna. --Napoleon's Return to France.
+    --New Alliance. --Napoleon, Wellington and Blücher. --Battles of
+    Ligney and Quatrebras. --Battle of Waterloo. --New Treaty with
+    France. --European Changes. --Reconstruction of Germany.
+    --Metternich arranges a Confederation. --Its Character. --The Holy
+    Alliance. --Reaction among the Princes. --Movement of the Students.
+    --Conference at Carlsbad. --Returning Despotism. --Condition of
+    Germany. --Changes in 1830. --The Zollverein. --Death of Francis
+    II. and Frederick William III. --Frederick William IV. as King.
+    --The German-Catholic Movement in 1844. --General Dissatisfaction.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1814. NAPOLEON'S DEFENSE.]
+
+Napoleon's genius was never more brilliantly manifested than during the
+slow advance of the Allies from the Rhine to Paris, in the first three
+months of the year 1814. He had not expected an invasion before the
+spring, and was taken by surprise; but with all the courage and
+intrepidity of his younger years, he collected an army of 100,000 men,
+and marched against Blücher, who had already reached Brienne. In a
+battle on the 29th of January he was victorious, but a second on the 1st
+of February compelled him to retreat. Instead of following up this
+advantage, the three monarchs began to consult: they rejected Blücher's
+demand for a union of the armies and an immediate march on Paris, and
+ordered him to follow the river Marne in four divisions, while
+Schwarzenberg advanced by a more southerly route. This was just what
+Napoleon wanted. He hurled himself upon the divided Prussian forces, and
+in five successive battles, from the 10th to the 14th of February,
+defeated and drove them back. Then, rapidly turning southward, he
+defeated a part of Schwarzenberg's army at Montereau on the 18th, and
+compelled the latter to retreat.
+
+[Sidenote: 1814.]
+
+The Allies now offered peace, granting to France the boundaries of
+1792, which included Savoy, Lorraine and Alsatia. The history of their
+negotiations during the campaign shows how reluctantly they prosecuted
+the war, and what little right they have to its final success, which is
+wholly due to Stein, Blücher, and the bravery of the German soldiers.
+Napoleon was so elated by his victories that he rejected the offer; and
+then, _at last_, the union of the allied armies and their march on Paris
+was permitted. Battle after battle followed: Napoleon disputed every
+inch of ground with the most marvellous energy, but even his victories
+were disasters, for he had no means of replacing the troops he lost. The
+last fight took place at the gates of Paris, on the 30th of March, and
+the next day, at noon, the three sovereigns made their triumphal
+entrance into the city.
+
+Not until then did the latter determine to dethrone Napoleon and restore
+the Bourbon dynasty. They compelled the act of abdication, which
+Napoleon signed at Fontainebleau on the 11th of April, installed the
+Count d'Artois (afterwards Charles X.) as head of a temporary
+government, and gave to France the boundaries of 1792. Napoleon was
+limited to the little island of Elba, Maria Louisa received the Duchy of
+Parma, and the other Bonapartes were allowed to retain the title of
+Prince, with an income of 2,500,000 francs. One million francs was given
+to the Ex-Empress Josephine, who died the same year. No indemnity was
+exacted from France; not even the works of art, stolen from the
+galleries of Italy and Germany for the adornment of Paris, were
+reclaimed! After enduring ten years of humiliation and outrage, the
+Allies were as tenderly considerate as if their invasion of France had
+been a wrong, for which they must atone by all possible concessions.
+
+In Southern Germany, where very little national sentiment existed, the
+treaty was quietly accepted, but it provoked great indignation among the
+people in the North. Their rejoicings over the downfall of Napoleon, the
+deliverance of Germany, and (as they believed) the foundation of a
+liberal government for themselves, were disturbed by this manifestation
+of weakness on the part of their leaders. The European Congress, which
+was opened on the 1st of November, 1814, at Vienna, was not calculated
+to restore their confidence. Francis II. and Alexander I. were the
+leading figures; other nations were represented by their best
+statesmen; the former priestly rulers, all the petty princes, and
+hundreds of the "Imperial" nobility whose privileges had been taken away
+from them, attended in the hope of recovering something from the general
+chaos. A series of splendid entertainments was given to the members of
+the Congress, and it soon became evident to the world that Europe, and
+especially Germany, was to be reconstructed according to the will of the
+individual rulers, without reference to principle or people.
+
+[Sidenote: 1815. NAPOLEON'S RETURN TO FRANCE.]
+
+France was represented in the Congress by Talleyrand, who was greatly
+the superior of the other members in the arts of diplomacy. Before the
+winter was over, he persuaded Austria and England to join France in an
+alliance against Russia and Prussia, and another European war would
+probably have broken out, but for the startling news of Napoleon's
+landing in France on the 1st of March, 1815. Then, all were compelled to
+suspend their jealousies and unite against their common foe. On the 25th
+of March a new alliance was concluded between Austria, Russia, Prussia
+and England: the first three agreed to furnish 150,000 men each, while
+the last contributed a lesser number of soldiers and 5,000,000 pounds
+sterling. All the smaller German States joined in the movement, and the
+people were still so full of courage and patriotic hope that a much
+larger force than was needed was soon under arms.
+
+Napoleon reached Paris on the 20th of March, and instantly commenced the
+organization of a new army, while offering peace to all the powers of
+Europe, on the basis of the treaty of Paris. This time, he received no
+answer: the terror of his name had passed away, and the allied
+sovereigns acted with promptness and courage. Though he held France,
+Napoleon's position was not strong, even there. The land had suffered
+terribly, and the people desired peace, which they had never enjoyed
+under his rule. He raised nearly half a million of soldiers, but was
+obliged to use the greater portion in preventing outbreaks among the
+population; then, selecting the best, he marched towards Belgium with an
+army of 120,000, in order to meet Wellington and Blücher by turns,
+before they could unite. The former had 100,000 men, most of them Dutch
+and Germans, under his command: the latter, with 115,000, was rapidly
+approaching from the East. By this time--the beginning of June--neither
+the Austrians nor Russians had entered France.
+
+[Sidenote: 1815.]
+
+On the 16th of June two battles occurred. Napoleon fought Blücher at
+Ligny, while Marshal Ney, with 40,000 men, attacked Wellington at
+Quatrebras. Thus neither of the allies was able to help the other.
+Blücher defended himself desperately, but his horse was shot under him
+and the French cavalry almost rode over him as he lay upon the ground.
+He was rescued with difficulty, and then compelled to fall back. The
+battle between Ney and Wellington was hotly contested; the gallant Duke
+of Brunswick was slain in a cavalry charge, and the losses on both sides
+were very great, but neither could claim a decided advantage. Wellington
+retired to Waterloo the next day, to be nearer Blücher, and then
+
+Napoleon, uniting with Ney, marched against him with 75,000 men, while
+Grouchy was sent with 36,000 to engage Blücher. Wellington had 68,000
+men, so the disproportion in numbers was not very great, but Napoleon
+was much stronger in cavalry and artillery.
+
+The great battle of Waterloo began on the morning of the 18th of June.
+Wellington was attacked again and again, and the utmost courage and
+endurance of his soldiers barely enabled them to hold their ground: the
+charges of the French were met by an equally determined resistance, but
+the fate of the battle depended on Blücher's arrival. The latter left a
+few corps at Wavre, his former position, in order to deceive Grouchy,
+and pushed forward through rain and across a marshy country to
+Wellington's relief. At four o'clock in the afternoon Napoleon made a
+tremendous effort to break the English centre: the endurance of his
+enemy began to fail, and there were signs of wavering along the English
+lines when the cry was heard: "The Prussians are coming!" Bülow's corps
+soon appeared on the French flank, Blücher's army closed in shortly
+afterwards, and by eight o'clock the French were flying from the field.
+There were no allied monarchs on hand to arrest the pursuit: Blücher and
+Wellington followed so rapidly that they stood before Paris within ten
+days, and Napoleon was left without any alternative but instant
+surrender. The losses at Waterloo, on both sides, were 50,000 killed and
+wounded.
+
+This was the end of Napoleon's interference in the history of Europe.
+All his offers were rejected, he was deserted by the French, and a
+fortnight afterwards, failing in his plan of escaping to America, he
+surrendered to the captain of an English frigate off the port of
+Rochefort. From that moment until his death at St. Helena on the 5th of
+May, 1821, he was a prisoner and an exile. A new treaty was made between
+the allied monarchs and the Bourbon dynasty of France: this time the
+treasures of art and learning were restored to Italy and Germany, an
+indemnity of 700,000,000 francs was exacted, Savoy was given back to
+Sardinia, and a little strip of territory, including the fortresses of
+Saarbrück, Saarlouis and Landau, added to Germany. The attempt of
+Austria and Prussia to acquire Lorraine and Alsatia was defeated by the
+cunning of Talleyrand and the opposition of Alexander I. of Russia.
+
+[Sidenote: 1815. THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA.]
+
+The jealousies and dissensions in the Congress of Vienna were hastily
+arranged during the excitement occasioned by Napoleon's return from
+Elba, and the members patched together, within three months, a new
+political map of Europe. There was no talk of restoring the lost kingdom
+of Poland; Prussia's claim to Saxony (which the king, Frederick
+Augustus, had fairly forfeited) was defeated by Austria and England; and
+then, after each of the principal powers had secured whatever was
+possible, they combined to regulate the affairs of the helpless smaller
+States. Holland and Belgium were added together, called the Kingdom of
+the Netherlands, and given to the house of Orange: Switzerland, which
+had joined the Allies against France, was allowed to remain a republic
+and received some slight increase of territory; and Lorraine and Alsatia
+were lost to Germany.
+
+Austria received Lombardy and Venetia, Illyria, Dalmatia, the Tyrol,
+Salzburg, Galicia and whatever other territory she formerly possessed.
+Prussia gave up Warsaw to Russia, but kept Posen, recovered Westphalia
+and the territory on the Lower Rhine, and was enlarged by the annexation
+of Swedish Pomerania, part of Saxony, and the former archbishoprics of
+Mayence, Treves and Cologne. East-Friesland was taken from Prussia and
+given to Hannover, which was made a kingdom: Weimar, Oldenburg and the
+two Mecklenburgs were made Grand-Duchies, and Bavaria received a new
+slice of Franconia, including the cities of Würzburg and Bayreuth, as
+well as all of the former Palatinate lying west of the Rhine. Frankfort,
+Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck were allowed to remain free cities: the other
+smaller States were favored in various ways, and only Saxony suffered by
+the loss of nearly half her territory. Fortunately the priestly rulers
+were not restored, and the privileges of the free nobles of the Middle
+Ages not reëstablished. Napoleon, far more justly than Attila, had been
+"the Scourge of God" to Germany. In crushing rights, he had also crushed
+a thousand abuses, and although the monarchs who ruled the Congress of
+Vienna were thoroughly reactionary in their sentiments, they could not
+help decreeing that what was dead in the political constitution of
+Germany should remain dead.
+
+[Sidenote: 1815.]
+
+All the German States, however, felt that some form of union was
+necessary. The people dreamed of a Nation, of a renewal of the old
+Empire in some better and stronger form; but this was mostly a vague
+desire on their part, without any practical ideas as to how it should be
+accomplished. The German ministers at Vienna were divided in their
+views; and Metternich took advantage of their impatience and excitement
+to propose a scheme of Confederation which introduced as few changes as
+possible into the existing state of affairs. It was so drawn up that
+while it presented the appearance of an organization, it secured the
+supremacy of Austria, and only united the German States in mutual
+defence against a foreign foe and in mutual suppression of internal
+progress. This scheme, hastily prepared, was hastily adopted on the 10th
+of June, 1815 (before the battle of Waterloo), and controlled the
+destinies of Germany for nearly fifty years afterwards.
+
+The new Confederation was composed of the Austrian Empire, the Kingdoms
+of Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Würtemberg and Hannover, the Grand-Duchies
+of Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Strelitz,
+Saxe-Weimar and Oldenburg; the Electorate of Hesse-Cassel; the Duchies
+of Brunswick, Nassau, Saxe-Gotha, Coburg, Meiningen and Hildburghausen,
+Anhalt-Dessau, Bernburg and Köthen; Denmark, on account of Holstein; the
+Netherlands, on account of Luxemburg; the four Free Cities; and eleven
+small principalities,--making a total of thirty-nine States. The Act of
+Union assured to them equal rights, independent sovereignty, the
+peaceful settlement of disputes between them, and representation in a
+General Diet, which was to be held at Frankfort, under the presidency of
+Austria. All together were required to support a permanent army of
+300,000 men for their common defence. One article required each State to
+introduce a representative form of government. All religions were made
+equal before the law, the right of emigration was conceded to the
+people, the navigation of the Rhine was released from taxes, and freedom
+of the Press was permitted.
+
+[Sidenote: 1816. THE HOLY ALLIANCE.]
+
+Of course, the carrying of these provisions into effect was left
+entirely to the rulers of the States: the people were not recognized as
+possessing any political power. Even the "representative government"
+which was assured did not include the right of suffrage; the King, or
+Duke, might appoint a legislative body which represented only a class or
+party, and not the whole population. Moreover, the Diet was prohibited
+from adopting any new measure, or making any change in the form of the
+Confederation, except by a _unanimous_ vote. The whole scheme was a
+remarkable specimen of promise to the ears of the German People, and of
+disappointment to their hearts and minds.
+
+The Congress of Vienna was followed by an event of quite an original
+character. Alexander I. of Russia persuaded Francis II. and Frederick
+William III. to unite with him in a "Holy Alliance," which all the other
+monarchs of Europe were invited to join. It was simply a declaration,
+not a political act. The document set forth that its signers pledged
+themselves to treat each other with brotherly love, to consider all
+nations as members of one Christian family, to rule their lands with
+justice and kindness, and to be tender fathers to their subjects. No
+forms were prescribed, and each monarch was left free to choose his own
+manner of Christian rule. A great noise was made about the Holy Alliance
+at the time, because it seemed to guarantee peace to Europe, and peace
+was most welcome after such terrible wars. All other reigning Kings and
+Princes, except George IV. of England, Louis XVIII. of France, and the
+Pope, added their signatures, but not one of them manifested any more
+brotherly or fatherly love after the act than before.
+
+The new German Confederation having given the separate States a fresh
+lease of life, after all their convulsions, the rulers set about
+establishing themselves firmly on their repaired thrones. Only the most
+intelligent among them felt that the days of despotism, however
+"enlightened," were over; others avoided the liberal provisions of the
+Act of Union, abolished many political reforms which had been introduced
+by Napoleon, and oppressed the common people even more than his
+satellites had done. The Elector of Hesse-Cassel made his soldiers wear
+powdered queues, as in the last century; the King of Würtemberg
+court-martialled and cashiered the general who had gone over with his
+troops to the German side at the battle of Leipzig; and in Mecklenburg
+the liberated people were declared serfs. The introduction of a
+legislative assembly was delayed, in some States even wholly
+disregarded. Baden and Bavaria adopted a Constitution in 1818,
+Würtemberg and Hesse-Darmstadt in 1819, but in Prussia an imperfect form
+of representative government for the provinces was not arranged until
+1823. Austria, meanwhile, had restored some ancient privileges of the
+same kind, of little practical value, because not adapted to the
+conditions of the age; the people were obliged to be content with them,
+for they received no more.
+
+[Sidenote: 1817.]
+
+No class of Germans were so bitterly disappointed in the results of
+their victory and deliverance as the young men, especially the thousands
+who had fought in the ranks in 1813 and 1815. At all the Universities
+the students formed societies which were inspired by two ideas--Union
+and Freedom: fiery speeches were made, songs were sung, and free
+expression was given to their distrust of the governments under which
+they lived. On the 18th of October, 1817, they held a grand Convention
+at the Wartburg--the castle near Eisenach, where Luther lay
+concealed,--and this event occasioned great alarm among the reactionary
+class. The students were very hostile to the influence of Russia, and
+many persons who were suspected of being her secret agents became
+specially obnoxious to them. One of the latter was the dramatic author,
+Kotzebue, who was assassinated in March, 1819, by a young student named
+Sand. There is not the least evidence that this deed was the result of a
+widespread conspiracy; but almost every reigning prince thereupon
+imagined that his life was in danger.
+
+A Congress of Ministers was held at Carlsbad the same summer, and the
+most despotic measures against the so-called "Revolution" were adopted.
+Freedom of the Press was abolished; a severe censorship enforced; the
+formation of societies among the students and turners was prohibited,
+the Universities were placed under the immediate supervision of
+government, and even Commissioners were appointed to hear what the
+Professors said in their lectures! Many of the best men in Germany,
+among them the old teacher, Jahn, and the poet Arndt, were deprived of
+their situations, and placed under a form of espionage. Hundreds of
+young men, who had perpetrated no single act of resistance, were thrown
+into prison for years, others forced to fly from the country, and every
+manifestation of interest in political subjects became an offence. The
+effort of the German States, now, was to counteract the popular rights,
+guaranteed by the Confederation, by establishing an arbitrary and savage
+police system; and there were few parts of the country where the people
+retained as much genuine liberty as they had enjoyed a hundred years
+before.
+
+[Sidenote: 1830. REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS.]
+
+The History of Germany, during the thirty years of peace which followed,
+is marked by very few events of importance. It was a season of gradual
+reaction on the part of the rulers, and of increasing impatience and
+enmity on the part of the people. Instead of becoming loving families,
+as the Holy Alliance designed, the States (except some of the little
+principalities) were divided into two hostile classes. There was
+material growth everywhere: the wounds left by war and foreign
+occupation were gradually healed; there was order, security for all who
+abstained from politics, and a comfortable repose for such as were
+indifferent to the future. But it was a sad and disheartening period for
+the men who were able to see clearly how Germany, with all the elements
+of a freer and stronger life existing in her people, was falling behind
+the political development of other countries.
+
+The three Days' Revolution of 1830, which placed Louis Philippe on the
+throne of France, was followed by popular uprisings in some parts of
+Germany. Prussia and Austria were too strong, and their people too well
+held in check, to be affected; but in Brunswick the despotic Duke, Karl,
+was deposed, Saxony and Hesse-Cassel were obliged to accept co-rulers
+(out of their reigning families), and the English Duke, Ernest Augustus,
+was made Viceroy of Hannover. These four States also adopted a
+constitutional form of government. The German Diet, as a matter of
+course, used what power it possessed to counteract these movements, but
+its influence was limited by its own laws of action. The hopes and
+aspirations of the people were kept alive, in spite of the system of
+repression, and some of the smaller States took advantage of their
+independence to introduce various measures of reform.
+
+[Sidenote: 1840.]
+
+As industry, commerce and travel increased, the existence of so many
+boundaries, with their custom-houses, taxes and other hindrances, became
+an unendurable burden. Bavaria and Würtemberg formed a customs union in
+1828, Prussia followed, and by 1836 all of Germany except Austria was
+united in the _Zollverein_ (Tariff Union), which was not only a great
+material advantage, but helped to inculcate the idea of a closer
+political union. On the other hand, however, the monarchical reaction
+against liberal government was stronger than ever. Ernest Augustus of
+Hannover arbitrarily overthrew the constitution he had accepted, and
+Ludwig I. of Bavaria, renouncing all his former professions, made his
+land a very nest of absolutism and Jesuitism. In Prussia, such men as
+Stein, Gneisenau and Wilhelm von Humboldt had long lost their influence,
+while others of less personal renown, but of similar political
+sentiments, were subjected to contemptible forms of persecution.
+
+In March, 1835, Francis II. of Austria died, and was succeeded by his
+son, Ferdinand I., a man of such weak intellect that he was in some
+respects idiotic. On the 7th of June, 1840, Frederick William III. of
+Prussia died, and was also succeeded by his son, Frederick William IV.,
+a man of great wit and intelligence, who had made himself popular as
+Crown-Prince, and whose accession the people hailed with joy, in the
+enthusiastic belief that better days were coming. The two dead monarchs,
+each of whom had reigned forty-three years, left behind them a better
+memory among their people than they actually deserved. They were both
+weak, unstable and narrow-minded; had they not been controlled by
+others, they would have ruined Germany; but they were alike of excellent
+personal character, amiable, and very kindly disposed towards their
+subjects so long as the latter were perfectly obedient and reverential.
+
+There was no change in the condition of Austria, for Metternich remained
+the real ruler, as before. In Prussia, a few unimportant concessions
+were made, an amnesty for political offences was declared, Alexander von
+Humboldt became the king's chosen associate, and much was done for
+science and art; but in their main hope of a liberal reorganization of
+the government, the people were bitterly deceived. Frederick William IV.
+took no steps towards the adoption of a Constitution; he made the
+censorship and the supervision of the police more severe; he interfered
+in the most arbitrary and bigoted manner in the system of religious
+instruction in the schools; and all his acts showed that his policy was
+to strengthen his throne by the support of the nobility and the civil
+service, without regard to the just claims of the people.
+
+[Sidenote: 1844. THE GERMAN-CATHOLIC MOVEMENT.]
+
+Thus, in spite of the external quiet and order, the political atmosphere
+gradually became more sultry and disturbed, all over Germany. In 1844, a
+Catholic priest named Ronge, disgusted with the miracles alleged to have
+been performed by the so-called "Holy Coat" (of the Saviour) at Treves,
+published addresses to the German People, which created a great
+excitement. He advocated the establishment of a German-Catholic Church,
+and found so many followers that the Protestant king of Prussia became
+alarmed, and all the influence of his government was exerted against the
+movement. It was asserted that the reform was taking a political and
+revolutionary character, because, under the weary system of repression
+which they endured, the people hailed any and every sign of mental and
+spiritual independence. Ronge's reform was checked at the very moment
+when it promised success, and the idea of forcible resistance to the
+government began to spread among all classes of the population.
+
+There were signs of impatience in all quarters; various local outbreaks
+occurred, and the aspects were so threatening that in February, 1847,
+Frederick William IV. endeavored to silence the growing opposition by
+ordering the formation of a Legislative Assembly. But the _provinces_
+were represented, not the people, and the measure only emboldened the
+latter to clamor for a direct representation. Thereupon, the king closed
+the Assembly, after a short session, and the attempt was probably
+productive of more harm than good. In most of the other German States,
+the situation was very similar: everywhere there were elements of
+opposition, all the more violent and dangerous, because they had been
+kept down with a strong hand for so many years.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+THE REVOLUTION OF 1848 AND ITS RESULTS.
+
+(1848--1861.)
+
+The Revolution of 1848. --Events in Berlin. --Alarm of the Diet. --The
+    Provisional Assembly. --First National Parliament. --Divisions
+    among the Members. --Revolt in Schleswig-Holstein. --Its End.
+    --Insurrection in Frankfort. --Condition of Austria. --Vienna
+    taken. --The War in Hungary. --Surrender of Görgey. --Uprising of
+    Lombardy and Venice. --Abdication of Ferdinand I. --Frederick
+    William IV. offered the Imperial Crown of Germany. --New Outbreaks.
+    --Dissolution of the Parliament. --Austria renews the old Diet.
+    --Despotic Reaction everywhere. --Evil Days. --Lessons of 1848.
+    --William I. becomes Regent in Prussia. --New Hopes. --Italian
+    Unity. --William I. King.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1848.]
+
+The sudden breaking out of the Revolution of February, 1848, in Paris,
+the flight of Louis Philippe and his family, and the proclamation of the
+Republic, acted in Germany like a spark dropped upon powder. All the
+disappointments of thirty years, the smouldering impatience and sense of
+outrage, the powerful aspiration for political freedom among the people,
+broke out in sudden flame. There was instantly an outcry for freedom of
+speech and of the press, the right of suffrage, and a constitutional
+form of government, in every State. Baden, where Struve and Hecker were
+already prominent as leaders of the opposition, took the lead: then, on
+the 13th of March the people of Vienna rose, and after a bloody fight
+with the troops compelled Metternich to give up his office as Minister,
+and seek safety in exile.
+
+In Berlin, Frederick William IV. yielded to the pressure on the 18th of
+March, but, either by accident or rashness, a fight was brought on
+between the soldiers and the people, and a number of the latter were
+slain. Their bodies, lifted on planks, with all the bloody wounds
+exposed, were carried before the royal palace and the king was compelled
+to come to the window and look upon them. All the demands of the
+revolutionary party were thereupon instantly granted. The next day
+Frederick William rode through the streets, preceded by the ancient
+Imperial banner of black, red and gold, swore to grant the rights which
+were demanded, and, with the concurrence of the other princes, to put
+himself at the head of a movement for German Unity. A proclamation was
+published which closed with the words: "From this day forward, Prussia
+becomes merged in Germany." The soldiers were removed from Berlin, and
+the popular excitement gradually subsided.
+
+[Sidenote: 1848. A NATIONAL PARLIAMENT CALLED.]
+
+Before these outbreaks occurred, the Diet at Frankfort had caught the
+alarm, and hastened to take a step which seemed to yield something to
+the general demand. On the 1st of March, it invited the separate States
+to send special delegates to Frankfort, empowered to draw up a new form
+of union for Germany. Four days afterwards, a meeting which included
+many of the prominent men of Southern Germany was held at Heidelberg,
+and it was decided to hold a Provisional Assembly at Frankfort, as a
+movement preliminary to the greater changes which were anticipated. This
+proposal received a hearty response: on the 31st of March quite a large
+and respectable body, from all the German States, came together in
+Frankfort. The demand of the party headed by Hecker that a Republic
+should be proclaimed, was rejected; but the principle of "the
+sovereignty of the people" was adopted, Schleswig and Holstein, which
+had risen in revolt against the Danish rule, were declared to be a part
+of Germany, and a Committee of Fifty was appointed, to coöperate with
+the old Diet in calling a National Parliament.
+
+There was great rejoicing in Germany over these measures. The people
+were full of hope and confidence; the men who were chosen as candidates
+and elected by suffrage, were almost without exception persons of
+character and intelligence, and when they came together, six hundred in
+number, and opened the first National Parliament of Germany, in the
+church of St. Paul, in Frankfort, on the 18th of May, 1848, there were
+few patriots who did not believe in a speedy and complete regeneration
+of their country. In the meantime, however, Hecker and Struve, who had
+organized a great number of republican clubs throughout Baden, rose in
+arms against the government. After maintaining themselves for two weeks
+in Freiburg and the Black Forest, they were defeated and forced to take
+refuge in Switzerland. Hecker went to America, and Struve, making a
+second attempt shortly afterwards, was taken prisoner.
+
+[Sidenote: 1848.]
+
+The lack of practical political experience among the members soon
+disturbed the Parliament. The most of them were governed by theories,
+and insisted on carrying out certain principles, instead of trying to
+adapt them to the existing circumstances. With all their honesty and
+genuine patriotism, they relied too much on the sudden enthusiasm of the
+people, and undervalued the actual strength of the governing classes,
+because the latter had so easily yielded to the first surprise. The
+republican party was in a decided minority; and the remainder soon
+became divided between the "Small-Germans," who favored the union of all
+the States, except Austria, under a constitutional monarchy, and the
+"Great-Germans," who insisted that Austria should be included. After a
+great deal of discussion, the former Diet was declared abolished on the
+28th of June; a Provisional Central Government was appointed, and the
+Archduke John of Austria--an amiable, popular and inoffensive old
+man--was elected "Vicar-General of the Empire." This action was accepted
+by all the States except Austria and Prussia, which delayed to commit
+themselves until they were strong enough to oppose the whole scheme.
+
+The history of 1848 is divided into so many detached episodes, that it
+cannot be given in a connected form. The revolt which broke out in
+Schleswig-Holstein early in March, was supported by enthusiastic German
+volunteers, and then by a Prussian army, which drove the Danes back into
+Jutland. Great rejoicing was occasioned by the destruction of the Danish
+frigate _Christian VIII._ and the capture of the _Gefion_, at
+Eckernförde, by a battery commanded by Duke Ernest II. of Coburg-Gotha.
+But England and Russia threatened armed intervention; Prussia was forced
+to suspend hostilities and make a truce with Denmark, on terms which
+looked very much like an abandonment of the cause of Schleswig-Holstein.
+
+This action was accepted by a majority of the Parliament at
+Frankfort,--a course which aroused the deepest indignation of the
+democratic minority and their sympathizers everywhere throughout
+Germany. On the 18th of September barricades were thrown up in the
+streets of Frankfort, and an armed mob stormed the church where the
+Parliament was in session, but was driven back by Prussian and Hessian
+troops. Two members, General Auerswald and Prince Lichnowsky, were
+barbarously murdered in attempting to escape from the city. This lawless
+and bloody event was a great damage to the national cause: the two
+leading States, Prussia and Austria, instantly adopted a sterner policy,
+and there were soon signs of a general reaction against the Revolution.
+
+[Sidenote: 1849. END OF THE HUNGARIAN WAR.]
+
+The condition of Austria, at this time, was very critical. The uprising
+in Vienna had been followed by powerful and successful rebellions in
+Lombardy, Hungary and Bohemia, and the Empire of the Hapsburgs seemed to
+be on the point of dissolution. The struggle was confused and made more
+bitter by the hostility of the different nationalities: the Croatians,
+at the call of the Emperor, rose against the Hungarians, and then the
+Germans, in the Legislative Assembly held at Vienna, accused the
+government of being guided by Slavonic influences. Another furious
+outbreak occurred, Count Latour, the former minister of war, was hung to
+a lamp-post, and the city was again in the hands of the revolutionists.
+Kossuth, who had become all-powerful in Hungary, had already raised an
+army, to be employed in conquering the independence of his country, and
+he now marched rapidly towards Vienna, which was threatened by the
+Austrian general Windischgrätz. Almost within sight of the city, he was
+defeated by Jellachich, the Ban of Croatia: the latter joined the
+Austrians, and after a furious bombardment, Vienna was taken by storm.
+Messenhauser, the commander of the insurgents, and Robert Blum, a member
+of the National Parliament, were afterwards shot by order of
+Windischgrätz, who crushed out all resistance by the most severe and
+inhuman measures.
+
+Hungary, nevertheless, was already practically independent, and Kossuth
+stood at the head of the government. The movement was eagerly supported
+by the people: an army of 100,000 men was raised, including cavalry
+which could hardly be equalled in Europe. Kossuth was supported by
+Görgey, and the Polish generals, Bern and Dembinski; and although the
+Hungarians at first fell back before Windischgrätz, who marched against
+them in December, they gained a series of splendid victories in the
+spring of 1849, and their success seemed assured. Austria was forced to
+call upon Russia for help, and the Emperor Nicholas responded by
+sending an army of 140,000 men. Kossuth vainly hoped for the
+intervention of England and France in favor of Hungary: up to the end of
+May the patriots were still victorious, then followed defeats in the
+field and confusion in the councils. The Hungarian government and a
+large part of the army fell back to Arad, where, on the 11th of August,
+Kossuth transferred his dictatorship to Görgey, and the latter, two days
+afterwards, surrendered at Vilagos, with about 25,000 men, to the
+Russian general Rüdiger.
+
+[Sidenote: 1849.]
+
+This surrender caused Görgey's name to be execrated in Hungary, and by
+all who sympathized with the Hungarian cause throughout the world. It
+was made, however, with the knowledge of Kossuth, who had transferred
+his power to the former for that purpose, while he, with Bem, Dembinski
+and a few other followers, escaped into Turkey. In fact, further
+resistance would have been madness, for Haynau, who had succeeded to the
+command of the Austrian forces, was everywhere successful in front, and
+the Russians were in the rear. The first judgment of the world upon
+Görgey's act was therefore unjust. The fortress of Comorn, on the
+Danube, was the last post occupied by the Hungarians. It surrendered,
+after an obstinate siege, to Haynau, who then perpetrated such
+barbarities that his name became infamous in all countries.
+
+In Italy, the Revolution broke out in March, 1848. Marshal Radetzky, the
+Austrian Governor in Milan, was driven out of the city: the Lombards,
+supported by the Sardinians under their king, Charles Albert, drove him
+to Verona: Venice had also risen, and nearly all Northern Italy was thus
+freed from the Austrian yoke. In the course of the summer, however,
+Radetzky achieved some successes, and thereupon concluded an armistice
+with Sardinia, which left him free to undertake the siege of Venice. On
+the 12th of March, 1849, Charles Albert resumed the war, and on the 23d,
+in the battle of Novara, was so ruinously defeated that he abdicated the
+throne of Sardinia in favor of his son, Victor Emanuel. The latter, on
+leaving the field, shook his sword at the advancing Austrians, and cried
+out: "There shall yet be an Italy!"--but he was compelled at the time to
+make peace on the best terms he could obtain. In August, Venice also
+surrendered, after a heroic defence, and Austria was again supreme in
+Italy as in Hungary.
+
+[Sidenote: 1850. DISSOLUTION OF THE PARLIAMENT.]
+
+During this time, the National Parliament in Frankfort had been
+struggling against the difficulties of its situation. The democratic
+movement was almost suppressed, and there was an earnest effort to
+effect a German Union; but this was impossible without the concurrence
+of either Austria or Prussia, and the rivalry of the two gave rise to
+constant jealousies and impediments. On the 2d of December, 1848, the
+Viennese Ministry persuaded the idiotic Emperor Ferdinand to abdicate,
+and placed his nephew, Francis Joseph, a youth of eighteen, upon the
+throne. Every change of the kind begets new hopes, and makes a
+government temporarily popular; so this was a gain for Austria.
+Nevertheless, the "Small-German" party finally triumphed in the
+Parliament. On the 28th of March, 1849, Frederick Wilhelm IV. of Germany
+was elected "Hereditary Emperor of Germany." All the small States
+accepted the choice: Bavaria, Würtemberg, Saxony and Hannover refused;
+Austria protested, and the king himself, after hesitating for a week,
+declined.
+
+This was a great blow to the hopes of the national party. It was
+immediately followed by fierce popular outbreaks in Dresden, Würtemberg
+and Baden: in the last of these States the Grand-Duke was driven away,
+and a provisional government instituted. Prussia sent troops to suppress
+the revolt, and a war on a small scale was carried on during the months
+of June and July, when the republican forces yielded to superior power.
+This was the end of armed resistance: the governments had recovered from
+their panic, the French Republic, under the Prince-President Louis
+Napoleon, was preparing for monarchy, Italy and Hungary were prostrate,
+and nothing was left for the earnest and devoted German patriots, but to
+save what rights they could from the wreck of their labors.
+
+The Parliament gradually dissolved, by the recall of some of its
+members, and the withdrawal of others. Only the democratic minority
+remained, and sought to keep up its existence by removing to Stuttgart;
+but, once there, it was soon forcibly dispersed. Prussia next endeavored
+to create a German Confederation, based on representation: Saxony and
+Hannover at first joined, a convention of the members of the
+"Small-German" party, held at Gotha, accepted the plan, and then the
+small States united, while Saxony and Hannover withdrew and allied
+themselves with Bavaria and Würtemberg in a counter-union. The adherents
+of the former plan met in Berlin in 1850: on the 1st of September,
+Austria declared the old Diet opened at Frankfort, under her presidency,
+and twelve States hastened to obey her call. The hostility between the
+two parties so increased that for a time war seemed to be inevitable:
+Austrian troops invaded Hesse-Cassel, an army was collected in Bohemia,
+while Prussia, relying on the help of Russia, was quite unprepared. Then
+Frederick William IV. yielded: Prussia submitted to Austria in all
+points, and on the 15th of May, 1851, the Diet was restored in
+Frankfort, with a vague promise that its Constitution should be amended.
+
+[Sidenote: 1852.]
+
+Thus, after an interruption of three years, the old machine was put upon
+the old track, and a strong and united Germany seemed as far off as
+ever. A dismal period of reaction began. Louis Napoleon's violent
+assumption of power in December, 1851, was welcomed by the German
+rulers, all of whom greeted the new Emperor as "brother"; a Congress
+held in London in May, 1852, confirmed Denmark in the possession of
+Schleswig and Holstein; Austria abolished her Legislative Assembly, in
+utter disregard of the provisions of 1815, upon which the Diet was
+based; Hesse-Cassel, with the consent of Austria, Prussia and the Diet,
+overthrew the constitution which had protected the people for twenty
+years; and even Prussia, where an arbitrary policy was no longer
+possible, gradually suppressed the more liberal features of the
+government. Worse than this, the religious liberty which Germany had so
+long enjoyed, was insidiously assailed. Austria, Bavaria and Würtemberg
+made "Concordats" with the Pope, which gave the control of schools and
+marriages among the people into the hands of the priests. Frederick
+William IV. did his best to acquire the same despotic power for the
+Protestant Church in Prussia, and thereby assisted the designs of the
+Church of Rome, more than most of the Catholic rulers.
+
+Placed between the disguised despotism of Napoleon III. and the open and
+arrogant despotism of Nicholas of Russia, Germany, for a time, seemed to
+be destined to a similar fate. The result of the Crimean war, and the
+liberal policy inaugurated by Alexander II. in Russia, damped the hopes
+of the German absolutists, but failed to teach them wisdom. Prussia was
+practically governed by the interests of a class of nobles, whose absurd
+pride was only equalled by their ignorance of the age in which they
+lived. With all his wit and talent, Frederick William IV. was utterly
+blind to his position, and the longer he reigned the more he made the
+name of Prussia hated throughout the rest of Germany.
+
+[Sidenote: 1857. WILLIAM I. REGENT OF PRUSSIA.]
+
+But the fruits of the national movement in 1848 and 1849 were not lost.
+The earnest efforts of those two years, the practical experience of
+political matters acquired by the liberal party, were an immense gain to
+the people. In every State there was a strong body of intelligent men,
+who resisted the reaction by all the legal means left them, and who,
+although discouraged, were still hopeful of success. The increase of
+general intelligence among the people, the growth of an independent
+press, the extension of railroads which made the old system of passports
+and police supervision impossible,--all these were powerful agencies of
+progress; but only a few rulers of the smaller States saw this truth,
+and favored the liberal side.
+
+In October, 1857, Frederick William IV. was stricken with apoplexy, and
+his brother, Prince William, began to rule in his name. The latter, then
+sixty years old, had grown up without the least prospect that he would
+ever wear the crown: although he possessed no brilliant intellectual
+qualities, he was shrewd, clear-sighted, and honest, and after a year's
+experience of the policy which governed Prussia, he refused to rule
+longer unless the whole power were placed in his hands. As soon as he
+was made Prince Regent, he dismissed the feudalist Ministry of his
+brother and established a new and more liberal government. The hopes of
+the German people instantly revived: Bavaria was compelled to follow the
+example of Prussia, the reaction against the national movement of 1848
+was interrupted everywhere, and the political horizon suddenly began to
+grow brighter.
+
+The desire of the people for a closer national union was so intense,
+that when, in June, 1859, Austria was defeated at Magenta and Solferino,
+a cry ran through Germany: "The Rhine must be defended on the Mincio!"
+and the demand for an alliance with Austria against France became so
+earnest and general, that Prussia would certainly have yielded to it, if
+Napoleon III. had not forestalled the movement by concluding an instant
+peace with Francis Joseph. When, in 1860, all Italy rose, and the
+dilapidated thrones of the petty rulers fell to pieces, as the people
+united under Victor Emanuel, the Germans saw how hasty and mistaken had
+been their excitement of the year before. The interests of the Italians
+were identical with theirs, and the success of the former filled them
+with fresh hope and courage.
+
+[Sidenote: 1861.]
+
+Austria, after her defeat and the overwhelming success of the popular
+uprising in Italy, seemed to perceive the necessity of conceding more to
+her own subjects. She made some attempts to introduce a restricted form
+of constitutional government, which excited without satisfying the
+people. Prussia continued to advance slowly in the right direction,
+regaining her lost influence over the active and intelligent liberal
+party throughout Germany. On the 2d of January, 1861, Frederick William
+IV. died, and William I. became King. From this date a new history
+begins.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+THE STRUGGLE WITH AUSTRIA; THE NORTH-GERMAN UNION.
+
+(1861--1870.)
+
+Reorganization of the Prussian Army. --Movements for a new Union.
+    --Reaction in Prussia. --Bismarck appointed Minister. --His
+    Unpopularity. --Attempt of Francis Joseph of Austria. --War in
+    Schleswig-Holstein. --Quarrel between Prussia and Austria.
+    --Alliances of Austria with the smaller States. --The Diet.
+    --Prussia declares War. --Hannover, Hesse and Saxony invaded.
+    --Battle of Langensalza. --March into Bohemia. --Preliminary
+    Victories. --Halt in Gitchin. --Battle of Königgrätz. --Prussian
+    Advance to the Danube. --Peace of Nikolsburg. --Bismarck's Plan.
+    --Change in popular Sentiment. --Prussian Annexations. --Foundation
+    of the North-German Union. --The Luxemburg Affair.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1861. WILLIAM I., KING.]
+
+The first important measure which the government of William I. adopted
+was a thorough reorganization of the army. Since this could not be
+effected without an increased expense for the present and a prospect of
+still greater burdens in the future, the Legislative Assembly of Prussia
+refused to grant the appropriation demanded. The plan was to increase
+the time of service for the reserve forces, to diminish that of the
+militia, and enforce a sufficient amount of military training upon the
+whole male population, without regard to class or profession. At the
+same time a Convention of the smaller States was held in Würzburg, for
+the purpose of drawing up a new plan of union, in place of the old Diet,
+the provisions of which had been violated so often that its existence
+was becoming a mere farce.
+
+Prussia proposed a closer military union under her own direction, and
+this was accepted by Baden, Saxe-Weimar and Coburg-Gotha: the other
+States were still swayed by the influence of Austria. The political
+situation became more and more disturbed; William I. dismissed his
+liberal ministry and appointed noted reactionists, who carried out his
+plan for reorganizing the army in defiance of the Assembly. Finally, in
+September, 1862, Baron Otto von Bismarck-Schönhausen, who had been
+Prussian ambassador in St. Petersburg and Paris, was placed at the head
+of the Government. This remarkable man, who was born in 1813, in
+Brandenburg, was already known as a thorough conservative, and
+considered to be one of the most dangerous enemies of the liberal and
+national party. But he had represented Prussia in the Diet at Frankfort
+in 1851, he understood the policy of Austria and the general political
+situation better than any other statesman in Germany, and his course,
+from the first day of receiving power, was as daring as it was skilfully
+planned.
+
+[Sidenote: 1863.]
+
+Even Metternich was not so heartily hated as Bismarck, when the latter
+continued the policy already adopted, of disregarding the will of the
+people, as expressed by the Prussian Assembly. Every new election for
+this body only increased the strength of the opposition, and with it the
+unpopularity of Prussia among the smaller States. The appropriations for
+the army were steadfastly refused, yet the government took the money and
+went on with the work of reorganization. Austria endeavored to profit by
+the confusion which ensued: after having privately consulted the other
+rulers, Francis Joseph summoned a Congress of German Princes to meet in
+Frankfort, in August, 1863, in order to accept an "Act of Reform," which
+substituted an Assembly of Delegates in place of the old Diet, but
+retained the presidency of Austria. Prussia refused to attend, declaring
+that the first step towards reform must be a Parliament elected by the
+people, and the scheme failed so completely that in another month
+nothing more was heard of it.
+
+Soon afterwards, Frederick VII. of Denmark died, and his successor,
+Christian IX., Prince of Glücksburg, accepted a constitution which
+detached Schleswig from Holstein and incorporated it with Denmark. This
+was in violation of the treaty made in London in 1852, and gave Germany
+a pretext for interference. On the 7th of December, 1863, the Diet
+decided to take armed possession of the Duchies: Austria and Prussia
+united in January, 1864, and sent a combined army of 43,000 men under
+Prince Frederick Karl and Marshal Gablenz against Denmark. After several
+slight engagements the Danes abandoned the "Dannewerk"--the fortified
+line across the Peninsula,--and took up a strong position at Düppel.
+Here their entrenchments were stormed and carried by the Prussians, on
+the 18th of April: the Austrians had also been victorious at Oeversee,
+and the Danes were everywhere driven back. England, France and Russia
+interfered, an armistice was declared, and an attempt made to settle the
+question. The negotiations, which were carried on in London for that
+purpose, failed; hostilities were resumed, and by the 1st of August,
+Denmark was forced to sue for peace.
+
+[Sidenote: 1866. AUSTRIA AND PRUSSIA AT WAR.]
+
+On the 30th of October, the war was ended by the relinquishment of the
+Duchies to Prussia and Austria, not to Germany. The Prince of
+Augustenburg, however, who belonged to the ducal family of Holstein,
+claimed the territory as being his by right of descent, and took up his
+residence at Kiel, bringing all the apparatus of a little State
+Government, ready made, along with him. Prussia demanded the acceptance
+of her military system, the occupancy of the forts, and the harbor of
+Kiel for naval purposes. The Duke, encouraged by Austria, refused: a
+diplomatic quarrel ensued, which lasted until the 1st of August, 1865,
+when William I. met Francis Joseph at Gastein, a watering-place in the
+Austrian Alps, and both agreed on a division, Prussia to govern in
+Schleswig and Austria in Holstein.
+
+Thus far, the course of the two powers in the matter had made them
+equally unpopular throughout the rest of Germany. Austria had quite lost
+her temporary advantage over Prussia, in this respect, and she now
+endeavored to regain it by favoring the claims of the Duke of
+Augustenburg in Holstein. An angry correspondence followed, and early in
+1866 Austria began to prepare for war, not only at home, but by secretly
+canvassing for alliances among the smaller States. Neither she, nor the
+German people, understood how her policy was aiding the deep-laid plans
+of Bismarck. The latter had been elevated to the rank of Count, he had
+dared to assert that the German question could never be settled without
+the use of "blood and steel" (which was generally interpreted as
+signifying the most brutal despotism), and an attempt to assassinate him
+had been made in the streets of Berlin. When, therefore, Austria
+demanded of the Diet that the military force of the other States should
+be called into the field against Prussia on account of the invasion of
+Holstein by Prussian troops, only Oldenburg, Mecklenburg, the little
+Saxon principalities and the three free cities of the North voted
+against the measure!
+
+[Sidenote: 1866.]
+
+This vote, which was taken on the 14th of June, 1866, was the last act
+of the German Diet. Prussia instantly took the ground that it was a
+declaration of war, and set in motion all the agencies which had been
+quietly preparing for three or four years. The German people were
+stunned by the suddenness with which the crisis had been brought upon
+them. The cause of the trouble was so slight, so needlessly provoked,
+that the war seemed criminal: it was looked upon as the last desperate
+resource of the absolutist, Bismarck, who, finding the Prussian Assembly
+still five to one against him, had adopted this measure to recover by
+force his lost position. Few believed that Prussia, with nineteen
+millions of inhabitants, could be victorious over Austria and her
+allies, representing fifty millions, unless after a long and terrible
+struggle.
+
+Prussia, however, had secured an ally which, although not fortunate in
+the war, kept a large Austrian army employed. This was Italy, which
+eagerly accepted the alliance in April, and began to prepare for the
+struggle. On the other hand, there was every probability that France
+would interfere in favor of Austria. In this emergency, the Prussian
+Government seemed transformed: it stood like a man aroused and fully
+alive, with every sense quickened and every muscle and sinew ready for
+action. The 14th of June brought the declaration of war: on the 15th,
+Saxony, Hannover, Hesse-Cassel and Nassau were called upon to remain
+neutral, and allowed twelve hours to decide. As no answer came, a
+Prussian army from Holstein took possession of Hannover on the 17th,
+another from the Rhine entered Cassel on the 19th, and on the latter day
+Leipzig and Dresden were occupied by a third. So complete had been the
+preparations that a temporary railroad bridge was made, in advance, to
+take the place of one between Berlin and Dresden, which it was evident
+the Saxons would destroy.
+
+The king of Hannover, with 18,000 men, marched southward to join the
+Bavarians, but was so slow in his movements that he did not reach
+Langensalza (fifteen miles north of Gotha) until the 23d of June.
+Rejecting an offer from Prussia, a force of about 9,000 men was sent to
+hold him in check. A fierce battle was fought on the 27th, in which the
+Hannoverians were victorious, but, during their delay of a single day,
+Prussia had pushed on new troops with such rapidity that they were
+immediately afterwards compelled to surrender. The soldiers were sent
+home, and the king, George V., betook himself to Vienna.
+
+[Sidenote: 1866. BATTLE OF KÖNIGGRÄTZ.]
+
+All Saxony being occupied, the march upon Austria followed. There were
+three Prussian armies in the field: the first, under Prince Frederick
+Karl, advanced in a south-eastern direction from Saxony, the second,
+under the Crown-Prince, Frederick William, from Silesia, and the third,
+under General Herwarth von Bittenfeld, followed the course of the Elbe.
+The entire force was 260,000 men, with 790 pieces of artillery. The
+Austrian army, now hastening towards the frontier, was about equal in
+numbers, and commanded by General Benedek. Count Clam-Gallas, with
+60,000 men, was sent forward to meet Frederick Karl, but was defeated in
+four successive small engagements, from the 27th to the 29th of June,
+and forced to fall back upon Benedek's main army, while Frederick Karl
+and Herwarth, whose armies were united in the last of the four battles,
+at Gitchin, remained there to await the arrival of the Crown-Prince.
+
+The latter's task had been more difficult. On crossing the frontier, he
+was faced by the greater part of Benedek's army, and his first battle,
+on the 27th, at Trautenau, was a defeat. A second battle at the same
+place, the next day, resulted in a brilliant victory, after which he
+advanced, achieving further successes at Nachod and Skalitz, and on the
+30th of June reached Königinhof, a short distance from Gitchin. King
+William, Bismarck, Moltke and Roon arrived at the latter place on the 2d
+of July, and it was decided to meet Benedek, who with Clam-Gallas was
+awaiting battle near Königgrätz, without further delay. The movement was
+hastened by indications that Benedek meant to commence the attack before
+the army of the Crown-Prince could reach the field.
+
+On the 3d of July the great battle of Königgrätz was fought. Both in its
+character and its results, it was very much like that of Waterloo.
+Benedek occupied a strong position on a range of low hills beyond the
+little river Bistritz, with the village of Sadowa as his centre. The
+army of Frederick Karl formed the Prussian centre, and that of Herwarth
+the right wing: their position only differed from that of Wellington, at
+Waterloo, in the circumstance that they must attack instead of resist,
+and keep the whole Austrian army engaged until the Crown-Prince, like
+Blücher, should arrive from the left and strike Benedek on the right
+flank. The battle began at eight in the morning, and raged with the
+greatest fury for six hours: again and again the Prussians hurled
+themselves on the Austrian centre, only to be repulsed with heavier
+losses. Herwarth, on the right, gained a little advantage; but the
+Austrian rifled cannon prevented a further advance. Violent rains and
+marshy soil delayed the Crown-Prince, as in Blücher's case at Waterloo:
+the fate of the day was very doubtful until two o'clock in the
+afternoon, when the smoke of cannon was seen in the distance, on the
+Austrian right. The army of the Crown-Prince had arrived! Then all the
+Prussian reserves were brought up; an advance was made along the whole
+line: the Austrian right and left were broken, the centre gave way, and
+in the midst of a thunderstorm the retreat became a headlong flight.
+Towards evening, when the sun broke out, the Prussians saw Königgrätz
+before them: the King and Crown-Prince met on the battle-field, and the
+army struck up the same old choral which the troops of Frederick the
+Great had sung on the field of Leuthen.
+
+[Sidenote: 1866.]
+
+The next day the news came that Austria had made over Venetia to France.
+This seemed like a direct bid for alliance, and the need of rapid action
+was greater than ever. Within two weeks the Prussians had reached the
+Danube, and Vienna was an easy prey. In the meantime, the Bavarians and
+other allies of Austria had been driven beyond the river Main, Frankfort
+was in the hands of the Prussians, and a struggle, which could only have
+ended in the defeat of the former, commenced at Würzburg. Then Austria
+gave way: an armistice, embracing the preliminaries of peace, was
+concluded at Nikolsburg on the 27th of July, and the SEVEN WEEKS' WAR
+came to an end. The treaty of peace, which was signed at Prague on the
+23d of August, placed Austria in the background and gave the leadership
+of Germany to Prussia.
+
+It was now seen that the possession of Schleswig-Holstein was not the
+main object of the war. When Austria was compelled to recognize the
+formation of a North-German Confederation, which excluded her and her
+southern allies, but left the latter free to treat separately with the
+new power, the extent of Bismarck's plans became evident. "Blood and
+steel" had been used, but only to destroy the old constitution of
+Germany, and render possible a firmer national Union, the guiding
+influence of which was to be Prussian and Protestant, instead of
+Austrian and Catholic.
+
+[Sidenote: 1867. THE NORTH-GERMAN UNION.]
+
+An overwhelming revulsion of feeling took place. The proud,
+conservative, feudal party sank almost out of sight, in the enthusiastic
+support which the nationals and liberals gave to William I. and
+Bismarck. It is not likely that the latter had changed in character:
+personally, his haughty aristocratic impulses were no doubt as strong as
+ever; but, as a statesman, he had learned the great and permanent
+strength of the opposition, and clearly saw what immense advantages
+Prussia would acquire by a liberal policy. The German people, in their
+indescribable relief from the anxieties of the past four years--in their
+gratitude for victory and the dawn of a better future--soon came to
+believe that he had always been on their side. Before the year 1866 came
+to an end, the Prussian Assembly accepted all the past acts of the
+Government which it had resisted, and complete harmony was
+reëstablished.
+
+The annexation of Hannover, Hesse-Cassel, Nassau, Schleswig-Holstein and
+the City of Frankfort added nearly 5,000,000 more to the population of
+Prussia. The Constitution of the "North-German Union," as the new
+Confederation was called, was submitted to the other States in December,
+and accepted by all on the 9th of February, 1867. Its parliament,
+elected by the people, met in Berlin immediately afterwards to discuss
+the articles of union, which were finally adopted on the 16th of April,
+when the new Power commenced its existence. It included all the German
+States except Bavaria, Würtemberg and Baden, twenty-two in number, and
+comprising a population of more than thirty millions, united under one
+military, postal, diplomatic and financial system, like the States of
+the American Union. The king of Prussia was President of the whole, and
+Bismarck was elected Chancellor. About the same time Bavaria, Würtemberg
+and Baden entered into a secret offensive and defensive alliance with
+Prussia, and the policy of their governments, thenceforth, was so
+conciliatory towards the North-German Union, that the people almost
+instantly forgot the hostility created by the war.
+
+[Sidenote: 1867.]
+
+In the spring of 1867, Napoleon III. took advantage of the circumstance
+that Luxemburg was practically detached from Germany by the downfall of
+the old Diet, and offered to buy it of Holland. The agreement was nearly
+concluded, when Bismarck in the name of the North-German Union, made
+such an energetic protest that the negotiations were suspended. A
+conference of the European Powers in London, in May, adjudged Luxemburg
+to Holland, satisfying neither France nor Germany; but Bismarck's
+boldness and firmness gave immediate authority to the new Union. The
+people, at last, felt that they had a living, acting Government, not a
+mere conglomeration of empty forms, as hitherto.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+
+THE WAR WITH FRANCE, AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE.
+
+(1870--1871.)
+
+Changes in Austria. --Rise of Prussia. --Irritation of the French.
+    --Napoleon III.'s Decline --War demanded. --The Pretext of the
+    Spanish Throne. --Leopold of Hohenzollern. --The French Ambassador
+    at Ems. --France declares War. --Excitement of the People.
+    --Attitude of Germany. --Three Armies in the Field. --Battle of
+    Wörth. --Advance upon Metz. --Battles of Mars-la-Tour and
+    Gravelotte. --German Residents expelled from France. --Mac Mahon's
+    March northwards. --Fighting on the Meuse. --Battle of Sedan.
+    --Surrender of Napoleon III. and the Army. --Republic in France.
+    --Hopes of the French People. --Surrenders of Toul. Strasburg and
+    Metz. --Siege of Paris. --Defeat of the French Armies. --Battles of
+    Le Mans. --Bourbaki's Defeat and Flight into Switzerland.
+    --Surrender of Paris. --Peace. --Losses of France. --The German
+    Empire proclaimed. --William I. Emperor.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1869. CHANGES IN AUSTRIA.]
+
+The experience of the next three years showed how completely the new
+order of things was accepted by the great majority of the German people.
+Even in Austria, the defeat at Königgrätz and the loss of Venetia were
+welcomed by the Hungarians and Slavonians, and hardly regretted by the
+German population, since it was evident that the Imperial Government
+must give up its absolutist policy or cease to exist. In fact, the
+former Ministry was immediately dismissed: Count Beust, a Saxon and a
+Protestant, was called to Vienna, and a series of reforms was
+inaugurated which did not terminate until the Hungarians had won all
+they demanded in 1848, and the Germans and Bohemians enjoyed full as
+much liberty as the Prussians.
+
+The Seven Weeks' War of 1866, in fact, was a phenomenon in history; no
+nation ever acquired so much fame and influence in so short a time, as
+Prussia. The relation of the king, and especially of the statesman who
+guided him, Count Bismarck, towards the rest of Germany, was suddenly
+and completely changed. Napoleon III. was compelled to transfer Venetia
+to Italy, and thus his declaration in 1859 that "Italy should be free,
+from the Alps to the Adriatic," was made good,--but not by France. While
+the rest of Europe accepted the changes in Germany with equanimity, if
+not with approbation, the vain and sensitive people of France felt
+themselves deeply humiliated. Thus far, the policy of Napoleon III. had
+seemed to preserve the supremacy of France in European politics. He had
+overawed England, defeated Russia, and treated Italy as a magnanimous
+patron. But the best strength of Germany was now united under a new
+Constitution, after a war which made the achievements at Magenta,
+Solferino and in the Crimea seem tame. The ostentatious designs of
+France in Mexico came also to a tragic end in 1867, and her disgraceful
+failure there only served to make the success of Prussia, by contrast,
+more conspicuous.
+
+[Sidenote: 1869.]
+
+The opposition to Napoleon III. in the French Assembly made use of these
+facts to increase its power. His own success had been due to good luck
+rather than to superior ability: he was now more than sixty years old,
+he had become cautious and wavering in his policy, and he undoubtedly
+saw how much would be risked in provoking a war with the North-German
+Union; but the temper of the French people left him no alternative. He
+had certainly meant to interfere in 1866, had not the marvellous
+rapidity of Prussia prevented it. That France had no shadow of right to
+interfere, was all the same to his people: they held him responsible for
+the creation of a new political Germany, which was apparently nearly as
+strong as France, and that was a thing not to be endured. He yielded to
+the popular excitement, and only waited for a pretext which might
+justify him before the world in declaring war.
+
+Such a pretext came in 1870. The Spaniards had expelled their Bourbon
+Queen, Isabella, in 1868, and were looking about for a new monarch from
+some other royal house. Their choice fell upon Prince Leopold of
+Hohenzollern, a distant relation of William I. of Prussia, but also
+nearly connected with the Bonaparte family through his wife, who was a
+daughter of the Grand-Duchess Stephanie Beauharnais. On the 6th of July,
+Napoleon's minister, the Duke de Gramont, declared to the French
+Assembly that this choice would never be tolerated by France. The French
+ambassador in Prussia, Benedetti, was ordered to demand of King William
+that he should prohibit Prince Leopold from accepting the offer. The
+king answered that he could not forbid what he had never advised; but,
+immediately afterwards (on the 12th of July), Prince Leopold voluntarily
+declined, and all cause of trouble seemed to be removed.
+
+[Sidenote: 1870. FRANCE INSISTS ON WAR.]
+
+The French people, however, were insanely bent upon war. The excitement
+was so great, and so urgently fostered by the Empress Eugenie, the Duke
+de Gramont, and the army, that Napoleon III. again yielded. A dispatch
+was sent to Benedetti: "Be rough to the king!" The ambassador, who was
+at the baths of Ems, where William I. was also staying, sought the
+latter on the public promenade and abruptly demanded that he should give
+France a guarantee that no member of the house of Hohenzollern should
+ever accept the throne of Spain. The ambassador's manner, even more than
+his demand, was insulting: the king turned upon his heel, and left him
+standing. This was on the 13th of July: on the 15th the king returned to
+Berlin, and on the 19th France formally declared war.
+
+It was universally believed that every possible preparation had been
+made for this step. In fact, Marshal Le Boeuf assured Napoleon III.
+that the army was "more than ready," and an immediate French advance to
+the Rhine was anticipated throughout Europe. Napoleon relied upon
+detaching the Southern German States from the Union, upon revolts in
+Hesse and Hannover, and finally, upon alliances with Austria and Italy.
+The French people were wild with excitement, which took the form of
+rejoicing: there was a general cry that Napoleon I.'s birthday, the 15th
+of August, must be celebrated in Berlin. But the German people, North
+and South, rose as one man: for the first time in her history, Germany
+became one compact, _national_ power. Bavarian and Hannoverian, Prussian
+and Hessian, Saxon and Westphalian joined hands and stood side by side.
+The temper of the people was solemn, but inflexibly firm: they did not
+boast of coming victory, but every one was resolved to die rather than
+see Germany again overrun by the French.
+
+This time there were no alliances: it was simply Germany on one side and
+France on the other. The greatest military genius of our day, Moltke,
+had foreseen the war, no less than Bismarck, and was equally prepared.
+The designs of France lay clear, and the only question was to check
+them in their very commencement. In eleven days, Germany had 450,000
+soldiers, organized in three armies, on the way, and the French had not
+yet crossed the frontier! Further, there was a German reserve force of
+112,000, while France had but 310,000, all told, in the field. By the 2d
+of August, on which day King William reached Mayence, three German
+armies (General Steinmetz on the North with 61,000 men, Prince Frederick
+Karl in the centre with 206,000, and the Crown-Prince Frederick William
+on the South with 180,000) stretched from Treves to Landau, and the line
+of the Rhine was already safe. On the same day, Napoleon III. and his
+young son accompanied General Frossard, with 25,000 men, in an attack
+upon the unfortified frontier town of Saarbrück, which was defended by
+only 1800 Uhlans (cavalry). The capture of this little place was
+telegraphed to Paris, and received with the wildest rejoicings; but it
+was the only instance during the war when French troops stood upon
+German soil--unless as prisoners.
+
+[Sidenote: 1870.]
+
+On the 4th the army of the Crown-Prince crossed the French frontier and
+defeated Marshal Mac Mahon's right wing at Weissenburg. The old castle
+was stormed and taken by the Bavarians, and the French repulsed, after a
+loss of about 1,000 on each side. Mac Mahon concentrated his whole force
+and occupied a strong position near the village of Wörth, where he was
+again attacked on the 6th. The battle lasted thirteen hours and was
+fiercely contested: the Germans lost 10,000 killed and wounded, the
+French 8,000, and 6,000 prisoners; but when night came Mac Mahon's
+defeat turned into a panic. Part of his army fled towards the Vosges
+mountains, part towards Strasburg, and nearly all Alsatia was open to
+the victorious Germans. On the very same day, the army of Steinmetz
+stormed the heights of Spicheren near Saarbrück, and won a splendid
+victory. This was followed by an immediate advance across the frontier
+at Forbach, and the capture of a great amount of supplies.
+
+Thus, in less than three weeks from the declaration of war, the attitude
+of France was changed from the aggressive to the defensive, the field of
+war was transferred to French soil, and all Napoleon III.'s plans of
+alliance were rendered vain. Leaving a division of Baden troops to
+invest Strasburg, the Crown-Prince pressed forward with his main army,
+and in a few days reached Nancy, in Lorraine. The armies of the North
+and Centre advanced at the same time, defeated Bazaine on the 14th of
+August at Courcelles, and forced him to fall back upon Metz. He
+thereupon determined, after garrisoning the forts of Metz, to retreat
+still further, in order to unite with General Trochu, who was organizing
+a new army at Châlons, and with the remnants of Mac Mahon's forces.
+Moltke detected his plans at once, and the army of Frederick Karl was
+thereupon hurried across the Moselle, to get into his rear and prevent
+the junction.
+
+[Illustration: METZ AND VICINITY.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1870. GERMAN ADVANCE UPON METZ.]
+
+The struggle between the two commenced on the 16th, near the village of
+Mars-la-Tour, where Bazaine, with 180,000 men, endeavored to force his
+way past Frederick Karl, who had but 120,000, the other two German
+armies being still in the rear. For six hours the latter held his
+position under a murderous fire, until three corps arrived to reinforce
+him. Bazaine claimed a victory, although he lost the southern and
+shorter road to Verdun; but Moltke none the less gained his object. The
+losses were about 17,000 killed and wounded on each side.
+
+After a single day of rest, the struggle was resumed on the 18th, when
+the still bloodier and more desperate battle of Gravelotte was fought.
+The Germans now had about 200,000 soldiers together, while Bazaine had
+180,000, with a great advantage in his position on a high plateau. In
+this battle, the former situation of the combatants was changed: the
+German lines faced eastward, the French westward--a circumstance which
+made defeat more disastrous to either side. The strife began in the
+morning and continued until darkness put an end to it: the French right
+wing yielded after a succession of heroic assaults, but the centre and
+left wing resisted gallantly until the very close of the battle. It was
+a hard-won victory, adding 20,000 killed and wounded to the German
+losses, but it cut off Bazaine's retreat and forced him to take shelter
+behind the fortifications of Metz, the siege of which, by Prince
+Frederick Karl with 200,000 men, immediately commenced, while the rest
+of the German army marched on to attack Mac Mahon and Trochu at Châlons.
+
+[Sidenote: 1870.]
+
+There could be no question as to the bravery of the French troops in
+these two battles. In Paris the Government and people persisted in
+considering them victories, until the imprisonment of Bazaine's army
+proved that their result was defeat. Then a wild cry of rage rang
+through the land: France had been betrayed, and by whom, if not by the
+German residents in Paris and other cities? The latter, more than
+100,000 in number, including women and helpless children, were expelled
+from the country under circumstances of extreme barbarity. The French
+people, not the Government, was responsible for this act: the latter was
+barely able to protect the Germans from worse violence.
+
+Mac Mahon had in the meantime organized a new army of 125,000 men in the
+camp at Châlons, where, it was supposed, he would dispute the advance on
+Paris. This was his plan, in fact, and he was with difficulty persuaded
+by Marshal Palikao, the Minister of War, to give it up and undertake a
+rapid march up the Meuse, along the Belgian frontier, to relieve Bazaine
+in Metz. On the 23d of August, the Crown-Prince, who had already passed
+beyond Verdun on his way to Châlons, received intelligence that the
+French had left the latter place. Detachments of Uhlans, sent out in all
+haste to reconnoitre, soon brought the astonishing news that Mac Mahon
+was marching rapidly northwards. Gen. Moltke detected his plan, which
+could only be thwarted by the most vigorous movement on the part of the
+German forces. The front of the advance was instantly changed, reformed
+on the right flank, and all pushed northwards by forced marches.
+
+[Sidenote: 1870. MAC MAHON'S MARCH.]
+
+Mac Mahon had the outer and longer line, so that, in spite of the
+rapidity of his movements, he was met by the extreme right wing of the
+German army on the 28th of August, at Stenay on the Meuse. Being here
+held in check, fresh divisions were hurried against him, several small
+engagements followed, and on the 31st he was defeated at Beaumont by the
+Crown-Prince of Saxony. The German right was thereupon pushed beyond the
+Meuse and occupied the passes of the Forest of Ardennes, leading into
+Belgium. Meanwhile the German left, under Frederick William, was rapidly
+driving back the French right and cutting off the road to Paris. Nothing
+was left to Mac Mahon but to concentrate his forces and retire upon the
+small fortified city of Sedan. Napoleon III., who had left Metz before
+the battle of Mars-la-Tour, and did not dare to return to Paris at such
+a time, was with him.
+
+The Germans, now numbering 200,000, lost no time in planting batteries
+on all the heights which surround the valley of the Meuse, at Sedan,
+like the rim of an irregular basin. Mac Mahon had 112,000 men, and his
+only chance of success was to break through the wider ring which
+inclosed him, at some point where it was weak. The battle began at five
+o'clock on the morning of September 1st. The principal struggle was for
+the possession of the villages of Bazeilles and Illy, and the heights of
+Daigny. Mac Mahon was severely wounded, soon after the fight began; the
+command was then given to General Ducrot and afterwards to General
+Wimpffen, who knew neither the ground nor the plan of operations. The
+German artillery fire was fearful, and the French infantry could not
+stand before it, while their cavalry was almost annihilated during the
+afternoon, in a succession of charges on the Prussian infantry.
+
+By three o'clock it was evident that the French army was defeated:
+driven back from every strong point which was held in the morning,
+hurled together in a demoralized mass, nothing was left but surrender.
+General Lauriston appeared with a white flag on the walls of Sedan, and
+the terrible fire of the German artillery ceased. Napoleon III. wrote to
+King William: "Not having been able to die at the head of my troops, I
+lay my sword at your Majesty's feet,"--and retired to the castle of
+Bellevue, outside of the city. Early the next morning he had an
+interview with Bismarck at the little village of Donchery, and then
+formally surrendered to the King at Bellevue.
+
+[Sidenote: 1870.]
+
+During the battle, 25,000 French soldiers had been taken prisoners: the
+remaining 83,000, including 4,000 officers, surrendered on the 2d of
+September: 400 cannon, 70 _mitrailleuses_, and 1,100 horses also fell
+into the hands of the Germans. Never before, in history, had such a host
+been taken captive. The news of this overwhelming victory electrified
+the world: Germany rang with rejoicings, and her emigrated sons in
+America and Australia joined in the jubilee. The people said: "It will
+be another Seven Weeks' War," and this hope might possibly have been
+fulfilled, but for the sudden political change in France. On the 4th
+(two days after the surrender), a revolution broke out in Paris, the
+Empress Eugénie and the members of her government fled, and a Republic
+was declared. The French, blaming Napoleon alone for their tremendous
+national humiliation, believed that they could yet recover their lost
+ground; and when one of their prominent leaders, the statesman Jules
+Favre, declared that "not one foot of soil, not one stone of a fortress"
+should be yielded to Germany, the popular enthusiasm knew no bounds.
+
+But it was too late. The great superiority of the military organization
+of Prussia had been manifested against the regular troops of France, and
+it could not be expected that new armies of volunteers, however brave
+and devoted, would be more successful. The army of the Crown-Prince
+marched on towards Paris without opposition, and on the 17th of
+September came in sight of the city, which was defended by an outer
+circle of powerful detached fortresses, constructed during the reign of
+Louis Philippe. Gen. Trochu was made military governor, with 70,000
+men--the last remnant of the regular army--under his command. He had
+barely time to garrison and strengthen the forts, when the city was
+surrounded, and the siege commenced.
+
+For two months thereafter, the interest of the war is centred upon
+sieges. The fortified city of Toul, in Lorraine, surrendered on the 23d
+of September, Strasburg, after a six weeks' siege, on the 28th, and thus
+the two lines of railway communication between Germany and Paris were
+secured. All the German reserves were called into the field, until,
+finally, more than 800,000 soldiers stood upon French soil. After two or
+three attempts to break through the lines Bazaine surrendered Metz on
+the 28th of October. It was another event without a parallel in military
+history. There Marshals of France, 6,000 officers, 145,000 unwounded
+soldiers, 73 eagles, 854 pieces of artillery, and 400,000 Chasse-pot
+rifles, were surrendered to Prince Frederick Karl!
+
+[Sidenote: 1870. NEW FRENCH ARMIES.]
+
+After these successes, the capture of Paris became only a question of
+time. Although the Republican leader, Gambetta, escaped from the city in
+a balloon, and by his fiery eloquence aroused the people of Central and
+Southern France, every plan for raising the siege of Paris failed. The
+French volunteers were formed into three armies--that of the North,
+under Faidherbe; of the Loire, under Aurelles de Paladine (afterwards
+under Chanzy and Bourbaki); and of the East, under Kératry. Besides, a
+great many companies of _francs-tireurs_, or independent sharp-shooters,
+were organized to interrupt the German communications, and they gave
+much more trouble than the larger armies. About the end of November a
+desperate attempt was made to raise the siege of Paris. General Paladine
+marched from Orleans with 150,000 men, while Trochu tried to break the
+lines of the besiegers on the eastern side. The latter was repelled,
+after a bloody fight: the former was attacked at Beaune la Rolande, by
+Prince Frederick Karl, with only half the number of troops, and most
+signally defeated. The Germans then carried on the winter campaign with
+the greatest vigor, both in the Northern provinces and along the Loire,
+and Trochu, with his four hundred thousand men, made no further serious
+effort to save Paris.
+
+Frederick Karl took Orleans on the 5th of December, advanced to Tours,
+and finally, in a six days' battle, early in January, 1871, at Le Mans,
+literally cut the Army of the Loire to pieces. The French lost 60,000 in
+killed, wounded and prisoners. Faidherbe was defeated in the North, a
+week afterwards, and the only resistance left was in Burgundy, where
+Garibaldi (who hastened to France after the Republic was proclaimed) had
+been successful in two or three small engagements, and was now replaced
+by Bourbaki. The object of the latter was to relieve the fortress of
+Belfort, then besieged by General Werder, who, with 43,000 men,
+awaited his coming in a strong position among the mountains.
+Notwithstanding Bourbaki had more than 100,000 men, he was forced to
+retreat after a fight of three days, and then General Manteuffel, who
+had been sent in all haste to strengthen Werder, followed him so closely
+that on the 1st of February, all retreat being cut off, his whole army
+of 83,000 men crossed the Swiss frontier, and after suffering terribly
+among the snowy passes of the Jura, were disarmed, fed and clothed by
+the Swiss government and people. Bourbaki attempted to commit suicide,
+but only inflicted a severe wound, from which he afterwards recovered.
+
+[Illustration: The German EMPIRE 1871.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1871. SURRENDER OF PARIS.]
+
+The retreat into Switzerland was almost the last event of the _Seven
+Months' War_, as it might be called, and it was as remarkable as the
+surrenders of Sedan and Metz. All power of defence was now broken:
+France was completely at the mercy of her conquerors. On the 28th of
+January, after long negotiations between Bismarck and Jules Favre, the
+forts around Paris capitulated and Trochu's army became prisoners of
+war. The city was not occupied, but, for the sake of the half-starved
+population, provisions were allowed to enter. The armistice, originally
+declared for three weeks, was prolonged until March 1st, when the
+preliminaries of peace were agreed upon, and hostilities came to an end.
+
+By the final treaty of Peace, which was concluded at Frankfort on the
+10th of May, 1871, France gave up Alsatia with all its cities and
+fortresses except Belfort, and _German_ Lorraine, including Metz and
+Thionville, to Germany. The territory thus transferred contained about
+5,500 square miles and 1,580,000 inhabitants. France also agreed to pay
+an indemnity of _five thousand millions_ of francs, in instalments,
+certain of her departments to be occupied by German troops, and only
+evacuated by degrees, as the payments were made. Thus ended this
+astonishing war, during which 17 great battles and 156 minor engagements
+had been fought, 22 fortified places taken, 385,000 soldiers (including
+11,360 officers) made prisoners, and 7,200 cannon and 600,000 stand of
+arms acquired by Germany. There is no such crushing defeat of a strong
+nation recorded in history.
+
+[Sidenote: 1871.]
+
+Even before the capitulation of Paris the natural political result of
+the victory was secured to Germany. The cooperation of the three
+Southern States in the war removed the last barrier to a union of all,
+except Austria, under the lead of Prussia. That which the great
+majority of the people desired was also satisfactory to the princes: the
+"North-German Union" was enlarged and transformed into the "German
+Empire," by including Bavaria, Würtemberg and Baden. It was agreed that
+the young king of Bavaria, Ludwig II., as occupying the most important
+position among the rulers of the three separate States, should ask King
+William to assume the Imperial dignity, with the condition that it
+should be hereditary in his family. The other princes and the free
+cities united in the call; and on the 18th of January, 1871, in the
+grand hall of the palace of Versailles, where Richelieu and Louis XIV.
+and Napoleon I. had plotted their invasions of Germany, the king
+formally accepted the title of Emperor, and the German States were at
+last united as one compact, indivisible Nation.
+
+The Emperor William concluded his proclamation to the German People with
+these words: "May God permit us, and our successors to the Imperial
+crown, to give at all times increase to the German Empire, not by the
+conquests of war, but by the goods and gifts of peace, in the path of
+national prosperity, freedom and morality!" After the end of the war was
+assured, he left Paris, and passed in a swift march of triumph through
+Germany to Berlin, where the popular enthusiasm was extravagantly
+exhibited. Four days afterwards he called together the first German
+Parliament (since 1849), and the organization of the new Empire was
+immediately commenced. It was simply, in all essential points, a renewal
+of the North-German Union. The Imperial Government introduced a general
+military, naval, financial, postal and diplomatic system for all the
+States, a uniformity of weights, measures and coinage,--in short, a
+thoroughly national union of locally independent States, all of which
+are embraced in a name which is no longer merely geographical--GERMANY.
+Here, then, the History of the Race ceases, and that of the Nation
+begins.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+
+THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE.
+
+(1871--1893.)
+
+The First German Parliament by Direct Vote. --The Political Factions.
+    --The Ultramontane Party in Opposition to the Government.
+    --Struggle with the Church of Rome. --"Kulturkampf." --Falk
+    appointed Minister of Culture. --His first Success. --Animosity of
+    the Pope. --The Jesuits expelled from Germany. --The May Laws.
+    --The Roman Catholic Clergy rebel. --Civil Marriage made requisite.
+    --The "Bundesrath." --Meeting of the Three Emperors. --Armaments.
+    --Peace secured by Diplomacy. --Financial Questions. --Bismarck
+    obliged to look to the Ultramontanes for Parliamentary Support. --A
+    conciliatory Policy towards the Roman Church. --Falk resigns. --The
+    Social-Democrats, and the Attacks on the Life of William I. --The
+    Exceptional Law. --Party Dissensions. --A higher Protective Policy
+    introduced. --New Taxes. --The Opening of Parliament in 1881.
+    --Scheme of the Government for bettering the Condition of the
+    Workingmen. --The Colonial Question. --War-Clouds. --France finds a
+    Sympathizer in Russia. --The Triple Alliance. --The Military
+    Budget. --The Dissolution of Parliament. --The Government gains a
+    Victory by new Elections. --Ludwig II. of Bavaria and his tragic
+    End. --The Death of Emperor William I. --Fatal Disease of the
+    Crown-Prince. --The Latter as Frederick III. --His Death. --His
+    Successor, William II. --Resignation of Bismarck. --General Caprivi
+    made Chancellor. --The German-English Agreement. --The Triple
+    Alliance renewed. --New commercial Treaties. --Withdrawal of the
+    School Bill. --A new Army Bill rejected and Parliament dissolved.
+    --New Elections result in victory for the Government.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1871. FIRST SESSION OF PARLIAMENT.]
+
+After many a dark and gloomy century, the dream of a united Germany was
+realized. The outer pile stood complete before the awakening nation and
+an astonished world; now there remained to be done the patient,
+painstaking work of consolidating the federation of States in all
+particulars, making the different parts one within as well as without.
+
+On the 21st of March, 1871, the first German Parliament, elected by the
+direct vote of the people, met at Berlin, the capital of the federation,
+and the political parties took their stand. Bismarck, Prince, Chancellor
+of the Empire, acknowledged as the first statesman of Europe, saw the
+advantage of a liberal policy, which secured for the Government the
+support of the Nationals and the Liberals, and with them a sufficient
+majority to carry out its plans. At the same time the Chancellor had to
+reckon with an opposition that was threatening to German unity. Chief
+among it were the Ultramontanes (or Papal party), so called because they
+looked beyond the Alps for their sovereign guide--the Church of Rome.
+They formed the Centre party, and around them all the dissatisfied
+elements grouped themselves--the Particularists, who still held on to
+their petty provincial interests; the Poles from Eastern Prussia; the
+Danes from northern Schleswig; the Social-Democrats; and later the
+representatives of Alsatia and Lorraine. On the utmost right sat the old
+feudal nobility, which was reactionary at the outset. Although diverging
+far apart in aims and purposes, these different factions joined hands
+against the Federal Government whenever their interests were concerned,
+and thus at times constituted a powerful foe.
+
+[Sidenote: 1872.]
+
+It soon became evident that the chief battle to maintain union and
+freedom had to be fought with the Ultramontanes, who were inspired by
+the counsel of the Vatican and upheld by the authority actually wielded
+in Germany by the Roman Catholic Church. The concessions made to it in
+Prussia by the romantic spirit of Frederick William IV. had borne their
+bitter fruit, and the Protestant kingdom had become even more a foothold
+for the Church of Rome than Catholic Bavaria. On the same day on which
+France declared war against Germany the Papal power sounded another
+war-trumpet by proclaiming the Dogma of Papal Infallibility. Germany had
+been the victor in the combat with France; it now had to encounter the
+other foe in defence of the best life of the nation--an untrammelled
+conscience, free schools, the sway of reason, and the light of science.
+
+The task of fighting a state within the state, which confronted the
+Federal Government and the nation at the very outset, was hard and
+bitter on both sides. It took place in Parliament as well as in the
+Prussian and Bavarian Assemblies, and as a struggle for the preservation
+of the blessings of modern civilization it has been designated
+"Kulturkampf," a fight for culture.
+
+In the beginning of 1872 the Chancellor knew himself sufficiently
+supported by the National-Liberals in Parliament and in the Prussian
+Assembly to take up the combat with the Roman Church and its adherents
+in both political bodies. He caused the reactionary Minister of
+Culture, von Mühler, to resign his office, and invited Adalbert Falk, a
+statesman of keen insight and fearless energy, to take his place. Falk
+undertook to define the boundaries between the State and the Church by a
+series of laws, and his first success was in carrying through the
+Prussian Assembly a bill that made the public schools independent of the
+Church, and gave their supervision to the State. The Pope's answer to
+this measure was his refusal to receive the Emperor's ambassador,
+Cardinal Hohenlohe, who had been nominated for diplomatic representation
+at the Vatican on account of his conciliatory spirit. At this period
+Bismarck made his famous declaration, "To Canossa _we_ do not go!" The
+conflict waxed hotter, and from all parts of Germany the enlightened
+portions of the people sent petitions to Parliament, asking it to
+exclude from the precincts of the Empire the Jesuits, who were known to
+be the Pope's advisers, and as such were at the root of the evil. The
+demand was granted. A bill to that effect was introduced into
+Parliament, and, after much passionate debate, became a law. Before the
+close of the year every member of the Society of Jesus had to leave
+Germany, and all institutions belonging to that organization were
+closed.
+
+[Sidenote: 1873. THE MAY LAWS.]
+
+The year 1873 brought about the important legislation by which the lines
+between the competencies of State and Church were conclusively defined.
+It was designed primarily to benefit Prussia, but its effect in the end
+was of advantage to the whole of Germany. The bills destined to restrict
+the undue power of the Roman Catholic Church, in spite of violent
+opposition on the part of the Ultramontanes and the reactionary Feudals,
+were carried through the Prussian Assembly in the month of May, and
+hence are called the "May laws." They were met by open rebellion on the
+part of the Prussian episcopacy. The Catholic clergy closed the doors of
+their seminaries to the Government supervisors; they published protests
+of every form against legislation that had not the sanction of the Papal
+See; they omitted to make announcement to the provincial governments of
+newly appointed curates or beneficiaries, and demonstrated in every way
+their insubordination to the lay authorities. In accordance with the new
+laws, these rebellious acts were punished by the withdrawal of dotations
+that had been granted by the State to Roman Catholic seminaries or
+schools, and the latter in some instances were closed. The curates
+appointed without consent of the head authorities were forbidden to
+officiate, and their religious functions declared to be null and void.
+Then the rebellious prelates were fined or imprisoned, and, as a last
+resort, declared to be out of office, while the endowments of their
+dioceses were administered by lay officials.
+
+[Sidenote: 1874.]
+
+In 1874 civil marriage was made obligatory by law, first in Prussia, and
+then, after receiving also the sanction of Parliament, throughout the
+Empire. With this measure a powerful weapon was wrenched from the hands
+of the clergy, and another blow was dealt. Other measures followed,
+under protests from Pope and clergy, and hot debating was continued in
+the legislative bodies, until, in 1876, matters of another nature and
+more momentous importance forced themselves to the front.
+
+The work for organization and reform, up to this time, had progressed in
+various directions, and the proposed measures for cementing German unity
+had received more or less ready support in Parliament and the Assemblies
+of the different States. The latter had their representatives at Berlin,
+who were nominated by their respective sovereigns. They met in a body
+called the Bundesrath--the Counsel of the Federation. Any step taken by
+the Federal Government towards legislation affecting the whole of the
+Empire had to be laid before and agreed to by the Bundesrath before it
+could be introduced into Parliament. Thus the rights of the States were
+preserved, and the reigning Princes were made still to feel their
+importance, which tended to create harmony between them and the Empire.
+
+While the interior growth of the latter was of a healthy and steady
+nature, the genius of the great statesman, Prince Bismarck, was busy
+likewise in allaying the fears and, in a measure, mollifying the envy
+and jealousies of neighboring powers. In September, 1872, the Emperors
+of Germany, Austria, and Russia met at Berlin, to renew assurances of
+friendship and thus convince the world of their peaceable intentions.
+The cordial relations between the reigning families of Germany and Italy
+were strengthened by visits from court to court, and even Denmark was
+somewhat pacified in regard to its loss of Schleswig-Holstein. But
+France still frowned at a distance, and was preparing for revenge. The
+meeting of the three Emperors gave her additional offence, and she
+strove to reorganize and enlarge her army. This called forth
+counter-movements in Germany, where the reorganization of the army--even
+before the late wars a pet project of William I.--had been agreed to by
+Parliament. A prudent diplomacy, and the friendly demonstrations of
+Alexander II. to the German Emperor and his Chancellor, dispelled for a
+time the rising war-clouds, and the peaceful work of interior
+organization was continued.
+
+[Sidenote: 1882. REVISION OF THE MAY LAWS.]
+
+After the Roman Church had been restricted to its lawful boundaries, the
+most important questions looming up were those in reference to financial
+matters. The income of the Empire proved insufficient to cover the
+enormous outlay for necessary changes and reforms to be perfected, while
+at the same time influences were brought about to forward a higher
+protective policy than had been adhered to hitherto. In order to bring
+about an increased tariff, and such taxation as the financial situation
+required, the Chancellor had to look for the support of other parties
+than the Nationals and the Liberal-Conservatives. He took it where it
+was offered, and here the Ultramontanes or Centre party saw their
+opportunity. The consequence was a tacit compromise with the latter. The
+contest with the Vatican faltered; a conciliatory policy was adopted in
+matters concerning the Catholic Church, and Falk, seeing his work
+crippled, resigned his office, in 1879, to make room for a reactionary
+Minister of Culture. In 1882 a revision of the May laws took place; the
+refractory bishops were allowed to return, the ecclesiastical
+institutions were reopened, salaries were paid once more to the clergy
+by the State, and other restitutions were made, for all of which the
+Pope only acceded to the demand that new appointments of ecclesiastics
+should be announced in due form to the German Government.
+
+At this period the political situation was aggravated by the agitation
+of the Social-Democrats, and by what seemed to be its direct outgrowth,
+the repeated murderous attempts on the life of the Emperor William I. in
+May and June, 1878. These startling events opened the eyes of the people
+to a danger in their very midst--a danger threatening society and all
+its most sacred institutions. To avert it, the Chancellor at once caused
+a bill to be drawn up for an exceptional law, meant to suppress all
+aggressive movements of the Social-Democrats and reduce them to silence.
+When it was laid before Parliament, it found no favor with the
+majority, and was rejected; whereupon the Chancellor, in the name of the
+Emperor, declared Parliament to be dissolved. The new elections did not
+bring about any considerable change; but a majority was obtained, and
+the exceptional law was established for two years and a half, which
+period afterwards was prolonged several times.
+
+[Sidenote: 1881.]
+
+The steady inner growth of the first eight or nine years had now been
+checked by party dissension and political discord, brought on chiefly by
+the financial difficulties, in which the new Empire found itself
+involved, and the steady demand from centres of industry and agriculture
+for higher protective measures. These demands, being favored by the
+Chancellor, were gaining the upper hand: customs were increased, a new
+duty was raised on cereals, and a considerable tax was put upon spirits.
+All this made it easy for the Radicals to agitate and alarm the masses
+of the people, and in consequence the parliamentary elections of 1881
+gave a majority to the extreme Liberals in opposition to the Government.
+When the new Parliament convened, the venerable Emperor, William I.,
+opened it in person, and read a message the tenor of which was more than
+usually solemn, pointing with great emphasis to the social evils of the
+time, and the best remedies for healing them. The sequel of this message
+was a project of great magnitude, which the Federal Government
+introduced into Parliament for the purpose of bettering the conditions
+of the laboring classes. To carry it out required successive bills and
+years of indefatigable work, incessant debating, and many a hard
+struggle with opposition, until at present the whole system is in
+working order. It comprises a series of insurances for laborers, to
+secure them from losses by sickness, accidents, invalidity, and age.
+These insurances are obligatory, and the cost of them is borne jointly
+by the Government, the employers, and the laborers themselves.
+
+About this time the colonial question also caused a clashing of parties.
+To open new channels of commerce and enterprise, certain mercantile
+houses had acquired large tracts of land on foreign continents, and now
+asked the protection of the Empire for their efforts. Germany, now a
+first-class power and in possession of a growing navy, needed
+coaling-stations in foreign waters, new lines of steamers to connect
+directly with Africa and eastern Asia, and an outlet for her rapidly
+multiplying population, which she would rather colonize under her own
+flag than lose by emigration to other countries. The Federal Government
+therefore took up this matter in its own interest, and asked Parliament
+for appropriations and subsidies to carry out those enlarged plans. The
+demand was received on the part of the Liberals and Radicals with
+violent opposition; but, in the end, the decision, with the assistance
+of the Centre party, was in favor of the Government.
+
+[Sidenote: 1882. THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE.]
+
+In the meantime fresh war-clouds were gathering on the political
+horizon, on account of the accumulation of Russian troops on the
+frontiers of Germany and Austria. The violent death of Alexander II. of
+Russia had deprived Germany of a friend whom his successor, Alexander
+III., did not mean to replace. His sympathies were with the growing
+Pan-slavistic party, which through its press was exciting hatred against
+all that was German. Thus France felt herself drawn towards Russia, and
+both the Republic and the semi-barbarian Empire stood ready at any
+moment to make common cause for the ruin of Germany. This constant
+menace and its attendant rivalry in armament could not but be a
+misfortune, not merely for Germany but for all the powers concerned. To
+avert the danger of war as long as possible, the deep insight of the
+great man at the helm of the Federal Government of Germany had led him
+to take an important step in good time. As early as 1879 he had created
+a counterpoise to the threatening attitude of France and Russia by
+concluding an alliance for defensive purposes between Germany and
+Austria, which a few years later was joined by Italy, and, as the
+"Triple Alliance," has been the wedge to keep apart the hostile powers
+in the East and the West, securing peace thereby.
+
+In 1886 the time approached for a new military budget. The armaments of
+both Russia and France had reached such enormous dimensions that the
+German Government could not but know the military forces of the Empire
+to be no longer on an equal footing with the hostile powers.
+Consequently, it now asked Parliament not only for a new septennial
+budget for military purposes, as twice before since 1874, but also for
+appropriations to raise a larger contingent of soldiers (one per cent.
+of the whole population, which, according to the last census, made
+41,000 men more than at that time), and additional sums for
+fortifications, barracks, arms, etc. Thereupon ensued another
+parliamentary contest. The opposition proved themselves not sufficiently
+patriotic to take a large view, and, in concert with the Centre, the
+Liberals demanded that the contingent of soldiers should be diminished
+and the budget granted for three years only. After much passionate
+debate, and in spite of Bismarck's weighty eloquence, the motion of the
+Government was carried in a crippled condition and by only a small
+majority. Then Parliament was once more dissolved, and new elections
+took place about a month afterwards (21st of February, 1887), which made
+evident the temper of the people, since the Liberals and
+Social-Democrats were heavy losers. Only half of their former number was
+returned to Parliament. The military bill was now carried by a large
+majority of Conservatives and Nationals, and financial as well as other
+matters of importance were brought to a quick issue.
+
+[Sidenote: 1887.]
+
+The almost miraculous rise of a united Germany, and its wonderful inner
+growth, had its reverses in the tragical events that took place in the
+royal houses of Bavaria and Prussia, during 1886 and 1888. King Ludwig
+II. of Bavaria, a man of superior intellectual qualities and gifted with
+great charms, had been a victim of late years to mental hallucinations,
+which at last began to endanger the finances and constitutional rights
+of the country. It became necessary to declare him insane and to
+establish a regency in his name. This and his confinement to his lonely
+castle of Berg led the king to drown himself in the lake bordering the
+grounds. His corpse and that of his attendant physician were found where
+the gravel bottom of the shallow water gave evidence of a struggle
+having taken place. Since the successor of Ludwig II., his younger
+brother, Otto, was a confirmed maniac, the regency still remained with
+Prince Luitpold, the uncle of both these unfortunate kings. He was
+imbued with the national idea of German unity, and continued the same
+wise and liberal policy that governed the actions of Ludwig II. in his
+best days--a policy which earned for him the fame of being called one of
+the founders of a united German Empire.
+
+Early in 1888 the Emperor, nearly ninety-one years old, showed signs of
+declining vitality, and in March the end was at hand. It was peaceful,
+though clouded by a great sorrow which filled the last months of his
+life. There was a vacant place among the members of his family who
+surrounded his death-bed. His son, the Crown-Prince, now fifty-six years
+of age, was detained by a fatal disease at San Remo, in Italy. William
+I., beloved by the German people as no sovereign before him had been,
+died on the 9th of March, and his son and heir, Frederick III., began
+his reign of ninety-nine days. Sick as he was, and deprived of speech in
+consequence of his cruel disease, his inborn sense of duty caused him to
+set out for Berlin as soon as the news of the old Emperor's death
+reached him. His proclamation to the people and his rescript to Prince
+Bismarck are evidences of the noble and patriotic spirit that animated
+him; but he was too ill, and his reign was too short, to determine what
+he would have been to Germany had he lived. He died on the 15th of June,
+1888, and almost his last words to his son and successor were: "Learn to
+suffer without complaint."
+
+[Sidenote: 1888. WILLIAM II.]
+
+William II., born on the 27th of January, 1859, now became Emperor of
+Germany. Many were the doubts with which he was seen to succeed to the
+throne. He was young in years, in view of the heavy responsibilities
+awaiting him; impulsive, where a steady head was required; and a soldier
+with all his heart. Nevertheless, there was nothing to indicate during
+the first years of his reign that the "old course" had been abandoned.
+The first important event took place in March, 1890, when the startling
+news was heard that Prince Bismarck had sent his resignation to the
+Emperor, and that it had been accepted. For a moment the fate of Germany
+seemed to hang in suspense; but the public mind soon recovered from the
+shock it had received, and the most thoughtful of people realized that a
+young ruler, imbued with modern ideas, and with an individuality all his
+own, could not be expected to remain in harmony with or to be guided by
+a statesman who, however great and wise, was growing old and in a
+measure incapable of seeing a new light in affairs of internal policy.
+On March 29th the ex-Chancellor left Berlin to retire to his estates.
+Along his drive to the railway station he received the spontaneous
+ovations of an immense concourse of people, who by their enthusiastic
+cheers showed their appreciation for the creator of the new Germany.
+
+[Sidenote: 1890.]
+
+The Emperor nominated General Caprivi Chancellor of the Empire in place
+of Bismarck. It was a good choice, since William II. evidently meant in
+future to be his own chancellor. He was of too vivacious a nature to
+accept a policy of State and Empire made ready to his hands. He had
+knowledge, and ideas of his own which he expected to carry out. The
+first serious dissension between the Emperor and Bismarck seems to have
+turned upon the question of Socialism. Bismarck was in favor of
+combating it with the utmost vigor, in order to avert the dangers
+threatening to State and society; the Emperor, on the contrary, was for
+conciliatory measures; for listening to the demands of the laboring
+classes, and remedying by arbitration and further legislation the evils
+of which they complained. The repressive measures hitherto resorted to,
+and the new ones proposed, were abandoned, and thus far there is no
+cause to condemn this "new course." Although the dangers from Socialism
+have not grown less, it is no longer necessary for the enemy of social
+order and justice to hide his face, and by that much it is easier to
+fight him and to strike at the right spot.
+
+Another event of note which took place in the same year, is the
+German-English agreement of July 1st, by which the respective limits of
+colonial possessions in Africa were regulated, and Germany became the
+possessor of the island of Helgoland as a compensation for the lion's
+share secured in Africa by England. The only value Germany derives from
+this acquisition will show itself in a future war, when the fortified
+island-rock may serve as an outpost, disputing the advance of hostile
+war ships toward the northern coast of Germany.
+
+In the following year the Triple Alliance was renewed, and had the
+wholesome effect of stopping various rumors of war. Besides, Russia, who
+had exchanged uncommon civilities with France, was in no condition to go
+to war, crippled as she was by the dreadful suffering of her people
+through famine consequent upon the failure of crops. Still another
+incentive was furnished for France and Russia to remain at peace by an
+understanding between England and Italy to keep intact the _status quo_
+in the Mediterranean. Although not a treaty in the literal sense of the
+word, it was sufficient to raise the prestige of the Triple Alliance,
+and thus to strengthen its pacific tendencies.
+
+[Sidenote: 1892. THE ARMY BILL.]
+
+But the most important feature of internal policy is to be found in the
+new commercial treaties which Germany contracted, first with the two
+other powers of the Triple Alliance--Austria-Hungary and Italy--and
+then with Belgium and Switzerland, as the most favored nations. The
+treaties were planned and carefully drafted to bring relief to the
+industrial classes by opening fresh channels for the exports of the
+country; but inasmuch as the tariff was lowered by them on the
+necessities of life, they also favored the rest of the population and
+especially the laboring classes. These treaties were ratified in
+Parliament by a large majority.
+
+In the spring of the year (April 24th) Germany lost one of her greatest
+men, the Field-Marshal Count Moltke, who had lived more than ninety
+years in the full enjoyment of his powers. Another man, who also had
+been prominent in his way, Windthorst, had died just one month before
+Moltke, but he was missed only by the Roman Catholic Centre party, who
+lost in him their ablest leader.
+
+The following year a bill was laid before the Prussian Assembly
+purporting to reform the public schools, but introducing at the same
+time such clauses as would render both public and private schools
+confessional. The bill was no sooner made public than it became evident
+that only the ultra Conservatives and the Centre or Ultramontane party
+were in favor of it, while the other parties, and behind them their
+constituents, declared themselves extremely opposed to it. In
+consequence of this bill the whole of Germany became greatly agitated;
+numerous protests were sent to the Assembly and the Minister of Culture,
+and men of note and intellect put in print their ominous warnings. All
+this resulted in the withdrawal of the bill and the resignation of the
+Minister of Culture, Count Zedlitz. But before the end of the year a new
+army measure began to stir afresh the minds of politicians and people.
+In his speech delivered before Parliament on November 23d, Caprivi
+explained that new sacrifices in money and taxation were necessary, in
+order to make the German army efficient to fight enemies "on two
+fronts." He went on to demonstrate that, although no war was in sight,
+France had surpassed Germany in her military organization and numbers,
+while Russia was continually perfecting her strategical railway system,
+and locating her best troops on her western frontier. To keep up an
+equal footing with her neighbors, it was necessary for Germany to add
+83,894 men to the present number of soldiers. In order to do this the
+existing obligation to serve in the army would have to be extended to
+every one capable of carrying arms. The cost was estimated at
+$16,700,000 for the first year, and $16,000,000 for every year
+succeeding. As a compensation for the heavy burdens to be imposed, the
+Government offered to reduce the time for active service from three to
+two years.
+
+[Sidenote: 1893.]
+
+There was from the first a widespread doubt among the people of the
+necessity for such heavy sacrifices as were entailed by this bill, and
+the possibility of carrying it successfully through Parliament. The body
+deferred dealing with it until the following year, when the fate of the
+bill was adversely decided on the 6th of May by a majority of
+forty-eight out of three hundred and seventy-two votes. Parliament was
+at once dissolved, and new elections were ordered to take place on the
+15th of June. In the interval some unexpected splits favoring the
+Government's cause occurred in the Centre party and among the Liberals,
+or Radicals--a name now more befitting. As the election proceeded, it
+became more and more evident that the opposition was losing and the
+Government gaining ground.
+
+[Sidenote: 1893. THE ARMY BILL.]
+
+The newly elected Parliament was opened on July 4th, and the Army bill,
+in a slightly modified form, was passed without delay after the third
+reading by a majority of sixteen out of three hundred and eighty-six
+votes. Small as this majority seems, it was a decided victory for the
+Government, since the latter had abstained throughout the elections from
+influencing them in any way. The ultimate passage of the bill, however,
+leaves the implied financial problem still unsolved. The outlook is not
+cheerful. Although an objective view of recent events is out of the
+question, there is room for doubting that the future of Germany will be
+tranquil. Owing to the general depression in industrial and agricultural
+fields, the financial question is sure to engender bitterness and
+strife. Nor is there any encouragement to be gained when we consider the
+numerous factions into which the parliamentary representation of the
+Empire is divided at the present time. What with the proportionately
+large gain of the Social-Democrats during the late elections, the
+numerically powerful Centrists acting in the interest of Roman
+Catholicism, the Particularists asserting themselves again, and the
+Anti-Semites with their socialistic affinities, it would seem inevitable
+that great struggles are yet to come. But we might hopefully say that
+Germany, in the evolution of her national growth, is just now passing
+through a trying period of change, the mists of which will be swept away
+in time, when by a clearer apprehension of parliamentary life and
+practice, and the exercise of a more concentrated patriotism, she will
+be strong, indeed, in freedom and in Unity.
+
+
+
+
+CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE
+
+=OF GERMAN HISTORY.=
+
+The history of Germany is generally divided into Five Periods, as
+follows:
+
+    I.--From the earliest accounts to the empire of Charlemagne.
+
+   II.--From Charlemagne to the downfall of the Hohenstaufens.
+
+  III.--From the Interregnum to the Reformation.
+
+   IV.--From the Reformation to the Peace of Westphalia.
+
+    V.--From the Peace of Westphalia to the present time.
+
+Some historians subdivide these periods, or change their limits; but
+there seems to be no other form of division so simple, natural, and
+easily borne in the memory. While retaining it, however, in the
+chronological table which follows, we shall separate the different
+dynasties which governed the German Empire, up to the time of the
+Interregnum, which is removed, by an irregular succession during two
+centuries, from the permanent rule of the Hapsburg family.
+
+  FIRST PERIOD. (B. C. 103--A. D. 768.)
+
+  =Primitive History.=
+
+  B. C.
+
+         113. The Cimbrians and Teutons invade Italy.
+
+         102. Marius defeats the Teutons.
+
+         101. Marius defeats the Cimbrians.
+
+          58. Julius Cæsar defeats Ariovistus.
+
+      55--53. Cæsar twice crosses the Rhine.
+
+       12--9. Campaigns of Drusus in Northern Germany.
+
+  A. D.
+
+           9. Defeat of Varus by Hermann.
+
+      14--16. Campaigns of Germanicus.
+
+          21. Death of Hermann.
+
+          69. Revolt of Claudius Civilis.
+
+          98. Tacitus writes his "Germania."
+
+    166--181. War of the Marcomanni against Marcus Aurelius.
+
+    200--250. Union of the German tribes under new names.
+
+         276. Probus invades Germany.
+
+         358. Julian defeats the Alemanni.
+
+    358--378. Bishop Ulfila converts the Goths to Christianity.
+
+  =The Migrations of the Races.=
+
+         375. The coming of the Huns.
+
+         378. The Emperor Valens defeated by the Visigoths.
+
+         395. Theodosius divides the Roman Empire.
+
+         396. Alaric's invasion of Greece.
+
+         403. Alaric meets Stilicho in Italy.
+
+         406. Stilicho defeats the German hordes at Fiesole.
+
+         410. Alaric takes Rome.
+
+         411. Alaric dies in Southern Italy.
+
+         412. Ataulf leads the Visigoths to Gaul.
+
+         429. The Vandals, under Geiserich, invade Africa.
+
+         449. The Saxons and Angles settle in England.
+
+         450. March of Attila to Gaul; battle of Châlons.
+
+         452. Attila in Italy.
+
+         455. Rome devastated by Geiserich and the Vandals.
+
+         476. The Roman Empire overthrown by Odoaker.
+
+    481--511. Chlodwig, King of the Franks.
+
+         486. End of the Roman rule in Gaul.
+
+         493. Theodoric and his Ostrogoths conquer Italy.
+
+         500. Chlodwig defeats the Burgundians.
+
+         526. Death of Theodoric the Great.
+
+    527--565. Reign of Justinian.
+
+         527. The Franks conquer Thuringia.
+
+         532. The Franks conquer Burgundy.
+
+         534. Belisarius overthrows the Vandal power in Africa.
+
+         552. Extermination of the Ostrogoths by Narses.
+
+  =Kingdom of the Franks.=
+
+    558--561. Reign of Clotar, King of the Franks.
+
+         568. Alboin leads the Longobards to Italy.
+
+    590--604. Spread of Christianity under Pope Gregory the Great.
+
+    590--597. Wars of Fredegunde and Brunhilde.
+
+         613. Murder of Brunhilde.
+
+    613--622. Clotar II., King of the Franks.
+
+         650. Pippin of Landen, steward to the royal household.
+
+         687. Pippin of Heristall.
+
+         711. The Saracens conquer Spain from the Visigoths.
+
+         732. Karl Martel defeats the Saracens at Tours.
+
+         741. Death of Karl Martel; Pippin the Short.
+
+         745. Winfried (Bonifacius), Archbishop of Mayence.
+
+         752. Pippin the Short becomes King of the Franks.
+
+         754. Pippin founds the temporal power of the Popes.
+
+         755. Bonifacius slain in Friesland.
+
+         768. Death of Pippin; his sons, Karl and Karloman.
+
+  SECOND PERIOD. (768--1254.)
+
+  =The Carolingian Dynasty.=
+
+         771. Karl (Charlemagne) sole ruler.
+
+    772--803. His wars with the Saxons.
+
+    774--775. March to Italy; overthrow of the Lombard kingdom.
+
+    777--778. Charlemagne's invasion of Spain.
+
+         788. Tassilo, Duke of Bavaria, deposed.
+
+         789. War with the Wends, east of the Elbe.
+
+         791. War with the Avars, in Hungary.
+
+         800. Charlemagne crowned Emperor in Rome.
+
+         814. Death of Charlemagne.
+
+    814--840. Ludwig the Pious.
+
+         843. Partition of Verdun.
+
+    843--876. Ludwig the German.
+
+         879. The kingdom of Arelat (Lower Burgundy) founded.
+
+    884--887. Karl the Fat unites France and Germany.
+
+    887--899. Arnulf of Carinthia.
+
+         891. Arnulf defeats the Norsemen in Belgium.
+
+    900--911. Ludwig the Child.
+
+    911--918. Konrad I., the Frank, King of Germany.
+
+    911--918. Wars with the Hungarians.
+
+  =The Saxon Emperors.=
+
+    919--936. King Henry I., of Saxony (the Fowler).
+
+         928. Victory over the Wends.
+
+         933. Great victory over the Hungarians, near Merseburg.
+
+         933. Upper and Lower Burgundy united as one kingdom.
+
+    936--973. Otto I., the Great.
+
+         939. Otto subjects the German Dukes.
+
+         952. Rebellion against his rule.
+
+         955. The Hungarians defeated on the Lech.
+
+         962. Otto renews the empire of Charlemagne.
+
+    973--983. Otto II.
+
+         982. His defeat by the Saracens.
+
+   983--1002. Otto III.; decline of the imperial power.
+
+  1002--1024. Henry II.; increasing power of the bishops.
+
+        1016. The Normans settle in Southern Italy.
+
+  =The Frank Emperors.=
+
+  1024--1039. Konrad II., Emperor.
+
+        1026. His visit to Rome; friendship with Canute the Great.
+
+  1033. Burgundy attached to the German Empire.
+
+  1039--1056. Henry III.; Poland, Bohemia, and Hungary, subject to the
+        empire.
+
+        1046. Synod of Sutri; Henry III. removes three Popes.
+
+        1046. The "Congregation of Cluny;" the "Peace of God."
+
+        1054. Pope Leo IX. captured by the Normans.
+
+  1056--1106. Henry IV.
+
+        1062. Henry IV.'s abduction by Bishop Hanno.
+
+        1073. Revolt of the Saxons.
+
+        1073. Hildebrand becomes Pope as Gregory VII.
+
+        1076. Henry IV. deposes the Pope, and is excommunicated.
+
+        1077. Henry IV.'s humiliation at Canossa.
+
+        1081. Death of the Anti-King, Rudolf of Suabia.
+
+        1084. Henry IV. in Rome; ravages of the Normans.
+
+        1085. Death of Pope Gregory VII.
+
+        1092. Revolt of Konrad, son of Henry IV.
+
+        1095. The first Crusade.
+
+        1099. Jerusalem taken by Godfrey of Bouillon.
+
+        1105. Rebellion of Henry, son of Henry IV.
+
+  1106--1125. Henry V.
+
+        1111. He imprisons Pope Paschalis II.
+
+        1113. Defeat of the Saxons.
+
+        1115. He is defeated by the Saxons.
+
+        1118. Orders of knighthood founded.
+
+        1122. The Concordat of Worms.
+
+        1125. Rise of the Hohenstaufens.
+
+  1125--1137. Lothar of Saxony, Emperor.
+
+        1134. The North-mark given to Albert the Bear.
+
+        1138. Henry the Proud, Duke of Bavaria and Saxony.
+
+  =The Hohenstaufen Emperors.=
+
+  1138--1152. King Konrad III.; Guelphs and Ghibellines.
+
+        1142. Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony.
+
+        1142. Albert the Bear, Margrave of Brandenburg.
+
+        1147. The second Crusade.
+
+  1152--1190. Frederick I., Barbarossa.
+
+        1163. Union of the Lombard cities.
+
+        1176. Barbarossa's defeat at Legnano.
+
+        1177. Reconciliation with the Pope at Venice.
+
+        1179. Otto of Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria.
+
+        1181. Henry the Lion banished.
+
+        1183. The Peace of Constance.
+
+        1190. The third Crusade; death of Barbarossa; foundation of the
+              German Order.
+
+  1190--1197. Henry VI. (receives also Naples and Sicily).
+
+        1192. Richard of the Lion-Heart imprisoned.
+
+        1195. Death of Henry the Lion.
+
+  1197--1208. Philip of Suabia; Otto IV. of Brunswick rival Emperor;
+        civil wars.
+
+        1208. Murder of Philip of Suabia.
+
+        1212. Frederick II., Hohenstaufen, comes to Germany.
+
+  1215--1250. Frederick II.'s reign.
+
+        1226. The German Order occupies Prussia.
+
+        1227. Frederick II. excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX.
+
+        1228. The fifth Crusade, led by Frederick II.
+
+        1235. Rebellion of Frederick's son, Henry.
+
+        1237. Frederick II.'s victory at Cortenuovo.
+
+        1245. Pope Innocent IV. excommunicates the Emperor.
+
+        1247. Death of Henry Raspe, Anti-Emperor.
+
+        1250. Foundation of the Hanseatic League.
+
+  1250--1254. Konrad IV.
+
+        1254. Union of cities of the Rhine.
+
+        1256. Death of William of Holland, Anti-Emperor.
+
+        1266. Battle of Benevento; death of King Manfred.
+
+        1268. Konradin's march to Italy, defeat, and execution.
+
+  THIRD PERIOD. (1254--1517.)
+
+  =Emperors of Various Houses.=
+
+        1256. Richard of Cornwall and Alfonso of Castile elected.
+
+  1273--1291. Rudolf of Hapsburg, Emperor.
+
+        1278. Defeat of King Ottokar of Bohemia.
+
+  1291--1298. Adolf of Nassau.
+
+        1291. Union of three Swiss Cantons.
+
+        1298. Albert of Austria defeats and slays Adolf of Nassau.
+
+  1298--1308. Albert I. of Austria.
+
+        1308. He is murdered by John Parricida.
+
+  1308--1313. Henry VII. of Luxemburg.
+
+        1308. The Papacy removed from Rome to Avignon.
+
+        1310. Henry VII.'s son, John, King of Bohemia.
+
+        1313. Henry VII. poisoned in Italy.
+
+  1314--1347. Ludwig the Bavarian.
+
+  1314--1330. Frederick of Austria, Anti-Emperor.
+
+        1315. Battle of Morgarten.
+
+        1322. Ludwig's victory at Mühldorf.
+
+        1324. He gets possession of Brandenburg.
+
+        1327. His journey to Rome; Pope John XXII. deposed.
+
+        1338. Convention of German princes at Rense.
+
+        1344. Invention of gunpowder.
+
+        1346. The Pope declares Ludwig deposed, and appoints Karl IV. of
+              Bohemia.
+
+        1347. Death of Ludwig the Bavarian.
+
+  1347--1378. Karl IV. (Luxemburg).
+
+        1348. Günther of Schwarzburg, Anti-Emperor.
+
+        1356. Proclamation of "The Golden Bull."
+
+        1363. Tyrol annexed to Austria.
+
+        1368. The Hanseatic League defeats Waldemar III. of Denmark.
+
+        1373. Karl IV. acquires Brandenburg.
+
+        1377. War of Suabian cities with Count Eberhard.
+
+  1378--1418. Schism in the Catholic Church.
+
+  1378--1400. Wenzel of Bohemia (Luxemburg).
+
+        1386. Battle of Sempach.
+
+        1388. War of the Suabian cities.
+
+        1400. Wenzel deposed.
+
+  1400--1410. Rupert of the Palatinate.
+
+        1409. The Council of Pisa.
+
+        1410. The German Order defeated by the Poles.
+
+        1411. Three Emperors and three Popes at the same time.
+
+        1411. Frederick of Hohenzollern receives Brandenburg.
+
+  1411--1437. Sigismund of Bohemia.
+
+  1414--1418. The council at Constance.
+
+        1415. Martyrdom of Huss.
+
+        1418. End of the schism; Martin V., Pope.
+
+  1419--1436. The Hussite wars; Ziska; Procopius.
+
+  1431--1449. Council of Basel.
+
+        1437. Death of Sigismund.
+
+  =The Hapsburg Emperors.=
+
+  1438--1439. Albert II. of Austria; beginning of the uninterrupted
+        succession of the Hapsburgs.
+
+  1440--1493. Frederick III.
+
+        1444. Battle of St. James.
+
+        1450. Invention of printing.
+
+        1453. Constantinople taken by the Turks.
+
+        1466. Treaty of Thorn; Prussia tributary to Poland.
+
+        1474. War with Charles the Bold of Burgundy.
+
+        1476. Battles of Grandson and Morat.
+
+        1477. Death of Charles the Bold; marriage of Maximilian of
+              Austria and Mary of Burgundy.
+
+  1486--1525. Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony.
+
+  1493--1516. Maximilian I.
+
+        1495. Perpetual peace declared; the imperial court.
+
+        1512. Division of Germany into districts.
+
+  FOURTH PERIOD. (1517--1648.)
+
+  =The Reformation.=
+
+        1483. Martin Luther born.
+
+        1502. He enters the University of Erfurt.
+
+        1508. Is appointed professor at Wittenberg.
+
+        1510. Luther's journey to Rome.
+
+        1517. Luther nails his ninety-five theses, against the sale of
+              indulgences, to the church-door in Wittenberg.
+
+        1518. Interview with Cajetanus in Augsburg.
+
+        1519. Interview with Miltitz in Altenburg.
+
+        1520. Luther burns the Pope's Bull.
+
+  1520--1556. Charles V., Emperor.
+
+        1521. Luther at the Diet of Worms; his concealment.
+
+        1522. His return to Wittenberg.
+
+        1524. Ferdinand of Austria and the Bavarian dukes unite against
+              the Reformation.
+
+        1525. The Peasants' War.
+
+  1525--1532. John the Steadfast, Elector of Saxony.
+
+        1525. Albert of Brandenburg joins the Reformers; end of the
+              German Order; battle of Pavia.
+
+        1526. Ferdinand of Austria inherits Hungary and Bohemia.
+
+        1526. The League of Torgau.
+
+        1527. War of Charles V. against Francis I. and the Pope; Rome
+              taken by the Constable de Bourbon.
+
+        1529. Peace of Cambray; Diet of Speyer; the name of
+              "Protestants;" Luther meets Zwingli; Vienna besieged by
+              the Turks; Charles V. crowned at Bologna.
+
+        1530. Diet of Augsburg; the "Augsburg Confession."
+
+        1531. League of Schmalkalden.
+
+        1532. Religious Peace of Nuremberg.
+
+  1532--1554. John Frederick, Elector of Saxony.
+
+        1534. Duke Ulric of Würtemberg joins the Protestants.
+
+  1536--1538. Charles V.'s third war with Francis I.
+
+        1540. Ignatius Loyola founds the Order of Jesuits.
+
+  1542--1544. Charles V.'s fourth war with Francis I.
+
+  1545--1563. The Council of Trent.
+
+        1546. Death of Luther; the Schmalkalden War; treachery of
+              Maurice of Saxony.
+
+        1547. Battle of Mühlberg; capture of John Frederick of Saxony;
+              Philip of Hesse imprisoned.
+
+        1548. The Augsburg "Interim."
+
+        1552. Maurice of Saxony marches against Charles V.; Henry II. of
+              France takes Toul, Metz, and Verdun.
+
+        1553. Death of Maurice of Saxony.
+
+        1555. The religious Peace of Augsburg.
+
+        1556. Abdication of Charles V.
+
+  1556--1564. Ferdinand I.
+
+        1558. Death of Charles V.
+
+        1560. Death of Melanchthon.
+
+  1564--1579. Maximilian II.
+
+        1567. Grumbach's rebellion.
+
+  1576--1612. Rudolf II.
+
+        1581. Rise of the Netherlands against Spain.
+
+        1606. Rudolf II.'s brother, Matthias, rules in Austria.
+
+        1608. The "Protestant Union" founded.
+
+        1609. The "Catholic League" founded; "War of the Succession of
+              Cleves."
+
+  1612--1619. Matthias, Emperor.
+
+        1614. End of the "War of the Succession of Cleves."
+
+  =The Thirty Years' War.=
+
+  1618. Outbreak in Prague.
+
+  1619--1637. Ferdinand II.; Frederick V. of the Palatinate chosen King
+        of Bohemia.
+
+        1620. Battle near Prague; flight of Frederick V.
+
+        1622. Victories of Tilly in Baden.
+
+        1623. Tilly defeats Prince Christian of Brunswick.
+
+        1624. Union of the northern states.
+
+        1625. Christian IV. of Denmark appointed commander; Wallenstein
+              enters the field.
+
+        1626. Defeat of Mansfeld by Wallenstein: defeat of Christian IV.
+              by Tilly.
+
+        1628. Wallenstein's siege of Stralsund.
+
+        1629. The "Edict of Restitution."
+
+        1630. Diet in Ratisbon; Wallenstein removed: Richelieu helps the
+              Protestants; Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden lands in Germany.
+
+        1631. Tilly destroys Magdeburg; Gustavus Adolphus defeats Tilly
+              and marches to Frankfort.
+
+        1632. Death of Tilly; Gustavus Adolphus in Munich; his attack on
+              Wallenstein's camp; battle of Lützen, and death.
+
+        1633. Union of Protestants under Oxenstierna.
+
+        1634. Murder of Wallenstein; defeat of the Protestants at
+              Nördlingen.
+
+        1635. Saxony concludes a "separate peace."
+
+        1636. Victories of Baner.
+
+  1637--1657. Ferdinand III.
+
+        1638. Duke Bernard of Weimar victorious in Alsatia.
+
+        1639. Death of Duke Bernard.
+
+        1640. Diet at Ratisbon.
+
+        1642. Victories of the Swedish general, Torstenson.
+
+        1643. Torstenson's campaign in Denmark.
+
+        1645. Torstenson's victories in Bohemia; his march to Vienna;
+              the French generals, Turenne and Condé, in Germany.
+
+        1648. Protestant victories; Königsmark takes Prague.
+
+        1648. The Peace of Westphalia.
+
+  FIFTH PERIOD. (1648--1892.)
+
+  1640--1688. Frederick William of Brandenburg, the "Great Elector."
+
+  1643--1715. Louis XIV., King of France.
+
+  1655--1660. War of Sweden and Poland.
+
+        1656. Battle of Warsaw.
+
+  1657--1705. Leopold I.
+
+        1660. The Duchy of Prussia independent of Poland.
+
+  1667--1668. Louis XIV.'s invasion of the Spanish Netherlands; the
+        Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle.
+
+  1672--1678. Louis XIV.'s war against Holland.
+
+        1673. The "Great Elector" assists Holland.
+
+        1675. The battle of Fehrbellin.
+
+        1676. The Elector conquers Pomerania.
+
+        1678. The Peace of Nymwegen.
+
+        1681. Strasburg taken by Louis XIV.
+
+        1683. Siege of Vienna by the Turks; John Sobieski.
+
+        1687. The shambles of Eperies.
+
+  1688--1713. Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg.
+
+  1689--1697. Attempts of Louis XIV. to obtain the Palatinate.
+
+        1697. Peace of Ryswick; Prince Eugene of Savoy defeats the Turks
+              at Zenta; Augustus the Strong of Saxony becomes King of
+              Poland.
+
+        1699. Peace of Carlowitz.
+
+        1701. Prussia is made a kingdom.
+
+  1701--1714. War of the Spanish Succession.
+
+        1704. Battle of Blenheim.
+
+  1705--1711. Joseph I.
+
+        1706. Victories of Marlborough at Ramillies and Prince Eugene at
+              Turin.
+
+        1706. Charles XII. of Sweden in Saxony.
+
+        1708. Battle of Oudenarde.
+
+        1709. Battle of Malplaquet.
+
+  1711--1740. Karl VI.
+
+  1713--1740. Frederick William I., King of Prussia.
+
+        1713. The Peace of Utrecht.
+
+        1714. The Peace of Rastatt; the Elector George of Hannover
+              becomes King George I. of England.
+
+        1717. Taking of Belgrade by Prince Eugene.
+
+        1718. Treaty of Passarowitz.
+
+        1720. Treaty of Stockholm; Prussia acquires Pomerania.
+
+  1733--1735. War of the Polish Succession.
+
+        1740. Death of Karl VI.
+
+  =The Age of Frederick the Great.=
+
+        1712. Frederick born, in Berlin.
+
+        1730. His attempted flight; execution of Katte.
+
+        1740. Succeeds to the throne as Frederick II. of Prussia.
+
+  1740--1742. First Silesian War.
+
+  1741--1748. War of the Austrian Succession.
+
+  1742--1745. Karl VII. (of Bavaria), Emperor.
+
+        1742. Peace of Breslau; Prussia gains Silesia.
+
+        1743. Battle of Dettingen.
+
+        1744. East Friesland annexed to Prussia.
+
+  1744--1745. Second Silesian War.
+
+        1745. Battles of Hohenfriedberg, Sorr, and Kesselsdorf; Peace of
+              Dresden; death of Karl VII.
+
+  1745--1765. Francis I. of Lorraine.
+
+        1748. Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle.
+
+        1750. Voltaire comes to Berlin.
+
+  1756--1763. The Seven Years' War.
+
+        1756. Frederick's successes in Saxony and Bohemia.
+
+        1757. Frederick's victory at Prague; defeat at Kollin; victories
+              at Rossbach and Leuthen.
+
+        1758. Ferdinand of Brunswick defeats the French; siege of
+              Olmütz; victory of Zorndorf; surprise of Hochkirch.
+
+        1759. Battles of Minden and Kunnersdorf; misfortunes of Prussia.
+
+        1760. Battle of Liegnitz; taking of Berlin; victory of Torgau.
+
+        1761. Frederick hard pressed; losses of Prussia.
+
+        1762. Death of Elizabeth of Russia; alliance with Czar Peter
+              III.; Catharine II.; Prussian successes.
+
+        1763. The Peace of Hubertsburg.
+
+  1765--1790. Joseph II.
+
+        1769. Interview of Frederick the Great and Joseph II.
+
+        1772. First partition of Poland.
+
+  1774--1782. American War of Independence.
+
+        1778. Troubles with the Bavarian succession.
+
+        1780. Death of Maria Theresa.
+
+        1786. Death of Frederick the Great.
+
+  1786--1797. Frederick William II., King of Prussia.
+
+        1787. Prussia interferes in Holland.
+
+  1788--1791. Austria joins Russia against Turkey.
+
+        1790. Death of Joseph II.
+
+  =Wars with the French Republic and Napoleon.=
+
+  1789. Beginning of the French Revolution.
+
+  1790--1792. Leopold II.
+
+        1792. France declares war against Austria and Prussia.
+
+        1792. Campaign in France; battles of Valmy and Jemappes.
+
+  1792--1835. Francis II.
+
+        1793. Second partition of Poland; the first Coalition; successes
+              of the Allies.
+
+        1794. France victorious in Belgium; Prussia victorious on the
+              Upper Rhine.
+
+        1795. Third and last partition of Poland; Prussia makes peace
+              with France.
+
+        1796. Bonaparte in Italy; Jourdan defeated in Germany; Moreau's
+              retreat.
+
+        1797. Peace of Campo Formio.
+
+  1797--1840. Frederick William III., King of Prussia.
+
+        1798. Congress of Rastatt; Bonaparte in Egypt.
+
+        1799. The second Coalition; Suwarrow in Italy; Bonaparte First
+              Consul.
+
+        1800. Battles of Marengo and Hohenlinden.
+
+        1801. Peace of Lunéville; France extends to the Rhine.
+
+        1803. Reconstruction of Germany; French invasion of Hannover.
+
+        1804. Duke d'Enghien shot; Napoleon, Emperor.
+
+        1805. The third Coalition; battle of Austerlitz; defeat of
+              Austria and Russia; Peace of Presburg.
+
+        1806. The "Rhine-Bund" established; Francis II. gives up the
+              imperial crown: battle of Jena; all Prussia in the hands
+              of Napoleon.
+
+        1807. Battles of Eylau and Friedland; Peace of Tilsit; Jerome
+              Bonaparte made King of Westphalia.
+
+        1808. Napoleon and Alexander I. in Erfurt; Joseph Bonaparte,
+              King of Spain.
+
+        1809. Austria begins war with France; revolts of Hofer and
+              Schill; Napoleon marches to Vienna; battles of Aspern and
+              Wagram; Peace of Schönbrunn.
+
+        1810. Marriage of Napoleon and Maria Louisa; annexation of
+              Holland and Northern Germany to France.
+
+        1812. Germany compelled to unite with Napoleon against Russia;
+              battle of Borodino; burning of Moscow; the retreat;
+              General York's alliance with Russia.
+
+        1813. The War of Liberation; Frederick William III. yields to
+              the pressure; the army of volunteers; battles of Lützen
+              and Bautzen; armistice; the fifth Coalition; Austria joins
+              the Allies; victories of the Katzbach, Kulm, and
+              Dennewitz; great battle of Leipzig; Napoleon's retreat;
+              battle of Hanan; Germany liberated.
+
+        1814. The campaign in France; the Allies enter Paris; Napoleon's
+              abdication; the Congress of Vienna.
+
+        1815. Napoleon's return from Elba; the new German Confederation;
+              battles of Ligny and Waterloo; end of Napoleon's rule;
+              second Peace of Paris; the "Holy Alliance."
+
+  =Germany in the Nineteenth Century.=
+
+        1817. The Students' Convention at the Wartburg.
+
+        1819. The conference at Carlsbad.
+
+        1823. A "provincial" representation in Prussia.
+
+        1830. The July Revolution in France; outbreaks in Germany.
+
+        1834. The Zollverein established.
+
+  1835--1848. Ferdinand I., Emperor of Austria.
+
+  1840--1861. Frederick William IV., King of Prussia.
+
+        1848. Revolution in Germany; conflicts in Austria, Prussia, and
+              Baden; war in Schleswig-Holstein; the National Parliament
+              at Frankfort; insurrection in Hungary and Italy;
+              bombardment of Vienna; Francis Joseph, Emperor.
+
+        1849. Frederick William IV. rejects the imperial crown; civil
+              war in Baden; Austria calls upon Russia for help;
+              surrender of Görgey; subjection of Italy.
+
+        1850. Troubles in Hesse and Holstein; end of the National
+              Parliament in Germany.
+
+        1851. Restoration of the Diet; Louis Napoleon, Emperor.
+
+        1852. Conference at London concerning Schleswig-Holstein.
+
+  1853--1856. War of England and France against Russia.
+
+        1858. William, Prince of Prussia, regent.
+
+        1859. War of France and Sardinia against Austria; battles of
+              Magenta and Solferino.
+
+        1861. William I., King of Prussia.
+
+        1862. Bismarck, Prime-Minister; political troubles in Prussia;
+              congress of princes at Frankfort.
+
+        1863. Continued rivalry of Austria and Prussia.
+
+        1864. War in Schleswig-Holstein; Denmark gives up the duchies;
+              the Prince of Augustenburg in Holstein.
+
+        1865. Agreement of Gastein; Schleswig and Holstein divided
+              between Austria and Prussia.
+
+        1866. Austria prepares for war; the German Diet dissolved.
+
+        1866. Battle of Langensalza; invasion of Saxony and Bohemia;
+              battle of Königgrätz; the war on the Main; truce of
+              Nikolsburg; annexation of Hannover, Hesse-Cassel, Nassau,
+              and Frankfort to Prussia; the Peace of Prague.
+
+        1867. Establishment of the North-German Union; the question of
+              Luxemburg; hostility of France.
+
+        1869. OEcumenical Council in Rome.
+
+        1870. France declares war against Prussia; all the German
+              states, except Austria, unite; battles of Weissenburg
+              and Wörth; the German armies move on Metz; battles of
+              Courcelles, Mars-la-Tour, and Gravelotte; the battle of
+              Sedan, and surrender of Napoleon III.; the Republic
+              declared in Paris; capitulation of Strasburg and Metz;
+              siege of Paris; the war on the Loire and in the northern
+              provinces.
+
+        1871. Victories of Prince Frederick Karl at Le Mans; Bourbaki's
+              repulse by Werder; surrender of Paris; Bourbaki's retreat
+              into Switzerland; William I. of Prussia proclaimed Emperor
+              of Germany; the Peace of Frankfort; foundation of the new
+              German Empire.
+
+        1872. Beginning of conflict between the German Government and
+              the Roman Church; Falk made Minister of Culture; the
+              Jesuits banished from Germany.
+
+        1873. The boundaries defined between State and Church; the May
+              laws.
+
+        1874. Civil marriage made obligatory.
+
+        1876. The _Kulturkampf_ beginning to lag.
+
+        1878. Two murderous attempts on the life of Emperor William I.;
+              the exceptional law against the Social-Democrats put in
+              force.
+
+        1879. Falk resigns; appointment of reactionary Minister of
+              Culture; Alliance with Austria.
+
+        1881. Emperor William I. opens Parliament; legislation for
+              bettering the condition of the working classes.
+
+        1882. Revision of the May laws; Triple Alliance.
+
+        1886. Warlike attitude of Russia and France; death of Ludwig II.
+              of Bavaria.
+
+        1887. Parliamentary conflict in regard to the military budget;
+              dissolution of Parliament; new elections result in favor
+              of the Government.
+
+        1888. Death of Emperor William I.; Frederick III., Emperor; his
+              reign of ninety-nine days; his death; succession of
+              William II.
+
+        1890. Bismarck resigns the Chancellorship; General Caprivi
+              succeeds him; German-English agreement.
+
+        1891. Renewal of Triple Alliance; new commercial treaties.
+
+        1892. Introduction of a new military bill.
+
+        1893. Defeat of army bill; dissolution of Parliament; the bill
+              carried as a result of new elections.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes
+
+Italic phrases are enclosed with underlines [_] in the text version and
+bold phrases are enclosed by equal signs [=].
+
+Sidenotes replace page headings from the original. They are moved to the
+nearest following paragragh break.
+
+Images are moved to the nearest paragraph break to make the text more
+readable.
+
+The following are used interchangeably:
+
+  grand-sons grandsons
+  Eugenie Eugénie
+  Gunther Günther
+  Luneville Lunéville
+  Cooperation Coöperation
+
+Page xxx
+
+(text to be searched). Action taken.
+
+Page 113
+
+(the name is written). Changed from 'writen' to 'written'.
+
+Page 165
+
+(he met Pope Adrian IV.,). Changed 'Adrain' to 'Adrian'.
+
+Page 246
+
+(--Change in Military Service.). Changed 'Servive' to 'Service'.
+
+Page 344
+
+(1734, King Stanislas). Changed 'king' to King'.
+
+Page 356
+
+(at the different courts,). Was 'differents courts' in original.
+
+Page 379
+
+(Longwy). As in original.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of Germany, by Bayard Taylor
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of Germany, by Bayard Taylor
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A History of Germany
+       From the Earliest Times to the Present Day
+
+Author: Bayard Taylor
+
+Release Date: June 21, 2011 [EBook #36484]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF GERMANY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Garcia, Neil Wyllie, Leonard Johnson and
+the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned
+images of public domain material from the Google Print
+project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 423px;">
+<img src="images/f001.png" width="423" height="500" alt="THE EMPEROR OF GERMANY." title="" />
+<p class="caption">THE EMPEROR OF GERMANY.<br /><br />
+
+(After a Photograph by J. C. Schaarwächter, Photographer to the
+Emperor.)</p >
+</div>
+
+<div class="title_page">
+<h1>A<br />
+<br />
+HISTORY OF GERMANY<br />
+<br />
+<span class="font5">FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO<br />
+THE PRESENT DAY</span></h1>
+<br />
+<p><span class="font7">BY</span><br />
+<span class="font9">BAYARD TAYLOR</span></p>
+<br />
+<p class="font8"><i>WITH AN ADDITIONAL CHAPTER BY</i><br />
+MARIE HANSEN-TAYLOR</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<p class="font9">NEW YORK<br />
+D. APPLETON AND COMPANY<br />
+1897</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<div class="verso">
+<hr />
+<p>
+<span class="smcap font7">Copyright, 1874, 1893,<br />
+By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.</span><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap font7">Electrotyped and Printed<br />
+at the Appleton Press, U. S. A.</span><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>PREFACE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>When I assented to the request of the publishers that I would edit a new
+edition of the History of Germany, and write an additional chapter
+finishing the work down to the present date, I was fully aware of both
+my own shortcomings and the difficulty of the task. That I undertook it,
+nevertheless, is because I was strongly tempted to perform what I
+considered, in my case, an act of piety. Being naturally familiar with
+the aim and style of this book, I have tried to compile a new chapter in
+the simple narrative fashion by which the History has commended itself
+to its readers.</p>
+
+<p>In his "Introductory Words" to the original edition the author says:
+"The History of Germany is not the history of a nation, but of a race.
+It has little unity, therefore it is complicated, broken, and attached
+on all sides to the histories of other countries. In its earlier periods
+it covers the greater part of Europe, and does not return exclusively to
+Germany until after France, Spain, England and the Italian States have
+been founded. Thus, even before the fall of the Roman Empire, it becomes
+the main trunk out of which branch the histories of nearly all European
+nations, and must of necessity be studied as the connecting link between
+ancient and modern history. The records of no other race throw so much
+light upon the development of all civilized lands during a period of
+fifteen hundred years.</p>
+
+<p>"My aim has been to present a clear, continuous narrative, omitting no
+episode of importance, yet preserving a distinct line of connection
+from century to century. Besides referring to all the best authorities,
+I have based my labors mainly upon three recent German works&mdash;that of
+Dittmar, as the fullest; of Von Rochau, as the most impartial; and of
+Dr. David Müller, as the most readable. By constructing an entirely new
+narrative from these, compressing the material into less than half the
+space which each occupies, and avoiding the interruptions and changes by
+which all are characterized, I hope to have made this History convenient
+and acceptable to our schools."</p>
+
+<p>The book is, indeed, eminently fitted for use in the higher grades of
+schools. But the scope, comprehensiveness, and style of the work make it
+in no less a degree inviting and attractive to the general reader.</p>
+
+<p>The material for the preparation of the additional chapter was difficult
+of access, since the history of the last twenty years is on record
+chiefly in monographs and in the public press. The best guide I have
+found is the "Politische Geschichte der Gegenwart," by Prof. Wilhelm
+Müller. The author of the present book was fortunate in being able to
+close it with the glorious events of the years 1870 to 1871, and the
+birth of the new Empire. The additional chapter has no such ending. It
+deals with the beginning of a new era, and has to state facts, with an
+eye to their results in the future.</p>
+
+<p class="citation"><span class="smcap">Marie Hansen-Taylor.</span>
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">New York</span>, <i>1893</i>.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+<div class="toc">
+<p>CHAPTER</p>
+<ol class="TOC RU" style="margin-left:2em;">
+
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_I"><span class="smcap">The ancient Germans and their country.</span></a> (330 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span>&mdash;70 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span>)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_II"><span class="smcap">The wars of Rome with the Germans.</span></a> (70 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span>&mdash;9 <span class="smcapa">A. D.</span>)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_III"><span class="smcap">Hermann, the first German leader.</span></a> (9&mdash;21 <span class="smcapa">A. D.</span>)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><span class="smcap">Germany during the first three centuries of our era.</span></a> (21&mdash;300 <span class="smcapa">A. D.</span>)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_V"><span class="smcap">The rise and migrations of the Goths.</span></a> (300&mdash;412.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><span class="smcap">The invasion of the Huns, and its consequences.</span></a> (412&mdash;472.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><span class="smcap">The rise and fall of the Ostrogoths.</span></a> (472&mdash;570.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><span class="smcap">Europe, at the end of the migration of the races.</span></a> (570.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><span class="smcap">The kingdom of the Franks.</span></a> (486&mdash;638.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_X"><span class="smcap">The dynasty of the royal stewards.</span></a> (638&mdash;768.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><span class="smcap">The reign of Charlemagne.</span></a> (768&mdash;814.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><span class="smcap">The emperors of the Carolingian line.</span></a> (814&mdash;911.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><span class="smcap">King Konrad, and the Saxon rulers, Henry I. and Otto the Great.</span></a> (912&mdash;973.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><span class="smcap">The decline of the Saxon dynasty.</span></a> (973&mdash;1024.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XV"><span class="smcap">The Frank emperors, to the death of Henry IV.</span></a> (1024&mdash;1106.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI"><span class="smcap">End of the Frank dynasty, and rise of the Hohenstaufens.</span></a> (1106&mdash;1152.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII"><span class="smcap">The reign of Frederick I., Barbarossa.</span></a> (1152&mdash;1197.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII"><span class="smcap">The reign of Frederick II. and end of the Hohenstaufen line.</span></a> (1215&mdash;1268.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX"><span class="smcap">Germany at the time of the interregnum.</span></a> (1256&mdash;1273.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XX"><span class="smcap">From Rudolf of Hapsburg To Ludwig the Bavarian.</span></a> (1273&mdash;1347.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XXI"><span class="smcap">The Luxemburg emperors, Karl IV. and Wenzel.</span></a> (1347&mdash;1410.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XXII"><span class="smcap">The reign of Sigismund and the Hussite war.</span></a> (1410&mdash;1437.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII"><span class="smcap">The foundation of the Hapsburg dynasty.</span></a> (1438&mdash;1493.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV"><span class="smcap">Germany, during the reign of Maximilian I.</span></a> (1493&mdash;1519.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XXV"><span class="smcap">The Reformation.</span></a> (1517&mdash;1546.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI"><span class="smcap">From Luther's death to the end of the 16th century.</span></a> (1546&mdash;1600.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII"><span class="smcap">Beginning of the Thirty Years' War.</span></a> (1600&mdash;1625.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII"><span class="smcap">Tilly, Wallenstein and Gustavus Adolphus.</span></a> (1625&mdash;1634.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX"><span class="smcap">End of the Thirty Years' War.</span></a> (1634&mdash;1648.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XXX"><span class="smcap">Germany, to the peace of Ryswick.</span></a> (1648&mdash;1697.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI"><span class="smcap">The war of the Spanish succession.</span></a> (1697&mdash;1714.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII"><span class="smcap">The rise of Prussia.</span></a> (1714&mdash;1740.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII"><span class="smcap">The reign of Frederick the Great.</span></a> (1740&mdash;1786.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV"><span class="smcap">Germany under Maria Theresa and Joseph II.</span></a> (1740&mdash;1790.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXV"><span class="smcap">From the death of Joseph II. to the end of the German Empire.</span></a> (1790&mdash;1806.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVI"><span class="smcap">Germany under Napoleon.</span></a> (1806&mdash;1814.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVII"><span class="smcap">From the liberation of Germany to the year 1848.</span></a> (1814&mdash;1848.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVIII"><span class="smcap">The Revolution of 1848 and its results.</span></a> (1848&mdash;1861.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIX"><span class="smcap">The struggle with Austria; the North-German union.</span></a> (1861&mdash;1870.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XL"><span class="smcap">The war with France, and establishment of the German Empire.</span></a> (1870&mdash;1871.)</li>
+
+<li>&mdash;<a href="#CHAPTER_XLI"><span class="smcap">The new German Empire.</span></a> (1871&mdash;1893.)</li>
+
+<li style="list-style-type:none;">&nbsp; &nbsp; <a href="#CHRONOLOGICAL_TABLE"><span class="smcap">Chronological Table of German History.</span></a></li>
+
+</ol>
+</div>
+
+
+<h2>LIST OF MAPS.</h2>
+
+<div class="maps">
+<ul class="list_maps">
+
+<li><a href="#map1">Germany under the Cæsars</a></li>
+
+<li><a href="#map2">The Migrations of the Races,</a> <span class="smcapa">A. D.</span> 500</li>
+
+<li><a href="#map3">Empire of Charlemagne, with the Partition of the Treaty of Verdun,</a> <span class="smcapa">A. D.</span> 843</li>
+
+<li><a href="#map4">Germany under the Saxons and Frank Emperors,</a> Twelfth Century</li>
+
+<li><a href="#map5">Germany under Napoleon,</a> 1812</li>
+
+<li><a href="#map6">Metz and Vicinity</a></li>
+
+<li><a href="#map7">The German Empire,</a> 1871</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+<p class="font15 center" style="margin-top:4em;">A HISTORY OF GERMANY.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<p class="center">THE ANCIENT GERMANS AND THEIR COUNTRY.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(330 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span>&mdash;70 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span>)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>The Aryan Race and its Migrations.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Earliest Inhabitants of Europe.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Lake Dwellings.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Celtic and Germanic Migrations.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Europe in the Fourth Century <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span></li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Name "German."</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Voyage of Pytheas.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Invasions of the Cimbrians and Teutons, <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span> 113.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Victories of Marius.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Boundary between the Gauls and the Germans.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Geographical Location of the various Germanic Tribes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Their Mode of Life, Vices, Virtues, Laws, and Religion.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The Germans form one of the most important branches of the Indo-Germanic
+or Aryan race&mdash;a division of the human family which also includes the
+Hindoos, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Celts, and the Slavonic tribes. The
+near relationship of all these, which have become so separated in their
+habits of life, forms of government and religious faith, in the course
+of many centuries, has been established by the evidence of common
+tradition, language, and physiological structure. The original home of
+the Aryan race appears to have been somewhere among the mountains and
+lofty table-lands of Central Asia. The word "Arya," meaning <i>the high</i>
+or <i>the excellent</i>, indicates their superiority over the neighboring
+races long before the beginning of history.</p>
+
+<p>When and under what circumstances the Aryans left their home, can never
+be ascertained. Most scholars suppose that there were different
+migrations, and that each movement westward was accomplished slowly,
+centuries intervening between their departure from Central Asia and
+their permanent settlement in Europe. The earliest migration was
+probably that of the tribes who took possession of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</span> Greece and Italy;
+who first acquired, and for more than a thousand years maintained, their
+ascendency over all other branches of their common family; who, in fact,
+laid the basis for the civilization of the world.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">330 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span></div>
+
+<p>Before this migration took place, Europe was inhabited by a race of
+primitive savages, who were not greatly superior to the wild beasts in
+the vast forests which then covered the continent. They were
+exterminated at so early a period that all traditions of their existence
+were lost. Within the last fifty years, however, various relics of this
+race have been brought to light. Fragments of skulls and skeletons, with
+knives and arrow-heads of flint, have been found, at a considerable
+depth, in the gravel-beds of Northern France, or in caves in Germany,
+together with the bones of animals now extinct, upon which they fed. In
+the lakes of Switzerland, they built dwellings upon piles, at a little
+distance from the shore, in order to be more secure against the attacks
+of wild beasts or hostile tribes. Many remains of these lake-dwellings,
+with flint implements and fragments of pottery, have recently been
+discovered. The skulls of the race indicate that they were savages of
+the lowest type, and different in character from any which now exist on
+the earth.</p>
+
+<p>The second migration of the Aryan race is supposed to have been that of
+the Celtic tribes, who took a more northerly course, by way of the
+steppes of the Volga and the Don, and gradually obtained possession of
+all Central and Western Europe, including the British Isles. Their
+advance was only stopped by the ocean, and the tribe which first appears
+in history, the Gauls, was at that time beginning to move eastward
+again, in search of new fields of plunder. It is impossible to ascertain
+whether the German tribes immediately followed the Celts, and took
+possession of the territory which they vacated in pushing westward, or
+whether they formed a third migration, at a later date. We only know the
+order in which they were settled when our first historical knowledge of
+them begins.</p>
+
+<p>In the fourth century before the Christian Era, all Europe west of the
+Rhine, and as far south as the Po, was Celtic; between the Rhine and the
+Vistula, including Denmark and southern Sweden, the tribes were
+Germanic; while the Slavonic branch seems to have already made its
+appearance in what is now Southern Russia. Each of these three branches
+of the Aryan race was divided into many smaller tribes, some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</span> of which,
+left behind in the march from Asia, or separated by internal wars,
+formed little communities, like islands, in the midst of territory
+belonging to other branches of the race. The boundaries, also, were
+never very distinctly drawn: the tribes were restless and nomadic, not
+yet attached to the soil, and many of them moved through or across each
+other, so that some were constantly disappearing, and others forming
+under new names.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">113 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span> THE CIMBRIANS AND TEUTONS.</div>
+
+<p>The Romans first heard the name "Germans" from the Celtic Gauls, in
+whose language it meant simply <i>neighbors</i>. The first notice of a
+Germanic tribe was given to the world by the Greek navigator Pytheas,
+who made a voyage to the Baltic in the year 330 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span> Beyond the
+amber-coast, eastward of the mouth of the Vistula, he found the Goths,
+of whom we hear nothing more until they appear, several centuries later,
+on the northern shore of the Black Sea. For more than two hundred years
+there is no further mention of the Germanic races; then, most
+unexpectedly, the Romans were called upon to make their personal
+acquaintance.</p>
+
+<p>In the year 113 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span> a tremendous horde of strangers forced its way
+through the Tyrolese Alps and invaded the Roman territory. They numbered
+several hundred thousand, and brought with them their wives, children
+and all their movable property. They were composed of two great tribes,
+the Cimbrians and Teutons, accompanied by some minor allies, Celtic as
+well as Germanic. Their statement was that they were driven from their
+homes on the northern ocean by the inroads of the waves, and they
+demanded territory for settlement, or, at least, the right to pass the
+Roman frontier. The Consul, Papirius Carbo, collected an army and
+endeavored to resist their advance; but he was defeated by them in a
+battle fought near Noreia, between the Adriatic and the Alps.</p>
+
+<p>The terror occasioned by this defeat reached even Rome. The
+"barbarians," as they were called, were men of large stature, of
+astonishing bodily strength, with yellow hair and fierce blue eyes. They
+wore breastplates of iron and helmets crowned with the heads of wild
+beasts, and carried white shields which shone in the sunshine. They
+first hurled double-headed spears in battle, but at close quarters
+fought with short and heavy swords. The women encouraged them with cries
+and war-songs, and seemed no less fierce and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</span> courageous than the men.
+They had also priestesses, clad in white linen, who delivered prophecies
+and slaughtered human victims upon the altars of their gods.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">102 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span></div>
+
+<p>Instead of moving towards Rome, the Cimbrians and Teutons marched
+westward along the foot of the Alps, crossed into Gaul, devastated the
+country between the Rhone and the Pyrenees, and even obtained temporary
+possession of part of Spain. Having thus plundered at will for ten
+years, they retraced their steps and prepared to invade Italy a second
+time. The celebrated Consul, Marius, who was sent against them, found
+their forces divided, in order to cross the Alps by two different roads.
+He first attacked the Teutons, two hundred thousand in number, at Aix,
+in southern France, and almost exterminated them in the year 102 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span>
+Transferring his army across the Alps, in the following year he met the
+Cimbrians at Vercelli, in Piedmont (not far from the field of Magenta).
+They were drawn up in a square, the sides of which were nearly three
+miles long: in the centre their wagons, collected together, formed a
+fortress for the women and children. But the Roman legions broke the
+Cimbrian square, and obtained a complete victory. The women, seeing that
+all was lost, slew their children, and then themselves; but a few
+thousand prisoners were made&mdash;among them Teutoboch, the prince of the
+Teutons, who had escaped from the slaughter at Aix,&mdash;to figure in the
+triumph accorded to Marius by the Roman Senate. This was the only
+appearance of the German tribes in Italy, until the decline of the
+Empire, five hundred years later.</p>
+
+<p>The Roman conquests, which now began to extend northwards into the heart
+of Europe, soon brought the two races into collision again, but upon
+German or Celtic soil. From the earliest reports, as well as the later
+movements of the tribes, we are able to ascertain the probable order of
+their settlement, though not the exact boundaries of each. The territory
+which they occupied was almost the same as that which now belongs to the
+German States. The Rhine divided them from the Gauls, except towards its
+mouth, where the Germanic tribes occupied part of Belgium. A line drawn
+from the Vistula southward to the Danube nearly represents their eastern
+boundary, while, up to this time, they do not appear to have crossed the
+Danube on the south. The district between that river and the Alps, now<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span>
+Bavaria and Styria, was occupied by Celtic tribes. Northwards they had
+made some advance into Sweden, and probably also into Norway. They thus
+occupied nearly all of Central Europe, north of the Alpine chain.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">100 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span> THE GERMAN TRIBES.</div>
+
+<p>At the time of their first contact with the Romans, these Germanic
+tribes had lost even the tradition of their Asiatic origin. They
+supposed themselves to have originated upon the soil where they dwelt,
+sprung either from the earth, or descended from their gods. According to
+the most popular legend, the war-god Tuisko, or Tiu, had a son, Mannus
+(whence the word <i>man</i> is derived), who was the first human parent of
+the German race. Many centuries must have elapsed since their first
+settlement in Europe, or they could not have so completely changed the
+forms of their religion and their traditional history.</p>
+
+<p>Two or three small tribes are represented, in the earliest Roman
+accounts, as having crossed the Rhine and settled between the Vosges and
+that river, from Strasburg to Mayence. From the latter point to Cologne
+none are mentioned, whence it is conjectured that the western bank of
+the Rhine was here a debatable ground, possessed sometimes by the Celts
+and sometimes by the Germans. The greater part of Belgium was occupied
+by the Eburones and Condrusii, Germanic tribes, to whom were afterwards
+added the Aduatuci, formed out of the fragments of the Cimbrians and
+Teutons who escaped the slaughters of Marius. At the mouth of the Rhine
+dwelt the Batavi, the forefathers of the Dutch, and, like them, reported
+to be strong, phlegmatic and stubborn, in the time of Cæsar. A little
+eastward, on the shore of the North Sea, dwelt the Frisii, where they
+still dwell, in the province of Friesland; and beyond them, about the
+mouth of the Weser, the Chauci, a kindred tribe.</p>
+
+<p>What is now Westphalia was inhabited by the Sicambrians, a brave and
+warlike people: the Marsi and Ampsivarii were beyond them, towards the
+Hartz, and south of the latter the Ubii, once a powerful tribe, but in
+Cæsar's time weak and submissive. From the Weser to the Elbe, in the
+north, was the land of the Cherusci; south of them the equally fierce
+and indomitable Chatti, the ancestors of the modern Hessians; and still
+further south, along the head-waters of the river Main, the Marcomanni.
+A part of what is now Saxony was in the possession of the Hermunduri,
+who together with their kindred, the Chatti, were called<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</span> <i>Suevi</i> by the
+Romans. Northward, towards the mouth of the Elbe, dwelt the Longobardi
+(Lombards); beyond them, in Holstein, the Saxons; and north of the
+latter, in Schleswig, the Angles.</p>
+
+<p>East of the Elbe were the Semnones, who were guardians of a certain holy
+place,&mdash;a grove of the Druids&mdash;where various related tribes came for
+their religious festivals. North of the Semnones dwelt the Vandals, and
+along the Baltic coast the Rugii, who have left their name in the island
+of Rügen. Between these and the Vistula were the Burgundiones, with a
+few smaller tribes. In the extreme north-east, between the Vistula and
+the point where the city of Königsberg now stands, was the home of the
+Goths, south of whom were settled the Slavonic Sarmatians,&mdash;the same who
+founded, long afterwards, the kingdom of Poland.</p>
+
+<p>Bohemia was first settled by the Celtic tribe of the Boii, whence its
+name&mdash;<i>Boiheim</i>, the home of the Boii&mdash;is derived. In Cæsar's day,
+however, this tribe had been driven out by the Germanic Marcomanni,
+whose neighbors, the Quadi, on the Danube, were also German. Beyond the
+Danube all was Celtic; the defeated Boii occupied Austria; the
+Vindelici, Bavaria; while the Noric and Rhætian Celts took possession of
+the Tyrolese Alps. Switzerland was inhabited by the Helvetii, a Celtic
+tribe which had been driven out of Germany; but the mountainous district
+between the Rhine, the Lake of Constance and the Danube, now called the
+Black Forest, seems to have had no permanent owners.</p>
+
+<p>The greater part of Germany was thus in possession of Germanic tribes,
+bound to each other by blood, by their common religion and their habits
+of life. At this early period, their virtues and their vices were
+strongly marked. They were not savages, for they knew the first
+necessary arts of civilized life, and they had a fixed social and
+political organization. The greater part of the territory which they
+inhabited was still a wilderness. The mountain chain which extends
+through Central Germany from the Main to the Elbe was called by the
+Romans the Hercynian Forest. It was then a wild, savage region, the home
+of the aurox (a race of wild cattle), the bear and the elk. The lower
+lands to the northward of this forest were also thickly wooded and
+marshy, with open pastures here and there, where the tribes settled in
+small communities, kept their cattle, and cultivated the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span> soil only
+enough to supply the needs of life. They made rough roads of
+communication, which could be traversed by their wagons, and the
+frontiers of each tribe were usually marked by guard-houses, where all
+strangers were detained until they received permission to enter the
+territory.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">HABITS OF THE GERMANS.</div>
+
+<p>At this early period, the Germans had no cities, or even villages. Their
+places of worship, which were either groves of venerable oak-trees or
+the tops of mountains, were often fortified; and when attacked in the
+open country, they made a temporary defence of their wagons. They lived
+in log-houses, which were surrounded by stockades spacious enough to
+contain the cattle and horses belonging to the family. A few fields of
+rye and barley furnished each homestead with bread and beer, but hunting
+and fishing were their chief dependence. The women cultivated flax, from
+which they made a coarse, strong linen: the men clothed themselves with
+furs or leather. They were acquainted with the smelting and working of
+iron, but valued gold and silver only for the sake of ornament. They
+were fond of bright colors, of poetry and song, and were in the highest
+degree hospitable.</p>
+
+<p>The three principal vices of the Germans were indolence, drunkenness and
+love of gaming. Although always ready for the toils and dangers of war,
+they disliked to work at home. When the men assembled at night, and the
+great ox-horns, filled with mead or beer, were passed from one to the
+other, they rarely ceased drinking until all were intoxicated; and when
+the passion for gaming came upon them, they would often stake their
+dearest possessions, even their own freedom, on a throw of the dice. The
+women were never present on these occasions: they ruled and regulated
+their households with undisputed sway. They were considered the equals
+of the men, and exhibited no less energy and courage. They were supposed
+to possess the gift of prophecy, and always accompanied the men to
+battle, where they took care of the wounded, and stimulated the warriors
+by their shouts and songs.</p>
+
+<p>They honored the institution of marriage to an extent beyond that
+exhibited by any other people of the ancient world. The ceremony
+consisted in the man giving a horse, or a yoke of oxen, to the woman,
+who gave him arms or armor in return. Those who proved unfaithful to the
+marriage vow were punished with death. The children of freemen and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span>
+slaves grew up together until the former were old enough to carry arms,
+when they were separated. The slaves were divided into two classes:
+those who lived under the protection of a freeman and were obliged to
+perform for him a certain amount of labor, and those who were wholly
+"chattels," bought and sold at will.</p>
+
+<p>Each family had its own strictly regulated laws, which were sufficient
+for the government of its free members, its retainers and slaves. A
+number of these families formed "a district," which was generally laid
+out according to natural boundaries, such as streams or hills. In some
+tribes, however, the families were united in "hundreds," instead of
+districts. Each of these managed its own affairs, as a little republic,
+wherein each freeman had an equal voice; yet to each belonged a leader,
+who was called "count" or "duke." All the districts of a tribe met
+together in a "General Assembly of the People," which was always held at
+the time of new or full moon. The chief priest of the tribe presided,
+and each man present had the right to vote. Here questions of peace or
+war, violations of right or disputes between the districts were decided,
+criminals were tried, young men acknowledged as freemen and warriors,
+and, in case of approaching war, a leader chosen by the people.
+Alliances between the tribes, for the sake of mutual defence or
+invasion, were not common, at first; but the necessity of them was soon
+forced upon the Germans by the encroachments of Rome.</p>
+
+<p>The gods which they worshipped represented the powers of Nature. Their
+mythology was the same originally which the Scandinavians preserved, in
+a slightly different form, until the tenth century of our era. The chief
+deity was named Wodan, or Odin, the god of the sky, whose worship was
+really that of the sun. His son, Donar, or Thunder, with his fiery beard
+and huge hammer, is the Thor of the Scandinavians. The god of war, Tiu
+or Tyr, was supposed to have been born from the Earth, and thus became
+the ancestor of the Germanic tribes. There was also a goddess of the
+earth, Hertha, who was worshipped with secret and mysterious rites. The
+people had their religious festivals, at stated seasons, when
+sacrifices, sometimes of human beings, were laid upon the altars of the
+gods, in the sacred groves. Even after they became Christians, in the
+eighth century, they retained their habit of celebrating some of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span> these
+festivals, but changed them into the Christian anniversaries of
+Christmas, Easter and Whitsuntide.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">OPEN TO CIVILIZATION.</div>
+
+<p>Thus, from all we can learn respecting them, we may say that the
+Germans, during the first century before Christ, were fully prepared, by
+their habits, laws, and their moral development, for a higher
+civilization. They were still restless, after so many centuries of
+wandering; they were fierce and fond of war, as a natural consequence of
+their struggles with the neighboring races; but they had already
+acquired a love for the wild land where they dwelt, they had begun to
+cultivate the soil, they had purified and hallowed the family relation,
+which is the basis of all good government, and finally, although slavery
+existed among them, they had established equal rights for free men.</p>
+
+<p>If the object of Rome had been civilization, instead of conquest and
+plunder, the development of the Germans might have commenced much
+earlier and produced very different results.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">THE WARS OF ROME WITH THE GERMANS.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(70 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span>&mdash;9 <span class="smcapa">A. D.</span>)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Roman Conquest of Gaul.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The German Chief, Ariovistus.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Answer to Cæsar.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Cæsar's March to the Rhine.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Defeat of Ariovistus.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Cæsar's Victory near Cologne.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Bridge.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Second Expedition.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;He subjugates the Gauls.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;He enlists a German Legion.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Romans advance to the Danube, under Augustus.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;First Expedition of Drusus.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Rhine fortified.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Death of Drusus.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Conquests of Tiberius.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The War of the Marcomanni.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Cherusci.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Tyranny of Varus.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Resistance of the Germans.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">70 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span></div>
+
+<p>After the destruction of the Teutons and Cimbrians by Marius, more than
+forty years elapsed before the Romans again came in contact with any
+German tribe. During this time the Roman dominion over the greater part
+of Gaul was firmly established by Julius Cæsar, and in losing their
+independence, the Celts began to lose, also, their original habits and
+character. They and the Germans had never been very peaceable neighbors,
+and the possession of the western bank of the Rhine seems to have been,
+even at that early day, a subject of contention between them.</p>
+
+<p>About the year 70 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span> two Gallic tribes, the Ædui in Burgundy and the
+Arverni in Central France, began a struggle for the supremacy in that
+part of Gaul. The allies of the latter, the Sequani, called to their
+assistance a chief of the German Suevi, whose name, as we have it
+through Cæsar, was Ariovistus. With a force of 15,000 men, he joined the
+Arverni and the Sequani, and defeated the Ædui in several battles. After
+the complete overthrow of the latter, he haughtily demanded as a
+recompense one-third of the territory of the Sequani. His strength had
+meanwhile been increased by new accessions from the German side of the
+Rhine, and the Sequani were obliged to yield. His followers settled in
+the new territory: in the course of about<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span> fourteen years, they
+amounted to 120,000, and Ariovistus felt himself strong enough to demand
+another third of the lands of the Sequani.</p>
+
+<div id="map1"></div>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 456px;">
+<a href="images/f019.png">
+<img src="images/f019t.png" width="456" height="600" alt="GERMANY UNDER THE CÆSARS." title="" />
+</a>
+<p class="caption">GERMANY UNDER THE CÆSARS.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">57 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span> UNDER THE CÆSARS.</div>
+
+<p>Southern France was then a Roman province, governed by Julius Cæsar. In
+the year 57 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span> ambassadors from the principal tribes of Eastern Gaul
+appeared before him and implored his assistance against the inroads of
+the Suevi. It was an opportunity which he immediately seized, in order
+to bring the remaining Gallic tribes under the sway of Rome. He first
+sent a summons to Ariovistus to appear before him, but the haughty
+German chief answered: "When I need Cæsar, I shall come to Cæsar. If
+Cæsar needs me, let him seek me. What business has he in <i>my</i> Gaul,
+which I have acquired in war?"</p>
+
+<p>On receiving this answer, Cæsar marched immediately with his legions
+into the land of the Sequani, and succeeded in reaching their capitol,
+Vesontio (the modern Besançon), before the enemy. It was then a
+fortified place, and its possession gave Cæsar an important advantage at
+the start. While his legions were resting there for a few days, before
+beginning the march against the Suevi, the Gallic and Roman merchants
+and traders circulated the most frightful accounts of the strength and
+fierceness of the latter through the Roman camp. They reported that the
+German barbarians were men of giant size and more than human strength,
+whose faces were so terrible that the glances of their eyes could not be
+endured. Very soon numbers of the Roman officers demanded leave of
+absence, and even the few who were ashamed to take this step lost all
+courage. The soldiers became so demoralized that many of them declared
+openly that they would refuse to fight, if commanded to do so.</p>
+
+<p>In this emergency, Cæsar showed his genius as a leader of men. He called
+a large number of soldiers and officers of all grades together, and
+addressed them in strong words, pointing out their superior military
+discipline, ridiculing the terrible stories in circulation, and sharply
+censuring them for their insubordination. He concluded by declaring that
+if the army should refuse to march, he would start the next morning with
+only the tenth legion, upon the courage and obedience of which he could
+rely. This speech produced an immediate effect. The tenth legion
+solemnly thanked Cæsar for his confidence in its men and officers, the
+other legions,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span> one after the other, declared their readiness to follow,
+and the whole army left Vesontio the very next morning. After a rapid
+march of seven days, Cæsar found himself within a short distance of the
+fortified camp of Ariovistus.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">57 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span> CÆSAR AND ARIOVISTUS.</div>
+
+<p>The German chief now agreed to an interview, and the two leaders met,
+half-way between the two armies, on the plain of the Rhine. The place is
+supposed to have been a little to the northward of Basel. Neither Cæsar
+nor Ariovistus would yield to the demands of the other, and as the
+cavalry of their armies began skirmishing, the interview was broken off.
+For several days in succession the Romans offered battle, but the Suevi
+refused to leave their strong position. This hesitation seemed
+remarkable, until it was explained by some prisoners, captured in a
+skirmish, who stated that the German priestesses had prophesied
+misfortune to Ariovistus, if he should fight before the new moon.</p>
+
+<p>Cæsar, thereupon, determined to attack the German camp without delay.
+The meeting of the two armies was fierce, and the soldiers were soon
+fighting hand to hand. On each side one wing gave way, but the greater
+quickness and superior military skill of the Romans enabled them to
+recover sooner than the enemy. The day ended with the entire defeat of
+the Suevi, and the flight of the few who escaped across the Rhine. They
+did not attempt to reconquer their lost territory, and the three small
+German tribes, who had long been settled between the Rhine and the
+Vosges (in what is now Alsatia), became subject to Roman rule.</p>
+
+<p>Two years afterwards, Cæsar, who was engaged in subjugating the Belgæ,
+in Northern Gaul, learned that two other German tribes, the Usipetes and
+Tencteres, who had been driven from their homes by the Suevi, had
+crossed the Rhine below where Cologne now stands. They numbered 400,000,
+and the Northern Gauls, instead of regarding them as invaders, were
+inclined to welcome them as allies against Rome, the common enemy. Cæsar
+knew that if they remained, a revolt of the Gauls against his rule would
+be the consequence. He therefore hastened to meet them, got possession
+of their principal chiefs by treachery, and then attacked their camp
+between the Meuse and the Rhine. The Germans were defeated, and nearly
+all their foot-soldiers slaughtered, but the cavalry succeeded in
+crossing the river, where they were welcomed by the Sicambrians.</p>
+
+<p>Then it was that Cæsar built his famous wooden bridge<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span> across the Rhine,
+not far from the site of Cologne, although the precise point can not now
+be ascertained. He crossed with his army into Westphalia, but the tribes
+he sought retreated into the great forests to the eastward, where he was
+unable to pursue them. He contented himself with burning their houses
+and gathering their ripened harvests for eighteen days, when he returned
+to the other side and destroyed the bridge behind him. From this time,
+Rome claimed the sovereignty of the western bank of the Rhine to its
+mouth.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">53 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span></div>
+
+<p>While Cæsar was in Britain, in the year 53 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span>, the newly subjugated
+Celtic and German tribes which inhabited Belgium rose in open revolt
+against the Roman rule. The rapidity of Cæsar's return arrested their
+temporary success, but some of the German tribes to the eastward of the
+Rhine had already promised to aid them. In order to secure his
+conquests, the Roman general determined to cross the Rhine again, and
+intimidate, if not subdue, his dangerous neighbors. He built a second
+bridge, near the place where the first had been, and crossed with his
+army. But, as before, the Suevi and Sicambrians drew back among the
+forest-covered hills along the Weser river, and only the small and
+peaceful tribe of the Ubii remained in their homes. The latter offered
+their submission to Cæsar, and agreed to furnish him with news of the
+movements of their warlike countrymen, in return for his protection.</p>
+
+<p>When another revolt of the Celtic Gauls took place, the following year,
+German mercenaries, enlisted among the Ubii, fought on the Roman side
+and took an important part in the decisive battle which gave
+Vercingetorix, the last chief of the Gauls, into Cæsar's hands. He was
+beheaded, and from that time the Gauls made no further effort to throw
+off the Roman yoke. They accepted the civil and military organization,
+the dress and habits, and finally the language and religion of their
+conquerors. The small German tribes in Alsatia and Belgium shared the
+same fate: their territory was divided into two provinces, called Upper
+and Lower Germania by the Romans. The vast region inhabited by the
+independent tribes, lying between the Rhine, the Vistula, the North Sea
+and the Danube, was thenceforth named <i>Germania Magna</i>, or "Great
+Germany."</p>
+
+<p>Cæsar's renown among the Germans, and probably also his skill in dealing
+with them, was so great, that when he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span> left Gaul to return to Rome, he
+took with him a German legion of 6,000 men, which afterwards fought on
+his side against Pompey, on the battle-field of Pharsalia. The Roman
+agents penetrated into the interior of the country, and enlisted a great
+many of the free Germans who were tempted by the prospect of good pay
+and booty. Even the younger sons of the chiefs entered the Roman army,
+for the sake of a better military education.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">15 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span> THE EXPEDITIONS OF DRUSUS.</div>
+
+<p>No movement of any consequence took place for more than twenty years
+after Cæsar's last departure from the banks of the Rhine. The Romans,
+having secured their possession of Gaul, now turned their attention to
+the subjugation of the Celtic tribes inhabiting the Alps and the
+lowlands south of the Danube, from the Lake of Constance to Vienna. This
+work had also been begun by Cæsar: it was continued by the Emperor
+Augustus, whose step-sons, Tiberius and Drusus, finally overcame the
+desperate resistance of the native tribes. In the year 15 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span> the
+Danube became the boundary between Rome and Germany on the south, as the
+Rhine already was on the west. The Roman provinces of Rhætia, Noricum
+and Pannonia were formed out of the conquered territory.</p>
+
+<p>Augustus now sent Drusus, with a large army, to the Rhine, instructing
+him to undertake a campaign against the independent German tribes. It
+does not appear that the latter had given any recent occasion for this
+hostile movement: the Emperor's design was probably to extend the
+dominions of Rome to the North Sea and the Baltic. Drusus built a large
+fleet on the Rhine, descended that river nearly to its mouth, cut a
+canal for his vessels to a lake which is now the Zuyder Zee, and thus
+entered the North Sea. It was a bold undertaking, but did not succeed.
+He reached the mouth of the river Ems with his fleet, when the weather
+became so tempestuous that he was obliged to return.</p>
+
+<p>The next year, 11 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span>, he made an expedition into the land of the
+Sicambrians, during which his situation was often hazardous; but he
+succeeded in penetrating rather more than a hundred miles to the
+eastward of the Rhine, and establishing&mdash;not far from where the city of
+Paderborn now stands&mdash;a fortress called Aliso, which became a base for
+later operations against the German tribes. He next set about building a
+series of fortresses, fifty in number, along the western<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span> bank of the
+Rhine. Around the most important of these, towns immediately sprang up,
+and thus were laid the foundations of the cities of Strasburg, Mayence,
+Coblenz, Cologne, and many smaller places.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">9 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span></div>
+
+<p>In the year 9 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span> Drusus marched again into Germany. He defeated the
+Chatti in several bloody battles, crossed the passes of the Thuringian
+Forest, and forced his way through the land of the Cherusci (the Hartz
+region) to the Elbe. The legend says that he there encountered a German
+prophetess, who threatened him with coming evil, whereupon he turned
+about and retraced his way towards the Rhine. He died, however, during
+the march, and his dejected army had great difficulty in reaching the
+safe line of their fortresses.</p>
+
+<p>Tiberius succeeded to the command left vacant by the death of his
+brother Drusus. Less daring, but of a more cautious and scheming nature,
+he began by taking possession of the land of the Sicambrians and
+colonizing a part of the tribe on the west bank of the Rhine. He then
+gradually extended his power, and in the course of two years brought
+nearly the whole country between the Rhine and Weser under the rule of
+Rome. His successor, Domitius Ænobarbus, built military roads through
+Westphalia and the low, marshy plains towards the sea. These roads,
+which were called "long bridges," were probably made of logs, like the
+"corduroy" roads of our Western States, but they were of great service
+during the later Roman campaigns.</p>
+
+<p>After the lapse of ten years, however, the subjugated tribes between the
+Rhine and the Weser rose in revolt. The struggle lasted for three years
+more, without being decided; and then Augustus sent Tiberius a second
+time to Germany. The latter was as successful as at first: he crushed
+some of the rebellious tribes, accepted the submission of others, and,
+supported by a fleet which reached the Elbe and ascended that river to
+meet him, secured, as he supposed, the sway of Rome over nearly the
+whole of <i>Germania Magna</i>. This was in the fifth year of the Christian
+Era. Of the German tribes who still remained independent, there were the
+Semnones, Saxons and Angles, east of the Elbe, and the Burgundians,
+Vandals and Goths along the shore of the Baltic, together with one
+powerful tribe in Bohemia. The latter, the Marcomanni, who seem to have
+left their original home in Baden and Würtemberg on account of the
+approach of the Romans, now felt that their independence was a second<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span>
+time seriously threatened. Their first measure of defence, therefore,
+was to strengthen themselves by alliances with kindred tribes.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">8 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span> THE MARCOMANNI: VARUS.</div>
+
+<p>The chief of the Marcomanni, named Marbod, was a man of unusual capacity
+and energy. It seems that he was educated as a Roman, but under what
+circumstances is not stated. This rendered him a more dangerous enemy,
+though it also made him an object of suspicion, and perhaps jealousy, to
+the other German chieftains. Nevertheless, he succeeded in uniting
+nearly all the independent tribes east of the Elbe under his command,
+and in organizing a standing army of 70,000 foot and 4,000 horse, which,
+disciplined like the Roman legions, might be considered a match for an
+equal number. His success created so much anxiety in Rome, that in the
+next year after Tiberius returned from his successes in Germany,
+Augustus determined to send a force of twelve legions against Marbod.
+Precisely at this time, a great insurrection broke out in Dalmatia and
+Pannonia, and when it was suppressed, after a struggle of three years,
+the Romans found it prudent to offer peace to Marbod, and he to accept
+it.</p>
+
+<p>By this time, the territory between the Rhine and the Weser had been
+fifteen years, and that between the Weser and the Elbe four years, under
+Roman government. The tribes inhabiting the first of these two regions
+had been much weakened, both by the part some of them had taken in the
+Gallic insurrections, and by the revolt of all against Rome, during the
+first three or four years of the Christian Era. But those who inhabited
+the region between the Weser and the Elbe, the chief of whom were the
+Cherusci, were still powerful, and unsubdued in spirit.</p>
+
+<p>While Augustus was occupied in putting down the insurrection in Dalmatia
+and Pannonia, with a prospect, as it seemed, of having to fight the
+Marcomanni afterwards, his representative in Germany was Quinctilius
+Varus, a man of despotic and relentless character. Tiberius, in spite of
+his later vices as Emperor, was prudent and conciliatory in his
+conquests; but Varus soon turned the respect of the Germans for the
+Roman power into the fiercest hate. He applied, in a more brutal form,
+the same measures which had been forced upon the Gauls. He overturned,
+at one blow, all the native forms of law, introduced heavy taxes, which
+were collected by force, punished with shameful death crimes which the
+people considered trivial, and decided all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span> matters in Roman courts and
+in a language which was not yet understood.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">8 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span></div>
+
+<p>This violent and reckless policy, which Varus enforced with a hand of
+iron, produced an effect the reverse of what he anticipated. The German
+tribes with hardly an exception, determined to make another effort to
+regain their independence; but they had been taught wisdom by seventy
+years of conflict with the Roman power. Up to this time, each tribe had
+acted for itself, without concert with its neighbors. They saw, now,
+that no single tribe could cope successfully with Rome: it was necessary
+that all should be united as one people: and they only waited until such
+a union could be secretly established, before rising to throw off the
+unendurable yoke which Varus had laid upon them.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">HERMANN, THE FIRST GERMAN LEADER.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(9&mdash;21 <span class="smcapa">A. D.</span>)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>The Cherusci.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Hermann's Early Life.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Return to Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Enmity of Segestes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Secret Union of the Tribes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Revolt.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Destruction of Varus and his Legions.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Terror in Rome.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Battle-Field and Monument.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Dissensions.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;First March of Germanicus.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Second March and Battle with Hermann.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Defeat of Cæcina.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Third Expedition of Germanicus.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battles on the Weser.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Retreat.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Views of Tiberius.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;War between Hermann and Marbod.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Murder of Hermann.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Character.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Tacitus.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">9 <span class="smcapa">A. D.</span> HERMANN.</div>
+
+<p>The Cherusci, who inhabited a part of the land between the Weser and the
+Elbe, including the Hartz Mountains, were the most powerful of the
+tribes conquered by Tiberius. They had no permanent class of nobles, as
+none of the early Germans seem to have had, but certain families were
+distinguished for their abilities and their character, or the services
+which they had rendered to their people in war. The head of one of these
+Cheruscan families was Segimar, one of whose sons was named Hermann. The
+latter entered the Roman service as a youth, distinguished himself by
+his military talent, was made a Roman knight, and commanded one of the
+legions which were employed by Augustus in suppressing the great
+insurrection of the Dalmatians and Pannonians. It seems probable that he
+visited Rome at the period of its highest power and splendor: it is
+certain, at least, that he comprehended the political system by means of
+which the Empire had become so great.</p>
+
+<p>When Hermann returned to his people, he was a man of twenty-five and
+already an experienced commander. He is described by the Latin writers
+as a chief of fine personal presence, great strength, an animated
+countenance and bright eyes. He was always self-possessed, quick in
+action, yet never rash or heedless. He found the Cherusci and all the
+neighboring tribes filled with hate of the Roman rule<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span> and burning to
+revenge the injuries they had suffered. His first movement was to
+organize a secret conspiracy among the tribes, which could be called
+into action as soon as a fortunate opportunity should arrive. Varus was
+then&mdash;<span class="smcapa">A. D.</span> 9&mdash;encamped near the Weser, in the land of the Saxons, with
+an army of 40,000 men, the best of the Roman legions. Hermann was still
+in the Roman service, and held a command under him. But among the other
+Germans in the Roman camp was Segestes, a chief of the Cherusci, whose
+daughter, Thusnelda, Hermann had stolen away from him and married.
+Thusnelda was afterwards celebrated in the German legends as a
+high-hearted, patriotic woman, who was devotedly attached to Hermann:
+but her father, Segestes, became his bitterest enemy.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">9 <span class="smcapa">A. D.</span></div>
+
+<p>In engaging the different tribes to unite, Hermann had great
+difficulties to overcome. They were not only jealous of each other,
+remembering ancient quarrels between themselves, but many families in
+each tribe were disposed to submit to Rome, being either hopeless of
+succeeding or tempted by the chance of office and wealth under the Roman
+Government. Hermann's own brother, Flavus, had become, and always
+remained, a Roman; other members of his family were opposed to his
+undertaking, and it seems that only his mother and his wife encouraged
+him with their sympathy. Nevertheless, he formed his plans with as much
+skill as boldness, while serving in the army of Varus and liable to be
+betrayed at any moment. In fact he <i>was</i> betrayed by his father-in-law,
+Segestes, who became acquainted with the fact of a conspiracy and
+communicated the news to the Roman general. But Varus, haughty and
+self-confident, laughed at the story.</p>
+
+<p>It was time to act; and, as no opportunity came Hermann created one. He
+caused messengers to come to Varus, declaring that a dangerous
+insurrection had broken out in the lands between him and the Rhine. This
+was in the month of September, and Varus, believing the reports, broke
+up his camp and set out to suppress the insurrection before the winter.
+His nearest way led through the wooded, mountainous country along the
+Weser, which is now called the Teutoburger Forest. According to one
+account, Hermann was left behind to collect the auxiliary German troops,
+and then, with them, rejoin his general. It is certain that he remained,
+and instantly sent his messengers to all the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span> tribes engaged in the
+conspiracy, whose warriors came to him with all speed. In a few days he
+had an army probably equal in numbers to that of Varus. In the meantime
+the season had changed: violent autumn storms burst over the land, and
+the Romans slowly advanced through the forests and mountain-passes, in
+the wind and rain.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">9 <span class="smcapa">A. D.</span> HERMANN'S CONSPIRACY.</div>
+
+<p>Hermann knew the ground and was able to choose the best point of attack.
+With his army, hastily organized, he burst upon the legions of Varus,
+who resisted him, the first day, with their accustomed valor. But the
+attack was renewed the second day, and the endurance of the Roman troops
+began to give way: they held their ground with difficulty, but exerted
+themselves to the utmost, for there was now only one mountain ridge to
+be passed. Beyond it lay the broad plains of Westphalia, with fortresses
+and military roads, where they had better chances of defence. When the
+third day dawned, the storm was fiercer than ever. The Roman army
+crossed the summit of the last ridge and saw the securer plains before
+them. They commenced descending the long slope, but, just as they
+reached three steep, wooded ravines which were still to be traversed,
+the Germans swept down upon them from the summits, like a torrent, with
+shouts and far-sounding songs of battle.</p>
+
+<p>A complete panic seized the exhausted and disheartened Roman troops, and
+the fight soon became a slaughter. Varus, wounded, threw himself upon
+his sword: the wooded passes, below, were occupied in advance by the
+Germans, and hardly enough escaped to carry the news of the terrible
+defeat to the Roman frontier on the Rhine. Those who escaped death were
+sacrificed upon the altars of the gods, and the fiercest revenge was
+visited upon the Roman judges, lawyers and civil officers, who had
+trampled upon all the hallowed laws and customs of the people. The news
+of this great German victory reached Rome in the midst of the rejoicings
+over the suppression of the insurrection in Dalmatia and Pannonia, and
+turned the triumph into mourning. The aged Augustus feared the overthrow
+of his power. He was unable to comprehend such a sudden and terrible
+disaster: he let his hair and beard grow for months, as a sign of his
+trouble, and was often heard to cry aloud: "O, Varus, Varus, give me
+back my legions!"</p>
+
+<p>The location of the battle-field where Hermann defeated Varus has been
+preserved by tradition. The long southern<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span> slope of the mountain, near
+Detmold, now bare, but surrounded by forests, is called to this day the
+<i>Winfield</i>. Around the summit of the mountain there is a ring of huge
+stones, showing that it was originally consecrated to the worship of the
+ancient pagan deities. Here a pedestal of granite, in the form of a
+temple, has been built, and upon it has been placed a colossal statue of
+Hermann in bronze, 90 feet high, and visible at a distance of fifty
+miles.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">14 <span class="smcapa">A. D.</span></div>
+
+<p>Hermann's deeds were afterwards celebrated in the songs of his people,
+as they have been in modern German literature; but, like many other
+great men, the best results of his victory were cast away by the people
+whom he had liberated. It was now possible to organize into a nation the
+tribes which had united to overthrow the Romans, and such seems to have
+been his intention. He sent the head of Varus to Marbod, Chief of the
+Marcomanni, whose power he had secured by carrying out his original
+design; but he failed to secure the friendship, or even the neutrality,
+of the rival leader. At home his own family&mdash;bitterest among them all
+his father-in-law, Segestes&mdash;opposed his plans, and the Cherusci were
+soon divided into two parties,&mdash;that of the people, headed by Hermann,
+and that of the nobility, headed by Segestes.</p>
+
+<p>When Tiberius, therefore, hastily collected a new army and marched into
+Germany the following year, he encountered no serious opposition. The
+union of the tribes had been dissolved, and each avoided an encounter
+with the Romans. The country was apparently subjugated for the second
+time. The Emperor Augustus died, <span class="smcapa">A. D.</span> 14: Tiberius succeeded to the
+purple, and the command in Germany then devolved upon his nephew,
+Germanicus, the son of Drusus.</p>
+
+<p>The new commander, however, was detained in Gaul by insubordination in
+the army and signs of a revolt among the people, following the death of
+Augustus, and he did not reach Germany until six years after the defeat
+of Varus. His march was sudden and swift, and took the people by
+surprise, for the apparent indifference of Rome had made them careless.
+The Marsi were all assembled at one of their religious festivals,
+unprepared for defence, in a consecrated pine forest, when Germanicus
+fell upon them and slaughtered the greater number, after which he
+destroyed the sacred trees. The news of this outrage roused the sluggish
+spirit of all the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span> neighboring tribes: they gathered together in such
+numbers that Germanicus had much difficulty in fighting his way back to
+the Rhine.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">15 <span class="smcapa">A. D.</span> THE INVASION OF GERMANICUS.</div>
+
+<p>Hermann succeeded in escaping from his father-in-law, by whom he had
+been captured and imprisoned, and began to form a new union of the
+tribes. His first design was to release his wife, Thusnelda, from the
+hands of Segestes, and then destroy the authority of the latter, who was
+the head of the faction friendly to Rome. Germanicus re-entered Germany
+the following summer, <span class="smcapa">A. D.</span> 15, with a powerful army, and to him
+Segestes appealed for help against his own countrymen. The Romans
+marched at once into the land of the Cherusci. After a few days they
+reached the scene of the defeat of Varus, and there they halted to bury
+the thousands of skeletons which lay wasting on the mountainside. Then
+they met Segestes, who gave up his own daughter, Thusnelda, to
+Germanicus, as a captive.</p>
+
+<p>The loss of his wife roused Hermann to fury. He went hither and thither
+among the tribes, stirring the hearts of all with his fiery addresses.
+Germanicus soon perceived that a storm was gathering, and prepared to
+meet it. He divided his army into two parts, one of which was commanded
+by Cæcina, and built a large fleet which transported one-half of his
+troops by sea and up the Weser. After joining Cæcina, he marched into
+the Teutoburger Forest. Hermann met him near the scene of his great
+victory over Varus, and a fierce battle was fought. According to the
+Romans, neither side obtained any advantage over the other; but
+Germanicus, with half the army, fell back upon his fleet and returned to
+the Rhine by way of the North Sea.</p>
+
+<p>Cæcina, with the remnant of his four legions, also retreated across the
+country, pursued by Hermann. In the dark forests and on the marshy
+plains they were exposed to constant assaults, and were obliged to fight
+every step of the way. Finally, in a marshy valley, the site of which
+cannot be discovered, the Germans suddenly attacked the Romans on all
+sides. Hermann cried out to his soldiers: "It shall be another day of
+Varus!" the songs of the women prophesied triumph, and the Romans were
+filled with forebodings of defeat. They fought desperately, but were
+forced to yield, and Hermann's words would have been made truth, had not
+the Germans ceased fighting in order to plunder the camp of their
+enemies. The latter were thus able to cut their way<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span> out of the valley
+and hastily fortify themselves for the night on an adjoining plain.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">15 <span class="smcapa">A. D.</span></div>
+
+<p>The German chiefs held a council of war, and decided, against the
+remonstrances of Hermann, to renew the attack at daybreak. This was
+precisely what Cæcina expected; he knew what fate awaited them all if he
+should fail, and arranged his weakened forces to meet the assault. They
+fought with such desperation that the Germans were defeated, and Cæcina
+was enabled, by forced marches, to reach the Rhine, whither the rumor of
+the entire destruction of his army had preceded him. The voyage of
+Germanicus was also unfortunate: he encountered a violent storm on the
+coast of Holland, and two of his legions barely escaped destruction. He
+had nothing to show, as the result of his campaign, except his captive
+Thusnelda and her son, who walked behind his triumphal chariot, in Rome,
+three years afterwards, and never again saw their native land; and his
+ally, the traitor Segestes, who ended his contemptible life somewhere in
+Gaul, under Roman protection.</p>
+
+<p>Germanicus, nevertheless, determined not to rest until he had completed
+the subjugation of the country as far as the Elbe. By employing all the
+means at his command he raised a new army of eight legions, with a great
+body of cavalry, and a number of auxiliary troops, formed of Gauls,
+Rhætians, and even of Germans. He collected a fleet of more than a
+thousand vessels, and transported his army to the mouth of the Ems,
+where he landed and commenced the campaign. The Chauci, living near the
+sea, submitted at once, and some of the neighboring tribes were disposed
+to follow their example; but Hermann, with a large force of the united
+Germans, waited for the Romans among the mountains of the Weser.
+Germanicus entered the mountains by a gorge, near where the city of
+Minden now stands, and the two armies faced each other, separated only
+by the river. The legends state that Hermann and his brother Flavus, who
+was still in the service of Germanicus, held an angry conversation from
+the opposite shores, and the latter became so exasperated that he
+endeavored to cross on horseback and attack Hermann.</p>
+
+<p>Germanicus first sent his cavalry across the Weser, and then built a
+bridge, over which his whole army crossed. The Romans and Germans then
+met in battle, upon a narrow place between the river and some wooded
+hills, called the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span> Meadow of the Elves. The fight was long and bloody:
+Hermann himself, severely wounded, was at one time almost in the hands
+of the Romans. It is said that his face was so covered with blood that
+he was only recognized by some of the German soldiers on the Roman side,
+who purposely allowed him to escape. The superior military skill of
+Germanicus, and the discipline of his troops, won the day: the Germans
+retreated, beaten but not yet subdued.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">16 <span class="smcapa">A. D.</span> END OF THE INVASION.</div>
+
+<p>In a short time the latter were so far recruited that they brought on a
+second battle. On account of his wounds, Hermann was unable to command
+in person, but his uncle, Ingiomar, who took his place, imitated his
+boldness and bravery. The fight was even more fierce than the first had
+been, and the Romans, at one time, were only prevented from giving way
+by Germanicus placing himself at their head, in the thick of the battle.
+It appears that both sides held their ground at the close, and their
+losses were probably equally great, so that neither was in a condition
+to continue the struggle.</p>
+
+<p>Germanicus erected a monument on the banks of the Weser, claiming that
+he had conquered Germany to the Elbe; but before the end of the summer
+of the year 16 he re-embarked with his army, without leaving any tokens
+of Roman authority behind him. A terrible storm on the North Sea so
+scattered his fleet that many vessels were driven to the English coast:
+his own ship was in such danger that he landed among the Chauci and
+returned across the country to the Rhine. The autumn was far advanced
+before the scattered remnants of his great army could be collected and
+reorganized: then, in spite of the lateness of the season, he made a new
+invasion into the lands of the Chatti, or Hessians, in order to show
+that he was still powerful.</p>
+
+<p>Germanicus was a man of great ambition and of astonishing energy. As
+Julius Cæsar had made Gaul Roman, so he determined to make Germany
+Roman. He began his preparations for another expedition the following
+summer; but the Emperor Tiberius, jealous of his increasing renown,
+recalled him to Rome, saying that it was better to let the German tribes
+exhaust themselves in their own internal discords, than to waste so many
+of the best legions in subduing them. Germanicus obeyed, returned to
+Rome, had his grand triumph, and was then sent to the East, where he
+shortly afterwards died, it was supposed by poison.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">19 <span class="smcapa">A. D.</span></div>
+
+<p>The words of the shrewd Emperor were true: two rival powers had been
+developed in Germany through the resistance to Rome, and they soon came
+into conflict. Marbod, Chief of the Marcomanni and many allied tribes,
+had maintained his position without war; but Hermann, now the recognized
+head of the Cherusci and their confederates, who had destroyed Varus and
+held Germanicus at bay, possessed a popularity, founded on his heroism,
+which spread far and wide through the German land. Even at that early
+day, the small chiefs in each tribe (corresponding to the later
+nobility) were opposed to the broad, patriotic union which Hermann had
+established, because it weakened their power and increased that of the
+people. They were also jealous of his great authority and influence, and
+even his uncle, Ingiomar, who had led so bravely the last battle against
+Germanicus, went over to the side of Marbod when it became evident that
+the rivalry of the two chiefs must lead to war.</p>
+
+<p>Our account of these events is obscure and imperfect. On the one side,
+it seems that Marbod's neutrality was a ground of complaint with
+Hermann; while Marbod declared that the latter had no right to draw the
+Semnones and Longobards&mdash;at first allied with the Marcomanni&mdash;into union
+with the Cherusci against Rome. In the year 19 the two marched against
+each other, and a great battle took place. Although neither was
+victorious, the popularity of Hermann drew so many of Marbod's allies to
+his side, that the latter fled to Italy and claimed the protection of
+Tiberius, who assigned to him Ravenna as a residence. He died there in
+the year 37, at a very advanced age. A Goth, named Catwalda, assisted by
+Roman influence, became his successor as chief of the Marcomanni.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">21 <span class="smcapa">A. D.</span> DEATH OF HERMANN.</div>
+
+<p>After the flight of Marbod, Hermann seems to have devoted himself to the
+creation of a permanent union of the tribes which he had commanded. We
+may guess, but can not assert, that his object was to establish a
+national organization, like that of Rome, and in doing this, he must
+have come into conflict with laws and customs which were considered
+sacred by the people. But his remaining days were too few for even the
+beginning of a task which included such an advance in the civilization
+of the race. We only know that he was waylaid and assassinated by
+members of his own family in the year 21. He was then thirty-seven years
+old, and had been for thirteen years a leader of his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span> people. The best
+monument to his ability and heroism may be found in the words of a
+Roman, the historian Tacitus; who says: "He was undoubtedly the
+liberator of Germany, having dared to grapple with the Roman power, not
+in its beginnings, like other kings and commanders, but in the maturity
+of its strength. He was not always victorious in battle, but in <i>war</i> he
+was never subdued. He still lives in the songs of the Barbarians,
+unknown to the annals of the Greeks, who only admire that which belongs
+to themselves&mdash;nor celebrated as he deserves by the Romans, who, in
+praising the olden times, neglect the events of the later years."</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">GERMANY DURING THE FIRST THREE CENTURIES OF OUR ERA.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(21&mdash;300 <span class="smcapa">A. D.</span>)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Truce between the Germans and Romans.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Cherusci cease to exist.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Incursions of the Chauci and Chatti.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Insurrection of the Gauls.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Conquests of Cerealis.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Roman Boundary.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;German Legions under Rome.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The <i>Agri Decumates</i>.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Influence of Roman Civilization.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Commerce.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Changes among the Germans.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;War against Marcus Aurelius.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Decline of the Roman Power.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Union of the Germans in Separate Nationalities.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Alemanni.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Franks.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Saxons.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Goths.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Thuringians.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Burgundians.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Wars with Rome in the Third Century.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Emperor Probus and his Policy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Constantine.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Relative Position of the two Races.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">50.</div>
+
+<p>After the campaigns of Germanicus and the death of Hermann, a long time
+elapsed during which the relation of Germany to the Roman Empire might
+be called a truce. No serious attempt was made by the unworthy
+successors of Augustus to extend their sway beyond the banks of the
+Rhine and the Danube; and, as Tiberius had predicted, the German tribes
+were so weakened by their own civil wars that they were unable to cope
+with such a power as Rome. Even the Cherusci, Hermann's own people,
+became so diminished in numbers that, before the end of the first
+century, they ceased to exist as a separate tribe: their fragments were
+divided and incorporated with their neighbors on either side. Another
+tribe, the Ampsivarii, was destroyed in a war with the Chauci, and even
+the power of the fierce Chatti was broken by a great victory of the
+Hermunduri over them, in a quarrel concerning the possession of a sacred
+salt-spring.</p>
+
+<p>About the middle of the first century, however, an event is mentioned
+which shows that the Germans were beginning to appreciate and imitate
+the superior civilization of Rome. The Chauci, dwelling on the shores of
+the North Sea, built a fleet and sailed along the coast to the mouth of
+the Rhine, which they entered in the hope of exciting the Batavi and
+Frisii to rebellion. A few years afterwards the Chatti, probably<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span> for
+the sake of plunder, crossed the Rhine and invaded part of Gaul. Both
+attempts failed entirely; and the only serious movement of the Germans
+against Rome, during the century, took place while Vitellius and
+Vespasian were contending for the possession of the imperial throne. A
+German prophetess, of the name of Velleda, whose influence seems to have
+extended over all the tribes, promised them victory: they united,
+organized their forces, crossed the Rhine, and even laid siege to
+Mayence, the principal Roman city.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">70. THE INVASION OF CEREALIS.</div>
+
+<p>The success of Vespasian over his rival left him free to meet this new
+danger. But in the meantime the Batavi, under their chief, Claudius
+Civilis, who had been previously fighting on the new Emperor's side,
+joined the Gauls in a general insurrection. This was so successful that
+all northern Gaul, from the Atlantic to the Rhine, threw off the Roman
+yoke. A convention of the chiefs was held at Rheims, in order to found a
+Gallic kingdom; but instead of adopting measures of defence, they
+quarrelled about the selection of a ruling family, the future capital of
+the kingdom, and other matters of small comparative importance.</p>
+
+<p>The approach of Cerealis, the Roman general sent by Vespasian with a
+powerful army in the year 70, put an end to the Gallic insurrection.
+Most of the Gallic tribes submitted without resistance: the Treviri, on
+the Moselle, were defeated in battle, the cities and fortresses on the
+western bank of the Rhine were retaken, and the Roman frontier was
+re-established. Nevertheless, the German tribes which had been allied
+with the Gauls&mdash;among them the Batavi&mdash;refused to submit, and they were
+strong enough to fight two bloody battles, in which Cerealis was only
+saved from defeat by what the Romans considered to be the direct
+interposition of the gods. The Batavi, although finally subdued in their
+home in Holland, succeeded in getting possession of the Roman admiral's
+vessel, by a night attack on his fleet on the Rhine. This trophy they
+sent by way of the river Lippe, an eastern branch of the Rhine, as a
+present to the great prophetess, Velleda.</p>
+
+<p>The defeat of the German tribes by Cerealis was not followed by a new
+Roman invasion of their territory. The Rhine remained the boundary,
+although the Romans crossed the river at various points and built
+fortresses upon the eastern bank. They appear, in like manner, to have
+crossed the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span> Danube, and they also gradually acquired possession of the
+south-western corner of Germany, lying between the head-waters of that
+river and the Rhine. This region (now occupied by Baden and part of
+Würtemberg) had been deserted by the Marcomanni when they marched to
+Bohemia, and it does not appear that any other German tribe attempted to
+take permanent possession of it. Its first occupants, the Helvetians,
+were now settled in Switzerland.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">100.</div>
+
+<p>The enlisting of Germans to serve as soldiers in the Roman army, begun
+by Julius Cæsar, was continued by the Emperors. The proofs of their
+heroism, which the Germans had given in resisting Germanicus, made them
+desirable as troops; and, since they were accustomed to fight with their
+neighbors at home, they had no scruples in fighting them under the
+banner of Rome. Thus one German legion after another was formed, taken
+to Rome, Spain, Greece or the East, and its veterans, if they returned
+home when disabled by age or wounds, carried with them stories of the
+civilized world, of cities, palaces and temples, of agriculture and the
+arts, of a civil and political system far wiser and stronger than their
+own.</p>
+
+<p>The series of good Emperors, from Vespasian to Marcus Aurelius (<span class="smcapa">A. D.</span> 70
+to 181) formed military colonies of their veteran soldiers, whether
+German, Gallic or Roman, in the region originally inhabited by the
+Marcomanni. They were governed by Roman laws, and they paid a tithe, or
+tenth part, of their revenues to the Empire, whence this district was
+called the <i>Agri Decumates</i>, or Tithe-Lands. As it had no definite
+boundary towards the north and north-east, the settlements gradually
+extended to the Main, and at last included a triangular strip of
+territory extending from that river to the Rhine at Cologne. By this
+time the Romans had built, in their provinces of Rhætia, Noricum and
+Pannonia, south of the Danube, the cities of Augusta Vindelicorum, now
+Augsburg, and Vindobona, now Vienna, with another on the north bank of
+the Danube, where Ratisbon stands at present.</p>
+
+<p>From the last-named point to the Rhine at Cologne they built a stockade,
+protected by a deep ditch, to keep off the independent German tribes,
+even as they had built a wall across the north of England, to keep off
+the Picts and Scots. Traces of this line of defence are still to be
+seen. Another and shorter line, connecting the head-waters of the Main<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span>
+with the Lake of Constance, protected the territory on the east. Their
+frontier remained thus clearly defined for nearly two hundred years. On
+their side of the line they built fortresses and cities, which they
+connected by good highways, they introduced a better system of
+agriculture, established commercial intercourse, not only between their
+own provinces but also with the independent tribes, and thus extended
+the influence of their civilization. For the first time, fruit-trees
+were planted on German soil: the rich cloths and ornaments of Italy and
+the East, the arms and armor, the gold and silver, and the wines of the
+South, soon found a market within the German territory; while the horses
+and cattle, furs and down, smoked beef and honey of the Germans, the
+fish of their streams, and the radishes and asparagus raised on the
+Rhine, were sent to Rome in exchange for those luxuries. Wherever the
+Romans discovered a healing spring, as at Baden-Baden, Aix-la-Chapelle
+and Spa, they built splendid baths; where they found ores or marble in
+the mountains, they established mines or hewed columns for their
+temples, and the native tribes were thus taught the unsuspected riches
+of their own land.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">150. THE ROMAN FRONTIER.</div>
+
+<p>For nearly a hundred years after Vespasian's accession to the throne,
+there was no serious interruption to the peaceful intercourse of the two
+races. During this time, we must take it for granted that a gradual
+change must have been growing up in the habits and ideas of the Germans.
+It is probable that they then began to collect in villages; to use stone
+as well as wood in building their houses and fortresses; to depend more
+on agriculture and less on hunting and fishing for their subsistence;
+and to desire the mechanical skill, the arts of civilization, which the
+Romans possessed. The extinction of many smaller tribes, also, taught
+them the necessity of learning to subdue their internal feuds, and
+assist instead of destroying each other. On the north of them was the
+sea; on the east the Sarmatians and other Slavonic tribes, much more
+savage than themselves: in every other direction they were confronted by
+Rome. The complete subjugation of their Celtic neighbors in Gaul was
+always before their eyes. In Hermann's day, they were still too ignorant
+to understand the necessity of his plan of union; but now that tens of
+thousands of their people had learned the extent and power of the Roman
+Empire, and the commercial intercourse of a hundred years had shown them
+their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span> own deficiencies, they reached the point where a new development
+in their history became possible.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">166.</div>
+
+<p>Such a development came to disturb the reign of the noble Emperor,
+Marcus Aurelius, in the latter half of the second century. About the
+year 166, all the German tribes, from the Danube to the Baltic, united
+in a grand movement against the Roman Empire. The Marcomanni, who still
+inhabited Bohemia, appear as their leaders, and the Roman writers attach
+their name to the long and desperate war which ensued. We have no
+knowledge of the cause of this struggle, the manner in which the union
+of the Germans was effected, or even the names of their leaders: we only
+know that their invasion of the Roman territory was several times driven
+back and several times recommenced; that Marcus Aurelius died in Vienna,
+in 181, without having seen the end; and that his son and successor,
+Commodus, bought a peace instead of winning it by the sword. At one
+time, during the war, the Chatti forced their way through the
+Tithe-Lands and Switzerland, and crossed the Alps: at another, the
+Marcomanni and Quadi besieged the city of Aquileia, on the northern
+shore of the Adriatic.</p>
+
+<p>The ancient boundary between the Roman Empire and Germany was restored,
+but at a cost which the former could not pay a second time. For a
+hundred and fifty years longer the Emperors preserved their territory:
+Rome still ruled, in name, from Spain to the Tigris, from Scotland to
+the Desert of Sahara, but her power was like a vast, hollow shell.
+Luxury, vice, taxation and continual war had eaten out the heart of the
+Empire; Italy had grown weak and was slowly losing its population, and
+the same causes were gradually ruining Spain, Gaul and Britain. During
+this period the German tribes, notwithstanding their terrible losses in
+war, had preserved their vigor by the simplicity, activity and morality
+of their habits: they had considerably increased in numbers, and from
+the time of Marcus Aurelius on, they felt themselves secure against any
+further invasion of their territory.</p>
+
+<p>Then commenced a series of internal changes, concerning which,
+unfortunately, we have no history. We can only guess that their origin
+dates from the union of all the principal tribes under the lead of the
+Marcomanni; but whether they were brought about with or without internal
+wars; whether wise and far-seeing chiefs or the sentiment of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span> people
+themselves, contributed most to their consummation; finally, when these
+changes began and when they were completed&mdash;are questions which can
+never be accurately settled.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">250&mdash;300. GERMAN NATIONALITIES.</div>
+
+<p>When the Germans again appear in history, in the third century of our
+era, we are surprised to find that the names of nearly all the tribes
+with which we are familiar have disappeared, and new names, of much
+wider significance, have taken their places. Instead of twenty or thirty
+small divisions, we now find the race consolidated into four chief
+nationalities, with two other inferior though independent branches. We
+also find that the geographical situation of the latter is no longer the
+same as that of the smaller tribes out of which they grew. Migrations
+must have taken place, large tracts of territory must have changed
+hands, many reigning families must have been overthrown, and new ones
+arisen. In short, the change in the organization of the Germans is so
+complete that it can hardly have been accomplished by peaceable means.
+Each of the new nationalities has an important part to play in the
+history of the following centuries, and we will therefore describe them
+separately:</p>
+
+<p>1. <span class="smcap">The Alemanni.</span>&mdash;The name of this division (<i>Allemannen</i>,<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> signifying
+"all men") shows that it was composed of fragments of many tribes. The
+Alemanni first made their appearance along the Main, and gradually
+pushed southward over the Tithe-Lands, where the military veterans of
+Rome had settled, until they occupied the greater part of South-western
+Germany, and Eastern Switzerland, to the Alps. Their descendants inhabit
+the same territory, to this day.</p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> <i>Allemagne</i> remains the French name for Germany.</p></div>
+
+<p>2. <span class="smcap">The Franks.</span>&mdash;It is not known whence this name was derived, nor what
+is its meaning. The Franks are believed to have been formed out of the
+Sicambrians in Westphalia, together with a portion of the Chatti and the
+Batavi in Holland, and other tribes. We first hear of them on the lower
+Rhine, but they soon extended their territory over a great part of
+Belgium and Westphalia. Their chiefs were already called kings, and
+their authority was hereditary.</p>
+
+<p>3. <span class="smcap">The Saxons.</span>&mdash;This was one of the small original tribes, settled in
+Holstein: the name is derived from their peculiar weapon, a short sword,
+called <i>sahs</i>. We find them now occupying nearly all the territory
+between the Hartz Mountains and the North Sea, from the Elbe westward
+to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span> the Rhine. The Cherusci, the Chauci, and other tribes named by
+Tacitus, were evidently incorporated with the Saxons, who exhibit the
+same characteristics. There appears to have been a natural enmity&mdash;no
+doubt bequeathed from the earlier tribes out of which both grew&mdash;between
+them and the Franks.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">250&mdash;300.</div>
+
+<p>4. <span class="smcap">The Goths.</span>&mdash;The traditions of the Goths state that they were settled
+in Sweden before they were found by the Greek navigators on the southern
+shore of the Baltic, in 330 <span class="smcapa">B. C.</span> It is probable that only a portion of
+the tribe migrated, and that the present Scandinavian race is descended
+from the remainder. As the Baltic Goths increased in numbers, they
+gradually ascended the Vistula, pressed eastward along the base of the
+Carpathians and reached the Black Sea, in the course of the second
+century after Christ. They thus possessed a broad belt of territory,
+separating the rest of Europe from the wilder Slavonic races who
+occupied Central Russia. The Vandals and Alans, with the Heruli, Rugii
+and other smaller tribes, all Germanic, as well as a portion of the
+Slavonic Sarmatians, were incorporated with them; and it was probably
+the great extent of territory they controlled which occasioned their
+separation into Ostrogoths (East-Goths) and Visigoths (West-Goths). They
+first came in contact with the Romans, beyond the mouth of the Danube,
+about the beginning of the third century.</p>
+
+<p>5. <span class="smcap">The Thuringians.</span>&mdash;This branch had only a short national existence. It
+was composed of the Hermunduri, with fragments of other tribes, united
+under one king, and occupied all of Central Germany, from the Hartz
+southward to the Danube.</p>
+
+<p>6. <span class="smcap">The Burgundians.</span>&mdash;Leaving their original home in Prussia, between the
+Oder and the Vistula, the Burgundians crossed the greater part of
+Germany in a south-western direction, and first settled in a portion of
+what is now Franconia, between the Thuringians and the Alemanni. Not
+long afterwards, however, they passed through the latter, and took
+possession of the country on the west bank of the Rhine, between
+Strasburg and Mayence.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">270. INCURSIONS OF THE GOTHS.</div>
+
+<p>Caracalla came into collision with the Alemanni in the year 213, and the
+Emperor Maximin, who was a Goth on his father's side, laid waste their
+territory, in 236. About the latter period, the Franks began to make
+predatory incursions into Gaul, and the Goths became troublesome to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span> the
+Romans, on the lower Danube. In 251 the Emperor Decius found his death
+among the marshes of Dacia, while trying to stay the Gothic invasion,
+and his successor, Gallus, only obtained a temporary peace by agreeing
+to pay an annual sum of money, thus really making Rome a tributary
+power. But the Empire had become impoverished, and the payment soon
+ceased. Thereupon the Goths built fleets, and made voyages of plunder,
+first to Trebizond and the other towns on the Asiatic shore of the Black
+Sea; then they passed the Hellespont, took and plundered the great city
+of Nicomedia, Ephesus with its famous temple, the Grecian isles, and
+even Corinth, Argos and Athens. In the meantime the Alemanni had resumed
+the offensive: they came through Rhætiæ, and descended to the Garda
+lake, in Northern Italy.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor, Claudius II., turned back this double invasion. He defeated
+and drove back the Alemanni, and then, in the year 270, won a great
+victory over the Goths, in the neighborhood of Thessalonica. His
+successor, Aurelian, followed up the advantage, and in the following
+year made a treaty with the Goths, by which the Danube became the
+frontier between them and the Romans. The latter gave up to them the
+province of Dacia, lying north of the river, and withdrew their
+colonists and military garrisons to the southern side.</p>
+
+<p>Both the Franks and Saxons profited by these events. They let their
+mutual hostility rest for awhile, built fleets, and sailed forth in the
+West on voyages of plunder, like their relatives, the Goths, in the
+East. The Saxons descended on the coasts of Britain and Gaul; the Franks
+sailed to Spain, and are said to have even entered the Mediterranean.
+When Probus became Emperor, in the year 276, he found a great part of
+Gaul overrun and ravaged by them and by the Alemanni, on the Upper
+Rhine. He succeeded, after a hard struggle, in driving back the German
+invaders, restored the line of stockade from the Rhine to the Danube,
+and built new fortresses along the frontier. On the other hand, he
+introduced into Germany the cultivation of the vine, which the previous
+Emperors had not permitted, and thus laid the foundation of the famous
+vineyards of the Rhine and the Moselle.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">300.</div>
+
+<p>Probus endeavored to weaken the power of the Germans, by separating and
+colonizing them, wherever it was possible.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span> One of his experiments,
+however, had a very different result from what he expected. He
+transported a large number of Frank captives to the shore of the Black
+Sea; but, instead of quietly settling there, they got possession of some
+vessels, soon formed a large fleet, sailed into the Mediterranean,
+plundered the coasts of Asia Minor, Greece and Sicily, where they even
+captured the city of Syracuse, and at last, after many losses and
+marvellous adventures, made their way by sea to their homes on the Lower
+Rhine.</p>
+
+<p>Towards the close of the third century, Constantine, during the reign of
+his father, Constantius, suppressed an insurrection of the Franks, and
+even for a time drove them from their islands on the coast of Holland.
+He afterward crossed the Rhine, but found it expedient not to attempt an
+expedition into the interior. He appears to have had no war with the
+Alemanni, but he founded the city of Constance, on the lake of the same
+name, for the purpose of keeping them in check.</p>
+
+<p>The boundaries between Germany and Rome still remained the Rhine and the
+Danube, but on the east they were extended to the Black Sea, and in
+place of the invasions of Cæsar, Drusus and Germanicus, the Empire was
+obliged to be content when it succeeded in repelling the invasions made
+upon its own soil. Three hundred years of very slow, but healthy growth
+on the one side, and of luxury, corruption and despotism on the other,
+had thus changed the relative position of the two races.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">THE RISE AND MIGRATIONS OF THE GOTHS.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(300&mdash;412.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Rise of the Goths.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;German Invasions of Gaul.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Victories of Julian.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Ostrogoths and Visigoths.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Bishop Ulfila.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Gothic Language.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Gothic King, Athanaric.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Coming of the Huns.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Death of Hermanric.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Goths take refuge in Thrace.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Their Revolt.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Defeat of Valens.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Goths under Theodosius.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Franks and Goths meet in Battle.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Alaric, the Visigoth.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;He invades Greece.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battle with Stilicho.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Alaric besieges Rome.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;He enters Rome, <span class="smcapa">A. D.</span> 410.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Death and Burial.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Succession of Ataulf.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Visigoths settle in Southern Gaul.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Beginning of other Migrations.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">325. RISE OF THE GOTHS.</div>
+
+<p>Rome, as the representative of the civilization of the world, and, after
+the year 313, as the political power which left Christianity free to
+overthrow the ancient religions, is still the central point of
+historical interest during the greater part of the fourth century. Until
+the death of the Emperor Valentinian, in 375, the ancient boundaries of
+the Empire, though frequently broken down, were continually
+re-established, and the laws and institutions of the Romans had
+prevailed so long throughout the great extent of conquered territory
+that the inhabitants now knew no other.</p>
+
+<p>But beyond the Danube had arisen a new power, the independence of which,
+after the time of Aurelian, was never disputed by the Roman Emperors.
+The Goths were the first of the Germanic tribes to adopt a monarchical
+form of government, and to acquire some degree of civilization. They
+were numerous and well organized; and Constantine, who was more of a
+diplomatist than a general, found it better to preserve peace with them
+for forty years, by presents and payments, than to provoke them to war.
+His best soldiers were enlisted among them, and it was principally the
+valor of his Gothic troops which enabled him to defeat the rival
+emperor, Licinius, in 325. From that time, 40,000 Goths formed the main
+strength of his army.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">350.</div>
+
+<p>The important part which these people played in the history of Europe
+renders it necessary that we should now sketch their rise and growth as
+a nation. First, however, let us turn to Western and Northern Germany,
+where the development of the new nationalities was longer delayed, and
+describe the last of their struggles with the power of Rome, during the
+fourth century.</p>
+
+<p>After the death of Constantine, in 337, the quarrels of his sons and
+brothers for the Imperial throne gave the Germans a new opportunity to
+repeat their invasions of Gaul. The Franks were the first to take
+advantage of it: they got possession of Belgium, which was not
+afterwards retaken. The Alemanni followed, and planted themselves on the
+western bank of the Rhine, which they held, although Strasburg and other
+fortified cities still belonged to the Romans. About the year 350, a
+Frank or Saxon, of the name of Magnentius, was proclaimed Emperor by a
+part of the Roman army. He was defeated by the true Emperor, Constantius
+II., but the victory seems to have exhausted the military resources of
+the latter, for immediately afterwards another German invasion occurred.</p>
+
+<p>This time, the Franks took and pillaged Cologne, the Alemanni destroyed
+Strasburg and Mayence, and the Saxons, who had now become a sea-faring
+people, visited the northwestern coasts of Gaul. Constantius II. gave
+the command to his nephew, Julian (afterwards, as Emperor, called the
+Apostate), who first retook Cologne from the Franks, and then turned his
+forces against the Alemanni. The king of the latter, Chnodomar, had
+collected a large army, with which he encountered Julian on the banks of
+the Rhine, near Strasburg. The battle which ensued was fiercely
+contested; but Julian was completely victorious. Chnodomar was taken
+prisoner, and only a few of his troops escaped, like those of
+Ariovistus, 400 years before, by swimming across the Rhine. Although the
+season was far advanced, Julian followed them, crossed their territory
+to the Main, rebuilt the destroyed Roman fortresses, and finally
+accepted an armistice of ten months which they offered to him.</p>
+
+<p>He made use of this time to intimidate the Franks and Saxons. Starting
+from Lutetia (now Paris) early in the summer of 358, he drove the Franks
+beyond the Schelde, received their submission, and then marched a second
+time against the Alemanni. He laid waste their well-settled and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span>
+cultivated land between the Rhine, the Main and the Neckar, crossed
+their territory to the frontiers of the Burgundians (in what is now
+Franconia, or Northern Bavaria), liberated 20,000 Roman captives, and
+made the entire Alemannic people tributary to the Empire. His accession
+to the imperial throne, in 360, delivered the Germans from the most
+dangerous and dreaded enemy they had known since the time of Germanicus.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">375. TERRITORY OF THE GOTHS.</div>
+
+<p>Not many years elapsed before the Franks and Alemanni again overran the
+old boundaries, and the Saxons landed on the shores of England. The
+Emperor Valentinian employed both diplomacy and force, and succeeded in
+establishing a temporary peace; but after his death, in the year 375,
+the Roman Empire, the capital of which had been removed to
+Constantinople in 330, was never again in a condition to maintain its
+supremacy in Gaul, or to prevent the Germans from crossing the Rhine.</p>
+
+<p>We now return to the Goths, who already occupied the broad territory
+included in Poland, Southern Russia, and Roumania. The river Dniester
+may be taken as the probable boundary between the two kingdoms into
+which they had separated. The Ostrogoths, under their aged king,
+Hermanric, extended from that river eastward nearly to the Caspian Sea:
+on the north they had no fixed boundary, but they must have reached to
+the latitude of Moscow. The Visigoths stretched westward from the
+Dniester to the Danube, and northward from Hungary to the Baltic Sea.
+The Vandals were for some generations allied with the latter, but war
+having arisen between them, the Emperor Constantine interposed. He
+succeeded in effecting a separation of the two, and in settling the
+Vandals in Hungary, where they remained for forty years under the
+protection of the Roman Empire.</p>
+
+<p>From the time of their first encounter with the Romans, in Dacia, during
+the third century, the Goths appear to have made rapid advances in their
+political organization and the arts of civilized life. They were the
+first of the Germanic nations who accepted Christianity. On one of their
+piratical expeditions to the shores of Asia Minor, they brought away as
+captive a Christian boy. They named him Ulfila, and by that name he is
+still known to the world. He devoted his life to the overthrow of their
+pagan faith, and succeeded. He translated the Bible into their language,
+and, it is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span> supposed, even invented a Gothic alphabet, since it is
+doubtful whether they already possessed one. A part of Ulfila's
+translation of the New Testament escaped destruction, and is now
+preserved in the library at Upsala, in Sweden. It is the only specimen,
+in existence of the Gothic language at that early day. From it we learn
+how rich and refined was that language, and how many of the elements of
+the German and English tongues it contained. The following are the
+opening words of the Lord's Prayer, as Ulfila wrote them between the
+years 350 and 370 of our era:</p>
+
+<p style="font-size:.9em">
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">Gothic.</span>&nbsp; &nbsp; <i>Atta unsara, &nbsp; thu in himinam,&nbsp; veihnai&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; namo thein.</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">English.</span>&nbsp; Father our,&nbsp; &nbsp;  thou in&nbsp; heaven,&nbsp; be hallowed&nbsp;  name thine.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">German.</span>&nbsp;  Vater unser,&nbsp; du&nbsp; im&nbsp; Himmel,&nbsp;  geweiht werde Name dein.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">Gothic.</span>&nbsp; &nbsp; <i>quimai Thiudinassus Theins, vairthai vilja&nbsp; theins,</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">English.</span>&nbsp; &nbsp;  come&nbsp; &nbsp; Kingdom&nbsp; &nbsp;  thine,&nbsp; be done&nbsp; will&nbsp;  thine,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">German.</span>&nbsp; &nbsp; komme&nbsp; Herrschaft&nbsp;  dein,&nbsp; &nbsp; werde&nbsp;  Wille&nbsp; dein,</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">Gothic.</span>&nbsp; &nbsp; <i>sve in himina, jah&nbsp; ana airthai.</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">English.</span>&nbsp; &nbsp;  as in heaven,&nbsp;  also on&nbsp; earth.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">German.</span>&nbsp; &nbsp;  wie im Himmel,&nbsp;  auch auf Erden.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">350.</div>
+
+<p>Ulfila was born in 318, became a bishop of the Christian Church, spent
+his whole life in teaching the Goths, and died in Constantinople, in the
+year 378. There is no evidence that he, or any other of the Christian
+missionaries of his time, were persecuted, or even seriously hindered in
+the good work, by the Goths: the latter seem to have adopted the new
+faith readily, and the Arian creed which Ulfila taught, although
+rejected by the Church of Rome, was stubbornly held by their descendants
+for a period of nearly five hundred years.</p>
+
+<p>Somewhere between 360 and 370, the long peace between the Romans and the
+Goths was disturbed; but the Emperor Valens and the Gothic king,
+Athanaric, had a conference on board a vessel on the Danube, and came to
+an understanding. Athanaric refused to cross the river, on account of a
+vow made on some former occasion. The Goths, it appears, were by this
+time learning the art of statesmanship, and they might have continued on
+good terms with the Romans, but for the sudden appearance on the scene
+of an entirely new race, coming, as they themselves had come so many
+centuries before, from the unknown regions of Central Asia.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">375. COMING OF THE HUNS.</div>
+
+<p>In 375, the year of Valentinian's death, a race of people<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span> up to that
+time unknown, and whose name&mdash;the Huns&mdash;had never before been heard,
+crossed the Volga and invaded the territory of the Ostrogoths. Later
+researches render it probable that they came from the steppes of
+Mongolia, and that they belonged to the Tartar family; but, in the
+course of their wanderings, before reaching Europe, they had not only
+lost all the traditions of their former history, but even their
+religious faith. Their very appearance struck terror into the Goths, who
+were so much further advanced in civilization. They were short, clumsy
+figures, with broad and hideously ugly faces, flat noses, oblique eyes
+and long black hair, and were clothed in skins which they wore until
+they dropped in rags from their bodies. But they were marvellous
+horsemen, and very skilful in using the bow and lance. The men were on
+their horses' backs from morning till night, while the women and
+children followed their march in rude carts. They came in such immense
+numbers, and showed so much savage daring and bravery, that several
+smaller tribes, allied with the Ostrogoths, or subject to them, went
+over immediately to the Huns.</p>
+
+<p>The kingdom of the Ostrogoths, almost without offering resistance, fell
+to pieces. The king, Hermanric, now more than a hundred years old, threw
+himself upon his sword, at their approach: his successor, Vitimer, gave
+battle, but lost the victory and his life at the same time. The great
+body of the people retreated westward before the Huns, who, following
+them, reached the Dnieper. Here Athanaric, king of the Visigoths, was
+posted with a large army, to dispute their passage; but the Huns
+succeeded in finding a fording-place which was left unguarded, turned
+his flank, and defeated him with great slaughter. Nothing now remained
+but for both branches of the Gothic people, united in misfortune, to
+retreat to the Danube.</p>
+
+<p>Athanaric took refuge among the mountains of Transylvania, and the
+Bishop Ulfila was dispatched to Constantinople to ask the assistance of
+the Emperor Valens, who was entreated to permit that the Goths,
+meanwhile, might cross the Danube and find a refuge on Roman territory.
+Valens yielded to the entreaty, but attached very hard conditions to his
+permission: the Goths were allowed to cross unarmed, after giving up
+their wives and children as hostages. In their fear of the Huns, they
+were obliged to accept these conditions, and hundreds of thousands
+thronged across the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span> Danube. They soon exhausted the supplies of the
+region, and then began to suffer famine, of which the Roman officers and
+traders took advantage, demanding their children as slaves in return for
+the cats and dogs which they gave to the Goths as food.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">376.</div>
+
+<p>This treatment brought about its own revenge. Driven to desperation by
+hunger and the outrages inflicted upon them, the Goths secretly procured
+arms, rose, and made themselves masters of the country. The Roman
+governor marched against them, but their Chief, Fridigern, defeated him
+and utterly destroyed his army. The news of this event induced large
+numbers of Gothic soldiers to desert from the imperial army, and join
+their countrymen. Fridigern, thus strengthened, commenced a war of
+revenge: he crossed the Balkan, laid waste all Thrace, Macedonia and
+Thessaly, and settled his own people in the most fertile parts of the
+plundered provinces. The Ostrogoths had crossed the Danube at the first
+report of his success, and had taken part in his conquests.</p>
+
+<p>Towards the end of the year 377, the Emperor Valens raised a large army
+and marched against Fridigern. A battle was fought at the foot of the
+Balkan, and a second, the following year, before the walls of
+Adrianople. In both the Goths were victorious: in the latter two-thirds
+of the Roman troops fell, Valens himself, doubtless, among them,&mdash;for he
+was never seen or heard of after that day. His nephew, Gratian,
+succeeded to the throne, but associated with him Theodosius, a young
+Spaniard of great ability, as Emperor of the East. While Gratian marched
+to Gaul, to stay the increasing inroads of the Franks, Theodosius was
+left to deal with the Goths, who were beginning to cultivate the fields
+of Thrace, as if they meant to stay there.</p>
+
+<p>He was obliged to confirm them in the possession of the greater part of
+the country. They were called allies of the Empire, were obliged to
+furnish a certain number of soldiers, but retained their own kings, and
+were governed by their own laws. After the death of Fridigern,
+Theodosius invited Athanaric to visit him. The latter, considering
+himself now absolved from his vow not to cross the Danube, accepted the
+invitation, and was received in Constantinople on the footing of an
+equal by Theodosius. He died a few weeks after his arrival, and the
+Emperor walked behind his bier, in the funeral procession. For several
+years the relations between<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span> the two powers continued peaceful and
+friendly. Both branches of the Goths were settled together, south of the
+Danube, their relinquished territory north of that river being occupied
+by the Huns, who were still pressing westward.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">400. ALARIC INVADES GREECE.</div>
+
+<p>In Italy, Valentinian II. succeeded his brother Gratian. His chief
+minister was a Frank, named Arbogast, who, learning that he was to be
+dismissed from his place, had the young Valentinian assassinated, and
+set up a new Emperor, Eugene, in his stead. This act brought him into
+direct conflict with Theodosius. Arbogast called upon his countrymen,
+the Franks, who sent a large body of troops to his assistance, while
+Theodosius strengthened his army with 20,000 Gothic soldiers. Then, for
+the first time, Frank and Goth&mdash;West-German and East-German&mdash;faced each
+other as enemies. The Gothic auxiliaries of Theodosius were commanded by
+two leaders, Alaric and Stilicho, already distinguished among their
+people, and destined to play a remarkable part in the history of Europe.
+The battle between the two armies was fought near Aquileia, in the year
+394. The sham Emperor, Eugene, was captured and beheaded, Arbogast threw
+himself upon his sword, and Theodosius was master of the West.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor, however, lived but a few months to enjoy his single rule.
+He died at Milan, in 395, after having divided the government of the
+Empire between his two sons. Honorius, the elder, was sent to Rome, with
+the Gothic chieftain, Stilicho, as his minister and guardian; while the
+boy Arcadius, at Constantinople, was intrusted to the care of a Gaul,
+named Rufinus. Alaric, perhaps a personal enemy of the latter, perhaps
+jealous of the elevation of Stilicho to such an important place, refused
+to submit to the new government. He collected a large body of his
+countrymen, and set out on a campaign of plunder through Greece. Every
+ancient city, except Thebes, fell into his hands, and only Athens was
+allowed to buy her exemption from pillage.</p>
+
+<p>The Gaul, Rufinus, took no steps to arrest this devastation; wherefore,
+it is said, he was murdered at the instigation of Stilicho, who then
+sent a fleet against Alaric. This undertaking was not entirely
+successful, and the government of Constantinople finally purchased peace
+by making Alaric the Imperial Legate in Illyria. In the year 403, he was
+sent to Italy, as the representative of the Emperor Arcadius, to
+overthrow the power of his former fellow-chieftain, Stilicho,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span> who ruled
+in the name of Honorius. His approach, with a large army, threw the
+whole country into terror. Honorius shut himself up within the walls of
+Ravenna, while Stilicho called the legions from Gaul, and even from
+Britain, to his support. A great battle was fought near the Po, but
+without deciding the struggle; and Alaric had already begun to march
+towards Rome, when a treaty was made by which he and his army were
+allowed to return to Illyria with all the booty they had gathered in
+Italy.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">408.</div>
+
+<p>Five years afterwards, when Stilicho was busy in endeavoring to keep the
+Franks and Alemanni out of Gaul, and to drive back the incursions of
+mixed German and Celtic bands which began to descend from the Alps,
+Alaric again made his appearance, demanding the payment of certain sums,
+which he claimed were due to him. Stilicho, having need of his military
+strength elsewhere, satisfied Alaric's claim by the payment of 4,000
+pounds of gold; but the Romans felt themselves bitterly humiliated, and
+Honorius, listening to the rivals of Stilicho, gave his consent to the
+assassination of the latter and his whole family including the Emperor's
+own sister, Serena, whom Stilicho had married.</p>
+
+<p>When the news of this atrocious act reached Alaric, he turned and
+marched back to Italy. There was now no skilful commander to oppose him:
+the cowardly Honorius took refuge in Ravenna, and the Goths advanced,
+without resistance, to the gates of Rome. The walls, built by Aurelian,
+were too strong to be taken by assault, but all supplies were cut off,
+and the final surrender of the city became only a question of time. When
+a deputation of Romans represented to Alaric that the people still
+numbered half a million, he answered: "The thicker the grass, the better
+the mowing!" They were finally obliged to yield to his demands, and pay
+a ransom consisting of 5,000 pounds of gold, 30,000 pounds of silver,
+many thousands of silk robes, and a large quantity of spices,&mdash;a total
+value of something more than three millions of dollars. In addition to
+this, 40,000 slaves, mostly of Germanic blood, escaped to his camp and
+became free.</p>
+
+<p>Alaric only withdrew into Northern Italy, where he soon found a new
+cause of dispute with the government of Honorius, in Ravenna. He seems
+to have been a man of great military genius, but little capacity for
+civil rule; of much energy and ambition, but little judgment. The result
+of his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span> quarrel with Honorius was, that he marched again to Rome,
+proclaimed Attalus, the governor of the city, Emperor, and then demanded
+entrance for himself and his troops, as an ally. The demand could not be
+refused: Rome was opened to the Goths, who participated in the festivals
+which accompanied the coronation of Attalus. It was nothing but a farce,
+and seems to have been partly intended as such by Alaric, who publicly
+deposed the new Emperor shortly afterwards, on his march to Ravenna.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">410. ALARIC IN ROME.</div>
+
+<p>There were further negotiations with Honorius, which came to nothing;
+then Alaric advanced upon Rome the third time, not now as an ally, but
+as an avowed enemy. The city could make no resistance, and on the 24th
+of August, 410, the Goths entered it as conquerors. This event, so
+famous in history, has been greatly misrepresented. Later researches
+show that, although the citizens were despoiled of their wealth, the
+buildings and monuments were spared. The people were subjected to
+violence and outrage for the space of six days, after which Alaric
+marched out of Rome with his army, leaving the city, in its external
+appearance, very much as he found it.</p>
+
+<p>He directed his course towards Southern Italy, with the intention, it
+was generally believed, of conquering Sicily and then crossing into
+Africa. The plan was defeated by his death, in 411, at Cosenza, a town
+on the banks of the Busento, in Calabria. His soldiers turned the river
+from its course, dug a grave in its bed, and there laid the body of
+Alaric, with all the gems and gold he had gathered. Then the Busento was
+restored to its channel, and the slaves who had performed the work were
+slain, in order that Alaric's place of burial might never be known.</p>
+
+<p>His brother-in-law, Ataulf (Adolph), was his successor. He was also the
+brother-in-law of Honorius, having married the latter's sister,
+Placidia, after she was taken captive by Alaric. He was therefore
+strengthened by the conquests of the one and by his family connection
+with the other. The Visigoths, who had gradually gathered together under
+Alaric, seem to have had enough of marching to and fro, and they
+acquiesced in an arrangement made between Ataulf and Honorius, according
+to which the former led them out of Italy in 412, and established them
+in Southern Gaul. They took possession of all the region lying between
+the Loire and the Pyrenees, with Toulouse as their capital.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">412.</div>
+
+<p>Thus, in the space of forty years, the Visigoths left their home on the
+Black Sea, between the Danube and the Dniester, passed through the whole
+breadth of the Roman Empire, from Constantinople to the Bay of Biscay,
+after having traversed both the Grecian and Italian peninsulas, and
+settled themselves again in what seemed to be a permanent home. During
+this extraordinary migration, they maintained their independence as a
+people, they preserved their laws, customs, and their own rulers; and,
+although frequently at enmity with the Empire, they were never made to
+yield it allegiance. Under Athanaric, as we have seen, they were united
+for a time with the Ostrogoths, and it was probably the renown and
+success of Alaric which brought about a second separation.</p>
+
+<p>Of course the impetus given to this branch of the Germanic race by the
+invasion of the Huns did not affect it alone. Before the Visigoths
+reached the shores of the Atlantic, all Central Europe was in movement.
+Leaving them there for the present, and also leaving the great body of
+the Ostrogoths in Thrace and Illyria, we will now return to the nations
+whom we left maintaining their existence on German soil.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">THE INVASION OF THE HUNS, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(412&mdash;472.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>General Westward Movement of the Races.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Stilicho's Defeat of the Germans.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Migration of the Alans, Vandals, &amp;c.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Saxon Colonization of England.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Vandals in Africa.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Decline of Rome.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Spread of German Power.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Attila, king of the Huns.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Rise of his Power.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Superstitions concerning him.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His March into France.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;He is opposed by Aëtius and Theodoric.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Great Battle near Châlons.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Retreat of Attila.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;He destroys Aquileia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Invades Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Geiserich takes and plunders Rome.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;End of the Western Empire.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Huns expelled.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Movements of the Tribes on German Soil.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">412. MOVEMENT OF THE TRIBES.</div>
+
+<p>The westward movement of the Huns was followed, soon afterwards, by an
+advance of the Slavonic tribes on the north, who first took possession
+of the territory on the Baltic relinquished by the Goths, and then
+gradually pressed onward towards the Elbe. The Huns themselves,
+temporarily settled in the fertile region north of the Danube, pushed
+the Vandals westward toward Bohemia, and the latter, in their turn,
+pressed upon the Marcomanni. Thus, at the opening of the fifth century,
+all the tribes, from the Baltic to the Alps, along the eastern frontier
+of Germany, were partly or wholly forced to fall back. This gave rise to
+a union of many of them, including the Vandals, Alans, Suevi and
+Burgundians, under a Chief named Radagast. Numbering half a million,
+they crossed the Alps into Northern Italy, and demanded territory for
+new homes.</p>
+
+<p>Stilicho, exhausted by his struggle with Alaric, whose retreat from
+Italy he had just purchased, could only meet this new enemy by summoning
+his legions from Gaul and Britain. He met Radagast at Fiesole (near
+Florence), and so crippled the strength of the invasion that Italy was
+saved. The German tribes recrossed the Alps, and entered Gaul the
+following year. Here they gave up their temporary<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span> union, and each tribe
+selected its own territory. The Alans pushed forwards, crossed the
+Pyrenees, and finally settled in Portugal; the Vandals followed and took
+possession of all Southern Spain, giving their name to (V-)Andalusia;
+the Suevi, after fighting, but not conquering, the native Basque tribes
+of the Pyrenees, selected what is now the province of Galicia; while the
+Burgundians stretched from the Rhine through western Switzerland, and
+southward nearly to the mouth of the Rhone. The greater part of Gaul was
+thus already lost to the Roman power.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">429.</div>
+
+<p>The withdrawal of the legions from Britain by Stilicho left the
+population unprotected. The Britons were then a mixture of Celtic and
+Roman blood, and had become greatly demoralized during the long decay of
+the Empire; so they were unable to resist the invasions of the Picts and
+Scots, and in this emergency they summoned the Saxons and Angles to
+their aid. Two chiefs of the latter, Hengist and Horsa, accepted the
+invitation, landed in England in 449, and received lands in Kent. They
+were followed by such numbers of their countrymen that the allies soon
+became conquerors, and portioned England among themselves. They brought
+with them their speech and their ancient pagan religion, and for a time
+overthrew the rude form of Christianity which had prevailed among the
+Britons since the days of Constantine. Only Ireland, the Scottish
+Highlands, Wales and Cornwall resisted the Saxon rule, as across the
+Channel, in Brittany, a remnant of the Celtic Gauls resisted the sway of
+the Franks. From the year 449 until the landing of William the
+Conqueror, in 1066, nearly all England and the Lowlands of Scotland were
+in the hands of the Saxon race.</p>
+
+<p>Ataulf, the king of the Visigoths, was murdered soon after establishing
+his people in Southern France. Wallia, his successor, crossed the
+Pyrenees, drove the Vandals out of northern Spain, and made the Ebro
+river the boundary between them and his Visigoths. Fifteen years
+afterwards, in 429, the Vandals, under their famous king, Geiserich
+(incorrectly called Genseric in many histories), were invited by the
+Roman Governor of Africa to assist him in a revolt against the Empire.
+They crossed the Straits of Gibraltar in a body, took possession of all
+the Roman provinces, as far eastward as Tunis, and made Carthage the
+capital of their new kingdom. The Visigoths immediately occupied<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span> the
+remainder of Spain, which they held for nearly three hundred years
+afterwards.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">445. ATTILA, KING OF THE HUNS.</div>
+
+<p>Thus, although the name and state of an Emperor of the West were kept up
+in Rome until the year 476, the Empire never really existed after the
+invasion of Alaric. The dominion over Italy, Gaul and Spain, claimed by
+the Emperors of the East, at Constantinople, was acknowledged in
+documents, but (except for a short time, under Justinian) was never
+practically exercised. Rome had been the supreme power of the known
+world for so many centuries, that a superstitious influence still clung
+to the very name, and the ambition of the Germanic kings seems to have
+been, not to destroy the Empire, but to conquer and make it their own.</p>
+
+<p>The rude tribes, which, in the time of Julius Cæsar, were buried among
+the mountains and forests of the country between the Rhine, the Danube
+and the Baltic Sea, were now, five hundred years later, scattered over
+all Europe, and beginning to establish new nations on the foundations
+laid by Rome. As soon as they cross the old boundaries of Germany, they
+come into the light of history, and we are able to follow their wars and
+migrations; but we know scarcely anything, during this period, of the
+tribes which remained within those boundaries. We can only infer that
+the Marcomanni settled between the Danube and the Alps, in what is now
+Bavaria; that, early in the fifth century, the Thuringians established a
+kingdom including nearly all Central Germany; and that the Slavonic
+tribes, pressing westward through Prussia, were checked by the valor of
+the Saxons, along the line of the Elbe, since only scattered bands of
+them were found beyond that river at a later day.</p>
+
+<p>The first impulse to all these wonderful movements came, as we have
+seen, from the Huns. These people, as yet unconquered, were so dreaded
+by the Emperors of the East, that their peace was purchased, like that
+of the Goths a hundred years before, by large annual payments. For fifty
+years, they seemed satisfied to rest in their new home, making
+occasional raids across the Danube, and gradually bringing under their
+sway the fragments of Germanic tribes already settled in Hungary, or
+left behind by the Goths. In 428, Attila and his brother Bleda became
+kings of the Huns, but the latter's death, in 445, left Attila sole
+ruler. His name was already famous, far and wide, for his strength,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span>
+energy and intelligence. His capital was established near Tokay, in
+Hungary, where he lived in a great castle of wood, surrounded with moats
+and palisades. He was a man of short stature, with broad head, neck and
+shoulders, and fierce, restless eyes. He scorned the luxury which was
+prevalent at the time, wore only plain woollen garments, and ate and
+drank from wooden dishes and cups. His personal power and influence were
+so great that the Huns looked upon him as a demigod, while all the
+neighboring Germanic tribes, including a large portion of the
+Ostrogoths, enlisted under his banner.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">449.</div>
+
+<p>After the Huns had invaded Thrace and compelled the Eastern Empire to
+pay a double tribute, the Emperor of the West, Valentinian III. (the
+grandson of Theodosius), sent an embassy to Attila, soliciting his
+friendship: the Emperor's sister, Honoria, offered him her hand. Both
+divisions of the Empire thus did him reverence, and he had little to
+fear from the force which either could bring against him; but the Goths
+and Vandals, now warlike and victorious races, were more formidable
+foes. Here, however, he was favored by the hostility between the aged
+Geiserich, king of the Vandals, and the young Theodoric, king of the
+Visigoths. The former sent messages to Attila, inciting him to march
+into Gaul and overthrow Theodoric, who was Geiserich's relative and
+rival. Soon afterwards, a new Emperor, at Constantinople, refused the
+additional tribute, and Valentinian III. withheld the hand of his sister
+Honoria.</p>
+
+<p>Attila, now&mdash;towards the close of the year 449&mdash;made preparations for a
+grand war of conquest. He already possessed unbounded influence over the
+Huns, and supernatural signs of his coming career were soon supplied. A
+peasant dug up a jewelled sword, which, it was said, had long before
+been given to a race of kings by the god of war. This was brought to
+Attila, and thenceforth worn by him. He was called "The Scourge of God,"
+and the people believed that wherever the hoofs of his horse had trodden
+no grass ever grew again. The fear of his power, or the hope of plunder,
+drew large numbers of the German tribes to his side, and the army with
+which he set out for the conquest, first of Gaul and then of Europe, is
+estimated at from 500,000 to 700,000 warriors. With this, he passed
+through the heart of Germany, much of which he had already made
+tributary, and reached the Rhine. Here Gunther, the king of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span>
+Burgundians, opposed him with a force of 10,000 men and was speedily
+crushed. Even a portion of the Franks, who were then quarrelling among
+themselves, joined him, and now Gaul divided between Franks, Romans and
+Visigoths, was open to his advance.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">451. THE SIEGE OF ORLEANS.</div>
+
+<p>The minister and counsellor of Valentinian III. was Aëtius, the son of a
+Gothic father and a Roman mother. As soon as Attila's design became
+known, he hastened to Gaul, collected the troops still in Roman service,
+and procured the alliance of Theodoric and the Visigoths. The Alans,
+under their king Sangipan, were also persuaded to unite their forces:
+the independent Celts in Brittany, and a large portion of the Franks and
+Burgundians, all of whom were threatened by the invasion of the Huns,
+hastened to the side of Aëtius, so that the army commanded by himself
+and Theodoric became nearly if not quite equal in numbers to that of
+Attila. The latter, by this time, had marched into the heart of Gaul,
+laying waste the country through which he passed, and meeting no
+resistance until he reached the walled and fortified city of Orleans.
+This was in the year 451.</p>
+
+<p>Orleans, besieged and hard pressed, was about to surrender, when Aëtius
+approached with his army. Attila was obliged to raise the siege at once,
+and retreat in order to select a better position for the impending
+battle. He finally halted on the broad plains of the province of
+Champagne, near the present city of Châlons, where his immense body of
+armed horsemen would have ample space to move. Aëtius and Theodoric
+followed and pitched their camp opposite to him, on the other side of a
+small hill which rose from the plain. That night, Attila ordered his
+priests to consult their pagan oracles, and ascertain the fate of the
+morrow's struggle. The answer was: "Death to the enemy's leader,
+destruction to the Huns!"&mdash;but the hope of seeing Aëtius fall prevailed
+on Attila to risk his own defeat.</p>
+
+<p>The next day witnessed one of the greatest battles of history. Aëtius
+commanded the right and Theodoric the left wing of their army, placing
+between them the Alans and other tribes, of whose fidelity they were not
+quite sure. Attila, however, took the centre with his Huns, and formed
+his wings of the Germans and Ostrogoths. The battle began at dawn, and
+raged through the whole day. Both armies endeavored to take and hold the
+hill between them, and the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span> hundreds of thousands rolled back and forth
+as the victory inclined to one side or the other. A brook which ran
+through the plain was swollen high by the blood of the fallen. At last
+Theodoric broke Attila's centre, but was slain in the attack. The
+Visigoths immediately lifted his son, Thorismond, on a shield,
+proclaimed him king, and renewed the fight. The Huns were driven back to
+the fortress of wagons where their wives, children and treasures were
+collected, when a terrible storm of rain and thunder put an end to the
+battle. Between 200,000 and 300,000 dead lay upon the plain.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">452.</div>
+
+<p>All night the lamentations of the Hunnish women filled the air. Attila
+had an immense funeral pile constructed of saddles, whereon he meant to
+burn himself and his family, in case Aëtius should renew the fight the
+next day. But the army of the latter was too exhausted to move, and the
+Huns were allowed to commence their retreat from Gaul. Enraged at his
+terrible defeat, Attila destroyed everything in his way, leaving a broad
+track of blood and ashes from Gaul through the heart of Germany, back to
+Hungary.</p>
+
+<p>By the following year, 452, Attila had collected another army, and now
+directed his march towards Italy. This new invasion was so unexpected
+that the passes of the Alps were left undefended, and the Huns reached
+the rich and populous city of Aquileia, on the northern shore of the
+Adriatic, without meeting any opposition. After a siege of three months,
+they took and razed it to the ground so completely that it was never
+rebuilt, and from that day to this only a few piles of shapeless stones
+remain to mark the spot where it stood. The inhabitants who escaped took
+refuge upon the low marshy islands, separated from the mainland by the
+lagoons, and there formed the settlement which, two or three hundred
+years later, became known to the world as Venice.</p>
+
+<p>Attila marched onward to the Po, destroying everything in his way. Here
+he was met by a deputation, at the head of which was Leo, the Bishop (or
+Pope) of Rome, sent by Valentinian III. Leo so worked upon the
+superstitious mind of the savage monarch, that the latter gave up his
+purpose of taking Rome, and returned to Hungary with his army, which was
+suffering from disease and want. The next year he died suddenly, in his
+wooden palace at Tokay. The tradition states that his body was inclosed
+in three coffins,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span> of iron, silver and gold, and buried secretly, like
+that of Alaric, so that no man might know his resting-place. He had a
+great many wives, and left so many sons behind him, that their quarrels
+for the succession to the throne divided the Huns into numerous parties,
+and quite destroyed their power as a people.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">455. GEISERICH TAKES ROME.</div>
+
+<p>The alliance between Aëtius and the Visigoths ceased immediately after
+the great battle. Valentinian III., suspicious of the fame of Aëtius,
+recalled him to Rome, the year after Attila's death, and assassinated
+him with his own hand. The treacherous Emperor was himself slain,
+shortly afterwards, by Maximus, who succeeded him, and forced his widow,
+the Empress Eudoxia, to accept him as her husband. Out of revenge,
+Eudoxia sent a messenger to Geiserich, the old king of the Vandals, at
+Carthage, summoning him to Rome. The Vandals had already built a large
+fleet and pillaged the shores of Sicily and other Mediterranean islands.
+In 455, Geiserich landed at the mouth of the Tiber with a powerful
+force, and marched upon Rome. The city was not strong enough to offer
+any resistance: it was taken, and during two weeks surrendered to such
+devastation and outrage that the word <i>vandalism</i> has ever since been
+used to express savage and wanton destruction. The churches were
+plundered of all their vessels and ornaments, the old Palace of the
+Cæsars was laid waste, priceless works of art destroyed, and those of
+the inhabitants who escaped with their lives were left almost as
+beggars.</p>
+
+<p>When "the old king of the sea," as Geiserich was called, returned to
+Africa, he not only left Rome ruined, but the Western Empire practically
+overthrown. For seventeen years afterwards, Ricimer, a chief of the
+Suevi, who had been commander of the Roman auxiliaries in Gaul, was the
+real ruler of its crumbling fragments. He set up, set aside or slew five
+or six so-called Emperors, at his own will, and finally died in 472,
+only four years before the boy, Romulus Augustulus, was compelled to
+throw off the purple and retire into obscurity as "the last Emperor of
+Rome."</p>
+
+<p>In 455, the year when Geiserich and his Vandals plundered Rome, the
+Germanic tribes along the Danube took advantage of the dissensions
+following Attila's death, and threw off their allegiance to the Huns.
+They all united under a king named Ardaric, gave battle, and were so
+successful that the whole tribe of the Huns was forced to retreat<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span>
+eastward into Southern Russia. From this time they do not appear again
+in history, although it is probable that the Magyars, who came later
+into the same region from which they were driven, brought the remnants
+of the tribe with them.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">450.</div>
+
+<p>During the fourth and fifth centuries, the great historic achievements
+of the German race, as we have now traced them, were performed outside
+of the German territory. While from Thrace to the Atlantic Ocean, from
+the Scottish Highlands to Africa, the new nationalities overran the
+decayed Roman Empire, constantly changing their seats of power, we have
+no intelligence of what was happening within Germany itself. Both
+branches of the Goths, the Vandals and a part of the Franks had become
+Christians, but the Alemanni, Saxons and Thuringians were still
+heathens, although they had by this time adopted many of the arts of
+civilized life. They had no educated class, corresponding to the
+Christian priesthood in the East, Italy and Gaul, and even in Britain;
+and thus no chronicle of their history has survived.</p>
+
+<p>Either before or immediately after Attila's invasion of Gaul, the
+Marcomanni crossed the Danube, and took possession of the plains between
+that river and the Alps. They were called the Boiarii, from their former
+home of four centuries in Bohemia, and from this name is derived the
+German <i>Baiern</i>, Bavaria. They kept possession of the new territory,
+adapted themselves to the forms of Roman civilization which they found
+there, and soon organized themselves into a small but distinct and
+tolerably independent nation.</p>
+
+<p>But the period of the Migration of the Races was not yet finished. The
+shadow of the old Roman Empire still remained, and stirred the ambition
+of each successive king, so that he was not content with territory
+sufficient for the needs of his own people, but must also try to conquer
+his neighbors and extend his rule. The bases of the modern states of
+Europe were already laid, but not securely enough for the building
+thereof to be commenced. Two more important movements were yet to be
+made before this bewildering period of change and struggle came to an
+end.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OSTROGOTHS.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(472&mdash;570.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Odoaker conquers Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Theodoric leads the Ostrogoths to Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;He defeats and slays Odoaker.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;He becomes King of Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Chlodwig, king of the Franks, puts an End to the Roman Rule.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;War between the Franks and Visigoths.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Character of Theodoric's Rule.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Mausoleum.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;End of the Burgundian Kingdom.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Plans of Justinian.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Belisarius destroys the Vandal Power in Africa.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;He conquers Vitiges, and overruns Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Narses defeats Totila and Teias.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;End of the Ostrogoths.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Narses summons the Longobards.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;They conquer Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Exarchy and Rome.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;End of the Migrations of the Races.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">476. ODOAKER, KING OF ITALY.</div>
+
+<p>After the death of Ricimer, in 472, Italy, weakened by invasion and
+internal dissension, was an easy prey to the first strong hand which
+might claim possession. Such a hand was soon found in a Chief named
+Odoaker, said to have been a native of the island of Rügen, in the
+Baltic. He commanded a large force, composed of the smaller German
+tribes from the banks of the Danube, who had thrown off the yoke of the
+Huns. Many of these troops had served the last half-dozen Roman Emperors
+whom Ricimer set up or threw down, and they now claimed one-third of the
+Italian territory for themselves and their families. When this was
+refused, Odoaker, at their head, took the boy Romulus Augustulus
+prisoner, banished him, and proclaimed himself king of Italy, in 476,
+making Ravenna his capital.</p>
+
+<p>The dynasty at Constantinople still called its dominion "The Roman
+Empire," and claimed authority over all the West. But it had not the
+means to make its claim acknowledged, and in this emergency the Emperor
+Zeno turned to Theodoric, the young king of the Ostrogoths, who had been
+brought up at his court, in Constantinople. He was the successor of
+three brothers, who, after the dispersion of the Huns, had united some
+of the smaller German tribes with the Ostrogoths, and restored the
+former power and influence of the race.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">489.</div>
+
+<p>Theodoric (who must not be confounded with his namesake, the Visigoth
+king, who fell in conquering Attila) was a man of great natural ability,
+which had been well developed by his education in Constantinople. He
+accepted the appointment of General and Governor from the Emperor, yet
+the preparations he made for the expedition to Italy show that he
+intended to remain and establish his own kingdom there. It was not a
+military march, but the migration of a people, which he headed. The
+Ostrogoths and their allies took with them their wives and children,
+their herds and household goods: they moved so slowly up the Danube and
+across the Alps, now halting to rest and recruit, now fighting a passage
+through some hostile tribe, that several years elapsed before they
+reached Italy.</p>
+
+<p>Odoaker had reigned fourteen years, with more justice and discretion
+than was common in those times, and was able to raise a large force, in
+489, to meet the advance of Theodoric. After three severe battles had
+been fought, he was forced to take shelter within the strong walls of
+Ravenna; but he again sallied forth and attacked the Ostrogoths with
+such bravery that he came near defeating them. Finally, in 493, after a
+siege of three years, he capitulated, and was soon afterwards
+treacherously murdered, by order of Theodoric, at a banquet to which the
+latter had invited him.</p>
+
+<p>Having the power in his own hands, Theodoric now threw off his assumed
+subjection to the Eastern Empire, put on the Roman purple, and
+proclaimed himself king. All Italy, including Sicily, Sardinia and
+Corsica, fell at once into his hands; and, having left a portion of the
+Ostrogoths behind him, on the Danube, he also claimed all the region
+between, in order to preserve a communication with them. He was soon so
+strongly settled in his new realm that he had nothing to fear from the
+Emperor Zeno and his successors. The latter did not venture to show any
+direct signs of hostility towards him, but remained quiet; while, on his
+part, beyond seizing a portion of Pannonia, he refrained from
+interfering with their rule in the East.</p>
+
+<p>In the West, however, the case was different. Five years before
+Theodoric's arrival in Italy, the last relic of Roman power disappeared
+forever from Gaul. A general named Syagrius had succeeded to the
+command, after the murder of Aëtius, and had formed the central
+provinces into a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span> Roman state, which was so completely cut off from all
+connection with the Empire that it became practically independent. The
+Franks, who now held all Northern Gaul and Belgium, from the Rhine to
+the Atlantic, with Paris as their capital, were by this time so strong
+and well organized, that their king, Chlodwig, boldly challenged
+Syagrius to battle. The challenge was accepted: a battle was fought near
+Soissons, in the year 486, the Romans were cut to pieces, and the river
+Loire became the southern boundary of the Frank kingdom. The territory
+between that river and the Pyrenees still belonged to the Visigoths.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">507. CHLODWIG CONQUERS GAUL.</div>
+
+<p>While Theodoric was engaged in giving peace, order, and a new prosperity
+to the war-worn and desolated lands of Italy, his Frank rival, Chlodwig,
+defeated the Alemanni, conquered the Celts of Brittany&mdash;then called
+Armorica&mdash;and thus greatly increased his power. We must return to him
+and the history of his dynasty in a later chapter, and will now only
+briefly mention those incidents of his reign which brought him into
+conflict with Theodoric.</p>
+
+<p>In the year 500, Chlodwig defeated the Burgundians and for a time
+rendered them tributary to him. He then turned to the Visigoths and made
+the fact of their being Arian Christians a pretext for declaring war
+against them. Their king was Alaric II., who had married the daughter of
+Theodoric. A battle was fought in 507: the two kings met, and, fighting
+hand to hand, Alaric II. was slain by Chlodwig. The latter soon
+afterwards took and plundered Toulouse, the Visigoth capital, and
+claimed the territory between the Loire and the Garonne.</p>
+
+<p>Theodoric, whose grandson Amalaric (son of Alaric II.) was now king of
+the Visigoths, immediately hastened to the relief of the latter. His
+military strength was probably too great for Chlodwig to resist, for
+there is no report of any great battle having been fought. Theodoric
+took possession of Provence, re-established the Loire as the southern
+boundary of the Franks, and secured the kingdom of his grandson. The
+capital of the Visigoths, however, was changed to Toledo, in Spain. The
+Emperor Anastasius, to keep up the pretence of retaining his power in
+Gaul, appointed Chlodwig Roman Consul, and sent him a royal diadem and
+purple mantle. So much respect was still attached to the name of the
+Empire that Chlodwig accepted the title, and was solemnly invested by a
+Christian Bishop with the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span> crown and mantle. In the year 511 he died,
+having founded the kingdom of France.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">511.</div>
+
+<p>The power of Theodoric was not again assailed. As the king of the
+Ostrogoths, he ruled over Italy and the islands, and the lands between
+the Adriatic and the Danube; as the guardian of the young Amalaric, his
+sway extended over Southern France and all of Spain. He was peaceful,
+prudent and wise, and his reign, by contrast with the convulsions which
+preceded it, was called "a golden age" by his Italian subjects. Although
+he and his people were Germanic in blood and Arians in faith, while the
+Italians were Roman and Athanasian, he guarded the interests and subdued
+the prejudices of both, and the respect which his abilities inspired
+preserved peace between them. The murder of Odoaker is a lasting stain
+upon his memory: the execution of the philosopher Boëthius is another,
+scarcely less dark; but, with the exception of these two acts, his reign
+was marked by wisdom, justice and tolerance. The surname of "The Great"
+was given to him by his contemporaries, not so much to distinguish him
+from the Theodoric of the Visigoths, as on account of his eminent
+qualities as a ruler. From the year 500 to 526, when he died, he was the
+most powerful and important monarch of the civilized world.</p>
+
+<p>During Theodoric's life, Ravenna was the capital of Italy: Rome had lost
+her ancient renown, but her Bishops, who were now called Popes, were the
+rulers of the Church of the West, and she thus became a religious
+capital. The ancient enmity of the Arians and Athanasians had only grown
+stronger by time, and Theodoric, although he became popular with the
+masses of the people, was always hated by the priests. When he died, a
+splendid mausoleum was built for his body, at Ravenna, and still remains
+standing. It is a circular tower, resting on an arched base with ten
+sides, and surmounted by a dome, which is formed of a single stone,
+thirty-six feet in diameter and four feet in thickness. The sarcophagus
+in which he was laid was afterwards broken open, by the order of the
+Pope of Rome, and his ashes were scattered to the winds, as those of a
+heretic.</p>
+
+<p>When Theodoric died, the enmities of race and sect, which he had
+suppressed with a strong hand, broke out afresh. He left behind him a
+grandson, Athalaric, only ten<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span> years old, to whose mother, Amalasunta,
+was entrusted the regency during his minority. His other grandson,
+Amalaric, was king of the Visigoths, and sufficiently occupied in
+building up his power in Spain. In Italy, the hostility to Amalasunta's
+regency was chiefly religious; but the Eastern Emperor on the one side,
+and the Franks on the other, were actuated by political considerations.
+The former, the last of the great Emperors, Justinian, determined to
+recover Italy for the Empire: the latter only waited an opportunity to
+get possession of the whole of Gaul. Amalasunta was persuaded to sign a
+treaty, by which the territory of Provence was given back to the
+Burgundians. The latter were immediately assailed by the sons of
+Chlodwig, and in the year 534 the kingdom of Burgundy, after having
+stood for 125 years, ceased to exist. Not long afterwards the Visigoths
+were driven beyond the Pyrenees, and the whole of what is now France and
+Belgium, with a part of Western Switzerland, was in the possession of
+the Franks.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">534. END OF THE VANDALS.</div>
+
+<p>While these changes were taking place in the West, Justinian had not
+been idle in the East. He was fortunate in having two great generals,
+Belisarius and Narses, who had already restored the lost prestige of the
+Imperial army. His first movement was to recover Northern Africa from
+the Vandals, who had now been settled there for a hundred years, and
+began to consider themselves the inheritors of the Carthaginian power.
+Belisarius, with a fleet and a powerful army, was sent against them.
+Here, again, the difference of religious doctrine between the Vandals
+and the Romans whom they had subjected, made his task easy. The last
+Vandal king, Gelimer, was defeated and besieged in a fortress called
+Pappua. After the siege had lasted all winter, Belisarius sent an
+officer, Pharas, to demand surrender. Gelimer refused, but added: "If
+you will do me a favor, Pharas, send me a loaf of bread, a sponge and a
+harp." Pharas, astonished, asked the reason of this request, and Gelimer
+answered: "I demand bread, because I have seen none since I have been
+besieged here; a sponge, to cool my eyes which are weary with weeping;
+and a harp, to sing the story of my misfortunes." Soon afterwards he
+surrendered, and in 534 all Northern Africa was restored to Justinian.
+The Vandals disappeared from history, as a race, but some of their
+descendants, with light hair, blue eyes and fair skins, still live among
+the valleys of the Atlas Mountains, where<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span> they are called Berbers, and
+keep themselves distinct from the Arab population.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">552.</div>
+
+<p>Amalasunta, in the mean time, had been murdered by a relative whom she
+had chosen to assist her in the government. This gave Justinian a
+pretext for interfering, and Belisarius was next sent with his army to
+Italy. The Ostrogoths chose a new king, Vitiges, and the struggle which
+followed was long and desperate. Rome and Milan were taken and ravaged:
+in the latter city 300,000 persons are said to have been slaughtered.
+Belisarius finally obtained possession of Ravenna, the Gothic capital,
+took Vitiges prisoner and sent him to Constantinople. The Goths
+immediately elected another king, Totila, who carried on the struggle
+for eleven years longer. Visigoths, Franks, Burgundians and even
+Alemanni, whose alliance was sought by both sides, flocked to Italy in
+the hope of securing booty, and laid waste the regions which Belisarius
+and Totila had spared.</p>
+
+<p>When Belisarius was recalled to Constantinople, Narses took his place,
+and continued the war with the diminishing remnant of the Ostrogoths.
+Finally, in the year 552, in a great battle among the Apennines, Totila
+was slain, and the struggle seemed to be at an end. But the Ostrogoths
+proclaimed the young prince Teias as their king, and marched southward
+under his leadership, to make a last fight for their existence as a
+nation. Narses followed, and not far from Cumæ, on a mountain opposite
+Vesuvius, he cut off their communication with the sea, and forced them
+to retreat to a higher position, where there was neither water for
+themselves nor food for their animals. Then they took the bridles off
+their horses and turned them loose, formed themselves into a solid
+square of men, with Teias at their head, and for two whole days fought
+with the valor and the desperation of men who know that their cause is
+lost, but nevertheless will not yield. Although Teias was slain, they
+still stood; and on the third morning Narses allowed the survivors,
+about 1,000 in number, to march away, with the promise that they would
+leave Italy.</p>
+
+<p>Thus gloriously came to an end, after enduring sixty years, the Gothic
+power in Italy, and thus, like a meteor, brightest before it is
+quenched, the Gothic name fades from history. The Visigoths retained
+their supremacy in Spain until 711, when Roderick, their last king, was
+slain by the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span> Saracens, but the Ostrogoths, after this campaign of
+Narses, are never heard of again as a people. Between Hermann and
+Charlemagne, there is no leader so great as Theodoric, but his empire
+died with him. He became the hero of the earliest German songs; his name
+and character were celebrated among tribes who had forgotten his
+history, and his tomb is one of the few monuments left to us from those
+ages of battle, migration and change. The Ostrogoths were scattered and
+their traces lost. Some, no doubt, remained in Italy, and became mixed
+with the native population; others joined the people which were nearest
+to them in blood and habits; and some took refuge among the fastnesses
+of the Alps. It is supposed that the Tyrolese, for instance, may be
+among their descendants.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">565. NARSES SUMMONS THE LONGOBARDS.</div>
+
+<p>The apparent success of Justinian in bringing Italy again under the sway
+of the Eastern Empire was also only a flash, before its final
+extinction. The Ostrogoths were avenged by one of their kindred races.
+Narses remained in Ravenna as vicegerent of the Empire: his government
+was stern and harsh, but he restored order to the country, and his
+authority became so great as to excite the jealousy of Justinian. After
+the latter's death, in 565, it became evident that a plot was formed at
+Constantinople to treat Narses as his great cotemporary, Belisarius, had
+been treated. He determined to resist, and, in order to make his
+position stronger, summoned the Longobards (Long-Beards) to his aid.</p>
+
+<p>This tribe, in the time of Cæsar, occupied a part of Northern Germany,
+near the mouth of the Elbe. About the end of the fourth century we find
+them on the north bank of the Danube, between Bohemia and Hungary. The
+history of their wanderings during the intervening period is unknown.
+During the reign of Theodoric they overcame their Germanic neighbors,
+the Heruli, to whom they had been partially subject: then followed a
+fierce struggle with the Gepidæ, another Germanic tribe, which
+terminated in the year 560 with the defeat and destruction of the
+latter. Their king, Kunimund, fell by the hand of Alboin, king of the
+Longobards, who had a drinking-cup made of his skull. The Longobards,
+though victorious, found themselves surrounded by new neighbors, who
+were much worse than the old. The Avars, who are supposed to have been a
+branch of the Huns, pressed and harassed them on the East; the Slavonic
+tribes of the north descended into Bohemia;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span> and they found themselves
+alone between races who were savages in comparison with their own.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">568.</div>
+
+<p>The invitation of Narses was followed by a movement similar to that of
+the Ostrogoths under Theodoric. Alboin marched with all his people,
+their herds and household goods. The passes of the Alps were purposely
+left undefended at their approach, and in 568, accompanied by the
+fragments of many other Germanic tribes who gave up their homes on the
+Danube, they entered Italy and took immediate possession of all the
+northern provinces. The city of Pavia, which was strongly fortified,
+held out against them for four years, and then, on account of its
+strength and gallant resistance, was chosen by Alboin for its capital.</p>
+
+<p>Italy then became the kingdom of the Longobards, and the permanent home
+of their race, whose name still exists in the province of Lombardy. Only
+Ravenna, Naples and Genoa were still held by the Eastern Emperors,
+constituting what was called the Exarchy. Rome was also nominally
+subject to Constantinople, although the Popes were beginning to assume
+the government of the city. The young republic of Venice, already
+organized, was safe on its islands in the Adriatic.</p>
+
+<p>The Migrations of the Races, which were really commenced by the Goths
+when they moved from the Baltic to the Black Sea, but which first became
+a part of our history in the year 375, terminated with the settlement of
+the Longobards in Italy. They therefore occupied two centuries, and form
+a grand and stirring period of transition between the Roman Empire and
+the Europe of the Middle Ages. With the exception of the invasion of the
+Huns, and the slow and rather uneventful encroachment of the Slavonic
+race, these great movements were carried out by the kindred tribes who
+inhabited the forests of "Germania Magna," in the time of Cæsar.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">EUROPE, AT THE END OF THE MIGRATION OF THE RACES.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(570.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Extension of the German Races in <span class="smcapa">A. D.</span> 570.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Longobards.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Franks.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Visigoths.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Saxons in Britain.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Tribes on German Soil.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Eastern Empire.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Relation of the Conquerors to the Conquered Races.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Influence of Roman Civilization.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Priesthood.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Obliteration of German Origin.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Religion.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Monarchical Element in Government.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Nobility.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Cities.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Slavery.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Laws in regard to Crime.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Privileges of the Church.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Transition Period.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">570. SPREAD OF THE GERMAN RACES.</div>
+
+<p>Thus far, we have been following the history of the Germanic races, in
+their conflict with Rome, until their complete and final triumph at the
+end of six hundred years after they first met Julius Cæsar. Within the
+limits of Germany itself, there was, as we have seen, no united
+nationality. Even the consolidation of the smaller tribes under the
+names of Goths, Franks, Saxons and Alemanni, during the third century,
+was only the beginning of a new political development which was not
+continued upon German soil. With the exception of Denmark, Sweden,
+Russia, Ireland, Wales, the Scottish Highlands, and the Byzantine
+territory in Turkey, Greece and Italy, all Europe was under Germanic
+rule at the end of the Migration of the Races, in the year 570.</p>
+
+<p>The Longobards, after the death of Alboin and his successor, Kleph,
+prospered greatly under the wise rule of Queen Theodolind, daughter of
+king Garibald of Bavaria, and wife of Kleph's son, Authari. She
+persuaded them to become Christians; and they then gave up their nomadic
+habits, scattered themselves over the country, learned agriculture and
+the mechanic arts, and gradually became amalgamated with the native
+Romans. Their descendants form a large portion of the population of
+Northern Italy at this day.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span></p>
+
+<div id="map2" />
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<a href="images/f072.png">
+<img src="images/f072t.png" width="500" height="318"
+ alt="THE MIGRATIONS OF THE RACES, A. D. 500." title="" />
+</a>
+<p class="caption">THE MIGRATIONS OF THE RACES, A. D. 500.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">570. LOCATION OF THE TRIBES.</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span>The Franks, at this time, were firmly established in Gaul, under the
+dynasty founded by Chlodwig. They owned nearly all the territory west of
+the Rhine, part of Western Switzerland and the valley of the Rhone, to
+the Mediterranean. Only a small strip of territory on the east, between
+the Pyrenees and the upper waters of the Garonne, still belonged to the
+Visigoths. The kingdom of Burgundy, after an existence of 125 years,
+became absorbed in that of the Franks, in 534.</p>
+
+<p>After the death of Theodoric, the connection of the Visigoths with the
+other German races ceased. They conquered the Suevi, driving them into
+the mountains of Galicia, subdued the Alans in Portugal, and during a
+reign of two centuries more impressed their traces indelibly upon the
+Spanish people. Their history, from this time on, belongs to Spain.
+Their near relations, the Vandals, as we have already seen, had ceased
+to exist. Like the Ostrogoths, they were never named again as a separate
+people.</p>
+
+<p>The Saxons had made themselves such thorough masters of England and the
+lowlands of Scotland, that the native Celto-Roman population was driven
+into Wales and Cornwall. The latter had become Christians under the
+Empire, and they looked with horror upon the paganism of the Saxons.
+During the early part of the sixth century, they made a bold but brief
+effort to expel the invaders, under the lead of the half-fabulous king
+Arthur (of the Round Table), who is supposed to have died about the year
+537. The Angles and Saxons, however, not only triumphed, but planted
+their language, laws and character so firmly upon English soil, that the
+England of the later centuries grew from the basis they laid, and the
+name of Anglo-Saxon has become the designation of the English race all
+over the world.</p>
+
+<p>Along the northern coast of Germany, the Frisii and the Saxons who
+remained behind, had formed two kingdoms and asserted a fierce
+independence. The territory of the latter extended to the Hartz
+Mountains, where it met that of the Thuringians, who still held Central
+Germany southward to the Danube. Beyond that river, the new nation of
+the Bavarians was permanently settled, and had already risen to such
+importance that Theodolind, the daughter of its king, Garibald, was
+selected for his queen by the Longobard king, Authari.</p>
+
+<p>East of the Elbe, through Prussia, nearly the whole<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span> country was
+occupied by various Slavonic tribes. One of these, the Czechs, had taken
+possession of Bohemia, where they soon afterwards established an
+independent kingdom. Beyond them, the Avars occupied Hungary, now and
+then making invasions into German territory, or even to the borders of
+Italy; Denmark and Sweden, owing to their remoteness from the great
+theatre of action, were scarcely affected by the political changes we
+have described.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">570.</div>
+
+<p>Finally, the Alemanni, though defeated and held back by the Franks,
+maintained their independence in the south-western part of Germany and
+in Eastern Switzerland, where their descendants are living at this day.
+Each of all these new nationalities included remnants of the smaller
+original tribes, which had lost their independence in the general
+struggle, and which soon became more or less mixed (except in England)
+with the former inhabitants of the conquered soil.</p>
+
+<p>The Eastern Empire was now too weak and corrupt to venture another
+conflict with these stronger Germanic races, whose civilization was no
+longer very far behind its own. Moreover, within sixty years after the
+Migration came to an end, a new foe arose in the East. The successors of
+Mahomet began that struggle which tore Egypt, Syria and Asia Minor from
+Christian hands, and which only ceased when, in 1453, the crescent
+floated from the towers of Constantinople.</p>
+
+<p>Nearly all Europe was thus portioned among men of German blood, very few
+of whom ever again migrated from the soil whereon they were now settled.
+It was their custom to demand one-third&mdash;in some few instances, two
+thirds&mdash;of the conquered territory for their own people. In this manner,
+Frank and Gaul, Longobard and Roman, Visigoth and Spaniard, found
+themselves side by side, and reciprocally influenced each other's speech
+and habits of life. It must not be supposed, however, that the new
+nations lost their former character, and took on that of the Germanic
+conquerors. Almost the reverse of this took place. It must be remembered
+that the Gauls, for instance, far outnumbered the Franks; that each
+conquest was achieved by a few hundred thousand men, all of them
+warriors, while each of the original Roman provinces had several
+millions of inhabitants. There must have been at least ten of the ruled,
+to one of the ruling race.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">570. SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY.</div>
+
+<p>The latter, moreover, were greatly inferior to the former in all the
+arts of civilization. In the homes, the dress and ornaments, the social
+intercourse, and all the minor features of life, they found their new
+neighbors above them, and they were quick to learn the use of
+unaccustomed comforts or luxuries. All the cities and small towns were
+Roman in their architecture, in their municipal organization, and in the
+character of their trade and intercourse; and the conquerors found it
+easier to accept this old-established order than to change it.</p>
+
+<p>Another circumstance contributed to Latinize the German races outside of
+Germany. After the invention of a Gothic alphabet by Bishop Ulfila, and
+his translation of the Bible, we hear no more of a written German
+language until the eighth century. There was at least none which was
+accessible to the people, and the Latin continued to be the language of
+government and religion. The priests were nearly all Romans, and their
+interest was to prevent the use of written Germanic tongues. Such
+learning as remained to the world was of course only to be acquired
+through a knowledge of Latin and Greek.</p>
+
+<p>All the influences which surrounded the conquering races tended,
+therefore, to eradicate or change their original German characteristics.
+After a few centuries, their descendants, in almost every instance, lost
+sight of their origin, and even looked with contempt upon rival people
+of the same blood. The Franks and Burgundians of the present day speak
+of themselves as "the Latin race": the blonde and blue-eyed Lombards of
+Northern Italy, not long since, hated "the Germans" as the Christian of
+the Middle Ages hated the Jew; and the full-blooded English or American
+Saxon often considers the German as a foreigner with whom he has nothing
+in common.</p>
+
+<p>By the year 570, all the races outside of Germany, except the Saxons and
+Angles in Britain, had accepted Christianity. Within Germany, although
+the Christian missionaries were at work among the Alemanni, the
+Bavarians, and along the Rhine, the great body of the people still held
+to their old pagan worship. The influence of the true faith was no doubt
+weakened by the bitter enmity which still existed between the Athanasian
+and Arian sects, although the latter ceased to be powerful after the
+downfall of the Ostrogoths. But the Christianity which prevailed among
+the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span> Franks, Burgundians and Longobards was not pure or intelligent
+enough to save them from the vices which the Roman Empire left behind
+it. Many of their kings and nobles were polygamists, and the early
+history of their dynasties is a chronicle of falsehood, cruelty and
+murder.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">570.</div>
+
+<p>In each of the races, the primitive habit of electing chiefs by the
+people had long since given way to an hereditary monarchy, but in other
+respects their political organization remained much the same. The Franks
+introduced into Gaul the old German division of the land into provinces,
+hundreds and communities, but the king now claimed the right of
+appointing a Count for the first, a <i>Centenarius</i>, or centurion, for the
+second, and an elder, or head-man, for the third. The people still held
+their public assemblies, and settled their local matters; they were all
+equal before the law, and the free men paid no taxes. The right of
+declaring war, making peace, and other questions of national importance,
+were decided by a general assembly of the people, at which the king
+presided. The political system was therefore more republican than
+monarchical, but it gradually lost the former character as the power of
+the kings increased.</p>
+
+<p>The nobles had no fixed place and no special rights during the
+migrations of the tribes. Among the Franks they were partly formed out
+of the civil officers, and soon included both Romans and Gauls among
+their number. In Germany their hereditary succession was already
+secured, and they maintained their ascendancy over the common people by
+keeping pace with the knowledge and the arts of those times, while the
+latter remained, for the most part, in a state of ignorance.</p>
+
+<p>The cities, inhabited by Romans and Romanized Gauls, retained their old
+system of government, but paid a tax or tribute. Those portions of the
+other Germanic races which had become subject to the Franks were also
+allowed to keep their own peculiar laws and forms of local government,
+which were now, for the first time, recorded in the Latin language. They
+were obliged to furnish a certain number of men capable of bearing arms,
+but it does not appear that they paid any tribute to the Franks.</p>
+
+<p>Slavery still existed, and in the two forms of it which we find among
+the ancient Germans,&mdash;chattels who were bought and sold, and dependents
+who were bound to give<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span> labor or tribute in return for the protection of
+a freeman. The Romans in Gaul were placed upon the latter footing by the
+Franks. The children born of marriages between them and the free took
+the lower and not the higher position,&mdash;that is, they were dependents.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">570. PENALTIES FOR CRIME.</div>
+
+<p>The laws in regard to crime were very rigid and severe, but not bloody.
+The body of the free man, like his life, was considered inviolate, so
+there was no corporeal punishment, and death was only inflicted in a few
+extreme cases. The worst crimes could be atoned for by the sacrifice of
+money or property. For murder the penalty was two hundred shillings (at
+that time the value of 100 oxen), two-thirds of which were given to the
+family of the murdered person, while one-third was divided between the
+judge and the State. This penalty was increased threefold for the murder
+of a Count or a soldier in the field, and more than fourfold for that of
+a Bishop. In some of the codes the payment was fixed even for the murder
+of a Duke or King. The slaying of a dependent or a Roman only cost half
+as much as that of a free Frank, while a slave was only valued at
+thirty-five shillings, or seventeen and a half oxen: the theft of a
+falcon trained for hunting, or a stallion, cost ten shillings more.</p>
+
+<p>Slander, insult and false-witness were punished in the same way. If any
+one falsely accused another of murder he was condemned to pay the
+injured person the penalty fixed for the crime of murder, and the same
+rule was applied to all minor accusations. The charge of witchcraft, if
+not proved according to the superstitious ideas of the people, was
+followed by the penalty of one hundred and eighty shillings. Whoever
+called another a <i>hare</i>, was fined six shillings; but if he called him a
+<i>fox</i>, the fine was only three shillings.</p>
+
+<p>As the Germanic races became Christian, the power and privileges of the
+priesthood were manifested in the changes made in these laws. Not only
+was it enacted that the theft of property belonging to the Church must
+be paid back ninefold, but the slaves of the priests were valued at
+double the amount fixed for the slaves of laymen. The Churches became
+sacred, and no criminal could be seized at the foot of the altar. Those
+who neglected to attend worship on the Sabbath three times in
+succession, were punished by the loss of one-third of their property. If
+this neglect was repeated a second time, they were made slaves, and
+could be sold as such by the Church.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">570.</div>
+
+<p>The laws of the still pagan Thuringians and Saxons, in Germany, did not
+differ materially from those of the Christian Franks. Justice was
+administered in assemblies of the people, and, in order to secure the
+largest expression of the public will, a heavy fine was imposed for the
+failure to attend. The latter feature is still retained, in some of the
+old Cantons of Switzerland. In Thuringia and Saxony, however, the nobles
+had become a privileged class, recognized by the laws, and thus was laid
+the foundation for the feudal system of the Middle Ages.</p>
+
+<p>The transition was now complete. Although the art, taste and refinement
+of the Roman Empire were lost, its civilizing influence in law and civil
+organization survived, and slowly subdued the Germanic races which
+inherited its territory. But many characteristics of their early
+barbarism still clung to the latter, and a long period elapsed before we
+can properly call them a civilized people.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">THE KINGDOM OF THE FRANKS.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(486&mdash;638.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Chlodwig, the Founder of the Merovingian Dynasty.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Conversion to Christianity.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Successors.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Theuderich's Conquest of Thuringia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Union of the Eastern Franks.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Austria (or Austrasia) and Neustria.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Crimes of the Merovingian Kings.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Clotar and his Sons.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Sigbert's Successes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Wife, Brunhilde.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Sigbert's Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Quarrel between Brunhilde and Fredegunde.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Clotar II.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Brunhilde and her Grandsons.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Her Defeat and Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Clotar II.'s Reign.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;King Dagobert.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Nobles and the Church.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;War with the Thuringians.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Picture of the Merovingian Line.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;A New Power.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">500. THE MEROVINGIAN DYNASTY.</div>
+
+<p>The history of Germany, from the middle of the sixth to the middle of
+the ninth century, is that of France also. After having conducted them
+to their new homes, we take leave of the Anglo-Saxons, the Visigoths and
+the Longobards, and return to the Frank dynasty founded by Chlodwig,
+about the year 500, when the smaller kings and chieftains of his race
+accepted him as their ruler. In the histories of France, even those
+written in English, he is called "Clovis," but we prefer to give him his
+original Frank name. He was the grandson of a petty king, whose name was
+Merovich, whence he and his successors are called, in history, the
+<i>Merovingian</i> dynasty. He appears to have been a born conqueror, neither
+very just nor very wise in his actions, but brave, determined and ready
+to use any means, good or bad, in order to attain his end.</p>
+
+<p>Chlodwig extinguished the last remnant of Roman rule in Gaul, in the
+year 486, as we have related in <a href="#CHAPTER_VII">Chapter VII.</a> He was then only 20 years
+old, having succeeded to the throne at the age of 15. Shortly afterwards
+he married the daughter of one of the Burgundian kings. She was a
+Christian, and endeavored, but for many years without effect, to induce
+him to give up his pagan faith. Finally, in a war with the Alemanni, in
+496, he promised to become a Christian,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span> provided the God of the
+Christians would give him victory. The decisive battle was long and
+bloody, but it ended in the complete rout of the Alemanni, and
+afterwards all of them who were living to the west of the Rhine became
+tributary to the Franks.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">511.</div>
+
+<p>Chlodwig and 3,000 of his followers were soon afterwards baptized in the
+cathedral at Rheims, by the bishop Remigius. When the king advanced to
+the baptismal font, the bishop said to him: "Bow thy head,
+Sicambrian!&mdash;worship what thou hast persecuted, persecute what thou hast
+worshipped!" Although nearly all the German Christians at this time were
+Arians, Chlodwig selected the Athanasian faith of Rome, and thereby
+secured the support of the Roman priesthood in France, which was of
+great service to him in his ambitious designs. This difference of faith
+also gave him a pretext to march against the Burgundians in 500, and the
+Visigoths in 507: both wars were considered holy by the Church.</p>
+
+<p>His conquest of the Visigoths was prevented, as we have seen, by the
+interposition of Theodoric. He then devoted his remaining years to the
+complete suppression of all the minor Frank kings, and was so successful
+that when he died, in 511, all the race, to the west of the Rhine, was
+united under his single sway. He was succeeded by four sons, of whom the
+eldest, Theuderich, reigned in Paris; the others chose Metz, Orleans and
+Soissons for their capitals. Theuderich was a man of so much energy and
+prudence that he was able to control his brothers, and unite the four
+governments in such a way that the kingdom was saved from dismemberment.</p>
+
+<p>The mother of Chlodwig was a runaway queen of Thuringia, whose son,
+Hermanfried, now ruled over that kingdom, after having deposed his two
+brothers. The relationship gave Theuderich a ground for interfering, and
+the result was a war between the Franks and the Thuringians. Theuderich
+collected a large army, marched into Germany in 530, procured the
+services of 9,000 Saxons as allies, and met the Thuringians on the river
+Unstrut, not far from where the city of Halle now stands. Hermanfried
+was taken prisoner, carried to France, and treacherously thrown from a
+tower, after receiving great professions of friendship from his nephew,
+Theuderich. His family fled to Italy, and the kingdom of Thuringia,
+embracing nearly all Central Germany,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span> was added to that of the Franks.
+The northern part, however, was given to the Saxons as a reward for
+their assistance.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">530. AUSTRIA AND NEUSTRIA</div>
+
+<p>Four years afterwards the brothers of Theuderich conquered the kingdom
+of Burgundy, and annexed it to their territory. About the same time, the
+Franks living eastward of the Rhine entered into a union with their more
+powerful brethren. Since both the Alemanni and the Bavarians were
+already tributary to the latter, the dominion of the united Franks now
+extended from the Atlantic nearly to the river Elbe, and from the mouth
+of the Rhine to the Mediterranean, with Friesland and the kingdom of the
+Saxons between it and the North Sea. To all lying east of the Rhine, the
+name of Austria (East-kingdom) or Austrasia was given, while Neustria
+(New-kingdom) was applied to all west of the Rhine. These designations
+were used in the historical chronicles for some centuries afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>While Theuderich lived, his brothers observed a tolerably peaceful
+conduct towards one another, but his death was followed by a season of
+war and murder. History gives us no record of another dynasty so steeped
+in crime as that of the Merovingians: within the compass of a few years
+we find a father murdering his son, a brother his brother and a wife her
+husband. We can only account for the fact that the whole land was not
+constantly convulsed by civil war, by supposing that the people retained
+enough of power in their national assemblies, to refuse taking part in
+the fratricidal quarrels. It is not necessary, therefore, to recount all
+the details of the bloody family history. Their effect upon the people
+must have been in the highest degree demoralizing, yet the latter
+possessed enough of prudence&mdash;or perhaps of a clannish spirit, in the
+midst of a much larger Roman and Gallic population&mdash;to hold the Frank
+kingdom together, while its rulers were doing their best to split it to
+pieces.</p>
+
+<p>The result of all the quarrelling and murdering was, that in 558 Clotar,
+the youngest son of Chlodwig, became the sole monarch. After forty-seven
+years of divided rule, the kingly power was again in a single hand, and
+there seemed to be a chance for peace and progress. But Clotar died
+within three years, and, like his father, left four sons to divide his
+power. The first thing they did was to fight; then, being perhaps rather
+equally matched, they agreed to portion the kingdom. Charibert reigned
+in Paris, Guntram in Orleans, Chilperic<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span> in Soissons, and Sigbert in
+Metz. The boundaries between their territories are uncertain; we only
+know that all of "Austria," or Germany east of the Rhine, fell to
+Sigbert's share.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">565.</div>
+
+<p>About this time the Avars, coming from Hungary, had invaded Thuringia,
+and were inciting the people to rebellion against the Franks. Sigbert
+immediately marched against them, drove them back, and established his
+authority over the Thuringians. On returning home he found that his
+brother Chilperic had taken possession of his capital and many smaller
+towns. Chilperic was forced to retreat, lost his own kingdom in turn,
+and only received it again through the generosity of Sigbert,&mdash;the first
+and only instance of such a virtue in the Merovingian line of kings.
+Sigbert seems to have inherited the abilities, without the vices, of his
+grandfather Chlodwig. When the Avars made a second invasion into
+Germany, he was not only defeated but taken prisoner by them.
+Nevertheless, he immediately acquired such influence over their Khan, or
+chieftain, that he persuaded the latter to set him free, to make a
+treaty of peace and friendship, and to return with his Avars to Hungary.</p>
+
+<p>In the year 568 Charibert died in Paris, leaving no heirs. A new strife
+instantly broke out among the three remaining brothers; but it was for a
+time suspended, owing to the approach of a common danger. The
+Longobards, now masters of Northern Italy, crossed the Alps and began to
+overrun Switzerland, which the Franks possessed, through their victories
+over the Burgundians and the Alemanni. Sigbert and Guntram united their
+forces, and repelled the invasion with much slaughter.</p>
+
+<p>Then broke out in France a series of family wars, darker and bloodier
+than any which had gone before. The strife between the sons of Clotar
+and their children and grandchildren desolated France for forty years,
+and became all the more terrible because the women of the family entered
+into it with the men. All these Christian kings, like their father, were
+polygamists: each had several wives; yet they are described by the
+priestly chroniclers of their times as men who went about doing good,
+and whose lives were "acceptable to God"! Sigbert was the only
+exception: he had but one wife, Brunhilde, the daughter of a king of the
+Visigoths, a stately, handsome, intelligent woman, but proud and
+ambitious.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">570. FAMILY WARS IN FRANCE.</div>
+
+<p>Either the power and popularity, or the rich marriage-portion, which
+Sigbert acquired with Brunhilde, induced his brother, Chilperic, to ask
+the hand of her sister, the Princess Galsunta of Spain. It was granted
+to him on condition that he would put away all his wives and live with
+her alone. He accepted the condition, and was married to Galsunta. One
+of the women sent away was Fredegunde, who soon found means to recover
+her former influence over Chilperic's mind. It was not long before
+Galsunta was found dead in her bed, and within a week Fredegunde, the
+murderess, became queen in her stead. Brunhilde called upon Sigbert to
+revenge her sister's death, and then began that terrible history of
+crime and hatred, which was celebrated, centuries afterwards, in the
+famous <i>Nibelungenlied</i>, or Lay of the Nibelungs.</p>
+
+<p>In the year 575, Sigbert gained a complete victory over Chilperic, and
+was lifted upon a shield by the warriors of the latter, who hailed him
+as their king. In that instant he was stabbed in the back, and died upon
+the field of his triumph. Chilperic resumed his sway, and soon took
+Brunhilde prisoner, while her young son, Childebert, escaped to Germany.
+But his own son, Merwig, espoused Brunhilde's cause, secretly released
+her from prison, and then married her. A war next arose between father
+and son, in which the former was successful. He cut off Merwig's long
+hair, and shut him up in a monastery; but, for some unexplained reason,
+he allowed Brunhilde to go free. In the meantime Fredegunde had borne
+three sons, who all died soon after their birth. She accused her own
+step-son of having caused their deaths by witchcraft, and he and his
+mother, one of Chilperic's former wives, were put to death.</p>
+
+<p>Both Chilperic and his brother Guntram, who reigned at Orleans, were
+without male heirs. At this juncture, the German chiefs and nobles
+demanded to have Childebert, the young son of Sigbert and Brunhilde, who
+had taken refuge among them, recognized as the heir to the Frankish
+throne. Chilperic consented, on condition that Childebert, with such
+forces as he could command, would march with him against Guntram, who
+had despoiled him of a great deal of his territory. The treaty was made,
+in spite of the opposition of Brunhilde, whose sister's murder was not
+yet avenged, and the civil wars were renewed. Both sides gained or lost
+alternately, without any decided result, until<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span> the assassination of
+Chilperic, by an unknown hand, in 584. A few months before his death,
+Fredegunde had borne him another son, Clotar, who lived, and was at once
+presented by his mother as Childebert's rival to the throne.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">597.</div>
+
+<p>The struggle between the two widowed queens, Brunhilde and Fredegunde,
+was for a while delayed by the appearance of a new claimant, Gundobald,
+who had been a fugitive in Constantinople for many years, and declared
+that he was Chilperic's brother. He obtained the support of many
+Austrasian (German) princes, and was for a time so successful that
+Fredegunde was forced to take refuge with Guntram, at Orleans. The
+latter also summoned Childebert to his capital, and persuaded him to
+make a truce with Fredegunde and her adherents, in order that both might
+act against their common rival. Gundobald and his followers were soon
+destroyed: Guntram died in 593, and Childebert was at once accepted as
+his successor. His kingdom included that of Charibert, whose capital was
+Paris, and that of his father, Sigbert, embracing all Frankish Germany.
+But the nobles and people, accustomed to conspiracy, treachery and
+crime, could no longer be depended upon, as formerly. They were
+beginning to return to their former system of living upon war and
+pillage, instead of the honest arts of peace.</p>
+
+<p>Fredegunde still held the kingdom of Chilperic for her son Clotar. After
+strengthening herself by secret intrigues with the Frank nobles, she
+raised an army, put herself at its head, and marched against Childebert,
+who was defeated and soon afterwards poisoned, after having reigned only
+three years. His realm was divided between his two young sons, one
+receiving Burgundy and the other Germany, under the guardianship of
+their grandmother Brunhilde. Fredegunde followed up her success, took
+Paris and Orleans from the heirs of Childebert, and died in 597, leaving
+her son Clotar, then in his fourteenth year, as king of more than half
+of France. He was crowned as Clotar II.</p>
+
+<p>Death placed Brunhilde's rival out of the reach of her revenge, but she
+herself might have secured the whole kingdom of the Franks for her two
+grandsons, had she not quarrelled with one and stirred up war between
+them. The first consequence of this new strife was that Alsatia and
+Eastern Switzerland were separated from Neustria, or France, and
+attached to Austria, or Germany. Brunhilde, finding that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span> her cause was
+desperate, procured the assistance of Clotar II. for herself and her
+favorite grandson, Theuderich. The fortune of war now turned, and before
+long the other grandson, Theudebert, was taken prisoner. By his
+brother's order he was formally deposed from his kingly authority, and
+then executed: the brains of his infant son were dashed out against a
+stone.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">613. MURDER OF BRUNHILDE.</div>
+
+<p>It was not long before this crime was avenged. A quarrel in regard to
+the division of the spoils arose between Theuderich and Clotar II. The
+former died in the beginning of the war which followed, leaving four
+young sons to the care of their great-grandmother, the queen Brunhilde.
+Clotar II. immediately marched against her, but, knowing her ability and
+energy, he obtained a promise from the nobles of Burgundy and Germany
+who were unfriendly to Brunhilde, that they would come over to his side
+at the critical moment. The aged queen had called her people to arms,
+and, like her rival, Fredegunde, put herself at their head; but when the
+armies met, on the river Aisne in Champagne, the traitors in her own
+camp joined Clotar II. and the struggle was ended without a battle.
+Brunhilde, then eighty years old, was taken prisoner, cruelly tortured
+for three days, and then tied by her gray hair to the tail of a wild
+horse and dragged to death. The four sons of Theuderich were put to
+death at the same time, and thus, in the year 613, Clotar II. became
+king of all the Franks. A priest named Fredegar, who wrote his
+biography, says of him: "He was a most patient man, learned and pious,
+and kind and sympathizing towards every one!"</p>
+
+<p>Clotar II. possessed, at least, energy enough to preserve a sway which
+was based on a long succession of the worst crimes that disgrace
+humanity. In 622, six years before his death, he made his oldest son,
+Dagobert, a boy of sixteen, king of the German half of his realm, but
+was obliged, immediately afterwards, to assist him against the Saxons.
+He entered their territory, seized the people, massacred all who proved
+to be taller than his own two-handed sword, and then returned to France
+without having subdued the spirit or received the allegiance of the bold
+race. Nothing of importance occurred during the remainder of his reign;
+he died in 628, leaving his kingdom to his two sons, Dagobert and
+Charibert. The former easily possessed himself of the lion's share,
+giving his younger brother only a small strip<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span> of territory along the
+river Loire. Charibert, however, drove the last remnant of the Visigoths
+into Spain, and added the country between the Garonne and the Pyrenees
+to his little kingdom. The name of Aquitaine was given to this region,
+and Charibert's descendants became its Dukes, subject to the kings of
+the Franks.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">628.</div>
+
+<p>Dagobert had been carefully educated by Pippin of Landen, the Royal
+Steward of Clotar II., and by Arnulf, the Bishop of Metz. He had no
+quality of greatness, but he promised to be, at least, a good and just
+sovereign. He became at once popular with the masses, who began to long
+for peace, and for the restoration of rights which had been partly lost
+during the civil wars. The nobles, however, who had drawn the greatest
+advantage from those wars, during which their support was purchased by
+one side or the other, grew dissatisfied. They cunningly aroused in
+Dagobert the love of luxury and the sensual vices which had ruined his
+ancestors, and thus postponed the reign of law and justice to which the
+people were looking forward.</p>
+
+<p>In fact, that system of freedom and equality which the Germanic races
+had so long possessed, was already shaken to its very base. During the
+long and bloody feuds of the Merovingian kings, many changes had been
+made in the details of government, all tending to increase the power of
+the nobles, the civil officers and the dignitaries of the Church.
+Wealth&mdash;the bribes paid for their support&mdash;had accumulated in the hands
+of these classes, while the farmers, mechanics and tradesmen, plundered
+in turn by both parties, had constantly grown poorer. Although the
+external signs of civilization had increased, the race had already lost
+much of its moral character, and some of the best features of its
+political system.</p>
+
+<p>There are few chronicles which inform us of the affairs of Germany
+during this period. The Avars, after their treaty of peace with Sigbert,
+directed their incursions against the Bavarians, but without gaining any
+permanent advantage. On the other hand, the Slavonic tribes, especially
+the Bohemians, united under the rule of a renegade Frank, whose name was
+Samo, and who acquired a part of Thuringia, after defeating the Frank
+army which was sent against him. The Saxons and Thuringians then took
+the war into their own hands, and drove back Samo and his Slavonic
+hordes. By this victory the Saxons released themselves<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span> from the payment
+of an annual tribute to the Frank kings, and the Thuringians became
+strong enough to organize themselves again as a people and elect their
+own Duke. The Franks endeavored to suppress this new organization, but
+they were defeated by the Duke, Radulf, nearly on the same spot where,
+just one hundred years before, Theuderich, the son of Chlodwig, had
+crushed the Thuringian kingdom. From that time, Thuringia was placed on
+the same footing as Bavaria, tributary to the Franks, but locally
+independent.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">638. END OF THE MEROVINGIAN POWER.</div>
+
+<p>King Dagobert, weak, swayed by whatever influence was nearest, and
+voluptuous rather than cruel, died in 638, before he had time to do much
+evil. He was the last of the Merovingian line who exercised any actual
+power. The dynasty existed for a century longer, but its monarchs were
+merely puppets in the hands of stronger men. Its history, from the
+beginning, is well illustrated by a tradition current among the people,
+concerning the mother of Chlodwig. They relate that soon after her
+marriage she had a vision, in which she gave birth to a lion (Chlodwig),
+whose descendants were wolves and bears, and their descendants, in turn,
+frisky dogs.</p>
+
+<p>Before the death of Dagobert&mdash;in fact, during the life of Clotar II.&mdash;a
+new power had grown up within the kingdom of the Franks, which gradually
+pushed the Merovingian dynasty out of its place. The history of this
+power, after 638, becomes the history of the realm, and we now turn from
+the bloody kings to trace its origin, rise and final triumph.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">THE DYNASTY OF THE ROYAL STEWARDS.</p>
+
+
+<p class="center">(638&mdash;768.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>The Steward of the Royal Household.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Government of the Royal <i>Lehen</i>.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Position and Opportunities.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Pippin of Landen.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Sway in Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Gradual Transfer of Power.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Grimoald, Steward of France.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Pippin of Heristall.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Successes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Coöperation with the Church of Rome.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Quarrels between his Heirs.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Karl defeats his Rivals.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Becomes sole Steward of the Empire.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;He favors Christian Missions.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Labors of Winfried (Bishop Bonifacius).</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Invasion of the Saracens.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Great Battle of Poitiers.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Karl is surnamed Martel, the Hammer.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Wars and Marches.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Death and Character.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Pippin the Short.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;He subdues the German Dukes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Assists Pope Zacharias.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Is anointed King.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Death of Bonifacius.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Pippin defeats the Lombards.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Gives the Pope Temporal Power.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Death.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">638.</div>
+
+<p>We have mentioned Pippin of Landen as the Royal Steward of Clotar II.
+His office gave birth to the new power which grew up beside the
+Merovingian rule and finally suppressed it. In the chronicles of the
+time the officer is called the <i>Majordomus</i> of the King,&mdash;a word which
+is best translated by "Steward of the Royal Household"; but in reality,
+it embraced much more extended and important powers than the title would
+imply. In their conquests, the Franks&mdash;as we have already
+stated&mdash;usually claimed at least one-third of the territory which fell
+into their hands. A part of this was portioned out among the chief men
+and the soldiers; a part was set aside as the king's share, and still
+another part became the common property of the people. The latter,
+therefore, fell into the habit of electing a Steward to guard and
+superintend this property in their interest; and, as the kings became
+involved in their family feuds, the charge of the royal estates was
+intrusted to the hands of the same steward.</p>
+
+<p>The latter estates soon became, by conquest, so extensive and important,
+that the king gave the use of many of them<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span> for a term of years, or for
+life, to private individuals in return for military services. This was
+called the <i>Lehen</i> (lien, or loan) system, to distinguish it from the
+<i>Allod</i> (allotment), whereby a part of the conquered lands were divided
+by lot, and became the free property of those to whom they fell. The
+<i>Lehen</i> gave rise to a new class, whose fortunes were immediately
+dependent on the favor of the king, and who consequently, when they
+appeared at the national assemblies, voted on his side. Such a "loaned"
+estate was also called <i>feod</i>, whence the term "<i>feudal</i> system," which,
+gradually modified by time, grew from this basis. The importance of the
+Royal Steward in the kingdom is thus explained. The office, at first,
+had probably a mere business character. After Chlodwig's time, the civil
+wars by which the estates of the king and the people became subject to
+constant change, gave the steward a political power, which increased
+with each generation. He stood between the monarch and his subjects,
+with the best opportunity for acquiring an ascendency over the minds of
+both. At first, he was only elected for a year, and his reëlection
+depended on the honesty and ability with which he had discharged his
+duties. During the convulsions of the dynasty, he, in common with king
+and nobles, gained what rights the people lost: he began to retain his
+office for a longer time, then for life, and finally demanded that it
+should be hereditary in his family.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">638. THE "LEHEN" SYSTEM.</div>
+
+<p>The Royal Stewards of Burgundy and Germany played an important part in
+the last struggle between Clotar II. and Brunhilde. When the successful
+king, in 622, found that the increasing difference of language and
+habits between the eastern and western portions of his realm required a
+separation of the government, and made his young son, Dagobert, ruler
+over the German half, he was compelled to recognize Pippin of Landen as
+his Steward, and to trust Dagobert entirely to his hands. The dividing
+line between "Austria" and "Neustria" was drawn along the chain of the
+Vosges, through the forest of Ardennes, and terminated near the mouth of
+the Schelde,&mdash;almost the same line which divides the German and French
+languages, at this day.</p>
+
+<p>Pippin was a Frank, born in the Netherlands, a man of energy and
+intelligence, but of little principle. He had, nevertheless, shrewdness
+enough to see the necessity of maintaining the unity and peace of the
+kingdom, and he endeavored, in conjunction with Bishop Arnulf of Metz,
+to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span> make a good king of Dagobert. They made him, indeed, amiable and
+well-meaning, but they could not overcome the instability of his
+character. After Clotar II.'s death, in 628, Dagobert passed the
+remaining ten years of his life in France, under the control of others,
+and the actual government of Germany was exercised by Pippin.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">670.</div>
+
+<p>The period of transition between the power of the kings, gradually
+sinking, and the power of the Stewards, steadily rising, lasted about
+fifty years. The latter power, however, was not allowed to increase
+without frequent struggles, partly from the jealousy of the nobility and
+priesthood, partly from the Resistance of the people to the extinction
+of their remaining rights. But, after the devastation left behind by the
+fratricidal wars of the Merovingians, all parties felt the necessity of
+a strong and well-regulated government, and the long experience of the
+Stewards gave them the advantage.</p>
+
+<p>Grimoald, the son and successor of Pippin in the stewardship of Germany,
+made an attempt to usurp the royal power, but failed. This event, and
+the interference of a Steward of France with the rights of the dynasty,
+led the Franks, in 670&mdash;when the whole kingdom was again united under
+Childeric II.&mdash;to decree that the Stewards should be elected annually by
+the people, as in the beginning. But when Childeric II., like the most
+of his predecessors, was murdered, the deposed Steward of France
+regained his power, forced the people to accept him, and attempted to
+extend his government over Germany. In spite of a fierce resistance,
+headed by Pippin of Heristall, the grandson of Pippin of Landen, he
+partly maintained his authority until the year 681, when he was murdered
+in turn.</p>
+
+<p>Pippin of Heristall was also the grandson of Arnulf, Bishop of Metz,
+whose son, Anchises, had married Begga, the daughter of Pippin of
+Landen. He was thus of Roman blood by his father's, and Frank by his
+mother's side. As soon as his authority was secured, as Royal Steward of
+Germany, he invaded France, and a desperate struggle for the stewardship
+of the whole kingdom ensued. It was ended in 687 by a battle near St.
+Quentin, in which Pippin was victorious. He used his success with a
+moderation very rare in those days: he did honor to the Frank king,
+Theuderich III., who had fallen into his hands, spared the lives<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span> and
+possessions of all who had fought against him, on their promise not to
+take up arms against his authority, and even continued many of the chief
+officials of the Franks in their former places.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">687. PIPPIN OF HERISTALL.</div>
+
+<p>From this date the Merovingian monarch became a shadow. Pippin paid him
+all external signs of allegiance, kept up the ceremonies of his Court,
+supplied him with ample revenues, and governed the kingdom in his name;
+but the actual power was concentrated in his own hands. France,
+Switzerland and the greater part of Germany were subjected to his
+government, although there were still elements of discontent within the
+realm, and of trouble outside of its borders. The dependent dukedoms of
+Aquitaine, Burgundy, Alemannia, Bavaria and Thuringia were restless
+under the yoke; the Saxons and Frisians on the north were hostile and
+defiant, and the Slavonic races all along the eastern frontier had not
+yet given up their invasions.</p>
+
+<p>Pippin, like the French rulers after him, down to the present day,
+perceived the advantage of having the Church on his side. Moreover, he
+was the grandson of a Bishop, which circumstance&mdash;although it did not
+prevent him from taking two wives&mdash;enabled him better to understand the
+power of the ecclesiastical system of Rome. In the early part of the
+seventh century, several Christian missionaries, principally Irish, had
+begun their labors among the Alemanni and the Bavarians, but the greater
+part of these people, with all the Thuringians, Saxons and Frisians,
+were still worshippers of the old pagan gods. Pippin saw that the latter
+must be taught submission, and accustomed to authority through the
+Church, and, with his aid, all the southern part of Germany became
+Christian in a few years. Force was employed, as well as persuasion;
+but, at that time, the end was considered to sanction any means.</p>
+
+<p>Pippin's rule (we can not call it <i>reign</i>) was characterized by the
+greatest activity, patience and prudence. From year to year the kingdom
+of the Franks became better organized and stronger in all its features
+of government. Brittany, Burgundy and Aquitaine were kept quiet; the
+northern part of Holland was conquered, and immediately given into
+charge of a band of Anglo-Saxon monks; and Germany, although restless
+and dissatisfied, was held more firmly than ever. Pippin of Heristall,
+while he was simply<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span> called a Royal Steward, exercised a wider power
+than any monarch of his time.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">714.</div>
+
+<p>When he died, in the year 714, the kingdom was for a while convulsed by
+feuds which threatened to repeat the bloody annals of the Merovingians.
+His heirs were Theudowald, his grandson by his wife Plektrude, and Karl
+and Hildebrand, his sons by his wife Alpheid. He chose the former as his
+successor, and Plektrude, in order to suppress any opposition to this
+arrangement, imprisoned her step-son Karl. But the Burgundians
+immediately revolted, elected one of their chiefs, Raginfried, to the
+office of Royal Steward, and defeated the Franks in a battle in which
+Theudowald was slain. Karl, having escaped from prison, put himself at
+the head of affairs, supported by a majority of the German Franks. He
+was a man of strong personal influence, and inspired his followers with
+enthusiasm and faith; but his chances seemed very desperate. His
+step-mother, Plektrude, opposed him: the Burgundians and French Franks,
+led by Raginfried, were marching against him, and Radbod, Duke of
+Friesland, invaded the territory which he was bound by his office to
+defend.</p>
+
+<p>Karl had the choice of three enemies, and he took the one which seemed
+most dangerous. He attacked Radbod, but was forced to fall back, and
+this repulse emboldened the Saxons to make a foray into the land of the
+Hessians, as the old Germanic tribe of the Chatti were now called.
+Radbod advanced to Cologne, which was held by Plektrude and her
+followers: at the same time Raginfried approached from the west, and the
+city was thus besieged by two separate armies, hostile to each other,
+yet both having the same end in view. Between the two, Karl managed to
+escape, and retreated to the forest of Ardennes, where he set about
+reconstructing his shattered army.</p>
+
+<p>Cologne was too strong to be assailed, and Plektrude, who possessed
+large treasures, soon succeeded in buying off Radbod and Raginfried. The
+latter, on his return to France, came into collision with Karl, who,
+though repelled at first, finally drove him in confusion to the walls of
+Paris. Karl then suddenly wheeled about and marched against Cologne,
+which fell into his hands: Plektrude, leaving her wealth as his booty,
+fled to Bavaria. This victory secured to Karl the stewardship over
+Germany, but a king was wanting, to make the forms of royalty complete.
+The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span> direct Merovingian line had run out, and Raginfried had been
+obliged to take a monk, an offshoot of the family, and place him on the
+throne, under the name of Chilperic II. Karl, after a little search,
+discovered another Merovingian, whom he installed in the German half of
+the kingdom, as Clotar III. That done, he attacked the invading Saxons,
+defeated and drove them beyond the Weser river.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">719. KARL, STEWARD OF THE EMPIRE.</div>
+
+<p>He was now free to meet the rebellious Franks of France, who in the
+meantime had strengthened themselves by offering to Duke Eudo of
+Aquitaine the acknowledgment of his independent sovereignty in return
+for his support. A decisive battle was fought in the year 719, and Karl
+was again victorious. The nominal king, Chilperic II., Raginfried and
+Duke Eudo fled into the south of France. Karl began negotiations with
+the latter for the delivery of the fugitive king; but just at this time
+his own puppet, Clotar III., happened to die, and, as there was no other
+Merovingian left, the pretence upon which his stewardship was based
+obliged him to recognize Chilperic II. Raginfried resigned his office,
+and Karl was at last nominal Steward, and actual monarch, of the kingdom
+of the Franks.</p>
+
+<p>His first movement was to deliver Germany from its invaders, and
+reëstablish the dependency of its native Dukes. The death of the fierce
+Radbod enabled him to reconquer West Friesland: the Saxons were then
+driven back and firmly held within their original boundaries, and
+finally the Alemanni and Bavarians were compelled to make a formal
+acknowledgment of the Frank rule. As regards Thuringia, which seems to
+have remained a Dukedom, the chronicles of the time give us little
+information. It is probable, however, that the invasions of the Saxons
+on the north and the Slavonic tribes on the east gave the people of
+Central Germany no opportunity to resist the authority of the Franks.
+The work of conversion, encouraged by Pippin of Heristall as a political
+measure, was still continued by the zeal of the Irish and Anglo-Saxon
+missionaries, and in the beginning of the eighth century it received a
+powerful impulse from a new apostle, a man of singular ability and
+courage.</p>
+
+<p>He was a Saxon of England, born in Devonshire in the year 680, and
+Winfried by name. Educated in a monastery, at a time when the struggle
+between Christianity and the old Germanic faith was at its height, he
+resolved to devote his life to missionary labors. He first went to
+Friesland,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span> during the reign of Radbod, and spent three years in a vain
+attempt to convert the people. Then he visited Rome, offered his
+services to the Pope, and was commissioned to undertake the work of
+christianizing Central Germany. On reaching the field of his labors, he
+manifested such zeal and intelligence that he soon became the leader and
+director of the missionary enterprise. It is related that at Geismar, in
+the land of the Hessians, he cut down with his own hands an aged
+oak-tree, sacred to the god Thor. This and other similar acts inspired
+the people with such awe that they began to believe that their old gods
+were either dead or helpless, and they submissively accepted the new
+faith without understanding its character, or following it otherwise
+than in observing the external forms of worship.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">725.</div>
+
+<p>On a second visit to Rome, Winfried was appointed by the Pope Archbishop
+of Mayence, and ordered to take, thenceforth, the name of Bonifacius
+(Benefactor), by which he is known in history. He was confirmed in this
+office by Karl, to whom he had rendered valuable political services by
+the conversion of the Thuringians, and who had a genuine respect for his
+lofty and unselfish character. The spot where he built the first
+Christian church in Central Germany, about twelve miles from Gotha, at
+the foot of the Thuringian Mountains, is now marked by a colossal
+candle-stick of granite, surmounted by a golden flame.</p>
+
+<p>After Karl had been for several years actively employed in regulating
+the affairs of his great realm, and especially, with the aid of Bishop
+Bonifacius, in establishing an authority in Germany equal to that he
+possessed in France, he had every prospect of a powerful and peaceful
+rule. But suddenly a new danger threatened not only the Franks, but all
+Europe. The Saracens, crossing from Africa, defeated the Visigoths and
+slew Roderick, their king, in the year 711. Gradually possessing
+themselves of all Spain, they next collected a tremendous army, and in
+731, under the command of Abderrahman, Viceroy of the Caliph of
+Damascus, set out for the conquest of France. Thus the new Christian
+faith of Europe, still engaged in quelling the last strength of the
+ancient paganism, was suddenly called upon to meet the newer faith of
+Mohammed, which had determined to subdue the world.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">732. THE BATTLE OF POITIERS.</div>
+
+<p>Not only France, but the Eastern Empire, Italy and England looked to
+Karl, in this emergency. The Saracens<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span> crossed the Pyrenees with 350,000
+warriors, accompanied by their wives and children, as if they were sure
+of victory and meant to possess the land. Karl called the military
+strength of the whole broad kingdom into the field, collected an army
+nearly equal in numbers, and finally, in October, 732, the two hosts
+stood face to face, near the city of Poitiers. It was a struggle almost
+as grand, and as fraught with important consequences to the world, as
+that of Aëtius and Attila, nearly 300 years before. Six days were spent
+in preparations, and on the seventh the battle began. The Saracens
+attacked with that daring and impetuosity which had gained them so many
+victories; but, as the old chronicle says, "the Franks, with their
+strong hearts and powerful bodies, stood like a wall, and hewed down the
+Arabs with iron hands." When night fell, 200,000 dead and wounded lay
+upon the field. Karl made preparations for resuming the battle on the
+following morning, but he found no enemy. The Saracens had retired
+during the night, leaving their camps and stores behind them, and their
+leader, Abderrahman, among the slain. This was the first great check the
+cause of Islam received, after a series of victories more wonderful than
+those of Rome. From that day the people bestowed upon Karl the surname
+of <i>Martel</i>, the Hammer, and as Charles Martel he is best known in
+history.</p>
+
+<p>He was not able to follow up his advantage immediately, for the
+possibility of his defeat by the Saracens had emboldened his enemies at
+home and abroad, to rise against his authority. The Frisians, under
+Poppo, their new Duke, made another invasion; the Saxons followed their
+example; the Burgundians attempted a rebellion, and the sons of Duke
+Eudo of Aquitaine, imitating the example of their ancestors, the
+Merovingian kings, began to quarrel about the succession. While Karl
+Martel (as we must now call him) was engaged in suppressing all these
+troubles, the Saracens, with the aid of the malcontent Burgundians,
+occupied all the territory bordering the Mediterranean, on both sides of
+the Rhone. He was not free to march against them until 737, when he made
+his appearance with a large army, retook Avignon, Arles and Nismes, and
+left them in possession only of Narbonne, which was too strongly
+fortified to be taken by assault.</p>
+
+<p>Karl Martel was recalled to the opposite end of the kingdom by a fresh
+invasion of the Saxons. When this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span> had been repelled, and the northern
+frontier in Germany strengthened against the hostile race, the
+Burgundian nobles in Provence sought a fresh alliance with the Saracens,
+and compelled him to return instantly from the Weser to the shores of
+the Mediterranean. He suppressed the rebellion, but was obliged to leave
+the Saracens in possession of a part of the coast, between the Rhone and
+the Pyrenees. During his stay in the south of France, the Pope, Gregory
+II., entreated him to come to Italy and relieve Rome from the oppression
+of Luitprand, king of the Longobards. He did not accept the invitation,
+but it appears that, as mediator, he assisted in concluding a treaty
+between the Pope and king, which arranged their differences for a time.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">741.</div>
+
+<p>Worn out by his life of marches and battles, Karl Martel became
+prematurely old, and died in 741, at the age of fifty, after a reign of
+twenty-seven years. He inherited the activity, the ability, and also the
+easy principles of his father, Pippin of Heristall. But his authority
+was greatly increased, and he used it to lessen the remnant of their
+original freedom which the people still retained. The free Germanic
+Franks were accustomed to meet every year, in the month of March (as on
+the <i>Champ de Mars</i>, or March-field, at Paris), and discuss all national
+matters. In Chlodwig's time the royal dependents were added to the free
+citizens and allowed an equal voice, which threw an additional power
+into the hands of the monarch. Karl Martel convoked the national
+assembly, declared war or made peace, without asking the people's
+consent; while, by adding the priesthood and the nobles, with their
+dependents, to the number of those entitled to vote, he broke down the
+ancient power of the state and laid the foundation of a more absolute
+system.</p>
+
+<p>Shortly before his death, Karl Martel summoned a council of the princes
+and nobles of his realm, and obtained their consent that his eldest son,
+Karloman, should succeed him as Royal Steward of Germany, and his second
+son, Pippin, surnamed the Short, as Royal Steward of France and
+Burgundy. The Merovingian throne had already been vacant for four years,
+but the monarch had become so insignificant that this circumstance was
+scarcely noticed. On his death-bed, however, Karl Martel was persuaded
+by Swanhilde, one of his wives, to bequeath a part of his dominions to
+her son, Grifo. This gave rise to great discontent among the people, and
+furnished the subject Dukes of Bavaria, Alemannia and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span> Aquitaine with
+another opportunity for endeavoring to regain their lost independence.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">752. PIPPIN THE SHORT MADE KING.</div>
+
+<p>Karloman and Pippin, in order to strengthen their cause, sought for a
+descendant of the Merovingian line, and, having found him, they
+proclaimed him king, under the name of Childeric III. This step secured
+to them the allegiance of the Franks, but the conflict with the
+refractory Dukedoms lasted several years. Battles were fought on the
+Loire, on the Lech, in Bavaria, and then again on the Saxon frontier:
+finally Aquitaine was subdued, Alemannia lost its Duke and became a
+Frank province, and Bavaria agreed to a truce. In this struggle,
+Karloman and Pippin received important support from Bonifacius, a part
+of whose aim it was to bring all the Christian communities to
+acknowledge the Pope of Rome as the sole head of the Church. They gave
+him their support in return, and thus the Franks were drawn into closer
+relations with the ecclesiastical power.</p>
+
+<p>In the year 747, Karloman resigned his power, went to Rome, and was made
+a monk by Pope Zacharias. Soon afterwards Grifo, the son of Karl Martel
+and Swanhilde, made a second attempt to conquer his rights, with the aid
+of the Saxons. Pippin the Short allied himself with the Wends, a
+Slavonic race settled in Prussia, and ravaged the Saxon land, forcing a
+part of the inhabitants, at the point of the sword, to be baptized as
+Christians. Grifo fled to Bavaria, where the Duke, Tassilo, espoused his
+cause, but Pippin the Short followed close upon his heels with so strong
+a force that resistance was no longer possible. A treaty was made
+whereby Grifo was consigned to private life, the hereditary rights of
+the Bavarian Dukes recognized by the Franks, and the sovereignty of the
+Franks accepted by the Bavarians.</p>
+
+<p>Pippin the Short had found, through his own experience as well as that
+of his ancestors, that the pretence of a Merovingian king only worked
+confusion in the realm of the Franks, since it furnished to the
+subordinate races and principalities a constant pretext for revolt.
+When, therefore, Pope Zacharias found himself threatened by Aistulf, the
+successor of Luitprand as king of the Longobards, and sent an embassy to
+Pippin the Short appealing for his assistance, the latter returned to
+him this question: "Does the kingdom belong to him who exercises the
+power, without the name, or to him who bears the name, without
+possessing the power?" The answer was what he expected: a general
+assembly was called<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span> together in 752, Pippin was anointed King by the
+Archbishop Bonifacius, then lifted on a shield according to the ancient
+custom and accepted by the nobles and people. The shadowy Merovingian
+king, Childeric III., was shorn of his long hair, the sign of royalty,
+and sent into a monastery, where he disappeared from the world. Pippin
+now possessed sole and unlimited sway over the kingdom of the Franks,
+and named himself "King by the Grace of God,"&mdash;an example which has been
+followed by most monarchs, down to our day. On the other hand, the
+decision of Zacharias was a great step gained by the Papal power, which
+thenceforth began to exalt its prerogatives over those of the rulers of
+nations.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">755.</div>
+
+<p>Pippin's first duty, as king, was to repel a new invasion of the Saxons.
+His power was so much increased by his title that he was able, at once,
+to lead against them such a force that they were compelled to pay a
+tribute of 300 horses annually, and to allow Christian missionaries to
+reside among them. The latter condition was undoubtedly the suggestion
+of Bonifacius, who determined to carry the cross to the North Sea, and
+complete the conversion of Germany. He himself undertook a mission to
+Friesland, where he had failed as a young monk, and there, in 755, at
+the age of seventy-five, he was slain by the fierce pagans. He died like
+a martyr; refusing to defend himself, and was enrolled among the number
+of Saints.</p>
+
+<p>In the year 754, Pope Stephen II., the successor of Zacharias, appeared
+in France as a personal supplicant for the aid of King Pippin. Aistulf,
+the Longobard king, who had driven the Byzantines out of the Exarchy of
+Ravenna, was marching against Rome, which still nominally belonged to
+the Eastern Empire. To make his entreaty more acceptable, the Pope
+bestowed on Pippin the title of "Patrician of Rome," and solemnly
+crowned both him and his young sons, Karl and Karloman, in the chapel of
+St. Denis, near Paris. At the same time he issued a ban of
+excommunication against all persons who should support a monarch
+belonging to any other than the reigning dynasty.</p>
+
+<p>Pippin first endeavored to negotiate with Aistulf, but, failing therein,
+he marched into Italy, defeated the Longobards in several battles, and
+besieged the king in Pavia, his capital. Aistulf was compelled to
+promise that he would give up the Exarchy and leave the Pope in peace;
+but no<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span> sooner had Pippin returned to France than he violated all his
+promises. On the renewed appeals of the Pope, Pippin came to Italy a
+second time, again defeated the Longobards, and forced Aistulf not only
+to fulfil his former promises, but also to pay the expenses of the
+second war. He remained in Italy until the conditions were fulfilled,
+and his son Karl (Charlemagne), then fourteen years old, spent some time
+in Rome.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">768. DEATH OF PIPPIN.</div>
+
+<p>The Byzantine Emperor demanded that the cities of the Exarchy should be
+given back to him, but Pippin transferred them to the Pope, who already
+exercised a temporal power in Rome. They were held by the latter, for
+some time afterwards, in the name of the Eastern Empire. The worldly
+sovereignty of the Popes grew gradually from this basis, but was not yet
+recognized, or even claimed. Pippin, nevertheless, greatly strengthened
+the influence of the Church by gifts of land, by increasing the
+privileges of the priesthood, and by allowing the ecclesiastical synods,
+in many cases, to interfere in matters of civil government.</p>
+
+<p>The only other events of his reign were another expedition against the
+unsubdued Saxons, and the expulsion of the Saracens from the territory
+they held between Narbonne and the Pyrenees. He died in 768, King
+instead of Royal Steward, leaving to his sons, Karl and Karloman, a
+greater, stronger and better organized dominion than Europe had seen
+since the downfall of the Roman Empire.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">THE REIGN OF CHARLEMAGNE.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(768&mdash;814.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>The Partition made by Pippin the Short.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Death of Karloman.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Appearance and Character of Charlemagne.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Place in History.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Carolingian Dynasty.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Work as a Statesman.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Conquest of Lombardy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Visit to Rome.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;First Saxon Campaign.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Chief, Wittekind.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Assembly at Paderborn.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Expedition to Spain.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Defeat at Roncesvalles.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Revolt of the Saxons.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Second Visit to Rome.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Execution of Saxon Nobles, and Third War.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Subjection of Bavaria.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Victory over the Avars.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Final Submission of the Saxons.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Visit of Pope Leo III.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Charlemagne crowned Roman Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Plan of Temporal and Spiritual Empire.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Intercourse with Haroun Alraschid.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Trouble with the Saracens.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Extent of Charlemagne's Empire.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Encouragement of Learning and the Arts.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Scholars at his Court.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Changes in the System of Government.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Loss of Popular Freedom.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Charlemagne's Habits.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Norsemen.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Son, Ludwig, crowned Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Charlemagne's Death.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">771.</div>
+
+<p>When King Pippin the Short felt that his end was near, he called an
+assembly of Dukes, nobles and priests, which was held at St. Denis, for
+the purpose of installing his sons, Karl and Karloman, as his
+successors. As he had observed how rapidly the French and German halves
+of his empire were separating themselves from each other, in language,
+habits and national character, he determined to change the former
+boundary between "Austria" and "Neustria," which ran nearly north and
+south, and to substitute an arbitrary line running east and west. This
+division was accepted by the assembly, but its unpractical character was
+manifested as soon as Karl and Karloman began to reign. There was
+nothing but trouble for three years, at the end of which time the latter
+died, leaving Karl, in 771, sole monarch of the Frank Empire.</p>
+
+<p>This great man, who, looking backwards, saw not his equal in history
+until he beheld Julius Cæsar, now began his splendid single reign of
+forty-three years. We must henceforth call him Charlemagne, the French
+form of the Latin<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span> <i>Carolus Magnus</i>, Karl the Great, since by that name
+he is known in all English history. He was at this time twenty-nine
+years old, and in the pride of perfect strength and manly beauty. He was
+nearly seven feet high, admirably proportioned, and so developed by
+toil, the chase and warlike exercises that few men of his time equalled
+him in muscular strength. His face was noble and commanding, his hair
+blonde or light brown, and his eyes a clear, sparkling blue. He
+performed the severest duties of his office with a quiet dignity which
+heightened the impression of his intellectual power; he was terrible and
+inflexible in crushing all who attempted to interfere with his work; but
+at the chase, the banquet, or in the circle of his family and friends,
+no one was more frank, joyous and kindly than he.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">771. CHARLEMAGNE.</div>
+
+<p>His dynasty is called in history, after him, the <i>Carolingian</i>, although
+Pippin of Landen was its founder. The name of Charlemagne is extended
+backwards over the Royal Stewards, his ancestors, and after him over a
+century of successors who gradually faded out like the Merovingian line.
+He stands alone, midway between the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages, as
+the one supreme historical landmark. The task of his life was to extend,
+secure, regulate and develop the power of a great empire, much of which
+was still in a state of semi-barbarism. He was no imitator of the Roman
+Emperors: his genius, as a statesman, lay in his ability to understand
+that new forms of government, and a new development of civilization, had
+become necessary. Like all strong and far-seeing rulers, he was
+despotic, and often fiercely cruel. Those who interfered with his
+plans&mdash;even the members of his own family&mdash;were relentlessly sacrificed.
+On the other hand, although he strengthened the power of the nobility,
+he never neglected the protection of the people; half his days were
+devoted to war, yet he encouraged learning, literature and the arts; and
+while he crushed the independence of the races he gave them a higher
+civilization in its stead.</p>
+
+<p>Charlemagne first marched against the turbulent Saxons, but before they
+were reduced to order he was called to Italy by the appeal of Pope
+Adrian for help against the Longobards. The king of the latter,
+Desiderius, was the father of Hermingarde, Charlemagne's second wife,
+whom he had repudiated and sent home soon after his accession to the
+throne. Karloman's widow had also claimed the protection<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span> of Desiderius,
+and she, with her sons, was living at the latter's court. But these ties
+had no weight with Charlemagne; he collected a large army at Geneva,
+crossed the Alps by the pass of St. Bernard, conquered all Northern
+Italy, and besieged Desiderius in Pavia. He then marched to Rome, where
+Pope Adrian received him as a liberator. A procession of the clergy and
+people went forth to welcome him, chanting, "Blessed is he that comes in
+the name of the Lord!" He took part in the ceremonies of Easter, 774,
+which were celebrated with great pomp in the Cathedral of St. Peter.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">775.</div>
+
+<p>In May Pavia fell into Charlemagne's hands. Desiderius was sent into a
+monastery, the widow and children of Karloman disappeared, and the
+kingdom of the Longobards, embracing all Northern and Central Italy, was
+annexed to the empire of the Franks. The people were allowed to retain
+both their laws and their dukes, or local rulers, but, in spite of these
+privileges, they soon rose in revolt against their conqueror.
+Charlemagne had returned to finish his work with the Saxons, when in 776
+this revolt called him back to Italy. The movement was temporarily
+suppressed, and he hastened to Germany to resume his interrupted task.</p>
+
+<p>The Saxons were the only remaining German people who resisted both the
+Frank rule and the introduction of Christianity. They held all of what
+is now Westphalia, Hannover and Brunswick, to the river Elbe, and were
+still strong, in spite of their constant and wasting wars. During his
+first campaign, in 772, Charlemagne had overrun Westphalia, taken
+possession of the fortified camp of the Saxons, and destroyed the
+"Irmin-pillar," which seems to have been a monument erected to
+commemorate the defeat of Varus by Hermann. The people submitted, and
+promised allegiance; but the following year, aroused by the appeals of
+their duke or chieftain, Wittekind, they rebelled in a body. The
+Frisians joined them, the priests and missionaries were slaughtered or
+expelled, and all the former Saxon territory, nearly to the Rhine, was
+retaken by Wittekind.</p>
+
+<p>Charlemagne collected a large army and renewed the war in 775. He
+pressed forward as far as the river Weser, when, carelessly dividing his
+forces, one half of them were cut to pieces, and he was obliged to
+retreat. His second expedition to Italy, at this time, was made with all
+possible haste, and a new army was ready on his return. Westphalia was
+now<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span> wasted with fire and sword, and the people generally submitted,
+although they were compelled to be baptized as Christians. In May, 777,
+Charlemagne held an assembly of the people at Paderborn: nearly all the
+Saxon nobles attended, and swore fealty to him, while many of them
+submitted to the rite of baptism.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">777. ASSEMBLY AT PADERBORN.</div>
+
+<p>At this assembly suddenly appeared a deputation of Saracen princes from
+Spain, who sought Charlemagne's help against the tyranny of the Caliph
+of Cordova. He was induced by religious or ambitious motives to consent,
+neglecting for the time the great work he had undertaken in his own
+Empire. In the summer of 778 he crossed the Pyrenees, took the cities of
+Pampeluna and Saragossa, and delivered all Spain north of the Ebro river
+from the hands of the Saracen Caliph. This territory was attached to the
+Empire as the Spanish Mark, or province: it was inhabited both by
+Saracens and Franks, who dwelt side by side and became more or less
+united in language, habits and manners.</p>
+
+<p>On his return to France, Charlemagne was attacked by a large force of
+the native Basques, in the pass of Roncesvalles, in the Pyrenees. His
+warriors, taken by surprise in the narrow ravine and crushed by rocks
+rolled down upon them from above, could make little resistance, and the
+rear column, with all the plunder gathered in Spain, fell into the
+enemy's hands. Here was slain the famous paladin, Roland, the Count of
+Brittany, who became the theme of poets down to the time of Ariosto.
+Charlemagne was so infuriated by his defeat that he hanged the Duke of
+Aquitaine, on the charge of treachery, because his territory included a
+part of the lands of the Basques.</p>
+
+<p>Upon the heels of this disaster came the news that the Saxons had again
+arisen under the lead of Wittekind, destroyed their churches, murdered
+the priests, and carried fire and sword to the very walls of Cologne and
+Coblentz. Charlemagne sent his best troops, by forced marches, in
+advance of his coming, but he was not able to take the field until the
+following spring. During 779 and a part of 780, after much labor and
+many battles, he seemed to have subdued the stubborn race, the most of
+whom accepted Christian baptism for the third time. Charlemagne
+thereupon went to Italy once more, in order to restore order among the
+Longobards, whose local chiefs were becoming restless in his absence.
+His two young sons, Pippin and Ludwig, were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span> crowned by Pope Adrian as
+kings of Longobardia, or Lombardy (which then embraced the greater part
+of Northern and Central Italy), and Aquitaine.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">783.</div>
+
+<p>After his return to Germany, he convoked a parliament, or popular
+assembly, at Paderborn, in 782, partly in order to give the Saxons a
+stronger impression of the power of the Empire. The people seemed quiet,
+and he was deceived by their bearing; for, after he had left them to
+return to the Rhine, they rose again, headed by Wittekind, who had been
+for some years a fugitive in Denmark. Three of Charlemagne's chief
+officials, who immediately hastened to the scene of trouble with such
+troops as they could collect, met Wittekind in the Teutoburger Forest,
+not far from the field where Varus and his legions were destroyed. A
+similar fate awaited them: the Frank army was so completely cut to
+pieces that but few escaped to tell the tale.</p>
+
+<p>Charlemagne marched immediately into the Saxon land: the rebels
+dispersed at his approach and Wittekind again became a fugitive. The
+Saxon nobles humbly renewed their submission, and tried to throw the
+whole responsibility of the rebellion upon Wittekind. Charlemagne was
+not satisfied: he had been mortified in his pride as a monarch, and for
+once he cast aside his usual moderation and prudence. He demanded that
+4,500 Saxons, no doubt the most prominent among the people, should be
+given up to him, and then ordered them all to be beheaded on the same
+day. This deed of blood, instead of intimidating the Saxons, provoked
+them to fury. They arose as one man, and in 783 defeated Charlemagne
+near Detmold. He retreated to Paderborn, received reinforcements, and
+was enabled to venture a second battle, in which he was victorious. He
+remained for two years longer in Thuringia and Saxony, during which time
+he undertook a winter campaign, for which the people were not prepared.
+By the summer of 785, the Saxons, finding their homes destroyed and
+themselves rapidly diminishing in numbers, yielded to the mercy of the
+conqueror. Wittekind, who, the legend says, had stolen in disguise into
+Charlemagne's camp, was so impressed by the bearing of the king and the
+pomp of the religious services, that he also submitted and received
+baptism. One account states that Charlemagne named him Duke of the
+Saxons and was thenceforth his friend; another, that he sank into
+obscurity.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">788. SUBJECTION OF BAVARIA.</div>
+
+<p>Charlemagne was now free to make another journey to Italy, where he
+suppressed some fresh troubles among the Lombards (as we must henceforth
+style the Longobards), and forced Aragis, the Duke of Benevento, to
+render his submission. Then, for the first time, he turned his attention
+to the Bavarians, whose Duke, Tassilo, had preserved an armed neutrality
+during the previous wars, but was suspected of secretly conspiring with
+the Lombards, Byzantines, and even the Avars, for help to enable him to
+throw off the Frank yoke. At a general diet of the whole empire, held in
+Worms in 787, Tassilo did not appear, and Charlemagne made this a
+pretext for invading Bavaria.</p>
+
+<p>Three armies, in Italy, Suabia and Thuringia, were set in motion at the
+same time, and resistance appeared so hopeless that Tassilo surrendered
+at once. Charlemagne pardoned him at first, under stipulations of
+stricter dependence, but he was convicted of conspiracy at a diet held
+the following year, when he and his sons were found guilty and sent into
+a monastery. His dynasty came to an end, and Bavaria was portioned out
+among a number of Frank Counts, the people, nevertheless, being allowed
+to retain their own political institutions.</p>
+
+<p>The incorporation of Bavaria with the Frank empire brought a new task to
+Charlemagne. The Avars, who had gradually extended their rule across the
+Alps, nearly to the Adriatic, were strong and dangerous neighbors. In
+791 he entered their territory and laid it waste, as far as the river
+Raab; then, having lost all his horses on the march, he was obliged to
+return. At home, a new trouble awaited him. His son, Pippin, whom he had
+installed as king of Lombardy, was discovered to be at the head of a
+conspiracy to usurp his own throne. Pippin was terribly flogged, and
+then sent into a monastery for the rest of his days; his
+fellow-conspirators were executed.</p>
+
+<p>When Charlemagne applied his system of military conscription to the
+Saxons, to recruit his army before renewing the war with the Avars, they
+rose once more in rebellion, slew his agents, burned the churches, and
+drove out the priests, who had made themselves hated by their despotism
+and by claiming a tenth part of the produce of the land. Charlemagne was
+thus obliged to subdue them and to fight the Avars, at the same time.
+The double war lasted until 796, when the residence of the Avar Khan,
+with the intrenched<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span> "ring" or fort, containing all the treasures
+amassed by the tribe during the raids of two hundred years, was
+captured. All the country, as far eastward as the rivers Theiss and
+Raab, was wasted and almost depopulated. The remnant of the Avars
+acknowledged themselves Frank subjects, but for greater security,
+Charlemagne established Bavarian colonies in the fertile land along the
+Danube. The latter formed a province, called the East-Mark, which became
+the foundation upon which Austria (the East-kingdom) afterwards rose.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">799.</div>
+
+<p>The Saxons were subjected&mdash;or seemed to be&mdash;about the same time. Many of
+the people retreated into Holstein, which was then called
+North-Albingia; but Charlemagne allied himself with a branch of the
+Slavonic Wends, defeated them there, and took possession of their
+territory. He built fortresses at Halle, Magdeburg, and Büchen, near
+Hamburg, colonized 10,000 Saxons among the Franks, and replaced them by
+an equal number of the latter. Then he established Christianity for the
+fifth time, by ordering that all who failed to present themselves for
+baptism should be put to death. The indomitable spirit of the people
+still led to occasional outbreaks, but these became weaker and weaker,
+and finally ceased as the new faith struck deeper root.</p>
+
+<p>In the year 799, Pope Leo III. suddenly appeared in Charlemagne's camp
+at Paderborn, a fugitive from a conspiracy of the Roman nobles, by which
+his life was threatened. He was received with all possible honors, and
+after some time spent in secret councils, was sent back to Rome with a
+strong escort. In the autumn of the following year, Charlemagne followed
+him. A civil and ecclesiastical assembly was held at Rome, and
+pronounced the Pope free from the charges made against him; then (no
+doubt according to previous agreement) on Christmas-Day, 800, Leo III.
+crowned Charlemagne as Roman Emperor, in the Cathedral of St. Peter's.
+The people greeted him with cries of "Life and victory to Carolo
+Augusto, crowned by God, the great, the peace-bringing Emperor of the
+Romans!"</p>
+
+<p>If, by this step, the Pope seemed to forget the aspirations of the
+Church for temporal power, on the other hand he rendered himself forever
+independent of his nominal subjection to the Byzantine Emperors. For
+Charlemagne, the new dignity gave his rule its full and final authority.
+The people, in whose traditions the grandeur of the old<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span> Roman Empire
+were still kept alive, now beheld it renewed in their ruler and
+themselves. Charlemagne stood at the head of an Empire which was to
+include all Christendom, and to imitate, in its civil organization, the
+spiritual rule of the Church. On the one side were kingdoms, duchies,
+countships and the communities of the people, all subject to him; on the
+other side, bishoprics, monasteries and their dependencies, churches and
+individual souls, subject to the Pope. The latter acknowledged the
+Emperor as his temporal sovereign: the Emperor acknowledged the Pope as
+his spiritual sovereign. The idea was grand, and at that time did not
+seem impossible to fulfil; but the further course of history shows how
+hostile the two principles may become, when they both grasp at the same
+power.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">800. CHARLEMAGNE'S EMPIRE.</div>
+
+<p>The Greek Emperors at Constantinople were not strong enough to protest
+against this bestowal of a dignity which they claimed for themselves. A
+long series of negotiations followed, the result of which was that the
+Emperor Nicephorus, in 812, acknowledged Charlemagne's title. The
+latter, immediately after his coronation in Rome, drew up a new oath of
+allegiance, which he required to be taken by the whole male population
+of the Empire. About this time, he entered into friendly relations with
+the famous Caliph, Haroun Alraschid of Bagdad. They sent embassies,
+bearing magnificent presents, to each other's courts, and at
+Charlemagne's request, Haroun took the holy places in Palestine under
+his special protection, and allowed the Christians to visit them.</p>
+
+<p>With the Saracens in Spain, however, the Emperor had constant trouble.
+They made repeated incursions across the Ebro, into the Spanish Mark,
+and ravaged the shores of Majorca, Minorca and Corsica, which belonged
+to the Frank Empire. Moreover, the extension of his frontier on the east
+brought Charlemagne into collision with the Slavonic tribes in the
+territory now belonging to Prussia beyond the Elbe, Saxony and Bohemia.
+He easily defeated them, but could not check their plundering and roving
+propensities. In the year 808, Holstein as far as the Elbe was invaded
+by the Danish king, Gottfried, who, after returning home with much
+booty, commenced the construction of that line of defence along the
+Eider river, called the <i>Dannewerk</i>, which exists to this day.</p>
+
+<p>Charlemagne had before this conquered and annexed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span> Friesland. His Empire
+thus included all France, Switzerland and Germany, stretching eastward
+along the Danube to Presburg, with Spain to the Ebro, and Italy to the
+Garigliano river, the later boundary between Rome and Naples. There were
+no wars serious enough to call him into the field during the latter
+years of his reign, and he devoted his time to the encouragement of
+learning and the arts. He established schools, fostered new branches of
+industry, and sought to build up the higher civilization which follows
+peace and order. He was very fond of the German language, and by his
+orders a complete collection was made of the songs and poetical legends
+of the people. Forsaking Paris, which had been the Frank capital for
+nearly three centuries, he removed his Court to Aix-la-Chapelle and
+Ingelheim, near the Rhine, founded the city of Frankfort on the Main,
+and converted, before he died, all that war-wasted region into a
+peaceful and populous country.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">810.</div>
+
+<p>No ruler before Charlemagne, and none for at least four centuries after
+him, did so much to increase and perpetuate the learning of his time.
+During his meals, some one always read aloud to him out of old
+chronicles or theological works. He spoke Latin fluently, and had a good
+knowledge of Greek. In order to become a good writer, he carried his
+tablets about with him, and even slept with them under his pillow. The
+men whom he assembled at his Court were the most intelligent of that
+age. His chaplain and chief counsellor was Alcuin, an English monk, and
+a man of great learning. His secretary, Einhard (or Eginhard) wrote a
+history of the Emperor's life and times. Among his other friends were
+Paul Diaconus, a learned Lombard, and the chronicler, Bishop Turpin.
+These men formed, with Charlemagne, a literary society, which held
+regular meetings to discuss matters of science, politics and literature.</p>
+
+<p>Under Charlemagne the political institutions of the Merovingian kings,
+as well as those which existed among the German races, were materially
+changed. As far as possible, he set aside the Dukes, each of whom, up to
+that time, was the head of a tribe or division of the people, and broke
+up their half-independent states into districts, governed by Counts.
+These districts were divided into "hundreds," as in the old Germanic
+times, each in charge of a noble, who every week acted as judge in
+smaller civil or criminal cases. The Counts, in conjunction with from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</span>
+seven to twelve magistrates, held monthly courts wherein cases which
+concerned life, freedom or landed property were decided. They were also
+obliged to furnish a certain number of soldiers when called upon. The
+same obligation rested upon the archbishops, bishops, and abbots of the
+monasteries, all of whom, together with the Counts, were called Vassals
+of the Empire.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">810. POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS.</div>
+
+<p>The free men, in case of war, were compelled to serve as horsemen or
+foot-soldiers, according to their wealth, either three or five of the
+very poorest furnishing one well-equipped man. The soldiers were not
+only not paid, but each was obliged to bear his own expenses; so the
+burden fell very heavily upon this class of the people. In order to
+escape it, large numbers of the poorer freemen voluntarily became
+dependents of the nobility or clergy, who in return equipped and
+supported them. The national assemblies were still annually held, but
+the people, in becoming dependents, gradually lost their ancient
+authority, and their votes ceased to control the course of events. The
+only part they played in the assemblies was to bring tribute to the
+Emperor, to whom they paid no taxes, and whose court was kept up partly
+from their offerings and partly from the revenues of the "domains" or
+crown-lands. Thus, while Charlemagne introduced throughout his whole
+empire a unity of government and an order unknown before, while he
+anticipated Prussia in making all his people liable, at any time, to
+military service, on the other hand he was slowly and unconsciously
+changing the free Germans into a race of lords and serfs.</p>
+
+<p>It is not likely, either, that the people themselves saw the tendency of
+his government. Their respect and love for him increased, as the
+comparative peace of the Empire allowed him to turn to interests which
+more immediately concerned their lives. In his ordinary habits he was as
+simple as they. His daughters spun and wove the flax for his plain linen
+garments; personally he looked after his orchards and vegetable gardens,
+set the schools an example by learning to improve his own reading and
+writing, treated high and low with equal frankness and heartiness, and,
+even in his old age, surpassed all around him in feats of strength or
+endurance. There seemed to be no serfdom in bowing to a man so
+magnificently endowed by nature and so favored by fortune.</p>
+
+<p>One event came to embitter his last days. The Scandinavian Goths, now
+known as Norsemen, were beginning to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</span> build their "sea-dragons" and
+sally forth on voyages of plunder and conquest. They laid waste the
+shores of Holland and Northern France, and the legend says that
+Charlemagne burst into tears of rage and shame, on perceiving his
+inability to subdue them or prevent their incursions. One of his last
+acts was to order the construction of a fleet at Boulogne, but when it
+was ready the Norse Vikings suddenly appeared in the Mediterranean and
+ravaged the southern coast of France. Charlemagne began too late to make
+the Germans either a naval or a commercial people: his attempt to unite
+the Main and Danube by a canal also failed, but the very design shows
+his wise foresight and his energy.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">813.</div>
+
+<p>Towards the end of the year 813, feeling his death approaching, he
+called an Imperial Diet together at Aix-la-Chapelle, to recognize his
+son Ludwig as his successor. After this was done, he conducted Ludwig to
+the Cathedral, made him vow to be just and God-fearing in his rule, and
+then bade him take the Imperial crown from the altar and set it upon his
+head. On the 28th of January, 814, Charlemagne died, and was buried in
+the Cathedral, where his ashes still repose.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">THE EMPERORS OF THE CAROLINGIAN LINE.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(814&mdash;911.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Character of Ludwig the Pious.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Subjection to the Priests.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Injury to German Literature.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Division of the Empire.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Treatment of his Nephew, Bernard.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Ludwig's Remorse.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Empress Judith and her Son.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Revolt of Ludwig's Sons.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Abdication and Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Compact of Karl the Bald and Ludwig the German.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The French and German Languages.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Low-German.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Lothar's Resistance.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Partition of Verdun.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Germany and France separated.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Norsemen.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Internal Troubles.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Ludwig the German's Sons.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Division of Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Karl the Fat.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Cowardice.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Empire restored.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Karl's Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Duke Arnulf made King.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;He defeats the Norsemen and Bohemians.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Favors to the Church.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The "Isidorian Decretals."</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Arnulf Crowned Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Ludwig the Child.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Invasions of the Magyars.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;End of the Carolingian line in Germany.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">814. LUDWIG THE PIOUS.</div>
+
+<p>The last act of Charlemagne's life in ordering the manner of his son's
+coronation,&mdash;which was imitated, a thousand years afterwards, by
+Napoleon, who, in the presence of the Pope, Pius VII., himself set the
+crown upon his own head&mdash;showed that he designed keeping the Imperial
+power independent of that of the Church. But his son, Ludwig, was
+already a submissive and willing dependent of Rome. During his reign as
+king of Aquitaine he had covered the land with monasteries: he was the
+pupil of monks, and his own inclination was for a monastic life. But at
+Charlemagne's death he was the only legitimate heir to the throne. Being
+therefore obliged to wear the Imperial purple, he exercised his
+sovereignty chiefly in the interest of the Church. His first act was to
+send to the Pope the treasures amassed by his father; his next, to
+surround himself with prelates and priests, who soon learned to control
+his policy. He was called "Ludwig the Pious," but in those days, when so
+many worldly qualities were necessary to the ruler of the Empire, the
+title was hardly one of praise. He appears to have been of a kindly
+nature, and many of his acts show that he meant<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</span> to be just; the
+weakness of his character, however, too often made his good intentions
+of no avail.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">816.</div>
+
+<p>It was a great misfortune for Germany that Ludwig's piety took the form
+of hostility to all learning except of a theological nature. So far as
+he was able, he undid the great work of education commenced by
+Charlemagne. The schools were given entirely into the hands of the
+priests, and the character of the instruction was changed. He inflicted
+an irreparable loss on all after ages by destroying the collection of
+songs, ballads and legends of the German people, which Charlemagne had
+taken such pains to gather and preserve. It is not believed that a
+single copy escaped destruction, although some scholars suppose that a
+fragment of the "Song of Hildebrand," written in the eighth century, may
+have formed part of the collection. In the year 816, Ludwig was visited
+in Rheims by the Pope, Stephen IV., who again crowned him Emperor in the
+Cathedral, and thus restored the spiritual authority which Charlemagne
+had tried to set aside. Ludwig's attempts to release the estates
+belonging to the Bishops, monasteries and priesthood from the payment of
+taxes, and the obligation to furnish soldiers in case of war, created so
+much dissatisfaction among the nobles and people, that, at a diet held
+the following year, he was summoned to divide the government of the
+Empire among his three sons. He resisted at first, but was finally
+forced to consent: his eldest son, Lothar, was crowned as Co-Emperor of
+the Franks, Ludwig as king of Bavaria, and Pippin, his third son, as
+king of Aquitaine.</p>
+
+<p>In this division no notice was taken of Bernard, king of Lombardy, also
+a grandson of Charlemagne. The latter at once entered into a conspiracy
+with certain Frank nobles, to have his rights recognized; but, while
+preparing for war, he was induced, under promises of his personal
+safety, to visit the Emperor's court. There, after having revealed the
+names of his fellow-conspirators, he was treacherously arrested, and his
+eyes put out; in consequence of which treatment he died. The Empress,
+Irmingarde, died soon afterwards, and Ludwig was so overcome both by
+grief for her loss and remorse for having caused the death of his
+nephew, that he was with great difficulty restrained from abdicating and
+retiring into a monastery. It was not in the interest of the priesthood
+to lose so powerful a friend, and they finally persuaded him to marry
+again.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">822. LUDWIG'S PENITENCE.</div>
+
+<p>His second wife was Judith, daughter of Welf, a Bavarian count, to whom
+he was united in 819. Although this gave him another son, Karl,
+afterwards known as Karl (Charles) the Bald, he appears to have found
+very little peace of mind. At a diet held in 822, at Attigny, in France,
+he appeared publicly in the sackcloth and ashes of a repentant sinner,
+and made open confession of his misdeeds. This act showed his sincerity
+as a man, but in those days it must have greatly diminished the
+reverence which the people felt for him as their Emperor. The next year
+his son Lothar, who, after Bernard's death, became also King of
+Lombardy, visited Rome and was recrowned by the Pope. For a while,
+Lothar made himself very popular by seeking out and correcting abuses in
+the administration of the laws.</p>
+
+<p>During the first fifteen years of Ludwig's reign, the boundaries of the
+Empire were constantly disturbed by invasions of the Danes, the Slavonic
+tribes in Prussia, and the Saracens in Spain, while the Basques and
+Bretons became turbulent within the realm. All these revolts or
+invasions were suppressed; the eastern frontier was not only held but
+extended, and the military power of the Frank Empire was everywhere
+recognized and feared. The Saxons and Frisians, who had been treated
+with great mildness by Ludwig, gave no further trouble; in fact, the
+whole population of the Empire became peaceable and orderly in
+proportion as the higher civilization encouraged by Charlemagne was
+developed among them.</p>
+
+<p>The remainder of Ludwig's reign might have been untroubled, but for a
+family difficulty. The Empress Judith demanded that her son, Karl,
+should also have a kingdom, like his three step-brothers. An Imperial
+Diet was therefore called together at Worms, in 829, and, in spite of
+fierce opposition, a new kingdom was formed out of parts of Burgundy,
+Switzerland and Suabia. The three sons, Lothar, Pippin and Ludwig,
+acquiesced at first; but when a Spanish count, Bernard, was appointed
+regent during Karl's minority, the two former began secretly to conspire
+against their father. They took him captive in France, and endeavored,
+but in vain, to force him to retire into a monastery. The sympathies of
+the people were with him, and by their help he was able, the following
+year, to regain his authority, and force his sons to submit.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">833.</div>
+
+<p>Ludwig, however, manifested his preference for his last<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span> son, Karl, so
+openly that in 833 his three other sons united against him, and a war
+ensued which lasted nearly five years. Finally, when the two armies
+stood face to face, on a plain near Colmar, in Alsatia, and a bloody
+battle between father and sons seemed imminent, the Pope, Gregory IV.,
+suddenly made his appearance. He offered his services as a mediator,
+went to and fro, and at last treacherously carried all the Emperor's
+chief supporters over to the camp of the sons. Ludwig, then sixty years
+old and broken in strength and spirit, was forced to surrender. The
+people gave the name of "The Field of Lies" to the scene of this event.</p>
+
+<p>The old Emperor was compelled by his sons to give up his sword, to
+appear as a penitent in Church, and to undergo such other degradations,
+that the sympathies of the people were again aroused in his favor. They
+rallied to his support from all sides: his authority was restored,
+Lothar, the leader of the rebellion, fled to Italy, Pippin had died
+shortly before, and Ludwig proffered his submission. The old man now had
+a prospect of quiet; but the machinations of the Empress Judith on
+behalf of her son, Karl, disturbed his last years. His son Ludwig was
+marching against him for the second time, when he died, in 840, on an
+island in the Rhine, near Ingelheim.</p>
+
+<p>The death of Ludwig the Pious was the signal for a succession of
+fratricidal wars. His youngest son, Karl the Bald, first united his
+interests with those of his eldest step-brother, Lothar, but he soon
+went over to Ludwig's side, while Lothar allied himself with the sons of
+Pippin, in Aquitaine. A terrific battle was fought near Auxerre, in
+France, in the summer of 841. Lothar was defeated, and Ludwig and Karl
+then determined to divide the Empire between them. The following winter
+they came together, with their nobles and armies, near Strasburg, and
+vowed to keep faith with each other thenceforth. The language of France
+and Germany, even among the descendants of the original Franks, was no
+longer the same, and the oath which was drawn up for the occasion was
+pronounced by Karl in German to the army of Ludwig, and by Ludwig in
+French to the army of Karl. The text of it has been preserved, and it is
+a very interesting illustration of the two languages, as they were
+spoken a thousand years ago. We will quote the opening phrases:<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span></p>
+
+<div id="map3" />
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<a href="images/f115.png">
+<img src="images/f115t.png" width="500" height="321"
+ alt="EMPIRE of CHARLEMAGNE, (with the Treaty of Verdun, A. D. 843.)"
+ title="" />
+</a>
+<p class="caption">EMPIRE of CHARLEMAGNE, (with the Treaty of Verdun, A. D. 843.)</p>
+</div>
+
+<p style="font-size:.8em"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span><br />
+
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">Ludwig</span> (<i>French</i>).&nbsp; Pro Deo amur &nbsp; &nbsp; et &nbsp; &nbsp; (pro) &nbsp; &nbsp; Christian &nbsp; poblo</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">Karl</span> (<i>German</i>).&nbsp; &nbsp; In Godes minna ind (in thes) Christianes folches</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>English</i>.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;  In God's love and (that of the) Christian &nbsp; folk</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">Ludwig</span>. et nostro comun salvament,&mdash;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; dist&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; di&nbsp; &nbsp;  in avant,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">Karl</span>.&nbsp;  ind unser bedhero gehaltnissi,&mdash;fon thesemo dage framordes,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>English</i>.&nbsp; and our mutual preservation,&mdash;from&nbsp; this&nbsp; &nbsp; day&nbsp; forth,</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">Ludwig</span>.&mdash; &nbsp; in quant&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Deus&nbsp;  &nbsp; savir&nbsp;  et podir me &nbsp; &nbsp; dunat,&nbsp; &nbsp; &amp;c.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">Karl</span>.&nbsp; &mdash; &nbsp; so fram &nbsp; &nbsp; so mir God gewiczi &nbsp; &nbsp; ind &nbsp; mahd furgibit,  &amp;c.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>English</i>. &mdash;as long as to me God knowledge and might gives, &nbsp; &nbsp; &amp;c.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">843.</div>
+
+<p>It is very easy to see, from this slight specimen, how much the language
+of the Franks had been modified by the Gallic-Latin, and how much of the
+original tongue (taking the Gothic Bible of Ulfila as an evidence of its
+character) has been retained in German and English. About the same time
+there was written in the Low-German, or Saxon dialect, a Gospel
+narrative in verse, called the <i>Heliand</i> ("Saviour"), many lines of
+which are almost identical with early English; as the following:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Slogun&nbsp; cald isarn</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">They drove cold iron</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>hardo mit&nbsp; hamuron</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">hard&nbsp;  with hammers</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>thuru &nbsp; &nbsp; is &nbsp; &nbsp; hendi &nbsp; enti &nbsp; thuru&nbsp; is&nbsp; fuoti;</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">through his hands and through his feet;</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>is &nbsp; blod &nbsp; ran &nbsp; an &nbsp; ertha.</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his blood ran on earth.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>This separation of the languages is a sign of the difference in national
+character which now split asunder the great empire of Charlemagne.
+Lothar, after the solemn alliance between Karl the Bald and Ludwig,
+resorted to desperate measures. He offered to give the Saxons their old
+laws and even to allow them to return to their pagan faith, if they
+would support his claims; he invited the Norsemen to Belgium and
+Northern France; and, by retreating towards Italy when his brothers
+approached him in force, and then returning when an opportunity favored,
+he disturbed and wasted the best portions of the Empire. Finally the
+Bishops intervened, and after a long time spent in negotiations, the
+three rival brothers met in 843, and agreed to the famous "Partition of
+Verdun" (so called from Verdun, near Metz, where it was signed), by
+which the realm of Charlemagne was divided among them.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">843. SEPARATION OF GERMANY AND FRANCE.</div>
+
+<p>Lothar, as the eldest, received Italy, together with a long, narrow
+strip of territory extending to the North Sea, including part of
+Burgundy, Switzerland, Eastern Belgium and Holland. All west of this,
+embracing the greater part of France, was given to Karl the Bald; all
+east, with a strip of territory west of the Rhine, from Basle to
+Mayence, "for the sake of its wine," as the document stated, became the
+kingdom of Ludwig, who was thenceforth called "The German." The
+last-named also received Eastern Switzerland and Bavaria, to the Alps.
+This division was almost as arbitrary and unnatural as that which Pippin
+the Short attempted to make. Neither Karl's nor Ludwig's shares included
+all the French or German territory; while Lothar's was a long, narrow
+slice cut out of both, and attached to Italy, where a new race and
+language were already developed out of the mixture of Romans, Goths and
+Lombards. In fact, it became necessary to invent a name for the northern
+part of Lothar's dominions, and that portion between Burgundy and
+Holland was called, after him, Lotharingia. As <i>Lothringen</i> in German,
+and <i>Lorraine</i> in French, the name still remains in existence.</p>
+
+<p>Each of the three monarchs received unrestricted sway over his realm.
+They agreed, however, upon a common line of policy in the interest of
+the dynasty, and admitted the right of inheritance to each other's
+sovereignty, in the absence of direct heirs. The Treaty of Verdun,
+therefore, marks the beginning of Germany and France as distinct
+nationalities; and now, after following the Germanic races over the
+greater part of Europe for so many centuries, we come back to recommence
+their history on the soil where we first found them. In fact, the word
+<i>Deutsch</i>, "German," signifying <i>of the people</i>, now first came into
+general use, to designate the language and the races&mdash;Franks, Alemanni,
+Bavarians, Thuringians, Saxons, etc.&mdash;under Ludwig's rule. There was, as
+yet, no political unity among these races; they were reciprocally
+jealous, and often hostile; but, by contrast with the inhabitants of
+France and Italy, they felt their blood-relationship as never before,
+and a national spirit grew up, of a narrower but more natural character
+than that which Charlemagne endeavored to establish.</p>
+
+<p>Internal struggles awaited both the Roman Emperor, Lothar, and the Frank
+king, Karl the Bald. The former was obliged to suppress revolts in
+Provence and Italy; the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span> latter in Brittany and Aquitaine, while the
+Spanish Mark, beyond the Pyrenees, passed out of his hands. Ludwig the
+German inherited a long peace at home, but a succession of wars with the
+Wends and Bohemians along his eastern frontier. The Norsemen came down
+upon his coasts, destroyed Hamburg, and sailed up the Elbe with 600
+vessels, burning and plundering wherever they went. The necessity of
+keeping an army almost constantly in the field gave the clergy and
+nobility an opportunity of exacting better terms for their support; the
+independent dukedoms, suppressed by Charlemagne, were gradually
+re-established, and thus Ludwig diminished his own power while
+protecting his territory from invasion.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">858.</div>
+
+<p>The Emperor, Lothar, soon discovered that he had made a bad bargain. His
+long and narrow empire was most difficult to govern, and in 855, weary
+with his annoyances and his endless marches to and fro, he abdicated and
+retired into a monastery, where he died within a week. The empire was
+divided between his three sons: Ludwig received Italy and was crowned by
+the Pope; to Karl was given the territory between the Rhone, the Alps
+and the Mediterranean, and to Lothar II. the portion extending from the
+Rhone to the North Sea. When the last of these died, in 869, Ludwig the
+German and Karl the Bald divided his territory, the line running between
+Verdun and Metz, then along the Vosges, and terminating at the Rhine
+near Basle,&mdash;almost precisely the same boundary as that which France has
+been forced to accept in 1871.</p>
+
+<p>But the conditions of the oath taken by the two kings in 842 were not
+observed by either. Karl the Bald was a tyrannical and unpopular
+sovereign, and when he failed in preventing the Norsemen from ravaging
+all Western France, the nobles determined to set him aside and invite
+Ludwig to take his place. The latter consented, marched into France with
+a large army, and was hailed as king; but when his army returned home,
+and he trusted to the promised support of the Frank nobles, he found
+that Karl had repurchased their allegiance, and there was no course left
+to him but to retreat across the Rhine. The trouble was settled by a
+meeting of the two kings, which took place at Coblentz, in 860.</p>
+
+<p>Ludwig the German had also, like his father, serious trouble with his
+sons, Karlmann and Ludwig. He had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span> made the former Duke of Carinthia,
+but ere long discovered that he had entered into a conspiracy with
+Rastitz, king of the Moravian Slavonians. Karlmann was summoned to
+Regensburg (Ratisbon), which was then Ludwig's capital, and was finally
+obliged to lead an army against his secret ally, Rastitz, who was
+conquered. A new war with Zwentebold, king of Bohemia, who was assisted
+by the Sorbs, Wends, and other Slavonic tribes along the Elbe, broke out
+soon afterwards. Karlmann led his father's forces against the enemy, and
+after a struggle of four years forced Bohemia, in 873, to become
+tributary to Germany.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">876. DEATH OF LUDWIG THE GERMAN.</div>
+
+<p>In 875, the Emperor, Ludwig II. (Lothar's son), who ruled in Italy, died
+without heirs. Karl the Bald and Ludwig the German immediately called
+their troops into the field and commenced the march to Italy, in order
+to divide the inheritance or fight for its sole possession. Ludwig sent
+his sons, but their uncle, Karl the Bald, was before them. He was
+acknowledged by the Lombard nobles at Pavia, and crowned in Rome by the
+Pope, before it could be prevented. Ludwig determined upon an instant
+invasion of France, but in the midst of the preparations he died at
+Frankfort, in 876. He was seventy-one years old; as a child he had sat
+on the knees of Charlemagne; as an independent king of Germany, he had
+reigned thirty-six years, and with him the intelligence, prudence and
+power which had distinguished the Carolingian line came to an end.</p>
+
+<p>Again the kingdom was divided among three sons, Karlmann, Ludwig the
+Younger, and Karl the Fat; and again there were civil wars. Karl the
+Bald made haste to invade Germany before the brothers were in a
+condition to oppose him; but he was met by Ludwig the Younger and
+terribly defeated, near Andernach on the Rhine. The next year he died,
+leaving one son, Ludwig the Stammerer, to succeed him.</p>
+
+<p>The brothers, in accordance with a treaty made before their father's
+death, thus divided Germany: Karlmann took Bavaria, Carinthia, the
+provinces on the Danube, and the half-sovereignty over Bohemia and
+Moravia; Ludwig the Younger became king over all Northern and Central
+Germany, leaving Suabia (formerly Alemannia) for Karl the Fat.
+Karlmann's first act was to take possession of Italy, which acknowledged
+his rule. He was soon afterwards struck with apoplexy, and died in 880.
+Karl the Fat had already<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</span> crossed the Alps; he forced the Lombard nobles
+to accept him, and was crowned Emperor at Rome, as Karl III., in 881.
+Meanwhile the Germans had recognized Ludwig the Younger as Karlmann's
+heir, and had given to Arnulf, the latter's illegitimate son, the Duchy
+of Carinthia.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">882.</div>
+
+<p>Ludwig the Younger died, childless, in 882, and thus Germany and Italy
+became one empire under Karl the Fat. By this time Friesland and Holland
+were suffering from the invasions of the Norsemen, who had built a
+strong camp on the banks of the Meuse, and were beginning to threaten
+Germany. Karl marched against them, but, after a siege of some weeks, he
+shamefully purchased a truce by giving them territory in Holland, and
+large sums in gold and silver, and by marrying a princess of the
+Carolingian blood to Gottfried, their chieftain. They then sailed down
+the Meuse, with 200 vessels laden with plunder.</p>
+
+<p>All classes of the Germans were filled with rage and shame, at this
+disgrace. The Dukes and Princes who were building up their local
+governments profited by the state of affairs, to strengthen their power.
+Karl was called to Italy to defend the Pope against the Saracens, and
+when he returned to Germany in 884, he found a Count Hugo almost
+independent in Lorraine, the Norsemen in possession of the Rhine nearly
+as far as Cologne, and Arnulf of Carinthia engaged in a fierce war with
+Zwentebold, king of Bohemia. Karl turned his forces against the last of
+these, subdued him, and then, with the help of the Frisians, expelled
+the Norsemen. The two grand-sons of Karl the Bald, Ludwig and Karlmann,
+died about this time, and the only remaining one, Charles (afterwards
+called the Silly), was still a young child. The Frank nobles therefore
+offered the throne to Karl the Fat, who accepted it and thus restored,
+for a short time, the Empire of Charlemagne.</p>
+
+<p>Once more he proved himself shamefully unworthy of the power confided to
+his hands. He suffered Paris to sustain a nine months' siege by the
+Norsemen, before he marched to its assistance, and then, instead of
+meeting the foemen in open field, he paid them a heavy ransom for the
+city and allowed them to spend the following winter in Burgundy, and
+plunder the land at their will. The result was a general conspiracy
+against his rule, in Germany as well as in France. At the head of it was
+Bishop Luitward, Karl's chancellor and confidential friend, who, being<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span>
+detected, fled to Arnulf in Carinthia, and instigated the latter to
+rise in rebellion. Arnulf was everywhere victorious: Karl the Fat,
+deserted by his army and the dependent German nobles, was forced, in
+887, to resign the throne and retire to an estate in Suabia, where he
+died the following year.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">887. ARNULF OF CARINTHIA KING.</div>
+
+<p>Duke Arnulf, the grandson of Ludwig the German, though not legitimately
+born, now became king of Germany. Being accepted at Ratisbon and
+afterwards at Frankfort by the representatives of the people, he was
+able to keep them united under his rule, while the rest of the former
+Frank Empire began to fall to pieces. As early as 879, a new kingdom,
+called Burgundy, or Arelat, from its capital Arles, was formed between
+the Rhone and the Alps; Berengar, the Lombard Duke of Friuli, in Italy,
+usurped the inheritance of the Carolingian line there; Count Rudolf, a
+great-grandson of Ludwig the Pious, established the kingdom of Upper
+Burgundy, embracing a part of Eastern France, with Western Switzerland;
+and Count Odo of Paris, who gallantly defended the city against the
+Norsemen, was chosen king of France by a large party of the nobles.</p>
+
+<p>King Arnulf, who seems to have possessed as much wisdom as bravery, did
+not interfere with the pretensions of these new rulers, so long as they
+forbore to trespass on his German territory, and he thereby secured the
+friendship of all. He devoted himself to the liberation of Germany from
+the repeated invasions of the Danes and Norsemen on the north, and the
+Bohemians on the east. The former had entrenched themselves strongly
+among the marshes near Louvain, where Arnulf's best troops, which were
+cavalry, could not reach them. He set an example to his army by
+dismounting and advancing on foot to the attack: the Germans followed
+with such impetuosity that the Norse camp was taken, and nearly all its
+defenders slaughtered. From that day Germany was free from Northern
+invasion.</p>
+
+<p>Arnulf next marched against his old enemy, Zwentebold (in some histories
+the name is <ins title="Was 'writen' in original.">written</ins> <i>Sviatopulk</i>) of Bohemia. This king and his people
+had recently been converted to Christianity by the missionary Methodius,
+but it had made no change in their predatory habits. They were the more
+easily conquered by Arnulf, because the Magyars, a branch of the Finnish
+race who had pressed into Hungary from the east, attacked them at the
+same time. The Magyars were called "Hungarians" by the Germans of that
+day&mdash;as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</span> they are at present&mdash;because they had taken possession of the
+territory which had been occupied by the Huns, more than four centuries
+before; but they were a distinct race, resembling the Huns only in their
+fierceness and daring. They were believed to be cannibals, who drank the
+blood and devoured the hearts of their slain enemies; and the panic they
+created throughout Germany was as great as that which went before Attila
+and his barbarian hordes.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">894.</div>
+
+<p>After the subjection of the Bohemians, Arnulf was summoned to Italy, in
+the year 894, where he assisted Berengar, king of Lombardy, to maintain
+his power against a rival. He then marched against Rudolf, king of Upper
+Burgundy, who had been conspiring against him, and ravaged his land. By
+this time, it appears, his personal ambition was excited by his
+successes: he determined to become Emperor, and as a means of securing
+the favor of the Pope, he granted the most extraordinary privileges to
+the Church in Germany. He ordered that all civil officers should execute
+the orders of the clerical tribunals; that excommunication should affect
+the civil rights of those on whom it fell; that matters of dispute
+between clergy and laymen should be decided by the Bishops, without
+calling witnesses,&mdash;with other decrees of the same character, which
+practically set the Church above the civil authorities.</p>
+
+<p>The Popes, by this time, had embraced the idea of becoming temporal
+sovereigns, and the dissensions among the rulers of the Carolingian line
+already enabled them to secure a power, of which the former Bishops of
+Rome had never dreamed. In the early part of the ninth century, the
+so-called "Isidorian Decretals" (because they bore the name of Bishop
+Isidor, of Seville) came to light. They were forged documents,
+purporting to be decrees of the ancient Councils of the Church, which
+claimed for the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) the office of Vicar of Christ
+and Vicegerent of God upon earth, with supreme power not only over all
+Bishops, priests and individual souls, but also over all civil
+authorities. The policy of the Papal chair was determined by these
+documents, and several centuries elapsed before their fictitious
+character was discovered.</p>
+
+<p>Arnulf, after these concessions to the Church, went to Italy in 895. He
+found the Pope, Formosus, in the power of a Lombard prince, whom the
+former had been compelled against his will, to crown as Emperor. Arnulf
+took Rome by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</span> force of arms, liberated the Pope, and in return was
+crowned Roman Emperor. He fell dangerously ill immediately afterwards,
+and it was believed that he had been poisoned. Formosus, who died the
+following year, was declared "accurst" by his successor, Stephen VII.,
+and his body was dug up and cast into the Tiber, after it had lain nine
+months in the grave.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">899. LUDWIG THE CHILD.</div>
+
+<p>Arnulf returned to Germany as Emperor, but weak and broken in body and
+mind. He never recovered from the effects of the poison, but lingered
+for three years longer, seeing his Empire becoming more and more weak
+and disorderly. He died in 899, leaving one son, Ludwig, only seven
+years old. This son, known in history as "Ludwig the Child," was the
+last of the Carolingian line in Germany. In France, the same line, now
+represented by Charles the Silly, was also approaching its end.</p>
+
+<p>At a Diet held at Forchheim (near Nuremberg), Ludwig the Child was
+accepted as king of Germany, and solemnly crowned. On account of his
+tender years, he was placed in charge of Archbishop Hatto of Mayence,
+who was appointed, with Duke Otto of Saxony, to govern temporarily in
+his stead. An insurrection in Lorraine was suppressed; but now a more
+formidable danger approached from the East. The Hungarians invaded
+Northern Italy in 899, and ravaged part of Bavaria on their return to
+the Danube. Like the Huns, they destroyed everything in their way,
+leaving a wilderness behind their march.</p>
+
+<p>The Bavarians, with little assistance from the rest of Germany, fought
+the Hungarians until 907, when their Duke, Luitpold, was slain in
+battle, and his son Arnulf purchased peace by a heavy tribute. Then the
+Hungarians invaded Thuringia, whose Duke, Burkhard, also fell fighting
+against them, after which they plundered a part of Saxony. Finally, in
+910, the whole strength of Germany was called into the field; Ludwig,
+eighteen years old, took command, met the Hungarians on the banks of the
+Inn, and was utterly defeated. He fled from the field, and was forced,
+thenceforth, to pay tribute to Hungary. He died in 911, and Germany was
+left without a hereditary ruler.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">KING KONRAD, AND THE SAXON RULERS, HENRY I. AND OTTO THE GREAT.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(912&mdash;973.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Growth of Small Principalities in Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Changes in the Lehen, or Royal Estates.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Diet at Forchheim.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Frank Duke, Konrad, chosen King.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Events of his Reign.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Saxon, Henry the Fowler, succeeds him.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Henry's Policy towards Bavaria, Lorraine and France.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Truce with the Hungarians.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Military Preparations.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Defeat of the Hungarians.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Henry's Achievements.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Coronation of Otto.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His first War.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Revolt of Duke Eberhard and Prince Henry.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;War with Louis IV. of France.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Otto's Victories.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Henry pardoned.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Conquest of Jutland.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Otto's Empire.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His March to Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Marriage with Adelheid of Burgundy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Revolt of Ludolf and Konrad.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Hungarian Army destroyed.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Pope calls for Otto's Aid.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Otto crowned Roman Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Quarrel with the Pope.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Third Visit to Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Son married to an Eastern Princess.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Triumph and Death.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">912.</div>
+
+<p>When Ludwig the Child died, the state of affairs in Germany had greatly
+changed. The direct dependence of the nobility and clergy upon the
+Emperor, established by the political system of Charlemagne, was almost
+at an end; the country was covered with petty sovereignties, which stood
+between the chief ruler and the people. The estates which were formerly
+given to the bishops, abbots, nobles, and others who had rendered
+special service to the Empire, were called <i>Lehen</i>, or "liens" of the
+monarch (as explained in <a href="#CHAPTER_X">Chapter X.</a>); they were granted for a term of
+years, or for life, and afterwards reverted to the royal hands. In
+return for such grants, the endowed lords were obliged to secure the
+loyalty of their retainers, the people dwelling upon their lands, and,
+in case of war, to follow the Emperor's banner with their proportion of
+fighting men.</p>
+
+<p>So long as the wars were with external foes, with opportunities for both
+glory and plunder, the service was willingly performed; but when they
+came as a consequence of family quarrels, and every portion of the
+empire was liable to be wasted in its turn, the Emperor's "vassals,"
+both<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span> spiritual and temporal, began to grow restive. Their military
+service subjected them to the chance of losing their <i>Lehen</i>, and they
+therefore demanded to have absolute possession of the lands. The next
+and natural step was to have the possession, and the privileges
+connected with it, made hereditary in their families; and these claims
+were very generally secured, throughout Germany, during the reign of
+Karl the Fat. Only in Saxony and Friesland, and among the Alps, were the
+common people proprietors of the soil.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">912. THE WARS OF KING KONRAD.</div>
+
+<p>The nobles, or large land-owners, for their common defence against the
+exercise of the Imperial power, united under the rule of Counts or
+Dukes, by whom the former division of the population into separate
+tribes or nations was continued. The Emperors, also, found this division
+convenient, but they always claimed the right to set aside the smaller
+rulers, or to change the boundaries of their states for reasons of
+policy.</p>
+
+<p>Charles the Silly, of the Carolingian line, reigned in France in 911,
+and was therefore, according to the family compact, the heir to Ludwig
+the Child. Moreover, the Pope, Stephen IV., had threatened with the
+curse of the Church all those who should give allegiance to an Emperor
+who was not of Carolingian blood. Nevertheless, the German princes and
+nobles were now independent enough to defy both tradition and Papal
+authority. They held a Diet at Forchheim, and decided to elect their own
+king. They would have chosen Otto, Duke of the Saxons,&mdash;a man of great
+valor, prudence and nobility of character&mdash;but he felt himself to be too
+old for the duties of the royal office, and he asked the Diet to confer
+it on Konrad, Duke of the Franks. The latter was then almost unanimously
+chosen, and immediately crowned by Archbishop Hatto of Mayence.</p>
+
+<p>Konrad was a brave, gay, generous monarch, who soon rose into high favor
+with the people. His difficulty lay in the jealousy of other princes,
+who tried to strengthen themselves by restricting his authority. He
+first lost the greater part of Lorraine, and then, on attempting to
+divide Thuringia and Saxony, which were united under Henry, the son of
+Duke Otto, his army was literally cut to pieces. A Saxon song of
+victory, written at the time, says, "The lower world was too small to
+receive the throngs of the enemies slain."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">917.</div>
+
+<p>Arnulf of Bavaria and the Counts Berthold and Erchanger of Suabia
+defeated the Hungarians in a great battle<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span> near the river Inn, in 913,
+and felt themselves strong enough to defy Konrad. He succeeded in
+defeating and deposing them; but Arnulf fled to the Hungarians and
+incited them to a new invasion of Germany. They came in two bodies, one
+of which marched through Bavaria and Suabia to the Rhine, the other
+through Thuringia and Saxony to Bremen, plundering, burning and slaying
+on their way. The condition of the Empire became so desperate that
+Konrad appealed for assistance to the Pope, who ordered an Episcopal
+Synod to be held in 917, but not much was done by the Bishops except to
+insist upon the payment of tithes to the Church. Then Konrad, wounded in
+repelling a new invasion of the Hungarians, looked forward to death as a
+release from his trouble. Feeling his end approaching, he summoned his
+brother Eberhard, gave him the royal crown and sceptre, and bade him
+carry them to Duke Henry of Saxony, the enemy of his throne, declaring
+that the latter was the only man with power and intelligence enough to
+rule Germany.</p>
+
+<p>Henry was already popular as the son of Otto, and it was probably quite
+as much their respect for his character as for Konrad's last request,
+which led many of the German nobles to accompany Eberhard and join him
+in offering the crown. They found Henry in a pleasant valley near the
+Hartz, engaged in catching finches, and he was thenceforth generally
+called "Henry the Fowler" by the people. He at once accepted the trust
+confided to his hands: a Diet of the Franks and Saxons was held at
+Fritzlar the next year, 919, and he was there lifted upon the shield and
+hailed as King. But when Archbishop Hatto proposed to anoint him king
+with the usual religious ceremonies, he declined, asserting that he did
+not consider himself worthy to be more than a king of the people. Both
+he and his wife Mathilde were descendants of Wittekind, the foe and
+almost the conqueror of Charlemagne.</p>
+
+<p>Neither Suabia nor Bavaria were represented at the Diet of Fritzlar.
+This meant resistance to Henry's authority, and he accordingly marched
+at once into Southern Germany. Burkhard, Duke of Suabia, gave in his
+submission without delay; but Arnulf of Bavaria made preparations for
+resistance. The two armies came together near Ratisbon: all was ready
+for battle, when king Henry summoned Arnulf to meet him alone, between
+their camps. At this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</span> interview he spoke with so much wisdom and
+persuasion that Arnulf finally yielded, and Henry's rights were
+established without the shedding of blood.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">921. TREATY WITH FRANCE.</div>
+
+<p>In the meantime Lorraine, under its Duke, Giselbert, had revolted, and
+Charles the Silly, by unexpectedly crossing the frontier, gained
+possession of Alsatia, as far as the Rhine. Henry marched against him,
+but, as in the case of Arnulf, asked for a personal interview before
+engaging in battle. The two kings met on an island in the Rhine, near
+Bonn: the French army was encamped on the western, and the German army
+on the eastern bank of the river, awaiting the result. Charles the Silly
+was soon brought to terms by his shrewd, intelligent rival: on the 7th
+of November, 921, a treaty was signed by which the former boundary
+between France and Germany was reaffirmed. Soon afterwards, Giselbert of
+Lorraine was sent as a prisoner to Henry, but the latter, pleased with
+his character, set him free, gave him his daughter in marriage, and thus
+secured his allegiance to the German throne.</p>
+
+<p>In this manner, within five or six years after he was chosen king, Henry
+had accomplished his difficult task. Chiefly by peaceful means, by a
+combination of energy, patience and forbearance, he had subdued the
+elements of disorder in Germany, and united both princes and people
+under his rule. He was now called upon to encounter the Hungarians, who,
+in 924, again invaded both Northern and Southern Germany. The walled and
+fortified cities, such as Ratisbon, Augsburg and Constance, were safe
+from their attacks, but in the open field they were so powerful that
+Henry found himself unable to cope with them. His troops only dared to
+engage in skirmishes with the smaller roving bands, in one of which, by
+great good fortune, they captured one of the Hungarian chiefs, or
+princes. A large amount of treasure was offered for his ransom, but
+Henry refused it, and asked for a truce of nine years, instead. The
+Hungarians finally agreed to this, on condition that an annual tribute
+should be paid to them during the time.</p>
+
+<p>This was the bravest and wisest act of king Henry's life. He took upon
+himself the disgrace of the tribute, and then at once set about
+organizing his people and developing their strength. The truce of nine
+years was not too long for the work upon which he entered. He began by
+forcing the people to observe a stricter military discipline, by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</span>
+teaching his Saxon foot-soldiers to fight on horseback, and by
+strengthening the defences along his eastern frontier. Hamburg,
+Magdeburg and Halle were at this time the most eastern German towns, and
+beyond or between them, especially towards the south, there were no
+strong points which could resist invasion. Henry carefully surveyed the
+ground and began the erection of a series of fortified enclosures. Every
+ninth man of the district was called upon to serve as garrison-soldier,
+while the remaining eight cultivated the land. One-third of the harvests
+was stored in these fortresses, wherein, also, the people were required
+to hold their markets and their festivals. Thus Quedlinburg, Merseburg,
+Meissen and other towns soon arose within the fortified limits. From
+these achievements Henry is often called in German History, "the Founder
+of Cities."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">928.</div>
+
+<p>Having somewhat accustomed the people to this new form of military
+service, and constantly exercised the nobles and their men-at-arms in
+sham fights and tournaments (which he is said to have first instituted),
+Henry now tested them in actual war. The Slavonic tribes east of the
+Elbe had become the natural and hereditary enemies of the Germans, and
+an attack upon them hardly required a pretext. The present province of
+Brandenburg, the basis of the Prussian kingdom, was conquered by Henry
+in 928; and then, after a successful invasion of Bohemia, he gradually
+extended his annexation to the Oder. The most of the Slavonic population
+were slaughtered without mercy, and the Saxons and Thuringians,
+spreading eastward, took possession of their vacant lands. Finally, in
+932, Henry conquered Lusatia (now Eastern Saxony); Bohemia was already
+tributary, and his whole eastern frontier was thereby advanced from the
+Baltic at Stettin to the Danube at Vienna.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">933. VICTORY OVER THE HUNGARIANS.</div>
+
+<p>By this time the nine years of truce with the Hungarians were at an end,
+and when the ambassadors of the latter came to the German Court to
+receive their tribute, they were sent back with empty hands. A tradition
+states that Henry ordered an old, mangy dog to be given to them, instead
+of the usual gold and silver. A declaration of war followed, as he had
+anticipated; but the Hungarians seem to have surprised him by the
+rapidity of their movements. Contrary to their previous custom, they
+undertook a winter campaign, overrunning Thuringia and Saxony in such
+immense numbers that the king did not immediately venture<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</span> to oppose
+them. He waited until their forces were divided in the search for
+plunder, then fell upon a part and defeated them. Shortly afterwards he
+moved against their main army, and on the 15th of March, 933, after a
+bloody battle (which is believed to have been fought in the vicinity of
+Merseburg), was again conqueror. The Hungarians fled, leaving their
+camp, treasures and accumulated plunder in Henry's hands. They were
+never again dangerous to Northern Germany.</p>
+
+<p>After this came a war with the Danish king, Gorm, who had crossed the
+Eider and taken Holstein. Henry brought it to an end, and added
+Schleswig to his dominion rather by diplomacy than by arms. After his
+long and indefatigable exertions, the Empire enjoyed peace; its
+boundaries were extended and secured; all the minor rulers submitted to
+his sway, and his influence over the people was unbounded. But he was
+not destined to enjoy the fruits of his achievements. A stroke of
+apoplexy warned him to set his house in order; so, in the spring of 936,
+he called together a Diet at Erfurt, which accepted his second son,
+Otto, as his successor. Although he left two other sons, no proposition
+was made to divide Germany among them. The civil wars of the Merovingian
+and Carolingian dynasties, during nearly 400 years, compelled the
+adoption of a different system of succession; and the reigning Dukes and
+Counts were now so strong that they bowed reluctantly even to the
+authority of a single monarch.</p>
+
+<p>Henry died on the 20th of July, 936, not sixty years old. His son and
+successor, Otto, was twenty-four,&mdash;a stern, proud man, but brave, firm,
+generous and intelligent. He was married to Editha, the daughter of
+Athelstan, the Saxon king of England. A few weeks after his father's
+death, he was crowned with great splendor in the cathedral of
+Charlemagne, at Aix-la-Chapelle. All the Dukes and Bishops of the realm
+were present, and the new Emperor was received with universal
+acclamation. At the banquet which followed, the Dukes of Lorraine,
+Franconia, Suabia, and Bavaria, served as Chamberlain, Steward,
+Cupbearer and Marshal. It was the first national event of a spontaneous
+character, which took place in Germany, and now, for the first time, a
+German Empire seemed to be a reality.</p>
+
+<p>The history of Otto's reign fulfilled, at least to the people of his
+day, the promise of his coronation. Like his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</span> father, his inheritance
+was to include wars with internal and external foes; he met and carried
+them to an end, with an energy equal to that of Henry I., but without
+the same prudence and patience. He made Germany the first power of the
+civilized world, yet he failed to unite the discordant elements of which
+it was composed, and therefore was not able to lay the foundation of a
+distinct <i>nation</i>, such as was even then slowly growing up in France.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">937.</div>
+
+<p>He was first called upon to repel invasions of the Bohemians and the
+Wends, in Prussia. He entrusted the subjection of the latter to a Saxon
+Count, Hermann Billung, and marched himself against the former. Both
+wars lasted for some time, but they were finally successful. The
+Hungarians, also, whose new inroad reached even to the banks of the
+Loire, were twice defeated, and so discouraged that they never
+afterwards attempted to invade either Thuringia or Saxony.</p>
+
+<p>Worse troubles, however, were brewing within the realm. Eberhard, Duke
+of the Franks (the same who had carried his brother Konrad's crown to
+Otto's father), had taken into his own hands the punishment of a Saxon
+noble, instead of referring the case to the king. The latter compelled
+Eberhard to pay a fine of a hundred pounds of silver, and ordered that
+the Frank freemen who assisted him should carry dogs in their arms to
+the royal castle,&mdash;a form of punishment which was then considered very
+disgraceful. After the order had been carried into effect, Otto received
+the culprits kindly and gave them rich presents; but they went home
+brooding revenge.</p>
+
+<p>Eberhard allied himself with Thankmar, Otto's own half-brother by a
+mother from whom Henry I. had been divorced before marrying Mathilde.
+Giselbert, Duke of Lorraine, Otto's brother-in-law, joined the
+conspiracy, and even many of the Saxon nobles, who were offended because
+the command of the army sent against the Wends had been given to Count
+Hermann, followed his example. Otto's position was very critical, and if
+there had been more harmony of action among the conspirators, he might
+have lost his throne. In the struggle which ensued, Thankmar was slain
+and Duke Eberhard forced to surrender. But the latter was not yet
+subdued. During the rebellion he had taken Otto's younger brother,
+Henry, prisoner; he secured the latter's confidence, tempted him with
+the prospect of being chosen king in case<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</span> Otto was overthrown, and then
+sent him as his intercessor to the conqueror.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">939. REVOLT OF OTTO'S BROTHER, HENRY.</div>
+
+<p>Thus, while Otto supposed the movement had been crushed, Eberhard,
+Giselbert of Lorraine and Henry, who had meantime joined the latter,
+were secretly preparing a new rebellion. As soon as Otto discovered the
+fact, he collected an army and hastened to the Rhine. He had crossed the
+river with only a small part of his troops, the remainder being still
+encamped upon the eastern bank, when Giselbert and Henry suddenly
+appeared with a great force. Otto at first gave himself up for lost, but
+determined at least to fall gallantly, he and his followers fought with
+such desperation that they won a signal victory. Giselbert retreated to
+Lorraine, whither Otto was prevented from following him by new troubles
+among the Saxons and the subject Wends between the Elbe and Oder.</p>
+
+<p>The rebellious princes now sought the help of the king of France, Louis
+IV. (called <i>d'Outre-mer</i>, or "from beyond sea," because he had been an
+exile in England). He marched into Alsatia with a French army, while
+Duke Eberhard and the Archbishop of Mayence added their forces to those
+of Giselbert and Henry. All the territory west of the Rhine fell into
+their hands, and the danger seemed so great that many of the smaller
+German princes began to waver in their fidelity to Otto. He, however,
+hastened to Alsatia, defeated the French, and laid siege to the fortress
+of Breisach (half-way between Strasburg and Basel), although Giselbert
+was then advancing into Westphalia. A small band who remained true to
+him met the latter and forced him back upon the Rhine; and there, in a
+battle fought near Andernach, Eberhard was slain and Giselbert drowned
+in attempting to fly.</p>
+
+<p>This was the turning-point in Otto's fortunes. The French retreated, all
+the supports of the rebellion fell away from it, and in a short time the
+king's authority was restored throughout the whole of Germany. These
+events occurred during the year 939. The following year Otto marched to
+Paris, which, however, was too strongly fortified to be taken. An
+irregular war between the two kingdoms lasted for some time longer, and
+was finally terminated by a personal interview between Otto and Louis
+IV., at which the ancient boundaries were reaffirmed, Lorraine remaining
+German.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">940.</div>
+
+<p>Henry, pardoned for the second time, was unable to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</span> maintain himself as
+Duke of Lorraine, to which position Otto had appointed him. Enraged at
+being set aside, he united with the Archbishop of Mayence in a
+conspiracy against his brother's life. It was arranged that the murder
+should be committed during the Easter services, in Quedlinburg. The plot
+was discovered, the accomplices tried and executed, and Henry thrown
+into prison. During the celebration of the Christmas mass, in the
+cathedral at Frankfort, the same year, he suddenly appeared before Otto,
+and, throwing himself upon his knees before him, prayed for pardon. Otto
+was magnanimous enough to grant it, and afterwards to forget as well as
+forgive. He bestowed new favors upon Henry, who never again became
+unfaithful.</p>
+
+<p>During this time the Saxon Counts, Gero and Hermann, had held the Wends
+and other Slavonic tribes at bay, and gradually filled the conquered
+territory beyond the Elbe with fortified posts, around which German
+colonists rapidly clustered. Following the example of Charlemagne, the
+people were forcibly converted to Christianity, and new churches and
+monasteries were founded. The Bohemians were made tributary, the
+Hungarians repelled, and in driving back an invasion of the king of
+Denmark, Harold Blue-tooth, Otto marched to the extremity of the
+peninsula of Jutland, and there hurled his spear into the sea, as a sign
+that he had taken possession of the land.</p>
+
+<p>He now ruled a wider, and apparently a more united realm, than his
+father. The power of the independent Dukes was so weakened, that they
+felt themselves subjected to his favor; he was everywhere respected and
+feared, although he never became popular with the masses of the people.
+He lacked the easy, familiar ways with them which distinguished his
+father and Charlemagne; his manner was cold and haughty, and he
+surrounded himself with pomp and ceremony. He married his eldest son,
+Ludolf, to the daughter of the Duke of Suabia, whom the former soon
+succeeded in his rule; he gave Lorraine to his son-in-law, Konrad, and
+Bavaria to his brother Henry, while he retained the Franks, Thuringians
+and Saxons under his own personal rule. Germany might have grown into a
+united nation, if the good qualities of his line could have been
+transmitted without its inordinate ambition.</p>
+
+<p>While thus laying, as he supposed, the permanent basis of his power,
+Otto was called upon by the king of France, who,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</span> having married the
+widow of Giselbert of Lorraine, was now his brother-in-law, for help
+against Duke Hugo, a powerful pretender to the French throne. In 946 he
+marched at the head of an army of 32,000 men, to assist king Louis; but,
+although he reached Normandy, he did not succeed in his object, and
+several years elapsed before Hugo was brought to submission.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">951. OTTO'S VISIT TO ITALY.</div>
+
+<p>In the year 951, Otto's attention was directed to Italy, which, since
+the fall of the Carolingian Empire, had been ravaged in turn by
+Saracens, Greeks, Normans and even Hungarians. The Papal power had
+become almost a shadow, and the title of Roman Emperor was practically
+extinct. Berengar of Friuli, a rough, brutal prince, called himself king
+of Italy, and demanded for his son the hand of Adelheid, the widow of
+his predecessor. On her refusal to accept Berengar's offer, she was
+imprisoned and treated with great indignity, but finally she succeeded
+in sending a messenger to Germany, imploring Otto's intervention. His
+wife, Editha of England, was dead: he saw, in Adelheid's appeal, an
+opportunity to acquire an ascendency in Italy, and resolved to claim her
+hand for himself.</p>
+
+<p>Accompanied by his brother Henry of Bavaria, his son Ludolf of Suabia,
+and his son-in-law Konrad of Lorraine, with their troops, Otto crossed
+the Alps, defeated Berengar, took possession of Verona, Pavia, Milan and
+other cities of Northern Italy, and assumed the title of king of
+Lombardy. He then applied for Adelheid's hand, which was not refused,
+and the two were married with great pomp at Pavia. Ludolf, incensed at
+his father for having taken a second wife, returned immediately to
+Germany, and there stirred up such disorder that Otto relinquished his
+intention of visiting Rome, and followed him. After much negotiation,
+Berengar was allowed to remain king of Lombardy, on condition of giving
+up all the Adriatic shore, from near Venice to Istria, which was then
+annexed to Bavaria.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">954.</div>
+
+<p>Duke Henry, therefore, profited most by the Italian campaign, and this
+excited the jealousy of Ludolf and Konrad, who began to conspire both
+against him, and against Otto's authority. The trouble increased until
+it became an open rebellion, which convulsed Germany for nearly four
+years. If Otto had been personally popular, it might have been soon
+suppressed; but the petty princes and the people inclined to one side or
+the other, according to the prospects of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</span> success, and the Empire,
+finally, seemed on the point of falling to pieces. In this crisis, there
+came what appeared to be a new misfortune, but which, most unexpectedly,
+put an end to the wasting strife. The Hungarians again broke into
+Germany, and Ludolf and Konrad granted them permission to pass through
+their territory to reach and ravage their father's lands. This alliance
+with an hereditary and barbarous enemy turned the whole people to Otto's
+side; the long rebellion came rapidly to an end, and all troubles were
+settled by a Diet held at the close of 954.</p>
+
+<p>The next year the Hungarians came again in greater numbers than ever,
+and, crossing Bavaria, laid siege to Augsburg. But Otto now marched
+against them with all the military strength of Germany, and on the 10th
+of August, 955, met them in battle. Konrad of Lorraine led the attack
+and decided the fate of the day, but, in the moment of victory, having
+lifted his visor to breathe more freely, a Hungarian arrow pierced his
+neck and he fell dead. Nearly all the enemy were slaughtered or drowned
+in the river Lech. Only a few scattered fugitives returned to Hungary to
+tell the tale, and from that day no new invasion was ever undertaken
+against Germany. On the contrary, the Bavarians pressed eastward and
+spread themselves along the Danube and among the Styrian Alps, while the
+Bohemians took possession of Moravia, so that the boundary lines between
+the three races then became very nearly what they are at the present
+day.</p>
+
+<p>Soon afterwards, Otto lost his brother Henry of Bavaria, and, two years
+later, his son Ludolf, who died in Italy, while endeavoring to make
+himself king of the Lombards. A new disturbance in Saxony was
+suppressed, and with it there was an end of civil war in Germany, during
+Otto's reign. We have already stated that he was proud and ambitious:
+the crown of a "Roman Emperor," which still seemed the highest title on
+earth, had probably always hovered before his mind, and now the
+opportunity of attaining it came. The Pope, John XII., a boy of
+seventeen, who found himself in danger of being driven from Rome by
+Berengar, the Lombard, sent a pressing call for help to Otto, who
+entered upon his second journey to Italy in 961.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">962. OTTO'S CORONATION IN ROME.</div>
+
+<p>He first called a Diet together at Worms, and procured the acceptance of
+his son Otto, then only 6 years old, as his successor. The child was
+solemnly crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</span> the Archbishop Bruno of Cologne
+was appointed his guardian and vicegerent of the realm during Otto's
+absence, and the latter was left free to carry out his designs beyond
+the Alps. He was received with rejoicing by the Lombards, and the iron
+crown of the kingdom was placed on his head by the Archbishop of Milan.
+He then advanced to Rome and was crowned Emperor in St. Peter's by the
+boy-pope, on the 2d of February, 962. Nearly a generation had elapsed
+since the title had been held or claimed by any one, and its renewal at
+this time was the source of centuries of loss and suffering to Germany.
+It was a sham and a delusion,&mdash;a will-o'-the wisp which led rulers and
+people aside from the true path of civilization, and left them
+floundering in quagmires of war.</p>
+
+<p>Otto had hardly returned to Lombardy before the Pope, who began to see
+that he had crowned his own master, conspired against him. The Pope
+called on the Byzantine Emperor for aid, incited the Hungarians, and
+even entered into correspondence with the Saracens in Corsica. All Italy
+became so turbulent that three years elapsed before the Emperor Otto
+succeeded in restoring order. He took Rome by force of arms, deposed the
+Pope and set up another of his own appointment, banished Berengar, and
+compelled the universal recognition of his own sovereignty. Then, with
+the remnants of an army which had almost been destroyed by war and
+pestilence, he returned to Germany in 965.</p>
+
+<p>A grand festival was held at Cologne, to celebrate his new honors and
+victories. His mother, the aged queen Mathilde, Lothar, reigning king of
+France, and all the Dukes and Princes of Germany, were present, and the
+people came in multitudes from far and wide. The internal peace of the
+Empire had not been disturbed during Otto's absence, and his journey of
+inspection was a series of peaceful and splendid pageants. An
+insurrection having broken out among the Lombards the following year, he
+sent Duke Burkhard of Suabia to suppress it in his name; but it soon
+became evident that his own presence was necessary. He thereupon took a
+last farewell of his old mother, and returned to Italy in the autumn of
+966.</p>
+
+<p>Lombardy was soon brought to order, and the rebellious nobles banished
+to Germany. As Otto approached Rome, the people restored the Pope he had
+appointed, whom they had in the meantime deposed: they were also
+compelled to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</span> give up the leaders of the revolt, who were tried and
+executed. Otto claimed the right of appointing the Civil Governor of
+Rome, who should rule in his name. He gave back to the Pope the
+territory which the latter had received from Pippin the Short, two
+hundred years before, but nearly all of which had been taken from the
+Church by the Lombards. In return, the Pope agreed to govern this
+territory as a part, or province, of the Empire, and to crown Otto's son
+as Emperor, in advance of his accession to the throne.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">966.</div>
+
+<p>These new successes seem to have quite turned Otto's mind from the duty
+he owed to the German people; henceforth he only strove to increase the
+power and splendor of his house. His next step was to demand the hand of
+the Princess Theophania, a daughter of one of the Byzantine Emperors,
+for his son Otto. The Eastern Court neither consented nor refused;
+ambassadors were sent back and forth until the Emperor became weary of
+the delay. Following the suggestion of his offended pride, he undertook
+a campaign against Southern Italy, parts of which still acknowledged the
+Byzantine rule. The war lasted for several years, without any positive
+result; but the hand of Theophania was finally promised to young Otto,
+and she reached Rome in the beginning of the year 972. Her beauty, grace
+and intelligence at once won the hearts of Otto's followers, who had
+been up to that time opposed to the marriage. Although her betrothed
+husband was only seventeen, and she was a year younger, the nuptials
+were celebrated in April, and the Emperor then immediately returned to
+Germany with his Court and army.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">973. DEATH OF OTTO THE GREAT.</div>
+
+<p>All that Otto could show, to balance his six years' neglect of his own
+land and people, was the title of "the Great," which the Italians
+bestowed upon him, and a Princess of Constantinople, who spoke Greek and
+looked upon the Germans as barbarians, for his daughter-in-law. His
+return was celebrated by a grand festival held at Quedlinburg, at
+Easter, 973. All the Dukes and reigning Counts of the Empire were
+present, the kings of Bohemia and Poland, ambassadors from
+Constantinople, from the Caliph of Cordova, in Spain, from Bulgaria,
+Russia, Denmark and Hungary. Even Charlemagne never enjoyed such a
+triumph; but in the midst of the festivities, Otto's first friend and
+supporter, Hermann Billung, whom he had made Duke of Saxony, suddenly
+died. The Emperor became impressed with the idea<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</span> that his own end was
+near: he retired to Memleben in Thuringia, where his father died, and on
+the 6th of May was stricken with apoplexy, at the age of sixty-one. He
+died, seated in his chair and surrounded by his princely guests, and was
+buried in Magdeburg, by the side of his first wife, Editha of England.</p>
+
+<p>Otto completed the work which Henry commenced, and left Germany the
+first power in Europe. Had his mind been as clear and impartial, his
+plans as broad and intelligent, as Charlemagne's, he might have laid the
+basis of a permanent Empire; but, in an evil hour, he called the phantom
+of the sceptre of the world from the grave of Roman power, and,
+believing that he held it, turned the ages that were to follow him into
+the path of war, disunion and misery.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">THE DECLINE OF THE SAXON DYNASTY.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(973&mdash;1024.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Otto II., "The Red."</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Conquest of Bavaria.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Invasion of Lothar of France.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Otto's March to Paris.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Journey to Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Defeat by the Saracens, and Escape.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Diet at Verona.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Otto's Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Theophania as Regent.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Alienation of France.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Otto III.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Dealings with the Popes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Negotiations with the Poles.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Fantastic Actions.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Death in Rome.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Youthful Popes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Henry of Bavaria chosen by the Germans.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His character.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;War with Poland.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;March to Italy, and Coronation.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Other Wars.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Henry repels the Byzantines.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Character of his Reign.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Piety.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">973.</div>
+
+<p>Otto II., already crowned as king and Emperor, began his reign as one
+authorized "by the grace of God." Although only eighteen years old, and
+both physically and intellectually immature, his succession was
+immediately acknowledged by the rulers of the smaller German States. He
+was short and slender, and of such a ruddy complexion that the people
+gave him the name of "Otto the Red." He had been carefully educated, and
+possessed excellent qualities of heart and mind, but he had not been
+tried by adversity, like his father and grandfather, and failed to
+inherit either the patience or the energy of either. At first his
+mother, the widowed Empress Adelheid, conducted the government of the
+Empire, and with such prudence that all were satisfied. Soon, however,
+the Empress Theophania became jealous of her mother-in-law's influence,
+and the latter was compelled to retire to her former home in Burgundy.</p>
+
+<p>The first internal trouble came from Henry II., Duke of Bavaria, the son
+of Otto the Great's rebellious brother, and cousin of Otto II. He was
+ambitious to convert Bavaria into an independent kingdom: in fact he had
+himself crowned king at Ratisbon, but in 976 he was defeated, taken
+prisoner and banished to Holland by the Emperor. Bavaria was united to
+Suabia, and the Eastern provinces on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</span> the Danube were erected into a
+separate principality, which was the beginning of Austria as a new
+German power.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">978. BATTLE WITH THE SARACENS.</div>
+
+<p>At the same time Otto II. was forced to carry on new wars with Bohemia
+and Denmark, in both of which he maintained the frontiers established by
+his father. But Lothar, king of France, used the opportunity to get
+possession of Lorraine and even to take Aix-la-Chapelle, Charlemagne's
+capital, in the summer of 978. The German people were so enraged at this
+treacherous invasion that Otto II. had no difficulty in raising an army
+of 60,000 men, with which he marched to Paris in the autumn of the same
+year. The city was so well fortified and defended that he found it
+prudent to raise the siege as winter approached; but first, on the
+heights of Montmartre, his army chanted a <i>Te Deum</i> as a warning to the
+enemy within the walls. The strife was prolonged until 980, when it was
+settled by a personal interview of the Emperor and the king of France,
+at which Lorraine was restored to Germany.</p>
+
+<p>In 981 Otto II. went to Italy. His mother, Adelheid, came to Pavia to
+meet him, and a complete reconciliation took place between them. Then he
+advanced to Rome, quieted the dissensions in the government of the city,
+and received as his guests Konrad, king of Burgundy, and Hugh Capet,
+destined to be the ancestor of a long line of French kings. At this time
+both the Byzantine Greeks and the Saracens were ravaging Southern Italy,
+and it was Otto II.'s duty, as Roman Emperor, to drive them from the
+land. The two bitterly hostile races became allies, in order to resist
+him, and the war was carried on fiercely until the summer of 982 without
+any result; then, on the 13th of July, on the coast of Calabria, the
+Imperial army was literally cut to pieces by the Saracens. The Emperor
+escaped capture by riding into the Mediterranean and swimming to a ship
+which lay near. When he was taken on board he found it to be a Greek
+vessel; but whether he was recognized or not (for the accounts vary), he
+prevailed upon the captain to set him ashore at Rossano, where the
+Empress Theophania was awaiting his return from battle.</p>
+
+<p>This was a severe blow, but it aroused the national spirit of Germany.
+Otto II., having returned to Northern Italy, summoned a general Diet of
+the Empire to meet at Verona in the summer of 983. All the subject Dukes
+and Princes attended, even the kings of Burgundy and Bohemia. Here,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</span> for
+the first time, the Lombard Italians appeared on equal footing with the
+Saxons, Franks and Bavarians, acknowledged the authority of the Empire,
+and elected Otto II.'s son, another Otto, only three years old, as his
+successor. Preparations were made for a grand war against the Saracens
+and the Eastern Empire, but before they were completed Otto II. died, at
+the age of twenty-eight, in Rome. He was buried in St. Peter's.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">991.</div>
+
+<p>The news of his death reached Aix-la-Chapelle at the very time when his
+infant son was crowned king as Otto III., in accordance with the decree
+of the Diet of Verona. A dispute now arose as to the guardianship of the
+child, between the widowed Empress Theophania and Henry II. of Bavaria,
+who at once returned from his exile in Holland. The latter aimed at
+usurping the Imperial throne, but he was incautious enough to betray his
+design too soon, and met with such opposition that he was lucky in being
+allowed to retain his former place as Duke of Bavaria. The Empress
+Theophania reigned in Germany in her son's name, while Adelheid, widow
+of Otto the Great, reigned in Italy. The former, however, had the
+assistance of Willigis, Archbishop of Mayence, a man of great wisdom and
+integrity. He was the son of a poor Saxon wheelwright, and chose for his
+coat-of-arms as an Archbishop, a wheel, with the words: "Willigis,
+forget not thine origin." When Theophania died, in 991, her place was
+taken by Otto III.'s grandmother, Adelheid, who chose the Dukes of
+Saxony, Suabia, Bavaria and Tuscany as her councillors.</p>
+
+<p>During this time the Wends in Prussia again arose, and after a long and
+wasting war, in which the German settlements beyond the Elbe received
+little help from the Imperial government, the latter were either
+conquered or driven back. The relations between Germany and France were
+also actually those of war, although there were no open hostilities. The
+struggle for the throne of France, between Duke Charles, the last of the
+Carolingian line, and Hugh Capet, which ended in the triumph of the
+latter, broke the last link of blood and tradition connecting the two
+countries. They had been jealous relatives hitherto; now they became
+strangers, and it is not long until History records them as enemies.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">996. OTTO III.'S CORONATION IN ROME.</div>
+
+<p>When Otto III. was sixteen years old, in 996, he took the Imperial
+government in his own hands. His education had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</span> been more Greek than
+German; he was ashamed of his Saxon blood, and named himself, in his
+edicts, "a Greek by birth and a Roman by right of rule." He was a
+strange, unsteady, fantastic character, whose only leading idea was to
+surround himself with the absurd ceremonies of the Byzantine Court, and
+to make Rome the capital of his Empire. His reign was a farce, compared
+with that of his grandfather, the great Otto, and yet it was the natural
+consequence of the latter's perverted ambition.</p>
+
+<p>Otto III.'s first act was to march to Rome, in order to be crowned as
+Emperor by the Pope, John XV., in exchange for assisting him against
+Crescentius, a Roman noble who had usurped the civil government. But the
+Pope died before his arrival, and Otto thereupon appointed his own
+cousin, Bruno, a young man of twenty-four, who took the Papal chair as
+Gregory V. The new-made Pope, of course, crowned him as Roman Emperor, a
+few days afterward. The people, in those days, were accustomed to submit
+to any authority, spiritual or political, which was strong enough to
+support its own claims, but this bargain was a little too plain and
+barefaced; and Otto had hardly returned to Germany, before the Roman,
+Crescentius, drove away Gregory V. and set up a new Pope, of his own
+appointment.</p>
+
+<p>The Wends, in Prussia, were giving trouble, and the Scandinavians and
+Danes ravaged all the northern coast of Germany; but the boy emperor,
+without giving a thought to his immediate duty, hastened back to Italy
+in 997, took Crescentius prisoner and beheaded him, barbarously
+mutilated the rival Pope, and reinstated Gregory V. When the latter
+died, in 999, Otto made his own teacher, Gerbert of Rheims, Pope, under
+the name of Sylvester II. In spite of the reverence of the common people
+for the Papal office, they always believed Pope Sylvester to be a
+magician, and in league with the Devil. He was the most learned man of
+his day, and in his knowledge of natural science was far in advance of
+his time; but such accomplishments were then very rare in Italy, and
+unheard of in a Pope. Otto III. remained three years longer in Italy,
+dividing his time between pompous festivals and visits to religious
+anchorites.</p>
+
+<p>In the year 1000 he was recalled to Germany. His father's sister,
+Mathilde, who had governed the country as well as she was able, during
+his absence, was dead, and there were difficulties, not of a political
+nature (for to such he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</span> paid no attention), but in the organization of
+the Church, which he was anxious to settle. The Poles were converted to
+Christianity by this time, and their spiritual head was the Archbishop
+of Magdeburg; but now they demanded a separate and national diocese.
+This Otto granted to their Duke, or king, Boleslaw, with such other
+independent rights, that the authority of the German Empire soon ceased
+to be acknowledged by the Poles. He made a pilgrimage to the tomb of St.
+Adalbert of Prague, who was slain by the Prussian pagans, then visited
+Aix-la-Chapelle, where, following a half-delirious fancy, he descended
+into the vault where lay the body of Charlemagne, in the hope of hearing
+a voice, or receiving a sign, which might direct him how to restore the
+Roman Empire.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1001.</div>
+
+<p>The new Pope, Sylvester II., after Otto III.'s departure from Rome,
+found himself in as difficult a position as his predecessor, Gregory V.
+He was also obliged to call the Emperor to his aid, and the latter
+returned to Italy in 1001. He established his Court in a palace on Mount
+Aventine, in Rome, and maintained his authority for a little while, in
+spite of a fierce popular revolt. Then, becoming restless, yet not
+knowing what to do, he wandered up and down Italy, paid a mysterious
+visit to Venice by night, and finally returned to Rome, to find the
+gates barred against him. He began a siege, but before anything was
+accomplished, he died in 1002, as was generally believed, of poison. The
+nobles and the imperial guards who accompanied him took charge of his
+body, cut their way through a population in rebellion against his rule,
+and carried him over the Alps to Germany, where he was buried in
+Aix-la-Chapelle.</p>
+
+<p>The next year Pope Sylvester II. died, and Rome fell into the hands of
+the Counts of Tusculum, who tried to make the Papacy a hereditary
+dignity in their family. One of them, a boy of seventeen, became Pope as
+John XVI., and during the following thirty years four other boys held
+the office of Head of the Christian Church, crowned Emperors, and
+blessed or excommunicated at their will. This was the end of the grand
+political and spiritual Empire which Charlemagne had planned, two
+centuries before&mdash;a fantastic, visionary youth as Emperor, and a weak,
+ignorant boy as Pope! The effect was the rapid demoralization of princes
+and people, and nothing but the genuine Christianity still existing
+among the latter, from whom the ranks of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</span> priests were recruited,
+saved the greater part of Europe from a relapse into barbarism.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1002. HENRY II. ELECTED.</div>
+
+<p>At Otto III.'s death there were three claimants to the throne, belonging
+to the Saxon dynasty; but his nearest relative, Henry, third Duke of
+Bavaria, and great-grandson of king Henry I. the Fowler, was finally
+elected. Suabia, Saxony and Lorraine did not immediately acquiesce in
+the choice, but they soon found it expedient to submit. Henry's
+authority was thus established within Germany, but on its frontiers and
+in Italy, which was now considered a genuine part of "the Roman Empire,"
+the usual troubles awaited him. He was a man of weak constitution, and
+only average intellect, but well-meaning, conscientious, and probably as
+just as it was possible for him to be under the circumstances. His life,
+as Emperor, was "a battle and a march," but its heaviest burdens were
+inherited from his predecessors. He was obliged to correct twenty years
+of misrule, or rather <i>no rule</i>, and he courageously gave the remainder
+of his life to the task.</p>
+
+<p>The Polish Duke, Boleslaw, sought to unite Bohemia and all the Slavonic
+territory eastward of the Elbe, under his own sway. This brought him
+into direct collision with the claims of Germany, and the question was
+not settled until after three long and bloody wars. Finally, in 1018, a
+treaty was made between Henry II. and Boleslaw, by which Bohemia
+remained tributary to the German Empire, and the province of Meissen (in
+the present kingdom of Saxony) became an appanage of Poland. By this
+time the Wends had secured possession of Northern Prussia, between the
+Elbe and the Oder, thrown off the German rule, and returned to their
+ancient pagan faith.</p>
+
+<p>In Italy, Arduin of Ivrea succeeded in inciting the Lombards to revolt,
+and proclaimed himself king of an independent Italian nation. Henry II.
+crossed the Alps in 1006, and took Pavia, the inhabitants of which city
+rose against him. In the struggle which followed, it was burned to the
+ground. After his return to Germany Arduin recovered his influence and
+power, became practically king, and pressed the Pope, Benedict VIII., so
+hard, that the latter went personally to Henry II. (as Leo III. had gone
+to Charlemagne) and implored his assistance. In the autumn of 1013,
+Henry went with the Pope to Italy, entered Pavia without resistance,
+restored the Papal authority in Rome, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</span> was crowned Emperor in
+February, 1014. He returned immediately afterwards to Germany; and
+Italy, after Arduin's death, the following year, remained comparatively
+quiet.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1018.</div>
+
+<p>Even before the wars with Poland came to an end, in 1018, other troubles
+broke out in the west. There were disturbances along the frontier in
+Flanders, rebellions in Luxemburg and Lorraine, and finally a quarrel
+with Burgundy, the king of which, Rudolf III., was Henry II.'s uncle,
+and had chosen him as his heir. This inheritance gave Germany the
+eastern part of France, nearly to the Mediterranean, and the greater
+portion of Switzerland. But the Burgundian nobles refused to be thus
+transferred, and did not give their consent until after Henry's armies
+had twice invaded their country.</p>
+
+<p>Finally, in 1020, when there was temporary peace throughout the Empire,
+the Cathedral at Bamberg, which the Emperor had taken great pride in
+building, was consecrated with splendid ceremonies. The pope came across
+the Alps to be present, and he employed the opportunity to persuade
+Henry to return to Italy, and free the southern part of the peninsula
+from the Byzantine Greeks, who had advanced as far as Capua and
+threatened Rome. The Emperor consented: in 1021 he marched into Southern
+Italy with a large army, expelled the Greeks from the greater portion of
+their conquered territory, and then, having lost his best troops by
+pestilence, returned home. He there continued to travel to and fro,
+settling difficulties and observing the condition of the people. After
+long struggles, the power of the Empire seemed to be again secured; but
+when he began to strengthen it by the arts of peace, his own strength
+was exhausted. He died near Göttingen, in the summer of 1024, and was
+buried in the Cathedral of Bamberg. With him expired the dynasty of the
+Saxon Emperors, less pitifully, however, than either the Merovingian or
+Carolingian line.</p>
+
+<p>When Otto the Great, towards the close of his reign, neglected Germany
+and occupied himself with establishing his dominion in Italy, he
+prepared the way for the rapid decline of the Imperial power at home, in
+the hands of his successors. The reigning Dukes, Counts, and even the
+petty feudal lords, no longer watched and held subordinate, soon became
+practically independent: except in Friesland, Saxony and the Alps, the
+people had no voice in political matters;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</span> and thus the growth of a
+general national sentiment, such as had been fostered by Charlemagne and
+Henry I., was again destroyed. In proportion as the smaller States were
+governed as if they were separate lands, their populations became
+separated in feeling and interest. Henry II. tried to be an Emperor of
+<i>Germany</i>: he visited Italy rather on account of what he believed to be
+the duties of his office than from natural inclination to reign there;
+but he was not able to restore the same authority at home, as Otto the
+Great had exercised.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1024. END OF HENRY II.'S REIGN.</div>
+
+<p>Henry II. was a pious man, and favored the Roman Church in all
+practicable ways. He made numerous and rich grants of land to churches
+and monasteries, but always with the reservation of his own rights, as
+sovereign. After his death he was made a Saint, by order of the Pope,
+but he failed to live, either as Saint or Emperor, in the traditions of
+the people.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">THE FRANK EMPERORS, TO THE DEATH OF HENRY IV.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1024&mdash;1106.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Konrad II. elected Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Movements against him.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Journey to Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Revolt of Ernest of Suabia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Burgundy attached to the Empire.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Siege of Milan.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Konrad's Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Henry III. succeeds.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Temporary Peace.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Corruptions in the Church.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The "Truce of God."</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Henry III.'s Coronation in Rome.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Rival Popes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;New Troubles in Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Second Visit to Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Return and Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Henry IV.'s Childhood.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Capture.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Archbishops Hanno and Adalbert.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Henry IV. begins to reign.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Revolt and Slaughter of the Saxons.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Pope Gregory VII.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Character and Policy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Henry IV. excommunicated.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Movement against him.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;He goes to Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Humiliation at Canossa.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;War with Rudolf of Suabia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Henry IV. besieges Rome.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Death of Gregory VII.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Rebellions of Henry IV.'s Sons.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Capture, Abdication and Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The First Crusade.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1024.</div>
+
+<p>On the 4th of September, 1024, the German nobles, clergy and people came
+together on the banks of the Rhine, near Mayence, to elect a new
+Emperor. There were fifty or sixty thousand persons in all, forming two
+great camps: on the western bank of the river were the Lorrainese and
+the Rhine-Franks, on the eastern bank the Saxons, Suabians, Bavarians
+and German-Franks. There were two prominent candidates for the throne,
+but neither of them belonged to the established reigning houses, the
+members of which seemed to be so jealous of one another that they
+mutually destroyed their own chances. The two who were brought forward
+were cousins, both named Konrad, and both great-grandsons of Duke
+Konrad, Otto the Great's son-in-law, who fell so gallantly in the great
+battle with the Hungarians, in 955.</p>
+
+<p>For five days the claims of the two were canvassed by the electors. The
+elder Konrad had married Gisela, the widow of Duke Ernest of Suabia,
+which gave him a somewhat higher place among the princes; and therefore
+after the cousins had agreed that either would accept the other's
+election as valid and final, the votes turned to his side. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]<span id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</span></span> people,
+who were present merely as spectators (for they had now no longer any
+part in the election), hailed the new monarch with shouts of joy, and he
+was immediately crowned king of Germany in the Cathedral of Mayence.</p>
+
+<div id="map4" />
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 401px;">
+<a href="images/f409.png">
+<img src="images/f409t.png" width="401" height="600"
+ alt="GERMANY under the Saxon and Frank Emperors. Twelfth Century"
+ title="" />
+</a>
+<p class="caption">GERMANY under the Saxon and Frank Emperors. Twelfth Century</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1024.</div>
+
+<p>Konrad&mdash;who was Konrad II. in the list of German Emperors&mdash;had no
+subjects of his own to support him, like his Saxon predecessors: his
+authority rested upon his own experience, ability and knowledge of
+statesmanship. But his queen, Gisela, was a woman of unusual
+intelligence and energy, and she faithfully assisted him in his duties.
+He was a man of stately and commanding appearance, and seemed so well
+
+fitted for his new dignity that when he made the usual journey through
+Germany, neither Dukes nor people hesitated to give him their
+allegiance. Even the nobles of Lorraine, who were dissatisfied with his
+election, found it prudent to yield without serious opposition.</p>
+
+<p>The death of Henry II., nevertheless, was the signal for three
+threatening movements against the Empire. In Italy the Lombards rose,
+and, in their hatred of what they now considered to be a foreign rule
+(quite forgetting their own German origin), they razed to the ground the
+Imperial palace at Pavia: in Burgundy, king Rudolf declared that he
+would resist Konrad's claim to the sovereignty of the country, which,
+being himself childless, he had promised to Henry II.; and in Poland,
+Boleslaw, who now called himself king, declared that his former treaties
+with Germany were no longer binding upon him. But Konrad II. was favored
+by fortune. The Polish king died, and the power which he had built
+up&mdash;for his kingdom, like that of the Goths, reached from the Baltic to
+the Danube, from the Elbe to Central Russia&mdash;was again shattered by the
+quarrels of his sons. In Burgundy, Duke Rudolf was without heirs, and
+finally found himself compelled to recognize the German sovereign as his
+successor. With Canute, who was then king of Denmark and England, Konrad
+II. made a treaty of peace and friendship, restoring Schleswig to the
+Danish crown, and re-adopting the river Eider as the boundary.</p>
+
+<p>In the spring of 1026, Konrad went to Italy. Pavia shut her gates
+against him, but those of Milan were opened, and the Lombard Bishops and
+nobles came to offer him homage. He was crowned with the iron crown, and
+during the course of the year, all the cities in Northern Italy&mdash;even
+Pavia, which promised to rebuild the Imperial palace&mdash;acknowledged<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</span> his
+sway. In March, 1027, he went to Rome and was crowned Emperor by the
+Pope, John XIX., one of the young Counts of Tusculum, who had succeeded
+to the Papacy as a boy of twelve! King Canute and Rudolf of Burgundy
+were present at the ceremony, and Konrad betrothed his son Henry to the
+Danish princess Gunhilde, daughter of the former.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1027. KONRAD II.'S VISIT TO ITALY.</div>
+
+<p>After the coronation, the Emperor paid a rapid visit to Southern Italy,
+where the Normans had secured a foothold ten years before, and, by
+defending the country against the Greeks and Saracens, were rapidly
+making themselves its rulers. He found it easier to accept them as
+vassals than to drive them out, but in so doing he added a new and
+turbulent element to those which already distracted Italy. However,
+there was now external quiet, at least, and he went back to Germany.</p>
+
+<p>Here his step-son, Ernest II. of Suabia, who claimed the crown of
+Burgundy, had already risen in rebellion against him. He was not
+supported even by his own people, and the Emperor imprisoned him in a
+strong fortress until the Empress Gisela, by her prayers, procured his
+liberation. Konrad offered to give him back his Dukedom, provided he
+would capture and deliver up his intimate friend, Count Werner of
+Kyburg, who was supposed to exercise an evil influence over him. Ernest
+refused, sought his friend, and the two after living for some time as
+outlaws in the Black Forest, at last fell in a conflict with the
+Imperial troops. The sympathies of the people were turned to the young
+Duke by his hard fate and tragic death, and during the Middle Ages the
+narrative poem of "Ernest of Suabia" was sung everywhere throughout
+Germany.</p>
+
+<p>Konrad II. next undertook a campaign against Poland, which was wholly
+unsuccessful: he was driven back to the Elbe with great losses. Before
+he could renew the war, he was called upon to assist Count Albert of
+Austria (as the Bavarian "East-Mark" along the Danube must henceforth be
+called) in a war against Stephen, the first Christian king of Hungary.
+The result was a treaty of peace, which left him free to march once more
+against Poland and reconquer the provinces which Henry II. had granted
+to Boleslaw. The remaining task of his reign, the attachment of Burgundy
+to the German Empire, was also accomplished without any great
+difficulty. King Rudolf, before his death in 1032,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</span> sent his crown and
+sceptre to Konrad II., in fulfilment of a promise made when they met at
+Rome, six years before. Although Count Odo of Champagne, Rudolf's
+nearest relative, disputed the succession, and all southern Burgundy
+espoused his cause, he was unable to resist the Emperor. The latter was
+crowned King of Burgundy at Payerne, in Switzerland, and two years later
+received the homage of nearly all the clergy and nobles of the country
+in Lyons.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1037.</div>
+
+<p>At that time Burgundy comprised the whole valley of the Rhone, from its
+cradle in the Alps to the Mediterranean, the half of Switzerland, the
+cities of Dijon and Besançon and the territory surrounding them. All
+this now became, and for some centuries remained, a part of the German
+Empire. Its relation to the latter, however, resembled that of the
+Lombard Kingdom in Italy: its subjection was acknowledged, it was
+obliged to furnish troops in special emergencies, but it preserved its
+own institutions and laws, and repelled any closer political union. The
+continual intercourse of its people with those of France slowly
+obliterated the original differences between them, and increased the
+hostility of the Burgundians to the German sway. But the rulers of that
+day were not wise enough to see very far in advance, and the sovereignty
+of Burgundy was temporarily a gain to the German power.</p>
+
+<p>Early in 1037 Konrad was called again to Italy by complaints of the
+despotic rule of the local governors, especially of the Archbishop
+Heribert of Milan. This prelate resisted his authority, incited the
+people of Milan to support his pretensions, and became, in a short time,
+the leader of a serious revolt. The Emperor deposed him, prevailed upon
+the Pope, Benedict IX., to place him under the ban of the Church, and
+besieged Milan with all his forces; but in vain. The Bishop defied both
+Emperor and Pope; the city was too strongly fortified to be taken, and
+out of this resistance grew the idea of independence which was
+afterwards developed in the Italian Republics, until the latter
+weakened, wasted, and finally destroyed the authority of the German (or
+"Roman") Emperors in Italy. Konrad was obliged to return home without
+having conquered Archbishop Heribert and the Milanese.</p>
+
+<p>In the spring of 1039 he died suddenly at Utrecht, aged sixty, and was
+buried in the Cathedral at Speyer, which he had begun to build. He was a
+very shrewd and intelligent ruler, who planned better than he was able
+to perform. He<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</span> certainly greatly increased the Imperial power during
+his life, by recognizing the hereditary rights of the smaller princes,
+and replacing the chief reigning Dukes, whenever circumstances rendered
+it possible, by members of his own family. As the selection of the
+bishops and archbishops remained in his hands, the clergy were of course
+his immediate dependents. It was their interest, as well as that of the
+common people among whom knowledge and the arts were beginning to take
+root, that peace should be preserved between the different German
+States, and this could only be done by making the Emperor's authority
+paramount. Nevertheless, Konrad II. was never popular: a historian of
+the times says "no one sighed when his sudden death was announced."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1039. HENRY III.</div>
+
+<p>His son, Henry III., already crowned King of Germany as a boy, now
+mounted the throne. He was twenty-three years old, distinguished for
+bodily as well as mental qualities, and was apparently far more
+competent to rule than many of his predecessors had been. Germany was
+quiet, and he encountered no opposition. The first five years of his
+reign brought him wars with Bohemia and Hungary, but in both, in spite
+of some reverses at the beginning, he was successful. Bohemia was
+reduced to obedience; a part of the Hungarian territory was annexed to
+Austria, and the king, Peter, as well as Duke Casimir of Poland,
+acknowledged themselves dependents of the German Empire. The Czar of
+Muscovy (as Russia was then called) offered Henry, after the death of
+Queen Gunhilde, a princess of his family as a wife; but he declined, and
+selected, instead, Agnes of Poitiers, sister of the Duke of Aquitaine.</p>
+
+<p>But, although the condition of Germany, and, indeed, of the greater part
+of Europe, was now more settled and peaceful than it had been for a long
+time, the consequences of the previous wars and disturbances were very
+severely felt. The land had been visited both by pestilence and famine,
+and there was much suffering; there was also notorious corruption in the
+Church and in civil government; the demoralization of the Popes,
+followed by that of the Romans, and then of the Italians, had spread
+like an infection over all Christendom. When things seemed to be at
+their worst, a change for the better was instituted in a most unexpected
+quarter and in a very singular manner.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1040.</div>
+
+<p>In the monastery of Cluny, in Burgundy, the monks, under the leadership
+of their Abbot, Odilo, determined to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</span> introduce a sterner, a more pious
+and Christian spirit into the life of the age. They began to preach what
+they called the <i>treuga Dei</i>, the "truce" or "peace of God," according
+to which, from every Wednesday evening until the next Monday morning,
+all feuds or fights were forbidden throughout the land. Several hundred
+monasteries in France and Burgundy joined the "Congregation of Cluny";
+the Church accepted the idea of the "peace of God," and the worldly
+rulers were called upon to enforce it. Henry III. saw in this new
+movement an agent which might be used to his own advantage no less than
+for the general good, and he favored it as far as lay in his power. He
+summoned a Diet of the German princes, urged the measure upon them in an
+eloquent speech, and set the example by proclaiming a full and free
+pardon to all who had been his enemies. The change was too sudden to be
+acceptable to many of the princes, but they obeyed as far as convenient,
+and the German people, almost for the first time in their history,
+enjoyed a general peace and security.</p>
+
+<p>The "Congregation of Cluny" preached also against the universal simony,
+by which all clerical dignities were bought and sold. Priests, abbots,
+bishops, and even in some cases, Popes, were accustomed to buy their
+appointment, and the power of the Church was thus often exercised by the
+most unworthy hands. Henry III. saw the necessity of a reform; he sought
+out the most pious, pure and intelligent priests, and made them abbots
+and bishops, refusing all payments or presents. He then undertook to
+raise the Papal power out of the deplorable condition into which it had
+fallen. There were then <i>three</i> rival Popes in Rome, each of whom
+officially excommunicated and cursed the others and their followers.</p>
+
+<p>In the summer of 1046, Henry III. crossed the Alps with a magnificent
+retinue. The quarrels between the nobles and the people, in the cities
+of Lombardy, were compromised at his approach, and he found order and
+submission everywhere. He called a Synod, which was held at Sutri, an
+old Etruscan town, 30 miles north of Rome, and there, with the consent
+of the Bishops, deposed all three of the Popes, appointing the Bishop of
+Bamberg to the vacant office. The latter took the Papal chair under the
+name of Clement II., and the very same day crowned Henry III. as Roman
+Emperor. To the Roman people this seemed no less<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</span> a bargain than the
+case of Otto III., and they grew more than ever impatient of the rule of
+both Emperor and Pope. Their republican instincts, although repressed by
+a fierce and powerful nobility, were kept alive by the examples of
+Venice and Milan, and they dreamed as ardently of a free Rome in the
+twelfth century as in the nineteenth.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1046. APPOINTMENT OF POPES.</div>
+
+<p>Up to this time the Roman clergy and people had taken part, so far as
+the mere forms were concerned, in the election of the Popes. They were
+now compelled (of course very unwillingly) to give up this ancient
+right, and allow the Emperor to choose the candidate, who was then sure
+to be elected by Bishops of Imperial appointment. In fact, during the
+nine remaining years of Henry III.'s reign, he selected three other
+Popes, Clement II. and his first two successors having all died
+suddenly, probably from poison, after very short reigns. But this was
+the end of absolute German authority and Roman submission: within thirty
+years the Christian world beheld a spectacle of a totally opposite
+character.</p>
+
+<p>Henry III. visited Southern Italy, confirmed the Normans in their rule,
+as his father had done, and then returned to Germany. He had reached the
+climax of his power, and the very means he had taken to secure it now
+involved him in troubles which gradually weakened his influence in
+Germany. He was generous, but improvident and reckless: he bestowed
+principalities on personal friends, regardless of hereditary claims or
+the wishes of the people, and gave away large sums of money, which were
+raised by imposing hard terms upon the tenants of the crown-lands. A new
+war with Hungary, and the combined revolt of Godfrey of Lorraine,
+Baldwin of Flanders and Dietrich of Holland against him, diminished his
+military resources; and even his success, at the end of four weary
+years, did not add to his renown. Leo IX., the third Pope of his
+appointment, was called upon to assist him by hurling the ban of the
+Church against the rebellious princes. He also called to his assistance
+Danish and English fleets which assailed Holland and Flanders, while he
+subdued Godfrey of Lorraine. The latter soon afterwards married the
+widowed Countess Beatrix of Tuscany, and thus became ruler of nearly all
+Italy between the Po and the Tiber.</p>
+
+<p>By the year 1051, all the German States except Saxony were governed by
+relatives or personal friends of the Emperor.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</span> In order to counteract
+the power of Bernhard, Duke of the Saxons, of whom he was jealous, he
+made another friend, Adalbert, Archbishop of Bremen, with authority over
+priests and churches in Northern Germany, Denmark, Scandinavia and even
+Iceland. He also built a stately palace at Goslar, at the foot of the
+Hartz Mountains, and made it as often as possible his residence, in
+order to watch the Saxons. Both these measures, however, increased his
+unpopularity with the German people.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1054.</div>
+
+<p>Leo IX., in 1054, marched against the Normans who were threatening the
+southern border of the Roman territory, but was defeated and taken
+prisoner. The victors treated him with all possible reverence, and he
+soon saw the policy of making friends of such a bold and warlike people.
+A treaty of peace was concluded, wherein the Normans acknowledged
+themselves dependents of the Papal power: no notice was taken of the
+fact that they had already acknowledged that of the German-Roman
+Emperors. This event, and the increasing authority of his old enemy,
+Godfrey, in Tuscany, led Henry III. to visit Italy again in 1055.
+Although he held the Diet of Lombardy and a grand review on the
+Roncalian plains near Piacenza, he accomplished nothing by his journey:
+he did not even visit Rome. Leo IX. died the same year, and Henry
+appointed a new Pope, Victor II., who, like his predecessor, became an
+instrument in the hands of Hildebrand of Savona, a monk of Cluny, who
+was even then, although few suspected it, the real head and ruler of the
+Christian world.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor discovered that a plot had been formed to assassinate him on
+his way to Germany. This danger over, he had an interview with king
+Henri of France, which became so violent that he challenged the latter
+to single combat. Henri avoided the issue by marching away during the
+following night. The Emperor retired to his palace at Goslar, in
+October, 1056, where he received a visit from Pope Victor II. He was
+broken in health and hopes, and the news of a defeat of his army by the
+Slavonians in Prussia is supposed to have hastened his end. He died
+during the month, not yet forty years old, leaving a boy of six as his
+successor.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1062. HENRY IV.</div>
+
+<p>The child, Henry IV., had already been crowned King of Germany, and his
+mother, the Empress Agnes, was chosen<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</span> regent during his minority. The
+Bishop of Augsburg was her adviser, and her first acts were those of
+prudence and reconciliation. Peace was concluded with Godfrey of
+Lorraine and Baldwin of Flanders, minor troubles in the States were
+quieted, and the Empire enjoyed the promise of peace. But the Empress,
+who was a woman of a weak, yielding nature, was soon led to make
+appointments which created fresh troubles. The reigning princes used the
+opportunity to make themselves more independent, and their mutual
+jealousy and hostility increased in proportion as they became stronger.
+The nobles and people of Rome renewed their attempt to have a share in
+the choice of a Pope; and, although the appointment was finally left to
+the Empress, the Pope of her selection, Nicholas II., instead of being
+subservient to the interests of the German Empire, allied himself with
+the Normans and with the republican party in the cities of Lombardy.</p>
+
+<p>At home, the troubles of the Empress Agnes increased year by year. A
+conspiracy to murder the young Henry IV. was fortunately discovered;
+then a second, at the head of which was the Archbishop Hanno of Cologne,
+was formed to take him from his mother's care and give him into stronger
+hands. In 1062, when Henry IV. was twelve years old, Hanno visited the
+Empress at Kaiserswerth, on the Rhine. After a splendid banquet, he
+invited the young king to look at his vessel, which lay near the palace;
+but no sooner had the latter stepped upon the deck, than the
+conspirators seized their oars and pushed into the stream. Henry boldly
+sprang into the water; Count Ekbert of Brunswick sprang after him, and
+both, after nearly drowning in their struggle, were taken on board. The
+Empress stood on the shore, crying for help, and her people sought to
+intercept the vessel, but in vain: the plot was successful. A meeting of
+reigning princes, soon afterwards, appointed Archbishop Hanno guardian
+of the young king.</p>
+
+<p>He was a hard, stern master, and Henry IV. became his enemy for life.
+Within a year, Hanno was obliged to yield his place to Adalbert,
+Archbishop of Bremen, who was as much too indulgent as the former had
+been too rigid. The jealousy of the other priests and princes was now
+turned against Adalbert, and his position became so difficult that in
+1065, when Henry IV. was only fifteen years old, he presented him to an
+Imperial Diet, held at Worms, and there invested<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</span> him with the sword,
+the token of manhood. Thenceforth Henry reigned in his own name,
+although Adalbert's guardianship was not given up until a year later.
+Then he was driven away by a union of the other Bishops and the reigning
+princes, and his rival, Hanno, was forced, as chief counsellor, upon the
+angry and unwilling king.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1066.</div>
+
+<p>The next year Henry was married to the Italian princess, Bertha, to whom
+his father had betrothed him as a child. Before three years had elapsed,
+he demanded to be divorced from her; but, although the Archbishop of
+Mayence and the Imperial Diet were persuaded to consent, the Pope,
+Alexander II., following the advice of his Chancellor, Hildebrand of
+Savona, refused his sanction. Henry finally decided to take back his
+wife, whose beauty, patience and forgiving nature compelled him to love
+her at last. About the same time, his father's enemy and his own,
+Godfrey of Lorraine and Tuscany, died; another enemy, Otto, Duke of
+Bavaria, fell into his hands, and was deposed; and there only remained
+Magnus, Duke of the Saxons, who seemed hostile to his authority. The
+events of Henry's youth and the character of his education made him
+impatient and mistrustful: he inherited the pride and arbitrary will of
+his father and grandfather, without their prudence: he surrounded
+himself with wild and reckless princes of his own age, whose counsels
+too often influenced his policy.</p>
+
+<p>No Frank Emperor could be popular with the fierce, independent Saxons;
+but when it was rumored that Henry IV. had sought an alliance with the
+Danish king, Swen, against them,&mdash;when he called upon them, at the same
+time, to march against Poland,&mdash;their suspicions were aroused, and the
+whole population rose in opposition. To the number of 60,000, headed by
+Otto, the deposed Duke of Bavaria (who was a Saxon noble), they marched
+to the Harzburg, the Imperial castle near Goslar. Henry rejected their
+conditions: the castle was besieged, and he escaped with difficulty,
+accompanied only by a few followers. He endeavored to persuade the other
+German princes to support him, but they refused. They even entered into
+a conspiracy to dethrone him; the Bishops favored the plan, and his
+cause seemed nearly hopeless.</p>
+
+<p>In this emergency the cities along the Rhine, which were very weary of
+priestly rule, and now saw a chance to strengthen themselves by
+assisting the Emperor, openly befriended<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</span> him. They were able, however,
+to give him but little military support, and in February, 1074, he was
+compelled to conclude a treaty with the Saxons, which granted them
+almost everything they demanded, even to the demolition of the
+fortresses he had built on their territory. But, in the flush of
+victory, they also tore down the Imperial palace at Goslar, the Church,
+and the sepulchre wherein Henry III. was buried. This placed them in the
+wrong, and Henry IV. marched into Saxony with an immense army which he
+had called together for the purpose of invading Hungary. The Saxons
+armed themselves to resist, but they were attacked when unprepared,
+defeated after a terrible battle, and their land laid waste with fire
+and sword. Thus were again verified, a thousand years later, the words
+of Tiberius&mdash;that it was not necessary to attempt the conquest of the
+Germans, for, if let alone, they would destroy themselves.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1074. POPE GREGORY VII.</div>
+
+<p>The power of Henry IV. seemed now to be assured; but the lowest
+humiliation which ever befell a monarch was in store for him. The monk
+of Cluny, Hildebrand of Savona, who had inspired the policy of four
+Popes during twenty-four years, became Pope himself in 1073, under the
+name of Gregory VII. He was a man of iron will and inexhaustible energy,
+wise and far-seeing beyond any of his contemporaries, and unquestionably
+sincere in his aims. He remodelled the Papal office, gave it a new
+character and importance, and left his own indelible mark on the Church
+of Rome from that day to this. For the first five hundred years after
+Christ the Pope had been merely the Bishop of Rome; for the second five
+hundred years he had been the nominal head of the Church, but
+subordinate to the political rulers, and dependent upon them. Gregory
+VII. determined to make the office a spiritual power, above all other
+powers, with sole and final authority over the bishops, priests and
+other servants of the Church. It was to be a religious Empire, existing
+by Divine right, independent of the fate of nations or the will of
+kings.</p>
+
+<p>He relied mainly upon two measures to accomplish this change,&mdash;the
+suppression of simony and the celibacy of the priesthood. He determined
+that the priests should belong wholly to the Church; that the human ties
+of wife and children should be denied to them. This measure had been
+proposed before, but never carried into effect, on account of the
+opposition of the married Bishops and priests; but the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</span> increase of the
+monastic orders and their greater influence at this time favored
+Gregory's design. Even after celibacy was proclaimed as a law of the
+Church, in 1074, it encountered the most violent opposition, and the law
+was not universally obeyed by the priests until two or three centuries
+later.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1075.</div>
+
+<p>In 1075, Gregory promulgated a law against simony, in which he not only
+prohibited the sale of all offices of the Church, but claimed that the
+Bishops could only receive the ring and crozier, the symbols of their
+authority, from the hands of the Pope. The same year, he sent messengers
+to Henry IV. calling upon him to enforce this law in Germany, under
+penalty of excommunication. The surprise and anger of the King may
+easily be imagined: it was a language which no Pope had ever before
+dared to use toward the Imperial power. Indeed, when we consider that
+Gregory at this time was quarrelling with the Normans, the Lombard
+cities and the king of France, and that a party in Rome was becoming
+hostile to his rule, the act seems almost that of a madman.</p>
+
+<p>Henry IV. called a Synod, which met at Worms. The Bishops, at his
+request, unanimously declared that Gregory VII. was deposed from the
+Papacy, and a message was sent to the people at Rome, ordering them to
+drive him from the city. But, just at that time, Gregory had put down a
+conspiracy of the nobles to assassinate him, by calling the people to
+his aid, and he was temporarily popular with the latter. He answered
+Henry IV. with the ban of excommunication,&mdash;which would have been
+harmless enough, but for the deep-seated discontent of the Germans with
+the king's rule. The Saxons, whom he had treated with the greatest
+harshness and indignity since their subjection, immediately found a
+pretext to throw off their allegiance: the other German States showed a
+cold and mistrustful temper, and their princes failed to come together
+when Henry called a National Diet. In the meantime the ambassadors of
+Gregory were busy, and the petty courts were filled with secret
+intrigues for dethroning the king and electing a new one.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1077. THE HUMILIATION AT CANOSSA.</div>
+
+<p>In October, 1076, finally, a Convention of princes was held on the
+Rhine, near Mayence. Henry was not allowed to be present, but he sent
+messengers, offering to yield to their demands if they would only guard
+the dignity of the crown. The princes rejected all his offers, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</span>
+finally adjourned to meet in Augsburg early in 1077, when the Pope was
+asked to be present. As soon as Henry IV. learned that Gregory had
+accepted the invitation, he was seized with a panic as unkingly as his
+former violence. Accompanied only by a small retinue, he hastened to
+Burgundy, crossed Mont Cenis in the dead of winter, encountering many
+sufferings and dangers on the way, and entered Italy with the single
+intention of meeting Pope Gregory and persuading him to remove the ban
+of the Church.</p>
+
+<p>At the news of his arrival in Lombardy, the Bishops and nobles from all
+the cities flocked to his support, and demanded only that he should lead
+them against the Pope. The movement was so threatening that Gregory
+himself, already on his way to Germany, halted, and retired for a time
+to the Castle of Canossa (in the Apennines, not far from Parma), which
+belonged to his devoted friend, the Countess Matilda of Tuscany. Victory
+was assured to Henry, if he had but grasped it; but he seems to have
+possessed no courage except when inspired by hate. He neglected the
+offered help, went to Canossa, and, presenting himself before the gate
+barefoot and clad only in a shirt of sackcloth, he asked to be admitted
+and pardoned as a repentant sinner. Gregory, so unexpectedly triumphant,
+prolonged for three whole days the satisfaction which he enjoyed in the
+king's humiliation: for three days the latter waited at the gate in snow
+and rain, before he was received. Then, after promising to obey the
+Pope, he received the kiss of peace, and the two took communion together
+in the castle-chapel! This was the first great victory of the Papal
+power: Gregory VII. paid dearly for it, but it was an event which could
+not be erased from History. It has fed the pride and supported the
+claims of the Roman Church, from that day to this.</p>
+
+<p>Gregory had dared to excommunicate Henry, because of the political
+conspirators against the latter; but he had not considered that his
+pardon would change those conspirators into enemies. The indignant
+Lombards turned their backs on Henry, the Bishops rejected the Pope's
+offer to release them from the ban, and the strife became more fierce
+and relentless than ever. In the meantime the German princes, encouraged
+by the Pope, proclaimed Rudolf of Suabia King in Henry's place. The
+latter, now at last supported by the Lombards, hastened back to Germany.
+A terrible war ensued, which lasted for more than two years, and was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</span>
+characterized by the most shocking barbarities on both sides. Gregory a
+second time excommunicated the king, but without the slightest political
+effect. The war terminated in 1080 by the death of Rudolf in battle, and
+Henry's authority became gradually established throughout the land.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1084.</div>
+
+<p>His first movement, now, was against the Pope. He crossed the Alps with
+a large army, was crowned King of Lombardy, and then marched towards
+Rome. Gregory's only friend was the Countess Matilda of Tuscany, who
+resisted Henry's advance until the cities of Pisa and Lucca espoused his
+cause. Then he laid siege to Rome, and a long war began, during which
+the ancient city suffered more than it had endured for centuries. The
+end of the struggle was a devastation worse than that inflicted by
+Geiserich. When Henry finally gained possession of the city, and the
+Pope was besieged in the castle of St. Angelo, the latter released
+Robert Guiscard, chief of the Normans in Southern Italy, from the ban of
+excommunication which he had pronounced against him, and called him to
+his aid. A Norman army, numbering 36,000 men, mostly Saracens,
+approached Rome, and Henry was compelled to retreat. The Pope was
+released, but his allies burned all the city between the Lateran and the
+Coliseum, slaughtered thousands of the inhabitants, carried away
+thousands as slaves, and left a desert of blood and ruin behind them.
+Gregory VII. did not dare to remain in Rome after their departure: he
+accompanied them to Salerno, and there died in exile, in 1085.</p>
+
+<p>Henry IV. immediately appointed a new Pope, Clement III., by whom he was
+crowned Emperor in St. Peter's. After Gregory's death, the Normans and
+the French selected another Pope, Urban II., and until both died,
+fifteen years afterwards, they and their partisans never ceased
+fighting. The Emperor Henry, however, who returned to Germany
+immediately alter his coronation, took little part in this quarrel. The
+last twenty years of his reign were full of trouble and misfortune. His
+eldest son, Konrad, who had lived mostly in Lombardy, was in 1092
+persuaded to claim the crown of Italy, was acknowledged by the hostile
+Pope, and allied himself with his father's enemies. For a time he was
+very successful, but the movement gradually failed, and he ended his
+days in prison, in 1101.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1105. TREACHERY OF HENRY IV.'S SON.</div>
+
+<p>Henry's hopes were now turned to his younger son, Henry, who was of a
+cold, calculating, treacherous disposition.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</span> The political and religious
+foes of the Emperor were still actively scheming for his overthrow, and
+they succeeded in making the young Henry their instrument, as they had
+made his brother Konrad. During the long struggles of his reign, the
+Emperor's strongest and most faithful supporter had been Frederick of
+Hohenstaufen, a Suabian count, to whom he had given his daughter in
+marriage, and whom he finally made Duke of Suabia. The latter died in
+1104, and most of the German princes, with the young Henry at their
+head, arose in rebellion. For nearly a year, the country was again
+desolated by a furious civil war; but the cities along the Rhine, which
+were rapidly increasing in wealth and population, took the Emperor's
+side, as before, and enabled him to keep the field against his son. At
+last, in December, 1105, their armies lay face to face, near the river
+Moselle, and an interview took place between the two. Father and son
+embraced each other; tears were shed, repentance offered and pardon
+given; then both set out together for Mayence, where it was agreed that
+a National Diet should settle all difficulties.</p>
+
+<p>On the way, however, the treacherous son persuaded his father to rest in
+the Castle of Böckelheim, there instantly shut the gates upon him and
+held him prisoner until he compelled him to abdicate. But, after the
+act, the Emperor succeeded in making his escape: the people rallied to
+his support, and he was still unconquered when death came to end his
+many troubles, in Liege, in August, 1106. He was perhaps the most
+signally unfortunate of all the German Emperors. The errors of his
+education, the follies and passions of his youth, the one fatal weakness
+of his manhood, were gradually corrected by experience; but he could not
+undo their consequences. After he had become comparatively wise and
+energetic, the internal dissensions of Germany, and the conflict between
+the Roman Church and the Imperial power, had grown too strong to be
+suppressed by his hand. When he might have done right, he lacked either
+the knowledge or the will; when he finally tried to do right, he had
+lost the power.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1099.</div>
+
+<p>During the latter years of his reign occurred a great historical event,
+the consequences of which were most important to Europe, though not
+immediately so to Germany. Peter the Hermit preached a Crusade to the
+Holy Land for the purpose of conquering Jerusalem from the Saracens.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</span>
+The "Congregation of Cluny" had prepared the way for this movement: one
+of the two Popes, Urban II., encouraged it, and finally Godfrey of
+Bouillon (of the Ducal family of Lorraine) put himself at its head. The
+soldiers of this, the First Crusade, came chiefly from France, Burgundy
+and Italy. Although many of them passed through Germany on their way to
+the East, they made few recruits among the people; but the success of
+the undertaking, the capture of Jerusalem by Godfrey in 1099, and the
+religious enthusiasm which it created, tended greatly to strengthen the
+Papal power, and also that faction in the Church which was hostile to
+Henry IV.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">END OF THE FRANK DYNASTY, AND RISE OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1106&mdash;1152.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Henry V.'s Character and Course.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Condition of Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Strife concerning the Investiture of Bishops.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Scene in St. Peter's.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Troubles in Germany and Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The "Concordat of Worms."</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Death of Henry V.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Absence of National Feeling.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Papal Independence.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Lothar of Saxony chosen Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Visits to Italy, and Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Konrad of Hohenstaufen succeeds.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Quarrel with Henry the Proud.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Women of Weinsberg.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Welf (Guelph) and Waiblinger (Ghibelline).</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Second Crusade.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;March to the Holy Land.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Konrad invited to Rome.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Arnold of Brescia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Konrad's Death.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1106. HENRY V. AS EMPEROR.</div>
+
+<p>Henry V. showed his true character immediately after his accession to
+the throne. Although he had been previously supported by the Papal
+party, he was no sooner acknowledged king of Germany than he imitated
+his father in opposing the claims of the Church. The new Pope, Paschalis
+II., had found it expedient to recognize the Bishops whom Henry IV. had
+appointed, but at the same time he issued a manifesto declaring that all
+future appointments must come from him. Henry V. answered this with a
+letter of defiance, and continued to select his own Bishops and abbots,
+which the Pope, not being able to resist, was obliged to suffer.</p>
+
+<p>During the disturbed fifty years of Henry IV.'s reign, Burgundy and
+Italy had become practically independent of Germany; Hungary and Poland
+had thrown off their dependent condition, and even the Wends beyond the
+Elbe were no longer loyal to the Empire. Within the German States, the
+Imperial power was already so much weakened by the establishment of
+hereditary Dukes and Counts, not related to the ruling family, that the
+king (or Emperor) exercised very little direct authority over the
+people. The crown-lands had been mostly either given away in exchange
+for assistance, or lost during the civil wars; the feudal system was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</span>
+firmly fastened upon the country, and only a few free cities&mdash;like those
+in Italy&mdash;kept alive the ancient spirit of liberty and political
+equality. Under such a system a monarch could accomplish little, unless
+he was both wiser and stronger than the reigning princes under him:
+there was no general national sentiment to which he could appeal. Henry
+V. was cold, stern, heartless and unprincipled; but he inspired a
+wholesome fear among his princely "vassals," and kept them in better
+order than his father had done.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1110.</div>
+
+<p>After giving the first years of his reign to the settlement of troubles
+on the frontiers of the Empire, Henry V. prepared, in 1110, for a
+journey to Italy. So many followers came to him that when he had crossed
+the Alps and mustered them on the plains of Piacenza, there were 30,000
+knights present. With such a force, no resistance was possible: the
+Lombard cities acknowledged him, Countess Matilda of Tuscany followed
+their example, and the Pope found it expedient to meet him in a friendly
+spirit. The latter was willing to crown Henry as Emperor, but still
+claimed the right of investing the Bishops. This Henry positively
+refused to grant, and, after much deliberation, the Pope finally
+proposed a complete separation of Church and State,&mdash;that is, that the
+lands belonging to the Bishops and abbots, or under their government,
+should revert to the crown, and the priests themselves become merely
+officials of the Church, without any secular power. Although the change
+would have been attended with some difficulty in Germany, Henry
+consented, and the long quarrel between Pope and Emperor was apparently
+settled.</p>
+
+<p>On the 12th of February, 1111, the king entered Rome at the head of a
+magnificent procession, and was met at the gate of St. Peter's by the
+Pope, who walked with him hand in hand to the platform before the high
+altar. But when the latter read aloud the agreement, the Bishops raised
+their voices in angry dissent. The debate lasted so long that one of the
+German knights cried out: "Why so many words? Our king means to be
+crowned Emperor, like Karl the Great!" The Pope refused the act of
+coronation, and was immediately made prisoner. The people of Rome rose
+in arms, and a terrible fight ensued. Henry narrowly escaped death in
+the streets, and was compelled to encamp outside the city. At the end of
+two months, the resistance both of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</span> Pope and people was crushed; he was
+crowned Emperor, and Paschalis II. gave up his claim for the investiture
+of the Bishops.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1122. THE CONCORDAT OF WORMS.</div>
+
+<p>Henry V. returned immediately to Germany, defeated the rebellious
+Thuringians and Saxons in 1113, and the following year was married to
+Matilda, daughter of Henry I. of England. This was the climax of his
+power and splendor: it was soon followed by troubles with Friesland,
+Cologne, Thuringia and Saxony, and in the course of two years his
+authority was set at nought over nearly all Northern Germany. Only
+Suabia, under his nephew, Frederick of Hohenstaufen, and Duke Welf II.
+of Bavaria, remained faithful to him.</p>
+
+<p>He was obliged to leave Germany in this state and hasten to Italy in
+1116, on account of the death of the Countess Matilda, who had
+bequeathed Tuscany to the Church, although she had previously
+acknowledged the Imperial sovereignty. Henry claimed and secured
+possession of her territory; he then visited Rome, the Pope leaving the
+city to avoid meeting him. The latter died soon afterwards, and for a
+time a new Pope, of the Emperor's own appointment, was installed in the
+Vatican. The Papal party, which now included all the French Bishops,
+immediately elected another, who excommunicated Henry V., but the act
+was of no consequence, and was in fact overlooked by Calixtus II., who
+succeeded to the Papal chair in 1118.</p>
+
+<p>The same year Henry returned to Germany, and succeeded, chiefly through
+the aid of Frederick of Hohenstaufen, in establishing his authority. The
+quarrel with the Papal power concerning the investiture of the Bishops
+was still unsettled: the new Pope, Calixtus II., who was a Burgundian
+and a relation of the Emperor, remained in France, where his claims were
+supported. After long delays and many preliminary negotiations, a Diet
+was held at Worms in September, 1122, when the question was finally
+settled. The choice of the Bishops and their investiture with the ring
+and crozier were given to the Pope, but the nominations were required to
+be made in the Emperor's presence, and the candidates to receive from
+him their temporal power, before they were consecrated by the Church.
+This arrangement is known as <i>the Concordat of Worms</i>. It was hailed at
+the time as a fortunate settlement of a strife which had lasted for
+fifty years; but it only increased the difficulty<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</span> by giving the German
+Bishops two masters, yet making them secretly dependent on the Pope. So
+long as they retained the temporal power, they governed according to the
+dictates of a foreign will, which was generally hostile to Germany. Then
+began an antagonism between the Church and State, which was all the more
+intense because never openly acknowledged, and which disturbs Germany
+even at this day.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1125.</div>
+
+<p>Pope Calixtus II. took no notice of the ban of excommunication, but
+treated with Henry V. as if it had never been pronounced. The troubles
+in Northern Germany, however, were not subdued by this final peace with
+Rome,&mdash;a clear evidence that the humiliation of Henry IV. was due to
+political and not to religious causes. Henry V. died at Utrecht, in
+Holland, in May, 1125, leaving no children, which the people believed to
+be a punishment for his unnatural treatment of his father. There was no
+one to mourn his death, for even his efforts to increase the Imperial
+authority, and thereby to create a national sentiment among the Germans,
+were neutralized by his coldness, haughtiness and want of principle, as
+a man. The people were forced, by the necessities of their situation, to
+support their own reigning princes, in the hope of regaining from the
+latter some of their lost political rights.</p>
+
+<p>Another circumstance tended to prevent the German Emperors from
+acquiring any fixed power. They had no capital city, as France already
+possessed in Paris: after the coronation, the monarch immediately
+commenced his "royal ride," visiting all portions of the country, and
+receiving, personally, the allegiance of the whole people. Then, during
+his reign, he was constantly migrating from one castle to another,
+either to settle local difficulties, to collect the income of his
+scattered estates, or for his own pleasure. There was thus no central
+point to which the Germans could look as the seat of the Imperial rule:
+the Emperor was a Frank, a Saxon, a Bavarian or Suabian, by turns, but
+never permanently a <i>German</i>, with a national capital grander than any
+of the petty courts.</p>
+
+<p>The period of Henry V.'s death marks, also, the independence of the
+Papal power. The "Concordat of Worms" indirectly took away from the
+Roman (German) Emperor the claim of appointing the Pope, which had been
+exercised, from time to time, during nearly five hundred years.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</span> The
+celibacy of the priesthood was partially enforced by this time, and the
+Roman Church thereby gained a new power. It was now able to set up an
+authority (with the help of France) nearly equal to that of the Empire.
+These facts must be borne in mind as we advance; for the secret rivalry
+which now began underlies all the subsequent history of Germany, until
+it came to a climax in the Reformation of Luther.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1125. LOTHAR OF SAXONY ELECTED.</div>
+
+<p>Henry V. left all his estates and treasures to his nephew, Frederick of
+Hohenstaufen, but not the crown jewels and insignia, which were to be
+bestowed by the National Diet upon his successor. Frederick, and his
+brother Konrad, Duke of Franconia, were the natural heirs to the crown;
+but, as the Hohenstaufen family had stood faithfully by Henry IV. and V.
+in their conflicts with the Pope, it was unpopular with the priests and
+reigning princes. At the Diet, the Archbishop of Mayence nominated
+Lothar of Saxony, who was chosen after a very stormy session. His first
+acts were to beg the Pope to confirm his election, and then to give up
+his right to have the Bishops and abbots appointed in his presence. He
+next demanded of Frederick of Hohenstaufen the royal estates which the
+latter had inherited from Henry V. Being defeated in the war which
+followed, he strengthened his party by marrying his only daughter,
+Gertrude, to Henry the Proud, Duke of Bavaria (grandson of Duke Welf,
+Henry IV.'s friend, whence this family was called the <i>Welfs</i>&mdash;Guelphs).
+By this marriage Henry the Proud became also Duke of Saxony; but a part
+of the Dukedom, called the North-mark, was separated and given to a
+Saxon noble, a friend of Lothar, named Albert the Bear.</p>
+
+<p>Lothar was called to Italy in 1132 by Innocent II., one of two Popes,
+who, in consequence of a division in the college of Cardinals, had been
+chosen at the same time. He was crowned Emperor in the Lateran, in June,
+1133, while the other Pope Anaclete II. was reigning in the Vatican. He
+acquired the territory of the Countess Matilda of Tuscany, but only on
+condition of paying 400 pounds of silver annually to the Church. The
+former state of affairs was thus suddenly reversed: the Emperor
+acknowledged himself a dependent of the <i>temporal</i> Papal power. When he
+returned to Germany, the same year, Lothar succeeded in subduing the
+resistance of the Hohenstaufens, and then<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</span> bound the reigning princes of
+Germany, by oath, to keep peace for the term of twelve years.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1137.</div>
+
+<p>This truce enabled him to return to Italy for the purpose of assisting
+Pope Innocent, who had been expelled from Rome. The rival of the latter,
+Anaclete II., was supported by the Norman king, Roger II. of Sicily,
+who, in the summer of 1137, was driven out of Southern Italy by Lothar's
+army. But quarrels broke out with the Pisans, who were his allies, and
+with Pope Innocent, for whose cause he was fighting, and he finally set
+out for Germany, without even visiting Rome. At Trient, in the Tyrol, he
+was seized with a mortal sickness, and died on the Brenner pass of the
+Alps, in a shepherd's hut. His body was taken to Saxony and buried in
+the chapel of a monastery which he had founded there.</p>
+
+<p>A National Diet was called to meet in May, 1138, and elect a successor.
+Lothar's son-in-law, Henry the Proud, Duke of Bavaria, Saxony and
+Tuscany (which latter the Emperor had transferred also to him), seemed
+to have the greatest right to the throne; but he was already so
+important that the jealousy of the other reigning princes was excited
+against him. Their policy was, to choose a weak rather than a strong
+ruler,&mdash;one who would not interfere with their authority in their own
+lands. Konrad of Hohenstaufen took advantage of this jealousy; he
+courted the favor of the princes and the bishops, and was chosen and
+crowned by the latter, three months before the time fixed for the
+meeting of the Diet. The movement, though in violation of all law,
+succeeded perfectly: a new Diet was called, for form's sake, and all the
+German princes, except Henry the Proud, acquiesced in Konrad's election.</p>
+
+<p>In order to maintain his place, the new king was compelled to break the
+power of his rival. He therefore declared that Henry the Proud should
+not be allowed to govern two lands at the same time, and gave all Saxony
+to Albert the Bear. When Henry rose in resistance, Konrad proclaimed
+that he had forfeited Bavaria, which he gave to Leopold of Austria. In
+this emergency, Henry the Proud called upon the Saxons to help him, and
+had raised a considerable force when he suddenly died, towards the end
+of the year 1139. His brother, Welf, continued the struggle in Bavaria,
+in the interest of his young son, Henry, afterwards called "the Lion."
+He attempted to raise the siege<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</span> of the town of Weinsberg, which was
+beleaguered by Konrad's army, but failed. The tradition relates that
+when the town was forced to surrender, the women sent a deputation to
+Konrad, begging to be allowed to leave with such goods as they could
+carry on their backs. When this was granted and the gates were opened,
+they came out, carrying their husbands, sons or brothers as their
+dearest possessions. The fame of this deed of the women of Weinsberg has
+gone all over the world.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1140. GUELPH AND GHIBELLINE.</div>
+
+<p>In this struggle, for the first time, the names of <i>Welf</i> and
+<i>Waiblinger</i> (from the little town of Waiblingen, in Würtemberg, which
+belonged to the Hohenstaufens) were first used as party cries in battle.
+In the Italian language they became "Guelph" and "Ghibelline," and for
+hundreds of years they retained a far more intense and powerful
+significance than the names "Whig" and "Tory" in England. The term
+<i>Welf</i> (Guelph) very soon came to mean the party of the Pope, and
+<i>Waiblinger</i> (Ghibelline) that of the German Emperor. The end of this
+first conflict was, that in 1142, young Henry the Lion (great-grandson
+of Duke Welf of Bavaria) was allowed to be Duke of Saxony. From him
+descended the later Dukes of Brunswick and Hannover, who retained the
+family name of Welf, or Guelph, which, through George I., is also that
+of the royal family of England at this day. Albert the Bear was obliged
+to be satisfied with the North-mark, which was extended to the eastward
+of the Elbe and made an independent principality. He called himself
+Markgraf (Border Count) of Brandenburg, and thus laid the basis of a new
+State, which, in the course of centuries developed into Prussia.</p>
+
+<p>About this time the Christian monarchy in Jerusalem began to be
+threatened with overthrow by the Saracens, and the Pope, Eugene III.,
+responded to the appeals for help from the Holy Land, by calling for a
+Second Crusade. He not only promised forgiveness of all sins, but
+released the volunteers from payment of their debts and whatever
+obligations they might have contracted under oath. France was the first
+to answer the call: then Bernard of Clairvaux (St. Bernard, in the Roman
+Church) visited Germany and made passionate appeals to the people. The
+first effect of his speeches was the plunder and murder of the Jews in
+the cities along the Rhine; then the slow German blood was roused to
+enthusiasm for the rescue of the Holy Land,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</span> and the impulse became so
+great that king Konrad was compelled to join in the movement. His
+nephew, the red-bearded Frederick of Suabia, also put the cross on his
+mantle: nearly all the German princes and people, except the Saxons,
+followed the example.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1147.</div>
+
+<p>In May, 1147, the Crusaders assembled at Ratisbon. There were present
+70,000 horsemen in armor, without counting the foot-soldiers and
+followers. All the robber-bands and notorious criminals of Germany
+joined the army for the sake of the full and free pardon offered by the
+Pope. Konrad led the march down the Danube, through Austria and Thrace,
+to Constantinople. Louis VII., king of France, followed him, with a
+nearly equal force, leaving the German States through which he passed in
+a famished condition. The two armies, united at Constantinople, advanced
+through Asia Minor, but were so reduced by battles, disease and
+hardships on the way, that the few who reached Palestine were too weak
+to reconquer the ground lost by the king of Jerusalem. Only a band of
+Flemish and English Crusaders, who set out by sea, succeeded in taking
+Lisbon from the Saracens.</p>
+
+<p>During the year 1149 the German princes returned from the East with
+their few surviving followers. The loss of so many robbers and
+robber-knights was, nevertheless, a great gain to the country: the
+people enjoyed more peace and security than they had known for a long
+time. Duke Welf of Bavaria (brother of Henry the Proud) was the first to
+reach Germany: Konrad, fearing that he would make trouble, sent after
+him the young Duke of Suabia, Frederick Red-Beard (Barbarossa) of
+Hohenstaufen. It was not long, in fact, before the war-cries of
+"Guelph!" and "Ghibelline!" were again heard; but Welf, as well as his
+nephew, Henry the Lion, of Saxony, was defeated. During the Crusade, the
+latter had carried on a war against the Wends and other Slavonic tribes
+in Prussia, the chief result of which was the foundation of the city of
+Lübeck.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1152. KONRAD'S DEATH.</div>
+
+<p>King Konrad now determined to pay his delayed visit to Rome, and be
+crowned Emperor. Immediately after his return from the East, he had
+received a pressing invitation from the Roman Senate to come, to
+recognize the new order of things in the ancient city, and make it the
+permanent capital of the united German and Italian Empire. Arnold of
+Brescia, who for years had been advocating the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</span> separation of the Papacy
+from all temporal power, and the re-establishment of the Roman Church
+upon the democratic basis of the early Christian Church, had compelled
+the Pope, Eugene III., to accept his doctrine. Rome was practically a
+Republic, and Arnold's reform, although fiercely opposed by the Bishops,
+abbots and all priests holding civil power, made more and more headway
+among the people. At a National Diet, held at Würzburg in 1151, it was
+decided that Konrad should go to Rome, and the Pope was officially
+informed of his intention. But before the preparations for the journey
+were completed, Konrad died, in February, 1152, at Bamberg. He was
+buried there in the Cathedral built by Henry II.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">THE REIGN OF FREDERICK I., BARBAROSSA.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1152&mdash;1197.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Frederick I., Barbarossa.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Character.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His First Acts.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Visit to Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Coronation and Humiliation.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;He is driven back to Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Restores Order.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Henry the Lion and Albert the Bear.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Barbarossa's Second Visit to Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;He conquers Milan.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Roman Laws revived.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Destruction of Milan.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Third and Fourth Visits to Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Troubles with the Popes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Barbarossa and Henry the Lion.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Defeat at Legnano.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Reconciliation with Alexander III.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Henry the Lion banished.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Tournament at Mayence.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Barbarossa's Sixth Visit to Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Crusade for the Recovery of Jerusalem.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;March through Asia Minor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Barbarossa's Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Fame among the German People.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Son, Henry VI., Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Richard of the Lion-Heart Imprisoned.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Last Days of Henry the Lion.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Henry VI.'s Deeds and Designs.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Death.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1152.</div>
+
+<p>Konrad left only an infant son at his death, and the German princes, who
+were learning a little wisdom by this time, determined not to renew the
+unfortunate experiences of Henry IV.'s minority. The next heir to the
+throne was Frederick of Suabia, who was now thirty-one years old,
+handsome, popular, and already renowned as a warrior. He was elected
+immediately, without opposition, and solemnly crowned at
+Aix-la-Chapelle. When he made his "royal ride" through Germany,
+according to custom, the people hailed him with acclamations, hoping for
+peace and a settled authority after so many civil wars. His mother was a
+Welf princess, whence there seemed a possibility of terminating the
+rivalry between Welf and Waiblinger, in his election. The Italians
+always called him "Barbarossa," on account of his red beard, and by this
+name he is best known in history.</p>
+
+<p>Since the accession of Otto the Great, no German monarch had been
+crowned under such favorable auspices, and none had possessed so many of
+the qualities of a great ruler. He was shrewd, clear-sighted,
+intelligent, and of an iron will: he enjoyed the exercise of power, and
+the aim of his life was to extend and secure it. On the other hand he
+was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</span> despotic, merciless in his revenge, and sometimes led by the
+violence of his passions to commit deeds which darkened his name and
+interfered with his plans of empire.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1154. BARBAROSSA'S CAMP IN ITALY.</div>
+
+<p>Frederick first assured to the German princes the rights which they
+already possessed as the rulers of States, coupled with the declaration
+that he meant to exact the full and strict performance of their duties
+to him, as King. On his first royal journey, he arbitrated between Swen
+and Canute, rival claimants to the throne of Denmark, conferred on the
+Duke of Bohemia the title of king, and took measures to settle the
+quarrel between Henry the Lion of Saxony, and Henry of Austria, for the
+possession of Bavaria. In all these matters he showed the will, the
+decision and the imposing personal bearing of one who felt that he was
+born to rule; and had he remained in Germany, he might have consolidated
+the States into one Nation. But the phantom of a Roman Empire beckoned
+him to Italy. The invitation held out to Konrad was not renewed, for
+Pope Eugene III. was dead, and his successor, Adrian IV. (an Englishman,
+by the name of Breakspeare), rejected Arnold of Brescia's doctrines. It
+was in Frederick's power to secure the success of either side; but his
+first aim was the Imperial crown, and he could only gain it without
+delay by assisting the Pope.</p>
+
+<p>In 1154 Frederick, accompanied by Henry the Lion and many other princes,
+and a large army, crossed the Brenner Pass, in the Tyrol, and descended
+into Italy. According to old custom, the first camp was pitched on the
+Roncalian fields, near Piacenza, and the royal shield was set up as a
+sign that the chief ruler was present and ready to act as judge in all
+political troubles. Many complaints were brought to him against the City
+of Milan, which had become a haughty and despotic Republic, and began to
+oppress Lodi, Como, and other neighboring cities. Frederick saw plainly
+the trouble which this independent movement in Lombardy would give to
+him or his successors; but after losing two months and many troops in
+besieging and destroying Tortona, one of the towns friendly to Milan, he
+was not strong enough to attack the latter city: so, having been crowned
+King of Lombardy at Pavia, he marched, in 1155, towards Rome.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1154.</div>
+
+<p>At Viterbo he met Pope <ins title="Was 'Adrain' in original.">Adrian IV.</ins>, and negotiations commenced in regard
+to his coronation as Emperor, which, it seems, was not to be had for
+nothing. Adrian's first<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</span> demand was the suppression of the Roman
+Republic, which had driven him from the city. Frederick answered by
+capturing Arnold of Brescia, who was then in Tuscany, and delivering him
+into the Pope's hands. The latter then demanded that Frederick should
+hold his stirrup when he mounted his mule. This humiliation, second only
+to that which Henry IV. endured at Canossa, was accepted by the proud
+Hohenstaufen in his ambitious haste to be crowned; but even then Rome
+had to be first taken from the Republicans. By some means an entrance
+was forced into that part of the city on the right bank of the Tiber;
+Frederick was crowned in all haste and immediately retreated, but not
+before he and his escort were furiously attacked in the streets by the
+Roman people. Henry the Lion, by his bravery and presence of mind, saved
+the new Emperor from being slain. The same night, Arnold of Brescia was
+burned to death by the Pope's order. (Since 1870, his bust has been
+placed upon the Pincian Hill, in Rome, among those of the other great
+men who gave their lives for Italian freedom.)</p>
+
+<p>The news of the Pope's barbarous revenge drove the Romans to madness.
+They rushed forth by thousands, threw themselves upon the Emperor's
+camp, and fought until the next night with such desperation that
+Frederick deemed it prudent to retreat to Tivoli. The heats of summer
+and the fevers they brought soon compelled him to leave for Germany; the
+glory of his coming was already exhausted. He fought his way through
+Spoleto; Verona shut its gates upon him, and one robber-castle in the
+Alps held the whole army at bay, until it was taken by Otto of
+Wittelsbach. The unnatural composition of the later "Roman Empire" was
+again demonstrated. If, during the four centuries which had elapsed
+since Charlemagne's accession to power, the German rule was the curse of
+Italy, Italy (or the fancied necessity of ruling Italy) was no less a
+curse to Germany. The strength of the German people, for hundreds of
+years, was exhausted in endeavoring to keep up a high-sounding
+sovereignty, which they could not truly possess, and&mdash;in the best
+interests of the two countries&mdash;<i>ought not</i> to have possessed.</p>
+
+<p>On returning to Germany, Frederick found enough to do. He restored the
+internal peace and security of the country with a strong hand, executing
+the robber-knights, tearing down their castles, and even obliging
+fourteen reigning<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</span> princes, among whom was the Archbishop of Mayence, to
+undergo what was considered the shameful punishment of carrying dogs in
+their arms before the Imperial palace. By his second marriage with
+Beatrix, Princess of Burgundy, he established anew the German authority
+over that large and rich kingdom; while, at a diet held in 1156, he gave
+Bavaria to Henry the Lion, and pacified Henry of Austria by making his
+territory an independent Dukedom. This was the second phase in the
+growth of Austria.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1156. BARBAROSSA'S RULE IN GERMANY.</div>
+
+<p>Henry the Lion, however, was more a Saxon than a Bavarian. Although he
+first raised Munich from an insignificant cluster of peasants' huts to
+the dignity of a city, his energies were chiefly directed towards
+extending his sway from the Elbe eastward, along the Baltic. He
+conquered Mecklenburg and colonized the country with Saxons, made Lübeck
+an important commercial center, and slowly Germanized the former
+territory of the Wends. Albert the Bear, Count of Brandenburg, followed
+a similar policy, and both were encouraged by the Emperor, who was quite
+willing to see his own sway thus extended. A rhyme current among the
+common people, at the time, says:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Henry the Lion and Albert the Bear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thereto Frederick with the red hair,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Three Lords are they,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Who could change the world to their way."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The grand imperial character of Frederick, rather than what he had
+actually accomplished, had already given him a great reputation
+throughout Europe. Pope Adrian IV. endeavored to imitate Gregory VII.'s
+language to Henry IV. in treating with him, but soon found that he was
+deserted by the German Bishops, and thought it prudent to apologize. His
+manner, nevertheless, and the increasing independence of Milan, called
+Frederick across the Alps with an army of 100,000 men, in 1158. Milan,
+then surrounded with strong walls, nine miles in circuit, was besieged,
+and, at the end of a month, forced to surrender, to rebuild Lodi, and
+pay a fine of 9,000 pounds of silver. Afterwards the Emperor pitched his
+camp on the Roncalian fields, with a splendor before unknown.
+Ambassadors from England, France, Hungary and Constantinople were
+present, and the Imperial power, almost for the first time, was thus
+recognized as the first in the civilized world.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</span></p>
+
+<p>Frederick used this opportunity to revive the old Roman laws, or at
+least, to have a code of laws drawn up, which should define his rights
+and those of the reigning princes under him. Four doctors of the
+University of Bologna were selected, who discovered so many ancient
+imperial rights which had fallen into disuse that the Emperor's treasury
+was enriched to the amount of 30,000 pounds of silver annually, by their
+enforcement. When this system came to be practically applied, Milan and
+other Lombard cities which claimed the right to elect their own
+magistrates, and would have lost it under the new order of things,
+determined to resist. A war ensued: the little city of Crema was first
+besieged, and, after a gallant defence of seven months, taken and razed
+to the ground.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1162.</div>
+
+<p>Now came the turn of Milan. In the meantime the Pope, Adrian IV., had
+died, after threatening the Emperor with excommunication. The college of
+cardinals was divided, each party electing its own Pope. Of these,
+Victor IV. was recognized by Frederick, who claimed the right to decide
+between them, while most of the Italian cities, with France and England,
+were in favor of Alexander III. The latter immediately excommunicated
+the Emperor, who, without paying any regard to the act, prepared to take
+his revenge on Milan. In March, 1162, after a long siege, he forced the
+city to surrender: the magistrates appeared before him in sackcloth,
+barefoot, with ashes upon their heads and ropes around their necks, and
+begged him, with tears, to be merciful; but there was no mercy in his
+heart. He gave the inhabitants eight days to leave the city, then
+levelled it completely to the earth, and sowed salt upon the ruins as a
+token that it should never be rebuilt. The rival cities of Pavia, Lodi
+and Como rejoiced over this barbarity, and all the towns of northern
+Italy hastened to submit to all the Emperor's claims, even that they
+should be governed by magistrates of his appointment.</p>
+
+<p>In spite of this apparent submission, he had no sooner returned to
+Germany than the cities of Lombardy began to form a union against him.
+They were instigated, and secretly assisted, by Venice, which was
+already growing powerful through her independence. The Pope whom
+Frederick had supported, was also dead, and he determined to set up a
+new one instead of recognizing Alexander III. He went to Italy with a
+small escort, in 1163, but was compelled<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</span> to go back without
+accomplishing anything but a second destruction of Tortona, which had
+been rebuilt. In Germany new disturbances had broken out, but his
+personal influence was so great that he subdued them temporarily: he
+also prevailed upon the German bishops to recognize Paschalis III., the
+Pope whom he had appointed. He then set about raising a new army, and
+finally, in 1166, made his <i>fourth</i> journey to Italy.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1166. FOURTH JOURNEY TO ITALY.</div>
+
+<p>This was even more unfortunate than the third journey had been. The
+Lombard cities, feeling strong through their union, had not only rebuilt
+Milan and Tortona, but had constructed a new fortified town, which they
+named, after the Pope, Alessandria. Frederick did not dare to attack
+them, but marched on to Ancona, which he besieged for seven months,
+finally accepting a ransom instead of surrender. He then took that part
+of Rome west of the Tiber, and installed his Pope in the Vatican. Soon
+afterward, in the summer of 1167, a terrible pestilence broke out, which
+carried off thousands of his best soldiers in a few weeks. His army was
+so reduced by death, that he stole through Lombardy almost as a
+fugitive, remained hidden among the Alps for months, and finally crossed
+Mont Cenis with only thirty followers, himself disguised as a common
+soldier.</p>
+
+<p>Having reached Germany in safety, Frederick's personal influence at once
+gave him the power and popularity which he had forever lost in Italy. He
+found Henry the Lion, who in addition to Bavaria now governed nearly all
+the territory from the Rhine to the Vistula, north of the Hartz
+Mountains, at enmity with Albert the Bear and a number of smaller
+reigning princes. As Emperor, he settled the questions in dispute,
+deciding in favor of Henry the Lion, although the increasing power of
+the latter excited his apprehensions. Henry was too cautious to make the
+Emperor his enemy, but in order to avoid another march to Italy, he set
+out upon a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Frederick, however, did not succeed
+in raising a fresh army to revenge his disgrace until 1174, when he made
+his <i>fifth</i> journey to Italy. He first besieged the new city of
+Alessandria, but in vain; then, driven to desperation by his failure, he
+called for help upon Henry the Lion, who had now returned from the Holy
+Land. The two met at Chiavenna, in the Italian Alps; but Henry
+steadfastly refused to aid the Emperor,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</span> although the latter conquered
+his own pride so far as to kneel before him.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1177.</div>
+
+<p>Bitterly disappointed and humiliated, Frederick appealed to all the
+German States for aid, but did not receive fresh troops until the spring
+of 1176. He then marched upon Milan, but was met by the united forces of
+Lombardy at Legnano, near Como. The latter fought with such desperation
+that the Imperial army was completely routed, and its camp equipage and
+stores taken, with many thousands of prisoners, who were treated with
+the same barbarity which the Emperor himself had introduced anew into
+warfare. He fell from his horse during the fight, and had been for some
+days reported to be dead, when he suddenly appeared before the Empress
+Beatrix, at Pavia, having escaped in disguise.</p>
+
+<p>His military strength was now so broken that he was compelled to seek a
+reconciliation with Pope Alexander III. Envoys went back and forth
+between the two, the Lombard cities and the king of Sicily; conferences
+were held at various places, but months passed and no agreement was
+reached. Then the Pope, having received Frederick's submission to all
+his demands, proposed an armistice, which was solemnly concluded in
+Venice, in August, 1177. There the Emperor was released from the Papal
+excommunication; he sank at Alexander's feet, but the latter caught and
+lifted him in his arms, and there was once more peace between the two
+rival powers. The other Pope, whose claims Frederick had supported up to
+that time, was left to shift for himself. Before the armistice ceased,
+in 1183, a treaty was concluded at Constance, by which the Italian
+cities recognized the Emperor as chief ruler, but secured for themselves
+the right of independent government. Thus twenty years had been wasted,
+the best blood of Germany squandered, the worst barbarities of war
+renewed, and Frederick, after enduring shame and humiliation, had not
+attained one of his haughty personal aims. Yet he was as proud in his
+bearing as ever; his court lost none of its splendor, and his influence
+over the German princes and people was undiminished.</p>
+
+<p>He reached Germany again in 1178, full of wrath against Henry the Lion.
+It was easy to find a pretext for proceeding against him, for the
+Archbishop of Cologne, the Bishop of Halberstadt, and many nobles had
+already made complaints. Henry, in fact, was much like Frederick in his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</span>
+nature, but his despotic sternness and pride were more directly
+exercised upon the people. He raised an army and boldly resisted the
+Imperial power: again Westphalia, Thuringia and Saxony were wasted by
+civil war, and the struggle was prolonged until 1181, when Henry was
+forced to surrender unconditionally. He was banished to England for
+three years: his Duchy of Bavaria was given to Otto of Wittelsbach; and
+the greater part of Saxony, from the Rhine to the Baltic, was cut up and
+divided among the reigning Bishops and smaller princes. Only the
+province of Brunswick was left to Henry the Lion, of all his
+possessions. This was Frederick's policy for diminishing the power of
+the separate States: the more they were increased in number, the greater
+would be the dependence of each on the Emperor.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1184. TOURNAMENT AT MAYENCE.</div>
+
+<p>The ruin of Henry the Lion fully restored Frederick's authority over all
+Germany. In May, 1184, he gave a grand tournament and festival at
+Mayence, which surpassed in pomp everything that had before been seen by
+the people. The flower of knighthood, foreign as well as German, was
+present: princes, bishops and lords, scholars and minstrels, 70,000
+knights, and probably hundreds of thousands of the soldiers and common
+people were gathered together. The Emperor, still handsome and towering
+in manly strength, in spite of his sixty-three years, rode in the lists
+with his five blooming sons, the eldest of whom, Henry, was already
+crowned King of Germany, as his successor. For many years afterwards,
+the wandering minstrels sang the glories of this festival, which they
+compared to those given by the half-fabulous king Arthur.</p>
+
+<p>Immediately afterwards, Frederick made his <i>sixth</i> journey to Italy,
+without an army, but accompanied by a magnificent retinue. The temporary
+union of the cities against him was at an end, and their former
+jealousies of each other had broken out more fiercely than ever; so
+that, instead of meeting him in a hostile spirit, each endeavored to
+gain his favor, to the damage of the others. It was easy for him to turn
+this state of affairs to his own personal advantage. The Pope, now Urban
+III., endeavored to make him give up Tuscany to the Church, and opposed
+his design of marrying his son Henry to Constance, daughter of the king
+of Sicily, since all Southern Italy would thus fall to the Hohenstaufen
+family. Another excommunication was threatened, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</span> would probably have
+been hurled upon the Emperor's head, if the Pope had not died before
+pronouncing it. The marriage of Henry and Constance took place in 1186.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1190.</div>
+
+<p>The next year, all Europe was shaken by the news that Jerusalem had been
+taken by Sultan Saladin. A call for a new Crusade was made from Rome,
+and the Christian kings and people of Europe responded to it. Richard of
+the Lion-Heart, of England; Philip Augustus of France; and first of all
+Frederick Barbarossa, Roman Emperor, put the cross on their mantles, and
+prepared to march to the Holy Land. Frederick left his son Henry behind
+him, as king, but he was still suspicious of Henry the Lion, and
+demanded that he should either join the Crusade or retire again to
+England for three years longer. Henry the Lion chose the latter
+alternative.</p>
+
+<p>The German Crusaders, numbering about 30,000, met at Ratisbon in May,
+1189, and marched overland to Constantinople. Then they took the same
+route through Asia Minor which had been followed by the second Crusade,
+defeating the Sultan and taking the city of Iconium by the way, and
+after threading the wild passes of the Taurus, reached the borders of
+Syria. While on the march, the Emperor received the false message that
+his son Henry was dead. The tears ran down his beard, no longer red, but
+silver-white; then, turning to the army, he cried: "My son is dead, but
+Christ lives! Forwards!" On the 10th of June, 1190, either while
+attempting to ford, or bathing in the little river Calycadnus, not far
+from Tarsus, he was drowned. The stream, fed by the melted snows of the
+Taurus, was ice-cold, and one account states that he was not drowned,
+but died in consequence of the sudden chill. A few of his followers
+carried his body to Palestine, where it was placed in the Christian
+church at Tyre. Notwithstanding the heroism of the English Richard at
+Ascalon, the Crusade failed, since the German army was broken up after
+Frederick's death, most of the knights returning directly home.</p>
+
+<p>The most that can be said for Frederick Barbarossa as a ruler, is, that
+no other Emperor before or after his time maintained so complete an
+authority over the German princes. The influence of his personal
+presence seems to have been very great: the Imperial power became
+splendid and effective in his hands, and, although he did nothing to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</span>
+improve the condition of the people, beyond establishing order and
+security, they gradually came to consider him as the representative of a
+grand <i>national</i> idea. When he went away to the mysterious East, and
+never returned, the most of them refused to believe that he was dead. By
+degrees the legend took root among them that he slumbered in a vault
+underneath the Kyffhäuser&mdash;one of his castles, on the summit of a
+mountain, near the Hartz,&mdash;and would come forth at the appointed time,
+to make Germany united and free. Nothing in his character, or in the
+proud and selfish aims of his life, justifies this sentiment which the
+people attached to his name; but the legend became a symbol of their
+hopes and prayers, through centuries of oppression and desolating war,
+and the name of "Barbarossa" is sacred to every patriotic heart in
+Germany, even at this day.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1191. HENRY VI. EMPEROR.</div>
+
+<p>Henry the Lion hastened back to Germany at once, and attempted to regain
+possession of Saxony. King Henry took the field against him, and the
+interminable strife between Welf and Waiblinger was renewed for a time.
+The king was twenty-five years old, tall and stately like his father,
+but even more stern and despotic than he. He was impatient to proceed to
+Italy, both to be crowned Emperor and to secure the Norman kingdom of
+Sicily as his wife's inheritance: therefore, making a temporary truce
+with Henry the Lion, he hastened to Rome and was there crowned as Henry
+VI. in 1191. His attempt to conquer Naples, which was held by the Norman
+prince, Tancred, completely failed, and a deadly pestilence in his army
+compelled him to return to Germany before the close of the same year.</p>
+
+<p>The fight with Henry the Lion was immediately renewed, and during the
+whole of 1192 Northern Germany was ravaged worse than before. In
+December of that year, King Richard of the Lion-Heart, returning home
+overland from Palestine, was taken prisoner by Duke Leopold of Austria,
+whom he had offended during the Crusade, and was delivered to the
+Emperor. As king Richard was the brother-in-law of Henry the Lion, he
+was held partly as a hostage, and partly for the purpose of gaining an
+enormous ransom for his liberation. His mother came from England, and
+the sum of 150,000 silver marks which the Emperor demanded was paid by
+her exertions: still Richard was kept prisoner at Trifels, a lonely
+castle among the Vosges mountains. The legend relates that his minstrel,
+Blondel, discovered his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</span> place of imprisonment by singing the king's
+favorite song under the windows of all the castles near the Rhine, until
+the song was answered by the well-known voice from within. The German
+princes, finally, felt that they were disgraced by the Emperor's
+conduct, and they compelled him to liberate Richard, in February, 1194.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1197.</div>
+
+<p>The same year a reconciliation was effected with Henry the Lion. The
+latter devoted himself to the improvement of the people of his little
+state of Brunswick: he instituted reforms in their laws, encouraged
+their education, collected books and works of art, and made himself so
+honored and beloved before his death, in August, 1195, that he was
+mourned as a benefactor by those who had once hated him as a tyrant. He
+was sixty-six years old, three years younger than his rival, Barbarossa,
+whom he fully equalled in energy and ability. Although defeated in his
+struggle, he laid the basis of a better civil order, a higher and firmer
+civilization, throughout the North of Germany.</p>
+
+<p>Henry VI., enriched by king Richard's ransom, went to Italy, purchased
+the assistance of Genoa and Pisa, and easily conquered the Sicilian
+kingdom. He treated the family of Tancred (who was now dead) with
+shocking barbarity, tortured and executed his enemies with a cruelty
+worthy of Nero, and made himself heartily feared and hated. Then he
+hastened back to Germany, to have the Imperial dignity made hereditary
+in his family. Even here he was on the point of succeeding, in spite of
+the strong opposition of the Saxon princes, when a Norman insurrection
+recalled him to Sicily. He demanded the provinces of Macedonia and
+Epirus from the Greek Emperor, encouraged the project of a new Crusade,
+with the design of conquering Constantinople, and evidently dreamed of
+making himself ruler of the whole Christian world, when death cut him
+off, in 1197, in his thirty-second year. His widow, Constance of Sicily,
+was left with a son, Frederick, then only three years old.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">THE REIGN OF FREDERICK II. AND END OF THE HOHENSTAUFEN LINE.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1215&mdash;1268.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Rival Emperors in Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Pope Innocent III.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Murder of Philip of Hohenstaufen.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Otto IV. becomes Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Frederick of Hohenstaufen goes to Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Character.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Decline of Otto's Power.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Frederick II. crowned Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Troubles with the Pope.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Crusade to the Holy Land.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Frederick's Court at Palermo.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Henry, Count of Schwerin.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Gregory IX.'s Persecution of Heretics.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Meeting of Frederick II. and his son, King Henry.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Emperor returns to Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Marriage with Isabella of England.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;He leaves Germany for Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;War in Lombardy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Conflict with Pope Gregory IX.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Capture of the Council.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Course of Pope Innocent III.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Wars in Germany and Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Conspiracies against Frederick II.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Misfortunes and Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Character of his Reign.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His son, Konrad IV., succeeds.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;William of Holland rival Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Death of Konrad IV.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;End of William of Holland.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Boy, Konradin.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Manfred, King of Naples.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Usurpation of Charles of Anjou.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Konradin goes to Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Defeat and Capture.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Execution.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Last of the Hohenstaufens.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1215. TWO EMPERORS ELECTED.</div>
+
+<p>A story was current among the German people, that, shortly before Henry
+VI.'s death, the spirit of Theodoric the Great, in giant form on a black
+war-steed, rode along the Rhine presaging trouble to the Empire. This
+legend no doubt originated after the trouble came, and was simply a
+poetical image of what had already happened. The German princes were
+determined to have no child again, as their hereditary Emperor; but only
+one son of Frederick Barbarossa still lived,&mdash;Philip of Suabia. The
+bitter hostility between Welf and Waiblinger still existed, and although
+Philip was chosen by a Diet held in Thuringia, the opposite party,
+secretly assisted by the Pope and by Richard of the Lion-heart, of
+England (who had certainly no reason to be friendly to the
+Hohenstaufens!) met at Aix-la-Chapelle, and elected Otto, son of Henry
+the Lion.</p>
+
+<p>Just at this crisis, Innocent III. became Pope. He was as haughty,
+inflexible and ambitious as Gregory VII., whom<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</span> he took for his model:
+under him, and with his sanction, the Inquisition, which linked the
+Christian Church to barbarism, was established. So completely had the
+relation of the two powers been changed by the humiliation of Henry IV.
+and Barbarossa, that the Pope now claimed the right to decide between
+the rival monarchs. Of course he gave his voice for Otto, and
+excommunicated Philip. The effect of this policy, however, was to awaken
+the jealousy of the German Bishops as well as the Princes,&mdash;even the
+former found the Papal interference a little too arbitrary&mdash;and Philip,
+instead of being injured, actually derived advantage from it. In the war
+which followed, Otto lost so much ground that in 1207 he was obliged to
+fly to England, where he was assisted by king John; but he would
+probably have again failed, when an unexpected crime made him
+successful. Philip was murdered in 1208, by Otto of Wittelsbach, Duke of
+Bavaria, on account of some personal grievance.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1208.</div>
+
+<p>As he left no children, and Frederick, the son of Henry VI., was still a
+boy of fourteen, Otto found no difficulty in persuading the German
+princes to accept him as king. His first act was to proceed against
+Philip's murderer and his accomplice, the Bishop of Bamberg. Both fled,
+but Otto of Wittelsbach was overtaken near Ratisbon, and instantly
+slain. In 1209, king Otto collected a magnificent retinue at Augsburg,
+and set out for Italy, in order to be crowned Emperor at Rome. As the
+enemy of the Hohenstaufens, he felt sure of a welcome; but Innocent
+III., whom he met at Viterbo, required a great many special concessions
+to the Papal power before he would consent to bestow the crown. Even
+after the ceremony was over, he inhospitably hinted to the new Emperor,
+Otto IV., that he should leave Rome as soon as possible. The gates of
+the city were shut upon the latter, and his army was left without
+supplies.</p>
+
+<p>The jurists of Bologna soon convinced Otto that some of his concessions
+to the Pope were illegal, and need not be observed. He therefore took
+possession of Tuscany, which he had agreed to surrender to the Pope, and
+afterwards marched against Southern Italy, where the young Frederick of
+Hohenstaufen was already acknowledged as king of Sicily. The latter had
+been carefully educated under the guardianship of Innocent III., after
+the death of Constance in 1198, and threatened to become a dangerous
+rival for the Imperial crown. Otto's invasion so exasperated the Pope<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</span>
+that he excommunicated him, and called upon the German princes to
+recognize Frederick in his stead. As Otto had never been personally
+popular in Germany, the Waiblinger, or Hohenstaufen party, responded to
+Innocent's proclamation. Suabia and Bavaria and the Archbishop of
+Mayence pronounced for Frederick, while Saxony, Lorraine and the
+northern Bishops remained true to Otto. The latter hastened back to
+Germany in 1212, regained some of his lost ground, and attempted to
+strengthen his cause by marrying Beatrix, the daughter of Philip. But
+she died four days after the marriage, and in the meantime Frederick,
+supplied with money by the Pope, had crossed the Alps.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1212. FREDERICK GOES TO GERMANY.</div>
+
+<p>The young king, who had been educated wholly in Sicily, and who all his
+life was an Italian rather than a German, was now eighteen years old. He
+resembled his grandfather, Frederick Barbarossa, in person, was perhaps
+his equal in strength and decision of character, but far surpassed him
+or any of his imperial predecessors in knowledge and refinement. He
+spoke six languages with fluency; he was a poet and minstrel; he loved
+the arts of peace no less than those of war, yet he was a statesman and
+a leader of men. On his way to Germany, he found the Lombard cities,
+except Pavia, so hostile to him that he was obliged to cross the Alps by
+secret and dangerous paths, and when he finally reached the city of
+Constance, with only sixty followers, Otto IV. was close at hand, with a
+large army. But Constance opened its gates to the young Hohenstaufen:
+Suabia, the home of his fathers, rose in his support, and the Emperor,
+without even venturing a battle, retreated to Saxony.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1220.</div>
+
+<p>For nearly three years, the two rivals watched each other without
+engaging in open hostilities. The stately bearing of Frederick, which he
+inherited from Barbarossa, the charm and refinement of his manners, and
+the generosity he exhibited towards all who were friendly to his claims,
+gradually increased the number of his supporters. In 1215, Otto joined
+King John of England and the Count of Flanders in a war against Philip
+Augustus of France, and was so signally defeated that his influence in
+Germany speedily came to an end. Lorraine and Holland declared for
+Frederick, who was crowned in Aix-la-Chapelle with great pomp the same
+year. Otto died near Brunswick, three years afterwards, poor and
+unhonored.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</span></p>
+
+<p>Pope Innocent III. died in 1216, and Frederick appears to have
+considered that the assistance which he had received from him was
+<i>personal</i> and not <i>Papal</i>; for he not only laid claim to the Tuscan
+possessions, but neglected his promise to engage in a new Crusade for
+the recovery of Jerusalem, and even attempted to control the choice of
+Bishops. At the same time he took measures to secure the coronation of
+his infant son, Henry, as his successor. His journey to Rome was made in
+the year 1220. The new Pope, Honorius III., a man of a mild and yielding
+nature, nevertheless only crowned him on condition that he would observe
+the violated claims of the Church, and especially that he would strictly
+suppress all heresy in the Empire. When he had been crowned Emperor as
+Frederick II., he fixed himself in Southern Italy and Sicily for some
+years, quite neglecting his German rule, but wisely improving the
+condition of his favorite kingdom. He was signally successful in
+controlling the Saracens, whose language he spoke, whom he converted
+into subjects, and who afterwards became his best soldiers.</p>
+
+<p>The Pope, however, became very impatient at the non-fulfilment of
+Frederick's promises, and the latter was compelled, in 1226, to summon a
+Diet of all the German and Italian princes to meet at Verona, in order
+to make preparations for a new crusade. But the cities of Lombardy,
+fearing that the army to be raised would be used against them, adopted
+all possible measures against the meeting of the Diet, took possession
+of the passes of the Adige, and prevented the Emperor's son, the young
+king Henry of Germany, and his followers, from entering Italy. Angry and
+humiliated, Frederick was compelled to return to Sicily. The next year,
+1227, Honorius died, and the Cardinals elected as his successor Gregory
+IX., a man more than eighty years old, but of a remarkably stubborn and
+despotic nature. He immediately threatened the Emperor with
+excommunication in case the crusade for the recovery of Jerusalem was
+not at once undertaken, and the latter was compelled to obey. He hastily
+collected an army and fleet, and departed from Naples, but returned at
+the end of three days, alleging a serious illness as the cause of his
+sudden change of plan.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1228. VISIT TO JERUSALEM.</div>
+
+<p>He was instantly excommunicated by Gregory IX., and he replied by a
+proclamation addressed to all kings and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</span> princes,&mdash;a document breathing
+defiance and hate against the Pope and his claims. Nevertheless, in
+order to keep his word in regard to the Crusade, he went to the East
+with a large force in 1228, and obtained, by a treaty with the Sultan of
+Egypt, the possession of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and Mount
+Carmel, for ten years. His second wife, the Empress Iolanthe, was the
+daughter of Guy of Lusignan, the last king of Jerusalem; and therefore,
+when Frederick visited the holy city, he claimed the right, as Guy's
+heir, of setting the crown of Jerusalem upon his own head. The entire
+Crusade, which was not marked by any deeds of arms, occupied only eight
+months.</p>
+
+<p>Although he had fulfilled his agreement with Rome, the Pope declared
+that a crusade undertaken by an excommunicated Emperor was a sin, and
+did all he could to prevent Frederick's success in Palestine. But when
+the latter returned to Italy, he found that the Roman people, a majority
+of whom were on his side, had driven Gregory IX. from the city. It was
+therefore comparatively easy for him to come to an agreement, whereby
+the Pope released him from the ban, in return for being reinstated in
+Rome. This was only a truce, however, not a lasting peace: between two
+such imperious natures, peace was impossible. The agreement,
+nevertheless, gave Frederick some years of quiet, which he employed in
+regulating the affairs of his Southern-Italian kingdom. He abolished, as
+far as possible, the feudal system introduced by the Normans, and laid
+the foundation of a representative form of government. His Court at
+Palermo became the resort of learned men and poets, where Arabic,
+Provençal, Italian and German poetry was recited, where songs were sung,
+where the fine arts were encouraged, and the rude and warlike pastimes
+of former rulers gave way to the spirit of a purer civilization.
+Although, as we have said, his nature was almost wholly Italian, no
+Emperor after Charlemagne so fostered the growth of a German literature
+as Frederick II.</p>
+
+<p>But this constitutes his only real service to Germany. While he was
+enjoying the peaceful and prosperous development of Naples and Sicily,
+his great empire in the north was practically taking care of itself, for
+the boy-king, Henry, governed chiefly by allowing the reigning bishops,
+dukes and princes to do very much as they pleased. There was a season of
+peace with France, Hungary and Poland, and Denmark,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</span> which was then the
+only dangerous neighbor, was repelled without the Imperial assistance.
+Frederick II., in his first rivalry with Otto, had shamefully purchased
+Denmark's favor by giving up all the territory between the Elbe and the
+Oder. But when Henry, Count of Schwerin, returned from a pilgrimage to
+the Holy Land, and found the Danish king, Waldemar, in possession of his
+territory, he organized a revolt in order to recover his rights, and
+succeeded in taking Waldemar and his son prisoners. Frederick II. now
+supported him, and the Pope as a matter of course supported Denmark. A
+great battle was fought in Holstein, and the Danes were so signally
+defeated that they were forced to give up all the German territory,
+except the island of Rügen and a little strip of the Pomeranian coast,
+beside paying 45,000 silver marks for the ransom of Waldemar and his
+son.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1230.</div>
+
+<p>About this time, in consequence of the demand of Pope Innocent III. that
+all heresy should be treated as a crime and suppressed by force, a new
+element of conflict with Rome was introduced into Germany. Among other
+acts of violence, the Stedinger, a tribe of free farmers of Saxon blood,
+who inhabited the low country near the mouth of the Weser, were
+literally exterminated by order of the Archbishop of Bremen, to whom
+they had refused the payment of tithes. In 1230, Gregory IX. wrote to
+king Henry, urging him to crush out heresy in Germany: "Where is the
+zeal of Moses, who destroyed 23,000 idolaters in one day? Where is the
+zeal of Elijah, who slew 450 prophets with the sword, by the brook
+Kishon? Against this evil the strongest means must be used: there is
+need of steel and fire." Conrad of Marburg, a monk, who inflicted years
+of physical and spiritual suffering upon Elizabeth, Countess of
+Thuringia, in order to make a saint of her, was appointed Inquisitor for
+Germany by Gregory, and for three years he tortured and burned at will.
+His horrible cruelty at last provoked revenge: he was assassinated on
+the highway near Marburg, and his death marks the end of the Inquisition
+in Germany.</p>
+
+<p>In 1232, Frederick II., in order that he might seem to fulfil his
+neglected duties as German Emperor, summoned a general Diet to meet at
+Ravenna, but it was prevented by the Lombard cities, as the Diet of
+Verona had been prevented six years before. Befriended by Venice,
+however, Frederick marched to Aquileia, and there met his son, king<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</span>
+Henry, after a separation of twelve years. Their respective ages were
+thirty-seven and twenty-one: there was little personal sympathy or
+affection between them, and they only came together to quarrel.
+Frederick refused to sanction most of Henry's measures; he demanded,
+among other things, that the latter should rebuild the strongholds of
+the robber-knights of Hohenlohe, which had been razed to the ground.
+This seemed to Henry an outrage as well as a humiliation, and he
+returned home with rebellion in his heart. After proclaiming himself
+independent king, he entered into an alliance with the cities of
+Lombardy and even sought the aid of the Pope.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1235. FREDERICK'S MARRIAGE AT WORMS.</div>
+
+<p>Early in 1235, after an absence of fifteen years, Frederick II. returned
+to Germany. The revolt, which had seemed so threatening, fell to pieces
+at his approach. He was again master of the Empire, without striking a
+blow: Henry had no course but to surrender without conditions. He was
+deposed, imprisoned, and finally sent with his family to Southern Italy,
+where he died seven years afterwards. The same summer the Emperor, whose
+wife, Iolanthe, had died some years before, was married at Worms to
+Isabella, sister of king Henry III. of England. The ceremony was
+attended with festivals of Oriental splendor; the attendants of the new
+Empress were Saracens, and she was obliged to live after the manner of
+Eastern women. Immense numbers of the nobles and people flocked to
+Worms, and soon afterwards to Mayence, where a Diet was held. Here, for
+the first time, the decrees of the Diet were publicly read in the German
+language. Frederick also, as the head of the Waiblinger party, effected
+a reconciliation with Otto of Brunswick, the head of the Welfs, whereby
+the rivalry of a hundred years came to an end in Germany; but in Italy
+the struggle between the Ghibellines and the Guelphs was continued long
+after the Hohenstaufen line became extinct.</p>
+
+<p>In the autumn of 1236, Frederick conquered and deposed Frederick the
+Quarrelsome, Duke of Austria, and made Vienna a free Imperial city. A
+Diet was held there, at which his second son, Konrad, then nine years
+old, was accepted as king of Germany. This choice was confirmed by
+another Diet, held the following year at Speyer. The Emperor now left
+Germany, never to return. This brief visit, of a little more than a
+year, was the only interruption in his thirty years of absence; but it
+revived his great personal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</span> influence over princes and people, it was
+marked by the full recognition of his authority, and it contributed, in
+combination with his struggle against the power of Rome which followed,
+to impress upon his reign a more splendid and successful character than
+his acts deserved. Although the remainder of his history belongs to
+Italy, it was not without importance for the later fortunes of Germany,
+and must therefore be briefly stated.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1237.</div>
+
+<p>On returning to Italy, Frederick found himself involved in new
+difficulties with the independent cities. He was supported by his
+son-in-law, Ezzelin, and a large army from Naples and Sicily, composed
+chiefly of Saracens. With this force he won such a victory at
+Cortenuovo, that even Milan offered to yield, under hard conditions.
+Then Frederick II. made the same mistake as his grandfather, Barbarossa,
+in similar circumstances. He demanded a complete and unconditional
+surrender, which so aroused the fear and excited the hate of the
+Lombards, that they united in a new and desperate resistance, which he
+was unable to crush. Gregory IX., who claimed for the Church the Island
+of Sardinia, which Frederick had given as a kingdom to his son Enzio,
+hurled a new excommunication against the Emperor, and the fiercest of
+all the quarrels between the two powers now began to rage.</p>
+
+<p>The Pope, in a proclamation, asserted of Frederick: "This pestilential
+king declares that the world has been deceived by three impostors,
+Moses, Mohammed and Christ, the two former of whom died honorably, but
+the last shamefully, upon the cross." He further styled the Emperor,
+"that beast of Revelations which came out of the sea, which now destroys
+everything with its claws and iron teeth, and, assisted by the heretics,
+arises against Christ, in order to drive his name out of the world."
+Frederick, in an answer which was sent to all the kings and princes of
+Christendom, wrote: "The Apostolic and Athanasian Creeds are mine; Moses
+I consider a friend of God, and Mohammed an arch-impostor." He described
+the Pope as "that horse in Revelations, from which, as it is written,
+issued another horse, and he that sat upon him took away the peace of
+the world, so that the living destroyed each other," and named him
+further: "the second Balaam, the great dragon, yea, even the
+Antichrist."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1241. CAPTURE OF THE POPE'S COUNCIL.</div>
+
+<p>Gregory IX. endeavored, but in vain, to set up a rival Emperor: the
+Princes, and even the Archbishops, were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</span> opposed to him. Frederick, who
+was not idle meanwhile, entered the States of the Church, took several
+cities, and advanced towards Rome. Then the Pope offered to call
+together a Council in Rome, to settle all matters in dispute. But those
+who were summoned to attend were Frederick's enemies, whereupon he
+issued a proclamation declaring the Council void, and warning the
+bishops and priests against coming to it. The most of them, however, met
+at Nice, in 1241, and embarked for Rome on a Genoese fleet of sixty
+vessels; but Frederick's son, Enzio, intercepted them with a Pisan and
+Sicilian fleet, captured one hundred cardinals, bishops and abbots, one
+hundred civil deputies and four thousand men, and carried them to
+Naples. The Council, therefore, could not be held, and Pope Gregory died
+soon afterwards, almost a hundred years old.</p>
+
+<p>After quarreling for nearly two years, the Cardinals finally elected a
+new Pope, Innocent IV. He had been a friend of the Emperor, but the
+latter exclaimed, on hearing of his election: "I fear that I have lost a
+friend among the Cardinals, and found an enemy in the chair of St.
+Peter: no Pope can be a Ghibelline!" His words were true. After
+fruitless negotiations, Innocent IV. fled to Lyons, and there called
+together a Council of the Church, which declared that Frederick had
+forfeited his crowns and dignities, that he was cast out by God, and
+should be thenceforth accursed. Frederick answered this declaration with
+a bold statement of the corruptions of the clergy, and the dangers
+arising from the temporal power of the Popes, which, he asserted, should
+be suppressed for the sake of Christianity, the early purity of which
+had been lost. King Louis IX. of France endeavored to bring about a
+suspension of the struggle, which was now beginning to disturb all
+Europe; but the Pope angrily refused.</p>
+
+<p>In 1246, the latter persuaded Henry Raspe, Landgrave of Thuringia, to
+claim the crown of Germany, and supported him with all the influence and
+wealth of the Church. He was defeated and wounded in the first battle,
+and soon afterwards died, leaving Frederick's son, Konrad, still king of
+Germany. In Italy, the civil war raged with the greatest bitterness, and
+with horrible barbarities on both sides. Frederick exhibited such
+extraordinary courage and determination that his enemies, encouraged by
+the Church, finally resorted to the basest means of overcoming him. A
+plot<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</span> formed for his assassination was discovered in time, and the
+conspirators executed: then an attempt was made to poison him, in which
+his chancellor and intimate friend, Peter de Vinea&mdash;his companion for
+thirty years,&mdash;seems to have been implicated. At least he recommended a
+certain physician, who brought to the Emperor a poisoned medicine.
+Something in the man's manner excited Frederick's mistrust, and he
+ordered him to swallow a part of the medicine. When the latter refused,
+it was given to a condemned criminal, who immediately died. The
+physician was executed and Peter de Vinea sent to prison, where he
+committed suicide by dashing his head against the walls of his cell.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1249.</div>
+
+<p>In the same year, 1249, Frederick's favorite son, Enzio, king of
+Sardinia, who even surpassed his father in personal beauty, in
+accomplishments, in poetic talent and heroic courage, was taken prisoner
+by the Bolognese. All the father's offers of ransom were rejected, all
+his menaces defied: Enzio was condemned to perpetual imprisonment, and
+languished twenty-two years in a dungeon, until liberated by death.
+Frederick was almost broken-hearted, but his high courage never flagged.
+He was encompassed by enemies, he scarcely knew whom to trust, yet he
+did not yield the least of his claims. And fortune, at last, seemed
+inclined to turn to his side: a new rival king, William of Holland, whom
+the Pope had set up against him in Germany, failed to maintain himself:
+the city of Piacenza, in Lombardy, espoused his cause: the Romans, tired
+of Innocent IV.'s absence, began to talk of electing another Pope in his
+stead: and even Innocent himself was growing unpopular in France. Then,
+while he still defiantly faced the world, still had faith in his final
+triumph, the body refused to support his fiery spirit. He died in the
+arms of his youngest son, Manfred, on the 13th of December, 1250,
+fifty-six years old. He was buried at Palermo; and when his tomb there
+was opened, in the year 1783, his corpse was found to have scarcely
+undergone any decay.</p>
+
+<p>Frederick II. was unquestionably one of the greatest men who ever bore
+the title of German (or Roman) Emperor; yet all the benefits his reign
+conferred upon Germany were wholly of an indirect character, and were
+more than balanced by the positive injury occasioned by his neglect.
+There were strong contradictions in his nature, which make it difficult
+to judge him fairly as a ruler. As<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</span> a man of great learning and
+intelligence, his ideas were liberal; as a monarch, he was violent and
+despotic. He wore out his life, trying to crush the republican cities of
+Italy; he was jealous of the growth of the free cities of Germany, yet
+granted them a representation in the Diet; and in Sicily, where his sway
+was undisputed, he was wise, just and tolerant. Representing in himself
+the highest taste and refinement of his age, he was nevertheless as
+rash, passionate and relentless as the monarchs of earlier and ruder
+times. In his struggle with the Popes, he was far in advance of his age,
+and herein, although unsuccessful, he was not subdued: in reality, he
+was one of the most powerful forerunners of the Reformation. There are
+few figures in European history so bright, so brave, so full of heroic
+and romantic interest.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1250. KONRAD IV.'S REIGN.</div>
+
+<p>Frederick's son and successor, Konrad IV., inherited the hate and enmity
+of Pope Innocent IV. The latter threatened with excommunication all who
+should support Konrad, and forbade the priests to administer the
+sacraments of the Church to his followers. The Papal proclamations were
+so fierce that they incited the Bishop of Ratisbon to plot the king's
+murder, in which he came very near being successful. William of Holland,
+whom the people called "the Priests' King," was not supported by any of
+the leading German princes, but the gold of Rome purchased him enough of
+troops to meet Konrad in the field, and he was temporarily successful.
+The hostility of the Pope seems scarcely to have affected Konrad's
+position in Germany; but both rulers and people were growing indifferent
+to the Imperial power, the seat of which had been so long transferred to
+Italy. They therefore took little part in the struggle between William
+and Konrad, and the latter's defeat was by no means a gain to the
+former.</p>
+
+<p>The two rivals, in fact, were near their end. Konrad IV. went to Italy
+and took possession of the kingdom of his father, which his
+step-brother, Manfred, governed in his name. He made an earnest attempt
+to be reconciled with the Pope, but Innocent IV. was implacable. He then
+collected an army of 20,000 men, and was about to lead it to Germany
+against William of Holland, when he suddenly died, in 1254, in the 27th
+year of his age. It was generally believed that he had been poisoned.
+William of Holland, since there was no one to dispute his claim,
+obtained a partial<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</span> recognition of his sovereignty in Germany; but,
+having undertaken to subdue the free farmers in Friesland, he was
+defeated. While attempting to escape, his heavy war-horse broke through
+the ice, and the farmers surrounded and slew him. This was in 1256, two
+years after Konrad's death. Innocent IV. had expended no less than
+400,000 silver marks&mdash;a very large sum in those days&mdash;in supporting him
+and Henry Raspe against the Hohenstaufens.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1256.</div>
+
+<p>Konrad IV. left behind him, in Suabia, a son Konrad, who was only two
+years old at his father's death. In order to distinguish him from the
+latter, the Italians gave him the name of <i>Conradino</i> (Little Konrad),
+and as Konradin he is known in German history. He was educated under the
+charge of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, and his uncle Ludwig II., Duke of
+Bavaria. When he was ten years old, the Archbishop of Mayence called a
+Diet, at which it was agreed that he should be crowned King of Germany,
+but the ceremony was prevented by the furious opposition of the Pope.
+Konradin made such progress in his studies and exhibited so much
+fondness for literature and the arts, that the followers of the
+Hohenstaufens saw in him another Frederick II. One of his poems is still
+in existence, and testifies to the grace and refinement of his youthful
+mind.</p>
+
+<p>After Konrad IV.'s death, the Pope claimed the kingdom of Naples and
+Sicily as being forfeited to the Church, but found it prudent to allow
+Manfred to govern in his name. The latter submitted at first, but only
+until his authority was firmly established: then he declared war,
+defeated the Papal troops, drove them back to Rome, and was crowned king
+in 1258. The news of his success so agitated the Pope that he died
+shortly afterwards. His successor, Urban IV., a Frenchman, who imitated
+his policy, found Manfred too strongly established to be defeated
+without foreign aid. He therefore offered the crown of Southern Italy to
+Charles of Anjou, the brother of king Louis IX. of France. Physically
+and intellectually, there could be no greater contrast than between him
+and Manfred. Charles of Anjou was awkward and ugly, savage, ignorant and
+bigoted: Manfred was a model of manly beauty, a scholar and poet, a
+patron of learning, a builder of roads, bridges and harbors, a just and
+noble ruler.</p>
+
+<p>Charles of Anjou, after being crowned king of Naples and Sicily by the
+Pope, and having secured secret advantages<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</span> by bribery and intrigue,
+marched against Manfred in 1266. They met at Benevento, where, after a
+long and bloody battle, Manfred was slain, and the kingdom submitted to
+the usurper. By the Pope's order, Manfred's body was taken from the
+chapel where it had been buried, and thrown into a trench: his widow and
+children were imprisoned for life by Charles of Anjou.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1268. KONRADIN IN ITALY.</div>
+
+<p>The boy Konradin determined to avenge his uncle's death, and recover his
+own Italian inheritance. His mother sought to dissuade him from the
+attempt, but Ludwig of Bavaria offered to support him, and his dearest
+friend, Frederick of Baden, a youth of nineteen, insisted on sharing his
+fortunes. Towards the end of 1267, he crossed the Alps and reached
+Verona with a force of 10,000 men. Here he was obliged to wait three
+months for further support, and during this time more than two-thirds of
+his German soldiers returned home. But a reaction against the Guelphs
+(the Papal party) had set in; several Lombard cities and the Republic of
+Pisa declared in Konradin's favor, and finally the Romans, at his
+approach, expelled Pope Urban IV. A revolt against Charles of Anjou
+broke out in Naples and Sicily, and when Konradin entered Rome, in July,
+1268, his success seemed almost assured. After a most enthusiastic
+reception by the Roman people, he continued his march southward, with a
+considerable force.</p>
+
+<p>On the 22d of August he met Charles of Anjou in battle, and was at first
+victorious. But his troops, having halted to plunder the enemy's camp,
+were suddenly attacked, and at last completely routed. Konradin and his
+friend, Frederick of Baden, fled to Rome, and thence to the little port
+of Astura, on the coast, in order to embark for Sicily; but here they
+were arrested by Frangipani, the Governor of the place, who had been
+specially favored by the Emperor Frederick II., and now sold his
+grandson to Charles of Anjou for a large sum of money. Konradin having
+been carried to Naples, a court of distinguished jurists was called, to
+try him for high treason. With one exception, they pronounced him
+guiltless of any crime; yet Charles, nevertheless, ordered him to be
+executed.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1268.</div>
+
+<p>On the 29th of October, 1268, the last Hohenstaufen, a youth of sixteen,
+and his friend Frederick, were led to the scaffold. Charles watched the
+scene from a window of his palace; the people, gloomy and mutinous, were
+overawed by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</span> his guards. Konradin advanced to the edge of the platform
+and threw his glove among the crowd, asking that it might be carried to
+some one who would avenge his death. A knight who was present took it
+afterwards to Peter of Aragon, who had married king Manfred's eldest
+daughter. Then, with the exclamation: "Oh, mother, what sorrow I have
+prepared for thee!" Konradin knelt and received the fatal blow. After
+him Frederick of Baden and thirteen others were executed.</p>
+
+<p>The tyranny and inhuman cruelty of Charles of Anjou provoked a
+conspiracy which, in the year 1282, gave rise to the massacre called
+"the Sicilian Vespers." In one night all the French officials and
+soldiers in Sicily were slaughtered, and Peter of Aragon, the heir of
+the Hohenstaufens, became king of the island. But in Germany the proud
+race existed no more, except in history, legend and song.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">GERMANY AT THE TIME OF THE INTERREGNUM.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1256&mdash;1273.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Change in the Character of the German Empire.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Richard of Cornwall and Alphonso of Castile purchase their election.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Interregnum.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Effect of the Crusades.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Heresy and Persecution.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Orders of Knighthood.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Conquests of the German Order.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Rise of the Cities.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Robber-Knights.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Hanseatic League.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Population and Power of the Cities.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Gothic Architecture.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Universities.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Seven Classes of the People.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The small States.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Service of the Hohenstaufens to Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Epic Poetry of the Middle Ages.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Historical writers.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1256. CHANGES IN GERMANY.</div>
+
+<p>The end of the Hohenstaufen dynasty marks an important phase in the
+history of Germany. From this time the character of the Empire is
+radically changed. Although still called "Roman" in official documents,
+the term is henceforth an empty form, and even the word "Empire" loses
+much of its former significance. The Italian Republics were now
+practically independent, and the various dukedoms, bishoprics,
+principalities and countships, into which Germany was divided, were fast
+rendering it difficult to effect any unity of feeling or action among
+the people. The Empire which Charlemagne designed, which Otto the Great
+nearly established, and which Barbarossa might have founded, but for the
+fatal ambition of governing Italy, had become impossible. Germany was,
+in reality, a loose confederation of differently organized and governed
+States, which continued to make use of the form of an Empire as a
+convenience rather than a political necessity.</p>
+
+<p>The events which followed the death of Konrad IV. illustrate the corrupt
+condition of both Church and State at that time. The money which Pope
+Innocent IV. so freely expended in favor of the anti-kings, Henry Raspe
+and William of Holland, had already taught the Electors the advantage of
+selling their votes: so, when William was slain by the farmers of
+Friesland, and no German prince seemed to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</span> care much for the title of
+Emperor (since each already had independent power over his own
+territory), the high dignity so recently possessed by Frederick II., was
+put up at auction. Two bidders made their appearance, Richard of
+Cornwall, brother of Henry III. of England, and king Alphonso of
+Castile, surnamed "the Wise." The Archbishop of Cologne was the business
+agent of the former: he received 12,000 silver marks for himself, and
+eight or nine thousand apiece for the Dukes of Bavaria, the Archbishop
+of Mayence, and several other electors. The Archbishop of Treves, in the
+name of king Alphonso, offered the king of Bohemia, the Dukes of Saxony
+and the Margrave of Brandenburg 20,000 marks each. Of course both
+purchasers were elected, and they were proclaimed kings of Germany
+almost at the same time. Alphonso never even visited his realm: Richard
+of Cornwall came to Aix-la-Chapelle, was formally crowned, and returned
+now and then, whenever the produce of his tin-mines in Cornwall enabled
+him to pay for an enthusiastic reception by the people. He never
+attempted, however, to govern Germany, for he probably had intelligence
+enough to see that any such attempt would be disregarded.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1256.</div>
+
+<p>This period was afterwards called by the people "the Evil Time when
+there was no Emperor"&mdash;and, in spite of the two kings, who had fairly
+paid for their titles, it is known in German history as "the
+Interregnum." It was a period of change and confusion, when each prince
+endeavored to become an absolute ruler, and the knights, in imitating
+them, became robbers; when the free cities, encouraged by the example of
+Italy, united in self-defence, and the masses of the people, although
+ground to the dust, began to dream again of the rights which their
+ancestors had possessed a thousand years before.</p>
+
+<p>First of all, the great change wrought in Europe by the Crusades was
+beginning to be felt by all classes of society. The attempt to retain
+possession of Palestine, which lasted nearly two hundred years,&mdash;from
+the march of the First Crusade in 1096 to the fall of Acre in
+1291,&mdash;cost Europe, it is estimated, six millions of lives, and an
+immense amount of treasure. The Roman Church favored the undertaking in
+every possible way, since each Crusade instantly and greatly
+strengthened its power; yet the result was the reverse of what the
+Church hoped for, in the end. The bravery, intelligence and refined
+manners of the Saracens<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</span> made a great impression on the Christian
+knights, and they soon began to imitate those whom they had at first
+despised. New branches of learning, especially astronomy, mathematics
+and medicine, were brought to Europe from the East; more luxurious
+habits of life, giving rise to finer arts of industry, followed; and
+commerce, compelled to supply the Crusaders and Christian colonists at
+such a distance, was rapidly developed to an extent unknown since the
+fall of the Roman Empire.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1256. GROWTH OF INDEPENDENT SECTS.</div>
+
+<p>As men gained new ideas from these changes, they became more independent
+in thought and speech. The priests and monks ceased to monopolize all
+knowledge, and their despotism over the human mind met with resistance.
+Then, first, the charge of "heresy" began to be heard; and although
+during the thirteenth and a part of the fourteenth centuries the Pope of
+Rome was undoubtedly the highest power in Europe, the influences were
+already at work which afterwards separated the strongest races of the
+world from the Roman Church. On the one hand, new orders of monks were
+created, and monasteries increased everywhere: on the other hand,
+independent Christian sects began to spring up, like the Albigenses in
+France and the Waldenses in Savoy, and could not be wholly suppressed,
+even with fire and sword.</p>
+
+<p>The orders of knighthood which possessed a religious character, were
+also established during the Crusades. First the Knights of St. John,
+whose badge was a black mantle with a white cross, formed a society to
+guard pilgrims to the Holy Land, and take care of the sick. Then
+followed the Knights Templar, distinguished by a red cross on a white
+mantle. Both these orders originated among the Italian chivalry, and
+they included few German members. During the Third Crusade, however
+(which was headed by Barbarossa), the German Order of Knights was
+formed, chiefly by the aid of the merchants of Bremen and Lübeck. They
+adopted the black cross on a white mantle as their badge, took the
+monkish vows of celibacy, poverty and obedience, like the Templars and
+the Knights of St. John, and devoted their lives to war with the
+heathen. The second Grand-Master of this order, Hermann of Salza,
+accompanied Frederick II. to Jerusalem, and his character was so highly
+estimated by the latter that he made him a prince of the German Empire.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1256.</div>
+
+<p>Inasmuch as the German Order really owed its existence<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</span> to the support
+of the merchants of the Northern coast, Hermann of Salza sought for a
+field of labor wherein the knights might fulfil their vows, and at the
+same time achieve some advantage for their benefactors. As early as
+1199, the Bremen merchants had founded Riga, taken possession of the
+eastern shore of the Baltic and established German colonies there. The
+native Finnish or Lithuanian inhabitants were either exterminated or
+forcibly converted to Christianity, and an order, called "the Brothers
+of the Sword," was established for the defence of the colonies. This new
+German territory was separated from the rest of the Empire by the
+country between the mouths of the Vistula and the Memel, claimed by
+Poland, and inhabited by the Borussii, or <i>Prussians</i>, a tribe which
+seems to have been of mixed Slavic and Lithuanian blood. Hermann of
+Salza obtained from Poland the permission to possess this country for
+the German Order, and he gradually conquered or converted the native
+Prussians. In the meantime the Brothers of the Sword were so hard
+pressed by a revolt of the Livonians that they united themselves with
+the German Order, and thenceforth formed a branch of it. The result of
+this union was that the whole coast of the Baltic, from Holstein to the
+Gulf of Finland, was secured to Germany, and became civilized and
+Christian.</p>
+
+<p>During the thirty-five years of Frederick II.'s reign and the seventeen
+succeeding years of the Interregnum, Germany was in a condition which
+allowed the strong to make themselves stronger, yet left the weaker
+classes without any protection. The reigning Dukes and Archbishops were,
+of course, satisfied with this state of affairs; the independent counts
+and barons with large possessions maintained their power by temporary
+alliances; the inferior nobles, left to themselves, became robbers of
+land, and highwaymen. With the introduction of new arts and the wider
+extension of commerce, the cities of Germany had risen in wealth and
+power, and were beginning to develop an intelligent middle-class,
+standing between the farmers, who had sunk almost into the condition of
+serfs, and the lesser nobles, most of whom were equally poor and proud.
+Upwards of sixty cities were free municipalities, belonging to the
+Empire on the same terms as the dukedoms; that is, they contributed a
+certain proportion of men and money, and were bound to obey the decrees
+of the Imperial Diets.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1256. ROBBER-KNIGHTS.&mdash;CITIES.</div>
+
+<p>As soon, therefore, as there was no superior authority to maintain order
+and security in the land, a large number of the knights became
+freebooters, plundering and laying waste whenever opportunity offered,
+attacking the caravans of travelling merchants, and accumulating the
+ill-gotten wealth in their strong castles. Many an aristocratic family
+of the present day owes its inheritance to that age of robbery and
+murder. The people had few secured rights and no actual freedom in
+Germany, with the exception of Friesland, some parts of Saxony and the
+Alpine districts.</p>
+
+<p>In this condition of things, the free cities soon found it advisable to
+assist each other. Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck first formed a union,
+chiefly for commercial purposes, in 1241, and this was the foundation of
+the famous Hanseatic League. Immediately after the death of Konrad IV.,
+Mayence, Speyer, Worms, Strasburg and Basel formed the "Union of Rhenish
+Cities," for the preservation of peace and the mutual protection of
+their citizens. Many other cities, and even a number of reigning princes
+and bishops, soon became members of this league, which for a time
+exercised considerable power. The principal German cities were then even
+more important than now; few of them have gained in population or in
+relative wealth in the course of 600 years. Cologne had then 120,000
+inhabitants, Mayence 90,000, Worms 60,000, and Ratisbon on the Danube
+upwards of 120,000. The cities of the Rhine had agencies in England and
+other countries, carried on commerce on the high seas, and owned no less
+than 600 armed vessels, with which they guarded the Rhine from the
+land-pirates whose castles overlooked its course.</p>
+
+<p>During this age of civil and religious despotism, the German cities
+possessed and preserved the only free institutions to be found. They
+owed this privilege to the heroic resistance of the republican cities of
+Italy to the Hohenstaufens, which not only set them an example but
+fought in their stead. Sure of the loyalty of the German cities, the
+Emperors were not so jealous of their growth; but some of the rights
+which they conferred were reluctantly given, and probably in return for
+men or money during the wars in Italy. The decree which changed a
+vassal, or dependent, into a free man after a year's residence in a
+city, helped greatly to build up a strong and intelligent middle-class.
+The merchants, professional men and higher artisans gradually<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</span> formed a
+patrician society, out of which the governing officers were selected,
+while the mechanics, for greater protection, organized themselves into
+separate guilds, or orders. Each of the latter was very watchful of the
+character and reputation of its members, and thus exercised a strong
+moral influence. The farmers, only, had no such protection: very few of
+them were not dependent vassals of some nobleman or priest.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1260.</div>
+
+<p>The cities, in the thirteenth century, began to exhibit a stately
+architectural character. The building of splendid cathedrals and
+monasteries, which began two centuries before, now gave employment to
+such a large number of architects and stone-cutters, that they formed a
+free corporation, under the name of "Brother-builders," with especial
+rights and privileges, all over Germany. Their labors were supported by
+the power of the Church, the wealth of the merchants and the toil of the
+vassals, and the masterpieces of Gothic architecture arose under their
+hands. The grand Cathedrals of Strasburg, Freiburg and Cologne with many
+others, yet remain as monuments of their genius and skill. But the
+private dwellings, also, now began to display the wealth and taste of
+their owners. They were usually built very high, with pointed gables
+facing the street, and adorned with sculptured designs: frequently the
+upper stories projected over the lower, forming a shelter for the open
+shops in the first story. As the cities were walled for defence, the
+space within the walls was too valuable to be given to wide squares and
+streets: hence there was usually one open market-place, which also
+served for all public ceremonies, and the streets were dark and narrow.</p>
+
+<p>In spite of the prevailing power of the Roman Church, the Universities
+now began to exercise some influence. Those of Bologna and Padua were
+frequented by throngs of students, who attended the schools of law,
+while the University of Salerno, under the patronage of Manfred, became
+a distinguished school of medicine. The Arabic university of Cordova, in
+Spain, also attracted many students from all the Christian lands of
+Europe. Works on all branches of knowledge were greatly multiplied, so
+that the copying of them became a new profession. For the first time,
+there were written forms of law for the instruction of the people. In
+the northern part of Germany appeared a work called "The Saxon's
+Looking-Glass," which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</span> was soon accepted as a legal authority by the
+people. But it was too liberal for the priests, and under their
+influence another work, "The Suabian's Looking-Glass," was written and
+circulated in Southern Germany. The former book declares that the
+Emperor has his power from God; the latter that he has it from the Pope.
+The Saxon is told that no man can justly hold another man as property,
+and that the people were made vassals through force and wrong; the
+Suabian is taught that obedience to rulers is his chief duty.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1260. CLASSES OF THE PEOPLE.</div>
+
+<p>From these two works, which are still in existence, we learn how
+complicated was the political organization of Germany. The whole free
+population was divided into seven classes, each having its own
+privileges and rules of government. First, there was the Emperor;
+secondly, the Spiritual Princes, as they were called (Archbishops,
+reigning Bishops, &amp;c.); thirdly, the Temporal Princes, some of whom were
+partly or wholly "Vassals" of the Spiritual authority; and fourthly, the
+Counts and Barons who possessed territory, either independently, or as
+<i>Lehen</i> of the second and third classes. These four classes constituted
+the higher nobility, by whom the Emperor was chosen, and each of whom
+had the right to be a candidate. Seven princes were specially entitled
+"Electors," because the nomination of a candidate for Emperor came from
+them. There were three Spiritual&mdash;the Archbishops of Mayence, Treves and
+Cologne; and four Temporal&mdash;the Dukes of Bavaria and Saxony, the
+Margrave of Brandenburg and the King of Bohemia.</p>
+
+<p>The fifth class embraced the free citizens from among whom magistrates
+were chosen, and who were allowed to possess certain privileges of the
+nobles. The sixth and seventh classes were formed out of the remaining
+freemen, according to their circumstances and occupations. The serfs and
+dependents had no place in this system of government, so that a large
+majority of the German people possessed no other recognized right than
+that of being ruled and punished. In fact, the whole political system
+was so complicated and unpractical that we can only wonder how Germany
+endured it for centuries afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>At the end of the Hohenstaufen dynasty there were one hundred and
+sixteen priestly rulers, one hundred ruling dukes, princes, counts and
+barons, and more than sixty independent cities in Germany. The larger
+dukedoms had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</span> been cut up into smaller states, many of which exist,
+either as states or provinces, at this day. Styria and Tyrol were
+separated from Bavaria; the principalities of Westphalia, Anhalt,
+Holstein, Jülich, Berg, Cleves, Pomerania and Mecklenburg were formed
+out of Saxony; Suabia was divided into Würtemberg and Baden, the
+Palatinate of the Rhine detached from Franconia and Hesse from
+Thuringia. Each of the principal German races was distinguished by two
+colors&mdash;the Franks red and white, the Suabians red and yellow, the
+Bavarians blue and white, and the Saxons black and white. The Saxon
+<i>black</i>, the Frank <i>red</i>, and the Suabian <i>gold</i> were set together as
+the Imperial colors.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1260.</div>
+
+<p>The chief service of the Hohenstaufens to Germany lay in their direct
+and generous encouragement of art, learning and literature. They took up
+the work commenced by Charlemagne and so disastrously thwarted by his
+son Ludwig the Pious, and in the course of a hundred years they
+developed what might be called a golden age of architecture and epic
+poetry, so strongly does it contrast with the four centuries before and
+the three succeeding it. The immediate connection between Germany and
+Italy, where the most of Roman culture had survived and the higher forms
+of civilization were first restored, was in this single respect a great
+
+advantage to the former country. We cannot ascertain how many of the
+nobler characteristics of knighthood, in that age, sprang from the
+religious spirit which prompted the Crusades, and how many originated
+from intercourse with the refined and high-spirited Saracens; both
+elements, undoubtedly, tended to revive the almost forgotten love of
+poetry in the German race.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1270. GERMAN EPIC POEMS.</div>
+
+<p>When the knights of Provence and Italy became as proud of their songs as
+of their feats of arms; when minstrels accompanied the court of
+Frederick II. and the Emperor himself wrote poems in rivalry with them;
+when the Duke of Austria and the Landgrave Hermann of Thuringia invited
+the best poets of the time to visit them and received them as
+distinguished guests, and when wandering minstrels and story-tellers
+repeated their works in a simpler form to the people everywhere, it was
+not long before a new literature was created. Walter von der Vogelweide,
+who accompanied Frederick II. to Jerusalem, wrote not only songs of love
+and poems in praise of Nature, but satires against the Pope and the
+priesthood. Godfrey of Strasburg produced<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</span> an epic poem describing the
+times of king Arthur of the Round Table, and Wolfram of Eschenbach, in
+his "Parcival," celebrated the search for the Holy Grail; while inferior
+poets related the histories of Alexander the Great, the Siege of Troy,
+or Charlemagne's knight, Roland. Among the people arose the story of
+Reynard the Fox, and a multitude of fables; and finally, during the
+thirteenth century, was produced the celebrated <i>Nibelungenlied</i>, or
+Song of the Nibelungen, wherein traditions of Siegfried of the
+Netherlands, Theodoric the Ostrogoth and Attila with his Huns are mixed
+together in a powerful story of love, rivalry and revenge. The most of
+these poems are written in a Suabian dialect, which is now called the
+"Middle (or Mediæval) High-German."</p>
+
+<p>Among the historical writers were Bishop Otto of Friesing, whose
+chronicles of the time are very valuable, and Saxo Grammaticus, in whose
+history of Denmark Shakspeare found the material for his play of
+<i>Hamlet</i>. Albertus Magnus, the Bishop of Ratisbon, was so distinguished
+as a mathematician and man of science that the people believed him to be
+a sorcerer. There was, in short, a general intellectual awakening
+throughout Germany, and, although afterwards discouraged by many of the
+276 smaller powers, it was favored by others and could not be
+suppressed. Besides, greater changes were approaching. A hundred years
+after Frederick II.'s death gunpowder was discovered, and the common
+soldier became the equal of the knight. In another hundred years,
+Gutenberg invented printing, and then followed, rapidly, the Discovery
+of America and the Reformation.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">FROM RUDOLF OF HAPSBURG TO LUDWIG THE BAVARIAN.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1273&mdash;1347.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Rudolf of Hapsburg.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Election as Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Meeting with Pope Gregory X.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;War with Ottokar II. of Bohemia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Rudolf's Victories.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Diet of Augsburg.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Suppression of Robber-Knights.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Rudolf's Second Marriage.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Character and Habits.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Adolf of Nassau elected.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Rapacity and Dishonesty.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Albert of Hapsburg Rival Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Adolf's Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Albert's Character.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Quarrel with Pope Bonifacius.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Albert's Plans.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Revolt of the Swiss Cantons.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;John Parricida murders the Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Popes remove to Avignon.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Henry of Luxemburg elected Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Efforts to restore Peace.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Welcome to Italy, and Coronation.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;He is Poisoned.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Ludwig of Bavaria elected.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battle of Morgarten.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Frederick of Austria captured.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Papal "Interdict."</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Conspiracy of Leopold of Austria.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Ludwig's Visit to Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Superstition and Cowardice.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Efforts to be reconciled to the Pope.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Treachery of Philip VI. of France.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Convention at Rense.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Alliance with England.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Ludwig's Unpopularity.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Karl of Bohemia Rival Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Ludwig's Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The German Cities.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1272.</div>
+
+<p>Richard of Cornwall died in 1272, and the German princes seemed to be in
+no haste to elect a successor. The Pope, Gregory X., finally demanded an
+election, for the greater convenience of having to deal with one head,
+instead of a multitude; and the Archbishop of Mayence called a Diet
+together at Frankfort, the following year. He proposed, as candidate,
+Count Rudolf of Hapsburg (or Habsburg), a petty ruler in Switzerland,
+who had also possessions in Alsatia. Up to his time the family had been
+insignificant; but, as a zealous partisan of Frederick II. in whose
+excommunication he had shared, as a crusader against the heathen
+Prussians, and finally, in his maturer years, as a man of great
+prudence, moderation and firmness, he had made the name of Hapsburg
+generally and quite favorably known. His brother-in-law, Count Frederick
+of Hohenzollern, the Burgrave, or Governor, of the city of Nuremburg
+(and the founder of the present house of the Hohenzollerns), advocated<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</span>
+Rudolf's election among the members of the Diet. The chief
+considerations in his favor were his personal character, his lack of
+power, and the circumstance of his possessing six marriageable
+daughters. There were also private stipulations which secured him the
+support of the priesthood, and so he was elected King of Germany.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1273. RUDOLF OF HABSBURG.</div>
+
+<p>Rudolf was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle. At the close of the ceremony it
+was discovered that the Imperial sceptre was missing, whereupon he took
+a crucifix from the altar, and held it forth to the princes, who came to
+swear allegiance to his rule. He was at this time fifty-five years of
+age, extremely tall and lank, with a haggard face and large aquiline
+nose. Although he was always called "Emperor" by the people, he never
+received, or even desired, the imperial Crown of Rome. He was in the
+habit of saying that Rome was the den of the lion, into which led the
+tracks of many other animals, but none were seen leading out of it
+again.</p>
+
+<p>It was easy for him, therefore, to conclude a peace with the Pope. He
+met Gregory X. at Lausanne, and there formally renounced all claim to
+the rights held by the Hohenstaufens in Italy. He even recognized
+Charles of Anjou as king of Sicily and Naples, and betrothed one of his
+daughters to the latter's son. The Church of Rome received possession of
+all the territory it had claimed in Central Italy, and the Lombard and
+Tuscan republics were left for awhile undisturbed. He further promised
+to undertake a new Crusade for the recovery of Jerusalem, and was then
+solemnly recognized by Gregory X. as rightful king of Germany.</p>
+
+<p>But, although Rudolf had so readily given up all for which the
+Hohenstaufens had struggled in Italy, he at once claimed their estates
+in Germany as belonging to the crown. This brought him into conflict
+with Counts Ulric and Eberhard II. of Würtemberg, who were also allied
+with king Ottokar II. of Bohemia in opposition to his authority. The
+latter had obtained possession of Austria, through marriage, and of all
+
+Styria and Carinthia to the Adriatic by purchase. He was ambitious and
+defiant: some historians suppose that he hoped to make himself Emperor
+of Germany, others that his object was to establish a powerful Slavonic
+nation. Rudolf did not delay long in declaring him outlawed, and in
+calling upon the other princes for an army to lead against him. The call
+was received with indifference: no one feared the new Emperor, and hence
+no one obeyed.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1278.</div>
+
+<p>Gathering together such troops as his son-in-law, Ludwig of the Bavarian
+Palatinate, could furnish, Rudolf marched into Austria, after he had
+restored order in Würtemberg. A revolt of the Austrian and Styrian
+nobles against Bohemian rule followed this movement: the country was
+gradually reconquered, and Vienna, after a siege of five weeks, fell
+into Rudolf's hands. Ottokar II. then found it advisable to make peace
+with the man whom he had styled "a poor Count," by giving up his claim
+to Austria, Styria and Carinthia, and paying homage to the Emperor of
+Germany. In October, 1276, the treaty was concluded. Ottokar appeared in
+all the splendor he could command, and was received by Rudolf in a
+costume not very different from that of a common soldier. "The Bohemian
+king has often laughed at my gray coat," he said; "but now my coat shall
+laugh at him." Ottokar was enraged at what he considered an insulting
+humiliation, and secretly plotted revenge. For nearly two years he
+intrigued with the States of Northern Germany and the Poles, collected a
+large army under the pretext of conquering Hungary, and suddenly
+declared war against Rudolf.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor was only supported by the Count of Tyrol, by Frederick of
+Hohenzollern and a few bishops, but he procured the alliance of the
+Hungarians, and then marched against Ottokar with a much inferior force.
+Nevertheless, he was completely victorious in the battle which took
+place, on the river March, in August, 1278. Ottokar was killed, and his
+Saxon and Bavarian allies scattered. Rudolf used his victory with a
+moderation which secured him new advantages. He married one of his
+daughters to Wenzel, Ottokar's son, and allowed him the crown of Bohemia
+and Moravia; he gave Carinthia to the Count of Tyrol, and Austria and
+Styria to his own sons, Rudolf and Albert. Towards the other German
+princes he was so conciliatory and forbearing that they found no cause
+for further opposition. Thus the influence of the House of Hapsburg was
+permanently founded, and&mdash;curiously enough, when we consider the later
+history of Germany&mdash;chiefly by the help of the founder of the House of
+Hohenzollern.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1285. RUDOLF'S SUCCESSES.</div>
+
+<p>After spending five years in Austria, and securing the results of his
+victory, Rudolf returned to the interior of Germany. A Diet held at
+Augsburg in 1282 confirmed his sons in their new sovereignties, and his
+authority as German<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</span> Emperor was thenceforth never seriously opposed. He
+exerted all his influence over the princes in endeavoring to settle the
+numberless disputes which arose out of the law by which the territory
+and rule of the father were divided among many sons,&mdash;or, in case there
+were no direct heirs, which gave more than one relative an equal claim.
+He proclaimed a National Peace, or cessation of quarrels between the
+States, and thereby accomplished some good, although the order was only
+partially obeyed. At a Diet which he held in Erfurt, he urged the
+strongest measures for the suppression of knightly robbery. Sixty
+castles of the noble highwaymen were razed to the ground, and more than
+thirty of the titled vagabonds expiated their crimes on the scaffold. In
+all the measures which he undertook for the general welfare of the
+country he succeeded as far as was possible at such a time.</p>
+
+<p>In his schemes of personal ambition, however, the Emperor was not so
+successful. His attempt to make his eldest son Duke of Suabia failed
+completely. Then in order to establish a right to Burgundy, he married,
+at the age of sixty-six, the sister of Count Robert, a girl of only
+fourteen. Although he gained some few advantages in Western Switzerland,
+he was resisted by the city of Berne, and all he accomplished in the end
+was the stirring up of a new hostility to Germany and a new friendship
+for France throughout the whole of Burgundy. On the eastern frontier,
+however, the Empire was enlarged by the voluntary annexation of Silesia
+to Bohemia, in exchange for protection against the claims of Poland.</p>
+
+<p>In 1290 Rudolf's eldest son, of the same name, died, and at a Diet held
+in Frankfort the following year he endeavored to procure the election of
+his son Albert, as his successor. A majority of the bishops and princes
+decided to postpone the question, and Rudolf left the city, deeply
+mortified. He soon afterwards fell ill, and, being warned by the
+physician that his case was serious, he exclaimed: "Well, then, now for
+Speyer!"&mdash;the old burial-place of the German Emperors. But before
+reaching there he died, in July, 1291, aged seventy-three years.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1291.</div>
+
+<p>Rudolf of Hapsburg was very popular among the common people, on account
+of his frank, straightforward manner, and the simplicity of his habits.
+He was a complete master of his own passions, and in this respect
+contrasted<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</span> remarkably with the rash and impetuous Hohenstaufens. He
+never showed impatience or irritation, but was always good-humored, full
+of jests and shrewd sayings, and accessible to all classes. When
+supplies were short, he would pull up a turnip, peel and eat it in the
+presence of his soldiers, to show that he fared no better than they, he
+would refuse a drink of water unless there was enough for all; and it is
+related that once, on a cold day, he went into the shop of a baker in
+Mayence to warm himself, and was greatly amused when the good housewife
+insisted on turning him out as a suspicious character. Nevertheless, he
+could not overcome the fascination which the Hohenstaufen name still
+exercised over the people. The idea of Barbarossa's return had already
+taken root among them, and more than one impostor, who claimed to be the
+dead Emperor, found enough of followers to disturb Rudolf's reign.</p>
+
+<p>An Imperial authority like that of Otto the Great or Barbarossa had not
+been restored; yet Rudolf's death left the Empire in a more orderly
+condition, and the many small rulers were more willing to continue the
+forms of Government. But the Archbishop Gerard of Mayence, who had
+bargained secretly with Count Adolf of Nassau, easily persuaded the
+Electors that it was impolitic to preserve the power in one family, and
+he thus secured their votes for Adolf, who was crowned shortly
+afterwards. The latter was even poorer than Rudolf of Hapsburg had been,
+but without either his wisdom or honesty. He was forced to part with so
+many Imperial privileges to secure his election, that his first policy
+seems to have been to secure money and estates for himself. He sold to
+Visconti of Milan the Viceroyalty over Lombardy, which he claimed as
+still being a German right, and received from Edward I. of England
+£100,000 sterling as the price of his alliance in a war against Philip
+IV. of France. Instead, however, of keeping his part of the bargain, he
+used some of the money to purchase Thuringia of the Landgrave Albert,
+who was carrying on an unnatural quarrel with his two sons, Frederick
+and Dietzmann, and thus disposed of their inheritance. Albert (surnamed
+the Degenerate) also disposed of the Countship of Meissen in the same
+way, and when the people resisted the transfer, their lands were
+terribly devastated by Adolf of Nassau. This course was a direct
+interference with the rights of reigning families, a violation of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</span> the
+law of inheritance, and it excited great hostility to Adolf's rule among
+the other princes.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1298. ALBERT OF HABSBURG.</div>
+
+<p>The rapacity of the new Emperor, in fact, was the cause of his speedy
+downfall. In order to secure the support of the Bishops, he had promised
+them the tolls on vessels sailing up and down the Rhine, while the
+abolition of the same tolls was promised to the free cities on that
+river. The Archbishop of Mayence sent word to him that he had other
+Emperors in his pocket, but Adolf paid little heed to his remonstrances.
+Albert of Hapsburg, son of Rudolf, turned the general dissatisfaction to
+his own advantage. He won his brother-in-law, Wenzel II. of Bohemia, to
+his side, and purchased the alliance of Philip the Fair of France by
+yielding to him the possession of portions of Burgundy and Flanders.
+After private negotiations with the German princes, both spiritual and
+temporal, the Archbishop of Mayence called a Diet together in that city,
+in June, 1298. Adolf was declared to have forfeited the crown, and
+Albert was elected in his stead by all the Electors except those of
+Treves and Bavaria.</p>
+
+<p>Within ten days after the election the rivals met in battle: both had
+foreseen the struggle, and had made hasty preparations to meet it. Adolf
+fought with desperation, even after being wounded, and finally came face
+to face with Albert, on the field. "Here you must yield the Empire to
+me!" he cried, drawing his sword. "That rests with God," was Albert's
+answer, and he struck Adolf dead. After this victory, the German princes
+nevertheless required that Albert should be again elected before being
+crowned, since they feared that this precedent of choosing a rival
+monarch might lead to trouble in the future.</p>
+
+<p>Albert of Hapsburg was a hard, cold man, with all of his father's will
+and energy, yet without his moderation and shrewdness. He was haughty
+and repellent in his manner, and from first to last made no friends. He
+was one-eyed, on account of a singular cure which had been practised
+upon him. Having become very ill, his physicians suspected that he was
+poisoned: they thereupon hung him up by the heels, and took one eye out
+of its socket, so that the poison might thus escape from his head! The
+single aim of his life was to increase the Imperial power and secure it
+to his own family. Whether his measures conduced to the welfare of
+Germany, or not, was a question which he did not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</span> consider, and
+therefore whatever good he accomplished was simply accidental.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1307.</div>
+
+<p>Although Albert had agreed to yield many privileges to the Church, the
+Pope, Bonifacius VIII., refused to acknowledge him as king of Germany,
+declaring that the election was null and void. But the same Pope, by his
+haughty assumptions of authority over all monarchs, had drawn upon
+himself the enmity of Philip the Fair, of France, and Albert made a new
+alliance with the latter. He also obtained the support of the cities, on
+promising to abolish the Rhine-dues, and with their help completely
+subdued the Archbishops, who claimed the dues and refused to give them
+up. This was a great advantage, not only for the Rhine-cities, but for
+all Germany: it tended to strengthen the power of the increasing
+middle-class.</p>
+
+<p>The Pope, finding his plans thwarted and his authority defied, now began
+to make friendly overtures to Albert. He had already excommunicated
+Philip the Fair, and claimed the right to dispose of the crown of
+France, which he offered to Albert in return for the latter's subjection
+to him and armed assistance. There was danger to Germany in this
+tempting bait; but in 1303, Bonifacius, having been taken prisoner near
+Rome by his Italian enemies, became insane from rage, and soon died.</p>
+
+<p>Albert's stubborn and selfish attempts to increase the power of his
+house all failed: their only result was a wider and keener spirit of
+hostility to his rule. He claimed Thuringia and Meissen, alleging that
+Adolf of Nassau had purchased those lands, not for himself but for the
+Empire; he endeavored to get possession of Holland, whose line of ruling
+Counts had become extinct; and after the death of Wenzel II. of Bohemia,
+in 1307, he married his son, Rudolf, to the latter's widow. But Counts
+Frederick and Dietzmann of Thuringia defeated his army: the people of
+Holland elected a descendant of their Counts on the female side, and the
+Emperor's son, Rudolf, died in Bohemia, apparently poisoned, before two
+years were out. Then the Swiss cantons of Schwyz, Uri and Unterwalden,
+which had been governed by civil officers appointed by the Emperors,
+rose in revolt against him, and drove his governors from their Alpine
+valleys. In November, 1307, that famous league was formed, by which the
+three cantons maintained their independence, and laid the first
+corner-stone of the Republic of Switzerland.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1308. MURDER OF ALBRECHT OF HABSBURG.</div>
+
+<p>The following May, 1308, Albert was in Baden, raising troops for a new
+campaign in Thuringia. His nephew, John, a youth of nineteen, who had
+vainly endeavored to have his right to a part of the Hapsburg territory
+in Switzerland confirmed by the Emperor, was with him, accompanied by
+four knights, with whom he had conspired. While crossing a river, they
+managed to get into the same boat with the Emperor, leaving the rest of
+his retinue upon the other bank; then, when they had landed, they fell
+upon him, murdered him, and fled. A peasant woman, who was near, lifted
+Albert upon her lap and he died in her arms. His widow, the Empress
+Elizabeth, took a horrible revenge upon the families of the
+conspirators, whose relatives and even their servants, to the number of
+one thousand, were executed. One of the knights, who was captured, was
+broken upon the wheel. John, called in history <i>John Parricida</i>, was
+never heard of afterwards, although one tradition affirms that he fled
+to Rome, confessed his deed to the Pope, and passed the rest of his
+life, under another name, in a monastery.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, within five years, the despotic plans of both Pope Bonifacius
+VIII. and Albert of Hapsburg came to a tragic end. The overwhelming
+power of the Papacy, after a triumph of two hundred years, was broken.
+The second Pope after Bonifacius, Clement V., made Avignon, in Southern
+France, his capital instead of Rome, and the former city continued to be
+the residence of the Popes, from 1308, the year of Albert's murder,
+until 1377.</p>
+
+<p>The German Electors were in no hurry to choose a new Emperor. They were
+only agreed as to who should not be elected,&mdash;that is, no member of a
+powerful family; but it was not so easy to pick out an acceptable
+candidate from among the many inferior princes. The Church, as usual,
+decided the question. Peter, of Mayence (who had been a physician and
+was made Archbishop for curing the Pope), intrigued with Baldwin,
+Archbishop of Treves, in favor of the latter's brother, Count Henry of
+Luxemburg. A Diet was held at the "King's Seat," on the hill of Rense,
+near Coblentz, where the blast of a hunting-horn could be heard in four
+Electorates at the same time, and Henry was chosen King. He was crowned
+at Aix-la-Chapelle on the 6th of January, 1309, as Henry VII.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1310.</div>
+
+<p>His first aim was to restore peace and order to Germany. He was obliged
+to reëstablish the Rhine-dues, in the interest<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</span> of the Archbishops who
+had supported him, but he endeavored to recompense the cities by
+granting them other privileges. At a Diet held in Speyer, he released
+the three Swiss cantons from their allegiance to the house of Hapsburg,
+gave Austria to the sons of the murdered Albert, and had the bodies of
+the latter and his rival, Adolf of Nassau, buried in the Cathedral, side
+by side. Soon afterwards the Bohemians, dissatisfied with Henry of
+Carinthia (who had become their king after the death of Albert's son,
+Rudolf), offered the hand of Wenzel II.'s youngest daughter, Elizabeth,
+to Henry's son, John. Although the latter was only fourteen, and his
+bride twenty-two years of age, Henry gave his consent to the marriage,
+and John became king of Bohemia.</p>
+
+<p>In 1310 the new Emperor called a Diet at Frankfort, in order to enforce
+a universal truce among the German States. He outlawed Count Eberhard of
+Würtemberg, and took away his power to create disturbance; and then,
+Germany being quiet, he turned his attention to Italy, which was in a
+deplorable state of confusion, from the continual wars of the Guelphs
+and the Ghibellines. In Lombardy, noble families had usurped the control
+of the former republican cities, and governed with greater tyranny than
+even the Hohenstaufens. Henry's object was to put an end to their civil
+wars, institute a new order, and&mdash;be crowned Roman Emperor. The Pope,
+Clement V., who was tired of Avignon and suspicious of France, was
+secretly in favor of the plan, and the German princes openly supported
+it.</p>
+
+<p>Towards the close of 1310, Henry VII. crossed Mont Cenis with an army of
+several thousand men, and was welcomed with great pomp in Milan, where
+he was crowned with the iron crown of Lombardy. The poet Dante hailed
+him as a saviour of Italy, and all parties formed the most extravagant
+expectations of the advantage they would derive from his coming. The
+Emperor seems to have tried to act with entire impartiality, and
+consequently both parties were disappointed. The Guelphs first rose
+against him, and instead of peace a new war ensued. He was not able to
+march to Rome until 1312, and by that time the city was again divided
+into two hostile parties. With the help of the Colonnas, he gained
+possession of the southern bank of the Tiber, and was crowned Emperor in
+the Lateran Church by a Cardinal, since there was no Pope in Rome: the
+Orsini<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</span> family, who were hostile to him, held possession of the other
+part of the city, including St. Peter's and the Vatican.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1314. LUDWIG THE BAVARIAN ELECTED.</div>
+
+<p>There were now indications that all Italy would be convulsed with a
+repetition of the old struggle. The Guelphs rallied around king Robert
+of Naples as their head, while king Frederick of Sicily and the Republic
+of Pisa declared for the Emperor. France and the Pope were about to add
+new elements to the quarrel, when in August, 1313, Henry VII. died of
+poison, administered to him by a monk in the sacramental wine,&mdash;one of
+the most atrocious forms of crime which can be imagined. He was a man of
+many noble personal qualities, and from whom much was hoped, both in
+Germany and Italy; but his reign was too short for the attainment of any
+lasting results.</p>
+
+<p>When the Electors came together at Frankfort, in 1314, it was found that
+their votes were divided between two candidates. Henry VII.'s son, king
+John of Bohemia, was only seventeen years old, and the friends of his
+house, not believing that he could be elected, united on Duke Ludwig of
+Bavaria, a descendant of Otto of Wittelsbach. On the other hand, the
+friends of the house of Hapsburg, with the combined influence of France
+and the Pope on their side, proposed Frederick of Austria, the son of
+the Emperor Albert. There was a division of the Diet, and both
+candidates were elected; but Ludwig had four of the seven Electors on
+his side, he reached Aix-la-Chapelle first and was there crowned, and
+thus he was considered to have the best right to the Imperial dignity.</p>
+
+<p>Ludwig of Bavaria and Frederick of Austria had been bosom-friends until
+a short time previous; but they were now rivals and deadly enemies. For
+eight long years a civil war devastated Germany. On Frederick's side
+were Austria, Hungary, the Palatinate of the Rhine, and the Archbishop
+of Cologne, with the German nobles, as a class: on Ludwig's side were
+Bavaria, Bohemia, Thuringia, the cities and the middle class.
+Frederick's brother, Leopold, in attempting to subjugate the Swiss
+cantons, the freedom of which had been confirmed by Ludwig, suffered a
+crushing defeat in the famous battle of Morgarten, fought in 1315. The
+Austrian force in this battle was 9,000, the Swiss 1,300: the latter
+lost 15 men, the former 1,500 soldiers and 640 knights. From that day
+the freedom of the Swiss was secured.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1322.</div>
+
+<p>The Pope, John XXII., declared that he only had the right of deciding
+between the two rival sovereigns, and used all the means in his power to
+assist Frederick. The war was prolonged until 1322, when, in a battle
+fought at Mühldorf, near Salzburg, the struggle was decided. After a
+combat of ten hours, the Bavarians gave way, and Ludwig narrowly escaped
+capture; then the Austrians, mistaking a part of the latter's army for
+the troops of Leopold, which were expected on the field, were themselves
+surrounded, and Frederick with 1,400 knights taken prisoner. The battle
+was, in fact, an earlier Waterloo in its character. Ludwig saluted
+Frederick with the words: "We are glad to see you, Cousin!" and then
+imprisoned him in a strong castle.</p>
+
+<p>There was now a truce in Germany, but no real peace. Ludwig felt himself
+strong enough to send some troops to the relief of Duke Visconti of
+Milan, who was hard pressed by a Neapolitan army in the interest of the
+Pope. For this act, John XXII. not only excommunicated and cursed him
+officially, but extended the Papal "Interdict" over Germany. The latter
+measure was one which formerly occasioned the greatest dismay among the
+people, but it had now lost much of its power. The "Interdict"
+prohibited all priestly offices in the lands to which it was applied.
+The churches were closed, the bells were silent, no honors were paid to
+the dead, and it was even ordered that the marriage ceremony should be
+performed in the churchyards. But the German people refused to submit to
+such an outrage; the few priests who attempted to obey the Pope, were
+either driven away or compelled to perform their religious duties as
+usual.</p>
+
+<p>The next event in the struggle was a conspiracy of Leopold of Austria
+with Charles IV. of France, favored by the Pope, to overthrow Ludwig.
+But the other German princes who were concerned in it quietly withdrew
+when the time came for action, and the plot failed. Then Ludwig, tired
+of his trials, sent his prisoner Frederick to Leopold as a mediator, the
+former promising to return and give himself up, if he should not
+succeed. Leopold was implacable, and Frederick kept his word, although
+the Pope offered to relieve him of his promise, and threatened him with
+excommunication for not breaking it. Ludwig was generous enough to
+receive him as a friend, to give him his full liberty and dignity, and
+even to divide his royal rule privately<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</span> with him. The latter
+arrangement was so unpractical that it was not openly proclaimed, but
+the good understanding between the two contributed to the peace of
+Germany. Leopold died in 1326, and Ludwig enjoyed an undisputed
+authority.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1327. QUARREL WITH THE POPE.</div>
+
+<p>In 1327, the Emperor felt himself strong enough to undertake an
+expedition to Italy, his object being to relieve Lombardy from the
+aggressions of Naples, and to be crowned Emperor in Rome in spite of the
+Pope. In this, he was tolerably successful. He defeated the Guelphs and
+was crowned in Milan the same year, then marched to Rome, and was
+crowned Emperor early in 1328, under the auspices of the Colonna family,
+by two excommunicated Bishops. He presided at an assembly of the Roman
+people, at which John XXII. was declared a heretic and renegade, and a
+Franciscan monk elected Pope under the name of Nikolaus V. Ludwig,
+however, soon became as unpopular as any of his predecessors, and from
+the same cause&mdash;the imposition of heavy taxes upon the people, in order
+to keep up his imperial state. He remained two years longer in Italy,
+encountering as much hate as friendship, and was then recalled to
+Germany by the death of Frederick of Austria.</p>
+
+<p>The Papal excommunication, which the Hohenstaufen Emperors had borne so
+easily, seems to have weighed sorely upon Ludwig's mind. His nature was
+weak and vacillating, capable of only a limited amount of endurance. He
+began to fear that his soul was in peril, and made the most desperate
+efforts to be reconciled with the Pope. The latter, however, demanded
+his immediate abdication as a preliminary to any further negotiation,
+and was supported in this demand by the king of France, who was very
+ambitious of obtaining the crown of Germany, with the help of the
+Church. King John of Bohemia acted as a go-between, but he was also
+secretly pledged to France, and an agreement was nearly concluded, of a
+character so cowardly and disgraceful to Ludwig that when some hint of
+it became known, there arose such an angry excitement in Germany that
+the Emperor did not dare to move further in the matter.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1338.</div>
+
+<p>John XXII. died about this time (1334) and was succeeded by Benedict
+XII., a man of a milder and more conciliatory nature, with whom Ludwig
+immediately commenced<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</span> fresh negotiations. He offered to abdicate, to
+swear allegiance to the Pope, to undergo any humiliation which the
+latter might impose upon him. Benedict was quite willing to be
+reconciled to him on these conditions, but the arrangement was prevented
+by Philip VI. of France, who hoped, like his father, to acquire the
+crown of Germany. As soon as this became evident, Ludwig adopted a
+totally different course. In the summer of 1338 he called a Diet at
+Frankfort (which was afterwards adjourned to Rense, near Coblentz), and
+laid the matter before the Bishops, princes and free cities, which were
+now represented.</p>
+
+<p>The Diet unanimously declared that the Emperor had exhausted all proper
+means of reconciliation, and the Pope alone was responsible for the
+continuance of the struggle. The excommunication and interdict were
+pronounced null and void, and severe punishments were decreed for the
+priests who should heed them in any way. As it was evident that France
+had created the difficulty, an alliance was concluded with England,
+whose king, Edward III., appeared before the Diet at Coblentz, and
+procured the acknowledgment of his claim to the crown of France. Ludwig,
+as Emperor, sat upon the Royal Seat at Rense, and all the German
+princes&mdash;with the exception of king John of Bohemia, who had gone over
+to France&mdash;made the solemn declaration that the King and Emperor whom
+they had elected, or should henceforth elect, derived his dignity and
+power from God, and did not require the sanction of the Pope. They also
+bound themselves to defend the rights and liberties of the Empire
+against any assailant whatever. These were brave words: but we shall
+presently see how much they were worth.</p>
+
+<p>The alliance with England was made for seven years. Ludwig was to
+furnish German troops for Edward III.'s army, in return for English
+gold. For a year he was faithful to the contract, then the old
+superstitious fear came over him, and he listened to the secret counsels
+of Philip VI. of France, who offered to mediate with the Pope in his
+behalf. But, after Ludwig had been induced to break his word with
+England, Philip, having gained what he wanted, prevented his
+reconciliation with the Pope. This miserable weakness on the Emperor's
+part destroyed his authority in Germany. At the same time he was
+imitating every one of his Imperial predecessors, in trying to
+strengthen the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</span> power of his family. He gave Brandenburg to his eldest
+son, Ludwig, married his second son, Henry, to Margaret of Tyrol, whom
+he arbitrarily divorced from her first husband, a son of John of
+Bohemia, and claimed the sovereignty of Holland as his wife's
+inheritance.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1347. DEATH OF LUDWIG THE BAVARIAN.</div>
+
+<p>Ludwig had now become so unpopular, that when another Pope, Clement VI.,
+in April, 1346, hurled against him a new excommunication, expressed in
+the most horrible terms, the Archbishops made it a pretext for openly
+opposing the Emperor's rule. They united with the Pope in selecting
+Karl, the son of John of Bohemia (who fell by the sword of the Black
+Prince the same summer, at the famous battle of Crecy), and proclaiming
+him Emperor in Ludwig's stead. All the cities, and the temporal princes,
+except those of Bohemia and Saxony, stood faithfully by Ludwig, and Karl
+could gain no advantage over him. He went to France, then to Italy, and
+finally betook himself to Bohemia, where he was a rival monarch only in
+name.</p>
+
+<p>In October, 1347, Ludwig, who was then residing in Munich, his favorite
+capital, was stricken with apoplexy while hunting, and fell dead from
+his horse. He was sixty-three years old, and had reigned thirty-three
+years. In German history, he is always called "Ludwig the Bavarian."
+During the last ten years of his reign many parts of Germany suffered
+severely from famine, and a pestilence called "the black death" carried
+off thousands of persons in every city. These misfortunes probably
+confirmed him in his superstition, and partly account for his shameful
+and degrading policy. The only service which his long rule rendered to
+Germany sprang from the circumstance, that, having been supported by the
+free cities in his war with Frederick of Austria, he was compelled to
+protect them against the aggressions of the princes afterwards, and in
+various ways to increase their rights and privileges. There were now 150
+such cities, and from this time forward they constituted a separate
+power in the Empire. They encouraged learning and literature, favored
+peace and security of travel for the sake of their commerce, organized
+and protected the mechanic arts, and thus, during the fourteenth and
+fifteenth centuries, contributed more to the progress of Germany than
+all her spiritual and temporal rulers.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">THE LUXEMBURG EMPERORS, KARL IV. AND WENZEL.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1347&mdash;1410.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>The Imperial Crown in the Market.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Günther of Schwarzburg.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Karl IV. Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Character and Policy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The University of Prague.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Rienzi Tribune of Rome.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Karl's Course in Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The "Golden Bull."</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Its Provisions and Effect.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Coronation in Rome.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Last Ten Years of his Reign.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Eberhard the Greiner.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The "Hansa" and its Victories.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Achievements of the German Order.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Wenzel becomes Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Suabian League.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Battle of Sempach.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Independence of Switzerland.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Defeat of the Suabian Cities.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Wenzel's Rule in Prague.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Conspiracy against him.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Schism in the Roman Church.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Count Rupert Rival Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Convention of Marbach.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Anarchy in Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Death-Blow to the German Order.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Rupert's Death.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1347.</div>
+
+<p>Although the German princes were nearly unanimous in the determination
+that no member of the house of Wittelsbach (Bavaria) should again be
+Emperor, they were by no means willing to accept Karl of Bohemia.<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a>
+Ludwig's son, Ludwig of Brandenburg, made no claim to his father's
+crown, but he united with Saxony, Mayence and the Palatinate of the
+Rhine, in offering it to Edward III. of England. When the latter
+declined, they chose Count Ernest of Meissen, who, however, sold his
+claim to Karl for 10,000 silver marks. Then they took up Günther of
+Schwarzburg, a gallant and popular prince, who seemed to have a good
+prospect of success. In this emergency Karl supported the pretensions of
+an adventurer, known as "the False Waldemar," to Brandenburg, against
+Ludwig, and thus compelled the latter to treat with him. Soon afterwards
+Günther of Schwarzburg died, poisoned, it was generally believed, by a
+physician whom Karl had bribed, and by the end of 1348 the latter was
+Emperor of Germany, as Karl IV.</p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> Of the House of Luxemburg.</p></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1348. KARL IV.</div>
+
+<p>At this time he was thirty-three years old. He had been educated in
+France and Italy, and was an accomplished scholar: he both spoke and
+wrote the Bohemian, German,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</span> French, Italian and Latin languages. He was
+a thorough diplomatist, resembling in this respect Rudolf of Hapsburg,
+from whom he differed in his love of pomp and state, and in the care he
+took to keep himself always well supplied with money, which he well knew
+how and when to use. He had first purchased the influence of the Pope by
+promising to disregard the declarations of the Diet of 1338 at Rense,
+and by relinquishing all claims to Italy. Then he won the free cities to
+his side by offers of more extended privileges; and the German princes,
+for form's sake, elected him a second time, thus acknowledging the Papal
+authority which they had so boldly defied, ten years before.</p>
+
+<p>One of Karl's first acts was to found, in Prague&mdash;the city he selected
+as his capital&mdash;the <i>first</i> German University, which he endowed so
+liberally and organized so thoroughly that in a few years it was
+attended by six or seven thousand students. For several years afterwards
+he occupied himself in establishing order throughout Germany, and
+meanwhile negotiated with the Pope in regard to his coronation as Roman
+Emperor. In spite of his complete submission to the latter, there were
+many difficulties to be overcome, arising out of the influence of France
+over the Papacy, which was still established at Avignon. Karl arrested
+Rienzi, "the last Tribune of Rome," and kept him for a time imprisoned
+in Prague; but when the latter was sent back to Rome as Senator by Pope
+Innocent VI., in 1354, Karl was allowed to commence his Italian journey.
+He was crowned Roman Emperor on the 5th of April, 1355, by a Cardinal
+sent from Avignon for that purpose. In compliance with his promise to
+Pope Innocent, he remained in Rome only a single day.</p>
+
+<p>Instead of attempting to settle the disorders which convulsed Italy,
+Karl turned his journey to good account by selling all the remaining
+Imperial rights and privileges to the republics and petty rulers, for
+hard cash. The poet Petrarch had looked forward to his coming as Dante
+had to that of his grandfather, Henry VII., but satirized him bitterly
+when he returned to Bohemia with his money. He left Italy ridiculed and
+despised, but reached Germany with greatly increased power. His next
+measure was to call a Diet, for the purpose of permanently settling the
+relation of the German princes to the Empire, and the forms to be
+observed in electing an Emperor. All had learned, several centuries too
+late to be of much service, the necessity of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</span> some established order in
+these matters, and they came to a final agreement at Metz, on Christmas
+Day, 1356.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1356.</div>
+
+<p>Then was promulgated the decree known as the "Golden Bull," which
+remained a law in Germany until the Empire came to an end, just 450
+years afterwards. It commences with these words: "Every kingdom which is
+not united within itself will go to ruin: for its princes are the
+kindred of robbers, wherefore God removes the light of their minds from
+their office, they become blind leaders of the blind, and their darkened
+thoughts are the source of many misdeeds." The Golden Bull confirms the
+former custom of having seven Chief Electors&mdash;the Archbishops of
+Mayence, Treves and Cologne, the first of whom is Arch-Chancellor; the
+King of Bohemia, Arch-Cupbearer; the Count Palatine of the Rhine,
+Arch-Steward; the Duke of Saxony, Arch-Marshal, and the Margrave of
+Brandenburg, Arch-Chamberlain. The last four princes receive full
+authority over their territories, and there is no appeal, even to the
+Emperor, from their decisions. Their rule is transmitted to the eldest
+son; they have the right to coin money, to work mines, and to impose all
+taxes which formerly belonged to the Empire.</p>
+
+<p>These are its principal features. The claims of the Pope to authority
+over the Emperor are not mentioned; the position of the other
+independent princes is left very much as it was, and the cities are
+prohibited from forming unions without the Imperial consent. The only
+effect of this so-called "Constitution" was to strengthen immensely the
+power of the four favored princes, and to encourage all the other rulers
+to imitate them. It introduced a certain order, and therefore was better
+than the previous absence of all law upon the subject; but it held the
+German people in a state of practical serfdom, it perpetuated their
+division and consequent weakness, and it gave the spirit of the Middle
+Ages a longer life in Germany than in any other civilized country in the
+world.</p>
+
+<p>The remaining events of Karl IV.'s life are of no great historical
+importance. In 1363 his son, Wenzel, only two years old, was crowned at
+Prague as king of Bohemia, and soon afterwards he was called upon by the
+Pope, Urban V., who found that his residence in Avignon was becoming
+more and more a state of captivity, to assist him in returning to Rome.
+In 1365, therefore, Karl set out with a considerable force, entered
+Southern France, crowned himself king of Burgundy at Arles&mdash;which was a
+hollow and ridiculous<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</span> farce&mdash;and in 1368 reached Rome, whither Pope
+Urban had gone in advance. Here his wife was formally crowned as Roman
+Empress, and he humiliated himself by walking from the Castle of St.
+Angelo to St. Peter's, leading the Pope's mule by the bridle,&mdash;an act
+which drew upon him the contempt of the Roman people. He had few or no
+more privileges to sell, so he met every evidence of hostility with a
+proclamation of amnesty, and returned to Germany with the intention of
+violating his own Golden Bull, by having his son Wenzel proclaimed his
+successor. His departure marks the end of German interference in Italy.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1376. WENZEL ELECTED SUCCESSOR.</div>
+
+<p>For ten years longer Karl IV. continued to strengthen his family by
+marriage, by granting to the cities the right of union in return for
+their support, and by purchasing the influence of such princes as were
+accessible to bribes. He was so cool and calculating, and pursued his
+policy with so much patience and skill, that the most of his plans
+succeeded. His son Wenzel was elected his successor by a Diet held at
+Frankfort in January, 1376, each of the chief Electors receiving 100,000
+florins for his vote, and this choice was confirmed by the Pope. To his
+second son, Sigismund, he gave Brandenburg, which he had obtained partly
+by intrigue and partly by purchase, and to his third son, John, the
+province of Lusatia, adjoining Silesia. His health had been gradually
+failing, and in November, 1378, he died in Prague, sixty-three years
+old, leaving the German Empire in a more disorderly state than he had
+found it. His tastes were always Bohemian rather than German: he
+preferred Prague to any other residence, and whatever good he
+intentionally did was conferred on his own immediate subjects. More than
+a century afterwards, the Emperor Maximilian of Hapsburg very justly
+said of him: "Karl IV. was a genuine father to Bohemia, but only a
+step-father to the rest of Germany."</p>
+
+<p>During the latter years of his reign, two very different movements,
+independent of the Imperial will, or in spite of it, had been started in
+Southern and Northern Germany. In Würtemberg the cities united, and
+carried on a fierce war with Count Eberhard, surnamed the <i>Greiner</i>
+(Whiner). The struggle lasted for more than ten years, and out of it
+grew various leagues of the knights for the protection of their rights
+against the more powerful princes. In the North of Germany, the
+commercial cities, headed by Lübeck, Hamburg and Bremen, formed a
+league, which soon became<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</span> celebrated under the name of "The Hansa,"
+which gradually drew the cities of the Rhine to unite with it, and,
+before the end of the century, developed into a great commercial, naval
+and military power.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1375.</div>
+
+<p>The Hanseatic League had its agencies in every commercial city, from
+Novgorod in Russia to Lisbon; its vessels filled the Baltic and the
+North Sea, and almost the entire commerce of Northern Europe was in its
+hands. When, in 1361, king Waldemar III. of Denmark took possession of
+the island of Gothland, which the cities had colonized, they fitted out
+a great fleet, besieged Copenhagen, finally drove Waldemar from his
+kingdom and forced the Danes to accept their conditions. Shortly
+afterwards they defeated king Hakon of Norway: their influence over
+Sweden was already secured, and thus they became an independent
+political power. Karl IV. visited Lübeck a few years before his death,
+in the hope of making himself head of the Hanseatic League; but the
+merchants were as good diplomatists as himself, and he obtained no
+recognition whatever. Had not the cities been so widely scattered along
+the coast, and each more or less jealous of the others, they might have
+laid the foundation of a strong North-German nation; but their bond of
+union was not firm enough for that.</p>
+
+<p>The German Order, by this time, also possessed an independent realm, the
+capital of which was established at Marienburg, not far from Dantzic.
+The distance of the territory it had conquered in Eastern Prussia from
+the rest of the Empire, and the circumstance that it had also
+acknowledged itself a dependency of the Papal power, enabled its Grand
+Masters to say, openly: "If the Empire claims authority over us, we
+belong to the Pope; if the Pope claims any such authority, we belong to
+the Emperor." In fact, although the Order had now been established for a
+hundred and fifty years, it had never been directly assisted by the
+Imperial power; yet it had changed a great tract of wilderness,
+inhabited by Slavonic barbarians, into a rich and prosperous land, with
+fifty-five cities, thousands of villages, and an entire population of
+more than two millions, mostly German colonists. It adopted a fixed code
+of laws, maintained order and security throughout its territory,
+encouraged science and letters, and made the scholar and minstrel as
+welcome at its stately court in Marienburg, as they had been at that of
+Frederick II. in Palermo.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1386. THE BATTLE OF SEMPACH.</div>
+
+<p>There could be no more remarkable contrast than between the weakness,
+selfishness and despotic tendencies of the German Emperors and Electors
+during the fourteenth century, and the strong and orderly development of
+the Hanseatic League and the German Order in the North, or of the
+handful of free Swiss in the South.</p>
+
+<p>King Wenzel (Wenczeslas in Bohemian) was only seventeen years old when
+his father died, but he had been well educated and already possessed
+some experience in governing. In fact, Karl IV.'s anxiety to secure the
+succession to the throne in his own family led him to force Wenzel's
+mind to a premature activity, and thus ruined him for life. He had
+enjoyed no real childhood and youth, and he soon became hard, cynical,
+wilful, without morality and even without ambition. In the beginning of
+his reign, nevertheless, he made an earnest attempt to heal the
+divisions of the Roman Church, and to establish peace between Count
+Eberhard the Whiner and the United Cities of Suabia.</p>
+
+<p>In the latter quarrel, Leopold of Austria also took part. He had been
+appointed Governor of several of the free cities by Wenzel, and he
+seized the occasion to attempt to restore the authority of the Hapsburgs
+over the Swiss Cantons. The latter now numbered eight, the three
+original cantons having been joined by Lucerne, Zurich, Glarus, Zug and
+Berne. They had been invited to make common cause with the Suabian
+cities, more than fifty of which were united in the struggle to maintain
+their rights; but the Swiss, although in sympathy with the cities,
+declined to march beyond their own territory. Leopold decided to
+subjugate each, separately. In 1386, with an army of 4,000 Austrian and
+Suabian knights, he invaded the Cantons. The Swiss collected 1,300
+farmers, fishers and herdsmen, armed with halberds and battle-axes, and
+met Leopold at Sempach, on the 9th of July.</p>
+
+<p>The 4,000 knights dismounted, and advanced in close ranks, presenting a
+wall of steel, defended by rows of levelled spears, to the Swiss in
+their leathern jackets. It seemed impossible to break their solid front,
+or even to reach them with the Swiss weapons. Then Arnold of Winkelried
+stepped forth and said to his countrymen: "Dear brothers, I will open a
+road for you: take care of my wife and children!" He gathered together
+as many spears as he could grasp with both arms, and threw himself<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</span>
+forward upon them: the Swiss sprang into the gap, and the knights began
+to fall on all sides from their tremendous blows. Many were smothered in
+the press, trampled under foot in their heavy armor: Duke Leopold and
+nearly 700 of his followers perished, and the rest were scattered in all
+directions. It was one of the most astonishing victories in history. Two
+years afterwards the Swiss were again splendidly victorious at Näfels,
+and from that time they were an independent nation.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1389.</div>
+
+<p>The Suabian cities were so encouraged by these defeats of the party of
+the nobles, that in 1388 they united in a common war against the Duke of
+Bavaria, Count Eberhard of Würtemberg and the Count Palatine Rupert.
+After a short but very fierce and wasting struggle, they were defeated
+at Döffingen and Worms, deprived of the privileges for which they had
+fought, and compelled to accept a truce of six years. In 1389, a Diet
+was held, which prohibited them from forming any further union, and thus
+completely re-established the power of the reigning princes. Wenzel
+endeavored to enforce an internal peace throughout the whole Empire, but
+could not succeed: what was law for the cities was not allowed to be
+equally law for the princes. It seems probable, from many features of
+the struggle, that the former designed imitating the Swiss cantons, and
+founding a Suabian republic, if they had been successful; but the entire
+governing class of Germany, from the Emperor down to the knightly
+highwayman, was against them, and they must have been crushed in any
+case, sooner or later.</p>
+
+<p>For eight or nine years after these events, Wenzel remained in Prague
+where his reign was distinguished only by an almost insane barbarity. He
+always had an executioner at his right hand, and whoever refused to
+submit to his orders was instantly beheaded. He kept a pack of
+bloodhounds, which were sometimes let loose even upon his own guests: on
+one occasion his wife, the Empress Elizabeth, was nearly torn to pieces
+by them. He ordered the confessor of the latter, a priest named John of
+Nepomuck, to be thrown into the Moldau river for refusing to tell him
+what the Empress had confessed. By this act he made John of Nepomuck the
+patron saint of Bohemia. Some one once wrote upon the door of his palace
+the words: "<i>Venceslaus, alter Nero</i>" (Wenzel, a second Nero); whereupon
+he wrote the line below: "<i>Si non fui adhuc, ero</i>" (If<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</span> I have not been
+one hitherto, I will be now). When the city of Rothenberg refused to
+advance him 4,000 florins, he sent this message to the authorities: "The
+devil began to shear a hog, and spake thus, 'Great cry and little
+wool'!"</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1398. QUARREL WITH THE POPE.</div>
+
+<p>In short, Wenzel was so little of an Emperor and so much of a brutal
+madman, that a conspiracy, at the head of which were his cousin Jodocus
+of Moravia, and Duke Albert of Austria, was formed against him. He was
+taken prisoner and conveyed to Austria, where he was held in close
+confinement until his brother Sigismund, aided by a Diet of the other
+German princes, procured his release. In return for this service, and
+probably, also, to save himself the trouble of governing, he appointed
+Sigismund Vicar of the Empire. In 1398 he called a Diet at Frankfort,
+and again endeavored, but without much success, to enforce a general
+peace. The schism in the Roman Church, which lasted for forty years, the
+rival popes in Rome and Avignon cursing and making war upon each other,
+had at this time become a scandal to Christendom, and the Papal
+authority had sunk so low that the temporal rulers now ventured to
+interfere. Wenzel went to Rheims, where he had an interview with Charles
+VI. of France, in order to settle the quarrel. It was agreed that the
+former should compel Bonifacius IX. in Rome, and the latter Benedict
+XIII. in Avignon, to abdicate, so that the Church might have an
+opportunity to unite on a single Pope; but neither monarch succeeded in
+carrying out the plan.</p>
+
+<p>On the contrary, Bonifacius IX. went secretly to work to depose Wenzel.
+He gained the support of the four Electors of the Rhine, who, headed by
+the Archbishop of Mayence, came together in 1400, proclaimed that Wenzel
+had forfeited his Imperial dignity, and elected the Count Palatine
+Rupert, a member of the house of Wittelsbach (Bavaria), in his place.
+The city of Aix-la-Chapelle shut its gates upon the latter, and he was
+crowned in Cologne. A majority of the smaller German princes, as well as
+of the free cities, refused to acknowledge him; but, on the other hand,
+none of them made any movement in Wenzel's favor, and so there were,
+practically, two separate heads to the Empire.</p>
+
+<p>Rupert imagined that his coronation in Rome would secure his authority
+in Germany. He therefore collected an army, entered into an alliance
+with the republic of Florence against Milan, and marched to Italy in
+1401.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</span> Near Brescia he met the army of the Lombards, commanded by the
+Milanese general, Barbiano, and was so signally defeated that he was
+compelled to return to Germany. In the meantime Wenzel had come to a
+temporary understanding with Jodocus of Moravia and the Hapsburg Dukes
+of Austria, and his prospects improved as Rupert's diminished. It was
+not long, however, before he quarrelled with his brother Sigismund, and
+was imprisoned by the latter. Then ensued a state of general confusion,
+the cause of which is easy to understand, but the features of which it
+is not easy to make clear.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1405.</div>
+
+<p>A number of reigning princes and cities held a convention at Marbach in
+1405, and formed a temporary union, the object of which was evidently to
+create a third power in the Empire. Both Rupert and Wenzel at first
+endeavored to break up this new league, and then, failing in the
+attempt, both intrigued for its support. The Archbishop of Mayence and
+the Margrave of Baden, who stood at its head, were secretly allied with
+France; the smaller princes were ambitious to gain for themselves a
+power equal to that of the seven Electors, and the cities hoped to
+recover some of their lost rights. The League of Marbach, as it is
+called in history, had as little unity or harmony as the Empire itself.
+All Germany was given up to anarchy, and seemed on the point of falling
+to pieces: so much had the famous Golden Bull of Karl IV. accomplished
+in fifty years!</p>
+
+<p>On the eastern shore of the Baltic, also, the march of German
+civilization received an almost fatal check. The two strongest neighbors
+of the German Order, the Poles and Lithuanians, were now united under
+one crown, and they defeated the army of the Order, 60,000 strong, under
+the walls of Wilna, in 1389. After an unsatisfactory peace of some
+years, hostilities were again resumed, and both sides prepared for a
+desperate and final struggle. Each raised an army of more than 100,000
+men, among whom, on the Polish side, there were 40,000 Russians and
+Tartars. The decisive battle was fought at Tannenberg, in July, 1410,
+and the German Order, after losing 40,000 men, retreated from the field.
+It was compelled to give up a portion of its territory to Poland, and
+pay a heavy tribute: from that day its power was broken, and the
+Slavonic races encroached more and more upon the Germans along the
+Baltic.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1410. THE ANTI-EMPEROR RUPERT.</div>
+
+<p>During this same period Holland was rapidly becoming<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</span> estranged from the
+German Empire, and France had obtained possession of the greater part of
+Flanders. Luxemburg and part of Lorraine were incorporated with
+Burgundy, which was rising in power and importance, and had become
+practically independent of Germany. There was now no one to guard the
+ancient boundaries, and probably nothing but the war between England and
+France prevented the latter kingdom from greatly increasing her
+territory at the expense of the Empire.</p>
+
+<p>Although Rupert of the Palatinate acquired but a limited authority in
+Southern Germany, he is generally classed among the German Emperors,
+perhaps because Wenzel's power, after the year 1400, was no greater than
+his own. The confusion and uncertainty in regard to the Imperial dignity
+lasted until 1410, when Rupert determined to make war upon the
+Archbishop of Mayence&mdash;who had procured his election, and since the
+League of Marbach was his chief enemy&mdash;as the first step towards
+establishing his authority. In the midst of his preparations he died, on
+the 18th of May, 1410.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">THE REIGN OF SIGISMUND AND THE HUSSITE WAR.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1410&mdash;1437.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Three Emperors in Germany and Three Popes in Rome.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Sigismund sole Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Appearance and Character.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Religious Movements in Bohemia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;John Huss and his Doctrines.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Division of the University of Prague.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;A Council of the Church called at Constance.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Grand Assembly of all Nations.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Organization of the Council.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Flight and Capture of Pope John XXIII.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Treatment of Huss.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Trial and Execution.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Jerome of Prague burned.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Religious Revolt in Bohemia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Frederick of Hohenzollern receives Brandenburg.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Bohemians rise under Ziska.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Their two Parties.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Ziska's Character.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Bohemian Demands.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Ziska's Victories.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Negotiations with Lithuania and Poland.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Ziska's Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Victories of Procopius.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Hussite Invasions of Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Fifth "Crusade" against Bohemia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Hussites Triumphant.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Council of Basel.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Peace made with the Hussites.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Their Internal Wars.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Revolt against Sigismund.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Death.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1410.</div>
+
+<p>In 1410, the year of Rupert's death, Europe was edified by the spectacle
+of three Emperors in Germany, and three Popes of the Church of Rome, all
+claiming to rule at the same time. The Diet was divided between
+Sigismund and Jodocus of Moravia, both of whom were declared elected,
+while Wenzel insisted that he was still Emperor. A Council held at Pisa,
+about the same time, deposed Pope Gregory XII. in Rome and Pope Benedict
+XIII. in Avignon, and elected a third, who took the name of Alexander V.
+But neither of the former obeyed the decrees of the Council: Gregory
+XII. betook himself to Rimini, Alexander, soon succeeded by John XXIII.,
+reigned in Rome, and the three spiritual rivals began a renewed war of
+proclamations and curses. In order to obtain money, they sold priestly
+appointments to the highest bidder, carried on a trade in pardons and
+indulgences, and brought such disgrace on the priestly office and the
+Christian name, that the spirit of the so-called "heretical" sects,
+though trampled down in fire and blood, was kept everywhere alive among
+the people.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1411. THE EMPEROR SIGISMUND.</div>
+
+<p>The political rivalry in Germany did not last long. Jodocus of Moravia,
+of whom an old historian says: "He was considered a great man, but there
+was nothing great about him, except his beard," died soon after his
+partial election, Wenzel was persuaded to give up his opposition, and
+Sigismund was generally recognized as the sole Emperor. In addition to
+the Mark of Brandenburg, which he had received from his father, Karl
+IV., he had obtained the crown of Hungary through his wife, and he
+claimed also the kingdoms of Bosnia and Dalmatia. He had fought the
+Turks on the lower Danube, had visited Constantinople, and was already
+distinguished for his courage and knightly bearing. Unlike his brother
+Wenzel, who had the black hair and high cheek-bones of a Bohemian, he
+was blonde-haired, blue-eyed and strikingly handsome. He spoke several
+languages, was witty in speech, cheerful in demeanor, and popular with
+all classes, but, unfortunately, both fickle and profligate. Moreover,
+he was one of the vainest men that ever wore a crown.</p>
+
+<p>Before Sigismund entered upon his reign, the depraved condition of the
+Roman clergy, resulting from the general demoralization of the Church,
+had given rise to a new and powerful religious movement in Bohemia. As
+early as 1360, independent preachers had arisen among the people there,
+advocating the pure truths of the Gospel, and exhorting their hearers to
+turn their backs on the pride and luxury which prevailed, to live simply
+and righteously, and do good to their fellow-men. Although persecuted by
+the priests, they found many followers, and their example soon began to
+be more widely felt, especially as Wickliffe, in England, was preaching
+a similar doctrine at the same time. The latter's translation of the
+Bible was finished in 1383, and portions of it, together with his other
+writings in favor of a Reformation of the Christian Church, were carried
+to Prague soon afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>The great leader of the movement in Bohemia was John Huss, who was born
+in 1369, studied at the University of Prague, became a teacher there,
+and at the same time a defender of Wickliffe's doctrines, in 1398, and
+four years afterwards, in spite of the fierce opposition of the clergy,
+was made Rector of the University. With him was associated Jerome
+(Hieronymus), a young Bohemian nobleman, who had studied at Oxford, and
+was also inspired by Wickliffe's<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</span> writings. The learning and lofty
+personal character of both gave them an influence in Prague, which
+gradually extended over all Bohemia. Huss preached with the greatest
+earnestness and eloquence against the Roman doctrine of absolution, the
+worship of saints and images, the Papal trade in offices and
+indulgences, and the idea of a purgatory from which souls could be freed
+by masses celebrated on their behalf. He advocated a return to the
+simplicity of the early Christian Church, especially in the use of the
+sacrament (communion). The Popes had changed the form of administering
+the sacrament, giving only bread to the laymen, while the priests
+partook of both bread and wine: Huss, and the sect which took his name,
+demanded that it should be administered to all "in both forms." Thus the
+cup or sacramental chalice, became the symbol of the latter, in the
+struggle which followed.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1409.</div>
+
+<p>The first consequence of the preaching of Huss was a division between
+the Bohemians and Germans, in the University of Prague. The Germans took
+the part of Rome, but the Bohemians secured the support of king Wenzel
+through his queen, who was a follower of Huss, and maintained their
+ascendency. Thereupon the German professors and students, numbering
+5,000, left Prague in a body, in 1409, and migrated to Leipzig, where
+they founded a new University. These matters were reported to the Roman
+Pope, who immediately excommunicated Huss and his followers. Soon
+afterwards, the Pope (John XXIII.), desiring to subdue the king of
+Naples, offered pardons and indulgences for crimes to all who would take
+up arms on his side. Huss and Jerome preached against this as an
+abomination, and the latter publicly burned the Pope's bull in the
+streets of Prague. The conflict now became so fierce that Wenzel
+banished both from the city, many of Huss's friends among the clergy
+fell away from him, and he offered to submit his doctrines to a general
+Council of the Church.</p>
+
+<p>Such a Council, in fact, was then demanded by all Christendom. The
+intelligent classes in all countries felt that the demoralization caused
+by the corruption of the clergy and the scandalous quarrels of three
+rival Popes could no longer be endured. The Council at Pisa, in 1409,
+had only made matters worse by adding another Pope to the two at Rome
+and Avignon; for, although it claimed the highest spiritual authority on
+earth, it was not obeyed. The Chancellor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</span> of the University of Paris
+called upon the Emperor Sigismund to move in favor of a new Council; all
+the Christian powers of Europe promised their support, and finally one
+of the Popes, John XXIII., being driven from Rome, was persuaded to
+agree, so that a grand &OElig;cumenical Council, with authority over the
+Papacy, was summoned to meet in the city of Constance, in the autumn of
+the year 1414.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1414. THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE.</div>
+
+<p>It was one of the most imposing assemblies ever held in Europe. Pope
+John XXIII. personally appeared, accompanied by 600 Italians; the other
+two Popes sent ambassadors to represent their interests. The patriarchs
+of Jerusalem, Constantinople and Aquileia, the Grand-Masters of the
+knightly Orders, thirty-three Cardinals, twenty Archbishops, two hundred
+Bishops and many thousand priests and monks, were present. Then came the
+Emperor Sigismund, the representatives of all Christian powers,
+including the Byzantine Emperor, and even an envoy from the Turkish
+Sultan, with sixteen hundred princes and their followers. The entire
+concourse of strangers at Constance was computed at 150,000, and thirty
+different languages were heard at the same time. A writer of the day
+thus describes the characteristics of the four principal races: "The
+Germans are impetuous, but have much endurance, the French are boastful
+and arrogant, the English prompt and sagacious, and the Italians subtle
+and intriguing." Gamblers, mountebanks and dramatic performers were also
+on hand; great tournaments, races and banquets were constantly held;
+yet, although the Council lasted four years, there was no disturbance of
+the public order, no increase in the cost of living, and no epidemic
+diseases in the crowded camps.</p>
+
+<p>The professed objects of the Council were: a reformation of the Church,
+its reorganization under a single head, and the suppression of heresy.
+The members were divided into four "Nations"&mdash;the <i>German</i>, including
+the Bohemians, Hungarians, Poles, Russians and Greeks; the <i>French</i>,
+including Normans, Spaniards and Portuguese; the <i>English</i>, including
+Irish, Scotch, Danes, Norwegians and Swedes; and the <i>Italian</i>,
+embracing all the different States from the Alps to Sicily. Each of
+these nations held its own separate convention, and cast a single vote,
+so that no measure could be carried, unless <i>three</i> of the four nations
+were in favor of it. Germany and England advocated the reformation of
+the Church, as the first and most important question;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</span> France and Italy
+cared only to have the quarrel of the Popes settled, and finally
+persuaded England to join them. Thus the reformation was postponed, and
+that was practically the end of it.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1415.</div>
+
+<p>As soon as it became evident that all three of the Popes would be
+deposed by the Council, John XXIII. fled from Constance in disguise,
+with the assistance of the Hapsburg Duke, Frederick of Austria. Both
+were captured; the Pope, whose immorality had already made him infamous,
+was imprisoned at Heidelberg, and Frederick was declared to have
+forfeited his lands. Although Austria was afterwards restored to him,
+all the Hapsburg territory lying between Zurich, the Rhine and the Lake
+of Constance was given to Switzerland, and has remained Swiss ever
+since. A second Pope, Gregory XII., now voluntarily abdicated, but the
+third, Benedict XIII., refused to follow the example, and maintained a
+sort of Papal authority in Spain until his death. The Council elected a
+member of the family of Colonna, in Rome, who took the name of Martin V.
+He was no sooner chosen and installed in his office than, without
+awaiting the decrees of the Council, he began to conclude separate
+"Concordats" (agreements) with the princes. Thus the chief object of the
+Council was already thwarted, and the four nations took up the question
+of suppressing heresy.</p>
+
+<p>Huss, to whom the Emperor had sent a safe-conduct for the journey to and
+from Constance, and who was escorted by three Bohemian knights, was
+favorably received by the people, on the way. He reached Constance in
+November, 1414, and was soon afterwards&mdash;before any
+examination&mdash;arrested and thrown into a dungeon so foul that he became
+seriously ill. Sigismund insisted that he should be released, but the
+cardinals and bishops were so embittered against him that they defied
+the Emperor's authority. All that the latter could (or did) do for him,
+was to procure for him a trial, which began on the 7th of June, 1415.
+But instead of a trial, it was a savage farce. He was accused of the
+absurdest doctrines, among others of asserting that there were four
+Gods, and every time he attempted to speak in his own defence, his voice
+was drowned by the outcries of the bishops and priests. He offered to
+renounce any doctrine he had taught, if it were proved contrary to the
+Gospel of Christ; but this proposition was received with derision. He
+was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</span> simply offered the choice between instantly denying all that he
+held as truth or being burned at the stake as a heretic.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1415. HUSS AND JEROME BURNED.</div>
+
+<p>On the 6th of July, the Council assembled in the Cathedral of Constance.
+After mass had been celebrated, Huss, who had steadfastly refused to
+recant, was led before the congregation of priests and princes, and
+clothed as a priest, to make his condemnation more solemn. A bishop read
+the charges against him, but every attempt he made to speak was forcibly
+silenced. Once, however, he raised his voice and demanded the fair
+hearing which had been promised, and to obtain which he had accepted the
+Emperor's protection,&mdash;fixing his eyes sternly upon Sigismund, who could
+not help blushing with shame. The sacramental cup was then placed in
+Huss's hands, and immediately snatched from him with the words: "Thou
+accursed Judas! we take from thee this cup, wherein the blood of Christ
+is offered up for the forgiveness of sins!" to which Huss replied: "I
+trust that to-day I shall drink of this cup in the Kingdom of God." Each
+article of his priestly dress was stripped from him with a new curse,
+and when, finally, all had been removed, his soul was solemnly commended
+to the Devil; whereupon he exclaimed: "And <i>I</i> commend it to my Lord
+Jesus Christ."</p>
+
+<p>Huss was publicly burned to death the same day. On arriving at the stake
+he knelt and prayed so fervently, that the common people began to doubt
+whether he really was a heretic. Being again offered a chance to
+retract, he declared in a loud voice that he would seal by his death the
+truth of all he had taught. After the torch had been applied to the
+pile, he was heard to cry out, three times, from the midst of the
+flames: "Jesus Christ, son of the Living God, have mercy upon me!" Then
+his voice failed, and in a short time nothing was left of the body of
+the immortal martyr, except a handful of ashes which were thrown into
+the Rhine.</p>
+
+<p>Huss's friend, Jerome, who came to Constance on the express promise of
+the Council that he should not be imprisoned before a fair hearing, was
+thrown into a dungeon as soon as he arrived, and so broken down by
+sickness and cruelty that in September, 1415, he promised to give up his
+doctrines. But he soon recovered from this weakness, declared anew the
+truth of all he had taught, and defended himself before the Council in a
+speech of remarkable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</span> power and eloquence. He was condemned, and burned
+at the stake on the 30th of May, 1416.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1416.</div>
+
+<p>The fate of Huss and Jerome created an instant and fierce excitement
+among the Bohemians. An address, defending them against the charge of
+heresy and protesting against the injustice and barbarity of the
+Council, was signed by four or five hundred nobles, and forwarded to
+Constance. The only result was that the Council decreed that no
+safe-conduct could be allowed to protect a heretic, that the University
+of Prague must be recognized, and the strongest measures applied to
+suppress the Hussite doctrines in Bohemia. This was a defiance which the
+Bohemians courageously accepted. Men of all classes united in
+proclaiming that the doctrines of Huss should be freely taught and that
+no Interdict of the Church should be enforced: the University, and even
+Wenzel's queen, Sophia, favored this movement, which soon became so
+powerful that all priests who refused to administer the sacrament "in
+both forms" were driven from their churches.</p>
+
+<p>The Council sat at Constance until May, 1418, when it was dissolved by
+Pope Martin V. without having accomplished anything whatever tending to
+a permanent reformation of the Church. The only political event of
+importance during this time was a business transaction of Sigismund's,
+the results of which, reaching to our day, have decided the fate of
+Germany. In 1411, the Emperor was in great need of ready money, and
+borrowed 100,000 florins of Frederick of Hohenzollern, the Burgrave
+(<i>Burggraf</i>, "Count of the Castle") of Nuremberg, a direct descendant of
+the Hohenzollern who had helped Rudolf of Hapsburg to the Imperial
+crown. Sigismund gave his creditor a mortgage on the territory of
+Brandenburg, which had fallen into a state of great disorder. Frederick
+at once removed thither, and, in his own private interests, undertook to
+govern the country. He showed so much ability, and was so successful in
+quelling the robber-knights and establishing order, that in 1415
+Sigismund offered to sell him the sovereignty of Brandenburg (which made
+him, at the same time, an Elector of the Empire), for the additional sum
+of 300,000 gold florins. Frederick accepted the terms, and settled
+permanently in the little State which afterwards became the nucleus of
+the kingdom of Prussia, of which his own lineal descendants are now the
+rulers.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1419. ZISKA HEADS THE BOHEMIANS.</div>
+
+<p>When the Council of Constance was dissolved, Sigismund hastened to
+Hungary to carry on a new war with the Turks, who were already extending
+their conquests along the Danube. The Hussites in Bohemia employed this
+opportunity to organize themselves for resistance; 40,000 of them, in
+July, 1419, assembled on a mountain to which they gave the name of
+"Tabor," and chose as their leader a nobleman who was surnamed <i>Ziska</i>,
+"the one-eyed." The excitement soon rose to such a pitch that several
+monasteries were stormed and plundered. King Wenzel arrested some of the
+ringleaders, but this only inflamed the spirit of the people. They
+formed a procession in Prague, marched through the city, carrying the
+sacramental cup at their head, and took forcible possession of several
+churches. When they halted before the city-hall, to demand the release
+of their imprisoned brethren, stones were thrown at them from the
+windows, whereupon they broke into the building and hurled the
+Burgomaster and six other officials upon the upheld spears of those
+below. The news of this event so excited Wenzel that he was stricken
+with apoplexy, and died two weeks afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>The Hussites were already divided into two parties, one moderate in its
+demands, called the "Calixtines," from the Latin <i>calix</i>, a chalice,
+which was their symbol, the other radical and fanatic, called the
+"Taborites," who proclaimed their separation from the Church of Rome and
+a new system of brotherly equality through which they expected to
+establish the Millennium upon earth. The exigencies of their situation
+obliged these two parties to unite in common defence against the forces
+of the Church and the Empire, during the sixteen years of war which
+followed; but they always remained separated in their religious views,
+and mutually intolerant. Ziska, who called himself "John Ziska of the
+Chalice, commander in the hope of God of the Taborites," had been a
+friend and was an ardent follower of Huss. He was an old man,
+bald-headed, short, broad-shouldered, with a deep furrow across his
+brow, an enormous aquiline nose, and a short red moustache. In his
+genius for military operations, he ranks among the great commanders of
+the world: his quickness, energy and inventive talent were marvellous,
+but at the same time he knew neither tolerance nor mercy.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1420.</div>
+
+<p>Ziska's first policy was to arm the Bohemians. He introduced<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</span> among them
+the "thunder-guns"&mdash;small field-pieces, which had been first used at the
+battle of Agincourt, between England and France, three years before; he
+shod the farmers' flails with iron, and taught them to crack helmets and
+armor with iron maces; and he invented a system of constructing
+temporary fortresses by binding strong wagons together with iron chains.
+Sigismund does not seem to have been aware of the formidable character
+of the movement until the end of his war with the Turks, some months
+afterwards, and he then persuaded the Pope to summon all Christendom to
+a crusade against Bohemia. During the year 1420 a force of 100,000
+soldiers was collected, and Sigismund marched at their head to Prague.
+The Hussites met him with the demand for the acceptance of the following
+articles: 1.&mdash;The word of God to be freely preached; 2.&mdash;The sacrament
+to be administered in both forms; 3.&mdash;The clergy to possess no property
+or temporal authority; 4.&mdash;All sins to be punished by the proper
+authorities. Sigismund was ready to accept these articles as the price
+of their submission, but the Papal Legate forbade the agreement, and war
+followed.</p>
+
+<p>On the 1st of November, 1420, the "Crusaders" were totally defeated by
+Ziska, and all Bohemia was soon relieved of their presence. The dispute
+between the moderates and the radicals broke out again; the idea of a
+community of property began to prevail among the Taborites, and most of
+the Bohemian nobles refused to act with them. Ziska left Prague with his
+troops and for a time devoted himself to the task of suppressing all
+opposition through the country with fire and sword. He burned no less
+than 550 convents and monasteries, slaying the priests and monks who
+refused to accept the new doctrines; but he proceeded with equal
+severity against a new sect called the Adamites, who were endeavoring to
+restore Paradise by living without clothes. While besieging the town of
+Raby, an arrow destroyed his remaining eye, yet he continued to plan
+battles and sieges as before. The very name of the blind warrior became
+a terror throughout Germany.</p>
+
+<p>In September, 1421, a second Crusade of 200,000 men, commanded by five
+German Electors, entered Bohemia from the west. It had been planned that
+the Emperor Sigismund, assisted by Duke Albert of Austria, to whom he
+had given his daughter in marriage, and who was now also supported<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</span> by
+many of the Bohemian nobles, should invade the country from the east at
+exactly the same time. The Hussites were thus to be crushed between the
+upper and the nether millstones. But the blind Ziska, nothing daunted,
+led his wagons, his flail-men and mace-wielders against the Electors,
+whose troops began to fly before them. No battle was fought; the 200,000
+Crusaders were scattered in all directions, and lost heavily during
+their retreat. Then Ziska wheeled about and marched against Sigismund,
+who was late in making his appearance. The two armies met on the 8th of
+January, 1422, and the Hussite victory was so complete that the Emperor
+narrowly escaped falling into their hands. It is hardly to be wondered
+that they should consider themselves to be the chosen people of God,
+after such astonishing successes.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1422. DEFEAT OF THE SECOND CRUSADE.</div>
+
+<p>At this juncture, Prince Witold of Lithuania, supported by king Jagello
+of Poland, offered to accept the four articles of the Hussites, provided
+they would give him the crown of Bohemia. The Moderates were all in his
+favor, and even Ziska left the Taborites when, true to their republican
+principles, they refused to accept Witold's proposition. The separation
+between the two parties of the Hussites was now complete. Witold sent
+his nephew Koribut, who swore to maintain the four articles, and was
+installed at Prague, as "Vicegerent of Bohemia." Thereupon Sigismund
+made such representations to king Jagello of Poland, that Koribut was
+soon recalled by his uncle. About the same time a third Crusade was
+arranged, and Frederick of Brandenburg (the Hohenzollern) selected to
+command it, but the plan failed from lack of support. The dissensions
+among the Hussites became fiercer than ever; Ziska was at one time on
+the point of attacking Prague, but the leaders of the moderate party
+succeeded in coming to an understanding with him, and he entered the
+city in triumph. In October, 1424, while marching against Duke Albert of
+Austria, who had invaded Moravia, he fell a victim to the plague. Even
+after death he continued to terrify the German soldiers, who believed
+that his skin had been made into a drum, and still called the Hussites
+to battle.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1426.</div>
+
+<p>A majority of the Taborites elected a priest, called Procopius the
+Great, as their commander in Ziska's stead; the others, who thenceforth
+styled themselves "Orphans," united under another priest, Procopius the
+Little. The approach<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</span> of another Imperial army, in 1426, compelled them
+to forget their differences, and the result was a splendid victory over
+their enemies. Procopius the Great then invaded Austria and Silesia,
+which he laid waste without mercy. The Pope called a <i>fourth</i> Crusade,
+which met the same fate as the former ones: the united armies of the
+Archbishop of Treves, the Elector Frederick of Brandenburg and the Duke
+of Saxony, 200,000 strong, were utterly defeated, and fled in disorder,
+leaving an enormous quantity of stores and munitions of war in the hands
+of the Bohemians.</p>
+
+<p>Procopius, who was almost the equal of Ziska as a military leader, made
+several unsuccessful attempts to unite the Hussites in one religious
+body. In order to prevent their dissensions from becoming dangerous to
+the common cause, he kept the soldiers of all sects under his command,
+and undertook fierce invasions into Bavaria, Saxony and Brandenburg,
+which made the Hussite name a terror to all Germany. During these
+expeditions one hundred towns were destroyed, more than fifteen hundred
+villages burned, tens of thousands of the inhabitants slain, and such
+quantities of plunder collected that it was impossible to transport the
+whole of it to Bohemia. Frederick of Brandenburg and several other
+princes were compelled to pay heavy tributes to the Hussites: the Empire
+was thoroughly humiliated, the people weary of slaughter, yet the Pope
+refused even to call a Council for the discussion of the difficulty.</p>
+
+<p>As for the Emperor Sigismund, he had grown tired of the quarrel, long
+before. Leaving the other German States to fight Bohemia, he withdrew to
+Hungary and for some years found enough to do in repelling the inroads
+of the Turks. It was not until the beginning of the year 1431, when
+there was peace along the Danube, that he took any measures for putting
+an end to the Hussite war. Pope Martin V. was dead, and his successor,
+Eugene IV., reluctantly consented to call a Council to meet at Basel.
+First, however, he insisted on a <i>fifth</i> Crusade, which was proclaimed
+for the complete extermination of the Hussites. The German princes made
+a last and desperate effort: an army of 130,000 men, 40,000 of whom were
+cavalry, was brought together, under the command of Frederick of
+Brandenburg, while Albert of Austria was to support it by invading
+Bohemia from the south.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1434. END OF THE HUSSITE WARS.</div>
+
+<p>Procopius and his dauntless Hussites met the Crusaders on the 14th of
+August, 1431, at a place called Thauss, and won another of their
+marvellous victories. The Imperial army was literally cut to pieces:
+8,000 wagons, filled with provisions and munitions of war, and 150
+cannons, were left upon the field. The Hussites marched northward to the
+Baltic, and eastward into Hungary, burning, slaying and plundering as
+they went. Even the Pope now yielded, and the Hussites were invited to
+attend the Council at Basel, with the most solemn stipulations in regard
+to personal safety and a fair discussion of their demands. Sigismund, in
+the meantime, had gone to Italy and been crowned Emperor in Rome, on
+condition of showing himself publicly as a personal servant of the Pope.
+He spent nearly two years in Italy, leading an idle and immoral life,
+and went back to Germany when his money was exhausted.</p>
+
+<p>In 1433, finally, three hundred Hussites, headed by Procopius, appeared
+in Basel. They demanded nothing more than the acceptance of the four
+articles upon which they had united in 1420; but after seven weeks of
+talk, during which the Council agreed upon nothing and promised nothing,
+they marched away, after stating that any further negotiation must be
+carried on in Prague. This course compelled the Council to act; an
+embassy was appointed, which proceeded to Prague, and on the 30th of
+November, the same year, concluded a treaty with the Hussites. The four
+demands were granted, but each with a condition attached which gave the
+Church a chance to regain its lost power. For this reason, the Taborites
+and "Orphans" refused to accept the compact; the moderate party united
+with the nobles and undertook to suppress the former by force. A fierce
+internal war followed, but it was of short duration. In 1434, the
+Taborites were defeated, their fortified mountain taken, Procopius the
+Great and the Little were both slain, and the members of the sect
+dispersed. The Bohemian Reformation was never again dangerous to the
+Church of Rome.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1437.</div>
+
+<p>The Emperor Sigismund, after proclaiming a general amnesty, entered
+Prague in 1436. He made some attempt to restore order and prosperity to
+the devastated country, but his measures in favor of the Church provoked
+a conspiracy against him, in which his second wife, the Empress Barbara,
+was implicated. Being warned by his son-in-law, Duke<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</span> Albert of Austria,
+he left Prague for Hungary. On reaching Znaim, the capital of Moravia,
+he felt the approach of death, whereupon, after naming Albert his
+successor, he had himself clothed in his Imperial robes and seated in a
+chair, so that, after a worthless life, he was able to die in great
+state, on the 9th of December, 1437. With him expired the Luxemburg
+dynasty, after having weakened, distracted, humiliated and almost ruined
+Germany for exactly ninety years.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">THE FOUNDATION OF THE HAPSBURG DYNASTY.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1438&mdash;1493.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Albert of Austria Chosen Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Short Reign.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Frederick III. succeeds.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Character.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Council of Basel.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The French Mercenaries and the Swiss.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Suabian Cities.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;George Podiebrad in Bohemia and John Hunyádi in Hungary.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Condition of the German Empire.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Losses of the German Order.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Rise of Burgundy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Charles the Bold and his Plans.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Battles of Grandson and Morat.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Death of Charles the Bold.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Marriage of Maximilian of Hapsburg and Mary of Burgundy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Frederick III.'s Troubles.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Aid of the Suabian Cities.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Maximilian's Humiliation.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Frederick's Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Fall of the Eastern Empire.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Gutenberg's Invention of Printing.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1438. ALBERT OF HAPSBURG EMPEROR.</div>
+
+<p>The German Electors seemed to be acting contrary to their usual policy,
+when, on the 18th of March, 1438, they unanimously voted for Albert of
+Austria, who became Emperor as Albert II. With him commences the
+Hapsburg dynasty, which kept sole possession of the Imperial office
+until Francis II. gave up the title of Emperor of Germany, in 1806.
+Albert II. was Duke of Austria, and, as the heir of Sigismund, he was
+also king of Hungary and Bohemia; consequently the power of his house
+was much greater than that of any other German prince; but the Electors
+were influenced by the consideration that his territories lay mostly
+outside of Germany proper, that they were in a condition which would
+demand all his time and energy, and therefore the other States and
+principalities would probably be left to themselves, as they had been
+under Sigismund. Nothing is more evident in the history of Germany, from
+first to last, than the opposition of the ruling princes to any close
+political union of a <i>national</i> character, but it was seldom so
+selfishly and shamelessly manifested as in the fourteenth and fifteenth
+centuries.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1440.</div>
+
+<p>The events of Albert II.'s short reign are not important. He appears to
+have been a man of strong character, honest<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</span> and well-meaning, but a new
+war with the Turks called him to Hungary soon after his accession to the
+throne, and he was obliged to leave the interests of the Empire in the
+hands of his Chancellor, Schlick, a man who shared his views but could
+not exercise the same authority over the princes. Before anything could
+be accomplished, Albert died in Hungary, in October, 1439, in the
+forty-second year of his age. He left one son, Ladislas, an infant, born
+a few days after his death.</p>
+
+<p>The Electors again met, and in February, 1440, unanimously chose
+Albert's cousin, Frederick of Styria and Carinthia, who, after waiting
+three months before he could make up his mind, finally accepted, and was
+crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle as Frederick III. His indolence, eccentricity
+and pedantic stiffness seemed to promise just such a wooden figure-head
+as the princes required: it is difficult to imagine any other reason for
+the selection. He was more than a servant, he was almost an abject slave
+of the Papal power, and his secretary, Æneas Sylvius (who afterwards
+became Pope as Pius II.), ruled him wholly in the interest of the Church
+of Rome, at a time when a majority of the German princes, and even many
+of the Bishops, were endeavoring to effect a reformation.</p>
+
+<p>The Council at Basel had not adjourned after concluding the Compact of
+Prague with the Hussites. The desire for a correction of the abuses
+which had so weakened the spiritual authority of the Church was strong
+enough to compel the members to discuss plans of reform. Their course
+was so distasteful to the Pope, Eugene IV., that he threatened to
+excommunicate the Council, which, in return, deposed him and elected
+Amadeus, Duke of Savoy, who took the name of Pope Felix V. The prospect
+of a new schism disturbed the Christian world; many of the reigning
+princes refused to support Eugene unless he would grant entire freedom
+to the Church in Germany, and he would have probably been obliged to
+yield, but for the help extended to him by Frederick III., under the
+influence of Æneas Sylvius. The latter, who was no less unscrupulous
+than cunning, succeeded in destroying the work of reform in its very
+beginning. By the Concordat of Vienna, in 1448, Frederick neutralized
+the action of the Council and restored the Papal authority in its most
+despotic form. Felix V. was forced to abdicate, and the Council of
+Basel&mdash;which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</span> had meanwhile adjourned to Lausanne&mdash;was finally
+dissolved, after a session of seventeen years.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1444. ATTEMPT TO CONQUER THE SWISS.</div>
+
+<p>In his political course, during this time, Frederick III. was equally
+infamous, but less successful. After making a temporary arrangement with
+Hungary and Bohemia, he determined to reconquer the former Hapsburg
+possessions from the Swiss. A quarrel between Zurich and the other
+Cantons seemed to favor his plan; but, not being able to obtain any
+troops in Germany, he applied to Charles VII. of France for 5,000 of the
+latter's mercenaries. As Charles, with the help of Joan D'Arc, the Maid
+of Orleans, had just victoriously concluded his war with England, he had
+plenty of men to spare; so, instead of 5,000, he sent 30,000, under the
+command of the Dauphin. This force marched into Switzerland, and was
+met, on the 26th of August, 1444, at St. Jacob, near Basel, by an army
+of 1600 devoted Swiss, every man of whom fell, after a battle which
+lasted ten hours. The French were so crippled and discouraged that they
+turned back and for months afterwards laid waste Baden and Alsatia; so
+that only German territory suffered by this transaction.</p>
+
+<p>The Suabian cities, inspired by the heroic attitude of the Swiss, now
+made another attempt to protect themselves against the encroachment of
+the reigning princes upon their ancient rights. For two years a fierce
+war was waged between them and the latter, who were headed by the
+Hohenzollern Count, Albert Achilles of Brandenburg. The struggle came to
+an end in 1450, and so greatly to the disadvantage of the cities that
+the people of Schaffhausen annexed themselves and their territory to
+Switzerland. The following year, as there was a temporary peace,
+Frederick III. undertook a journey to Italy, with an escort of 3,000
+men. His object was to be crowned Emperor at Rome, and the Pope could
+not refuse the request of such an obedient servant, especially after the
+latter had kissed his foot and appeared publicly as his groom. He was
+the last German Emperor who amused the Roman people by playing such a
+part. During the year he spent in Italy he avoided Milan, and made no
+attempt to claim, or even to sell, any of the former Imperial rights.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1457.</div>
+
+<p>Disturbances in Hungary and Bohemia hastened his return to Germany. Both
+countries demanded that he should give up the boy Ladislas, son of
+Albert II., whom he still<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</span> kept with him. In Bohemia George Podiebrad, a
+Hussite nobleman, was at the head of the government; in Hungary the
+ruler was John Hunyádi (often called <i>Hunniades</i> by English historians),
+one of the most heroic and illustrious characters in Hungarian annals.
+The Emperor was compelled to give up Austria at once to Ladislas, who,
+at the age of sixteen, was also chosen king of Hungary and Bohemia. But
+he died soon afterwards, in 1457, and then Matthias Corvinus, the son of
+Hunyádi, was elected king by the Hungarians, and George Podiebrad by the
+Bohemians. Even Austria, which Frederick attempted to retain, passed
+partly into the hands of his brother Albert. The German princes looked
+on well-pleased, and saw the power of the Hapsburg house diminished;
+only its old ally, the house of Hohenzollern, still exhibited an active
+friendship for Frederick III.</p>
+
+<p>The condition of the Empire, at this time, was most deplorable. While
+France, England and Spain were increasing their power by better
+political organization, Germany was weakened by an almost unbroken
+series of internal wars. The 340 independent Dukes, Bishops, Counts,
+Abbots, Barons and Cities, fought or made peace, leagued themselves
+together or separated, just as they pleased. So wanton became the spirit
+of destruction that Albert Achilles of Brandenburg openly declared:
+"Conflagration is the ornament of war,"&mdash;and the people described one of
+his campaigns by saying: "They can read at night, in Franconia."
+Frederick III. called a number of National Diets, but as he never
+attended any, the smaller rulers soon followed his example. Although the
+Turks began to ravage the borders of Styria and Carinthia, and carried
+away thousands of the inhabitants as slaves, he spent his time in
+Austria, quarrelling with his brother Albert, and intriguing alternately
+with the Hungarians and the Bohemians, in the attempt to secure for
+himself the crowns worn by Matthias Corvinus and George Podiebrad.</p>
+
+<p>Along the Baltic shore the growth of the German element was checked, and
+almost destroyed. After its crushing defeat at Tannenberg, the German
+Order not only lost its power, but its liberal and intelligent
+character. It began to impose heavy taxes on the cities, and to rule
+with greater harshness the population under its sway. The result was a
+combined revolt of the cities and the country nobility, who<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</span> compelled
+the Order to grant them a constitution, guaranteeing the rights for
+which they contended. They purchased Frederick III.'s consent to this
+measure for 54,000 gold florins. Soon afterwards, however, the Order
+paid the Emperor 80,000 gold florins to withdraw his consent. Then the
+cities and nobles, exasperated at this treachery, rose again, and called
+the Poles to their help. The Order appealed to the Empire, but received
+no assistance: it was defeated and its territory overrun; West-Prussia
+was annexed to Poland, which held it for three centuries afterwards, and
+East-Prussia, detached completely from the Empire, was left as a little
+German island, surrounded by Slavonic races. The responsibility for this
+serious loss to Germany, as well as for the internal anarchy and
+barbarity which prevailed, rests directly upon the Electors, who
+selected Frederick III. precisely because they knew his character, and
+who never attempted to depose him during his long and miserable reign of
+fifty-three years.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1467. THE GROWTH OF BURGUNDY.</div>
+
+<p>Germany was also seriously threatened on the west, not by France, but by
+the sudden growth of a new power which was equally dangerous to France.
+This was the Duchy of Burgundy, which in the course of a hundred years
+had grown to the dimensions of a kingdom, and was now strong enough to
+throw off the dependency of the territories it embraced, to France on
+the one side, and to the German Empire on the other. The foundation of
+its growth was laid in 1363, when king John of France made his fourth
+son, called Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and the latter, by
+marrying the Countess Margaret of Flanders, extended his territory to
+the mouth of the Rhine. He died in 1404, and was succeeded by his
+grandson, Philip the Good, who extended the sway of Burgundy, by
+purchase, inheritance, or force of arms, over all Belgium and Holland,
+so that it then reached from the Rhine to the North Sea. His court was
+one of the most splendid in Europe, and during his reign of sixty-three
+years Flanders became the rival of Italy in wealth, architecture and the
+fine arts.</p>
+
+<p>Philip the Good died in 1467, and was succeeded by his son, Charles the
+Bold, a man whose boldness was his only virtue. He was rash, vindictive,
+and almost insanely ambitious; and the only purpose of his life seems to
+have been to extend his territory to the Alps and the Mediterranean, to
+gain possession of Lorraine and Alsatia, and thus to found<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</span> a kingdom of
+Burgundy, almost corresponding to that given to Lothar by the Treaty of
+Verdun, in 843. (See <a href="#CHAPTER_XII">Chapter XII.</a>) He first acquired additional
+territory in Belgium, then took a mortgage on all the possessions of the
+Hapsburgs in Alsatia and Baden by making a loan to Sigismund of Tyrol.
+Frederick III. not only permitted these transactions, but met Charles at
+Treves in 1473 to arrange a marriage between the latter's only daughter,
+Mary of Burgundy, and his own son, Maximilian. During the visit, which
+lasted two months, Charles the Bold displayed so much pomp and splendor
+that the Emperor, unable to make an equal show, finally left without
+saying good-bye. The interests of Germany did not move him, but when his
+personal vanity was touched, he was capable of action.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1473.</div>
+
+<p>For a short time, Frederick exhibited a little energy and intelligence.
+In order to secure the alliance of the Swiss, who were equally
+threatened by the designs of Charles the Bold, he concluded a Perpetual
+Peace with them, relinquishing forever the claims of the house of
+Hapsburg to authority over any part of their territory. The cities of
+Alsatia and Baden advanced money to Sigismund of Tyrol to pay his debt,
+and when Charles the Bold nevertheless refused to give up Alsatia and
+part of Lorraine, which he had seized in the meantime, war was declared
+against him. Louis XI. of France, equally jealous of Burgundy, favored
+the movement, but took no active part in it. Although Charles was driven
+out of Alsatia, and failed to take the city of Neuss after a siege of
+ten months, he succeeded in negotiating a peace, by offering a truce of
+nine years to Louis XI. and promising his daughter's hand to Frederick's
+son, Maximilian. In this treaty the Emperor, who had persuaded
+Switzerland and Lorraine to become his allies, infamously gave them up
+to Charles the Bold's revenge.</p>
+
+<p>The latter instantly seized the whole of Lorraine, transferred his
+capital from Brussels to Nancy, and, considering his future kingdom
+secured, prepared first to punish the Swiss. He collected a magnificent
+army of 50,000 men, crossed the Jura, and appeared before the town of
+Grandson, on the Lake of Neufchatel. The place surrendered, on condition
+that the citizens should be allowed to leave unharmed; but Charles
+seized them, hanged a number and threw the rest into the lake. By this
+time the Swiss army, numbering 18,000, appeared before Grandson. Before<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</span>
+beginning the battle, they fell upon their knees and prayed fervently;
+whereupon Charles cried out: "See, they are begging for mercy, but not
+one of them shall escape!" For several hours the fight raged fiercely;
+then the horns of the mountaineers&mdash;the "bulls of Uri and the cows of
+Unterwalden," as the Swiss called them&mdash;were heard in the distance, as
+they hastened to join their brethren. A panic seized the Burgundians,
+and after a short and desperate struggle they fled, leaving all their
+camp equipage, 420 cannon, and such enormous treasures in the hands of
+the Swiss that the soldiers divided the money by hatfuls.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1476. BATTLES OF GRANDSON AND MORAT.</div>
+
+<p>This grand victory occurred on the 3d of May, 1476. Charles made every
+effort to retrieve his fortunes: he called fresh troops into the field,
+reorganized his army, and on the 22d of June again met the Swiss near
+the little town and lake of Morat. The battle fought there resulted in a
+more crushing defeat than that of Grandson: 15,000 Burgundians were left
+dead upon the field. The aid which the Swiss had begged the German
+Empire to give them had not been granted, but it was not needed. Charles
+the Bold seems to have become partially insane after this overthrow of
+his ambitious plans. He refused the proffered mediation of Frederick
+III. and the Pope, and endeavored to resume the war. In the meantime
+Duke René of Lorraine had recovered his land, and when Charles marched
+to retake Nancy, the Swiss allied themselves with the former. A final
+battle was fought before the walls of Nancy, in January, 1477. After the
+defeat and flight of the Burgundians, the body of Charles was found on
+the field, so covered with blood and mud as scarcely to be recognized.</p>
+
+<p>Up to this time, the German Empire had always claimed that its
+jurisdiction extended over Switzerland, but henceforth no effort was
+ever made to enforce it. The little communities of free people, who had
+defied and humiliated Austria, and now, within a few months, crushed the
+splendid and haughty house of Burgundy, were left alone, an eye-sore to
+the neighboring princes, but a hope to their people. The Hapsburg
+dynasty, nevertheless, profited by the fall of Charles the Bold. Mary of
+Burgundy gave her hand to Maximilian, in 1477, and he established his
+court in Flanders. He was both handsome and intellectually endowed, and
+was reputed to be the most accomplished knight of his day. Louis XI. of
+France attempted to gain possession of those<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</span> provinces of Burgundy
+which had French population, but was signally defeated by Maximilian in
+1479. Three years afterwards, however, when Mary of Burgundy was killed
+by a fall from her horse, the cities of Bruges and Ghent, instigated by
+France, claimed the guardianship of her two children, Philip and
+Margaret, the latter of whom was sent to Paris to be educated as the
+bride of the Dauphin. A war ensued which lasted until 1485, when
+Maximilian was reluctantly accepted as Regent of Flanders.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1485.</div>
+
+<p>While these events were taking place, Frederick III. was involved in a
+quarrel with Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary, who easily succeeded in
+driving him from Vienna, and then from Austria. Still the German princes
+looked carelessly on, and the weak old Emperor wandered from one to the
+other, everywhere received as an unwelcome guest. In 1486 he called a
+Diet at Frankfort, and endeavored, but in vain, to procure a union of
+the forces of the Empire against Hungary. All that was accomplished was
+Maximilian's election as King of Germany. Immediately after being
+crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle, he made a formal demand on Matthias Corvinus
+for the surrender of Austria. Before any further steps could be taken,
+he was recalled to Flanders by a new rebellion, which lasted for three
+years.</p>
+
+<p>Frederick III., deserted on all sides, and seeing the Hapsburg
+possessions along the frontiers of Austria and Tyrol threatened by
+Bavaria, finally appealed to the Suabian cities for help. He succeeded
+in establishing a new Suabian League, which was composed of twenty-two
+free cities, the Count of Würtemberg and a number of independent nobles.
+A force was raised, with which he first marched to the relief of
+Maximilian, who had been taken and imprisoned at Bruges and was
+threatened with death. The undertaking was successful: Maximilian was
+released, and in 1489 his authority was established over all the
+Netherlands.</p>
+
+<p>The next step was to rescue Austria from the Hungarians. An interview
+between Frederick III. and Matthias Corvinus was arranged, but before it
+could take place the latter died, in April, 1490. Maximilian, with the
+troops of the Suabian League, retook Vienna, and even advanced into
+Hungary, the crown of which country he claimed for himself, but was
+forced to conclude peace at Presburg, the following year, without
+obtaining it. Austria, however, was completely restored to the house of
+Hapsburg.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1493. DEATH OF FREDERICK III.</div>
+
+<p>Before the year 1491 came to an end, Maximilian suffered a new
+humiliation. The last Duke of Brittany (in Western France) had died,
+leaving, like Charles the Bold of Burgundy, a single daughter, Anna, as
+his only heir. Maximilian, who had been a widower since 1482, applied
+for her hand, which she promised to him: the marriage ceremony was even
+performed by proxy. But Charles VIII. of France, although betrothed to
+Maximilian's young daughter, Margaret, now fourteen years old, saw in
+this new alliance a great danger for his kingdom; so he prevented Anna
+from leaving Brittany, married her himself, and sent Margaret home to
+Austria. Maximilian entered into an alliance with Henry VII. of England,
+secured the support of the Suabian League, and made war upon France. The
+Netherlands, nevertheless, refused to aid him; whereupon Henry VII.
+withdrew from the alliance, and the matter was settled by a treaty of
+peace in 1493, which left the duchy of Burgundy in the hands of France.</p>
+
+<p>Frederick III. had already given up the government of Germany (that is,
+what little he exercised) to his son. He settled at Linz and devoted his
+days to religion and alchemy. He had a habit of thrusting back his right
+foot and closing the doors behind him with it; but one day, kicking out
+too violently, he so injured his leg that the physicians were obliged to
+amputate it. This accident hastened his death, which took place in
+August, 1493. He was seventy-eight years old, and had reigned
+fifty-three years, wretchedly enough&mdash;but of this fact he was not aware.
+He evidently considered himself a great and successful monarch. All his
+books were stamped with the vowels, A. E. I. O. U.&mdash;which was a mystery
+to every one, until the meaning was discovered after his death. The
+letters are the initials of the words, <i>Alles Erdreich Ist Oesterreich
+Unterthan</i>, "All Earth is subject to Austria"!</p>
+
+<p>Two events occurred during Frederick's reign, one of which illustrated
+the declining power of the Roman Church, while the other, unnoticed in
+the confusion of civil war, was destined to be the chief weapon for the
+overthrow of the priestly power. The first of these was the fall of the
+Eastern Empire, when Sultan Mohammed II. conquered Constantinople in
+1453. Although this catastrophe had been long foreseen, the news of it
+nevertheless created a powerful excitement throughout Europe. One-fourth
+of the zeal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</span> expended on any one of the Crusades would have saved Turkey
+to Christendom: the German Empire, alone, could have easily repelled the
+Ottoman invasion; but each petty ruler thought only of himself, and the
+Popes were solely interested in preventing the Reformation of the
+Church. The latter, now&mdash;especially Pius II. (Æneas Sylvius)&mdash;were very
+eager for a new Crusade for the recovery of Constantinople: there was
+much talk, but no action, and finally even the talk ceased.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1440.</div>
+
+<p>The other event was a simple invention, which is chiefly remarkable for
+not having been made long before. The great use of cards for gambling
+first led to the employment of wooden blocks, upon which the figures
+were cut and then printed in colors. Wood-engraving, of a rude kind,
+gradually came into use, and as early as the year 1420 Lawrence Coster,
+of Harlem, in Holland, produced entire books, each page of which was
+engraved upon a single block. But John Gutenberg, of Mayence, about the
+year 1436, originated the plan of casting movable types and setting them
+together to form words. His chief difficulty was in discovering a proper
+metal of which to cast them, and a kind of ink which would give a clear
+impression. Paper made of linen had already been in use, in Germany, for
+about a hundred and thirty years.</p>
+
+<p>Gutenberg was poor, and therefore took a man named Fust, who had
+considerable means, as his partner. They completed the first
+printing-press in 1440, but several more years elapsed before the
+invention achieved any result. There was a quarrel between the two;
+Gutenberg withdrew, and Fust took his own assistant, Peter Schoeffer, as
+partner in the former's place. Schoeffer discovered the right
+combination of metal for the types, as well as an excellent ink. In 1457
+appeared the first printed book, a Latin psalter; in 1461 the Latin
+Bible, and two years afterwards a German Bible. These Bibles are
+masterpieces of the printer's art: they were sold at from thirty to
+sixty gold florins a copy, which was just one-tenth the cost of a
+written Bible at that time. The art was at first kept a profound secret,
+and the people supposed that the books were produced by magic, as they
+were multiplied so rapidly and sold so cheaply; but when Mayence was
+taken by Adolf of Nassau, in 1462, during one of the civil wars, the
+invention became known to the world, and printing-presses were soon
+established in Holland, Italy and England.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1462. THE INVENTION OF PRINTING.</div>
+
+<p>The clergy, and especially the monks, would have suppressed the art, if
+they had been able. It took away from the latter the profitable business
+of copying manuscript works, and it placed within the reach of the
+people the knowledge, of which the former had preserved the monopoly. By
+the simple invention of movable types, the darkness of centuries began
+to recede from the world: the life of the Middle Ages grew faint and
+feeble, and a mighty, irresistible change swept over the minds and
+habits of men. But the rulers of that day, great or little, were the
+last persons to suspect that any such change was at hand.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">GERMANY, DURING THE REIGN OF MAXIMILIAN I.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1493&mdash;1519.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Maximilian I. as Man and Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Diet of 1495, at Worms.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Perpetual Peace declared.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Imperial Court.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Marriage of Philip of Hapsburg to Joanna of Spain.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;War with Switzerland.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;March to Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;League against Venice.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The "Holy League" against France.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Diet of 1512.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Empire divided into Ten Districts.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Revolts of the Peasants.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The "Bond-Shoe" and "Poor Konrad."</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Change in <ins title="Was 'Military Servive'.">Military Service.</ins></li>
+  <li>&mdash;Character of Maximilian's Reign.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Cities of Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Their Wealth and Architecture.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Order of the "Holy Vehm."</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Other Changes under Maximilian.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Last Years of his Reign.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Death.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1493.</div>
+
+<p>As Maximilian had been elected in 1486, he began to exercise the full
+Imperial power, without any further formalities, after his father's
+death. For the first time since the death of Henry VII. in 1313, the
+Germans had a popular Emperor. They were at last weary of the prevailing
+disorder and insecurity, and partly conscious that the power of the
+Empire had declined, while that of France, Spain, and even Poland, had
+greatly increased. Therefore they brought themselves to submit to the
+authority of an Emperor who was in every respect stronger than any of
+the Electors by whom he had been chosen.</p>
+
+<p>Maximilian had all the qualities of a great ruler, except prudence and
+foresight. He was tall, finely-formed, with remarkably handsome
+features, clear blue eyes, and blonde hair falling in ringlets upon his
+shoulders; he possessed great muscular strength, his body was developed
+by constant exercise, and he was one of the boldest, bravest and most
+skilful knights of his day. While his bearing was stately and dignified,
+his habits were simple: he often marched on foot, carrying his lance, at
+the head of his troops, and was able to forge his armor and temper his
+sword, as well as wear them. Yet he was also well-educated, possessed a
+taste<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</span> for literature and the arts, and became something of a poet in
+his later years. Unlike his avaricious predecessors, he was generous
+even to prodigality; but, inheriting his father's eccentricity of
+character, he was whimsical, liable to act from impulse instead of
+reflection, headstrong and impatient. If he had been as wise as he was
+honest and well-meaning, he might have regenerated Germany.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1495. PERPETUAL PEACE PROCLAIMED.</div>
+
+<p>The commencement of his reign was signalized by two threatening events.
+The Turks were renewing their invasions, and boldly advancing into
+Carinthia, between Vienna and the Adriatic; Charles VIII. of France had
+made himself master of Naples, and was apparently bent on conquering and
+annexing all of Italy. Maximilian had just married Blanca Maria Sforza,
+niece of the reigning Duke of Milan, which city, with others in
+Lombardy, and even the Pope&mdash;forgetting their old enmity to the German
+Empire&mdash;demanded his assistance. He called a Diet, which met at Worms in
+1495; but many of the princes, both spiritual and temporal, had learned
+a little wisdom, and they were unwilling to interfere in matters outside
+of the Empire until something had been done to remedy its internal
+condition. Berthold, Archbishop of Mayence, Frederick the Wise of
+Saxony, John Cicero of Brandenburg, and Eberhard of the Beard, first
+Duke of Würtemberg, with many of the free cities, insisted so strongly
+on the restoration of order, security, and the establishment of laws
+which should guarantee peace, that the Emperor was forced to comply. For
+fourteen weeks the question was discussed with the greatest earnestness:
+the opposition of many princes and nearly the whole class of nobles was
+overcome, and a Perpetual National Peace was proclaimed. By this
+measure, the right to use force was prohibited to all; the feuds which
+had desolated the land for a thousand years were ordered to be
+suppressed; and all disputes were referred to an Imperial Court,
+permanently established at Frankfort, and composed of sixteen
+Councillors. It was also agreed that the Diet should meet annually, and
+remain in session for one month, in order to insure the uninterrupted
+enforcement of its decrees. A proposition to appoint an Imperial Council
+of State (equivalent to a modern "Ministry"), of twenty members, which
+should have power, in certain cases, to act in the Emperor's name, was
+rejected by Maximilian, as an assault upon his personal rights.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1496.</div>
+
+<p>Although the decree of Perpetual Peace could not be carried into effect
+immediately, it was not a dead letter, as all former decrees of the kind
+had been. Maximilian bound himself, in the most solemn manner, to
+respect the new arrangements, and there were now several honest and
+intelligent princes to assist him. One difficulty was the collection of
+a government tax, called "the common penny," to support the expenses of
+the Imperial Court. Such a tax had been for the first time imposed
+during the war with the Hussites, but very little of it was then paid.
+Even now, when the object of it was of such importance to the whole
+people, several years elapsed before the Court could be permanently
+established. The annual sessions of the Diet, also, were much less
+effective than had been anticipated: princes, priests and cities were so
+accustomed to a selfish independence, that they could not yet work
+together for the general good.</p>
+
+<p>Before the Diet at Worms adjourned, it agreed to furnish the Emperor
+with 9,000 men, to be employed in Italy against the French, and
+afterwards against the Turks on the Austrian frontier. Charles VIII.
+retreated from Italy on hearing of this measure, yet not rapidly enough
+to avoid being defeated, near Parma, by the combined Germans and
+Milanese. In 1496 Sigismund of Tyrol died, and all the Hapsburg lands
+came into Maximilian's possession. The same year, he married his son
+Philip, then eighteen years old and accepted as Regent by the
+Netherlands, to Joanna, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of
+Castile. The other heirs to the Spanish throne died soon afterwards, and
+when Isabella followed them, in 1504, she appointed Philip and Joanna
+her successors. The pride and influence of the house of Hapsburg were
+greatly increased by this marriage, but its consequences were most
+disastrous to Germany, for Philip's son was Charles V.</p>
+
+<p>The next years of Maximilian's reign were disturbed, and, on the whole,
+unfortunate for the Empire. An attempt to apply the decrees of the Diet
+of Worms to Switzerland brought on a war, which, after occasioning the
+destruction of 2,000 villages and castles, and the loss of 20,000 lives,
+resulted in the Emperor formally acknowledging the independence of
+Switzerland in a treaty concluded at Basel in 1499. Then Louis XII. of
+France captured Milan, interfered secretly in a war concerning the
+succession, which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</span> broke out in Bavaria, and bribed various German
+princes to act in his interest, when Maximilian called upon the Diet to
+assist him in making war upon France. After having with much difficulty
+obtained 12,000 men, the Emperor marched to Italy, intending to replace
+the Sforza family in Milan and then be crowned by Pope Julius II. in
+Rome. But the Venetians stopped him at the outset of the expedition, and
+he was forced to return ingloriously to Germany.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1508. WARS WITH VENICE AND FRANCE.</div>
+
+<p>Maximilian's next step was another example of his want of judgment in
+political matters. In order to revenge himself upon Venice, he gave up
+his hostility to France, and in 1508 became a party to the League of
+Cambray, uniting with France, Spain and the Pope in a determined effort
+to destroy the Venetian Republic. The war, which was bloody and
+barbarous, even for those times, lasted three years. Venice lost, at the
+outset, Trieste, Verona, Padua and the Romagna, and seemed on the verge
+of ruin, when Maximilian suddenly left Italy with his army, offended, it
+was said, at the refusal of the French knights, to fight side by side
+with his German troops. The Venetians then recovered so much of their
+lost ground that they purchased the alliance of the Pope, and finally of
+Spain. A new alliance, called "the Holy League," was formed against
+France; and Maximilian, after continuing to support Louis XII. a while
+longer, finally united with Henry VII. of England in joining it. But
+Louis XII., who was a far better diplomatist than any of his enemies,
+succeeded, after he had suffered many inevitable losses, in dissolving
+this powerful combination. He married the sister of Henry of England,
+yielded Navarre and Naples to Spain, promised money to the Swiss, and
+held out to Maximilian the prospect of a marriage which would give Milan
+to the Hapsburgs.</p>
+
+<p>Thus the greater part of Europe was for years convulsed with war chiefly
+because instead of a prudent and intelligent <i>national</i> power in
+Germany, there was an unsteady and excitable <i>family</i> leader, whose
+first interest was the advantage of his house. After such sacrifices of
+blood and treasure, such disturbance to the development of industry, art
+and knowledge among the people, the same confusion prevailed as before.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1512.</div>
+
+<p>Before the war came to an end, another general Diet met at Cologne, in
+1512, to complete the organization commenced in 1495. Private feuds and
+acts of retaliation had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</span> not yet been suppressed, and the Imperial
+Council was working under great disadvantages, both from the want of
+money and the difficulty of enforcing obedience to its decisions. The
+Emperor demanded the creation of a permanent military force, which
+should be at the service of the Empire; but this was almost unanimously
+refused. In other respects, the Diet showed itself both willing and
+earnest to complete the work of peace and order. The whole Empire was
+divided into ten Districts, each of which was placed under the
+jurisdiction of a Judicial Chief and Board of Councillors, whose duty it
+was to see that the decrees of the Diet and the judgments of the
+Imperial Court were obeyed.</p>
+
+<p>The Districts were as follows: 1.&mdash;<span class="smcap">The Austrian</span>, embracing all the lands
+governed by the Hapsburgs, from the Danube to the Adriatic, with the
+Tyrol, and some territory on the Upper Rhine: Bohemia, Silesia and
+Hungary were not included. 2.&mdash;<span class="smcap">The Bavarian</span>, comprising the divisions on
+both sides of the Danube, and the bishopric of Salzburg. 3.&mdash;<span class="smcap">The
+Suabian</span>, made up of no less than 90 spiritual and temporal
+principalities, including Würtemberg, Baden, Hohenzollern, and the
+bishoprics of Augsburg and Constance. 4.&mdash;<span class="smcap">The Franconian</span>, embracing the
+Brandenburg possessions, Ansbach and Baireuth, with Nuremberg and the
+bishoprics of Bamberg, Würzburg, &amp;c. 5.&mdash;<span class="smcap">The Upper-Rhenish</span>, comprising
+the Palatinate, Hesse, Nassau, the bishoprics of Basel, Strasburg,
+Speyer, Worms, &amp;c., the free cities of the Rhine as far as Frankfort,
+and a number of petty States. 6.&mdash;<span class="smcap">The Electoral-Rhenish</span>, with the
+Archbishoprics of the Palatinate, Mayence, Treves, Cologne, and the
+principality of Amberg. 7.&mdash;<span class="smcap">The Burgundian</span>, made up of 21 States, four
+of them dukedoms and eight countships. 8.&mdash;<span class="smcap">The Westphalian</span>, with the
+dukedoms of Jülich, Cleves and Berg, Oldenburg, part of Friesland, and 7
+bishoprics. 9.&mdash;<span class="smcap">The Lower Saxon</span>, embracing the dukedoms of
+Brunswick-Lüneburg, Saxe-Lauenburg, Holstein and Mecklenburg, the
+Archbishoprics of Magdeburg and Lübeck, the free cities of Bremen,
+Hamburg and Lübeck, and a number of smaller States. 10.&mdash;<span class="smcap">The Upper
+Saxon</span>, including the Electorates of Saxony and Brandenburg, the dukedom
+of Pomerania, the smaller States of Anhalt, Schwarzburg, Mansfeld,
+Reuss, and many others of less importance.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1512. MILITARY CHANGES.</div>
+
+<p>This division of Germany into districts had the external<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</span> appearance of
+an orderly political arrangement; but the States, great and little, had
+been too long accustomed to having their own way. The fact that an
+independent baron, like Franz von Sickingen, could still disturb a large
+extent of territory for a number of years, shows the weakness of the new
+national power. Moreover, nothing seems to have been done, or even
+attempted, by the Diet, to protect the agricultural population from the
+absolute despotism of the landed nobility. In Alsatia, as early as 1493,
+there was a general revolt of the peasants (called by them the
+<i>Bond-shoe</i>), which was not suppressed until much blood had been shed.
+It excited a spirit of resistance throughout all Southern Germany. In
+1514, Duke Ulric of Würtemberg undertook to replenish his treasury by
+using false weights and measures, and provoked the common people to rise
+against him. They formed a society, to which they gave the name of "Poor
+Konrad," which became so threatening that, although it was finally
+crushed by violence, it compelled the reform of many flagrant evils and
+showed even the most arrogant rulers that there were bounds to tyranny.</p>
+
+<p>But, although the feudal system was still in force, the obligation to
+render military service, formerly belonging to it, was nearly at an end.
+The use of cannon, and of a rude kind of musket, had become general in
+war: heavy armor for man and horse was becoming not only useless, but
+dangerous; and the courage of the soldier, not his bodily strength or
+his knightly accomplishments, constituted his value in the field. The
+Swiss had set the example of furnishing good troops to whoever would pay
+for them, and a similar class, calling themselves <i>Landsknechte</i>
+(Servants of the Country), arose in Germany. The robber-knights, by this
+time, were nearly extinct: when Frederick of Hohenzollern began to use
+artillery against their castles, it was evident that their days of
+plunder were over. The reign of Maximilian, therefore, marks an
+important turning-point in German history. It is, at the same time, the
+end of the stormy and struggling life of the Middle Ages, and the
+beginning of a new and fiercer struggle between men and their
+oppressors. Maximilian, in fact, is called in Germany "the Last of the
+Knights."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1512.</div>
+
+<p>The strength of Germany lay chiefly in the cities, which, in spite of
+their narrow policy towards the country, and their jealousy of each
+other, had at least kept alive and encouraged<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</span> all forms of art and
+industry, and created a class of learned men outside of the Church.
+While the knighthood of the Hohenstaufen period had sunk into corruption
+and semi-barbarism, and the people had grown more dangerous through
+their ignorance and subjection, the cities had gradually become centres
+of wealth and intelligence. They were adorned with splendid works of
+architecture; they supported the early poets, painters and sculptors;
+and, when compelled to act in concert against the usurpations of the
+Emperor or the inferior rulers, whatever privileges they maintained or
+received were in favor of the middle-class, and therefore an indirect
+gain to the whole people.</p>
+
+<p>The cities, moreover, exercised an influence over the country population
+by their markets, fairs, and festivals. The most of them were as largely
+and as handsomely built as at present, but in times of peace the life
+within their walls was much gayer and more brilliant. Pope Pius II.,
+when he was secretary to Frederick III. as Æneas Sylvius, wrote of them
+as follows: "One may veritably say that no people in Europe live in
+cleaner or more cheerful cities than the Germans; their appearance is as
+new as if they had only been built yesterday. By their commerce they
+amass great wealth: there is no banquet at which they do not drink from
+silver cups, no dame who does not wear golden ornaments. Moreover, the
+citizens are also soldiers, and each one has a sort of arsenal in his
+own house. The boys in this country can ride before they can talk, and
+sit firmly in the saddle when the horses are at full speed: the men move
+in their armor without feeling its weight. Verily, you Germans might be
+masters of the world, as formerly, but for your multitude of rulers,
+which every wise man has always considered an evil!"</p>
+
+<p>During the fifteenth century a remarkable institution, called "the
+Vehm"&mdash;or, by the people, "the Holy Vehm"&mdash;exercised a great authority
+throughout Northern Germany. Its members claimed that it was founded by
+Charlemagne, to assist in establishing Christianity among the Saxons;
+but it is not mentioned before the twelfth century, and the probability
+is that it sprang up from the effort of the people to preserve their old
+democratic organization, in a secret form, after it had been overthrown
+by the reigning princes. The object of the Vehm was to enforce impartial
+justice among all classes, and for this purpose it held<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</span> open courts for
+the settlement of quarrels and minor offences, while graver crimes were
+tried at night, in places known only to the members. The latter were
+sworn to secrecy, and also to implicit obedience to the judgments of the
+courts or the orders of the chiefs, who were called "Free Counts." The
+head-quarters of the Vehm were in Westphalia, but its branches spread
+over a great part of Germany, and it became so powerful during the reign
+of Frederick III. that it even dared to cite him to appear before its
+tribunal.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1515. LAST YEARS OF MAXIMILIAN.</div>
+
+<p>In all probability the dread of the power of the Vehm was one of the
+causes which induced both Maximilian and the princes to reorganize the
+Empire. In proportion as order and justice began to prevail in Germany,
+the need of such a secret institution grew less; but about another
+century elapsed before its courts ceased to be held. After that, it
+continued to exist in Westphalia as an order for mutual assistance,
+something like that of the Freemasons. In this form it lingered until
+1838, when the last "Free Count" died.</p>
+
+<p>Among the other changes introduced during Maximilian's reign were the
+establishment of a police system, and the invention of a postal system
+by Franz of Taxis. The latter obtained a monopoly of the post routes
+throughout Germany, and his family, which afterwards became that of
+Thurn and Taxis, received an enormous revenue from this source, from
+that time down to the present day. Maximilian himself devoted a great
+deal of time and study to the improvement of artillery, and many new
+forms of cannon, which were designed by him, are still preserved in
+Vienna.</p>
+
+<p>Although the people of Germany did not share to any great extent in the
+passion for travel and adventure which followed the discovery of America
+in 1492 and the circumnavigation of Africa in 1498, they were directly
+affected by the changes which took place in the commerce of the world.
+The supremacy of Venice in the South and of the Hanseatic League in the
+North of Europe, began slowly to decline, while the powers which
+undertook to colonize the new lands&mdash;England, Spain and Portugal&mdash;rose
+in commercial importance.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1518.</div>
+
+<p>The last years of Maximilian promised new splendors to the house of
+Hapsburg. In 1515 his younger grandson, Ferdinand, married the daughter
+of Ladislas, king of Bohemia and Hungary, whose only son died shortly
+afterwards,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</span> leaving Ferdinand heir to the double crown. In 1516, the
+Emperor's elder grandson, Karl, became king of Spain, Sicily and Naples,
+in addition to Burgundy and Flanders, which he held as the
+great-grandson of Charles the Bold. At a Diet held at Augsburg, in 1518,
+Maximilian made great exertions to have Karl elected his successor, but
+failed on account of the opposition of Pope Leo X. and Francis I. of
+France, whose agents were present with heavy bribes in their pockets.</p>
+
+<p>Disappointed and depressed, the Emperor left Augsburg, and went to
+Innsbruck, but the latter city refused to entertain him until some money
+which he had borrowed of it should be refunded. His strength had been
+failing for years before, and he always travelled with a coffin among
+his baggage. He now felt his end approaching, took up his abode in the
+little town of Wels, and devoted his remaining days to religious
+exercises. There he died, on the 11th of January, 1519, in the sixtieth
+year of his age.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">THE REFORMATION.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1517&mdash;1546.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Martin Luther.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Signs of the Coming Reformation.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Luther's Youth and Education.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Study of the Bible.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Professorship at Wittenberg.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Visit to Rome.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Tetzel's Sale of Indulgences.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Luther's Theses.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Meeting with Cardinal Cajetanus.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Escape from Augsburg.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Meeting with the Pope's Nuncio.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Excitement in Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Luther burns the Pope's Bull.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Charles V. elected German Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Luther before the Diet at Worms.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Abduction and Concealment.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;He Returns to Wittenberg.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Progress of the Reformation.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Anabaptists.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Peasants' War.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Luther's Manner of Translating the Bible.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Leagues For and Against the Reformation.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Its Features.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Wars of Charles V.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Diet at Speyer.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Protestants.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Swiss Reformer, Zwingli.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Meeting with Luther.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Charles V. returns to Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Augsburg Confession.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Measures against the Protestants.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The League of Schmalkalden.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Religious Peace of Nuremberg.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Its Consequences.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;John of Leyden.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Another Diet.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Charles V. Invades France.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Council of Trent.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Luther's last Years.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Death and Burial.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1519. MARTIN LUTHER.</div>
+
+<p>When the Emperor Maximilian died, a greater man than himself or any of
+his predecessors on the Imperial throne had already begun a far greater
+work than was ever accomplished by any political ruler. Out of the ranks
+of the poor, oppressed German people arose the chosen Leader who became
+powerful above all princes, who resisted the first monarch of the world,
+and defeated the Church of Rome after an undisturbed reign of a thousand
+years. We must therefore leave the succession of the house of Hapsburg
+until we have traced the life of Martin Luther up to the time of
+Maximilian's death.</p>
+
+<p>The Reformation, which was now so near at hand, already existed in the
+feelings and hopes of a large class of the people. The persecutions of
+the Albigenses in France, the Waldenses in Savoy and the Wickliffites in
+England, the burning of Huss and Jerome, and the long ravages of the
+Hussite war had made all Europe familiar with the leading doctrine of
+each of these sects&mdash;that the Bible was the highest authority, the only
+source of Christian truth. Earnest,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</span> thinking men in all countries were
+thus led to examine the Bible for themselves, and the great
+dissemination of the study of the ancient languages, during the
+fifteenth century, helped very much to increase the knowledge of the
+sacred volume. Then came the art of printing, as a most providential
+aid, making the truth accessible to all who were able to read it.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1483.</div>
+
+<p>The long reign of Frederick III., as we have seen, was a period of
+political disorganization, which was partially corrected during the
+reign of Maximilian. Internal peace was the first great necessity of
+Germany, and, until it had been established, the people patiently
+endured the oppressions and abuses of the Church of Rome. When they were
+ready for a serious resistance to the latter, the man was also ready to
+instruct and guide them, and the Church itself furnished the occasion
+for a general revolt against its authority.</p>
+
+<p>Martin Luther, the son of a poor miner, was born in the little Saxon
+town of Eisleben (not far from the Hartz), on the 10th of November,
+1483. He attended a monkish school at Magdeburg, and then became what is
+called a "wandering-scholar"&mdash;that is, one who has no certain means of
+support, but chants in the church, and also in the streets for alms&mdash;at
+Eisenach, in Thuringia. As a boy he was so earnest, studious and
+obedient, and gave such intellectual promise, that his parents stinted
+themselves in order to save enough from their scanty earnings to secure
+him a good education. But their circumstances gradually improved, and in
+1501 they were able to send him to the University of Erfurt. Four years
+afterwards he was graduated with honor, and delivered a course of
+lectures upon Aristotle.</p>
+
+<p>Luther's father desired that he should study jurisprudence, but his
+thoughts were already turned towards religion. A copy of the Bible in
+the library of the University excited in him such a spiritual struggle
+that he became seriously ill; and he had barely recovered, when, while
+taking a walk with a fellow-student, the latter was struck dead by
+lightning at his side. Then he determined to renounce the world, and in
+spite of the strong opposition of his father, became a monk of the
+Augustine Order, in Erfurt. He prayed, fasted, and followed the most
+rigid discipline of the order, in the hope of obtaining peace of mind,
+but in vain: he was tormented by doubt and even by despair, until he
+turned again to the Bible. A zealous study of the exact language of the
+Gospels gave him not only a firm faith, but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</span> a peace and cheerfulness
+which was never afterwards disturbed by trials or dangers.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1517. TETZEL'S SALE OF INDULGENCES.</div>
+
+<p>The Elector, Frederick the Wise, of Saxony, had founded a new University
+at Wittenberg, and sought to obtain competent professors for it. The
+Vicar-General of the Augustine Order, to whom Luther's zeal and ability
+were known, recommended him for one of the places, and in 1508 he began
+to lecture in Wittenberg, first on Greek philosophy, and then upon
+theology. His success was so marked that in 1510 he was sent by the
+Order on a special mission to Rome, where the corruptions of the Church
+and the immorality of the Pope and Cardinals made a profound and lasting
+impression upon his mind. He returned to Germany, feeling as he never
+had felt before, the necessity of a reformation of the Church. In 1512
+he was made Doctor of Theology, and from that time forward his
+teachings, which were based upon his own knowledge of the Bible, began
+to bear abundant fruit.</p>
+
+<p>In the year 1517, the Pope, Leo X., famous both for his luxurious habits
+and his love of art, found that his income was not sufficient for his
+expenses, and determined to increase it by issuing a series of
+absolutions for all forms of crime, even perjury, bigamy and murder. The
+cost of pardon was graduated according to the nature of the sin. Albert,
+Archbishop of Mayence, bought the right of selling absolutions in
+Germany, and appointed as his agent a Dominican monk of the name of
+Tetzel. The latter began travelling through the country like a pedlar,
+publicly offering for sale the pardon of the Roman Church for all
+varieties of crime. In some places he did an excellent business, since
+many evil men also purchased pardons in advance for the crimes they
+intended to commit: in other districts Tetzel only stirred up the
+abhorrence of the people, and increased their burning desire to have
+such enormities suppressed.</p>
+
+<p>Only one man, however, dared to come out openly and condemn the Papal
+trade in sin and crime. This was Dr. Martin Luther, who, on the 31st of
+October, 1517, nailed upon the door of the Church at Wittenberg a series
+of ninety-five theses, or theological declarations, the truth of which
+he offered to prove, against all adversaries. The substance of them was
+that the pardon of sins came only from God, and could only be purchased
+by true repentance; that to offer absolutions for sale, as Tetzel was
+doing, was an unchristian<span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</span> act, contrary to the genuine doctrines of the
+Church; and that it could not, therefore, have been sanctioned by the
+Pope. Luther's object, at this time, was not to separate from the Church
+of Rome, but to reform and purify it.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1518.</div>
+
+<p>The ninety-five theses, which were written in Latin, were immediately
+translated, printed, and circulated throughout Germany. They were
+followed by replies, in which the action of the Pope was defended;
+Luther was styled a heretic, and threatened with the fate of Huss. He
+defended himself in pamphlets, which were eagerly read by the people;
+and his followers increased so rapidly that Leo X., who had summoned him
+to Rome for trial, finally agreed that he should present himself before
+the Papal Legate, Cardinal Cajetanus, at Augsburg. The latter simply
+demanded that Luther should retract what he had preached and written, as
+being contrary to the Papal bulls; whereupon Luther, for the first time,
+was compelled to declare that "the command of the Pope can only be
+respected as the voice of God, when it is not in conflict with the Holy
+Scriptures." The Cardinal afterwards said: "I will have nothing more to
+do with that German beast, with the deep eyes and the whimsical
+speculations in his head!" and Luther said of him: "He knew no more
+about the Word than a donkey knows of harp-playing."</p>
+
+<p>The Vicar-General of the Augustines was still Luther's friend, and,
+fearing that he was not safe in Augsburg, he had him let out of the city
+at daybreak, through a small door in the wall, and then supplied with a
+horse. Having reached Wittenberg, where he was surrounded with devoted
+followers, Frederick the Wise was next ordered to give him up. About the
+same time Leo X. declared that the practices assailed by Luther were
+doctrines of the Church, and must be accepted as such. Frederick began
+to waver; but the young Philip Melanchthon, Justus Jonas, and other
+distinguished men connected with the University exerted their influence,
+and the Elector finally refused the demand. The Emperor Maximilian, now
+near his end, sent a letter to the Pope, begging him to arrange the
+difficulty, and Leo X. commissioned his Nuncio, a Saxon nobleman named
+Karl von Miltitz, to meet Luther. The meeting took place at Altenburg in
+1519: the Nuncio, who afterwards reported that he "would not undertake
+to remove Luther from Germany with the help of 10,000 soldiers, for he
+had found ten<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</span> men for him where one was for the Pope"&mdash;was a mild and
+conciliatory man. He prayed Luther to pause, for he was destroying the
+peace of the Church, and succeeded, by his persuasions, in inducing him
+to promise to keep silence, provided his antagonists remained silent
+also.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1520. BURNING THE POPE'S BULL.</div>
+
+<p>This was merely a truce, and it was soon broken. Dr. Eck, one of the
+partisans of the Church, challenged Luther's friend and follower,
+Carlstadt, to a public discussion in Leipzig, and it was not long before
+Luther himself was compelled to take part in it. He declared his views
+with more clearness than ever, disregarding the outcry raised against
+him that he was in fellowship with the Bohemian heretics. The struggle,
+by this time, had affected all Germany, the middle class and smaller
+nobles being mostly on Luther's side, while the priests and reigning
+princes, with a few exceptions, were against him. In order to defend
+himself from misrepresentation and justify his course, he published two
+pamphlets, one called "An Appeal to the Emperor and Christian Nobles of
+Germany," and the other, "Concerning the Babylonian Captivity of the
+Church." These were read by tens of thousands, all over the country.</p>
+
+<p>Pope Leo X. immediately issued a bull, ordering all Luther's writings to
+be burned, excommunicating those who should believe in them, and
+summoning Luther to Rome. This only increased the popular excitement in
+Luther's favor, and on the 10th of December, 1520, he took the step
+which made impossible any reconciliation between himself and the Papal
+power. Accompanied by the Professors and students of the University, he
+had a fire kindled outside of one of the gates of Wittenberg, placed
+therein the books of canonical law and various writings in defence of
+the Pope, and then cast the Papal bull into the flames, with the words:
+"As thou hast tormented the Lord and His Saints, so may eternal flame
+torment and consume thee!" This was the boldest declaration of war ever
+hurled at such an overwhelming authority; but the courage of this one
+man soon communicated itself to the people. The knight, Ulric von
+Hutten, a distinguished scholar, who had been crowned as poet by the
+Emperor Maximilian, openly declared for Luther: the rebellious baron,
+Franz von Sickingen, offered him his castle as a safe place of refuge.
+Frederick the Wise was now his steadfast friend, and, although the
+dangers which beset him increased every day, his own faith<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</span> in the
+righteousness of his cause only became firmer and purer.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1519.</div>
+
+<p>By this time the question of electing a successor to Maximilian had been
+settled. When the Diet came together at Frankfort, in June, 1519, two
+prominent candidates presented themselves,&mdash;king Francis I. of France,
+and king Charles of Spain, Naples, Sicily and the Spanish possessions in
+the newly-discovered America. The former of these had no other right to
+the crown than could be purchased by the wagon-loads of money which he
+sent to Germany; the latter was the grandson of Maximilian, and also
+represented, in his own person, Austria, Burgundy and the Netherlands.
+Again the old jealousy of so much power arose among the Electors, and
+they gave their votes to Frederick the Wise, of Saxony. He, however,
+shrank from the burden of the imperial rule, at such a time, and
+declined to accept. Then Charles of Spain, who had ruined the prospects
+of Francis I. by distributing 850,000 gold florins among the members of
+the Diet, was elected without any further difficulty. The following year
+he was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle, and became Karl V. in the list of
+German Emperors. Although he reigned thirty-six years, he always
+remained a foreigner: he never even learned to speak the German language
+fluently: his tastes and habits were Spanish, and his election, at such
+a crisis in the history of Germany, was a crime from the effects of
+which the country did not recover for three hundred years afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>Luther wrote to the new Emperor, immediately after the election, begging
+that he might not be condemned unheard, and was so earnestly supported
+by Frederick the Wise, who had voted for Charles at the Diet, that the
+latter sent Luther a formal invitation to appear before him at Worms,
+where a new Diet had been called, specially to arrange the Imperial
+Court in the ten districts of the Empire, and to raise a military force
+to drive the French out of Lombardy, which Francis I. had seized. Luther
+considered this opportunity "a call from God:" he set out from
+Wittenberg, and wherever he passed the people flocked together in great
+numbers to see him and hear him speak. On approaching Worms, one of his
+friends tried to persuade him to turn back, but he answered: "Though
+there were as many devils in the city as tiles on the roofs, yet would I
+go!" He entered Worms in an open wagon, in his monk's dress, stared at
+by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</span> an immense concourse of people. The same evening he received visits
+from a number of princes and noblemen.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1521. LUTHER AT THE DIET OF WORMS.</div>
+
+<p>On the 17th of April, 1521, Luther was conducted by the Marshal of the
+Empire to the City Hall, where the Diet was in session. As he was
+passing through the outer hall, the famous knight and general, George
+von Frundsberg, clapped him upon the shoulder, with the words: "Monk,
+monk! thou art in a strait, the like of which myself and many leaders,
+in the most desperate battles, have never known. But if thy thoughts are
+just, and thou art sure of thy cause, go on in God's name, and be of
+good cheer, He will not forsake thee!" Charles V. is reported to have
+said, when Luther entered the great hall: "That monk will never make a
+heretic of me!" After having acknowledged all his writings, Luther was
+called upon to retract them. He appeared to be somewhat embarrassed and
+undecided, either confused by the splendor of the Imperial Court, or
+shaken by the overwhelming responsibility resting upon him. He therefore
+asked a little time for further consideration, and was allowed
+twenty-four hours.</p>
+
+<p>When he reappeared before the Diet, the next day, he was calm and firm.
+In a plain, yet most earnest address, delivered both in Latin and German
+so that all might understand, he explained the grounds of his belief,
+and closed with the solemn words: "Unless, therefore, I should be
+confuted by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures and by clear and
+convincing reasons, I cannot and will not retract, because there is
+neither wisdom nor safety in acting against conscience. Here I stand; I
+cannot do otherwise: God help me! Amen."</p>
+
+<p>Charles V., without allowing the matter to be discussed by the Diet,
+immediately declared that Luther should be prosecuted as a heretic, as
+soon as the remaining twenty-one days of his safe-conduct had expired.
+He was urged by many of the partisans of Rome, not to respect the
+promise, but he answered: "I do not mean to blush, like Sigismund."
+Luther's sincerity and courage confirmed the faith of his princely
+friends. Frederick the Wise and the Landgrave Philip of Hesse walked by
+his side when he left the Diet, and Duke Eric of Brunswick sent him a
+jug of beer. His followers among the nobility greatly increased in
+numbers and enthusiasm.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1521.</div>
+
+<p>It was certain, however, that he would be in serious<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</span> danger as soon as
+he had been formally outlawed by the Emperor. A plot, kept secret from
+all his friends, was formed for his safety, and successfully carried out
+during his return from Worms to Wittenberg. Luther travelled in an open
+wagon, with only one companion. On entering the Thuringian Forest, he
+sent his escort in advance, and was soon afterwards, in a lonely glen,
+seized by four knights in armor and with closed visors, placed upon a
+horse and carried away. The news spread like wild-fire over Germany that
+he had been murdered, and for nearly a year he was lost to the world.
+His writings were only read the more: the Papal bull and the Imperial
+edict which ordered them to be burned were alike disregarded. Charles V.
+went back to Spain immediately after the Diet of Worms, after having
+transferred the German possessions of the house of Hapsburg to his
+younger brother, Ferdinand, and the business of suppressing Luther's
+doctrines fell chiefly to the Archbishops of Mayence and Cologne, and
+the Papal Legate.</p>
+
+<p>Luther, meanwhile, was in security in a castle called the Wartburg, on
+the summit of a mountain near Eisenach. He was dressed in a knightly
+fashion, wore a helmet, breastplate and sword, allowed his beard to
+grow, and went by the name of "Squire George." But in the privacy of his
+own chamber&mdash;all the furniture of which is preserved to this day, as
+when he lived in it&mdash;he worked zealously upon a translation of the New
+Testament into German. In the spring of 1522 he was disturbed in his
+labors by the report of new doctrines which were being preached in
+Wittenberg. His friend Carlstadt had joined a fanatical sect, called the
+Anabaptists, which advocated the abolition of the mass, the destruction
+of pictures and statues, and proclaimed the coming of God's Kingdom upon
+the Earth.</p>
+
+<p>The experience of the Bohemians showed Luther the necessity of union in
+his great work of reforming the Christian Church. Moreover, his enemies
+triumphantly pointed to the excesses of the Anabaptists as the natural
+result of his doctrines. There was no time to be lost: in spite of the
+remonstrance of the Elector Frederick, he left the Wartburg, and rode
+alone, as a man-at-arms, to Wittenberg, where even Melanchthon did not
+recognize him on his arrival. He began preaching, with so much power and
+eloquence, that in a few days the new sect lost all the ground it had
+gained, and its followers were expelled from the city. The necessity of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</span>
+arranging another and simpler form of divine service was made evident by
+these occurrences; and after the publication of the New Testament in
+German, in September, 1522, Luther and Melanchthon united in the former
+task.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1523. THE PEASANTS' WAR.</div>
+
+<p>The Reformation made such progress that by 1523, not only Saxony, Hesse
+and Brunswick had practically embraced it, but also the cities of
+Frankfort, Strasburg, Nuremberg and Magdeburg, the Augustine order of
+monks, a part of the Franciscans, and quite a large number of priests.
+Now, however, a new and most serious trouble arose, partly from the
+preaching of the Anabaptists, headed by their so-called Prophet, Thomas
+Münzer, and partly provoked by the oppressions which the common people
+had so long endured. In the summer of 1524 the peasants of Würtemberg
+and Baden united, armed themselves, and issued a manifesto containing
+twelve articles. They demanded the right to choose their own priests;
+the restriction of tithes to their harvests; the abolition of feudal
+serfdom; the use of the forests; the regulation of the privilege of the
+nobles to hunt and fish; and protection, in certain other points,
+against the arbitrary power of the landed nobility. They seemed to take
+it for granted that Luther would support them; but he, dreading a civil
+war and desirous to keep the religious reformation free from any
+political movement, published a pamphlet condemning their revolt. At the
+same time he used his influence on their behalf, with the reigning
+priests and princes.</p>
+
+<p>The excitement, however, was too great to be subdued by admonitions of
+patience and forbearance. A dreadful war broke out in 1525: the army of
+30,000 peasants ravaged a great part of Southern Germany, destroying
+castles and convents, and venting their rage in the most shocking
+barbarities, which were afterwards inflicted upon themselves, when they
+were finally defeated by the Count of Waldburg. The movement extended
+through Middle Germany even to Westphalia, and threatened to become
+general: some parts of Thuringia were held for a short time by the
+peasants, and suffered terrible ravages. Another army of 8,000, headed
+by Thomas Münzer, was cut to pieces near Mühlhausen, in Saxony, and by
+the end of the year 1525, the rebellion was completely suppressed. In
+this short time, some of the most interesting monuments of the Middle
+Ages, among them the grand castle of the Hohenstaufens, in Suabia, had
+been<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</span> levelled to the earth; whole provinces were laid waste; tens of
+thousands of men, women and children were put to the sword, and a
+serious check was given to the progress of the Reformation, through all
+Southern Germany.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1525.</div>
+
+<p>The stand which Luther had taken against the rebellion preserved the
+friendship of those princes who were well-disposed towards him, but he
+took no part in the measures of defence against the Imperial and Papal
+power, which they were soon compelled to adopt. He devoted himself to
+the completion of his translation of the Bible, in which he was
+faithfully assisted by Melanchthon and others. In this great work he
+accomplished even more than a service to Christianity; he created the
+modern German language. Before his time, there had been no tongue which
+was known and accepted throughout the whole Empire. The poets and
+minstrels of the Middle Ages wrote in Suabian; other popular works were
+in low-Saxon, Franconian or Alsatian. The dialect of Holland and
+Flanders had so changed that it was hardly understood in Germany; that
+of Brandenburg and the Baltic provinces had no literature as yet, and
+the learned or scientific works of the time were written in Latin.</p>
+
+<p>No one before Luther saw that the simplest and most expressive qualities
+of the German language must be sought for in the mouths of the people.
+With all his scholarship, he never used the theological style of
+writing, but endeavored to express himself so that he could be clearly
+understood by all men. In translating the Old Testament, he took
+extraordinary pains to find words and phrases as simple and strong as
+those of the Hebrew writers. He frequented the market-place, the
+merry-making, the house of birth, marriage or death, to learn how the
+common people expressed themselves in all the circumstances of life. He
+enlisted his friends in the same service, begging them to note down for
+him any peculiar, characteristic phrase; "for," said he, "I cannot use
+the words heard in castles and courts." Not a sentence of the Bible was
+translated until he had found the best and clearest German expression
+for it. He wrote, in 1530: "I have exerted myself, in translating, to
+give pure and clear German. And it has verily happened, that we have
+sought and questioned a fortnight, three, four weeks, for a single word,
+and yet it was not always found. In Job, we so labored, Philip
+Melanchthon, Aurogallus and I, that in four days we sometimes barely
+finished three lines."<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1525. LUTHER'S MARRIAGE.</div>
+
+<p>Pope Leo X. died in 1521, and was succeeded by Adrian VI., the last
+German who wore the Papal crown. He admitted many of the corruptions of
+the Roman Church, and seemed inclined to reform them; but he only lived
+two years, and his successor was Clement VII., a nephew of Leo. The
+latter induced Ferdinand of Austria, the Dukes of Bavaria and several
+Bishops to unite in a league for suppressing the spread of Luther's
+doctrines. Thereupon the Elector John of Saxony (Frederick the Wise
+having died in 1525), Philip of Hesse, Albert of Brandenburg, the Dukes
+of Brunswick and Mecklenburg, the Counts of Mansfeld and Anhalt and the
+city of Magdeburg formed a counter-alliance at Torgau, in 1526. At the
+Diet held in Speyer the same year, the party of the Reformation was so
+strong that no decree against it could be passed; the question was left
+free.</p>
+
+<p>The organization of the Christian Church which was by this time adopted
+in Saxony, soon spread over all Northern Germany. Its principal features
+were: the abolition of the monastic orders and of priestly celibacy;
+divine service in the language of the country; the distribution of the
+Bible, in German, to all persons; the communion in both forms, for
+laymen; and the instruction of the people and their children in the
+truths of Christianity. The former possessions of the Church were given
+up to the State, and Luther, against Melanchthon's advice, even insisted
+on uniting the episcopal authority with the political, in the person of
+the reigning prince. He set the example of giving up priestly celibacy,
+by marrying, in 1525, Catharine von Bora, a nun of a noble family. This
+step created a great sensation; even many of Luther's friends condemned
+his course, but he declared that he was right, and he was rewarded by
+twenty-one years of unalloyed domestic happiness.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor Charles V., during all these events, was absent from
+Germany. His first war with France was brought to a conclusion by the
+battle of Pavia, in February, 1525, when Francis I. was obliged to
+surrender, and was sent as a prisoner to Madrid. But having purchased
+his freedom the following year, by giving up his claims to Italy,
+Burgundy and Flanders, he no sooner returned to France than he
+recommenced the war,&mdash;this time in union with Pope Clement VII., who was
+jealous of the Emperor's increasing power in Italy. The old knight
+George von Frundsberg and the Constable de Bourbon&mdash;a member of the
+royal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</span> family of France, who had gone over to Charles V.'s side,&mdash;then
+united their forces, which were principally German, and marched upon
+Rome. The city was taken by storm, in 1527, terribly ravaged and the
+Pope made prisoner. Charles V. pretended not to have known of or
+authorized this movement; he liberated the Pope, who promised, in
+return, to call a Council for the Reformation of the Church. The war
+continued, however,&mdash;Venice, Genoa and England being also
+involved&mdash;until 1529, when it was terminated by the Peace of Cambray.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1529.</div>
+
+<p>Charles V. and the Pope then came to an understanding, in virtue of
+which the former was crowned king of Lombardy and Emperor of Rome in
+Bologna, in 1530, and bound himself to extirpate the doctrines of Luther
+in Germany. In Austria, Bavaria and Würtemberg, in fact, the persecution
+had already commenced: many persons had been hanged or burned at the
+stake for professing the new doctrines. Ferdinand of Austria, who had
+meanwhile succeeded to the crowns of Bohemia and Hungary, was compelled
+to call a Diet at Speyer, in 1529, to take measures against the Turks,
+then victorious in Transylvania and a great part of Hungary; a majority
+of Catholics was present, and they passed a decree repeating the
+outlawry of Luther and his doctrines by the Diet of Worms. Seven
+reigning princes, headed by Saxony, Brandenburg and Hesse, and fifteen
+imperial cities, joined in a solemn protest against this measure,
+asserting that the points in dispute could only be settled by a
+universal Council, called for the purpose. From that day, the name of
+"Protestants" was given to both the followers of Luther, and the Swiss
+Reformers, under the lead of Zwingli.</p>
+
+<p>The history of the Reformation in Switzerland cannot be here given. It
+will be enough to say that Zwingli, who was born in the Canton of St.
+Gall, in 1484, resembled Luther in his purity of character, his earnest
+devotion to study, and the circumstance that his ideas of religious
+reform were derived from an intimate knowledge of the Bible. It was the
+passionate desire of Philip of Hesse that both branches of the
+Protestants should become united, in order to be so much the stronger to
+meet the dangers which all felt were coming. Luther, who labored and
+prayed to prevent the struggle from becoming political, and who had
+opposed even the league of the Protestant princes at Torgau, in 1526,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</span>
+was with difficulty induced to meet Zwingli. He was still busy with his
+translation of the Bible, with the preparation of a Catechism for the
+people, a collection of hymns to be used in worship, and other works
+necessary to the complete organization of the Protestant Church.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1539. MEETING OF LUTHER AND ZWINGLI.</div>
+
+<p>The meeting between the two Reformers finally took place in Marburg, in
+1529. Melanchthon, Jonas, and many other distinguished men were present:
+both Luther and Zwingli fully and freely compared their doctrines, but,
+although they were united on all essential points, they differed in
+regard to the nature of the Eucharist, and Luther positively refused to
+give way, or even to make common cause with the Swiss Protestants. This
+was one of several instances, wherein the great Reformer injured his
+cause through his lack of wisdom and tolerance: in small things, as in
+great, he was inflexible.</p>
+
+<p>So matters stood, in the beginning of 1530, when Charles V. returned to
+Germany, after an absence of nine years. He established his court at
+Innsbruck, and summoned a Diet to meet at Augsburg, in April, but it was
+not opened until the 20th of June. Melanchthon, with many other
+Protestant professors and clergymen, was present: Luther, being under
+the ban of the Empire, remained in Coburg, where he wrote his grand
+hymn, "Our Lord, He is a Tower of Strength." The Protestant princes and
+cities united in signing a Confession of Faith, which had been very
+carefully drawn up by Melanchthon, and the Emperor was obliged to
+consent that it should be read before the Diet. He ordered, however,
+that the reading should take place, not in the great hall where the
+sessions were held, but in the Bishop's chapel, and at a very early hour
+in the morning. The object of this arrangement was to prevent any but
+the members of the Diet from hearing the document.</p>
+
+<p>But the weather was intensely warm, and it was necessary to open the
+windows; the Saxon Chancellor, Dr. Bayer, read the Confession in such a
+loud, clear voice, that a thousand or more persons, gathered on the
+outside of the Chapel, were able to hear every word. The principles
+asserted were:&mdash;That men are justified by faith alone; that an assembly
+of true believers constitutes the Church; that it is not necessary that
+forms and ceremonies should be everywhere the same; that preaching, the
+sacraments, and infant baptism, are necessary; that Christ is really
+present in the sacrament<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</span> of the Lord's Supper, which should be
+administered to the congregation in both forms; that monastic vows,
+fasting, pilgrimages and the invocation of saints are useless, and that
+priests must be allowed to marry. After the Confession had been read,
+many persons were heard to exclaim: "It is reasonable that the abuses of
+the Church should be corrected: the Lutherans are right, for our
+spiritual lords have carried it with too high a hand." The general
+impression was favorable to the Protestants, and the princes who had
+signed the Confession determined that they would maintain it at all
+hazards. This "Augsburg Confession," as it was thenceforth called, was
+the foundation of the Lutheran Church throughout Germany.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1530.</div>
+
+<p>The Emperor ordered a refutation of the Protestant doctrines to be
+prepared by the Catholic theologians who were present, but refused to
+furnish a copy to the Protestants and prohibited them from making any
+reply. He declared that the latter must instantly return to the Roman
+Church, the abuses of which would be corrected by himself and the Pope.
+Thus the breach was made permanent between Rome and more than half of
+Germany. Charles V. procured the election of his brother Ferdinand to
+the crown of Germany, although Bavaria united with the Protestant
+princes in voting against him.</p>
+
+<p>The Imperial Courts in the ten districts were now composed entirely of
+Catholics, and they were ordered to enforce the suppression of
+Protestant worship. Thereupon the Protestant princes and delegates from
+the cities met at the little town of Schmalkalden, in Thuringia, and on
+the 29th of March, 1531, bound themselves to unite, for the space of six
+years, in resisting the Imperial decree. Even Luther, much as he dreaded
+a religious war, could not oppose this movement. The League of
+Schmalkalden, as it is called, represented so much military strength,
+that king Ferdinand became alarmed and advised a more conciliatory
+course towards the Protestants. Sultan Solyman of Turkey, who had
+conquered all Hungary, was marching upon Vienna with an immense army,
+and openly boasted that he would subdue Germany.</p>
+
+<p>It thus became impossible for Charles V. either to suppress the
+Protestants at this time, or to repel the Turkish invasion without their
+help. He was compelled to call a new Diet, which met at Nuremberg, and
+in August, 1532,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</span> concluded a Religious Peace, both parties agreeing to
+refrain from all hostilities until a General Council of the Church
+should be called. Then the Protestants contributed their share of troops
+to the Imperial army, which soon amounted to 80,000 men, commanded by
+the famous general, Sebastian Schertlin, himself a Protestant. The Turks
+were defeated everywhere; the siege of Vienna was raised, and the whole
+of Hungary might have been reconquered, but for Ferdinand's unpopularity
+among the Catholic princes.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1539. THE LEAGUE OF SCHMALKALDEN.</div>
+
+<p>Other cities and smaller principalities joined the League of
+Schmalkalden, the power of which increased from year to year. The
+Religious Peace of Nuremberg greatly favored the spread of the
+Reformation, although it was not very strictly observed by either side.
+In 1534 Würtemberg, which was then held by Ferdinand of Austria, was
+conquered by Philip of Hesse, who reinstated the exiled Duke, Ulric. The
+latter became a Protestant, and thus Würtemberg was added to the League.
+Charles V. would certainly have interfered in this case, but he had left
+Germany for another nine years' absence, and was just then engaged in a
+war with Tunis. The reigning princes of Brandenburg and Ducal Saxony
+(Thuringia), who had been enemies of the Reformation, died and were
+succeeded by Protestant sons: in 1537 the League of Schmalkalden was
+renewed for ten years more, and the so-called "holy alliances," which
+were attempted against it by Bavaria and the Archbishops of Mayence and
+Salzburg, were of no avail. The Protestant faith continued to spread,
+not only in Germany, but also in Denmark, Sweden, Holland and England.
+The first of these countries even became a member of the Schmalkalden
+League, in 1538.</p>
+
+<p>Out of the "Freedom of the Gospel," which was the first watch-word of
+the Reformers, smaller sects continued to arise, notwithstanding they
+met with almost as much opposition from the Protestants as the
+Catholics. The Anabaptists obtained possession of the city of Münster in
+1534, and held it for more than a year, under the government of a Dutch
+tailor, named John of Leyden, who had himself crowned king of Zion,
+introduced polygamy, and cut off the heads of all who resisted his
+decrees. When the Bishop of Münster finally took the city, John of
+Leyden and two of his associates were tortured to death, and their
+bodies suspended in iron cages over the door of the cathedral. About the
+same time Simon Menno, a native of Friesland,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</span> founded a quiet and
+peaceful sect which was named, after him, the Mennonites, and which
+still exists, both in Germany and the United States.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1544.</div>
+
+<p>While, therefore, Charles V. was carrying on his wars, alternately with
+the Barbary States, and with Francis I. of France, the foundations of
+the Protestant Church, in spite of all divisions and disturbances, were
+permanently laid in Germany. Although he had been brilliantly successful
+in Tunis, in 1535, he failed so completely before Algiers, in 1541, that
+Francis I. was emboldened to make another attempt, in alliance with
+Sultan Solyman of Turkey, Denmark and Sweden. So formidable was the
+danger that the Emperor was again compelled to seek the assistance of
+the German Protestants, and even of England. He returned to Germany for
+the second time and called a Diet to meet in Speyer, which renewed the
+Religious Peace of Nuremberg, with the assurance that Protestants should
+have equal rights before the Imperial courts, and that they would be
+left free until the meeting of a <i>Free</i> Council of the Church.</p>
+
+<p>Having obtained an army of 40,000 men by these concessions, Charles V.
+marched into France, captured a number of fortresses, and had reached
+Soissons on his way to Paris, when Francis I. acknowledged himself
+defeated and begged for peace. In the Treaty of Crespy, in 1544, he gave
+up his claim to Lombardy, Naples, Flanders and Artois, while the Emperor
+gave him a part of Burgundy, and both united in a league against the
+Turks and Protestants, the allies of one and the other. In order,
+however, to preserve some appearance of fidelity to his solemn pledges,
+the Emperor finally prevailed upon the Pope, Paul III., to order an
+&OElig;cumenical Council. It was just 130 years since the Roman Church had
+promised to reform itself. The delay had given rise to the Protestant
+Reformation, which was now so powerful that only a just and conciliatory
+course on the part of Rome could settle the difficulty. Instead of this,
+the Council was summoned to meet at Trent, in the Italian part of the
+Tyrol, the Pope reserved the government of it for himself, and the
+Protestants, although invited to attend, were thus expected to
+acknowledge his authority. They unanimously declared, therefore, that
+they would not be bound by its decrees. Even Luther, who had ardently
+hoped to see all Christians again united under a purer organization of
+the Church, saw that a reconciliation was impossible, and published a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</span>
+pamphlet entitled: "The Roman Papacy Founded by the Devil."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1546. LUTHER'S LAST DAYS.</div>
+
+<p>The publication of the complete translation of the Bible in 1534 was not
+the end of Luther's labors. His leadership in the great work of
+Reformation was acknowledged by all, and he was consulted by princes and
+clergymen, by scholars and jurists, even by the common people. He never
+relaxed in his efforts to preserve peace, not only among the Protestant
+princes, who could not yet overcome their old habit of asserting an
+independent authority, but also between Protestants and Catholics. Yet
+he could hardly help feeling that, with such a form of government, and
+such an Emperor, as Germany then possessed, peace was impossible: he
+only prayed that it might last while he lived.</p>
+
+<p>Luther's powerful constitution gradually broke down under the weight of
+his labors and anxieties. He became subject to attacks of bodily
+suffering, followed by great depression of mind. Nevertheless, the
+consciousness of having in a great measure performed the work which he
+had been called upon to do, kept up his faith, and he was accustomed to
+declare that he had been made "a chosen weapon of God, known in Heaven
+and Hell, as well as upon the earth." In January, 1546, he was summoned
+to Eisleben, the place of his birth, by the Counts of Mansfeld, who
+begged him to act as arbitrator between them in a question of
+inheritance. Although much exhausted by the fatigues of the
+winter-journey, he settled the dispute, and preached four times to the
+people. His last letter to his wife, written on the 14th of February, is
+full of courage, cheerfulness and tenderness.</p>
+
+<p>Two days afterwards, his strength began to fail. His friend, Dr. Jonas,
+was in Eisleben at the time, and Luther forced himself to sit at the
+table with him and with his own two sons; but it was noticed that he
+spoke only of the future life, and with an unusual earnestness and
+solemnity. The same evening it became evident to all that his end was
+rapidly approaching: he grew weaker from hour to hour, and occasionally
+repeated passages from the Bible, in German and Latin. After midnight he
+seemed to revive a little: Dr. Jonas, the Countess of Mansfeld, the
+pastor of the church at Eisleben, and his sons, stood near his bed. Then
+Jonas said: "Beloved Father, do you acknowledge Christ, the Son of God,
+our Redeemer?" Luther answered "Yes," in a strong and clear voice; then,
+folding his hands, he drew<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</span> one deep sigh and died, between two and
+three o'clock on the morning of the 17th of February.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1546.</div>
+
+<p>After solemn services in the church at Eisleben, the body was removed on
+its way to Wittenberg. In every village through which the procession
+passed, the bells were tolled, and the people flocked together from all
+the surrounding country. The population of Halle, men and women, came
+out of the city with loud cries and lamentations, and the throng was so
+great that it was two hours before the coffin could be placed in the
+church. "Here," says an eyewitness of the scene, "we endeavored to raise
+the funeral psalm, <i>De profundis</i> ('Out of the depths have I cried unto
+thee'); but so heavy was our grief that the words were rather wept than
+sung." On the 22d of February the remains of the great Reformer were
+given to the earth at Wittenberg, with all the honors which the people,
+the authorities and the University could render.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">FROM LUTHER'S DEATH TO THE END OF THE 16TH CENTURY.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1546&mdash;1600.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Attempt to Suppress the Protestants.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Treachery of Maurice of Saxony.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Defeat and Capture of the Elector, John Frederick.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Philip of Hesse Imprisoned.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Tyranny of Charles V.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Augsburg Interim.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Maurice of Saxony turns against Charles V.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Treaty of Passau.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;War with France.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Religious Peace of Augsburg.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Jesuits.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Abdication of Charles V.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Ferdinand of Austria becomes Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;End of the Council of Trent.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Protestantism in Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Weakness of the Empire.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Loss of the Baltic Provinces.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Maximilian II. Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Tolerance.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Last Private Feud.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Revolt of the Netherlands.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Death of Maximilian II.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Rudolf II.'s Character.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Persecution of Protestants.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Condition of Germany at the End of the 16th Century.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1546. HOSTILITIES TO THE PROTESTANTS.</div>
+
+<p>The woes which the German Electors brought upon the country, when they
+gave the crown to a Spaniard because he was a Hapsburg, were only
+commencing when Luther died. Charles V. had just enough German blood in
+him to enable him to deceive the German people; he had no interest in
+them further than the power they gave to his personal rule; he used
+Germany to build up the strength of Spain, and then trampled it under
+his feet.</p>
+
+<p>The Council of Trent, which was composed almost entirely of Spanish and
+Italian prelates, followed the instructions of the Pope and declared
+that the traditions of the Roman Church were of equal authority with the
+Bible. This made a reconciliation with the Protestants impossible, which
+was just what the Pope desired: his plan was to put them down by main
+force. In fact, if the spirit of the Protestant faith had not already
+entered into the lives of the mass of the people, the Reformation might
+have been lost through the hesitation of some princes and the treachery
+of another. The Schmalkalden League was at this time weakened by
+personal quarrels among its members; yet it was still able to raise an
+army of 40,000 men, which was placed under the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</span> command of Sebastian
+Schertlin. Charles V. had a very small force with him at Ratisbon; the
+troops he had summoned from Flanders and Italy had not arrived; and an
+energetic movement by the Protestants could not have failed to be
+successful.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1547.</div>
+
+<p>But the two chiefs of the Schmalkalden League, John Frederick of Saxony
+and Philip of Hesse, showed a timidity almost amounting to cowardice in
+this emergency. In spite of Schertlin's entreaties, they refused to
+allow him to move, fearing, as they alleged, to invade the neutrality of
+Bavaria, or to excite Ferdinand of Austria against them. For months they
+compelled their army to wait, while the Emperor was constantly receiving
+reinforcements, among them 12,000 Italian troops furnished by the Pope.
+Then, when they were absolutely forced to act, a new and unexpected
+danger rendered them powerless. Maurice, Duke of Saxony (of the younger
+line), suddenly abjured the Protestant faith, declared for Charles V.,
+and took possession of the territory of Electoral Saxony, belonging to
+his cousin, John Frederick. The latter hastened home with his own
+portion of the army, and defeated and expelled Maurice, it is true, but
+in doing so, gave up the field to the Emperor. Duke Ulric of Würtemberg
+first humbly submitted to the latter, then Ulm, Augsburg, Strasburg, and
+other cities: Schertlin was not left with troops enough to resist, and
+the Imperial and Catholic power was restored throughout Southern
+Germany, without a struggle.</p>
+
+<p>In the spring of 1547, Charles V. marched into Northern Germany,
+surprised and defeated John Frederick of Saxony at Mühlberg on the Elbe,
+and took him prisoner. The Elector was so enormously stout and heavy
+that he could only mount his horse by the use of a ladder; so the
+Emperor's Spanish cavalry easily overtook him in his flight. Charles V.
+now showed himself in his true character: he appointed the fierce Duke
+of Alba President of a Court which tried John Frederick and condemned
+him to death. The other German princes protested so earnestly against
+this sentence that it was not carried out, but John Frederick was
+compelled to give up the greater part of Saxony to the traitor Maurice,
+and be content with Thuringia or Ducal Saxony&mdash;the territory embraced in
+the present duchies of Meiningen, Gotha, Weimar and Altenburg. He
+steadfastly refused, however, to submit to the decrees of the Council of
+Trent,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</span> and remained firm in the Protestant faith during the five years
+of imprisonment which followed.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1548. TYRANNY OF CHARLES V.</div>
+
+<p>His wife, the Duchess Sibylla, heroically defended Wittenberg against
+the Emperor, but when John Frederick had been despoiled of his
+territory, she could no longer hold the city, which was surrendered.
+Charles V. was urged by Alba and others to burn Luther's body and
+scatter the ashes, as those of a heretic; but he answered, like a man:
+"I wage no war against the dead." Herein he showed the better side of
+his nature, although only for a moment. Philip of Hesse was not strong
+enough to resist alone, and finally, persuaded by his son-in-law,
+Maurice of Saxony, he promised to beg the Emperor's pardon on his knees,
+to destroy all his fortresses except Cassel, and to pay a fine of
+150,000 gold florins, on condition that he should be allowed to retain
+his princely rights. These were Charles V.'s own conditions; but when
+Philip, kneeling before him, happened (or seemed) to smile while his
+application for pardon was being read, the Emperor cried out: "Wait,
+I'll teach you to laugh!" Breaking his solemn word without scruple, he
+sent Philip instantly to prison, and the latter was kept for years in
+close confinement, both in Germany and Flanders.</p>
+
+<p>Charles V. was now also master of Northern Germany, except the city of
+Magdeburg, which was strongly fortified, and refused to surrender. He
+entrusted the siege of the place to Maurice of Saxony, and returned to
+Bavaria, in order to be nearer Italy. He had at last become the
+arbitrary ruler of all Germany: he had not only violated his word in
+dealing with the princes, but defied the Diet in subjecting them by the
+aid of foreign soldiers. His court, his commanders, his prelates, were
+Spaniards, who, as they passed through the German States, abused and
+insulted the people with perfect impunity. The princes were now reaping
+only what they themselves had sown; but the mass of the people, who had
+had no voice in the election,&mdash;who saw their few rights despised and
+their faith threatened with suppression&mdash;suffered terribly during this
+time.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1548.</div>
+
+<p>In May, 1548, the Emperor proclaimed what was called the "Augsburg
+Interim," which allowed the communion in both forms and the marriage of
+priests to the Protestants, but insisted that all the other forms and
+ceremonies of the Catholic Church should be observed, until the Council
+should pronounce its final judgment. This latter body had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</span> removed from
+Trent to Bologna, in spite of the Emperor's remonstrance, and it did not
+meet again at Trent until 1551, after the death of Pope Paul III. There
+was, in fact, almost as much confusion in the Church as in political
+affairs. A number of intelligent, zealous prelates desired a correction
+of the former abuses, and they were undoubtedly supported by the Emperor
+himself; but the Pope with the French and Spanish cardinals and bishops,
+controlled a majority of the votes of the Council, and thus postponed
+its action from year to year.</p>
+
+<p>The acceptance of the "Interim" was resisted both by Catholics and
+Protestants. Charles V. used all his arts,&mdash;persuasion, threats, armed
+force,&mdash;and succeeded for a short time in compelling a sort of external
+observance of its provisions. His ambition, now, was to have his son
+Philip chosen by the Diet as his successor, notwithstanding that
+Ferdinand of Austria had been elected king in 1530, and had governed
+during his brother's long absence from Germany. The Protestant Electors,
+conquered as they were, and abject as many of them had seemed, were not
+ready to comply; Ferdinand's jealousy was aroused, and the question was
+in suspense when a sudden and startling event changed the whole face of
+affairs.</p>
+
+<p>Maurice of Saxony had been besieging Magdeburg for a year, in the
+Emperor's name. The city was well-provisioned, admirably defended, and
+the people answered every threat with defiance and ridicule. Maurice
+grew tired of his inglorious position, sensitive to the name of
+"Traitor" which was everywhere hurled against him, and indignant at the
+continued imprisonment of Philip of Hesse. He made a secret treaty with
+Henry II. of France, to whom he promised Lorraine, including the cities
+of Toul, Verdun and Metz, in return for his assistance; and then, in the
+spring of 1552, before his plans could be divined, marched with all
+speed against the Emperor, who was holding his court in Innsbruck. The
+latter attempted to escape to Flanders, but Maurice had already seized
+the mountain-passes. Nothing but speedy flight across the Alps, in night
+and storm, attended only by a few followers, saved Charles V. from
+capture. The Council of Trent broke up and fled in terror; John
+Frederick of Saxony and Philip of Hesse were freed from their long
+confinement, and the Protestant cause gained at one blow all the ground
+it had lost.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1553. ALBERT OF BRANDENBURG'S RAID.</div>
+
+<p>Maurice returned to Passau, on the Danube, where Ferdinand of Austria
+united with him in calling a Diet of the German Electors. The latter,
+bishops as well as princes, admitted that the Protestants could be no
+longer suppressed by force, and agreed to establish a religious peace,
+independent of any action of the Pope and Council. The "Treaty of
+Passau," as it was called, allowed freedom of worship to all who
+accepted the Augsburg Confession, and postponed other questions to the
+decision of a German Diet. The Emperor at first refused to subscribe to
+the treaty, but when Maurice began to renew hostilities, there was no
+other course left. The French in Lorraine and the Turks in Hungary were
+making rapid advances, and it was no time to assert his lost despotism
+over the Empire.</p>
+
+<p>With the troops which the princes now agreed to furnish, the Emperor
+marched into France, and in October, 1552, arrived before Metz, which he
+besieged until the following January. Then, with his army greatly
+reduced by sickness and hardship, he raised the siege and marched away,
+to continue the war in other quarters. But it was four years before the
+quarrel with France came to an end, and during this time the Protestant
+States of Germany had nothing to fear from the Imperial power. The
+Margrave Albert of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, who was on the Emperor's side,
+attempted to carry fire and sword through their territories, in order to
+pay himself for his military services. After wasting, plundering and
+committing shocking barbarities in Saxony and Franconia, he was defeated
+by Maurice, in July, 1553. The latter fell in the moment of victory,
+giving his life in expiation of his former apostasy. The greater part of
+Saxony, nevertheless, has remained in the hands of his descendants to
+this day, while the descendants of John Frederick, although representing
+the elder line, possess only the little principalities of Thuringia, to
+each of which the Saxon name is attached, as Saxe-Weimar, Saxe-Gotha,
+&amp;c.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1555.</div>
+
+<p>Charles V., who saw his ambitious plans for the government of the world
+failing everywhere, and whose bodily strength was failing also, left
+Germany in disgust, commissioning his brother Ferdinand to call a Diet,
+in accordance with the stipulations of the Treaty of Passau. The Diet
+met at Augsburg, and in spite of the violent opposition of the Papal
+Legate, on the 25th of September, 1555, concluded the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</span> treaty of
+Religious Peace which finally gave rest to Germany. The Protestants who
+followed the Augsburg Confession received religious freedom, perfect
+equality before the law, and the undisturbed possession of the Church
+property which had fallen into their hands. In other respects their
+privileges were not equal. By a clause called the "spiritual
+reservation," it was ordered that when a Catholic Bishop or Abbot became
+Protestant he should give up land and title in order that the Church
+might lose none of its possessions. The rights and consciences of the
+people were so little considered that they were not allowed to change
+their faith unless the ruling prince changed his. The monstrous doctrine
+was asserted that religion was an affair of the government,&mdash;that is,
+that he to whom belonged the rule, possessed the right to choose the
+people's faith. In accordance with this law the population of the
+Palatinate of the Rhine was afterwards compelled to be alternately
+Calvinistic and Lutheran, four times in succession!</p>
+
+<p>The Treaty of Augsburg did not include the followers of Zwingli and
+Calvin, who were getting to be quite numerous in Southern and Western
+Germany, and they were left without any recognized rights. Nevertheless,
+what the Lutherans had gained was also gained for them, in the end; and
+the Treaty, although it did not secure equal justice, gave the highest
+sanction of the Empire to the Reformation. The Pope rejected and
+condemned it, but without the least effect upon the German Catholics,
+who were no less desirous of peace than the Protestants. Moreover, their
+hopes of a final triumph over the latter were greatly increased by the
+zeal and activity of the Jesuits, who had been accepted and commissioned
+by the Church of Rome fifteen years before, who were rapidly increasing
+in numbers, and professed to have made the suppression of Protestant
+doctrines their chief task.</p>
+
+<p>This treaty was the last political event of Charles V.'s reign. One
+month later, to a day, he formally conferred on his son, Philip II., at
+Brussels, the government of the Netherlands, and on the 15th of January,
+1556, he resigned to him the crowns of Spain and Naples. He then sailed
+for Spain, where he retired to the monastery of St. Just and lived for
+two years longer as an Imperial monk. He was the first monarch of his
+time and he made Spain the leading nation of the world: his immense
+energy, his boundless ambition,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</span> and his cold, calculating brain
+reëstablished his power again and again, when it seemed on the point of
+giving way; but he died at last without having accomplished the two
+chief aims of his life&mdash;the reunion of all Christendom under the Pope,
+and the union of Germany with the Spanish Empire. The German people,
+following the leaders who had arisen out of their own breast,&mdash;Luther,
+Melanchthon, Reuchlin and Zwingli&mdash;defeated the former of these aims:
+the princes, who had found in Charles V. much more of a despot than they
+had bargained for, defeated the latter.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1558. FERDINAND OF AUSTRIA EMPEROR.</div>
+
+<p>The German Diet did not meet until March, 1558, when Ferdinand of
+Austria was elected and crowned Emperor, at Frankfort. Although a
+Catholic, he had always endeavored to protect the Protestants from the
+extreme measures which Charles V. attempted to enforce, and he
+faithfully observed the Treaty of Augsburg. He even allowed the
+Protestant form of the sacrament and the marriage of priests in Austria,
+which brought upon him the condemnation of the Pope. Immediately after
+the Diet, a meeting of Protestant princes was held at Frankfort, for the
+purpose of settling certain differences of opinion which were not only
+disturbing the Lutherans but also tending to prevent any unity of action
+between them and the Swiss Protestants. Melanchthon did his utmost to
+restore harmony, but without success. He died in 1560, at the age of
+sixty-three, and Calvin four years afterwards, the last of the leaders
+of the Reformation.</p>
+
+<p>On the 4th of December, 1563, the Council of Trent finally adjourned,
+eighteen years after it first came together. The attempts of a portion
+of the prelates composing it to reform and purify the Roman Church had
+been almost wholly thwarted by the influence of the Popes. It adopted a
+series of articles, to each one of which was attached an anathema,
+cursing all who refused to accept it. They contained the doctrines of
+priestly celibacy, purgatory, masses for the dead, worship of saints,
+pictures and relics, absolution, fasts, and censorship of books&mdash;thus
+making an eternal chasm between Catholicism and Protestantism. At the
+close of the Council the Cardinal of Lorraine cried out: "Accursed be
+all heretics!" and all present answered: "Accursed! accursed!" until the
+building rang. In Italy, Spain and Poland, the articles were accepted at
+once, but the Catholics in France, Germany and Hungary were dissatisfied
+with many of the declarations, and the Church, in those countries, was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</span>
+compelled to overlook a great deal of quiet disobedience.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1559.</div>
+
+<p>At this time, although the Catholics had a majority in the Diet (since
+there were nearly 100 priestly members), the great majority of the
+German people had become Protestants. In all Northern Germany, except
+Westphalia, very few Catholic congregations were left: even the
+Archbishops of Bremen and Magdeburg, and the Bishops of Lübeck, Verden
+and Halberstadt had joined the Reformation. In the priestly territories
+of Cologne, Treves, Mayence, Worms and Strasburg, the population was
+divided; the Palatinate of the Rhine, Baden and Würtemberg were almost
+entirely Protestant, and even in Upper-Austria and Styria the Catholics
+were in a minority. Bavaria was the main stay of Rome: her princes, of
+the house of Wittelsbach, were the most zealous and obedient champions
+of the Pope in all Germany. The Roman Church, however, had not given up
+the struggle: she was quietly and shrewdly preparing for one more
+desperate effort to recover her lost ground, and the Protestants,
+instead of perceiving the danger and uniting themselves more closely,
+were quarrelling among themselves concerning theological questions upon
+which they have never yet agreed.</p>
+
+<p>There could be no better evidence that the reign of Charles V. had
+weakened instead of strengthening the German Empire, than the losses and
+the humiliations which immediately followed. Ferdinand I. gave up half
+of Hungary to Sultan Solyman, and purchased the right to rule the other
+half by an annual payment of 300,000 ducats. About the same time, the
+Emperor's lack of power and the selfishness of the Hanseatic cities
+occasioned a much more important loss. The provinces on the eastern
+shore of the Baltic, which had been governed by the Order of the
+Brothers of the Sword after the downfall of the German Order, were
+overrun and terribly devastated by the Czar Ivan of Russia. The Grand
+Master of the Order appealed to Lübeck and Hamburg for aid, which was
+refused; then, in 1559, he called upon the Diet of the German Empire and
+received vague promises of assistance, which had no practical value.
+Then, driven to desperation, he turned to Poland, Sweden and Denmark,
+all of which countries took instant advantage of his necessities. The
+Baltic provinces were defended against Russia&mdash;and lost to Germany. The
+Swedes and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</span> Danes took Esthonia, the Poles took Livonia, and only the
+little province of Courland remained as an independent State, the Grand
+Master becoming its first Duke.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1567. THE GRUMBACH REBELLION.</div>
+
+<p>Ferdinand I. died in 1564, and was immediately succeeded by his eldest
+son, Maximilian II. The latter was in the prime of life, already popular
+for his goodness of heart, his engaging manners and his moderation and
+justice. The Protestants cherished great hopes, at first, that he would
+openly join them; but, although he so favored and protected them in
+Austria that Vienna almost became a Protestant city, he refused to leave
+the Catholic Church, and even sent his son Rudolf to be educated in
+Spain, under the bitter and bigoted influence of Philip II. His daughter
+was married to Charles IX. of France, and when he heard of the massacre
+of St. Bartholomew (in August, 1572) he cried out: "Would to God that my
+son-in-law had asked counsel of me! I would so faithfully have persuaded
+him as a father, that he certainly would never have done this thing." He
+also endeavored, but in vain, to soften the persecutions and cruelties
+of Philip II.'s reign in the Netherlands.</p>
+
+<p>Maximilian II.'s reign of twelve years was quiet and uneventful. Only
+one disturbance of the internal peace occurred, and it is worthy of note
+as the last feud, after so many centuries of free fighting between the
+princes. An independent knight, William von Grumbach, having been
+dispossessed of his lands by the Bishop of Würzburg, waylaid the latter,
+who was slain in the fight which occurred. Grumbach fled to France, but
+soon allied himself with several dissatisfied Franconian knights, and
+finally persuaded John Frederick of Saxony (the smaller Dukedom) to
+espouse his cause. The latter was outlawed by the Emperor, yet he
+obstinately determined to resist, in the hope of wresting the Electorate
+of Saxony from the younger line and restoring it to his own family. He
+was besieged by the Imperial army in Gotha, in 1567, and taken prisoner.
+Grumbach was tortured and executed, and John Frederick kept in close
+confinement until his death, twenty-eight years afterwards. His sons,
+however, were allowed to succeed him. The severity with which this
+breach of the internal peace was punished put an end forever, to petty
+wars in Germany: the measures adopted by the Diet of 1495, under
+Maximilian I., were at last recognized as binding laws.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1576.</div>
+
+<p>The Revolt of the Netherlands, which broke out immediately after
+Maximilian II.'s accession to the throne, had little, if any, political
+relation to Germany. Under Charles V. the Netherlands had been quite
+separated from any connection with the German Empire, and he was free to
+introduce the Inquisition there and persecute the Protestants with all
+the barbarity demanded by Rome. Philip II. followed the same policy: the
+torture, fire and sword were employed against the people until they
+arose against the intolerable Spanish rule, and entered upon that
+struggle of nearly forty years which ended in establishing the
+independence of Holland.</p>
+
+<p>On the 12th of October, 1576, at a Diet where he had declared his policy
+in religious matters to be simply the enforcement of the Treaty of
+Augsburg, Maximilian II. suddenly fell dead. According to the custom
+which they had now followed for 140 years, of keeping the Imperial
+dignity in the house of Hapsburg, the Electors immediately chose his
+son, Rudolf II., an avowed enemy of the Protestants. Unlike his father,
+his nature was cold, stern and despotic: he was gloomy, unsocial and
+superstitious, and the circumstance that he aided and encouraged the
+great astronomers, Kepler and Tycho de Brahe, was probably owing to his
+love for astrology and alchemy. He was subject to sudden and violent
+attacks of passion, which were followed by periods of complete
+indifference to his duties. Like Frederick III., a hundred years before,
+he concerned himself with the affairs of Austria, his direct
+inheritance, rather than with those of the Empire; and thus, although
+internal wars had been suppressed, he encouraged the dissensions in
+religion and politics, which were gradually bringing on a more dreadful
+war than Germany had ever known before.</p>
+
+<p>One of Rudolf II.'s first measures was to take from the Austrian
+Protestants the right of worship which his father had allowed them. He
+closed their churches, removed them from all the offices they held, and,
+justifying himself by the Treaty of Augsburg that whoever ruled the
+people should choose their religious faith, did his best to make Austria
+wholly Catholic. Many Catholic princes and priests, emboldened by his
+example, declared that the articles promulgated by the Council of Trent
+abolished the Treaty of Augsburg and gave them the right to put down
+heresy by force. When the Archbishop of Cologne became a Protestant and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</span>
+married, the German Catholics called upon Alexander of Parma, who came
+from the Netherlands with a Spanish army, took possession of the
+former's territory, and installed a new Catholic Archbishop, without
+resistance on the part of the Protestant majority of Germany. Thus the
+hate and bitterness on both sides increased from year to year, without
+culminating in open hostilities.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1600. GROWTH AND CONDITION OF GERMANY.</div>
+
+<p>The history of Germany, from the accession of Rudolf II. to the end of
+the century, is marked by no political event of importance. Spain was
+fully occupied in her hopeless attempt to subdue the Netherlands: in
+France Henry of Navarre was fighting the Duke of Guise; Hungary and
+Austria were left to check the advance of the Turkish invasion, and
+nearly all Germany enjoyed peace for upwards of fifty years. During this
+time, population and wealth greatly increased, and life in the cities
+and at courts became luxurious and more or less immoral. The arts and
+sciences began to flourish, the people grew in knowledge, yet the spirit
+out of which the Reformation sprang seemed almost dead. The elements of
+good and evil were strangely mixed together&mdash;intelligence and
+superstition, piety and bigotry, civilization and barbarism were found
+side by side. As formerly in her history, it appeared nearly impossible
+for Germany to grow by a gradual and healthy development: her condition
+must be bad enough to bring on a violent convulsion, before it could be
+improved.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the state of affairs at the end of the sixteenth century. In
+spite of the material prosperity of the country, there was a general
+feeling among the people that evil days were coming; but the most
+desponding prophet could hardly have predicted worse misfortunes than
+they were called upon to suffer during the next fifty years.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">BEGINNING OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1600&mdash;1625.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Growth of the Calvinistic or "Reformed" Church.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Persecution of Protestants in Styria.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Catholic League.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Struggle for the Succession of Cleves.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Rudolf II. set aside.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Matthias becomes Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Character of Ferdinand of Styria.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Revolt in Prague.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;War in Bohemia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Death of Matthias.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Ferdinand besieged in Vienna.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;He is Crowned Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Blindness of the Protestant Princes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Frederick of the Palatinate chosen King of Bohemia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Barbarity of Ferdinand II.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Protestants Crushed in Bohemia and Austria.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Count Mansfeld and Prince Christian of Brunswick.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;War in Baden and the Palatinate.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Tilly.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Ravages.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Miserable Condition of Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Union of the Northern States.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Christian IV. of Denmark.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Wallenstein.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His History.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Proposition to Ferdinand II.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1600.</div>
+
+<p>The beginning of the seventeenth century found the Protestants in
+Germany still divided. The followers of Zwingli, it is true, had
+accepted the Augsburg Confession as the shortest means of acquiring
+freedom of worship; but the Calvinists, who were now rapidly increasing,
+were not willing to take this step, nor were the Lutherans any more
+tolerant towards them than at the beginning. The Dutch, in conquering
+their independence of Spain, gave the Calvinistic, or, as it was called
+in Germany, the Reformed Church, a new political importance; and it was
+not long before the Palatinate of the Rhine, Baden, Hesse-Cassel and
+Anhalt also joined it. The Protestants were split into two strong and
+unfriendly sects at the very time when the Catholics, under the teaching
+of the Jesuits, were uniting against them.</p>
+
+<p>Duke Ferdinand of Styria, a young cousin of Rudolf II., began the
+struggle. Styria was at that time Protestant, and refused to change its
+faith at the command of the Duke, whereupon he visited every part of the
+land with an armed force, closed the churches, burned the hymn-books and
+Bibles, and banished every one who was not willing to become<span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</span> a Catholic
+on the spot. He openly declared that it was better to rule over a desert
+than a land of heretics. Duke Maximilian of Bavaria followed his
+example: in 1607 he seized the free Protestant city of Donauwörth, on
+the Danube, on account of some quarrel between its inhabitants and a
+monastery, and held it, in violation of all laws of the Empire. A
+protest made to the Diet on account of this act was of no avail, since a
+majority of the members were Catholics. The Protestants of Southern
+Germany formed a "Union" for mutual protection, in May, 1608, with
+Frederick IV. of the Palatinate at their head; but, as they were mostly
+of the Reformed Church, they received little sympathy or support from
+the Protestant States in the North.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1609. THE "SUCCESSION OF CLEVES."</div>
+
+<p>Maximilian of Bavaria then established a "Catholic League" in
+opposition, relying on the assistance of Spain, while the "Protestant
+Union" relied on that of Henry IV. of France. Both sides began to arm,
+and they would soon have proceeded to open hostilities, when a dispute
+of much greater importance diverted their attention to the North of
+Germany. This was the so-called "Succession of Cleves." Duke John
+William of Cleves, who governed the former separate dukedoms of Jülich,
+Cleves and Berg, and the countships of Ravensberg and Mark, embracing a
+large extent of territory on both sides of the Lower Rhine, died in 1609
+without leaving a direct heir. He had been a Catholic, but his people
+were Protestants. John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, and Wolfgang
+William of the Bavarian Palatinate, both relatives on the female side,
+claimed the splendid inheritance; and when it became evident that the
+Catholic interest meant to secure it, they quickly united their forces
+and took possession. The Emperor then sent the Archduke Leopold of
+Hapsburg to hold the State in his name, whereupon the Protestant Union
+made an instant alliance with Henry IV. of France, who was engaged in
+organizing an army for its aid, when he fell by the dagger of the
+assassin, Ravaillac, in 1610. This dissolved the alliance, and the
+"Union" and "League," finding themselves agreed in opposing the creation
+of another Austrian State, on the Lower Rhine, concluded peace before
+any serious fighting had taken place between them.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1606.</div>
+
+<p>The two claimants to the succession adopted a similar policy. Wolfgang
+William became a Catholic, married the sister of Maximilian of Bavaria,
+and so brought the "League"<span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</span> to support him, and the Elector John
+Sigismund became a Calvinist (which almost excited a rebellion among the
+Brandenburg Lutherans), in order to get the support of the "Union." The
+former was assisted by Spanish troops from Flanders, the latter by Dutch
+troops from Holland, and the war was carried on until 1614, when it was
+settled by a division which gave John Sigismund the lion's share.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the Emperor Rudolf II. was becoming so old, so whimsical and
+so useless, that in 1606 the princes of the house of Hapsburg held a
+meeting, declared him incapable of governing, "on account of occasional
+imbecilities of mind," and appointed his brother Matthias regent for
+Austria, Hungary and Moravia. The Emperor refused to yield, but, with
+the help of the nobility, who were mostly Protestants, Matthias
+maintained his claim. He was obliged, in return, to grant religious
+freedom, which so encouraged the oppressed Protestants in Bohemia that
+they demanded similar rights from the Emperor. In his helpless situation
+he gave way to the demand, but soon became alarmed at the increase of
+the heretics, and tried to take back his concession. The Bohemians
+called Matthias to their assistance, and in 1611 Rudolf lost his
+remaining kingdom and his favorite residence of Prague. As he looked
+upon the city for the last time, he cried out: "May the vengeance of God
+overtake thee, and my curse light on thee and all Bohemia!" In less than
+a year (on the 20th of January, 1612) he died.</p>
+
+<p>Matthias was elected Emperor of Germany, as a matter of course. The
+house of Hapsburg was now the strongest German power which represented
+the Church of Rome, and the Catholic majority in the Diet secured to it
+the Imperial dignity then and thenceforward. The Protestants, however,
+voted also for Matthias, for the reason that he had already shown a
+tolerant policy towards their brethren in Austria, Hungary and Bohemia.
+His first measures, as Emperor, justified this view of his character. He
+held a Diet at Ratisbon for the purpose of settling the existing
+differences between the two, but nothing was accomplished: the
+Protestants, finding that they would be outvoted, withdrew in a body and
+thus broke up the Diet. Matthias next endeavored to dissolve both the
+"Union" and the "League," in which he was only partially successful. At
+the same time his rule in Hungary was menaced by a revolt of the
+Transylvanian chief, Bethlen Gabor, who was assisted by the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</span> Turks: he
+grew weary of his task, and was easily persuaded by the other princes of
+his house to adopt his nephew, Duke Ferdinand of Styria, as his
+successor, in the year 1617, having no children of his own.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1618. BEGINNING OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR.</div>
+
+<p>Ferdinand, who had been carefully educated by the Jesuits for the part
+which he was afterwards to play, and whose violent suppression of the
+Protestant faith in Styria made him acceptable to all the German
+Catholics, was a man of great energy and force of character. He was
+stern, bigoted, cruel, yet shrewd, cunning and apparently conciliatory
+when he found it necessary to be so, resembling, in both respects, his
+predecessor, Charles V. of Spain. In return for being chosen by the
+Bohemians to succeed Matthias as king, he confirmed them in the
+religious freedom which they had extorted from Rudolf II., and then
+joined the Emperor in an expedition to Hungary, leaving Bohemia to be
+governed in the interim by a Council of ten, seven Catholics and three
+Protestants.</p>
+
+<p>The first thing that happened was the destruction of two Protestant
+churches by Catholic Bishops. The Bohemian Protestants appealed
+immediately to the Emperor Matthias, but, instead of redress, he gave
+them only threats. Thereupon they rose in Prague, stormed the Council
+Hall, seized two of the Councillors and one of their Secretaries, and
+hurled them out of the windows. Although they fell a distance of
+twenty-eight feet, they were not killed, and all finally escaped. This
+event happened on the 23d of May, 1618, and marks the beginning of the
+Thirty Years' War. After such long chronicles of violence and slaughter,
+the deed seemed of slight importance; but the hundredth anniversary of
+the Reformation (counting from Luther's proclamation against Tetzel, on
+the 31st of October, 1517) had been celebrated by the Protestants the
+year before, England was lost and France barely restored to the Church
+of Rome, the power of Spain was declining, and the Catholic priests and
+princes were resolved to make one more desperate struggle to regain
+their supremacy in Germany. Only the Protestant princes, as a body,
+seemed blind to the coming danger. Relying on the fact that four-fifths
+of the whole population of the Empire were Protestants, they still
+persisted in regarding all the political forms of the Middle Ages as
+holy, and in accepting nearly every measure which gave advantage to
+their enemies.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1619.</div>
+
+<p>Although the Protestants had only three Councillors out of ten, they
+were largely in the majority in Bohemia. They knew what retaliation the
+outbreak in Prague would bring upon them, and anticipated it by making
+the revolution general. They chose Count Thun as their leader,
+overturned the Imperial government, banished the Jesuits from the
+country, and entered into relations with the Protestant nobles of
+Austria, and the insurgent chief Bethlen Gabor in Hungary. The Emperor
+Matthias was willing to compromise the difficulty, but Ferdinand,
+stimulated by the Jesuits, declared for war. He sent two small armies
+into Bohemia, with a proclamation calling upon the people to submit. The
+Protestants of the North were at last aroused from their lethargy. Count
+Mansfeld marched with a force of 4,000 men to aid the Bohemians, and
+3,000 more came from Silesia; the Imperial army was defeated and driven
+back to the Danube. At this juncture the Emperor Matthias died, on the
+20th of May, 1619.</p>
+
+<p>Ferdinand lost not a day in taking the power into his own hands. But
+Austria threatened revolution, Hungary had made common cause with
+Bohemia, Count Thun was marching on Vienna, and he was without an army
+to support his claims. Count Thun, however, instead of attacking Vienna,
+encamped outside the walls and began to negotiate. Ferdinand, hard
+pressed by the demands of the Austrian Protestants, was on the very
+point of yielding&mdash;in fact, a member of a deputation of sixteen noblemen
+had seized him by the coat,&mdash;when trumpets were heard, and a body of 500
+cavalry, which had reached the city without being intercepted by the
+besiegers, appeared before the palace. This enabled him to defend the
+city, until the defeat of Count Mansfeld by another portion of his army,
+which had entered Bohemia, compelled Count Thun to raise the siege. Then
+Ferdinand hastened to Frankfort to look after his election as Emperor by
+the Diet, which met on the 28th of August, 1619.</p>
+
+<p>It seems almost incredible that now, knowing his character and designs,
+the three Chief Electors who were Protestants should have voted for him,
+without being conscious that they were traitors to their faith and their
+people. It has been charged, but without any clear evidence, that they
+were bribed: it is probable that Ferdinand, whose Jesuitic education
+taught him that falsehood and perjury are permitted<span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</span> in serving the
+Church, misled them by promises of peace and justice; but it is also
+very likely that they imagined their own sovereignty depended on
+sustaining every tradition of the Empire. The people, of course, had not
+yet acquired any rights which a prince felt himself called upon to
+respect.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1620. FREDERICK V. DRIVEN FROM BOHEMIA.</div>
+
+<p>Ferdinand was elected, and properly crowned in the Cathedral at
+Frankfort, as Ferdinand II. The Bohemians, who were entitled to one of
+the seven chief voices in the Diet, claimed that the election was not
+binding upon them, and chose Frederick V. of the Palatinate as their
+king, in the hope that the Protestant "Union" would rally to their
+support. It was a fatal choice and a false hope. When Maximilian of
+Bavaria, at the head of the Catholic "League," took the field for the
+Emperor, the "Union" cowardly withdrew. Frederick V. went to Bohemia,
+was crowned, and idled his time away in fantastic diversions for one
+winter, while Ferdinand was calling Spain to attack the Palatinate of
+the Rhine, and borrowing Cossacks from Poland to put down his Protestant
+subjects in Austria. The Emperor assured the Protestant princes that the
+war should be confined to Bohemia, and one of them, the Elector John
+George of Saxony, a Lutheran, openly went over to his side in order to
+defeat Frederick V., a Calvinist. The Bohemians fell back to the walls
+of Prague before the armies of the Emperor and Bavaria; and there, on
+the White Mountain, a battle of an hour's duration, in November, 1620,
+decided the fate of the country. The former scattered in all directions;
+Frederick V. left Prague never to return, and Spanish, Italian and
+Hungarian troops overran Bohemia.</p>
+
+<p>Ferdinand II. acted as might have been expected from his despotic and
+bigoted nature. The 8,000 Cossacks which he had borrowed from his
+brother-in-law, king Sigismund of Poland, had already closed all
+Protestant Churches and suppressed freedom of worship in Austria; he now
+applied the same measures to Bohemia, but in a more violent and bloody
+form. Twenty-seven of the chief Protestant nobles were beheaded at
+Prague in one day; thousands of families were stripped of all their
+property and banished; the Protestant churches were given to the
+Catholics, the Jesuits took possession of the University and the
+schools, until finally, as a historian says, "the quiet of a sepulchre
+settled over Bohemia." The Protestant faith was practically obliterated<span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</span>
+from all the Austrian realm, with the exception of a few scattered
+congregations in Hungary and Transylvania.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1621.</div>
+
+<p>There is hardly anywhere, in the history of the world, such an instance
+of savage despotism. A large majority of the population of Austria,
+Bohemia and Styria were Protestants; they were rapidly growing in
+intelligence, in social order and material prosperity; but the will of
+one man was allowed to destroy the progress of a hundred years, to crush
+both the faith and freedom of the people, plunder them of their best
+earnings and make them ignorant slaves for 200 years longer. The
+property which was seized by Ferdinand II., in Bohemia alone, was
+estimated at forty millions of florins! And the strength of Germany,
+which was Protestant, looked on and saw all this happen! Only the common
+people of Austria arose against the tyrant, and gallantly struggled for
+months, at first under the command of a farmer named Stephen Fadinger,
+and, when he was slain in the moment of victory, under an unknown young
+hero, who had no other name than "the Student." The latter defeated the
+Bavarian army, resisted the famous Austrian general, Pappenheim, in many
+battles, and at last fell, after the most of his followers had fallen,
+without leaving his name to history. The Austrian peasants rivalled the
+Swiss of three centuries before in their bravery and self-sacrifice: had
+they been successful (as they might have been, with small help from
+their Protestant brethren), they would have changed the course of German
+history, and have become renowned among the heroes of the world.</p>
+
+<p>The fate of Austria, from that day to this, was now sealed. Both
+parties&mdash;the Catholics, headed by Ferdinand II., and the Protestants,
+without any head,&mdash;next turned to the Palatinate of the Rhine, where a
+Spanish army, sent from Flanders, was wasting and plundering in the name
+of the Emperor. Count Ernest of Mansfeld and Prince Christian of
+Brunswick, who had supported Frederick V. in Bohemia, endeavored to save
+at least the Palatinate for him. They were dashing and eccentric young
+generals, whose personal reputation attracted all sorts of wild and
+lawless characters to take service under them. Mansfeld, who had been
+originally a Catholic, was partly supported by contributions from
+England and Holland, but he also took what he could get from the country
+through which he marched. Christian of Brunswick was a fantastic prince,
+who tried to imitate the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</span> knights of the Middle Ages. He was a great
+admirer of the Countess Elizabeth of the Palatinate (sister of Charles
+I. of England), and always wore her glove on his helmet. In order to
+obtain money for his troops, he plundered the bishoprics in Westphalia,
+and forced the cities and villages to pay him heavy contributions. When
+he entered the cathedral at Paderborn and saw the silver statues of the
+Apostles around the altar, he cried out: "What are you doing here? You
+were ordered to go forth into the world, but wait a bit&mdash;I'll send you!"
+So he had them melted and coined into dollars, upon which the words were
+stamped: "Friend of God, foe of priests!" He afterwards gave himself
+that name, but the soldiers generally called him "Mad Christian."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1621. PRINCE CHRISTIAN OF BRUNSWICK.</div>
+
+<p>Against these two, and George Frederick of Baden, who joined them,
+Ferdinand II. sent Maximilian of Bavaria, to whom he promised the
+Palatinate as a reward, and Tilly, a general already famous both for his
+military talent and his inhumanity. The latter, who had been educated by
+the Jesuits for a priest, was in the Bavarian service. He was a small,
+lean man, with a face almost comical in its ugliness. His nose was like
+a parrot's beak, his forehead seamed with deep wrinkles, his eyes sunk
+in their sockets and his cheek-bones projecting. He usually wore a dress
+of green satin, with a cocked hat and long red feather, and rode a
+small, mean-looking gray horse.</p>
+
+<p>Early in 1622 the Imperial army under Tilly was defeated, or at least
+checked, by the united forces of Mansfeld and Prince Christian. But in
+May of the same year, the forces of the latter, with those of George
+Frederick of Baden, were almost cut to pieces by Tilly, at Wimpfen. They
+retreated into Alsatia, where they burned and plundered at will, while
+Tilly pursued the same course on the eastern side of the Rhine. He took
+and destroyed the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg, closed the
+Protestant churches, banished the clergymen and teachers, and supplied
+their places with Jesuits. The invaluable library of Heidelberg was sent
+to Pope Gregory XV. at Rome, and remained there until 1815, when a part
+of it came back to the University by way of Paris.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1623.</div>
+
+<p>Frederick V., who had fled from the country, entered into negotiations
+with the Emperor, in the hope of retaining the Palatinate. He dissolved
+his connection with Mansfeld and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</span> Prince Christian, who thereupon
+offered their services to the Emperor, on condition that he would pay
+their soldiers! Receiving no answer, they marched through Lorraine and
+Flanders, laying waste the country as they went, and finally took refuge
+in Holland. Frederick V.'s humiliation was of no avail; none of the
+Protestant princes supported his claim. The Emperor gave his land, with
+the Electoral dignity, to Maximilian of Bavaria, and this act, although
+a direct violation of the laws which the German princes held sacred, was
+acquiesced in by them at a Diet held at Ratisbon in 1623. John George of
+Saxony, who saw clearly that it was a fatal blow aimed both at the
+Protestants and at the rights of the reigning princes, was persuaded to
+be silent by the promise of having Lusatia added to Saxony.</p>
+
+<p>By this time, Germany was in a worse condition than she had known for
+centuries. The power of the Jesuits, represented by Ferdinand II., his
+councillors and generals, was supreme almost everywhere; the Protestant
+princes vied with each other in meanness, selfishness and cowardice; the
+people were slaughtered, robbed, driven hither and thither by both
+parties: there seemed to be neither faith nor justice left in the land.
+The other Protestant nations&mdash;England, Holland, Denmark and
+Sweden&mdash;looked on with dismay, and even Cardinal Richelieu, who was then
+practically the ruler of France, was willing to see Ferdinand II.'s
+power crippled, though the Protestants should gain thereby. England and
+Holland assisted Mansfeld and Prince Christian with money, and the
+latter organized new armies, with which they ravaged Friesland and
+Westphalia. Prince Christian was on his way to Bohemia, in order to
+unite with the Hungarian chief, Bethlen Gabor, when, on the 6th of
+August, 1623, he met Tilly at a place called Stadtloon, near Münster,
+and, after a murderous battle which lasted three days, was utterly
+defeated. About the same time Mansfeld, needing further support, went to
+England, where he was received with great honor.</p>
+
+<p>Ferdinand II. had in the meantime concluded a peace with Bethlen Gabor,
+and his authority was firmly established over Austria and Bohemia. Tilly
+with his Bavarians was victorious in Westphalia; all armed opposition to
+the Emperor's rule was at an end, yet instead of declaring peace
+established, and restoring the former order of the Empire, his agents
+continued their work of suppressing religious<span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</span> freedom and civil rights
+in all the States which had been overrun by the Catholic armies. The
+whole Empire was threatened with the fate of Austria. Then, at last, in
+1625, Brunswick, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg, Hamburg, Lübeck and Bremen
+formed a union for mutual defence, choosing as their leader king
+Christian IV. of Denmark, the same monarch who had broken down the power
+of the Hanseatic League in the Baltic and North Seas! Although a
+Protestant, he was no friend to the North-German States, but he
+energetically united with them in the hope of being able to enlarge his
+kingdom at their expense.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1625. ALLIANCE WITH CHRISTIAN IV.</div>
+
+<p>Christian IV. lost no time in making arrangements with England and
+Holland which enabled both Mansfeld and Prince Christian of Brunswick to
+raise new forces, with which they returned to Germany. Tilly, in order
+to intercept them, entered the territory of the States which had united,
+and thus gave Christian IV. a pretext for declaring war. The latter
+marched down from Denmark at once, but found no earnest union among the
+States, and only 7,000 men collected. He soon succeeded, however, in
+bringing together a force much larger than that commanded by Tilly, and
+was only hindered in his plan of immediate action by a fall from his
+horse, which crippled him for six weeks. The city of Hamelin was taken,
+and Tilly compelled to fall back, but no other important movements took
+place during the year 1625.</p>
+
+<p>Ferdinand II. was already growing jealous of the increasing power of
+Bavaria, and determined that the Catholic and Imperial cause should not
+be entrusted to Tilly alone. But he had little money, his own military
+force had been wasted by the wars in Bohemia, Austria and Hungary, and
+there was no other commander of sufficient renown to attract men to his
+standard. Yet it was necessary that Tilly should be reinforced as soon
+as possible, or his scheme of crushing the whole of Germany, and laying
+it, as a fettered slave, at the feet of the Roman Church, might fail,
+and at the very moment when success seemed sure.</p>
+
+<p>In this emergency, a new man presented himself. Albert of Waldstein,
+better known under his historical name of Wallenstein, was born at
+Prague in 1583. He was the son of a poor nobleman, and violent and
+unruly as a youth, until a fall from the third story of a house effected
+a sudden change in his nature. He became brooding and taciturn,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</span> gave up
+his Protestant faith, and was educated by the Jesuits at Olmütz. He
+travelled in Spain, France and the Netherlands, fought in Italy against
+Venice and in Hungary against Bethlen Gabor and the Turks, and rose to
+the rank of Colonel. He married an old and rich widow, and after her
+death increased his wealth by a second marriage, so that, when the
+Protestants were expelled from Bohemia, he was able to purchase 60 of
+their confiscated estates. Adding these to that of Friedland, which he
+had received from the Emperor in return for military services, he
+possessed a small principality, lived in great splendor, and paid and
+equipped his own troops. He was first made Count, and then Duke of
+Friedland, with the authority of an independent prince of the Empire.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1625.</div>
+
+<p>Wallenstein was superstitious, and his studies in astrology gave him the
+belief that a much higher destiny awaited him. Here was the opportunity:
+he offered to raise and command a second army, in the Emperor's service.
+Ferdinand II. accepted the offer with joy, and sent word to Wallenstein
+that he should immediately proceed to enlist 20,000 men. "My army," the
+latter answered, "must live by what it can take: 20,000 men are not
+enough. I must have 50,000, and then I can demand what I want!" The
+threat of terrible ravage contained in these words was soon carried out.</p>
+
+<p>Wallenstein was tall and meagre in person. His forehead was high but
+narrow, his hair black and cut very short, his eyes small, dark and
+fiery, and his complexion yellow. His voice was harsh and disagreeable:
+he never smiled, and spoke only when it was necessary. He usually
+dressed in scarlet, with a leather jerkin, and wore a long red feather
+on his hat. There was something cold, mistrustful and mysterious in his
+appearance, yet he possessed unbounded power over his soldiers, whom he
+governed with severity and rewarded splendidly. There are few more
+interesting personages in German history.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">TILLY, WALLENSTEIN AND GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1625&mdash;1634.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>The Winter of 1625.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;6.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Wallenstein's Victory.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Mansfeld's Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Tilly defeats Christian IV.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Wallenstein's Successes in Saxony, Brandenburg and Holstein.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Siege of Stralsund.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Edict of Restitution.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Its Effects.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Wallenstein's Plans.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Diet at Ratisbon.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Wallenstein's Removal.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Arrival of Gustavus Adolphus.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Positions and Plans.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Character.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Cowardice of the Protestant Princes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Tilly sacks Magdeburg.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Decision of Gustavus Adolphus.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Tilly's Defeat at Leipzig.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Bohemia invaded.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Gustavus at Frankfort.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Defeat and Death of Tilly.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Gustavus in Munich.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Wallenstein restored.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Conditions.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;He meets Gustavus at Nuremberg.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;He invades Saxony.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battle of Lützen.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Death of Gustavus Adolphus.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Wallenstein's Retreat.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Union of Protestant Princes with Sweden.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Protestant Successes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Secret Negotiations with Wallenstein.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Movements.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Conspiracy against him.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Removal.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His March to Eger.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Assassination.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1626. WALLENSTEIN.</div>
+
+<p>Before the end of the year 1625, and within three months after Ferdinand
+II. had commissioned Wallenstein to raise an army, the latter marched
+into Saxony at the head of 30,000 men. No important operations were
+undertaken during the winter: Christian IV. and Mansfeld had their
+separate quarters on the one side, Tilly and Wallenstein on the other,
+and the four armies devoured the substance of the lands where they were
+encamped. In April, 1626, Mansfeld marched against Wallenstein, to
+prevent him from uniting with Tilly. The two armies met at the bridge of
+the Elbe, at Dessau, and fought desperately: Mansfeld was defeated,
+driven into Brandenburg, and then took his way through Silesia towards
+Hungary, with the intention of forming an alliance with Bethlen Gabor.
+Wallenstein followed by forced marches, and compelled Gabor to make
+peace with the Emperor: Mansfeld disbanded his troops and set out for
+Venice, where he meant to embark for England. But he was already worn
+out by the hardships of his campaigns, and died on the way, in
+Dalmatia,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</span> in November, 1626, 45 years of age. A few months afterwards
+Prince Christian of Brunswick also died, and the Protestant cause was
+left without any native German leader.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1628.</div>
+
+<p>During the same year the cause received a second and severer blow. On
+the 26th of August Christian IV. and Tilly came together at Lutter, a
+little town on the northern edge of the Hartz, and the army of the
+former was cut to pieces, himself barely escaping with his life. There
+seemed, now, to be no further hope for the Protestants: Christian IV.
+retreated to Holstein, the Elector of Brandenburg gave up his connection
+with the Union of the Saxon States, the Dukes of Mecklenburg were
+powerless, and Maurice of Hesse was compelled by the Emperor to
+abdicate. New measures in Bohemia and Austria foreshadowed the probable
+fate of Germany: the remaining Protestants in those two countries,
+including a large majority of the Austrian nobles, were made Catholics
+by force.</p>
+
+<p>In the summer of 1627 Wallenstein again marched northward with an army
+reorganized and recruited to 40,000 men. John George of Saxony, who
+tried to maintain a selfish and cowardly neutrality, now saw his land
+overrun, and himself at the mercy of the conqueror. Brandenburg was
+subjected to the same fate; the two Mecklenburg duchies were seized as
+the booty of the Empire; and Wallenstein, marching on without
+opposition, plundered and wasted Holstein, Jutland and Pomerania. In
+1628 the Emperor bestowed Mecklenburg upon him: he gave himself the
+title of "Admiral of the Baltic and the Ocean," and drew up a plan for
+creating a navy out of the vessels of the Hanseatic League, and
+conquering Holland for the house of Hapsburg. After this should have
+been accomplished, his next project was to form an alliance with Poland
+against Denmark and Sweden, the only remaining Protestant powers.</p>
+
+<p>While the rich and powerful cities of Hamburg and Lübeck surrendered at
+his approach, the little Hanseatic town of Stralsund closed its gates
+against him. The citizens took a solemn oath to defend their religious
+faith and their political independence to the last drop of their blood.
+Wallenstein exclaimed: "And if Stralsund were bound to Heaven with
+chains, I would tear it down!" and marched against the place. At the
+first assault he lost 1,000 men; at the second, 2,000; and then the
+citizens, in turn, made sallies, and inflicted still heavier losses upon
+him. They<span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</span> were soon reinforced by 2,000 Swedes, and then Wallenstein
+was forced to raise the siege, after having lost, altogether, 12,000 of
+his best troops. At this time the Danes appeared with a fleet of 200
+vessels, and took possession of the port of Wolgast, in Pomerania.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1629. THE EDICT OF RESTITUTION.</div>
+
+<p>In spite of this temporary reverse, Ferdinand II. considered that his
+absolute power was established over all Germany. After consulting with
+the Catholic Chief-Electors (one of whom, now, was Maximilian of
+Bavaria), he issued, on the 6th of March, 1629, an "Edict of
+Restitution," ordering that all the former territory of the Roman
+Church, which had become Protestant, should be restored to Catholic
+hands. This required that two archbishoprics, twelve bishoprics, and a
+great number of monasteries and churches, which had ceased to exist
+nearly a century before, should be again established; and then, on the
+principle that the religion of the ruler should be that of the people,
+that the Protestant faith should be suppressed in all such territory.
+The armies were kept in the field to enforce this edict, which was
+instantly carried into effect in Southern Germany, and in the most
+violent and barbarous manner. The estates of 6,000 noblemen in
+Franconia, Würtemberg and Baden were confiscated; even the property of
+reigning princes was seized; but, instead of passing into the hands of
+the Church, much of it was bestowed upon the Emperor's family and his
+followers. The Archbishoprics of Bremen and Magdeburg were given to his
+son Leopold, a boy of 15! In carrying out the measure, Catholics began
+to suffer, as well as Protestants, and the jealousy and alarm of all the
+smaller States were finally aroused.</p>
+
+<p>Wallenstein, while equally despotic, was much more arrogant and reckless
+than Ferdinand II. He openly declared that reigning princes and a
+National Diet were no longer necessary in Germany; the Emperor must be
+an absolute ruler, like the kings of France and Spain. At the same time
+he was carrying out his own political plans without much reference to
+the Imperial authority. Both Catholics and Protestants united in calling
+for a Diet: Ferdinand II. at first refused, but there were such signs of
+hostility on the part of Holland, Denmark, Sweden and even France, that
+he was forced to yield. The Diet met on the 5th of June, 1630, at
+Ratisbon, and Maximilian of Bavaria headed the universal demand for
+Wallenstein's removal. The Protestants<span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</span> gave testimony of the merciless
+system of plunder by which he had ruined their lands; the Catholics
+complained of the more than Imperial splendors of his court, upon which
+he squandered uncounted millions of stolen money. He travelled with 100
+carriages and more than 1,000 horses, kept 15 cooks for his table, and
+was waited upon by 16 pages of noble blood. Jealousy of this pomp and
+state, and fear of Wallenstein's ambitious designs, and not the latter's
+fiendish inhumanity, induced Ferdinand II. to submit to the entreaties
+of the Diet, and remove him.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1630.</div>
+
+<p>The Imperial messengers who were sent to his camp with the order of
+dismissal, approached him in great dread and anxiety, and scarcely dared
+to mention their business. Wallenstein pointed to a sheet covered with
+astrological characters, and quietly told them that he had known
+everything in advance; that the Emperor had been misled by the Elector
+of Bavaria, but, nevertheless, the order would be obeyed. He entertained
+them at a magnificent banquet, loaded them with gifts, and then sent
+them away. With rage and hate in his heart, but with all the external
+show and splendor of an independent sovereign, he retired to Prague,
+well knowing that the day was not far off when his services would be
+again needed.</p>
+
+<p>Tilly was appointed commander-in-chief of the Imperial armies. At the
+very moment, however, when Wallenstein was dismissed, and his forces
+divided among several inferior generals, the leader whom the German
+Protestants could not furnish came to them from abroad. Their ruin and
+the triumph of Ferdinand II. seemed inevitable; twelve years of war in
+its most horrible form had desolated their lands, reduced their numbers
+to less than half, and broken their spirit. Then help and hope suddenly
+returned. On the 4th of July, 1630, Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden,
+landed on the coast of Pomerania, with an army of 15,000 men. As he
+stepped upon the shore, he knelt in the sight of all the soldiers and
+prayed that God would befriend him. Some of his staff could not restrain
+their tears; whereupon he said to them: "Weep not, friends, but pray,
+for prayer is half victory!"</p>
+
+<p>Gustavus Adolphus, who had succeeded to the throne in 1611, at the age
+of 17, was already distinguished as a military commander. He had
+defeated the Russians in Livonia and banished them from the Baltic; he
+had fought for three<span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</span> years with king Sigismund of Poland, and taken
+from him the ports of Elbing, Pillau and Memel, and he was now burning
+with zeal to defend the falling Protestant cause in Germany. Cardinal
+Richelieu, in France, helped him to the opportunity by persuading
+Sigismund to accept an armistice, and by furnishing Sweden with the
+means of carrying on a war against Ferdinand II. The latter had assisted
+Poland, so that a pretext was not wanting; but when Gustavus laid his
+plans before his council in Stockholm, a majority of the members advised
+him to wait for a new cause of offence. Nevertheless, he insisted on
+immediate action. The representatives of the four orders of the people
+were convoked in the Senate-house, where he appeared before them with
+his little daughter, Christina, in his arms, asked them to swear fealty
+to her, and then bade them a solemn farewell. All burst into tears when
+he said: "perhaps for ever," but nothing could shake his resolution to
+undertake the great work.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1630. GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS.</div>
+
+<p>Gustavus Adolphus was at this time 34 years old; he was so tall and
+powerfully built that he almost seemed a giant; his face was remarkably
+frank and cheerful in expression, his hair light, his eyes large and
+gray and his nose aquiline. Personally, he was a striking contrast to
+the little, haggard and wrinkled Tilly and the dark, silent and gloomy
+Wallenstein. Ferdinand II. laughed when he heard of his landing, called
+him the "Snow King," and said that he would melt away after one winter;
+but the common people, who loved and trusted him as soon as they saw
+him, named him the "Lion of the North." He was no less a statesman than
+a soldier, and his accomplishments were unusual in a ruler of those
+days. He was a generous patron of the arts and sciences, spoke four
+languages with ease and elegance, was learned in theology, a ready
+orator and&mdash;best of all&mdash;he was honest, devout and conscientious in all
+his ways. The best blood of the Goths from whom he was descended beat in
+his veins, and the Germans, therefore, could not look upon him as a
+foreigner; to them he was a countryman as well as a deliverer.</p>
+
+<p>The Protestant princes, however, although in the utmost peril and
+humiliated to the dust, refused to unite with him. If their course had
+been cowardly and selfish before, it now became simply infamous. The
+Duke of Pomerania shut the gates of Stettin upon the Swedish army, until
+compelled by threats to open them; the Electors of Brandenburg and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</span>
+Saxony held themselves aloof, and Gustavus found himself obliged to
+respect their neutrality, lest they should go over to the Emperor's
+side! Out of all Protestant Germany there came to him a few petty
+princes whose lands had been seized by the Catholics, and who could only
+offer their swords. His own troops, however, had been seasoned in many
+battles; their discipline was perfect; and when the German people found
+that the slightest act of plunder or violence was severely punished,
+they were welcomed wherever they marched.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1631.</div>
+
+<p>Moving slowly, and with as much wisdom as caution, Gustavus relieved
+Pomerania from the Imperial troops, by the end of the year. He then took
+Frankfort-on-the-Oder by storm, and forced the Elector of Brandenburg to
+give him the use of Spandau as a fortress, until he should have relieved
+Magdeburg, the only German city which had forcibly resisted the "Edict
+of Restitution," and was now besieged by Tilly and Pappenheim. As the
+city was hard pressed, Gustavus demanded of John George, Elector of
+Saxony, permission to march through his territory: it was refused!
+Magdeburg was defended by 2,300 soldiers and 5,000 armed citizens
+against an army of 30,000 men, for more than a month; then, on the 10th
+of May, 1631, it was taken by storm, and given up to the barbarous fury
+of Tilly and his troops. The city sank in blood and ashes: 30,000 of the
+inhabitants perished by the sword, or in the flames, or crushed under
+falling walls, or drowned in the waters of the Elbe. Only 4,000, who had
+taken refuge in the Cathedral, were spared. Tilly wrote to the Emperor:
+"Since the fall of Troy and Jerusalem, such a victory has never been
+seen; and I am sincerely sorry that the ladies of your imperial family
+could not have been present as spectators!"</p>
+
+<p>Gustavus Adolphus has been blamed, especially by the admirers and
+defenders of the houses of Brandenburg and Saxony, for not having saved
+Magdeburg. This he might have done, had he disregarded the neutrality
+asserted by John George; but he had been bitterly disappointed at his
+reception by the Protestant princes, he could not trust them, and was
+not strong enough to fight Tilly with possible enemies in his rear. In
+fact, George William of Brandenburg immediately ordered him to give up
+Spandau and leave his territory. Then Gustavus did what he should have
+done at first: he planted his cannon before Berlin, and threatened to
+lay the city in ashes. This brought<span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</span> George William to his senses; he
+agreed that his fortresses should be used by the Swedes, and contributed
+30,000 dollars a month towards the expenses of the war. So many recruits
+flocked to the Swedish standard that both Mecklenburgs were soon cleared
+of the Imperial troops, the banished Dukes restored, and an attack by
+Tilly upon the fortified camp of Gustavus was repulsed with heavy
+losses.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1631. DEFEAT OF TILLY.</div>
+
+<p>Landgrave William of Hesse Cassel was the first Protestant prince who
+voluntarily allied himself with the Swedish king. He was shortly
+followed by the unwilling but helpless John George of Saxony, whose
+territory was invaded and wasted by Tilly's army. Ferdinand II. had
+given this order, meaning that the Elector should at least support his
+troops. Tilly took possession of Halle, Naumburg and other cities,
+plundered and levied heavy contributions, and at last entered Leipzig,
+after bombarding it for four days. Then John George united his troops
+with those of Gustavus Adolphus, who now commanded an army of 35,000
+men.</p>
+
+<p>Tilly and Pappenheim had an equal force to oppose him. After a good deal
+of cautious man&oelig;uvring, the two armies stood face to face near
+Leipzig, on the 17th of September, 1631. The Swedes were without armor,
+and Gustavus distributed musketeers among the cavalry and pikemen.
+Banner, one of his generals, commanded his right, and Marshal Horn his
+left, where the Saxons were stationed. The army of Tilly was drawn up in
+a long line, and the troops wore heavy cuirasses and helmets: Pappenheim
+commanded the left, opposite Gustavus, while Tilly undertook to engage
+the Saxons. The battle-cry of the Protestants was "God with us!"&mdash;that
+of the Catholics "Jesu Maria!" Gustavus, wearing a white hat and green
+feather, and mounted on a white horse, rode up and down the lines,
+encouraging his men. The Saxons gave way before Tilly, and began to fly;
+but the Swedes, after repelling seven charges of Pappenheim's cavalry,
+broke the enemy's right wing, captured the cannon and turned them
+against Tilly. The Imperial army, thrown into confusion, fled in
+disorder, pursued by the Swedes, who cut them down until night put an
+end to the slaughter. Tilly, severely wounded, narrowly escaped death,
+and reached Halle with only a few hundred men.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1632.</div>
+
+<p>This splendid victory restored the hopes of the Protestants everywhere.
+Duke Bernard of Saxe-Weimar had joined Gustavus before the battle: in
+his zeal for the cause,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</span> his honesty and bravery, he resembled the king,
+whose chief reliance as a military leader, he soon became. John George
+of Saxony consented, though with evident reluctance, to march into
+Bohemia, where the crushed Protestants were longing for help, while the
+Swedish army advanced through Central Germany to the Rhine. Tilly
+gathered together the scattered Imperial forces left in the North,
+followed, and vainly endeavored to check Gustavus. The latter took
+Würzburg, defeated 17,000 men under Charles of Lorraine, who had crossed
+the Rhine to oppose him, and entered Frankfort in triumph. Here he fixed
+his winter-quarters, and allowed his faithful Swedish troops the rest
+which they so much needed.</p>
+
+<p>The territory of the Archbishop of Mayence, and of other Catholic
+princes, which he overran, was not plundered or laid waste: Gustavus
+proclaimed everywhere religious freedom, not retaliation for the
+barbarities inflicted on the Protestants. He soon made himself respected
+by his enemies, and his influence spread so rapidly that the idea of
+becoming Emperor of Germany was a natural consequence of his success.
+His wife, Queen Eleanor, had joined him; he held a splendid court at
+Frankfort, and required the German princes whom he had subjected to
+acknowledge themselves his dependents. The winter of 1631&mdash;32 was given
+up to diplomacy, rather than war. Richelieu began to be jealous of the
+increasing power of the Swedish king, and entered into secret
+negotiations with Maximilian of Bavaria. The latter also corresponded
+with Gustavus Adolphus, who by this time had secured the neutrality of
+the States along the Rhine, and the support of a large majority of the
+population of the Palatinate, Baden and Würtemberg.</p>
+
+<p>In the early spring of 1632, satisfied that no arrangement with
+Maximilian was possible, Gustavus reorganized his army and set out for
+Bavaria. The city of Nuremberg received him with the wildest rejoicing:
+then he advanced upon Donauwörth, drove out Maximilian's troops and
+restored Protestant worship in the churches. Tilly, meanwhile, had added
+Maximilian's army to his own, and taken up a strong position on the
+eastern bank of the river Lech, between Augsburg and the Danube.
+Gustavus marched against him, cannonaded his position for three days
+from the opposite bank, and had partly crossed under cover of the smoke
+before his plan was discovered. On the 15th of April Tilly was mortally
+wounded, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</span> his army fled in the greatest confusion: he died a few
+days afterwards, at Ingolstadt, 73 years old.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1632. WALLENSTEIN RESTORED TO POWER.</div>
+
+<p>The city of Augsburg opened its gates to the conqueror and acknowledged
+his authority. Then, after attacking Ingolstadt without success, he
+marched upon Munich, which was unable to resist, but was spared, on
+condition of paying a heavy contribution. The Bavarians had buried a
+number of cannon under the floor of the arsenal, and news thereof came
+to the king's ears. "Let the dead arise!" he ordered; and 140 pieces
+were dug up, one of which contained 30,000 ducats. Maximilian, whose
+land was completely overrun by the Swedes, would gladly have made peace,
+but Gustavus plainly told him that he was not to be trusted. While the
+Protestant cause was so brilliantly victorious in the south, John George
+of Saxony, who had taken possession of Prague without the least trouble,
+remained inactive in Bohemia during the winter and spring, apparently as
+jealous of Gustavus as he was afraid of Ferdinand II.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor had long before ceased to laugh at the "Snow King." He was
+in the greatest strait of his life: he knew that his trampled Austrians
+would rise at the approach of the Swedish army, and then the Catholic
+cause would be lost. Before this he had appealed to Wallenstein, who was
+holding a splendid court at Znaim, in Moravia; but the latter refused,
+knowing that he could exact better terms for his support by waiting a
+little longer. The danger, in fact, increased so rapidly that Ferdinand
+II. was finally compelled to subscribe to an agreement which practically
+made Wallenstein the lord and himself the subject. He gave the Duchies
+of Mecklenburg to Wallenstein, and promised him one of the Hapsburg
+States in Austria; he gave him the entire disposal of all the territory
+he should conquer, and agreed to pay the expenses of his army. Moreover,
+all appointments were left to Wallenstein, and the Emperor pledged
+himself that neither he nor his son should ever visit the former's camp.</p>
+
+<p>Having thus become absolute master of his movements, Wallenstein offered
+a high rate of payment and boundless chances of plunder to all who might
+enlist under him, and in two or three months stood at the head of an
+army of 40,000 men, many of whom were demoralized Protestants. He took
+possession of Prague, which John George vacated at his approach, and
+then waited quietly until Maximilian should be forced by necessity to
+give him also the command of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</span> Bavarian forces. This soon came to
+pass, and then Wallenstein, with 60,000 men, marched against Gustavus
+Adolphus, who fell back upon Nuremberg, which he surrounded with a
+fortified camp. Instead of attacking him, Wallenstein took possession of
+the height of Zirndorf, in the neighborhood of the city, and strongly
+intrenched himself. Here the two commanders lay for nine weeks, watching
+each other, until Gustavus, whose force amounted to about 35,000, grew
+impatient of the delay, and troubled for the want of supplies.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1632.</div>
+
+<p>He attacked Wallenstein's camp, but was repulsed with a loss of 2,000
+men; then, after waiting two weeks longer, he marched out of Nuremberg,
+with the intention of invading Bavaria. Maximilian followed him with the
+Bavarian troops, and Wallenstein, whose army had been greatly diminished
+by disease and desertion, moved into Franconia. Then, wheeling suddenly,
+he crossed the Thuringian Mountains into Saxony, burning and pillaging
+as he went, took Leipzig, and threatened Dresden. John George, who was
+utterly unprepared for such a movement, again called upon Gustavus for
+help, and the latter, leaving Bavaria, hastened to Saxony by forced
+marches. On the 27th of October he reached Erfurt, where he took leave
+of his wife, with a presentiment that he should never see her again.</p>
+
+<p>As he passed on through Weimar to Naumburg, the country-people flocked
+to see him, falling on their knees, kissing his garments, and expressing
+such other signs of faith and veneration, that he exclaimed: "I pray
+that the wrath of the Almighty may not be visited upon me, on account of
+this idolatry towards a weak and sinful mortal!" Wallenstein's force
+being considerably larger than his own, he halted in Naumburg, to await
+the former's movements. As the season was so far advanced, Wallenstein
+finally decided to send Pappenheim with 10,000 men into Westphalia, and
+then go into winter-quarters. As soon as Gustavus heard of Pappenheim's
+departure he marched to the attack, and the battle began on the morning
+of November 6th, 1632, at Lützen, between Naumburg and Leipzig.</p>
+
+<p>On both sides the troops had been arranged with great military skill.
+Wallenstein had 25,000 men and Gustavus 20,000. The latter made a
+stirring address to his Swedes, and then the whole army united in
+singing Luther's grand hymn: "Our Lord He is a Tower of Strength." For
+several hours the battle raged furiously, without any marked advantage<span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</span>
+on either side; then the Swedes broke Wallenstein's left wing and
+captured the artillery. The Imperialists rallied and retook it, throwing
+the Swedes into some confusion. Gustavus rode forward to rally them and
+was carried by his horse among the enemy. A shot, fired at close
+quarters, shattered his left arm, but he refused to leave the field, and
+shortly afterwards a second shot struck him from his horse. The sight of
+the steed, covered with blood and wildly galloping to and fro, told the
+Swedes what had happened; but, instead of being disheartened, they
+fought more furiously than before, under the command of Duke Bernard of
+Saxe-Weimar.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1632. THE BATTLE OF LÜTZEN.</div>
+
+<p>At this juncture Pappenheim, who had been summoned from Halle the day
+before, arrived on the field. His first impetuous charge drove the
+Swedes back, but he also fell, mortally wounded, his cavalry began to
+waver, and the lost ground was regained. Night put an end to the
+conflict, and before morning Wallenstein retreated to Leipzig, leaving
+all his artillery and colors on the field. The body of Gustavus Adolphus
+was found after a long search, buried under a heap of dead, stripped,
+mutilated by the hoofs of horses, and barely recognizable. The loss to
+the Protestant cause seemed irreparable, but the heroic king, in
+falling, had so crippled the power of its most dangerous enemy that its
+remaining adherents had a little breathing-time left them, to arrange
+for carrying on the struggle.</p>
+
+<p>Wallenstein was so weakened that he did not even remain in Saxony, but
+retired to Bohemia, where he vented his rage on his own soldiers. The
+Protestant princes felt themselves powerless without the aid of Sweden,
+and when the Chancellor of the kingdom, Oxenstierna, decided to carry on
+the war, they could not do otherwise than accept him as the head of the
+Protestant Union, in the place of Gustavus Adolphus. A meeting was held
+at Heilbronn, in the spring of 1633, at which the Suabian, Franconian
+and Rhenish princes formally joined the new league. Duke Bernard and the
+Swedish Marshal Horn were appointed commanders of the army. Electoral
+Saxony and Brandenburg, as before, hesitated and half drew back, but
+they finally consented to favor the movement without joining it, and
+each accepted 100,000 thalers a year from France, to pay them for the
+trouble. Richelieu had an ambassador at Heilbronn, who promised large
+subsidies to the Protestant side: it was in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</span> the interest of France to
+break the power of the Hapsburgs, and there was also a chance, in the
+struggle, of gaining another slice of German territory.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1633.</div>
+
+<p>Hostilities were renewed, and for a considerable time the Protestant
+armies were successful everywhere. William of Hesse and Duke George of
+Brunswick defeated the Imperialists and held Westphalia; Duke Bernard
+took Bamberg and moved against Bavaria; Saxony and Silesia were
+delivered from the enemy, and Marshal Horn took possession of Alsatia.
+Duke Bernard and Horn were only prevented from overrunning all Bavaria
+by a mutiny which broke out in their armies, and deprived them of
+several weeks of valuable time.</p>
+
+<p>While these movements were going on, Wallenstein remained idle at
+Prague, in spite of the repeated and pressing entreaties of the Emperor
+that he would take the field. He seems to have considered his personal
+power secured, and was only in doubt as to the next step which he should
+take in his ambitious career. Finally, in May, he marched into Silesia,
+easily out-generaled Arnheim, who commanded the Protestant armies, but
+declined to follow up his advantage, and concluded an armistice. Secret
+negotiations then began between Wallenstein, Arnheim and the French
+ambassador: the project was that Wallenstein should come over to the
+Protestant side, in return for the crown of Bohemia. Louis XIII. of
+France promised his aid, but Chancellor Oxenstierna, distrusting
+Wallenstein, refused to be a party to the plan. There is no positive
+evidence, indeed, that Wallenstein consented: it rather seems that he
+was only courting offers from the Protestant side, in order to have a
+choice of advantages, but without binding himself in any way.</p>
+
+<p>Ferdinand II., in his desperation, summoned a Spanish army from Italy to
+his aid. This was a new offence to Wallenstein, since the new troops
+were not placed under his command. In the autumn of 1633, however, he
+felt obliged to make some movement. He entered Silesia, defeated a
+Protestant army under Count Thurn, overran the greater part of Saxony
+and Brandenburg, and threatened Pomerania. In the meantime the Spanish
+and Austrian troops in Bavaria had been forced to fall back, Duke
+Bernard had taken Ratisbon, and the road to Vienna was open to him.
+Ferdinand II. and Maximilian of Bavaria sent messenger<span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</span> after messenger
+to Wallenstein, imploring him to return from the North without delay. He
+moved with the greatest slowness, evidently enjoying their anxiety and
+alarm, crossed the northern frontier of Bavaria, and then, instead of
+marching against Duke Bernard, he turned about and took up his
+winter-quarters at Pilsen, in Bohemia.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1634. WALLENSTEIN'S CONSPIRACY.</div>
+
+<p>Here he received an order from the Emperor, commanding him to march
+instantly against Ratisbon, and further, to send 6,000 of his best
+cavalry to the Spanish army. This step compelled him, after a year's
+hesitation, to act without further delay. He was already charged, at
+Vienna, with being a traitor to the Imperial cause: he now decided to
+become one, in reality. He first confided his design to his
+brothers-in-law, Counts Kinsky and Terzky, and one of his Generals,
+Illo. Then a council of war, of all the chief officers of his army, was
+called on the 11th of January, 1634; Wallenstein stated what Ferdinand
+II. had ordered, and in a cunning speech commented on the latter's
+ingratitude to the army which had saved him, ending by declaring that he
+should instantly resign his command. The officers were thunderstruck:
+they had boundless faith in Wallenstein's military genius, and they saw
+themselves deprived of glory, pay and plunder by his resignation. He and
+his associates skilfully made use of their excitement: at a grand
+banquet, the next day, all of them, numbering 42, signed a document
+pledging their entire fidelity to Wallenstein.</p>
+
+<p>General Piccolomini, one of the signers, betrayed all this to the
+Emperor, who, twelve days afterwards, appointed General Gallas, another
+of the signers, commander in Wallenstein's stead. At the same time a
+secret order was issued for the seizure of Wallenstein, Illo and Terzky,
+dead or alive. Both sides were now secretly working against each other,
+but Wallenstein's former delay told against him. He could not go over to
+the Protestant side, unless certain important conditions were secured in
+advance, and while his agents were negotiating with Duke Bernard, his
+own army, privately worked upon by Gallas and other agents of the
+Emperor, began to desert him. What arrangement was made with Duke
+Bernard, is uncertain; the chief evidence is that he, and Wallenstein
+with the few thousand troops who still stood by him, moved rapidly
+towards each other, as if to join their forces.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1634.</div>
+
+<p>On the 24th of February, 1634, Wallenstein reached the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</span> town of Eger,
+near the Bohemian frontier: only two or three more days were required,
+to consummate his plan. Then Colonel Butler, an Irishman, and two Scotch
+officers, Gordon and Leslie, conspired to murder him and his
+associates&mdash;no doubt in consequence of instructions received from
+Vienna. Illo, Terzky and Kinsky accepted an invitation to a banquet in
+the citadel, the following evening; but Wallenstein, who was unwell,
+remained in his quarters in the Burgomaster's house. Everything had been
+carefully prepared, in advance: at a given signal, Gordon and Leslie put
+out the lights, dragoons entered the banquet-hall, and the three victims
+were murdered in cold blood. Then a Captain Devereux, with six soldiers,
+forced his way into the Burgomaster's house, on pretence of bearing
+important dispatches, cut down Wallenstein's servant and entered the
+room where he lay. Wallenstein, seeing that his hour had come, made no
+resistance, but silently received his death-blow.</p>
+
+<p>When Duke Bernard arrived, a day or two afterwards, he found Eger
+defended by the Imperialists. Ferdinand II. shed tears when he heard of
+Wallenstein's death, and ordered 3,000 masses to be said for his soul;
+but, at the same time, he raised the assassins, Butler and Leslie, to
+the rank of Count, and rewarded them splendidly for the deed.
+Wallenstein's immense estates were divided among the officers who had
+sworn to support him, and had then secretly gone over to the Emperor.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXIX.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">END OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1634&mdash;1648.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>The Battle of Nördlingen.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Aid furnished by France.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Treachery of Protestant Princes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Offers of Ferdinand II.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Duke Bernard of Saxe-Weimar visits Paris.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Agreement with Louis XIII.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Victories.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Death of Ferdinand II.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Ferdinand III. succeeds.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Duke Bernard's Bravery, Popularity and Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Banner's Successes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Torstenson's Campaigns.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;He threatens Vienna.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The French victorious in Southern Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Movements for Peace.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Wrangel's Victories.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Capture of Prague by the Swedes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Peace of Westphalia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Its Provisions.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Religious Settlement.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Defeat of the Church of Rome.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Desolation of Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Sufferings and Demoralization of the People.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Practical Overthrow of the Empire.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;A Multitude of Independent States.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1634. DEFEAT OF THE PROTESTANTS.</div>
+
+<p>The Austrian army, composed chiefly of Wallenstein's troops and
+commanded nominally by the Emperor's son, the Archduke Ferdinand, but
+really by General Gallas, marched upon Ratisbon and forced the Swedish
+garrison to surrender before Duke Bernard, hastening back from Eger,
+could reach the place. Then, uniting with the Spanish and Bavarian
+forces, the Archduke took Donauwörth and began the siege of the
+fortified town of Nördlingen, in Würtemberg. Duke Bernard effected a
+junction with Marshal Horn, and, with his usual daring, determined to
+attack the Imperialists at once. Horn endeavored to dissuade him, but in
+vain: the battle was fought on the 6th of September, 1634, and the
+Protestants were terribly defeated, losing 12,000 men, beside 6,000
+prisoners, and nearly all their artillery and baggage-wagons. Marshal
+Horn was among the prisoners, and Duke Bernard barely succeeded in
+escaping with a few followers.</p>
+
+<p>The result of this defeat was that Würtemberg and the Palatinate were
+again ravaged by Catholic armies. Oxenstierna, who was consulting with
+the Protestant princes in Frankfort, suddenly found himself nearly
+deserted: only Hesse-Cassel, Würtemberg and Baden remained on his side.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</span>
+In this crisis he turned to France, which agreed to assist the Swedes
+against the Emperor, in return for more territory in Lorraine and
+Alsatia. For the first time, Richelieu found it advisable to give up his
+policy of aiding the Protestants with money, and now openly supported
+them with French troops. John George of Saxony, who had driven the
+Imperialists from his land and invaded Bohemia, cunningly took advantage
+of the Emperor's new danger, and made a separate treaty with him, at
+Prague, in May, 1635. The latter gave up the "Edict of Restitution" so
+far as Saxony was concerned, and made a few other concessions, none of
+which favored the Protestants in other lands. On the other hand, he
+positively refused to grant religious freedom to Austria, and excepted
+Baden, the Palatinate and Würtemberg from the provision which allowed
+other princes to join Saxony in the treaty.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1635.</div>
+
+<p>Brandenburg, Mecklenburg, Brunswick, Anhalt, and many free cities
+followed the example of Saxony. The most important, and&mdash;apparently for
+the Swedes and South-German Protestants&mdash;fatal provision of the treaty
+was that all the States which accepted it should combine to raise an
+army to enforce it, the said army to be placed at the Emperor's
+disposal. The effect of this was to create a union of the Catholics and
+German Lutherans against the Swedish Lutherans and German Calvinists&mdash;a
+measure which gave Germany many more years of fire and blood. Duke
+Bernard of Saxe-Weimar and the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel scorned to be
+parties to such a compact: the Swedes and South-Germans were outraged
+and indignant: John George was openly denounced as a traitor, as, on the
+Catholic side, the Emperor was also denounced, because he had agreed to
+yield anything whatever to the Protestants. France, only, enjoyed the
+miseries of the situation.</p>
+
+<p>Ferdinand II. was evidently weary of the war, which had now lasted
+nearly eighteen years, and he made an effort to terminate it by offering
+to Sweden three and a half millions of florins and to Duke Bernard a
+principality in Franconia, provided they would accept the treaty of
+Prague. Both refused: the latter took command of 12,000 French troops
+and marched into Alsatia, while the Swedish General Banner defeated the
+Saxons, who had taken the field against him, in three successive
+battles. The Imperialists, who had meanwhile retaken Alsatia and invaded
+France, were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</span> recalled to Germany by Banner's victories, and Duke
+Bernard, at the same time, went to Paris to procure additional support.
+During the years 1636 and 1637 nearly all Germany was wasted by the
+opposing armies; the struggle had become fiercer and more barbarous than
+ever, and the last resources of many States were so exhausted that
+famine and disease carried off nearly all of the population whom the
+sword had spared.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1636. DUKE BERNARD IN PARIS.</div>
+
+<p>Duke Bernard made an agreement with Louis XIII. whereby he received the
+rank of Marshal of France, and a subsidy of four million livres a year,
+to pay for a force of 18,000 men, which he undertook to raise in
+Germany. After the death of Gustavus Adolphus, the hope of the
+Protestants was centred on him; soldiers flocked to his standard at
+once, and his fortunes suddenly changed. The Swedes were driven from
+Northern Germany, with the aid of the Elector of Brandenburg, who
+surrendered to the Emperor the most important of his rights as reigning
+prince: by the end of 1637, Banner was compelled to retreat to the
+Baltic coast, and there await reinforcements. At the same time, Duke
+Bernard entered Alsatia, routed the Imperialists, took their commander
+prisoner, and soon gained possession of all the territory with the
+exception of the fortress of Breisach, to which he laid siege.</p>
+
+<p>On the 15th of February, 1637, the Emperor Ferdinand II. died, in the
+fifty-ninth year of his age, after having occasioned, by his policy, the
+death of 10,000,000 of human beings. Yet the responsibility of his fatal
+and terrible reign rests not so much upon himself, personally, as upon
+the Jesuits who educated him. He appears to have sincerely believed that
+it was better to reign over a desert than a Protestant people. As a man
+he was courageous, patient, simple in his tastes, and without personal
+vices. But all the weaknesses and crimes of his worst predecessors,
+added together, were scarcely a greater curse to the German people than
+his devotion to what he considered the true faith. His son, Ferdinand
+III., was immediately elected to succeed him. The Protestants considered
+him less subject to the Jesuits and more kindly disposed towards
+themselves, but they were mistaken: he adopted all the measures of his
+father, and carried on the war with equal zeal and cruelty.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1638.</div>
+
+<p>More than one army was sent to the relief of Breisach, but Duke Bernard
+defeated them all, and in December, 1638,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</span> the strong fortress
+surrendered to him. His compact with France stipulated that he should
+possess the greater part of Alsatia as his own independent principality,
+after conquering it, relinquishing to France the northern portion,
+bordering on Lorraine. But now Louis XIII. demanded Breisach, making its
+surrender to him the condition of further assistance. Bernard refused,
+gave up the French subsidy, and determined to carry on the war alone.
+His popularity was so great that his chance of success seemed good: he
+was a brave, devout and noble-minded man, whose strong personal ambition
+was always controlled by his conscience. The people had entire faith in
+him, and showed him the same reverence which they had manifested towards
+Gustavus Adolphus; yet their hope, as before, only preceded their loss.
+In the midst of his preparations Duke Bernard died suddenly, on the 18th
+of July, 1639, only thirty-six years old. It was generally believed that
+he had been poisoned by a secret agent of France, but there is no
+evidence that this was the case, except that a French army instantly
+marched into Alsatia and held the country.</p>
+
+<p>Duke Bernard's successes, nevertheless, had drawn a part of the
+Imperialists from Northern Germany, and in 1638 Banner, having recruited
+his army, marched through Brandenburg and Saxony into the heart of
+Bohemia, burning and plundering as he went, with no less barbarity than
+Tilly or Wallenstein. Although repulsed in 1639, near Prague, by the
+Archduke Leopold (Ferdinand III.'s brother), he only retired as far as
+Thuringia, where he was again strengthened by Hessian and French troops.
+In this condition of affairs, Ferdinand III. called a Diet, which met at
+Ratisbon in the autumn of 1640. A majority of the Protestant members
+united with the Catholics in their enmity to Sweden and France, but they
+seemed incapable of taking any measures to put an end to the dreadful
+war: month after month went by and nothing was done.</p>
+
+<p>Then Banner conceived the bold design of capturing the Emperor and the
+Diet. He made a winter march, with such skill and swiftness, that he
+appeared before the walls of Ratisbon at the same moment with the first
+news of his movement. Nothing but a sudden thaw, and the breaking up of
+the ice in the Danube, prevented him from being successful. In May,
+1641, he died, his army broke up, and the Emperor began to recover some
+of the lost ground. Several of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</span> Protestant princes showed signs of
+submission, and ambassadors from Austria, France and Sweden met at
+Hamburg to decide where and how a Peace Congress might be held.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1642. VICTORIES OF TORSTENSON.</div>
+
+<p>In 1642 the Swedish army was reorganized under the command of
+Torstenson, one of the greatest of the many distinguished generals of
+the time. Although he was a constant sufferer from gout and had to be
+carried in a litter, he was no less rapid than daring and successful in
+all his military operations. His first campaign was through Silesia and
+Bohemia, almost to the gates of Vienna; then, returning through Saxony,
+towards the close of the year, he almost annihilated the army of
+Piccolomini before the walls of Leipzig. The Elector John George,
+fighting on the Catholic side, was forced to take refuge in Bohemia.</p>
+
+<p>Denmark having declared war against Sweden, Torstenson made a campaign
+in Holstein and Jutland in 1643, in conjunction with a Swedish fleet on
+the coast, and soon brought Denmark to terms. The Imperialist general,
+Gallas, followed him, but was easily defeated, and then Torstenson, in
+turn, followed him back through Bohemia into Austria. In March, 1645,
+the Swedish army won such a splendid victory near Tabor, that Ferdinand
+III. had scarcely any troops left to oppose their march. Again
+Torstenson appeared before Vienna, and was about commencing the siege of
+the city, when a pestilence broke out among his troops and compelled him
+to retire, as before, through Saxony. Worn out with the fatigues of his
+marches, he died before the end of the year, and the command was given
+to General Wrangel.</p>
+
+<p>During this time the French, under the famous Marshals, Turenne and
+Condé, had not only maintained themselves in Alsatia, but had crossed
+the Rhine and ravaged Baden, the Palatinate, Würtemberg and part of
+Franconia. Although badly defeated by the Bavarians in the early part of
+1645, they were reinforced by the Swedes and Hessians, and, before the
+close of the year, won such a victory over the united Imperialist
+forces, not far from Donauwörth, that all Bavaria lay open to them. The
+effect of these French successes, and of those of the Swedes under
+Torstenson, was to deprive Ferdinand III. of nearly his whole military
+strength. John George of Saxony concluded a separate armistice with the
+Swedes, thus violating the treaty of Prague, which had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</span> cost his people
+ten years of blood. He was followed by Frederick William, the young
+Elector of Brandenburg; and then Maximilian of Bavaria, in March, 1647,
+also negotiated a separate armistice with France and Sweden. Ferdinand
+III. was thus left with a force of only 12,000 men, the command of
+which, as he had no Catholic generals left, was given to a renegade
+Calvinist named Melander von Holzapfel.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1645.</div>
+
+<p>The chief obstacle to peace&mdash;the power of the Hapsburgs&mdash;now seemed to
+be broken down. The wanton and tremendous effort made to crush out
+Protestantism in Germany, although helped by the selfishness, the
+cowardice or the miserable jealousy of so many Protestant princes, had
+signally failed, owing to the intervention of three foreign powers, one
+of which was Catholic. Yet the Peace Congress, which had been agreed
+upon in 1643, had accomplished nothing. It was divided into two bodies:
+the ambassadors of the Emperor were to negotiate at Osnabrück with
+Sweden, as the representative of the Protestant powers, and at Münster
+with France, as the representative of the Catholic powers which desired
+peace. Two more years elapsed before all the ambassadors came together,
+and then a great deal of time was spent in arranging questions of rank,
+title and ceremony, which seem to have been considered much more
+important than the weal or woe of a whole people. Spain, Holland,
+Venice, Poland and Denmark also sent representatives, and about the end
+of 1645 the Congress was sufficiently organized to commence its labors.
+But, as the war was still being waged with as much fury as ever, one
+side waited and then the other for the result of battles and campaigns;
+and so two more years were squandered.</p>
+
+<p>After the armistice with Maximilian of Bavaria, the Swedish general,
+Wrangel, marched into Bohemia, where he gained so many advantages that
+Maximilian finally took sides again with the Emperor and drove the
+Swedes into Northern Germany. Then, early in 1648, Wrangel effected a
+junction with Marshal Turenne, and the combined Swedish and French
+armies overran all Bavaria, defeated the Imperialists in a bloody
+battle, and stood ready to invade Austria. At the same time Königsmark,
+with another Swedish army, entered Bohemia, stormed and took half the
+city of Prague, and only waited the approach of Wrangel and Turenne to
+join them in a combined movement upon<span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</span> Vienna. But before this movement
+could be executed, Ferdinand III. had decided to yield. His ambassadors
+at Osnabrück and Münster had received instructions, and lost no time in
+acting upon them: the proclamation of peace, after such heartless
+delays, came suddenly and put an end to thirty years of war.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1648. THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA.</div>
+
+<p>The Peace of Westphalia, as it is called, was concluded on the 24th of
+October, 1648. Inasmuch as its provisions extended not to Germany alone,
+but fixed the political relations of Europe for a period of nearly a
+hundred and fifty years, they must be briefly stated. France and Sweden,
+as the military powers which were victorious in the end, sought to draw
+the greatest advantages from the necessities of Germany, but France
+opposed any settlement of the religious questions (in order to keep a
+chance open for future interference), and Sweden demanded an immediate
+and final settlement, which was agreed to. France received Lorraine,
+with the cities of Metz, Toul and Verdun, which she had held nearly a
+hundred years, all Southern Alsatia with the fortress of Breisach, the
+right of appointing the governors of ten German cities, and other rights
+which practically placed nearly the whole of Alsatia in her power.
+Sweden received the northern half of Pomerania, with the cities of
+Wismar and Stettin, and the coast between Bremen and Hamburg, together
+with an indemnity of 5,000,000 thalers. Electoral Saxony received
+Lusatia and part of the territory of Magdeburg. Brandenburg received the
+other half of Pomerania, the archbishopric of Magdeburg, the bishoprics
+of Minden and Halberstadt, and other territory which had belonged to the
+Roman Church. Additions were made to the domains of Mecklenburg,
+Brunswick, and Hesse-Cassel, and the latter was also awarded an
+indemnity of 600,000 thalers. Bavaria received the Upper Palatinate
+(north of the Danube), and Baden, Würtemberg and Nassau were restored to
+their banished rulers. Other petty States were confirmed in the position
+which they had occupied before the war, and the independence of
+Switzerland and Holland was acknowledged.</p>
+
+<p>In regard to Religion, the results were much more important to the
+world. Both Calvinists and Lutherans received entire freedom of worship
+and equal civil rights with the Catholics. Ferdinand II.'s "Edict of
+Restitution" was withdrawn, and the territories which had been
+secularized<span class="pagenum" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</span> up to the year 1624 were not given back to the Church.
+Universal amnesty was decreed for everything which had happened during
+the war, except for the Austrian Protestants, whose possessions were not
+restored to them. The Emperor retained the authority of deciding
+questions of war and peace, taxation, defences, alliances, &amp;c. with the
+concurrence of the Diet: he acknowledged the absolute sovereignty of the
+several Princes in their own States, and conceded to them the right of
+forming alliances among themselves or with foreign powers! A special
+article of the treaty prohibited all persons from writing, speaking or
+teaching anything contrary to its provisions.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1648.</div>
+
+<p>The Pope (at that time Innocent X.) declared the Treaty of Westphalia
+null and void, and issued a bull against its observance. The parties to
+the treaty, however, did not allow this bull to be published in Germany.
+The Catholics in all parts of the country (except Austria, Styria and
+the Tyrol) had suffered almost as severely as the Protestants, and would
+have welcomed the return of peace upon any terms which simply left their
+faith free.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing shows so conclusively how wantonly and wickedly the Thirty
+Years' War was undertaken than the fact that the Peace of 1648, in a
+religious point of view, yielded even more to the Protestants than the
+Religious Peace of Augsburg, granted by Charles V. in 1555. After a
+hundred years, the Church of Rome, acting through its tools, the
+Hapsburg Emperors, was forced to give up the contest: the sword of
+slaughter was rusted to the hilt by the blood it had shed, and yet
+religious freedom was saved to Germany. It was not zeal for the spread
+of Christian truth which inspired this fearful Crusade against
+twenty-five millions of Protestants, for the Catholics equally
+acknowledged the authority of the Bible: it was the despotic
+determination of the Roman Church to rule the minds and consciences of
+all men, through its Pope and its priesthood.</p>
+
+<p>Thirty years of war! The slaughters of Rome's worst Emperors, the
+persecution of the Christians under Nero and Diocletian, the invasions
+of the Huns and Magyars, the long struggle of the Guelphs and
+Ghibellines, left no such desolation behind them. At the beginning of
+the century, the population of the German Empire was about thirty
+millions: when the Peace of Westphalia was declared, it was scarcely
+more than twelve millions! Electoral Saxony, alone, lost<span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</span> 900,000 lives
+in two years. The population of Augsburg had diminished from 80,000 to
+18,000, and out of 500,000 inhabitants, Würtemberg had but 48,000 left.
+The city of Berlin contained but three hundred citizens, the whole of
+the Palatinate of the Rhine but two hundred farmers. In Hesse-Cassel
+seventeen cities, forty-seven castles and three hundred villages were
+entirely destroyed by fire: thousands of villages, in all parts of the
+country, had but four or five families left out of hundreds, and landed
+property sank to about one-twentieth of its former value. Franconia was
+so depopulated that an Assembly held in Nuremberg ordered the Catholic
+priests to marry, and permitted all other men to have two wives. The
+horses, cattle and sheep were exterminated in many districts, the
+supplies of grain were at an end, even for sowing, and large cultivated
+tracts had relapsed into a wilderness. Even the orchards and vineyards
+had been wantonly destroyed wherever the armies had passed. So terrible
+was the ravage that in a great many localities, the same amount of
+population, cattle, acres of cultivated land and general prosperity, was
+not restored until the year 1848, two centuries afterwards!</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1648. DESOLATION OF GERMANY.</div>
+
+<p>This statement of the losses of Germany, however, was but a small part
+of the suffering endured. Only two commanders, Gustavus Adolphus and
+Duke Bernard of Saxe-Weimar, preserved rigid discipline among their
+troops, and prevented them from plundering the people. All others
+allowed, or were powerless to prevent, the most savage outrages. During
+the last ten or twelve years of the war both Protestants and Catholics
+vied with each other in deeds of barbarity; the soldiers were nothing
+but highway robbers, who maimed and tortured the country people to make
+them give up their last remaining property, and drove hundreds of
+thousands of them into the woods and mountains to die miserably or live
+as half-savages. Multitudes of others flocked to the cities for refuge,
+only to be visited by fire and famine. In the year 1637, when Ferdinand
+II. died, the want was so great that men devoured each other, and even
+hunted down human beings like deer or hares, in order to feed upon them.
+Great numbers committed suicide, to avoid a slow death by hunger: on the
+island of Rügen many poor creatures were found dead, with their mouths
+full of grass, and in some districts attempts were made to knead earth
+into bread. Then followed a pestilence which carried<span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</span> off a large
+proportion of the survivors. A writer of the time exclaims: "A thousand
+times ten thousand souls, the spirits of innocent children butchered in
+this unholy war, cry day and night unto God for vengeance, and cease
+not: while those who have caused all these miseries live in peace and
+freedom, and the shout of revelry and the voice of music are heard in
+their dwellings!"</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1648.</div>
+
+<p>In character, in intelligence and in morality, the German people were
+set back two hundred years. All branches of industry had declined,
+commerce had almost entirely ceased, literature and the arts were
+suppressed, and except the astronomical discoveries of Copernicus and
+Kepler there was no contribution to human knowledge. Even the modern
+High-German language, which Luther had made the classic tongue of the
+land, seemed to be on the point of perishing. Spaniards and Italians on
+the Catholic, Swedes and French on the Protestant side, flooded the
+country with foreign words and expressions, the use of which soon became
+an affectation with the nobility, who did their best to destroy their
+native language. Wallenstein's letters to the Emperor were a curious
+mixture of German, French, Spanish, Italian and Latin.</p>
+
+<p>Politically, the change was no less disastrous. The ambition of the
+house of Hapsburg, it is true, had brought its own punishment; the
+imperial dignity was secured to it, but henceforth the head of the "Holy
+Roman Empire" was not much more than a shadow. Each petty State became,
+practically, an independent nation, with power to establish its own
+foreign relations, make war and contract alliances. Thus Germany, as a
+whole, lost her place among the powers of Europe, and could not possibly
+regain it under such an arrangement: the Emperor and the Princes,
+together, had skilfully planned her decline and fall. The nobles who, in
+former centuries, had maintained a certain amount of independence, were
+almost as much demoralized as the people, and when every little prince
+began to imitate Louis XIV. and set up his own Versailles, the nobles in
+his territory became his courtiers and government officials. As for the
+mass of the people, their spirit was broken: for a time they gave up
+even the longing for rights which they had lost, and taught their
+children abject obedience in order that they might simply <i>live</i>.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1648. THE GERMAN STATES.</div>
+
+<p>After the Thirty Years' War, Germany was composed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</span> of nine Electorates,
+twenty-four Religious Principalities (Catholic), nine princely Abbots,
+ten princely Abbesses, twenty-four Princes with seat and vote in the
+Diet, thirteen Princes without seat and vote, sixty-two Counts of the
+Empire, fifty-one Cities of the Empire, and about one thousand Knights
+of the Empire. These last, however, no longer possessed any political
+power. But, without them, there were two hundred and three more or less
+independent, jealous and conflicting States, united by a bond which was
+more imaginary than real; and this confused, unnatural state of things
+continued until Napoleon came to put an end to it.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a>CHAPTER XXX.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">GERMANY, TO THE PEACE OF RYSWICK.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1648&mdash;1697.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Contemporary History.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Germany in the Seventeenth Century.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Influence of Louis XIV.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Leopold I. of Austria.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Petty Despotisms.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Great Elector.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Invasions of Louis XIV.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Elector Aids Holland.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;War with France.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battle of Fehrbellin.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;French Ravages in Baden.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Peace of Nymwegen.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Hapsburgs and Hohenzollerns.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Louis XIV. seizes Strasburg.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Vienna besieged by the Turks.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Sobieski's Victory.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Events in Hungary.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Prince Eugene of Savoy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Victories over the Turks.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;French Invasion of Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;French Barbarity.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Death of the Great Elector.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The War with France.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Peace of Ryswick.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Position of the German States.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Diet.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Imperial Court.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;State of Learning and Literature.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1648.</div>
+
+<p>The Peace of Westphalia coincides with the beginning of great changes
+throughout Europe. The leading position on the Continent, which Germany
+had preserved from the treaty of Verdun until the accession of Charles
+V.&mdash;nearly 700 years&mdash;was lost beyond recovery: it had passed into the
+hands of France, where Louis XIV. was just commencing his long and
+brilliant reign. Spain, after a hundred years of supremacy, was in a
+rapid decline; the new Republic of Holland was mistress of the seas, and
+Sweden was the great power of Northern Europe. In England, Charles I.
+had lost his throne, and Cromwell was at work, laying the foundation of
+a broader and firmer power than either the Tudors or the Stuarts had
+ever built. Poland was still a large and strong kingdom, and Russia was
+only beginning to attract the notice of other nations. The Italian
+Republics had seen their best days: even the power of Venice was slowly
+crumbling to pieces. The coast of America, from Maine to Virginia, was
+dotted with little English, Dutch and Swedish settlements, only a few of
+which had safely passed through their first struggle for existence.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1657. ELECTION OF LEOPOLD I.</div>
+
+<p>The history of Germany, during the remainder of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</span> seventeenth
+century, furnishes few events upon which the intelligent and patriotic
+German of to-day can look back with any satisfaction. Austria was the
+principal power, through her territory and population, as well as the
+Imperial dignity, which was thenceforth accorded to her as a matter of
+habit. The provision of religious liberty had not been extended to her
+people, who were now forcibly made Catholic; the former legislative
+assemblies, even the privileges of the nobles, had been suppressed, and
+the rule of the Hapsburgs was as absolute a despotism as that of Louis
+XIV. When Ferdinand III. died, in 1657, the "Great Monarch," as the
+French call him, made an attempt to be elected his successor: he
+purchased the votes of the Archbishops of Mayence, Treves and Cologne,
+and might have carried the day but for the determined resistance of the
+Electors of Brandenburg and Saxony. Even had he been successful, it is
+doubtful whether his influence over the most of the German Princes would
+have been greater than it was in reality.</p>
+
+<p>Ferdinand's son, Leopold I., a stupid, weak-minded youth of eighteen,
+was chosen Emperor in 1658. Like his ancestor, Frederick III., whom he
+most resembled, his reign was as long as it was useless. Until the year
+1705 he was the imaginary ruler of an imaginary Empire: Vienna was a
+faint reflection of Madrid, as every other little capital was of Paris.
+The Hapsburgs and the Bourbons being absolute, all the ruling princes,
+even the best of them, introduced the same system into their
+territories, and the participation of the other classes of the people in
+the government ceased. The cities followed this example, and their
+Burgomasters and Councillors became a sort of aristocracy, more or less
+arbitrary in character. The condition of the people, therefore, depended
+entirely on the princes, priests, or other officials who governed them:
+one State or city might be orderly and prosperous, while another was
+oppressed and checked in its growth. A few of the rulers were wise and
+humane: Ernest the Pious of Gotha was a father to his land, during his
+long reign; in Hesse, Brunswick and Anhalt learning was encouraged, and
+Frederick William of Brandenburg set his face against the corrupting
+influences of France. These small States were exceptions, yet they kept
+alive what of hope and strength and character was left to Germany, and
+were the seeds of her regeneration in the present century.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1660.</div>
+
+<p>Throughout the greater part of the country the people relapsed into
+ignorance and brutality, and the higher classes assumed the stiff,
+formal, artificial manners which nearly all Europe borrowed from the
+court of Louis XIV. Public buildings, churches and schools were allowed
+to stand as ruins, while the petty sovereign built his stately palace,
+laid out his park in the style of Versailles, and held his splendid and
+ridiculous festivals. Although Saxony had been impoverished and almost
+depopulated, the Elector, John George II., squandered all the revenues
+of the land on banquets, hunting-parties, fireworks and collections of
+curiosities, until his treasury was hopelessly bankrupt. Another prince
+made his Italian singing-master prime minister, and others again
+surrendered their lives and the happiness of their people to influences
+which were still more disastrous.</p>
+
+<p>The one historical character among the German rulers of this time is
+Frederick William of Brandenburg, who is generally called "The Great
+Elector." In bravery, energy and administrative ability, he was the
+first worthy successor of Frederick of Hohenzollern. No sooner had peace
+been declared than he set to work to restore order to his wasted and
+disturbed territory: he imitated Sweden in organizing a standing army,
+small at first, but admirably disciplined; he introduced a regular
+system of taxation, of police and of justice, and encouraged trade and
+industry in all possible ways. In a few years a war between Sweden and
+Poland gave him the opportunity of interfering, in the hope of obtaining
+the remainder of Pomerania. He first marched to Königsberg, the capital
+of the Duchy of Prussia, which belonged to Brandenburg, but under the
+sovereignty of Poland. Allying himself first with the Swedes, he
+participated in a great victory at Warsaw in July, 1656, and then found
+it to his advantage to go over to the side of John Casimir, king of
+Poland, who offered him the independence of Prussia. This was his only
+gain from the war; for, by the peace of 1660, he was forced to give up
+Western Pomerania, which he had in the mean time conquered from Sweden.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1667. WAR WITH LOUIS XIV.</div>
+
+<p>Louis XIV. of France was by this time aware that his kingdom had nothing
+to fear from any of its neighbors, and might easily be enlarged at their
+expense. In 1667, he began his wars of conquest, by laying claim to
+Brabant, and instantly sending Turenne and Condé over the frontier. A<span class="pagenum" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</span>
+number of fortresses, unprepared for resistance, fell into their hands;
+but Holland, England and Sweden formed an alliance against France, and
+the war terminated in 1668 by the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. Louis's next
+step was to ally himself with England and Sweden against Holland, on the
+ground that a Republic, by furnishing a place of refuge for political
+fugitives, was dangerous to monarchies. In 1672 he entered Holland with
+an army of 118,000 men, took Geldern, Utrecht and other
+strongly-fortified places, and would soon have made himself master of
+the country, if its inhabitants had not shown themselves capable of the
+sublimest courage and self-sacrifice. They were victorious over France
+and England on the sea, and defended themselves stubbornly on the land.
+Even the German Archbishop of Cologne and Bishop of Münster furnished
+troops to Louis XIV. and the Emperor Leopold promised to remain neutral.
+Then Frederick William of Brandenburg allied himself with Holland, and
+so wrought upon the Emperor by representing the danger to Germany from
+the success of France, that the latter sent an army under General
+Montecuccoli to the Rhine. But the Austrian troops remained inactive;
+Louis XIV. purchased the support of the Archbishops of Mayence and
+Treves; Westphalia was invaded by the French, and in 1673 Frederick
+William was forced to sign a treaty of neutrality.</p>
+
+<p>About this time Holland was strengthened by the alliance of Spain, and
+the Emperor Leopold, alarmed at the continual invasions of German
+territory on the Upper Rhine, ordered Montecuccoli to make war in
+earnest. In 1674 the Diet formally declared war against France, and
+Frederick William marched with 16,000 men to the Palatinate, which
+Marshal Turenne had ravaged with fire and sword. The French were driven
+back and even out of Alsatia for a time; but they returned the following
+year, and were successful until the month of July, when Turenne found
+his death on the soil which he had turned into a desert. Before this
+happened, Frederick William had been recalled in all haste to
+Brandenburg, where the Swedes, instigated by France, were wasting the
+land with a barbarity equal to Turenne's. His march was so swift that he
+found the enemy scattered: dividing and driving them before him, on the
+18th of June, 1675, at Fehrbellin, with only 7,000 men, he attacked the
+main Swedish army, numbering more than double that number.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</span> For three
+hours the battle raged with the greatest fury; Frederick William fought
+at the head of his troops, who more than once cut him out from the ranks
+of the enemy, and the result was a splendid victory. The fame of this
+achievement rang through all Europe, and Brandenburg was thenceforth
+mentioned with the respect due to an independent power.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1677.</div>
+
+<p>Frederick William continued the war for two years longer, gradually
+acquiring possession of all Swedish Pomerania, including Stettin and the
+other cities on the coast. He even built a small fleet, and undertook to
+dispute the supremacy of Sweden on the Baltic. During this time the war
+with France was continued on the Upper Rhine, with varying fortunes.
+Though repulsed and held in check after Turenne's death, the French
+burned five cities and several hundred villages west of the Rhine, and
+in 1677 captured Freiburg in Baden. But Louis XIV. began to be tired of
+the war, especially as Holland proved to be unconquerable. Negotiations
+for peace were commenced in 1678, and on the 5th of February, 1679, the
+"Peace of Nymwegen" was concluded with Holland, Spain and the German
+Empire&mdash;except Brandenburg! Leopold I. openly declared that he did not
+mean to have a Vandal kingdom in the North.</p>
+
+<p>Frederick William at first determined to carry on the war alone, but the
+French had already laid waste Westphalia, and in 1679 he was forced to
+accept a peace which required that he should restore nearly the whole of
+Western Pomerania to Sweden. Austria, moreover, took possession of
+several small principalities in Silesia, which had fallen to Brandenburg
+by inheritance. Thus the Hapsburgs repaid the support which the
+Hohenzollerns had faithfully rendered to them for four hundred years:
+thenceforth the two houses were enemies, and they were soon to become
+irreconcilable rivals. Leopold I. again betrayed Germany in the peace of
+Nymwegen, by yielding the city and fortress of Freiburg to France.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1681. THE SEIZURE OF STRASBURG.</div>
+
+<p>Louis XIV., nevertheless, was not content with this acquisition. He
+determined to possess the remaining cities of Alsatia which belonged to
+Germany. The Catholic Bishop of Strasburg was his secret agent, and
+three of the magistrates of the city were bribed to assist. In the
+autumn of 1681, when nearly all the merchants were absent, attending the
+fair at Frankfort, a powerful French army, which had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</span> been secretly
+collected in Lorraine, suddenly appeared before Strasburg. Between force
+outside and treachery within the walls, the city surrendered: on the 23d
+of October Louis XIV. made his triumphant entry, and was hailed by the
+Bishop with the blasphemous words: "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant
+depart in peace, for his eyes have seen thy Saviour!" The great
+Cathedral, which had long been in the possession of the Protestants, was
+given up to this Bishop: all Protestant functionaries were deprived of
+their offices, and the clergymen driven from the city. French names were
+given to the streets, and the inhabitants were commanded, under heavy
+penalties, to lay aside their German costume, and adopt the fashions of
+France. No official claim or declaration of war preceded this robbery;
+but the effect which it produced throughout Germany was comparatively
+slight. The people had been long accustomed to violence and outrage, and
+the despotic independence of each State suppressed anything like a
+national sentiment.</p>
+
+<p>Leopold I. called upon the Princes of the Empire to declare war against
+France, but met with little support. Frederick William positively
+refused, as he had been shamefully excepted from the Peace of Nymwegen.
+He gave as a reason, however, the great danger which menaced Germany
+from a new Turkish invasion, and offered to send an army to the support
+of Austria. The Emperor, equally stubborn and jealous, declined this
+offer, although his own dominions were on the verge of ruin.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1683.</div>
+
+<p>The Turks had remained quiet during the whole of the Thirty Years' War,
+when they might easily have conquered Austria. In the early part of
+Leopold's reign they recommenced their invasions, which were terminated,
+in 1664, by a truce of twenty years. Before the period came to an end,
+the Hungarians, driven to desperation by Leopold's misrule, especially
+his persecution of the Protestants, rose in rebellion. The Turks came to
+an understanding with them, and early in 1683, an army of more than
+200,000 men, commanded by the Grand Vizier Kara Mustapha, marched up the
+Danube, carrying everything before it, and encamped around the walls of
+Vienna. There is good evidence that the Sultan, Mohammed IV., was
+strongly encouraged by Louis XIV. to make this movement. Leopold fled at
+the approach of the Turks, leaving his capital to its fate. For<span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</span> two
+months Count Stahremberg, with only 7,000 armed citizens and 6,000
+mercenary soldiers under his command, held the fortifications against
+the overwhelming force of the enemy; then, when further resistance was
+becoming hopeless, help suddenly appeared. An army commanded by Duke
+Charles of Lorraine, another under the Elector of Saxony, and a third,
+composed of 20,000 Poles, headed by their king, John Sobieski, reached
+Vienna about the same time. The decisive battle was fought on the 12th
+of September, 1683, and ended with the total defeat of the Turks, who
+fled into Hungary, leaving their camp, treasures and supplies to the
+value of 10,000,000 dollars in the hands of the conquerors.</p>
+
+<p>The deliverance of Vienna was due chiefly to John Sobieski, yet, when
+Leopold I. returned to the city which he had deserted, he treated the
+Polish king with coldness and haughtiness, never once thanking him for
+his generous aid. The war was continued, in the interest of Austria, by
+Charles of Lorraine and Max Emanuel of Bavaria, until 1687, when a great
+victory at Mohacs in Hungary forced the Turks to retreat beyond the
+Danube. Then Leopold I. took brutal vengeance on the Hungarians,
+executing so many of their nobles that the event is called "the Shambles
+of Eperies," from the town where it occurred. The Jesuits were allowed
+to put down Protestantism in their own way; the power and national pride
+of Hungary were trampled under foot, and a Diet held at Presburg
+declared that the crown of the country should thenceforth belong to the
+house of Hapsburg. This episode of the history of the time, the taking
+of Strasburg by Louis XIV., the treatment of Frederick William of
+Brandenburg, and other contemporaneous events, must be borne in mind,
+since they are connected with much that has taken place in our own day.</p>
+
+<p>In spite of the defeat of the Turks in 1687, they were encouraged by
+France to continue the war. Max Emanuel took Belgrade in 1689, the
+Margrave Ludwig of Baden won an important victory, and Prince Eugene of
+Savoy (a grandnephew of Cardinal Mazarin, whom Louis XIV. called, in
+derision, the "Little Abbé," and refused to give a military command)
+especially distinguished himself as a soldier. After ten years of
+varying fortune, the war was brought to an end by the magnificent
+victory of Prince Eugene at Zenta,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</span> in 1697. It was followed by the
+Treaty of Carlowitz, in 1699, in which Turkey gave up Transylvania and
+the Slavonic provinces to Austria, Morea and Dalmatia to Venice, and
+agreed to a truce of twenty-five years.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1686. RENEWED WAR WITH FRANCE.</div>
+
+<p>While the best strength of Germany was engaged in this Turkish war,
+Louis XIV. was busy in carrying out his plans of conquest. He claimed
+the Palatinate of the Rhine for his brother, the Duke of Orleans, and
+also attempted to make one of his agents Archbishop of Cologne. In 1686,
+an alliance was formed between Leopold I., several of the German States,
+Holland, Spain and Sweden, to defend themselves against the aggressions
+of France, but nothing was accomplished by the negotiations which
+followed. Finally, in 1688, two powerful French armies suddenly appeared
+upon the Rhine: one took possession of the territory of Treves and
+Cologne, the other marched through the Palatinate into Franconia and
+Würtemberg. But the demands of Louis XIV. were not acceded to; the
+preparation for war was so general on the part of the allied countries
+that it was evident his conquests could not be held; so he determined,
+at least, to ruin the territory before giving it up.</p>
+
+<p>No more wanton and barbarous deed was ever perpetrated. The "Great
+Monarch," the model of elegance and refinement for all Europe, was
+guilty of brutality beyond what is recorded of the most savage
+chieftains. The vines were pulled up by the roots and destroyed; the
+fruit-trees were cut down, the villages burned to the ground, and
+400,000 persons were made beggars, besides those who were slain in cold
+blood. The castle of Heidelberg, one of the most splendid monuments of
+the Middle Ages in all Europe, was blown up with gunpowder; the people
+of Mannheim were compelled to pull down their own fortifications, after
+which their city was burned, Speyer, with its grand and venerable
+Cathedral, was razed to the ground, and the bodies of the Emperors
+buried there were exhumed and plundered. While this was going on, the
+German Princes, with a few exceptions (the "Great Elector" being the
+prominent one), were copying the fashions of the French Court, and even
+trying to unlearn their native language!</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1688.</div>
+
+<p>Frederick William of Brandenburg, however, was spared the knowledge of
+the worst features of this outrage. He died the same year, after a reign
+of forty-eight years, at the age of sixty-eight. The latter years of his
+reign were devoted to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</span> internal development of his State. He united
+the Oder and Elbe by a canal, built roads and bridges, encouraged
+agriculture and the mechanic arts, and set a personal example of
+industry and intelligence to his people while he governed them. His
+possessions were divided and scattered, reaching from Königsberg to the
+Rhine, but, taken collectively, they were larger than any other German
+State at the time, except Austria. None of the smaller German rulers
+before him took such a prominent part in the intercourse with foreign
+nations. He was thoroughly German, in his jealousy of foreign rule; but
+this did not prevent him from helping to confirm Louis XIV. in his
+robbery of Strasburg, out of revenge for his own treatment by Leopold I.
+When personal pride or personal interest was concerned, the
+Hohenzollerns were hardly more patriotic than the Hapsburgs.</p>
+
+<p>The German Empire raised an army of about 60,000 men, to carry on the
+war with France; but its best commanders, Max Emanuel and Prince Eugene,
+were fighting the Turks, and the first campaigns were not successful.
+The other allied powers, Holland, England and Spain, were equally
+unfortunate, while France, compact and consolidated under one despotic
+head, easily held out against them. In 1693, finally, the Margrave
+Ludwig of Baden obtained some victories in Southern Germany which forced
+the French to retreat beyond the Rhine. The seat of war was then
+gradually transferred to Flanders, and the task of conducting it fell
+upon the foreign allies. At the same time there were battles in Spain
+and Savoy, and sea-fights in the British Channel. Although the fortunes
+of Germany were influenced by these events, they belong properly to the
+history of other countries. Victory inclined sometimes to one side and
+sometimes to the other; the military operations were so extensive that
+there could be no single decisive battle.</p>
+
+<p>All parties became more or less weary and exhausted, and the end of it
+all was the Treaty of Ryswick, concluded on the 20th of September, 1697.
+By its provisions France retained Strasburg and the greater part of
+Alsatia, but gave up Freiburg and her other conquests east of the Rhine,
+in Baden. Lorraine was restored to its Duke, but on conditions which
+made it practically a French province. The most shameful clause of the
+Treaty was one which ordered that the districts which had been made
+Catholic by force during the invasion were to remain so.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1697. DECLINE OF THE EMPIRE.</div>
+
+<p>Nearly every important German State, at this time, had some connection
+or alliance which subjected it to foreign influence. The Hapsburg
+possessions in Belgium were more Spanish than German; Pomerania and the
+bishoprics of Bremen and Verden were under Sweden; Austria and Hungary
+were united; Holstein was attached to Denmark, and in 1697 Augustus the
+Strong of Saxony, after the death of John Sobieski, purchased his
+election as king of Poland by enormous bribes to the Polish nobles.
+Augustus the Strong, of whom Carlyle says that "he lived in this world
+regardless of expense," outdid his predecessor, John George II., in his
+monstrous imitation of French luxury. For a time he not only ruined but
+demoralized Saxony, starving the people by his exactions, and living in
+a style which was infamous as well as reckless.</p>
+
+<p>The National German Diet, from this time on, was no longer attended by
+the Emperor and ruling Princes, but only by their official
+representatives. It was held, permanently, in Ratisbon, and its members
+spent their time mostly in absurd quarrels about forms. When any
+important question arose, messengers were sent to the rulers to ask
+their advice, and so much time was always lost that the Diet was
+practically useless. The Imperial Court, established by Maximilian I.,
+was now permanently located at Wetzlar, not far from Frankfort, and had
+become as slow and superannuated as the Diet. The Emperor, in fact, had
+so little concern with the rest of the Empire, that his title was only
+honorary; the revenues it brought him were about 13,000 florins
+annually. The only change which took place in the political organization
+of Germany, was that in 1692 Ernest Augustus of Hannover (the father of
+George I. of England) was raised to the dignity of Elector, which
+increased the whole number of Electors, temporal and spiritual, to nine.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1697.</div>
+
+<p>During the latter half of the seventeenth century, learning, literature
+and the arts received little encouragement in Germany. At the petty
+courts there was more French spoken than German, and the few authors of
+the period&mdash;with the exception of Spener, Francke, and other devout
+religious writers&mdash;produced scarcely any works of value. The
+philosopher, Leibnitz, stands alone as the one distinguished
+intellectual man of his age. The upper classes were too French and too
+demoralized to assist in the better development of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</span> Germany, and the
+lower classes were still too poor, oppressed and spiritless to think of
+helping themselves. Only in a few States, chief among them Brunswick,
+Hesse, Saxe-Gotha and Saxe-Weimar, were the Courts on a moderate scale,
+the government tolerably honest, and the people prosperous.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXI" id="CHAPTER_XXXI"></a>CHAPTER XXXI.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1697&mdash;1714.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>New European Troubles.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Intrigues at the Spanish Court.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Leopold I. declares War against France.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Frederick I. of Brandenburg becomes King of Prussia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;German States allied with France.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Prince Eugene in Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Operations on the Rhine.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Marlborough enters Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battle of Blenheim.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Joseph I. Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Victory of Ramillies.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battle of Turin.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Victories in Flanders.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Louis XIV. asks for Peace.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battle of Malplaquet.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Renewed Offer of France.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Stupidity of Joseph I.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Recall of Marlborough.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Karl VI. Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Peace of Utrecht.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Karl VI.'s Obstinacy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Prince Eugene's Appeal.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Final Peace.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Loss of Alsatia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Kingdom of Sardinia.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1700. TROUBLES IN SWEDEN AND SPAIN.</div>
+
+<p>The beginning of the new century brought with it new troubles for all
+Europe, and Germany&mdash;since it was settled that her Emperors must be
+Hapsburgs&mdash;was compelled to share in them. In the North, Charles XII. of
+Sweden and Peter the Great of Russia were fighting for "the balance of
+power"; in Spain king Charles II. was responsible for a new cause of
+war, simply because he was the last of the Hapsburgs in a direct line,
+and had no children! Louis XIV. had married his elder sister and Leopold
+I. his younger sister; and both claimed the right to succeed him. The
+former, it is true, had renounced all claim to the throne of Spain when
+he married, but he put forth his grandson, Duke Philip of Anjou, as the
+candidate. There were two parties at the Court of Madrid,&mdash;the French,
+at the head of which was Louis XIV.'s ambassador, and the Austrian,
+directed by Charles II.'s mother and wife. The other nations of Europe
+were opposed to any division of Spain between the rival claimants, since
+the possession of even half her territory (which still included Naples,
+Sicily, Milan and Flanders, besides her enormous colonies in America)
+would have made either France or Austria too powerful. Charles II.,
+however, was persuaded to make a will appointing Philip of Anjou his
+successor, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</span> when he died, in 1700, Louis XIV. immediately sent his
+grandson over the Pyrenees and had him proclaimed as king Philip V. of
+Spain.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1701.</div>
+
+<p>Leopold I. thereupon declared war against France, in the hope of gaining
+the crown of Spain for his son, the Archduke Karl. England and Holland
+made alliances with him, and he was supported by most of the German
+States. The Elector, Frederick III. of Brandenburg (son of "the Great
+Elector"), who was a very proud and ostentatious prince, furnished his
+assistance on condition that he should be authorized by the Emperor to
+assume the title of King. Since the traditional customs of the German
+Empire did not permit another king than that of Bohemia among the
+Electors, Frederick was obliged to take the name of his detached Duchy
+of Prussia, instead of Brandenburg. On the 18th of January, 1701, he
+crowned himself and his wife at Königsberg, and was thenceforth called
+king Frederick I. of Prussia. But his capital was still Berlin, and thus
+the names of "Prussia" and "the Prussians"&mdash;which came from a small
+tribe of mixed Slavonic blood&mdash;were gradually transferred to all his
+other lands and their population, German, and especially Saxon, in
+character. Prince Eugene of Savoy saw the future with a prophetic glance
+when he declared: "the Emperor, in his own interest, ought to have
+hanged the Ministers who counselled him to make this concession to the
+Elector of Brandenburg!"</p>
+
+<p>The Elector Max Emanuel of Bavaria and his brother, the Archbishop of
+Cologne, openly espoused the cause of France. Several smaller princes
+were also bribed by Louis XIV., but one of them, the Duke of Brunswick,
+after raising 12,000 men for France, was compelled by the Elector of
+Hannover to add them to the German army. With such miserable disunion at
+home, Germany would have gone to pieces and ceased to exist, but for the
+powerful participation of England and Holland in the war. The English
+Parliament, it is true, only granted 10,000 men at first, but as soon as
+Louis XIV. recognized the exiled Stuart, Prince James, as rightful heir
+to the throne of England, the grant was enlarged to 40,000 soldiers and
+an equal number of sailors. The value of this aid was greatly increased
+by the military genius of the English commander, the famous Duke of
+Marlborough.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1703. FIGHTING ALONG THE RHINE.</div>
+
+<p>The war was commenced by Louis XIV. who suddenly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</span> took possession of a
+number of fortified places in Flanders, which Max Emanuel of Bavaria,
+then governor of the province, had purposely left unguarded. While the
+recovery of this territory was left to England and Holland, Prince
+Eugene undertook to drive the French out of Northern Italy. He made a
+march across the Alps as daring as that of Napoleon, transporting cannon
+and supplies by paths only known to the chamois-hunters. For nearly a
+year he was entirely successful; then, having been recalled to Vienna,
+the French were reinforced and recovered their lost ground. An important
+result of the campaign, however, was that Victor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy
+(ancestor of the present king of Italy), quarrelled with the French,
+with whom he had been allied, and joined the German side.</p>
+
+<p>The struggle now became more and more confused, and we cannot undertake
+to follow all its entangled episodes. France encouraged a rebellion in
+Hungary; the Archbishop of Cologne laid waste the Lower Rhine; Max
+Emanuel seized Ulm and held it for France; Marshal Villars, in 1703,
+pressed back Ludwig of Baden (who had up to that time been successful in
+the Palatinate and Alsatia), marched through the Black Forest and
+effected a junction with the Bavarian army. His plan was to cross the
+Alps and descend into Italy in the rear of the German forces which
+Prince Eugene had left there; but the Tyrolese rose against him and
+fought with such desperation that he was obliged to fall back on
+Bavaria.</p>
+
+<p>Marshal Villars and Max Emanuel now commanded a combined army of 60,000
+men, in the very heart of Germany. They had defeated the Austrian
+commander, and Ludwig of Baden's army was too small to take the field
+against them. But the Duke of Marlborough had been brilliantly
+victorious in Belgium and on the Lower Rhine, and he was thus able to
+march on towards the Danube. Prince Eugene hastened from Hungary with
+such troops as he could collect, and the two, with Ludwig of Baden, were
+strong enough to engage the French and Bavarians. They met on the 13th
+of August, 1704, on the plain of the Danube, near the little village of
+Blenheim. After a long and furious battle, the French left 14,000 men
+upon the field, lost 13,000 prisoners, and fled towards the Rhine in
+such haste that scarcely one-third of their army reached the river.
+Marlborough and Eugene were made Princes of the German Empire, and all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</span>
+Europe rang with songs celebrating the victory, in which Marlborough's
+name appeared as "Malbrook." His proposal to follow up the victory with
+an invasion of France was rejected by the Emperor, and the war, which
+might then have been pressed to a termination, continued for ten years
+longer.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1705.</div>
+
+<p>In 1705 Leopold I. relieved Germany, by his death, of the dead weight of
+his incapacity. He was succeeded by his son, Joseph I., who possessed,
+at least, a little ordinary common sense. He manifested it at once by
+making Prince Eugene his counsellor, instead of surrounding him with
+spies, as his jealous and spiteful father had done. Both sides were
+preparing for new movements, and the principal event for the year took
+place in Spain, where the Archduke, who had been conveyed to Barcelona
+by an English fleet, obtained possession of Catalonia and Aragon, and
+threatened Philip V. with the loss of his crown. The previous year,
+1704, the English had taken Gibraltar.</p>
+
+<p>In 1706 operations were recommenced, on a larger scale, and with results
+which were very disastrous to the plans of France. Marlborough's great
+victory at Ramillies, on the 23d of May, gave him the Spanish
+Netherlands, and enabled the Emperor to declare Max Emanuel and the
+Archbishop of Cologne outlawed. The city of Turin, held by an Austrian
+garrison, was besieged, about the same time, by the Duke of Orleans,
+with 38,000 men. Then Prince Eugene hastened across the Alps with an
+army of 24,000, was reinforced by 13,000 more under Victor Amadeus of
+Savoy, and on the 7th of September attacked the French with such
+impetuosity that they were literally destroyed. Among the spoils were
+211 cannon, 80,000 barrels of powder, and a great amount of money,
+horses and provisions. By this victory Prince Eugene became also a hero
+to the German people, and many of their songs about him are sung at this
+day. The "Prussian" troops, under Prince Leopold of Dessau, especially
+distinguished themselves: their commander was afterwards one of
+Frederick the Great's most famous generals.</p>
+
+<p>The first consequence of this victory was an armistice with Louis XIV.,
+so far as Italian territory was concerned: nevertheless, a part of the
+Austrian army was sent to Naples in 1707, to take possession of the
+country in the name of Spain. The Archduke Karl, after some temporary
+successes over Philip V., was driven back to Barcelona, and Louis XIV.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</span>
+then offered to treat for peace. Austria and England refused: in 1708
+Marlborough and Prince Eugene, again united, won another victory over
+the French at Oudenarde, and took the stronghold of Lille, which had
+been considered impregnable. The road to Paris was apparently open to
+the allies, and Louis XIV. offered to give up his claim, on behalf of
+Philip V., to Spain, Milan, the Spanish-American colonies and the
+Netherlands, provided Naples and Sicily were left to his grandson.
+Marlborough and Prince Eugene required, in addition, that he should
+expel Philip from Spain, in case the latter refused to conform to the
+treaty. Louis XIV.'s pride was wounded by this demand, and the
+negotiations were broken off.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1708. PEACE REJECTED BY JOSEPH I.</div>
+
+<p>With great exertion a new French army was raised, and Marshal Villars
+placed in command. But the two famous commanders, Marlborough and
+Eugene, achieved such a new and crushing victory in the battle of
+Malplaquet, fought on the 11th of September, 1709, that France made a
+third attempt to conclude peace. Louis XIV. now offered to withdraw his
+claim to the Spanish succession, to restore Alsatia and Strasburg to
+Germany, and to pay one million livres a month towards defraying the
+expenses of expelling Philip V. from Spain. It will scarcely be believed
+that this proposal, so humiliating to the extravagant pride of France,
+and which conceded more than Germany had hoped to obtain, was rejected!
+The cause seems to have been a change in the fortunes of the Archduke
+Karl in Spain: he was again victorious, and in 1710 held his triumphal
+entry in Madrid. Yet it is difficult to conceive what further advantages
+Joseph I. expected to secure, by prolonging the war.</p>
+
+<p>Germany was soon punished for this presumptuous refusal of peace. A
+Court intrigue, in England, overthrew the Whig Ministry and gave the
+power into the hands of the Tories: Marlborough was at first hampered
+and hindered in carrying out his plans, and then recalled. While keeping
+up the outward forms of her alliance with Holland and Germany, England
+began to negotiate secretly with France, and thus the chief strength of
+the combination against Louis XIV. was broken. In 1711 the Emperor
+Joseph I. died, leaving no direct heirs, and the Archduke Karl became
+his successor to the throne. The latter immediately left Spain, was
+elected before he reached Germany, and crowned in Mayence on the 22d of
+September, as Karl<span class="pagenum" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</span> VI. Although, by deserting Spain, he had seemed to
+renounce his pretension to the Spanish crown, there was a general fear
+that the success of Germany would unite the two countries, as in the
+time of Charles V., and Holland's interest in the war began also to
+languish. Prince Eugene, without English aid, was so successful in the
+early part of 1712 that even Paris seemed in danger; but Marshal
+Villars, by cutting off all his supplies, finally forced him to retreat.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1713.</div>
+
+<p>During this same year negotiations were carried on between France,
+England, Holland, Savoy and Prussia. They terminated, in 1713, in the
+Peace of Utrecht, by which the Bourbon, Philip V., was recognized as
+king of Spain and her colonies, on condition that the crowns of Spain
+and France should never be united. England received Gibraltar and the
+island of Minorca from Spain, Acadia, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and the
+Hudson's Bay Territory from France, and the recognition of her
+Protestant monarchy. Holland obtained the right to garrison a number of
+strong frontier fortresses in Belgium, and Prussia received Neufchatel
+in Switzerland, some territory on the Lower Rhine, and the
+acknowledgment of Frederick I.'s royal dignity.</p>
+
+<p>Karl VI. refused to recognize his rival, Philip V., as king of Spain,
+and therefore rejected the Treaty of Utrecht. But the other princes of
+Germany were not eager to prolong the war for the sake of gratifying the
+Hapsburg pride. Prince Eugene, who was a devoted adherent of Austria, in
+vain implored them to be united and resolute. "I stand," he wrote, "like
+a sentinel (a watch!) on the Rhine; and as mine eye wanders over these
+fair regions, I think to myself how happy, and beautiful, and
+undisturbed in the enjoyment of Nature's gifts they might be, if they
+possessed courage to use the strength which God hath given them. With an
+army of 200,000 men I would engage to drive the French out of Germany,
+and would forfeit my life if I did not obtain a peace which should
+gladden our hearts for the next twenty years." With such forces as he
+could collect he carried on the war along the Upper Rhine, but he lost
+the fortresses of Landau and Freiburg. Louis XIV., however, who was now
+old and infirm, was very tired of the war, and after these successes, he
+commissioned Marshal Villars to treat for peace with Prince Eugene. The
+latter was authorized by the Emperor to negotiate: the two commanders
+met at Rastatt,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</span> in Baden, and in spite of the unreasonable stubbornness
+of Karl VI. a treaty was finally concluded on the 7th of March, 1714.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1714. END OF THE WAR.</div>
+
+<p>Austria received the Spanish Netherlands, Naples, Milan, Mantua and the
+Island of Sardinia. Freiburg, Old-Breisach and Kehl were restored to
+Germany, but France retained Landau, on the west bank of the Rhine, as
+well as all Alsatia and Strasburg. Thus the recovery of the latter
+territory, which Joseph I. refused to accept in 1710, was lost to
+Germany until the year 1870.</p>
+
+<p>By the Treaty of Utrecht, Duke Victor Amadeus of Savoy had received
+Sicily as an independent kingdom. A few years afterwards he made an
+exchange with Austria, giving Sicily for Sardinia: thus originated the
+Kingdom of Sardinia, which continued to exist until the year 1860, when
+Victor Emanuel became king of Italy.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXII" id="CHAPTER_XXXII"></a>CHAPTER XXXII.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">THE RISE OF PRUSSIA.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1714&mdash;1740.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Wars of Charles XII. of Sweden.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Invasion of Saxony.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Enlargement of Prussia and Hannover.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The "Pragmatic Sanction."</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Sacrifices of Austria.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battle of Peterwardein.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Treaty of Passarowitz.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;War in Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Frederick I. of Prussia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Frederick William I.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Character and Habits.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Policy as a Ruler.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Giant Body-Guards.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Tobacco College.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Decay of Austria.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The other German States.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;First Emigration to America.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;War of the Polish Succession.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;French Invasion.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;German Disunion.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Treaty of Vienna.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Marriage of Maria Theresa.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Disastrous War with Turkey.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Prussia at the Death of Frederick William I.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Austria at the Death of Karl VI.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1714.</div>
+
+<p>While the War of the Spanish Succession raged along the Rhine, in
+Bavaria and the Netherlands, the North of Germany was convulsed by
+another and very different struggle. The ambitious designs of Charles
+XII. of Sweden, who succeeded to the throne in 1697, aroused the
+jealousy and renewed the old hostility, of Denmark, Russia and Poland,
+and in 1700 they formed an alliance against Sweden. Denmark began the
+war, the same year, by invading Holstein-Gottorp, the Duke of which was
+the brother-in-law of Charles XII. The latter immediately attacked
+Copenhagen, and conquered a peace. A few months afterwards he crushed
+the power of Peter the Great, in the battle of Narva, and was then free
+to march against Poland. Augustus the Strong was no match for the young
+Northern hero, who compelled the Polish nobles to depose him and elect
+Stanislas Lesczinsky in his stead, then marched through Silesia into
+Saxony, in the year 1706, and from his camp near Leipzig dictated his
+own terms to Augustus.</p>
+
+<p>A year later, having exhausted what resources were left to the people
+after the outrageous exactions of their own Electors, Charles XII.
+evacuated Saxony with an army of 40,000 men, many of them German
+recruits, and marched through Poland on his way to the fatal field of
+Pultowa.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</span> The immediate consequences of his terrible defeat there, in
+1709, were that Peter the Great took possession of the Baltic provinces,
+and prepared to found his new capital of St. Petersburg on the Neva.
+Then Denmark and Saxony entered into an alliance with Russia, Augustus
+the Strong was again placed on the throne of Poland, and the
+Swedish-German provinces on the Baltic and the North Sea were overrun
+and ravaged by the Danish and Russian armies. Towards the end of the
+year 1714, after peace had been concluded with France, Charles XII.
+suddenly appeared in Stralsund, having escaped from his long exile in
+Turkey and travelled day and night on horseback across Europe, from the
+shores of the Black Sea. Then Prussia and Hannover, both eager to
+enlarge their dominions at the expense of Sweden, united against him. He
+had not sufficient military strength to resist them, and after his death
+at Frederickshall, in 1718, Sweden was compelled to make peace on
+conditions which forever destroyed her supremacy among the northern
+powers.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1714. THE PRAGMATIC SANCTION.</div>
+
+<p>By the Treaties of Stockholm, made in 1719 and 1720, Prussia acquired
+Stettin and all of Pomerania except a strip of the coast with Wismar,
+Stralsund and the island of Rügen, paying 2,000,000 thalers to Sweden:
+Hannover acquired the territories of Bremen and Verden, paying 1,000,000
+thalers: Denmark received Schleswig, and Russia all of her conquests
+except Finland. The power of Poland, already weakened by the corruptions
+and dissensions of her nobles, began steadily to decline after this long
+and exhausting war.</p>
+
+<p>The collective history of the German States,&mdash;for we can hardly say
+"History of Germany" when there really was no Germany&mdash;at this time, is
+a continuous succession of wars and diplomatic intrigues, which break
+out in one direction before they are settled in another. In 1713,
+Frederick I. of Prussia died, and was succeeded by his son, Frederick
+William I.: in 1714, George I., Elector of Hannover, was made king of
+England, and about the same time the Emperor Karl VI. issued a decree
+called the "Pragmatic Sanction," establishing the order of succession to
+the throne, for his dynasty. He was led to this step by the example of
+Spain, where the failure of the direct line had given rise to thirteen
+years of European war, and by the circumstance that he himself had
+neither sons nor brothers. A daughter, Maria Theresa, was born in 1717,
+and thus the provision of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</span> Pragmatic Sanction that the crown should
+descend to female heirs in the absence of male, preserved the succession
+in his own family, and forestalled the claim of the Elector of Bavaria
+and other princes who were more or less distantly related to the
+Hapsburgs.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1714.</div>
+
+<p>The Pragmatic Sanction was accepted in Austria without difficulty, as
+there was no power to dispute the Emperor's will, but it was not
+recognized by the other States of Germany and other nations of Europe
+until after twenty years of diplomatic negotiations and serious
+sacrifices on the part of Austria. Prussia received more territory on
+the Lower Rhine, the Duchies of Parma and Piacenza in Italy were given
+to Spain, and the claims of Augustus III. of Saxony and Poland were so
+strenuously supported that in 1733 the so-called "War of the Polish
+Succession" broke out. In the meantime, however, two other wars had
+occurred, and, although both of them affected Austria rather than the
+German Empire, they must be briefly described.</p>
+
+<p>In 1714 the Emperor Karl VI. formed an alliance with the Venetians
+against the Turks, who had taken the Morea from Venice. The command was
+given to Prince Eugene, who marched against his old enemy, determined to
+win back what remaining Hungarian or Slavonic territory was still held
+by Turkey. The Grand-Vizier, Ali, opposed him with a powerful force, and
+after various minor engagements a great battle was fought at
+Peterwardein, in August, 1716. Eugene was completely victorious: the
+Turks were driven beyond the Save and sheltered themselves behind the
+strong walls of Belgrade. Eugene followed, and, after a siege which is
+famous in military annals, took Belgrade by storm. The victory is
+celebrated in a song which the German people are still in the habit of
+singing. The war ended with the Treaty of Passarowitz, in 1718, by which
+Turkey was compelled to surrender to Austria the Banat, Servia,
+including Belgrade, and a part of Wallachia, Bosnia and Croatia.</p>
+
+<p>Before this treaty was concluded, a new war had broken out in Italy.
+Philip V. of Spain, incensed at not being recognized by Karl VI., took
+possession of Sardinia and Sicily, with the intention of conquering
+Naples from Austria. England, France, Holland and Austria then formed
+the "Quadruple Alliance," as it was called, for the purpose of enforcing
+the Treaty of Utrecht, and Spain was compelled to yield.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1711. RISE OF PRUSSIA.</div>
+
+<p>The power of Prussia, during these years, was steadily increasing.
+Frederick I., it is true, was among the imitators of Louis XIV.: he
+built stately palaces, and spent a great deal of money on showy Court
+festivals, but he did not completely exhaust the resources of the
+country, like the Electors of Saxony and the rulers of many smaller
+States. On the other hand, he founded the University of Halle in 1694,
+and commissioned the philosopher Leibnitz to draw up a plan for an
+Academy of Science, which was established in Berlin, in 1711. He was a
+zealous Protestant, and gave welcome to all who were exiled from other
+States on account of their faith. As a ruler, however, he was equally
+careless and despotic, and his government was often entrusted to the
+hands of unworthy agents. Frederick the Great said of him: "He was great
+in small matters, and little in great matters."</p>
+
+<p>His son, Frederick William I., was a man of an entirely different
+nature. He disliked show and ceremony: he hated everything French with a
+heartiness which was often unreasonable, but which was honestly provoked
+by the enormous, monkey-like affectation of the manners of Versailles by
+some of his fellow-rulers. While Augustus of Saxony spent six millions
+of thalers on a single entertainment, he set to work to reduce the
+expenses of his royal household. While the court of Austria supported
+40,000 officials and hangers-on, and half of Vienna was fed from the
+Imperial kitchen, he was employed in examining the smallest details of
+the receipts and expenditures of his State, in order to economize and
+save. He was miserly, fierce, coarse and brutal; he aimed at being a
+<i>German</i>, but he went back almost to the days of Wittekind for his ideas
+of German culture and character; he was a tyrant of the most savage
+kind,&mdash;but, after all has been said against him, it must be acknowledged
+that without his hard practical sense in matters of government, his
+rigid, despotic organization of industry, finance and the army,
+Frederick the Great would never have possessed the means to maintain
+himself in that struggle which made Prussia a great power.</p>
+
+<p>Some illustrations of his policy as a ruler and his personal habits must
+be given, in order to show both sides of his character. He had the most
+unbounded idea of the rights and duties of a king, and the aim of his
+life, therefore, was to increase his own authority by increasing the
+wealth, the order and the strength of Prussia. He was no friend of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</span>
+science, except when it could be shown to have some practical use, but
+he favored education, and one of his first measures was to establish
+four hundred schools among the people, by the money which he saved from
+the expenditures of the royal household. His personal economy was so
+severe that the queen was only allowed to have one waiting-woman. At
+this time the Empress of Germany had several hundred attendants,
+received two hogsheads of Tokay, daily, for her parrots, and twelve
+barrels of wine for her baths! Frederick William I. protected the
+industry of Prussia by imposing heavy duties upon all foreign products;
+he even went so far as to prohibit the people from wearing any but
+Prussian-made cloth, setting them the example himself. He also devoted
+much attention to agriculture, and when 17,000 Protestants were driven
+out of Upper Austria by the Archbishop of Salzburg, after the most
+shocking and inhuman persecutions, he not only furnished them with land
+but supported them until they were settled in their new homes.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1725.</div>
+
+<p>The organization of the Prussian army was entrusted to Prince Leopold of
+Dessau, who distinguished himself at Turin, under Prince Eugene.
+Although during the greater part of Frederick William's reign peace was
+preserved, the military force was kept upon a war footing, and gradually
+increased until it amounted to 84,000 men. The king had a singular mania
+for giant soldiers: miserly as he was in other respects, he was ready to
+go to any expense to procure recruits, seven feet high, for his
+body-guard. He not only purchased such, but allowed his agents to kidnap
+them, and despotically sent a number of German mechanics to Peter the
+Great in exchange for an equal number of Russian giants. For forty-three
+such tall soldiers he paid 43,000 dollars, one of them, who was
+unusually large, costing 9,000. The expense of keeping these guardsmen
+was proportionately great, and much of the king's time was spent in
+inspecting them. Sometimes he tried to paint their portraits, and if the
+likeness was not successful, an artist was employed to paint the man's
+face until it resembled the king's picture.</p>
+
+<p>Frederick William's regular evening recreation was his "Tobacco
+College," as he called it. Some of his ministers and generals, foreign
+ambassadors, and even ordinary citizens, were invited to smoke and drink
+beer with him in a plain room, where he sat upon a three-legged stool,
+and they upon wooden benches. Each was obliged to smoke, or at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</span> least to
+have a clay pipe in his mouth and appear to smoke. The most important
+affairs of State were discussed at these meetings, which were conducted
+with so little formality that no one was allowed to rise when the king
+entered the room. He was not so amiable upon his walks through the
+streets of Berlin or Potsdam. He always carried a heavy cane, which he
+would apply without mercy to the shoulders of any who seemed to be idle,
+no matter what their rank or station. Even his own household was not
+exempt from blows; and his son Frederick was scarcely treated better
+than any of his soldiers or workmen.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1725. CONDITION OF GERMANY.</div>
+
+<p>This manner of government was rude, but it was also systematic and
+vigorous, and the people upon whom it was exercised did not deteriorate
+in character, as was the case in almost all other parts of Germany.
+Austria, in spite of the pomp of the Emperor's court, was in a state of
+moral and intellectual decline. Karl VI. was a man of little capacity,
+an instrument in the hands of the Jesuits, and the minds of the people
+whom he ruled gradually became as stolid and dead as the latter order
+wished to make them. Their connection with Germany was scarcely felt;
+they spoke of "the Empire outside" almost as a foreign country, and the
+strength of the house of Hapsburg was gradually transferred to the
+Bohemian, Hungarian and Slavonic races which occupied the greater part
+of its territory. The industry of the country was left without
+encouragement; what little education was permitted was in the hands of
+the priests, and all real progress came to an end. But, for this very
+reason, Austria became the ideal of the German nobility, nine-tenths of
+whom were feudalists and sighed for the return of the Middle Ages:
+hundreds of them took service under the Emperor, either at court or in
+the army, and helped to preserve the external forms of his power.</p>
+
+<p>In most of the other German States the condition of affairs was not much
+better. Bavaria, the Palatinate, and the three Archbishops of Mayence,
+Treves and Cologne, were abject instruments in the hands of France:
+Hannover was governed by the interests of England, and Saxony by those
+of Poland. After George I. went to England, the government of Hannover
+was exercised by a council of nobles, who kept up the Court ceremonials
+just as if the Elector were present. His portrait was placed in a chair,
+and they observed the same etiquette towards it as if his real self
+were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</span> there! In Würtemberg the Duke, Eberhard Ludwig, so oppressed the
+people that many of them emigrated to America between the years 1717 and
+1720, and settled in Pennsylvania. This was the first German emigration
+to the New World.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1733.</div>
+
+<p>After a peace of nineteen years, counting from the Treaty of Rastatt, or
+thirteen years from the Treaty of Stockholm, Germany&mdash;or rather the
+Emperor Karl VI.&mdash;became again involved in war. The Pragmatic Sanction
+was at the bottom of it. Karl's endless diplomacy to insure the
+recognition of this decree led him into an alliance with Russia to place
+Augustus III. of Saxony on the throne of Poland. Louis XV. of France,
+who had married the daughter of the Polish king, Stanislas Lesczinsky,
+took the latter's part. Prussia was induced to join Austria and Russia,
+but the cautious and economical Frederick William I. withdrew from the
+alliance as soon as he found that the expense to him would be more than
+the advantage. The Polish Diet was divided: the majority, influenced by
+France, elected Stanislas, who reached Warsaw in the disguise of a
+merchant and was crowned in September, 1733. The minority declared for
+Augustus III., in whose aid a Russian army was even then entering
+Poland.</p>
+
+<p>France, in alliance with Spain and Sardinia, had already declared war
+against Germany. The plan of operations had evidently been prepared in
+advance, and was everywhere successful. One French army occupied
+Lorraine, another crossed the Rhine and captured Kehl (opposite
+Strasburg), and a third, under Marshal Villars, entered Lombardy. Naples
+and Sicily, powerless to resist, fell into the hands of Spain. Prince
+Eugene of Savoy, now more than seventy years of age, was sent to the
+Rhine with such troops as Austria, taken by surprise, was able to
+furnish: the other German States either sympathized with France, or were
+indifferent to a quarrel which really did not concern them. Frederick
+William of Prussia finally sent 10,000 well-disciplined soldiers; but
+even with this aid Prince Eugene was unable to expel the French from
+Lorraine. In Poland, however, the plans of France utterly failed: in
+June, 1734, <ins title="Changed 'king' to 'King'.">King Stanislas</ins> fled in the disguise of a cattle-dealer. The
+following year, 10,000 Russians appeared on the Rhine, as allies of
+Austria, and Louis XV. found it prudent to negotiate for peace.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1740. DEATH OF FREDERICK WILLIAM I.</div>
+
+<p>The Treaty of Vienna, concluded in October, 1735, put<span class="pagenum" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</span> an end to the War
+of the Polish Succession. Francis of Lorraine, who was betrothed to Karl
+VI.'s daughter, Maria Theresa, was made Grand-Duke of Tuscany, and
+Lorraine (now only a portion of the original territory, with Nancy as
+capital) was given to the Ex-King Stanislas of Poland, with the
+condition that it should revert to France at his death. Spain received
+Naples and Sicily; Tortona and Novara were added to Sardinia, and
+Austria was induced to consent to all these losses by the recognition of
+the Pragmatic Sanction, and the annexation of the Duchies of Parma and
+Piacenza, in Italy. Prussia got nothing; and Frederick William I., who
+had been expecting to add Jülich and Berg to his possessions on the
+Lower Rhine, was so exasperated that he entered into secret arrangements
+with France in order to carry out his end. The enmity of Austria and
+Prussia was now confirmed, and it has been the chief power in German
+politics from that day to this.</p>
+
+<p>In 1736 Francis of Lorraine and Maria Theresa were married, and Prince
+Eugene of Savoy died, worn out with the hardships of his long and
+victorious career. The next year, the Empress Anna of Russia persuaded
+Karl VI. to unite with her in a war against Turkey, her object being to
+get possession of Azov. By this unfortunate alliance Austria lost all
+which she had gained by the Treaty of Passarowitz, twenty years before.
+There was no commander like Prince Eugene, her military strength had
+been weakened by useless and unsuccessful wars, and she was compelled to
+make peace in 1739, by yielding Belgrade and all her conquests in Servia
+and Wallachia to Turkey.</p>
+
+<p>On the 31st of May, 1740, Frederick William I. died, fifty-two years of
+age. He left behind him a State containing more than 50,000 square
+miles, and about 2,500,000 of inhabitants. The revenues of Prussia,
+which were two and a half millions of thalers on his accession to the
+throne, had increased to seven and a half millions annually, and there
+were nine millions in the treasury. Berlin had a population of nearly
+100,000, and Stettin, Magdeburg, Memel and other cities had been
+strongly fortified. An army of more than 80,000 men was perfectly
+organized and disciplined. There was the beginning of a system of
+instruction for the people, feudalism was almost entirely suppressed,
+and the charge of witchcraft (which, since the fifteenth century, had
+caused the execution of several hundred thousand victims, throughout<span class="pagenum" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</span>
+Germany!) was expunged from the pages of the law. Although the land was
+almost wholly Protestant, there was entire religious freedom, and the
+Catholic subjects could complain of no violation of their rights.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1740.</div>
+
+<p>On the 24th of October, 1740, Karl VI. died, leaving a diminished realm,
+a disordered military organization, and a people so demoralized by the
+combined luxury and oppression of the government that for more than a
+century afterwards all hope and energy and aspiration seemed to be
+crushed among them. The outward show and trappings of the Empire
+remained with Austria, and kept alive the political superstitions of
+that large class of Germans who looked backward instead of forward; but
+the rude, half-developed strength, which cuts loose from the Past and
+busies itself with the practical work of its day and generation, was
+rapidly creating a future for Prussia.</p>
+
+<p>Frederick William I. was succeeded by his son, Frederick II., called
+Frederick the Great. Karl VI. was succeeded by his daughter, the Empress
+Maria Theresa. The former was twenty-eight, the latter twenty-three
+years old.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXXIII.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">THE REIGN OF FREDERICK THE GREAT.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1740&mdash;1786.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Youth of Frederick the Great.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His attempted Escape.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Lieutenant von Katte's Fate.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Frederick's Subjection.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Marriage.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His first Measures as King.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Maria Theresa in Austria.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The First Silesian war.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Maria Theresa in Hungary.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Prussia acquires Silesia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Frederick's Alliance with France and the Emperor Karl VII.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Second Silesian war.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Frederick alone against Austria.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battles of Hohenfriedberg, Sorr and Kesselsdorf.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;War of the Austrian Succession.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Peace.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Frederick as a Ruler.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Habits and Tastes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Answers to Petitions.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Religious Freedom.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Development of Prussia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;War between England and France.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Designs against Prussia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Beginning of the Seven Years' War.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battle at Prague.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Defeat at Kollin.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Victory of Rossbach.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battle of Leuthen.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Help from England.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Campaign of 1758.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Victory of Zorndorf.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Surprise at Hochkirch.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Campaign of 1759.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battle of Kunnersdorf.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Operations in 1760.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Frederick victorious.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battle of Torgau.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Desperate Situation of Prussia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Campaign of 1761.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Alliance with Russia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Frederick's Successes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Peace of Hubertsburg.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Frederick's Measures of Relief.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His arbitrary Rule.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His literary Tastes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;First Division of Poland.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Frederick's last Years.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Death.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1728. YOUTH OF FREDERICK THE GREAT.</div>
+
+<p>Few royal princes ever had a more unfortunate childhood and youth than
+Frederick the Great. His mother, Sophia Dorothea of Hannover, a sister
+of George II. of England, was an amiable, mild-tempered woman who was
+devotedly attached to him, but had no power to protect him from the
+violence of his hard and tyrannical father. As a boy his chief tastes
+were music and French literature, which he could only indulge by
+stealth: the king not only called him "idiot!" and "puppy!" when he
+found him occupied with a flute or a French book, but threatened him
+with personal chastisement. His whole education, which was gained almost
+in secret, was chiefly received at the hands of French <i>émigrés</i>, and
+his taste was formed in the school of ideas which at that time ruled in
+France, and which was largely formed by Voltaire, whom Frederick during
+his boyhood greatly admired, and afterward made one of his chief<span class="pagenum" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</span>
+correspondents and intimates. The influence of this is most clearly to
+be traced throughout his life.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1728.</div>
+
+<p>His music became almost a passion with him, though it is doubtful
+whether any of the praises of his proficiency that have come down to us
+are more than the remains of the flatteries of the time. His
+compositions, which were performed at his concerts, to which leading
+musicians were often invited, do not give any evidence of the genius
+claimed for him in this respect; but it is certain that he attained a
+considerable degree of mechanical skill in playing the flute. In
+after-life his musical taste continued to influence him greatly, and the
+establishment of the opera at Berlin was chiefly due to him. His
+father's persistent opposition rather fanned than suppressed the
+eagerness which he showed in this and other studies, as a boy; and
+doubtless contributed to a thoroughness which afterward stood him in
+good stead.</p>
+
+<p>In 1728, when only sixteen years old, he accompanied his father on a
+visit to the court of Augustus the Strong, at Dresden, and was for a
+time led astray by the corrupt society into which he was there thrown.
+The wish of his mother, that he should marry the Princess Amelia, the
+daughter of George II., was thwarted by his father's dislike of England;
+the tyranny to which he was subjected became intolerable, and in 1730,
+while accompanying his father on a journey to Southern Germany, he
+determined to run away.</p>
+
+<p>His accomplice was a young officer, Lieutenant von Katte, who had been
+his bosom-friend for two or three years. A letter written by Frederick
+to the latter fell by accident into the hands of another officer of the
+same name, who sent it to the king, and the plot was thus discovered.
+Frederick had already gone on board of a vessel at Frankfort, and was on
+the point of sailing down the Rhine, when his father followed, beat him
+until his face was covered with blood, and then sent him as a prisoner
+of State to Prussia. Katte was arrested before he could escape, tried by
+a court-martial and sentenced to several years' imprisonment. Frederick
+William annulled the sentence and ordered him to be immediately
+executed. To make the deed more barbarous, it was done before the window
+of the cell in which Frederick was confined. The young Prince fainted,
+and lay so long senseless that it was feared he would never recover.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</span> He
+was then watched, allowed no implements except a wooden spoon, lest he
+might commit suicide, and only permitted to read a Bible and hymn-book.
+The officer who had him in charge could only converse with him by means
+of a hole bored through the ceiling of his cell.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1731. FREDERICK'S RESTORATION.</div>
+
+<p>The king insisted that he should be formally tried; but the
+court-martial, while deciding that "Colonel Fritz" was guilty, as an
+officer, asserted that it had no authority to condemn the Crown-Prince.
+The king overruled the decision, and ordered his son to be executed.
+This course excited such horror and indignation among the officers that
+Frederick was pardoned, but not released from imprisonment until his
+spirit was broken and he had promised to obey his father in all things.
+For a year he was obliged to work as a clerk in the departments of the
+Government, beginning with the lowest position and rising as he acquired
+practical knowledge. He did not appear at Court until November, 1731,
+when his sister Wilhelmine was married to the Margrave of Baireuth. The
+ceremony had already commenced when Frederick, dressed in a plain suit
+of grey, without any order or decoration, was discovered among the
+servants. The King pulled him forth, and presented him to the Queen with
+these words: "Here, Madam, our Fritz is back again!"</p>
+
+<p>In 1732 Frederick was forced to marry the Princess Elizabeth of
+Brunswick-Bevern, whom he disliked, and with whom he lived but a short
+time. His father gave him the castle of Rheinsberg, near Potsdam, and
+there, for the first time, he enjoyed some independence: his leisure was
+devoted to philosophical studies, and to correspondence with Voltaire
+and other distinguished French authors. During the war of the Polish
+Succession he served for a short time under Prince Eugene of Savoy, but
+had no opportunity to test or develop his military talent. Until his
+father's death he seemed to be more of a poet and philosopher than
+anything else: only the few who knew him intimately perceived that his
+mind was occupied with plans of government and conquest.</p>
+
+<p>When Frederick William I. died, the people rejoiced in the prospect of a
+just and peaceful rule. Frederick II. declared to his ministers, on
+receiving their oath of allegiance, that no distinction should be
+allowed between the interests of the country and the king, since they
+were identical; but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</span> if any conflict of the two should arise, the
+interests of the country must have the preference. Then he at once
+corrected the abuses of the game and recruiting laws, disbanded his
+father's body-guard of giants, abolished torture in criminal cases,
+reformed the laws of marriage, and established a special Ministry for
+Commerce and Manufactures. When he set out for Königsberg to receive the
+allegiance of Prussia proper, his whole Court travelled in three
+carriages. On arriving, he dispensed with the ceremony of coronation, as
+being unnecessary, and then succeeded in establishing a much closer
+political union between Prussia and Brandenburg, which, in many
+respects, had been independent of each other up to that time.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1740.</div>
+
+<p>The death of the Emperor Karl VI. was the signal for a general
+disturbance. Maria Theresa, as the events of her reign afterwards
+proved, was a woman of strong, even heroic, character; stately, handsome
+and winning in her personal appearance, and morally irreproachable. No
+Hapsburg Emperor before her inherited the crown under such discouraging
+circumstances, and none could have maintained himself more bravely and
+firmly than she did. The ministers of Karl VI. flattered themselves that
+they would now have unlimited sway over the Empire, but they were
+mistaken. Maria Theresa listened to their counsels, but decided for
+herself: even her husband, Francis of Lorraine and Tuscany, was unable
+to influence her judgment. The Elector Karl Albert of Bavaria, whose
+grandmother was a Hapsburg, claimed the crown, and was supported by
+Louis XV. of France, who saw another opportunity of weakening Germany.
+The reigning Archbishops on the Rhine were of course on the side of
+France. Poland and Saxony, united under Augustus III., at the same time
+laid claim to some territory along the northern frontier of Austria.</p>
+
+<p>Frederick II. saw his opportunity, and was first in the field. His
+pretext was the right of Brandenburg to four principalities in Silesia,
+which had been relinquished to Austria under the pressure of
+circumstances. The real reason was, as he afterwards confessed, his
+determination to strengthen Prussia by the acquisition of more
+territory. The kingdom was divided into so many portions, separated so
+widely from each other, that it could not become powerful and permanent
+unless they were united. He had secretly raised his military force to
+100,000 men, and in December,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</span> 1740, he marched into Silesia, almost
+before Austria suspected his purpose. His army was kept under strict
+discipline; the people were neither plundered nor restricted in their
+religious worship, and the capital, Breslau, soon opened its gates.
+Several fortresses were taken during the winter, and in April, 1741, a
+decisive battle was fought at Mollwitz. The Austrian army had the
+advantage of numbers and its victory seemed so certain that Marshal
+Schwerin persuaded Frederick to leave the field; then, gathering
+together the remainder of his troops, he made a last and desperate
+charge which turned defeat into victory. All Lower Silesia was now in
+the hands of the Prussians.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1741. MARIA THERESA IN HUNGARY.</div>
+
+<p>France, Spain, Bavaria and Saxony immediately united against Austria. A
+French army crossed the Rhine, joined the Bavarian forces, and marched
+to Linz, on the Danube, where Karl Albert was proclaimed Arch-Duke of
+Austria. Maria Theresa and her Court fled to Presburg, where the
+Hungarian nobles were already convened, in the hope of recovering the
+rights they had lost under Leopold I. She was forced to grant the most
+of their demands; after which she was crowned with the crown of St.
+Stephen, galloped up "the king's hill," and waved her sword towards the
+four quarters of the earth, with so much grace and spirit that the
+Hungarians were quite won to her side. Afterwards, when she appeared
+before the Diet in their national costume, with her son Joseph in her
+arms, and made an eloquent speech, setting forth the dangers which beset
+her, the nobles drew their sabres and shouted: "We will die for our
+<i>King</i>, Maria Theresa!"</p>
+
+<p>While the support of Hungary and Austria was thus secured, the combined
+German and French force did not advance upon Vienna, but marched to
+Prague, where Karl Albert was crowned King of Bohemia. This act was
+followed, in February, 1742, by his coronation in Frankfort as Emperor,
+under the name of Karl VII. Before this took place, Austria had been
+forced to make a secret treaty with Frederick II. The latter, however,
+declared that the conditions of it had been violated, and in the spring
+of 1742 he marched into Bohemia. He was victorious in the first great
+battle: England then intervened, and persuaded Maria Theresa to make
+peace by yielding to Prussia both Upper and Lower Silesia and the
+principality of Glatz. Thus ended the First Silesian War, which gave
+Prussia an addition<span class="pagenum" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</span> of 1,200,000 to her population, with 150 large and
+small cities, and about 5,000 villages.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1742.</div>
+
+<p>The most dangerous enemy of Austria being thus temporarily removed, the
+fortunes of Maria Theresa speedily changed, especially since England,
+Holland and Hannover entered into an alliance to support her against
+France. George II. of England took the field in person, and was
+victorious over the French in the battle of Dettingen (not far from
+Frankfort), in June, 1743. After this Saxony joined the Austrian
+alliance, and the Landgrave of Hesse, who cared nothing for the war, but
+was willing to make money, sold an equal number of soldiers to France
+and to England. Frederick II. saw that France would not be able to stand
+long against such a coalition, and he knew that the success of Austria
+would probably be followed by an attempt to regain Silesia; therefore,
+regardless of appearances, he entered into a compact with France and the
+Emperor Karl VII., and prepared for another war.</p>
+
+<p>In the summer of 1744 he marched into Bohemia with an army of 80,000
+men, took Prague on the 16th of September, and conquered the greater
+part of the country. But the Bohemians were hostile to him, the
+Hungarians rose again in defence of Austria, and an army under Charles
+of Lorraine, which was operating against the French in Alsatia, was
+recalled to resist his advance. He was forced to retreat in the dead of
+winter, leaving many cannon behind him, and losing a large number of
+soldiers on the way. On the 20th of January, 1745, Karl VII. died, and
+his son, Max Joseph, gave up his pretensions to the Imperial crown, on
+condition of having Bavaria (which Austria had meanwhile conquered)
+restored to him. France thereupon practically withdrew from the
+struggle, leaving Prussia in the lurch. Frederick stood alone, with
+Austria, Saxony and Poland united against him, and a prospect of England
+and Russia being added to the number: the tables had turned, and he was
+very much in the condition of Maria Theresa, four years before.</p>
+
+<p>In May, 1745, Silesia was invaded with an army of 100,000 Austrians and
+Saxons. Frederick marched against them with a much smaller force, met
+them at Hohenfriedberg, and gave battle on the 4th of June. He began
+with a furious charge of Prussian cavalry at dawn, and by nine o'clock
+the enemy was utterly routed, leaving sixty-six standards,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</span> 5,000 dead
+and wounded, and 7,000 prisoners. This victory produced a great effect
+throughout Europe. England intervened in favor of peace, and Frederick
+declared that he would only fight until the possession of Silesia was
+firmly guaranteed to him; but Maria Theresa (who hated Frederick
+intensely, as she had good reason to do) answered that she would sooner
+part with the clothes on her body than give up Silesia.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1745. THE SECOND SILESIAN WAR.</div>
+
+<p>Frederick entered Bohemia with 18,000 men, and on the 30th of September
+was attacked, at a village called Sorr, by a force of 40,000.
+Nevertheless he managed his cavalry so admirably, that he gained the
+victory. Then, learning that the Saxons were preparing to invade Prussia
+in his rear, he garrisoned all the passes leading from Bohemia into
+Silesia, and marched into Saxony with his main force. The "Old
+Dessauer," as Prince Leopold was called, took Leipzig, and, pressing
+forwards, won another great victory on the 15th of December, at
+Kesselsdorf. Frederick, who arrived on the field at the close of the
+fight, embraced the old veteran in the sight of the army. The next day,
+the Prussians took possession of Dresden: the capital was not damaged,
+but, like the other cities of Saxony, was made to pay a heavy
+contribution. Peace was concluded with Austria ten days afterwards:
+Prussia was confirmed in the possession of all Silesia and Glatz, and
+Frederick agreed to recognize Francis of Lorraine, Maria Theresa's
+husband, who had already been crowned Emperor at Frankfort, as Francis
+I. Thus ended the Second Silesian War. Frederick was first called "the
+Great," on his return to Berlin, where he was received with boundless
+popular rejoicings.</p>
+
+<p>The "War of the Austrian Succession," as it was called, lasted three
+years longer, but its character was changed. Its field was shifted to
+Italy and Flanders: in the latter country Maurice of Saxony (better
+known as Marshal de Saxe), one of the many sons of Augustus the Strong,
+was signally successful. He conquered the greater part of the
+Netherlands for France, in the year 1747. Then Austria, although she had
+regained much of her lost ground in Northern Italy, formed an alliance
+with the Empress Elizabeth of Russia, who furnished an army of 40,000
+men. The money of France was exhausted, and Louis XV. found it best to
+make peace, which was concluded at Aix-la-Chapelle in October, 1748. He
+gave up all the conquests which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</span> France had made during the war. Austria
+yielded Parma and Piacenza to Spain, a portion of Lombardy to Sardinia,
+and again confirmed Frederick the Great in the possession of Silesia.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1747.</div>
+
+<p>After the Peace of Dresden, in 1745, Prussia enjoyed a rest of nearly
+eleven years. Frederick's first care was to heal the wounds which his
+two Silesian wars had made in the population and the industry of his
+people. He called himself "the first official servant of the State," and
+no civil officer under him labored half so earnestly and zealously. He
+looked upon his kingdom as a large estate, the details of which must be
+left to agents, while the general supervision devolved upon him alone.
+Therefore he insisted that all questions which required settlement, all
+changes necessary to be made, even the least infractions of the laws,
+should be referred directly to himself, so that his secretaries had much
+more to do than his ministers. While he claimed the absolute right to
+govern, he accepted all the responsibility which it brought upon him. He
+made himself acquainted with every village and landed estate in his
+kingdom, watched, as far as possible, over every official, and
+personally studied the operation of every reform. He rose at four or
+five o'clock, labored at his desk for hours, reading the multitude of
+reports and letters of complaint or appeal, which came simply addressed
+"to the King," and barely allowed himself an hour or two towards evening
+for a walk with his greyhounds, or a little practise on his beloved
+flute. His evenings were usually spent in conversation with men of
+culture and intelligence. His literary tastes, however, remained French
+all his life: his many works were written in that language, he preferred
+to speak it, and he sneered at German literature at a time when authors
+like Lessing, Klopstock, Herder and Goethe were gradually lifting it to
+such a height of glory as few other languages have ever attained.</p>
+
+<p>His rough, practical common-sense as a ruler is very well illustrated by
+his remarks upon the documents sent for his inspection, many of which
+are still preserved. On the back of the "Petition from the merchant
+Simon of Stettin, to be allowed to purchase an estate for 40,000
+thalers," he wrote: "40,000 thalers invested in commerce will yield
+eight per cent., in landed property only four per cent.; this man does
+not understand his own business." On the "Petition from the city of
+Frankfort-on-Oder, against the quartering<span class="pagenum" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</span> of troops upon them," he
+wrote: "Why, it cannot be otherwise. Do they think I can put the
+regiment in my pocket? But the barracks shall be rebuilt." And finally,
+on the "Petition of the Chamberlain, Baron Müller, for leave to visit
+the baths of Aix-la-Chapelle," he wrote: "What would he do there? He
+would gamble away the little money he has left, and come back like a
+beggar." The expenses of Frederick's own Court were restricted to about
+100,000 dollars a year, at a time when nearly every petty prince in
+Germany was spending from five to ten times that sum.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1748. FREDERICK AS RULER.</div>
+
+<p>In the administration of justice and the establishment of entire
+religious liberty, Prussia rapidly became a model which put to shame and
+disturbed the most of the other German States. Frederick openly
+declared: "I mean that every man in my kingdom shall have the right to
+be saved in his own way:" in Silesia, where the Protestants had been
+persecuted under Austria, the Catholics were now free and contented.
+This course gave him a great popularity outside of Prussia among the
+common people, and for the first time in two hundred years, the hope of
+better times began to revive among them. Frederick was as absolute a
+despot as any of his fellow-rulers of the day; but his was a despotism
+of intelligence, justice and conscience, opposed to that of ignorance,
+bigotry and selfishness.</p>
+
+<p>Frederick's rule, however, was not without its serious faults. He
+favored the education of his people less than his father, and was almost
+equally indifferent to the encouragement of science. The Berlin Academy
+was neglected, and another in which the French language was used, and
+French theories discussed, took its place. Prussian students were for a
+while prohibited from visiting Universities outside of the kingdom. On
+the other hand, agriculture was favored in every possible way: great
+tracts of marshy land, which had been uninhabited, were transformed into
+fertile and populous regions; canals, roads and bridges were built, and
+new markets for produce established. The cultivation of the potato, up
+to that time unknown in Germany as an article of food, was forced upon
+the unwilling farmers. In return for all these advantages, the people
+were heavily taxed, but not to such an extent as to impoverish them, as
+in Saxony and Austria. The army was not only kept up, but largely
+increased, for Frederick knew that the peace which Prussia enjoyed could
+not last long.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1755.</div>
+
+<p>The clouds of war slowly gathered on the political horizon. The peace of
+Europe was broken by the quarrel between England and France, in 1755, in
+regard to the boundaries between Canada and the English Colonies. This
+involved danger to Hannover, which was not yet disconnected from
+England, and the latter power proposed to Maria Theresa an alliance
+against France. The minister of the Empress was at this time Count
+Kaunitz, who fully shared her hatred of Frederick II., and determined,
+with her, to use this opportunity to recover Silesia. She therefore
+refused England's proposition, and wrote a flattering letter to Madame
+de Pompadour, the favorite of Louis XV., to prepare the way for an
+alliance between Austria and France. At the same time secret
+negotiations were carried on with Elizabeth of Russia, who was mortally
+offended with Frederick II., on account of some disparaging remarks he
+had made about her. Louis XV., nevertheless, hesitated until Maria
+Theresa promised to give him the Austrian (the former Spanish)
+Netherlands, in return for his assistance: then the compact between the
+three great military powers of the Continent was concluded, and
+everything was quietly arranged for commencing the war against Prussia
+in the spring of 1757. So sure were they of success that they agreed
+beforehand on the manner in which the Prussian kingdom should be cut up
+and divided among themselves and the other States.</p>
+
+<p>Through his paid agents at the <ins title="Was 'differents' in original.">different</ins> courts, and especially through
+the Crown Prince Peter of Russia, who was one of his most enthusiastic
+admirers, Frederick was well-informed of these plans. He saw that the
+coalition was too powerful to be defeated by diplomacy: his ruin was
+determined upon, and he could only prevent it by accepting war against
+such overwhelming odds. England was the only great power which could
+assist him, and Austria's policy left her no alternative: she concluded
+an alliance with Prussia in January, 1756, but her assistance,
+afterwards, was furnished in the shape of money rather than troops. The
+small States of Brunswick, Hesse-Cassel and Saxe-Gotha were persuaded to
+join Prussia, but they added very little to Frederick's strength,
+because Bavaria and all the principalities along the Rhine were certain
+to go with France, in a general German war.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1756. WAR IN BOHEMIA.</div>
+
+<p>Knowing when the combined movement against him<span class="pagenum" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</span> was to be made,
+Frederick boldly determined to anticipate it. Disregarding the
+neutrality of Saxony, he crossed its frontier on the 29th of August,
+1756, with an army of 70,000 men. Ten days afterwards he entered
+Dresden, besieged the Saxon army of 17,000 in their fortified camp on
+the Elbe, and pushed a column forwards into Bohemia. Maria Theresa
+collected her forces, and sent an army of nearly 70,000 in all haste
+against him. Frederick met them with 20,000 men at Lobositz, on the 1st
+of October, and after hard fighting gained a victory by the use of the
+bayonet. He wrote to Marshal Schwerin: "Never have my Prussians
+performed such miracles of bravery, since I had the honor to command
+them." The Saxons surrendered soon afterwards, and Frederick went into
+winter-quarters, secure against any further attack before the spring.</p>
+
+<p>This was a severe check to the plans of the allied powers, and they made
+every effort to retrieve it. Sweden was induced to join them, and "the
+German Empire," through its almost forgotten Diet, declared war against
+Prussia. All together raised an armed force of 430,000 men, while
+Frederick, with the greatest exertion, could barely raise 200,000:
+England sent him an utterly useless general, the Duke of Cumberland, but
+no soldiers. He dispatched a part of his army to meet the Russians and
+Swedes, marched with the rest into Bohemia, and on the 6th of May won a
+decided but very bloody victory before the walls of Prague. The old
+hero, Schwerin, charging at the head of his troops, was slain, and the
+entire loss of the Prussians was 18,000 killed and wounded. But there
+was still a large Austrian army in Prague: the city was besieged with
+the utmost vigor for five weeks, and was on the very point of
+surrendering when Frederick heard that another Austrian army, commanded
+by Daun, was marching to its rescue.</p>
+
+<p>He thereupon raised the siege, hastened onwards and met Daun at Kollin,
+on the Elbe, on the 18th of June. He had 31,000 men and the Austrians
+54,000: he prepared an excellent plan of battle, then deviated from it,
+and commenced the attack against the advice of General Zieten, his chief
+commander. His haste and stubbornness were well nigh proving his ruin;
+he tried to retrieve the fortunes of the day by personally leading his
+soldiers against the Austrian batteries, but in vain,&mdash;they were
+repulsed, with a loss<span class="pagenum" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</span> of 14,000 dead and wounded. That evening
+Frederick was found alone, seated on a log, drawing figures in the sand
+with his cane. He shed tears on hearing of the slaughter of all his best
+guardsmen; then, after a long silence, said: "It is a day of sorrow for
+us, my children, but have patience, for all will yet be well."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1757.</div>
+
+<p>The defeat at Kollin threw Frederick's plans into confusion: it was now
+necessary to give up Bohemia, and simply act on the defensive, on
+Prussian soil. Here he was met by the news of fresh disasters. His other
+army had been defeated by a much superior Russian force, and the useless
+Duke of Cumberland had surrendered Hannover to the French. But the
+Russians had retreated after their victory, instead of advancing, and
+Frederick's general, Lehwald, then easily repulsed the Swedes, who had
+invaded Pomerania. By this time a combined French and German array of
+60,000 men, under Marshal Soubise, was approaching from the west,
+confident of an easy victory and comfortable winter-quarters in Berlin.
+Frederick united his scattered and diminished forces: they only amounted
+to 22,000, and great was the amusement of the French when they learned
+that he meant to dispute their advance.</p>
+
+<p>After some preliminary man&oelig;uvring the two armies approached each
+other, on the 5th of November, at Rossbach, not far from Naumburg. When
+Marshal Soubise saw the Prussian camp, he said to his officers: "It is
+only a breakfast for us!" and ordered his forces to be spread out so as
+to cut off the retreat of the enemy. Frederick was at dinner when he
+received the news of the approaching attack: he immediately ordered
+General Seidlitz to charge with his cavalry, broke up his camp and
+marshalled his infantry in the rear of a range of low hills which
+concealed his movements. The French, supposing that he was retreating,
+pressed forwards with music and shouts of triumph; then, suddenly,
+Seidlitz burst upon them with his 8,000 cavalry, and immediately
+afterwards Frederick's cannon began to play upon their ranks from a
+commanding position. They were thrown into confusion by this surprise:
+Frederick and his brother, Prince Henry, led the infantry against them,
+and in an hour and a half from the commencement of the battle they were
+flying from the field in the wildest panic, leaving everything behind
+them. Nine generals, 320 other officers and 7,000 men were made
+prisoners, and all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</span> the artillery, arms and stores captured. The
+Prussian loss was only 91 dead and 274 wounded.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1757. THE BATTLE OF LEUTHEN.</div>
+
+<p>The remnant of the French army never halted until it reached the Rhine.
+All danger from the west was now at an end, and Frederick hastened
+towards Silesia, which had in the mean time been occupied by a powerful
+Austrian army under Charles of Lorraine. By making forced marches, in
+three weeks Frederick effected a junction near Breslau with his
+retreating Prussians, and found himself at the head of an army of about
+32,000 men. Charles of Lorraine and Marshal Daun had united their
+forces, taken Breslau, and opposed him with a body of more than 80,000;
+but, instead of awaiting his attack, they moved forward to meet him.
+Near the little town of Leuthen, the two came together. Frederick
+summoned his generals, and addressed them in a stirring speech: "Against
+all the rules of military science," he said, "I am going to engage an
+army nearly three times greater than my own. We must beat the enemy, or
+all together make for ourselves graves before his batteries. This I
+mean, and thus will I act: remember that you are Prussians. If one among
+you fears to share the last danger with me, he may resign now, without
+hearing a word of reproof from me."</p>
+
+<p>The king's heroic courage was shared by his officers and soldiers. At
+dawn, on the 5th of December, the troops sang a solemn hymn, after which
+shouts of "It is again the 5th!" and "Rossbach!" rang through the army.
+Frederick called General Zieten to him, and said: "I am going to expose
+myself more than ordinarily, to-day. Should I fall, cover my body with
+your cloak, and say nothing to any one. The fight must go on and the
+enemy must be beaten." He concealed the movement of his infantry behind
+some low hills, as at Rossbach, and surprised the left flank of the
+Austrian army, while his cavalry engaged its right flank. Both attacks
+were so desperate that the Austrians struggled in vain to recover their
+ground: after several hours of hard fighting they gave way, then broke
+up and fled in disorder, losing more than 20,000 in killed, wounded and
+prisoners. The Prussian loss was about 5,000. The cold winter night came
+down on the battle-field, still covered with wounded and dying and
+resounding with cries of suffering. All at once a Prussian grenadier
+began to sing the hymn: "Now let all hearts thank God;" the regiment
+nearest him presently<span class="pagenum" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</span> joined, then the military bands, and soon the
+entire army united in the grand choral of thanksgiving. Thus gloriously
+for Prussia closed the second year of this remarkable war.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1758.</div>
+
+<p>Frederick immediately took Breslau, with its garrison of 17,000
+Austrians, and all of Silesia except the fortress of Schweidnitz. During
+the winter Maria Theresa made vigorous preparations for a renewal of the
+war, and urged Russia and France to make fresh exertions. The reputation
+which Frederick had gained, however, brought him also some assistance:
+after the victories of Rossbach and Leuthen, there was so much popular
+enthusiasm for him in England that the Government granted him a subsidy
+of 4,000,000 thalers annually, and allowed him to appoint a commander
+for the troops of Hannover and the other allied States. Frederick
+selected Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick, who operated with so much skill
+and energy that by the summer of 1758 he had driven the French from all
+Northern Germany.</p>
+
+<p>Frederick, as usual, resumed his work before the Austrians were ready,
+took Schweidnitz, re-established his rule over Silesia, penetrated into
+Moravia and laid siege to Olmütz. But the Austrian Marshal Laudon cut
+off his communications with Silesia and forced him to retreat across the
+frontier, where he established himself in a fortified camp near
+Landshut. The Russians by this time had conquered the whole of the Duchy
+of Prussia, invaded Pomerania, which they plundered and laid waste, and
+were approaching the river Oder. On receiving this news, Frederick left
+Marshal Keith in command of his camp, took what troops could be spared
+and marched against his third enemy, whom he met on the 25th of August,
+1758, near the village of Zorndorf, in Pomerania. The battle lasted from
+nine in the morning until ten at night. Frederick had 32,000 men, mostly
+new recruits, the Russian General Fermor 50,000. The Prussian lines were
+repeatedly broken, but as often restored by the bravery of General
+Seidlitz, who finally won the battle by daring to disobey Frederick's
+orders. The latter sent word to him that he must answer for his
+disobedience with his head, but Seidlitz replied: "Tell the king he may
+have my head when the battle is over, but until then I must use it in
+his service." When, late at night, the Russians were utterly defeated,
+leaving 20,000 dead upon the field&mdash;for the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</span> Prussians gave them no
+quarter&mdash;Frederick embraced Seidlitz, crying out: "I owe the victory to
+you!"</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1758. THE SURPRISE AT HOCHKIRCH.</div>
+
+<p>The three great powers had been successively repelled, but the strength
+of Austria was not yet broken. Marshal Daun marched into Saxony and
+besieged the fortified camp of Prince Henry, thus obliging Frederick to
+hasten to his rescue. The latter's confidence in himself had been so
+exalted by his victories, that he and his entire army would have been
+lost but for the prudent watchfulness of Zieten. All except the latter
+and his hussars were quietly sleeping at Hochkirch, on the night of the
+13th of October, when the camp was suddenly attacked by Daun, in
+overwhelming force. The village was set on fire, the Prussian batteries
+captured, and a terrible fight ensued. Prince Francis of Brunswick and
+Marshal Keith were killed and Prince Maurice of Dessau severely wounded:
+the Prussians defended themselves heroically, but at nine o'clock on the
+morning of the 14th they were compelled to retreat, leaving all their
+artillery and camp equipage behind them. This was the last event of the
+campaign of 1758, and it was a bad omen for the following year.</p>
+
+<p>Frederick tried to negotiate for peace, but in vain. The strength of his
+army was gone; his victories had been dearly bought with the loss of all
+his best regiments. Austria and Russia reinforced their armies and
+planned, this time, to unite in Silesia, while the French, who defeated
+the Duke of Brunswick in April, 1759, regained possession of Hannover.
+Frederick was obliged to divide his troops and send an army under
+General Wedel against the Russians, while he, with a very reduced force,
+attempted to check the Austrians in Silesia. Wedel was defeated, and the
+junction of his two enemies could no longer be prevented; they marched
+against him, 70,000 strong, and took up a position at Kunnersdorf,
+opposite Frankfort-on-Oder. Frederick had but 48,000 men, after calling
+together almost the entire military strength of his kingdom, and many of
+these were raw recruits who had never smelt powder.</p>
+
+<p>On the 12th of August, 1759, after the good news arrived that Ferdinand
+of Brunswick had defeated the French at Minden, Frederick gave battle.
+At the end of six hours the Russian left wing gave way; then Frederick,
+against the advice of Seidlitz, ordered a charge upon the right wing,
+which occupied a very strong position and was supported by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</span> the Austrian
+army. Seidlitz twice refused to make the charge; and then when he
+yielded, was struck down, severely wounded, after his cavalry had been
+cut to pieces. Frederick himself led the troops to fresh slaughter, but
+all in vain: they fell in whole battalions before the terrible artillery
+fire, until 20,000 lay upon the field. The enemy charged in turn, and
+the Prussian army was scattered in all directions, only about 3,000
+accompanying the king in his retreat. For some days after this Frederick
+was in a state of complete despair, listless, helpless, unable to decide
+or command in anything.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1759.</div>
+
+<p>Prussia was only saved by a difference of opinion between Marshal Daun
+and the Russian general, Soltikoff. The latter refused to advance on
+Berlin, but fell back upon Silesia to rest his troops: Daun marched into
+Saxony, took Dresden, which the Prussians had held up to that time, and
+made 12,000 prisoners. Thus ended this unfortunate year. Prussia was in
+such an exhausted condition that it seemed impossible to raise more men
+or more money, to carry on the war. Frederick tried every means to break
+the alliance of his enemies, or to acquire new allies for himself, even
+appealing to Spain and Turkey, but without effect. In the spring of
+1760, the armies of Austria, "the German Empire," Russia and Sweden
+amounted to 280,000, to meet which he was barely able, by making every
+sacrifice, to raise 90,000. In Hannover Ferdinand of Brunswick had
+75,000, opposed by a French army of 115,000.</p>
+
+<p>Silesia was still the bone of contention, and it was planned that the
+Austrian and Russian armies should unite there, as before, while
+Frederick was equally determined to prevent their junction, and to hold
+the province for himself. But he first sent Prince Henry and General
+Fouqué to Silesia, while he undertook to regain possession of Saxony. He
+bombarded Dresden furiously, without success, and was then called away
+by the news that Fouqué with 7,000 men had been defeated and taken
+prisoners near Landshut. All Silesia was overrun by the Austrians,
+except Breslau, which was heroically defended by a small force. Marshal
+Laudon was in command, and as the Russians had not yet arrived, he
+effected a junction with Daun, who had followed Frederick from Saxony.
+On the 15th of August, 1760, they attacked him at Liegnitz with a
+combined force of 95,000 men. Although he had but 35,000, he won such<span class="pagenum" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</span> a
+splendid victory that the Russian army turned back on hearing of it, and
+in a short time Silesia, except the fortress of Glatz, was restored to
+Prussia.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1760. CAPTURE OF BERLIN.</div>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, while Frederick was engaged in following up his victory,
+the Austrians and Russians came to an understanding, and moved suddenly
+upon Berlin,&mdash;the Russians from the Oder, the Austrians and Saxons
+combined from Lusatia. The city defended itself for a few days, but
+surrendered on the 9th of October: a contribution of 1,700,000 thalers
+was levied by the conquerors, the Saxons ravaged the royal palace at
+Charlottenburg, but the Russians and Austrians committed few
+depredations. Four days afterwards, the news that Frederick was
+hastening to the relief of Berlin compelled the enemy to leave. Without
+attempting to pursue them, Frederick turned and marched back to Silesia,
+where, on the 3d of November, he met the Austrians, under Daun, at
+Torgau. This was one of the bloodiest battles of the Seven Years' War:
+the Prussian army was divided between Frederick and Zieten, the former
+undertaking to storm the Austrian position in front, while the latter
+attacked their flank. But Frederick, either too impetuous or mistaken in
+the signals, moved too soon: a terrible day's fight followed, and when
+night came 10,000 of his soldiers, dead or wounded, lay upon the field.
+He sat all night in the village church, making plans for the morrow;
+then, in the early dawn, Zieten came and announced that he had been
+victorious on the Austrian flank, and they were in full retreat. After
+which, turning to his soldiers, Zieten cried: "Boys, hurrah for our
+King!&mdash;he has won the battle!" The men answered: "Hurrah for Fritz, our
+King, and hurrah for Father Zieten, too!" The Prussian loss was 13,000,
+the Austrian 20,000.</p>
+
+<p>Although Prussia had been defended with such astonishing vigor and
+courage during the year 1760, the end of the campaign found her greatly
+weakened. The Austrians held Dresden and Glatz, two important strategic
+points, Russia and France were far from being exhausted, and every
+attempt of Frederick to strengthen himself by alliance&mdash;even with Turkey
+and with Cossack and Tartar chieftains&mdash;came to nothing. In October,
+1760, George II. of England died, there was a change of ministry, and
+the four, millions of thalers which Prussia had received for three years
+were cut off. The French, under Marshals Broglie<span class="pagenum" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</span> and Soubise, had been
+bravely met by Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, but he was not strong
+enough to prevent them from quartering themselves for the winter in
+Cassel and Göttingen. Under these discouraging aspects the year 1761
+opened.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1761.</div>
+
+<p>The first events were fortunate. Prince Ferdinand moved against the
+French in February and drove them back nearly to the Rhine; the army of
+"the German Empire" was expelled from Thuringia by a small detachment of
+Prussians, and Prince Henry, Frederick's brother, maintained himself in
+Saxony against the much stronger Austrian army of Marshal Daun. These
+successes left Frederick free to act with all his remaining forces
+against the Austrians in Silesia, under Laudon, and their Russian allies
+who were marching through Poland to unite with them a third time. But
+their combined force was 140,000 men, his barely 55,000. By the most
+skilful military tactics, marching rapidly back and forth, threatening
+first one and then the other, he kept them asunder until the middle of
+August, when they effected a junction in spite of him. Then he
+entrenched himself so strongly in a fortified camp near Schweidnitz,
+that they did not dare to attack him immediately. Marshal Laudon and the
+Russian commander, Buturlin, quarrelled, in consequence of which a large
+part of the Russian army left, and marched northwards into Pomerania.
+Then Frederick would have given battle, but on the 1st of October,
+Laudon took Schweidnitz by storm and so strengthened his position
+thereby that it would have been useless to attack him.</p>
+
+<p>Frederick's prospects were darker than ever when the year 1761 came to a
+close. On the 16th of December, the Swedes and Russians took the
+important fortress of Colberg, on the Baltic coast: half Pomerania was
+in their hands, more than half of Silesia in the hands of the Austrians,
+Prince Henry was hard pressed in Saxony, and Ferdinand of Brunswick was
+barely able to hold back the French. On all sides the allied enemies
+were closing in upon Prussia, whose people could no longer furnish
+soldiers or pay taxes. For more than a year the country had been hanging
+on the verge of ruin, and while Frederick's true greatness had been
+illustrated in his unyielding courage, his unshaken energy, his
+determination never to give up, he was almost powerless to plan any
+further measures of defence.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</span> With four millions of people, he had for
+six years fought powers which embraced eighty millions; but now half his
+territory was lost to him and the other half utterly exhausted.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1762. PRUSSIA AGAIN SUCCESSFUL.</div>
+
+<p>Suddenly, in the darkest hour, light came. In January, 1762, Frederick's
+bitter enemy, the Empress Elizabeth of Russia, died, and was succeeded
+by Czar Peter III., who was one of his most devoted admirers. The first
+thing Peter did was to send back all the Prussian prisoners of war; an
+armistice was concluded, then a peace, and finally an alliance, by which
+the Russian troops in Pomerania and Silesia were transferred from the
+Austrian to the Prussian side. Sweden followed the example of Russia,
+and made peace, and the campaign of 1762 opened with renewed hopes for
+Prussia. In July, 1762, Peter III. was dethroned and murdered, whereupon
+his widow and successor, Catharine II., broke off the alliance with
+Frederick; but she finally agreed to maintain peace, and Frederick made
+use of the presence of the Russian troops in his camp to win a decided
+victory over Daun, on the 21st of July.</p>
+
+<p>Austria was discouraged by this new turn of affairs; the war was
+conducted with less energy on the part of her generals, while the
+Prussians were everywhere animated with a fresh spirit. After a siege of
+several months Frederick took the fortress of Schweidnitz on the 9th of
+October; on the 29th of the same month Prince Henry defeated the
+Austrians at Freiberg, in Saxony, and on the 1st of November Ferdinand
+of Brunswick drove the French out of Cassel. After this Frederick
+marched upon Dresden, while small detachments were sent into Bohemia and
+Franconia, where they levied contributions on the cities and villages
+and kept the country in a state of terror.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime negotiations for peace had been carried on between
+England and France. The preliminaries were settled at Fontainebleau on
+the 3d of November, and, although the Tory Ministry of George II. would
+have willingly seen Prussia destroyed, Frederick's popularity was so
+great in England that the Government was forced to stipulate that the
+French troops should be withdrawn from Germany. The "German Empire,"
+represented by its superannuated Diet at Ratisbon, became alarmed at its
+position and concluded an armistice with Prussia; so that, before the
+year closed, Austria was left alone to carry on the war.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</span> Maria
+Theresa's personal hatred of Frederick, which had been the motive power
+in the combination against him, had not been gratified by his ruin: she
+could only purchase peace with him, after all his losses and dangers, by
+giving up Silesia forever. It was a bitter pill for her to swallow, but
+there was no alternative; she consented, with rage and humiliation in
+her heart. On the 15th of February, 1763, peace was signed at
+Hubertsburg, a little hunting-castle near Leipzig, and the Seven Years'
+War was over.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1763.</div>
+
+<p>Frederick was now called "the Great" throughout Europe, and Prussia was
+henceforth ranked among the "Five Great Powers," the others being
+England, France, Austria and Russia. His first duty, as after the Second
+Silesian War, was to raise the kingdom from its weak and wasted
+condition. He distributed among the farmers the supplies of grain which
+had been hoarded up for the army, gave them as many artillery and
+cavalry horses as could be spared, practised the most rigid economy in
+the expenses of the Government, and bestowed all that could be saved
+upon the regions which had most suffered. The nobles derived the
+greatest advantage from this support, for he considered them the main
+pillar of his State, and took all his officers from their ranks. In
+order to be prepared for any new emergency, he kept up his army, and
+finally doubled it, at a great cost; but, as he only used one-sixth of
+his own income and gave the rest towards supporting this burden, the
+people, although often oppressed by his system of taxation, did not
+openly complain.</p>
+
+<p>Frederick continued to be sole and arbitrary ruler. He was unwilling to
+grant any participation in the Government to the different classes of
+the people, but demanded that everything should be trusted to his own
+"sense of duty." Since the people <i>did</i> honor and trust him,&mdash;since
+every day illustrated his desire to be just towards all, and his own
+personal devotion to the interests of the kingdom,&mdash;his policy was
+accepted. He never reflected that the spirit of complete submission
+which he was inculcating weakened the spirit of the people, and might
+prove to be the ruin of Prussia if the royal power should fall into base
+or ignorant hands. In fact, the material development of the country was
+seriously hindered by his admiration of everything French. He introduced
+a form of taxation borrowed from France, appointed French officials who
+oppressed the people,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</span> granted monopolies to manufacturers, prohibited
+the exportation of raw material, and in other ways damaged the interests
+of Prussia, by trying to <i>force</i> a rapid growth.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1772. FREDERICK'S POLICY AS KING.</div>
+
+<p>The intellectual development of the country was equally hindered. In
+1750 Frederick invited Voltaire to Berlin, and the famous French author
+remained there nearly three years, making many enemies by his arrogance
+and intolerance of German habits, until a bitter quarrel broke out and
+the two parted, never to resume their intimacy. It is doubtful whether
+Frederick had the least consciousness of the swift and splendid rise of
+German Literature during the latter years of his reign. Although he
+often declared that he was perfectly willing his subjects should think
+and speak as they pleased, provided they <i>obeyed</i>, he maintained a
+strict censorship of the press, and was very impatient of all opinions
+which conflicted with his own. Thus, while he possessed the clearest
+sense of justice, the severest sense of duty, his policy was governed by
+his own personal tastes and prejudices, and therefore could not be
+universally just. What strength he possessed became a part of his
+government, but what weakness also.</p>
+
+<p>One other event, of a peaceful yet none the less of a violent character,
+marks Frederick's reign. Within a year after the Peace of Hubertsburg
+Augustus III. of Poland died, and Catharine of Russia persuaded the
+Polish nobles to elect Prince Poniatowsky, her favorite, as his
+successor. The latter granted equal rights to the Protestant sects,
+which brought on a civil war, as the Catholics were in a majority in
+Poland. A long series of diplomatic negotiations followed, in which
+Prussia, Austria, and indirectly France, were involved: the end was,
+that on the 5th of August, 1772, Frederick the Great, Catharine II. and
+Maria Theresa (the latter most unwillingly) united in taking possession
+of about one-third of the kingdom of Poland, containing 100,000 square
+miles and 4,500,000 inhabitants, and dividing it among them. Prussia
+received the territory between Pomerania and the former Duchy of
+Prussia, except only the cities of Dantzig and Thorn, with about 700,000
+inhabitants. This was the region lost to Germany in 1466, when the
+incapable Emperor Frederick III. failed to assist the German Order: its
+population was still mostly German, and consequently scarcely felt the
+annexation as a wrong, yet this does not change the character of the
+act.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1786.</div>
+
+<p>The last years of Frederick the Great were peaceful. He lived to see the
+American Colonies independent of England, and to send a sword of honor
+to Washington: he lived when Voltaire and Maria Theresa were dead,
+preserving to the last his habits of industry and constant supervision
+of all affairs. Like his father, he was fond of walking or riding
+through the parks and streets of Berlin and Potsdam, talking familiarly
+with the people and now and then using his cane upon an idler. His Court
+was Spartan in its simplicity, and nothing prevented the people from
+coming personally to him with their complaints. On one occasion, in the
+streets of Potsdam, he met a company of school-boys, and roughly
+addressed them with: "Boys, what are you doing here? Be off to your
+school!" One of the boldest answered: "Oh, you are king, are you, and
+don't know that there is no school to-day!" Frederick laughed heartily,
+dropped his uplifted cane, and gave the urchins a piece of money that
+they might better enjoy their holiday. The windmill at Potsdam, which
+stood on some ground he wanted for his park, but could not get because
+the miller would not sell and defied him to take it arbitrarily, stands
+to this day, as a token of his respect for the rights of a poor man.</p>
+
+<p>When Frederick died, on the 17th of August, 1786, at the age of
+seventy-four, he left a kingdom of 6,000,000 inhabitants, an army of
+more than 200,000 men, and a sum of 72 millions of thalers in the
+treasury. But, what was of far more consequence to Germany, he left
+behind him an example of patriotism, of order, economy and personal
+duty, which was already followed by other German princes, and an example
+of resistance to foreign interference which restored the pride and
+revived the hopes of the German people.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXXIV.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">GERMANY UNDER MARIA THERESA AND JOSEPH II.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1740&mdash;1790.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Maria Theresa and her Government.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Death of Francis I.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Character of Joseph II.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Partition of Poland.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Bavarian Succession.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Last Days of Maria Theresa.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Republican Ideas in Europe.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Joseph II. as a Revolutionist.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Reforms.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Visit of Pope Pius VI.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Alarm of the Catholics.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Joseph among the People.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Order of Jesuits dissolved by the Pope.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Joseph II's Disappointments.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Progress in Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;A German-Catholic Church proposed by four Archbishops.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;"Enlightened Despotism."</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The small States.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Influence of the great German Authors.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1750. MARIA THERESA.</div>
+
+<p>In the Empress Maria Theresa, Frederick the Great had an enemy whom he
+was bound to respect. Since the death of Maximilian II., in 1576,
+Austria had no male ruler so prudent, just and energetic as this woman.
+One of her first acts was to imitate the military organization of
+Prussia: then she endeavored to restore the finances of the country,
+which had been sadly shattered by the luxury of her predecessors. Her
+position during the two Silesian Wars and the Seven Years' War was
+almost the same as that of her opponent: she fought to recover
+territory, part of which had been ceded to Austria and part of which she
+had held by virtue of unsettled claims. The only difference was that the
+very existence of Austria did not depend on the result, as was the case
+with Prussia.</p>
+
+<p>Maria Theresa, like all the Hapsburgs after Ferdinand I., had grown up
+under the influence of the Jesuits, and her ideas of justice were
+limited by her religious bigotry. In other respects she was wise and
+liberal: she effected a complete reorganization of the government,
+establishing special departments of justice, industry and commerce; she
+sought to develop the resources of the country, abolished torture,
+introduced a new criminal code,&mdash;in short, she neglected scarcely any
+important interests of the people, except their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</span> education and their
+religious freedom. Nevertheless, she was always jealous of the
+assumptions of Rome, and prevented, as far as she was able, the
+immediate dependence of the Catholic clergy upon the Pope.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1765.</div>
+
+<p>In 1765, her husband, Francis I. (of Lorraine and Tuscany) suddenly
+died, and was succeeded, as German Emperor, by her eldest son, Joseph
+II., who was then twenty-four years of age. He was an earnest,
+noble-hearted, aspiring man, who had already taken his mother's enemy,
+Frederick the Great, as his model for a ruler. Maria Theresa, therefore,
+kept the Government of the Austrian dominions in her own hands, and the
+title of "Emperor" was not much more than an empty dignity while she
+lived. In August, 1769, Joseph had an interview with Frederick at
+Neisse, in Silesia, at which the Polish question was discussed. The
+latter returned the visit, at Neustadt in Moravia, the following year,
+and the terms of the partition of Poland appear to have been then agreed
+upon between them. Nevertheless, after the treaty had been formally
+drawn up and laid before Maria Theresa for her signature, she added
+these words: "Long after I am dead, the effects of this violation of all
+which has hitherto been considered right and holy will be made
+manifest." Joseph, with all his liberal ideas, had no such scruples of
+conscience. He was easily controlled by Frederick the Great, who,
+notwithstanding, never entirely trusted him.</p>
+
+<p>In 1777 a new trouble arose, which for two years held Germany on the
+brink of internal war. The Elector Max Joseph of Bavaria, the last of
+the house of Wittelsbach in a direct line, died without leaving brother
+or son, and the next heir was the Elector Karl Theodore of the
+Palatinate. The latter was persuaded by Joseph II. to give up about half
+of Bavaria to Austria, and Austrian troops immediately took possession
+of the territory. This proceeding created great alarm among the German
+princes, who looked upon it as the beginning of an attempt to extend the
+Austrian sway over all the other States. Another heir to Bavaria, Duke
+Karl of Zweibrücken (a little principality on the French frontier), was
+brought forward and presented by Frederick the Great, who, in order to
+support him, sent two armies into the field. Saxony and some of the
+smaller States took the same side; even Maria Theresa desired peace, but
+Joseph II. persisted in his plans until both France and Russia
+intervened. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</span> matter was finally settled in May, 1779, by giving
+Bavaria to the Elector Karl Theodore, and annexing a strip of territory
+along the river Inn, containing about 900 square miles and 139,000
+inhabitants, to Austria.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1780. DEATH OF MARIA THERESA.</div>
+
+<p>Maria Theresa had long been ill of an incurable dropsy, and on the 29th
+of November, 1780, she died, in the sixty-fourth year of her age. A few
+days before her death she had herself lowered by ropes and pulleys into
+the vault where the coffin of Francis I. reposed. On being drawn up
+again, one of the ropes parted, whereupon she exclaimed: "He wishes to
+keep me with him, and I shall soon come!" She wrote in her prayer-book
+that in regard to matters of justice, the Church, the education of her
+children, and her obligations towards the different orders of her
+people, she found little cause for self-reproach; but that she had been
+a sinner in making war from motives of pride, envy and anger, and in her
+speech had shown too little charity for others. She left Austria in a
+condition of order and material prosperity such as the country had not
+known for centuries.</p>
+
+<p>When Frederick the Great heard of her death, he said to one of his
+ministers: "Maria Theresa is dead; now there will be a new order of
+things!" He evidently believed that Joseph II. would set about indulging
+his restless ambition for conquest. But the latter kept the peace, and
+devoted himself to the interests of Austria, establishing, indeed, a new
+and most astonishing order of things, but of a totally different nature
+from what Frederick had expected. Joseph II. was filled with the new
+ideas of human rights which already agitated Europe. The short but
+illustrious history of the Corsican Republic, the foundation of the new
+nation of the United States of America, the works of French authors
+advocating democracy in society and politics, were beginning to exercise
+a powerful influence in Germany, not so much among the people as among
+the highly educated classes. Thus at the very moment when Frederick and
+Maria Theresa were exercising the most absolute form of despotism, and
+the smaller rulers were doing their best to imitate them, the most
+radical theories of republicanism were beginning to be openly discussed,
+and the great Revolution which they occasioned was only a few years off.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1781.</div>
+
+<p>Joseph II. was scarcely less despotic in his habits of government than
+Frederick the Great, and he used his power to force new liberties upon a
+people who were not intelligent<span class="pagenum" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</span> enough to understand them. He stands
+almost alone among monarchs, as an example of a Revolutionist upon the
+throne, not only granting far more than was ever demanded of his
+predecessors, but compelling his people to accept rights which they
+hardly knew how to use. He determined to transform Austria, by a few
+bold measures, into a State which should embody all the progressive
+ideas of the day, and be a model for the world. The plan was high and
+noble, but he failed because he did not perceive that the condition of a
+people cannot be so totally changed, without a wise and gradual
+preparation for it.</p>
+
+<p>He began by reforming the entire civil service of Austria; but, as he
+took the reform into his own hands and had little practical knowledge of
+the position and duties of the officials, many of the changes operated
+injuriously. In regard to taxation, industry and commerce, he followed
+the theories of French writers, which, in many respects, did not apply
+to the state of things in Austria. He abolished the penalty of death,
+put an end to serfdom among the peasantry, cut down the privileges of
+the nobles, and tried, for a short time, the experiment of a free press.
+His boldest measure was in regard to the Church, which he endeavored to
+make wholly independent of Rome. He openly declared that the priests
+were "the most dangerous and most useless class in every country"; he
+suppressed seven hundred monasteries and turned them into schools or
+asylums, granted the Protestants freedom of worship and all rights
+enjoyed by Catholics, and continued his work in so sweeping a manner
+that the Pope, Pius VI., hastened to Vienna in 1782, in the greatest
+alarm, hoping to restore the influence of the Church. Joseph II.
+received him with external politeness, but had him carefully watched and
+allowed no one to visit him without his own express permission. After a
+stay of four weeks during which he did not obtain a single concession of
+any importance, the Pope returned to Rome.</p>
+
+<p>Not content with what he had accomplished, Joseph now went further. He
+gave equal rights to Jews and members of the Greek Church, ordered
+German hymns to be sung in the Catholic Churches and the German Bible to
+be read, and prohibited pilgrimages and religious processions. These
+measures gave the priesthood the means of alarming the ignorant people,
+who were easily persuaded that the Emperor intended to abolish the
+Christian religion. They became<span class="pagenum" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</span> suspicious and hostile towards the one
+man who was defying the Church and the nobles in his efforts to help
+them. Only the few who came into direct contact with him were able to
+appreciate his sincerity and goodness. He was fond of going about alone,
+dressed so simply that few recognized him, and almost as many stories of
+his intercourse with the lower classes are told of him in Austria as of
+Frederick the Great in Prussia. On one occasion he attended a poor sick
+woman whose daughter took him for a physician: on another he took the
+plough from the hands of a peasant, and ploughed a few furrows around
+the field. If his reign had been longer, the Austrian people would have
+learned to trust him, and many of his reforms might have become
+permanent; but he was better understood and loved after his death than
+during his life.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1785. JOSEPH II.'S REFORMS.</div>
+
+<p>One circumstance must be mentioned, in explanation of the sudden and
+sweeping character of Joseph II.'s measures towards the Church. The
+Jesuits, by their intrigues and the demoralizing influence which they
+exercised, had made themselves hated in all Catholic countries, and were
+only tolerated in Bavaria and Austria. France, Spain, Naples and
+Portugal, one after the other, banished the Order, and Pope Clement XIV.
+was finally induced, in 1773, to dissolve its connection with the Church
+of Rome. The Jesuits were then compelled to leave Austria, and for a
+time they found refuge only in Russia and Prussia, where, through a most
+mistaken policy, they were employed by the governments as teachers.
+Their expulsion was the sign of a new life for the schools and
+universities, which were released from their paralyzing sway, and Joseph
+II. evidently supposed that the Church of Rome itself had made a step in
+advance. The Archbishop of Mayence and the Bishop of Treves were noted
+liberals; the latter even favored a reformation of the Catholic Church,
+and the Emperor had reason to believe that he would receive at least a
+moral support throughout Germany. He neither perceived the thorough
+demoralization which two centuries of Jesuit rule had produced in
+Austria, nor the settled determination of the Papal power to restore the
+Order as soon as circumstances would permit.</p>
+
+<p>Joseph II.'s last years were disastrous to all his plans. In Flanders,
+which was still a dependency of Austria, the priests incited the people
+to revolt; in Hungary the nobles were bitterly hostile to him, on
+account of the abolition of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</span> serfdom, and an alliance with Catharine II.
+of Russia against Turkey, into which he entered in 1788,&mdash;chiefly, it
+seems, in the hope of achieving military renown&mdash;was in every way
+unfortunate. At the head of an army of 200,000 men, he marched against
+Belgrade, but was repelled by the Turks, and finally returned to Vienna
+with the seeds of a fatal fever in his frame. Russia made peace with
+Turkey before the fortunes of war could be retrieved; Flanders declared
+itself independent of Austria, and a revolution in Hungary was only
+prevented by his taking back most of the decrees which had been issued
+for the emancipation of the people. Disappointed and hopeless, Joseph
+II. succumbed to the fever which hung upon him: he died on the 20th of
+February, 1790, only forty-nine years of age. He ordered these words to
+be engraved upon his tomb-stone: "Here lies a prince, whose intentions
+were pure, but who had the misfortune to see all his plans shattered!"
+History has done justice to his character, and the people whom he tried
+to help learned to appreciate his efforts when it was too late.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1790.</div>
+
+<p>The condition of Germany, from the end of the Seven Years' War to the
+close of the eighteenth century, shows a remarkable progress, when we
+contrast it with the first half of the century. The stern, heroic
+character of Frederick the Great, the strong, humane aspirations of
+Joseph II., and the rapid growth of democratic ideas all over the world,
+affected at last many of the smaller German States. Their imitation of
+the pomp and state of Louis XIV., which they had practised for nearly a
+hundred years, came to an end; the princes were now possessed with the
+idea of "an enlightened despotism"&mdash;that is, while retaining their
+absolute power, they endeavored to exercise it for the good of the
+people. There were some dark exceptions to this general change for the
+better. The rulers of Hesse-Cassel and Würtemberg, for example, sold
+whole regiments of their subjects to England, to be used against the
+American Colonies in the War of Independence. Although many of these
+soldiers remained in the United States, and encouraged, by their
+satisfaction with their new homes, the later German emigration to
+America, the princes who sold them covered their own memories with
+infamy, and deservedly so.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1790. "ENLIGHTENED DESPOTISM."</div>
+
+<p>There was a remarkable movement, about the same time, among the Catholic
+Archbishops, who were also temporal rulers, in Germany. The dominions of
+these priestly princes,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</span> especially along the Rhine, showed what had
+been the character of such a form of government. There were about 1,000
+inhabitants, fifty of whom were priests and two hundred and sixty
+beggars, to every twenty-two square miles! The difference between the
+condition of their States and that of the Protestant territories
+adjoining them was much more strongly marked than it now is between the
+Protestant and Catholic Cantons of Switzerland. By a singular
+coincidence, the chief Catholic Archbishops were at this time men of
+intelligence and humane aspirations, who did their best to remedy the
+scandalous misrule of their predecessors. In the year 1786, the
+Archbishops of Mayence, Treves, Cologne and Salzburg came together at
+Ems, and agreed upon a plan of founding a national German-Catholic
+Church, independent of Rome. The priests, in their incredible ignorance
+and bigotry, opposed the movement, and even Joseph II., who had planned
+the very same thing for Austria, most inconsistently refused to favor
+it; therefore the plan failed.</p>
+
+<p>It must be admitted, as an apology for the theory of "an enlightened
+despotism," that there was no representative government in Europe at the
+time, where there was greater justice and order than in Prussia or in
+Austria under Joseph II. The German Empire had become a mere mockery;
+its perpetual Diet at Ratisbon was little more than a farce. Poland,
+Holland and Sweden, where there was a Legislative Assembly, were in a
+most unfortunate condition: the Swiss Republic was far from being
+republican, and even England, under George III., did not present a
+fortunate model of parliamentary government. The United States of
+America were too far off and too little known, to exercise much
+influence. Some of the smaller German States, which were despotisms in
+the hands of wise and humane rulers, thus played a most beneficent part
+in protecting, instructing and elevating the people.</p>
+
+<p>Baden, Brunswick, Anhalt-Dessau, Holstein, Saxe-Gotha, and especially
+Saxe-Weimar, became cradles of science and literature. Karl Augustus, of
+the last-named State, called Herder, Wieland, Goethe, Schiller and other
+illustrious authors to his court, and created such a distinguished
+circle in letters and the arts that Weimar was named "the German
+Athens." The works of these great men, which had been preceded by those
+of Lessing and Klopstock, gave an immense impetus to the intellectual
+development of Germany.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</span> It was the first great advance made by the
+people since the days of Luther, and its effect extended gradually to
+the courts of less intelligent and humane princes. Even the profligate
+Duke Karl Eugene of Würtemberg reformed in a measure, established the
+Karl's-School where Schiller was educated, and tried, so far as he knew
+how, to govern justly. Frederick Augustus of Saxony refrained from
+imitating his dissolute and tyrannical ancestors, and his land began to
+recover from its long sufferings. As for the scores of petty States,
+which contained&mdash;as was ironically said&mdash;"twelve subjects and one Jew,"
+and were not much larger than an average Illinois farm, they were mostly
+despotic and ridiculous; but they were too weak to impede the general
+march of progress.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1790.</div>
+
+<p>Among the greater States, only Bavaria remained in the background.
+Although temporarily deprived of his beloved Jesuits, the Elector held
+fast to all the prejudices they had inculcated, and kept his people in
+ignorance.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXV" id="CHAPTER_XXXV"></a>CHAPTER XXXV.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">FROM THE DEATH OF JOSEPH II. TO THE END OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1790&mdash;1806.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>The Crisis in Europe.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Frederick William II. in Prussia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Leopold II. in Austria.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His short Reign.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Francis II. succeeds.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;French Claims in Alsatia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;War declared against Austria.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Prussian and Austrian Invasion of France.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Valmy and Jemappes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;<span class="smcap">The First Coalition.</span></li>
+  <li>&mdash;Campaign of 1793.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;French Successes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Hesitation of Prussia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Treaty of Basel.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Catharine II.'s Designs.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Second Partition of Poland.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Kosciusko's Defeat.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Suwarrow takes Warsaw.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;End of Poland.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;French Invasion of Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Success of the Republic.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Bonaparte in Italy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Campaign of 1796.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Austrian Successes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Bonaparte victorious.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Peace of Campo Formio.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;New Demands of France.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;<span class="smcap">The Second Coalition.</span></li>
+  <li>&mdash;Suwarrow in Italy and Switzerland.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Bonaparte First Consul.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Victories at Marengo and Hohenlinden.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Peace of Luneville.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The German States reconstructed.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Character of the political Changes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Supremacy of France.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Hannover invaded.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Bonaparte Emperor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;<span class="smcap">The Third Coalition</span>.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;French march to Vienna.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Austerlitz.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Treaty of Presburg.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;End of the "Holy Roman Empire."</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1790. CONDITION OF EUROPE.</div>
+
+<p>The mantles of both Frederick the Great and Joseph II. fell upon
+incompetent successors, at a time when all Europe was agitated by the
+beginning of the French Revolution, and when, therefore, the greatest
+political wisdom was required of the rulers of Germany. It was a crisis,
+the like of which never before occurred in the history of the world, and
+probably never will occur again; for, at the time when it came, the
+people enjoyed fewer rights than they had possessed during the Middle
+Ages, and the monarchs exercised more power than they had claimed for at
+least fifteen hundred years before, while general intelligence and the
+knowledge of human rights were increasing everywhere. The fabrics of
+society and government were ages behind the demands of the time: a
+change was inevitable, and because no preparation had been made, it came
+through violence.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1792.</div>
+
+<p>Frederick the Great was succeeded by his nephew, Frederick William II.,
+whom, with unaccountable neglect, he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</span> had not instructed in the duties
+of government. The latter, nevertheless, began with changes which gave
+him a great popularity. He abolished the French system of collecting
+duties, the monopolies which were burdensome to the people, and
+lightened the weight of their taxes. But, by unnecessary interference in
+the affairs of Holland (because his sister was the wife of William V. of
+Orange), he spent all the surplus which Frederick had left in the
+Prussian treasury; he was weak, dissolute and fickle in his character;
+he introduced the most rigid measures in regard to the press and
+religious worship, and soon taught the people the difference between a
+bigoted and narrow-minded and an intelligent and conscientious king.</p>
+
+<p>Joseph II. was succeeded by his brother, Leopold II., who for
+twenty-five years had been Grand-Duke of Tuscany, where he had governed
+with great mildness and prudence. His policy had been somewhat similar
+to that of Joseph II., but characterized by greater caution and
+moderation. When he took the crown of Austria, and immediately
+afterwards that of the German Empire, he materially changed his plan of
+government. He was not rigidly oppressive, but he checked the evidences
+of a freer development among the people, which Joseph II. had fostered.
+He limited, at once, the pretensions of Austria, cultivated friendly
+relations with Prussia, which was then inclined to support the Austrian
+Netherlands in their revolt, and took steps to conclude peace with
+Turkey. He succeeded, also, in reconciling the Hungarians to the
+Hapsburg rule, and might, possibly, have given a fortunate turn to the
+destinies of Austria, if he had lived long enough. But he died on the
+1st of March, 1792, after a reign of exactly two years, and was
+succeeded by his son, Francis II., who was elected Emperor of Germany on
+the 5th of July, in Frankfort.</p>
+
+<p>By this time the great changes which had taken place in France began to
+agitate all Europe. The French National Assembly very soon disregarded
+the provisions of the Peace of Westphalia (in 1648), which had only
+ceded the possessions of <i>Austria</i> in Alsatia to France, allowing
+various towns and districts on the West bank of the Upper Rhine to be
+held by German Princes. The entire authority over these scattered
+possessions was now claimed by France, and neither Prussia, under
+Frederick William II., nor Austria under Leopold II. resisted the act
+otherwise than by a protest<span class="pagenum" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</span> which had no effect. Although the French
+queen, Marie Antoinette, was Leopold II.'s sister, his policy was to
+preserve peace with the Revolutionary party which controlled France.
+Frederick William's minister, Hertzberg, pursued the same policy, but so
+much against the will of the king, who was determined to defend the
+cause of absolute monarchy by trying to rescue Louis XVI. from his
+increasing dangers, that before the close of 1791 Hertzberg was
+dismissed from office. Then Frederick William endeavored to create a
+"holy alliance" of Prussia, Austria, Russia and Sweden against France,
+but only succeeded far enough to provoke a bitter feeling of hostility
+to Germany in the French National Assembly.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1792. FRANCE AND PRUSSIA.</div>
+
+<p>The nobles who had been driven out of France by the Revolution were
+welcomed by the Archbishops of Mayence and Treves, and the rulers of
+smaller States along the Rhine, who allowed them to plot a
+counter-revolution. An angry diplomatic intercourse between France and
+Austria followed, and in April, 1792, the former country declared war
+against "the king of Bohemia and Hungary," as Francis II. was styled by
+the French Assembly. In fact, war was inevitable; for the monarchs of
+Europe were simply waiting for a good chance to intervene and crush the
+republican movement in France, which, on its side, could only establish
+itself through military successes. Although neither party was prepared
+for the struggle, the energy and enthusiasm of the new men who governed
+France gained an advantage, at the start, over the lumbering slowness of
+the German governments. It was not the latter, this time, but their
+enemy, who profited by the example of Frederick the Great.</p>
+
+<p>Prussia and Austria, supported by some but not by all of the smaller
+States, raised two armies, one of 110,000 men under the Duke of
+Brunswick, which was to march through Belgium to Paris, while the other,
+50,000 strong, was to take possession of Alsatia. The movement of the
+former was changed, and then delayed by differences of opinion among the
+royal and ducal commanders. It started from Mayence, and consumed three
+weeks in marching to the French frontier, only ninety miles distant.
+<ins title="Same as original.">Longwy</ins> and Verdun were taken without much difficulty, and then the
+advance ceased. The French under Dumouriez and Kellermann united their
+forces, held the Germans in check at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</span> Valmy, on the 20th of September,
+1792, and then compelled them to retrace their steps towards the Rhine.
+While the Prussians were retreating through storms of rain, their ranks
+thinned by disease, Dumouriez wheeled upon Flanders, met the Austrian
+army at Jemappes, and gained such a decided victory that by the end of
+the year all Belgium, and even the city of Aix-la-Chapelle, fell into
+the hands of the French.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1793.</div>
+
+<p>At the same time another French army, under General Custine, marched to
+the Rhine, took Speyer, Worms and finally Mayence, which city was made
+the head-quarters of a republican movement intended to influence
+Germany. But these successes were followed, on the 21st of January,
+1793, by the execution of Louis XVI., and on the 16th of October of
+Marie Antoinette,&mdash;acts which alarmed every reigning family in Europe
+and provoked the most intense enmity towards the French Republic. An
+immediate alliance&mdash;called the <span class="smcap">First Coalition</span>&mdash;was made by England,
+Holland, Prussia, Austria, "the German Empire," Sardinia, Naples and
+Spain, against France. Only Catharine II. of Russia declined to join,
+not because she did not favor the design of crushing France, but because
+she would thus be left free to carry out her plans of aggrandizing
+Russia at the expense of Turkey and Poland.</p>
+
+<p>The greater part of the year 1793 was on the whole favorable to the
+allied powers. An Austrian victory at Neerwinden, on the 18th of March,
+compelled the French to evacuate Belgium: in July the Prussians
+reconquered Mayence, and advanced into Alsatia; and a combined English
+and Spanish fleet took possession of Toulon. But there was no unity of
+action among the enemies of France; even the German successes were soon
+neutralized by the mutual jealousy and mistrust of Prussia and Austria,
+and the war became more and more unpopular. Towards the close of the
+year the French armies were again victorious in Flanders and along the
+Rhine: their generals had discovered that the rapid movements and rash,
+impetuous assaults of their new troops were very effectual against the
+old, deliberate, scientific tactics of the Germans. Spain, Holland and
+Sardinia proved to be almost useless as allies, and the strength of the
+Coalition was reduced to England, Prussia and Austria.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1795. THE TREATY OF BASEL.</div>
+
+<p>In 1794 a fresh attempt was made. Prussia furnished<span class="pagenum" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</span> 50,000 men, who
+were paid by England, and were hardly less mercenaries than the troops
+sold by Hesse-Cassel twenty years before. In June, the French under
+Jourdan were victorious at Fleurus, and Austria decided to give up
+Belgium: the Prussians gained some advantages in Alsatia, but showed no
+desire to carry on the war as the hirelings of another country.
+Frederick William II. and Francis II. were equally suspicious of each
+other, equally weak and vacillating, divided between their desire of
+overturning the French Republic on the one side, and securing new
+conquests of Polish territory on the other. Thus the war was prosecuted
+in the most languid and inefficient manner, and by the end of the year
+the French were masters of all the territory west of the Rhine, from
+Alsatia to the sea. During the following winter they assisted in
+overturning the former government of Holland, where a new "Batavian
+Republic" was established. Frederick William II. thereupon determined to
+withdraw from the Coalition, and make a separate peace with France. His
+minister, Hardenberg, concluded a treaty at Basel, on the 5th of April,
+1795, by which Cleves and other Prussian territory west of the Lower
+Rhine was relinquished to France, and all of Germany north of a line
+drawn from the river Main eastward to Silesia, was declared to be in a
+state of peace during the war which France still continued to wage with
+Austria.</p>
+
+<p>The chief cause of Prussia's change of policy seems to have been her
+fear that Russia would absorb the whole of Poland. This was probably the
+intention of Catharine II., for she had vigorously encouraged the war
+between Germany and France, while declining to take part in it. The
+Poles themselves, now more divided than ever, soon furnished her with a
+pretext for interference. They had adopted an hereditary instead of an
+elective monarchy, together with a Constitution similar to that of
+France; but a portion of the nobility rose in arms against these
+changes, and were supported by Russia. Then Frederick William II.
+insisted on being admitted as a partner in the business of interference,
+and Catharine II. reluctantly consented. In January, 1793, the two
+powers agreed to divide a large portion of Polish territory between
+them, Austria taking no active part in the matter. Prussia received the
+cities of Thorn and Dantzig, the provinces of Posen, Gnesen and Kalisch,
+and other territory, amounting to more than 20,000 square miles, with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</span>
+1,000,000 inhabitants. The only resistance made to the entrance of the
+Russian army into Poland, was headed by Kosciusko, one of the heroes of
+the American war of Independence. Although defeated at Dubienka, where
+he fought with 4,000 men against 16,000, the hopes of the Polish
+patriots centred upon him, and when they rose in 1794 to prevent the
+approaching destruction of their country, they made him Dictator. Russia
+was engaged in a war with Turkey, and had not troops enough to quell the
+insurrection, so Prussia was called upon to furnish her share. In June,
+1794, Frederick William himself marched to Warsaw, where a Russian army
+arrived about the same time: the city was besieged, but not attacked,
+owing to quarrels and differences of opinion among the commanders. At
+the end of three months, the king got tired and went back to Berlin;
+several small battles were fought, in which the Poles had the greater
+advantage, but nothing decisive happened until the end of October, when
+the Russian General Suwarrow arrived, after a forced march, from the
+seat of war on the Danube.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1795.</div>
+
+<p>He first defeated Kosciusko, who was taken prisoner, and then marched
+upon Warsaw. On the 4th of November the suburb of Praga was taken by
+storm, with terrible slaughter, and three days afterwards Warsaw fell.
+This was the end of Poland, as an independent nation. Although Austria
+had taken no part in the war, she now negotiated for a share in the
+Third (and last) Partition, which had been decided upon by Russia and
+Prussia, even before the Polish revolt furnished a pretext for it.
+Catharine II. favored the Austrian claims, and even concluded a secret
+agreement with Francis II. without consulting Prussia. When this had
+been made known, in August, 1795, Prussia protested violently against
+it, but without effect: Russia took more than half the remaining
+territory, Austria nearly one-quarter, and Prussia received about 20,000
+square miles more, including the city of Warsaw.</p>
+
+<p>After the Treaty of Basel, which secured peace to the northern half of
+Germany, Catharine II., victorious over Turkey and having nothing more
+to do in Poland, united with England and Austria against France. It was
+agreed that Russia should send both an army and a fleet, Austria raise
+200,000 men, and England contribute 4,000,000 pounds sterling annually
+towards the expenses of the war. During<span class="pagenum" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</span> the summer of 1795, however,
+little was done. The French still held everything west of the Rhine, and
+the Austrians watched them from the opposite bank: the strength of both
+was nearly equal. Suddenly, in September, the French crossed the river,
+took Düsseldorf and Mannheim, with immense quantities of military
+stores, and completely laid waste the country in the neighborhood of
+these two cities, treating the people with the most inhuman barbarity.
+Then the Austrians rallied, repulsed the French, in their turn, and
+before winter recovered possession of nearly all the western bank.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1796. BONAPARTE'S CAMPAIGN IN ITALY.</div>
+
+<p>In January, 1796, an armistice was declared: Spain and Sardinia had
+already made peace with France, and Austria showed signs of becoming
+weary of the war. The French Republic, however, found itself greatly
+strengthened by its military successes: its minister of war, Carnot, and
+its ambitious young generals, Bonaparte, Moreau, Massena, &amp;c., were
+winning fame and power by the continuance of hostilities, and the system
+of making the conquered territory pay all the expenses of the war (in
+some cases much more), was a great advantage to the French national
+treasury. Thus the war, undertaken by the Coalition for the destruction
+of the French Republic, had only strengthened the latter, which was in
+the best condition for continuing it at a time when the allies (except,
+perhaps, England) were discouraged, and ready for peace.</p>
+
+<p>The campaign of 1796 was most disastrous to Austria. France had an army
+under Jourdan on the Lower Rhine, another under Moreau&mdash;who had replaced
+General Pichegru&mdash;on the Upper Rhine, and a third under Bonaparte in
+Italy. The latter began his movement early in April; he promised his
+unpaid, ragged and badly-fed troops that he would give them Milan in
+four weeks, and he kept his word. Plunder and victory heightened their
+faith in his splendid military genius: he advanced with irresistible
+energy, passing the Po, the Adda at Lodi, subjecting the Venetian
+Republic, forming new republican States out of the old Italian Duchies,
+and driving the Austrians everywhere before him. By the end of the year
+the latter held only the strong fortress of Mantua.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1797.</div>
+
+<p>The French armies on the Rhine were opposed by an Austrian army of equal
+strength, commanded by the Archduke Karl, a general of considerable
+talent, but still governed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</span> by the military ideas of a former
+generation. Instead of attacking, he waited to be attacked; but neither
+Jourdan nor Moreau allowed him to wait long. The former took possession
+of the Eastern bank of the Lower Rhine: when the Archduke marched
+against him, Moreau crossed into Baden and seized the passes of the
+Black Forest. Then the Archduke, having compelled Jourdan to fall back,
+met the latter and was defeated. Jourdan returned a second time, Moreau
+advanced, and all Baden, Würtemberg, Franconia, and the greater part of
+Bavaria fell into the hands of the French. These States not only
+submitted without resistance, but used every exertion to pay enormous
+contributions to their conquerors. One-fourth of what they gave would
+have prevented the invasion, and changed the subsequent fate of Germany.
+Frankfort paid ten millions of florins, Nuremberg three, Bavaria ten,
+and the other cities and principalities in proportion, besides
+furnishing enormous quantities of supplies to the French troops. All
+these countries purchased the neutrality of France, by allowing free
+passage to the latter, and agreeing further to pay heavy monthly
+contributions towards the expenses of the war. Even Saxony, which had
+not been invaded, joined in this agreement.</p>
+
+<p>Towards the end of summer the Archduke twice defeated Jourdan and forced
+him to retreat across the Rhine. This rendered Moreau's position in
+Bavaria untenable: closely followed by the Austrians, he accomplished
+without loss that famous retreat through the Black Forest which is
+considered a greater achievement than many victories in the annals of
+war. Thus, at the close of the year 1796, all Germany east of the Rhine,
+plundered, impoverished and demoralized, was again free from the French.
+This defeated Bonaparte's plan, which was to advance from Italy through
+the Tyrol, effect a junction with Moreau in Bavaria, and then march upon
+Vienna. Nevertheless, he determined to carry out his portion of it,
+regardless of the fortunes of the other French armies. On the 2d of
+February, 1797, Mantua surrendered; the Archduke Karl, who had been sent
+against him, was defeated, and Bonaparte followed with such daring and
+vigor that by the middle of April he had reached the little town of
+Leoben, in Styria, only a few days' march from Vienna. Although he had
+less than 50,000 men, while the Archduke still had about 25,000,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</span> and
+the Austrians, Styrians and Tyrolese, now thoroughly aroused, demanded
+weapons and leaders, Francis II., instead of encouraging their
+patriotism and boldly undertaking a movement which might have cut off
+Bonaparte, began to negotiate for peace. Of course the conqueror
+dictated his own terms: the preliminaries were settled at once, an
+armistice followed, and on the 17th of October, 1797, peace was
+concluded at Campo Formio.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1798. THE CONGRESS OF RASTATT.</div>
+
+<p>Austria gave Lombardy and Belgium to France, to both of which countries
+she had a tolerable claim; but she also gave all the territory west of
+the Rhine, which she had no right to do, even under the constitution of
+the superannuated "German Empire." On the other hand, Bonaparte gave to
+Austria Dalmatia, Istria, and nearly all the territory of the Republic
+of Venice, to which he had not the shadow of a right. He had already
+conquered and suppressed the Republic of Genoa, so that these two old
+and illustrious States vanished from the map of Europe, only two years
+after Poland.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, the illusion of a German Empire was kept up, so far as the
+form was concerned. A Congress of all the States was called to meet at
+Rastatt, in Baden, and confirm the Treaty of Campo Formio. But France
+had become arrogant through her astonishing success, and in May, 1798,
+her ambassadors suddenly demanded a number of new concessions, including
+the annexation of points east of the Rhine, the levelling of the
+fortress of Ehrenbreitstein (opposite Coblentz), and the possession of
+the islands at the mouth of the river. At this time Bonaparte was
+absent, on his expedition to Egypt, and only England, chiefly by means
+of her navy, was carrying on the war with France. The new demands made
+at the Congress of Rastatt not only prolonged the negotiations, but
+provoked throughout Europe the idea of another Coalition against the
+French Republic. The year 1798, however, came to an end without any
+further action, except such as was secretly plotted at the various
+Courts.</p>
+
+<p>Early in 1799, the <span class="smcap">Second Coalition</span> was formed between England, Russia
+(where Paul I. had succeeded Catharine II. in 1796), Austria, Naples and
+Turkey: Spain and Prussia refused to join. An Austrian army under the
+Archduke defeated Jourdan in March, while another, supported by Naples,
+was successful against the French in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</span> Italy. Meanwhile, the Congress
+continued to sit at Rastatt, in the foolish hope of making peace after
+the war had again begun. The approach of the Austrian troops finally
+dissolved it; but the two French ambassadors, who left for France on the
+evening of April 28th, were waylaid and murdered near the city by some
+Austrian hussars. No investigation of this outrage was ever ordered; the
+general belief is that the Court of Vienna was responsible for it. The
+act was as mad as it was infamous, for it stirred the entire French
+people into fury against Germany.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1799.</div>
+
+<p>In the spring of 1799, a Russian army commanded by Suwarrow arrived in
+Italy, and in a short time completed the work begun by the Austrians.
+The Roman Republic was overthrown and Pope Pius VII. restored: all
+Northern Italy, except Genoa, was taken from the French; and then,
+finding his movements hampered by the jealousy of the Austrian generals,
+Suwarrow crossed the St. Gothard with his army, fighting his way through
+the terrific gorges of the Alps. To avoid the French General, Massena,
+who had been victorious at Zurich, he was compelled to choose the most
+lofty and difficult passes, and his march over them was a marvel of
+daring and endurance. This was the end of his campaign, for the Emperor
+Paul, suspicious of Austria and becoming more friendly to France, soon
+afterwards recalled him and his troops. During the campaign of this
+year, the English army under the Duke of York, had miserably failed in
+the Netherlands, but the Archduke, although no important battle was
+fought, held the French thoroughly in check along the frontier of the
+Rhine.</p>
+
+<p>The end of the year, and of the century, brought a great change in the
+destinies of France. Bonaparte had returned from Egypt, and on the 9th
+of November, by force of arms, he overthrew the Government and
+established the Consulate in the place of the Republic, with himself as
+First Consul for ten years. Being now practically Dictator, he took
+matters into his own hands, and his first measure was to propose peace
+to the Coalition, on the basis of the Treaty of Campo Formio. This was
+rejected by England and Austria, who stubbornly believed that the
+fortune of the war was at last turning to their side. In Prussia,
+Frederick William II. had died in November, 1797, and was succeeded by
+his son, Frederick William III., who was a man of excellent personal
+qualities, but without either energy, ambition or clear<span class="pagenum" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</span> intelligence.
+Bonaparte's policy was simply to keep Prussia neutral, and he found no
+difficulty in maintaining the peace which had been concluded at Basel
+nearly five years before. England chiefly took part in the war by means
+of her navy, and by contributions of money, so that France, with the
+best generals in the world and soldiers flushed with victory, was only
+called upon to meet Austria in the field.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1799. BONAPARTE FIRST CONSUL.</div>
+
+<p>At this crisis, the Archduke Karl, Austria's single good general, threw
+up his command, on account of the interference of the Court of Vienna
+with his plans. His place was filled by the Archduke John, a boy of
+nineteen, under whom was an army of 100,000 men, scattered in a long
+line from the Alps to Frankfort. Moreau easily broke through this
+barrier, overran Baden and Würtemberg, and was only arrested for a short
+time by the fortifications of Ulm. While these events were occurring,
+another Austrian army under Melas besieged Massena in Genoa. Bonaparte
+collected a new force, with such rapidity and secrecy that his plan was
+not discovered, made a heroic march over the St. Bernard pass of the
+Alps in May, and came down upon Italy like an avalanche. Genoa,
+thousands of whose citizens perished with hunger during the siege, had
+already surrendered to the Austrians; but, when the latter turned to
+repel Bonaparte, they were cut to pieces on the field of Marengo, on the
+14th of June, 1800. This magnificent victory gave all Northern Italy, as
+far as the river Mincio, into the hands of the French.</p>
+
+<p>Again Bonaparte offered peace to Austria, on the same basis as before.
+An armistice was concluded, and Francis II. made signs of accepting the
+offer of peace, but only that he might quietly recruit his armies. When,
+therefore, the armistice expired, on the 25th of November, Moreau
+immediately advanced to attack the new Austrian army of nearly 90,000
+men, which occupied a position along the river Inn. On the 3d of
+December, the two met at Hohenlinden, and the French, after a bloody
+struggle, were completely victorious. There was now, apparently, nothing
+to prevent Moreau from marching upon Vienna, and the Archduke Karl, who
+had been sent in all haste to take command of the demoralized Austrians,
+was compelled to ask for an armistice upon terms very humiliating to the
+Hapsburg pride.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1801.</div>
+
+<p>After all its combined haughtiness and incompetency, the Court of Vienna
+gratefully accepted such terms as it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</span> could get. Francis II. sent one of
+his ministers, Cobenzl, who met Joseph Bonaparte at Lunéville (in
+Lorraine), and there, on the 9th of February, 1801, peace was concluded.
+Its chief provisions were those of the Treaty of Campo Formio: all the
+territory west of the Rhine, from Basel to the sea, was given to France,
+together with all Northern Italy west of the Adige. The Duke of Modena
+received part of Baden, and the Duke of Tuscany Salzburg. Other temporal
+princes of Germany, who lost part or the whole of their territory by the
+treaty, were compensated by secularizing the dominions of the priestly
+rulers, and dividing them among the former. Thus the States governed by
+Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots or other clerical dignitaries, nearly one
+hundred in number, were abolished at one blow, and what little was left
+of the fabric of the old German Empire fell to pieces. The division of
+all this territory among the other States gave rise to new difficulties
+and disputes, which were not settled for two years longer. The Diet
+appointed a special Commission to arrange the matter; but, inasmuch as
+Bonaparte, through his Minister Talleyrand, and Alexander I. of Russia
+(the Emperor Paul having been murdered in 1801), intrigued in every
+possible way to enlarge the smaller German States and prevent the
+increase of Austria, the final arrangements were made quite as much by
+the two foreign powers as by the Commission of the German Diet.</p>
+
+<p>On the 27th of April, 1803, the decree of partition was issued, suddenly
+changing the map of Germany. Only six free cities were left out of
+fifty-two,&mdash;Frankfort, Hamburg, Bremen, Lübeck, Nuremberg and Augsburg:
+Prussia received three bishoprics (Hildesheim, Münster and Paderborn),
+and a number of abbeys and cities, including Erfurt, amounting to four
+times as much as she had lost on the left bank of the Rhine. Baden was
+increased to double its former size by the remains of the Palatinate
+(including Heidelberg and Mannheim), the city of Constance, and a number
+of abbeys and monasteries: a great part of Franconia, with Würzburg and
+Bamberg, was added to Bavaria. Würtemberg, Hesse-Darmstadt and Nassau
+were much enlarged, and most of the other States received smaller
+additions. At the same time the rulers of Baden, Würtemberg,
+Hesse-Cassel and Salzburg were dignified by the new title of
+"Electors"&mdash;when they never would be called upon to elect another German
+Emperor!<span class="pagenum" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1803. FRENCH INVASION OF HANNOVER.</div>
+
+<p>An impartial study of these events will show that they were caused by
+the indifference of Prussia to the general interests of Germany, and the
+utter lack of the commonest political wisdom in Francis II. of Austria
+and his ministers. The war with France was wantonly undertaken, in the
+first place; it was then continued with stupid obstinacy after two
+offers of peace. But except the loss of the left bank of the Rhine, with
+more than three millions of German inhabitants, Germany, though
+humiliated, was not yet seriously damaged. The complete overthrow of
+priestly rule, the extinction of a multitude of petty States, and the
+abolition of the special privileges of nearly a thousand "Imperial"
+noble families, was an immense gain to the whole country. The influence
+which Bonaparte exercised in the partition of 1803, though made solely
+with a view to the political interests of France, produced some very
+beneficial changes in Germany. In regard to religion, the Chief Electors
+were now equally divided, five being Catholic and five Protestant; while
+the Diet of Princes, instead of having a Catholic majority of twelve, as
+heretofore, acquired a Protestant majority of twenty-two.</p>
+
+<p>France was now the ruling power on the Continent of Europe. Prussia
+preserved a timid neutrality, Austria was powerless, the new Republics
+in Holland, Switzerland and Italy were wholly subjected to French
+influence, Spain, Denmark and Russia were friendly, and even England,
+after the overthrow of Pitt's ministry, was persuaded to make peace with
+Bonaparte in 1802. The same year, the latter had himself declared First
+Consul for life, and became absolute master of the destinies of France.
+A new quarrel with England soon broke out, and this gave him a pretext
+for invading Hannover. In May, 1803, General Mortier marched from
+Holland with only 12,000 men, while Hannover, alone, had an excellent
+army of 15,000. But the Council of Nobles, who governed in the name of
+George III. of England, gave orders that "the troops should not be
+allowed to fire, and might only use the bayonet <i>moderately</i>, in extreme
+necessity!" Of course no battle was fought; the country was overrun by
+the French in a few days, and plundered to the amount of 26,000,000
+thalers. Prussia and the other German States quietly looked on, and&mdash;did
+nothing.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1804.</div>
+
+<p>In March, 1804, the First Consul sent a force across the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</span> Rhine into
+Baden, seized the Duke d'Enghien, a fugitive Bourbon Prince, carried him
+into France and there had him shot. This outrage provoked a general cry
+of indignation throughout Europe. Two months afterwards, on the 18th of
+May, Bonaparte assumed the title of Napoleon, Emperor of the French: the
+Italian Republics were changed into a Kingdom of Italy, and that period
+of arrogant and selfish personal government commenced which brought
+monarchs and nations to his feet, and finally made him a fugitive and a
+prisoner. On the 11th of August, 1804, Francis II. imitated him, by
+taking the title of "Emperor of Austria," in order to preserve his
+existing rank, whatever changes might afterwards come.</p>
+
+<p>England, Austria and Russia were now more than ever determined to
+cripple the increasing power of Napoleon. Much time was spent in
+endeavoring to persuade Prussia to join the movement, but Frederick
+William III. not only refused, but sent an army to prevent the Russian
+troops from crossing Prussian territory, on their way to join the
+Austrians. By the summer of 1805, the <span class="smcap">Third Coalition</span>, composed of the
+three powers already named and Sweden, was formed, and a plan adopted
+for bringing nearly 400,000 soldiers into the field against France.
+Although the secret had been well kept, it was revealed before the
+Coalition was quite prepared; and Napoleon was ready for the emergency.
+He had collected an army of 200,000 men at Boulogne for the invasion of
+England: giving up the latter design, he marched rapidly into Southern
+Germany, procured the alliance of Baden, Würtemberg and Bavaria, with
+40,000 more troops, and thus gained the first advantage before the
+Russian and Austrian armies had united.</p>
+
+<p>The fortress of Ulm, held by the Austrian General Mack, with 25,000 men,
+surrendered on the 17th of October. The French pressed forwards,
+overcame the opposition of a portion of the allied armies along the
+Danube, and on the 13th of November entered Vienna. Francis II. and his
+family had fled to Presburg: the Archduke Karl, hastening from Italy,
+was in Styria with a small force, and a combined Russian and Austrian
+army of nearly 100,000 men was in Moravia. Prussia threatened to join
+the Coalition, because the neutrality of her territory had been violated
+by Bernadotte in marching from Hannover to join Napoleon: the allies,
+although surprised and disgracefully defeated, were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</span> far from
+appreciating the courage and skill of their enemy, and still believed
+they could overcome him. Napoleon pretended to avoid a battle and
+thereby drew them on to meet him in the field: on the 2d of December at
+Austerlitz, the "Battle of the Three Emperors" (as the Germans call it)
+occurred, and by the close of that day the allies had lost 15,000 killed
+and wounded, 20,000 prisoners and 200 cannon.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1806. END OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE.</div>
+
+<p>Two days after the battle Francis II. came personally to Napoleon and
+begged for an armistice, which was granted. The latter took up his
+quarters in the Palace of the Hapsburgs, at Schönbrunn, as a conqueror,
+and waited for the conclusion of a treaty of peace, which was signed at
+Presburg on the 26th of December. Austria was forced to give up Venice
+to France, Tyrol to Bavaria, and some smaller territory to Baden and
+Würtemberg; to accept the policy of France in Italy, Holland and
+Switzerland, and to recognize Bavaria and Würtemberg as independent
+kingdoms of Napoleon's creation. All that she received in return was the
+archbishopric of Salzburg. She also agreed to pay one hundred millions
+of francs to France, and to permit the formation of a new Confederation
+of the smaller German States, which should be placed under the
+protectorship of Napoleon. The latter lost no time in carrying out his
+plan: by July, 1806, the <i>Rheinbund</i> (Confederation of the Rhine) was
+entered into by seventeen States, which formed, in combination, a third
+power, independent of either Austria or Prussia.</p>
+
+<p>Immediately afterwards, on the 6th of August, 1806, Francis II. laid
+down his title of "Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German
+Nation," and the political corpse, long since dead, was finally buried.
+Just a thousand years had elapsed since the time of Charlemagne: the
+power and influence of the Empire had reached their culmination under
+the Hohenstaufens, but even then the smaller rulers were undermining its
+foundations. It existed for a few centuries longer as a system which was
+one-fourth fact and three-fourths tradition: during the Thirty Years'
+War it perished, and the Hapsburgs, after that, only wore the ornaments
+and trappings it left behind. The German people were never further from
+being a nation than at the commencement of this century; but the most of
+them still clung to the superstition of an Empire, until the compulsory
+act of Francis II. showed them, at last, that there was none.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXXVI.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">GERMANY UNDER NAPOLEON.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1806&mdash;1814.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Napoleon's personal Policy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The "Rhine-Bund."</li>
+  <li>&mdash;French Tyranny.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Prussia declares War.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battles of Jena and Auerstädt.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Napoleon in Berlin.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Prussia and Russia allied.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battle of Friedland.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Interviews of the Sovereigns.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Losses of Prussia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Kingdom of Westphalia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Frederick William III.'s Weakness.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Congress at Erfurt.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Patriotic Movements.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Revolt of the Tyrolese.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Napoleon marches on Vienna.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Schill's Movement in Prussia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battles of Aspera and Wagram.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Peace of Vienna.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Fate of Andreas Hofer.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Duke of Brunswick's Attempt.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Napoleon's Rule in Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Secret Resistance in Prussia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;War with Russia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The March to Moscow.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Retreat.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;York's Measures.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Rising of Prussia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Division of Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battle of Lützen.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Napoleon in Dresden.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Armistice.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Austria joins the Allies.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Victories of Blücher and Bülow.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Napoleon's Hesitation.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Battle of Leipzig.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Napoleon's Retreat from Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Cowardice of the allied Monarchs.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Blücher crosses the Rhine.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1806.</div>
+
+<p>After the peace of Presburg there was nothing to prevent Napoleon from
+carrying out his plan of dividing the greater part of Europe among the
+members of his own family, and the Marshals of his armies. He gave the
+kingdom of Naples to his brother Joseph; appointed his step-son Eugene
+Beauharnais Viceroy of Italy, and married him to the daughter of
+Maximilian I. (formerly Elector, now King) of Bavaria; made a Kingdom of
+Holland, and gave it to his brother Louis; gave the Duchy of Jülich,
+Cleves and Berg to Murat, and married Stephanie Beauharnais, the niece
+of the Empress Josephine, to the son of the Grand-Duke of Baden. There
+was no longer any thought of disputing his will in any of the smaller
+German States: the princes were as submissive as he could have desired,
+and the people had been too long powerless to dream of resistance.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1806. THE "RHINE-BUND."</div>
+
+<p>The "Rhine-Bund," therefore, was constructed just as France desired.
+Bavaria, Würtemberg, Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt and Nassau united with
+twelve small principalities<span class="pagenum" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</span>&mdash;the whole embracing a population of
+thirteen millions&mdash;in a Confederation, which accepted Napoleon as
+Protector, and agreed to maintain an army of 63,000 men, at the disposal
+of France. This arrangement divided the German Empire into three parts,
+one of which (Austria) had just been conquered, while another (Prussia)
+had lost all its former prestige by its weak and cowardly policy.
+Napoleon was now the recognized master of the third portion, the action
+of which was regulated by a Diet held at Frankfort. In order to make the
+Union simpler and more manageable, all the independent countships and
+baronies within its limits were abolished, and the seventeen States were
+thus increased by an aggregate territory of about 12,000 square miles.
+Bavaria took possession, without more ado, of the free cities of
+Nuremberg and Augsburg.</p>
+
+<p>Prussia, by this time, had agreed with Napoleon to give up Anspach and
+Bayreuth to Bavaria, and receive Hannover instead. This provoked the
+enmity of England, the only remaining nation which was friendly to
+Prussia. The French armies were still quartered in Southern Germany,
+violating at will not only the laws of the land, but the laws of
+nations. A bookseller named Palm, in Nuremberg, who had in his
+possession some pamphlets opposing Napoleon's schemes, was seized by
+order of the latter, tried by court-martial and shot. This brutal and
+despotic act was not resented by the German princes, but it aroused the
+slumbering spirit of the people. The Prussians, especially, began to
+grow very impatient of their pusillanimous government; but Frederick
+William III. did nothing, until in August, 1806, he discovered that
+Napoleon was trying to purchase peace with England and Russia by
+offering Hannover to the former and Prussian Poland to the latter. Then
+he decided for war, at the very time when he was compelled to meet the
+victorious power of France alone!</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon, as usual, was on the march before his enemy was even properly
+organized. He was already in Franconia, and in a few days stood at the
+head of an army of 200,000 men, part of whom were furnished by the
+Rhine-Bund. Prussia, assisted only by Saxony and Weimar, had 150,000,
+commanded by Prince Hohenlohe and the Duke of Brunswick, who hardly
+reached the bases of the Thuringian Mountains when they were met by the
+French and hurled back. On the table-land near Jena and Auerstädt a
+double<span class="pagenum" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</span> battle was fought on the 14th of October, 1806. In the first
+(Jena) Napoleon simply crushed and scattered to the winds the army of
+Prince Hohenlohe; in the second (Auerstädt) Marshal Davoust, after some
+heavy fighting, defeated the Duke of Brunswick, who was mortally
+wounded. Then followed a season of panic and cowardice which now seems
+incredible: the French overwhelmed Prussia, and almost every defence
+fell without resistance as they approached. The strong fortress of
+Erfurt, with 10,000 men, surrendered the day after the battle of Jena;
+the still stronger fortress-city of Magdeburg, with 24,000 men, opened
+its gates before a gun was fired! Spandau capitulated as soon as asked,
+on the 24th of October, and Davoust entered Berlin the same day. Only
+General Blücher, more than sixty years old, cut his way through the
+French with 10,000 men, and for a time gallantly held them at bay in
+Lübeck; and the young officers, Gneisenau and Schill, kept the fortress
+of Colberg, on the Baltic, where they were steadily besieged until the
+war was over.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1806.</div>
+
+<p>When Napoleon entered Berlin in triumph, on the 27th of November, he
+found nearly the whole population completely cowed, and ready to
+acknowledge his authority; seven Ministers of the Prussian Government
+took the oath of allegiance to him, and agreed, at once, to give up all
+of the kingdom west of the Elbe for the sake of peace! Frederick William
+III., who had fled to Königsberg, refused to confirm their action, and
+entered into an alliance with Alexander I. of Russia, to continue the
+war. Napoleon, meanwhile, had made peace with Saxony, which, after
+paying heavy contributions and joining the Rhine-Bund, was raised by him
+to the rank of a kingdom. At the same time he encouraged a revolt in
+Prussian Poland, got possession of Silesia, and kept Austria neutral by
+skilful diplomacy. England had the power, by prompt and energetic
+action, of changing the face of affairs, but her government did nothing.</p>
+
+<p>Pressing eastward during the winter, the French army, 140,000 strong,
+met the Russians and Prussians on the 8th of February, 1807, in the
+murderous battle of Eylau, after which, because its result was
+undecided, Napoleon concluded a truce of several months. Frederick
+William appointed a new Ministry, with the fearless and patriotic
+statesmen, Hardenberg and Stein, who formed a fresh alliance with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</span>
+Russia, which was soon joined by England and Sweden. Nevertheless, it
+was almost impossible to reinforce the Prussian army, and Alexander I.
+made no great exertions to increase the Russian, while Napoleon, with
+all Prussia in his rear, was constantly receiving fresh troops. Early in
+June he resumed hostilities, and on the 14th, with a much superior
+force, so completely defeated the Allies in the battle of Friedland,
+that they were driven over the river Memel into Russian territory.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1807. THE PEACE OF TILSIT.</div>
+
+<p>The Russians immediately concluded an armistice: Napoleon had an
+interview with Alexander I. on a raft in the river Memel, and acquired
+such an immediate influence over the enthusiastic, fantastic nature of
+the latter, that he became a friend and practically an ally. The next
+day, there was another interview, at which Frederick William III. was
+also present: the Queen, Louise of Mecklenburg, a woman of noble and
+heroic character, whom Napoleon had vilely slandered, was persuaded to
+accompany him, but only subjected herself to new humiliation. (She died
+in 1810, during Germany's deepest degradation, but her son, William I.,
+became German Emperor in 1871.) The Peace of Tilsit was declared on the
+9th of July, 1807, according to Napoleon's single will. Hardenberg had
+been dismissed from the Prussian Ministry, and Talleyrand gave his
+successor a completed document, to be signed without discussion.</p>
+
+<p>Prussia lost very nearly the half of her territory: her population was
+diminished from 9,743,000 to 4,938,000. A new "Grand-Duchy of Warsaw"
+was formed by Napoleon out of her Polish acquisitions. The contributions
+which had been levied and which Prussia was still forced to pay amounted
+to a total sum of three hundred million thalers, and she was obliged to
+maintain a French army in her diminished territory until the last
+farthing should be paid over. Russia, on the other hand, lost nothing,
+but received a part of Polish Prussia. A new Kingdom of Westphalia was
+formed out of Brunswick, and parts of Prussia and Hannover, and
+Napoleon's brother, Jerome, was made king. The latter, whose wife was an
+American lady, Miss Patterson of Baltimore, was compelled to renounce
+her, and marry the daughter of the new king of Würtemberg, although, as
+a Catholic, he could not do this without a special dispensation from the
+Pope, and Pius VII. refused to give one.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</span> Thus he became a bigamist,
+according to the laws of the Roman Church. Jerome was a weak and
+licentious individual, and made himself heartily hated by his two
+millions of German subjects during his six years' rule in Cassel.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1808.</div>
+
+<p>Frederick William III. was at last stung by his misfortunes into the
+adoption of another and manlier policy. He called Stein to the head of
+his Ministry, and allowed the latter to introduce reforms for the
+purpose of assisting, strengthening and developing the character of the
+people. But 150,000 French troops still fed like locusts upon the
+substance of Prussia, and there was an immense amount of poverty and
+suffering. The French commanders plundered so outrageously and acted
+with such shameless brutality, that even the slow German nature became
+heated with a hate so intense that it is not yet wholly extinguished.
+But this was not the end of the degradation. Napoleon, at the climax of
+his power, having (without exaggeration) the whole Continent of Europe
+under his feet, demanded that Prussia should join the Rhine-Bund, reduce
+her standing army to 42,000 men, and, in case of necessity, furnish
+France with troops against Austria. The temporary courage of the king
+dissolved: he signed a treaty on the 8th of September, 1808, without the
+knowledge of Stein, granting nearly everything Napoleon claimed,&mdash;thus
+compelling the patriotic statesman to resign, and making what was left
+of Prussia tributary to the designs of France.</p>
+
+<p>At the same time Napoleon held a so-called Congress at Erfurt, at which
+all the German rulers (except Austria) were present, but the decisions
+were made by himself, with the connivance of Alexander I. of Russia. The
+latter received Finland and the Danubian Principalities. Napoleon simply
+carried out his own personal policy. He made his brother Joseph king of
+Spain, gave Naples to his brother-in-law, Murat, and soon afterwards
+annexed the States of the Church, in Italy, to France, abolishing the
+temporal sovereignty of the Pope. Every one of the smaller German States
+had already joined the Rhine-Bund, and the Diet by which they were
+governed abjectly obeyed his will. Princes, nobles, officials, and
+authors vied with each other in doing homage to him. Even the battles of
+Jena and Friedland were celebrated by popular festivals in the capitals
+of the other States: the people of Southern Germany, especially,
+rejoiced over the shame and suffering of their brethren in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_397">[Pg 397]</span> the North.
+Ninety German authors dedicated books to Napoleon, and the newspapers
+became contemptible in their servile praises of his rule.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1809. REVOLT OF THE TYROLESE.</div>
+
+<p>Austria, always energetic at the wrong time and weak when energy was
+necessary, prepared for war, relying on the help of Prussia and possibly
+of Russia. Napoleon had been called to Spain, where a part of the
+people, supported by Wellington, with an English force, in Portugal, was
+making a gallant resistance to the French rule. A few patriotic and
+courageous men, all over Germany, began to consult together concerning
+the best means for the liberation of the country. The Prussian
+Ex-minister, Baron Stein, the philosopher Fichte, the statesman and poet
+Arndt, the Generals Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, the historian Niebuhr,
+and also the Austrian minister, Count Stadion, used every effort to
+increase and extend this movement; but there was no German prince,
+except the young Duke of Brunswick, ready or willing to act.</p>
+
+<p>The Tyrolese, who are still the most Austrian of Austrians, and the most
+Catholic of Catholics, organized a revolt against the French-Bavarian
+rule, early in 1809. This was the first purely popular movement in
+Germany, which had occurred since the revolt of the Austrian peasants
+against Ferdinand II. nearly two hundred years before. The Tyrolese
+leaders were Andreas Hofer, a hunter named Speckbacher and a monk named
+Haspinger; their troops were peasants and mountaineers. The plot was so
+well organized that the Alps were speedily cleared of the enemy, and on
+the 13th of April, Hofer captured Innsbruck, which he held for Austria.
+When the French and Bavarian troops entered the mountain-passes, they
+were picked off by skilful riflemen or crushed by rocks and trees rolled
+down upon them. The daring of the Tyrolese produced a stirring effect
+throughout Austria; for the first time, the people came forward as
+volunteers, to be enrolled in the army, and the Archduke Karl, in a
+short time, had a force of 300,000 men at his disposal.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon returned from Spain at the first news of the impending war. As
+the Rhine-Bund did not dream of disobedience, as Prussia was crippled,
+and the sentimental friendship of Alexander I. had not yet grown cold,
+he raised an army of 180,000 men and entered Bavaria by the 9th of
+April. The Archduke was not prepared: his large force<span class="pagenum" id="Page_398">[Pg 398]</span> had been divided
+and stationed according to a plan which might have been very successful,
+if Napoleon had been willing to respect it. He lost three battles in
+succession, the last, at Eckmühl on the 22d of April, obliging him to
+give up Ratisbon, and retreat into Bohemia. The second Austrian army,
+which had been victorious over the Viceroy Eugene, in Italy, was
+instantly recalled, but it was too late: there were only 30,000 men on
+the southern bank of the Danube, between the French and Vienna.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1809.</div>
+
+<p>The movement in Tyrol was imitated in Prussia by Major Schill, one of
+the defenders of Colberg in 1807. His heroism had given him great
+popularity, and he was untiring in his efforts to incite the people to
+revolt. The secret association of patriotic men, already referred to,
+which was called the <i>Tugendbund</i>, or "League of Virtue," encouraged him
+so far as it was able; and when he entered Berlin at the head of four
+squadrons of hussars, immediately after the news of Hofer's success, he
+was received with such enthusiasm that he imagined the moment had come
+for arousing Prussia. Marching out of the city, as if for the usual
+cavalry exercise, he addressed his troops in a fiery speech, revealed to
+them his plans and inspired them with equal confidence. With his little
+band he took Halle, besieged Bernburg, was victorious in a number of
+small battles against the increasing forces of the French, but at the
+end of a month was compelled to retreat to Stralsund. The city was
+stormed, and he fell in resisting the assault; the French captured and
+shot twelve of his officers. The fame of his exploits helped to fire the
+German heart; the courage of the people returned, and they began to grow
+restless and indignant under their shame.</p>
+
+<p>By the 13th of May, Napoleon had entered Vienna and taken up his
+quarters in the palace of Schönbrunn. The Archduke Karl was at the same
+time rapidly approaching with an army of 75,000 men, and Napoleon, who
+had 90,000, hastened to throw a bridge across the Danube, below the
+city, in order to meet him before he could be reinforced. On the 21st,
+however, the Archduke began the attack before the whole French army had
+crossed, and the desperate battle of Aspern followed. After two days of
+bloody fighting, the French fell back upon the island of Lobau, and
+their bridge was destroyed. This was Napoleon's first defeat in Germany,
+but it was dearly purchased: the loss on each<span class="pagenum" id="Page_399">[Pg 399]</span> side was about 24,000.
+Napoleon issued flaming bulletins of victory which deceived the German
+people for a time, meanwhile ordering new troops to be forwarded with
+all possible haste. He deceived the Archduke by a heavy cannonade,
+rapidly constructed six bridges further down the river, crossed with his
+whole army, and on the 6th of July fought the battle of Wagram, which
+ended with the defeat and retreat of the Austrians.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1809. THE DUKE OF BRUNSWICK'S ATTEMPT.</div>
+
+<p>An armistice followed, and the war was concluded on the 14th of October
+by the Peace of Vienna. Francis II. was compelled to give up Salzburg
+and some adjoining territory to Bavaria; Galicia to Russia and the
+Grand-Duchy of Warsaw; and Carniola, Croatia and Dalmatia with Trieste
+to the kingdom of Italy,&mdash;a total loss of 3,500,000 of population. He
+further agreed to pay a contribution of eighty-five millions of francs
+to France, and was persuaded, shortly afterwards, to give the hand of
+his daughter, Maria Louisa, to Napoleon, who had meanwhile divorced
+himself from the Empress Josephine. The Tyrolese, who had been
+encouraged by promises of help from Vienna, refused to believe that they
+were betrayed and given up. Hofer continued his struggle with success
+after the conclusion of peace, until near the close of the year, when
+the French and Bavarians returned in force, and the movement was
+crushed. He hid for two months among the mountains, then was betrayed by
+a monk, captured, and carried in chains to Mantua. Here he was tried by
+a French court-martial and shot on the 20th of February, 1810. Francis
+II. might have saved his life, but he made no attempt to do it. Thus, in
+North and South, Schill and Hofer perished, unsustained by their kings;
+yet their deeds remained, as an inspiration to the whole German people.</p>
+
+<p>During the summer of 1809, the Duke of Brunswick, whose land Napoleon
+had added to Jerome's kingdom of Westphalia, made a daring attempt to
+drive the French from Northern Germany. He had joined a small Austrian
+army, sent to operate in Saxony, and when it was recalled after the
+battle of Eckmühl, he made a desperate effort to reconquer Brunswick
+with a force of only 2,000 volunteers. The latter dressed in black, and
+wore a skull and cross-bones on their caps. The Duke took Halberstadt,
+reached Brunswick, then cut his way through the German-French forces
+closing in upon him, and came to the shore of the North<span class="pagenum" id="Page_400">[Pg 400]</span> Sea, where, it
+was expected, an English army would land. He and his troops escaped in
+small vessels: the English, 40,000 strong, landed on the island of
+Walcheren (on the coast of Belgium), where they lay idle until driven
+home by sickness.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1810.</div>
+
+<p>For three years after the peace of Vienna, Napoleon was all-powerful in
+Germany. He was married to Maria Louisa on the 2d of April, 1810; his
+son, the King of Rome, was born the following March, and Austria, where
+Metternich was now Minister instead of Count Stadion, followed the
+policy of France. All Germany accepted the "Continental Blockade," which
+cut off its commerce with England: the standing armies of Austria and
+Prussia were reduced to one-fourth of their ordinary strength; the king
+of Prussia, who had lived for two years in Königsberg, was ordered to
+return to Berlin, and the French ministers at all the smaller Courts
+became the practical rulers of the States. In 1810, the kingdom of
+Holland was taken from Louis Bonaparte and annexed to the French Empire;
+then Northern Germany, with Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck, was annexed in
+like manner, and the same fate was evidently intended for the States of
+the Rhine-Bund, if the despotic selfishness of Napoleon had not put an
+end to his marvellous success. The king of Prussia was next compelled to
+suppress the "League of Virtue": Germany was filled with French spies
+(many of them native Germans), and every expression of patriotic
+sentiment was reported as treason to France.</p>
+
+<p>In the territory of the Rhine-Bund, there was, however, very little real
+patriotism among the people: in Austria the latter were still kept down
+by the Jesuitic rule of the Hapsburgs: only in the smaller Saxon
+Duchies, and in Prussia, the idea of resistance was fostered, though in
+spite of Frederick William III. Indeed, the temporary removal of the
+king was for awhile secretly advocated. Hardenberg and Scharnhorst did
+their utmost to prepare the people for the struggle which they knew
+would come: the former introduced new laws, based on the principle of
+the equality of all citizens before the law, their equal right to
+development, protection and official service. Scharnhorst, the son of a
+peasant, trained the people for military duty, in defiance of France: he
+kept the number of soldiers at 42,000, in accordance with the treaty,
+but as fast as they were well-drilled, he sent them home and put fresh
+recruits in their place. In this manner he gradually prepared 150,000
+men for the army.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_401">[Pg 401]</span></p>
+
+<div id="map5" />
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 401px;">
+<a href="images/f409.png">
+<img src="images/f409t.png" width="401" height="600"
+ alt="GERMANY under NAPOLEON, 1812."
+ title="" />
+</a>
+<p class="caption">GERMANY under NAPOLEON, 1812.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1811.</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_402">[Pg 402]</span>Alexander I. of Russia had by this time lost his sentimental friendship
+for Napoleon. The seizure by the latter of the territory of the Duke of
+Oldenburg, who was his near relation, greatly offended him: he grew
+tired of submitting to the Continental Blockade, and in 1811 adopted
+commercial laws which amounted to its abandonment. Then Napoleon showed
+his own overwhelming arrogance; and his course once more illustrated the
+abject condition of Germany. Every ruler saw that a great war was
+coming, and had nearly a year's time for decision; but all submitted!
+Early in 1812 the colossal plan was put into action: Prussia agreed to
+furnish 20,000 soldiers, Austria 30,000, and the Rhine-Bund, which
+comprised the rest of Germany, was called upon for 150,000. France
+furnished more than 300,000, and this enormous military force was set in
+motion against Russia, which was at the time unable to raise half that
+number of troops. In May Napoleon and Maria Louisa held a grand Court in
+Dresden, which a crowd of reigning princes attended, and where even
+Francis I. and Frederick William III. were treated rather as vassals
+than as equals. This was the climax of Napoleon's success. Regardless of
+distance, climate, lack of supplies and all the other impediments to his
+will, he pushed forward with an army greater than Europe had seen since
+the days of Attila, but from which only one man, horse and cannon out of
+every ten returned.</p>
+
+<p>After holding a grand review on the battle-field of Friedland, he
+crossed the Niemen and entered Russia on the 24th of June, met the
+Russians in battle at Smolensk on the 16th and 17th of August, and after
+great losses continued his march towards Moscow through a country which
+had been purposely laid waste, and where great numbers of his soldiers
+perished from hunger and fatigue. On the 7th of September, the Russian
+army of 120,000 men met him on the field of Borodino, where occurred the
+most desperate battle of all his wars. At the close of the fight 80,000
+dead and wounded (about an equal number on each side) lay upon the
+plain. The Russians retreated, repulsed but not conquered, and on the
+14th of September Napoleon entered Moscow. The city was deserted by its
+inhabitants: all goods and treasures which could be speedily removed
+had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_403">[Pg 403]</span> been taken away, and the next evening flames broke out in a number
+of places. The conflagration spread so that within a week four-fifths of
+the city were destroyed: Napoleon was forced to leave the Kremlin and
+escape through burning streets; and thus the French army was left
+without winter-quarters and provisions.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1812. THE RETREAT FROM RUSSIA.</div>
+
+<p>After offering terms of peace in vain, and losing a month of precious
+time in waiting, nothing was left for Napoleon but to commence his
+disastrous retreat. Cut off from the warmer southern route by the
+Russians on the 24th of October, his army, diminishing day by day,
+endured all the horrors of the Northern winter, and lost so many in the
+fearful passage of the Beresina and from the constant attacks of the
+Cossacks, that not more than 30,000 men, famished, frozen and mostly
+without arms, crossed the Prussian frontier about the middle of
+December. After reaching Wilna, Napoleon had hurried on alone, in
+advance: his passage through Germany was like a flight, and he was safe
+in Paris before the terrible failure of his campaign was generally known
+throughout Europe.</p>
+
+<p>When Frederick William III. agreed to furnish 20,000 troops to France,
+his best generals&mdash;Blücher, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau&mdash;and three hundred
+officers resigned. The command of the Prussian contingent was given to
+General York, who was sent to Riga during the march to Moscow, and
+escaped the horrors of the retreat. When the fate of the campaign was
+decided, he left the French with his remaining 17,000 Prussian soldiers,
+concluded a treaty of neutrality with the Russian general Diebitsch,
+called an assembly of the people together in Königsberg, and boldly
+ordered that all men capable of bearing arms should be mustered into the
+army. Frederick William, in Berlin, disavowed this act, but the Prussian
+people were ready for it. The excitement became so great, that the men
+who had influence with the king succeeded in having his Court removed to
+Breslau, where an alliance was entered into with Alexander I., and on
+the 17th of March, 1813, an address was issued in the king's name,
+calling upon the people to choose between victory and ruin. The measures
+which York had adopted were proclaimed for all Prussia, and the
+patriotic schemes of Stein and Hardenberg, so long thwarted by the
+king's weakness, were thus suddenly carried into action.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1813.</div>
+
+<p>The effect was astonishing, when we consider how little<span class="pagenum" id="Page_404">[Pg 404]</span> real liberty
+the people had enjoyed. But they had been educated in patriotic
+sentiments by another power than the Government. For years, the works of
+the great German authors had become familiar to them: Klopstock taught
+them to be proud of their race and name; Schiller taught them resistance
+to oppression; Arndt and Körner gave them songs which stirred them more
+than the sound of drum and trumpet, and thousands of high-hearted young
+men mingled with them and inspired them with new courage and new hopes.
+Within five months Prussia had 270,000 soldiers under arms, part of whom
+were organized to repel the coming armies of Napoleon, while the
+remainder undertook the siege of the many Prussian fortresses which were
+still garrisoned by the French. All classes of the people took part in
+this uprising: the professors followed the students, the educated men
+stood side by side with the peasants, mothers gave their only sons, and
+the women sent all their gold and jewels to the treasury and wore
+ornaments of iron. The young poet, Theodor Körner, not only aroused the
+people with his fiery songs, but fought in the "free corps" of Lützow,
+and finally gave his life for his country: the <i>Turner</i>, or gymnasts,
+inspired by their teacher Jahn, went as a body into the ranks, and even
+many women disguised themselves and enlisted as soldiers.</p>
+
+<p>With the exception of Mecklenburg and Dessau, the States of the
+Rhine-Bund still held to France: Saxony and Bavaria especially
+distinguished themselves by their abject fidelity to Napoleon. Austria
+remained neutral, and whatever influence she exercised was against
+Prussia. But Sweden, under the Crown Prince Bernadotte (Napoleon's
+former Marshal) joined the movement, with the condition of obtaining
+Norway in case of success. The operations were delayed by the slowness
+of the Russians, and the disagreement, or perhaps jealousy, of the
+various generals; and Napoleon made good use of the time to prepare
+himself for the coming struggle. Although France was already exhausted,
+he enforced a merciless conscription, taking young boys and old men,
+until, with the German soldiers still at his disposal, he had a force of
+nearly 500,000 men.</p>
+
+<p>The campaign opened well for Prussia. Hamburg and Lübeck were delivered
+from the French, and on the 5th of April the Viceroy Eugene was defeated
+at Möckern (near Leipzig) with heavy losses. The first great battle was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_405">[Pg 405]</span>
+fought at Lützen, on the 2d of May, on the same field where Gustavus
+Adolphus fell in 1632. The Russians and Prussians, with 95,000 men, held
+Napoleon, with 120,000, at bay for a whole day, and then fell back in
+good order, after a defeat which encouraged instead of dispiriting the
+people. The greatest loss was the death of Scharnhorst. Shortly
+afterwards Napoleon occupied Dresden, and it became evident that Saxony
+would be the principal theatre of war. A second battle of two days took
+place on the 20th and 21st of May, in which, although the French
+outnumbered the Germans and Russians two to one, they barely achieved a
+victory. The courage and patriotism of the people were now beginning to
+tell, especially as Napoleon's troops were mostly young, physically
+weak, and inexperienced. In order to give them rest he offered an
+armistice on the 4th of June, an act which he afterwards declared to
+have been the greatest mistake of his life. It was prolonged until the
+10th of August, and gave the Germans time both to rest and recruit, and
+to strengthen themselves by an alliance with Austria.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1813. ALLIANCE OF AUSTRIA.</div>
+
+<p>Francis II. judged that the time had come to recover what he had lost,
+especially as England formally joined Prussia and Russia on the 14th of
+June. A fortnight afterwards an agreement was entered into between the
+two latter powers and Austria, that peace should be offered to Napoleon
+provided he would give up Northern Germany, the Dalmatian provinces and
+the Grand-Duchy of Warsaw. He rejected the offer, and so insulted
+Metternich during an interview in Dresden, that the latter became his
+bitter enemy thenceforth. The end of all the negotiations was that
+Austria declared war on the 12th of August, and both sides prepared at
+once for a final and desperate struggle. The Allies now had 800,000 men,
+divided into three armies, one under Schwarzenberg confronting the
+French centre in Saxony, one under Blücher in Silesia, and a third in
+the North under Bernadotte. The last of these generals seemed reluctant
+to act against his former leader, and his participation was of little
+real service. Napoleon had 550,000 men, less scattered than the Germans,
+and all under the government of his single will. He was still,
+therefore, a formidable foe.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1813.</div>
+
+<p>Just sixteen days after the armistice came to an end, the old Blücher
+won a victory as splendid as many of Napoleon's. He met Marshal
+Macdonald on the banks of a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_406">[Pg 406]</span> stream called the Katzbach, in Silesia, and
+defeated him with the loss of 12,000 killed and wounded, 18,000
+prisoners and 103 cannon. From the circumstance of his having cried out
+to his men: "Forwards! forwards!" in the crisis of the battle, Blücher
+was thenceforth called "Marshal Forwards" by the soldiers. Five days
+before this the Prussian general Bülow was victorious over Oudinot at
+Grossbeeren, within ten miles of Berlin; and four days afterwards the
+French general Vandamme, with 40,000 men, was cut to pieces by the
+Austrians and Prussians, at Kulm on the southern frontier of Saxony.
+Thus, within a month, Napoleon lost one-fourth of his whole force, while
+the fresh hope and enthusiasm of the German people immediately supplied
+the losses on their side. It is true that Schwarzenberg had been
+severely repulsed in an attack on Dresden, on the 27th of August, but
+this had been so speedily followed by Vandamme's defeat, that it
+produced no discouragement.</p>
+
+<p>The month of September opened with another Prussian victory. On the 6th,
+Bülow defeated Ney at Dennewitz, taking 15,000 prisoners and 80 cannon.
+This change of fortune seems to have bewildered Napoleon: instead of his
+former promptness and rapidity, he spent a month in Dresden, alternately
+trying to entice Blücher or Schwarzenberg to give battle. The latter
+two, meanwhile, were gradually drawing nearer to each other and to
+Bernadotte, and their final junction was effected without any serious
+movement to prevent it on Napoleon's part. Blücher's passage of the Elbe
+on the 3d of October compelled him to leave Dresden with his army and
+take up a new position in Leipzig, where he arrived on the 13th. The
+Allies instantly closed in upon him: there was a fierce but indecisive
+cavalry fight on the 14th, the 15th was spent in preparations on both
+sides, and on the 16th the great battle began.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon had about 190,000 men, the Allies 300,000: both were posted
+along lines many miles in extent, stretching over the open plain, from
+the north and east around to the south of Leipzig. The first day's fight
+really comprised three distinct battles, two of which were won by the
+French and one by Blücher. During the afternoon a terrific charge of
+cavalry under Murat broke the centre of the Allies, and Frederick
+William and Alexander I. narrowly escaped capture: Schwarzenberg, at the
+head of a body of Cossacks and Austrian hussars, repulsed the charge,
+and night came without<span class="pagenum" id="Page_407">[Pg 407]</span> any positive result. Napoleon sent offers of
+peace, but they were not answered, and the Allies thereby gained a day
+for reinforcements. On the morning of the 18th the battle was resumed:
+all day long the earth trembled under the discharge of more than a
+thousand cannon, the flames of nine or ten burning villages heated the
+air, and from dawn until sunset the immense hosts carried on a number of
+separate and desperate battles at different points along the line.
+Napoleon had his station on a mound near a windmill: his centre held its
+position, in spite of terrible losses, but both his wings were driven
+back. Bernadotte did not appear on the field until four in the
+afternoon, but about 4,000 Saxons and other Germans went over from the
+French to the Allies during the day, and the demoralizing effect of this
+desertion probably influenced Napoleon quite as much as his material
+losses. He gave orders for an instant retreat, which was commenced on
+the night of the 18th. His army was reduced to 100,000 men: the Allies
+had lost, in killed and wounded, about 50,000.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1813. THE BATTLE OF LEIPZIG.</div>
+
+<p>All Germany was electrified by this victory; from the Baltic to the
+Alps, the land rang with rejoicings. The people considered, and justly
+so, that they had won this great battle: the reigning princes, as later
+events proved, held a different opinion. But, from that day to this, it
+is called in Germany "the Battle of the Peoples": it was as crushing a
+blow for France as Jena had been to Prussia or Austerlitz to Austria. On
+the morning of the 19th of October the Allies began a storm upon
+Leipzig, which was still held by Marshal Macdonald and Prince
+Poniatowsky to cover Napoleon's retreat. By noon the city was entered at
+several gates; the French, in their haste, blew up the bridge over the
+Elster river before a great part of their own troops had crossed, and
+Poniatowsky, with hundreds of others, was drowned in attempting to
+escape. Among the prisoners was the king of Saxony, who had stood by
+Napoleon until the last moment. In the afternoon Alexander I. and
+Frederick William entered Leipzig, and were received as deliverers by
+the people.</p>
+
+<p>The two monarchs, nevertheless, owed their success entirely to the
+devotion of the German people, and not at all to their own energy and
+military talent. In spite of the great forces still at their disposal,
+they interfered with the plans of Blücher and other generals who
+insisted on a rapid and vigorous pursuit, and were at any time ready to
+accept<span class="pagenum" id="Page_408">[Pg 408]</span> peace on terms which would have ruined Germany, if Napoleon had
+not been insane enough to reject them. The latter continued his march
+towards France, by way of Naumburg, Erfurt and Fulda, losing thousands
+by desertion and disease, but without any serious interference until he
+reached Hanau, near Frankfort. At almost the last moment (October 14),
+Maximilian I. of Bavaria had deserted France and joined the Allies: one
+of his generals, Wrede, with about 55,000 Bavarians and Austrians,
+marched northward, and at Hanau intercepted the French. Napoleon, not
+caring to engage in a battle, contented himself with cutting his way
+through Wrede's army, on the 25th of October. He crossed the Rhine and
+reached France with less than 70,000 men, without encountering further
+resistance.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1814.</div>
+
+<p>Jerome Bonaparte fled from his kingdom of Westphalia immediately after
+the battle of Leipzig: Würtemberg joined the Allies, the Rhine-Bund
+dissolved, and the artificial structure which Napoleon had created fell
+to pieces. Even then, Prussia, Russia and Austria wished to discontinue
+the war: the popular enthusiasm in Germany was taking a <i>national</i>
+character, the people were beginning to feel their own power, and this
+was very disagreeable to Alexander I. and Metternich. The Rhine was
+offered as a boundary to Napoleon: yet, although Wellington was by this
+time victorious in Spain and was about to cross the Pyrenees, the French
+Emperor refused and the Allies were reluctantly obliged to resume
+hostilities. They had already wasted much valuable time: they now
+adopted a plan which was sure to fail, if the energies of France had not
+been so utterly exhausted.</p>
+
+<p>Three armies were formed: one, under Bülow, was sent into Holland to
+overthrow the French rule there; another, under Schwarzenberg, marched
+through Switzerland into Burgundy, about the end of December, hoping to
+meet with Wellington somewhere in Central France; and the third under
+Blücher, which had been delayed longest by the doubt and hesitation of
+the sovereigns, crossed the Rhine at three points, from Coblentz to
+Mannheim, on the night of New-Year, 1814. The subjection of Germany to
+France was over: only the garrisons of a number of fortresses remained,
+but these were already besieged, and they surrendered one by one, in the
+course of the next few months.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXXVII.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_409">[Pg 409]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">FROM THE LIBERATION OF GERMANY TO THE YEAR 1848.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1814&mdash;1848.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Napoleon's Retreat.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Halting Course of the Allies.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Treaty of Paris.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Congress of Vienna.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Napoleon's Return to France.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;New Alliance.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Napoleon, Wellington and Blücher.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battles of Ligney and Quatrebras.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battle of Waterloo.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;New Treaty with France.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;European Changes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Reconstruction of Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Metternich arranges a Confederation.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Its Character.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Holy Alliance.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Reaction among the Princes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Movement of the Students.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Conference at Carlsbad.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Returning Despotism.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Condition of Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Changes in 1830.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Zollverein.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Death of Francis II. and Frederick William III.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Frederick William IV. as King.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The German-Catholic Movement in 1844.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;General Dissatisfaction.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1814. NAPOLEON'S DEFENSE.</div>
+
+<p>Napoleon's genius was never more brilliantly manifested than during the
+slow advance of the Allies from the Rhine to Paris, in the first three
+months of the year 1814. He had not expected an invasion before the
+spring, and was taken by surprise; but with all the courage and
+intrepidity of his younger years, he collected an army of 100,000 men,
+and marched against Blücher, who had already reached Brienne. In a
+battle on the 29th of January he was victorious, but a second on the 1st
+of February compelled him to retreat. Instead of following up this
+advantage, the three monarchs began to consult: they rejected Blücher's
+demand for a union of the armies and an immediate march on Paris, and
+ordered him to follow the river Marne in four divisions, while
+Schwarzenberg advanced by a more southerly route. This was just what
+Napoleon wanted. He hurled himself upon the divided Prussian forces, and
+in five successive battles, from the 10th to the 14th of February,
+defeated and drove them back. Then, rapidly turning southward, he
+defeated a part of Schwarzenberg's army at Montereau on the 18th, and
+compelled the latter to retreat.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1814.</div>
+
+<p>The Allies now offered peace, granting to France the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_410">[Pg 410]</span> boundaries of
+1792, which included Savoy, Lorraine and Alsatia. The history of their
+negotiations during the campaign shows how reluctantly they prosecuted
+the war, and what little right they have to its final success, which is
+wholly due to Stein, Blücher, and the bravery of the German soldiers.
+Napoleon was so elated by his victories that he rejected the offer; and
+then, <i>at last</i>, the union of the allied armies and their march on Paris
+was permitted. Battle after battle followed: Napoleon disputed every
+inch of ground with the most marvellous energy, but even his victories
+were disasters, for he had no means of replacing the troops he lost. The
+last fight took place at the gates of Paris, on the 30th of March, and
+the next day, at noon, the three sovereigns made their triumphal
+entrance into the city.</p>
+
+<p>Not until then did the latter determine to dethrone Napoleon and restore
+the Bourbon dynasty. They compelled the act of abdication, which
+Napoleon signed at Fontainebleau on the 11th of April, installed the
+Count d'Artois (afterwards Charles X.) as head of a temporary
+government, and gave to France the boundaries of 1792. Napoleon was
+limited to the little island of Elba, Maria Louisa received the Duchy of
+Parma, and the other Bonapartes were allowed to retain the title of
+Prince, with an income of 2,500,000 francs. One million francs was given
+to the Ex-Empress Josephine, who died the same year. No indemnity was
+exacted from France; not even the works of art, stolen from the
+galleries of Italy and Germany for the adornment of Paris, were
+reclaimed! After enduring ten years of humiliation and outrage, the
+Allies were as tenderly considerate as if their invasion of France had
+been a wrong, for which they must atone by all possible concessions.</p>
+
+<p>In Southern Germany, where very little national sentiment existed, the
+treaty was quietly accepted, but it provoked great indignation among the
+people in the North. Their rejoicings over the downfall of Napoleon, the
+deliverance of Germany, and (as they believed) the foundation of a
+liberal government for themselves, were disturbed by this manifestation
+of weakness on the part of their leaders. The European Congress, which
+was opened on the 1st of November, 1814, at Vienna, was not calculated
+to restore their confidence. Francis II. and Alexander I. were the
+leading figures; other nations were represented by their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_411">[Pg 411]</span> best
+statesmen; the former priestly rulers, all the petty princes, and
+hundreds of the "Imperial" nobility whose privileges had been taken away
+from them, attended in the hope of recovering something from the general
+chaos. A series of splendid entertainments was given to the members of
+the Congress, and it soon became evident to the world that Europe, and
+especially Germany, was to be reconstructed according to the will of the
+individual rulers, without reference to principle or people.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1815. NAPOLEON'S RETURN TO FRANCE.</div>
+
+<p>France was represented in the Congress by Talleyrand, who was greatly
+the superior of the other members in the arts of diplomacy. Before the
+winter was over, he persuaded Austria and England to join France in an
+alliance against Russia and Prussia, and another European war would
+probably have broken out, but for the startling news of Napoleon's
+landing in France on the 1st of March, 1815. Then, all were compelled to
+suspend their jealousies and unite against their common foe. On the 25th
+of March a new alliance was concluded between Austria, Russia, Prussia
+and England: the first three agreed to furnish 150,000 men each, while
+the last contributed a lesser number of soldiers and 5,000,000 pounds
+sterling. All the smaller German States joined in the movement, and the
+people were still so full of courage and patriotic hope that a much
+larger force than was needed was soon under arms.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon reached Paris on the 20th of March, and instantly commenced the
+organization of a new army, while offering peace to all the powers of
+Europe, on the basis of the treaty of Paris. This time, he received no
+answer: the terror of his name had passed away, and the allied
+sovereigns acted with promptness and courage. Though he held France,
+Napoleon's position was not strong, even there. The land had suffered
+terribly, and the people desired peace, which they had never enjoyed
+under his rule. He raised nearly half a million of soldiers, but was
+obliged to use the greater portion in preventing outbreaks among the
+population; then, selecting the best, he marched towards Belgium with an
+army of 120,000, in order to meet Wellington and Blücher by turns,
+before they could unite. The former had 100,000 men, most of them Dutch
+and Germans, under his command: the latter, with 115,000, was rapidly
+approaching from the East. By this time&mdash;the beginning of June&mdash;neither
+the Austrians nor Russians had entered France.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_412">[Pg 412]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1815.</div>
+
+<p>On the 16th of June two battles occurred. Napoleon fought Blücher at
+Ligny, while Marshal Ney, with 40,000 men, attacked Wellington at
+Quatrebras. Thus neither of the allies was able to help the other.
+Blücher defended himself desperately, but his horse was shot under him
+and the French cavalry almost rode over him as he lay upon the ground.
+He was rescued with difficulty, and then compelled to fall back. The
+battle between Ney and Wellington was hotly contested; the gallant Duke
+of Brunswick was slain in a cavalry charge, and the losses on both sides
+were very great, but neither could claim a decided advantage. Wellington
+retired to Waterloo the next day, to be nearer Blücher, and then
+Napoleon, uniting with Ney, marched against him with 75,000 men, while
+Grouchy was sent with 36,000 to engage Blücher. Wellington had 68,000
+men, so the disproportion in numbers was not very great, but Napoleon
+was much stronger in cavalry and artillery.</p>
+
+<p>The great battle of Waterloo began on the morning of the 18th of June.
+Wellington was attacked again and again, and the utmost courage and
+endurance of his soldiers barely enabled them to hold their ground: the
+charges of the French were met by an equally determined resistance, but
+the fate of the battle depended on Blücher's arrival. The latter left a
+few corps at Wavre, his former position, in order to deceive Grouchy,
+and pushed forward through rain and across a marshy country to
+Wellington's relief. At four o'clock in the afternoon Napoleon made a
+tremendous effort to break the English centre: the endurance of his
+enemy began to fail, and there were signs of wavering along the English
+lines when the cry was heard: "The Prussians are coming!" Bülow's corps
+soon appeared on the French flank, Blücher's army closed in shortly
+afterwards, and by eight o'clock the French were flying from the field.
+There were no allied monarchs on hand to arrest the pursuit: Blücher and
+Wellington followed so rapidly that they stood before Paris within ten
+days, and Napoleon was left without any alternative but instant
+surrender. The losses at Waterloo, on both sides, were 50,000 killed and
+wounded.</p>
+
+<p>This was the end of Napoleon's interference in the history of Europe.
+All his offers were rejected, he was deserted by the French, and a
+fortnight afterwards, failing in his plan of escaping to America, he
+surrendered to the captain<span class="pagenum" id="Page_413">[Pg 413]</span> of an English frigate off the port of
+Rochefort. From that moment until his death at St. Helena on the 5th of
+May, 1821, he was a prisoner and an exile. A new treaty was made between
+the allied monarchs and the Bourbon dynasty of France: this time the
+treasures of art and learning were restored to Italy and Germany, an
+indemnity of 700,000,000 francs was exacted, Savoy was given back to
+Sardinia, and a little strip of territory, including the fortresses of
+Saarbrück, Saarlouis and Landau, added to Germany. The attempt of
+Austria and Prussia to acquire Lorraine and Alsatia was defeated by the
+cunning of Talleyrand and the opposition of Alexander I. of Russia.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1815. THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA.</div>
+
+<p>The jealousies and dissensions in the Congress of Vienna were hastily
+arranged during the excitement occasioned by Napoleon's return from
+Elba, and the members patched together, within three months, a new
+political map of Europe. There was no talk of restoring the lost kingdom
+of Poland; Prussia's claim to Saxony (which the king, Frederick
+Augustus, had fairly forfeited) was defeated by Austria and England; and
+then, after each of the principal powers had secured whatever was
+possible, they combined to regulate the affairs of the helpless smaller
+States. Holland and Belgium were added together, called the Kingdom of
+the Netherlands, and given to the house of Orange: Switzerland, which
+had joined the Allies against France, was allowed to remain a republic
+and received some slight increase of territory; and Lorraine and Alsatia
+were lost to Germany.</p>
+
+<p>Austria received Lombardy and Venetia, Illyria, Dalmatia, the Tyrol,
+Salzburg, Galicia and whatever other territory she formerly possessed.
+Prussia gave up Warsaw to Russia, but kept Posen, recovered Westphalia
+and the territory on the Lower Rhine, and was enlarged by the annexation
+of Swedish Pomerania, part of Saxony, and the former archbishoprics of
+Mayence, Treves and Cologne. East-Friesland was taken from Prussia and
+given to Hannover, which was made a kingdom: Weimar, Oldenburg and the
+two Mecklenburgs were made Grand-Duchies, and Bavaria received a new
+slice of Franconia, including the cities of Würzburg and Bayreuth, as
+well as all of the former Palatinate lying west of the Rhine. Frankfort,
+Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck were allowed to remain free cities: the other
+smaller States were favored in various ways, and only Saxony suffered by
+the loss of nearly half her territory.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_414">[Pg 414]</span> Fortunately the priestly rulers
+were not restored, and the privileges of the free nobles of the Middle
+Ages not reëstablished. Napoleon, far more justly than Attila, had been
+"the Scourge of God" to Germany. In crushing rights, he had also crushed
+a thousand abuses, and although the monarchs who ruled the Congress of
+Vienna were thoroughly reactionary in their sentiments, they could not
+help decreeing that what was dead in the political constitution of
+Germany should remain dead.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1815.</div>
+
+<p>All the German States, however, felt that some form of union was
+necessary. The people dreamed of a Nation, of a renewal of the old
+Empire in some better and stronger form; but this was mostly a vague
+desire on their part, without any practical ideas as to how it should be
+accomplished. The German ministers at Vienna were divided in their
+views; and Metternich took advantage of their impatience and excitement
+to propose a scheme of Confederation which introduced as few changes as
+possible into the existing state of affairs. It was so drawn up that
+while it presented the appearance of an organization, it secured the
+supremacy of Austria, and only united the German States in mutual
+defence against a foreign foe and in mutual suppression of internal
+progress. This scheme, hastily prepared, was hastily adopted on the 10th
+of June, 1815 (before the battle of Waterloo), and controlled the
+destinies of Germany for nearly fifty years afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>The new Confederation was composed of the Austrian Empire, the Kingdoms
+of Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Würtemberg and Hannover, the Grand-Duchies
+of Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Strelitz,
+Saxe-Weimar and Oldenburg; the Electorate of Hesse-Cassel; the Duchies
+of Brunswick, Nassau, Saxe-Gotha, Coburg, Meiningen and Hildburghausen,
+Anhalt-Dessau, Bernburg and Köthen; Denmark, on account of Holstein; the
+Netherlands, on account of Luxemburg; the four Free Cities; and eleven
+small principalities,&mdash;making a total of thirty-nine States. The Act of
+Union assured to them equal rights, independent sovereignty, the
+peaceful settlement of disputes between them, and representation in a
+General Diet, which was to be held at Frankfort, under the presidency of
+Austria. All together were required to support a permanent army of
+300,000 men for their common defence. One article required each State to
+introduce a representative form of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_415">[Pg 415]</span> government. All religions were made
+equal before the law, the right of emigration was conceded to the
+people, the navigation of the Rhine was released from taxes, and freedom
+of the Press was permitted.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1816. THE HOLY ALLIANCE.</div>
+
+<p>Of course, the carrying of these provisions into effect was left
+entirely to the rulers of the States: the people were not recognized as
+possessing any political power. Even the "representative government"
+which was assured did not include the right of suffrage; the King, or
+Duke, might appoint a legislative body which represented only a class or
+party, and not the whole population. Moreover, the Diet was prohibited
+from adopting any new measure, or making any change in the form of the
+Confederation, except by a <i>unanimous</i> vote. The whole scheme was a
+remarkable specimen of promise to the ears of the German People, and of
+disappointment to their hearts and minds.</p>
+
+<p>The Congress of Vienna was followed by an event of quite an original
+character. Alexander I. of Russia persuaded Francis II. and Frederick
+William III. to unite with him in a "Holy Alliance," which all the other
+monarchs of Europe were invited to join. It was simply a declaration,
+not a political act. The document set forth that its signers pledged
+themselves to treat each other with brotherly love, to consider all
+nations as members of one Christian family, to rule their lands with
+justice and kindness, and to be tender fathers to their subjects. No
+forms were prescribed, and each monarch was left free to choose his own
+manner of Christian rule. A great noise was made about the Holy Alliance
+at the time, because it seemed to guarantee peace to Europe, and peace
+was most welcome after such terrible wars. All other reigning Kings and
+Princes, except George IV. of England, Louis XVIII. of France, and the
+Pope, added their signatures, but not one of them manifested any more
+brotherly or fatherly love after the act than before.</p>
+
+<p>The new German Confederation having given the separate States a fresh
+lease of life, after all their convulsions, the rulers set about
+establishing themselves firmly on their repaired thrones. Only the most
+intelligent among them felt that the days of despotism, however
+"enlightened," were over; others avoided the liberal provisions of the
+Act of Union, abolished many political reforms which had been introduced
+by Napoleon, and oppressed the common people even more than his
+satellites had done. The Elector of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_416">[Pg 416]</span> Hesse-Cassel made his soldiers wear
+powdered queues, as in the last century; the King of Würtemberg
+court-martialled and cashiered the general who had gone over with his
+troops to the German side at the battle of Leipzig; and in Mecklenburg
+the liberated people were declared serfs. The introduction of a
+legislative assembly was delayed, in some States even wholly
+disregarded. Baden and Bavaria adopted a Constitution in 1818,
+Würtemberg and Hesse-Darmstadt in 1819, but in Prussia an imperfect form
+of representative government for the provinces was not arranged until
+1823. Austria, meanwhile, had restored some ancient privileges of the
+same kind, of little practical value, because not adapted to the
+conditions of the age; the people were obliged to be content with them,
+for they received no more.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1817.</div>
+
+<p>No class of Germans were so bitterly disappointed in the results of
+their victory and deliverance as the young men, especially the thousands
+who had fought in the ranks in 1813 and 1815. At all the Universities
+the students formed societies which were inspired by two ideas&mdash;Union
+and Freedom: fiery speeches were made, songs were sung, and free
+expression was given to their distrust of the governments under which
+they lived. On the 18th of October, 1817, they held a grand Convention
+at the Wartburg&mdash;the castle near Eisenach, where Luther lay
+concealed,&mdash;and this event occasioned great alarm among the reactionary
+class. The students were very hostile to the influence of Russia, and
+many persons who were suspected of being her secret agents became
+specially obnoxious to them. One of the latter was the dramatic author,
+Kotzebue, who was assassinated in March, 1819, by a young student named
+Sand. There is not the least evidence that this deed was the result of a
+widespread conspiracy; but almost every reigning prince thereupon
+imagined that his life was in danger.</p>
+
+<p>A Congress of Ministers was held at Carlsbad the same summer, and the
+most despotic measures against the so-called "Revolution" were adopted.
+Freedom of the Press was abolished; a severe censorship enforced; the
+formation of societies among the students and turners was prohibited,
+the Universities were placed under the immediate supervision of
+government, and even Commissioners were appointed to hear what the
+Professors said in their lectures! Many of the best men in Germany,
+among them the old<span class="pagenum" id="Page_417">[Pg 417]</span> teacher, Jahn, and the poet Arndt, were deprived of
+their situations, and placed under a form of espionage. Hundreds of
+young men, who had perpetrated no single act of resistance, were thrown
+into prison for years, others forced to fly from the country, and every
+manifestation of interest in political subjects became an offence. The
+effort of the German States, now, was to counteract the popular rights,
+guaranteed by the Confederation, by establishing an arbitrary and savage
+police system; and there were few parts of the country where the people
+retained as much genuine liberty as they had enjoyed a hundred years
+before.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1830. REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS.</div>
+
+<p>The History of Germany, during the thirty years of peace which followed,
+is marked by very few events of importance. It was a season of gradual
+reaction on the part of the rulers, and of increasing impatience and
+enmity on the part of the people. Instead of becoming loving families,
+as the Holy Alliance designed, the States (except some of the little
+principalities) were divided into two hostile classes. There was
+material growth everywhere: the wounds left by war and foreign
+occupation were gradually healed; there was order, security for all who
+abstained from politics, and a comfortable repose for such as were
+indifferent to the future. But it was a sad and disheartening period for
+the men who were able to see clearly how Germany, with all the elements
+of a freer and stronger life existing in her people, was falling behind
+the political development of other countries.</p>
+
+<p>The three Days' Revolution of 1830, which placed Louis Philippe on the
+throne of France, was followed by popular uprisings in some parts of
+Germany. Prussia and Austria were too strong, and their people too well
+held in check, to be affected; but in Brunswick the despotic Duke, Karl,
+was deposed, Saxony and Hesse-Cassel were obliged to accept co-rulers
+(out of their reigning families), and the English Duke, Ernest Augustus,
+was made Viceroy of Hannover. These four States also adopted a
+constitutional form of government. The German Diet, as a matter of
+course, used what power it possessed to counteract these movements, but
+its influence was limited by its own laws of action. The hopes and
+aspirations of the people were kept alive, in spite of the system of
+repression, and some of the smaller States took advantage of their
+independence to introduce various measures of reform.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_418">[Pg 418]</span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1840.</div>
+
+<p>As industry, commerce and travel increased, the existence of so many
+boundaries, with their custom-houses, taxes and other hindrances, became
+an unendurable burden. Bavaria and Würtemberg formed a customs union in
+1828, Prussia followed, and by 1836 all of Germany except Austria was
+united in the <i>Zollverein</i> (Tariff Union), which was not only a great
+material advantage, but helped to inculcate the idea of a closer
+political union. On the other hand, however, the monarchical reaction
+against liberal government was stronger than ever. Ernest Augustus of
+Hannover arbitrarily overthrew the constitution he had accepted, and
+Ludwig I. of Bavaria, renouncing all his former professions, made his
+land a very nest of absolutism and Jesuitism. In Prussia, such men as
+Stein, Gneisenau and Wilhelm von Humboldt had long lost their influence,
+while others of less personal renown, but of similar political
+sentiments, were subjected to contemptible forms of persecution.</p>
+
+<p>In March, 1835, Francis II. of Austria died, and was succeeded by his
+son, Ferdinand I., a man of such weak intellect that he was in some
+respects idiotic. On the 7th of June, 1840, Frederick William III. of
+Prussia died, and was also succeeded by his son, Frederick William IV.,
+a man of great wit and intelligence, who had made himself popular as
+Crown-Prince, and whose accession the people hailed with joy, in the
+enthusiastic belief that better days were coming. The two dead monarchs,
+each of whom had reigned forty-three years, left behind them a better
+memory among their people than they actually deserved. They were both
+weak, unstable and narrow-minded; had they not been controlled by
+others, they would have ruined Germany; but they were alike of excellent
+personal character, amiable, and very kindly disposed towards their
+subjects so long as the latter were perfectly obedient and reverential.</p>
+
+<p>There was no change in the condition of Austria, for Metternich remained
+the real ruler, as before. In Prussia, a few unimportant concessions
+were made, an amnesty for political offences was declared, Alexander von
+Humboldt became the king's chosen associate, and much was done for
+science and art; but in their main hope of a liberal reorganization of
+the government, the people were bitterly deceived. Frederick William IV.
+took no steps towards the adoption of a Constitution; he made the
+censorship and the supervision of the police more severe; he interfered
+in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_419">[Pg 419]</span> most arbitrary and bigoted manner in the system of religious
+instruction in the schools; and all his acts showed that his policy was
+to strengthen his throne by the support of the nobility and the civil
+service, without regard to the just claims of the people.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1844. THE GERMAN-CATHOLIC MOVEMENT.</div>
+
+<p>Thus, in spite of the external quiet and order, the political atmosphere
+gradually became more sultry and disturbed, all over Germany. In 1844, a
+Catholic priest named Ronge, disgusted with the miracles alleged to have
+been performed by the so-called "Holy Coat" (of the Saviour) at Treves,
+published addresses to the German People, which created a great
+excitement. He advocated the establishment of a German-Catholic Church,
+and found so many followers that the Protestant king of Prussia became
+alarmed, and all the influence of his government was exerted against the
+movement. It was asserted that the reform was taking a political and
+revolutionary character, because, under the weary system of repression
+which they endured, the people hailed any and every sign of mental and
+spiritual independence. Ronge's reform was checked at the very moment
+when it promised success, and the idea of forcible resistance to the
+government began to spread among all classes of the population.</p>
+
+<p>There were signs of impatience in all quarters; various local outbreaks
+occurred, and the aspects were so threatening that in February, 1847,
+Frederick William IV. endeavored to silence the growing opposition by
+ordering the formation of a Legislative Assembly. But the <i>provinces</i>
+were represented, not the people, and the measure only emboldened the
+latter to clamor for a direct representation. Thereupon, the king closed
+the Assembly, after a short session, and the attempt was probably
+productive of more harm than good. In most of the other German States,
+the situation was very similar: everywhere there were elements of
+opposition, all the more violent and dangerous, because they had been
+kept down with a strong hand for so many years.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXXVIII.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_420">[Pg 420]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">THE REVOLUTION OF 1848 AND ITS RESULTS.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1848&mdash;1861.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>The Revolution of 1848.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Events in Berlin.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Alarm of the Diet.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Provisional Assembly.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;First National Parliament.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Divisions among the Members.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Revolt in Schleswig-Holstein.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Its End.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Insurrection in Frankfort.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Condition of Austria.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Vienna taken.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The War in Hungary.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Surrender of Görgey.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Uprising of Lombardy and Venice.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Abdication of Ferdinand I.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Frederick William IV. offered the Imperial Crown of Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;New Outbreaks.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Dissolution of the Parliament.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Austria renews the old Diet.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Despotic Reaction everywhere.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Evil Days.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Lessons of 1848.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;William I. becomes Regent in Prussia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;New Hopes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Italian Unity.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;William I. King.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1848.</div>
+
+<p>The sudden breaking out of the Revolution of February, 1848, in Paris,
+the flight of Louis Philippe and his family, and the proclamation of the
+Republic, acted in Germany like a spark dropped upon powder. All the
+disappointments of thirty years, the smouldering impatience and sense of
+outrage, the powerful aspiration for political freedom among the people,
+broke out in sudden flame. There was instantly an outcry for freedom of
+speech and of the press, the right of suffrage, and a constitutional
+form of government, in every State. Baden, where Struve and Hecker were
+already prominent as leaders of the opposition, took the lead: then, on
+the 13th of March the people of Vienna rose, and after a bloody fight
+with the troops compelled Metternich to give up his office as Minister,
+and seek safety in exile.</p>
+
+<p>In Berlin, Frederick William IV. yielded to the pressure on the 18th of
+March, but, either by accident or rashness, a fight was brought on
+between the soldiers and the people, and a number of the latter were
+slain. Their bodies, lifted on planks, with all the bloody wounds
+exposed, were carried before the royal palace and the king was compelled
+to come to the window and look upon them. All the demands of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_421">[Pg 421]</span>
+revolutionary party were thereupon instantly granted. The next day
+Frederick William rode through the streets, preceded by the ancient
+Imperial banner of black, red and gold, swore to grant the rights which
+were demanded, and, with the concurrence of the other princes, to put
+himself at the head of a movement for German Unity. A proclamation was
+published which closed with the words: "From this day forward, Prussia
+becomes merged in Germany." The soldiers were removed from Berlin, and
+the popular excitement gradually subsided.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1848. A NATIONAL PARLIAMENT CALLED.</div>
+
+<p>Before these outbreaks occurred, the Diet at Frankfort had caught the
+alarm, and hastened to take a step which seemed to yield something to
+the general demand. On the 1st of March, it invited the separate States
+to send special delegates to Frankfort, empowered to draw up a new form
+of union for Germany. Four days afterwards, a meeting which included
+many of the prominent men of Southern Germany was held at Heidelberg,
+and it was decided to hold a Provisional Assembly at Frankfort, as a
+movement preliminary to the greater changes which were anticipated. This
+proposal received a hearty response: on the 31st of March quite a large
+and respectable body, from all the German States, came together in
+Frankfort. The demand of the party headed by Hecker that a Republic
+should be proclaimed, was rejected; but the principle of "the
+sovereignty of the people" was adopted, Schleswig and Holstein, which
+had risen in revolt against the Danish rule, were declared to be a part
+of Germany, and a Committee of Fifty was appointed, to coöperate with
+the old Diet in calling a National Parliament.</p>
+
+<p>There was great rejoicing in Germany over these measures. The people
+were full of hope and confidence; the men who were chosen as candidates
+and elected by suffrage, were almost without exception persons of
+character and intelligence, and when they came together, six hundred in
+number, and opened the first National Parliament of Germany, in the
+church of St. Paul, in Frankfort, on the 18th of May, 1848, there were
+few patriots who did not believe in a speedy and complete regeneration
+of their country. In the meantime, however, Hecker and Struve, who had
+organized a great number of republican clubs throughout Baden, rose in
+arms against the government. After maintaining themselves for two weeks
+in Freiburg and the Black Forest,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_422">[Pg 422]</span> they were defeated and forced to take
+refuge in Switzerland. Hecker went to America, and Struve, making a
+second attempt shortly afterwards, was taken prisoner.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1848.</div>
+
+<p>The lack of practical political experience among the members soon
+disturbed the Parliament. The most of them were governed by theories,
+and insisted on carrying out certain principles, instead of trying to
+adapt them to the existing circumstances. With all their honesty and
+genuine patriotism, they relied too much on the sudden enthusiasm of the
+people, and undervalued the actual strength of the governing classes,
+because the latter had so easily yielded to the first surprise. The
+republican party was in a decided minority; and the remainder soon
+became divided between the "Small-Germans," who favored the union of all
+the States, except Austria, under a constitutional monarchy, and the
+"Great-Germans," who insisted that Austria should be included. After a
+great deal of discussion, the former Diet was declared abolished on the
+28th of June; a Provisional Central Government was appointed, and the
+Archduke John of Austria&mdash;an amiable, popular and inoffensive old
+man&mdash;was elected "Vicar-General of the Empire." This action was accepted
+by all the States except Austria and Prussia, which delayed to commit
+themselves until they were strong enough to oppose the whole scheme.</p>
+
+<p>The history of 1848 is divided into so many detached episodes, that it
+cannot be given in a connected form. The revolt which broke out in
+Schleswig-Holstein early in March, was supported by enthusiastic German
+volunteers, and then by a Prussian army, which drove the Danes back into
+Jutland. Great rejoicing was occasioned by the destruction of the Danish
+frigate <i>Christian VIII.</i> and the capture of the <i>Gefion</i>, at
+Eckernförde, by a battery commanded by Duke Ernest II. of Coburg-Gotha.
+But England and Russia threatened armed intervention; Prussia was forced
+to suspend hostilities and make a truce with Denmark, on terms which
+looked very much like an abandonment of the cause of Schleswig-Holstein.</p>
+
+<p>This action was accepted by a majority of the Parliament at
+Frankfort,&mdash;a course which aroused the deepest indignation of the
+democratic minority and their sympathizers everywhere throughout
+Germany. On the 18th of September barricades were thrown up in the
+streets of Frankfort, and an armed mob stormed the church where the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_423">[Pg 423]</span>
+Parliament was in session, but was driven back by Prussian and Hessian
+troops. Two members, General Auerswald and Prince Lichnowsky, were
+barbarously murdered in attempting to escape from the city. This lawless
+and bloody event was a great damage to the national cause: the two
+leading States, Prussia and Austria, instantly adopted a sterner policy,
+and there were soon signs of a general reaction against the Revolution.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1849. END OF THE HUNGARIAN WAR.</div>
+
+<p>The condition of Austria, at this time, was very critical. The uprising
+in Vienna had been followed by powerful and successful rebellions in
+Lombardy, Hungary and Bohemia, and the Empire of the Hapsburgs seemed to
+be on the point of dissolution. The struggle was confused and made more
+bitter by the hostility of the different nationalities: the Croatians,
+at the call of the Emperor, rose against the Hungarians, and then the
+Germans, in the Legislative Assembly held at Vienna, accused the
+government of being guided by Slavonic influences. Another furious
+outbreak occurred, Count Latour, the former minister of war, was hung to
+a lamp-post, and the city was again in the hands of the revolutionists.
+Kossuth, who had become all-powerful in Hungary, had already raised an
+army, to be employed in conquering the independence of his country, and
+he now marched rapidly towards Vienna, which was threatened by the
+Austrian general Windischgrätz. Almost within sight of the city, he was
+defeated by Jellachich, the Ban of Croatia: the latter joined the
+Austrians, and after a furious bombardment, Vienna was taken by storm.
+Messenhauser, the commander of the insurgents, and Robert Blum, a member
+of the National Parliament, were afterwards shot by order of
+Windischgrätz, who crushed out all resistance by the most severe and
+inhuman measures.</p>
+
+<p>Hungary, nevertheless, was already practically independent, and Kossuth
+stood at the head of the government. The movement was eagerly supported
+by the people: an army of 100,000 men was raised, including cavalry
+which could hardly be equalled in Europe. Kossuth was supported by
+Görgey, and the Polish generals, Bern and Dembinski; and although the
+Hungarians at first fell back before Windischgrätz, who marched against
+them in December, they gained a series of splendid victories in the
+spring of 1849, and their success seemed assured. Austria was forced to
+call upon Russia for help, and the Emperor Nicholas responded by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_424">[Pg 424]</span>
+sending an army of 140,000 men. Kossuth vainly hoped for the
+intervention of England and France in favor of Hungary: up to the end of
+May the patriots were still victorious, then followed defeats in the
+field and confusion in the councils. The Hungarian government and a
+large part of the army fell back to Arad, where, on the 11th of August,
+Kossuth transferred his dictatorship to Görgey, and the latter, two days
+afterwards, surrendered at Vilagos, with about 25,000 men, to the
+Russian general Rüdiger.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1849.</div>
+
+<p>This surrender caused Görgey's name to be execrated in Hungary, and by
+all who sympathized with the Hungarian cause throughout the world. It
+was made, however, with the knowledge of Kossuth, who had transferred
+his power to the former for that purpose, while he, with Bem, Dembinski
+and a few other followers, escaped into Turkey. In fact, further
+resistance would have been madness, for Haynau, who had succeeded to the
+command of the Austrian forces, was everywhere successful in front, and
+the Russians were in the rear. The first judgment of the world upon
+Görgey's act was therefore unjust. The fortress of Comorn, on the
+Danube, was the last post occupied by the Hungarians. It surrendered,
+after an obstinate siege, to Haynau, who then perpetrated such
+barbarities that his name became infamous in all countries.</p>
+
+<p>In Italy, the Revolution broke out in March, 1848. Marshal Radetzky, the
+Austrian Governor in Milan, was driven out of the city: the Lombards,
+supported by the Sardinians under their king, Charles Albert, drove him
+to Verona: Venice had also risen, and nearly all Northern Italy was thus
+freed from the Austrian yoke. In the course of the summer, however,
+Radetzky achieved some successes, and thereupon concluded an armistice
+with Sardinia, which left him free to undertake the siege of Venice. On
+the 12th of March, 1849, Charles Albert resumed the war, and on the 23d,
+in the battle of Novara, was so ruinously defeated that he abdicated the
+throne of Sardinia in favor of his son, Victor Emanuel. The latter, on
+leaving the field, shook his sword at the advancing Austrians, and cried
+out: "There shall yet be an Italy!"&mdash;but he was compelled at the time to
+make peace on the best terms he could obtain. In August, Venice also
+surrendered, after a heroic defence, and Austria was again supreme in
+Italy as in Hungary.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1850. DISSOLUTION OF THE PARLIAMENT.</div>
+
+<p>During this time, the National Parliament in Frankfort<span class="pagenum" id="Page_425">[Pg 425]</span> had been
+struggling against the difficulties of its situation. The democratic
+movement was almost suppressed, and there was an earnest effort to
+effect a German Union; but this was impossible without the concurrence
+of either Austria or Prussia, and the rivalry of the two gave rise to
+constant jealousies and impediments. On the 2d of December, 1848, the
+Viennese Ministry persuaded the idiotic Emperor Ferdinand to abdicate,
+and placed his nephew, Francis Joseph, a youth of eighteen, upon the
+throne. Every change of the kind begets new hopes, and makes a
+government temporarily popular; so this was a gain for Austria.
+Nevertheless, the "Small-German" party finally triumphed in the
+Parliament. On the 28th of March, 1849, Frederick Wilhelm IV. of Germany
+was elected "Hereditary Emperor of Germany." All the small States
+accepted the choice: Bavaria, Würtemberg, Saxony and Hannover refused;
+Austria protested, and the king himself, after hesitating for a week,
+declined.</p>
+
+<p>This was a great blow to the hopes of the national party. It was
+immediately followed by fierce popular outbreaks in Dresden, Würtemberg
+and Baden: in the last of these States the Grand-Duke was driven away,
+and a provisional government instituted. Prussia sent troops to suppress
+the revolt, and a war on a small scale was carried on during the months
+of June and July, when the republican forces yielded to superior power.
+This was the end of armed resistance: the governments had recovered from
+their panic, the French Republic, under the Prince-President Louis
+Napoleon, was preparing for monarchy, Italy and Hungary were prostrate,
+and nothing was left for the earnest and devoted German patriots, but to
+save what rights they could from the wreck of their labors.</p>
+
+<p>The Parliament gradually dissolved, by the recall of some of its
+members, and the withdrawal of others. Only the democratic minority
+remained, and sought to keep up its existence by removing to Stuttgart;
+but, once there, it was soon forcibly dispersed. Prussia next endeavored
+to create a German Confederation, based on representation: Saxony and
+Hannover at first joined, a convention of the members of the
+"Small-German" party, held at Gotha, accepted the plan, and then the
+small States united, while Saxony and Hannover withdrew and allied
+themselves with Bavaria and Würtemberg in a counter-union. The adherents
+of the former plan met in Berlin in 1850: on the 1st of September,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_426">[Pg 426]</span>
+Austria declared the old Diet opened at Frankfort, under her presidency,
+and twelve States hastened to obey her call. The hostility between the
+two parties so increased that for a time war seemed to be inevitable:
+Austrian troops invaded Hesse-Cassel, an army was collected in Bohemia,
+while Prussia, relying on the help of Russia, was quite unprepared. Then
+Frederick William IV. yielded: Prussia submitted to Austria in all
+points, and on the 15th of May, 1851, the Diet was restored in
+Frankfort, with a vague promise that its Constitution should be amended.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1852.</div>
+
+<p>Thus, after an interruption of three years, the old machine was put upon
+the old track, and a strong and united Germany seemed as far off as
+ever. A dismal period of reaction began. Louis Napoleon's violent
+assumption of power in December, 1851, was welcomed by the German
+rulers, all of whom greeted the new Emperor as "brother"; a Congress
+held in London in May, 1852, confirmed Denmark in the possession of
+Schleswig and Holstein; Austria abolished her Legislative Assembly, in
+utter disregard of the provisions of 1815, upon which the Diet was
+based; Hesse-Cassel, with the consent of Austria, Prussia and the Diet,
+overthrew the constitution which had protected the people for twenty
+years; and even Prussia, where an arbitrary policy was no longer
+possible, gradually suppressed the more liberal features of the
+government. Worse than this, the religious liberty which Germany had so
+long enjoyed, was insidiously assailed. Austria, Bavaria and Würtemberg
+made "Concordats" with the Pope, which gave the control of schools and
+marriages among the people into the hands of the priests. Frederick
+William IV. did his best to acquire the same despotic power for the
+Protestant Church in Prussia, and thereby assisted the designs of the
+Church of Rome, more than most of the Catholic rulers.</p>
+
+<p>Placed between the disguised despotism of Napoleon III. and the open and
+arrogant despotism of Nicholas of Russia, Germany, for a time, seemed to
+be destined to a similar fate. The result of the Crimean war, and the
+liberal policy inaugurated by Alexander II. in Russia, damped the hopes
+of the German absolutists, but failed to teach them wisdom. Prussia was
+practically governed by the interests of a class of nobles, whose absurd
+pride was only equalled by their ignorance of the age in which they
+lived. With all his wit and talent, Frederick William IV. was utterly
+blind<span class="pagenum" id="Page_427">[Pg 427]</span> to his position, and the longer he reigned the more he made the
+name of Prussia hated throughout the rest of Germany.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1857. WILLIAM I. REGENT OF PRUSSIA.</div>
+
+<p>But the fruits of the national movement in 1848 and 1849 were not lost.
+The earnest efforts of those two years, the practical experience of
+political matters acquired by the liberal party, were an immense gain to
+the people. In every State there was a strong body of intelligent men,
+who resisted the reaction by all the legal means left them, and who,
+although discouraged, were still hopeful of success. The increase of
+general intelligence among the people, the growth of an independent
+press, the extension of railroads which made the old system of passports
+and police supervision impossible,&mdash;all these were powerful agencies of
+progress; but only a few rulers of the smaller States saw this truth,
+and favored the liberal side.</p>
+
+<p>In October, 1857, Frederick William IV. was stricken with apoplexy, and
+his brother, Prince William, began to rule in his name. The latter, then
+sixty years old, had grown up without the least prospect that he would
+ever wear the crown: although he possessed no brilliant intellectual
+qualities, he was shrewd, clear-sighted, and honest, and after a year's
+experience of the policy which governed Prussia, he refused to rule
+longer unless the whole power were placed in his hands. As soon as he
+was made Prince Regent, he dismissed the feudalist Ministry of his
+brother and established a new and more liberal government. The hopes of
+the German people instantly revived: Bavaria was compelled to follow the
+example of Prussia, the reaction against the national movement of 1848
+was interrupted everywhere, and the political horizon suddenly began to
+grow brighter.</p>
+
+<p>The desire of the people for a closer national union was so intense,
+that when, in June, 1859, Austria was defeated at Magenta and Solferino,
+a cry ran through Germany: "The Rhine must be defended on the Mincio!"
+and the demand for an alliance with Austria against France became so
+earnest and general, that Prussia would certainly have yielded to it, if
+Napoleon III. had not forestalled the movement by concluding an instant
+peace with Francis Joseph. When, in 1860, all Italy rose, and the
+dilapidated thrones of the petty rulers fell to pieces, as the people
+united under Victor Emanuel, the Germans saw how hasty and mistaken had
+been their excitement of the year before. The interests<span class="pagenum" id="Page_428">[Pg 428]</span> of the Italians
+were identical with theirs, and the success of the former filled them
+with fresh hope and courage.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1861.</div>
+
+<p>Austria, after her defeat and the overwhelming success of the popular
+uprising in Italy, seemed to perceive the necessity of conceding more to
+her own subjects. She made some attempts to introduce a restricted form
+of constitutional government, which excited without satisfying the
+people. Prussia continued to advance slowly in the right direction,
+regaining her lost influence over the active and intelligent liberal
+party throughout Germany. On the 2d of January, 1861, Frederick William
+IV. died, and William I. became King. From this date a new history
+begins.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXXIX.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_429">[Pg 429]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">THE STRUGGLE WITH AUSTRIA; THE NORTH-GERMAN UNION.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1861&mdash;1870.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Reorganization of the Prussian Army.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Movements for a new Union.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Reaction in Prussia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Bismarck appointed Minister.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Unpopularity.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Attempt of Francis Joseph of Austria.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;War in Schleswig-Holstein.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Quarrel between Prussia and Austria.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Alliances of Austria with the smaller States.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Diet.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Prussia declares War.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Hannover, Hesse and Saxony invaded.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battle of Langensalza.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;March into Bohemia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Preliminary Victories.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Halt in Gitchin.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battle of Königgrätz.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Prussian Advance to the Danube.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Peace of Nikolsburg.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Bismarck's Plan.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Change in popular Sentiment.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Prussian Annexations.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Foundation of the North-German Union.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Luxemburg Affair.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1861. WILLIAM I., KING.</div>
+
+<p>The first important measure which the government of William I. adopted
+was a thorough reorganization of the army. Since this could not be
+effected without an increased expense for the present and a prospect of
+still greater burdens in the future, the Legislative Assembly of Prussia
+refused to grant the appropriation demanded. The plan was to increase
+the time of service for the reserve forces, to diminish that of the
+militia, and enforce a sufficient amount of military training upon the
+whole male population, without regard to class or profession. At the
+same time a Convention of the smaller States was held in Würzburg, for
+the purpose of drawing up a new plan of union, in place of the old Diet,
+the provisions of which had been violated so often that its existence
+was becoming a mere farce.</p>
+
+<p>Prussia proposed a closer military union under her own direction, and
+this was accepted by Baden, Saxe-Weimar and Coburg-Gotha: the other
+States were still swayed by the influence of Austria. The political
+situation became more and more disturbed; William I. dismissed his
+liberal ministry and appointed noted reactionists, who carried out his
+plan for reorganizing the army in defiance of the Assembly. Finally, in
+September, 1862, Baron Otto von Bismarck-Schönhausen,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_430">[Pg 430]</span> who had been
+Prussian ambassador in St. Petersburg and Paris, was placed at the head
+of the Government. This remarkable man, who was born in 1813, in
+Brandenburg, was already known as a thorough conservative, and
+considered to be one of the most dangerous enemies of the liberal and
+national party. But he had represented Prussia in the Diet at Frankfort
+in 1851, he understood the policy of Austria and the general political
+situation better than any other statesman in Germany, and his course,
+from the first day of receiving power, was as daring as it was skilfully
+planned.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1863.</div>
+
+<p>Even Metternich was not so heartily hated as Bismarck, when the latter
+continued the policy already adopted, of disregarding the will of the
+people, as expressed by the Prussian Assembly. Every new election for
+this body only increased the strength of the opposition, and with it the
+unpopularity of Prussia among the smaller States. The appropriations for
+the army were steadfastly refused, yet the government took the money and
+went on with the work of reorganization. Austria endeavored to profit by
+the confusion which ensued: after having privately consulted the other
+rulers, Francis Joseph summoned a Congress of German Princes to meet in
+Frankfort, in August, 1863, in order to accept an "Act of Reform," which
+substituted an Assembly of Delegates in place of the old Diet, but
+retained the presidency of Austria. Prussia refused to attend, declaring
+that the first step towards reform must be a Parliament elected by the
+people, and the scheme failed so completely that in another month
+nothing more was heard of it.</p>
+
+<p>Soon afterwards, Frederick VII. of Denmark died, and his successor,
+Christian IX., Prince of Glücksburg, accepted a constitution which
+detached Schleswig from Holstein and incorporated it with Denmark. This
+was in violation of the treaty made in London in 1852, and gave Germany
+a pretext for interference. On the 7th of December, 1863, the Diet
+decided to take armed possession of the Duchies: Austria and Prussia
+united in January, 1864, and sent a combined army of 43,000 men under
+Prince Frederick Karl and Marshal Gablenz against Denmark. After several
+slight engagements the Danes abandoned the "Dannewerk"&mdash;the fortified
+line across the Peninsula,&mdash;and took up a strong position at Düppel.
+Here their entrenchments were stormed and carried by the Prussians, on
+the 18th of April: the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_431">[Pg 431]</span> Austrians had also been victorious at Oeversee,
+and the Danes were everywhere driven back. England, France and Russia
+interfered, an armistice was declared, and an attempt made to settle the
+question. The negotiations, which were carried on in London for that
+purpose, failed; hostilities were resumed, and by the 1st of August,
+Denmark was forced to sue for peace.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1866. AUSTRIA AND PRUSSIA AT WAR.</div>
+
+<p>On the 30th of October, the war was ended by the relinquishment of the
+Duchies to Prussia and Austria, not to Germany. The Prince of
+Augustenburg, however, who belonged to the ducal family of Holstein,
+claimed the territory as being his by right of descent, and took up his
+residence at Kiel, bringing all the apparatus of a little State
+Government, ready made, along with him. Prussia demanded the acceptance
+of her military system, the occupancy of the forts, and the harbor of
+Kiel for naval purposes. The Duke, encouraged by Austria, refused: a
+diplomatic quarrel ensued, which lasted until the 1st of August, 1865,
+when William I. met Francis Joseph at Gastein, a watering-place in the
+Austrian Alps, and both agreed on a division, Prussia to govern in
+Schleswig and Austria in Holstein.</p>
+
+<p>Thus far, the course of the two powers in the matter had made them
+equally unpopular throughout the rest of Germany. Austria had quite lost
+her temporary advantage over Prussia, in this respect, and she now
+endeavored to regain it by favoring the claims of the Duke of
+Augustenburg in Holstein. An angry correspondence followed, and early in
+1866 Austria began to prepare for war, not only at home, but by secretly
+canvassing for alliances among the smaller States. Neither she, nor the
+German people, understood how her policy was aiding the deep-laid plans
+of Bismarck. The latter had been elevated to the rank of Count, he had
+dared to assert that the German question could never be settled without
+the use of "blood and steel" (which was generally interpreted as
+signifying the most brutal despotism), and an attempt to assassinate him
+had been made in the streets of Berlin. When, therefore, Austria
+demanded of the Diet that the military force of the other States should
+be called into the field against Prussia on account of the invasion of
+Holstein by Prussian troops, only Oldenburg, Mecklenburg, the little
+Saxon principalities and the three free cities of the North voted
+against the measure!</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1866.</div>
+
+<p>This vote, which was taken on the 14th of June, 1866,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_432">[Pg 432]</span> was the last act
+of the German Diet. Prussia instantly took the ground that it was a
+declaration of war, and set in motion all the agencies which had been
+quietly preparing for three or four years. The German people were
+stunned by the suddenness with which the crisis had been brought upon
+them. The cause of the trouble was so slight, so needlessly provoked,
+that the war seemed criminal: it was looked upon as the last desperate
+resource of the absolutist, Bismarck, who, finding the Prussian Assembly
+still five to one against him, had adopted this measure to recover by
+force his lost position. Few believed that Prussia, with nineteen
+millions of inhabitants, could be victorious over Austria and her
+allies, representing fifty millions, unless after a long and terrible
+struggle.</p>
+
+<p>Prussia, however, had secured an ally which, although not fortunate in
+the war, kept a large Austrian army employed. This was Italy, which
+eagerly accepted the alliance in April, and began to prepare for the
+struggle. On the other hand, there was every probability that France
+would interfere in favor of Austria. In this emergency, the Prussian
+Government seemed transformed: it stood like a man aroused and fully
+alive, with every sense quickened and every muscle and sinew ready for
+action. The 14th of June brought the declaration of war: on the 15th,
+Saxony, Hannover, Hesse-Cassel and Nassau were called upon to remain
+neutral, and allowed twelve hours to decide. As no answer came, a
+Prussian army from Holstein took possession of Hannover on the 17th,
+another from the Rhine entered Cassel on the 19th, and on the latter day
+Leipzig and Dresden were occupied by a third. So complete had been the
+preparations that a temporary railroad bridge was made, in advance, to
+take the place of one between Berlin and Dresden, which it was evident
+the Saxons would destroy.</p>
+
+<p>The king of Hannover, with 18,000 men, marched southward to join the
+Bavarians, but was so slow in his movements that he did not reach
+Langensalza (fifteen miles north of Gotha) until the 23d of June.
+Rejecting an offer from Prussia, a force of about 9,000 men was sent to
+hold him in check. A fierce battle was fought on the 27th, in which the
+Hannoverians were victorious, but, during their delay of a single day,
+Prussia had pushed on new troops with such rapidity that they were
+immediately afterwards compelled<span class="pagenum" id="Page_433">[Pg 433]</span> to surrender. The soldiers were sent
+home, and the king, George V., betook himself to Vienna.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1866. BATTLE OF KÖNIGGRÄTZ.</div>
+
+<p>All Saxony being occupied, the march upon Austria followed. There were
+three Prussian armies in the field: the first, under Prince Frederick
+Karl, advanced in a south-eastern direction from Saxony, the second,
+under the Crown-Prince, Frederick William, from Silesia, and the third,
+under General Herwarth von Bittenfeld, followed the course of the Elbe.
+The entire force was 260,000 men, with 790 pieces of artillery. The
+Austrian army, now hastening towards the frontier, was about equal in
+numbers, and commanded by General Benedek. Count Clam-Gallas, with
+60,000 men, was sent forward to meet Frederick Karl, but was defeated in
+four successive small engagements, from the 27th to the 29th of June,
+and forced to fall back upon Benedek's main army, while Frederick Karl
+and Herwarth, whose armies were united in the last of the four battles,
+at Gitchin, remained there to await the arrival of the Crown-Prince.</p>
+
+<p>The latter's task had been more difficult. On crossing the frontier, he
+was faced by the greater part of Benedek's army, and his first battle,
+on the 27th, at Trautenau, was a defeat. A second battle at the same
+place, the next day, resulted in a brilliant victory, after which he
+advanced, achieving further successes at Nachod and Skalitz, and on the
+30th of June reached Königinhof, a short distance from Gitchin. King
+William, Bismarck, Moltke and Roon arrived at the latter place on the 2d
+of July, and it was decided to meet Benedek, who with Clam-Gallas was
+awaiting battle near Königgrätz, without further delay. The movement was
+hastened by indications that Benedek meant to commence the attack before
+the army of the Crown-Prince could reach the field.</p>
+
+<p>On the 3d of July the great battle of Königgrätz was fought. Both in its
+character and its results, it was very much like that of Waterloo.
+Benedek occupied a strong position on a range of low hills beyond the
+little river Bistritz, with the village of Sadowa as his centre. The
+army of Frederick Karl formed the Prussian centre, and that of Herwarth
+the right wing: their position only differed from that of Wellington, at
+Waterloo, in the circumstance that they must attack instead of resist,
+and keep the whole Austrian army engaged until the Crown-Prince, like
+Blücher, should arrive from the left and strike Benedek on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_434">[Pg 434]</span> the right
+flank. The battle began at eight in the morning, and raged with the
+greatest fury for six hours: again and again the Prussians hurled
+themselves on the Austrian centre, only to be repulsed with heavier
+losses. Herwarth, on the right, gained a little advantage; but the
+Austrian rifled cannon prevented a further advance. Violent rains and
+marshy soil delayed the Crown-Prince, as in Blücher's case at Waterloo:
+the fate of the day was very doubtful until two o'clock in the
+afternoon, when the smoke of cannon was seen in the distance, on the
+Austrian right. The army of the Crown-Prince had arrived! Then all the
+Prussian reserves were brought up; an advance was made along the whole
+line: the Austrian right and left were broken, the centre gave way, and
+in the midst of a thunderstorm the retreat became a headlong flight.
+Towards evening, when the sun broke out, the Prussians saw Königgrätz
+before them: the King and Crown-Prince met on the battle-field, and the
+army struck up the same old choral which the troops of Frederick the
+Great had sung on the field of Leuthen.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1866.</div>
+
+<p>The next day the news came that Austria had made over Venetia to France.
+This seemed like a direct bid for alliance, and the need of rapid action
+was greater than ever. Within two weeks the Prussians had reached the
+Danube, and Vienna was an easy prey. In the meantime, the Bavarians and
+other allies of Austria had been driven beyond the river Main, Frankfort
+was in the hands of the Prussians, and a struggle, which could only have
+ended in the defeat of the former, commenced at Würzburg. Then Austria
+gave way: an armistice, embracing the preliminaries of peace, was
+concluded at Nikolsburg on the 27th of July, and the <span class="smcap">Seven Weeks' War</span>
+came to an end. The treaty of peace, which was signed at Prague on the
+23d of August, placed Austria in the background and gave the leadership
+of Germany to Prussia.</p>
+
+<p>It was now seen that the possession of Schleswig-Holstein was not the
+main object of the war. When Austria was compelled to recognize the
+formation of a North-German Confederation, which excluded her and her
+southern allies, but left the latter free to treat separately with the
+new power, the extent of Bismarck's plans became evident. "Blood and
+steel" had been used, but only to destroy the old constitution of
+Germany, and render possible a firmer<span class="pagenum" id="Page_435">[Pg 435]</span> national Union, the guiding
+influence of which was to be Prussian and Protestant, instead of
+Austrian and Catholic.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1867. THE NORTH-GERMAN UNION.</div>
+
+<p>An overwhelming revulsion of feeling took place. The proud,
+conservative, feudal party sank almost out of sight, in the enthusiastic
+support which the nationals and liberals gave to William I. and
+Bismarck. It is not likely that the latter had changed in character:
+personally, his haughty aristocratic impulses were no doubt as strong as
+ever; but, as a statesman, he had learned the great and permanent
+strength of the opposition, and clearly saw what immense advantages
+Prussia would acquire by a liberal policy. The German people, in their
+indescribable relief from the anxieties of the past four years&mdash;in their
+gratitude for victory and the dawn of a better future&mdash;soon came to
+believe that he had always been on their side. Before the year 1866 came
+to an end, the Prussian Assembly accepted all the past acts of the
+Government which it had resisted, and complete harmony was
+reëstablished.</p>
+
+<p>The annexation of Hannover, Hesse-Cassel, Nassau, Schleswig-Holstein and
+the City of Frankfort added nearly 5,000,000 more to the population of
+Prussia. The Constitution of the "North-German Union," as the new
+Confederation was called, was submitted to the other States in December,
+and accepted by all on the 9th of February, 1867. Its parliament,
+elected by the people, met in Berlin immediately afterwards to discuss
+the articles of union, which were finally adopted on the 16th of April,
+when the new Power commenced its existence. It included all the German
+States except Bavaria, Würtemberg and Baden, twenty-two in number, and
+comprising a population of more than thirty millions, united under one
+military, postal, diplomatic and financial system, like the States of
+the American Union. The king of Prussia was President of the whole, and
+Bismarck was elected Chancellor. About the same time Bavaria, Würtemberg
+and Baden entered into a secret offensive and defensive alliance with
+Prussia, and the policy of their governments, thenceforth, was so
+conciliatory towards the North-German Union, that the people almost
+instantly forgot the hostility created by the war.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1867.</div>
+
+<p>In the spring of 1867, Napoleon III. took advantage of the circumstance
+that Luxemburg was practically detached from Germany by the downfall of
+the old Diet, and offered to buy it of Holland. The agreement was nearly
+concluded,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_436">[Pg 436]</span> when Bismarck in the name of the North-German Union, made
+such an energetic protest that the negotiations were suspended. A
+conference of the European Powers in London, in May, adjudged Luxemburg
+to Holland, satisfying neither France nor Germany; but Bismarck's
+boldness and firmness gave immediate authority to the new Union. The
+people, at last, felt that they had a living, acting Government, not a
+mere conglomeration of empty forms, as hitherto.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XL" id="CHAPTER_XL"></a>CHAPTER XL.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_437">[Pg 437]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">THE WAR WITH FRANCE, AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1870&mdash;1871.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>Changes in Austria.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Rise of Prussia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Irritation of the French.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Napoleon III.'s Decline.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;War demanded.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Pretext of the Spanish Throne.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Leopold of Hohenzollern.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The French Ambassador at Ems.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;France declares War.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Excitement of the People.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Attitude of Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Three Armies in the Field.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battle of Wörth.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Advance upon Metz.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battles of Mars-la-Tour and Gravelotte.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;German Residents expelled from France.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Mac Mahon's March northwards.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Fighting on the Meuse.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battle of Sedan.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Surrender of Napoleon III. and the Army.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Republic in France.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Hopes of the French People.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Surrenders of Toul. Strasburg and Metz.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Siege of Paris.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Defeat of the French Armies.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Battles of Le Mans.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Bourbaki's Defeat and Flight into Switzerland.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Surrender of Paris.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Peace.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Losses of France.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The German Empire proclaimed.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;William I. Emperor.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1869. CHANGES IN AUSTRIA.</div>
+
+<p>The experience of the next three years showed how completely the new
+order of things was accepted by the great majority of the German people.
+Even in Austria, the defeat at Königgrätz and the loss of Venetia were
+welcomed by the Hungarians and Slavonians, and hardly regretted by the
+German population, since it was evident that the Imperial Government
+must give up its absolutist policy or cease to exist. In fact, the
+former Ministry was immediately dismissed: Count Beust, a Saxon and a
+Protestant, was called to Vienna, and a series of reforms was
+inaugurated which did not terminate until the Hungarians had won all
+they demanded in 1848, and the Germans and Bohemians enjoyed full as
+much liberty as the Prussians.</p>
+
+<p>The Seven Weeks' War of 1866, in fact, was a phenomenon in history; no
+nation ever acquired so much fame and influence in so short a time, as
+Prussia. The relation of the king, and especially of the statesman who
+guided him, Count Bismarck, towards the rest of Germany, was suddenly
+and completely changed. Napoleon III. was compelled to transfer Venetia
+to Italy, and thus his declaration in 1859<span class="pagenum" id="Page_438">[Pg 438]</span> that "Italy should be free,
+from the Alps to the Adriatic," was made good,&mdash;but not by France. While
+the rest of Europe accepted the changes in Germany with equanimity, if
+not with approbation, the vain and sensitive people of France felt
+themselves deeply humiliated. Thus far, the policy of Napoleon III. had
+seemed to preserve the supremacy of France in European politics. He had
+overawed England, defeated Russia, and treated Italy as a magnanimous
+patron. But the best strength of Germany was now united under a new
+Constitution, after a war which made the achievements at Magenta,
+Solferino and in the Crimea seem tame. The ostentatious designs of
+France in Mexico came also to a tragic end in 1867, and her disgraceful
+failure there only served to make the success of Prussia, by contrast,
+more conspicuous.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1869.</div>
+
+<p>The opposition to Napoleon III. in the French Assembly made use of these
+facts to increase its power. His own success had been due to good luck
+rather than to superior ability: he was now more than sixty years old,
+he had become cautious and wavering in his policy, and he undoubtedly
+saw how much would be risked in provoking a war with the North-German
+Union; but the temper of the French people left him no alternative. He
+had certainly meant to interfere in 1866, had not the marvellous
+rapidity of Prussia prevented it. That France had no shadow of right to
+interfere, was all the same to his people: they held him responsible for
+the creation of a new political Germany, which was apparently nearly as
+strong as France, and that was a thing not to be endured. He yielded to
+the popular excitement, and only waited for a pretext which might
+justify him before the world in declaring war.</p>
+
+<p>Such a pretext came in 1870. The Spaniards had expelled their Bourbon
+Queen, Isabella, in 1868, and were looking about for a new monarch from
+some other royal house. Their choice fell upon Prince Leopold of
+Hohenzollern, a distant relation of William I. of Prussia, but also
+nearly connected with the Bonaparte family through his wife, who was a
+daughter of the Grand-Duchess Stephanie Beauharnais. On the 6th of July,
+Napoleon's minister, the Duke de Gramont, declared to the French
+Assembly that this choice would never be tolerated by France. The French
+ambassador in Prussia, Benedetti, was ordered to demand of King William
+that he should prohibit Prince Leopold<span class="pagenum" id="Page_439">[Pg 439]</span> from accepting the offer. The
+king answered that he could not forbid what he had never advised; but,
+immediately afterwards (on the 12th of July), Prince Leopold voluntarily
+declined, and all cause of trouble seemed to be removed.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1870. FRANCE INSISTS ON WAR.</div>
+
+<p>The French people, however, were insanely bent upon war. The excitement
+was so great, and so urgently fostered by the Empress Eugenie, the Duke
+de Gramont, and the army, that Napoleon III. again yielded. A dispatch
+was sent to Benedetti: "Be rough to the king!" The ambassador, who was
+at the baths of Ems, where William I. was also staying, sought the
+latter on the public promenade and abruptly demanded that he should give
+France a guarantee that no member of the house of Hohenzollern should
+ever accept the throne of Spain. The ambassador's manner, even more than
+his demand, was insulting: the king turned upon his heel, and left him
+standing. This was on the 13th of July: on the 15th the king returned to
+Berlin, and on the 19th France formally declared war.</p>
+
+<p>It was universally believed that every possible preparation had been
+made for this step. In fact, Marshal Le B&oelig;uf assured Napoleon III.
+that the army was "more than ready," and an immediate French advance to
+the Rhine was anticipated throughout Europe. Napoleon relied upon
+detaching the Southern German States from the Union, upon revolts in
+Hesse and Hannover, and finally, upon alliances with Austria and Italy.
+The French people were wild with excitement, which took the form of
+rejoicing: there was a general cry that Napoleon I.'s birthday, the 15th
+of August, must be celebrated in Berlin. But the German people, North
+and South, rose as one man: for the first time in her history, Germany
+became one compact, <i>national</i> power. Bavarian and Hannoverian, Prussian
+and Hessian, Saxon and Westphalian joined hands and stood side by side.
+The temper of the people was solemn, but inflexibly firm: they did not
+boast of coming victory, but every one was resolved to die rather than
+see Germany again overrun by the French.</p>
+
+<p>This time there were no alliances: it was simply Germany on one side and
+France on the other. The greatest military genius of our day, Moltke,
+had foreseen the war, no less than Bismarck, and was equally prepared.
+The designs of France lay clear, and the only question was to check
+them<span class="pagenum" id="Page_440">[Pg 440]</span> in their very commencement. In eleven days, Germany had 450,000
+soldiers, organized in three armies, on the way, and the French had not
+yet crossed the frontier! Further, there was a German reserve force of
+112,000, while France had but 310,000, all told, in the field. By the 2d
+of August, on which day King William reached Mayence, three German
+armies (General Steinmetz on the North with 61,000 men, Prince Frederick
+Karl in the centre with 206,000, and the Crown-Prince Frederick William
+on the South with 180,000) stretched from Treves to Landau, and the line
+of the Rhine was already safe. On the same day, Napoleon III. and his
+young son accompanied General Frossard, with 25,000 men, in an attack
+upon the unfortified frontier town of Saarbrück, which was defended by
+only 1800 Uhlans (cavalry). The capture of this little place was
+telegraphed to Paris, and received with the wildest rejoicings; but it
+was the only instance during the war when French troops stood upon
+German soil&mdash;unless as prisoners.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1870.</div>
+
+<p>On the 4th the army of the Crown-Prince crossed the French frontier and
+defeated Marshal Mac Mahon's right wing at Weissenburg. The old castle
+was stormed and taken by the Bavarians, and the French repulsed, after a
+loss of about 1,000 on each side. Mac Mahon concentrated his whole force
+and occupied a strong position near the village of Wörth, where he was
+again attacked on the 6th. The battle lasted thirteen hours and was
+fiercely contested: the Germans lost 10,000 killed and wounded, the
+French 8,000, and 6,000 prisoners; but when night came Mac Mahon's
+defeat turned into a panic. Part of his army fled towards the Vosges
+mountains, part towards Strasburg, and nearly all Alsatia was open to
+the victorious Germans. On the very same day, the army of Steinmetz
+stormed the heights of Spicheren near Saarbrück, and won a splendid
+victory. This was followed by an immediate advance across the frontier
+at Forbach, and the capture of a great amount of supplies.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, in less than three weeks from the declaration of war, the attitude
+of France was changed from the aggressive to the defensive, the field of
+war was transferred to French soil, and all Napoleon III.'s plans of
+alliance were rendered vain. Leaving a division of Baden troops to
+invest Strasburg, the Crown-Prince pressed forward with his main army,
+and in a few days reached Nancy, in Lorraine. The armies of the North
+and Centre advanced at the same time, defeated<span class="pagenum" id="Page_441">[Pg 441]</span> Bazaine on the 14th of
+August at Courcelles, and forced him to fall back upon Metz. He
+thereupon determined, after garrisoning the forts of Metz, to retreat
+still further, in order to unite with General Trochu, who was organizing
+a new army at Châlons, and with the remnants of Mac Mahon's forces.
+Moltke detected his plans at once, and the army of Frederick Karl was
+thereupon hurried across the Moselle, to get into his rear and prevent
+the junction.</p>
+
+<div id="map6" />
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 567px;">
+<img src="images/f449.png" width="567" height="580"
+ alt="METZ AND VICINITY."
+ title="" />
+<p class="caption">METZ AND VICINITY.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1870. GERMAN ADVANCE UPON METZ.</div>
+
+<p>The struggle between the two commenced on the 16th, near the village of
+Mars-la-Tour, where Bazaine, with 180,000 men, endeavored to force his
+way past Frederick Karl, who had but 120,000, the other two German
+armies being still in the rear. For six hours the latter held his
+position under a murderous fire, until three corps arrived to reinforce
+him. Bazaine claimed a victory, although he lost the southern and
+shorter road to Verdun; but Moltke none the less gained his object. The
+losses were about 17,000 killed and wounded on each side.</p>
+
+<p>After a single day of rest, the struggle was resumed on the 18th, when
+the still bloodier and more desperate battle<span class="pagenum" id="Page_442">[Pg 442]</span> of Gravelotte was fought.
+The Germans now had about 200,000 soldiers together, while Bazaine had
+180,000, with a great advantage in his position on a high plateau. In
+this battle, the former situation of the combatants was changed: the
+German lines faced eastward, the French westward&mdash;a circumstance which
+made defeat more disastrous to either side. The strife began in the
+morning and continued until darkness put an end to it: the French right
+wing yielded after a succession of heroic assaults, but the centre and
+left wing resisted gallantly until the very close of the battle. It was
+a hard-won victory, adding 20,000 killed and wounded to the German
+losses, but it cut off Bazaine's retreat and forced him to take shelter
+behind the fortifications of Metz, the siege of which, by Prince
+Frederick Karl with 200,000 men, immediately commenced, while the rest
+of the German army marched on to attack Mac Mahon and Trochu at Châlons.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1870.</div>
+
+<p>There could be no question as to the bravery of the French troops in
+these two battles. In Paris the Government and people persisted in
+considering them victories, until the imprisonment of Bazaine's army
+proved that their result was defeat. Then a wild cry of rage rang
+through the land: France had been betrayed, and by whom, if not by the
+German residents in Paris and other cities? The latter, more than
+100,000 in number, including women and helpless children, were expelled
+from the country under circumstances of extreme barbarity. The French
+people, not the Government, was responsible for this act: the latter was
+barely able to protect the Germans from worse violence.</p>
+
+<p>Mac Mahon had in the meantime organized a new army of 125,000 men in the
+camp at Châlons, where, it was supposed, he would dispute the advance on
+Paris. This was his plan, in fact, and he was with difficulty persuaded
+by Marshal Palikao, the Minister of War, to give it up and undertake a
+rapid march up the Meuse, along the Belgian frontier, to relieve Bazaine
+in Metz. On the 23d of August, the Crown-Prince, who had already passed
+beyond Verdun on his way to Châlons, received intelligence that the
+French had left the latter place. Detachments of Uhlans, sent out in all
+haste to reconnoitre, soon brought the astonishing news that Mac Mahon
+was marching rapidly northwards. Gen. Moltke detected his plan, which
+could only be thwarted<span class="pagenum" id="Page_443">[Pg 443]</span> by the most vigorous movement on the part of the
+German forces. The front of the advance was instantly changed, reformed
+on the right flank, and all pushed northwards by forced marches.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1870. MAC MAHON'S MARCH.</div>
+
+<p>Mac Mahon had the outer and longer line, so that, in spite of the
+rapidity of his movements, he was met by the extreme right wing of the
+German army on the 28th of August, at Stenay on the Meuse. Being here
+held in check, fresh divisions were hurried against him, several small
+engagements followed, and on the 31st he was defeated at Beaumont by the
+Crown-Prince of Saxony. The German right was thereupon pushed beyond the
+Meuse and occupied the passes of the Forest of Ardennes, leading into
+Belgium. Meanwhile the German left, under Frederick William, was rapidly
+driving back the French right and cutting off the road to Paris. Nothing
+was left to Mac Mahon but to concentrate his forces and retire upon the
+small fortified city of Sedan. Napoleon III., who had left Metz before
+the battle of Mars-la-Tour, and did not dare to return to Paris at such
+a time, was with him.</p>
+
+<p>The Germans, now numbering 200,000, lost no time in planting batteries
+on all the heights which surround the valley of the Meuse, at Sedan,
+like the rim of an irregular basin. Mac Mahon had 112,000 men, and his
+only chance of success was to break through the wider ring which
+inclosed him, at some point where it was weak. The battle began at five
+o'clock on the morning of September 1st. The principal struggle was for
+the possession of the villages of Bazeilles and Illy, and the heights of
+Daigny. Mac Mahon was severely wounded, soon after the fight began; the
+command was then given to General Ducrot and afterwards to General
+Wimpffen, who knew neither the ground nor the plan of operations. The
+German artillery fire was fearful, and the French infantry could not
+stand before it, while their cavalry was almost annihilated during the
+afternoon, in a succession of charges on the Prussian infantry.</p>
+
+<p>By three o'clock it was evident that the French army was defeated:
+driven back from every strong point which was held in the morning,
+hurled together in a demoralized mass, nothing was left but surrender.
+General Lauriston appeared with a white flag on the walls of Sedan, and
+the terrible fire of the German artillery ceased. Napoleon III. wrote to
+King William: "Not having been able to die at the head of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_444">[Pg 444]</span> my troops, I
+lay my sword at your Majesty's feet,"&mdash;and retired to the castle of
+Bellevue, outside of the city. Early the next morning he had an
+interview with Bismarck at the little village of Donchery, and then
+formally surrendered to the King at Bellevue.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1870.</div>
+
+<p>During the battle, 25,000 French soldiers had been taken prisoners: the
+remaining 83,000, including 4,000 officers, surrendered on the 2d of
+September: 400 cannon, 70 <i>mitrailleuses</i>, and 1,100 horses also fell
+into the hands of the Germans. Never before, in history, had such a host
+been taken captive. The news of this overwhelming victory electrified
+
+the world: Germany rang with rejoicings, and her emigrated sons in
+America and Australia joined in the jubilee. The people said: "It will
+be another Seven Weeks' War," and this hope might possibly have been
+fulfilled, but for the sudden political change in France. On the 4th
+(two days after the surrender), a revolution broke out in Paris, the
+Empress Eugénie and the members of her government fled, and a Republic
+was declared. The French, blaming Napoleon alone for their tremendous
+national humiliation, believed that they could yet recover their lost
+ground; and when one of their prominent leaders, the statesman Jules
+Favre, declared that "not one foot of soil, not one stone of a fortress"
+should be yielded to Germany, the popular enthusiasm knew no bounds.</p>
+
+<p>But it was too late. The great superiority of the military organization
+of Prussia had been manifested against the regular troops of France, and
+it could not be expected that new armies of volunteers, however brave
+and devoted, would be more successful. The army of the Crown-Prince
+marched on towards Paris without opposition, and on the 17th of
+September came in sight of the city, which was defended by an outer
+circle of powerful detached fortresses, constructed during the reign of
+Louis Philippe. Gen. Trochu was made military governor, with 70,000
+men&mdash;the last remnant of the regular army&mdash;under his command. He had
+barely time to garrison and strengthen the forts, when the city was
+surrounded, and the siege commenced.</p>
+
+<p>For two months thereafter, the interest of the war is centred upon
+sieges. The fortified city of Toul, in Lorraine, surrendered on the 23d
+of September, Strasburg, after a six weeks' siege, on the 28th, and thus
+the two lines of railway communication between Germany and Paris were
+secured.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_445">[Pg 445]</span> All the German reserves were called into the field, until,
+finally, more than 800,000 soldiers stood upon French soil. After two or
+three attempts to break through the lines Bazaine surrendered Metz on
+the 28th of October. It was another event without a parallel in military
+history. There Marshals of France, 6,000 officers, 145,000 unwounded
+soldiers, 73 eagles, 854 pieces of artillery, and 400,000 Chasse-pot
+rifles, were surrendered to Prince Frederick Karl!</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1870. NEW FRENCH ARMIES.</div>
+
+<p>After these successes, the capture of Paris became only a question of
+time. Although the Republican leader, Gambetta, escaped from the city in
+a balloon, and by his fiery eloquence aroused the people of Central and
+Southern France, every plan for raising the siege of Paris failed. The
+French volunteers were formed into three armies&mdash;that of the North,
+under Faidherbe; of the Loire, under Aurelles de Paladine (afterwards
+under Chanzy and Bourbaki); and of the East, under Kératry. Besides, a
+great many companies of <i>francs-tireurs</i>, or independent sharp-shooters,
+were organized to interrupt the German communications, and they gave
+much more trouble than the larger armies. About the end of November a
+desperate attempt was made to raise the siege of Paris. General Paladine
+marched from Orleans with 150,000 men, while Trochu tried to break the
+lines of the besiegers on the eastern side. The latter was repelled,
+after a bloody fight: the former was attacked at Beaune la Rolande, by
+Prince Frederick Karl, with only half the number of troops, and most
+signally defeated. The Germans then carried on the winter campaign with
+the greatest vigor, both in the Northern provinces and along the Loire,
+and Trochu, with his four hundred thousand men, made no further serious
+effort to save Paris.</p>
+
+<p>Frederick Karl took Orleans on the 5th of December, advanced to Tours,
+and finally, in a six days' battle, early in January, 1871, at Le Mans,
+literally cut the Army of the Loire to pieces. The French lost 60,000 in
+killed, wounded and prisoners. Faidherbe was defeated in the North, a
+week afterwards, and the only resistance left was in Burgundy, where
+Garibaldi (who hastened to France after the Republic was proclaimed) had
+been successful in two or three small engagements, and was now replaced
+by Bourbaki. The object of the latter was to relieve the fortress of
+Belfort, then besieged by General Werder, who, with 43,000 men,
+awaited<span class="pagenum" id="Page_447">[Pg 447]</span> his coming in a strong position among the mountains.
+Notwithstanding Bourbaki had more than 100,000 men, he was forced to
+retreat after a fight of three days, and then General Manteuffel, who
+had been sent in all haste to strengthen Werder, followed him so closely
+that on the 1st of February, all retreat being cut off, his whole army
+of 83,000 men crossed the Swiss frontier, and after suffering terribly
+among the snowy passes of the Jura, were disarmed, fed and clothed by
+the Swiss government and people. Bourbaki attempted to commit suicide,
+but only inflicted a severe wound, from which he afterwards recovered.</p>
+
+<div id="map7" />
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<a href="images/f454.png">
+<img src="images/f454t.png" width="500" height="393"
+ alt="The German EMPIRE 1871."
+ title="" />
+</a>
+<p class="caption">The German EMPIRE 1871.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1871. SURRENDER OF PARIS.</div>
+
+<p>The retreat into Switzerland was almost the last event of the <i>Seven
+Months' War</i>, as it might be called, and it was as remarkable as the
+surrenders of Sedan and Metz. All power of defence was now broken:
+France was completely at the mercy of her conquerors. On the 28th of
+January, after long negotiations between Bismarck and Jules Favre, the
+forts around Paris capitulated and Trochu's army became prisoners of
+war. The city was not occupied, but, for the sake of the half-starved
+population, provisions were allowed to enter. The armistice, originally
+declared for three weeks, was prolonged until March 1st, when the
+preliminaries of peace were agreed upon, and hostilities came to an end.</p>
+
+<p>By the final treaty of Peace, which was concluded at Frankfort on the
+10th of May, 1871, France gave up Alsatia with all its cities and
+fortresses except Belfort, and <i>German</i> Lorraine, including Metz and
+Thionville, to Germany. The territory thus transferred contained about
+5,500 square miles and 1,580,000 inhabitants. France also agreed to pay
+an indemnity of <i>five thousand millions</i> of francs, in instalments,
+certain of her departments to be occupied by German troops, and only
+evacuated by degrees, as the payments were made. Thus ended this
+astonishing war, during which 17 great battles and 156 minor engagements
+had been fought, 22 fortified places taken, 385,000 soldiers (including
+11,360 officers) made prisoners, and 7,200 cannon and 600,000 stand of
+arms acquired by Germany. There is no such crushing defeat of a strong
+nation recorded in history.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1871.</div>
+
+<p>Even before the capitulation of Paris the natural political result of
+the victory was secured to Germany. The cooperation of the three
+Southern States in the war removed the last barrier to a union of all,
+except Austria, under the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_448">[Pg 448]</span> lead of Prussia. That which the great
+majority of the people desired was also satisfactory to the princes: the
+"North-German Union" was enlarged and transformed into the "German
+Empire," by including Bavaria, Würtemberg and Baden. It was agreed that
+the young king of Bavaria, Ludwig II., as occupying the most important
+position among the rulers of the three separate States, should ask King
+William to assume the Imperial dignity, with the condition that it
+should be hereditary in his family. The other princes and the free
+cities united in the call; and on the 18th of January, 1871, in the
+grand hall of the palace of Versailles, where Richelieu and Louis XIV.
+and Napoleon I. had plotted their invasions of Germany, the king
+formally accepted the title of Emperor, and the German States were at
+last united as one compact, indivisible Nation.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor William concluded his proclamation to the German People with
+these words: "May God permit us, and our successors to the Imperial
+crown, to give at all times increase to the German Empire, not by the
+conquests of war, but by the goods and gifts of peace, in the path of
+national prosperity, freedom and morality!" After the end of the war was
+assured, he left Paris, and passed in a swift march of triumph through
+Germany to Berlin, where the popular enthusiasm was extravagantly
+exhibited. Four days afterwards he called together the first German
+Parliament (since 1849), and the organization of the new Empire was
+immediately commenced. It was simply, in all essential points, a renewal
+of the North-German Union. The Imperial Government introduced a general
+military, naval, financial, postal and diplomatic system for all the
+States, a uniformity of weights, measures and coinage,&mdash;in short, a
+thoroughly national union of locally independent States, all of which
+are embraced in a name which is no longer merely geographical&mdash;<span class="smcap">Germany</span>.
+Here, then, the History of the Race ceases, and that of the Nation
+begins.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLI" id="CHAPTER_XLI"></a>CHAPTER XLI.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_449">[Pg 449]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center">THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE.</p>
+
+<p class="center">(1871&mdash;1893.)</p>
+
+<div class="chap_index">
+<ul>
+  <li>The First German Parliament by Direct Vote.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Political Factions.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Ultramontane Party in Opposition to the Government.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Struggle with the Church of Rome.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;"Kulturkampf."</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Falk appointed Minister of Culture.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His first Success.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Animosity of the Pope.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Jesuits expelled from Germany.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The May Laws.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Roman Catholic Clergy rebel.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Civil Marriage made requisite.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The "Bundesrath."</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Meeting of the Three Emperors.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Armaments.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Peace secured by Diplomacy.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Financial Questions.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Bismarck obliged to look to the Ultramontanes for Parliamentary Support.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;A conciliatory Policy towards the Roman Church.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Falk resigns.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Social-Democrats, and the Attacks on the Life of William I.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Exceptional Law.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Party Dissensions.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;A higher Protective Policy introduced.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;New Taxes.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Opening of Parliament in 1881.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Scheme of the Government for bettering the Condition of the Workingmen.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Colonial Question.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;War-Clouds.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;France finds a Sympathizer in Russia.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Triple Alliance.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Military Budget.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Dissolution of Parliament.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Government gains a Victory by new Elections.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Ludwig II. of Bavaria and his tragic End.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Death of Emperor William I.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Fatal Disease of the Crown-Prince.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Latter as Frederick III.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Death.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;His Successor, William II.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Resignation of Bismarck.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;General Caprivi made Chancellor.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The German-English Agreement.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;The Triple Alliance renewed.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;New commercial Treaties.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;Withdrawal of the School Bill.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;A new Army Bill rejected and Parliament dissolved.</li>
+  <li>&mdash;New Elections result in victory for the Government.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="sidenote">1871. FIRST SESSION OF PARLIAMENT.</div>
+
+<p>After many a dark and gloomy century, the dream of a united Germany was
+realized. The outer pile stood complete before the awakening nation and
+an astonished world; now there remained to be done the patient,
+painstaking work of consolidating the federation of States in all
+particulars, making the different parts one within as well as without.</p>
+
+<p>On the 21st of March, 1871, the first German Parliament, elected by the
+direct vote of the people, met at Berlin, the capital of the federation,
+and the political parties took their stand. Bismarck, Prince, Chancellor
+of the Empire, acknowledged as the first statesman of Europe, saw the
+advantage of a liberal policy, which secured for the Government the
+support of the Nationals and the Liberals, and with them a sufficient
+majority to carry out its plans. At the same<span class="pagenum" id="Page_450">[Pg 450]</span> time the Chancellor had to
+reckon with an opposition that was threatening to German unity. Chief
+among it were the Ultramontanes (or Papal party), so called because they
+looked beyond the Alps for their sovereign guide&mdash;the Church of Rome.
+They formed the Centre party, and around them all the dissatisfied
+elements grouped themselves&mdash;the Particularists, who still held on to
+their petty provincial interests; the Poles from Eastern Prussia; the
+Danes from northern Schleswig; the Social-Democrats; and later the
+representatives of Alsatia and Lorraine. On the utmost right sat the old
+feudal nobility, which was reactionary at the outset. Although diverging
+far apart in aims and purposes, these different factions joined hands
+against the Federal Government whenever their interests were concerned,
+and thus at times constituted a powerful foe.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1872.</div>
+
+<p>It soon became evident that the chief battle to maintain union and
+freedom had to be fought with the Ultramontanes, who were inspired by
+the counsel of the Vatican and upheld by the authority actually wielded
+in Germany by the Roman Catholic Church. The concessions made to it in
+Prussia by the romantic spirit of Frederick William IV. had borne their
+bitter fruit, and the Protestant kingdom had become even more a foothold
+for the Church of Rome than Catholic Bavaria. On the same day on which
+France declared war against Germany the Papal power sounded another
+war-trumpet by proclaiming the Dogma of Papal Infallibility. Germany had
+been the victor in the combat with France; it now had to encounter the
+other foe in defence of the best life of the nation&mdash;an untrammelled
+conscience, free schools, the sway of reason, and the light of science.</p>
+
+<p>The task of fighting a state within the state, which confronted the
+Federal Government and the nation at the very outset, was hard and
+bitter on both sides. It took place in Parliament as well as in the
+Prussian and Bavarian Assemblies, and as a struggle for the preservation
+of the blessings of modern civilization it has been designated
+"Kulturkampf," a fight for culture.</p>
+
+<p>In the beginning of 1872 the Chancellor knew himself sufficiently
+supported by the National-Liberals in Parliament and in the Prussian
+Assembly to take up the combat with the Roman Church and its adherents
+in both political<span class="pagenum" id="Page_451">[Pg 451]</span> bodies. He caused the reactionary Minister of
+Culture, von Mühler, to resign his office, and invited Adalbert Falk, a
+statesman of keen insight and fearless energy, to take his place. Falk
+undertook to define the boundaries between the State and the Church by a
+series of laws, and his first success was in carrying through the
+Prussian Assembly a bill that made the public schools independent of the
+Church, and gave their supervision to the State. The Pope's answer to
+this measure was his refusal to receive the Emperor's ambassador,
+Cardinal Hohenlohe, who had been nominated for diplomatic representation
+at the Vatican on account of his conciliatory spirit. At this period
+Bismarck made his famous declaration, "To Canossa <i>we</i> do not go!" The
+conflict waxed hotter, and from all parts of Germany the enlightened
+portions of the people sent petitions to Parliament, asking it to
+exclude from the precincts of the Empire the Jesuits, who were known to
+be the Pope's advisers, and as such were at the root of the evil. The
+demand was granted. A bill to that effect was introduced into
+Parliament, and, after much passionate debate, became a law. Before the
+close of the year every member of the Society of Jesus had to leave
+Germany, and all institutions belonging to that organization were
+closed.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1873. THE MAY LAWS.</div>
+
+<p>The year 1873 brought about the important legislation by which the lines
+between the competencies of State and Church were conclusively defined.
+It was designed primarily to benefit Prussia, but its effect in the end
+was of advantage to the whole of Germany. The bills destined to restrict
+the undue power of the Roman Catholic Church, in spite of violent
+opposition on the part of the Ultramontanes and the reactionary Feudals,
+were carried through the Prussian Assembly in the month of May, and
+hence are called the "May laws." They were met by open rebellion on the
+part of the Prussian episcopacy. The Catholic clergy closed the doors of
+their seminaries to the Government supervisors; they published protests
+of every form against legislation that had not the sanction of the Papal
+See; they omitted to make announcement to the provincial governments of
+newly appointed curates or beneficiaries, and demonstrated in every way
+their insubordination to the lay authorities. In accordance with the new
+laws, these rebellious acts were punished by the withdrawal of dotations
+that had been granted by the State to Roman Catholic seminaries or
+schools, and the latter<span class="pagenum" id="Page_452">[Pg 452]</span> in some instances were closed. The curates
+appointed without consent of the head authorities were forbidden to
+officiate, and their religious functions declared to be null and void.
+Then the rebellious prelates were fined or imprisoned, and, as a last
+resort, declared to be out of office, while the endowments of their
+dioceses were administered by lay officials.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1874.</div>
+
+<p>In 1874 civil marriage was made obligatory by law, first in Prussia, and
+then, after receiving also the sanction of Parliament, throughout the
+Empire. With this measure a powerful weapon was wrenched from the hands
+of the clergy, and another blow was dealt. Other measures followed,
+under protests from Pope and clergy, and hot debating was continued in
+the legislative bodies, until, in 1876, matters of another nature and
+more momentous importance forced themselves to the front.</p>
+
+<p>The work for organization and reform, up to this time, had progressed in
+various directions, and the proposed measures for cementing German unity
+had received more or less ready support in Parliament and the Assemblies
+of the different States. The latter had their representatives at Berlin,
+who were nominated by their respective sovereigns. They met in a body
+called the Bundesrath&mdash;the Counsel of the Federation. Any step taken by
+the Federal Government towards legislation affecting the whole of the
+Empire had to be laid before and agreed to by the Bundesrath before it
+could be introduced into Parliament. Thus the rights of the States were
+preserved, and the reigning Princes were made still to feel their
+importance, which tended to create harmony between them and the Empire.</p>
+
+<p>While the interior growth of the latter was of a healthy and steady
+nature, the genius of the great statesman, Prince Bismarck, was busy
+likewise in allaying the fears and, in a measure, mollifying the envy
+and jealousies of neighboring powers. In September, 1872, the Emperors
+of Germany, Austria, and Russia met at Berlin, to renew assurances of
+friendship and thus convince the world of their peaceable intentions.
+The cordial relations between the reigning families of Germany and Italy
+were strengthened by visits from court to court, and even Denmark was
+somewhat pacified in regard to its loss of Schleswig-Holstein. But
+France still frowned at a distance, and was preparing for revenge. The
+meeting of the three Emperors gave her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_453">[Pg 453]</span> additional offence, and she
+strove to reorganize and enlarge her army. This called forth
+counter-movements in Germany, where the reorganization of the army&mdash;even
+before the late wars a pet project of William I.&mdash;had been agreed to by
+Parliament. A prudent diplomacy, and the friendly demonstrations of
+Alexander II. to the German Emperor and his Chancellor, dispelled for a
+time the rising war-clouds, and the peaceful work of interior
+organization was continued.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1882. REVISION OF THE MAY LAWS.</div>
+
+<p>After the Roman Church had been restricted to its lawful boundaries, the
+most important questions looming up were those in reference to financial
+matters. The income of the Empire proved insufficient to cover the
+enormous outlay for necessary changes and reforms to be perfected, while
+at the same time influences were brought about to forward a higher
+protective policy than had been adhered to hitherto. In order to bring
+about an increased tariff, and such taxation as the financial situation
+required, the Chancellor had to look for the support of other parties
+than the Nationals and the Liberal-Conservatives. He took it where it
+was offered, and here the Ultramontanes or Centre party saw their
+opportunity. The consequence was a tacit compromise with the latter. The
+contest with the Vatican faltered; a conciliatory policy was adopted in
+matters concerning the Catholic Church, and Falk, seeing his work
+crippled, resigned his office, in 1879, to make room for a reactionary
+Minister of Culture. In 1882 a revision of the May laws took place; the
+refractory bishops were allowed to return, the ecclesiastical
+institutions were reopened, salaries were paid once more to the clergy
+by the State, and other restitutions were made, for all of which the
+Pope only acceded to the demand that new appointments of ecclesiastics
+should be announced in due form to the German Government.</p>
+
+<p>At this period the political situation was aggravated by the agitation
+of the Social-Democrats, and by what seemed to be its direct outgrowth,
+the repeated murderous attempts on the life of the Emperor William I. in
+May and June, 1878. These startling events opened the eyes of the people
+to a danger in their very midst&mdash;a danger threatening society and all
+its most sacred institutions. To avert it, the Chancellor at once caused
+a bill to be drawn up for an exceptional law, meant to suppress all
+aggressive movements of the Social-Democrats and reduce them to silence.
+When it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_454">[Pg 454]</span> was laid before Parliament, it found no favor with the
+majority, and was rejected; whereupon the Chancellor, in the name of the
+Emperor, declared Parliament to be dissolved. The new elections did not
+bring about any considerable change; but a majority was obtained, and
+the exceptional law was established for two years and a half, which
+period afterwards was prolonged several times.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1881.</div>
+
+<p>The steady inner growth of the first eight or nine years had now been
+checked by party dissension and political discord, brought on chiefly by
+the financial difficulties, in which the new Empire found itself
+involved, and the steady demand from centres of industry and agriculture
+for higher protective measures. These demands, being favored by the
+Chancellor, were gaining the upper hand: customs were increased, a new
+duty was raised on cereals, and a considerable tax was put upon spirits.
+All this made it easy for the Radicals to agitate and alarm the masses
+of the people, and in consequence the parliamentary elections of 1881
+gave a majority to the extreme Liberals in opposition to the Government.
+When the new Parliament convened, the venerable Emperor, William I.,
+opened it in person, and read a message the tenor of which was more than
+usually solemn, pointing with great emphasis to the social evils of the
+time, and the best remedies for healing them. The sequel of this message
+was a project of great magnitude, which the Federal Government
+introduced into Parliament for the purpose of bettering the conditions
+of the laboring classes. To carry it out required successive bills and
+years of indefatigable work, incessant debating, and many a hard
+struggle with opposition, until at present the whole system is in
+working order. It comprises a series of insurances for laborers, to
+secure them from losses by sickness, accidents, invalidity, and age.
+These insurances are obligatory, and the cost of them is borne jointly
+by the Government, the employers, and the laborers themselves.</p>
+
+<p>About this time the colonial question also caused a clashing of parties.
+To open new channels of commerce and enterprise, certain mercantile
+houses had acquired large tracts of land on foreign continents, and now
+asked the protection of the Empire for their efforts. Germany, now a
+first-class power and in possession of a growing navy, needed
+coaling-stations in foreign waters, new lines of steamers to connect
+directly with Africa and eastern Asia, and an outlet for her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_455">[Pg 455]</span> rapidly
+multiplying population, which she would rather colonize under her own
+flag than lose by emigration to other countries. The Federal Government
+therefore took up this matter in its own interest, and asked Parliament
+for appropriations and subsidies to carry out those enlarged plans. The
+demand was received on the part of the Liberals and Radicals with
+violent opposition; but, in the end, the decision, with the assistance
+of the Centre party, was in favor of the Government.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1882. THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE.</div>
+
+<p>In the meantime fresh war-clouds were gathering on the political
+horizon, on account of the accumulation of Russian troops on the
+frontiers of Germany and Austria. The violent death of Alexander II. of
+Russia had deprived Germany of a friend whom his successor, Alexander
+III., did not mean to replace. His sympathies were with the growing
+Pan-slavistic party, which through its press was exciting hatred against
+all that was German. Thus France felt herself drawn towards Russia, and
+both the Republic and the semi-barbarian Empire stood ready at any
+moment to make common cause for the ruin of Germany. This constant
+menace and its attendant rivalry in armament could not but be a
+misfortune, not merely for Germany but for all the powers concerned. To
+avert the danger of war as long as possible, the deep insight of the
+great man at the helm of the Federal Government of Germany had led him
+to take an important step in good time. As early as 1879 he had created
+a counterpoise to the threatening attitude of France and Russia by
+concluding an alliance for defensive purposes between Germany and
+Austria, which a few years later was joined by Italy, and, as the
+"Triple Alliance," has been the wedge to keep apart the hostile powers
+in the East and the West, securing peace thereby.</p>
+
+<p>In 1886 the time approached for a new military budget. The armaments of
+both Russia and France had reached such enormous dimensions that the
+German Government could not but know the military forces of the Empire
+to be no longer on an equal footing with the hostile powers.
+Consequently, it now asked Parliament not only for a new septennial
+budget for military purposes, as twice before since 1874, but also for
+appropriations to raise a larger contingent of soldiers (one per cent.
+of the whole population, which, according to the last census, made
+41,000 men more than at that time), and additional sums for
+fortifications, barracks,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_456">[Pg 456]</span> arms, etc. Thereupon ensued another
+parliamentary contest. The opposition proved themselves not sufficiently
+patriotic to take a large view, and, in concert with the Centre, the
+Liberals demanded that the contingent of soldiers should be diminished
+and the budget granted for three years only. After much passionate
+debate, and in spite of Bismarck's weighty eloquence, the motion of the
+Government was carried in a crippled condition and by only a small
+majority. Then Parliament was once more dissolved, and new elections
+took place about a month afterwards (21st of February, 1887), which made
+evident the temper of the people, since the Liberals and
+Social-Democrats were heavy losers. Only half of their former number was
+returned to Parliament. The military bill was now carried by a large
+majority of Conservatives and Nationals, and financial as well as other
+matters of importance were brought to a quick issue.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1887.</div>
+
+<p>The almost miraculous rise of a united Germany, and its wonderful inner
+growth, had its reverses in the tragical events that took place in the
+royal houses of Bavaria and Prussia, during 1886 and 1888. King Ludwig
+II. of Bavaria, a man of superior intellectual qualities and gifted with
+great charms, had been a victim of late years to mental hallucinations,
+which at last began to endanger the finances and constitutional rights
+of the country. It became necessary to declare him insane and to
+establish a regency in his name. This and his confinement to his lonely
+castle of Berg led the king to drown himself in the lake bordering the
+grounds. His corpse and that of his attendant physician were found where
+the gravel bottom of the shallow water gave evidence of a struggle
+having taken place. Since the successor of Ludwig II., his younger
+brother, Otto, was a confirmed maniac, the regency still remained with
+Prince Luitpold, the uncle of both these unfortunate kings. He was
+imbued with the national idea of German unity, and continued the same
+wise and liberal policy that governed the actions of Ludwig II. in his
+best days&mdash;a policy which earned for him the fame of being called one of
+the founders of a united German Empire.</p>
+
+<p>Early in 1888 the Emperor, nearly ninety-one years old, showed signs of
+declining vitality, and in March the end was at hand. It was peaceful,
+though clouded by a great sorrow which filled the last months of his
+life. There was a vacant<span class="pagenum" id="Page_457">[Pg 457]</span> place among the members of his family who
+surrounded his death-bed. His son, the Crown-Prince, now fifty-six years
+of age, was detained by a fatal disease at San Remo, in Italy. William
+I., beloved by the German people as no sovereign before him had been,
+died on the 9th of March, and his son and heir, Frederick III., began
+his reign of ninety-nine days. Sick as he was, and deprived of speech in
+consequence of his cruel disease, his inborn sense of duty caused him to
+set out for Berlin as soon as the news of the old Emperor's death
+reached him. His proclamation to the people and his rescript to Prince
+Bismarck are evidences of the noble and patriotic spirit that animated
+him; but he was too ill, and his reign was too short, to determine what
+he would have been to Germany had he lived. He died on the 15th of June,
+1888, and almost his last words to his son and successor were: "Learn to
+suffer without complaint."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1888. WILLIAM II.</div>
+
+<p>William II., born on the 27th of January, 1859, now became Emperor of
+Germany. Many were the doubts with which he was seen to succeed to the
+throne. He was young in years, in view of the heavy responsibilities
+awaiting him; impulsive, where a steady head was required; and a soldier
+with all his heart. Nevertheless, there was nothing to indicate during
+the first years of his reign that the "old course" had been abandoned.
+The first important event took place in March, 1890, when the startling
+news was heard that Prince Bismarck had sent his resignation to the
+Emperor, and that it had been accepted. For a moment the fate of Germany
+seemed to hang in suspense; but the public mind soon recovered from the
+shock it had received, and the most thoughtful of people realized that a
+young ruler, imbued with modern ideas, and with an individuality all his
+own, could not be expected to remain in harmony with or to be guided by
+a statesman who, however great and wise, was growing old and in a
+measure incapable of seeing a new light in affairs of internal policy.
+On March 29th the ex-Chancellor left Berlin to retire to his estates.
+Along his drive to the railway station he received the spontaneous
+ovations of an immense concourse of people, who by their enthusiastic
+cheers showed their appreciation for the creator of the new Germany.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1890.</div>
+
+<p>The Emperor nominated General Caprivi Chancellor of the Empire in place
+of Bismarck. It was a good choice, since William II. evidently meant in
+future to be his own<span class="pagenum" id="Page_458">[Pg 458]</span> chancellor. He was of too vivacious a nature to
+accept a policy of State and Empire made ready to his hands. He had
+knowledge, and ideas of his own which he expected to carry out. The
+first serious dissension between the Emperor and Bismarck seems to have
+turned upon the question of Socialism. Bismarck was in favor of
+combating it with the utmost vigor, in order to avert the dangers
+threatening to State and society; the Emperor, on the contrary, was for
+conciliatory measures; for listening to the demands of the laboring
+classes, and remedying by arbitration and further legislation the evils
+of which they complained. The repressive measures hitherto resorted to,
+and the new ones proposed, were abandoned, and thus far there is no
+cause to condemn this "new course." Although the dangers from Socialism
+have not grown less, it is no longer necessary for the enemy of social
+order and justice to hide his face, and by that much it is easier to
+fight him and to strike at the right spot.</p>
+
+<p>Another event of note which took place in the same year, is the
+German-English agreement of July 1st, by which the respective limits of
+colonial possessions in Africa were regulated, and Germany became the
+possessor of the island of Helgoland as a compensation for the lion's
+share secured in Africa by England. The only value Germany derives from
+this acquisition will show itself in a future war, when the fortified
+island-rock may serve as an outpost, disputing the advance of hostile
+war ships toward the northern coast of Germany.</p>
+
+<p>In the following year the Triple Alliance was renewed, and had the
+wholesome effect of stopping various rumors of war. Besides, Russia, who
+had exchanged uncommon civilities with France, was in no condition to go
+to war, crippled as she was by the dreadful suffering of her people
+through famine consequent upon the failure of crops. Still another
+incentive was furnished for France and Russia to remain at peace by an
+understanding between England and Italy to keep intact the <i>status quo</i>
+in the Mediterranean. Although not a treaty in the literal sense of the
+word, it was sufficient to raise the prestige of the Triple Alliance,
+and thus to strengthen its pacific tendencies.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1892. THE ARMY BILL.</div>
+
+<p>But the most important feature of internal policy is to be found in the
+new commercial treaties which Germany contracted, first with the two
+other powers of the Triple<span class="pagenum" id="Page_459">[Pg 459]</span> Alliance&mdash;Austria-Hungary and Italy&mdash;and
+then with Belgium and Switzerland, as the most favored nations. The
+treaties were planned and carefully drafted to bring relief to the
+industrial classes by opening fresh channels for the exports of the
+country; but inasmuch as the tariff was lowered by them on the
+necessities of life, they also favored the rest of the population and
+especially the laboring classes. These treaties were ratified in
+Parliament by a large majority.</p>
+
+<p>In the spring of the year (April 24th) Germany lost one of her greatest
+men, the Field-Marshal Count Moltke, who had lived more than ninety
+years in the full enjoyment of his powers. Another man, who also had
+been prominent in his way, Windthorst, had died just one month before
+Moltke, but he was missed only by the Roman Catholic Centre party, who
+lost in him their ablest leader.</p>
+
+<p>The following year a bill was laid before the Prussian Assembly
+purporting to reform the public schools, but introducing at the same
+time such clauses as would render both public and private schools
+confessional. The bill was no sooner made public than it became evident
+that only the ultra Conservatives and the Centre or Ultramontane party
+were in favor of it, while the other parties, and behind them their
+constituents, declared themselves extremely opposed to it. In
+consequence of this bill the whole of Germany became greatly agitated;
+numerous protests were sent to the Assembly and the Minister of Culture,
+and men of note and intellect put in print their ominous warnings. All
+this resulted in the withdrawal of the bill and the resignation of the
+Minister of Culture, Count Zedlitz. But before the end of the year a new
+army measure began to stir afresh the minds of politicians and people.
+In his speech delivered before Parliament on November 23d, Caprivi
+explained that new sacrifices in money and taxation were necessary, in
+order to make the German army efficient to fight enemies "on two
+fronts." He went on to demonstrate that, although no war was in sight,
+France had surpassed Germany in her military organization and numbers,
+while Russia was continually perfecting her strategical railway system,
+and locating her best troops on her western frontier. To keep up an
+equal footing with her neighbors, it was necessary for Germany to add
+83,894 men to the present number of soldiers. In order to do this the
+existing obligation to serve in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_460">[Pg 460]</span> the army would have to be extended to
+every one capable of carrying arms. The cost was estimated at
+$16,700,000 for the first year, and $16,000,000 for every year
+succeeding. As a compensation for the heavy burdens to be imposed, the
+Government offered to reduce the time for active service from three to
+two years.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1893.</div>
+
+<p>There was from the first a widespread doubt among the people of the
+necessity for such heavy sacrifices as were entailed by this bill, and
+the possibility of carrying it successfully through Parliament. The body
+deferred dealing with it until the following year, when the fate of the
+bill was adversely decided on the 6th of May by a majority of
+forty-eight out of three hundred and seventy-two votes. Parliament was
+at once dissolved, and new elections were ordered to take place on the
+15th of June. In the interval some unexpected splits favoring the
+Government's cause occurred in the Centre party and among the Liberals,
+or Radicals&mdash;a name now more befitting. As the election proceeded, it
+became more and more evident that the opposition was losing and the
+Government gaining ground.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1893. THE ARMY BILL.</div>
+
+<p>The newly elected Parliament was opened on July 4th, and the Army bill,
+in a slightly modified form, was passed without delay after the third
+reading by a majority of sixteen out of three hundred and eighty-six
+votes. Small as this majority seems, it was a decided victory for the
+Government, since the latter had abstained throughout the elections from
+influencing them in any way. The ultimate passage of the bill, however,
+leaves the implied financial problem still unsolved. The outlook is not
+cheerful. Although an objective view of recent events is out of the
+question, there is room for doubting that the future of Germany will be
+tranquil. Owing to the general depression in industrial and agricultural
+fields, the financial question is sure to engender bitterness and
+strife. Nor is there any encouragement to be gained when we consider the
+numerous factions into which the parliamentary representation of the
+Empire is divided at the present time. What with the proportionately
+large gain of the Social-Democrats during the late elections, the
+numerically powerful Centrists acting in the interest of Roman
+Catholicism, the Particularists asserting themselves again, and the
+Anti-Semites with their socialistic affinities, it would seem inevitable
+that great struggles are yet to come. But we might hopefully say that
+Germany, in the evolution<span class="pagenum" id="Page_461">[Pg 461]</span> of her national growth, is just now passing
+through a trying period of change, the mists of which will be swept away
+in time, when by a clearer apprehension of parliamentary life and
+practice, and the exercise of a more concentrated patriotism, she will
+be strong, indeed, in freedom and in Unity.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="chrono">
+
+<h2><a name="CHRONOLOGICAL_TABLE" id="CHRONOLOGICAL_TABLE"></a>CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE<span class="pagenum" id="Page_462">[Pg 462]</span></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><b>OF GERMAN HISTORY.</b></p>
+
+<p>The history of Germany is generally divided into Five Periods, as
+follows:</p>
+
+
+<ol class="RU">
+<li>From the earliest accounts to the empire of Charlemagne.</li>
+
+<li>From Charlemagne to the downfall of the Hohenstaufens.</li>
+
+<li>From the Interregnum to the Reformation.</li>
+
+<li>From the Reformation to the Peace of Westphalia.</li>
+
+<li>From the Peace of Westphalia to the present time.</li>
+</ol>
+
+<p>Some historians subdivide these periods, or change their limits; but
+there seems to be no other form of division so simple, natural, and
+easily borne in the memory. While retaining it, however, in the
+chronological table which follows, we shall separate the different
+dynasties which governed the German Empire, up to the time of the
+Interregnum, which is removed, by an irregular succession during two
+centuries, from the permanent rule of the Hapsburg family.</p>
+
+<p class="center">FIRST PERIOD. (<span class="smcapa">B. C.</span> 103&mdash;<span class="smcapa">A. D.</span> 768.)</p>
+
+<p class="center"><b>Primitive History.</b></p>
+
+
+<table class="history" summary="Primitive History">
+
+<tr><td class="rt"><span class="smcapa">B. C.</span></td><td class="lt">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">113.</td><td class="lt">The Cimbrians and Teutons invade Italy.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">102.</td><td class="lt">Marius defeats the Teutons.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">101.</td><td class="lt">Marius defeats the Cimbrians.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">58.</td><td class="lt">Julius Cæsar defeats Ariovistus.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">55&mdash;53.</td><td class="lt">Cæsar twice crosses the Rhine.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">12&mdash;9.</td><td class="lt">Campaigns of Drusus in Northern Germany.</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<table class="history" summary="Primitive History">
+
+<tr><td class="rt"><span class="smcapa">A. D.</span></td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">9.</td>
+<td class="lt">Defeat of Varus by Hermann.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">14&mdash;16.</td>
+<td class="lt">Campaigns of Germanicus.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">21.</td>
+<td class="lt">Death of Hermann.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">69.</td>
+<td class="lt">Revolt of Claudius Civilis.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_463">[Pg 463]</span></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">98.</td>
+<td class="lt">Tacitus writes his "Germania."</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">166&mdash;181.</td>
+<td class="lt">War of the Marcomanni against Marcus Aurelius.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">200&mdash;250.</td>
+<td class="lt">Union of the German tribes under new names.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">276.</td>
+<td class="lt">Probus invades Germany.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">358.</td>  <td>Julian defeats the Alemanni.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">358&mdash;378.</td>
+<td class="lt">Bishop Ulfila converts the Goths to Christianity.</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p class="center">  <b>The Migrations of the Races.</b></p>
+
+<table class="history" summary="The Migrations of the Races.">
+<tr><td class="rt">375.</td>
+<td class="lt">The coming of the Huns.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">378.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Emperor Valens defeated by the Visigoths.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">395.</td>
+<td class="lt">Theodosius divides the Roman Empire.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">396.</td>
+<td class="lt">Alaric's invasion of Greece.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">403.</td>
+<td class="lt">Alaric meets Stilicho in Italy.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">406.</td>
+<td class="lt">Stilicho defeats the German hordes at Fiesole.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">410.</td>
+<td class="lt">Alaric takes Rome.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">411.</td>
+<td class="lt">Alaric dies in Southern Italy.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">412.</td>
+<td class="lt">Ataulf leads the Visigoths to Gaul.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">429.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Vandals, under Geiserich, invade Africa.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">449.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Saxons and Angles settle in England.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">450.</td>
+<td class="lt">March of Attila to Gaul; battle of Châlons.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">452.</td>
+<td class="lt">Attila in Italy.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">455.</td>
+<td class="lt">Rome devastated by Geiserich and the Vandals.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">476.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Roman Empire overthrown by Odoaker.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">481&mdash;511.</td>
+<td class="lt">Chlodwig, King of the Franks.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">486.</td>
+<td class="lt">End of the Roman rule in Gaul.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">493.</td>
+<td class="lt">Theodoric and his Ostrogoths conquer Italy.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">500.</td>
+<td class="lt">Chlodwig defeats the Burgundians.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">526.</td>
+<td class="lt">Death of Theodoric the Great.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">527&mdash;565.</td>
+<td class="lt">Reign of Justinian.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">527.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Franks conquer Thuringia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">532.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Franks conquer Burgundy.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">534.</td>
+<td class="lt">Belisarius overthrows the Vandal power in Africa.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">552.</td>
+<td class="lt">Extermination of the Ostrogoths by Narses.</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+
+<p class="center">  <b>Kingdom of the Franks.</b></p>
+
+<table class="history" summary="Kingdom of the Franks.">
+<tr><td class="rt">558&mdash;561.</td>
+<td class="lt">Reign of Clotar, King of the Franks.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">568.</td>
+<td class="lt">Alboin leads the Longobards to Italy.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">590&mdash;604.</td>
+<td class="lt">Spread of Christianity under Pope Gregory the Great.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">590&mdash;597.</td>
+<td class="lt">Wars of Fredegunde and Brunhilde.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">613.</td>
+<td class="lt">Murder of Brunhilde.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">613&mdash;622.</td>
+<td class="lt">Clotar II., King of the Franks.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_464">[Pg 464]</span></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">650.</td>
+<td class="lt">Pippin of Landen, steward to the royal household.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">687.</td>
+<td class="lt">Pippin of Heristall.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">711.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Saracens conquer Spain from the Visigoths.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">732.</td>
+<td class="lt">Karl Martel defeats the Saracens at Tours.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">741.</td>
+<td class="lt">Death of Karl Martel; Pippin the Short.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">745.</td>
+<td class="lt">Winfried (Bonifacius), Archbishop of Mayence.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">752.</td>
+<td class="lt">Pippin the Short becomes King of the Franks.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">754.</td>
+<td class="lt">Pippin founds the temporal power of the Popes.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">755.</td>
+<td class="lt">Bonifacius slain in Friesland.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">768.</td>
+<td class="lt">Death of Pippin; his sons, Karl and Karloman.</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p class="center">SECOND PERIOD. (768&mdash;1254.)</p>
+
+<p class="center"><b>The Carolingian Dynasty.</b></p>
+
+<table class="history" summary="The Carolingian Dynasty.">
+<tr><td class="rt">771.</td>
+<td class="lt">Karl (Charlemagne) sole ruler.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">772&mdash;803.</td>
+<td class="lt">His wars with the Saxons.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">774&mdash;775.</td>
+<td class="lt">March to Italy; overthrow of the Lombard kingdom.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">777&mdash;778.</td>
+<td class="lt">Charlemagne's invasion of Spain.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">788.</td>
+<td class="lt">Tassilo, Duke of Bavaria, deposed.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">789.</td>
+<td class="lt">War with the Wends, east of the Elbe.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">791.</td>
+<td class="lt">War with the Avars, in Hungary.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">800.</td>
+<td class="lt">Charlemagne crowned Emperor in Rome.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">814.</td>
+<td class="lt">Death of Charlemagne.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">814&mdash;840.</td>
+<td class="lt">Ludwig the Pious.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">843.</td>
+<td class="lt">Partition of Verdun.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">843&mdash;876.</td>
+<td class="lt">Ludwig the German.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">879.</td>
+<td class="lt">The kingdom of Arelat (Lower Burgundy) founded.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">884&mdash;887.</td>
+<td class="lt">Karl the Fat unites France and Germany.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">887&mdash;899.</td>
+<td class="lt">Arnulf of Carinthia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">891.</td>
+<td class="lt">Arnulf defeats the Norsemen in Belgium.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">900&mdash;911.</td>
+<td class="lt">Ludwig the Child.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">911&mdash;918.</td>
+<td class="lt">Konrad I., the Frank, King of Germany.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">911&mdash;918.</td>
+<td class="lt">Wars with the Hungarians.</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p class="center"><b>The Saxon Emperors.</b></p>
+
+<table class="history" summary="The Saxon Emperors.">
+<tr><td class="rt">919&mdash;936.</td>
+<td class="lt">King Henry I., of Saxony (the Fowler).</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">928.</td>
+<td class="lt">Victory over the Wends.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">933.</td>
+<td class="lt">Great victory over the Hungarians, near Merseburg.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">933.</td>
+<td class="lt">Upper and Lower Burgundy united as one kingdom.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">936&mdash;973.</td>
+<td class="lt">Otto I., the Great.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">939.</td>
+<td class="lt">Otto subjects the German Dukes.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">952.</td>
+<td class="lt">Rebellion against his rule.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">955.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Hungarians defeated on the Lech.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_465">[Pg 465]</span></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">962.</td>
+<td class="lt">Otto renews the empire of Charlemagne.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">973&mdash;983.</td>
+<td class="lt">Otto II.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">982.</td>
+<td class="lt">His defeat by the Saracens.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">983&mdash;1002.</td>
+<td class="lt">Otto III.; decline of the imperial power.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1002&mdash;1024.</td>
+<td class="lt">Henry II.; increasing power of the bishops.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1016.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Normans settle in Southern Italy.</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p class="center"><b>The Frank Emperors.</b></p>
+
+<table class="history" summary="The Frank Emperors.">
+<tr><td class="rt">1024&mdash;1039.</td>
+<td class="lt">Konrad II., Emperor.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1026.</td>
+<td class="lt">His visit to Rome; friendship with Canute the Great.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1033.</td>
+<td class="lt">Burgundy attached to the German Empire.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1039&mdash;1056.</td>
+<td class="lt">Henry III.; Poland, Bohemia, and Hungary, subject to the empire.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1046.</td>
+<td class="lt">Synod of Sutri; Henry III. removes three Popes.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1046.</td>
+<td class="lt">The "Congregation of Cluny;" the "Peace of God."</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1054.</td>
+<td class="lt">Pope Leo IX. captured by the Normans.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1056&mdash;1106.</td>
+<td class="lt">Henry IV.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1062.</td>
+<td class="lt">Henry IV.'s abduction by Bishop Hanno.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1073.</td>
+<td class="lt">Revolt of the Saxons.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1073.</td>
+<td class="lt">Hildebrand becomes Pope as Gregory VII.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1076.</td>
+<td class="lt">Henry IV. deposes the Pope, and is excommunicated.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1077.</td>
+<td class="lt">Henry IV.'s humiliation at Canossa.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1081.</td>
+<td class="lt">Death of the Anti-King, Rudolf of Suabia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1084.</td>
+<td class="lt">Henry IV. in Rome; ravages of the Normans.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1085.</td>
+<td class="lt">Death of Pope Gregory VII.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1092.</td>
+<td class="lt">Revolt of Konrad, son of Henry IV.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1095.</td>
+<td class="lt">The first Crusade.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1099.</td>
+<td class="lt">Jerusalem taken by Godfrey of Bouillon.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1105.</td>
+<td class="lt">Rebellion of Henry, son of Henry IV.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1106&mdash;1125.</td>
+<td class="lt">Henry V.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1111.</td>
+<td class="lt">He imprisons Pope Paschalis II.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1113.</td>
+<td class="lt">Defeat of the Saxons.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1115.</td>
+<td class="lt">He is defeated by the Saxons.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1118.</td>
+<td class="lt">Orders of knighthood founded.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1122.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Concordat of Worms.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1125.</td>
+<td class="lt">Rise of the Hohenstaufens.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1125&mdash;1137.</td>
+<td class="lt">Lothar of Saxony, Emperor.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1134.</td>
+<td class="lt">The North-mark given to Albert the Bear.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1138.</td>
+<td class="lt">Henry the Proud, Duke of Bavaria and Saxony.</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p class="center"><b>The Hohenstaufen Emperors.</b></p>
+
+<table class="history" summary="The Hohenstaufen Emperors.">
+<tr><td class="rt">1138&mdash;1152.</td>
+<td class="lt">King Konrad III.; Guelphs and Ghibellines.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_466">[Pg 466]</span></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1142.</td>
+<td class="lt">Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1142.</td>
+<td class="lt">Albert the Bear, Margrave of Brandenburg.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1147.</td>
+<td class="lt">The second Crusade.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1152&mdash;1190.</td>
+<td class="lt">Frederick I., Barbarossa.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1163.</td>
+<td class="lt">Union of the Lombard cities.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1176.</td>
+<td class="lt">Barbarossa's defeat at Legnano.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1177.</td>
+<td class="lt">Reconciliation with the Pope at Venice.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1179.</td>
+<td class="lt">Otto of Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1181.</td>
+<td class="lt">Henry the Lion banished.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1183.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Peace of Constance.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1190.</td>
+<td class="lt">The third Crusade; death of Barbarossa; foundation of the German Order.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1190&mdash;1197.</td>
+<td class="lt">Henry VI. (receives also Naples and Sicily).</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1192.</td>
+<td class="lt">Richard of the Lion-Heart imprisoned.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1195.</td>
+<td class="lt">Death of Henry the Lion.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1197&mdash;1208.</td>
+<td class="lt">Philip of Suabia; Otto IV. of Brunswick rival Emperor; civil wars.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1208.</td>
+<td class="lt">Murder of Philip of Suabia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1212.</td>
+<td class="lt">Frederick II., Hohenstaufen, comes to Germany.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1215&mdash;1250.</td>
+<td class="lt">Frederick II.'s reign.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1226.</td>
+<td class="lt">The German Order occupies Prussia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1227.</td>
+<td class="lt">Frederick II. excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1228.</td>
+<td class="lt">The fifth Crusade, led by Frederick II.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1235.</td>
+<td class="lt">Rebellion of Frederick's son, Henry.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1237.</td>
+<td class="lt">Frederick II.'s victory at Cortenuovo.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1245.</td>
+<td class="lt">Pope Innocent IV. excommunicates the Emperor.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1247.</td>
+<td class="lt">Death of Henry Raspe, Anti-Emperor.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1250.</td>
+<td class="lt">Foundation of the Hanseatic League.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1250&mdash;1254.</td>
+<td class="lt">Konrad IV.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1254.</td>
+<td class="lt">Union of cities of the Rhine.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1256.</td>
+<td class="lt">Death of William of Holland, Anti-Emperor.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1266.</td>
+<td class="lt">Battle of Benevento; death of King Manfred.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1268.</td>
+<td class="lt">Konradin's march to Italy, defeat, and execution.</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p class="center">THIRD PERIOD. (1254&mdash;1517.)</p>
+
+<p class="center"><b>Emperors of Various Houses.</b></p>
+
+<table class="history" summary="Emperors of Various Houses.">
+<tr><td class="rt">1256.</td>
+<td class="lt">Richard of Cornwall and Alfonso of Castile elected.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1273&mdash;1291.</td>
+<td class="lt">Rudolf of Hapsburg, Emperor.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1278.</td>
+<td class="lt">Defeat of King Ottokar of Bohemia.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_467">[Pg 467]</span></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1291&mdash;1298.</td>
+<td class="lt">Adolf of Nassau.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1291.</td>
+<td class="lt">Union of three Swiss Cantons.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1298.</td>
+<td class="lt">Albert of Austria defeats and slays Adolf of Nassau.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1298&mdash;1308.</td>
+<td class="lt">Albert I. of Austria.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1308.</td>
+<td class="lt">He is murdered by John Parricida.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1308&mdash;1313.</td>
+<td class="lt">Henry VII. of Luxemburg.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1308.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Papacy removed from Rome to Avignon.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1310.</td>
+<td class="lt">Henry VII.'s son, John, King of Bohemia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1313.</td>
+<td class="lt">Henry VII. poisoned in Italy.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1314&mdash;1347.</td>
+<td class="lt">Ludwig the Bavarian.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1314&mdash;1330.</td>
+<td class="lt">Frederick of Austria, Anti-Emperor.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1315.</td>
+<td class="lt">Battle of Morgarten.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1322.</td>
+<td class="lt">Ludwig's victory at Mühldorf.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1324.</td>
+<td class="lt">He gets possession of Brandenburg.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1327.</td>
+<td class="lt">His journey to Rome; Pope John XXII. deposed.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1338.</td>
+<td class="lt">Convention of German princes at Rense.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1344.</td>
+<td class="lt">Invention of gunpowder.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1346.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Pope declares Ludwig deposed, and appoints Karl IV. of Bohemia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1347.</td>
+<td class="lt">Death of Ludwig the Bavarian.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1347&mdash;1378.</td>
+<td class="lt">Karl IV. (Luxemburg).</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1348.</td>
+<td class="lt">Günther of Schwarzburg, Anti-Emperor.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1356.</td>
+<td class="lt">Proclamation of "The Golden Bull."</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1363.</td>
+<td class="lt">Tyrol annexed to Austria.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1368.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Hanseatic League defeats Waldemar III. of Denmark.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1373.</td>
+<td class="lt">Karl IV. acquires Brandenburg.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1377.</td>
+<td class="lt">War of Suabian cities with Count Eberhard.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1378&mdash;1418.</td>
+<td class="lt">Schism in the Catholic Church.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1378&mdash;1400.</td>
+<td class="lt">Wenzel of Bohemia (Luxemburg).</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1386.</td>
+<td class="lt">Battle of Sempach.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1388.</td>
+<td class="lt">War of the Suabian cities.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1400.</td>
+<td class="lt">Wenzel deposed.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1400&mdash;1410.</td>
+<td class="lt">Rupert of the Palatinate.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1409.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Council of Pisa.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1410.</td>
+<td class="lt">The German Order defeated by the Poles.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1411.</td>
+<td class="lt">Three Emperors and three Popes at the same time.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1411.</td>
+<td class="lt">Frederick of Hohenzollern receives Brandenburg.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1411&mdash;1437.</td>
+<td class="lt">Sigismund of Bohemia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1414&mdash;1418.</td>
+<td class="lt">The council at Constance.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1415.</td>
+<td class="lt">Martyrdom of Huss.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1418.</td>
+<td class="lt">End of the schism; Martin V., Pope.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_468">[Pg 468]</span></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1419&mdash;1436.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Hussite wars; Ziska; Procopius.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1431&mdash;1449.</td>
+<td class="lt">Council of Basel.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1437.</td>
+<td class="lt">Death of Sigismund.</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p class="center"><b>The Hapsburg Emperors.</b></p>
+
+<table class="history" summary="The Hapsburg Emperors.">
+<tr><td class="rt">1438&mdash;1439.</td>
+<td class="lt">Albert II. of Austria; beginning of the uninterrupted succession of the Hapsburgs.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1440&mdash;1493.</td>
+<td class="lt">Frederick III.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1444.</td>
+<td class="lt">Battle of St. James.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1450.</td>
+<td class="lt">Invention of printing.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1453.</td>
+<td class="lt">Constantinople taken by the Turks.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1466.</td>
+<td class="lt">Treaty of Thorn; Prussia tributary to Poland.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1474.</td>
+<td class="lt">War with Charles the Bold of Burgundy.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1476.</td>
+<td class="lt">Battles of Grandson and Morat.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1477.</td>
+<td class="lt">Death of Charles the Bold; marriage of Maximilian of Austria and Mary of Burgundy.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1486&mdash;1525.</td>
+<td class="lt">Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1493&mdash;1516.</td>
+<td class="lt">Maximilian I.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1495.</td>
+<td class="lt">Perpetual peace declared; the imperial court.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1512.</td>
+<td class="lt">Division of Germany into districts.</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p class="center">FOURTH PERIOD. (1517&mdash;1648.)</p>
+
+<p class="center"><b>The Reformation.</b></p>
+
+<table class="history" summary="The Reformation.">
+<tr><td class="rt">1483.</td>
+<td class="lt">Martin Luther born.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1502.</td>
+<td class="lt">He enters the University of Erfurt.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1508.</td>
+<td class="lt">Is appointed professor at Wittenberg.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1510.</td>
+<td class="lt">Luther's journey to Rome.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1517.</td>
+
+<td class="lt">Luther nails his ninety-five theses, against the sale of indulgences, to the church-door in Wittenberg.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1518.</td>
+<td class="lt">Interview with Cajetanus in Augsburg.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1519.</td>
+<td class="lt">Interview with Miltitz in Altenburg.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1520.</td>
+<td class="lt">Luther burns the Pope's Bull.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1520&mdash;1556.</td>
+<td class="lt">Charles V., Emperor.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1521.</td>
+<td class="lt">Luther at the Diet of Worms; his concealment.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1522.</td>
+<td class="lt">His return to Wittenberg.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1524.</td>
+<td class="lt">Ferdinand of Austria and the Bavarian dukes unite against the Reformation.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1525.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Peasants' War.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1525&mdash;1532.</td>
+<td class="lt">John the Steadfast, Elector of Saxony.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1525.</td>
+<td class="lt">Albert of Brandenburg joins the Reformers; end of the German Order; battle of Pavia.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_469">[Pg 469]</span></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1526.</td>
+<td class="lt">Ferdinand of Austria inherits Hungary and Bohemia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1526.</td>
+<td class="lt">The League of Torgau.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1527.</td>
+<td class="lt">War of Charles V. against Francis I. and the Pope; Rome taken by the Constable de Bourbon.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1529.</td>
+<td class="lt">Peace of Cambray; Diet of Speyer; the name of "Protestants;" Luther meets Zwingli; Vienna besieged by the Turks; Charles V. crowned at Bologna.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1530.</td>
+<td class="lt">Diet of Augsburg; the "Augsburg Confession."</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1531.</td>
+<td class="lt">League of Schmalkalden.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1532.</td>
+<td class="lt">Religious Peace of Nuremberg.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1532&mdash;1554.</td>
+<td class="lt">John Frederick, Elector of Saxony.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1534.</td>
+<td class="lt">Duke Ulric of Würtemberg joins the Protestants.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1536&mdash;1538.</td>
+<td class="lt">Charles V.'s third war with Francis I.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1540.</td>
+<td class="lt">Ignatius Loyola founds the Order of Jesuits.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1542&mdash;1544.</td>
+<td class="lt">Charles V.'s fourth war with Francis I.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1545&mdash;1563.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Council of Trent.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1546.</td>
+<td class="lt">Death of Luther; the Schmalkalden War; treachery of Maurice of Saxony.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1547.</td>
+<td class="lt">Battle of Mühlberg; capture of John Frederick of Saxony; Philip of Hesse imprisoned.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1548.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Augsburg "Interim."</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1552.</td>
+<td class="lt">Maurice of Saxony marches against Charles V.; Henry II. of France takes Toul, Metz, and Verdun.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1553.</td>
+<td class="lt">Death of Maurice of Saxony.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1555.</td>
+<td class="lt">The religious Peace of Augsburg.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1556.</td>
+<td class="lt">Abdication of Charles V.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1556&mdash;1564.</td>
+<td class="lt">Ferdinand I.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1558.</td>
+<td class="lt">Death of Charles V.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1560.</td>
+<td class="lt">Death of Melanchthon.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1564&mdash;1579.</td>
+<td class="lt">Maximilian II.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1567.</td>
+<td class="lt">Grumbach's rebellion.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1576&mdash;1612.</td>
+<td class="lt">Rudolf II.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1581.</td>
+<td class="lt">Rise of the Netherlands against Spain.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1606.</td>
+<td class="lt">Rudolf II.'s brother, Matthias, rules in Austria.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1608.</td>
+<td class="lt">The "Protestant Union" founded.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1609.</td>
+<td class="lt">The "Catholic League" founded; "War of the Succession of Cleves."</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1612&mdash;1619.</td>
+<td class="lt">Matthias, Emperor.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1614.</td>
+<td class="lt">End of the "War of the Succession of Cleves."</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p class="center"><b>The Thirty Years' War.</b></p>
+
+<table class="history" summary="The Thirty Years' War.">
+<tr><td class="rt">1618.</td>
+<td class="lt">Outbreak in Prague.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_470">[Pg 470]</span></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1619&mdash;1637.</td>
+<td class="lt">Ferdinand II.; Frederick V. of the Palatinate chosen King of Bohemia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1620.</td>
+<td class="lt">Battle near Prague; flight of Frederick V.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1622.</td>
+<td class="lt">Victories of Tilly in Baden.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1623.</td>
+<td class="lt">Tilly defeats Prince Christian of Brunswick.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1624.</td>
+<td class="lt">Union of the northern states.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1625.</td>
+<td class="lt">Christian IV. of Denmark appointed commander; Wallenstein enters the field.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1626.</td>
+<td class="lt">Defeat of Mansfeld by Wallenstein: defeat of Christian IV. by Tilly.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1628.</td>
+<td class="lt">Wallenstein's siege of Stralsund.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1629.</td>
+<td class="lt">The "Edict of Restitution."</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1630.</td>
+<td class="lt">Diet in Ratisbon; Wallenstein removed: Richelieu helps the Protestants; Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden lands in Germany.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1631.</td>
+<td class="lt">Tilly destroys Magdeburg; Gustavus Adolphus defeats Tilly and marches to Frankfort.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1632.</td>
+<td class="lt">Death of Tilly; Gustavus Adolphus in Munich; his attack on Wallenstein's camp; battle of Lützen, and death.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1633.</td>
+<td class="lt">Union of Protestants under Oxenstierna.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1634.</td>
+<td class="lt">Murder of Wallenstein; defeat of the Protestants at Nördlingen.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1635.</td>
+<td class="lt">Saxony concludes a "separate peace."</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1636.</td>
+<td class="lt">Victories of Baner.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1637&mdash;1657.</td>
+<td class="lt">Ferdinand III.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1638.</td>
+<td class="lt">Duke Bernard of Weimar victorious in Alsatia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1639.</td>
+<td class="lt">Death of Duke Bernard.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1640.</td>
+<td class="lt">Diet at Ratisbon.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1642.</td>
+<td class="lt">Victories of the Swedish general, Torstenson.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1643.</td>
+<td class="lt">Torstenson's campaign in Denmark.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1645.</td>
+<td class="lt">Torstenson's victories in Bohemia; his march to Vienna; the French generals, Turenne and Condé, in Germany.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1648.</td>
+<td class="lt">Protestant victories; Königsmark takes Prague.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1648.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Peace of Westphalia.</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p class="center">FIFTH PERIOD. (1648&mdash;1892.)</p>
+
+<table class="history" summary="FIFTH PERIOD.">
+<tr><td class="rt">1640&mdash;1688.</td>
+<td class="lt">Frederick William of Brandenburg, the "Great Elector."</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1643&mdash;1715.</td>
+<td class="lt">Louis XIV., King of France.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1655&mdash;1660.</td>
+<td class="lt">War of Sweden and Poland.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1656.</td>
+<td class="lt">Battle of Warsaw.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1657&mdash;1705.</td>
+<td class="lt">Leopold I.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_471">[Pg 471]</span></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1660.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Duchy of Prussia independent of Poland.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1667&mdash;1668.</td>
+<td class="lt">Louis XIV.'s invasion of the Spanish Netherlands; the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1672&mdash;1678.</td>
+<td class="lt">Louis XIV.'s war against Holland.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1673.</td>
+<td class="lt">The "Great Elector" assists Holland.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1675.</td>
+<td class="lt">The battle of Fehrbellin.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1676.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Elector conquers Pomerania.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1678.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Peace of Nymwegen.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1681.</td>
+<td class="lt">Strasburg taken by Louis XIV.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1683.</td>
+<td class="lt">Siege of Vienna by the Turks; John Sobieski.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1687.</td>
+<td class="lt">The shambles of Eperies.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1688&mdash;1713.</td>
+<td class="lt">Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1689&mdash;1697.</td>
+<td class="lt">Attempts of Louis XIV. to obtain the Palatinate.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1697.</td>
+<td class="lt">Peace of Ryswick; Prince Eugene of Savoy defeats the Turks at Zenta; Augustus the Strong of Saxony becomes King of Poland.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1699.</td>
+<td class="lt">Peace of Carlowitz.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1701.</td>
+<td class="lt">Prussia is made a kingdom.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1701&mdash;1714.</td>
+<td class="lt">War of the Spanish Succession.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1704.</td>
+<td class="lt">Battle of Blenheim.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1705&mdash;1711.</td>
+<td class="lt">Joseph I.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1706.</td>
+<td class="lt">Victories of Marlborough at Ramillies and Prince Eugene at Turin.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1706.</td>
+<td class="lt">Charles XII. of Sweden in Saxony.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1708.</td>
+<td class="lt">Battle of Oudenarde.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1709.</td>
+<td class="lt">Battle of Malplaquet.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1711&mdash;1740.</td>
+<td class="lt">Karl VI.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1713&mdash;1740.</td>
+<td class="lt">Frederick William I., King of Prussia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1713.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Peace of Utrecht.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1714.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Peace of Rastatt; the Elector George of Hannover becomes King George I. of England.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1717.</td>
+<td class="lt">Taking of Belgrade by Prince Eugene.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1718.</td>
+<td class="lt">Treaty of Passarowitz.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1720.</td>
+<td class="lt">Treaty of Stockholm; Prussia acquires Pomerania.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1733&mdash;1735.</td>
+<td class="lt">War of the Polish Succession.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1740.</td>
+<td class="lt">Death of Karl VI.</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p class="center"><b>The Age of Frederick the Great.</b></p>
+
+<table class="history" summary="The Age of Frederick the Great.">
+<tr><td class="rt">1712.</td>
+<td class="lt">Frederick born, in Berlin.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1730.</td>
+<td class="lt">His attempted flight; execution of Katte.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1740.</td>
+<td class="lt">Succeeds to the throne as Frederick II. of Prussia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1740&mdash;1742.</td>
+<td class="lt">First Silesian War.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_472">[Pg 472]</span></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1741&mdash;1748.</td>
+<td class="lt">War of the Austrian Succession.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1742&mdash;1745.</td>
+<td class="lt">Karl VII. (of Bavaria), Emperor.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1742.</td>
+<td class="lt">Peace of Breslau; Prussia gains Silesia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1743.</td>
+<td class="lt">Battle of Dettingen.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1744.</td>
+<td class="lt">East Friesland annexed to Prussia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1744&mdash;1745.</td>
+<td class="lt">Second Silesian War.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1745.</td>
+<td class="lt">Battles of Hohenfriedberg, Sorr, and Kesselsdorf; Peace of Dresden; death of Karl VII.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1745&mdash;1765.</td>
+<td class="lt">Francis I. of Lorraine.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1748.</td>
+<td class="lt">Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1750.</td>
+<td class="lt">Voltaire comes to Berlin.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1756&mdash;1763.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Seven Years' War.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1756.</td>
+<td class="lt">Frederick's successes in Saxony and Bohemia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1757.</td>
+<td class="lt">Frederick's victory at Prague; defeat at Kollin; victories at Rossbach and Leuthen.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1758.</td>
+<td class="lt">Ferdinand of Brunswick defeats the French; siege of Olmütz; victory of Zorndorf; surprise of Hochkirch.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1759.</td>
+<td class="lt">Battles of Minden and Kunnersdorf; misfortunes of Prussia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1760.</td>
+<td class="lt">Battle of Liegnitz; taking of Berlin; victory of Torgau.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1761.</td>
+<td class="lt">Frederick hard pressed; losses of Prussia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1762.</td>
+<td class="lt">Death of Elizabeth of Russia; alliance with Czar Peter III.; Catharine II.; Prussian successes.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1763.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Peace of Hubertsburg.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1765&mdash;1790.</td>
+<td class="lt">Joseph II.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1769.</td>
+<td class="lt">Interview of Frederick the Great and Joseph II.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1772.</td>
+<td class="lt">First partition of Poland.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1774&mdash;1782.</td>
+<td class="lt">American War of Independence.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1778.</td>
+<td class="lt">Troubles with the Bavarian succession.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1780.</td>
+<td class="lt">Death of Maria Theresa.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1786.</td>
+<td class="lt">Death of Frederick the Great.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1786&mdash;1797.</td>
+<td class="lt">Frederick William II., King of Prussia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1787.</td>
+<td class="lt">Prussia interferes in Holland.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1788&mdash;1791.</td>
+<td class="lt">Austria joins Russia against Turkey.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1790.</td>
+<td class="lt">Death of Joseph II.</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p class="center"><b>Wars with the French Republic and Napoleon.</b></p>
+
+<table class="history" summary="Wars with the French Republic and Napoleon.">
+<tr><td class="rt">1789.</td>
+<td class="lt">Beginning of the French Revolution.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1790&mdash;1792.</td>
+<td class="lt">Leopold II.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1792.</td>
+<td class="lt">France declares war against Austria and Prussia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1792.</td>
+<td class="lt">Campaign in France; battles of Valmy and Jemappes.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_473">[Pg 473]</span></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1792&mdash;1835.</td>
+<td class="lt">Francis II.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1793.</td>
+<td class="lt">Second partition of Poland; the first Coalition; successes of the Allies.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1794.</td>
+<td class="lt">France victorious in Belgium; Prussia victorious on the Upper Rhine.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1795.</td>
+<td class="lt">Third and last partition of Poland; Prussia makes peace with France.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1796.</td>
+<td class="lt">Bonaparte in Italy; Jourdan defeated in Germany; Moreau's retreat.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1797.</td>
+<td class="lt">Peace of Campo Formio.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1797&mdash;1840.</td>
+<td class="lt">Frederick William III., King of Prussia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1798.</td>
+<td class="lt">Congress of Rastatt; Bonaparte in Egypt.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1799.</td>
+<td class="lt">The second Coalition; Suwarrow in Italy; Bonaparte First Consul.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1800.</td>
+<td class="lt">Battles of Marengo and Hohenlinden.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1801.</td>
+<td class="lt">Peace of Lunéville; France extends to the Rhine.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1803.</td>
+<td class="lt">Reconstruction of Germany; French invasion of Hannover.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1804.</td>
+<td class="lt">Duke d'Enghien shot; Napoleon, Emperor.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1805.</td>
+<td class="lt">The third Coalition; battle of Austerlitz; defeat of Austria and Russia; Peace of Presburg.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1806.</td>
+<td class="lt">The "Rhine-Bund" established; Francis II. gives up the imperial crown: battle of Jena; all Prussia in the hands of Napoleon.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1807.</td>
+<td class="lt">Battles of Eylau and Friedland; Peace of Tilsit; Jerome Bonaparte made King of Westphalia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1808.</td>
+<td class="lt">Napoleon and Alexander I. in Erfurt; Joseph Bonaparte, King of Spain.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1809.</td>
+<td class="lt">Austria begins war with France; revolts of Hofer and Schill; Napoleon marches to Vienna; battles of Aspern and Wagram; Peace of Schönbrunn.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1810.</td>
+<td class="lt">Marriage of Napoleon and Maria Louisa; annexation of Holland and Northern Germany to France.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1812.</td>
+<td class="lt">Germany compelled to unite with Napoleon against Russia; battle of Borodino; burning of Moscow; the retreat; General York's alliance with Russia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1813.</td>
+<td class="lt">The War of Liberation; Frederick William III. yields to the pressure; the army of volunteers; battles of Lützen and Bautzen; armistice; the fifth Coalition; Austria joins the Allies; victories of the Katzbach, Kulm, and Dennewitz; great battle of Leipzig; Napoleon's retreat; battle of Hanan; Germany liberated.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_474">[Pg 474]</span></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1814.</td>
+<td class="lt">The campaign in France; the Allies enter Paris; Napoleon's abdication; the Congress of Vienna.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1815.</td>
+<td class="lt">Napoleon's return from Elba; the new German Confederation; battles of Ligny and Waterloo; end of Napoleon's rule; second Peace of Paris; the "Holy Alliance."</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p class="center"><b>Germany in the Nineteenth Century.</b></p>
+
+<table class="history" summary="Germany in the Nineteenth Century.">
+<tr><td class="rt">1817.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Students' Convention at the Wartburg.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1819.</td>
+<td class="lt">The conference at Carlsbad.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1823.</td>
+<td class="lt">A "provincial" representation in Prussia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1830.</td>
+<td class="lt">The July Revolution in France; outbreaks in Germany.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1834.</td>
+<td class="lt">The Zollverein established.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1835&mdash;1848.</td>
+<td class="lt">Ferdinand I., Emperor of Austria.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1840&mdash;1861.</td>
+<td class="lt">Frederick William IV., King of Prussia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1848.</td>
+<td class="lt">Revolution in Germany; conflicts in Austria, Prussia, and Baden; war in Schleswig-Holstein; the National Parliament at Frankfort; insurrection in Hungary and Italy; bombardment of Vienna; Francis Joseph, Emperor.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1849.</td>
+<td class="lt">Frederick William IV. rejects the imperial crown; civil war in Baden; Austria calls upon Russia for help; surrender of Görgey; subjection of Italy.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1850.</td>
+<td class="lt">Troubles in Hesse and Holstein; end of the National Parliament in Germany.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1851.</td>
+<td class="lt">Restoration of the Diet; Louis Napoleon, Emperor.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1852.</td>
+<td class="lt">Conference at London concerning Schleswig-Holstein.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1853&mdash;1856.</td>
+<td class="lt">War of England and France against Russia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1858.</td>
+<td class="lt">William, Prince of Prussia, regent.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1859.</td>
+<td class="lt">War of France and Sardinia against Austria; battles of Magenta and Solferino.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1861.</td>
+<td class="lt">William I., King of Prussia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1862.</td>
+<td class="lt">Bismarck, Prime-Minister; political troubles in Prussia; congress of princes at Frankfort.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1863.</td>
+<td class="lt">Continued rivalry of Austria and Prussia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1864.</td>
+<td class="lt">War in Schleswig-Holstein; Denmark gives up the duchies; the Prince of Augustenburg in Holstein.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1865.</td>
+<td class="lt">Agreement of Gastein; Schleswig and Holstein divided between Austria and Prussia.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1866.</td>
+<td class="lt">Austria prepares for war; the German Diet dissolved.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_475">[Pg 475]</span></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1866.</td>
+<td class="lt">Battle of Langensalza; invasion of Saxony and Bohemia; battle of Königgrätz; the war on the Main; truce of Nikolsburg; annexation of Hannover, Hesse-Cassel, Nassau, and Frankfort to Prussia; the Peace of Prague.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1867.</td>
+<td class="lt">Establishment of the North-German Union; the question of Luxemburg; hostility of France.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1869.</td>
+<td class="lt">&OElig;cumenical Council in Rome.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1870.</td>
+<td class="lt">France declares war against Prussia; all the German states, except Austria, unite; battles of Weissenburg and Wörth; the German armies move on Metz; battles of Courcelles, Mars-la-Tour, and Gravelotte; the battle of Sedan, and surrender of Napoleon III.; the Republic declared in Paris; capitulation of Strasburg and Metz; siege of Paris; the war on the Loire and in the northern provinces.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1871.</td>
+<td class="lt">Victories of Prince Frederick Karl at Le Mans; Bourbaki's repulse by Werder; surrender of Paris; Bourbaki's retreat into Switzerland; William I. of Prussia proclaimed Emperor of Germany; the Peace of Frankfort; foundation of the new German Empire.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1872.</td>
+<td class="lt">Beginning of conflict between the German Government and the Roman Church; Falk made Minister of Culture; the Jesuits banished from Germany.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1873.</td>
+<td class="lt">The boundaries defined between State and Church; the May laws.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1874.</td>
+<td class="lt">Civil marriage made obligatory.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1876.</td>
+<td class="lt">The <i>Kulturkampf</i> beginning to lag.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1878.</td>
+<td class="lt">Two murderous attempts on the life of Emperor William I.; the exceptional law against the Social-Democrats put in force.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1879.</td>
+<td class="lt">Falk resigns; appointment of reactionary Minister of Culture; Alliance with Austria.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1881.</td>
+<td class="lt">Emperor William I. opens Parliament; legislation for bettering the condition of the working classes.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1882.</td>
+<td class="lt">Revision of the May laws; Triple Alliance.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1886.</td>
+<td class="lt">Warlike attitude of Russia and France; death of Ludwig II. of Bavaria.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1887.</td>
+<td class="lt">Parliamentary conflict in regard to the military budget; dissolution of Parliament; new elections result in favor of the Government.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_476">[Pg 476]</span></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1888.</td>
+<td class="lt">Death of Emperor William I.; Frederick III., Emperor; his reign of ninety-nine days; his death; succession of William II.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1890.</td>
+<td class="lt">Bismarck resigns the Chancellorship; General Caprivi succeeds him; German-English agreement.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1891.</td>
+<td class="lt">Renewal of Triple Alliance; new commercial treaties.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1892.</td>
+<td class="lt">Introduction of a new military bill.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="rt">1893.</td>
+<td class="lt">Defeat of army bill; dissolution of Parliament; the bill carried as a result of new elections.</td></tr>
+</table>
+</div> <!-- chrono -->
+
+<p class="center">THE END.</p>
+
+
+<h2>Transcriber's Notes</h2>
+
+<p>Link to larger maps by clicking on the map.</p>
+
+<p>Sidenotes replace page headings from the original. They are moved to
+the nearest following paragragh break.</p>
+
+<p>Images are moved to the nearest paragraph break to make the text more
+readable.</p>
+
+<p>The following are used interchangeably:</p>
+
+<ul>
+  <li>grand-sons grandsons</li>
+  <li>Eugenie Eugénie</li>
+  <li>Gunther Günther</li>
+  <li>Luneville Lunéville</li>
+  <li>Cooperation Coöperation</li>
+</ul>
+
+<p><a href="#Page_113">Page 113</a><br />
+
+(the name is written). Changed from 'writen' to 'written'.</p>
+
+<p><a href="#Page_165">Page 165</a><br />
+
+(he met Pope Adrian IV.,). Changed 'Adrain' to 'Adrian'.</p>
+
+<p><a href="#Page_246">Page 246</a><br />
+
+(--Change in Military Service.). Changed 'Servive' to 'Service'.</p>
+
+<p><a href="#Page_344">Page 344</a><br />
+
+(1734, King Stanislas). Changed 'king' to King'.</p>
+
+<p><a href="#Page_356">Page 356</a><br />
+
+(at the different courts,). Was 'differents courts' in original.</p>
+
+<p><a href="#Page_379">Page 379</a><br />
+
+(Longwy). As in original.</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of Germany, by Bayard Taylor
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+</pre>
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+</body>
+</html>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of Germany, by Bayard Taylor
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A History of Germany
+       From the Earliest Times to the Present Day
+
+Author: Bayard Taylor
+
+Release Date: June 21, 2011 [EBook #36484]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF GERMANY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Garcia, Neil Wyllie, Leonard Johnson and
+the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned
+images of public domain material from the Google Print
+project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE EMPEROR OF GERMANY.
+
+(_After a Photograph by J. C. Schaarwaechter, Photographer to the
+Emperor._)]
+
+
+                A
+
+        HISTORY OF GERMANY
+
+    FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO
+         THE PRESENT DAY
+
+               BY
+         BAYARD TAYLOR
+
+  _WITH AN ADDITIONAL CHAPTER BY_
+       MARIE HANSEN-TAYLOR
+
+
+           NEW YORK
+     D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
+             1897
+
+
+     COPYRIGHT, 1874, 1893,
+   BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.
+
+
+    ELECTROTYPED AND PRINTED
+  AT THE APPLETON PRESS, U. S. A.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+When I assented to the request of the publishers that I would edit a new
+edition of the History of Germany, and write an additional chapter
+finishing the work down to the present date, I was fully aware of both
+my own shortcomings and the difficulty of the task. That I undertook it,
+nevertheless, is because I was strongly tempted to perform what I
+considered, in my case, an act of piety. Being naturally familiar with
+the aim and style of this book, I have tried to compile a new chapter in
+the simple narrative fashion by which the History has commended itself
+to its readers.
+
+In his "Introductory Words" to the original edition the author says:
+"The History of Germany is not the history of a nation, but of a race.
+It has little unity, therefore it is complicated, broken, and attached
+on all sides to the histories of other countries. In its earlier periods
+it covers the greater part of Europe, and does not return exclusively to
+Germany until after France, Spain, England and the Italian States have
+been founded. Thus, even before the fall of the Roman Empire, it becomes
+the main trunk out of which branch the histories of nearly all European
+nations, and must of necessity be studied as the connecting link between
+ancient and modern history. The records of no other race throw so much
+light upon the development of all civilized lands during a period of
+fifteen hundred years.
+
+"My aim has been to present a clear, continuous narrative, omitting no
+episode of importance, yet preserving a distinct line of connection
+from century to century. Besides referring to all the best authorities,
+I have based my labors mainly upon three recent German works--that of
+Dittmar, as the fullest; of Von Rochau, as the most impartial; and of
+Dr. David Mueller, as the most readable. By constructing an entirely new
+narrative from these, compressing the material into less than half the
+space which each occupies, and avoiding the interruptions and changes by
+which all are characterized, I hope to have made this History convenient
+and acceptable to our schools."
+
+The book is, indeed, eminently fitted for use in the higher grades of
+schools. But the scope, comprehensiveness, and style of the work make it
+in no less a degree inviting and attractive to the general reader.
+
+The material for the preparation of the additional chapter was difficult
+of access, since the history of the last twenty years is on record
+chiefly in monographs and in the public press. The best guide I have
+found is the "Politische Geschichte der Gegenwart," by Prof. Wilhelm
+Mueller. The author of the present book was fortunate in being able to
+close it with the glorious events of the years 1870 to 1871, and the
+birth of the new Empire. The additional chapter has no such ending. It
+deals with the beginning of a new era, and has to state facts, with an
+eye to their results in the future.
+
+                                                 MARIE HANSEN-TAYLOR.
+
+NEW YORK, _1893_.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+CHAPTER PAGE
+
+       I.--THE ANCIENT GERMANS AND THEIR COUNTRY.
+           (330 B. C.--70 B. C.)                                       1
+
+      II.--THE WARS OF ROME WITH THE GERMANS.
+           (70 B. C.--9 A. D.)                                        10
+
+     III.--HERMANN, THE FIRST GERMAN LEADER. (9--21 A. D.)            19
+
+      IV.--GERMANY DURING THE FIRST THREE CENTURIES OF OUR
+           ERA. (21--300 A. D.)                                       28
+
+       V.--THE RISE AND MIGRATIONS OF THE GOTHS. (300--412.)          37
+
+      VI.--THE INVASION OF THE HUNS, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.
+           (412--472.)                                                47
+
+     VII.--THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OSTROGOTHS. (472--570.)           55
+
+    VIII.--EUROPE, AT THE END OF THE MIGRATION OF THE RACES. (570.)   63
+
+      IX.--THE KINGDOM OF THE FRANKS. (486--638.)                     71
+
+       X.--THE DYNASTY OF THE ROYAL STEWARDS. (638--768.)             80
+
+      XI.--THE REIGN OF CHARLEMAGNE. (768--814.)                      92
+
+     XII.--THE EMPERORS OF THE CAROLINGIAN LINE. (814--911.)         103
+
+    XIII.--KING KONRAD, AND THE SAXON RULERS, HENRY I. AND
+           OTTO THE GREAT. (912--973.)                               116
+
+     XIV.--THE DECLINE OF THE SAXON DYNASTY. (973--1024.)            130
+
+      XV.--THE FRANK EMPERORS, TO THE DEATH OF HENRY IV.
+           (1024--1106.)                                             138
+
+     XVI.--END OF THE FRANK DYNASTY, AND RISE OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS.
+           (1106--1152.)                                             155
+
+    XVII.--THE REIGN OF FREDERICK I., BARBAROSSA. (1152--1197.)      164
+
+   XVIII.--THE REIGN OF FREDERICK II. AND END OF THE HOHENSTAUFEN
+           LINE. (1215--1268.)                                       175
+
+     XIX.--GERMANY AT THE TIME OF THE INTERREGNUM. (1256--1273.)     189
+
+      XX.--FROM RUDOLF OF HAPSBURG TO LUDWIG THE BAVARIAN.
+           (1273--1347.)                                             198
+
+     XXI.--THE LUXEMBURG EMPERORS, KARL IV. AND WENZEL.
+           (1347--1410.)                                             212
+
+    XXII.--THE REIGN OF SIGISMUND AND THE HUSSITE WAR.
+           (1410--1437.)                                             222
+
+   XXIII.--THE FOUNDATION OF THE HAPSBURG DYNASTY.
+           (1438--1493.)                                             235
+
+    XXIV.--GERMANY, DURING THE REIGN OF MAXIMILIAN I.
+           (1493--1519.)                                             246
+
+     XXV.--THE REFORMATION. (1517--1546.)                            255
+
+    XXVI.--FROM LUTHER'S DEATH TO THE END OF THE 16TH
+           CENTURY. (1546--1600.)                                    273
+
+   XXVII.--BEGINNING OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. (1600--1625.)         284
+
+  XXVIII.--TILLY, WALLENSTEIN AND GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. (1625--1634.)   295
+
+    XXIX.--END OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. (1634--1648.)               309
+
+     XXX.--GERMANY, TO THE PEACE OF RYSWICK. (1648--1697.)           320
+
+    XXXI.--The war of the Spanish succession. (1697--1714.)          331
+
+   XXXII.--THE RISE OF PRUSSIA. (1714--1740.)                        338
+
+  XXXIII.--THE REIGN OF FREDERICK THE GREAT. (1740--1786.)           347
+
+   XXXIV.--GERMANY UNDER MARIA THERESA AND JOSEPH II. (1740--1790.)  369
+
+    XXXV.--FROM THE DEATH OF JOSEPH II. TO THE END OF
+           THE GERMAN EMPIRE. (1790--1806.)                          377
+
+   XXXVI.--GERMANY UNDER NAPOLEON. (1806--1814.)                     392
+
+  XXXVII.--FROM THE LIBERATION OF GERMANY TO THE YEAR
+           1848. (1814--1848.)                                       409
+
+ XXXVIII.--THE REVOLUTION OF 1848 AND ITS RESULTS. (1848--1861.)     420
+
+   XXXIX.--THE STRUGGLE WITH AUSTRIA; THE NORTH-GERMAN UNION.
+           (1861--1870.)                                             429
+
+      XL.--THE WAR WITH FRANCE, AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE
+           GERMAN EMPIRE. (1870--1871.)                              437
+
+     XLI.--THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE. (1871--1893.)                      449
+
+           CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF GERMAN HISTORY.                    462
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF MAPS.
+
+
+                                                                    PAGE
+
+  Germany under the Caesars                                            11
+
+  The Migrations of the Races, A. D. 500                              64
+
+  Empire of Charlemagne, with the Partition of the Treaty of Verdun,
+    A. D. 843                                                        107
+
+  Germany under the Saxons and Frank Emperors, Twelfth Century       139
+
+  Germany under Napoleon, 1812                                       401
+
+  Metz and Vicinity                                                  441
+
+  The German Empire, 1871                                            446
+
+
+
+
+A HISTORY OF GERMANY.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE ANCIENT GERMANS AND THEIR COUNTRY.
+
+(330 B. C.--70 B. C.)
+
+The Aryan Race and its Migrations. --Earliest Inhabitants of Europe.
+    --Lake Dwellings. --Celtic and Germanic Migrations. --Europe in the
+    Fourth Century B. C. --The Name "German." --Voyage of Pytheas.
+    --Invasions of the Cimbrians and Teutons, B. C. 113. --Victories of
+    Marius. --Boundary between the Gauls and the Germans.
+    --Geographical Location of the various Germanic Tribes. --Their
+    Mode of Life, Vices, Virtues, Laws, and Religion.
+
+
+The Germans form one of the most important branches of the Indo-Germanic
+or Aryan race--a division of the human family which also includes the
+Hindoos, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Celts, and the Slavonic tribes. The
+near relationship of all these, which have become so separated in their
+habits of life, forms of government and religious faith, in the course
+of many centuries, has been established by the evidence of common
+tradition, language, and physiological structure. The original home of
+the Aryan race appears to have been somewhere among the mountains and
+lofty table-lands of Central Asia. The word "Arya," meaning _the high_
+or _the excellent_, indicates their superiority over the neighboring
+races long before the beginning of history.
+
+When and under what circumstances the Aryans left their home, can never
+be ascertained. Most scholars suppose that there were different
+migrations, and that each movement westward was accomplished slowly,
+centuries intervening between their departure from Central Asia and
+their permanent settlement in Europe. The earliest migration was
+probably that of the tribes who took possession of Greece and Italy;
+who first acquired, and for more than a thousand years maintained, their
+ascendency over all other branches of their common family; who, in fact,
+laid the basis for the civilization of the world.
+
+[Sidenote: 330 B. C.]
+
+Before this migration took place, Europe was inhabited by a race of
+primitive savages, who were not greatly superior to the wild beasts in
+the vast forests which then covered the continent. They were
+exterminated at so early a period that all traditions of their existence
+were lost. Within the last fifty years, however, various relics of this
+race have been brought to light. Fragments of skulls and skeletons, with
+knives and arrow-heads of flint, have been found, at a considerable
+depth, in the gravel-beds of Northern France, or in caves in Germany,
+together with the bones of animals now extinct, upon which they fed. In
+the lakes of Switzerland, they built dwellings upon piles, at a little
+distance from the shore, in order to be more secure against the attacks
+of wild beasts or hostile tribes. Many remains of these lake-dwellings,
+with flint implements and fragments of pottery, have recently been
+discovered. The skulls of the race indicate that they were savages of
+the lowest type, and different in character from any which now exist on
+the earth.
+
+The second migration of the Aryan race is supposed to have been that of
+the Celtic tribes, who took a more northerly course, by way of the
+steppes of the Volga and the Don, and gradually obtained possession of
+all Central and Western Europe, including the British Isles. Their
+advance was only stopped by the ocean, and the tribe which first appears
+in history, the Gauls, was at that time beginning to move eastward
+again, in search of new fields of plunder. It is impossible to ascertain
+whether the German tribes immediately followed the Celts, and took
+possession of the territory which they vacated in pushing westward, or
+whether they formed a third migration, at a later date. We only know the
+order in which they were settled when our first historical knowledge of
+them begins.
+
+In the fourth century before the Christian Era, all Europe west of the
+Rhine, and as far south as the Po, was Celtic; between the Rhine and the
+Vistula, including Denmark and southern Sweden, the tribes were
+Germanic; while the Slavonic branch seems to have already made its
+appearance in what is now Southern Russia. Each of these three branches
+of the Aryan race was divided into many smaller tribes, some of which,
+left behind in the march from Asia, or separated by internal wars,
+formed little communities, like islands, in the midst of territory
+belonging to other branches of the race. The boundaries, also, were
+never very distinctly drawn: the tribes were restless and nomadic, not
+yet attached to the soil, and many of them moved through or across each
+other, so that some were constantly disappearing, and others forming
+under new names.
+
+[Sidenote: 113 B. C. THE CIMBRIANS AND TEUTONS.]
+
+The Romans first heard the name "Germans" from the Celtic Gauls, in
+whose language it meant simply _neighbors_. The first notice of a
+Germanic tribe was given to the world by the Greek navigator Pytheas,
+who made a voyage to the Baltic in the year 330 B. C. Beyond the
+amber-coast, eastward of the mouth of the Vistula, he found the Goths,
+of whom we hear nothing more until they appear, several centuries later,
+on the northern shore of the Black Sea. For more than two hundred years
+there is no further mention of the Germanic races; then, most
+unexpectedly, the Romans were called upon to make their personal
+acquaintance.
+
+In the year 113 B. C. a tremendous horde of strangers forced its way
+through the Tyrolese Alps and invaded the Roman territory. They numbered
+several hundred thousand, and brought with them their wives, children
+and all their movable property. They were composed of two great tribes,
+the Cimbrians and Teutons, accompanied by some minor allies, Celtic as
+well as Germanic. Their statement was that they were driven from their
+homes on the northern ocean by the inroads of the waves, and they
+demanded territory for settlement, or, at least, the right to pass the
+Roman frontier. The Consul, Papirius Carbo, collected an army and
+endeavored to resist their advance; but he was defeated by them in a
+battle fought near Noreia, between the Adriatic and the Alps.
+
+The terror occasioned by this defeat reached even Rome. The
+"barbarians," as they were called, were men of large stature, of
+astonishing bodily strength, with yellow hair and fierce blue eyes. They
+wore breastplates of iron and helmets crowned with the heads of wild
+beasts, and carried white shields which shone in the sunshine. They
+first hurled double-headed spears in battle, but at close quarters
+fought with short and heavy swords. The women encouraged them with cries
+and war-songs, and seemed no less fierce and courageous than the men.
+They had also priestesses, clad in white linen, who delivered prophecies
+and slaughtered human victims upon the altars of their gods.
+
+[Sidenote: 102 B. C.]
+
+Instead of moving towards Rome, the Cimbrians and Teutons marched
+westward along the foot of the Alps, crossed into Gaul, devastated the
+country between the Rhone and the Pyrenees, and even obtained temporary
+possession of part of Spain. Having thus plundered at will for ten
+years, they retraced their steps and prepared to invade Italy a second
+time. The celebrated Consul, Marius, who was sent against them, found
+their forces divided, in order to cross the Alps by two different roads.
+He first attacked the Teutons, two hundred thousand in number, at Aix,
+in southern France, and almost exterminated them in the year 102 B. C.
+Transferring his army across the Alps, in the following year he met the
+Cimbrians at Vercelli, in Piedmont (not far from the field of Magenta).
+They were drawn up in a square, the sides of which were nearly three
+miles long: in the centre their wagons, collected together, formed a
+fortress for the women and children. But the Roman legions broke the
+Cimbrian square, and obtained a complete victory. The women, seeing that
+all was lost, slew their children, and then themselves; but a few
+thousand prisoners were made--among them Teutoboch, the prince of the
+Teutons, who had escaped from the slaughter at Aix,--to figure in the
+triumph accorded to Marius by the Roman Senate. This was the only
+appearance of the German tribes in Italy, until the decline of the
+Empire, five hundred years later.
+
+The Roman conquests, which now began to extend northwards into the heart
+of Europe, soon brought the two races into collision again, but upon
+German or Celtic soil. From the earliest reports, as well as the later
+movements of the tribes, we are able to ascertain the probable order of
+their settlement, though not the exact boundaries of each. The territory
+which they occupied was almost the same as that which now belongs to the
+German States. The Rhine divided them from the Gauls, except towards its
+mouth, where the Germanic tribes occupied part of Belgium. A line drawn
+from the Vistula southward to the Danube nearly represents their eastern
+boundary, while, up to this time, they do not appear to have crossed the
+Danube on the south. The district between that river and the Alps, now
+Bavaria and Styria, was occupied by Celtic tribes. Northwards they had
+made some advance into Sweden, and probably also into Norway. They thus
+occupied nearly all of Central Europe, north of the Alpine chain.
+
+[Sidenote: 100 B. C. THE GERMAN TRIBES.]
+
+At the time of their first contact with the Romans, these Germanic
+tribes had lost even the tradition of their Asiatic origin. They
+supposed themselves to have originated upon the soil where they dwelt,
+sprung either from the earth, or descended from their gods. According to
+the most popular legend, the war-god Tuisko, or Tiu, had a son, Mannus
+(whence the word _man_ is derived), who was the first human parent of
+the German race. Many centuries must have elapsed since their first
+settlement in Europe, or they could not have so completely changed the
+forms of their religion and their traditional history.
+
+Two or three small tribes are represented, in the earliest Roman
+accounts, as having crossed the Rhine and settled between the Vosges and
+that river, from Strasburg to Mayence. From the latter point to Cologne
+none are mentioned, whence it is conjectured that the western bank of
+the Rhine was here a debatable ground, possessed sometimes by the Celts
+and sometimes by the Germans. The greater part of Belgium was occupied
+by the Eburones and Condrusii, Germanic tribes, to whom were afterwards
+added the Aduatuci, formed out of the fragments of the Cimbrians and
+Teutons who escaped the slaughters of Marius. At the mouth of the Rhine
+dwelt the Batavi, the forefathers of the Dutch, and, like them, reported
+to be strong, phlegmatic and stubborn, in the time of Caesar. A little
+eastward, on the shore of the North Sea, dwelt the Frisii, where they
+still dwell, in the province of Friesland; and beyond them, about the
+mouth of the Weser, the Chauci, a kindred tribe.
+
+What is now Westphalia was inhabited by the Sicambrians, a brave and
+warlike people: the Marsi and Ampsivarii were beyond them, towards the
+Hartz, and south of the latter the Ubii, once a powerful tribe, but in
+Caesar's time weak and submissive. From the Weser to the Elbe, in the
+north, was the land of the Cherusci; south of them the equally fierce
+and indomitable Chatti, the ancestors of the modern Hessians; and still
+further south, along the head-waters of the river Main, the Marcomanni.
+A part of what is now Saxony was in the possession of the Hermunduri,
+who together with their kindred, the Chatti, were called _Suevi_ by the
+Romans. Northward, towards the mouth of the Elbe, dwelt the Longobardi
+(Lombards); beyond them, in Holstein, the Saxons; and north of the
+latter, in Schleswig, the Angles.
+
+East of the Elbe were the Semnones, who were guardians of a certain holy
+place,--a grove of the Druids--where various related tribes came for
+their religious festivals. North of the Semnones dwelt the Vandals, and
+along the Baltic coast the Rugii, who have left their name in the island
+of Ruegen. Between these and the Vistula were the Burgundiones, with a
+few smaller tribes. In the extreme north-east, between the Vistula and
+the point where the city of Koenigsberg now stands, was the home of the
+Goths, south of whom were settled the Slavonic Sarmatians,--the same who
+founded, long afterwards, the kingdom of Poland.
+
+Bohemia was first settled by the Celtic tribe of the Boii, whence its
+name--_Boiheim_, the home of the Boii--is derived. In Caesar's day,
+however, this tribe had been driven out by the Germanic Marcomanni,
+whose neighbors, the Quadi, on the Danube, were also German. Beyond the
+Danube all was Celtic; the defeated Boii occupied Austria; the
+Vindelici, Bavaria; while the Noric and Rhaetian Celts took possession of
+the Tyrolese Alps. Switzerland was inhabited by the Helvetii, a Celtic
+tribe which had been driven out of Germany; but the mountainous district
+between the Rhine, the Lake of Constance and the Danube, now called the
+Black Forest, seems to have had no permanent owners.
+
+The greater part of Germany was thus in possession of Germanic tribes,
+bound to each other by blood, by their common religion and their habits
+of life. At this early period, their virtues and their vices were
+strongly marked. They were not savages, for they knew the first
+necessary arts of civilized life, and they had a fixed social and
+political organization. The greater part of the territory which they
+inhabited was still a wilderness. The mountain chain which extends
+through Central Germany from the Main to the Elbe was called by the
+Romans the Hercynian Forest. It was then a wild, savage region, the home
+of the aurox (a race of wild cattle), the bear and the elk. The lower
+lands to the northward of this forest were also thickly wooded and
+marshy, with open pastures here and there, where the tribes settled in
+small communities, kept their cattle, and cultivated the soil only
+enough to supply the needs of life. They made rough roads of
+communication, which could be traversed by their wagons, and the
+frontiers of each tribe were usually marked by guard-houses, where all
+strangers were detained until they received permission to enter the
+territory.
+
+[Sidenote: HABITS OF THE GERMANS.]
+
+At this early period, the Germans had no cities, or even villages. Their
+places of worship, which were either groves of venerable oak-trees or
+the tops of mountains, were often fortified; and when attacked in the
+open country, they made a temporary defence of their wagons. They lived
+in log-houses, which were surrounded by stockades spacious enough to
+contain the cattle and horses belonging to the family. A few fields of
+rye and barley furnished each homestead with bread and beer, but hunting
+and fishing were their chief dependence. The women cultivated flax, from
+which they made a coarse, strong linen: the men clothed themselves with
+furs or leather. They were acquainted with the smelting and working of
+iron, but valued gold and silver only for the sake of ornament. They
+were fond of bright colors, of poetry and song, and were in the highest
+degree hospitable.
+
+The three principal vices of the Germans were indolence, drunkenness and
+love of gaming. Although always ready for the toils and dangers of war,
+they disliked to work at home. When the men assembled at night, and the
+great ox-horns, filled with mead or beer, were passed from one to the
+other, they rarely ceased drinking until all were intoxicated; and when
+the passion for gaming came upon them, they would often stake their
+dearest possessions, even their own freedom, on a throw of the dice. The
+women were never present on these occasions: they ruled and regulated
+their households with undisputed sway. They were considered the equals
+of the men, and exhibited no less energy and courage. They were supposed
+to possess the gift of prophecy, and always accompanied the men to
+battle, where they took care of the wounded, and stimulated the warriors
+by their shouts and songs.
+
+They honored the institution of marriage to an extent beyond that
+exhibited by any other people of the ancient world. The ceremony
+consisted in the man giving a horse, or a yoke of oxen, to the woman,
+who gave him arms or armor in return. Those who proved unfaithful to the
+marriage vow were punished with death. The children of freemen and
+slaves grew up together until the former were old enough to carry arms,
+when they were separated. The slaves were divided into two classes:
+those who lived under the protection of a freeman and were obliged to
+perform for him a certain amount of labor, and those who were wholly
+"chattels," bought and sold at will.
+
+Each family had its own strictly regulated laws, which were sufficient
+for the government of its free members, its retainers and slaves. A
+number of these families formed "a district," which was generally laid
+out according to natural boundaries, such as streams or hills. In some
+tribes, however, the families were united in "hundreds," instead of
+districts. Each of these managed its own affairs, as a little republic,
+wherein each freeman had an equal voice; yet to each belonged a leader,
+who was called "count" or "duke." All the districts of a tribe met
+together in a "General Assembly of the People," which was always held at
+the time of new or full moon. The chief priest of the tribe presided,
+and each man present had the right to vote. Here questions of peace or
+war, violations of right or disputes between the districts were decided,
+criminals were tried, young men acknowledged as freemen and warriors,
+and, in case of approaching war, a leader chosen by the people.
+Alliances between the tribes, for the sake of mutual defence or
+invasion, were not common, at first; but the necessity of them was soon
+forced upon the Germans by the encroachments of Rome.
+
+The gods which they worshipped represented the powers of Nature. Their
+mythology was the same originally which the Scandinavians preserved, in
+a slightly different form, until the tenth century of our era. The chief
+deity was named Wodan, or Odin, the god of the sky, whose worship was
+really that of the sun. His son, Donar, or Thunder, with his fiery beard
+and huge hammer, is the Thor of the Scandinavians. The god of war, Tiu
+or Tyr, was supposed to have been born from the Earth, and thus became
+the ancestor of the Germanic tribes. There was also a goddess of the
+earth, Hertha, who was worshipped with secret and mysterious rites. The
+people had their religious festivals, at stated seasons, when
+sacrifices, sometimes of human beings, were laid upon the altars of the
+gods, in the sacred groves. Even after they became Christians, in the
+eighth century, they retained their habit of celebrating some of these
+festivals, but changed them into the Christian anniversaries of
+Christmas, Easter and Whitsuntide.
+
+[Sidenote: OPEN TO CIVILIZATION.]
+
+Thus, from all we can learn respecting them, we may say that the
+Germans, during the first century before Christ, were fully prepared, by
+their habits, laws, and their moral development, for a higher
+civilization. They were still restless, after so many centuries of
+wandering; they were fierce and fond of war, as a natural consequence of
+their struggles with the neighboring races; but they had already
+acquired a love for the wild land where they dwelt, they had begun to
+cultivate the soil, they had purified and hallowed the family relation,
+which is the basis of all good government, and finally, although slavery
+existed among them, they had established equal rights for free men.
+
+If the object of Rome had been civilization, instead of conquest and
+plunder, the development of the Germans might have commenced much
+earlier and produced very different results.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE WARS OF ROME WITH THE GERMANS.
+
+(70 B. C.--9 A. D.)
+
+Roman Conquest of Gaul. --The German Chief, Ariovistus. --His Answer to
+    Caesar. --Caesar's March to the Rhine. --Defeat of Ariovistus.
+    --Caesar's Victory near Cologne. --His Bridge. --His Second
+    Expedition. --He subjugates the Gauls. --He enlists a German
+    Legion. --The Romans advance to the Danube, under Augustus. --First
+    Expedition of Drusus. --The Rhine fortified. --Death of Drusus.
+    --Conquests of Tiberius. --The War of the Marcomanni. --The
+    Cherusci. --Tyranny of Varus. --Resistance of the Germans.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 70 B. C.]
+
+After the destruction of the Teutons and Cimbrians by Marius, more than
+forty years elapsed before the Romans again came in contact with any
+German tribe. During this time the Roman dominion over the greater part
+of Gaul was firmly established by Julius Caesar, and in losing their
+independence, the Celts began to lose, also, their original habits and
+character. They and the Germans had never been very peaceable neighbors,
+and the possession of the western bank of the Rhine seems to have been,
+even at that early day, a subject of contention between them.
+
+About the year 70 B. C. two Gallic tribes, the AEdui in Burgundy and the
+Arverni in Central France, began a struggle for the supremacy in that
+part of Gaul. The allies of the latter, the Sequani, called to their
+assistance a chief of the German Suevi, whose name, as we have it
+through Caesar, was Ariovistus. With a force of 15,000 men, he joined the
+Arverni and the Sequani, and defeated the AEdui in several battles. After
+the complete overthrow of the latter, he haughtily demanded as a
+recompense one-third of the territory of the Sequani. His strength had
+meanwhile been increased by new accessions from the German side of the
+Rhine, and the Sequani were obliged to yield. His followers settled in
+the new territory: in the course of about fourteen years, they
+amounted to 120,000, and Ariovistus felt himself strong enough to demand
+another third of the lands of the Sequani.
+
+[Sidenote: UNDER THE CAESARS.]
+
+[Illustration: GERMANY UNDER THE CAESARS.]
+
+[Sidenote: 57 B. C.]
+
+Southern France was then a Roman province, governed by Julius Caesar. In
+the year 57 B. C. ambassadors from the principal tribes of Eastern Gaul
+appeared before him and implored his assistance against the inroads of
+the Suevi. It was an opportunity which he immediately seized, in order
+to bring the remaining Gallic tribes under the sway of Rome. He first
+sent a summons to Ariovistus to appear before him, but the haughty
+German chief answered: "When I need Caesar, I shall come to Caesar. If
+Caesar needs me, let him seek me. What business has he in _my_ Gaul,
+which I have acquired in war?"
+
+On receiving this answer, Caesar marched immediately with his legions
+into the land of the Sequani, and succeeded in reaching their capitol,
+Vesontio (the modern Besancon), before the enemy. It was then a
+fortified place, and its possession gave Caesar an important advantage at
+the start. While his legions were resting there for a few days, before
+beginning the march against the Suevi, the Gallic and Roman merchants
+and traders circulated the most frightful accounts of the strength and
+fierceness of the latter through the Roman camp. They reported that the
+German barbarians were men of giant size and more than human strength,
+whose faces were so terrible that the glances of their eyes could not be
+endured. Very soon numbers of the Roman officers demanded leave of
+absence, and even the few who were ashamed to take this step lost all
+courage. The soldiers became so demoralized that many of them declared
+openly that they would refuse to fight, if commanded to do so.
+
+In this emergency, Caesar showed his genius as a leader of men. He called
+a large number of soldiers and officers of all grades together, and
+addressed them in strong words, pointing out their superior military
+discipline, ridiculing the terrible stories in circulation, and sharply
+censuring them for their insubordination. He concluded by declaring that
+if the army should refuse to march, he would start the next morning with
+only the tenth legion, upon the courage and obedience of which he could
+rely. This speech produced an immediate effect. The tenth legion
+solemnly thanked Caesar for his confidence in its men and officers, the
+other legions, one after the other, declared their readiness to follow,
+and the whole army left Vesontio the very next morning. After a rapid
+march of seven days, Caesar found himself within a short distance of the
+fortified camp of Ariovistus.
+
+[Sidenote: 57 B. C. CAESAR AND ARIOVISTUS.]
+
+The German chief now agreed to an interview, and the two leaders met,
+half-way between the two armies, on the plain of the Rhine. The place is
+supposed to have been a little to the northward of Basel. Neither Caesar
+nor Ariovistus would yield to the demands of the other, and as the
+cavalry of their armies began skirmishing, the interview was broken off.
+For several days in succession the Romans offered battle, but the Suevi
+refused to leave their strong position. This hesitation seemed
+remarkable, until it was explained by some prisoners, captured in a
+skirmish, who stated that the German priestesses had prophesied
+misfortune to Ariovistus, if he should fight before the new moon.
+
+Caesar, thereupon, determined to attack the German camp without delay.
+The meeting of the two armies was fierce, and the soldiers were soon
+fighting hand to hand. On each side one wing gave way, but the greater
+quickness and superior military skill of the Romans enabled them to
+recover sooner than the enemy. The day ended with the entire defeat of
+the Suevi, and the flight of the few who escaped across the Rhine. They
+did not attempt to reconquer their lost territory, and the three small
+German tribes, who had long been settled between the Rhine and the
+Vosges (in what is now Alsatia), became subject to Roman rule.
+
+Two years afterwards, Caesar, who was engaged in subjugating the Belgae,
+in Northern Gaul, learned that two other German tribes, the Usipetes and
+Tencteres, who had been driven from their homes by the Suevi, had
+crossed the Rhine below where Cologne now stands. They numbered 400,000,
+and the Northern Gauls, instead of regarding them as invaders, were
+inclined to welcome them as allies against Rome, the common enemy. Caesar
+knew that if they remained, a revolt of the Gauls against his rule would
+be the consequence. He therefore hastened to meet them, got possession
+of their principal chiefs by treachery, and then attacked their camp
+between the Meuse and the Rhine. The Germans were defeated, and nearly
+all their foot-soldiers slaughtered, but the cavalry succeeded in
+crossing the river, where they were welcomed by the Sicambrians.
+
+Then it was that Caesar built his famous wooden bridge across the Rhine,
+not far from the site of Cologne, although the precise point can not now
+be ascertained. He crossed with his army into Westphalia, but the tribes
+he sought retreated into the great forests to the eastward, where he was
+unable to pursue them. He contented himself with burning their houses
+and gathering their ripened harvests for eighteen days, when he returned
+to the other side and destroyed the bridge behind him. From this time,
+Rome claimed the sovereignty of the western bank of the Rhine to its
+mouth.
+
+[Sidenote: 53 B. C.]
+
+While Caesar was in Britain, in the year 53 B. C., the newly subjugated
+Celtic and German tribes which inhabited Belgium rose in open revolt
+against the Roman rule. The rapidity of Caesar's return arrested their
+temporary success, but some of the German tribes to the eastward of the
+Rhine had already promised to aid them. In order to secure his
+conquests, the Roman general determined to cross the Rhine again, and
+intimidate, if not subdue, his dangerous neighbors. He built a second
+bridge, near the place where the first had been, and crossed with his
+army. But, as before, the Suevi and Sicambrians drew back among the
+forest-covered hills along the Weser river, and only the small and
+peaceful tribe of the Ubii remained in their homes. The latter offered
+their submission to Caesar, and agreed to furnish him with news of the
+movements of their warlike countrymen, in return for his protection.
+
+When another revolt of the Celtic Gauls took place, the following year,
+German mercenaries, enlisted among the Ubii, fought on the Roman side
+and took an important part in the decisive battle which gave
+Vercingetorix, the last chief of the Gauls, into Caesar's hands. He was
+beheaded, and from that time the Gauls made no further effort to throw
+off the Roman yoke. They accepted the civil and military organization,
+the dress and habits, and finally the language and religion of their
+conquerors. The small German tribes in Alsatia and Belgium shared the
+same fate: their territory was divided into two provinces, called Upper
+and Lower Germania by the Romans. The vast region inhabited by the
+independent tribes, lying between the Rhine, the Vistula, the North Sea
+and the Danube, was thenceforth named _Germania Magna_, or "Great
+Germany."
+
+Caesar's renown among the Germans, and probably also his skill in dealing
+with them, was so great, that when he left Gaul to return to Rome, he
+took with him a German legion of 6,000 men, which afterwards fought on
+his side against Pompey, on the battle-field of Pharsalia. The Roman
+agents penetrated into the interior of the country, and enlisted a great
+many of the free Germans who were tempted by the prospect of good pay
+and booty. Even the younger sons of the chiefs entered the Roman army,
+for the sake of a better military education.
+
+[Sidenote: 15 B. C. THE EXPEDITIONS OF DRUSUS.]
+
+No movement of any consequence took place for more than twenty years
+after Caesar's last departure from the banks of the Rhine. The Romans,
+having secured their possession of Gaul, now turned their attention to
+the subjugation of the Celtic tribes inhabiting the Alps and the
+lowlands south of the Danube, from the Lake of Constance to Vienna. This
+work had also been begun by Caesar: it was continued by the Emperor
+Augustus, whose step-sons, Tiberius and Drusus, finally overcame the
+desperate resistance of the native tribes. In the year 15 B. C. the
+Danube became the boundary between Rome and Germany on the south, as the
+Rhine already was on the west. The Roman provinces of Rhaetia, Noricum
+and Pannonia were formed out of the conquered territory.
+
+Augustus now sent Drusus, with a large army, to the Rhine, instructing
+him to undertake a campaign against the independent German tribes. It
+does not appear that the latter had given any recent occasion for this
+hostile movement: the Emperor's design was probably to extend the
+dominions of Rome to the North Sea and the Baltic. Drusus built a large
+fleet on the Rhine, descended that river nearly to its mouth, cut a
+canal for his vessels to a lake which is now the Zuyder Zee, and thus
+entered the North Sea. It was a bold undertaking, but did not succeed.
+He reached the mouth of the river Ems with his fleet, when the weather
+became so tempestuous that he was obliged to return.
+
+The next year, 11 B. C., he made an expedition into the land of the
+Sicambrians, during which his situation was often hazardous; but he
+succeeded in penetrating rather more than a hundred miles to the
+eastward of the Rhine, and establishing--not far from where the city of
+Paderborn now stands--a fortress called Aliso, which became a base for
+later operations against the German tribes. He next set about building a
+series of fortresses, fifty in number, along the western bank of the
+Rhine. Around the most important of these, towns immediately sprang up,
+and thus were laid the foundations of the cities of Strasburg, Mayence,
+Coblenz, Cologne, and many smaller places.
+
+[Sidenote: 9 B. C.]
+
+In the year 9 B. C. Drusus marched again into Germany. He defeated the
+Chatti in several bloody battles, crossed the passes of the Thuringian
+Forest, and forced his way through the land of the Cherusci (the Hartz
+region) to the Elbe. The legend says that he there encountered a German
+prophetess, who threatened him with coming evil, whereupon he turned
+about and retraced his way towards the Rhine. He died, however, during
+the march, and his dejected army had great difficulty in reaching the
+safe line of their fortresses.
+
+Tiberius succeeded to the command left vacant by the death of his
+brother Drusus. Less daring, but of a more cautious and scheming nature,
+he began by taking possession of the land of the Sicambrians and
+colonizing a part of the tribe on the west bank of the Rhine. He then
+gradually extended his power, and in the course of two years brought
+nearly the whole country between the Rhine and Weser under the rule of
+Rome. His successor, Domitius AEnobarbus, built military roads through
+Westphalia and the low, marshy plains towards the sea. These roads,
+which were called "long bridges," were probably made of logs, like the
+"corduroy" roads of our Western States, but they were of great service
+during the later Roman campaigns.
+
+After the lapse of ten years, however, the subjugated tribes between the
+Rhine and the Weser rose in revolt. The struggle lasted for three years
+more, without being decided; and then Augustus sent Tiberius a second
+time to Germany. The latter was as successful as at first: he crushed
+some of the rebellious tribes, accepted the submission of others, and,
+supported by a fleet which reached the Elbe and ascended that river to
+meet him, secured, as he supposed, the sway of Rome over nearly the
+whole of _Germania Magna_. This was in the fifth year of the Christian
+Era. Of the German tribes who still remained independent, there were the
+Semnones, Saxons and Angles, east of the Elbe, and the Burgundians,
+Vandals and Goths along the shore of the Baltic, together with one
+powerful tribe in Bohemia. The latter, the Marcomanni, who seem to have
+left their original home in Baden and Wuertemberg on account of the
+approach of the Romans, now felt that their independence was a second
+time seriously threatened. Their first measure of defence, therefore,
+was to strengthen themselves by alliances with kindred tribes.
+
+[Sidenote: 8 B. C. THE MARCOMANNI: VARUS.]
+
+The chief of the Marcomanni, named Marbod, was a man of unusual capacity
+and energy. It seems that he was educated as a Roman, but under what
+circumstances is not stated. This rendered him a more dangerous enemy,
+though it also made him an object of suspicion, and perhaps jealousy, to
+the other German chieftains. Nevertheless, he succeeded in uniting
+nearly all the independent tribes east of the Elbe under his command,
+and in organizing a standing army of 70,000 foot and 4,000 horse, which,
+disciplined like the Roman legions, might be considered a match for an
+equal number. His success created so much anxiety in Rome, that in the
+next year after Tiberius returned from his successes in Germany,
+Augustus determined to send a force of twelve legions against Marbod.
+Precisely at this time, a great insurrection broke out in Dalmatia and
+Pannonia, and when it was suppressed, after a struggle of three years,
+the Romans found it prudent to offer peace to Marbod, and he to accept
+it.
+
+By this time, the territory between the Rhine and the Weser had been
+fifteen years, and that between the Weser and the Elbe four years, under
+Roman government. The tribes inhabiting the first of these two regions
+had been much weakened, both by the part some of them had taken in the
+Gallic insurrections, and by the revolt of all against Rome, during the
+first three or four years of the Christian Era. But those who inhabited
+the region between the Weser and the Elbe, the chief of whom were the
+Cherusci, were still powerful, and unsubdued in spirit.
+
+While Augustus was occupied in putting down the insurrection in Dalmatia
+and Pannonia, with a prospect, as it seemed, of having to fight the
+Marcomanni afterwards, his representative in Germany was Quinctilius
+Varus, a man of despotic and relentless character. Tiberius, in spite of
+his later vices as Emperor, was prudent and conciliatory in his
+conquests; but Varus soon turned the respect of the Germans for the
+Roman power into the fiercest hate. He applied, in a more brutal form,
+the same measures which had been forced upon the Gauls. He overturned,
+at one blow, all the native forms of law, introduced heavy taxes, which
+were collected by force, punished with shameful death crimes which the
+people considered trivial, and decided all matters in Roman courts and
+in a language which was not yet understood.
+
+[Sidenote: 8 B. C.]
+
+This violent and reckless policy, which Varus enforced with a hand of
+iron, produced an effect the reverse of what he anticipated. The German
+tribes with hardly an exception, determined to make another effort to
+regain their independence; but they had been taught wisdom by seventy
+years of conflict with the Roman power. Up to this time, each tribe had
+acted for itself, without concert with its neighbors. They saw, now,
+that no single tribe could cope successfully with Rome: it was necessary
+that all should be united as one people: and they only waited until such
+a union could be secretly established, before rising to throw off the
+unendurable yoke which Varus had laid upon them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+HERMANN, THE FIRST GERMAN LEADER.
+
+(9--21 A. D.)
+
+The Cherusci. --Hermann's Early Life. --His Return to Germany. --Enmity
+    of Segestes. --Secret Union of the Tribes. --The Revolt.
+    --Destruction of Varus and his Legions. --Terror in Rome. --The
+    Battle-Field and Monument. --Dissensions. --First March of
+    Germanicus. --Second March and Battle with Hermann. --Defeat of
+    Caecina. --Third Expedition of Germanicus. --Battles on the Weser.
+    --His Retreat. --Views of Tiberius. --War between Hermann and
+    Marbod. --Murder of Hermann. --His Character. --Tacitus.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 9 A. D. HERMANN.]
+
+The Cherusci, who inhabited a part of the land between the Weser and the
+Elbe, including the Hartz Mountains, were the most powerful of the
+tribes conquered by Tiberius. They had no permanent class of nobles, as
+none of the early Germans seem to have had, but certain families were
+distinguished for their abilities and their character, or the services
+which they had rendered to their people in war. The head of one of these
+Cheruscan families was Segimar, one of whose sons was named Hermann. The
+latter entered the Roman service as a youth, distinguished himself by
+his military talent, was made a Roman knight, and commanded one of the
+legions which were employed by Augustus in suppressing the great
+insurrection of the Dalmatians and Pannonians. It seems probable that he
+visited Rome at the period of its highest power and splendor: it is
+certain, at least, that he comprehended the political system by means of
+which the Empire had become so great.
+
+When Hermann returned to his people, he was a man of twenty-five and
+already an experienced commander. He is described by the Latin writers
+as a chief of fine personal presence, great strength, an animated
+countenance and bright eyes. He was always self-possessed, quick in
+action, yet never rash or heedless. He found the Cherusci and all the
+neighboring tribes filled with hate of the Roman rule and burning to
+revenge the injuries they had suffered. His first movement was to
+organize a secret conspiracy among the tribes, which could be called
+into action as soon as a fortunate opportunity should arrive. Varus was
+then--A. D. 9--encamped near the Weser, in the land of the Saxons, with
+an army of 40,000 men, the best of the Roman legions. Hermann was still
+in the Roman service, and held a command under him. But among the other
+Germans in the Roman camp was Segestes, a chief of the Cherusci, whose
+daughter, Thusnelda, Hermann had stolen away from him and married.
+Thusnelda was afterwards celebrated in the German legends as a
+high-hearted, patriotic woman, who was devotedly attached to Hermann:
+but her father, Segestes, became his bitterest enemy.
+
+[Sidenote: 9 A. D.]
+
+In engaging the different tribes to unite, Hermann had great
+difficulties to overcome. They were not only jealous of each other,
+remembering ancient quarrels between themselves, but many families in
+each tribe were disposed to submit to Rome, being either hopeless of
+succeeding or tempted by the chance of office and wealth under the Roman
+Government. Hermann's own brother, Flavus, had become, and always
+remained, a Roman; other members of his family were opposed to his
+undertaking, and it seems that only his mother and his wife encouraged
+him with their sympathy. Nevertheless, he formed his plans with as much
+skill as boldness, while serving in the army of Varus and liable to be
+betrayed at any moment. In fact he _was_ betrayed by his father-in-law,
+Segestes, who became acquainted with the fact of a conspiracy and
+communicated the news to the Roman general. But Varus, haughty and
+self-confident, laughed at the story.
+
+It was time to act; and, as no opportunity came Hermann created one. He
+caused messengers to come to Varus, declaring that a dangerous
+insurrection had broken out in the lands between him and the Rhine. This
+was in the month of September, and Varus, believing the reports, broke
+up his camp and set out to suppress the insurrection before the winter.
+His nearest way led through the wooded, mountainous country along the
+Weser, which is now called the Teutoburger Forest. According to one
+account, Hermann was left behind to collect the auxiliary German troops,
+and then, with them, rejoin his general. It is certain that he remained,
+and instantly sent his messengers to all the tribes engaged in the
+conspiracy, whose warriors came to him with all speed. In a few days he
+had an army probably equal in numbers to that of Varus. In the meantime
+the season had changed: violent autumn storms burst over the land, and
+the Romans slowly advanced through the forests and mountain-passes, in
+the wind and rain.
+
+[Sidenote: 9 A. D. HERMANN'S CONSPIRACY.]
+
+Hermann knew the ground and was able to choose the best point of attack.
+With his army, hastily organized, he burst upon the legions of Varus,
+who resisted him, the first day, with their accustomed valor. But the
+attack was renewed the second day, and the endurance of the Roman troops
+began to give way: they held their ground with difficulty, but exerted
+themselves to the utmost, for there was now only one mountain ridge to
+be passed. Beyond it lay the broad plains of Westphalia, with fortresses
+and military roads, where they had better chances of defence. When the
+third day dawned, the storm was fiercer than ever. The Roman army
+crossed the summit of the last ridge and saw the securer plains before
+them. They commenced descending the long slope, but, just as they
+reached three steep, wooded ravines which were still to be traversed,
+the Germans swept down upon them from the summits, like a torrent, with
+shouts and far-sounding songs of battle.
+
+A complete panic seized the exhausted and disheartened Roman troops, and
+the fight soon became a slaughter. Varus, wounded, threw himself upon
+his sword: the wooded passes, below, were occupied in advance by the
+Germans, and hardly enough escaped to carry the news of the terrible
+defeat to the Roman frontier on the Rhine. Those who escaped death were
+sacrificed upon the altars of the gods, and the fiercest revenge was
+visited upon the Roman judges, lawyers and civil officers, who had
+trampled upon all the hallowed laws and customs of the people. The news
+of this great German victory reached Rome in the midst of the rejoicings
+over the suppression of the insurrection in Dalmatia and Pannonia, and
+turned the triumph into mourning. The aged Augustus feared the overthrow
+of his power. He was unable to comprehend such a sudden and terrible
+disaster: he let his hair and beard grow for months, as a sign of his
+trouble, and was often heard to cry aloud: "O, Varus, Varus, give me
+back my legions!"
+
+The location of the battle-field where Hermann defeated Varus has been
+preserved by tradition. The long southern slope of the mountain, near
+Detmold, now bare, but surrounded by forests, is called to this day the
+_Winfield_. Around the summit of the mountain there is a ring of huge
+stones, showing that it was originally consecrated to the worship of the
+ancient pagan deities. Here a pedestal of granite, in the form of a
+temple, has been built, and upon it has been placed a colossal statue of
+Hermann in bronze, 90 feet high, and visible at a distance of fifty
+miles.
+
+[Sidenote: 14 A. D.]
+
+Hermann's deeds were afterwards celebrated in the songs of his people,
+as they have been in modern German literature; but, like many other
+great men, the best results of his victory were cast away by the people
+whom he had liberated. It was now possible to organize into a nation the
+tribes which had united to overthrow the Romans, and such seems to have
+been his intention. He sent the head of Varus to Marbod, Chief of the
+Marcomanni, whose power he had secured by carrying out his original
+design; but he failed to secure the friendship, or even the neutrality,
+of the rival leader. At home his own family--bitterest among them all
+his father-in-law, Segestes--opposed his plans, and the Cherusci were
+soon divided into two parties,--that of the people, headed by Hermann,
+and that of the nobility, headed by Segestes.
+
+When Tiberius, therefore, hastily collected a new army and marched into
+Germany the following year, he encountered no serious opposition. The
+union of the tribes had been dissolved, and each avoided an encounter
+with the Romans. The country was apparently subjugated for the second
+time. The Emperor Augustus died, A. D. 14: Tiberius succeeded to the
+purple, and the command in Germany then devolved upon his nephew,
+Germanicus, the son of Drusus.
+
+The new commander, however, was detained in Gaul by insubordination in
+the army and signs of a revolt among the people, following the death of
+Augustus, and he did not reach Germany until six years after the defeat
+of Varus. His march was sudden and swift, and took the people by
+surprise, for the apparent indifference of Rome had made them careless.
+The Marsi were all assembled at one of their religious festivals,
+unprepared for defence, in a consecrated pine forest, when Germanicus
+fell upon them and slaughtered the greater number, after which he
+destroyed the sacred trees. The news of this outrage roused the sluggish
+spirit of all the neighboring tribes: they gathered together in such
+numbers that Germanicus had much difficulty in fighting his way back to
+the Rhine.
+
+[Sidenote: 15 A. D. THE INVASION OF GERMANICUS.]
+
+Hermann succeeded in escaping from his father-in-law, by whom he had
+been captured and imprisoned, and began to form a new union of the
+tribes. His first design was to release his wife, Thusnelda, from the
+hands of Segestes, and then destroy the authority of the latter, who was
+the head of the faction friendly to Rome. Germanicus re-entered Germany
+the following summer, A. D. 15, with a powerful army, and to him
+Segestes appealed for help against his own countrymen. The Romans
+marched at once into the land of the Cherusci. After a few days they
+reached the scene of the defeat of Varus, and there they halted to bury
+the thousands of skeletons which lay wasting on the mountainside. Then
+they met Segestes, who gave up his own daughter, Thusnelda, to
+Germanicus, as a captive.
+
+The loss of his wife roused Hermann to fury. He went hither and thither
+among the tribes, stirring the hearts of all with his fiery addresses.
+Germanicus soon perceived that a storm was gathering, and prepared to
+meet it. He divided his army into two parts, one of which was commanded
+by Caecina, and built a large fleet which transported one-half of his
+troops by sea and up the Weser. After joining Caecina, he marched into
+the Teutoburger Forest. Hermann met him near the scene of his great
+victory over Varus, and a fierce battle was fought. According to the
+Romans, neither side obtained any advantage over the other; but
+Germanicus, with half the army, fell back upon his fleet and returned to
+the Rhine by way of the North Sea.
+
+Caecina, with the remnant of his four legions, also retreated across the
+country, pursued by Hermann. In the dark forests and on the marshy
+plains they were exposed to constant assaults, and were obliged to fight
+every step of the way. Finally, in a marshy valley, the site of which
+cannot be discovered, the Germans suddenly attacked the Romans on all
+sides. Hermann cried out to his soldiers: "It shall be another day of
+Varus!" the songs of the women prophesied triumph, and the Romans were
+filled with forebodings of defeat. They fought desperately, but were
+forced to yield, and Hermann's words would have been made truth, had not
+the Germans ceased fighting in order to plunder the camp of their
+enemies. The latter were thus able to cut their way out of the valley
+and hastily fortify themselves for the night on an adjoining plain.
+
+[Sidenote: 15 A. D.]
+
+The German chiefs held a council of war, and decided, against the
+remonstrances of Hermann, to renew the attack at daybreak. This was
+precisely what Caecina expected; he knew what fate awaited them all if he
+should fail, and arranged his weakened forces to meet the assault. They
+fought with such desperation that the Germans were defeated, and Caecina
+was enabled, by forced marches, to reach the Rhine, whither the rumor of
+the entire destruction of his army had preceded him. The voyage of
+Germanicus was also unfortunate: he encountered a violent storm on the
+coast of Holland, and two of his legions barely escaped destruction. He
+had nothing to show, as the result of his campaign, except his captive
+Thusnelda and her son, who walked behind his triumphal chariot, in Rome,
+three years afterwards, and never again saw their native land; and his
+ally, the traitor Segestes, who ended his contemptible life somewhere in
+Gaul, under Roman protection.
+
+Germanicus, nevertheless, determined not to rest until he had completed
+the subjugation of the country as far as the Elbe. By employing all the
+means at his command he raised a new army of eight legions, with a great
+body of cavalry, and a number of auxiliary troops, formed of Gauls,
+Rhaetians, and even of Germans. He collected a fleet of more than a
+thousand vessels, and transported his army to the mouth of the Ems,
+where he landed and commenced the campaign. The Chauci, living near the
+sea, submitted at once, and some of the neighboring tribes were disposed
+to follow their example; but Hermann, with a large force of the united
+Germans, waited for the Romans among the mountains of the Weser.
+Germanicus entered the mountains by a gorge, near where the city of
+Minden now stands, and the two armies faced each other, separated only
+by the river. The legends state that Hermann and his brother Flavus, who
+was still in the service of Germanicus, held an angry conversation from
+the opposite shores, and the latter became so exasperated that he
+endeavored to cross on horseback and attack Hermann.
+
+Germanicus first sent his cavalry across the Weser, and then built a
+bridge, over which his whole army crossed. The Romans and Germans then
+met in battle, upon a narrow place between the river and some wooded
+hills, called the Meadow of the Elves. The fight was long and bloody:
+Hermann himself, severely wounded, was at one time almost in the hands
+of the Romans. It is said that his face was so covered with blood that
+he was only recognized by some of the German soldiers on the Roman side,
+who purposely allowed him to escape. The superior military skill of
+Germanicus, and the discipline of his troops, won the day: the Germans
+retreated, beaten but not yet subdued.
+
+[Sidenote: 16 A. D. END OF THE INVASION.]
+
+In a short time the latter were so far recruited that they brought on a
+second battle. On account of his wounds, Hermann was unable to command
+in person, but his uncle, Ingiomar, who took his place, imitated his
+boldness and bravery. The fight was even more fierce than the first had
+been, and the Romans, at one time, were only prevented from giving way
+by Germanicus placing himself at their head, in the thick of the battle.
+It appears that both sides held their ground at the close, and their
+losses were probably equally great, so that neither was in a condition
+to continue the struggle.
+
+Germanicus erected a monument on the banks of the Weser, claiming that
+he had conquered Germany to the Elbe; but before the end of the summer
+of the year 16 he re-embarked with his army, without leaving any tokens
+of Roman authority behind him. A terrible storm on the North Sea so
+scattered his fleet that many vessels were driven to the English coast:
+his own ship was in such danger that he landed among the Chauci and
+returned across the country to the Rhine. The autumn was far advanced
+before the scattered remnants of his great army could be collected and
+reorganized: then, in spite of the lateness of the season, he made a new
+invasion into the lands of the Chatti, or Hessians, in order to show
+that he was still powerful.
+
+Germanicus was a man of great ambition and of astonishing energy. As
+Julius Caesar had made Gaul Roman, so he determined to make Germany
+Roman. He began his preparations for another expedition the following
+summer; but the Emperor Tiberius, jealous of his increasing renown,
+recalled him to Rome, saying that it was better to let the German tribes
+exhaust themselves in their own internal discords, than to waste so many
+of the best legions in subduing them. Germanicus obeyed, returned to
+Rome, had his grand triumph, and was then sent to the East, where he
+shortly afterwards died, it was supposed by poison.
+
+[Sidenote: 19 A. D.]
+
+The words of the shrewd Emperor were true: two rival powers had been
+developed in Germany through the resistance to Rome, and they soon came
+into conflict. Marbod, Chief of the Marcomanni and many allied tribes,
+had maintained his position without war; but Hermann, now the recognized
+head of the Cherusci and their confederates, who had destroyed Varus and
+held Germanicus at bay, possessed a popularity, founded on his heroism,
+which spread far and wide through the German land. Even at that early
+day, the small chiefs in each tribe (corresponding to the later
+nobility) were opposed to the broad, patriotic union which Hermann had
+established, because it weakened their power and increased that of the
+people. They were also jealous of his great authority and influence, and
+even his uncle, Ingiomar, who had led so bravely the last battle against
+Germanicus, went over to the side of Marbod when it became evident that
+the rivalry of the two chiefs must lead to war.
+
+Our account of these events is obscure and imperfect. On the one side,
+it seems that Marbod's neutrality was a ground of complaint with
+Hermann; while Marbod declared that the latter had no right to draw the
+Semnones and Longobards--at first allied with the Marcomanni--into union
+with the Cherusci against Rome. In the year 19 the two marched against
+each other, and a great battle took place. Although neither was
+victorious, the popularity of Hermann drew so many of Marbod's allies to
+his side, that the latter fled to Italy and claimed the protection of
+Tiberius, who assigned to him Ravenna as a residence. He died there in
+the year 37, at a very advanced age. A Goth, named Catwalda, assisted by
+Roman influence, became his successor as chief of the Marcomanni.
+
+[Sidenote: 21 A. D. DEATH OF HERMANN.]
+
+After the flight of Marbod, Hermann seems to have devoted himself to the
+creation of a permanent union of the tribes which he had commanded. We
+may guess, but can not assert, that his object was to establish a
+national organization, like that of Rome, and in doing this, he must
+have come into conflict with laws and customs which were considered
+sacred by the people. But his remaining days were too few for even the
+beginning of a task which included such an advance in the civilization
+of the race. We only know that he was waylaid and assassinated by
+members of his own family in the year 21. He was then thirty-seven years
+old, and had been for thirteen years a leader of his people. The best
+monument to his ability and heroism may be found in the words of a
+Roman, the historian Tacitus; who says: "He was undoubtedly the
+liberator of Germany, having dared to grapple with the Roman power, not
+in its beginnings, like other kings and commanders, but in the maturity
+of its strength. He was not always victorious in battle, but in _war_ he
+was never subdued. He still lives in the songs of the Barbarians,
+unknown to the annals of the Greeks, who only admire that which belongs
+to themselves--nor celebrated as he deserves by the Romans, who, in
+praising the olden times, neglect the events of the later years."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+GERMANY DURING THE FIRST THREE CENTURIES OF OUR ERA.
+
+(21--300 A. D.)
+
+Truce between the Germans and Romans. --The Cherusci cease to exist.
+    --Incursions of the Chauci and Chatti. --Insurrection of the Gauls.
+    --Conquests of Cerealis. --The Roman Boundary. --German Legions
+    under Rome. --The _Agri Decumates_. --Influence of Roman
+    Civilization. --Commerce. --Changes among the Germans. --War
+    against Marcus Aurelius. --Decline of the Roman Power. --Union of
+    the Germans in Separate Nationalities. --The Alemanni. --The
+    Franks. --The Saxons. --The Goths. --The Thuringians. --The
+    Burgundians. --Wars with Rome in the Third Century. --The Emperor
+    Probus and his Policy. --Constantine. --Relative Position of the
+    two Races.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 50.]
+
+After the campaigns of Germanicus and the death of Hermann, a long time
+elapsed during which the relation of Germany to the Roman Empire might
+be called a truce. No serious attempt was made by the unworthy
+successors of Augustus to extend their sway beyond the banks of the
+Rhine and the Danube; and, as Tiberius had predicted, the German tribes
+were so weakened by their own civil wars that they were unable to cope
+with such a power as Rome. Even the Cherusci, Hermann's own people,
+became so diminished in numbers that, before the end of the first
+century, they ceased to exist as a separate tribe: their fragments were
+divided and incorporated with their neighbors on either side. Another
+tribe, the Ampsivarii, was destroyed in a war with the Chauci, and even
+the power of the fierce Chatti was broken by a great victory of the
+Hermunduri over them, in a quarrel concerning the possession of a sacred
+salt-spring.
+
+About the middle of the first century, however, an event is mentioned
+which shows that the Germans were beginning to appreciate and imitate
+the superior civilization of Rome. The Chauci, dwelling on the shores of
+the North Sea, built a fleet and sailed along the coast to the mouth of
+the Rhine, which they entered in the hope of exciting the Batavi and
+Frisii to rebellion. A few years afterwards the Chatti, probably for
+the sake of plunder, crossed the Rhine and invaded part of Gaul. Both
+attempts failed entirely; and the only serious movement of the Germans
+against Rome, during the century, took place while Vitellius and
+Vespasian were contending for the possession of the imperial throne. A
+German prophetess, of the name of Velleda, whose influence seems to have
+extended over all the tribes, promised them victory: they united,
+organized their forces, crossed the Rhine, and even laid siege to
+Mayence, the principal Roman city.
+
+[Sidenote: 70. THE INVASION OF CEREALIS.]
+
+The success of Vespasian over his rival left him free to meet this new
+danger. But in the meantime the Batavi, under their chief, Claudius
+Civilis, who had been previously fighting on the new Emperor's side,
+joined the Gauls in a general insurrection. This was so successful that
+all northern Gaul, from the Atlantic to the Rhine, threw off the Roman
+yoke. A convention of the chiefs was held at Rheims, in order to found a
+Gallic kingdom; but instead of adopting measures of defence, they
+quarrelled about the selection of a ruling family, the future capital of
+the kingdom, and other matters of small comparative importance.
+
+The approach of Cerealis, the Roman general sent by Vespasian with a
+powerful army in the year 70, put an end to the Gallic insurrection.
+Most of the Gallic tribes submitted without resistance: the Treviri, on
+the Moselle, were defeated in battle, the cities and fortresses on the
+western bank of the Rhine were retaken, and the Roman frontier was
+re-established. Nevertheless, the German tribes which had been allied
+with the Gauls--among them the Batavi--refused to submit, and they were
+strong enough to fight two bloody battles, in which Cerealis was only
+saved from defeat by what the Romans considered to be the direct
+interposition of the gods. The Batavi, although finally subdued in their
+home in Holland, succeeded in getting possession of the Roman admiral's
+vessel, by a night attack on his fleet on the Rhine. This trophy they
+sent by way of the river Lippe, an eastern branch of the Rhine, as a
+present to the great prophetess, Velleda.
+
+The defeat of the German tribes by Cerealis was not followed by a new
+Roman invasion of their territory. The Rhine remained the boundary,
+although the Romans crossed the river at various points and built
+fortresses upon the eastern bank. They appear, in like manner, to have
+crossed the Danube, and they also gradually acquired possession of the
+south-western corner of Germany, lying between the head-waters of that
+river and the Rhine. This region (now occupied by Baden and part of
+Wuertemberg) had been deserted by the Marcomanni when they marched to
+Bohemia, and it does not appear that any other German tribe attempted to
+take permanent possession of it. Its first occupants, the Helvetians,
+were now settled in Switzerland.
+
+[Sidenote: 100.]
+
+The enlisting of Germans to serve as soldiers in the Roman army, begun
+by Julius Caesar, was continued by the Emperors. The proofs of their
+heroism, which the Germans had given in resisting Germanicus, made them
+desirable as troops; and, since they were accustomed to fight with their
+neighbors at home, they had no scruples in fighting them under the
+banner of Rome. Thus one German legion after another was formed, taken
+to Rome, Spain, Greece or the East, and its veterans, if they returned
+home when disabled by age or wounds, carried with them stories of the
+civilized world, of cities, palaces and temples, of agriculture and the
+arts, of a civil and political system far wiser and stronger than their
+own.
+
+The series of good Emperors, from Vespasian to Marcus Aurelius (A. D. 70
+to 181) formed military colonies of their veteran soldiers, whether
+German, Gallic or Roman, in the region originally inhabited by the
+Marcomanni. They were governed by Roman laws, and they paid a tithe, or
+tenth part, of their revenues to the Empire, whence this district was
+called the _Agri Decumates_, or Tithe-Lands. As it had no definite
+boundary towards the north and north-east, the settlements gradually
+extended to the Main, and at last included a triangular strip of
+territory extending from that river to the Rhine at Cologne. By this
+time the Romans had built, in their provinces of Rhaetia, Noricum and
+Pannonia, south of the Danube, the cities of Augusta Vindelicorum, now
+Augsburg, and Vindobona, now Vienna, with another on the north bank of
+the Danube, where Ratisbon stands at present.
+
+From the last-named point to the Rhine at Cologne they built a stockade,
+protected by a deep ditch, to keep off the independent German tribes,
+even as they had built a wall across the north of England, to keep off
+the Picts and Scots. Traces of this line of defence are still to be
+seen. Another and shorter line, connecting the head-waters of the Main
+with the Lake of Constance, protected the territory on the east. Their
+frontier remained thus clearly defined for nearly two hundred years. On
+their side of the line they built fortresses and cities, which they
+connected by good highways, they introduced a better system of
+agriculture, established commercial intercourse, not only between their
+own provinces but also with the independent tribes, and thus extended
+the influence of their civilization. For the first time, fruit-trees
+were planted on German soil: the rich cloths and ornaments of Italy and
+the East, the arms and armor, the gold and silver, and the wines of the
+South, soon found a market within the German territory; while the horses
+and cattle, furs and down, smoked beef and honey of the Germans, the
+fish of their streams, and the radishes and asparagus raised on the
+Rhine, were sent to Rome in exchange for those luxuries. Wherever the
+Romans discovered a healing spring, as at Baden-Baden, Aix-la-Chapelle
+and Spa, they built splendid baths; where they found ores or marble in
+the mountains, they established mines or hewed columns for their
+temples, and the native tribes were thus taught the unsuspected riches
+of their own land.
+
+[Sidenote: 150. THE ROMAN FRONTIER.]
+
+For nearly a hundred years after Vespasian's accession to the throne,
+there was no serious interruption to the peaceful intercourse of the two
+races. During this time, we must take it for granted that a gradual
+change must have been growing up in the habits and ideas of the Germans.
+It is probable that they then began to collect in villages; to use stone
+as well as wood in building their houses and fortresses; to depend more
+on agriculture and less on hunting and fishing for their subsistence;
+and to desire the mechanical skill, the arts of civilization, which the
+Romans possessed. The extinction of many smaller tribes, also, taught
+them the necessity of learning to subdue their internal feuds, and
+assist instead of destroying each other. On the north of them was the
+sea; on the east the Sarmatians and other Slavonic tribes, much more
+savage than themselves: in every other direction they were confronted by
+Rome. The complete subjugation of their Celtic neighbors in Gaul was
+always before their eyes. In Hermann's day, they were still too ignorant
+to understand the necessity of his plan of union; but now that tens of
+thousands of their people had learned the extent and power of the Roman
+Empire, and the commercial intercourse of a hundred years had shown them
+their own deficiencies, they reached the point where a new development
+in their history became possible.
+
+[Sidenote: 166.]
+
+Such a development came to disturb the reign of the noble Emperor,
+Marcus Aurelius, in the latter half of the second century. About the
+year 166, all the German tribes, from the Danube to the Baltic, united
+in a grand movement against the Roman Empire. The Marcomanni, who still
+inhabited Bohemia, appear as their leaders, and the Roman writers attach
+their name to the long and desperate war which ensued. We have no
+knowledge of the cause of this struggle, the manner in which the union
+of the Germans was effected, or even the names of their leaders: we only
+know that their invasion of the Roman territory was several times driven
+back and several times recommenced; that Marcus Aurelius died in Vienna,
+in 181, without having seen the end; and that his son and successor,
+Commodus, bought a peace instead of winning it by the sword. At one
+time, during the war, the Chatti forced their way through the
+Tithe-Lands and Switzerland, and crossed the Alps: at another, the
+Marcomanni and Quadi besieged the city of Aquileia, on the northern
+shore of the Adriatic.
+
+The ancient boundary between the Roman Empire and Germany was restored,
+but at a cost which the former could not pay a second time. For a
+hundred and fifty years longer the Emperors preserved their territory:
+Rome still ruled, in name, from Spain to the Tigris, from Scotland to
+the Desert of Sahara, but her power was like a vast, hollow shell.
+Luxury, vice, taxation and continual war had eaten out the heart of the
+Empire; Italy had grown weak and was slowly losing its population, and
+the same causes were gradually ruining Spain, Gaul and Britain. During
+this period the German tribes, notwithstanding their terrible losses in
+war, had preserved their vigor by the simplicity, activity and morality
+of their habits: they had considerably increased in numbers, and from
+the time of Marcus Aurelius on, they felt themselves secure against any
+further invasion of their territory.
+
+Then commenced a series of internal changes, concerning which,
+unfortunately, we have no history. We can only guess that their origin
+dates from the union of all the principal tribes under the lead of the
+Marcomanni; but whether they were brought about with or without internal
+wars; whether wise and far-seeing chiefs or the sentiment of the people
+themselves, contributed most to their consummation; finally, when these
+changes began and when they were completed--are questions which can
+never be accurately settled.
+
+[Sidenote: 250--300. GERMAN NATIONALITIES.]
+
+When the Germans again appear in history, in the third century of our
+era, we are surprised to find that the names of nearly all the tribes
+with which we are familiar have disappeared, and new names, of much
+wider significance, have taken their places. Instead of twenty or thirty
+small divisions, we now find the race consolidated into four chief
+nationalities, with two other inferior though independent branches. We
+also find that the geographical situation of the latter is no longer the
+same as that of the smaller tribes out of which they grew. Migrations
+must have taken place, large tracts of territory must have changed
+hands, many reigning families must have been overthrown, and new ones
+arisen. In short, the change in the organization of the Germans is so
+complete that it can hardly have been accomplished by peaceable means.
+Each of the new nationalities has an important part to play in the
+history of the following centuries, and we will therefore describe them
+separately:
+
+1. THE ALEMANNI.--The name of this division (_Allemannen_,[A] signifying
+"all men") shows that it was composed of fragments of many tribes. The
+Alemanni first made their appearance along the Main, and gradually
+pushed southward over the Tithe-Lands, where the military veterans of
+Rome had settled, until they occupied the greater part of South-western
+Germany, and Eastern Switzerland, to the Alps. Their descendants inhabit
+the same territory, to this day.
+
+[A] _Allemagne_ remains the French name for Germany.
+
+2. THE FRANKS.--It is not known whence this name was derived, nor what
+is its meaning. The Franks are believed to have been formed out of the
+Sicambrians in Westphalia, together with a portion of the Chatti and the
+Batavi in Holland, and other tribes. We first hear of them on the lower
+Rhine, but they soon extended their territory over a great part of
+Belgium and Westphalia. Their chiefs were already called kings, and
+their authority was hereditary.
+
+3. THE SAXONS.--This was one of the small original tribes, settled in
+Holstein: the name is derived from their peculiar weapon, a short sword,
+called _sahs_. We find them now occupying nearly all the territory
+between the Hartz Mountains and the North Sea, from the Elbe westward
+to the Rhine. The Cherusci, the Chauci, and other tribes named by
+Tacitus, were evidently incorporated with the Saxons, who exhibit the
+same characteristics. There appears to have been a natural enmity--no
+doubt bequeathed from the earlier tribes out of which both grew--between
+them and the Franks.
+
+[Sidenote: 250--300.]
+
+4. THE GOTHS.--The traditions of the Goths state that they were settled
+in Sweden before they were found by the Greek navigators on the southern
+shore of the Baltic, in 330 B. C. It is probable that only a portion of
+the tribe migrated, and that the present Scandinavian race is descended
+from the remainder. As the Baltic Goths increased in numbers, they
+gradually ascended the Vistula, pressed eastward along the base of the
+Carpathians and reached the Black Sea, in the course of the second
+century after Christ. They thus possessed a broad belt of territory,
+separating the rest of Europe from the wilder Slavonic races who
+occupied Central Russia. The Vandals and Alans, with the Heruli, Rugii
+and other smaller tribes, all Germanic, as well as a portion of the
+Slavonic Sarmatians, were incorporated with them; and it was probably
+the great extent of territory they controlled which occasioned their
+separation into Ostrogoths (East-Goths) and Visigoths (West-Goths). They
+first came in contact with the Romans, beyond the mouth of the Danube,
+about the beginning of the third century.
+
+5. THE THURINGIANS.--This branch had only a short national existence. It
+was composed of the Hermunduri, with fragments of other tribes, united
+under one king, and occupied all of Central Germany, from the Hartz
+southward to the Danube.
+
+6. THE BURGUNDIANS.--Leaving their original home in Prussia, between the
+Oder and the Vistula, the Burgundians crossed the greater part of
+Germany in a south-western direction, and first settled in a portion of
+what is now Franconia, between the Thuringians and the Alemanni. Not
+long afterwards, however, they passed through the latter, and took
+possession of the country on the west bank of the Rhine, between
+Strasburg and Mayence.
+
+[Sidenote: 270. INCURSIONS OF THE GOTHS.]
+
+Caracalla came into collision with the Alemanni in the year 213, and the
+Emperor Maximin, who was a Goth on his father's side, laid waste their
+territory, in 236. About the latter period, the Franks began to make
+predatory incursions into Gaul, and the Goths became troublesome to the
+Romans, on the lower Danube. In 251 the Emperor Decius found his death
+among the marshes of Dacia, while trying to stay the Gothic invasion,
+and his successor, Gallus, only obtained a temporary peace by agreeing
+to pay an annual sum of money, thus really making Rome a tributary
+power. But the Empire had become impoverished, and the payment soon
+ceased. Thereupon the Goths built fleets, and made voyages of plunder,
+first to Trebizond and the other towns on the Asiatic shore of the Black
+Sea; then they passed the Hellespont, took and plundered the great city
+of Nicomedia, Ephesus with its famous temple, the Grecian isles, and
+even Corinth, Argos and Athens. In the meantime the Alemanni had resumed
+the offensive: they came through Rhaetiae, and descended to the Garda
+lake, in Northern Italy.
+
+The Emperor, Claudius II., turned back this double invasion. He defeated
+and drove back the Alemanni, and then, in the year 270, won a great
+victory over the Goths, in the neighborhood of Thessalonica. His
+successor, Aurelian, followed up the advantage, and in the following
+year made a treaty with the Goths, by which the Danube became the
+frontier between them and the Romans. The latter gave up to them the
+province of Dacia, lying north of the river, and withdrew their
+colonists and military garrisons to the southern side.
+
+Both the Franks and Saxons profited by these events. They let their
+mutual hostility rest for awhile, built fleets, and sailed forth in the
+West on voyages of plunder, like their relatives, the Goths, in the
+East. The Saxons descended on the coasts of Britain and Gaul; the Franks
+sailed to Spain, and are said to have even entered the Mediterranean.
+When Probus became Emperor, in the year 276, he found a great part of
+Gaul overrun and ravaged by them and by the Alemanni, on the Upper
+Rhine. He succeeded, after a hard struggle, in driving back the German
+invaders, restored the line of stockade from the Rhine to the Danube,
+and built new fortresses along the frontier. On the other hand, he
+introduced into Germany the cultivation of the vine, which the previous
+Emperors had not permitted, and thus laid the foundation of the famous
+vineyards of the Rhine and the Moselle.
+
+[Sidenote: 300.]
+
+Probus endeavored to weaken the power of the Germans, by separating and
+colonizing them, wherever it was possible. One of his experiments,
+however, had a very different result from what he expected. He
+transported a large number of Frank captives to the shore of the Black
+Sea; but, instead of quietly settling there, they got possession of some
+vessels, soon formed a large fleet, sailed into the Mediterranean,
+plundered the coasts of Asia Minor, Greece and Sicily, where they even
+captured the city of Syracuse, and at last, after many losses and
+marvellous adventures, made their way by sea to their homes on the Lower
+Rhine.
+
+Towards the close of the third century, Constantine, during the reign of
+his father, Constantius, suppressed an insurrection of the Franks, and
+even for a time drove them from their islands on the coast of Holland.
+He afterward crossed the Rhine, but found it expedient not to attempt an
+expedition into the interior. He appears to have had no war with the
+Alemanni, but he founded the city of Constance, on the lake of the same
+name, for the purpose of keeping them in check.
+
+The boundaries between Germany and Rome still remained the Rhine and the
+Danube, but on the east they were extended to the Black Sea, and in
+place of the invasions of Caesar, Drusus and Germanicus, the Empire was
+obliged to be content when it succeeded in repelling the invasions made
+upon its own soil. Three hundred years of very slow, but healthy growth
+on the one side, and of luxury, corruption and despotism on the other,
+had thus changed the relative position of the two races.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE RISE AND MIGRATIONS OF THE GOTHS.
+
+(300--412.)
+
+Rise of the Goths. --German Invasions of Gaul. --Victories of Julian.
+    --The Ostrogoths and Visigoths. --Bishop Ulfila. --The Gothic
+    Language. --The Gothic King, Athanaric. --The Coming of the Huns.
+    --Death of Hermanric. --The Goths take refuge in Thrace. --Their
+    Revolt. --Defeat of Valens. --The Goths under Theodosius. --The
+    Franks and Goths meet in Battle. --Alaric, the Visigoth. --He
+    invades Greece. --Battle with Stilicho. --Alaric besieges Rome.
+    --He enters Rome, A. D. 410. --His Death and Burial. --Succession
+    of Ataulf. --The Visigoths settle in Southern Gaul. --Beginning of
+    other Migrations.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 325. RISE OF THE GOTHS.]
+
+Rome, as the representative of the civilization of the world, and, after
+the year 313, as the political power which left Christianity free to
+overthrow the ancient religions, is still the central point of
+historical interest during the greater part of the fourth century. Until
+the death of the Emperor Valentinian, in 375, the ancient boundaries of
+the Empire, though frequently broken down, were continually
+re-established, and the laws and institutions of the Romans had
+prevailed so long throughout the great extent of conquered territory
+that the inhabitants now knew no other.
+
+But beyond the Danube had arisen a new power, the independence of which,
+after the time of Aurelian, was never disputed by the Roman Emperors.
+The Goths were the first of the Germanic tribes to adopt a monarchical
+form of government, and to acquire some degree of civilization. They
+were numerous and well organized; and Constantine, who was more of a
+diplomatist than a general, found it better to preserve peace with them
+for forty years, by presents and payments, than to provoke them to war.
+His best soldiers were enlisted among them, and it was principally the
+valor of his Gothic troops which enabled him to defeat the rival
+emperor, Licinius, in 325. From that time, 40,000 Goths formed the main
+strength of his army.
+
+[Sidenote: 350.]
+
+The important part which these people played in the history of Europe
+renders it necessary that we should now sketch their rise and growth as
+a nation. First, however, let us turn to Western and Northern Germany,
+where the development of the new nationalities was longer delayed, and
+describe the last of their struggles with the power of Rome, during the
+fourth century.
+
+After the death of Constantine, in 337, the quarrels of his sons and
+brothers for the Imperial throne gave the Germans a new opportunity to
+repeat their invasions of Gaul. The Franks were the first to take
+advantage of it: they got possession of Belgium, which was not
+afterwards retaken. The Alemanni followed, and planted themselves on the
+western bank of the Rhine, which they held, although Strasburg and other
+fortified cities still belonged to the Romans. About the year 350, a
+Frank or Saxon, of the name of Magnentius, was proclaimed Emperor by a
+part of the Roman army. He was defeated by the true Emperor, Constantius
+II., but the victory seems to have exhausted the military resources of
+the latter, for immediately afterwards another German invasion occurred.
+
+This time, the Franks took and pillaged Cologne, the Alemanni destroyed
+Strasburg and Mayence, and the Saxons, who had now become a sea-faring
+people, visited the northwestern coasts of Gaul. Constantius II. gave
+the command to his nephew, Julian (afterwards, as Emperor, called the
+Apostate), who first retook Cologne from the Franks, and then turned his
+forces against the Alemanni. The king of the latter, Chnodomar, had
+collected a large army, with which he encountered Julian on the banks of
+the Rhine, near Strasburg. The battle which ensued was fiercely
+contested; but Julian was completely victorious. Chnodomar was taken
+prisoner, and only a few of his troops escaped, like those of
+Ariovistus, 400 years before, by swimming across the Rhine. Although the
+season was far advanced, Julian followed them, crossed their territory
+to the Main, rebuilt the destroyed Roman fortresses, and finally
+accepted an armistice of ten months which they offered to him.
+
+He made use of this time to intimidate the Franks and Saxons. Starting
+from Lutetia (now Paris) early in the summer of 358, he drove the Franks
+beyond the Schelde, received their submission, and then marched a second
+time against the Alemanni. He laid waste their well-settled and
+cultivated land between the Rhine, the Main and the Neckar, crossed
+their territory to the frontiers of the Burgundians (in what is now
+Franconia, or Northern Bavaria), liberated 20,000 Roman captives, and
+made the entire Alemannic people tributary to the Empire. His accession
+to the imperial throne, in 360, delivered the Germans from the most
+dangerous and dreaded enemy they had known since the time of Germanicus.
+
+[Sidenote: 375. TERRITORY OF THE GOTHS.]
+
+Not many years elapsed before the Franks and Alemanni again overran the
+old boundaries, and the Saxons landed on the shores of England. The
+Emperor Valentinian employed both diplomacy and force, and succeeded in
+establishing a temporary peace; but after his death, in the year 375,
+the Roman Empire, the capital of which had been removed to
+Constantinople in 330, was never again in a condition to maintain its
+supremacy in Gaul, or to prevent the Germans from crossing the Rhine.
+
+We now return to the Goths, who already occupied the broad territory
+included in Poland, Southern Russia, and Roumania. The river Dniester
+may be taken as the probable boundary between the two kingdoms into
+which they had separated. The Ostrogoths, under their aged king,
+Hermanric, extended from that river eastward nearly to the Caspian Sea:
+on the north they had no fixed boundary, but they must have reached to
+the latitude of Moscow. The Visigoths stretched westward from the
+Dniester to the Danube, and northward from Hungary to the Baltic Sea.
+The Vandals were for some generations allied with the latter, but war
+having arisen between them, the Emperor Constantine interposed. He
+succeeded in effecting a separation of the two, and in settling the
+Vandals in Hungary, where they remained for forty years under the
+protection of the Roman Empire.
+
+From the time of their first encounter with the Romans, in Dacia, during
+the third century, the Goths appear to have made rapid advances in their
+political organization and the arts of civilized life. They were the
+first of the Germanic nations who accepted Christianity. On one of their
+piratical expeditions to the shores of Asia Minor, they brought away as
+captive a Christian boy. They named him Ulfila, and by that name he is
+still known to the world. He devoted his life to the overthrow of their
+pagan faith, and succeeded. He translated the Bible into their language,
+and, it is supposed, even invented a Gothic alphabet, since it is
+doubtful whether they already possessed one. A part of Ulfila's
+translation of the New Testament escaped destruction, and is now
+preserved in the library at Upsala, in Sweden. It is the only specimen,
+in existence of the Gothic language at that early day. From it we learn
+how rich and refined was that language, and how many of the elements of
+the German and English tongues it contained. The following are the
+opening words of the Lord's Prayer, as Ulfila wrote them between the
+years 350 and 370 of our era:
+
+  GOTHIC.   _Atta unsara,   thu in himinam,   veihnai       namo thein._
+  ENGLISH.  Father our,     thou in  heaven,  be hallowed   name thine.
+  GERMAN.   Vater unser,    du  im  Himmel,   geweiht werde Name dein.
+
+  GOTHIC.   _quimai Thiudinassus  Theins, vairthai  vilja  theins,_
+  ENGLISH.     come    Kingdom     thine,  be done  will   thine,
+  GERMAN.    komme    Herrschaft   dein,    werde   Wille  dein,
+
+  GOTHIC.    _sve in himina, jah  ana airthai._
+  ENGLISH.     as in heaven,   also on  earth.
+  GERMAN.     wie im Himmel,   auch auf Erden.
+
+[Sidenote: 350.]
+
+Ulfila was born in 318, became a bishop of the Christian Church, spent
+his whole life in teaching the Goths, and died in Constantinople, in the
+year 378. There is no evidence that he, or any other of the Christian
+missionaries of his time, were persecuted, or even seriously hindered in
+the good work, by the Goths: the latter seem to have adopted the new
+faith readily, and the Arian creed which Ulfila taught, although
+rejected by the Church of Rome, was stubbornly held by their descendants
+for a period of nearly five hundred years.
+
+Somewhere between 360 and 370, the long peace between the Romans and the
+Goths was disturbed; but the Emperor Valens and the Gothic king,
+Athanaric, had a conference on board a vessel on the Danube, and came to
+an understanding. Athanaric refused to cross the river, on account of a
+vow made on some former occasion. The Goths, it appears, were by this
+time learning the art of statesmanship, and they might have continued on
+good terms with the Romans, but for the sudden appearance on the scene
+of an entirely new race, coming, as they themselves had come so many
+centuries before, from the unknown regions of Central Asia.
+
+[Sidenote: 375. COMING OF THE HUNS.]
+
+In 375, the year of Valentinian's death, a race of people up to that
+time unknown, and whose name--the Huns--had never before been heard,
+crossed the Volga and invaded the territory of the Ostrogoths. Later
+researches render it probable that they came from the steppes of
+Mongolia, and that they belonged to the Tartar family; but, in the
+course of their wanderings, before reaching Europe, they had not only
+lost all the traditions of their former history, but even their
+religious faith. Their very appearance struck terror into the Goths, who
+were so much further advanced in civilization. They were short, clumsy
+figures, with broad and hideously ugly faces, flat noses, oblique eyes
+and long black hair, and were clothed in skins which they wore until
+they dropped in rags from their bodies. But they were marvellous
+horsemen, and very skilful in using the bow and lance. The men were on
+their horses' backs from morning till night, while the women and
+children followed their march in rude carts. They came in such immense
+numbers, and showed so much savage daring and bravery, that several
+smaller tribes, allied with the Ostrogoths, or subject to them, went
+over immediately to the Huns.
+
+The kingdom of the Ostrogoths, almost without offering resistance, fell
+to pieces. The king, Hermanric, now more than a hundred years old, threw
+himself upon his sword, at their approach: his successor, Vitimer, gave
+battle, but lost the victory and his life at the same time. The great
+body of the people retreated westward before the Huns, who, following
+them, reached the Dnieper. Here Athanaric, king of the Visigoths, was
+posted with a large army, to dispute their passage; but the Huns
+succeeded in finding a fording-place which was left unguarded, turned
+his flank, and defeated him with great slaughter. Nothing now remained
+but for both branches of the Gothic people, united in misfortune, to
+retreat to the Danube.
+
+Athanaric took refuge among the mountains of Transylvania, and the
+Bishop Ulfila was dispatched to Constantinople to ask the assistance of
+the Emperor Valens, who was entreated to permit that the Goths,
+meanwhile, might cross the Danube and find a refuge on Roman territory.
+Valens yielded to the entreaty, but attached very hard conditions to his
+permission: the Goths were allowed to cross unarmed, after giving up
+their wives and children as hostages. In their fear of the Huns, they
+were obliged to accept these conditions, and hundreds of thousands
+thronged across the Danube. They soon exhausted the supplies of the
+region, and then began to suffer famine, of which the Roman officers and
+traders took advantage, demanding their children as slaves in return for
+the cats and dogs which they gave to the Goths as food.
+
+[Sidenote: 376.]
+
+This treatment brought about its own revenge. Driven to desperation by
+hunger and the outrages inflicted upon them, the Goths secretly procured
+arms, rose, and made themselves masters of the country. The Roman
+governor marched against them, but their Chief, Fridigern, defeated him
+and utterly destroyed his army. The news of this event induced large
+numbers of Gothic soldiers to desert from the imperial army, and join
+their countrymen. Fridigern, thus strengthened, commenced a war of
+revenge: he crossed the Balkan, laid waste all Thrace, Macedonia and
+Thessaly, and settled his own people in the most fertile parts of the
+plundered provinces. The Ostrogoths had crossed the Danube at the first
+report of his success, and had taken part in his conquests.
+
+Towards the end of the year 377, the Emperor Valens raised a large army
+and marched against Fridigern. A battle was fought at the foot of the
+Balkan, and a second, the following year, before the walls of
+Adrianople. In both the Goths were victorious: in the latter two-thirds
+of the Roman troops fell, Valens himself, doubtless, among them,--for he
+was never seen or heard of after that day. His nephew, Gratian,
+succeeded to the throne, but associated with him Theodosius, a young
+Spaniard of great ability, as Emperor of the East. While Gratian marched
+to Gaul, to stay the increasing inroads of the Franks, Theodosius was
+left to deal with the Goths, who were beginning to cultivate the fields
+of Thrace, as if they meant to stay there.
+
+He was obliged to confirm them in the possession of the greater part of
+the country. They were called allies of the Empire, were obliged to
+furnish a certain number of soldiers, but retained their own kings, and
+were governed by their own laws. After the death of Fridigern,
+Theodosius invited Athanaric to visit him. The latter, considering
+himself now absolved from his vow not to cross the Danube, accepted the
+invitation, and was received in Constantinople on the footing of an
+equal by Theodosius. He died a few weeks after his arrival, and the
+Emperor walked behind his bier, in the funeral procession. For several
+years the relations between the two powers continued peaceful and
+friendly. Both branches of the Goths were settled together, south of the
+Danube, their relinquished territory north of that river being occupied
+by the Huns, who were still pressing westward.
+
+[Sidenote: 400. ALARIC INVADES GREECE.]
+
+In Italy, Valentinian II. succeeded his brother Gratian. His chief
+minister was a Frank, named Arbogast, who, learning that he was to be
+dismissed from his place, had the young Valentinian assassinated, and
+set up a new Emperor, Eugene, in his stead. This act brought him into
+direct conflict with Theodosius. Arbogast called upon his countrymen,
+the Franks, who sent a large body of troops to his assistance, while
+Theodosius strengthened his army with 20,000 Gothic soldiers. Then, for
+the first time, Frank and Goth--West-German and East-German--faced each
+other as enemies. The Gothic auxiliaries of Theodosius were commanded by
+two leaders, Alaric and Stilicho, already distinguished among their
+people, and destined to play a remarkable part in the history of Europe.
+The battle between the two armies was fought near Aquileia, in the year
+394. The sham Emperor, Eugene, was captured and beheaded, Arbogast threw
+himself upon his sword, and Theodosius was master of the West.
+
+The Emperor, however, lived but a few months to enjoy his single rule.
+He died at Milan, in 395, after having divided the government of the
+Empire between his two sons. Honorius, the elder, was sent to Rome, with
+the Gothic chieftain, Stilicho, as his minister and guardian; while the
+boy Arcadius, at Constantinople, was intrusted to the care of a Gaul,
+named Rufinus. Alaric, perhaps a personal enemy of the latter, perhaps
+jealous of the elevation of Stilicho to such an important place, refused
+to submit to the new government. He collected a large body of his
+countrymen, and set out on a campaign of plunder through Greece. Every
+ancient city, except Thebes, fell into his hands, and only Athens was
+allowed to buy her exemption from pillage.
+
+The Gaul, Rufinus, took no steps to arrest this devastation; wherefore,
+it is said, he was murdered at the instigation of Stilicho, who then
+sent a fleet against Alaric. This undertaking was not entirely
+successful, and the government of Constantinople finally purchased peace
+by making Alaric the Imperial Legate in Illyria. In the year 403, he was
+sent to Italy, as the representative of the Emperor Arcadius, to
+overthrow the power of his former fellow-chieftain, Stilicho, who ruled
+in the name of Honorius. His approach, with a large army, threw the
+whole country into terror. Honorius shut himself up within the walls of
+Ravenna, while Stilicho called the legions from Gaul, and even from
+Britain, to his support. A great battle was fought near the Po, but
+without deciding the struggle; and Alaric had already begun to march
+towards Rome, when a treaty was made by which he and his army were
+allowed to return to Illyria with all the booty they had gathered in
+Italy.
+
+[Sidenote: 408.]
+
+Five years afterwards, when Stilicho was busy in endeavoring to keep the
+Franks and Alemanni out of Gaul, and to drive back the incursions of
+mixed German and Celtic bands which began to descend from the Alps,
+Alaric again made his appearance, demanding the payment of certain sums,
+which he claimed were due to him. Stilicho, having need of his military
+strength elsewhere, satisfied Alaric's claim by the payment of 4,000
+pounds of gold; but the Romans felt themselves bitterly humiliated, and
+Honorius, listening to the rivals of Stilicho, gave his consent to the
+assassination of the latter and his whole family including the Emperor's
+own sister, Serena, whom Stilicho had married.
+
+When the news of this atrocious act reached Alaric, he turned and
+marched back to Italy. There was now no skilful commander to oppose him:
+the cowardly Honorius took refuge in Ravenna, and the Goths advanced,
+without resistance, to the gates of Rome. The walls, built by Aurelian,
+were too strong to be taken by assault, but all supplies were cut off,
+and the final surrender of the city became only a question of time. When
+a deputation of Romans represented to Alaric that the people still
+numbered half a million, he answered: "The thicker the grass, the better
+the mowing!" They were finally obliged to yield to his demands, and pay
+a ransom consisting of 5,000 pounds of gold, 30,000 pounds of silver,
+many thousands of silk robes, and a large quantity of spices,--a total
+value of something more than three millions of dollars. In addition to
+this, 40,000 slaves, mostly of Germanic blood, escaped to his camp and
+became free.
+
+Alaric only withdrew into Northern Italy, where he soon found a new
+cause of dispute with the government of Honorius, in Ravenna. He seems
+to have been a man of great military genius, but little capacity for
+civil rule; of much energy and ambition, but little judgment. The result
+of his quarrel with Honorius was, that he marched again to Rome,
+proclaimed Attalus, the governor of the city, Emperor, and then demanded
+entrance for himself and his troops, as an ally. The demand could not be
+refused: Rome was opened to the Goths, who participated in the festivals
+which accompanied the coronation of Attalus. It was nothing but a farce,
+and seems to have been partly intended as such by Alaric, who publicly
+deposed the new Emperor shortly afterwards, on his march to Ravenna.
+
+[Sidenote: 410. ALARIC IN ROME.]
+
+There were further negotiations with Honorius, which came to nothing;
+then Alaric advanced upon Rome the third time, not now as an ally, but
+as an avowed enemy. The city could make no resistance, and on the 24th
+of August, 410, the Goths entered it as conquerors. This event, so
+famous in history, has been greatly misrepresented. Later researches
+show that, although the citizens were despoiled of their wealth, the
+buildings and monuments were spared. The people were subjected to
+violence and outrage for the space of six days, after which Alaric
+marched out of Rome with his army, leaving the city, in its external
+appearance, very much as he found it.
+
+He directed his course towards Southern Italy, with the intention, it
+was generally believed, of conquering Sicily and then crossing into
+Africa. The plan was defeated by his death, in 411, at Cosenza, a town
+on the banks of the Busento, in Calabria. His soldiers turned the river
+from its course, dug a grave in its bed, and there laid the body of
+Alaric, with all the gems and gold he had gathered. Then the Busento was
+restored to its channel, and the slaves who had performed the work were
+slain, in order that Alaric's place of burial might never be known.
+
+His brother-in-law, Ataulf (Adolph), was his successor. He was also the
+brother-in-law of Honorius, having married the latter's sister,
+Placidia, after she was taken captive by Alaric. He was therefore
+strengthened by the conquests of the one and by his family connection
+with the other. The Visigoths, who had gradually gathered together under
+Alaric, seem to have had enough of marching to and fro, and they
+acquiesced in an arrangement made between Ataulf and Honorius, according
+to which the former led them out of Italy in 412, and established them
+in Southern Gaul. They took possession of all the region lying between
+the Loire and the Pyrenees, with Toulouse as their capital.
+
+[Sidenote: 412.]
+
+Thus, in the space of forty years, the Visigoths left their home on the
+Black Sea, between the Danube and the Dniester, passed through the whole
+breadth of the Roman Empire, from Constantinople to the Bay of Biscay,
+after having traversed both the Grecian and Italian peninsulas, and
+settled themselves again in what seemed to be a permanent home. During
+this extraordinary migration, they maintained their independence as a
+people, they preserved their laws, customs, and their own rulers; and,
+although frequently at enmity with the Empire, they were never made to
+yield it allegiance. Under Athanaric, as we have seen, they were united
+for a time with the Ostrogoths, and it was probably the renown and
+success of Alaric which brought about a second separation.
+
+Of course the impetus given to this branch of the Germanic race by the
+invasion of the Huns did not affect it alone. Before the Visigoths
+reached the shores of the Atlantic, all Central Europe was in movement.
+Leaving them there for the present, and also leaving the great body of
+the Ostrogoths in Thrace and Illyria, we will now return to the nations
+whom we left maintaining their existence on German soil.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE INVASION OF THE HUNS, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.
+
+(412--472.)
+
+General Westward Movement of the Races. --Stilicho's Defeat of the
+    Germans. --Migration of the Alans, Vandals, &c. --Saxon
+    Colonization of England. --The Vandals in Africa. --Decline of
+    Rome. --Spread of German Power. --Attila, king of the Huns. --Rise
+    of his Power. --Superstitions concerning him. --His March into
+    France. --He is opposed by Aetius and Theodoric. --The Great Battle
+    near Chalons. --Retreat of Attila. --He destroys Aquileia.
+    --Invades Italy. --His Death. --Geiserich takes and plunders Rome.
+    --End of the Western Empire. --The Huns expelled. --Movements of
+    the Tribes on German Soil.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 412. MOVEMENT OF THE TRIBES.]
+
+The westward movement of the Huns was followed, soon afterwards, by an
+advance of the Slavonic tribes on the north, who first took possession
+of the territory on the Baltic relinquished by the Goths, and then
+gradually pressed onward towards the Elbe. The Huns themselves,
+temporarily settled in the fertile region north of the Danube, pushed
+the Vandals westward toward Bohemia, and the latter, in their turn,
+pressed upon the Marcomanni. Thus, at the opening of the fifth century,
+all the tribes, from the Baltic to the Alps, along the eastern frontier
+of Germany, were partly or wholly forced to fall back. This gave rise to
+a union of many of them, including the Vandals, Alans, Suevi and
+Burgundians, under a Chief named Radagast. Numbering half a million,
+they crossed the Alps into Northern Italy, and demanded territory for
+new homes.
+
+Stilicho, exhausted by his struggle with Alaric, whose retreat from
+Italy he had just purchased, could only meet this new enemy by summoning
+his legions from Gaul and Britain. He met Radagast at Fiesole (near
+Florence), and so crippled the strength of the invasion that Italy was
+saved. The German tribes recrossed the Alps, and entered Gaul the
+following year. Here they gave up their temporary union, and each tribe
+selected its own territory. The Alans pushed forwards, crossed the
+Pyrenees, and finally settled in Portugal; the Vandals followed and took
+possession of all Southern Spain, giving their name to (V-)Andalusia;
+the Suevi, after fighting, but not conquering, the native Basque tribes
+of the Pyrenees, selected what is now the province of Galicia; while the
+Burgundians stretched from the Rhine through western Switzerland, and
+southward nearly to the mouth of the Rhone. The greater part of Gaul was
+thus already lost to the Roman power.
+
+[Sidenote: 429.]
+
+The withdrawal of the legions from Britain by Stilicho left the
+population unprotected. The Britons were then a mixture of Celtic and
+Roman blood, and had become greatly demoralized during the long decay of
+the Empire; so they were unable to resist the invasions of the Picts and
+Scots, and in this emergency they summoned the Saxons and Angles to
+their aid. Two chiefs of the latter, Hengist and Horsa, accepted the
+invitation, landed in England in 449, and received lands in Kent. They
+were followed by such numbers of their countrymen that the allies soon
+became conquerors, and portioned England among themselves. They brought
+with them their speech and their ancient pagan religion, and for a time
+overthrew the rude form of Christianity which had prevailed among the
+Britons since the days of Constantine. Only Ireland, the Scottish
+Highlands, Wales and Cornwall resisted the Saxon rule, as across the
+Channel, in Brittany, a remnant of the Celtic Gauls resisted the sway of
+the Franks. From the year 449 until the landing of William the
+Conqueror, in 1066, nearly all England and the Lowlands of Scotland were
+in the hands of the Saxon race.
+
+Ataulf, the king of the Visigoths, was murdered soon after establishing
+his people in Southern France. Wallia, his successor, crossed the
+Pyrenees, drove the Vandals out of northern Spain, and made the Ebro
+river the boundary between them and his Visigoths. Fifteen years
+afterwards, in 429, the Vandals, under their famous king, Geiserich
+(incorrectly called Genseric in many histories), were invited by the
+Roman Governor of Africa to assist him in a revolt against the Empire.
+They crossed the Straits of Gibraltar in a body, took possession of all
+the Roman provinces, as far eastward as Tunis, and made Carthage the
+capital of their new kingdom. The Visigoths immediately occupied the
+remainder of Spain, which they held for nearly three hundred years
+afterwards.
+
+[Sidenote: 445. ATTILA, KING OF THE HUNS.]
+
+Thus, although the name and state of an Emperor of the West were kept up
+in Rome until the year 476, the Empire never really existed after the
+invasion of Alaric. The dominion over Italy, Gaul and Spain, claimed by
+the Emperors of the East, at Constantinople, was acknowledged in
+documents, but (except for a short time, under Justinian) was never
+practically exercised. Rome had been the supreme power of the known
+world for so many centuries, that a superstitious influence still clung
+to the very name, and the ambition of the Germanic kings seems to have
+been, not to destroy the Empire, but to conquer and make it their own.
+
+The rude tribes, which, in the time of Julius Caesar, were buried among
+the mountains and forests of the country between the Rhine, the Danube
+and the Baltic Sea, were now, five hundred years later, scattered over
+all Europe, and beginning to establish new nations on the foundations
+laid by Rome. As soon as they cross the old boundaries of Germany, they
+come into the light of history, and we are able to follow their wars and
+migrations; but we know scarcely anything, during this period, of the
+tribes which remained within those boundaries. We can only infer that
+the Marcomanni settled between the Danube and the Alps, in what is now
+Bavaria; that, early in the fifth century, the Thuringians established a
+kingdom including nearly all Central Germany; and that the Slavonic
+tribes, pressing westward through Prussia, were checked by the valor of
+the Saxons, along the line of the Elbe, since only scattered bands of
+them were found beyond that river at a later day.
+
+The first impulse to all these wonderful movements came, as we have
+seen, from the Huns. These people, as yet unconquered, were so dreaded
+by the Emperors of the East, that their peace was purchased, like that
+of the Goths a hundred years before, by large annual payments. For fifty
+years, they seemed satisfied to rest in their new home, making
+occasional raids across the Danube, and gradually bringing under their
+sway the fragments of Germanic tribes already settled in Hungary, or
+left behind by the Goths. In 428, Attila and his brother Bleda became
+kings of the Huns, but the latter's death, in 445, left Attila sole
+ruler. His name was already famous, far and wide, for his strength,
+energy and intelligence. His capital was established near Tokay, in
+Hungary, where he lived in a great castle of wood, surrounded with moats
+and palisades. He was a man of short stature, with broad head, neck and
+shoulders, and fierce, restless eyes. He scorned the luxury which was
+prevalent at the time, wore only plain woollen garments, and ate and
+drank from wooden dishes and cups. His personal power and influence were
+so great that the Huns looked upon him as a demigod, while all the
+neighboring Germanic tribes, including a large portion of the
+Ostrogoths, enlisted under his banner.
+
+[Sidenote: 449.]
+
+After the Huns had invaded Thrace and compelled the Eastern Empire to
+pay a double tribute, the Emperor of the West, Valentinian III. (the
+grandson of Theodosius), sent an embassy to Attila, soliciting his
+friendship: the Emperor's sister, Honoria, offered him her hand. Both
+divisions of the Empire thus did him reverence, and he had little to
+fear from the force which either could bring against him; but the Goths
+and Vandals, now warlike and victorious races, were more formidable
+foes. Here, however, he was favored by the hostility between the aged
+Geiserich, king of the Vandals, and the young Theodoric, king of the
+Visigoths. The former sent messages to Attila, inciting him to march
+into Gaul and overthrow Theodoric, who was Geiserich's relative and
+rival. Soon afterwards, a new Emperor, at Constantinople, refused the
+additional tribute, and Valentinian III. withheld the hand of his sister
+Honoria.
+
+Attila, now--towards the close of the year 449--made preparations for a
+grand war of conquest. He already possessed unbounded influence over the
+Huns, and supernatural signs of his coming career were soon supplied. A
+peasant dug up a jewelled sword, which, it was said, had long before
+been given to a race of kings by the god of war. This was brought to
+Attila, and thenceforth worn by him. He was called "The Scourge of God,"
+and the people believed that wherever the hoofs of his horse had trodden
+no grass ever grew again. The fear of his power, or the hope of plunder,
+drew large numbers of the German tribes to his side, and the army with
+which he set out for the conquest, first of Gaul and then of Europe, is
+estimated at from 500,000 to 700,000 warriors. With this, he passed
+through the heart of Germany, much of which he had already made
+tributary, and reached the Rhine. Here Gunther, the king of the
+Burgundians, opposed him with a force of 10,000 men and was speedily
+crushed. Even a portion of the Franks, who were then quarrelling among
+themselves, joined him, and now Gaul divided between Franks, Romans and
+Visigoths, was open to his advance.
+
+[Sidenote: 451. THE SIEGE OF ORLEANS.]
+
+The minister and counsellor of Valentinian III. was Aetius, the son of a
+Gothic father and a Roman mother. As soon as Attila's design became
+known, he hastened to Gaul, collected the troops still in Roman service,
+and procured the alliance of Theodoric and the Visigoths. The Alans,
+under their king Sangipan, were also persuaded to unite their forces:
+the independent Celts in Brittany, and a large portion of the Franks and
+Burgundians, all of whom were threatened by the invasion of the Huns,
+hastened to the side of Aetius, so that the army commanded by himself
+and Theodoric became nearly if not quite equal in numbers to that of
+Attila. The latter, by this time, had marched into the heart of Gaul,
+laying waste the country through which he passed, and meeting no
+resistance until he reached the walled and fortified city of Orleans.
+This was in the year 451.
+
+Orleans, besieged and hard pressed, was about to surrender, when Aetius
+approached with his army. Attila was obliged to raise the siege at once,
+and retreat in order to select a better position for the impending
+battle. He finally halted on the broad plains of the province of
+Champagne, near the present city of Chalons, where his immense body of
+armed horsemen would have ample space to move. Aetius and Theodoric
+followed and pitched their camp opposite to him, on the other side of a
+small hill which rose from the plain. That night, Attila ordered his
+priests to consult their pagan oracles, and ascertain the fate of the
+morrow's struggle. The answer was: "Death to the enemy's leader,
+destruction to the Huns!"--but the hope of seeing Aetius fall prevailed
+on Attila to risk his own defeat.
+
+The next day witnessed one of the greatest battles of history. Aetius
+commanded the right and Theodoric the left wing of their army, placing
+between them the Alans and other tribes, of whose fidelity they were not
+quite sure. Attila, however, took the centre with his Huns, and formed
+his wings of the Germans and Ostrogoths. The battle began at dawn, and
+raged through the whole day. Both armies endeavored to take and hold the
+hill between them, and the hundreds of thousands rolled back and forth
+as the victory inclined to one side or the other. A brook which ran
+through the plain was swollen high by the blood of the fallen. At last
+Theodoric broke Attila's centre, but was slain in the attack. The
+Visigoths immediately lifted his son, Thorismond, on a shield,
+proclaimed him king, and renewed the fight. The Huns were driven back to
+the fortress of wagons where their wives, children and treasures were
+collected, when a terrible storm of rain and thunder put an end to the
+battle. Between 200,000 and 300,000 dead lay upon the plain.
+
+[Sidenote: 452.]
+
+All night the lamentations of the Hunnish women filled the air. Attila
+had an immense funeral pile constructed of saddles, whereon he meant to
+burn himself and his family, in case Aetius should renew the fight the
+next day. But the army of the latter was too exhausted to move, and the
+Huns were allowed to commence their retreat from Gaul. Enraged at his
+terrible defeat, Attila destroyed everything in his way, leaving a broad
+track of blood and ashes from Gaul through the heart of Germany, back to
+Hungary.
+
+By the following year, 452, Attila had collected another army, and now
+directed his march towards Italy. This new invasion was so unexpected
+that the passes of the Alps were left undefended, and the Huns reached
+the rich and populous city of Aquileia, on the northern shore of the
+Adriatic, without meeting any opposition. After a siege of three months,
+they took and razed it to the ground so completely that it was never
+rebuilt, and from that day to this only a few piles of shapeless stones
+remain to mark the spot where it stood. The inhabitants who escaped took
+refuge upon the low marshy islands, separated from the mainland by the
+lagoons, and there formed the settlement which, two or three hundred
+years later, became known to the world as Venice.
+
+Attila marched onward to the Po, destroying everything in his way. Here
+he was met by a deputation, at the head of which was Leo, the Bishop (or
+Pope) of Rome, sent by Valentinian III. Leo so worked upon the
+superstitious mind of the savage monarch, that the latter gave up his
+purpose of taking Rome, and returned to Hungary with his army, which was
+suffering from disease and want. The next year he died suddenly, in his
+wooden palace at Tokay. The tradition states that his body was inclosed
+in three coffins, of iron, silver and gold, and buried secretly, like
+that of Alaric, so that no man might know his resting-place. He had a
+great many wives, and left so many sons behind him, that their quarrels
+for the succession to the throne divided the Huns into numerous parties,
+and quite destroyed their power as a people.
+
+[Sidenote: 455. GEISERICH TAKES ROME.]
+
+The alliance between Aetius and the Visigoths ceased immediately after
+the great battle. Valentinian III., suspicious of the fame of Aetius,
+recalled him to Rome, the year after Attila's death, and assassinated
+him with his own hand. The treacherous Emperor was himself slain,
+shortly afterwards, by Maximus, who succeeded him, and forced his widow,
+the Empress Eudoxia, to accept him as her husband. Out of revenge,
+Eudoxia sent a messenger to Geiserich, the old king of the Vandals, at
+Carthage, summoning him to Rome. The Vandals had already built a large
+fleet and pillaged the shores of Sicily and other Mediterranean islands.
+In 455, Geiserich landed at the mouth of the Tiber with a powerful
+force, and marched upon Rome. The city was not strong enough to offer
+any resistance: it was taken, and during two weeks surrendered to such
+devastation and outrage that the word _vandalism_ has ever since been
+used to express savage and wanton destruction. The churches were
+plundered of all their vessels and ornaments, the old Palace of the
+Caesars was laid waste, priceless works of art destroyed, and those of
+the inhabitants who escaped with their lives were left almost as
+beggars.
+
+When "the old king of the sea," as Geiserich was called, returned to
+Africa, he not only left Rome ruined, but the Western Empire practically
+overthrown. For seventeen years afterwards, Ricimer, a chief of the
+Suevi, who had been commander of the Roman auxiliaries in Gaul, was the
+real ruler of its crumbling fragments. He set up, set aside or slew five
+or six so-called Emperors, at his own will, and finally died in 472,
+only four years before the boy, Romulus Augustulus, was compelled to
+throw off the purple and retire into obscurity as "the last Emperor of
+Rome."
+
+In 455, the year when Geiserich and his Vandals plundered Rome, the
+Germanic tribes along the Danube took advantage of the dissensions
+following Attila's death, and threw off their allegiance to the Huns.
+They all united under a king named Ardaric, gave battle, and were so
+successful that the whole tribe of the Huns was forced to retreat
+eastward into Southern Russia. From this time they do not appear again
+in history, although it is probable that the Magyars, who came later
+into the same region from which they were driven, brought the remnants
+of the tribe with them.
+
+[Sidenote: 450.]
+
+During the fourth and fifth centuries, the great historic achievements
+of the German race, as we have now traced them, were performed outside
+of the German territory. While from Thrace to the Atlantic Ocean, from
+the Scottish Highlands to Africa, the new nationalities overran the
+decayed Roman Empire, constantly changing their seats of power, we have
+no intelligence of what was happening within Germany itself. Both
+branches of the Goths, the Vandals and a part of the Franks had become
+Christians, but the Alemanni, Saxons and Thuringians were still
+heathens, although they had by this time adopted many of the arts of
+civilized life. They had no educated class, corresponding to the
+Christian priesthood in the East, Italy and Gaul, and even in Britain;
+and thus no chronicle of their history has survived.
+
+Either before or immediately after Attila's invasion of Gaul, the
+Marcomanni crossed the Danube, and took possession of the plains between
+that river and the Alps. They were called the Boiarii, from their former
+home of four centuries in Bohemia, and from this name is derived the
+German _Baiern_, Bavaria. They kept possession of the new territory,
+adapted themselves to the forms of Roman civilization which they found
+there, and soon organized themselves into a small but distinct and
+tolerably independent nation.
+
+But the period of the Migration of the Races was not yet finished. The
+shadow of the old Roman Empire still remained, and stirred the ambition
+of each successive king, so that he was not content with territory
+sufficient for the needs of his own people, but must also try to conquer
+his neighbors and extend his rule. The bases of the modern states of
+Europe were already laid, but not securely enough for the building
+thereof to be commenced. Two more important movements were yet to be
+made before this bewildering period of change and struggle came to an
+end.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OSTROGOTHS.
+
+(472--570.)
+
+Odoaker conquers Italy. --Theodoric leads the Ostrogoths to Italy. --He
+    defeats and slays Odoaker. --He becomes King of Italy. --Chlodwig,
+    king of the Franks, puts an End to the Roman Rule. --War between
+    the Franks and Visigoths. --Character of Theodoric's Rule. --His
+    Death. --His Mausoleum. --End of the Burgundian Kingdom. --Plans of
+    Justinian. --Belisarius destroys the Vandal Power in Africa. --He
+    conquers Vitiges, and overruns Italy. --Narses defeats Totila and
+    Teias. --End of the Ostrogoths. --Narses summons the Longobards.
+    --They conquer Italy. --The Exarchy and Rome. --End of the
+    Migrations of the Races.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 476. ODOAKER, KING OF ITALY.]
+
+After the death of Ricimer, in 472, Italy, weakened by invasion and
+internal dissension, was an easy prey to the first strong hand which
+might claim possession. Such a hand was soon found in a Chief named
+Odoaker, said to have been a native of the island of Ruegen, in the
+Baltic. He commanded a large force, composed of the smaller German
+tribes from the banks of the Danube, who had thrown off the yoke of the
+Huns. Many of these troops had served the last half-dozen Roman Emperors
+whom Ricimer set up or threw down, and they now claimed one-third of the
+Italian territory for themselves and their families. When this was
+refused, Odoaker, at their head, took the boy Romulus Augustulus
+prisoner, banished him, and proclaimed himself king of Italy, in 476,
+making Ravenna his capital.
+
+The dynasty at Constantinople still called its dominion "The Roman
+Empire," and claimed authority over all the West. But it had not the
+means to make its claim acknowledged, and in this emergency the Emperor
+Zeno turned to Theodoric, the young king of the Ostrogoths, who had been
+brought up at his court, in Constantinople. He was the successor of
+three brothers, who, after the dispersion of the Huns, had united some
+of the smaller German tribes with the Ostrogoths, and restored the
+former power and influence of the race.
+
+[Sidenote: 489.]
+
+Theodoric (who must not be confounded with his namesake, the Visigoth
+king, who fell in conquering Attila) was a man of great natural ability,
+which had been well developed by his education in Constantinople. He
+accepted the appointment of General and Governor from the Emperor, yet
+the preparations he made for the expedition to Italy show that he
+intended to remain and establish his own kingdom there. It was not a
+military march, but the migration of a people, which he headed. The
+Ostrogoths and their allies took with them their wives and children,
+their herds and household goods: they moved so slowly up the Danube and
+across the Alps, now halting to rest and recruit, now fighting a passage
+through some hostile tribe, that several years elapsed before they
+reached Italy.
+
+Odoaker had reigned fourteen years, with more justice and discretion
+than was common in those times, and was able to raise a large force, in
+489, to meet the advance of Theodoric. After three severe battles had
+been fought, he was forced to take shelter within the strong walls of
+Ravenna; but he again sallied forth and attacked the Ostrogoths with
+such bravery that he came near defeating them. Finally, in 493, after a
+siege of three years, he capitulated, and was soon afterwards
+treacherously murdered, by order of Theodoric, at a banquet to which the
+latter had invited him.
+
+Having the power in his own hands, Theodoric now threw off his assumed
+subjection to the Eastern Empire, put on the Roman purple, and
+proclaimed himself king. All Italy, including Sicily, Sardinia and
+Corsica, fell at once into his hands; and, having left a portion of the
+Ostrogoths behind him, on the Danube, he also claimed all the region
+between, in order to preserve a communication with them. He was soon so
+strongly settled in his new realm that he had nothing to fear from the
+Emperor Zeno and his successors. The latter did not venture to show any
+direct signs of hostility towards him, but remained quiet; while, on his
+part, beyond seizing a portion of Pannonia, he refrained from
+interfering with their rule in the East.
+
+In the West, however, the case was different. Five years before
+Theodoric's arrival in Italy, the last relic of Roman power disappeared
+forever from Gaul. A general named Syagrius had succeeded to the
+command, after the murder of Aetius, and had formed the central
+provinces into a Roman state, which was so completely cut off from all
+connection with the Empire that it became practically independent. The
+Franks, who now held all Northern Gaul and Belgium, from the Rhine to
+the Atlantic, with Paris as their capital, were by this time so strong
+and well organized, that their king, Chlodwig, boldly challenged
+Syagrius to battle. The challenge was accepted: a battle was fought near
+Soissons, in the year 486, the Romans were cut to pieces, and the river
+Loire became the southern boundary of the Frank kingdom. The territory
+between that river and the Pyrenees still belonged to the Visigoths.
+
+[Sidenote: 507. CHLODWIG CONQUERS GAUL.]
+
+While Theodoric was engaged in giving peace, order, and a new prosperity
+to the war-worn and desolated lands of Italy, his Frank rival, Chlodwig,
+defeated the Alemanni, conquered the Celts of Brittany--then called
+Armorica--and thus greatly increased his power. We must return to him
+and the history of his dynasty in a later chapter, and will now only
+briefly mention those incidents of his reign which brought him into
+conflict with Theodoric.
+
+In the year 500, Chlodwig defeated the Burgundians and for a time
+rendered them tributary to him. He then turned to the Visigoths and made
+the fact of their being Arian Christians a pretext for declaring war
+against them. Their king was Alaric II., who had married the daughter of
+Theodoric. A battle was fought in 507: the two kings met, and, fighting
+hand to hand, Alaric II. was slain by Chlodwig. The latter soon
+afterwards took and plundered Toulouse, the Visigoth capital, and
+claimed the territory between the Loire and the Garonne.
+
+Theodoric, whose grandson Amalaric (son of Alaric II.) was now king of
+the Visigoths, immediately hastened to the relief of the latter. His
+military strength was probably too great for Chlodwig to resist, for
+there is no report of any great battle having been fought. Theodoric
+took possession of Provence, re-established the Loire as the southern
+boundary of the Franks, and secured the kingdom of his grandson. The
+capital of the Visigoths, however, was changed to Toledo, in Spain. The
+Emperor Anastasius, to keep up the pretence of retaining his power in
+Gaul, appointed Chlodwig Roman Consul, and sent him a royal diadem and
+purple mantle. So much respect was still attached to the name of the
+Empire that Chlodwig accepted the title, and was solemnly invested by a
+Christian Bishop with the crown and mantle. In the year 511 he died,
+having founded the kingdom of France.
+
+[Sidenote: 511.]
+
+The power of Theodoric was not again assailed. As the king of the
+Ostrogoths, he ruled over Italy and the islands, and the lands between
+the Adriatic and the Danube; as the guardian of the young Amalaric, his
+sway extended over Southern France and all of Spain. He was peaceful,
+prudent and wise, and his reign, by contrast with the convulsions which
+preceded it, was called "a golden age" by his Italian subjects. Although
+he and his people were Germanic in blood and Arians in faith, while the
+Italians were Roman and Athanasian, he guarded the interests and subdued
+the prejudices of both, and the respect which his abilities inspired
+preserved peace between them. The murder of Odoaker is a lasting stain
+upon his memory: the execution of the philosopher Boethius is another,
+scarcely less dark; but, with the exception of these two acts, his reign
+was marked by wisdom, justice and tolerance. The surname of "The Great"
+was given to him by his contemporaries, not so much to distinguish him
+from the Theodoric of the Visigoths, as on account of his eminent
+qualities as a ruler. From the year 500 to 526, when he died, he was the
+most powerful and important monarch of the civilized world.
+
+During Theodoric's life, Ravenna was the capital of Italy: Rome had lost
+her ancient renown, but her Bishops, who were now called Popes, were the
+rulers of the Church of the West, and she thus became a religious
+capital. The ancient enmity of the Arians and Athanasians had only grown
+stronger by time, and Theodoric, although he became popular with the
+masses of the people, was always hated by the priests. When he died, a
+splendid mausoleum was built for his body, at Ravenna, and still remains
+standing. It is a circular tower, resting on an arched base with ten
+sides, and surmounted by a dome, which is formed of a single stone,
+thirty-six feet in diameter and four feet in thickness. The sarcophagus
+in which he was laid was afterwards broken open, by the order of the
+Pope of Rome, and his ashes were scattered to the winds, as those of a
+heretic.
+
+When Theodoric died, the enmities of race and sect, which he had
+suppressed with a strong hand, broke out afresh. He left behind him a
+grandson, Athalaric, only ten years old, to whose mother, Amalasunta,
+was entrusted the regency during his minority. His other grandson,
+Amalaric, was king of the Visigoths, and sufficiently occupied in
+building up his power in Spain. In Italy, the hostility to Amalasunta's
+regency was chiefly religious; but the Eastern Emperor on the one side,
+and the Franks on the other, were actuated by political considerations.
+The former, the last of the great Emperors, Justinian, determined to
+recover Italy for the Empire: the latter only waited an opportunity to
+get possession of the whole of Gaul. Amalasunta was persuaded to sign a
+treaty, by which the territory of Provence was given back to the
+Burgundians. The latter were immediately assailed by the sons of
+Chlodwig, and in the year 534 the kingdom of Burgundy, after having
+stood for 125 years, ceased to exist. Not long afterwards the Visigoths
+were driven beyond the Pyrenees, and the whole of what is now France and
+Belgium, with a part of Western Switzerland, was in the possession of
+the Franks.
+
+[Sidenote: 534. END OF THE VANDALS.]
+
+While these changes were taking place in the West, Justinian had not
+been idle in the East. He was fortunate in having two great generals,
+Belisarius and Narses, who had already restored the lost prestige of the
+Imperial army. His first movement was to recover Northern Africa from
+the Vandals, who had now been settled there for a hundred years, and
+began to consider themselves the inheritors of the Carthaginian power.
+Belisarius, with a fleet and a powerful army, was sent against them.
+Here, again, the difference of religious doctrine between the Vandals
+and the Romans whom they had subjected, made his task easy. The last
+Vandal king, Gelimer, was defeated and besieged in a fortress called
+Pappua. After the siege had lasted all winter, Belisarius sent an
+officer, Pharas, to demand surrender. Gelimer refused, but added: "If
+you will do me a favor, Pharas, send me a loaf of bread, a sponge and a
+harp." Pharas, astonished, asked the reason of this request, and Gelimer
+answered: "I demand bread, because I have seen none since I have been
+besieged here; a sponge, to cool my eyes which are weary with weeping;
+and a harp, to sing the story of my misfortunes." Soon afterwards he
+surrendered, and in 534 all Northern Africa was restored to Justinian.
+The Vandals disappeared from history, as a race, but some of their
+descendants, with light hair, blue eyes and fair skins, still live among
+the valleys of the Atlas Mountains, where they are called Berbers, and
+keep themselves distinct from the Arab population.
+
+[Sidenote: 552.]
+
+Amalasunta, in the mean time, had been murdered by a relative whom she
+had chosen to assist her in the government. This gave Justinian a
+pretext for interfering, and Belisarius was next sent with his army to
+Italy. The Ostrogoths chose a new king, Vitiges, and the struggle which
+followed was long and desperate. Rome and Milan were taken and ravaged:
+in the latter city 300,000 persons are said to have been slaughtered.
+Belisarius finally obtained possession of Ravenna, the Gothic capital,
+took Vitiges prisoner and sent him to Constantinople. The Goths
+immediately elected another king, Totila, who carried on the struggle
+for eleven years longer. Visigoths, Franks, Burgundians and even
+Alemanni, whose alliance was sought by both sides, flocked to Italy in
+the hope of securing booty, and laid waste the regions which Belisarius
+and Totila had spared.
+
+When Belisarius was recalled to Constantinople, Narses took his place,
+and continued the war with the diminishing remnant of the Ostrogoths.
+Finally, in the year 552, in a great battle among the Apennines, Totila
+was slain, and the struggle seemed to be at an end. But the Ostrogoths
+proclaimed the young prince Teias as their king, and marched southward
+under his leadership, to make a last fight for their existence as a
+nation. Narses followed, and not far from Cumae, on a mountain opposite
+Vesuvius, he cut off their communication with the sea, and forced them
+to retreat to a higher position, where there was neither water for
+themselves nor food for their animals. Then they took the bridles off
+their horses and turned them loose, formed themselves into a solid
+square of men, with Teias at their head, and for two whole days fought
+with the valor and the desperation of men who know that their cause is
+lost, but nevertheless will not yield. Although Teias was slain, they
+still stood; and on the third morning Narses allowed the survivors,
+about 1,000 in number, to march away, with the promise that they would
+leave Italy.
+
+Thus gloriously came to an end, after enduring sixty years, the Gothic
+power in Italy, and thus, like a meteor, brightest before it is
+quenched, the Gothic name fades from history. The Visigoths retained
+their supremacy in Spain until 711, when Roderick, their last king, was
+slain by the Saracens, but the Ostrogoths, after this campaign of
+Narses, are never heard of again as a people. Between Hermann and
+Charlemagne, there is no leader so great as Theodoric, but his empire
+died with him. He became the hero of the earliest German songs; his name
+and character were celebrated among tribes who had forgotten his
+history, and his tomb is one of the few monuments left to us from those
+ages of battle, migration and change. The Ostrogoths were scattered and
+their traces lost. Some, no doubt, remained in Italy, and became mixed
+with the native population; others joined the people which were nearest
+to them in blood and habits; and some took refuge among the fastnesses
+of the Alps. It is supposed that the Tyrolese, for instance, may be
+among their descendants.
+
+[Sidenote: 565. NARSES SUMMONS THE LONGOBARDS.]
+
+The apparent success of Justinian in bringing Italy again under the sway
+of the Eastern Empire was also only a flash, before its final
+extinction. The Ostrogoths were avenged by one of their kindred races.
+Narses remained in Ravenna as vicegerent of the Empire: his government
+was stern and harsh, but he restored order to the country, and his
+authority became so great as to excite the jealousy of Justinian. After
+the latter's death, in 565, it became evident that a plot was formed at
+Constantinople to treat Narses as his great cotemporary, Belisarius, had
+been treated. He determined to resist, and, in order to make his
+position stronger, summoned the Longobards (Long-Beards) to his aid.
+
+This tribe, in the time of Caesar, occupied a part of Northern Germany,
+near the mouth of the Elbe. About the end of the fourth century we find
+them on the north bank of the Danube, between Bohemia and Hungary. The
+history of their wanderings during the intervening period is unknown.
+During the reign of Theodoric they overcame their Germanic neighbors,
+the Heruli, to whom they had been partially subject: then followed a
+fierce struggle with the Gepidae, another Germanic tribe, which
+terminated in the year 560 with the defeat and destruction of the
+latter. Their king, Kunimund, fell by the hand of Alboin, king of the
+Longobards, who had a drinking-cup made of his skull. The Longobards,
+though victorious, found themselves surrounded by new neighbors, who
+were much worse than the old. The Avars, who are supposed to have been a
+branch of the Huns, pressed and harassed them on the East; the Slavonic
+tribes of the north descended into Bohemia; and they found themselves
+alone between races who were savages in comparison with their own.
+
+[Sidenote: 568.]
+
+The invitation of Narses was followed by a movement similar to that of
+the Ostrogoths under Theodoric. Alboin marched with all his people,
+their herds and household goods. The passes of the Alps were purposely
+left undefended at their approach, and in 568, accompanied by the
+fragments of many other Germanic tribes who gave up their homes on the
+Danube, they entered Italy and took immediate possession of all the
+northern provinces. The city of Pavia, which was strongly fortified,
+held out against them for four years, and then, on account of its
+strength and gallant resistance, was chosen by Alboin for its capital.
+
+Italy then became the kingdom of the Longobards, and the permanent home
+of their race, whose name still exists in the province of Lombardy. Only
+Ravenna, Naples and Genoa were still held by the Eastern Emperors,
+constituting what was called the Exarchy. Rome was also nominally
+subject to Constantinople, although the Popes were beginning to assume
+the government of the city. The young republic of Venice, already
+organized, was safe on its islands in the Adriatic.
+
+The Migrations of the Races, which were really commenced by the Goths
+when they moved from the Baltic to the Black Sea, but which first became
+a part of our history in the year 375, terminated with the settlement of
+the Longobards in Italy. They therefore occupied two centuries, and form
+a grand and stirring period of transition between the Roman Empire and
+the Europe of the Middle Ages. With the exception of the invasion of the
+Huns, and the slow and rather uneventful encroachment of the Slavonic
+race, these great movements were carried out by the kindred tribes who
+inhabited the forests of "Germania Magna," in the time of Caesar.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+EUROPE, AT THE END OF THE MIGRATION OF THE RACES.
+
+(570.)
+
+Extension of the German Races in A. D. 570. --The Longobards. --The
+    Franks. --The Visigoths. --The Saxons in Britain. --The Tribes on
+    German Soil. --The Eastern Empire. --Relation of the Conquerors to
+    the Conquered Races. --Influence of Roman Civilization. --The
+    Priesthood. --Obliteration of German Origin. --Religion. --The
+    Monarchical Element in Government. --The Nobility. --The Cities.
+    --Slavery. --Laws in regard to Crime. --Privileges of the Church.
+    --The Transition Period.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 570. SPREAD OF THE GERMAN RACES.]
+
+Thus far, we have been following the history of the Germanic races, in
+their conflict with Rome, until their complete and final triumph at the
+end of six hundred years after they first met Julius Caesar. Within the
+limits of Germany itself, there was, as we have seen, no united
+nationality. Even the consolidation of the smaller tribes under the
+names of Goths, Franks, Saxons and Alemanni, during the third century,
+was only the beginning of a new political development which was not
+continued upon German soil. With the exception of Denmark, Sweden,
+Russia, Ireland, Wales, the Scottish Highlands, and the Byzantine
+territory in Turkey, Greece and Italy, all Europe was under Germanic
+rule at the end of the Migration of the Races, in the year 570.
+
+The Longobards, after the death of Alboin and his successor, Kleph,
+prospered greatly under the wise rule of Queen Theodolind, daughter of
+king Garibald of Bavaria, and wife of Kleph's son, Authari. She
+persuaded them to become Christians; and they then gave up their nomadic
+habits, scattered themselves over the country, learned agriculture and
+the mechanic arts, and gradually became amalgamated with the native
+Romans. Their descendants form a large portion of the population of
+Northern Italy at this day.
+
+[Sidenote: 500.]
+
+[Illustration: THE MIGRATIONS OF THE RACES, A. D. 500.]
+
+[Sidenote: 570. LOCATION OF THE TRIBES.]
+
+The Franks, at this time, were firmly established in Gaul, under the
+dynasty founded by Chlodwig. They owned nearly all the territory west of
+the Rhine, part of Western Switzerland and the valley of the Rhone, to
+the Mediterranean. Only a small strip of territory on the east, between
+the Pyrenees and the upper waters of the Garonne, still belonged to the
+Visigoths. The kingdom of Burgundy, after an existence of 125 years,
+became absorbed in that of the Franks, in 534.
+
+After the death of Theodoric, the connection of the Visigoths with the
+other German races ceased. They conquered the Suevi, driving them into
+the mountains of Galicia, subdued the Alans in Portugal, and during a
+reign of two centuries more impressed their traces indelibly upon the
+Spanish people. Their history, from this time on, belongs to Spain.
+Their near relations, the Vandals, as we have already seen, had ceased
+to exist. Like the Ostrogoths, they were never named again as a separate
+people.
+
+The Saxons had made themselves such thorough masters of England and the
+lowlands of Scotland, that the native Celto-Roman population was driven
+into Wales and Cornwall. The latter had become Christians under the
+Empire, and they looked with horror upon the paganism of the Saxons.
+During the early part of the sixth century, they made a bold but brief
+effort to expel the invaders, under the lead of the half-fabulous king
+Arthur (of the Round Table), who is supposed to have died about the year
+537. The Angles and Saxons, however, not only triumphed, but planted
+their language, laws and character so firmly upon English soil, that the
+England of the later centuries grew from the basis they laid, and the
+name of Anglo-Saxon has become the designation of the English race all
+over the world.
+
+Along the northern coast of Germany, the Frisii and the Saxons who
+remained behind, had formed two kingdoms and asserted a fierce
+independence. The territory of the latter extended to the Hartz
+Mountains, where it met that of the Thuringians, who still held Central
+Germany southward to the Danube. Beyond that river, the new nation of
+the Bavarians was permanently settled, and had already risen to such
+importance that Theodolind, the daughter of its king, Garibald, was
+selected for his queen by the Longobard king, Authari.
+
+East of the Elbe, through Prussia, nearly the whole country was
+occupied by various Slavonic tribes. One of these, the Czechs, had taken
+possession of Bohemia, where they soon afterwards established an
+independent kingdom. Beyond them, the Avars occupied Hungary, now and
+then making invasions into German territory, or even to the borders of
+Italy; Denmark and Sweden, owing to their remoteness from the great
+theatre of action, were scarcely affected by the political changes we
+have described.
+
+[Sidenote: 570.]
+
+Finally, the Alemanni, though defeated and held back by the Franks,
+maintained their independence in the south-western part of Germany and
+in Eastern Switzerland, where their descendants are living at this day.
+Each of all these new nationalities included remnants of the smaller
+original tribes, which had lost their independence in the general
+struggle, and which soon became more or less mixed (except in England)
+with the former inhabitants of the conquered soil.
+
+The Eastern Empire was now too weak and corrupt to venture another
+conflict with these stronger Germanic races, whose civilization was no
+longer very far behind its own. Moreover, within sixty years after the
+Migration came to an end, a new foe arose in the East. The successors of
+Mahomet began that struggle which tore Egypt, Syria and Asia Minor from
+Christian hands, and which only ceased when, in 1453, the crescent
+floated from the towers of Constantinople.
+
+Nearly all Europe was thus portioned among men of German blood, very few
+of whom ever again migrated from the soil whereon they were now settled.
+It was their custom to demand one-third--in some few instances, two
+thirds--of the conquered territory for their own people. In this manner,
+Frank and Gaul, Longobard and Roman, Visigoth and Spaniard, found
+themselves side by side, and reciprocally influenced each other's speech
+and habits of life. It must not be supposed, however, that the new
+nations lost their former character, and took on that of the Germanic
+conquerors. Almost the reverse of this took place. It must be remembered
+that the Gauls, for instance, far outnumbered the Franks; that each
+conquest was achieved by a few hundred thousand men, all of them
+warriors, while each of the original Roman provinces had several
+millions of inhabitants. There must have been at least ten of the ruled,
+to one of the ruling race.
+
+[Sidenote: 570. SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY.]
+
+The latter, moreover, were greatly inferior to the former in all the
+arts of civilization. In the homes, the dress and ornaments, the social
+intercourse, and all the minor features of life, they found their new
+neighbors above them, and they were quick to learn the use of
+unaccustomed comforts or luxuries. All the cities and small towns were
+Roman in their architecture, in their municipal organization, and in the
+character of their trade and intercourse; and the conquerors found it
+easier to accept this old-established order than to change it.
+
+Another circumstance contributed to Latinize the German races outside of
+Germany. After the invention of a Gothic alphabet by Bishop Ulfila, and
+his translation of the Bible, we hear no more of a written German
+
+language until the eighth century. There was at least none which was
+accessible to the people, and the Latin continued to be the language of
+government and religion. The priests were nearly all Romans, and their
+interest was to prevent the use of written Germanic tongues. Such
+learning as remained to the world was of course only to be acquired
+through a knowledge of Latin and Greek.
+
+All the influences which surrounded the conquering races tended,
+therefore, to eradicate or change their original German characteristics.
+After a few centuries, their descendants, in almost every instance, lost
+sight of their origin, and even looked with contempt upon rival people
+of the same blood. The Franks and Burgundians of the present day speak
+of themselves as "the Latin race": the blonde and blue-eyed Lombards of
+Northern Italy, not long since, hated "the Germans" as the Christian of
+the Middle Ages hated the Jew; and the full-blooded English or American
+Saxon often considers the German as a foreigner with whom he has nothing
+in common.
+
+By the year 570, all the races outside of Germany, except the Saxons and
+Angles in Britain, had accepted Christianity. Within Germany, although
+the Christian missionaries were at work among the Alemanni, the
+Bavarians, and along the Rhine, the great body of the people still held
+to their old pagan worship. The influence of the true faith was no doubt
+weakened by the bitter enmity which still existed between the Athanasian
+and Arian sects, although the latter ceased to be powerful after the
+downfall of the Ostrogoths. But the Christianity which prevailed among
+the Franks, Burgundians and Longobards was not pure or intelligent
+enough to save them from the vices which the Roman Empire left behind
+it. Many of their kings and nobles were polygamists, and the early
+history of their dynasties is a chronicle of falsehood, cruelty and
+murder.
+
+[Sidenote: 570.]
+
+In each of the races, the primitive habit of electing chiefs by the
+people had long since given way to an hereditary monarchy, but in other
+respects their political organization remained much the same. The Franks
+introduced into Gaul the old German division of the land into provinces,
+hundreds and communities, but the king now claimed the right of
+appointing a Count for the first, a _Centenarius_, or centurion, for the
+second, and an elder, or head-man, for the third. The people still held
+their public assemblies, and settled their local matters; they were all
+equal before the law, and the free men paid no taxes. The right of
+declaring war, making peace, and other questions of national importance,
+were decided by a general assembly of the people, at which the king
+presided. The political system was therefore more republican than
+monarchical, but it gradually lost the former character as the power of
+the kings increased.
+
+The nobles had no fixed place and no special rights during the
+migrations of the tribes. Among the Franks they were partly formed out
+of the civil officers, and soon included both Romans and Gauls among
+their number. In Germany their hereditary succession was already
+secured, and they maintained their ascendancy over the common people by
+keeping pace with the knowledge and the arts of those times, while the
+latter remained, for the most part, in a state of ignorance.
+
+The cities, inhabited by Romans and Romanized Gauls, retained their old
+system of government, but paid a tax or tribute. Those portions of the
+other Germanic races which had become subject to the Franks were also
+allowed to keep their own peculiar laws and forms of local government,
+which were now, for the first time, recorded in the Latin language. They
+were obliged to furnish a certain number of men capable of bearing arms,
+but it does not appear that they paid any tribute to the Franks.
+
+Slavery still existed, and in the two forms of it which we find among
+the ancient Germans,--chattels who were bought and sold, and dependents
+who were bound to give labor or tribute in return for the protection of
+a freeman. The Romans in Gaul were placed upon the latter footing by the
+Franks. The children born of marriages between them and the free took
+the lower and not the higher position,--that is, they were dependents.
+
+[Sidenote: 570. PENALTIES FOR CRIME.]
+
+The laws in regard to crime were very rigid and severe, but not bloody.
+The body of the free man, like his life, was considered inviolate, so
+there was no corporeal punishment, and death was only inflicted in a few
+extreme cases. The worst crimes could be atoned for by the sacrifice of
+money or property. For murder the penalty was two hundred shillings (at
+that time the value of 100 oxen), two-thirds of which were given to the
+family of the murdered person, while one-third was divided between the
+judge and the State. This penalty was increased threefold for the murder
+of a Count or a soldier in the field, and more than fourfold for that of
+a Bishop. In some of the codes the payment was fixed even for the murder
+of a Duke or King. The slaying of a dependent or a Roman only cost half
+as much as that of a free Frank, while a slave was only valued at
+thirty-five shillings, or seventeen and a half oxen: the theft of a
+falcon trained for hunting, or a stallion, cost ten shillings more.
+
+Slander, insult and false-witness were punished in the same way. If any
+one falsely accused another of murder he was condemned to pay the
+injured person the penalty fixed for the crime of murder, and the same
+rule was applied to all minor accusations. The charge of witchcraft, if
+not proved according to the superstitious ideas of the people, was
+followed by the penalty of one hundred and eighty shillings. Whoever
+called another a _hare_, was fined six shillings; but if he called him a
+_fox_, the fine was only three shillings.
+
+As the Germanic races became Christian, the power and privileges of the
+priesthood were manifested in the changes made in these laws. Not only
+was it enacted that the theft of property belonging to the Church must
+be paid back ninefold, but the slaves of the priests were valued at
+double the amount fixed for the slaves of laymen. The Churches became
+sacred, and no criminal could be seized at the foot of the altar. Those
+who neglected to attend worship on the Sabbath three times in
+succession, were punished by the loss of one-third of their property. If
+this neglect was repeated a second time, they were made slaves, and
+could be sold as such by the Church.
+
+[Sidenote: 570.]
+
+The laws of the still pagan Thuringians and Saxons, in Germany, did not
+differ materially from those of the Christian Franks. Justice was
+administered in assemblies of the people, and, in order to secure the
+largest expression of the public will, a heavy fine was imposed for the
+failure to attend. The latter feature is still retained, in some of the
+old Cantons of Switzerland. In Thuringia and Saxony, however, the nobles
+had become a privileged class, recognized by the laws, and thus was laid
+the foundation for the feudal system of the Middle Ages.
+
+The transition was now complete. Although the art, taste and refinement
+of the Roman Empire were lost, its civilizing influence in law and civil
+organization survived, and slowly subdued the Germanic races which
+inherited its territory. But many characteristics of their early
+barbarism still clung to the latter, and a long period elapsed before we
+can properly call them a civilized people.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE KINGDOM OF THE FRANKS.
+
+(486--638.)
+
+Chlodwig, the Founder of the Merovingian Dynasty. --His Conversion to
+    Christianity. --His Successors. --Theuderich's Conquest of
+    Thuringia. --Union of the Eastern Franks. --Austria (or Austrasia)
+    and Neustria. --Crimes of the Merovingian Kings. --Clotar and his
+    Sons. --Sigbert's Successes. --His Wife, Brunhilde. --Sigbert's
+    Death. --Quarrel between Brunhilde and Fredegunde. --Clotar II.
+    --Brunhilde and her Grandsons. --Her Defeat and Death. --Clotar
+    II.'s Reign. --King Dagobert. --The Nobles and the Church. --War
+    with the Thuringians. --Picture of the Merovingian Line. --A New
+    Power.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 500. THE MEROVINGIAN DYNASTY.]
+
+The history of Germany, from the middle of the sixth to the middle of
+the ninth century, is that of France also. After having conducted them
+to their new homes, we take leave of the Anglo-Saxons, the Visigoths and
+the Longobards, and return to the Frank dynasty founded by Chlodwig,
+about the year 500, when the smaller kings and chieftains of his race
+accepted him as their ruler. In the histories of France, even those
+written in English, he is called "Clovis," but we prefer to give him his
+original Frank name. He was the grandson of a petty king, whose name was
+Merovich, whence he and his successors are called, in history, the
+_Merovingian_ dynasty. He appears to have been a born conqueror, neither
+very just nor very wise in his actions, but brave, determined and ready
+to use any means, good or bad, in order to attain his end.
+
+Chlodwig extinguished the last remnant of Roman rule in Gaul, in the
+year 486, as we have related in Chapter VII. He was then only 20 years
+old, having succeeded to the throne at the age of 15. Shortly afterwards
+he married the daughter of one of the Burgundian kings. She was a
+Christian, and endeavored, but for many years without effect, to induce
+him to give up his pagan faith. Finally, in a war with the Alemanni, in
+496, he promised to become a Christian, provided the God of the
+Christians would give him victory. The decisive battle was long and
+bloody, but it ended in the complete rout of the Alemanni, and
+afterwards all of them who were living to the west of the Rhine became
+tributary to the Franks.
+
+[Sidenote: 511.]
+
+Chlodwig and 3,000 of his followers were soon afterwards baptized in the
+cathedral at Rheims, by the bishop Remigius. When the king advanced to
+the baptismal font, the bishop said to him: "Bow thy head,
+Sicambrian!--worship what thou hast persecuted, persecute what thou hast
+worshipped!" Although nearly all the German Christians at this time were
+Arians, Chlodwig selected the Athanasian faith of Rome, and thereby
+secured the support of the Roman priesthood in France, which was of
+great service to him in his ambitious designs. This difference of faith
+also gave him a pretext to march against the Burgundians in 500, and the
+Visigoths in 507: both wars were considered holy by the Church.
+
+His conquest of the Visigoths was prevented, as we have seen, by the
+interposition of Theodoric. He then devoted his remaining years to the
+complete suppression of all the minor Frank kings, and was so successful
+that when he died, in 511, all the race, to the west of the Rhine, was
+united under his single sway. He was succeeded by four sons, of whom the
+eldest, Theuderich, reigned in Paris; the others chose Metz, Orleans and
+Soissons for their capitals. Theuderich was a man of so much energy and
+prudence that he was able to control his brothers, and unite the four
+governments in such a way that the kingdom was saved from dismemberment.
+
+The mother of Chlodwig was a runaway queen of Thuringia, whose son,
+Hermanfried, now ruled over that kingdom, after having deposed his two
+brothers. The relationship gave Theuderich a ground for interfering, and
+the result was a war between the Franks and the Thuringians. Theuderich
+collected a large army, marched into Germany in 530, procured the
+services of 9,000 Saxons as allies, and met the Thuringians on the river
+Unstrut, not far from where the city of Halle now stands. Hermanfried
+was taken prisoner, carried to France, and treacherously thrown from a
+tower, after receiving great professions of friendship from his nephew,
+Theuderich. His family fled to Italy, and the kingdom of Thuringia,
+embracing nearly all Central Germany, was added to that of the Franks.
+The northern part, however, was given to the Saxons as a reward for
+their assistance.
+
+[Sidenote: 530. AUSTRIA AND NEUSTRIA]
+
+Four years afterwards the brothers of Theuderich conquered the kingdom
+of Burgundy, and annexed it to their territory. About the same time, the
+Franks living eastward of the Rhine entered into a union with their more
+powerful brethren. Since both the Alemanni and the Bavarians were
+already tributary to the latter, the dominion of the united Franks now
+extended from the Atlantic nearly to the river Elbe, and from the mouth
+of the Rhine to the Mediterranean, with Friesland and the kingdom of the
+Saxons between it and the North Sea. To all lying east of the Rhine, the
+name of Austria (East-kingdom) or Austrasia was given, while Neustria
+(New-kingdom) was applied to all west of the Rhine. These designations
+were used in the historical chronicles for some centuries afterwards.
+
+While Theuderich lived, his brothers observed a tolerably peaceful
+conduct towards one another, but his death was followed by a season of
+war and murder. History gives us no record of another dynasty so steeped
+in crime as that of the Merovingians: within the compass of a few years
+we find a father murdering his son, a brother his brother and a wife her
+husband. We can only account for the fact that the whole land was not
+constantly convulsed by civil war, by supposing that the people retained
+enough of power in their national assemblies, to refuse taking part in
+the fratricidal quarrels. It is not necessary, therefore, to recount all
+the details of the bloody family history. Their effect upon the people
+must have been in the highest degree demoralizing, yet the latter
+possessed enough of prudence--or perhaps of a clannish spirit, in the
+midst of a much larger Roman and Gallic population--to hold the Frank
+kingdom together, while its rulers were doing their best to split it to
+pieces.
+
+The result of all the quarrelling and murdering was, that in 558 Clotar,
+the youngest son of Chlodwig, became the sole monarch. After forty-seven
+years of divided rule, the kingly power was again in a single hand, and
+there seemed to be a chance for peace and progress. But Clotar died
+within three years, and, like his father, left four sons to divide his
+power. The first thing they did was to fight; then, being perhaps rather
+equally matched, they agreed to portion the kingdom. Charibert reigned
+in Paris, Guntram in Orleans, Chilperic in Soissons, and Sigbert in
+Metz. The boundaries between their territories are uncertain; we only
+know that all of "Austria," or Germany east of the Rhine, fell to
+Sigbert's share.
+
+[Sidenote: 565.]
+
+About this time the Avars, coming from Hungary, had invaded Thuringia,
+and were inciting the people to rebellion against the Franks. Sigbert
+immediately marched against them, drove them back, and established his
+authority over the Thuringians. On returning home he found that his
+brother Chilperic had taken possession of his capital and many smaller
+towns. Chilperic was forced to retreat, lost his own kingdom in turn,
+and only received it again through the generosity of Sigbert,--the first
+and only instance of such a virtue in the Merovingian line of kings.
+Sigbert seems to have inherited the abilities, without the vices, of his
+grandfather Chlodwig. When the Avars made a second invasion into
+Germany, he was not only defeated but taken prisoner by them.
+Nevertheless, he immediately acquired such influence over their Khan, or
+chieftain, that he persuaded the latter to set him free, to make a
+treaty of peace and friendship, and to return with his Avars to Hungary.
+
+In the year 568 Charibert died in Paris, leaving no heirs. A new strife
+instantly broke out among the three remaining brothers; but it was for a
+time suspended, owing to the approach of a common danger. The
+Longobards, now masters of Northern Italy, crossed the Alps and began to
+overrun Switzerland, which the Franks possessed, through their victories
+over the Burgundians and the Alemanni. Sigbert and Guntram united their
+forces, and repelled the invasion with much slaughter.
+
+Then broke out in France a series of family wars, darker and bloodier
+than any which had gone before. The strife between the sons of Clotar
+and their children and grandchildren desolated France for forty years,
+and became all the more terrible because the women of the family entered
+into it with the men. All these Christian kings, like their father, were
+polygamists: each had several wives; yet they are described by the
+priestly chroniclers of their times as men who went about doing good,
+and whose lives were "acceptable to God"! Sigbert was the only
+exception: he had but one wife, Brunhilde, the daughter of a king of the
+Visigoths, a stately, handsome, intelligent woman, but proud and
+ambitious.
+
+[Sidenote: 570. FAMILY WARS IN FRANCE.]
+
+Either the power and popularity, or the rich marriage-portion, which
+Sigbert acquired with Brunhilde, induced his brother, Chilperic, to ask
+the hand of her sister, the Princess Galsunta of Spain. It was granted
+to him on condition that he would put away all his wives and live with
+her alone. He accepted the condition, and was married to Galsunta. One
+of the women sent away was Fredegunde, who soon found means to recover
+her former influence over Chilperic's mind. It was not long before
+Galsunta was found dead in her bed, and within a week Fredegunde, the
+murderess, became queen in her stead. Brunhilde called upon Sigbert to
+revenge her sister's death, and then began that terrible history of
+crime and hatred, which was celebrated, centuries afterwards, in the
+famous _Nibelungenlied_, or Lay of the Nibelungs.
+
+In the year 575, Sigbert gained a complete victory over Chilperic, and
+was lifted upon a shield by the warriors of the latter, who hailed him
+as their king. In that instant he was stabbed in the back, and died upon
+the field of his triumph. Chilperic resumed his sway, and soon took
+Brunhilde prisoner, while her young son, Childebert, escaped to Germany.
+But his own son, Merwig, espoused Brunhilde's cause, secretly released
+her from prison, and then married her. A war next arose between father
+and son, in which the former was successful. He cut off Merwig's long
+hair, and shut him up in a monastery; but, for some unexplained reason,
+he allowed Brunhilde to go free. In the meantime Fredegunde had borne
+three sons, who all died soon after their birth. She accused her own
+step-son of having caused their deaths by witchcraft, and he and his
+mother, one of Chilperic's former wives, were put to death.
+
+Both Chilperic and his brother Guntram, who reigned at Orleans, were
+without male heirs. At this juncture, the German chiefs and nobles
+demanded to have Childebert, the young son of Sigbert and Brunhilde, who
+had taken refuge among them, recognized as the heir to the Frankish
+throne. Chilperic consented, on condition that Childebert, with such
+forces as he could command, would march with him against Guntram, who
+had despoiled him of a great deal of his territory. The treaty was made,
+in spite of the opposition of Brunhilde, whose sister's murder was not
+yet avenged, and the civil wars were renewed. Both sides gained or lost
+alternately, without any decided result, until the assassination of
+Chilperic, by an unknown hand, in 584. A few months before his death,
+Fredegunde had borne him another son, Clotar, who lived, and was at once
+presented by his mother as Childebert's rival to the throne.
+
+[Sidenote: 597.]
+
+The struggle between the two widowed queens, Brunhilde and Fredegunde,
+was for a while delayed by the appearance of a new claimant, Gundobald,
+who had been a fugitive in Constantinople for many years, and declared
+that he was Chilperic's brother. He obtained the support of many
+Austrasian (German) princes, and was for a time so successful that
+Fredegunde was forced to take refuge with Guntram, at Orleans. The
+latter also summoned Childebert to his capital, and persuaded him to
+make a truce with Fredegunde and her adherents, in order that both might
+act against their common rival. Gundobald and his followers were soon
+destroyed: Guntram died in 593, and Childebert was at once accepted as
+his successor. His kingdom included that of Charibert, whose capital was
+Paris, and that of his father, Sigbert, embracing all Frankish Germany.
+But the nobles and people, accustomed to conspiracy, treachery and
+crime, could no longer be depended upon, as formerly. They were
+beginning to return to their former system of living upon war and
+pillage, instead of the honest arts of peace.
+
+Fredegunde still held the kingdom of Chilperic for her son Clotar. After
+strengthening herself by secret intrigues with the Frank nobles, she
+raised an army, put herself at its head, and marched against Childebert,
+who was defeated and soon afterwards poisoned, after having reigned only
+three years. His realm was divided between his two young sons, one
+receiving Burgundy and the other Germany, under the guardianship of
+their grandmother Brunhilde. Fredegunde followed up her success, took
+Paris and Orleans from the heirs of Childebert, and died in 597, leaving
+her son Clotar, then in his fourteenth year, as king of more than half
+of France. He was crowned as Clotar II.
+
+Death placed Brunhilde's rival out of the reach of her revenge, but she
+herself might have secured the whole kingdom of the Franks for her two
+grandsons, had she not quarrelled with one and stirred up war between
+them. The first consequence of this new strife was that Alsatia and
+Eastern Switzerland were separated from Neustria, or France, and
+attached to Austria, or Germany. Brunhilde, finding that her cause was
+desperate, procured the assistance of Clotar II. for herself and her
+favorite grandson, Theuderich. The fortune of war now turned, and before
+long the other grandson, Theudebert, was taken prisoner. By his
+brother's order he was formally deposed from his kingly authority, and
+then executed: the brains of his infant son were dashed out against a
+stone.
+
+[Sidenote: 613. MURDER OF BRUNHILDE.]
+
+It was not long before this crime was avenged. A quarrel in regard to
+the division of the spoils arose between Theuderich and Clotar II. The
+former died in the beginning of the war which followed, leaving four
+young sons to the care of their great-grandmother, the queen Brunhilde.
+Clotar II. immediately marched against her, but, knowing her ability and
+energy, he obtained a promise from the nobles of Burgundy and Germany
+who were unfriendly to Brunhilde, that they would come over to his side
+at the critical moment. The aged queen had called her people to arms,
+and, like her rival, Fredegunde, put herself at their head; but when the
+armies met, on the river Aisne in Champagne, the traitors in her own
+camp joined Clotar II. and the struggle was ended without a battle.
+Brunhilde, then eighty years old, was taken prisoner, cruelly tortured
+for three days, and then tied by her gray hair to the tail of a wild
+horse and dragged to death. The four sons of Theuderich were put to
+death at the same time, and thus, in the year 613, Clotar II. became
+king of all the Franks. A priest named Fredegar, who wrote his
+biography, says of him: "He was a most patient man, learned and pious,
+and kind and sympathizing towards every one!"
+
+Clotar II. possessed, at least, energy enough to preserve a sway which
+was based on a long succession of the worst crimes that disgrace
+humanity. In 622, six years before his death, he made his oldest son,
+Dagobert, a boy of sixteen, king of the German half of his realm, but
+was obliged, immediately afterwards, to assist him against the Saxons.
+He entered their territory, seized the people, massacred all who proved
+to be taller than his own two-handed sword, and then returned to France
+without having subdued the spirit or received the allegiance of the bold
+race. Nothing of importance occurred during the remainder of his reign;
+he died in 628, leaving his kingdom to his two sons, Dagobert and
+Charibert. The former easily possessed himself of the lion's share,
+giving his younger brother only a small strip of territory along the
+river Loire. Charibert, however, drove the last remnant of the Visigoths
+into Spain, and added the country between the Garonne and the Pyrenees
+to his little kingdom. The name of Aquitaine was given to this region,
+and Charibert's descendants became its Dukes, subject to the kings of
+the Franks.
+
+[Sidenote: 628.]
+
+Dagobert had been carefully educated by Pippin of Landen, the Royal
+Steward of Clotar II., and by Arnulf, the Bishop of Metz. He had no
+quality of greatness, but he promised to be, at least, a good and just
+sovereign. He became at once popular with the masses, who began to long
+for peace, and for the restoration of rights which had been partly lost
+during the civil wars. The nobles, however, who had drawn the greatest
+advantage from those wars, during which their support was purchased by
+one side or the other, grew dissatisfied. They cunningly aroused in
+Dagobert the love of luxury and the sensual vices which had ruined his
+ancestors, and thus postponed the reign of law and justice to which the
+people were looking forward.
+
+In fact, that system of freedom and equality which the Germanic races
+had so long possessed, was already shaken to its very base. During the
+long and bloody feuds of the Merovingian kings, many changes had been
+made in the details of government, all tending to increase the power of
+the nobles, the civil officers and the dignitaries of the Church.
+Wealth--the bribes paid for their support--had accumulated in the hands
+of these classes, while the farmers, mechanics and tradesmen, plundered
+in turn by both parties, had constantly grown poorer. Although the
+external signs of civilization had increased, the race had already lost
+much of its moral character, and some of the best features of its
+political system.
+
+There are few chronicles which inform us of the affairs of Germany
+during this period. The Avars, after their treaty of peace with Sigbert,
+directed their incursions against the Bavarians, but without gaining any
+permanent advantage. On the other hand, the Slavonic tribes, especially
+the Bohemians, united under the rule of a renegade Frank, whose name was
+Samo, and who acquired a part of Thuringia, after defeating the Frank
+army which was sent against him. The Saxons and Thuringians then took
+the war into their own hands, and drove back Samo and his Slavonic
+hordes. By this victory the Saxons released themselves from the payment
+of an annual tribute to the Frank kings, and the Thuringians became
+strong enough to organize themselves again as a people and elect their
+own Duke. The Franks endeavored to suppress this new organization, but
+they were defeated by the Duke, Radulf, nearly on the same spot where,
+just one hundred years before, Theuderich, the son of Chlodwig, had
+crushed the Thuringian kingdom. From that time, Thuringia was placed on
+the same footing as Bavaria, tributary to the Franks, but locally
+independent.
+
+[Sidenote: 638. END OF THE MEROVINGIAN POWER.]
+
+King Dagobert, weak, swayed by whatever influence was nearest, and
+voluptuous rather than cruel, died in 638, before he had time to do much
+evil. He was the last of the Merovingian line who exercised any actual
+power. The dynasty existed for a century longer, but its monarchs were
+merely puppets in the hands of stronger men. Its history, from the
+beginning, is well illustrated by a tradition current among the people,
+concerning the mother of Chlodwig. They relate that soon after her
+marriage she had a vision, in which she gave birth to a lion (Chlodwig),
+whose descendants were wolves and bears, and their descendants, in turn,
+frisky dogs.
+
+Before the death of Dagobert--in fact, during the life of Clotar II.--a
+new power had grown up within the kingdom of the Franks, which gradually
+pushed the Merovingian dynasty out of its place. The history of this
+power, after 638, becomes the history of the realm, and we now turn from
+the bloody kings to trace its origin, rise and final triumph.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE DYNASTY OF THE ROYAL STEWARDS.
+
+(638--768.)
+
+The Steward of the Royal Household. --His Government of the Royal
+    _Lehen_. --His Position and Opportunities. --Pippin of Landen.
+    --His Sway in Germany. --Gradual Transfer of Power. --Grimoald,
+    Steward of France. --Pippin of Heristall. --His Successes.
+    --Cooperation with the Church of Rome. --Quarrels between his
+    Heirs. --Karl defeats his Rivals. --Becomes sole Steward of the
+    Empire. --He favors Christian Missions. --The Labors of Winfried
+    (Bishop Bonifacius). --Invasion of the Saracens. --The Great Battle
+    of Poitiers. --Karl is surnamed Martel, the Hammer. --His Wars and
+    Marches. --His Death and Character. --Pippin the Short. --He
+    subdues the German Dukes. --Assists Pope Zacharias. --Is anointed
+    King. --Death of Bonifacius. --Pippin defeats the Lombards. --Gives
+    the Pope Temporal Power. --His Death.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 638.]
+
+We have mentioned Pippin of Landen as the Royal Steward of Clotar II.
+His office gave birth to the new power which grew up beside the
+Merovingian rule and finally suppressed it. In the chronicles of the
+time the officer is called the _Majordomus_ of the King,--a word which
+is best translated by "Steward of the Royal Household"; but in reality,
+it embraced much more extended and important powers than the title would
+imply. In their conquests, the Franks--as we have already
+stated--usually claimed at least one-third of the territory which fell
+into their hands. A part of this was portioned out among the chief men
+and the soldiers; a part was set aside as the king's share, and still
+another part became the common property of the people. The latter,
+therefore, fell into the habit of electing a Steward to guard and
+superintend this property in their interest; and, as the kings became
+involved in their family feuds, the charge of the royal estates was
+intrusted to the hands of the same steward.
+
+The latter estates soon became, by conquest, so extensive and important,
+that the king gave the use of many of them for a term of years, or for
+life, to private individuals in return for military services. This was
+called the _Lehen_ (lien, or loan) system, to distinguish it from the
+_Allod_ (allotment), whereby a part of the conquered lands were divided
+by lot, and became the free property of those to whom they fell. The
+_Lehen_ gave rise to a new class, whose fortunes were immediately
+dependent on the favor of the king, and who consequently, when they
+appeared at the national assemblies, voted on his side. Such a "loaned"
+estate was also called _feod_, whence the term "_feudal_ system," which,
+gradually modified by time, grew from this basis. The importance of the
+Royal Steward in the kingdom is thus explained. The office, at first,
+had probably a mere business character. After Chlodwig's time, the civil
+wars by which the estates of the king and the people became subject to
+constant change, gave the steward a political power, which increased
+with each generation. He stood between the monarch and his subjects,
+with the best opportunity for acquiring an ascendency over the minds of
+both. At first, he was only elected for a year, and his reelection
+depended on the honesty and ability with which he had discharged his
+duties. During the convulsions of the dynasty, he, in common with king
+and nobles, gained what rights the people lost: he began to retain his
+office for a longer time, then for life, and finally demanded that it
+should be hereditary in his family.
+
+[Sidenote: 638. THE "LEHEN" SYSTEM.]
+
+The Royal Stewards of Burgundy and Germany played an important part in
+the last struggle between Clotar II. and Brunhilde. When the successful
+king, in 622, found that the increasing difference of language and
+habits between the eastern and western portions of his realm required a
+separation of the government, and made his young son, Dagobert, ruler
+over the German half, he was compelled to recognize Pippin of Landen as
+his Steward, and to trust Dagobert entirely to his hands. The dividing
+line between "Austria" and "Neustria" was drawn along the chain of the
+Vosges, through the forest of Ardennes, and terminated near the mouth of
+the Schelde,--almost the same line which divides the German and French
+languages, at this day.
+
+Pippin was a Frank, born in the Netherlands, a man of energy and
+intelligence, but of little principle. He had, nevertheless, shrewdness
+enough to see the necessity of maintaining the unity and peace of the
+kingdom, and he endeavored, in conjunction with Bishop Arnulf of Metz,
+to make a good king of Dagobert. They made him, indeed, amiable and
+well-meaning, but they could not overcome the instability of his
+character. After Clotar II.'s death, in 628, Dagobert passed the
+remaining ten years of his life in France, under the control of others,
+and the actual government of Germany was exercised by Pippin.
+
+[Sidenote: 670.]
+
+The period of transition between the power of the kings, gradually
+sinking, and the power of the Stewards, steadily rising, lasted about
+fifty years. The latter power, however, was not allowed to increase
+without frequent struggles, partly from the jealousy of the nobility and
+priesthood, partly from the Resistance of the people to the extinction
+of their remaining rights. But, after the devastation left behind by the
+fratricidal wars of the Merovingians, all parties felt the necessity of
+a strong and well-regulated government, and the long experience of the
+Stewards gave them the advantage.
+
+Grimoald, the son and successor of Pippin in the stewardship of Germany,
+made an attempt to usurp the royal power, but failed. This event, and
+the interference of a Steward of France with the rights of the dynasty,
+led the Franks, in 670--when the whole kingdom was again united under
+Childeric II.--to decree that the Stewards should be elected annually by
+the people, as in the beginning. But when Childeric II., like the most
+of his predecessors, was murdered, the deposed Steward of France
+regained his power, forced the people to accept him, and attempted to
+extend his government over Germany. In spite of a fierce resistance,
+headed by Pippin of Heristall, the grandson of Pippin of Landen, he
+partly maintained his authority until the year 681, when he was murdered
+in turn.
+
+Pippin of Heristall was also the grandson of Arnulf, Bishop of Metz,
+whose son, Anchises, had married Begga, the daughter of Pippin of
+Landen. He was thus of Roman blood by his father's, and Frank by his
+mother's side. As soon as his authority was secured, as Royal Steward of
+Germany, he invaded France, and a desperate struggle for the stewardship
+of the whole kingdom ensued. It was ended in 687 by a battle near St.
+Quentin, in which Pippin was victorious. He used his success with a
+moderation very rare in those days: he did honor to the Frank king,
+Theuderich III., who had fallen into his hands, spared the lives and
+possessions of all who had fought against him, on their promise not to
+take up arms against his authority, and even continued many of the chief
+officials of the Franks in their former places.
+
+[Sidenote: 687. PIPPIN OF HERISTALL.]
+
+From this date the Merovingian monarch became a shadow. Pippin paid him
+all external signs of allegiance, kept up the ceremonies of his Court,
+supplied him with ample revenues, and governed the kingdom in his name;
+but the actual power was concentrated in his own hands. France,
+Switzerland and the greater part of Germany were subjected to his
+government, although there were still elements of discontent within the
+realm, and of trouble outside of its borders. The dependent dukedoms of
+Aquitaine, Burgundy, Alemannia, Bavaria and Thuringia were restless
+under the yoke; the Saxons and Frisians on the north were hostile and
+defiant, and the Slavonic races all along the eastern frontier had not
+yet given up their invasions.
+
+Pippin, like the French rulers after him, down to the present day,
+perceived the advantage of having the Church on his side. Moreover, he
+was the grandson of a Bishop, which circumstance--although it did not
+prevent him from taking two wives--enabled him better to understand the
+power of the ecclesiastical system of Rome. In the early part of the
+seventh century, several Christian missionaries, principally Irish, had
+begun their labors among the Alemanni and the Bavarians, but the greater
+part of these people, with all the Thuringians, Saxons and Frisians,
+were still worshippers of the old pagan gods. Pippin saw that the latter
+must be taught submission, and accustomed to authority through the
+Church, and, with his aid, all the southern part of Germany became
+Christian in a few years. Force was employed, as well as persuasion;
+but, at that time, the end was considered to sanction any means.
+
+Pippin's rule (we can not call it _reign_) was characterized by the
+greatest activity, patience and prudence. From year to year the kingdom
+of the Franks became better organized and stronger in all its features
+of government. Brittany, Burgundy and Aquitaine were kept quiet; the
+northern part of Holland was conquered, and immediately given into
+charge of a band of Anglo-Saxon monks; and Germany, although restless
+and dissatisfied, was held more firmly than ever. Pippin of Heristall,
+while he was simply called a Royal Steward, exercised a wider power
+than any monarch of his time.
+
+[Sidenote: 714.]
+
+When he died, in the year 714, the kingdom was for a while convulsed by
+feuds which threatened to repeat the bloody annals of the Merovingians.
+His heirs were Theudowald, his grandson by his wife Plektrude, and Karl
+and Hildebrand, his sons by his wife Alpheid. He chose the former as his
+successor, and Plektrude, in order to suppress any opposition to this
+arrangement, imprisoned her step-son Karl. But the Burgundians
+immediately revolted, elected one of their chiefs, Raginfried, to the
+office of Royal Steward, and defeated the Franks in a battle in which
+Theudowald was slain. Karl, having escaped from prison, put himself at
+the head of affairs, supported by a majority of the German Franks. He
+was a man of strong personal influence, and inspired his followers with
+enthusiasm and faith; but his chances seemed very desperate. His
+step-mother, Plektrude, opposed him: the Burgundians and French Franks,
+led by Raginfried, were marching against him, and Radbod, Duke of
+Friesland, invaded the territory which he was bound by his office to
+defend.
+
+Karl had the choice of three enemies, and he took the one which seemed
+most dangerous. He attacked Radbod, but was forced to fall back, and
+this repulse emboldened the Saxons to make a foray into the land of the
+Hessians, as the old Germanic tribe of the Chatti were now called.
+Radbod advanced to Cologne, which was held by Plektrude and her
+followers: at the same time Raginfried approached from the west, and the
+city was thus besieged by two separate armies, hostile to each other,
+yet both having the same end in view. Between the two, Karl managed to
+escape, and retreated to the forest of Ardennes, where he set about
+reconstructing his shattered army.
+
+Cologne was too strong to be assailed, and Plektrude, who possessed
+large treasures, soon succeeded in buying off Radbod and Raginfried. The
+latter, on his return to France, came into collision with Karl, who,
+though repelled at first, finally drove him in confusion to the walls of
+Paris. Karl then suddenly wheeled about and marched against Cologne,
+which fell into his hands: Plektrude, leaving her wealth as his booty,
+fled to Bavaria. This victory secured to Karl the stewardship over
+Germany, but a king was wanting, to make the forms of royalty complete.
+The direct Merovingian line had run out, and Raginfried had been
+obliged to take a monk, an offshoot of the family, and place him on the
+throne, under the name of Chilperic II. Karl, after a little search,
+discovered another Merovingian, whom he installed in the German half of
+the kingdom, as Clotar III. That done, he attacked the invading Saxons,
+defeated and drove them beyond the Weser river.
+
+[Sidenote: 719. KARL, STEWARD OF THE EMPIRE.]
+
+He was now free to meet the rebellious Franks of France, who in the
+meantime had strengthened themselves by offering to Duke Eudo of
+Aquitaine the acknowledgment of his independent sovereignty in return
+for his support. A decisive battle was fought in the year 719, and Karl
+was again victorious. The nominal king, Chilperic II., Raginfried and
+Duke Eudo fled into the south of France. Karl began negotiations with
+the latter for the delivery of the fugitive king; but just at this time
+his own puppet, Clotar III., happened to die, and, as there was no other
+Merovingian left, the pretence upon which his stewardship was based
+obliged him to recognize Chilperic II. Raginfried resigned his office,
+and Karl was at last nominal Steward, and actual monarch, of the kingdom
+of the Franks.
+
+His first movement was to deliver Germany from its invaders, and
+reestablish the dependency of its native Dukes. The death of the fierce
+Radbod enabled him to reconquer West Friesland: the Saxons were then
+driven back and firmly held within their original boundaries, and
+finally the Alemanni and Bavarians were compelled to make a formal
+acknowledgment of the Frank rule. As regards Thuringia, which seems to
+have remained a Dukedom, the chronicles of the time give us little
+information. It is probable, however, that the invasions of the Saxons
+on the north and the Slavonic tribes on the east gave the people of
+Central Germany no opportunity to resist the authority of the Franks.
+The work of conversion, encouraged by Pippin of Heristall as a political
+measure, was still continued by the zeal of the Irish and Anglo-Saxon
+missionaries, and in the beginning of the eighth century it received a
+powerful impulse from a new apostle, a man of singular ability and
+courage.
+
+He was a Saxon of England, born in Devonshire in the year 680, and
+Winfried by name. Educated in a monastery, at a time when the struggle
+between Christianity and the old Germanic faith was at its height, he
+resolved to devote his life to missionary labors. He first went to
+Friesland, during the reign of Radbod, and spent three years in a vain
+attempt to convert the people. Then he visited Rome, offered his
+services to the Pope, and was commissioned to undertake the work of
+christianizing Central Germany. On reaching the field of his labors, he
+manifested such zeal and intelligence that he soon became the leader and
+director of the missionary enterprise. It is related that at Geismar, in
+the land of the Hessians, he cut down with his own hands an aged
+oak-tree, sacred to the god Thor. This and other similar acts inspired
+the people with such awe that they began to believe that their old gods
+were either dead or helpless, and they submissively accepted the new
+faith without understanding its character, or following it otherwise
+than in observing the external forms of worship.
+
+[Sidenote: 725.]
+
+On a second visit to Rome, Winfried was appointed by the Pope Archbishop
+of Mayence, and ordered to take, thenceforth, the name of Bonifacius
+(Benefactor), by which he is known in history. He was confirmed in this
+office by Karl, to whom he had rendered valuable political services by
+the conversion of the Thuringians, and who had a genuine respect for his
+lofty and unselfish character. The spot where he built the first
+Christian church in Central Germany, about twelve miles from Gotha, at
+the foot of the Thuringian Mountains, is now marked by a colossal
+candle-stick of granite, surmounted by a golden flame.
+
+After Karl had been for several years actively employed in regulating
+the affairs of his great realm, and especially, with the aid of Bishop
+Bonifacius, in establishing an authority in Germany equal to that he
+possessed in France, he had every prospect of a powerful and peaceful
+rule. But suddenly a new danger threatened not only the Franks, but all
+Europe. The Saracens, crossing from Africa, defeated the Visigoths and
+slew Roderick, their king, in the year 711. Gradually possessing
+themselves of all Spain, they next collected a tremendous army, and in
+731, under the command of Abderrahman, Viceroy of the Caliph of
+Damascus, set out for the conquest of France. Thus the new Christian
+faith of Europe, still engaged in quelling the last strength of the
+ancient paganism, was suddenly called upon to meet the newer faith of
+Mohammed, which had determined to subdue the world.
+
+[Sidenote: 732. THE BATTLE OF POITIERS.]
+
+Not only France, but the Eastern Empire, Italy and England looked to
+Karl, in this emergency. The Saracens crossed the Pyrenees with 350,000
+warriors, accompanied by their wives and children, as if they were sure
+of victory and meant to possess the land. Karl called the military
+strength of the whole broad kingdom into the field, collected an army
+nearly equal in numbers, and finally, in October, 732, the two hosts
+stood face to face, near the city of Poitiers. It was a struggle almost
+as grand, and as fraught with important consequences to the world, as
+that of Aetius and Attila, nearly 300 years before. Six days were spent
+in preparations, and on the seventh the battle began. The Saracens
+attacked with that daring and impetuosity which had gained them so many
+victories; but, as the old chronicle says, "the Franks, with their
+strong hearts and powerful bodies, stood like a wall, and hewed down the
+Arabs with iron hands." When night fell, 200,000 dead and wounded lay
+upon the field. Karl made preparations for resuming the battle on the
+following morning, but he found no enemy. The Saracens had retired
+during the night, leaving their camps and stores behind them, and their
+leader, Abderrahman, among the slain. This was the first great check the
+cause of Islam received, after a series of victories more wonderful than
+those of Rome. From that day the people bestowed upon Karl the surname
+of _Martel_, the Hammer, and as Charles Martel he is best known in
+history.
+
+He was not able to follow up his advantage immediately, for the
+possibility of his defeat by the Saracens had emboldened his enemies at
+home and abroad, to rise against his authority. The Frisians, under
+Poppo, their new Duke, made another invasion; the Saxons followed their
+example; the Burgundians attempted a rebellion, and the sons of Duke
+Eudo of Aquitaine, imitating the example of their ancestors, the
+Merovingian kings, began to quarrel about the succession. While Karl
+Martel (as we must now call him) was engaged in suppressing all these
+troubles, the Saracens, with the aid of the malcontent Burgundians,
+occupied all the territory bordering the Mediterranean, on both sides of
+the Rhone. He was not free to march against them until 737, when he made
+his appearance with a large army, retook Avignon, Arles and Nismes, and
+left them in possession only of Narbonne, which was too strongly
+fortified to be taken by assault.
+
+Karl Martel was recalled to the opposite end of the kingdom by a fresh
+invasion of the Saxons. When this had been repelled, and the northern
+frontier in Germany strengthened against the hostile race, the
+Burgundian nobles in Provence sought a fresh alliance with the Saracens,
+and compelled him to return instantly from the Weser to the shores of
+the Mediterranean. He suppressed the rebellion, but was obliged to leave
+the Saracens in possession of a part of the coast, between the Rhone and
+the Pyrenees. During his stay in the south of France, the Pope, Gregory
+II., entreated him to come to Italy and relieve Rome from the oppression
+of Luitprand, king of the Longobards. He did not accept the invitation,
+but it appears that, as mediator, he assisted in concluding a treaty
+between the Pope and king, which arranged their differences for a time.
+
+[Sidenote: 741.]
+
+Worn out by his life of marches and battles, Karl Martel became
+prematurely old, and died in 741, at the age of fifty, after a reign of
+twenty-seven years. He inherited the activity, the ability, and also the
+easy principles of his father, Pippin of Heristall. But his authority
+was greatly increased, and he used it to lessen the remnant of their
+original freedom which the people still retained. The free Germanic
+Franks were accustomed to meet every year, in the month of March (as on
+the _Champ de Mars_, or March-field, at Paris), and discuss all national
+matters. In Chlodwig's time the royal dependents were added to the free
+citizens and allowed an equal voice, which threw an additional power
+into the hands of the monarch. Karl Martel convoked the national
+assembly, declared war or made peace, without asking the people's
+consent; while, by adding the priesthood and the nobles, with their
+dependents, to the number of those entitled to vote, he broke down the
+ancient power of the state and laid the foundation of a more absolute
+system.
+
+Shortly before his death, Karl Martel summoned a council of the princes
+and nobles of his realm, and obtained their consent that his eldest son,
+Karloman, should succeed him as Royal Steward of Germany, and his second
+son, Pippin, surnamed the Short, as Royal Steward of France and
+Burgundy. The Merovingian throne had already been vacant for four years,
+but the monarch had become so insignificant that this circumstance was
+scarcely noticed. On his death-bed, however, Karl Martel was persuaded
+by Swanhilde, one of his wives, to bequeath a part of his dominions to
+her son, Grifo. This gave rise to great discontent among the people, and
+furnished the subject Dukes of Bavaria, Alemannia and Aquitaine with
+another opportunity for endeavoring to regain their lost independence.
+
+[Sidenote: 752. PIPPIN THE SHORT MADE KING.]
+
+Karloman and Pippin, in order to strengthen their cause, sought for a
+descendant of the Merovingian line, and, having found him, they
+proclaimed him king, under the name of Childeric III. This step secured
+to them the allegiance of the Franks, but the conflict with the
+refractory Dukedoms lasted several years. Battles were fought on the
+Loire, on the Lech, in Bavaria, and then again on the Saxon frontier:
+finally Aquitaine was subdued, Alemannia lost its Duke and became a
+Frank province, and Bavaria agreed to a truce. In this struggle,
+Karloman and Pippin received important support from Bonifacius, a part
+of whose aim it was to bring all the Christian communities to
+acknowledge the Pope of Rome as the sole head of the Church. They gave
+him their support in return, and thus the Franks were drawn into closer
+relations with the ecclesiastical power.
+
+In the year 747, Karloman resigned his power, went to Rome, and was made
+a monk by Pope Zacharias. Soon afterwards Grifo, the son of Karl Martel
+and Swanhilde, made a second attempt to conquer his rights, with the aid
+of the Saxons. Pippin the Short allied himself with the Wends, a
+Slavonic race settled in Prussia, and ravaged the Saxon land, forcing a
+part of the inhabitants, at the point of the sword, to be baptized as
+Christians. Grifo fled to Bavaria, where the Duke, Tassilo, espoused his
+cause, but Pippin the Short followed close upon his heels with so strong
+a force that resistance was no longer possible. A treaty was made
+whereby Grifo was consigned to private life, the hereditary rights of
+the Bavarian Dukes recognized by the Franks, and the sovereignty of the
+Franks accepted by the Bavarians.
+
+Pippin the Short had found, through his own experience as well as that
+of his ancestors, that the pretence of a Merovingian king only worked
+confusion in the realm of the Franks, since it furnished to the
+subordinate races and principalities a constant pretext for revolt.
+When, therefore, Pope Zacharias found himself threatened by Aistulf, the
+successor of Luitprand as king of the Longobards, and sent an embassy to
+Pippin the Short appealing for his assistance, the latter returned to
+him this question: "Does the kingdom belong to him who exercises the
+power, without the name, or to him who bears the name, without
+possessing the power?" The answer was what he expected: a general
+assembly was called together in 752, Pippin was anointed King by the
+Archbishop Bonifacius, then lifted on a shield according to the ancient
+custom and accepted by the nobles and people. The shadowy Merovingian
+king, Childeric III., was shorn of his long hair, the sign of royalty,
+and sent into a monastery, where he disappeared from the world. Pippin
+now possessed sole and unlimited sway over the kingdom of the Franks,
+and named himself "King by the Grace of God,"--an example which has been
+followed by most monarchs, down to our day. On the other hand, the
+decision of Zacharias was a great step gained by the Papal power, which
+thenceforth began to exalt its prerogatives over those of the rulers of
+nations.
+
+[Sidenote: 755.]
+
+Pippin's first duty, as king, was to repel a new invasion of the Saxons.
+His power was so much increased by his title that he was able, at once,
+to lead against them such a force that they were compelled to pay a
+tribute of 300 horses annually, and to allow Christian missionaries to
+reside among them. The latter condition was undoubtedly the suggestion
+of Bonifacius, who determined to carry the cross to the North Sea, and
+complete the conversion of Germany. He himself undertook a mission to
+Friesland, where he had failed as a young monk, and there, in 755, at
+the age of seventy-five, he was slain by the fierce pagans. He died like
+a martyr; refusing to defend himself, and was enrolled among the number
+of Saints.
+
+In the year 754, Pope Stephen II., the successor of Zacharias, appeared
+in France as a personal supplicant for the aid of King Pippin. Aistulf,
+the Longobard king, who had driven the Byzantines out of the Exarchy of
+Ravenna, was marching against Rome, which still nominally belonged to
+the Eastern Empire. To make his entreaty more acceptable, the Pope
+bestowed on Pippin the title of "Patrician of Rome," and solemnly
+crowned both him and his young sons, Karl and Karloman, in the chapel of
+St. Denis, near Paris. At the same time he issued a ban of
+excommunication against all persons who should support a monarch
+belonging to any other than the reigning dynasty.
+
+Pippin first endeavored to negotiate with Aistulf, but, failing therein,
+he marched into Italy, defeated the Longobards in several battles, and
+besieged the king in Pavia, his capital. Aistulf was compelled to
+promise that he would give up the Exarchy and leave the Pope in peace;
+but no sooner had Pippin returned to France than he violated all his
+promises. On the renewed appeals of the Pope, Pippin came to Italy a
+second time, again defeated the Longobards, and forced Aistulf not only
+to fulfil his former promises, but also to pay the expenses of the
+second war. He remained in Italy until the conditions were fulfilled,
+and his son Karl (Charlemagne), then fourteen years old, spent some time
+in Rome.
+
+[Sidenote: 768. DEATH OF PIPPIN.]
+
+The Byzantine Emperor demanded that the cities of the Exarchy should be
+given back to him, but Pippin transferred them to the Pope, who already
+exercised a temporal power in Rome. They were held by the latter, for
+some time afterwards, in the name of the Eastern Empire. The worldly
+sovereignty of the Popes grew gradually from this basis, but was not yet
+recognized, or even claimed. Pippin, nevertheless, greatly strengthened
+the influence of the Church by gifts of land, by increasing the
+privileges of the priesthood, and by allowing the ecclesiastical synods,
+in many cases, to interfere in matters of civil government.
+
+The only other events of his reign were another expedition against the
+unsubdued Saxons, and the expulsion of the Saracens from the territory
+they held between Narbonne and the Pyrenees. He died in 768, King
+instead of Royal Steward, leaving to his sons, Karl and Karloman, a
+greater, stronger and better organized dominion than Europe had seen
+since the downfall of the Roman Empire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE REIGN OF CHARLEMAGNE.
+
+(768--814.)
+
+The Partition made by Pippin the Short. --Death of Karloman.
+    --Appearance and Character of Charlemagne. --His Place in History.
+    --The Carolingian Dynasty. --His Work as a Statesman. --Conquest of
+    Lombardy. --Visit to Rome. --First Saxon Campaign. --The Chief,
+    Wittekind. --Assembly at Paderborn. --Expedition to Spain. --Defeat
+    at Roncesvalles. --Revolt of the Saxons. --Second Visit to Rome.
+    --Execution of Saxon Nobles, and Third War. --Subjection of
+    Bavaria. --Victory over the Avars. --Final Submission of the
+    Saxons. --Visit of Pope Leo III. --Charlemagne crowned Roman
+    Emperor. --The Plan of Temporal and Spiritual Empire. --Intercourse
+    with Haroun Alraschid. --Trouble with the Saracens. --Extent of
+    Charlemagne's Empire. --His Encouragement of Learning and the Arts.
+    --The Scholars at his Court. --Changes in the System of Government.
+    --Loss of Popular Freedom. --Charlemagne's Habits. --The Norsemen.
+    --His Son, Ludwig, crowned Emperor. --Charlemagne's Death.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 771.]
+
+When King Pippin the Short felt that his end was near, he called an
+assembly of Dukes, nobles and priests, which was held at St. Denis, for
+the purpose of installing his sons, Karl and Karloman, as his
+successors. As he had observed how rapidly the French and German halves
+of his empire were separating themselves from each other, in language,
+habits and national character, he determined to change the former
+boundary between "Austria" and "Neustria," which ran nearly north and
+south, and to substitute an arbitrary line running east and west. This
+division was accepted by the assembly, but its unpractical character was
+manifested as soon as Karl and Karloman began to reign. There was
+nothing but trouble for three years, at the end of which time the latter
+died, leaving Karl, in 771, sole monarch of the Frank Empire.
+
+This great man, who, looking backwards, saw not his equal in history
+until he beheld Julius Caesar, now began his splendid single reign of
+forty-three years. We must henceforth call him Charlemagne, the French
+form of the Latin _Carolus Magnus_, Karl the Great, since by that name
+he is known in all English history. He was at this time twenty-nine
+years old, and in the pride of perfect strength and manly beauty. He was
+nearly seven feet high, admirably proportioned, and so developed by
+toil, the chase and warlike exercises that few men of his time equalled
+him in muscular strength. His face was noble and commanding, his hair
+blonde or light brown, and his eyes a clear, sparkling blue. He
+performed the severest duties of his office with a quiet dignity which
+heightened the impression of his intellectual power; he was terrible and
+inflexible in crushing all who attempted to interfere with his work; but
+at the chase, the banquet, or in the circle of his family and friends,
+no one was more frank, joyous and kindly than he.
+
+[Sidenote: 771. CHARLEMAGNE.]
+
+His dynasty is called in history, after him, the _Carolingian_, although
+Pippin of Landen was its founder. The name of Charlemagne is extended
+backwards over the Royal Stewards, his ancestors, and after him over a
+century of successors who gradually faded out like the Merovingian line.
+He stands alone, midway between the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages, as
+the one supreme historical landmark. The task of his life was to extend,
+secure, regulate and develop the power of a great empire, much of which
+was still in a state of semi-barbarism. He was no imitator of the Roman
+Emperors: his genius, as a statesman, lay in his ability to understand
+that new forms of government, and a new development of civilization, had
+become necessary. Like all strong and far-seeing rulers, he was
+despotic, and often fiercely cruel. Those who interfered with his
+plans--even the members of his own family--were relentlessly sacrificed.
+On the other hand, although he strengthened the power of the nobility,
+he never neglected the protection of the people; half his days were
+devoted to war, yet he encouraged learning, literature and the arts; and
+while he crushed the independence of the races he gave them a higher
+civilization in its stead.
+
+Charlemagne first marched against the turbulent Saxons, but before they
+were reduced to order he was called to Italy by the appeal of Pope
+Adrian for help against the Longobards. The king of the latter,
+Desiderius, was the father of Hermingarde, Charlemagne's second wife,
+whom he had repudiated and sent home soon after his accession to the
+throne. Karloman's widow had also claimed the protection of Desiderius,
+and she, with her sons, was living at the latter's court. But these ties
+had no weight with Charlemagne; he collected a large army at Geneva,
+crossed the Alps by the pass of St. Bernard, conquered all Northern
+Italy, and besieged Desiderius in Pavia. He then marched to Rome, where
+Pope Adrian received him as a liberator. A procession of the clergy and
+people went forth to welcome him, chanting, "Blessed is he that comes in
+the name of the Lord!" He took part in the ceremonies of Easter, 774,
+which were celebrated with great pomp in the Cathedral of St. Peter.
+
+[Sidenote: 775.]
+
+In May Pavia fell into Charlemagne's hands. Desiderius was sent into a
+monastery, the widow and children of Karloman disappeared, and the
+kingdom of the Longobards, embracing all Northern and Central Italy, was
+annexed to the empire of the Franks. The people were allowed to retain
+both their laws and their dukes, or local rulers, but, in spite of these
+privileges, they soon rose in revolt against their conqueror.
+Charlemagne had returned to finish his work with the Saxons, when in 776
+this revolt called him back to Italy. The movement was temporarily
+suppressed, and he hastened to Germany to resume his interrupted task.
+
+The Saxons were the only remaining German people who resisted both the
+Frank rule and the introduction of Christianity. They held all of what
+is now Westphalia, Hannover and Brunswick, to the river Elbe, and were
+still strong, in spite of their constant and wasting wars. During his
+first campaign, in 772, Charlemagne had overrun Westphalia, taken
+possession of the fortified camp of the Saxons, and destroyed the
+"Irmin-pillar," which seems to have been a monument erected to
+commemorate the defeat of Varus by Hermann. The people submitted, and
+promised allegiance; but the following year, aroused by the appeals of
+their duke or chieftain, Wittekind, they rebelled in a body. The
+Frisians joined them, the priests and missionaries were slaughtered or
+expelled, and all the former Saxon territory, nearly to the Rhine, was
+retaken by Wittekind.
+
+Charlemagne collected a large army and renewed the war in 775. He
+pressed forward as far as the river Weser, when, carelessly dividing his
+forces, one half of them were cut to pieces, and he was obliged to
+retreat. His second expedition to Italy, at this time, was made with all
+possible haste, and a new army was ready on his return. Westphalia was
+now wasted with fire and sword, and the people generally submitted,
+although they were compelled to be baptized as Christians. In May, 777,
+Charlemagne held an assembly of the people at Paderborn: nearly all the
+Saxon nobles attended, and swore fealty to him, while many of them
+submitted to the rite of baptism.
+
+[Sidenote: 777. ASSEMBLY AT PADERBORN.]
+
+At this assembly suddenly appeared a deputation of Saracen princes from
+Spain, who sought Charlemagne's help against the tyranny of the Caliph
+of Cordova. He was induced by religious or ambitious motives to consent,
+neglecting for the time the great work he had undertaken in his own
+Empire. In the summer of 778 he crossed the Pyrenees, took the cities of
+Pampeluna and Saragossa, and delivered all Spain north of the Ebro river
+from the hands of the Saracen Caliph. This territory was attached to the
+Empire as the Spanish Mark, or province: it was inhabited both by
+Saracens and Franks, who dwelt side by side and became more or less
+united in language, habits and manners.
+
+On his return to France, Charlemagne was attacked by a large force of
+the native Basques, in the pass of Roncesvalles, in the Pyrenees. His
+warriors, taken by surprise in the narrow ravine and crushed by rocks
+rolled down upon them from above, could make little resistance, and the
+rear column, with all the plunder gathered in Spain, fell into the
+enemy's hands. Here was slain the famous paladin, Roland, the Count of
+Brittany, who became the theme of poets down to the time of Ariosto.
+Charlemagne was so infuriated by his defeat that he hanged the Duke of
+Aquitaine, on the charge of treachery, because his territory included a
+part of the lands of the Basques.
+
+Upon the heels of this disaster came the news that the Saxons had again
+arisen under the lead of Wittekind, destroyed their churches, murdered
+the priests, and carried fire and sword to the very walls of Cologne and
+Coblentz. Charlemagne sent his best troops, by forced marches, in
+advance of his coming, but he was not able to take the field until the
+following spring. During 779 and a part of 780, after much labor and
+many battles, he seemed to have subdued the stubborn race, the most of
+whom accepted Christian baptism for the third time. Charlemagne
+thereupon went to Italy once more, in order to restore order among the
+Longobards, whose local chiefs were becoming restless in his absence.
+His two young sons, Pippin and Ludwig, were crowned by Pope Adrian as
+kings of Longobardia, or Lombardy (which then embraced the greater part
+of Northern and Central Italy), and Aquitaine.
+
+[Sidenote: 783.]
+
+After his return to Germany, he convoked a parliament, or popular
+assembly, at Paderborn, in 782, partly in order to give the Saxons a
+stronger impression of the power of the Empire. The people seemed quiet,
+and he was deceived by their bearing; for, after he had left them to
+return to the Rhine, they rose again, headed by Wittekind, who had been
+for some years a fugitive in Denmark. Three of Charlemagne's chief
+officials, who immediately hastened to the scene of trouble with such
+troops as they could collect, met Wittekind in the Teutoburger Forest,
+not far from the field where Varus and his legions were destroyed. A
+similar fate awaited them: the Frank army was so completely cut to
+pieces that but few escaped to tell the tale.
+
+Charlemagne marched immediately into the Saxon land: the rebels
+dispersed at his approach and Wittekind again became a fugitive. The
+Saxon nobles humbly renewed their submission, and tried to throw the
+whole responsibility of the rebellion upon Wittekind. Charlemagne was
+not satisfied: he had been mortified in his pride as a monarch, and for
+once he cast aside his usual moderation and prudence. He demanded that
+4,500 Saxons, no doubt the most prominent among the people, should be
+given up to him, and then ordered them all to be beheaded on the same
+day. This deed of blood, instead of intimidating the Saxons, provoked
+them to fury. They arose as one man, and in 783 defeated Charlemagne
+near Detmold. He retreated to Paderborn, received reinforcements, and
+was enabled to venture a second battle, in which he was victorious. He
+remained for two years longer in Thuringia and Saxony, during which time
+he undertook a winter campaign, for which the people were not prepared.
+By the summer of 785, the Saxons, finding their homes destroyed and
+themselves rapidly diminishing in numbers, yielded to the mercy of the
+conqueror. Wittekind, who, the legend says, had stolen in disguise into
+Charlemagne's camp, was so impressed by the bearing of the king and the
+pomp of the religious services, that he also submitted and received
+baptism. One account states that Charlemagne named him Duke of the
+Saxons and was thenceforth his friend; another, that he sank into
+obscurity.
+
+[Sidenote: 788. SUBJECTION OF BAVARIA.]
+
+Charlemagne was now free to make another journey to Italy, where he
+suppressed some fresh troubles among the Lombards (as we must henceforth
+style the Longobards), and forced Aragis, the Duke of Benevento, to
+render his submission. Then, for the first time, he turned his attention
+to the Bavarians, whose Duke, Tassilo, had preserved an armed neutrality
+during the previous wars, but was suspected of secretly conspiring with
+the Lombards, Byzantines, and even the Avars, for help to enable him to
+throw off the Frank yoke. At a general diet of the whole empire, held in
+Worms in 787, Tassilo did not appear, and Charlemagne made this a
+pretext for invading Bavaria.
+
+Three armies, in Italy, Suabia and Thuringia, were set in motion at the
+same time, and resistance appeared so hopeless that Tassilo surrendered
+at once. Charlemagne pardoned him at first, under stipulations of
+stricter dependence, but he was convicted of conspiracy at a diet held
+the following year, when he and his sons were found guilty and sent into
+a monastery. His dynasty came to an end, and Bavaria was portioned out
+among a number of Frank Counts, the people, nevertheless, being allowed
+to retain their own political institutions.
+
+The incorporation of Bavaria with the Frank empire brought a new task to
+Charlemagne. The Avars, who had gradually extended their rule across the
+Alps, nearly to the Adriatic, were strong and dangerous neighbors. In
+791 he entered their territory and laid it waste, as far as the river
+Raab; then, having lost all his horses on the march, he was obliged to
+return. At home, a new trouble awaited him. His son, Pippin, whom he had
+installed as king of Lombardy, was discovered to be at the head of a
+conspiracy to usurp his own throne. Pippin was terribly flogged, and
+then sent into a monastery for the rest of his days; his
+fellow-conspirators were executed.
+
+When Charlemagne applied his system of military conscription to the
+Saxons, to recruit his army before renewing the war with the Avars, they
+rose once more in rebellion, slew his agents, burned the churches, and
+drove out the priests, who had made themselves hated by their despotism
+and by claiming a tenth part of the produce of the land. Charlemagne was
+thus obliged to subdue them and to fight the Avars, at the same time.
+The double war lasted until 796, when the residence of the Avar Khan,
+with the intrenched "ring" or fort, containing all the treasures
+amassed by the tribe during the raids of two hundred years, was
+captured. All the country, as far eastward as the rivers Theiss and
+Raab, was wasted and almost depopulated. The remnant of the Avars
+acknowledged themselves Frank subjects, but for greater security,
+Charlemagne established Bavarian colonies in the fertile land along the
+Danube. The latter formed a province, called the East-Mark, which became
+the foundation upon which Austria (the East-kingdom) afterwards rose.
+
+[Sidenote: 799.]
+
+The Saxons were subjected--or seemed to be--about the same time. Many of
+the people retreated into Holstein, which was then called
+North-Albingia; but Charlemagne allied himself with a branch of the
+Slavonic Wends, defeated them there, and took possession of their
+territory. He built fortresses at Halle, Magdeburg, and Buechen, near
+Hamburg, colonized 10,000 Saxons among the Franks, and replaced them by
+an equal number of the latter. Then he established Christianity for the
+fifth time, by ordering that all who failed to present themselves for
+baptism should be put to death. The indomitable spirit of the people
+still led to occasional outbreaks, but these became weaker and weaker,
+and finally ceased as the new faith struck deeper root.
+
+In the year 799, Pope Leo III. suddenly appeared in Charlemagne's camp
+at Paderborn, a fugitive from a conspiracy of the Roman nobles, by which
+his life was threatened. He was received with all possible honors, and
+after some time spent in secret councils, was sent back to Rome with a
+strong escort. In the autumn of the following year, Charlemagne followed
+him. A civil and ecclesiastical assembly was held at Rome, and
+pronounced the Pope free from the charges made against him; then (no
+doubt according to previous agreement) on Christmas-Day, 800, Leo III.
+crowned Charlemagne as Roman Emperor, in the Cathedral of St. Peter's.
+The people greeted him with cries of "Life and victory to Carolo
+Augusto, crowned by God, the great, the peace-bringing Emperor of the
+Romans!"
+
+If, by this step, the Pope seemed to forget the aspirations of the
+Church for temporal power, on the other hand he rendered himself forever
+independent of his nominal subjection to the Byzantine Emperors. For
+Charlemagne, the new dignity gave his rule its full and final authority.
+The people, in whose traditions the grandeur of the old Roman Empire
+were still kept alive, now beheld it renewed in their ruler and
+themselves. Charlemagne stood at the head of an Empire which was to
+include all Christendom, and to imitate, in its civil organization, the
+spiritual rule of the Church. On the one side were kingdoms, duchies,
+countships and the communities of the people, all subject to him; on the
+other side, bishoprics, monasteries and their dependencies, churches and
+individual souls, subject to the Pope. The latter acknowledged the
+Emperor as his temporal sovereign: the Emperor acknowledged the Pope as
+his spiritual sovereign. The idea was grand, and at that time did not
+seem impossible to fulfil; but the further course of history shows how
+hostile the two principles may become, when they both grasp at the same
+power.
+
+[Sidenote: 800. CHARLEMAGNE'S EMPIRE.]
+
+The Greek Emperors at Constantinople were not strong enough to protest
+against this bestowal of a dignity which they claimed for themselves. A
+long series of negotiations followed, the result of which was that the
+Emperor Nicephorus, in 812, acknowledged Charlemagne's title. The
+latter, immediately after his coronation in Rome, drew up a new oath of
+allegiance, which he required to be taken by the whole male population
+of the Empire. About this time, he entered into friendly relations with
+the famous Caliph, Haroun Alraschid of Bagdad. They sent embassies,
+bearing magnificent presents, to each other's courts, and at
+Charlemagne's request, Haroun took the holy places in Palestine under
+his special protection, and allowed the Christians to visit them.
+
+With the Saracens in Spain, however, the Emperor had constant trouble.
+They made repeated incursions across the Ebro, into the Spanish Mark,
+and ravaged the shores of Majorca, Minorca and Corsica, which belonged
+to the Frank Empire. Moreover, the extension of his frontier on the east
+brought Charlemagne into collision with the Slavonic tribes in the
+territory now belonging to Prussia beyond the Elbe, Saxony and Bohemia.
+He easily defeated them, but could not check their plundering and roving
+propensities. In the year 808, Holstein as far as the Elbe was invaded
+by the Danish king, Gottfried, who, after returning home with much
+booty, commenced the construction of that line of defence along the
+Eider river, called the _Dannewerk_, which exists to this day.
+
+Charlemagne had before this conquered and annexed Friesland. His Empire
+thus included all France, Switzerland and Germany, stretching eastward
+along the Danube to Presburg, with Spain to the Ebro, and Italy to the
+Garigliano river, the later boundary between Rome and Naples. There were
+no wars serious enough to call him into the field during the latter
+years of his reign, and he devoted his time to the encouragement of
+learning and the arts. He established schools, fostered new branches of
+industry, and sought to build up the higher civilization which follows
+peace and order. He was very fond of the German language, and by his
+orders a complete collection was made of the songs and poetical legends
+of the people. Forsaking Paris, which had been the Frank capital for
+nearly three centuries, he removed his Court to Aix-la-Chapelle and
+Ingelheim, near the Rhine, founded the city of Frankfort on the Main,
+and converted, before he died, all that war-wasted region into a
+peaceful and populous country.
+
+[Sidenote: 810.]
+
+No ruler before Charlemagne, and none for at least four centuries after
+him, did so much to increase and perpetuate the learning of his time.
+During his meals, some one always read aloud to him out of old
+chronicles or theological works. He spoke Latin fluently, and had a good
+knowledge of Greek. In order to become a good writer, he carried his
+tablets about with him, and even slept with them under his pillow. The
+men whom he assembled at his Court were the most intelligent of that
+age. His chaplain and chief counsellor was Alcuin, an English monk, and
+a man of great learning. His secretary, Einhard (or Eginhard) wrote a
+history of the Emperor's life and times. Among his other friends were
+Paul Diaconus, a learned Lombard, and the chronicler, Bishop Turpin.
+These men formed, with Charlemagne, a literary society, which held
+regular meetings to discuss matters of science, politics and literature.
+
+Under Charlemagne the political institutions of the Merovingian kings,
+as well as those which existed among the German races, were materially
+changed. As far as possible, he set aside the Dukes, each of whom, up to
+that time, was the head of a tribe or division of the people, and broke
+up their half-independent states into districts, governed by Counts.
+These districts were divided into "hundreds," as in the old Germanic
+times, each in charge of a noble, who every week acted as judge in
+smaller civil or criminal cases. The Counts, in conjunction with from
+seven to twelve magistrates, held monthly courts wherein cases which
+concerned life, freedom or landed property were decided. They were also
+obliged to furnish a certain number of soldiers when called upon. The
+same obligation rested upon the archbishops, bishops, and abbots of the
+monasteries, all of whom, together with the Counts, were called Vassals
+of the Empire.
+
+[Sidenote: 810. POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS.]
+
+The free men, in case of war, were compelled to serve as horsemen or
+foot-soldiers, according to their wealth, either three or five of the
+very poorest furnishing one well-equipped man. The soldiers were not
+only not paid, but each was obliged to bear his own expenses; so the
+burden fell very heavily upon this class of the people. In order to
+escape it, large numbers of the poorer freemen voluntarily became
+dependents of the nobility or clergy, who in return equipped and
+supported them. The national assemblies were still annually held, but
+the people, in becoming dependents, gradually lost their ancient
+authority, and their votes ceased to control the course of events. The
+only part they played in the assemblies was to bring tribute to the
+Emperor, to whom they paid no taxes, and whose court was kept up partly
+from their offerings and partly from the revenues of the "domains" or
+crown-lands. Thus, while Charlemagne introduced throughout his whole
+empire a unity of government and an order unknown before, while he
+anticipated Prussia in making all his people liable, at any time, to
+military service, on the other hand he was slowly and unconsciously
+changing the free Germans into a race of lords and serfs.
+
+It is not likely, either, that the people themselves saw the tendency of
+his government. Their respect and love for him increased, as the
+comparative peace of the Empire allowed him to turn to interests which
+more immediately concerned their lives. In his ordinary habits he was as
+simple as they. His daughters spun and wove the flax for his plain linen
+garments; personally he looked after his orchards and vegetable gardens,
+set the schools an example by learning to improve his own reading and
+writing, treated high and low with equal frankness and heartiness, and,
+even in his old age, surpassed all around him in feats of strength or
+endurance. There seemed to be no serfdom in bowing to a man so
+magnificently endowed by nature and so favored by fortune.
+
+One event came to embitter his last days. The Scandinavian Goths, now
+known as Norsemen, were beginning to build their "sea-dragons" and
+sally forth on voyages of plunder and conquest. They laid waste the
+shores of Holland and Northern France, and the legend says that
+Charlemagne burst into tears of rage and shame, on perceiving his
+inability to subdue them or prevent their incursions. One of his last
+acts was to order the construction of a fleet at Boulogne, but when it
+was ready the Norse Vikings suddenly appeared in the Mediterranean and
+ravaged the southern coast of France. Charlemagne began too late to make
+the Germans either a naval or a commercial people: his attempt to unite
+the Main and Danube by a canal also failed, but the very design shows
+his wise foresight and his energy.
+
+[Sidenote: 813.]
+
+Towards the end of the year 813, feeling his death approaching, he
+called an Imperial Diet together at Aix-la-Chapelle, to recognize his
+son Ludwig as his successor. After this was done, he conducted Ludwig to
+the Cathedral, made him vow to be just and God-fearing in his rule, and
+then bade him take the Imperial crown from the altar and set it upon his
+head. On the 28th of January, 814, Charlemagne died, and was buried in
+the Cathedral, where his ashes still repose.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE EMPERORS OF THE CAROLINGIAN LINE.
+
+(814--911.)
+
+Character of Ludwig the Pious. --His Subjection to the Priests.
+    --Injury to German Literature. --Division of the Empire.
+    --Treatment of his Nephew, Bernard. --Ludwig's Remorse. --The
+    Empress Judith and her Son. --Revolt of Ludwig's Sons. --His
+    Abdication and Death. --Compact of Karl the Bald and Ludwig the
+    German. --The French and German Languages. --The Low-German.
+    --Lothar's Resistance. --The Partition of Verdun. --Germany and
+    France separated. --The Norsemen. --Internal Troubles. --Ludwig the
+    German's Sons. --His Death. --Division of Germany. --Karl the Fat.
+    --His Cowardice. --The Empire restored. --Karl's Death. --Duke
+    Arnulf made King. --He defeats the Norsemen and Bohemians. --His
+    Favors to the Church. --The "Isidorian Decretals." --Arnulf Crowned
+    Emperor. --His Death. --Ludwig the Child. --Invasions of the
+    Magyars. --End of the Carolingian line in Germany.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 814. LUDWIG THE PIOUS.]
+
+The last act of Charlemagne's life in ordering the manner of his son's
+coronation,--which was imitated, a thousand years afterwards, by
+Napoleon, who, in the presence of the Pope, Pius VII., himself set the
+crown upon his own head--showed that he designed keeping the Imperial
+power independent of that of the Church. But his son, Ludwig, was
+already a submissive and willing dependent of Rome. During his reign as
+king of Aquitaine he had covered the land with monasteries: he was the
+pupil of monks, and his own inclination was for a monastic life. But at
+Charlemagne's death he was the only legitimate heir to the throne. Being
+therefore obliged to wear the Imperial purple, he exercised his
+sovereignty chiefly in the interest of the Church. His first act was to
+send to the Pope the treasures amassed by his father; his next, to
+surround himself with prelates and priests, who soon learned to control
+his policy. He was called "Ludwig the Pious," but in those days, when so
+many worldly qualities were necessary to the ruler of the Empire, the
+title was hardly one of praise. He appears to have been of a kindly
+nature, and many of his acts show that he meant to be just; the
+weakness of his character, however, too often made his good intentions
+of no avail.
+
+[Sidenote: 816.]
+
+It was a great misfortune for Germany that Ludwig's piety took the form
+of hostility to all learning except of a theological nature. So far as
+he was able, he undid the great work of education commenced by
+Charlemagne. The schools were given entirely into the hands of the
+priests, and the character of the instruction was changed. He inflicted
+an irreparable loss on all after ages by destroying the collection of
+songs, ballads and legends of the German people, which Charlemagne had
+taken such pains to gather and preserve. It is not believed that a
+single copy escaped destruction, although some scholars suppose that a
+fragment of the "Song of Hildebrand," written in the eighth century, may
+have formed part of the collection. In the year 816, Ludwig was visited
+in Rheims by the Pope, Stephen IV., who again crowned him Emperor in the
+Cathedral, and thus restored the spiritual authority which Charlemagne
+had tried to set aside. Ludwig's attempts to release the estates
+belonging to the Bishops, monasteries and priesthood from the payment of
+taxes, and the obligation to furnish soldiers in case of war, created so
+much dissatisfaction among the nobles and people, that, at a diet held
+the following year, he was summoned to divide the government of the
+Empire among his three sons. He resisted at first, but was finally
+forced to consent: his eldest son, Lothar, was crowned as Co-Emperor of
+the Franks, Ludwig as king of Bavaria, and Pippin, his third son, as
+king of Aquitaine.
+
+In this division no notice was taken of Bernard, king of Lombardy, also
+a grandson of Charlemagne. The latter at once entered into a conspiracy
+with certain Frank nobles, to have his rights recognized; but, while
+preparing for war, he was induced, under promises of his personal
+safety, to visit the Emperor's court. There, after having revealed the
+names of his fellow-conspirators, he was treacherously arrested, and his
+eyes put out; in consequence of which treatment he died. The Empress,
+Irmingarde, died soon afterwards, and Ludwig was so overcome both by
+grief for her loss and remorse for having caused the death of his
+nephew, that he was with great difficulty restrained from abdicating and
+retiring into a monastery. It was not in the interest of the priesthood
+to lose so powerful a friend, and they finally persuaded him to marry
+again.
+
+[Sidenote: 822. LUDWIG'S PENITENCE.]
+
+His second wife was Judith, daughter of Welf, a Bavarian count, to whom
+he was united in 819. Although this gave him another son, Karl,
+afterwards known as Karl (Charles) the Bald, he appears to have found
+very little peace of mind. At a diet held in 822, at Attigny, in France,
+he appeared publicly in the sackcloth and ashes of a repentant sinner,
+and made open confession of his misdeeds. This act showed his sincerity
+as a man, but in those days it must have greatly diminished the
+reverence which the people felt for him as their Emperor. The next year
+his son Lothar, who, after Bernard's death, became also King of
+Lombardy, visited Rome and was recrowned by the Pope. For a while,
+Lothar made himself very popular by seeking out and correcting abuses in
+the administration of the laws.
+
+During the first fifteen years of Ludwig's reign, the boundaries of the
+Empire were constantly disturbed by invasions of the Danes, the Slavonic
+tribes in Prussia, and the Saracens in Spain, while the Basques and
+Bretons became turbulent within the realm. All these revolts or
+invasions were suppressed; the eastern frontier was not only held but
+extended, and the military power of the Frank Empire was everywhere
+recognized and feared. The Saxons and Frisians, who had been treated
+with great mildness by Ludwig, gave no further trouble; in fact, the
+whole population of the Empire became peaceable and orderly in
+proportion as the higher civilization encouraged by Charlemagne was
+developed among them.
+
+The remainder of Ludwig's reign might have been untroubled, but for a
+family difficulty. The Empress Judith demanded that her son, Karl,
+should also have a kingdom, like his three step-brothers. An Imperial
+Diet was therefore called together at Worms, in 829, and, in spite of
+fierce opposition, a new kingdom was formed out of parts of Burgundy,
+Switzerland and Suabia. The three sons, Lothar, Pippin and Ludwig,
+acquiesced at first; but when a Spanish count, Bernard, was appointed
+regent during Karl's minority, the two former began secretly to conspire
+against their father. They took him captive in France, and endeavored,
+but in vain, to force him to retire into a monastery. The sympathies of
+the people were with him, and by their help he was able, the following
+year, to regain his authority, and force his sons to submit.
+
+[Sidenote: 833.]
+
+Ludwig, however, manifested his preference for his last son, Karl, so
+openly that in 833 his three other sons united against him, and a war
+ensued which lasted nearly five years. Finally, when the two armies
+stood face to face, on a plain near Colmar, in Alsatia, and a bloody
+battle between father and sons seemed imminent, the Pope, Gregory IV.,
+
+suddenly made his appearance. He offered his services as a mediator,
+went to and fro, and at last treacherously carried all the Emperor's
+chief supporters over to the camp of the sons. Ludwig, then sixty years
+old and broken in strength and spirit, was forced to surrender. The
+people gave the name of "The Field of Lies" to the scene of this event.
+
+The old Emperor was compelled by his sons to give up his sword, to
+appear as a penitent in Church, and to undergo such other degradations,
+that the sympathies of the people were again aroused in his favor. They
+rallied to his support from all sides: his authority was restored,
+Lothar, the leader of the rebellion, fled to Italy, Pippin had died
+shortly before, and Ludwig proffered his submission. The old man now had
+a prospect of quiet; but the machinations of the Empress Judith on
+behalf of her son, Karl, disturbed his last years. His son Ludwig was
+marching against him for the second time, when he died, in 840, on an
+island in the Rhine, near Ingelheim.
+
+The death of Ludwig the Pious was the signal for a succession of
+fratricidal wars. His youngest son, Karl the Bald, first united his
+interests with those of his eldest step-brother, Lothar, but he soon
+went over to Ludwig's side, while Lothar allied himself with the sons of
+Pippin, in Aquitaine. A terrific battle was fought near Auxerre, in
+France, in the summer of 841. Lothar was defeated, and Ludwig and Karl
+then determined to divide the Empire between them. The following winter
+they came together, with their nobles and armies, near Strasburg, and
+vowed to keep faith with each other thenceforth. The language of France
+and Germany, even among the descendants of the original Franks, was no
+longer the same, and the oath which was drawn up for the occasion was
+pronounced by Karl in German to the army of Ludwig, and by Ludwig in
+French to the army of Karl. The text of it has been preserved, and it is
+a very interesting illustration of the two languages, as they were
+spoken a thousand years ago. We will quote the opening phrases:
+
+  LUDWIG (_French_).  Pro Deo  amur  et  (pro)     Christian   poblo
+  KARL (_German_).    In Godes minna ind (in thes) Christianes folches
+  _English_.          In God's love and (that of the) Christian folk
+
+  LUDWIG. et nostro comun salvament,--        dist    di   in avant,
+  KARL.   ind unser bedhero gehaltnissi,--fon thesemo dage framordes,
+  _English_.  and our mutual preservation,--from  this day  forth,
+
+  LUDWIG. --    in quant      Deus   savir    et  podir me dunat, &c.
+  KARL.  --  so fram so     mir God gewiczi   ind mahd furgibit,  &c.
+  _English_. --as long as to me God knowledge and might gives,    &c.
+
+[Illustration: EMPIRE of CHARLEMAGNE, (with the Treaty of Verdun,
+ A. D. 843.)]
+
+[Sidenote: 843.]
+
+It is very easy to see, from this slight specimen, how much the language
+of the Franks had been modified by the Gallic-Latin, and how much of the
+original tongue (taking the Gothic Bible of Ulfila as an evidence of its
+character) has been retained in German and English. About the same time
+there was written in the Low-German, or Saxon dialect, a Gospel
+narrative in verse, called the _Heliand_ ("Saviour"), many lines of
+which are almost identical with early English; as the following:
+
+  _Slogun  cald isarn_
+  They drove cold iron
+
+  _hardo mit  hamuron_
+  hard   with hammers
+
+  _thuru is hendi enti thuru  is  fuoti;_
+  through his hands and through his feet;
+
+  _is blod ran an ertha._
+  his blood ran on earth.
+
+This separation of the languages is a sign of the difference in national
+character which now split asunder the great empire of Charlemagne.
+Lothar, after the solemn alliance between Karl the Bald and Ludwig,
+resorted to desperate measures. He offered to give the Saxons their old
+laws and even to allow them to return to their pagan faith, if they
+would support his claims; he invited the Norsemen to Belgium and
+Northern France; and, by retreating towards Italy when his brothers
+approached him in force, and then returning when an opportunity favored,
+he disturbed and wasted the best portions of the Empire. Finally the
+Bishops intervened, and after a long time spent in negotiations, the
+three rival brothers met in 843, and agreed to the famous "Partition of
+Verdun" (so called from Verdun, near Metz, where it was signed), by
+which the realm of Charlemagne was divided among them.
+
+[Sidenote: 843. SEPARATION OF GERMANY AND FRANCE.]
+
+Lothar, as the eldest, received Italy, together with a long, narrow
+strip of territory extending to the North Sea, including part of
+Burgundy, Switzerland, Eastern Belgium and Holland. All west of this,
+embracing the greater part of France, was given to Karl the Bald; all
+east, with a strip of territory west of the Rhine, from Basle to
+Mayence, "for the sake of its wine," as the document stated, became the
+kingdom of Ludwig, who was thenceforth called "The German." The
+last-named also received Eastern Switzerland and Bavaria, to the Alps.
+This division was almost as arbitrary and unnatural as that which Pippin
+the Short attempted to make. Neither Karl's nor Ludwig's shares included
+all the French or German territory; while Lothar's was a long, narrow
+slice cut out of both, and attached to Italy, where a new race and
+language were already developed out of the mixture of Romans, Goths and
+Lombards. In fact, it became necessary to invent a name for the northern
+part of Lothar's dominions, and that portion between Burgundy and
+Holland was called, after him, Lotharingia. As _Lothringen_ in German,
+and _Lorraine_ in French, the name still remains in existence.
+
+Each of the three monarchs received unrestricted sway over his realm.
+They agreed, however, upon a common line of policy in the interest of
+the dynasty, and admitted the right of inheritance to each other's
+sovereignty, in the absence of direct heirs. The Treaty of Verdun,
+therefore, marks the beginning of Germany and France as distinct
+nationalities; and now, after following the Germanic races over the
+greater part of Europe for so many centuries, we come back to recommence
+their history on the soil where we first found them. In fact, the word
+_Deutsch_, "German," signifying _of the people_, now first came into
+general use, to designate the language and the races--Franks, Alemanni,
+Bavarians, Thuringians, Saxons, etc.--under Ludwig's rule. There was, as
+yet, no political unity among these races; they were reciprocally
+jealous, and often hostile; but, by contrast with the inhabitants of
+France and Italy, they felt their blood-relationship as never before,
+and a national spirit grew up, of a narrower but more natural character
+than that which Charlemagne endeavored to establish.
+
+Internal struggles awaited both the Roman Emperor, Lothar, and the Frank
+king, Karl the Bald. The former was obliged to suppress revolts in
+Provence and Italy; the latter in Brittany and Aquitaine, while the
+Spanish Mark, beyond the Pyrenees, passed out of his hands. Ludwig the
+German inherited a long peace at home, but a succession of wars with the
+Wends and Bohemians along his eastern frontier. The Norsemen came down
+upon his coasts, destroyed Hamburg, and sailed up the Elbe with 600
+vessels, burning and plundering wherever they went. The necessity of
+keeping an army almost constantly in the field gave the clergy and
+nobility an opportunity of exacting better terms for their support; the
+independent dukedoms, suppressed by Charlemagne, were gradually
+re-established, and thus Ludwig diminished his own power while
+protecting his territory from invasion.
+
+[Sidenote: 858.]
+
+The Emperor, Lothar, soon discovered that he had made a bad bargain. His
+long and narrow empire was most difficult to govern, and in 855, weary
+with his annoyances and his endless marches to and fro, he abdicated and
+retired into a monastery, where he died within a week. The empire was
+divided between his three sons: Ludwig received Italy and was crowned by
+the Pope; to Karl was given the territory between the Rhone, the Alps
+and the Mediterranean, and to Lothar II. the portion extending from the
+Rhone to the North Sea. When the last of these died, in 869, Ludwig the
+German and Karl the Bald divided his territory, the line running between
+Verdun and Metz, then along the Vosges, and terminating at the Rhine
+near Basle,--almost precisely the same boundary as that which France has
+been forced to accept in 1871.
+
+But the conditions of the oath taken by the two kings in 842 were not
+observed by either. Karl the Bald was a tyrannical and unpopular
+sovereign, and when he failed in preventing the Norsemen from ravaging
+all Western France, the nobles determined to set him aside and invite
+Ludwig to take his place. The latter consented, marched into France with
+a large army, and was hailed as king; but when his army returned home,
+and he trusted to the promised support of the Frank nobles, he found
+that Karl had repurchased their allegiance, and there was no course left
+to him but to retreat across the Rhine. The trouble was settled by a
+meeting of the two kings, which took place at Coblentz, in 860.
+
+Ludwig the German had also, like his father, serious trouble with his
+sons, Karlmann and Ludwig. He had made the former Duke of Carinthia,
+but ere long discovered that he had entered into a conspiracy with
+Rastitz, king of the Moravian Slavonians. Karlmann was summoned to
+Regensburg (Ratisbon), which was then Ludwig's capital, and was finally
+obliged to lead an army against his secret ally, Rastitz, who was
+conquered. A new war with Zwentebold, king of Bohemia, who was assisted
+by the Sorbs, Wends, and other Slavonic tribes along the Elbe, broke out
+soon afterwards. Karlmann led his father's forces against the enemy, and
+after a struggle of four years forced Bohemia, in 873, to become
+tributary to Germany.
+
+[Sidenote: 876. DEATH OF LUDWIG THE GERMAN.]
+
+In 875, the Emperor, Ludwig II. (Lothar's son), who ruled in Italy, died
+without heirs. Karl the Bald and Ludwig the German immediately called
+their troops into the field and commenced the march to Italy, in order
+to divide the inheritance or fight for its sole possession. Ludwig sent
+his sons, but their uncle, Karl the Bald, was before them. He was
+acknowledged by the Lombard nobles at Pavia, and crowned in Rome by the
+Pope, before it could be prevented. Ludwig determined upon an instant
+invasion of France, but in the midst of the preparations he died at
+Frankfort, in 876. He was seventy-one years old; as a child he had sat
+on the knees of Charlemagne; as an independent king of Germany, he had
+reigned thirty-six years, and with him the intelligence, prudence and
+power which had distinguished the Carolingian line came to an end.
+
+Again the kingdom was divided among three sons, Karlmann, Ludwig the
+Younger, and Karl the Fat; and again there were civil wars. Karl the
+Bald made haste to invade Germany before the brothers were in a
+condition to oppose him; but he was met by Ludwig the Younger and
+terribly defeated, near Andernach on the Rhine. The next year he died,
+leaving one son, Ludwig the Stammerer, to succeed him.
+
+The brothers, in accordance with a treaty made before their father's
+death, thus divided Germany: Karlmann took Bavaria, Carinthia, the
+provinces on the Danube, and the half-sovereignty over Bohemia and
+Moravia; Ludwig the Younger became king over all Northern and Central
+Germany, leaving Suabia (formerly Alemannia) for Karl the Fat.
+Karlmann's first act was to take possession of Italy, which acknowledged
+his rule. He was soon afterwards struck with apoplexy, and died in 880.
+Karl the Fat had already crossed the Alps; he forced the Lombard nobles
+to accept him, and was crowned Emperor at Rome, as Karl III., in 881.
+Meanwhile the Germans had recognized Ludwig the Younger as Karlmann's
+heir, and had given to Arnulf, the latter's illegitimate son, the Duchy
+of Carinthia.
+
+[Sidenote: 882.]
+
+Ludwig the Younger died, childless, in 882, and thus Germany and Italy
+became one empire under Karl the Fat. By this time Friesland and Holland
+were suffering from the invasions of the Norsemen, who had built a
+strong camp on the banks of the Meuse, and were beginning to threaten
+Germany. Karl marched against them, but, after a siege of some weeks, he
+shamefully purchased a truce by giving them territory in Holland, and
+large sums in gold and silver, and by marrying a princess of the
+Carolingian blood to Gottfried, their chieftain. They then sailed down
+the Meuse, with 200 vessels laden with plunder.
+
+All classes of the Germans were filled with rage and shame, at this
+disgrace. The Dukes and Princes who were building up their local
+governments profited by the state of affairs, to strengthen their power.
+Karl was called to Italy to defend the Pope against the Saracens, and
+when he returned to Germany in 884, he found a Count Hugo almost
+independent in Lorraine, the Norsemen in possession of the Rhine nearly
+as far as Cologne, and Arnulf of Carinthia engaged in a fierce war with
+Zwentebold, king of Bohemia. Karl turned his forces against the last of
+these, subdued him, and then, with the help of the Frisians, expelled
+the Norsemen. The two grand-sons of Karl the Bald, Ludwig and Karlmann,
+died about this time, and the only remaining one, Charles (afterwards
+called the Silly), was still a young child. The Frank nobles therefore
+offered the throne to Karl the Fat, who accepted it and thus restored,
+for a short time, the Empire of Charlemagne.
+
+Once more he proved himself shamefully unworthy of the power confided to
+his hands. He suffered Paris to sustain a nine months' siege by the
+Norsemen, before he marched to its assistance, and then, instead of
+meeting the foemen in open field, he paid them a heavy ransom for the
+city and allowed them to spend the following winter in Burgundy, and
+plunder the land at their will. The result was a general conspiracy
+against his rule, in Germany as well as in France. At the head of it was
+Bishop Luitward, Karl's chancellor and confidential friend, who, being
+detected, fled to Arnulf in Carinthia, and instigated the latter to
+rise in rebellion. Arnulf was everywhere victorious: Karl the Fat,
+deserted by his army and the dependent German nobles, was forced, in
+887, to resign the throne and retire to an estate in Suabia, where he
+died the following year.
+
+[Sidenote: 887. ARNULF OF CARINTHIA KING.]
+
+Duke Arnulf, the grandson of Ludwig the German, though not legitimately
+born, now became king of Germany. Being accepted at Ratisbon and
+afterwards at Frankfort by the representatives of the people, he was
+able to keep them united under his rule, while the rest of the former
+Frank Empire began to fall to pieces. As early as 879, a new kingdom,
+called Burgundy, or Arelat, from its capital Arles, was formed between
+the Rhone and the Alps; Berengar, the Lombard Duke of Friuli, in Italy,
+usurped the inheritance of the Carolingian line there; Count Rudolf, a
+great-grandson of Ludwig the Pious, established the kingdom of Upper
+Burgundy, embracing a part of Eastern France, with Western Switzerland;
+and Count Odo of Paris, who gallantly defended the city against the
+Norsemen, was chosen king of France by a large party of the nobles.
+
+King Arnulf, who seems to have possessed as much wisdom as bravery, did
+not interfere with the pretensions of these new rulers, so long as they
+forbore to trespass on his German territory, and he thereby secured the
+friendship of all. He devoted himself to the liberation of Germany from
+the repeated invasions of the Danes and Norsemen on the north, and the
+Bohemians on the east. The former had entrenched themselves strongly
+among the marshes near Louvain, where Arnulf's best troops, which were
+cavalry, could not reach them. He set an example to his army by
+dismounting and advancing on foot to the attack: the Germans followed
+with such impetuosity that the Norse camp was taken, and nearly all its
+defenders slaughtered. From that day Germany was free from Northern
+invasion.
+
+Arnulf next marched against his old enemy, Zwentebold (in some histories
+the name is written _Sviatopulk_) of Bohemia. This king and his people
+had recently been converted to Christianity by the missionary Methodius,
+but it had made no change in their predatory habits. They were the more
+easily conquered by Arnulf, because the Magyars, a branch of the Finnish
+race who had pressed into Hungary from the east, attacked them at the
+same time. The Magyars were called "Hungarians" by the Germans of that
+day--as they are at present--because they had taken possession of the
+territory which had been occupied by the Huns, more than four centuries
+before; but they were a distinct race, resembling the Huns only in their
+fierceness and daring. They were believed to be cannibals, who drank the
+blood and devoured the hearts of their slain enemies; and the panic they
+created throughout Germany was as great as that which went before Attila
+and his barbarian hordes.
+
+[Sidenote: 894.]
+
+After the subjection of the Bohemians, Arnulf was summoned to Italy, in
+the year 894, where he assisted Berengar, king of Lombardy, to maintain
+his power against a rival. He then marched against Rudolf, king of Upper
+Burgundy, who had been conspiring against him, and ravaged his land. By
+this time, it appears, his personal ambition was excited by his
+successes: he determined to become Emperor, and as a means of securing
+the favor of the Pope, he granted the most extraordinary privileges to
+the Church in Germany. He ordered that all civil officers should execute
+the orders of the clerical tribunals; that excommunication should affect
+the civil rights of those on whom it fell; that matters of dispute
+between clergy and laymen should be decided by the Bishops, without
+calling witnesses,--with other decrees of the same character, which
+practically set the Church above the civil authorities.
+
+The Popes, by this time, had embraced the idea of becoming temporal
+sovereigns, and the dissensions among the rulers of the Carolingian line
+already enabled them to secure a power, of which the former Bishops of
+Rome had never dreamed. In the early part of the ninth century, the
+so-called "Isidorian Decretals" (because they bore the name of Bishop
+Isidor, of Seville) came to light. They were forged documents,
+purporting to be decrees of the ancient Councils of the Church, which
+claimed for the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) the office of Vicar of Christ
+and Vicegerent of God upon earth, with supreme power not only over all
+Bishops, priests and individual souls, but also over all civil
+authorities. The policy of the Papal chair was determined by these
+documents, and several centuries elapsed before their fictitious
+character was discovered.
+
+Arnulf, after these concessions to the Church, went to Italy in 895. He
+found the Pope, Formosus, in the power of a Lombard prince, whom the
+former had been compelled against his will, to crown as Emperor. Arnulf
+took Rome by force of arms, liberated the Pope, and in return was
+crowned Roman Emperor. He fell dangerously ill immediately afterwards,
+and it was believed that he had been poisoned. Formosus, who died the
+following year, was declared "accurst" by his successor, Stephen VII.,
+and his body was dug up and cast into the Tiber, after it had lain nine
+months in the grave.
+
+[Sidenote: 899. LUDWIG THE CHILD.]
+
+Arnulf returned to Germany as Emperor, but weak and broken in body and
+mind. He never recovered from the effects of the poison, but lingered
+for three years longer, seeing his Empire becoming more and more weak
+and disorderly. He died in 899, leaving one son, Ludwig, only seven
+years old. This son, known in history as "Ludwig the Child," was the
+last of the Carolingian line in Germany. In France, the same line, now
+represented by Charles the Silly, was also approaching its end.
+
+At a Diet held at Forchheim (near Nuremberg), Ludwig the Child was
+accepted as king of Germany, and solemnly crowned. On account of his
+tender years, he was placed in charge of Archbishop Hatto of Mayence,
+who was appointed, with Duke Otto of Saxony, to govern temporarily in
+his stead. An insurrection in Lorraine was suppressed; but now a more
+formidable danger approached from the East. The Hungarians invaded
+Northern Italy in 899, and ravaged part of Bavaria on their return to
+the Danube. Like the Huns, they destroyed everything in their way,
+leaving a wilderness behind their march.
+
+The Bavarians, with little assistance from the rest of Germany, fought
+the Hungarians until 907, when their Duke, Luitpold, was slain in
+battle, and his son Arnulf purchased peace by a heavy tribute. Then the
+Hungarians invaded Thuringia, whose Duke, Burkhard, also fell fighting
+against them, after which they plundered a part of Saxony. Finally, in
+910, the whole strength of Germany was called into the field; Ludwig,
+eighteen years old, took command, met the Hungarians on the banks of the
+Inn, and was utterly defeated. He fled from the field, and was forced,
+thenceforth, to pay tribute to Hungary. He died in 911, and Germany was
+left without a hereditary ruler.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+KING KONRAD, AND THE SAXON RULERS, HENRY I. AND OTTO THE GREAT.
+
+(912--973.)
+
+Growth of Small Principalities in Germany. --Changes in the Lehen, or
+    Royal Estates. --Diet at Forchheim. --The Frank Duke, Konrad,
+    chosen King. --Events of his Reign. --The Saxon, Henry the Fowler,
+    succeeds him. --Henry's Policy towards Bavaria, Lorraine and
+    France. --His Truce with the Hungarians. --His Military
+    Preparations. --Defeat of the Hungarians. --Henry's Achievements.
+    --His Death. --Coronation of Otto. --His first War. --Revolt of
+    Duke Eberhard and Prince Henry. --War with Louis IV. of France.
+    --Otto's Victories. --Henry pardoned. --Conquest of Jutland.
+    --Otto's Empire. --His March to Italy. --Marriage with Adelheid of
+    Burgundy. --Revolt of Ludolf and Konrad. --The Hungarian Army
+    destroyed. --The Pope calls for Otto's Aid. --Otto crowned Roman
+    Emperor. --Quarrel with the Pope. --Third Visit to Italy. --His Son
+    married to an Eastern Princess. --His Triumph and Death.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 912.]
+
+When Ludwig the Child died, the state of affairs in Germany had greatly
+changed. The direct dependence of the nobility and clergy upon the
+Emperor, established by the political system of Charlemagne, was almost
+at an end; the country was covered with petty sovereignties, which stood
+between the chief ruler and the people. The estates which were formerly
+given to the bishops, abbots, nobles, and others who had rendered
+special service to the Empire, were called _Lehen_, or "liens" of the
+monarch (as explained in Chapter X.); they were granted for a term of
+years, or for life, and afterwards reverted to the royal hands. In
+return for such grants, the endowed lords were obliged to secure the
+loyalty of their retainers, the people dwelling upon their lands, and,
+in case of war, to follow the Emperor's banner with their proportion of
+fighting men.
+
+So long as the wars were with external foes, with opportunities for both
+glory and plunder, the service was willingly performed; but when they
+came as a consequence of family quarrels, and every portion of the
+empire was liable to be wasted in its turn, the Emperor's "vassals,"
+both spiritual and temporal, began to grow restive. Their military
+service subjected them to the chance of losing their _Lehen_, and they
+therefore demanded to have absolute possession of the lands. The next
+and natural step was to have the possession, and the privileges
+connected with it, made hereditary in their families; and these claims
+were very generally secured, throughout Germany, during the reign of
+Karl the Fat. Only in Saxony and Friesland, and among the Alps, were the
+common people proprietors of the soil.
+
+[Sidenote: 912. THE WARS OF KING KONRAD.]
+
+The nobles, or large land-owners, for their common defence against the
+exercise of the Imperial power, united under the rule of Counts or
+Dukes, by whom the former division of the population into separate
+tribes or nations was continued. The Emperors, also, found this division
+convenient, but they always claimed the right to set aside the smaller
+rulers, or to change the boundaries of their states for reasons of
+policy.
+
+Charles the Silly, of the Carolingian line, reigned in France in 911,
+and was therefore, according to the family compact, the heir to Ludwig
+the Child. Moreover, the Pope, Stephen IV., had threatened with the
+curse of the Church all those who should give allegiance to an Emperor
+who was not of Carolingian blood. Nevertheless, the German princes and
+nobles were now independent enough to defy both tradition and Papal
+authority. They held a Diet at Forchheim, and decided to elect their own
+king. They would have chosen Otto, Duke of the Saxons,--a man of great
+valor, prudence and nobility of character--but he felt himself to be too
+old for the duties of the royal office, and he asked the Diet to confer
+it on Konrad, Duke of the Franks. The latter was then almost unanimously
+chosen, and immediately crowned by Archbishop Hatto of Mayence.
+
+Konrad was a brave, gay, generous monarch, who soon rose into high favor
+with the people. His difficulty lay in the jealousy of other princes,
+who tried to strengthen themselves by restricting his authority. He
+first lost the greater part of Lorraine, and then, on attempting to
+divide Thuringia and Saxony, which were united under Henry, the son of
+Duke Otto, his army was literally cut to pieces. A Saxon song of
+victory, written at the time, says, "The lower world was too small to
+receive the throngs of the enemies slain."
+
+[Sidenote: 917.]
+
+Arnulf of Bavaria and the Counts Berthold and Erchanger of Suabia
+defeated the Hungarians in a great battle near the river Inn, in 913,
+and felt themselves strong enough to defy Konrad. He succeeded in
+defeating and deposing them; but Arnulf fled to the Hungarians and
+incited them to a new invasion of Germany. They came in two bodies, one
+of which marched through Bavaria and Suabia to the Rhine, the other
+through Thuringia and Saxony to Bremen, plundering, burning and slaying
+on their way. The condition of the Empire became so desperate that
+Konrad appealed for assistance to the Pope, who ordered an Episcopal
+Synod to be held in 917, but not much was done by the Bishops except to
+insist upon the payment of tithes to the Church. Then Konrad, wounded in
+repelling a new invasion of the Hungarians, looked forward to death as a
+release from his trouble. Feeling his end approaching, he summoned his
+brother Eberhard, gave him the royal crown and sceptre, and bade him
+carry them to Duke Henry of Saxony, the enemy of his throne, declaring
+that the latter was the only man with power and intelligence enough to
+rule Germany.
+
+Henry was already popular as the son of Otto, and it was probably quite
+as much their respect for his character as for Konrad's last request,
+which led many of the German nobles to accompany Eberhard and join him
+in offering the crown. They found Henry in a pleasant valley near the
+Hartz, engaged in catching finches, and he was thenceforth generally
+called "Henry the Fowler" by the people. He at once accepted the trust
+confided to his hands: a Diet of the Franks and Saxons was held at
+Fritzlar the next year, 919, and he was there lifted upon the shield and
+hailed as King. But when Archbishop Hatto proposed to anoint him king
+with the usual religious ceremonies, he declined, asserting that he did
+not consider himself worthy to be more than a king of the people. Both
+he and his wife Mathilde were descendants of Wittekind, the foe and
+almost the conqueror of Charlemagne.
+
+Neither Suabia nor Bavaria were represented at the Diet of Fritzlar.
+This meant resistance to Henry's authority, and he accordingly marched
+at once into Southern Germany. Burkhard, Duke of Suabia, gave in his
+submission without delay; but Arnulf of Bavaria made preparations for
+resistance. The two armies came together near Ratisbon: all was ready
+for battle, when king Henry summoned Arnulf to meet him alone, between
+their camps. At this interview he spoke with so much wisdom and
+persuasion that Arnulf finally yielded, and Henry's rights were
+established without the shedding of blood.
+
+[Sidenote: 921. TREATY WITH FRANCE.]
+
+In the meantime Lorraine, under its Duke, Giselbert, had revolted, and
+Charles the Silly, by unexpectedly crossing the frontier, gained
+possession of Alsatia, as far as the Rhine. Henry marched against him,
+but, as in the case of Arnulf, asked for a personal interview before
+engaging in battle. The two kings met on an island in the Rhine, near
+Bonn: the French army was encamped on the western, and the German army
+on the eastern bank of the river, awaiting the result. Charles the Silly
+was soon brought to terms by his shrewd, intelligent rival: on the 7th
+of November, 921, a treaty was signed by which the former boundary
+between France and Germany was reaffirmed. Soon afterwards, Giselbert of
+Lorraine was sent as a prisoner to Henry, but the latter, pleased with
+his character, set him free, gave him his daughter in marriage, and thus
+secured his allegiance to the German throne.
+
+In this manner, within five or six years after he was chosen king, Henry
+had accomplished his difficult task. Chiefly by peaceful means, by a
+combination of energy, patience and forbearance, he had subdued the
+elements of disorder in Germany, and united both princes and people
+under his rule. He was now called upon to encounter the Hungarians, who,
+in 924, again invaded both Northern and Southern Germany. The walled and
+fortified cities, such as Ratisbon, Augsburg and Constance, were safe
+from their attacks, but in the open field they were so powerful that
+Henry found himself unable to cope with them. His troops only dared to
+engage in skirmishes with the smaller roving bands, in one of which, by
+great good fortune, they captured one of the Hungarian chiefs, or
+princes. A large amount of treasure was offered for his ransom, but
+Henry refused it, and asked for a truce of nine years, instead. The
+Hungarians finally agreed to this, on condition that an annual tribute
+should be paid to them during the time.
+
+This was the bravest and wisest act of king Henry's life. He took upon
+himself the disgrace of the tribute, and then at once set about
+organizing his people and developing their strength. The truce of nine
+years was not too long for the work upon which he entered. He began by
+forcing the people to observe a stricter military discipline, by
+teaching his Saxon foot-soldiers to fight on horseback, and by
+strengthening the defences along his eastern frontier. Hamburg,
+Magdeburg and Halle were at this time the most eastern German towns, and
+beyond or between them, especially towards the south, there were no
+strong points which could resist invasion. Henry carefully surveyed the
+ground and began the erection of a series of fortified enclosures. Every
+ninth man of the district was called upon to serve as garrison-soldier,
+while the remaining eight cultivated the land. One-third of the harvests
+was stored in these fortresses, wherein, also, the people were required
+to hold their markets and their festivals. Thus Quedlinburg, Merseburg,
+Meissen and other towns soon arose within the fortified limits. From
+these achievements Henry is often called in German History, "the Founder
+of Cities."
+
+[Sidenote: 928.]
+
+Having somewhat accustomed the people to this new form of military
+service, and constantly exercised the nobles and their men-at-arms in
+sham fights and tournaments (which he is said to have first instituted),
+Henry now tested them in actual war. The Slavonic tribes east of the
+Elbe had become the natural and hereditary enemies of the Germans, and
+an attack upon them hardly required a pretext. The present province of
+Brandenburg, the basis of the Prussian kingdom, was conquered by Henry
+in 928; and then, after a successful invasion of Bohemia, he gradually
+extended his annexation to the Oder. The most of the Slavonic population
+were slaughtered without mercy, and the Saxons and Thuringians,
+spreading eastward, took possession of their vacant lands. Finally, in
+932, Henry conquered Lusatia (now Eastern Saxony); Bohemia was already
+tributary, and his whole eastern frontier was thereby advanced from the
+Baltic at Stettin to the Danube at Vienna.
+
+[Sidenote: 933. VICTORY OVER THE HUNGARIANS.]
+
+By this time the nine years of truce with the Hungarians were at an end,
+and when the ambassadors of the latter came to the German Court to
+receive their tribute, they were sent back with empty hands. A tradition
+states that Henry ordered an old, mangy dog to be given to them, instead
+of the usual gold and silver. A declaration of war followed, as he had
+anticipated; but the Hungarians seem to have surprised him by the
+rapidity of their movements. Contrary to their previous custom, they
+undertook a winter campaign, overrunning Thuringia and Saxony in such
+immense numbers that the king did not immediately venture to oppose
+them. He waited until their forces were divided in the search for
+plunder, then fell upon a part and defeated them. Shortly afterwards he
+moved against their main army, and on the 15th of March, 933, after a
+bloody battle (which is believed to have been fought in the vicinity of
+Merseburg), was again conqueror. The Hungarians fled, leaving their
+camp, treasures and accumulated plunder in Henry's hands. They were
+never again dangerous to Northern Germany.
+
+After this came a war with the Danish king, Gorm, who had crossed the
+Eider and taken Holstein. Henry brought it to an end, and added
+Schleswig to his dominion rather by diplomacy than by arms. After his
+long and indefatigable exertions, the Empire enjoyed peace; its
+boundaries were extended and secured; all the minor rulers submitted to
+his sway, and his influence over the people was unbounded. But he was
+not destined to enjoy the fruits of his achievements. A stroke of
+apoplexy warned him to set his house in order; so, in the spring of 936,
+he called together a Diet at Erfurt, which accepted his second son,
+Otto, as his successor. Although he left two other sons, no proposition
+was made to divide Germany among them. The civil wars of the Merovingian
+and Carolingian dynasties, during nearly 400 years, compelled the
+adoption of a different system of succession; and the reigning Dukes and
+Counts were now so strong that they bowed reluctantly even to the
+authority of a single monarch.
+
+Henry died on the 20th of July, 936, not sixty years old. His son and
+successor, Otto, was twenty-four,--a stern, proud man, but brave, firm,
+generous and intelligent. He was married to Editha, the daughter of
+Athelstan, the Saxon king of England. A few weeks after his father's
+death, he was crowned with great splendor in the cathedral of
+Charlemagne, at Aix-la-Chapelle. All the Dukes and Bishops of the realm
+were present, and the new Emperor was received with universal
+acclamation. At the banquet which followed, the Dukes of Lorraine,
+Franconia, Suabia, and Bavaria, served as Chamberlain, Steward,
+Cupbearer and Marshal. It was the first national event of a spontaneous
+character, which took place in Germany, and now, for the first time, a
+German Empire seemed to be a reality.
+
+The history of Otto's reign fulfilled, at least to the people of his
+day, the promise of his coronation. Like his father, his inheritance
+was to include wars with internal and external foes; he met and carried
+them to an end, with an energy equal to that of Henry I., but without
+the same prudence and patience. He made Germany the first power of the
+civilized world, yet he failed to unite the discordant elements of which
+it was composed, and therefore was not able to lay the foundation of a
+distinct _nation_, such as was even then slowly growing up in France.
+
+[Sidenote: 937.]
+
+He was first called upon to repel invasions of the Bohemians and the
+Wends, in Prussia. He entrusted the subjection of the latter to a Saxon
+Count, Hermann Billung, and marched himself against the former. Both
+wars lasted for some time, but they were finally successful. The
+Hungarians, also, whose new inroad reached even to the banks of the
+Loire, were twice defeated, and so discouraged that they never
+afterwards attempted to invade either Thuringia or Saxony.
+
+Worse troubles, however, were brewing within the realm. Eberhard, Duke
+of the Franks (the same who had carried his brother Konrad's crown to
+Otto's father), had taken into his own hands the punishment of a Saxon
+noble, instead of referring the case to the king. The latter compelled
+Eberhard to pay a fine of a hundred pounds of silver, and ordered that
+the Frank freemen who assisted him should carry dogs in their arms to
+the royal castle,--a form of punishment which was then considered very
+disgraceful. After the order had been carried into effect, Otto received
+the culprits kindly and gave them rich presents; but they went home
+brooding revenge.
+
+Eberhard allied himself with Thankmar, Otto's own half-brother by a
+mother from whom Henry I. had been divorced before marrying Mathilde.
+Giselbert, Duke of Lorraine, Otto's brother-in-law, joined the
+conspiracy, and even many of the Saxon nobles, who were offended because
+the command of the army sent against the Wends had been given to Count
+Hermann, followed his example. Otto's position was very critical, and if
+there had been more harmony of action among the conspirators, he might
+have lost his throne. In the struggle which ensued, Thankmar was slain
+and Duke Eberhard forced to surrender. But the latter was not yet
+subdued. During the rebellion he had taken Otto's younger brother,
+Henry, prisoner; he secured the latter's confidence, tempted him with
+the prospect of being chosen king in case Otto was overthrown, and then
+sent him as his intercessor to the conqueror.
+
+[Sidenote: 939. REVOLT OF OTTO'S BROTHER, HENRY.]
+
+Thus, while Otto supposed the movement had been crushed, Eberhard,
+Giselbert of Lorraine and Henry, who had meantime joined the latter,
+were secretly preparing a new rebellion. As soon as Otto discovered the
+fact, he collected an army and hastened to the Rhine. He had crossed the
+river with only a small part of his troops, the remainder being still
+encamped upon the eastern bank, when Giselbert and Henry suddenly
+appeared with a great force. Otto at first gave himself up for lost, but
+determined at least to fall gallantly, he and his followers fought with
+such desperation that they won a signal victory. Giselbert retreated to
+Lorraine, whither Otto was prevented from following him by new troubles
+among the Saxons and the subject Wends between the Elbe and Oder.
+
+The rebellious princes now sought the help of the king of France, Louis
+IV. (called _d'Outre-mer_, or "from beyond sea," because he had been an
+exile in England). He marched into Alsatia with a French army, while
+Duke Eberhard and the Archbishop of Mayence added their forces to those
+of Giselbert and Henry. All the territory west of the Rhine fell into
+their hands, and the danger seemed so great that many of the smaller
+German princes began to waver in their fidelity to Otto. He, however,
+hastened to Alsatia, defeated the French, and laid siege to the fortress
+of Breisach (half-way between Strasburg and Basel), although Giselbert
+was then advancing into Westphalia. A small band who remained true to
+him met the latter and forced him back upon the Rhine; and there, in a
+battle fought near Andernach, Eberhard was slain and Giselbert drowned
+in attempting to fly.
+
+This was the turning-point in Otto's fortunes. The French retreated, all
+the supports of the rebellion fell away from it, and in a short time the
+king's authority was restored throughout the whole of Germany. These
+events occurred during the year 939. The following year Otto marched to
+Paris, which, however, was too strongly fortified to be taken. An
+irregular war between the two kingdoms lasted for some time longer, and
+was finally terminated by a personal interview between Otto and Louis
+IV., at which the ancient boundaries were reaffirmed, Lorraine remaining
+German.
+
+[Sidenote: 940.]
+
+Henry, pardoned for the second time, was unable to maintain himself as
+Duke of Lorraine, to which position Otto had appointed him. Enraged at
+being set aside, he united with the Archbishop of Mayence in a
+conspiracy against his brother's life. It was arranged that the murder
+should be committed during the Easter services, in Quedlinburg. The plot
+was discovered, the accomplices tried and executed, and Henry thrown
+into prison. During the celebration of the Christmas mass, in the
+cathedral at Frankfort, the same year, he suddenly appeared before Otto,
+and, throwing himself upon his knees before him, prayed for pardon. Otto
+was magnanimous enough to grant it, and afterwards to forget as well as
+forgive. He bestowed new favors upon Henry, who never again became
+unfaithful.
+
+During this time the Saxon Counts, Gero and Hermann, had held the Wends
+and other Slavonic tribes at bay, and gradually filled the conquered
+territory beyond the Elbe with fortified posts, around which German
+colonists rapidly clustered. Following the example of Charlemagne, the
+people were forcibly converted to Christianity, and new churches and
+monasteries were founded. The Bohemians were made tributary, the
+Hungarians repelled, and in driving back an invasion of the king of
+Denmark, Harold Blue-tooth, Otto marched to the extremity of the
+peninsula of Jutland, and there hurled his spear into the sea, as a sign
+that he had taken possession of the land.
+
+He now ruled a wider, and apparently a more united realm, than his
+father. The power of the independent Dukes was so weakened, that they
+felt themselves subjected to his favor; he was everywhere respected and
+feared, although he never became popular with the masses of the people.
+He lacked the easy, familiar ways with them which distinguished his
+father and Charlemagne; his manner was cold and haughty, and he
+surrounded himself with pomp and ceremony. He married his eldest son,
+Ludolf, to the daughter of the Duke of Suabia, whom the former soon
+succeeded in his rule; he gave Lorraine to his son-in-law, Konrad, and
+Bavaria to his brother Henry, while he retained the Franks, Thuringians
+and Saxons under his own personal rule. Germany might have grown into a
+united nation, if the good qualities of his line could have been
+transmitted without its inordinate ambition.
+
+While thus laying, as he supposed, the permanent basis of his power,
+Otto was called upon by the king of France, who, having married the
+widow of Giselbert of Lorraine, was now his brother-in-law, for help
+against Duke Hugo, a powerful pretender to the French throne. In 946 he
+marched at the head of an army of 32,000 men, to assist king Louis; but,
+although he reached Normandy, he did not succeed in his object, and
+several years elapsed before Hugo was brought to submission.
+
+[Sidenote: 951. OTTO'S VISIT TO ITALY.]
+
+In the year 951, Otto's attention was directed to Italy, which, since
+the fall of the Carolingian Empire, had been ravaged in turn by
+Saracens, Greeks, Normans and even Hungarians. The Papal power had
+become almost a shadow, and the title of Roman Emperor was practically
+extinct. Berengar of Friuli, a rough, brutal prince, called himself king
+of Italy, and demanded for his son the hand of Adelheid, the widow of
+his predecessor. On her refusal to accept Berengar's offer, she was
+imprisoned and treated with great indignity, but finally she succeeded
+in sending a messenger to Germany, imploring Otto's intervention. His
+wife, Editha of England, was dead: he saw, in Adelheid's appeal, an
+opportunity to acquire an ascendency in Italy, and resolved to claim her
+hand for himself.
+
+Accompanied by his brother Henry of Bavaria, his son Ludolf of Suabia,
+and his son-in-law Konrad of Lorraine, with their troops, Otto crossed
+the Alps, defeated Berengar, took possession of Verona, Pavia, Milan and
+other cities of Northern Italy, and assumed the title of king of
+Lombardy. He then applied for Adelheid's hand, which was not refused,
+and the two were married with great pomp at Pavia. Ludolf, incensed at
+his father for having taken a second wife, returned immediately to
+Germany, and there stirred up such disorder that Otto relinquished his
+intention of visiting Rome, and followed him. After much negotiation,
+Berengar was allowed to remain king of Lombardy, on condition of giving
+up all the Adriatic shore, from near Venice to Istria, which was then
+annexed to Bavaria.
+
+[Sidenote: 954.]
+
+Duke Henry, therefore, profited most by the Italian campaign, and this
+excited the jealousy of Ludolf and Konrad, who began to conspire both
+against him, and against Otto's authority. The trouble increased until
+it became an open rebellion, which convulsed Germany for nearly four
+years. If Otto had been personally popular, it might have been soon
+suppressed; but the petty princes and the people inclined to one side or
+the other, according to the prospects of success, and the Empire,
+finally, seemed on the point of falling to pieces. In this crisis, there
+came what appeared to be a new misfortune, but which, most unexpectedly,
+put an end to the wasting strife. The Hungarians again broke into
+Germany, and Ludolf and Konrad granted them permission to pass through
+their territory to reach and ravage their father's lands. This alliance
+with an hereditary and barbarous enemy turned the whole people to Otto's
+side; the long rebellion came rapidly to an end, and all troubles were
+settled by a Diet held at the close of 954.
+
+The next year the Hungarians came again in greater numbers than ever,
+and, crossing Bavaria, laid siege to Augsburg. But Otto now marched
+against them with all the military strength of Germany, and on the 10th
+of August, 955, met them in battle. Konrad of Lorraine led the attack
+and decided the fate of the day, but, in the moment of victory, having
+lifted his visor to breathe more freely, a Hungarian arrow pierced his
+neck and he fell dead. Nearly all the enemy were slaughtered or drowned
+in the river Lech. Only a few scattered fugitives returned to Hungary to
+tell the tale, and from that day no new invasion was ever undertaken
+against Germany. On the contrary, the Bavarians pressed eastward and
+spread themselves along the Danube and among the Styrian Alps, while the
+Bohemians took possession of Moravia, so that the boundary lines between
+the three races then became very nearly what they are at the present
+day.
+
+Soon afterwards, Otto lost his brother Henry of Bavaria, and, two years
+later, his son Ludolf, who died in Italy, while endeavoring to make
+himself king of the Lombards. A new disturbance in Saxony was
+suppressed, and with it there was an end of civil war in Germany, during
+Otto's reign. We have already stated that he was proud and ambitious:
+the crown of a "Roman Emperor," which still seemed the highest title on
+earth, had probably always hovered before his mind, and now the
+opportunity of attaining it came. The Pope, John XII., a boy of
+seventeen, who found himself in danger of being driven from Rome by
+Berengar, the Lombard, sent a pressing call for help to Otto, who
+entered upon his second journey to Italy in 961.
+
+[Sidenote: 962. OTTO'S CORONATION IN ROME.]
+
+He first called a Diet together at Worms, and procured the acceptance of
+his son Otto, then only 6 years old, as his successor. The child was
+solemnly crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle; the Archbishop Bruno of Cologne
+was appointed his guardian and vicegerent of the realm during Otto's
+absence, and the latter was left free to carry out his designs beyond
+the Alps. He was received with rejoicing by the Lombards, and the iron
+crown of the kingdom was placed on his head by the Archbishop of Milan.
+He then advanced to Rome and was crowned Emperor in St. Peter's by the
+boy-pope, on the 2d of February, 962. Nearly a generation had elapsed
+since the title had been held or claimed by any one, and its renewal at
+this time was the source of centuries of loss and suffering to Germany.
+It was a sham and a delusion,--a will-o'-the wisp which led rulers and
+people aside from the true path of civilization, and left them
+floundering in quagmires of war.
+
+Otto had hardly returned to Lombardy before the Pope, who began to see
+that he had crowned his own master, conspired against him. The Pope
+called on the Byzantine Emperor for aid, incited the Hungarians, and
+even entered into correspondence with the Saracens in Corsica. All Italy
+became so turbulent that three years elapsed before the Emperor Otto
+succeeded in restoring order. He took Rome by force of arms, deposed the
+Pope and set up another of his own appointment, banished Berengar, and
+compelled the universal recognition of his own sovereignty. Then, with
+the remnants of an army which had almost been destroyed by war and
+pestilence, he returned to Germany in 965.
+
+A grand festival was held at Cologne, to celebrate his new honors and
+victories. His mother, the aged queen Mathilde, Lothar, reigning king of
+France, and all the Dukes and Princes of Germany, were present, and the
+people came in multitudes from far and wide. The internal peace of the
+Empire had not been disturbed during Otto's absence, and his journey of
+inspection was a series of peaceful and splendid pageants. An
+insurrection having broken out among the Lombards the following year, he
+sent Duke Burkhard of Suabia to suppress it in his name; but it soon
+became evident that his own presence was necessary. He thereupon took a
+last farewell of his old mother, and returned to Italy in the autumn of
+966.
+
+Lombardy was soon brought to order, and the rebellious nobles banished
+to Germany. As Otto approached Rome, the people restored the Pope he had
+appointed, whom they had in the meantime deposed: they were also
+compelled to give up the leaders of the revolt, who were tried and
+executed. Otto claimed the right of appointing the Civil Governor of
+Rome, who should rule in his name. He gave back to the Pope the
+territory which the latter had received from Pippin the Short, two
+hundred years before, but nearly all of which had been taken from the
+Church by the Lombards. In return, the Pope agreed to govern this
+territory as a part, or province, of the Empire, and to crown Otto's son
+as Emperor, in advance of his accession to the throne.
+
+[Sidenote: 966.]
+
+These new successes seem to have quite turned Otto's mind from the duty
+he owed to the German people; henceforth he only strove to increase the
+power and splendor of his house. His next step was to demand the hand of
+the Princess Theophania, a daughter of one of the Byzantine Emperors,
+for his son Otto. The Eastern Court neither consented nor refused;
+ambassadors were sent back and forth until the Emperor became weary of
+the delay. Following the suggestion of his offended pride, he undertook
+a campaign against Southern Italy, parts of which still acknowledged the
+Byzantine rule. The war lasted for several years, without any positive
+result; but the hand of Theophania was finally promised to young Otto,
+and she reached Rome in the beginning of the year 972. Her beauty, grace
+and intelligence at once won the hearts of Otto's followers, who had
+been up to that time opposed to the marriage. Although her betrothed
+husband was only seventeen, and she was a year younger, the nuptials
+were celebrated in April, and the Emperor then immediately returned to
+Germany with his Court and army.
+
+[Sidenote: 973. DEATH OF OTTO THE GREAT.]
+
+All that Otto could show, to balance his six years' neglect of his own
+land and people, was the title of "the Great," which the Italians
+bestowed upon him, and a Princess of Constantinople, who spoke Greek and
+looked upon the Germans as barbarians, for his daughter-in-law. His
+return was celebrated by a grand festival held at Quedlinburg, at
+Easter, 973. All the Dukes and reigning Counts of the Empire were
+present, the kings of Bohemia and Poland, ambassadors from
+Constantinople, from the Caliph of Cordova, in Spain, from Bulgaria,
+Russia, Denmark and Hungary. Even Charlemagne never enjoyed such a
+triumph; but in the midst of the festivities, Otto's first friend and
+supporter, Hermann Billung, whom he had made Duke of Saxony, suddenly
+died. The Emperor became impressed with the idea that his own end was
+near: he retired to Memleben in Thuringia, where his father died, and on
+the 6th of May was stricken with apoplexy, at the age of sixty-one. He
+died, seated in his chair and surrounded by his princely guests, and was
+buried in Magdeburg, by the side of his first wife, Editha of England.
+
+Otto completed the work which Henry commenced, and left Germany the
+first power in Europe. Had his mind been as clear and impartial, his
+plans as broad and intelligent, as Charlemagne's, he might have laid the
+basis of a permanent Empire; but, in an evil hour, he called the phantom
+of the sceptre of the world from the grave of Roman power, and,
+believing that he held it, turned the ages that were to follow him into
+the path of war, disunion and misery.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE DECLINE OF THE SAXON DYNASTY.
+
+(973--1024.)
+
+Otto II., "The Red." --Conquest of Bavaria. --Invasion of Lothar of
+    France. --Otto's March to Paris. --His Journey to Italy. --His
+    Defeat by the Saracens, and Escape. --Diet at Verona. --Otto's
+    Death. --Theophania as Regent. --Alienation of France. --Otto III.
+    --His Dealings with the Popes. --Negotiations with the Poles. --His
+    Fantastic Actions. --His Death in Rome. --Youthful Popes. --Henry
+    of Bavaria chosen by the Germans. --His character. --War with
+    Poland. --March to Italy, and Coronation. --Other Wars. --Henry
+    repels the Byzantines. --His Death. --The Character of his Reign.
+    --His Piety.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 973.]
+
+Otto II., already crowned as king and Emperor, began his reign as one
+authorized "by the grace of God." Although only eighteen years old, and
+both physically and intellectually immature, his succession was
+immediately acknowledged by the rulers of the smaller German States. He
+was short and slender, and of such a ruddy complexion that the people
+gave him the name of "Otto the Red." He had been carefully educated, and
+possessed excellent qualities of heart and mind, but he had not been
+tried by adversity, like his father and grandfather, and failed to
+inherit either the patience or the energy of either. At first his
+mother, the widowed Empress Adelheid, conducted the government of the
+Empire, and with such prudence that all were satisfied. Soon, however,
+the Empress Theophania became jealous of her mother-in-law's influence,
+and the latter was compelled to retire to her former home in Burgundy.
+
+The first internal trouble came from Henry II., Duke of Bavaria, the son
+of Otto the Great's rebellious brother, and cousin of Otto II. He was
+ambitious to convert Bavaria into an independent kingdom: in fact he had
+himself crowned king at Ratisbon, but in 976 he was defeated, taken
+prisoner and banished to Holland by the Emperor. Bavaria was united to
+Suabia, and the Eastern provinces on the Danube were erected into a
+separate principality, which was the beginning of Austria as a new
+German power.
+
+[Sidenote: 978. BATTLE WITH THE SARACENS.]
+
+At the same time Otto II. was forced to carry on new wars with Bohemia
+and Denmark, in both of which he maintained the frontiers established by
+his father. But Lothar, king of France, used the opportunity to get
+possession of Lorraine and even to take Aix-la-Chapelle, Charlemagne's
+capital, in the summer of 978. The German people were so enraged at this
+treacherous invasion that Otto II. had no difficulty in raising an army
+of 60,000 men, with which he marched to Paris in the autumn of the same
+year. The city was so well fortified and defended that he found it
+prudent to raise the siege as winter approached; but first, on the
+heights of Montmartre, his army chanted a _Te Deum_ as a warning to the
+enemy within the walls. The strife was prolonged until 980, when it was
+settled by a personal interview of the Emperor and the king of France,
+at which Lorraine was restored to Germany.
+
+In 981 Otto II. went to Italy. His mother, Adelheid, came to Pavia to
+meet him, and a complete reconciliation took place between them. Then he
+advanced to Rome, quieted the dissensions in the government of the city,
+and received as his guests Konrad, king of Burgundy, and Hugh Capet,
+destined to be the ancestor of a long line of French kings. At this time
+both the Byzantine Greeks and the Saracens were ravaging Southern Italy,
+and it was Otto II.'s duty, as Roman Emperor, to drive them from the
+land. The two bitterly hostile races became allies, in order to resist
+him, and the war was carried on fiercely until the summer of 982 without
+any result; then, on the 13th of July, on the coast of Calabria, the
+Imperial army was literally cut to pieces by the Saracens. The Emperor
+escaped capture by riding into the Mediterranean and swimming to a ship
+which lay near. When he was taken on board he found it to be a Greek
+vessel; but whether he was recognized or not (for the accounts vary), he
+prevailed upon the captain to set him ashore at Rossano, where the
+Empress Theophania was awaiting his return from battle.
+
+This was a severe blow, but it aroused the national spirit of Germany.
+Otto II., having returned to Northern Italy, summoned a general Diet of
+the Empire to meet at Verona in the summer of 983. All the subject Dukes
+and Princes attended, even the kings of Burgundy and Bohemia. Here, for
+the first time, the Lombard Italians appeared on equal footing with the
+Saxons, Franks and Bavarians, acknowledged the authority of the Empire,
+and elected Otto II.'s son, another Otto, only three years old, as his
+successor. Preparations were made for a grand war against the Saracens
+and the Eastern Empire, but before they were completed Otto II. died, at
+the age of twenty-eight, in Rome. He was buried in St. Peter's.
+
+[Sidenote: 991.]
+
+The news of his death reached Aix-la-Chapelle at the very time when his
+infant son was crowned king as Otto III., in accordance with the decree
+of the Diet of Verona. A dispute now arose as to the guardianship of the
+child, between the widowed Empress Theophania and Henry II. of Bavaria,
+who at once returned from his exile in Holland. The latter aimed at
+usurping the Imperial throne, but he was incautious enough to betray his
+design too soon, and met with such opposition that he was lucky in being
+allowed to retain his former place as Duke of Bavaria. The Empress
+Theophania reigned in Germany in her son's name, while Adelheid, widow
+of Otto the Great, reigned in Italy. The former, however, had the
+assistance of Willigis, Archbishop of Mayence, a man of great wisdom and
+integrity. He was the son of a poor Saxon wheelwright, and chose for his
+coat-of-arms as an Archbishop, a wheel, with the words: "Willigis,
+forget not thine origin." When Theophania died, in 991, her place was
+taken by Otto III.'s grandmother, Adelheid, who chose the Dukes of
+Saxony, Suabia, Bavaria and Tuscany as her councillors.
+
+During this time the Wends in Prussia again arose, and after a long and
+wasting war, in which the German settlements beyond the Elbe received
+little help from the Imperial government, the latter were either
+conquered or driven back. The relations between Germany and France were
+also actually those of war, although there were no open hostilities. The
+struggle for the throne of France, between Duke Charles, the last of the
+Carolingian line, and Hugh Capet, which ended in the triumph of the
+latter, broke the last link of blood and tradition connecting the two
+countries. They had been jealous relatives hitherto; now they became
+strangers, and it is not long until History records them as enemies.
+
+[Sidenote: 996. OTTO III.'S CORONATION IN ROME.]
+
+When Otto III. was sixteen years old, in 996, he took the Imperial
+government in his own hands. His education had been more Greek than
+German; he was ashamed of his Saxon blood, and named himself, in his
+edicts, "a Greek by birth and a Roman by right of rule." He was a
+strange, unsteady, fantastic character, whose only leading idea was to
+surround himself with the absurd ceremonies of the Byzantine Court, and
+to make Rome the capital of his Empire. His reign was a farce, compared
+with that of his grandfather, the great Otto, and yet it was the natural
+consequence of the latter's perverted ambition.
+
+Otto III.'s first act was to march to Rome, in order to be crowned as
+Emperor by the Pope, John XV., in exchange for assisting him against
+Crescentius, a Roman noble who had usurped the civil government. But the
+Pope died before his arrival, and Otto thereupon appointed his own
+cousin, Bruno, a young man of twenty-four, who took the Papal chair as
+Gregory V. The new-made Pope, of course, crowned him as Roman Emperor, a
+few days afterward. The people, in those days, were accustomed to submit
+to any authority, spiritual or political, which was strong enough to
+support its own claims, but this bargain was a little too plain and
+barefaced; and Otto had hardly returned to Germany, before the Roman,
+Crescentius, drove away Gregory V. and set up a new Pope, of his own
+appointment.
+
+The Wends, in Prussia, were giving trouble, and the Scandinavians and
+Danes ravaged all the northern coast of Germany; but the boy emperor,
+without giving a thought to his immediate duty, hastened back to Italy
+in 997, took Crescentius prisoner and beheaded him, barbarously
+mutilated the rival Pope, and reinstated Gregory V. When the latter
+died, in 999, Otto made his own teacher, Gerbert of Rheims, Pope, under
+the name of Sylvester II. In spite of the reverence of the common people
+for the Papal office, they always believed Pope Sylvester to be a
+magician, and in league with the Devil. He was the most learned man of
+his day, and in his knowledge of natural science was far in advance of
+his time; but such accomplishments were then very rare in Italy, and
+unheard of in a Pope. Otto III. remained three years longer in Italy,
+dividing his time between pompous festivals and visits to religious
+anchorites.
+
+In the year 1000 he was recalled to Germany. His father's sister,
+Mathilde, who had governed the country as well as she was able, during
+his absence, was dead, and there were difficulties, not of a political
+nature (for to such he paid no attention), but in the organization of
+the Church, which he was anxious to settle. The Poles were converted to
+Christianity by this time, and their spiritual head was the Archbishop
+of Magdeburg; but now they demanded a separate and national diocese.
+This Otto granted to their Duke, or king, Boleslaw, with such other
+independent rights, that the authority of the German Empire soon ceased
+to be acknowledged by the Poles. He made a pilgrimage to the tomb of St.
+Adalbert of Prague, who was slain by the Prussian pagans, then visited
+Aix-la-Chapelle, where, following a half-delirious fancy, he descended
+into the vault where lay the body of Charlemagne, in the hope of hearing
+a voice, or receiving a sign, which might direct him how to restore the
+Roman Empire.
+
+[Sidenote: 1001.]
+
+The new Pope, Sylvester II., after Otto III.'s departure from Rome,
+found himself in as difficult a position as his predecessor, Gregory V.
+He was also obliged to call the Emperor to his aid, and the latter
+returned to Italy in 1001. He established his Court in a palace on Mount
+Aventine, in Rome, and maintained his authority for a little while, in
+spite of a fierce popular revolt. Then, becoming restless, yet not
+knowing what to do, he wandered up and down Italy, paid a mysterious
+visit to Venice by night, and finally returned to Rome, to find the
+gates barred against him. He began a siege, but before anything was
+accomplished, he died in 1002, as was generally believed, of poison. The
+nobles and the imperial guards who accompanied him took charge of his
+body, cut their way through a population in rebellion against his rule,
+and carried him over the Alps to Germany, where he was buried in
+Aix-la-Chapelle.
+
+The next year Pope Sylvester II. died, and Rome fell into the hands of
+the Counts of Tusculum, who tried to make the Papacy a hereditary
+dignity in their family. One of them, a boy of seventeen, became Pope as
+John XVI., and during the following thirty years four other boys held
+the office of Head of the Christian Church, crowned Emperors, and
+blessed or excommunicated at their will. This was the end of the grand
+political and spiritual Empire which Charlemagne had planned, two
+centuries before--a fantastic, visionary youth as Emperor, and a weak,
+ignorant boy as Pope! The effect was the rapid demoralization of princes
+and people, and nothing but the genuine Christianity still existing
+among the latter, from whom the ranks of the priests were recruited,
+saved the greater part of Europe from a relapse into barbarism.
+
+[Sidenote: 1002. HENRY II. ELECTED.]
+
+At Otto III.'s death there were three claimants to the throne, belonging
+to the Saxon dynasty; but his nearest relative, Henry, third Duke of
+Bavaria, and great-grandson of king Henry I. the Fowler, was finally
+elected. Suabia, Saxony and Lorraine did not immediately acquiesce in
+the choice, but they soon found it expedient to submit. Henry's
+authority was thus established within Germany, but on its frontiers and
+in Italy, which was now considered a genuine part of "the Roman Empire,"
+the usual troubles awaited him. He was a man of weak constitution, and
+only average intellect, but well-meaning, conscientious, and probably as
+just as it was possible for him to be under the circumstances. His life,
+as Emperor, was "a battle and a march," but its heaviest burdens were
+inherited from his predecessors. He was obliged to correct twenty years
+of misrule, or rather _no rule_, and he courageously gave the remainder
+of his life to the task.
+
+The Polish Duke, Boleslaw, sought to unite Bohemia and all the Slavonic
+territory eastward of the Elbe, under his own sway. This brought him
+into direct collision with the claims of Germany, and the question was
+not settled until after three long and bloody wars. Finally, in 1018, a
+treaty was made between Henry II. and Boleslaw, by which Bohemia
+remained tributary to the German Empire, and the province of Meissen (in
+the present kingdom of Saxony) became an appanage of Poland. By this
+time the Wends had secured possession of Northern Prussia, between the
+Elbe and the Oder, thrown off the German rule, and returned to their
+ancient pagan faith.
+
+In Italy, Arduin of Ivrea succeeded in inciting the Lombards to revolt,
+and proclaimed himself king of an independent Italian nation. Henry II.
+crossed the Alps in 1006, and took Pavia, the inhabitants of which city
+rose against him. In the struggle which followed, it was burned to the
+ground. After his return to Germany Arduin recovered his influence and
+power, became practically king, and pressed the Pope, Benedict VIII., so
+hard, that the latter went personally to Henry II. (as Leo III. had gone
+to Charlemagne) and implored his assistance. In the autumn of 1013,
+Henry went with the Pope to Italy, entered Pavia without resistance,
+restored the Papal authority in Rome, and was crowned Emperor in
+February, 1014. He returned immediately afterwards to Germany; and
+Italy, after Arduin's death, the following year, remained comparatively
+quiet.
+
+[Sidenote: 1018.]
+
+Even before the wars with Poland came to an end, in 1018, other troubles
+broke out in the west. There were disturbances along the frontier in
+Flanders, rebellions in Luxemburg and Lorraine, and finally a quarrel
+with Burgundy, the king of which, Rudolf III., was Henry II.'s uncle,
+and had chosen him as his heir. This inheritance gave Germany the
+eastern part of France, nearly to the Mediterranean, and the greater
+portion of Switzerland. But the Burgundian nobles refused to be thus
+transferred, and did not give their consent until after Henry's armies
+had twice invaded their country.
+
+Finally, in 1020, when there was temporary peace throughout the Empire,
+the Cathedral at Bamberg, which the Emperor had taken great pride in
+building, was consecrated with splendid ceremonies. The pope came across
+the Alps to be present, and he employed the opportunity to persuade
+Henry to return to Italy, and free the southern part of the peninsula
+from the Byzantine Greeks, who had advanced as far as Capua and
+threatened Rome. The Emperor consented: in 1021 he marched into Southern
+Italy with a large army, expelled the Greeks from the greater portion of
+their conquered territory, and then, having lost his best troops by
+pestilence, returned home. He there continued to travel to and fro,
+settling difficulties and observing the condition of the people. After
+long struggles, the power of the Empire seemed to be again secured; but
+when he began to strengthen it by the arts of peace, his own strength
+was exhausted. He died near Goettingen, in the summer of 1024, and was
+buried in the Cathedral of Bamberg. With him expired the dynasty of the
+Saxon Emperors, less pitifully, however, than either the Merovingian or
+Carolingian line.
+
+When Otto the Great, towards the close of his reign, neglected Germany
+and occupied himself with establishing his dominion in Italy, he
+prepared the way for the rapid decline of the Imperial power at home, in
+the hands of his successors. The reigning Dukes, Counts, and even the
+petty feudal lords, no longer watched and held subordinate, soon became
+practically independent: except in Friesland, Saxony and the Alps, the
+people had no voice in political matters; and thus the growth of a
+general national sentiment, such as had been fostered by Charlemagne and
+Henry I., was again destroyed. In proportion as the smaller States were
+governed as if they were separate lands, their populations became
+separated in feeling and interest. Henry II. tried to be an Emperor of
+_Germany_: he visited Italy rather on account of what he believed to be
+the duties of his office than from natural inclination to reign there;
+but he was not able to restore the same authority at home, as Otto the
+Great had exercised.
+
+[Sidenote: 1024. END OF HENRY II.'S REIGN.]
+
+Henry II. was a pious man, and favored the Roman Church in all
+practicable ways. He made numerous and rich grants of land to churches
+and monasteries, but always with the reservation of his own rights, as
+sovereign. After his death he was made a Saint, by order of the Pope,
+but he failed to live, either as Saint or Emperor, in the traditions of
+the people.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE FRANK EMPERORS, TO THE DEATH OF HENRY IV.
+
+(1024--1106.)
+
+Konrad II. elected Emperor. --Movements against him. --Journey to
+    Italy. --Revolt of Ernest of Suabia. --Burgundy attached to the
+    Empire. --Siege of Milan. --Konrad's Death. --Henry III. succeeds.
+    --Temporary Peace. --Corruptions in the Church. --The "Truce of
+    God." --Henry III.'s Coronation in Rome. --Rival Popes. --New
+    Troubles in Germany. --Second Visit to Italy. --Return and Death.
+    --Henry IV.'s Childhood. --His Capture. --Archbishops Hanno and
+    Adalbert. --Henry IV. begins to reign. --Revolt and Slaughter of
+    the Saxons. --Pope Gregory VII. --His Character and Policy. --Henry
+    IV. excommunicated. --Movement against him. --He goes to Italy.
+    --His Humiliation at Canossa. --War with Rudolf of Suabia. --Henry
+    IV. besieges Rome. --Death of Gregory VII. --Rebellions of Henry
+    IV.'s Sons. --His Capture, Abdication and Death. --The First
+    Crusade.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1024.]
+
+On the 4th of September, 1024, the German nobles, clergy and people came
+together on the banks of the Rhine, near Mayence, to elect a new
+Emperor. There were fifty or sixty thousand persons in all, forming two
+great camps: on the western bank of the river were the Lorrainese and
+the Rhine-Franks, on the eastern bank the Saxons, Suabians, Bavarians
+and German-Franks. There were two prominent candidates for the throne,
+but neither of them belonged to the established reigning houses, the
+members of which seemed to be so jealous of one another that they
+mutually destroyed their own chances. The two who were brought forward
+were cousins, both named Konrad, and both great-grandsons of Duke
+Konrad, Otto the Great's son-in-law, who fell so gallantly in the great
+battle with the Hungarians, in 955.
+
+For five days the claims of the two were canvassed by the electors. The
+elder Konrad had married Gisela, the widow of Duke Ernest of Suabia,
+which gave him a somewhat higher place among the princes; and therefore
+after the cousins had agreed that either would accept the other's
+election as valid and final, the votes turned to his side. The people,
+who were present merely as spectators (for they had now no longer any
+part in the election), hailed the new monarch with shouts of joy, and he
+was immediately crowned king of Germany in the Cathedral of Mayence.
+
+[Illustration: GERMANY under the Saxon and Frank Emperors.
+
+Twelfth Century]
+
+[Sidenote: 1024.]
+
+Konrad--who was Konrad II. in the list of German Emperors--had no
+subjects of his own to support him, like his Saxon predecessors: his
+authority rested upon his own experience, ability and knowledge of
+statesmanship. But his queen, Gisela, was a woman of unusual
+intelligence and energy, and she faithfully assisted him in his duties.
+He was a man of stately and commanding appearance, and seemed so well
+fitted for his new dignity that when he made the usual journey through
+Germany, neither Dukes nor people hesitated to give him their
+allegiance. Even the nobles of Lorraine, who were dissatisfied with his
+election, found it prudent to yield without serious opposition.
+
+The death of Henry II., nevertheless, was the signal for three
+threatening movements against the Empire. In Italy the Lombards rose,
+and, in their hatred of what they now considered to be a foreign rule
+(quite forgetting their own German origin), they razed to the ground the
+Imperial palace at Pavia: in Burgundy, king Rudolf declared that he
+would resist Konrad's claim to the sovereignty of the country, which,
+being himself childless, he had promised to Henry II.; and in Poland,
+Boleslaw, who now called himself king, declared that his former treaties
+with Germany were no longer binding upon him. But Konrad II. was favored
+by fortune. The Polish king died, and the power which he had built
+up--for his kingdom, like that of the Goths, reached from the Baltic to
+the Danube, from the Elbe to Central Russia--was again shattered by the
+quarrels of his sons. In Burgundy, Duke Rudolf was without heirs, and
+finally found himself compelled to recognize the German sovereign as his
+successor. With Canute, who was then king of Denmark and England, Konrad
+II. made a treaty of peace and friendship, restoring Schleswig to the
+Danish crown, and re-adopting the river Eider as the boundary.
+
+In the spring of 1026, Konrad went to Italy. Pavia shut her gates
+against him, but those of Milan were opened, and the Lombard Bishops and
+nobles came to offer him homage. He was crowned with the iron crown, and
+during the course of the year, all the cities in Northern Italy--even
+Pavia, which promised to rebuild the Imperial palace--acknowledged his
+sway. In March, 1027, he went to Rome and was crowned Emperor by the
+Pope, John XIX., one of the young Counts of Tusculum, who had succeeded
+to the Papacy as a boy of twelve! King Canute and Rudolf of Burgundy
+were present at the ceremony, and Konrad betrothed his son Henry to the
+Danish princess Gunhilde, daughter of the former.
+
+[Sidenote: 1027. KONRAD II.'S VISIT TO ITALY.]
+
+After the coronation, the Emperor paid a rapid visit to Southern Italy,
+where the Normans had secured a foothold ten years before, and, by
+defending the country against the Greeks and Saracens, were rapidly
+making themselves its rulers. He found it easier to accept them as
+vassals than to drive them out, but in so doing he added a new and
+turbulent element to those which already distracted Italy. However,
+there was now external quiet, at least, and he went back to Germany.
+
+Here his step-son, Ernest II. of Suabia, who claimed the crown of
+Burgundy, had already risen in rebellion against him. He was not
+supported even by his own people, and the Emperor imprisoned him in a
+strong fortress until the Empress Gisela, by her prayers, procured his
+liberation. Konrad offered to give him back his Dukedom, provided he
+would capture and deliver up his intimate friend, Count Werner of
+Kyburg, who was supposed to exercise an evil influence over him. Ernest
+refused, sought his friend, and the two after living for some time as
+outlaws in the Black Forest, at last fell in a conflict with the
+Imperial troops. The sympathies of the people were turned to the young
+Duke by his hard fate and tragic death, and during the Middle Ages the
+narrative poem of "Ernest of Suabia" was sung everywhere throughout
+Germany.
+
+Konrad II. next undertook a campaign against Poland, which was wholly
+unsuccessful: he was driven back to the Elbe with great losses. Before
+he could renew the war, he was called upon to assist Count Albert of
+Austria (as the Bavarian "East-Mark" along the Danube must henceforth be
+called) in a war against Stephen, the first Christian king of Hungary.
+The result was a treaty of peace, which left him free to march once more
+against Poland and reconquer the provinces which Henry II. had granted
+to Boleslaw. The remaining task of his reign, the attachment of Burgundy
+to the German Empire, was also accomplished without any great
+difficulty. King Rudolf, before his death in 1032, sent his crown and
+sceptre to Konrad II., in fulfilment of a promise made when they met at
+Rome, six years before. Although Count Odo of Champagne, Rudolf's
+nearest relative, disputed the succession, and all southern Burgundy
+espoused his cause, he was unable to resist the Emperor. The latter was
+crowned King of Burgundy at Payerne, in Switzerland, and two years later
+received the homage of nearly all the clergy and nobles of the country
+in Lyons.
+
+[Sidenote: 1037.]
+
+At that time Burgundy comprised the whole valley of the Rhone, from its
+cradle in the Alps to the Mediterranean, the half of Switzerland, the
+cities of Dijon and Besancon and the territory surrounding them. All
+this now became, and for some centuries remained, a part of the German
+Empire. Its relation to the latter, however, resembled that of the
+Lombard Kingdom in Italy: its subjection was acknowledged, it was
+obliged to furnish troops in special emergencies, but it preserved its
+own institutions and laws, and repelled any closer political union. The
+continual intercourse of its people with those of France slowly
+obliterated the original differences between them, and increased the
+hostility of the Burgundians to the German sway. But the rulers of that
+day were not wise enough to see very far in advance, and the sovereignty
+of Burgundy was temporarily a gain to the German power.
+
+Early in 1037 Konrad was called again to Italy by complaints of the
+despotic rule of the local governors, especially of the Archbishop
+Heribert of Milan. This prelate resisted his authority, incited the
+people of Milan to support his pretensions, and became, in a short time,
+the leader of a serious revolt. The Emperor deposed him, prevailed upon
+the Pope, Benedict IX., to place him under the ban of the Church, and
+besieged Milan with all his forces; but in vain. The Bishop defied both
+Emperor and Pope; the city was too strongly fortified to be taken, and
+out of this resistance grew the idea of independence which was
+afterwards developed in the Italian Republics, until the latter
+weakened, wasted, and finally destroyed the authority of the German (or
+"Roman") Emperors in Italy. Konrad was obliged to return home without
+having conquered Archbishop Heribert and the Milanese.
+
+In the spring of 1039 he died suddenly at Utrecht, aged sixty, and was
+buried in the Cathedral at Speyer, which he had begun to build. He was a
+very shrewd and intelligent ruler, who planned better than he was able
+to perform. He certainly greatly increased the Imperial power during
+his life, by recognizing the hereditary rights of the smaller princes,
+and replacing the chief reigning Dukes, whenever circumstances rendered
+it possible, by members of his own family. As the selection of the
+bishops and archbishops remained in his hands, the clergy were of course
+his immediate dependents. It was their interest, as well as that of the
+common people among whom knowledge and the arts were beginning to take
+root, that peace should be preserved between the different German
+States, and this could only be done by making the Emperor's authority
+paramount. Nevertheless, Konrad II. was never popular: a historian of
+the times says "no one sighed when his sudden death was announced."
+
+[Sidenote: 1039. HENRY III.]
+
+His son, Henry III., already crowned King of Germany as a boy, now
+mounted the throne. He was twenty-three years old, distinguished for
+bodily as well as mental qualities, and was apparently far more
+competent to rule than many of his predecessors had been. Germany was
+quiet, and he encountered no opposition. The first five years of his
+reign brought him wars with Bohemia and Hungary, but in both, in spite
+of some reverses at the beginning, he was successful. Bohemia was
+reduced to obedience; a part of the Hungarian territory was annexed to
+Austria, and the king, Peter, as well as Duke Casimir of Poland,
+acknowledged themselves dependents of the German Empire. The Czar of
+Muscovy (as Russia was then called) offered Henry, after the death of
+Queen Gunhilde, a princess of his family as a wife; but he declined, and
+selected, instead, Agnes of Poitiers, sister of the Duke of Aquitaine.
+
+But, although the condition of Germany, and, indeed, of the greater part
+of Europe, was now more settled and peaceful than it had been for a long
+time, the consequences of the previous wars and disturbances were very
+severely felt. The land had been visited both by pestilence and famine,
+and there was much suffering; there was also notorious corruption in the
+Church and in civil government; the demoralization of the Popes,
+followed by that of the Romans, and then of the Italians, had spread
+like an infection over all Christendom. When things seemed to be at
+their worst, a change for the better was instituted in a most unexpected
+quarter and in a very singular manner.
+
+[Sidenote: 1040.]
+
+In the monastery of Cluny, in Burgundy, the monks, under the leadership
+of their Abbot, Odilo, determined to introduce a sterner, a more pious
+and Christian spirit into the life of the age. They began to preach what
+they called the _treuga Dei_, the "truce" or "peace of God," according
+to which, from every Wednesday evening until the next Monday morning,
+all feuds or fights were forbidden throughout the land. Several hundred
+monasteries in France and Burgundy joined the "Congregation of Cluny";
+the Church accepted the idea of the "peace of God," and the worldly
+rulers were called upon to enforce it. Henry III. saw in this new
+movement an agent which might be used to his own advantage no less than
+for the general good, and he favored it as far as lay in his power. He
+summoned a Diet of the German princes, urged the measure upon them in an
+eloquent speech, and set the example by proclaiming a full and free
+pardon to all who had been his enemies. The change was too sudden to be
+acceptable to many of the princes, but they obeyed as far as convenient,
+and the German people, almost for the first time in their history,
+enjoyed a general peace and security.
+
+The "Congregation of Cluny" preached also against the universal simony,
+by which all clerical dignities were bought and sold. Priests, abbots,
+bishops, and even in some cases, Popes, were accustomed to buy their
+appointment, and the power of the Church was thus often exercised by the
+most unworthy hands. Henry III. saw the necessity of a reform; he sought
+out the most pious, pure and intelligent priests, and made them abbots
+and bishops, refusing all payments or presents. He then undertook to
+raise the Papal power out of the deplorable condition into which it had
+fallen. There were then _three_ rival Popes in Rome, each of whom
+officially excommunicated and cursed the others and their followers.
+
+In the summer of 1046, Henry III. crossed the Alps with a magnificent
+retinue. The quarrels between the nobles and the people, in the cities
+of Lombardy, were compromised at his approach, and he found order and
+submission everywhere. He called a Synod, which was held at Sutri, an
+old Etruscan town, 30 miles north of Rome, and there, with the consent
+of the Bishops, deposed all three of the Popes, appointing the Bishop of
+Bamberg to the vacant office. The latter took the Papal chair under the
+name of Clement II., and the very same day crowned Henry III. as Roman
+Emperor. To the Roman people this seemed no less a bargain than the
+case of Otto III., and they grew more than ever impatient of the rule of
+both Emperor and Pope. Their republican instincts, although repressed by
+a fierce and powerful nobility, were kept alive by the examples of
+Venice and Milan, and they dreamed as ardently of a free Rome in the
+twelfth century as in the nineteenth.
+
+[Sidenote: 1046. APPOINTMENT OF POPES.]
+
+Up to this time the Roman clergy and people had taken part, so far as
+the mere forms were concerned, in the election of the Popes. They were
+now compelled (of course very unwillingly) to give up this ancient
+right, and allow the Emperor to choose the candidate, who was then sure
+to be elected by Bishops of Imperial appointment. In fact, during the
+nine remaining years of Henry III.'s reign, he selected three other
+Popes, Clement II. and his first two successors having all died
+suddenly, probably from poison, after very short reigns. But this was
+the end of absolute German authority and Roman submission: within thirty
+years the Christian world beheld a spectacle of a totally opposite
+character.
+
+Henry III. visited Southern Italy, confirmed the Normans in their rule,
+as his father had done, and then returned to Germany. He had reached the
+climax of his power, and the very means he had taken to secure it now
+involved him in troubles which gradually weakened his influence in
+Germany. He was generous, but improvident and reckless: he bestowed
+principalities on personal friends, regardless of hereditary claims or
+the wishes of the people, and gave away large sums of money, which were
+raised by imposing hard terms upon the tenants of the crown-lands. A new
+war with Hungary, and the combined revolt of Godfrey of Lorraine,
+Baldwin of Flanders and Dietrich of Holland against him, diminished his
+military resources; and even his success, at the end of four weary
+years, did not add to his renown. Leo IX., the third Pope of his
+appointment, was called upon to assist him by hurling the ban of the
+Church against the rebellious princes. He also called to his assistance
+Danish and English fleets which assailed Holland and Flanders, while he
+subdued Godfrey of Lorraine. The latter soon afterwards married the
+widowed Countess Beatrix of Tuscany, and thus became ruler of nearly all
+Italy between the Po and the Tiber.
+
+By the year 1051, all the German States except Saxony were governed by
+relatives or personal friends of the Emperor. In order to counteract
+the power of Bernhard, Duke of the Saxons, of whom he was jealous, he
+made another friend, Adalbert, Archbishop of Bremen, with authority over
+priests and churches in Northern Germany, Denmark, Scandinavia and even
+Iceland. He also built a stately palace at Goslar, at the foot of the
+Hartz Mountains, and made it as often as possible his residence, in
+order to watch the Saxons. Both these measures, however, increased his
+unpopularity with the German people.
+
+[Sidenote: 1054.]
+
+Leo IX., in 1054, marched against the Normans who were threatening the
+southern border of the Roman territory, but was defeated and taken
+prisoner. The victors treated him with all possible reverence, and he
+soon saw the policy of making friends of such a bold and warlike people.
+A treaty of peace was concluded, wherein the Normans acknowledged
+themselves dependents of the Papal power: no notice was taken of the
+fact that they had already acknowledged that of the German-Roman
+Emperors. This event, and the increasing authority of his old enemy,
+Godfrey, in Tuscany, led Henry III. to visit Italy again in 1055.
+Although he held the Diet of Lombardy and a grand review on the
+Roncalian plains near Piacenza, he accomplished nothing by his journey:
+he did not even visit Rome. Leo IX. died the same year, and Henry
+appointed a new Pope, Victor II., who, like his predecessor, became an
+instrument in the hands of Hildebrand of Savona, a monk of Cluny, who
+was even then, although few suspected it, the real head and ruler of the
+Christian world.
+
+The Emperor discovered that a plot had been formed to assassinate him on
+his way to Germany. This danger over, he had an interview with king
+Henri of France, which became so violent that he challenged the latter
+to single combat. Henri avoided the issue by marching away during the
+following night. The Emperor retired to his palace at Goslar, in
+October, 1056, where he received a visit from Pope Victor II. He was
+broken in health and hopes, and the news of a defeat of his army by the
+Slavonians in Prussia is supposed to have hastened his end. He died
+during the month, not yet forty years old, leaving a boy of six as his
+successor.
+
+[Sidenote: 1062. HENRY IV.]
+
+The child, Henry IV., had already been crowned King of Germany, and his
+mother, the Empress Agnes, was chosen regent during his minority. The
+Bishop of Augsburg was her adviser, and her first acts were those of
+prudence and reconciliation. Peace was concluded with Godfrey of
+Lorraine and Baldwin of Flanders, minor troubles in the States were
+quieted, and the Empire enjoyed the promise of peace. But the Empress,
+who was a woman of a weak, yielding nature, was soon led to make
+appointments which created fresh troubles. The reigning princes used the
+opportunity to make themselves more independent, and their mutual
+jealousy and hostility increased in proportion as they became stronger.
+The nobles and people of Rome renewed their attempt to have a share in
+the choice of a Pope; and, although the appointment was finally left to
+the Empress, the Pope of her selection, Nicholas II., instead of being
+subservient to the interests of the German Empire, allied himself with
+the Normans and with the republican party in the cities of Lombardy.
+
+At home, the troubles of the Empress Agnes increased year by year. A
+conspiracy to murder the young Henry IV. was fortunately discovered;
+then a second, at the head of which was the Archbishop Hanno of Cologne,
+was formed to take him from his mother's care and give him into stronger
+hands. In 1062, when Henry IV. was twelve years old, Hanno visited the
+Empress at Kaiserswerth, on the Rhine. After a splendid banquet, he
+invited the young king to look at his vessel, which lay near the palace;
+but no sooner had the latter stepped upon the deck, than the
+conspirators seized their oars and pushed into the stream. Henry boldly
+sprang into the water; Count Ekbert of Brunswick sprang after him, and
+both, after nearly drowning in their struggle, were taken on board. The
+Empress stood on the shore, crying for help, and her people sought to
+intercept the vessel, but in vain: the plot was successful. A meeting of
+reigning princes, soon afterwards, appointed Archbishop Hanno guardian
+of the young king.
+
+He was a hard, stern master, and Henry IV. became his enemy for life.
+Within a year, Hanno was obliged to yield his place to Adalbert,
+Archbishop of Bremen, who was as much too indulgent as the former had
+been too rigid. The jealousy of the other priests and princes was now
+turned against Adalbert, and his position became so difficult that in
+1065, when Henry IV. was only fifteen years old, he presented him to an
+Imperial Diet, held at Worms, and there invested him with the sword,
+the token of manhood. Thenceforth Henry reigned in his own name,
+although Adalbert's guardianship was not given up until a year later.
+Then he was driven away by a union of the other Bishops and the reigning
+princes, and his rival, Hanno, was forced, as chief counsellor, upon the
+angry and unwilling king.
+
+[Sidenote: 1066.]
+
+The next year Henry was married to the Italian princess, Bertha, to whom
+his father had betrothed him as a child. Before three years had elapsed,
+he demanded to be divorced from her; but, although the Archbishop of
+Mayence and the Imperial Diet were persuaded to consent, the Pope,
+Alexander II., following the advice of his Chancellor, Hildebrand of
+Savona, refused his sanction. Henry finally decided to take back his
+wife, whose beauty, patience and forgiving nature compelled him to love
+her at last. About the same time, his father's enemy and his own,
+Godfrey of Lorraine and Tuscany, died; another enemy, Otto, Duke of
+Bavaria, fell into his hands, and was deposed; and there only remained
+Magnus, Duke of the Saxons, who seemed hostile to his authority. The
+events of Henry's youth and the character of his education made him
+impatient and mistrustful: he inherited the pride and arbitrary will of
+his father and grandfather, without their prudence: he surrounded
+himself with wild and reckless princes of his own age, whose counsels
+too often influenced his policy.
+
+No Frank Emperor could be popular with the fierce, independent Saxons;
+but when it was rumored that Henry IV. had sought an alliance with the
+Danish king, Swen, against them,--when he called upon them, at the same
+time, to march against Poland,--their suspicions were aroused, and the
+whole population rose in opposition. To the number of 60,000, headed by
+Otto, the deposed Duke of Bavaria (who was a Saxon noble), they marched
+to the Harzburg, the Imperial castle near Goslar. Henry rejected their
+conditions: the castle was besieged, and he escaped with difficulty,
+accompanied only by a few followers. He endeavored to persuade the other
+German princes to support him, but they refused. They even entered into
+a conspiracy to dethrone him; the Bishops favored the plan, and his
+cause seemed nearly hopeless.
+
+In this emergency the cities along the Rhine, which were very weary of
+priestly rule, and now saw a chance to strengthen themselves by
+assisting the Emperor, openly befriended him. They were able, however,
+to give him but little military support, and in February, 1074, he was
+compelled to conclude a treaty with the Saxons, which granted them
+almost everything they demanded, even to the demolition of the
+fortresses he had built on their territory. But, in the flush of
+victory, they also tore down the Imperial palace at Goslar, the Church,
+and the sepulchre wherein Henry III. was buried. This placed them in the
+wrong, and Henry IV. marched into Saxony with an immense army which he
+had called together for the purpose of invading Hungary. The Saxons
+armed themselves to resist, but they were attacked when unprepared,
+defeated after a terrible battle, and their land laid waste with fire
+and sword. Thus were again verified, a thousand years later, the words
+of Tiberius--that it was not necessary to attempt the conquest of the
+Germans, for, if let alone, they would destroy themselves.
+
+[Sidenote: 1074. POPE GREGORY VII.]
+
+The power of Henry IV. seemed now to be assured; but the lowest
+humiliation which ever befell a monarch was in store for him. The monk
+of Cluny, Hildebrand of Savona, who had inspired the policy of four
+Popes during twenty-four years, became Pope himself in 1073, under the
+name of Gregory VII. He was a man of iron will and inexhaustible energy,
+wise and far-seeing beyond any of his contemporaries, and unquestionably
+sincere in his aims. He remodelled the Papal office, gave it a new
+character and importance, and left his own indelible mark on the Church
+of Rome from that day to this. For the first five hundred years after
+Christ the Pope had been merely the Bishop of Rome; for the second five
+hundred years he had been the nominal head of the Church, but
+subordinate to the political rulers, and dependent upon them. Gregory
+VII. determined to make the office a spiritual power, above all other
+powers, with sole and final authority over the bishops, priests and
+other servants of the Church. It was to be a religious Empire, existing
+by Divine right, independent of the fate of nations or the will of
+kings.
+
+He relied mainly upon two measures to accomplish this change,--the
+suppression of simony and the celibacy of the priesthood. He determined
+that the priests should belong wholly to the Church; that the human ties
+of wife and children should be denied to them. This measure had been
+proposed before, but never carried into effect, on account of the
+opposition of the married Bishops and priests; but the increase of the
+monastic orders and their greater influence at this time favored
+Gregory's design. Even after celibacy was proclaimed as a law of the
+Church, in 1074, it encountered the most violent opposition, and the law
+was not universally obeyed by the priests until two or three centuries
+later.
+
+[Sidenote: 1075.]
+
+In 1075, Gregory promulgated a law against simony, in which he not only
+prohibited the sale of all offices of the Church, but claimed that the
+Bishops could only receive the ring and crozier, the symbols of their
+authority, from the hands of the Pope. The same year, he sent messengers
+to Henry IV. calling upon him to enforce this law in Germany, under
+penalty of excommunication. The surprise and anger of the King may
+easily be imagined: it was a language which no Pope had ever before
+dared to use toward the Imperial power. Indeed, when we consider that
+Gregory at this time was quarrelling with the Normans, the Lombard
+cities and the king of France, and that a party in Rome was becoming
+hostile to his rule, the act seems almost that of a madman.
+
+Henry IV. called a Synod, which met at Worms. The Bishops, at his
+request, unanimously declared that Gregory VII. was deposed from the
+Papacy, and a message was sent to the people at Rome, ordering them to
+drive him from the city. But, just at that time, Gregory had put down a
+conspiracy of the nobles to assassinate him, by calling the people to
+his aid, and he was temporarily popular with the latter. He answered
+Henry IV. with the ban of excommunication,--which would have been
+harmless enough, but for the deep-seated discontent of the Germans with
+the king's rule. The Saxons, whom he had treated with the greatest
+harshness and indignity since their subjection, immediately found a
+pretext to throw off their allegiance: the other German States showed a
+cold and mistrustful temper, and their princes failed to come together
+when Henry called a National Diet. In the meantime the ambassadors of
+Gregory were busy, and the petty courts were filled with secret
+intrigues for dethroning the king and electing a new one.
+
+[Sidenote: 1077. THE HUMILIATION AT CANOSSA.]
+
+In October, 1076, finally, a Convention of princes was held on the
+Rhine, near Mayence. Henry was not allowed to be present, but he sent
+messengers, offering to yield to their demands if they would only guard
+the dignity of the crown. The princes rejected all his offers, and
+finally adjourned to meet in Augsburg early in 1077, when the Pope was
+asked to be present. As soon as Henry IV. learned that Gregory had
+accepted the invitation, he was seized with a panic as unkingly as his
+former violence. Accompanied only by a small retinue, he hastened to
+Burgundy, crossed Mont Cenis in the dead of winter, encountering many
+sufferings and dangers on the way, and entered Italy with the single
+intention of meeting Pope Gregory and persuading him to remove the ban
+of the Church.
+
+At the news of his arrival in Lombardy, the Bishops and nobles from all
+the cities flocked to his support, and demanded only that he should lead
+them against the Pope. The movement was so threatening that Gregory
+himself, already on his way to Germany, halted, and retired for a time
+to the Castle of Canossa (in the Apennines, not far from Parma), which
+belonged to his devoted friend, the Countess Matilda of Tuscany. Victory
+was assured to Henry, if he had but grasped it; but he seems to have
+possessed no courage except when inspired by hate. He neglected the
+offered help, went to Canossa, and, presenting himself before the gate
+barefoot and clad only in a shirt of sackcloth, he asked to be admitted
+and pardoned as a repentant sinner. Gregory, so unexpectedly triumphant,
+prolonged for three whole days the satisfaction which he enjoyed in the
+king's humiliation: for three days the latter waited at the gate in snow
+and rain, before he was received. Then, after promising to obey the
+Pope, he received the kiss of peace, and the two took communion together
+in the castle-chapel! This was the first great victory of the Papal
+power: Gregory VII. paid dearly for it, but it was an event which could
+not be erased from History. It has fed the pride and supported the
+claims of the Roman Church, from that day to this.
+
+Gregory had dared to excommunicate Henry, because of the political
+conspirators against the latter; but he had not considered that his
+pardon would change those conspirators into enemies. The indignant
+Lombards turned their backs on Henry, the Bishops rejected the Pope's
+offer to release them from the ban, and the strife became more fierce
+and relentless than ever. In the meantime the German princes, encouraged
+by the Pope, proclaimed Rudolf of Suabia King in Henry's place. The
+latter, now at last supported by the Lombards, hastened back to Germany.
+A terrible war ensued, which lasted for more than two years, and was
+characterized by the most shocking barbarities on both sides. Gregory a
+second time excommunicated the king, but without the slightest political
+effect. The war terminated in 1080 by the death of Rudolf in battle, and
+Henry's authority became gradually established throughout the land.
+
+[Sidenote: 1084.]
+
+His first movement, now, was against the Pope. He crossed the Alps with
+a large army, was crowned King of Lombardy, and then marched towards
+Rome. Gregory's only friend was the Countess Matilda of Tuscany, who
+resisted Henry's advance until the cities of Pisa and Lucca espoused his
+cause. Then he laid siege to Rome, and a long war began, during which
+the ancient city suffered more than it had endured for centuries. The
+end of the struggle was a devastation worse than that inflicted by
+Geiserich. When Henry finally gained possession of the city, and the
+Pope was besieged in the castle of St. Angelo, the latter released
+Robert Guiscard, chief of the Normans in Southern Italy, from the ban of
+excommunication which he had pronounced against him, and called him to
+his aid. A Norman army, numbering 36,000 men, mostly Saracens,
+approached Rome, and Henry was compelled to retreat. The Pope was
+released, but his allies burned all the city between the Lateran and the
+Coliseum, slaughtered thousands of the inhabitants, carried away
+thousands as slaves, and left a desert of blood and ruin behind them.
+Gregory VII. did not dare to remain in Rome after their departure: he
+accompanied them to Salerno, and there died in exile, in 1085.
+
+Henry IV. immediately appointed a new Pope, Clement III., by whom he was
+crowned Emperor in St. Peter's. After Gregory's death, the Normans and
+the French selected another Pope, Urban II., and until both died,
+fifteen years afterwards, they and their partisans never ceased
+fighting. The Emperor Henry, however, who returned to Germany
+immediately alter his coronation, took little part in this quarrel. The
+last twenty years of his reign were full of trouble and misfortune. His
+eldest son, Konrad, who had lived mostly in Lombardy, was in 1092
+persuaded to claim the crown of Italy, was acknowledged by the hostile
+Pope, and allied himself with his father's enemies. For a time he was
+very successful, but the movement gradually failed, and he ended his
+days in prison, in 1101.
+
+[Sidenote: 1105. TREACHERY OF HENRY IV.'S SON.]
+
+Henry's hopes were now turned to his younger son, Henry, who was of a
+cold, calculating, treacherous disposition. The political and religious
+foes of the Emperor were still actively scheming for his overthrow, and
+they succeeded in making the young Henry their instrument, as they had
+made his brother Konrad. During the long struggles of his reign, the
+Emperor's strongest and most faithful supporter had been Frederick of
+Hohenstaufen, a Suabian count, to whom he had given his daughter in
+marriage, and whom he finally made Duke of Suabia. The latter died in
+1104, and most of the German princes, with the young Henry at their
+head, arose in rebellion. For nearly a year, the country was again
+desolated by a furious civil war; but the cities along the Rhine, which
+were rapidly increasing in wealth and population, took the Emperor's
+side, as before, and enabled him to keep the field against his son. At
+last, in December, 1105, their armies lay face to face, near the river
+Moselle, and an interview took place between the two. Father and son
+embraced each other; tears were shed, repentance offered and pardon
+given; then both set out together for Mayence, where it was agreed that
+a National Diet should settle all difficulties.
+
+On the way, however, the treacherous son persuaded his father to rest in
+the Castle of Boeckelheim, there instantly shut the gates upon him and
+held him prisoner until he compelled him to abdicate. But, after the
+act, the Emperor succeeded in making his escape: the people rallied to
+his support, and he was still unconquered when death came to end his
+many troubles, in Liege, in August, 1106. He was perhaps the most
+signally unfortunate of all the German Emperors. The errors of his
+education, the follies and passions of his youth, the one fatal weakness
+of his manhood, were gradually corrected by experience; but he could not
+undo their consequences. After he had become comparatively wise and
+energetic, the internal dissensions of Germany, and the conflict between
+the Roman Church and the Imperial power, had grown too strong to be
+suppressed by his hand. When he might have done right, he lacked either
+the knowledge or the will; when he finally tried to do right, he had
+lost the power.
+
+[Sidenote: 1099.]
+
+During the latter years of his reign occurred a great historical event,
+the consequences of which were most important to Europe, though not
+immediately so to Germany. Peter the Hermit preached a Crusade to the
+Holy Land for the purpose of conquering Jerusalem from the Saracens.
+The "Congregation of Cluny" had prepared the way for this movement: one
+of the two Popes, Urban II., encouraged it, and finally Godfrey of
+Bouillon (of the Ducal family of Lorraine) put himself at its head. The
+soldiers of this, the First Crusade, came chiefly from France, Burgundy
+and Italy. Although many of them passed through Germany on their way to
+the East, they made few recruits among the people; but the success of
+the undertaking, the capture of Jerusalem by Godfrey in 1099, and the
+religious enthusiasm which it created, tended greatly to strengthen the
+Papal power, and also that faction in the Church which was hostile to
+Henry IV.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+END OF THE FRANK DYNASTY, AND RISE OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS.
+
+(1106--1152.)
+
+Henry V.'s Character and Course. --The Condition of Germany. --Strife
+    concerning the Investiture of Bishops. --Scene in St. Peter's.
+    --Troubles in Germany and Italy. --The "Concordat of Worms."
+    --Death of Henry V. --Absence of National Feeling. --Papal
+    Independence. --Lothar of Saxony chosen Emperor. --His Visits to
+    Italy, and Death. --Konrad of Hohenstaufen succeeds. --His Quarrel
+    with Henry the Proud. --The Women of Weinsberg. --Welf (Guelph) and
+    Waiblinger (Ghibelline). --The Second Crusade. --March to the Holy
+    Land. --Konrad invited to Rome. --Arnold of Brescia. --Konrad's
+    Death.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1106. HENRY V. AS EMPEROR.]
+
+Henry V. showed his true character immediately after his accession to
+the throne. Although he had been previously supported by the Papal
+party, he was no sooner acknowledged king of Germany than he imitated
+his father in opposing the claims of the Church. The new Pope, Paschalis
+II., had found it expedient to recognize the Bishops whom Henry IV. had
+appointed, but at the same time he issued a manifesto declaring that all
+future appointments must come from him. Henry V. answered this with a
+letter of defiance, and continued to select his own Bishops and abbots,
+which the Pope, not being able to resist, was obliged to suffer.
+
+During the disturbed fifty years of Henry IV.'s reign, Burgundy and
+Italy had become practically independent of Germany; Hungary and Poland
+had thrown off their dependent condition, and even the Wends beyond the
+Elbe were no longer loyal to the Empire. Within the German States, the
+Imperial power was already so much weakened by the establishment of
+hereditary Dukes and Counts, not related to the ruling family, that the
+king (or Emperor) exercised very little direct authority over the
+people. The crown-lands had been mostly either given away in exchange
+for assistance, or lost during the civil wars; the feudal system was
+firmly fastened upon the country, and only a few free cities--like those
+in Italy--kept alive the ancient spirit of liberty and political
+equality. Under such a system a monarch could accomplish little, unless
+he was both wiser and stronger than the reigning princes under him:
+there was no general national sentiment to which he could appeal. Henry
+V. was cold, stern, heartless and unprincipled; but he inspired a
+wholesome fear among his princely "vassals," and kept them in better
+order than his father had done.
+
+[Sidenote: 1110.]
+
+After giving the first years of his reign to the settlement of troubles
+on the frontiers of the Empire, Henry V. prepared, in 1110, for a
+journey to Italy. So many followers came to him that when he had crossed
+the Alps and mustered them on the plains of Piacenza, there were 30,000
+knights present. With such a force, no resistance was possible: the
+Lombard cities acknowledged him, Countess Matilda of Tuscany followed
+their example, and the Pope found it expedient to meet him in a friendly
+spirit. The latter was willing to crown Henry as Emperor, but still
+claimed the right of investing the Bishops. This Henry positively
+refused to grant, and, after much deliberation, the Pope finally
+proposed a complete separation of Church and State,--that is, that the
+lands belonging to the Bishops and abbots, or under their government,
+should revert to the crown, and the priests themselves become merely
+officials of the Church, without any secular power. Although the change
+would have been attended with some difficulty in Germany, Henry
+consented, and the long quarrel between Pope and Emperor was apparently
+settled.
+
+On the 12th of February, 1111, the king entered Rome at the head of a
+magnificent procession, and was met at the gate of St. Peter's by the
+Pope, who walked with him hand in hand to the platform before the high
+altar. But when the latter read aloud the agreement, the Bishops raised
+their voices in angry dissent. The debate lasted so long that one of the
+German knights cried out: "Why so many words? Our king means to be
+crowned Emperor, like Karl the Great!" The Pope refused the act of
+coronation, and was immediately made prisoner. The people of Rome rose
+in arms, and a terrible fight ensued. Henry narrowly escaped death in
+the streets, and was compelled to encamp outside the city. At the end of
+two months, the resistance both of Pope and people was crushed; he was
+crowned Emperor, and Paschalis II. gave up his claim for the investiture
+of the Bishops.
+
+[Sidenote: 1122. THE CONCORDAT OF WORMS.]
+
+Henry V. returned immediately to Germany, defeated the rebellious
+Thuringians and Saxons in 1113, and the following year was married to
+Matilda, daughter of Henry I. of England. This was the climax of his
+power and splendor: it was soon followed by troubles with Friesland,
+Cologne, Thuringia and Saxony, and in the course of two years his
+authority was set at nought over nearly all Northern Germany. Only
+Suabia, under his nephew, Frederick of Hohenstaufen, and Duke Welf II.
+of Bavaria, remained faithful to him.
+
+He was obliged to leave Germany in this state and hasten to Italy in
+1116, on account of the death of the Countess Matilda, who had
+bequeathed Tuscany to the Church, although she had previously
+acknowledged the Imperial sovereignty. Henry claimed and secured
+possession of her territory; he then visited Rome, the Pope leaving the
+city to avoid meeting him. The latter died soon afterwards, and for a
+time a new Pope, of the Emperor's own appointment, was installed in the
+Vatican. The Papal party, which now included all the French Bishops,
+immediately elected another, who excommunicated Henry V., but the act
+was of no consequence, and was in fact overlooked by Calixtus II., who
+succeeded to the Papal chair in 1118.
+
+The same year Henry returned to Germany, and succeeded, chiefly through
+the aid of Frederick of Hohenstaufen, in establishing his authority. The
+quarrel with the Papal power concerning the investiture of the Bishops
+was still unsettled: the new Pope, Calixtus II., who was a Burgundian
+and a relation of the Emperor, remained in France, where his claims were
+supported. After long delays and many preliminary negotiations, a Diet
+was held at Worms in September, 1122, when the question was finally
+settled. The choice of the Bishops and their investiture with the ring
+and crozier were given to the Pope, but the nominations were required to
+be made in the Emperor's presence, and the candidates to receive from
+him their temporal power, before they were consecrated by the Church.
+This arrangement is known as _the Concordat of Worms_. It was hailed at
+the time as a fortunate settlement of a strife which had lasted for
+fifty years; but it only increased the difficulty by giving the German
+Bishops two masters, yet making them secretly dependent on the Pope. So
+long as they retained the temporal power, they governed according to the
+dictates of a foreign will, which was generally hostile to Germany. Then
+began an antagonism between the Church and State, which was all the more
+intense because never openly acknowledged, and which disturbs Germany
+even at this day.
+
+[Sidenote: 1125.]
+
+Pope Calixtus II. took no notice of the ban of excommunication, but
+treated with Henry V. as if it had never been pronounced. The troubles
+in Northern Germany, however, were not subdued by this final peace with
+Rome,--a clear evidence that the humiliation of Henry IV. was due to
+political and not to religious causes. Henry V. died at Utrecht, in
+Holland, in May, 1125, leaving no children, which the people believed to
+be a punishment for his unnatural treatment of his father. There was no
+one to mourn his death, for even his efforts to increase the Imperial
+authority, and thereby to create a national sentiment among the Germans,
+were neutralized by his coldness, haughtiness and want of principle, as
+a man. The people were forced, by the necessities of their situation, to
+support their own reigning princes, in the hope of regaining from the
+latter some of their lost political rights.
+
+Another circumstance tended to prevent the German Emperors from
+acquiring any fixed power. They had no capital city, as France already
+possessed in Paris: after the coronation, the monarch immediately
+commenced his "royal ride," visiting all portions of the country, and
+receiving, personally, the allegiance of the whole people. Then, during
+his reign, he was constantly migrating from one castle to another,
+either to settle local difficulties, to collect the income of his
+scattered estates, or for his own pleasure. There was thus no central
+point to which the Germans could look as the seat of the Imperial rule:
+the Emperor was a Frank, a Saxon, a Bavarian or Suabian, by turns, but
+never permanently a _German_, with a national capital grander than any
+of the petty courts.
+
+The period of Henry V.'s death marks, also, the independence of the
+Papal power. The "Concordat of Worms" indirectly took away from the
+Roman (German) Emperor the claim of appointing the Pope, which had been
+exercised, from time to time, during nearly five hundred years. The
+celibacy of the priesthood was partially enforced by this time, and the
+Roman Church thereby gained a new power. It was now able to set up an
+authority (with the help of France) nearly equal to that of the Empire.
+These facts must be borne in mind as we advance; for the secret rivalry
+which now began underlies all the subsequent history of Germany, until
+it came to a climax in the Reformation of Luther.
+
+[Sidenote: 1125. LOTHAR OF SAXONY ELECTED.]
+
+Henry V. left all his estates and treasures to his nephew, Frederick of
+Hohenstaufen, but not the crown jewels and insignia, which were to be
+bestowed by the National Diet upon his successor. Frederick, and his
+brother Konrad, Duke of Franconia, were the natural heirs to the crown;
+but, as the Hohenstaufen family had stood faithfully by Henry IV. and V.
+in their conflicts with the Pope, it was unpopular with the priests and
+reigning princes. At the Diet, the Archbishop of Mayence nominated
+Lothar of Saxony, who was chosen after a very stormy session. His first
+acts were to beg the Pope to confirm his election, and then to give up
+his right to have the Bishops and abbots appointed in his presence. He
+next demanded of Frederick of Hohenstaufen the royal estates which the
+latter had inherited from Henry V. Being defeated in the war which
+followed, he strengthened his party by marrying his only daughter,
+Gertrude, to Henry the Proud, Duke of Bavaria (grandson of Duke Welf,
+Henry IV.'s friend, whence this family was called the _Welfs_--Guelphs).
+By this marriage Henry the Proud became also Duke of Saxony; but a part
+of the Dukedom, called the North-mark, was separated and given to a
+Saxon noble, a friend of Lothar, named Albert the Bear.
+
+Lothar was called to Italy in 1132 by Innocent II., one of two Popes,
+who, in consequence of a division in the college of Cardinals, had been
+chosen at the same time. He was crowned Emperor in the Lateran, in June,
+1133, while the other Pope Anaclete II. was reigning in the Vatican. He
+acquired the territory of the Countess Matilda of Tuscany, but only on
+condition of paying 400 pounds of silver annually to the Church. The
+former state of affairs was thus suddenly reversed: the Emperor
+acknowledged himself a dependent of the _temporal_ Papal power. When he
+returned to Germany, the same year, Lothar succeeded in subduing the
+resistance of the Hohenstaufens, and then bound the reigning princes of
+Germany, by oath, to keep peace for the term of twelve years.
+
+[Sidenote: 1137.]
+
+This truce enabled him to return to Italy for the purpose of assisting
+Pope Innocent, who had been expelled from Rome. The rival of the latter,
+Anaclete II., was supported by the Norman king, Roger II. of Sicily,
+who, in the summer of 1137, was driven out of Southern Italy by Lothar's
+army. But quarrels broke out with the Pisans, who were his allies, and
+with Pope Innocent, for whose cause he was fighting, and he finally set
+out for Germany, without even visiting Rome. At Trient, in the Tyrol, he
+was seized with a mortal sickness, and died on the Brenner pass of the
+Alps, in a shepherd's hut. His body was taken to Saxony and buried in
+the chapel of a monastery which he had founded there.
+
+A National Diet was called to meet in May, 1138, and elect a successor.
+Lothar's son-in-law, Henry the Proud, Duke of Bavaria, Saxony and
+Tuscany (which latter the Emperor had transferred also to him), seemed
+to have the greatest right to the throne; but he was already so
+important that the jealousy of the other reigning princes was excited
+against him. Their policy was, to choose a weak rather than a strong
+ruler,--one who would not interfere with their authority in their own
+lands. Konrad of Hohenstaufen took advantage of this jealousy; he
+courted the favor of the princes and the bishops, and was chosen and
+crowned by the latter, three months before the time fixed for the
+meeting of the Diet. The movement, though in violation of all law,
+succeeded perfectly: a new Diet was called, for form's sake, and all the
+German princes, except Henry the Proud, acquiesced in Konrad's election.
+
+In order to maintain his place, the new king was compelled to break the
+power of his rival. He therefore declared that Henry the Proud should
+not be allowed to govern two lands at the same time, and gave all Saxony
+to Albert the Bear. When Henry rose in resistance, Konrad proclaimed
+that he had forfeited Bavaria, which he gave to Leopold of Austria. In
+this emergency, Henry the Proud called upon the Saxons to help him, and
+had raised a considerable force when he suddenly died, towards the end
+of the year 1139. His brother, Welf, continued the struggle in Bavaria,
+in the interest of his young son, Henry, afterwards called "the Lion."
+He attempted to raise the siege of the town of Weinsberg, which was
+beleaguered by Konrad's army, but failed. The tradition relates that
+when the town was forced to surrender, the women sent a deputation to
+Konrad, begging to be allowed to leave with such goods as they could
+carry on their backs. When this was granted and the gates were opened,
+they came out, carrying their husbands, sons or brothers as their
+dearest possessions. The fame of this deed of the women of Weinsberg has
+gone all over the world.
+
+[Sidenote: 1140. GUELPH AND GHIBELLINE.]
+
+In this struggle, for the first time, the names of _Welf_ and
+_Waiblinger_ (from the little town of Waiblingen, in Wuertemberg, which
+belonged to the Hohenstaufens) were first used as party cries in battle.
+In the Italian language they became "Guelph" and "Ghibelline," and for
+hundreds of years they retained a far more intense and powerful
+significance than the names "Whig" and "Tory" in England. The term
+_Welf_ (Guelph) very soon came to mean the party of the Pope, and
+_Waiblinger_ (Ghibelline) that of the German Emperor. The end of this
+first conflict was, that in 1142, young Henry the Lion (great-grandson
+of Duke Welf of Bavaria) was allowed to be Duke of Saxony. From him
+descended the later Dukes of Brunswick and Hannover, who retained the
+family name of Welf, or Guelph, which, through George I., is also that
+of the royal family of England at this day. Albert the Bear was obliged
+to be satisfied with the North-mark, which was extended to the eastward
+of the Elbe and made an independent principality. He called himself
+Markgraf (Border Count) of Brandenburg, and thus laid the basis of a new
+State, which, in the course of centuries developed into Prussia.
+
+About this time the Christian monarchy in Jerusalem began to be
+threatened with overthrow by the Saracens, and the Pope, Eugene III.,
+responded to the appeals for help from the Holy Land, by calling for a
+Second Crusade. He not only promised forgiveness of all sins, but
+released the volunteers from payment of their debts and whatever
+obligations they might have contracted under oath. France was the first
+to answer the call: then Bernard of Clairvaux (St. Bernard, in the Roman
+Church) visited Germany and made passionate appeals to the people. The
+first effect of his speeches was the plunder and murder of the Jews in
+the cities along the Rhine; then the slow German blood was roused to
+enthusiasm for the rescue of the Holy Land, and the impulse became so
+great that king Konrad was compelled to join in the movement. His
+nephew, the red-bearded Frederick of Suabia, also put the cross on his
+mantle: nearly all the German princes and people, except the Saxons,
+followed the example.
+
+[Sidenote: 1147.]
+
+In May, 1147, the Crusaders assembled at Ratisbon. There were present
+70,000 horsemen in armor, without counting the foot-soldiers and
+followers. All the robber-bands and notorious criminals of Germany
+joined the army for the sake of the full and free pardon offered by the
+Pope. Konrad led the march down the Danube, through Austria and Thrace,
+to Constantinople. Louis VII., king of France, followed him, with a
+nearly equal force, leaving the German States through which he passed in
+a famished condition. The two armies, united at Constantinople, advanced
+through Asia Minor, but were so reduced by battles, disease and
+hardships on the way, that the few who reached Palestine were too weak
+to reconquer the ground lost by the king of Jerusalem. Only a band of
+Flemish and English Crusaders, who set out by sea, succeeded in taking
+Lisbon from the Saracens.
+
+During the year 1149 the German princes returned from the East with
+their few surviving followers. The loss of so many robbers and
+robber-knights was, nevertheless, a great gain to the country: the
+people enjoyed more peace and security than they had known for a long
+time. Duke Welf of Bavaria (brother of Henry the Proud) was the first to
+reach Germany: Konrad, fearing that he would make trouble, sent after
+him the young Duke of Suabia, Frederick Red-Beard (Barbarossa) of
+Hohenstaufen. It was not long, in fact, before the war-cries of
+"Guelph!" and "Ghibelline!" were again heard; but Welf, as well as his
+nephew, Henry the Lion, of Saxony, was defeated. During the Crusade, the
+latter had carried on a war against the Wends and other Slavonic tribes
+in Prussia, the chief result of which was the foundation of the city of
+Luebeck.
+
+[Sidenote: 1152. KONRAD'S DEATH.]
+
+King Konrad now determined to pay his delayed visit to Rome, and be
+crowned Emperor. Immediately after his return from the East, he had
+received a pressing invitation from the Roman Senate to come, to
+recognize the new order of things in the ancient city, and make it the
+permanent capital of the united German and Italian Empire. Arnold of
+Brescia, who for years had been advocating the separation of the Papacy
+from all temporal power, and the re-establishment of the Roman Church
+upon the democratic basis of the early Christian Church, had compelled
+the Pope, Eugene III., to accept his doctrine. Rome was practically a
+Republic, and Arnold's reform, although fiercely opposed by the Bishops,
+abbots and all priests holding civil power, made more and more headway
+among the people. At a National Diet, held at Wuerzburg in 1151, it was
+decided that Konrad should go to Rome, and the Pope was officially
+informed of his intention. But before the preparations for the journey
+were completed, Konrad died, in February, 1152, at Bamberg. He was
+buried there in the Cathedral built by Henry II.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE REIGN OF FREDERICK I., BARBAROSSA.
+
+(1152--1197.)
+
+Frederick I., Barbarossa. --His Character. --His First Acts. --Visit to
+    Italy. --Coronation and Humiliation. --He is driven back to
+    Germany. --Restores Order. --Henry the Lion and Albert the Bear.
+    --Barbarossa's Second Visit to Italy. --He conquers Milan. --Roman
+    Laws revived. --Destruction of Milan. --Third and Fourth Visits to
+    Italy. --Troubles with the Popes. --Barbarossa and Henry the Lion.
+    --The Defeat at Legnano. --Reconciliation with Alexander III.
+    --Henry the Lion banished. --Tournament at Mayence. --Barbarossa's
+    Sixth Visit to Italy. --Crusade for the Recovery of Jerusalem.
+    --March through Asia Minor. --Barbarossa's Death. --His Fame among
+    the German People. --His Son, Henry VI., Emperor. --Richard of the
+    Lion-Heart Imprisoned. --Last Days of Henry the Lion. --Henry VI.'s
+    Deeds and Designs. --His Death.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1152.]
+
+Konrad left only an infant son at his death, and the German princes, who
+were learning a little wisdom by this time, determined not to renew the
+unfortunate experiences of Henry IV.'s minority. The next heir to the
+throne was Frederick of Suabia, who was now thirty-one years old,
+handsome, popular, and already renowned as a warrior. He was elected
+immediately, without opposition, and solemnly crowned at
+Aix-la-Chapelle. When he made his "royal ride" through Germany,
+according to custom, the people hailed him with acclamations, hoping for
+peace and a settled authority after so many civil wars. His mother was a
+Welf princess, whence there seemed a possibility of terminating the
+rivalry between Welf and Waiblinger, in his election. The Italians
+always called him "Barbarossa," on account of his red beard, and by this
+name he is best known in history.
+
+Since the accession of Otto the Great, no German monarch had been
+crowned under such favorable auspices, and none had possessed so many of
+the qualities of a great ruler. He was shrewd, clear-sighted,
+intelligent, and of an iron will: he enjoyed the exercise of power, and
+the aim of his life was to extend and secure it. On the other hand he
+was despotic, merciless in his revenge, and sometimes led by the
+violence of his passions to commit deeds which darkened his name and
+interfered with his plans of empire.
+
+[Sidenote: 1154. BARBAROSSA'S CAMP IN ITALY.]
+
+Frederick first assured to the German princes the rights which they
+already possessed as the rulers of States, coupled with the declaration
+that he meant to exact the full and strict performance of their duties
+to him, as King. On his first royal journey, he arbitrated between Swen
+and Canute, rival claimants to the throne of Denmark, conferred on the
+Duke of Bohemia the title of king, and took measures to settle the
+quarrel between Henry the Lion of Saxony, and Henry of Austria, for the
+possession of Bavaria. In all these matters he showed the will, the
+decision and the imposing personal bearing of one who felt that he was
+born to rule; and had he remained in Germany, he might have consolidated
+the States into one Nation. But the phantom of a Roman Empire beckoned
+him to Italy. The invitation held out to Konrad was not renewed, for
+Pope Eugene III. was dead, and his successor, Adrian IV. (an Englishman,
+by the name of Breakspeare), rejected Arnold of Brescia's doctrines. It
+was in Frederick's power to secure the success of either side; but his
+first aim was the Imperial crown, and he could only gain it without
+delay by assisting the Pope.
+
+In 1154 Frederick, accompanied by Henry the Lion and many other princes,
+and a large army, crossed the Brenner Pass, in the Tyrol, and descended
+into Italy. According to old custom, the first camp was pitched on the
+Roncalian fields, near Piacenza, and the royal shield was set up as a
+sign that the chief ruler was present and ready to act as judge in all
+political troubles. Many complaints were brought to him against the City
+of Milan, which had become a haughty and despotic Republic, and began to
+oppress Lodi, Como, and other neighboring cities. Frederick saw plainly
+the trouble which this independent movement in Lombardy would give to
+him or his successors; but after losing two months and many troops in
+besieging and destroying Tortona, one of the towns friendly to Milan, he
+was not strong enough to attack the latter city: so, having been crowned
+King of Lombardy at Pavia, he marched, in 1155, towards Rome.
+
+[Sidenote: 1154.]
+
+At Viterbo he met Pope Adrian IV., and negotiations commenced in regard
+to his coronation as Emperor, which, it seems, was not to be had for
+nothing. Adrian's first demand was the suppression of the Roman
+Republic, which had driven him from the city. Frederick answered by
+capturing Arnold of Brescia, who was then in Tuscany, and delivering him
+into the Pope's hands. The latter then demanded that Frederick should
+hold his stirrup when he mounted his mule. This humiliation, second only
+to that which Henry IV. endured at Canossa, was accepted by the proud
+Hohenstaufen in his ambitious haste to be crowned; but even then Rome
+had to be first taken from the Republicans. By some means an entrance
+was forced into that part of the city on the right bank of the Tiber;
+Frederick was crowned in all haste and immediately retreated, but not
+before he and his escort were furiously attacked in the streets by the
+Roman people. Henry the Lion, by his bravery and presence of mind, saved
+the new Emperor from being slain. The same night, Arnold of Brescia was
+burned to death by the Pope's order. (Since 1870, his bust has been
+placed upon the Pincian Hill, in Rome, among those of the other great
+men who gave their lives for Italian freedom.)
+
+The news of the Pope's barbarous revenge drove the Romans to madness.
+They rushed forth by thousands, threw themselves upon the Emperor's
+camp, and fought until the next night with such desperation that
+Frederick deemed it prudent to retreat to Tivoli. The heats of summer
+and the fevers they brought soon compelled him to leave for Germany; the
+glory of his coming was already exhausted. He fought his way through
+Spoleto; Verona shut its gates upon him, and one robber-castle in the
+Alps held the whole army at bay, until it was taken by Otto of
+Wittelsbach. The unnatural composition of the later "Roman Empire" was
+again demonstrated. If, during the four centuries which had elapsed
+since Charlemagne's accession to power, the German rule was the curse of
+Italy, Italy (or the fancied necessity of ruling Italy) was no less a
+curse to Germany. The strength of the German people, for hundreds of
+years, was exhausted in endeavoring to keep up a high-sounding
+sovereignty, which they could not truly possess, and--in the best
+interests of the two countries--_ought not_ to have possessed.
+
+On returning to Germany, Frederick found enough to do. He restored the
+internal peace and security of the country with a strong hand, executing
+the robber-knights, tearing down their castles, and even obliging
+fourteen reigning princes, among whom was the Archbishop of Mayence, to
+undergo what was considered the shameful punishment of carrying dogs in
+their arms before the Imperial palace. By his second marriage with
+Beatrix, Princess of Burgundy, he established anew the German authority
+over that large and rich kingdom; while, at a diet held in 1156, he gave
+Bavaria to Henry the Lion, and pacified Henry of Austria by making his
+territory an independent Dukedom. This was the second phase in the
+growth of Austria.
+
+[Sidenote: 1156. BARBAROSSA'S RULE IN GERMANY.]
+
+Henry the Lion, however, was more a Saxon than a Bavarian. Although he
+first raised Munich from an insignificant cluster of peasants' huts to
+the dignity of a city, his energies were chiefly directed towards
+extending his sway from the Elbe eastward, along the Baltic. He
+conquered Mecklenburg and colonized the country with Saxons, made Luebeck
+an important commercial center, and slowly Germanized the former
+territory of the Wends. Albert the Bear, Count of Brandenburg, followed
+a similar policy, and both were encouraged by the Emperor, who was quite
+willing to see his own sway thus extended. A rhyme current among the
+common people, at the time, says:
+
+    "Henry the Lion and Albert the Bear,
+    Thereto Frederick with the red hair,
+    Three Lords are they,
+    Who could change the world to their way."
+
+The grand imperial character of Frederick, rather than what he had
+actually accomplished, had already given him a great reputation
+throughout Europe. Pope Adrian IV. endeavored to imitate Gregory VII.'s
+language to Henry IV. in treating with him, but soon found that he was
+deserted by the German Bishops, and thought it prudent to apologize. His
+manner, nevertheless, and the increasing independence of Milan, called
+Frederick across the Alps with an army of 100,000 men, in 1158. Milan,
+then surrounded with strong walls, nine miles in circuit, was besieged,
+and, at the end of a month, forced to surrender, to rebuild Lodi, and
+pay a fine of 9,000 pounds of silver. Afterwards the Emperor pitched his
+camp on the Roncalian fields, with a splendor before unknown.
+Ambassadors from England, France, Hungary and Constantinople were
+present, and the Imperial power, almost for the first time, was thus
+recognized as the first in the civilized world.
+
+Frederick used this opportunity to revive the old Roman laws, or at
+least, to have a code of laws drawn up, which should define his rights
+and those of the reigning princes under him. Four doctors of the
+University of Bologna were selected, who discovered so many ancient
+imperial rights which had fallen into disuse that the Emperor's treasury
+was enriched to the amount of 30,000 pounds of silver annually, by their
+enforcement. When this system came to be practically applied, Milan and
+other Lombard cities which claimed the right to elect their own
+magistrates, and would have lost it under the new order of things,
+determined to resist. A war ensued: the little city of Crema was first
+besieged, and, after a gallant defence of seven months, taken and razed
+to the ground.
+
+[Sidenote: 1162.]
+
+Now came the turn of Milan. In the meantime the Pope, Adrian IV., had
+died, after threatening the Emperor with excommunication. The college of
+cardinals was divided, each party electing its own Pope. Of these,
+Victor IV. was recognized by Frederick, who claimed the right to decide
+between them, while most of the Italian cities, with France and England,
+were in favor of Alexander III. The latter immediately excommunicated
+the Emperor, who, without paying any regard to the act, prepared to take
+his revenge on Milan. In March, 1162, after a long siege, he forced the
+city to surrender: the magistrates appeared before him in sackcloth,
+barefoot, with ashes upon their heads and ropes around their necks, and
+begged him, with tears, to be merciful; but there was no mercy in his
+heart. He gave the inhabitants eight days to leave the city, then
+levelled it completely to the earth, and sowed salt upon the ruins as a
+token that it should never be rebuilt. The rival cities of Pavia, Lodi
+and Como rejoiced over this barbarity, and all the towns of northern
+Italy hastened to submit to all the Emperor's claims, even that they
+should be governed by magistrates of his appointment.
+
+In spite of this apparent submission, he had no sooner returned to
+Germany than the cities of Lombardy began to form a union against him.
+They were instigated, and secretly assisted, by Venice, which was
+already growing powerful through her independence. The Pope whom
+Frederick had supported, was also dead, and he determined to set up a
+new one instead of recognizing Alexander III. He went to Italy with a
+small escort, in 1163, but was compelled to go back without
+accomplishing anything but a second destruction of Tortona, which had
+been rebuilt. In Germany new disturbances had broken out, but his
+personal influence was so great that he subdued them temporarily: he
+also prevailed upon the German bishops to recognize Paschalis III., the
+Pope whom he had appointed. He then set about raising a new army, and
+finally, in 1166, made his _fourth_ journey to Italy.
+
+[Sidenote: 1166. FOURTH JOURNEY TO ITALY.]
+
+This was even more unfortunate than the third journey had been. The
+Lombard cities, feeling strong through their union, had not only rebuilt
+Milan and Tortona, but had constructed a new fortified town, which they
+named, after the Pope, Alessandria. Frederick did not dare to attack
+them, but marched on to Ancona, which he besieged for seven months,
+finally accepting a ransom instead of surrender. He then took that part
+of Rome west of the Tiber, and installed his Pope in the Vatican. Soon
+afterward, in the summer of 1167, a terrible pestilence broke out, which
+carried off thousands of his best soldiers in a few weeks. His army was
+so reduced by death, that he stole through Lombardy almost as a
+fugitive, remained hidden among the Alps for months, and finally crossed
+Mont Cenis with only thirty followers, himself disguised as a common
+soldier.
+
+Having reached Germany in safety, Frederick's personal influence at once
+gave him the power and popularity which he had forever lost in Italy. He
+found Henry the Lion, who in addition to Bavaria now governed nearly all
+the territory from the Rhine to the Vistula, north of the Hartz
+Mountains, at enmity with Albert the Bear and a number of smaller
+reigning princes. As Emperor, he settled the questions in dispute,
+deciding in favor of Henry the Lion, although the increasing power of
+the latter excited his apprehensions. Henry was too cautious to make the
+Emperor his enemy, but in order to avoid another march to Italy, he set
+out upon a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Frederick, however, did not succeed
+in raising a fresh army to revenge his disgrace until 1174, when he made
+his _fifth_ journey to Italy. He first besieged the new city of
+Alessandria, but in vain; then, driven to desperation by his failure, he
+called for help upon Henry the Lion, who had now returned from the Holy
+Land. The two met at Chiavenna, in the Italian Alps; but Henry
+steadfastly refused to aid the Emperor, although the latter conquered
+his own pride so far as to kneel before him.
+
+[Sidenote: 1177.]
+
+Bitterly disappointed and humiliated, Frederick appealed to all the
+German States for aid, but did not receive fresh troops until the spring
+of 1176. He then marched upon Milan, but was met by the united forces of
+Lombardy at Legnano, near Como. The latter fought with such desperation
+that the Imperial army was completely routed, and its camp equipage and
+stores taken, with many thousands of prisoners, who were treated with
+the same barbarity which the Emperor himself had introduced anew into
+warfare. He fell from his horse during the fight, and had been for some
+days reported to be dead, when he suddenly appeared before the Empress
+Beatrix, at Pavia, having escaped in disguise.
+
+His military strength was now so broken that he was compelled to seek a
+reconciliation with Pope Alexander III. Envoys went back and forth
+between the two, the Lombard cities and the king of Sicily; conferences
+were held at various places, but months passed and no agreement was
+reached. Then the Pope, having received Frederick's submission to all
+his demands, proposed an armistice, which was solemnly concluded in
+Venice, in August, 1177. There the Emperor was released from the Papal
+excommunication; he sank at Alexander's feet, but the latter caught and
+lifted him in his arms, and there was once more peace between the two
+rival powers. The other Pope, whose claims Frederick had supported up to
+that time, was left to shift for himself. Before the armistice ceased,
+in 1183, a treaty was concluded at Constance, by which the Italian
+cities recognized the Emperor as chief ruler, but secured for themselves
+the right of independent government. Thus twenty years had been wasted,
+the best blood of Germany squandered, the worst barbarities of war
+renewed, and Frederick, after enduring shame and humiliation, had not
+attained one of his haughty personal aims. Yet he was as proud in his
+bearing as ever; his court lost none of its splendor, and his influence
+over the German princes and people was undiminished.
+
+He reached Germany again in 1178, full of wrath against Henry the Lion.
+It was easy to find a pretext for proceeding against him, for the
+Archbishop of Cologne, the Bishop of Halberstadt, and many nobles had
+already made complaints. Henry, in fact, was much like Frederick in his
+nature, but his despotic sternness and pride were more directly
+exercised upon the people. He raised an army and boldly resisted the
+Imperial power: again Westphalia, Thuringia and Saxony were wasted by
+civil war, and the struggle was prolonged until 1181, when Henry was
+forced to surrender unconditionally. He was banished to England for
+three years: his Duchy of Bavaria was given to Otto of Wittelsbach; and
+the greater part of Saxony, from the Rhine to the Baltic, was cut up and
+divided among the reigning Bishops and smaller princes. Only the
+province of Brunswick was left to Henry the Lion, of all his
+possessions. This was Frederick's policy for diminishing the power of
+the separate States: the more they were increased in number, the greater
+would be the dependence of each on the Emperor.
+
+[Sidenote: 1184. TOURNAMENT AT MAYENCE.]
+
+The ruin of Henry the Lion fully restored Frederick's authority over all
+Germany. In May, 1184, he gave a grand tournament and festival at
+Mayence, which surpassed in pomp everything that had before been seen by
+the people. The flower of knighthood, foreign as well as German, was
+present: princes, bishops and lords, scholars and minstrels, 70,000
+knights, and probably hundreds of thousands of the soldiers and common
+people were gathered together. The Emperor, still handsome and towering
+in manly strength, in spite of his sixty-three years, rode in the lists
+with his five blooming sons, the eldest of whom, Henry, was already
+crowned King of Germany, as his successor. For many years afterwards,
+the wandering minstrels sang the glories of this festival, which they
+compared to those given by the half-fabulous king Arthur.
+
+Immediately afterwards, Frederick made his _sixth_ journey to Italy,
+without an army, but accompanied by a magnificent retinue. The temporary
+union of the cities against him was at an end, and their former
+jealousies of each other had broken out more fiercely than ever; so
+that, instead of meeting him in a hostile spirit, each endeavored to
+gain his favor, to the damage of the others. It was easy for him to turn
+this state of affairs to his own personal advantage. The Pope, now Urban
+III., endeavored to make him give up Tuscany to the Church, and opposed
+his design of marrying his son Henry to Constance, daughter of the king
+of Sicily, since all Southern Italy would thus fall to the Hohenstaufen
+family. Another excommunication was threatened, and would probably have
+been hurled upon the Emperor's head, if the Pope had not died before
+pronouncing it. The marriage of Henry and Constance took place in 1186.
+
+[Sidenote: 1190.]
+
+The next year, all Europe was shaken by the news that Jerusalem had been
+taken by Sultan Saladin. A call for a new Crusade was made from Rome,
+and the Christian kings and people of Europe responded to it. Richard of
+the Lion-Heart, of England; Philip Augustus of France; and first of all
+Frederick Barbarossa, Roman Emperor, put the cross on their mantles, and
+prepared to march to the Holy Land. Frederick left his son Henry behind
+him, as king, but he was still suspicious of Henry the Lion, and
+demanded that he should either join the Crusade or retire again to
+England for three years longer. Henry the Lion chose the latter
+alternative.
+
+The German Crusaders, numbering about 30,000, met at Ratisbon in May,
+1189, and marched overland to Constantinople. Then they took the same
+route through Asia Minor which had been followed by the second Crusade,
+defeating the Sultan and taking the city of Iconium by the way, and
+after threading the wild passes of the Taurus, reached the borders of
+Syria. While on the march, the Emperor received the false message that
+his son Henry was dead. The tears ran down his beard, no longer red, but
+silver-white; then, turning to the army, he cried: "My son is dead, but
+Christ lives! Forwards!" On the 10th of June, 1190, either while
+attempting to ford, or bathing in the little river Calycadnus, not far
+from Tarsus, he was drowned. The stream, fed by the melted snows of the
+Taurus, was ice-cold, and one account states that he was not drowned,
+but died in consequence of the sudden chill. A few of his followers
+carried his body to Palestine, where it was placed in the Christian
+church at Tyre. Notwithstanding the heroism of the English Richard at
+Ascalon, the Crusade failed, since the German army was broken up after
+Frederick's death, most of the knights returning directly home.
+
+The most that can be said for Frederick Barbarossa as a ruler, is, that
+no other Emperor before or after his time maintained so complete an
+authority over the German princes. The influence of his personal
+presence seems to have been very great: the Imperial power became
+splendid and effective in his hands, and, although he did nothing to
+improve the condition of the people, beyond establishing order and
+security, they gradually came to consider him as the representative of a
+grand _national_ idea. When he went away to the mysterious East, and
+never returned, the most of them refused to believe that he was dead. By
+degrees the legend took root among them that he slumbered in a vault
+underneath the Kyffhaeuser--one of his castles, on the summit of a
+mountain, near the Hartz,--and would come forth at the appointed time,
+to make Germany united and free. Nothing in his character, or in the
+proud and selfish aims of his life, justifies this sentiment which the
+people attached to his name; but the legend became a symbol of their
+hopes and prayers, through centuries of oppression and desolating war,
+and the name of "Barbarossa" is sacred to every patriotic heart in
+Germany, even at this day.
+
+[Sidenote: 1191. HENRY VI. EMPEROR.]
+
+Henry the Lion hastened back to Germany at once, and attempted to regain
+possession of Saxony. King Henry took the field against him, and the
+interminable strife between Welf and Waiblinger was renewed for a time.
+The king was twenty-five years old, tall and stately like his father,
+but even more stern and despotic than he. He was impatient to proceed to
+Italy, both to be crowned Emperor and to secure the Norman kingdom of
+Sicily as his wife's inheritance: therefore, making a temporary truce
+with Henry the Lion, he hastened to Rome and was there crowned as Henry
+VI. in 1191. His attempt to conquer Naples, which was held by the Norman
+prince, Tancred, completely failed, and a deadly pestilence in his army
+compelled him to return to Germany before the close of the same year.
+
+The fight with Henry the Lion was immediately renewed, and during the
+whole of 1192 Northern Germany was ravaged worse than before. In
+December of that year, King Richard of the Lion-Heart, returning home
+overland from Palestine, was taken prisoner by Duke Leopold of Austria,
+whom he had offended during the Crusade, and was delivered to the
+Emperor. As king Richard was the brother-in-law of Henry the Lion, he
+was held partly as a hostage, and partly for the purpose of gaining an
+enormous ransom for his liberation. His mother came from England, and
+the sum of 150,000 silver marks which the Emperor demanded was paid by
+her exertions: still Richard was kept prisoner at Trifels, a lonely
+castle among the Vosges mountains. The legend relates that his minstrel,
+Blondel, discovered his place of imprisonment by singing the king's
+favorite song under the windows of all the castles near the Rhine, until
+the song was answered by the well-known voice from within. The German
+princes, finally, felt that they were disgraced by the Emperor's
+conduct, and they compelled him to liberate Richard, in February, 1194.
+
+[Sidenote: 1197.]
+
+The same year a reconciliation was effected with Henry the Lion. The
+latter devoted himself to the improvement of the people of his little
+state of Brunswick: he instituted reforms in their laws, encouraged
+their education, collected books and works of art, and made himself so
+honored and beloved before his death, in August, 1195, that he was
+mourned as a benefactor by those who had once hated him as a tyrant. He
+was sixty-six years old, three years younger than his rival, Barbarossa,
+whom he fully equalled in energy and ability. Although defeated in his
+struggle, he laid the basis of a better civil order, a higher and firmer
+civilization, throughout the North of Germany.
+
+Henry VI., enriched by king Richard's ransom, went to Italy, purchased
+the assistance of Genoa and Pisa, and easily conquered the Sicilian
+kingdom. He treated the family of Tancred (who was now dead) with
+shocking barbarity, tortured and executed his enemies with a cruelty
+worthy of Nero, and made himself heartily feared and hated. Then he
+hastened back to Germany, to have the Imperial dignity made hereditary
+in his family. Even here he was on the point of succeeding, in spite of
+the strong opposition of the Saxon princes, when a Norman insurrection
+recalled him to Sicily. He demanded the provinces of Macedonia and
+Epirus from the Greek Emperor, encouraged the project of a new Crusade,
+with the design of conquering Constantinople, and evidently dreamed of
+making himself ruler of the whole Christian world, when death cut him
+off, in 1197, in his thirty-second year. His widow, Constance of Sicily,
+was left with a son, Frederick, then only three years old.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE REIGN OF FREDERICK II. AND END OF THE HOHENSTAUFEN LINE.
+
+(1215--1268.)
+
+Rival Emperors in Germany. --Pope Innocent III. --Murder of Philip of
+    Hohenstaufen. --Otto IV. becomes Emperor. --Frederick of
+    Hohenstaufen goes to Germany. --His Character. --Decline of Otto's
+    Power. --Frederick II. crowned Emperor. --Troubles with the Pope.
+    --His Crusade to the Holy Land. --Frederick's Court at Palermo.
+    --Henry, Count of Schwerin. --Gregory IX.'s Persecution of
+    Heretics. --Meeting of Frederick II. and his son, King Henry. --The
+    Emperor returns to Germany. --His Marriage with Isabella of
+    England. --He leaves Germany for Italy. --War in Lombardy.
+    --Conflict with Pope Gregory IX. --Capture of the Council. --Course
+    of Pope Innocent III. --Wars in Germany and Italy. --Conspiracies
+    against Frederick II. --His Misfortunes and Death. --The Character
+    of his Reign. --His son, Konrad IV., succeeds. --William of Holland
+    rival Emperor. --Death of Konrad IV. --End of William of Holland.
+    --The Boy, Konradin. --Manfred, King of Naples. --Usurpation of
+    Charles of Anjou. --Konradin goes to Italy. --His Defeat and
+    Capture. --His Execution. --The Last of the Hohenstaufens.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1215. TWO EMPERORS ELECTED.]
+
+A story was current among the German people, that, shortly before Henry
+VI.'s death, the spirit of Theodoric the Great, in giant form on a black
+war-steed, rode along the Rhine presaging trouble to the Empire. This
+legend no doubt originated after the trouble came, and was simply a
+poetical image of what had already happened. The German princes were
+determined to have no child again, as their hereditary Emperor; but only
+one son of Frederick Barbarossa still lived,--Philip of Suabia. The
+bitter hostility between Welf and Waiblinger still existed, and although
+Philip was chosen by a Diet held in Thuringia, the opposite party,
+secretly assisted by the Pope and by Richard of the Lion-heart, of
+England (who had certainly no reason to be friendly to the
+Hohenstaufens!) met at Aix-la-Chapelle, and elected Otto, son of Henry
+the Lion.
+
+Just at this crisis, Innocent III. became Pope. He was as haughty,
+inflexible and ambitious as Gregory VII., whom he took for his model:
+under him, and with his sanction, the Inquisition, which linked the
+Christian Church to barbarism, was established. So completely had the
+relation of the two powers been changed by the humiliation of Henry IV.
+and Barbarossa, that the Pope now claimed the right to decide between
+the rival monarchs. Of course he gave his voice for Otto, and
+excommunicated Philip. The effect of this policy, however, was to awaken
+the jealousy of the German Bishops as well as the Princes,--even the
+former found the Papal interference a little too arbitrary--and Philip,
+instead of being injured, actually derived advantage from it. In the war
+which followed, Otto lost so much ground that in 1207 he was obliged to
+fly to England, where he was assisted by king John; but he would
+probably have again failed, when an unexpected crime made him
+successful. Philip was murdered in 1208, by Otto of Wittelsbach, Duke of
+Bavaria, on account of some personal grievance.
+
+[Sidenote: 1208.]
+
+As he left no children, and Frederick, the son of Henry VI., was still a
+boy of fourteen, Otto found no difficulty in persuading the German
+princes to accept him as king. His first act was to proceed against
+Philip's murderer and his accomplice, the Bishop of Bamberg. Both fled,
+but Otto of Wittelsbach was overtaken near Ratisbon, and instantly
+slain. In 1209, king Otto collected a magnificent retinue at Augsburg,
+and set out for Italy, in order to be crowned Emperor at Rome. As the
+enemy of the Hohenstaufens, he felt sure of a welcome; but Innocent
+III., whom he met at Viterbo, required a great many special concessions
+to the Papal power before he would consent to bestow the crown. Even
+after the ceremony was over, he inhospitably hinted to the new Emperor,
+Otto IV., that he should leave Rome as soon as possible. The gates of
+the city were shut upon the latter, and his army was left without
+supplies.
+
+The jurists of Bologna soon convinced Otto that some of his concessions
+to the Pope were illegal, and need not be observed. He therefore took
+possession of Tuscany, which he had agreed to surrender to the Pope, and
+afterwards marched against Southern Italy, where the young Frederick of
+Hohenstaufen was already acknowledged as king of Sicily. The latter had
+been carefully educated under the guardianship of Innocent III., after
+the death of Constance in 1198, and threatened to become a dangerous
+rival for the Imperial crown. Otto's invasion so exasperated the Pope
+that he excommunicated him, and called upon the German princes to
+recognize Frederick in his stead. As Otto had never been personally
+popular in Germany, the Waiblinger, or Hohenstaufen party, responded to
+Innocent's proclamation. Suabia and Bavaria and the Archbishop of
+Mayence pronounced for Frederick, while Saxony, Lorraine and the
+northern Bishops remained true to Otto. The latter hastened back to
+Germany in 1212, regained some of his lost ground, and attempted to
+strengthen his cause by marrying Beatrix, the daughter of Philip. But
+she died four days after the marriage, and in the meantime Frederick,
+supplied with money by the Pope, had crossed the Alps.
+
+[Sidenote: 1212. FREDERICK GOES TO GERMANY.]
+
+The young king, who had been educated wholly in Sicily, and who all his
+life was an Italian rather than a German, was now eighteen years old. He
+resembled his grandfather, Frederick Barbarossa, in person, was perhaps
+his equal in strength and decision of character, but far surpassed him
+or any of his imperial predecessors in knowledge and refinement. He
+spoke six languages with fluency; he was a poet and minstrel; he loved
+the arts of peace no less than those of war, yet he was a statesman and
+a leader of men. On his way to Germany, he found the Lombard cities,
+except Pavia, so hostile to him that he was obliged to cross the Alps by
+secret and dangerous paths, and when he finally reached the city of
+Constance, with only sixty followers, Otto IV. was close at hand, with a
+large army. But Constance opened its gates to the young Hohenstaufen:
+Suabia, the home of his fathers, rose in his support, and the Emperor,
+without even venturing a battle, retreated to Saxony.
+
+[Sidenote: 1220.]
+
+For nearly three years, the two rivals watched each other without
+engaging in open hostilities. The stately bearing of Frederick, which he
+inherited from Barbarossa, the charm and refinement of his manners, and
+the generosity he exhibited towards all who were friendly to his claims,
+gradually increased the number of his supporters. In 1215, Otto joined
+King John of England and the Count of Flanders in a war against Philip
+Augustus of France, and was so signally defeated that his influence in
+Germany speedily came to an end. Lorraine and Holland declared for
+Frederick, who was crowned in Aix-la-Chapelle with great pomp the same
+year. Otto died near Brunswick, three years afterwards, poor and
+unhonored.
+
+Pope Innocent III. died in 1216, and Frederick appears to have
+considered that the assistance which he had received from him was
+_personal_ and not _Papal_; for he not only laid claim to the Tuscan
+possessions, but neglected his promise to engage in a new Crusade for
+the recovery of Jerusalem, and even attempted to control the choice of
+Bishops. At the same time he took measures to secure the coronation of
+his infant son, Henry, as his successor. His journey to Rome was made in
+the year 1220. The new Pope, Honorius III., a man of a mild and yielding
+nature, nevertheless only crowned him on condition that he would observe
+the violated claims of the Church, and especially that he would strictly
+suppress all heresy in the Empire. When he had been crowned Emperor as
+Frederick II., he fixed himself in Southern Italy and Sicily for some
+years, quite neglecting his German rule, but wisely improving the
+condition of his favorite kingdom. He was signally successful in
+controlling the Saracens, whose language he spoke, whom he converted
+into subjects, and who afterwards became his best soldiers.
+
+The Pope, however, became very impatient at the non-fulfilment of
+Frederick's promises, and the latter was compelled, in 1226, to summon a
+Diet of all the German and Italian princes to meet at Verona, in order
+to make preparations for a new crusade. But the cities of Lombardy,
+fearing that the army to be raised would be used against them, adopted
+all possible measures against the meeting of the Diet, took possession
+of the passes of the Adige, and prevented the Emperor's son, the young
+king Henry of Germany, and his followers, from entering Italy. Angry and
+humiliated, Frederick was compelled to return to Sicily. The next year,
+1227, Honorius died, and the Cardinals elected as his successor Gregory
+IX., a man more than eighty years old, but of a remarkably stubborn and
+despotic nature. He immediately threatened the Emperor with
+excommunication in case the crusade for the recovery of Jerusalem was
+not at once undertaken, and the latter was compelled to obey. He hastily
+collected an army and fleet, and departed from Naples, but returned at
+the end of three days, alleging a serious illness as the cause of his
+sudden change of plan.
+
+[Sidenote: 1228. VISIT TO JERUSALEM.]
+
+He was instantly excommunicated by Gregory IX., and he replied by a
+proclamation addressed to all kings and princes,--a document breathing
+defiance and hate against the Pope and his claims. Nevertheless, in
+order to keep his word in regard to the Crusade, he went to the East
+with a large force in 1228, and obtained, by a treaty with the Sultan of
+Egypt, the possession of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and Mount
+Carmel, for ten years. His second wife, the Empress Iolanthe, was the
+daughter of Guy of Lusignan, the last king of Jerusalem; and therefore,
+when Frederick visited the holy city, he claimed the right, as Guy's
+heir, of setting the crown of Jerusalem upon his own head. The entire
+Crusade, which was not marked by any deeds of arms, occupied only eight
+months.
+
+Although he had fulfilled his agreement with Rome, the Pope declared
+that a crusade undertaken by an excommunicated Emperor was a sin, and
+did all he could to prevent Frederick's success in Palestine. But when
+the latter returned to Italy, he found that the Roman people, a majority
+of whom were on his side, had driven Gregory IX. from the city. It was
+therefore comparatively easy for him to come to an agreement, whereby
+the Pope released him from the ban, in return for being reinstated in
+Rome. This was only a truce, however, not a lasting peace: between two
+such imperious natures, peace was impossible. The agreement,
+nevertheless, gave Frederick some years of quiet, which he employed in
+regulating the affairs of his Southern-Italian kingdom. He abolished, as
+far as possible, the feudal system introduced by the Normans, and laid
+the foundation of a representative form of government. His Court at
+Palermo became the resort of learned men and poets, where Arabic,
+Provencal, Italian and German poetry was recited, where songs were sung,
+where the fine arts were encouraged, and the rude and warlike pastimes
+of former rulers gave way to the spirit of a purer civilization.
+Although, as we have said, his nature was almost wholly Italian, no
+Emperor after Charlemagne so fostered the growth of a German literature
+as Frederick II.
+
+But this constitutes his only real service to Germany. While he was
+enjoying the peaceful and prosperous development of Naples and Sicily,
+his great empire in the north was practically taking care of itself, for
+the boy-king, Henry, governed chiefly by allowing the reigning bishops,
+dukes and princes to do very much as they pleased. There was a season of
+peace with France, Hungary and Poland, and Denmark, which was then the
+only dangerous neighbor, was repelled without the Imperial assistance.
+Frederick II., in his first rivalry with Otto, had shamefully purchased
+Denmark's favor by giving up all the territory between the Elbe and the
+Oder. But when Henry, Count of Schwerin, returned from a pilgrimage to
+the Holy Land, and found the Danish king, Waldemar, in possession of his
+territory, he organized a revolt in order to recover his rights, and
+succeeded in taking Waldemar and his son prisoners. Frederick II. now
+supported him, and the Pope as a matter of course supported Denmark. A
+great battle was fought in Holstein, and the Danes were so signally
+defeated that they were forced to give up all the German territory,
+except the island of Ruegen and a little strip of the Pomeranian coast,
+beside paying 45,000 silver marks for the ransom of Waldemar and his
+son.
+
+[Sidenote: 1230.]
+
+About this time, in consequence of the demand of Pope Innocent III. that
+all heresy should be treated as a crime and suppressed by force, a new
+element of conflict with Rome was introduced into Germany. Among other
+acts of violence, the Stedinger, a tribe of free farmers of Saxon blood,
+who inhabited the low country near the mouth of the Weser, were
+literally exterminated by order of the Archbishop of Bremen, to whom
+they had refused the payment of tithes. In 1230, Gregory IX. wrote to
+king Henry, urging him to crush out heresy in Germany: "Where is the
+zeal of Moses, who destroyed 23,000 idolaters in one day? Where is the
+zeal of Elijah, who slew 450 prophets with the sword, by the brook
+Kishon? Against this evil the strongest means must be used: there is
+need of steel and fire." Conrad of Marburg, a monk, who inflicted years
+of physical and spiritual suffering upon Elizabeth, Countess of
+Thuringia, in order to make a saint of her, was appointed Inquisitor for
+Germany by Gregory, and for three years he tortured and burned at will.
+His horrible cruelty at last provoked revenge: he was assassinated on
+the highway near Marburg, and his death marks the end of the Inquisition
+in Germany.
+
+In 1232, Frederick II., in order that he might seem to fulfil his
+neglected duties as German Emperor, summoned a general Diet to meet at
+Ravenna, but it was prevented by the Lombard cities, as the Diet of
+Verona had been prevented six years before. Befriended by Venice,
+however, Frederick marched to Aquileia, and there met his son, king
+Henry, after a separation of twelve years. Their respective ages were
+thirty-seven and twenty-one: there was little personal sympathy or
+affection between them, and they only came together to quarrel.
+Frederick refused to sanction most of Henry's measures; he demanded,
+among other things, that the latter should rebuild the strongholds of
+the robber-knights of Hohenlohe, which had been razed to the ground.
+This seemed to Henry an outrage as well as a humiliation, and he
+returned home with rebellion in his heart. After proclaiming himself
+independent king, he entered into an alliance with the cities of
+Lombardy and even sought the aid of the Pope.
+
+[Sidenote: 1235. FREDERICK'S MARRIAGE AT WORMS.]
+
+Early in 1235, after an absence of fifteen years, Frederick II. returned
+to Germany. The revolt, which had seemed so threatening, fell to pieces
+at his approach. He was again master of the Empire, without striking a
+blow: Henry had no course but to surrender without conditions. He was
+deposed, imprisoned, and finally sent with his family to Southern Italy,
+where he died seven years afterwards. The same summer the Emperor, whose
+wife, Iolanthe, had died some years before, was married at Worms to
+Isabella, sister of king Henry III. of England. The ceremony was
+attended with festivals of Oriental splendor; the attendants of the new
+Empress were Saracens, and she was obliged to live after the manner of
+Eastern women. Immense numbers of the nobles and people flocked to
+Worms, and soon afterwards to Mayence, where a Diet was held. Here, for
+the first time, the decrees of the Diet were publicly read in the German
+language. Frederick also, as the head of the Waiblinger party, effected
+a reconciliation with Otto of Brunswick, the head of the Welfs, whereby
+the rivalry of a hundred years came to an end in Germany; but in Italy
+the struggle between the Ghibellines and the Guelphs was continued long
+after the Hohenstaufen line became extinct.
+
+In the autumn of 1236, Frederick conquered and deposed Frederick the
+Quarrelsome, Duke of Austria, and made Vienna a free Imperial city. A
+Diet was held there, at which his second son, Konrad, then nine years
+old, was accepted as king of Germany. This choice was confirmed by
+another Diet, held the following year at Speyer. The Emperor now left
+Germany, never to return. This brief visit, of a little more than a
+year, was the only interruption in his thirty years of absence; but it
+revived his great personal influence over princes and people, it was
+marked by the full recognition of his authority, and it contributed, in
+combination with his struggle against the power of Rome which followed,
+to impress upon his reign a more splendid and successful character than
+his acts deserved. Although the remainder of his history belongs to
+Italy, it was not without importance for the later fortunes of Germany,
+and must therefore be briefly stated.
+
+[Sidenote: 1237.]
+
+On returning to Italy, Frederick found himself involved in new
+difficulties with the independent cities. He was supported by his
+son-in-law, Ezzelin, and a large army from Naples and Sicily, composed
+chiefly of Saracens. With this force he won such a victory at
+Cortenuovo, that even Milan offered to yield, under hard conditions.
+Then Frederick II. made the same mistake as his grandfather, Barbarossa,
+in similar circumstances. He demanded a complete and unconditional
+surrender, which so aroused the fear and excited the hate of the
+Lombards, that they united in a new and desperate resistance, which he
+was unable to crush. Gregory IX., who claimed for the Church the Island
+of Sardinia, which Frederick had given as a kingdom to his son Enzio,
+hurled a new excommunication against the Emperor, and the fiercest of
+all the quarrels between the two powers now began to rage.
+
+The Pope, in a proclamation, asserted of Frederick: "This pestilential
+king declares that the world has been deceived by three impostors,
+Moses, Mohammed and Christ, the two former of whom died honorably, but
+the last shamefully, upon the cross." He further styled the Emperor,
+"that beast of Revelations which came out of the sea, which now destroys
+everything with its claws and iron teeth, and, assisted by the heretics,
+arises against Christ, in order to drive his name out of the world."
+Frederick, in an answer which was sent to all the kings and princes of
+Christendom, wrote: "The Apostolic and Athanasian Creeds are mine; Moses
+I consider a friend of God, and Mohammed an arch-impostor." He described
+the Pope as "that horse in Revelations, from which, as it is written,
+issued another horse, and he that sat upon him took away the peace of
+the world, so that the living destroyed each other," and named him
+further: "the second Balaam, the great dragon, yea, even the
+Antichrist."
+
+[Sidenote: 1241. CAPTURE OF THE POPE'S COUNCIL.]
+
+Gregory IX. endeavored, but in vain, to set up a rival Emperor: the
+Princes, and even the Archbishops, were opposed to him. Frederick, who
+was not idle meanwhile, entered the States of the Church, took several
+cities, and advanced towards Rome. Then the Pope offered to call
+together a Council in Rome, to settle all matters in dispute. But those
+who were summoned to attend were Frederick's enemies, whereupon he
+issued a proclamation declaring the Council void, and warning the
+bishops and priests against coming to it. The most of them, however, met
+at Nice, in 1241, and embarked for Rome on a Genoese fleet of sixty
+vessels; but Frederick's son, Enzio, intercepted them with a Pisan and
+Sicilian fleet, captured one hundred cardinals, bishops and abbots, one
+hundred civil deputies and four thousand men, and carried them to
+Naples. The Council, therefore, could not be held, and Pope Gregory died
+soon afterwards, almost a hundred years old.
+
+After quarreling for nearly two years, the Cardinals finally elected a
+new Pope, Innocent IV. He had been a friend of the Emperor, but the
+latter exclaimed, on hearing of his election: "I fear that I have lost a
+friend among the Cardinals, and found an enemy in the chair of St.
+Peter: no Pope can be a Ghibelline!" His words were true. After
+fruitless negotiations, Innocent IV. fled to Lyons, and there called
+together a Council of the Church, which declared that Frederick had
+forfeited his crowns and dignities, that he was cast out by God, and
+should be thenceforth accursed. Frederick answered this declaration with
+a bold statement of the corruptions of the clergy, and the dangers
+arising from the temporal power of the Popes, which, he asserted, should
+be suppressed for the sake of Christianity, the early purity of which
+had been lost. King Louis IX. of France endeavored to bring about a
+suspension of the struggle, which was now beginning to disturb all
+Europe; but the Pope angrily refused.
+
+In 1246, the latter persuaded Henry Raspe, Landgrave of Thuringia, to
+claim the crown of Germany, and supported him with all the influence and
+wealth of the Church. He was defeated and wounded in the first battle,
+and soon afterwards died, leaving Frederick's son, Konrad, still king of
+Germany. In Italy, the civil war raged with the greatest bitterness, and
+with horrible barbarities on both sides. Frederick exhibited such
+extraordinary courage and determination that his enemies, encouraged by
+the Church, finally resorted to the basest means of overcoming him. A
+plot formed for his assassination was discovered in time, and the
+conspirators executed: then an attempt was made to poison him, in which
+his chancellor and intimate friend, Peter de Vinea--his companion for
+thirty years,--seems to have been implicated. At least he recommended a
+certain physician, who brought to the Emperor a poisoned medicine.
+Something in the man's manner excited Frederick's mistrust, and he
+ordered him to swallow a part of the medicine. When the latter refused,
+it was given to a condemned criminal, who immediately died. The
+physician was executed and Peter de Vinea sent to prison, where he
+committed suicide by dashing his head against the walls of his cell.
+
+[Sidenote: 1249.]
+
+In the same year, 1249, Frederick's favorite son, Enzio, king of
+Sardinia, who even surpassed his father in personal beauty, in
+accomplishments, in poetic talent and heroic courage, was taken prisoner
+by the Bolognese. All the father's offers of ransom were rejected, all
+his menaces defied: Enzio was condemned to perpetual imprisonment, and
+languished twenty-two years in a dungeon, until liberated by death.
+Frederick was almost broken-hearted, but his high courage never flagged.
+He was encompassed by enemies, he scarcely knew whom to trust, yet he
+did not yield the least of his claims. And fortune, at last, seemed
+inclined to turn to his side: a new rival king, William of Holland, whom
+the Pope had set up against him in Germany, failed to maintain himself:
+the city of Piacenza, in Lombardy, espoused his cause: the Romans, tired
+of Innocent IV.'s absence, began to talk of electing another Pope in his
+stead: and even Innocent himself was growing unpopular in France. Then,
+while he still defiantly faced the world, still had faith in his final
+triumph, the body refused to support his fiery spirit. He died in the
+arms of his youngest son, Manfred, on the 13th of December, 1250,
+fifty-six years old. He was buried at Palermo; and when his tomb there
+was opened, in the year 1783, his corpse was found to have scarcely
+undergone any decay.
+
+Frederick II. was unquestionably one of the greatest men who ever bore
+the title of German (or Roman) Emperor; yet all the benefits his reign
+conferred upon Germany were wholly of an indirect character, and were
+more than balanced by the positive injury occasioned by his neglect.
+There were strong contradictions in his nature, which make it difficult
+to judge him fairly as a ruler. As a man of great learning and
+intelligence, his ideas were liberal; as a monarch, he was violent and
+despotic. He wore out his life, trying to crush the republican cities of
+Italy; he was jealous of the growth of the free cities of Germany, yet
+granted them a representation in the Diet; and in Sicily, where his sway
+was undisputed, he was wise, just and tolerant. Representing in himself
+the highest taste and refinement of his age, he was nevertheless as
+rash, passionate and relentless as the monarchs of earlier and ruder
+times. In his struggle with the Popes, he was far in advance of his age,
+and herein, although unsuccessful, he was not subdued: in reality, he
+was one of the most powerful forerunners of the Reformation. There are
+few figures in European history so bright, so brave, so full of heroic
+and romantic interest.
+
+[Sidenote: 1250. KONRAD IV.'S REIGN.]
+
+Frederick's son and successor, Konrad IV., inherited the hate and enmity
+of Pope Innocent IV. The latter threatened with excommunication all who
+should support Konrad, and forbade the priests to administer the
+sacraments of the Church to his followers. The Papal proclamations were
+so fierce that they incited the Bishop of Ratisbon to plot the king's
+murder, in which he came very near being successful. William of Holland,
+whom the people called "the Priests' King," was not supported by any of
+the leading German princes, but the gold of Rome purchased him enough of
+troops to meet Konrad in the field, and he was temporarily successful.
+The hostility of the Pope seems scarcely to have affected Konrad's
+position in Germany; but both rulers and people were growing indifferent
+to the Imperial power, the seat of which had been so long transferred to
+Italy. They therefore took little part in the struggle between William
+and Konrad, and the latter's defeat was by no means a gain to the
+former.
+
+The two rivals, in fact, were near their end. Konrad IV. went to Italy
+and took possession of the kingdom of his father, which his
+step-brother, Manfred, governed in his name. He made an earnest attempt
+to be reconciled with the Pope, but Innocent IV. was implacable. He then
+collected an army of 20,000 men, and was about to lead it to Germany
+against William of Holland, when he suddenly died, in 1254, in the 27th
+year of his age. It was generally believed that he had been poisoned.
+William of Holland, since there was no one to dispute his claim,
+obtained a partial recognition of his sovereignty in Germany; but,
+having undertaken to subdue the free farmers in Friesland, he was
+defeated. While attempting to escape, his heavy war-horse broke through
+the ice, and the farmers surrounded and slew him. This was in 1256, two
+years after Konrad's death. Innocent IV. had expended no less than
+400,000 silver marks--a very large sum in those days--in supporting him
+and Henry Raspe against the Hohenstaufens.
+
+[Sidenote: 1256.]
+
+Konrad IV. left behind him, in Suabia, a son Konrad, who was only two
+years old at his father's death. In order to distinguish him from the
+latter, the Italians gave him the name of _Conradino_ (Little Konrad),
+and as Konradin he is known in German history. He was educated under the
+charge of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, and his uncle Ludwig II., Duke of
+Bavaria. When he was ten years old, the Archbishop of Mayence called a
+Diet, at which it was agreed that he should be crowned King of Germany,
+but the ceremony was prevented by the furious opposition of the Pope.
+Konradin made such progress in his studies and exhibited so much
+fondness for literature and the arts, that the followers of the
+Hohenstaufens saw in him another Frederick II. One of his poems is still
+in existence, and testifies to the grace and refinement of his youthful
+mind.
+
+After Konrad IV.'s death, the Pope claimed the kingdom of Naples and
+Sicily as being forfeited to the Church, but found it prudent to allow
+Manfred to govern in his name. The latter submitted at first, but only
+until his authority was firmly established: then he declared war,
+defeated the Papal troops, drove them back to Rome, and was crowned king
+in 1258. The news of his success so agitated the Pope that he died
+shortly afterwards. His successor, Urban IV., a Frenchman, who imitated
+his policy, found Manfred too strongly established to be defeated
+without foreign aid. He therefore offered the crown of Southern Italy to
+Charles of Anjou, the brother of king Louis IX. of France. Physically
+and intellectually, there could be no greater contrast than between him
+and Manfred. Charles of Anjou was awkward and ugly, savage, ignorant and
+bigoted: Manfred was a model of manly beauty, a scholar and poet, a
+patron of learning, a builder of roads, bridges and harbors, a just and
+noble ruler.
+
+Charles of Anjou, after being crowned king of Naples and Sicily by the
+Pope, and having secured secret advantages by bribery and intrigue,
+marched against Manfred in 1266. They met at Benevento, where, after a
+long and bloody battle, Manfred was slain, and the kingdom submitted to
+the usurper. By the Pope's order, Manfred's body was taken from the
+chapel where it had been buried, and thrown into a trench: his widow and
+children were imprisoned for life by Charles of Anjou.
+
+[Sidenote: 1268. KONRADIN IN ITALY.]
+
+The boy Konradin determined to avenge his uncle's death, and recover his
+own Italian inheritance. His mother sought to dissuade him from the
+attempt, but Ludwig of Bavaria offered to support him, and his dearest
+friend, Frederick of Baden, a youth of nineteen, insisted on sharing his
+fortunes. Towards the end of 1267, he crossed the Alps and reached
+Verona with a force of 10,000 men. Here he was obliged to wait three
+months for further support, and during this time more than two-thirds of
+his German soldiers returned home. But a reaction against the Guelphs
+(the Papal party) had set in; several Lombard cities and the Republic of
+Pisa declared in Konradin's favor, and finally the Romans, at his
+approach, expelled Pope Urban IV. A revolt against Charles of Anjou
+broke out in Naples and Sicily, and when Konradin entered Rome, in July,
+1268, his success seemed almost assured. After a most enthusiastic
+reception by the Roman people, he continued his march southward, with a
+considerable force.
+
+On the 22d of August he met Charles of Anjou in battle, and was at first
+victorious. But his troops, having halted to plunder the enemy's camp,
+were suddenly attacked, and at last completely routed. Konradin and his
+friend, Frederick of Baden, fled to Rome, and thence to the little port
+of Astura, on the coast, in order to embark for Sicily; but here they
+were arrested by Frangipani, the Governor of the place, who had been
+specially favored by the Emperor Frederick II., and now sold his
+grandson to Charles of Anjou for a large sum of money. Konradin having
+been carried to Naples, a court of distinguished jurists was called, to
+try him for high treason. With one exception, they pronounced him
+guiltless of any crime; yet Charles, nevertheless, ordered him to be
+executed.
+
+[Sidenote: 1268.]
+
+On the 29th of October, 1268, the last Hohenstaufen, a youth of sixteen,
+and his friend Frederick, were led to the scaffold. Charles watched the
+scene from a window of his palace; the people, gloomy and mutinous, were
+overawed by his guards. Konradin advanced to the edge of the platform
+and threw his glove among the crowd, asking that it might be carried to
+some one who would avenge his death. A knight who was present took it
+afterwards to Peter of Aragon, who had married king Manfred's eldest
+daughter. Then, with the exclamation: "Oh, mother, what sorrow I have
+prepared for thee!" Konradin knelt and received the fatal blow. After
+him Frederick of Baden and thirteen others were executed.
+
+The tyranny and inhuman cruelty of Charles of Anjou provoked a
+conspiracy which, in the year 1282, gave rise to the massacre called
+"the Sicilian Vespers." In one night all the French officials and
+soldiers in Sicily were slaughtered, and Peter of Aragon, the heir of
+the Hohenstaufens, became king of the island. But in Germany the proud
+race existed no more, except in history, legend and song.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+GERMANY AT THE TIME OF THE INTERREGNUM.
+
+(1256--1273.)
+
+Change in the Character of the German Empire. --Richard of Cornwall and
+    Alphonso of Castile purchase their election. --The Interregnum.
+    --Effect of the Crusades. --Heresy and Persecution. --The Orders of
+    Knighthood. --Conquests of the German Order. --Rise of the Cities.
+    --Robber-Knights. --The Hanseatic League. --Population and Power of
+    the Cities. --Gothic Architecture. --The Universities. --Seven
+    Classes of the People. --The small States. --Service of the
+    Hohenstaufens to Germany. --Epic Poetry of the Middle Ages.
+    --Historical writers.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1256. CHANGES IN GERMANY.]
+
+The end of the Hohenstaufen dynasty marks an important phase in the
+history of Germany. From this time the character of the Empire is
+radically changed. Although still called "Roman" in official documents,
+the term is henceforth an empty form, and even the word "Empire" loses
+much of its former significance. The Italian Republics were now
+practically independent, and the various dukedoms, bishoprics,
+principalities and countships, into which Germany was divided, were fast
+rendering it difficult to effect any unity of feeling or action among
+the people. The Empire which Charlemagne designed, which Otto the Great
+nearly established, and which Barbarossa might have founded, but for the
+fatal ambition of governing Italy, had become impossible. Germany was,
+in reality, a loose confederation of differently organized and governed
+States, which continued to make use of the form of an Empire as a
+convenience rather than a political necessity.
+
+The events which followed the death of Konrad IV. illustrate the corrupt
+condition of both Church and State at that time. The money which Pope
+Innocent IV. so freely expended in favor of the anti-kings, Henry Raspe
+and William of Holland, had already taught the Electors the advantage of
+selling their votes: so, when William was slain by the farmers of
+Friesland, and no German prince seemed to care much for the title of
+Emperor (since each already had independent power over his own
+territory), the high dignity so recently possessed by Frederick II., was
+put up at auction. Two bidders made their appearance, Richard of
+Cornwall, brother of Henry III. of England, and king Alphonso of
+Castile, surnamed "the Wise." The Archbishop of Cologne was the business
+agent of the former: he received 12,000 silver marks for himself, and
+eight or nine thousand apiece for the Dukes of Bavaria, the Archbishop
+of Mayence, and several other electors. The Archbishop of Treves, in the
+name of king Alphonso, offered the king of Bohemia, the Dukes of Saxony
+and the Margrave of Brandenburg 20,000 marks each. Of course both
+purchasers were elected, and they were proclaimed kings of Germany
+almost at the same time. Alphonso never even visited his realm: Richard
+of Cornwall came to Aix-la-Chapelle, was formally crowned, and returned
+now and then, whenever the produce of his tin-mines in Cornwall enabled
+him to pay for an enthusiastic reception by the people. He never
+attempted, however, to govern Germany, for he probably had intelligence
+enough to see that any such attempt would be disregarded.
+
+[Sidenote: 1256.]
+
+This period was afterwards called by the people "the Evil Time when
+there was no Emperor"--and, in spite of the two kings, who had fairly
+paid for their titles, it is known in German history as "the
+Interregnum." It was a period of change and confusion, when each prince
+endeavored to become an absolute ruler, and the knights, in imitating
+them, became robbers; when the free cities, encouraged by the example of
+Italy, united in self-defence, and the masses of the people, although
+ground to the dust, began to dream again of the rights which their
+ancestors had possessed a thousand years before.
+
+First of all, the great change wrought in Europe by the Crusades was
+beginning to be felt by all classes of society. The attempt to retain
+possession of Palestine, which lasted nearly two hundred years,--from
+the march of the First Crusade in 1096 to the fall of Acre in
+1291,--cost Europe, it is estimated, six millions of lives, and an
+immense amount of treasure. The Roman Church favored the undertaking in
+every possible way, since each Crusade instantly and greatly
+strengthened its power; yet the result was the reverse of what the
+Church hoped for, in the end. The bravery, intelligence and refined
+manners of the Saracens made a great impression on the Christian
+knights, and they soon began to imitate those whom they had at first
+despised. New branches of learning, especially astronomy, mathematics
+and medicine, were brought to Europe from the East; more luxurious
+habits of life, giving rise to finer arts of industry, followed; and
+commerce, compelled to supply the Crusaders and Christian colonists at
+such a distance, was rapidly developed to an extent unknown since the
+fall of the Roman Empire.
+
+[Sidenote: 1256. GROWTH OF INDEPENDENT SECTS.]
+
+As men gained new ideas from these changes, they became more independent
+in thought and speech. The priests and monks ceased to monopolize all
+knowledge, and their despotism over the human mind met with resistance.
+Then, first, the charge of "heresy" began to be heard; and although
+during the thirteenth and a part of the fourteenth centuries the Pope of
+Rome was undoubtedly the highest power in Europe, the influences were
+already at work which afterwards separated the strongest races of the
+world from the Roman Church. On the one hand, new orders of monks were
+created, and monasteries increased everywhere: on the other hand,
+independent Christian sects began to spring up, like the Albigenses in
+France and the Waldenses in Savoy, and could not be wholly suppressed,
+even with fire and sword.
+
+The orders of knighthood which possessed a religious character, were
+also established during the Crusades. First the Knights of St. John,
+whose badge was a black mantle with a white cross, formed a society to
+guard pilgrims to the Holy Land, and take care of the sick. Then
+followed the Knights Templar, distinguished by a red cross on a white
+mantle. Both these orders originated among the Italian chivalry, and
+they included few German members. During the Third Crusade, however
+(which was headed by Barbarossa), the German Order of Knights was
+formed, chiefly by the aid of the merchants of Bremen and Luebeck. They
+adopted the black cross on a white mantle as their badge, took the
+monkish vows of celibacy, poverty and obedience, like the Templars and
+the Knights of St. John, and devoted their lives to war with the
+heathen. The second Grand-Master of this order, Hermann of Salza,
+accompanied Frederick II. to Jerusalem, and his character was so highly
+estimated by the latter that he made him a prince of the German Empire.
+
+[Sidenote: 1256.]
+
+Inasmuch as the German Order really owed its existence to the support
+of the merchants of the Northern coast, Hermann of Salza sought for a
+field of labor wherein the knights might fulfil their vows, and at the
+same time achieve some advantage for their benefactors. As early as
+1199, the Bremen merchants had founded Riga, taken possession of the
+eastern shore of the Baltic and established German colonies there. The
+native Finnish or Lithuanian inhabitants were either exterminated or
+forcibly converted to Christianity, and an order, called "the Brothers
+of the Sword," was established for the defence of the colonies. This new
+German territory was separated from the rest of the Empire by the
+country between the mouths of the Vistula and the Memel, claimed by
+Poland, and inhabited by the Borussii, or _Prussians_, a tribe which
+seems to have been of mixed Slavic and Lithuanian blood. Hermann of
+Salza obtained from Poland the permission to possess this country for
+the German Order, and he gradually conquered or converted the native
+Prussians. In the meantime the Brothers of the Sword were so hard
+pressed by a revolt of the Livonians that they united themselves with
+the German Order, and thenceforth formed a branch of it. The result of
+this union was that the whole coast of the Baltic, from Holstein to the
+Gulf of Finland, was secured to Germany, and became civilized and
+Christian.
+
+During the thirty-five years of Frederick II.'s reign and the seventeen
+succeeding years of the Interregnum, Germany was in a condition which
+allowed the strong to make themselves stronger, yet left the weaker
+classes without any protection. The reigning Dukes and Archbishops were,
+of course, satisfied with this state of affairs; the independent counts
+and barons with large possessions maintained their power by temporary
+alliances; the inferior nobles, left to themselves, became robbers of
+land, and highwaymen. With the introduction of new arts and the wider
+extension of commerce, the cities of Germany had risen in wealth and
+power, and were beginning to develop an intelligent middle-class,
+standing between the farmers, who had sunk almost into the condition of
+serfs, and the lesser nobles, most of whom were equally poor and proud.
+Upwards of sixty cities were free municipalities, belonging to the
+Empire on the same terms as the dukedoms; that is, they contributed a
+certain proportion of men and money, and were bound to obey the decrees
+of the Imperial Diets.
+
+[Sidenote: 1256. ROBBER-KNIGHTS.--CITIES.]
+
+As soon, therefore, as there was no superior authority to maintain order
+and security in the land, a large number of the knights became
+freebooters, plundering and laying waste whenever opportunity offered,
+attacking the caravans of travelling merchants, and accumulating the
+ill-gotten wealth in their strong castles. Many an aristocratic family
+of the present day owes its inheritance to that age of robbery and
+murder. The people had few secured rights and no actual freedom in
+Germany, with the exception of Friesland, some parts of Saxony and the
+Alpine districts.
+
+In this condition of things, the free cities soon found it advisable to
+assist each other. Bremen, Hamburg and Luebeck first formed a union,
+chiefly for commercial purposes, in 1241, and this was the foundation of
+the famous Hanseatic League. Immediately after the death of Konrad IV.,
+Mayence, Speyer, Worms, Strasburg and Basel formed the "Union of Rhenish
+Cities," for the preservation of peace and the mutual protection of
+their citizens. Many other cities, and even a number of reigning princes
+and bishops, soon became members of this league, which for a time
+exercised considerable power. The principal German cities were then even
+more important than now; few of them have gained in population or in
+relative wealth in the course of 600 years. Cologne had then 120,000
+inhabitants, Mayence 90,000, Worms 60,000, and Ratisbon on the Danube
+upwards of 120,000. The cities of the Rhine had agencies in England and
+other countries, carried on commerce on the high seas, and owned no less
+than 600 armed vessels, with which they guarded the Rhine from the
+land-pirates whose castles overlooked its course.
+
+During this age of civil and religious despotism, the German cities
+possessed and preserved the only free institutions to be found. They
+owed this privilege to the heroic resistance of the republican cities of
+Italy to the Hohenstaufens, which not only set them an example but
+fought in their stead. Sure of the loyalty of the German cities, the
+Emperors were not so jealous of their growth; but some of the rights
+which they conferred were reluctantly given, and probably in return for
+men or money during the wars in Italy. The decree which changed a
+vassal, or dependent, into a free man after a year's residence in a
+city, helped greatly to build up a strong and intelligent middle-class.
+The merchants, professional men and higher artisans gradually formed a
+patrician society, out of which the governing officers were selected,
+while the mechanics, for greater protection, organized themselves into
+separate guilds, or orders. Each of the latter was very watchful of the
+character and reputation of its members, and thus exercised a strong
+moral influence. The farmers, only, had no such protection: very few of
+them were not dependent vassals of some nobleman or priest.
+
+[Sidenote: 1260.]
+
+The cities, in the thirteenth century, began to exhibit a stately
+architectural character. The building of splendid cathedrals and
+monasteries, which began two centuries before, now gave employment to
+such a large number of architects and stone-cutters, that they formed a
+free corporation, under the name of "Brother-builders," with especial
+rights and privileges, all over Germany. Their labors were supported by
+the power of the Church, the wealth of the merchants and the toil of the
+vassals, and the masterpieces of Gothic architecture arose under their
+hands. The grand Cathedrals of Strasburg, Freiburg and Cologne with many
+others, yet remain as monuments of their genius and skill. But the
+private dwellings, also, now began to display the wealth and taste of
+their owners. They were usually built very high, with pointed gables
+facing the street, and adorned with sculptured designs: frequently the
+upper stories projected over the lower, forming a shelter for the open
+shops in the first story. As the cities were walled for defence, the
+space within the walls was too valuable to be given to wide squares and
+streets: hence there was usually one open market-place, which also
+served for all public ceremonies, and the streets were dark and narrow.
+
+In spite of the prevailing power of the Roman Church, the Universities
+now began to exercise some influence. Those of Bologna and Padua were
+frequented by throngs of students, who attended the schools of law,
+while the University of Salerno, under the patronage of Manfred, became
+a distinguished school of medicine. The Arabic university of Cordova, in
+Spain, also attracted many students from all the Christian lands of
+Europe. Works on all branches of knowledge were greatly multiplied, so
+that the copying of them became a new profession. For the first time,
+there were written forms of law for the instruction of the people. In
+the northern part of Germany appeared a work called "The Saxon's
+Looking-Glass," which was soon accepted as a legal authority by the
+people. But it was too liberal for the priests, and under their
+influence another work, "The Suabian's Looking-Glass," was written and
+circulated in Southern Germany. The former book declares that the
+Emperor has his power from God; the latter that he has it from the Pope.
+The Saxon is told that no man can justly hold another man as property,
+and that the people were made vassals through force and wrong; the
+Suabian is taught that obedience to rulers is his chief duty.
+
+[Sidenote: 1260. CLASSES OF THE PEOPLE.]
+
+From these two works, which are still in existence, we learn how
+complicated was the political organization of Germany. The whole free
+population was divided into seven classes, each having its own
+privileges and rules of government. First, there was the Emperor;
+secondly, the Spiritual Princes, as they were called (Archbishops,
+reigning Bishops, &c.); thirdly, the Temporal Princes, some of whom were
+partly or wholly "Vassals" of the Spiritual authority; and fourthly, the
+Counts and Barons who possessed territory, either independently, or as
+_Lehen_ of the second and third classes. These four classes constituted
+the higher nobility, by whom the Emperor was chosen, and each of whom
+had the right to be a candidate. Seven princes were specially entitled
+"Electors," because the nomination of a candidate for Emperor came from
+them. There were three Spiritual--the Archbishops of Mayence, Treves and
+Cologne; and four Temporal--the Dukes of Bavaria and Saxony, the
+Margrave of Brandenburg and the King of Bohemia.
+
+The fifth class embraced the free citizens from among whom magistrates
+were chosen, and who were allowed to possess certain privileges of the
+nobles. The sixth and seventh classes were formed out of the remaining
+freemen, according to their circumstances and occupations. The serfs and
+dependents had no place in this system of government, so that a large
+majority of the German people possessed no other recognized right than
+that of being ruled and punished. In fact, the whole political system
+was so complicated and unpractical that we can only wonder how Germany
+endured it for centuries afterwards.
+
+At the end of the Hohenstaufen dynasty there were one hundred and
+sixteen priestly rulers, one hundred ruling dukes, princes, counts and
+barons, and more than sixty independent cities in Germany. The larger
+dukedoms had been cut up into smaller states, many of which exist,
+either as states or provinces, at this day. Styria and Tyrol were
+separated from Bavaria; the principalities of Westphalia, Anhalt,
+Holstein, Juelich, Berg, Cleves, Pomerania and Mecklenburg were formed
+out of Saxony; Suabia was divided into Wuertemberg and Baden, the
+Palatinate of the Rhine detached from Franconia and Hesse from
+Thuringia. Each of the principal German races was distinguished by two
+colors--the Franks red and white, the Suabians red and yellow, the
+Bavarians blue and white, and the Saxons black and white. The Saxon
+_black_, the Frank _red_, and the Suabian _gold_ were set together as
+the Imperial colors.
+
+[Sidenote: 1260.]
+
+The chief service of the Hohenstaufens to Germany lay in their direct
+and generous encouragement of art, learning and literature. They took up
+the work commenced by Charlemagne and so disastrously thwarted by his
+son Ludwig the Pious, and in the course of a hundred years they
+developed what might be called a golden age of architecture and epic
+poetry, so strongly does it contrast with the four centuries before and
+the three succeeding it. The immediate connection between Germany and
+Italy, where the most of Roman culture had survived and the higher forms
+of civilization were first restored, was in this single respect a great
+advantage to the former country. We cannot ascertain how many of the
+nobler characteristics of knighthood, in that age, sprang from the
+religious spirit which prompted the Crusades, and how many originated
+from intercourse with the refined and high-spirited Saracens; both
+elements, undoubtedly, tended to revive the almost forgotten love of
+poetry in the German race.
+
+[Sidenote: 1270. GERMAN EPIC POEMS.]
+
+When the knights of Provence and Italy became as proud of their songs as
+of their feats of arms; when minstrels accompanied the court of
+Frederick II. and the Emperor himself wrote poems in rivalry with them;
+when the Duke of Austria and the Landgrave Hermann of Thuringia invited
+the best poets of the time to visit them and received them as
+distinguished guests, and when wandering minstrels and story-tellers
+repeated their works in a simpler form to the people everywhere, it was
+not long before a new literature was created. Walter von der Vogelweide,
+who accompanied Frederick II. to Jerusalem, wrote not only songs of love
+and poems in praise of Nature, but satires against the Pope and the
+priesthood. Godfrey of Strasburg produced an epic poem describing the
+times of king Arthur of the Round Table, and Wolfram of Eschenbach, in
+his "Parcival," celebrated the search for the Holy Grail; while inferior
+poets related the histories of Alexander the Great, the Siege of Troy,
+or Charlemagne's knight, Roland. Among the people arose the story of
+Reynard the Fox, and a multitude of fables; and finally, during the
+thirteenth century, was produced the celebrated _Nibelungenlied_, or
+Song of the Nibelungen, wherein traditions of Siegfried of the
+Netherlands, Theodoric the Ostrogoth and Attila with his Huns are mixed
+together in a powerful story of love, rivalry and revenge. The most of
+these poems are written in a Suabian dialect, which is now called the
+"Middle (or Mediaeval) High-German."
+
+Among the historical writers were Bishop Otto of Friesing, whose
+chronicles of the time are very valuable, and Saxo Grammaticus, in whose
+history of Denmark Shakspeare found the material for his play of
+_Hamlet_. Albertus Magnus, the Bishop of Ratisbon, was so distinguished
+as a mathematician and man of science that the people believed him to be
+a sorcerer. There was, in short, a general intellectual awakening
+throughout Germany, and, although afterwards discouraged by many of the
+276 smaller powers, it was favored by others and could not be
+suppressed. Besides, greater changes were approaching. A hundred years
+after Frederick II.'s death gunpowder was discovered, and the common
+soldier became the equal of the knight. In another hundred years,
+Gutenberg invented printing, and then followed, rapidly, the Discovery
+of America and the Reformation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+FROM RUDOLF OF HAPSBURG TO LUDWIG THE BAVARIAN.
+
+(1273--1347.)
+
+Rudolf of Hapsburg. --His Election as Emperor. --Meeting with Pope
+    Gregory X. --War with Ottokar II. of Bohemia. --Rudolf's Victories.
+    --Diet of Augsburg. --Suppression of Robber-Knights. --Rudolf's
+    Second Marriage. --His Death. --His Character and Habits. --Adolf
+    of Nassau elected. --His Rapacity and Dishonesty. --Albert of
+    Hapsburg Rival Emperor. --Adolf's Death. --Albert's Character.
+    --Quarrel with Pope Bonifacius. --Albert's Plans. --Revolt of the
+    Swiss Cantons. --John Parricida murders the Emperor. --The Popes
+    remove to Avignon. --Henry of Luxemburg elected Emperor. --His
+    Efforts to restore Peace. --His Welcome to Italy, and Coronation.
+    --He is Poisoned. --Ludwig of Bavaria elected. --Battle of
+    Morgarten. --Frederick of Austria captured. --The Papal
+    "Interdict." --Conspiracy of Leopold of Austria. --Ludwig's Visit
+    to Italy. --His Superstition and Cowardice. --His Efforts to be
+    reconciled to the Pope. --Treachery of Philip VI. of France. --The
+    Convention at Rense. --Alliance with England. --Ludwig's
+    Unpopularity. --Karl of Bohemia Rival Emperor. --Ludwig's Death.
+    --The German Cities.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1272.]
+
+Richard of Cornwall died in 1272, and the German princes seemed to be in
+no haste to elect a successor. The Pope, Gregory X., finally demanded an
+election, for the greater convenience of having to deal with one head,
+instead of a multitude; and the Archbishop of Mayence called a Diet
+together at Frankfort, the following year. He proposed, as candidate,
+Count Rudolf of Hapsburg (or Habsburg), a petty ruler in Switzerland,
+who had also possessions in Alsatia. Up to his time the family had been
+insignificant; but, as a zealous partisan of Frederick II. in whose
+excommunication he had shared, as a crusader against the heathen
+Prussians, and finally, in his maturer years, as a man of great
+prudence, moderation and firmness, he had made the name of Hapsburg
+generally and quite favorably known. His brother-in-law, Count Frederick
+of Hohenzollern, the Burgrave, or Governor, of the city of Nuremburg
+(and the founder of the present house of the Hohenzollerns), advocated
+Rudolf's election among the members of the Diet. The chief
+considerations in his favor were his personal character, his lack of
+power, and the circumstance of his possessing six marriageable
+daughters. There were also private stipulations which secured him the
+support of the priesthood, and so he was elected King of Germany.
+
+[Sidenote: 1273. RUDOLF OF HABSBURG.]
+
+Rudolf was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle. At the close of the ceremony it
+was discovered that the Imperial sceptre was missing, whereupon he took
+a crucifix from the altar, and held it forth to the princes, who came to
+swear allegiance to his rule. He was at this time fifty-five years of
+age, extremely tall and lank, with a haggard face and large aquiline
+nose. Although he was always called "Emperor" by the people, he never
+received, or even desired, the imperial Crown of Rome. He was in the
+habit of saying that Rome was the den of the lion, into which led the
+tracks of many other animals, but none were seen leading out of it
+again.
+
+It was easy for him, therefore, to conclude a peace with the Pope. He
+met Gregory X. at Lausanne, and there formally renounced all claim to
+the rights held by the Hohenstaufens in Italy. He even recognized
+Charles of Anjou as king of Sicily and Naples, and betrothed one of his
+daughters to the latter's son. The Church of Rome received possession of
+all the territory it had claimed in Central Italy, and the Lombard and
+Tuscan republics were left for awhile undisturbed. He further promised
+to undertake a new Crusade for the recovery of Jerusalem, and was then
+solemnly recognized by Gregory X. as rightful king of Germany.
+
+But, although Rudolf had so readily given up all for which the
+Hohenstaufens had struggled in Italy, he at once claimed their estates
+in Germany as belonging to the crown. This brought him into conflict
+with Counts Ulric and Eberhard II. of Wuertemberg, who were also allied
+with king Ottokar II. of Bohemia in opposition to his authority. The
+latter had obtained possession of Austria, through marriage, and of all
+Styria and Carinthia to the Adriatic by purchase. He was ambitious and
+defiant: some historians suppose that he hoped to make himself Emperor
+of Germany, others that his object was to establish a powerful Slavonic
+nation. Rudolf did not delay long in declaring him outlawed, and in
+calling upon the other princes for an army to lead against him. The call
+was received with indifference: no one feared the new Emperor, and hence
+no one obeyed.
+
+[Sidenote: 1278.]
+
+Gathering together such troops as his son-in-law, Ludwig of the Bavarian
+Palatinate, could furnish, Rudolf marched into Austria, after he had
+restored order in Wuertemberg. A revolt of the Austrian and Styrian
+nobles against Bohemian rule followed this movement: the country was
+gradually reconquered, and Vienna, after a siege of five weeks, fell
+into Rudolf's hands. Ottokar II. then found it advisable to make peace
+with the man whom he had styled "a poor Count," by giving up his claim
+to Austria, Styria and Carinthia, and paying homage to the Emperor of
+Germany. In October, 1276, the treaty was concluded. Ottokar appeared in
+all the splendor he could command, and was received by Rudolf in a
+costume not very different from that of a common soldier. "The Bohemian
+king has often laughed at my gray coat," he said; "but now my coat shall
+laugh at him." Ottokar was enraged at what he considered an insulting
+humiliation, and secretly plotted revenge. For nearly two years he
+intrigued with the States of Northern Germany and the Poles, collected a
+large army under the pretext of conquering Hungary, and suddenly
+declared war against Rudolf.
+
+The Emperor was only supported by the Count of Tyrol, by Frederick of
+Hohenzollern and a few bishops, but he procured the alliance of the
+Hungarians, and then marched against Ottokar with a much inferior force.
+Nevertheless, he was completely victorious in the battle which took
+place, on the river March, in August, 1278. Ottokar was killed, and his
+Saxon and Bavarian allies scattered. Rudolf used his victory with a
+moderation which secured him new advantages. He married one of his
+daughters to Wenzel, Ottokar's son, and allowed him the crown of Bohemia
+and Moravia; he gave Carinthia to the Count of Tyrol, and Austria and
+Styria to his own sons, Rudolf and Albert. Towards the other German
+princes he was so conciliatory and forbearing that they found no cause
+for further opposition. Thus the influence of the House of Hapsburg was
+permanently founded, and--curiously enough, when we consider the later
+history of Germany--chiefly by the help of the founder of the House of
+Hohenzollern.
+
+[Sidenote: 1285. RUDOLF'S SUCCESSES.]
+
+After spending five years in Austria, and securing the results of his
+victory, Rudolf returned to the interior of Germany. A Diet held at
+Augsburg in 1282 confirmed his sons in their new sovereignties, and his
+authority as German Emperor was thenceforth never seriously opposed. He
+exerted all his influence over the princes in endeavoring to settle the
+numberless disputes which arose out of the law by which the territory
+and rule of the father were divided among many sons,--or, in case there
+were no direct heirs, which gave more than one relative an equal claim.
+He proclaimed a National Peace, or cessation of quarrels between the
+States, and thereby accomplished some good, although the order was only
+partially obeyed. At a Diet which he held in Erfurt, he urged the
+strongest measures for the suppression of knightly robbery. Sixty
+castles of the noble highwaymen were razed to the ground, and more than
+thirty of the titled vagabonds expiated their crimes on the scaffold. In
+all the measures which he undertook for the general welfare of the
+country he succeeded as far as was possible at such a time.
+
+In his schemes of personal ambition, however, the Emperor was not so
+successful. His attempt to make his eldest son Duke of Suabia failed
+completely. Then in order to establish a right to Burgundy, he married,
+at the age of sixty-six, the sister of Count Robert, a girl of only
+fourteen. Although he gained some few advantages in Western Switzerland,
+he was resisted by the city of Berne, and all he accomplished in the end
+was the stirring up of a new hostility to Germany and a new friendship
+for France throughout the whole of Burgundy. On the eastern frontier,
+however, the Empire was enlarged by the voluntary annexation of Silesia
+to Bohemia, in exchange for protection against the claims of Poland.
+
+In 1290 Rudolf's eldest son, of the same name, died, and at a Diet held
+in Frankfort the following year he endeavored to procure the election of
+his son Albert, as his successor. A majority of the bishops and princes
+decided to postpone the question, and Rudolf left the city, deeply
+mortified. He soon afterwards fell ill, and, being warned by the
+physician that his case was serious, he exclaimed: "Well, then, now for
+Speyer!"--the old burial-place of the German Emperors. But before
+reaching there he died, in July, 1291, aged seventy-three years.
+
+[Sidenote: 1291.]
+
+Rudolf of Hapsburg was very popular among the common people, on account
+of his frank, straightforward manner, and the simplicity of his habits.
+He was a complete master of his own passions, and in this respect
+contrasted remarkably with the rash and impetuous Hohenstaufens. He
+never showed impatience or irritation, but was always good-humored, full
+of jests and shrewd sayings, and accessible to all classes. When
+supplies were short, he would pull up a turnip, peel and eat it in the
+presence of his soldiers, to show that he fared no better than they, he
+would refuse a drink of water unless there was enough for all; and it is
+related that once, on a cold day, he went into the shop of a baker in
+Mayence to warm himself, and was greatly amused when the good housewife
+insisted on turning him out as a suspicious character. Nevertheless, he
+could not overcome the fascination which the Hohenstaufen name still
+exercised over the people. The idea of Barbarossa's return had already
+taken root among them, and more than one impostor, who claimed to be the
+dead Emperor, found enough of followers to disturb Rudolf's reign.
+
+An Imperial authority like that of Otto the Great or Barbarossa had not
+been restored; yet Rudolf's death left the Empire in a more orderly
+condition, and the many small rulers were more willing to continue the
+forms of Government. But the Archbishop Gerard of Mayence, who had
+bargained secretly with Count Adolf of Nassau, easily persuaded the
+Electors that it was impolitic to preserve the power in one family, and
+he thus secured their votes for Adolf, who was crowned shortly
+afterwards. The latter was even poorer than Rudolf of Hapsburg had been,
+but without either his wisdom or honesty. He was forced to part with so
+many Imperial privileges to secure his election, that his first policy
+seems to have been to secure money and estates for himself. He sold to
+Visconti of Milan the Viceroyalty over Lombardy, which he claimed as
+still being a German right, and received from Edward I. of England
+L100,000 sterling as the price of his alliance in a war against Philip
+IV. of France. Instead, however, of keeping his part of the bargain, he
+used some of the money to purchase Thuringia of the Landgrave Albert,
+who was carrying on an unnatural quarrel with his two sons, Frederick
+and Dietzmann, and thus disposed of their inheritance. Albert (surnamed
+the Degenerate) also disposed of the Countship of Meissen in the same
+way, and when the people resisted the transfer, their lands were
+terribly devastated by Adolf of Nassau. This course was a direct
+interference with the rights of reigning families, a violation of the
+law of inheritance, and it excited great hostility to Adolf's rule among
+the other princes.
+
+[Sidenote: 1298. ALBERT OF HABSBURG.]
+
+The rapacity of the new Emperor, in fact, was the cause of his speedy
+downfall. In order to secure the support of the Bishops, he had promised
+them the tolls on vessels sailing up and down the Rhine, while the
+abolition of the same tolls was promised to the free cities on that
+river. The Archbishop of Mayence sent word to him that he had other
+Emperors in his pocket, but Adolf paid little heed to his remonstrances.
+Albert of Hapsburg, son of Rudolf, turned the general dissatisfaction to
+his own advantage. He won his brother-in-law, Wenzel II. of Bohemia, to
+his side, and purchased the alliance of Philip the Fair of France by
+yielding to him the possession of portions of Burgundy and Flanders.
+After private negotiations with the German princes, both spiritual and
+temporal, the Archbishop of Mayence called a Diet together in that city,
+in June, 1298. Adolf was declared to have forfeited the crown, and
+Albert was elected in his stead by all the Electors except those of
+Treves and Bavaria.
+
+Within ten days after the election the rivals met in battle: both had
+foreseen the struggle, and had made hasty preparations to meet it. Adolf
+fought with desperation, even after being wounded, and finally came face
+to face with Albert, on the field. "Here you must yield the Empire to
+me!" he cried, drawing his sword. "That rests with God," was Albert's
+answer, and he struck Adolf dead. After this victory, the German princes
+nevertheless required that Albert should be again elected before being
+crowned, since they feared that this precedent of choosing a rival
+monarch might lead to trouble in the future.
+
+Albert of Hapsburg was a hard, cold man, with all of his father's will
+and energy, yet without his moderation and shrewdness. He was haughty
+and repellent in his manner, and from first to last made no friends. He
+was one-eyed, on account of a singular cure which had been practised
+upon him. Having become very ill, his physicians suspected that he was
+poisoned: they thereupon hung him up by the heels, and took one eye out
+of its socket, so that the poison might thus escape from his head! The
+single aim of his life was to increase the Imperial power and secure it
+to his own family. Whether his measures conduced to the welfare of
+Germany, or not, was a question which he did not consider, and
+therefore whatever good he accomplished was simply accidental.
+
+[Sidenote: 1307.]
+
+Although Albert had agreed to yield many privileges to the Church, the
+Pope, Bonifacius VIII., refused to acknowledge him as king of Germany,
+declaring that the election was null and void. But the same Pope, by his
+haughty assumptions of authority over all monarchs, had drawn upon
+himself the enmity of Philip the Fair, of France, and Albert made a new
+alliance with the latter. He also obtained the support of the cities, on
+promising to abolish the Rhine-dues, and with their help completely
+subdued the Archbishops, who claimed the dues and refused to give them
+up. This was a great advantage, not only for the Rhine-cities, but for
+all Germany: it tended to strengthen the power of the increasing
+middle-class.
+
+The Pope, finding his plans thwarted and his authority defied, now began
+to make friendly overtures to Albert. He had already excommunicated
+Philip the Fair, and claimed the right to dispose of the crown of
+France, which he offered to Albert in return for the latter's subjection
+to him and armed assistance. There was danger to Germany in this
+tempting bait; but in 1303, Bonifacius, having been taken prisoner near
+Rome by his Italian enemies, became insane from rage, and soon died.
+
+Albert's stubborn and selfish attempts to increase the power of his
+house all failed: their only result was a wider and keener spirit of
+hostility to his rule. He claimed Thuringia and Meissen, alleging that
+Adolf of Nassau had purchased those lands, not for himself but for the
+Empire; he endeavored to get possession of Holland, whose line of ruling
+Counts had become extinct; and after the death of Wenzel II. of Bohemia,
+in 1307, he married his son, Rudolf, to the latter's widow. But Counts
+Frederick and Dietzmann of Thuringia defeated his army: the people of
+Holland elected a descendant of their Counts on the female side, and the
+Emperor's son, Rudolf, died in Bohemia, apparently poisoned, before two
+years were out. Then the Swiss cantons of Schwyz, Uri and Unterwalden,
+which had been governed by civil officers appointed by the Emperors,
+rose in revolt against him, and drove his governors from their Alpine
+valleys. In November, 1307, that famous league was formed, by which the
+three cantons maintained their independence, and laid the first
+corner-stone of the Republic of Switzerland.
+
+[Sidenote: 1308. MURDER OF ALBRECHT OF HABSBURG.]
+
+The following May, 1308, Albert was in Baden, raising troops for a new
+campaign in Thuringia. His nephew, John, a youth of nineteen, who had
+vainly endeavored to have his right to a part of the Hapsburg territory
+in Switzerland confirmed by the Emperor, was with him, accompanied by
+four knights, with whom he had conspired. While crossing a river, they
+managed to get into the same boat with the Emperor, leaving the rest of
+his retinue upon the other bank; then, when they had landed, they fell
+upon him, murdered him, and fled. A peasant woman, who was near, lifted
+Albert upon her lap and he died in her arms. His widow, the Empress
+Elizabeth, took a horrible revenge upon the families of the
+conspirators, whose relatives and even their servants, to the number of
+one thousand, were executed. One of the knights, who was captured, was
+broken upon the wheel. John, called in history _John Parricida_, was
+never heard of afterwards, although one tradition affirms that he fled
+to Rome, confessed his deed to the Pope, and passed the rest of his
+life, under another name, in a monastery.
+
+Thus, within five years, the despotic plans of both Pope Bonifacius
+VIII. and Albert of Hapsburg came to a tragic end. The overwhelming
+power of the Papacy, after a triumph of two hundred years, was broken.
+The second Pope after Bonifacius, Clement V., made Avignon, in Southern
+France, his capital instead of Rome, and the former city continued to be
+the residence of the Popes, from 1308, the year of Albert's murder,
+until 1377.
+
+The German Electors were in no hurry to choose a new Emperor. They were
+only agreed as to who should not be elected,--that is, no member of a
+powerful family; but it was not so easy to pick out an acceptable
+candidate from among the many inferior princes. The Church, as usual,
+decided the question. Peter, of Mayence (who had been a physician and
+was made Archbishop for curing the Pope), intrigued with Baldwin,
+Archbishop of Treves, in favor of the latter's brother, Count Henry of
+Luxemburg. A Diet was held at the "King's Seat," on the hill of Rense,
+near Coblentz, where the blast of a hunting-horn could be heard in four
+Electorates at the same time, and Henry was chosen King. He was crowned
+at Aix-la-Chapelle on the 6th of January, 1309, as Henry VII.
+
+[Sidenote: 1310.]
+
+His first aim was to restore peace and order to Germany. He was obliged
+to reestablish the Rhine-dues, in the interest of the Archbishops who
+had supported him, but he endeavored to recompense the cities by
+granting them other privileges. At a Diet held in Speyer, he released
+the three Swiss cantons from their allegiance to the house of Hapsburg,
+gave Austria to the sons of the murdered Albert, and had the bodies of
+the latter and his rival, Adolf of Nassau, buried in the Cathedral, side
+by side. Soon afterwards the Bohemians, dissatisfied with Henry of
+Carinthia (who had become their king after the death of Albert's son,
+Rudolf), offered the hand of Wenzel II.'s youngest daughter, Elizabeth,
+to Henry's son, John. Although the latter was only fourteen, and his
+bride twenty-two years of age, Henry gave his consent to the marriage,
+and John became king of Bohemia.
+
+In 1310 the new Emperor called a Diet at Frankfort, in order to enforce
+a universal truce among the German States. He outlawed Count Eberhard of
+Wuertemberg, and took away his power to create disturbance; and then,
+Germany being quiet, he turned his attention to Italy, which was in a
+deplorable state of confusion, from the continual wars of the Guelphs
+and the Ghibellines. In Lombardy, noble families had usurped the control
+of the former republican cities, and governed with greater tyranny than
+even the Hohenstaufens. Henry's object was to put an end to their civil
+wars, institute a new order, and--be crowned Roman Emperor. The Pope,
+Clement V., who was tired of Avignon and suspicious of France, was
+secretly in favor of the plan, and the German princes openly supported
+it.
+
+Towards the close of 1310, Henry VII. crossed Mont Cenis with an army of
+several thousand men, and was welcomed with great pomp in Milan, where
+he was crowned with the iron crown of Lombardy. The poet Dante hailed
+him as a saviour of Italy, and all parties formed the most extravagant
+expectations of the advantage they would derive from his coming. The
+Emperor seems to have tried to act with entire impartiality, and
+consequently both parties were disappointed. The Guelphs first rose
+against him, and instead of peace a new war ensued. He was not able to
+march to Rome until 1312, and by that time the city was again divided
+into two hostile parties. With the help of the Colonnas, he gained
+possession of the southern bank of the Tiber, and was crowned Emperor in
+the Lateran Church by a Cardinal, since there was no Pope in Rome: the
+Orsini family, who were hostile to him, held possession of the other
+part of the city, including St. Peter's and the Vatican.
+
+[Sidenote: 1314. LUDWIG THE BAVARIAN ELECTED.]
+
+There were now indications that all Italy would be convulsed with a
+repetition of the old struggle. The Guelphs rallied around king Robert
+of Naples as their head, while king Frederick of Sicily and the Republic
+of Pisa declared for the Emperor. France and the Pope were about to add
+new elements to the quarrel, when in August, 1313, Henry VII. died of
+poison, administered to him by a monk in the sacramental wine,--one of
+the most atrocious forms of crime which can be imagined. He was a man of
+many noble personal qualities, and from whom much was hoped, both in
+Germany and Italy; but his reign was too short for the attainment of any
+lasting results.
+
+When the Electors came together at Frankfort, in 1314, it was found that
+their votes were divided between two candidates. Henry VII.'s son, king
+John of Bohemia, was only seventeen years old, and the friends of his
+house, not believing that he could be elected, united on Duke Ludwig of
+Bavaria, a descendant of Otto of Wittelsbach. On the other hand, the
+friends of the house of Hapsburg, with the combined influence of France
+and the Pope on their side, proposed Frederick of Austria, the son of
+the Emperor Albert. There was a division of the Diet, and both
+candidates were elected; but Ludwig had four of the seven Electors on
+his side, he reached Aix-la-Chapelle first and was there crowned, and
+thus he was considered to have the best right to the Imperial dignity.
+
+Ludwig of Bavaria and Frederick of Austria had been bosom-friends until
+a short time previous; but they were now rivals and deadly enemies. For
+eight long years a civil war devastated Germany. On Frederick's side
+were Austria, Hungary, the Palatinate of the Rhine, and the Archbishop
+of Cologne, with the German nobles, as a class: on Ludwig's side were
+Bavaria, Bohemia, Thuringia, the cities and the middle class.
+Frederick's brother, Leopold, in attempting to subjugate the Swiss
+cantons, the freedom of which had been confirmed by Ludwig, suffered a
+crushing defeat in the famous battle of Morgarten, fought in 1315. The
+Austrian force in this battle was 9,000, the Swiss 1,300: the latter
+lost 15 men, the former 1,500 soldiers and 640 knights. From that day
+the freedom of the Swiss was secured.
+
+[Sidenote: 1322.]
+
+The Pope, John XXII., declared that he only had the right of deciding
+between the two rival sovereigns, and used all the means in his power to
+assist Frederick. The war was prolonged until 1322, when, in a battle
+fought at Muehldorf, near Salzburg, the struggle was decided. After a
+combat of ten hours, the Bavarians gave way, and Ludwig narrowly escaped
+capture; then the Austrians, mistaking a part of the latter's army for
+the troops of Leopold, which were expected on the field, were themselves
+surrounded, and Frederick with 1,400 knights taken prisoner. The battle
+was, in fact, an earlier Waterloo in its character. Ludwig saluted
+Frederick with the words: "We are glad to see you, Cousin!" and then
+imprisoned him in a strong castle.
+
+There was now a truce in Germany, but no real peace. Ludwig felt himself
+strong enough to send some troops to the relief of Duke Visconti of
+Milan, who was hard pressed by a Neapolitan army in the interest of the
+Pope. For this act, John XXII. not only excommunicated and cursed him
+officially, but extended the Papal "Interdict" over Germany. The latter
+measure was one which formerly occasioned the greatest dismay among the
+people, but it had now lost much of its power. The "Interdict"
+prohibited all priestly offices in the lands to which it was applied.
+The churches were closed, the bells were silent, no honors were paid to
+the dead, and it was even ordered that the marriage ceremony should be
+performed in the churchyards. But the German people refused to submit to
+such an outrage; the few priests who attempted to obey the Pope, were
+either driven away or compelled to perform their religious duties as
+usual.
+
+The next event in the struggle was a conspiracy of Leopold of Austria
+with Charles IV. of France, favored by the Pope, to overthrow Ludwig.
+But the other German princes who were concerned in it quietly withdrew
+when the time came for action, and the plot failed. Then Ludwig, tired
+of his trials, sent his prisoner Frederick to Leopold as a mediator, the
+former promising to return and give himself up, if he should not
+succeed. Leopold was implacable, and Frederick kept his word, although
+the Pope offered to relieve him of his promise, and threatened him with
+excommunication for not breaking it. Ludwig was generous enough to
+receive him as a friend, to give him his full liberty and dignity, and
+even to divide his royal rule privately with him. The latter
+arrangement was so unpractical that it was not openly proclaimed, but
+the good understanding between the two contributed to the peace of
+Germany. Leopold died in 1326, and Ludwig enjoyed an undisputed
+authority.
+
+[Sidenote: 1327. QUARREL WITH THE POPE.]
+
+In 1327, the Emperor felt himself strong enough to undertake an
+expedition to Italy, his object being to relieve Lombardy from the
+aggressions of Naples, and to be crowned Emperor in Rome in spite of the
+Pope. In this, he was tolerably successful. He defeated the Guelphs and
+was crowned in Milan the same year, then marched to Rome, and was
+crowned Emperor early in 1328, under the auspices of the Colonna family,
+by two excommunicated Bishops. He presided at an assembly of the Roman
+people, at which John XXII. was declared a heretic and renegade, and a
+Franciscan monk elected Pope under the name of Nikolaus V. Ludwig,
+however, soon became as unpopular as any of his predecessors, and from
+the same cause--the imposition of heavy taxes upon the people, in order
+to keep up his imperial state. He remained two years longer in Italy,
+encountering as much hate as friendship, and was then recalled to
+Germany by the death of Frederick of Austria.
+
+The Papal excommunication, which the Hohenstaufen Emperors had borne so
+easily, seems to have weighed sorely upon Ludwig's mind. His nature was
+weak and vacillating, capable of only a limited amount of endurance. He
+began to fear that his soul was in peril, and made the most desperate
+efforts to be reconciled with the Pope. The latter, however, demanded
+his immediate abdication as a preliminary to any further negotiation,
+and was supported in this demand by the king of France, who was very
+ambitious of obtaining the crown of Germany, with the help of the
+Church. King John of Bohemia acted as a go-between, but he was also
+secretly pledged to France, and an agreement was nearly concluded, of a
+character so cowardly and disgraceful to Ludwig that when some hint of
+it became known, there arose such an angry excitement in Germany that
+the Emperor did not dare to move further in the matter.
+
+[Sidenote: 1338.]
+
+John XXII. died about this time (1334) and was succeeded by Benedict
+XII., a man of a milder and more conciliatory nature, with whom Ludwig
+immediately commenced fresh negotiations. He offered to abdicate, to
+swear allegiance to the Pope, to undergo any humiliation which the
+latter might impose upon him. Benedict was quite willing to be
+reconciled to him on these conditions, but the arrangement was prevented
+by Philip VI. of France, who hoped, like his father, to acquire the
+crown of Germany. As soon as this became evident, Ludwig adopted a
+totally different course. In the summer of 1338 he called a Diet at
+Frankfort (which was afterwards adjourned to Rense, near Coblentz), and
+laid the matter before the Bishops, princes and free cities, which were
+now represented.
+
+The Diet unanimously declared that the Emperor had exhausted all proper
+means of reconciliation, and the Pope alone was responsible for the
+continuance of the struggle. The excommunication and interdict were
+pronounced null and void, and severe punishments were decreed for the
+priests who should heed them in any way. As it was evident that France
+had created the difficulty, an alliance was concluded with England,
+whose king, Edward III., appeared before the Diet at Coblentz, and
+procured the acknowledgment of his claim to the crown of France. Ludwig,
+as Emperor, sat upon the Royal Seat at Rense, and all the German
+princes--with the exception of king John of Bohemia, who had gone over
+to France--made the solemn declaration that the King and Emperor whom
+they had elected, or should henceforth elect, derived his dignity and
+power from God, and did not require the sanction of the Pope. They also
+bound themselves to defend the rights and liberties of the Empire
+against any assailant whatever. These were brave words: but we shall
+presently see how much they were worth.
+
+The alliance with England was made for seven years. Ludwig was to
+furnish German troops for Edward III.'s army, in return for English
+gold. For a year he was faithful to the contract, then the old
+superstitious fear came over him, and he listened to the secret counsels
+of Philip VI. of France, who offered to mediate with the Pope in his
+behalf. But, after Ludwig had been induced to break his word with
+England, Philip, having gained what he wanted, prevented his
+reconciliation with the Pope. This miserable weakness on the Emperor's
+part destroyed his authority in Germany. At the same time he was
+imitating every one of his Imperial predecessors, in trying to
+strengthen the power of his family. He gave Brandenburg to his eldest
+son, Ludwig, married his second son, Henry, to Margaret of Tyrol, whom
+he arbitrarily divorced from her first husband, a son of John of
+Bohemia, and claimed the sovereignty of Holland as his wife's
+inheritance.
+
+[Sidenote: 1347. DEATH OF LUDWIG THE BAVARIAN.]
+
+Ludwig had now become so unpopular, that when another Pope, Clement VI.,
+in April, 1346, hurled against him a new excommunication, expressed in
+the most horrible terms, the Archbishops made it a pretext for openly
+opposing the Emperor's rule. They united with the Pope in selecting
+Karl, the son of John of Bohemia (who fell by the sword of the Black
+Prince the same summer, at the famous battle of Crecy), and proclaiming
+him Emperor in Ludwig's stead. All the cities, and the temporal princes,
+except those of Bohemia and Saxony, stood faithfully by Ludwig, and Karl
+could gain no advantage over him. He went to France, then to Italy, and
+finally betook himself to Bohemia, where he was a rival monarch only in
+name.
+
+In October, 1347, Ludwig, who was then residing in Munich, his favorite
+capital, was stricken with apoplexy while hunting, and fell dead from
+his horse. He was sixty-three years old, and had reigned thirty-three
+years. In German history, he is always called "Ludwig the Bavarian."
+During the last ten years of his reign many parts of Germany suffered
+severely from famine, and a pestilence called "the black death" carried
+off thousands of persons in every city. These misfortunes probably
+confirmed him in his superstition, and partly account for his shameful
+and degrading policy. The only service which his long rule rendered to
+Germany sprang from the circumstance, that, having been supported by the
+free cities in his war with Frederick of Austria, he was compelled to
+protect them against the aggressions of the princes afterwards, and in
+various ways to increase their rights and privileges. There were now 150
+such cities, and from this time forward they constituted a separate
+power in the Empire. They encouraged learning and literature, favored
+peace and security of travel for the sake of their commerce, organized
+and protected the mechanic arts, and thus, during the fourteenth and
+fifteenth centuries, contributed more to the progress of Germany than
+all her spiritual and temporal rulers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+THE LUXEMBURG EMPERORS, KARL IV. AND WENZEL.
+
+(1347--1410.)
+
+The Imperial Crown in the Market --Guenther of Schwarzburg. --Karl IV.
+    Emperor. --His Character and Policy. --The University of Prague.
+    --Rienzi Tribune of Rome. --Karl's Course in Italy. --The "Golden
+    Bull." --Its Provisions and Effect. --Coronation in Rome. --The
+    Last Ten Years of his Reign. --His Death. --Eberhard the Greiner.
+    --The "Hansa" and its Victories. --Achievements of the German
+    Order. --Wenzel becomes Emperor. --The Suabian League. --The Battle
+    of Sempach. --Independence of Switzerland. --Defeat of the Suabian
+    Cities. --Wenzel's Rule in Prague. --Conspiracy against him.
+    --Schism in the Roman Church. --Count Rupert Rival Emperor.
+    --Convention of Marbach. --Anarchy in Germany. --Death-Blow to the
+    German Order. --Rupert's Death.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1347.]
+
+Although the German princes were nearly unanimous in the determination
+that no member of the house of Wittelsbach (Bavaria) should again be
+Emperor, they were by no means willing to accept Karl of Bohemia.[B]
+Ludwig's son, Ludwig of Brandenburg, made no claim to his father's
+crown, but he united with Saxony, Mayence and the Palatinate of the
+Rhine, in offering it to Edward III. of England. When the latter
+declined, they chose Count Ernest of Meissen, who, however, sold his
+claim to Karl for 10,000 silver marks. Then they took up Guenther of
+Schwarzburg, a gallant and popular prince, who seemed to have a good
+prospect of success. In this emergency Karl supported the pretensions of
+an adventurer, known as "the False Waldemar," to Brandenburg, against
+Ludwig, and thus compelled the latter to treat with him. Soon afterwards
+Guenther of Schwarzburg died, poisoned, it was generally believed, by a
+physician whom Karl had bribed, and by the end of 1348 the latter was
+Emperor of Germany, as Karl IV.
+
+[B] Of the House of Luxemburg.
+
+[Sidenote: 1348. KARL IV.]
+
+At this time he was thirty-three years old. He had been educated in
+France and Italy, and was an accomplished scholar: he both spoke and
+wrote the Bohemian, German, French, Italian and Latin languages. He was
+a thorough diplomatist, resembling in this respect Rudolf of Hapsburg,
+from whom he differed in his love of pomp and state, and in the care he
+took to keep himself always well supplied with money, which he well knew
+how and when to use. He had first purchased the influence of the Pope by
+promising to disregard the declarations of the Diet of 1338 at Rense,
+and by relinquishing all claims to Italy. Then he won the free cities to
+his side by offers of more extended privileges; and the German princes,
+for form's sake, elected him a second time, thus acknowledging the Papal
+authority which they had so boldly defied, ten years before.
+
+One of Karl's first acts was to found, in Prague--the city he selected
+as his capital--the _first_ German University, which he endowed so
+liberally and organized so thoroughly that in a few years it was
+attended by six or seven thousand students. For several years afterwards
+he occupied himself in establishing order throughout Germany, and
+meanwhile negotiated with the Pope in regard to his coronation as Roman
+Emperor. In spite of his complete submission to the latter, there were
+many difficulties to be overcome, arising out of the influence of France
+over the Papacy, which was still established at Avignon. Karl arrested
+Rienzi, "the last Tribune of Rome," and kept him for a time imprisoned
+in Prague; but when the latter was sent back to Rome as Senator by Pope
+Innocent VI., in 1354, Karl was allowed to commence his Italian journey.
+He was crowned Roman Emperor on the 5th of April, 1355, by a Cardinal
+sent from Avignon for that purpose. In compliance with his promise to
+Pope Innocent, he remained in Rome only a single day.
+
+Instead of attempting to settle the disorders which convulsed Italy,
+Karl turned his journey to good account by selling all the remaining
+Imperial rights and privileges to the republics and petty rulers, for
+hard cash. The poet Petrarch had looked forward to his coming as Dante
+had to that of his grandfather, Henry VII., but satirized him bitterly
+when he returned to Bohemia with his money. He left Italy ridiculed and
+despised, but reached Germany with greatly increased power. His next
+measure was to call a Diet, for the purpose of permanently settling the
+relation of the German princes to the Empire, and the forms to be
+observed in electing an Emperor. All had learned, several centuries too
+late to be of much service, the necessity of some established order in
+these matters, and they came to a final agreement at Metz, on Christmas
+Day, 1356.
+
+[Sidenote: 1356.]
+
+Then was promulgated the decree known as the "Golden Bull," which
+remained a law in Germany until the Empire came to an end, just 450
+years afterwards. It commences with these words: "Every kingdom which is
+not united within itself will go to ruin: for its princes are the
+kindred of robbers, wherefore God removes the light of their minds from
+their office, they become blind leaders of the blind, and their darkened
+thoughts are the source of many misdeeds." The Golden Bull confirms the
+former custom of having seven Chief Electors--the Archbishops of
+Mayence, Treves and Cologne, the first of whom is Arch-Chancellor; the
+King of Bohemia, Arch-Cupbearer; the Count Palatine of the Rhine,
+Arch-Steward; the Duke of Saxony, Arch-Marshal, and the Margrave of
+Brandenburg, Arch-Chamberlain. The last four princes receive full
+authority over their territories, and there is no appeal, even to the
+Emperor, from their decisions. Their rule is transmitted to the eldest
+son; they have the right to coin money, to work mines, and to impose all
+taxes which formerly belonged to the Empire.
+
+These are its principal features. The claims of the Pope to authority
+over the Emperor are not mentioned; the position of the other
+independent princes is left very much as it was, and the cities are
+prohibited from forming unions without the Imperial consent. The only
+effect of this so-called "Constitution" was to strengthen immensely the
+power of the four favored princes, and to encourage all the other rulers
+to imitate them. It introduced a certain order, and therefore was better
+than the previous absence of all law upon the subject; but it held the
+German people in a state of practical serfdom, it perpetuated their
+division and consequent weakness, and it gave the spirit of the Middle
+Ages a longer life in Germany than in any other civilized country in the
+world.
+
+The remaining events of Karl IV.'s life are of no great historical
+importance. In 1363 his son, Wenzel, only two years old, was crowned at
+Prague as king of Bohemia, and soon afterwards he was called upon by the
+Pope, Urban V., who found that his residence in Avignon was becoming
+more and more a state of captivity, to assist him in returning to Rome.
+In 1365, therefore, Karl set out with a considerable force, entered
+Southern France, crowned himself king of Burgundy at Arles--which was a
+hollow and ridiculous farce--and in 1368 reached Rome, whither Pope
+Urban had gone in advance. Here his wife was formally crowned as Roman
+Empress, and he humiliated himself by walking from the Castle of St.
+Angelo to St. Peter's, leading the Pope's mule by the bridle,--an act
+which drew upon him the contempt of the Roman people. He had few or no
+more privileges to sell, so he met every evidence of hostility with a
+proclamation of amnesty, and returned to Germany with the intention of
+violating his own Golden Bull, by having his son Wenzel proclaimed his
+successor. His departure marks the end of German interference in Italy.
+
+[Sidenote: 1376. WENZEL ELECTED SUCCESSOR.]
+
+For ten years longer Karl IV. continued to strengthen his family by
+marriage, by granting to the cities the right of union in return for
+their support, and by purchasing the influence of such princes as were
+accessible to bribes. He was so cool and calculating, and pursued his
+policy with so much patience and skill, that the most of his plans
+succeeded. His son Wenzel was elected his successor by a Diet held at
+Frankfort in January, 1376, each of the chief Electors receiving 100,000
+florins for his vote, and this choice was confirmed by the Pope. To his
+second son, Sigismund, he gave Brandenburg, which he had obtained partly
+by intrigue and partly by purchase, and to his third son, John, the
+province of Lusatia, adjoining Silesia. His health had been gradually
+failing, and in November, 1378, he died in Prague, sixty-three years
+old, leaving the German Empire in a more disorderly state than he had
+found it. His tastes were always Bohemian rather than German: he
+preferred Prague to any other residence, and whatever good he
+intentionally did was conferred on his own immediate subjects. More than
+a century afterwards, the Emperor Maximilian of Hapsburg very justly
+said of him: "Karl IV. was a genuine father to Bohemia, but only a
+step-father to the rest of Germany."
+
+During the latter years of his reign, two very different movements,
+independent of the Imperial will, or in spite of it, had been started in
+Southern and Northern Germany. In Wuertemberg the cities united, and
+carried on a fierce war with Count Eberhard, surnamed the _Greiner_
+(Whiner). The struggle lasted for more than ten years, and out of it
+grew various leagues of the knights for the protection of their rights
+against the more powerful princes. In the North of Germany, the
+commercial cities, headed by Luebeck, Hamburg and Bremen, formed a
+league, which soon became celebrated under the name of "The Hansa,"
+which gradually drew the cities of the Rhine to unite with it, and,
+before the end of the century, developed into a great commercial, naval
+and military power.
+
+[Sidenote: 1375.]
+
+The Hanseatic League had its agencies in every commercial city, from
+Novgorod in Russia to Lisbon; its vessels filled the Baltic and the
+North Sea, and almost the entire commerce of Northern Europe was in its
+hands. When, in 1361, king Waldemar III. of Denmark took possession of
+the island of Gothland, which the cities had colonized, they fitted out
+a great fleet, besieged Copenhagen, finally drove Waldemar from his
+kingdom and forced the Danes to accept their conditions. Shortly
+afterwards they defeated king Hakon of Norway: their influence over
+Sweden was already secured, and thus they became an independent
+political power. Karl IV. visited Luebeck a few years before his death,
+in the hope of making himself head of the Hanseatic League; but the
+merchants were as good diplomatists as himself, and he obtained no
+recognition whatever. Had not the cities been so widely scattered along
+the coast, and each more or less jealous of the others, they might have
+laid the foundation of a strong North-German nation; but their bond of
+union was not firm enough for that.
+
+The German Order, by this time, also possessed an independent realm, the
+capital of which was established at Marienburg, not far from Dantzic.
+The distance of the territory it had conquered in Eastern Prussia from
+the rest of the Empire, and the circumstance that it had also
+acknowledged itself a dependency of the Papal power, enabled its Grand
+Masters to say, openly: "If the Empire claims authority over us, we
+belong to the Pope; if the Pope claims any such authority, we belong to
+the Emperor." In fact, although the Order had now been established for a
+hundred and fifty years, it had never been directly assisted by the
+Imperial power; yet it had changed a great tract of wilderness,
+inhabited by Slavonic barbarians, into a rich and prosperous land, with
+fifty-five cities, thousands of villages, and an entire population of
+more than two millions, mostly German colonists. It adopted a fixed code
+of laws, maintained order and security throughout its territory,
+encouraged science and letters, and made the scholar and minstrel as
+welcome at its stately court in Marienburg, as they had been at that of
+Frederick II. in Palermo.
+
+[Sidenote: 1386. THE BATTLE OF SEMPACH.]
+
+There could be no more remarkable contrast than between the weakness,
+selfishness and despotic tendencies of the German Emperors and Electors
+during the fourteenth century, and the strong and orderly development of
+the Hanseatic League and the German Order in the North, or of the
+handful of free Swiss in the South.
+
+King Wenzel (Wenczeslas in Bohemian) was only seventeen years old when
+his father died, but he had been well educated and already possessed
+some experience in governing. In fact, Karl IV.'s anxiety to secure the
+succession to the throne in his own family led him to force Wenzel's
+mind to a premature activity, and thus ruined him for life. He had
+enjoyed no real childhood and youth, and he soon became hard, cynical,
+wilful, without morality and even without ambition. In the beginning of
+his reign, nevertheless, he made an earnest attempt to heal the
+divisions of the Roman Church, and to establish peace between Count
+Eberhard the Whiner and the United Cities of Suabia.
+
+In the latter quarrel, Leopold of Austria also took part. He had been
+appointed Governor of several of the free cities by Wenzel, and he
+seized the occasion to attempt to restore the authority of the Hapsburgs
+over the Swiss Cantons. The latter now numbered eight, the three
+original cantons having been joined by Lucerne, Zurich, Glarus, Zug and
+Berne. They had been invited to make common cause with the Suabian
+cities, more than fifty of which were united in the struggle to maintain
+their rights; but the Swiss, although in sympathy with the cities,
+declined to march beyond their own territory. Leopold decided to
+subjugate each, separately. In 1386, with an army of 4,000 Austrian and
+Suabian knights, he invaded the Cantons. The Swiss collected 1,300
+farmers, fishers and herdsmen, armed with halberds and battle-axes, and
+met Leopold at Sempach, on the 9th of July.
+
+The 4,000 knights dismounted, and advanced in close ranks, presenting a
+wall of steel, defended by rows of levelled spears, to the Swiss in
+their leathern jackets. It seemed impossible to break their solid front,
+or even to reach them with the Swiss weapons. Then Arnold of Winkelried
+stepped forth and said to his countrymen: "Dear brothers, I will open a
+road for you: take care of my wife and children!" He gathered together
+as many spears as he could grasp with both arms, and threw himself
+forward upon them: the Swiss sprang into the gap, and the knights began
+to fall on all sides from their tremendous blows. Many were smothered in
+the press, trampled under foot in their heavy armor: Duke Leopold and
+nearly 700 of his followers perished, and the rest were scattered in all
+directions. It was one of the most astonishing victories in history. Two
+years afterwards the Swiss were again splendidly victorious at Naefels,
+and from that time they were an independent nation.
+
+[Sidenote: 1389.]
+
+The Suabian cities were so encouraged by these defeats of the party of
+the nobles, that in 1388 they united in a common war against the Duke of
+Bavaria, Count Eberhard of Wuertemberg and the Count Palatine Rupert.
+After a short but very fierce and wasting struggle, they were defeated
+at Doeffingen and Worms, deprived of the privileges for which they had
+fought, and compelled to accept a truce of six years. In 1389, a Diet
+was held, which prohibited them from forming any further union, and thus
+completely re-established the power of the reigning princes. Wenzel
+endeavored to enforce an internal peace throughout the whole Empire, but
+could not succeed: what was law for the cities was not allowed to be
+equally law for the princes. It seems probable, from many features of
+the struggle, that the former designed imitating the Swiss cantons, and
+founding a Suabian republic, if they had been successful; but the entire
+governing class of Germany, from the Emperor down to the knightly
+highwayman, was against them, and they must have been crushed in any
+case, sooner or later.
+
+For eight or nine years after these events, Wenzel remained in Prague
+where his reign was distinguished only by an almost insane barbarity. He
+always had an executioner at his right hand, and whoever refused to
+submit to his orders was instantly beheaded. He kept a pack of
+bloodhounds, which were sometimes let loose even upon his own guests: on
+one occasion his wife, the Empress Elizabeth, was nearly torn to pieces
+by them. He ordered the confessor of the latter, a priest named John of
+Nepomuck, to be thrown into the Moldau river for refusing to tell him
+what the Empress had confessed. By this act he made John of Nepomuck the
+patron saint of Bohemia. Some one once wrote upon the door of his palace
+the words: "_Venceslaus, alter Nero_" (Wenzel, a second Nero); whereupon
+he wrote the line below: "_Si non fui adhuc, ero_" (If I have not been
+one hitherto, I will be now). When the city of Rothenberg refused to
+advance him 4,000 florins, he sent this message to the authorities: "The
+devil began to shear a hog, and spake thus, 'Great cry and little
+wool'!"
+
+[Sidenote: 1398. QUARREL WITH THE POPE.]
+
+In short, Wenzel was so little of an Emperor and so much of a brutal
+madman, that a conspiracy, at the head of which were his cousin Jodocus
+of Moravia, and Duke Albert of Austria, was formed against him. He was
+taken prisoner and conveyed to Austria, where he was held in close
+confinement until his brother Sigismund, aided by a Diet of the other
+German princes, procured his release. In return for this service, and
+probably, also, to save himself the trouble of governing, he appointed
+Sigismund Vicar of the Empire. In 1398 he called a Diet at Frankfort,
+and again endeavored, but without much success, to enforce a general
+peace. The schism in the Roman Church, which lasted for forty years, the
+rival popes in Rome and Avignon cursing and making war upon each other,
+had at this time become a scandal to Christendom, and the Papal
+authority had sunk so low that the temporal rulers now ventured to
+interfere. Wenzel went to Rheims, where he had an interview with Charles
+VI. of France, in order to settle the quarrel. It was agreed that the
+former should compel Bonifacius IX. in Rome, and the latter Benedict
+XIII. in Avignon, to abdicate, so that the Church might have an
+opportunity to unite on a single Pope; but neither monarch succeeded in
+carrying out the plan.
+
+On the contrary, Bonifacius IX. went secretly to work to depose Wenzel.
+He gained the support of the four Electors of the Rhine, who, headed by
+the Archbishop of Mayence, came together in 1400, proclaimed that Wenzel
+had forfeited his Imperial dignity, and elected the Count Palatine
+Rupert, a member of the house of Wittelsbach (Bavaria), in his place.
+The city of Aix-la-Chapelle shut its gates upon the latter, and he was
+crowned in Cologne. A majority of the smaller German princes, as well as
+of the free cities, refused to acknowledge him; but, on the other hand,
+none of them made any movement in Wenzel's favor, and so there were,
+practically, two separate heads to the Empire.
+
+Rupert imagined that his coronation in Rome would secure his authority
+in Germany. He therefore collected an army, entered into an alliance
+with the republic of Florence against Milan, and marched to Italy in
+1401. Near Brescia he met the army of the Lombards, commanded by the
+Milanese general, Barbiano, and was so signally defeated that he was
+compelled to return to Germany. In the meantime Wenzel had come to a
+temporary understanding with Jodocus of Moravia and the Hapsburg Dukes
+of Austria, and his prospects improved as Rupert's diminished. It was
+not long, however, before he quarrelled with his brother Sigismund, and
+was imprisoned by the latter. Then ensued a state of general confusion,
+the cause of which is easy to understand, but the features of which it
+is not easy to make clear.
+
+[Sidenote: 1405.]
+
+A number of reigning princes and cities held a convention at Marbach in
+1405, and formed a temporary union, the object of which was evidently to
+create a third power in the Empire. Both Rupert and Wenzel at first
+endeavored to break up this new league, and then, failing in the
+attempt, both intrigued for its support. The Archbishop of Mayence and
+the Margrave of Baden, who stood at its head, were secretly allied with
+France; the smaller princes were ambitious to gain for themselves a
+power equal to that of the seven Electors, and the cities hoped to
+recover some of their lost rights. The League of Marbach, as it is
+called in history, had as little unity or harmony as the Empire itself.
+All Germany was given up to anarchy, and seemed on the point of falling
+to pieces: so much had the famous Golden Bull of Karl IV. accomplished
+in fifty years!
+
+On the eastern shore of the Baltic, also, the march of German
+civilization received an almost fatal check. The two strongest neighbors
+of the German Order, the Poles and Lithuanians, were now united under
+one crown, and they defeated the army of the Order, 60,000 strong, under
+the walls of Wilna, in 1389. After an unsatisfactory peace of some
+years, hostilities were again resumed, and both sides prepared for a
+desperate and final struggle. Each raised an army of more than 100,000
+men, among whom, on the Polish side, there were 40,000 Russians and
+Tartars. The decisive battle was fought at Tannenberg, in July, 1410,
+and the German Order, after losing 40,000 men, retreated from the field.
+It was compelled to give up a portion of its territory to Poland, and
+pay a heavy tribute: from that day its power was broken, and the
+Slavonic races encroached more and more upon the Germans along the
+Baltic.
+
+[Sidenote: 1410. THE ANTI-EMPEROR RUPERT.]
+
+During this same period Holland was rapidly becoming estranged from the
+German Empire, and France had obtained possession of the greater part of
+Flanders. Luxemburg and part of Lorraine were incorporated with
+Burgundy, which was rising in power and importance, and had become
+practically independent of Germany. There was now no one to guard the
+ancient boundaries, and probably nothing but the war between England and
+France prevented the latter kingdom from greatly increasing her
+territory at the expense of the Empire.
+
+Although Rupert of the Palatinate acquired but a limited authority in
+Southern Germany, he is generally classed among the German Emperors,
+perhaps because Wenzel's power, after the year 1400, was no greater than
+his own. The confusion and uncertainty in regard to the Imperial dignity
+lasted until 1410, when Rupert determined to make war upon the
+Archbishop of Mayence--who had procured his election, and since the
+League of Marbach was his chief enemy--as the first step towards
+establishing his authority. In the midst of his preparations he died, on
+the 18th of May, 1410.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+THE REIGN OF SIGISMUND AND THE HUSSITE WAR.
+
+(1410--1437.)
+
+Three Emperors in Germany and Three Popes in Rome. --Sigismund sole
+    Emperor. --His Appearance and Character. --Religious Movements in
+    Bohemia. --John Huss and his Doctrines. --Division of the
+    University of Prague. --A Council of the Church called at
+    Constance. --Grand Assembly of all Nations. --Organization of the
+    Council. --Flight and Capture of Pope John XXIII. --Treatment of
+    Huss. --His Trial and Execution. --Jerome of Prague burned.
+    --Religious Revolt in Bohemia. --Frederick of Hohenzollern receives
+    Brandenburg. --The Bohemians rise under Ziska. --Their two Parties.
+    --Ziska's Character. --The Bohemian Demands. --Ziska's Victories.
+    --Negotiations with Lithuania and Poland. --Ziska's Death.
+    --Victories of Procopius. --Hussite Invasions of Germany. --The
+    Fifth "Crusade" against Bohemia. --The Hussites Triumphant. --The
+    Council of Basel. --Peace made with the Hussites. --Their Internal
+    Wars. --Revolt against Sigismund. --His Death.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1410.]
+
+In 1410, the year of Rupert's death, Europe was edified by the spectacle
+of three Emperors in Germany, and three Popes of the Church of Rome, all
+claiming to rule at the same time. The Diet was divided between
+Sigismund and Jodocus of Moravia, both of whom were declared elected,
+while Wenzel insisted that he was still Emperor. A Council held at Pisa,
+about the same time, deposed Pope Gregory XII. in Rome and Pope Benedict
+XIII. in Avignon, and elected a third, who took the name of Alexander V.
+But neither of the former obeyed the decrees of the Council: Gregory
+XII. betook himself to Rimini, Alexander, soon succeeded by John XXIII.,
+reigned in Rome, and the three spiritual rivals began a renewed war of
+proclamations and curses. In order to obtain money, they sold priestly
+appointments to the highest bidder, carried on a trade in pardons and
+indulgences, and brought such disgrace on the priestly office and the
+Christian name, that the spirit of the so-called "heretical" sects,
+though trampled down in fire and blood, was kept everywhere alive among
+the people.
+
+[Sidenote: 1411. THE EMPEROR SIGISMUND.]
+
+The political rivalry in Germany did not last long. Jodocus of Moravia,
+of whom an old historian says: "He was considered a great man, but there
+was nothing great about him, except his beard," died soon after his
+partial election, Wenzel was persuaded to give up his opposition, and
+Sigismund was generally recognized as the sole Emperor. In addition to
+the Mark of Brandenburg, which he had received from his father, Karl
+IV., he had obtained the crown of Hungary through his wife, and he
+claimed also the kingdoms of Bosnia and Dalmatia. He had fought the
+Turks on the lower Danube, had visited Constantinople, and was already
+distinguished for his courage and knightly bearing. Unlike his brother
+Wenzel, who had the black hair and high cheek-bones of a Bohemian, he
+was blonde-haired, blue-eyed and strikingly handsome. He spoke several
+languages, was witty in speech, cheerful in demeanor, and popular with
+all classes, but, unfortunately, both fickle and profligate. Moreover,
+he was one of the vainest men that ever wore a crown.
+
+Before Sigismund entered upon his reign, the depraved condition of the
+Roman clergy, resulting from the general demoralization of the Church,
+had given rise to a new and powerful religious movement in Bohemia. As
+early as 1360, independent preachers had arisen among the people there,
+advocating the pure truths of the Gospel, and exhorting their hearers to
+turn their backs on the pride and luxury which prevailed, to live simply
+and righteously, and do good to their fellow-men. Although persecuted by
+the priests, they found many followers, and their example soon began to
+be more widely felt, especially as Wickliffe, in England, was preaching
+a similar doctrine at the same time. The latter's translation of the
+Bible was finished in 1383, and portions of it, together with his other
+writings in favor of a Reformation of the Christian Church, were carried
+to Prague soon afterwards.
+
+The great leader of the movement in Bohemia was John Huss, who was born
+in 1369, studied at the University of Prague, became a teacher there,
+and at the same time a defender of Wickliffe's doctrines, in 1398, and
+four years afterwards, in spite of the fierce opposition of the clergy,
+was made Rector of the University. With him was associated Jerome
+(Hieronymus), a young Bohemian nobleman, who had studied at Oxford, and
+was also inspired by Wickliffe's writings. The learning and lofty
+personal character of both gave them an influence in Prague, which
+gradually extended over all Bohemia. Huss preached with the greatest
+earnestness and eloquence against the Roman doctrine of absolution, the
+worship of saints and images, the Papal trade in offices and
+indulgences, and the idea of a purgatory from which souls could be freed
+by masses celebrated on their behalf. He advocated a return to the
+simplicity of the early Christian Church, especially in the use of the
+sacrament (communion). The Popes had changed the form of administering
+the sacrament, giving only bread to the laymen, while the priests
+partook of both bread and wine: Huss, and the sect which took his name,
+demanded that it should be administered to all "in both forms." Thus the
+cup or sacramental chalice, became the symbol of the latter, in the
+struggle which followed.
+
+[Sidenote: 1409.]
+
+The first consequence of the preaching of Huss was a division between
+the Bohemians and Germans, in the University of Prague. The Germans took
+the part of Rome, but the Bohemians secured the support of king Wenzel
+through his queen, who was a follower of Huss, and maintained their
+ascendency. Thereupon the German professors and students, numbering
+5,000, left Prague in a body, in 1409, and migrated to Leipzig, where
+they founded a new University. These matters were reported to the Roman
+Pope, who immediately excommunicated Huss and his followers. Soon
+afterwards, the Pope (John XXIII.), desiring to subdue the king of
+Naples, offered pardons and indulgences for crimes to all who would take
+up arms on his side. Huss and Jerome preached against this as an
+abomination, and the latter publicly burned the Pope's bull in the
+streets of Prague. The conflict now became so fierce that Wenzel
+banished both from the city, many of Huss's friends among the clergy
+fell away from him, and he offered to submit his doctrines to a general
+Council of the Church.
+
+Such a Council, in fact, was then demanded by all Christendom. The
+intelligent classes in all countries felt that the demoralization caused
+by the corruption of the clergy and the scandalous quarrels of three
+rival Popes could no longer be endured. The Council at Pisa, in 1409,
+had only made matters worse by adding another Pope to the two at Rome
+and Avignon; for, although it claimed the highest spiritual authority on
+earth, it was not obeyed. The Chancellor of the University of Paris
+called upon the Emperor Sigismund to move in favor of a new Council; all
+the Christian powers of Europe promised their support, and finally one
+of the Popes, John XXIII., being driven from Rome, was persuaded to
+agree, so that a grand OEcumenical Council, with authority over the
+Papacy, was summoned to meet in the city of Constance, in the autumn of
+the year 1414.
+
+[Sidenote: 1414. THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE.]
+
+It was one of the most imposing assemblies ever held in Europe. Pope
+John XXIII. personally appeared, accompanied by 600 Italians; the other
+two Popes sent ambassadors to represent their interests. The patriarchs
+of Jerusalem, Constantinople and Aquileia, the Grand-Masters of the
+knightly Orders, thirty-three Cardinals, twenty Archbishops, two hundred
+Bishops and many thousand priests and monks, were present. Then came the
+Emperor Sigismund, the representatives of all Christian powers,
+including the Byzantine Emperor, and even an envoy from the Turkish
+Sultan, with sixteen hundred princes and their followers. The entire
+concourse of strangers at Constance was computed at 150,000, and thirty
+different languages were heard at the same time. A writer of the day
+thus describes the characteristics of the four principal races: "The
+Germans are impetuous, but have much endurance, the French are boastful
+and arrogant, the English prompt and sagacious, and the Italians subtle
+and intriguing." Gamblers, mountebanks and dramatic performers were also
+on hand; great tournaments, races and banquets were constantly held;
+yet, although the Council lasted four years, there was no disturbance of
+the public order, no increase in the cost of living, and no epidemic
+diseases in the crowded camps.
+
+The professed objects of the Council were: a reformation of the Church,
+its reorganization under a single head, and the suppression of heresy.
+The members were divided into four "Nations"--the _German_, including
+the Bohemians, Hungarians, Poles, Russians and Greeks; the _French_,
+including Normans, Spaniards and Portuguese; the _English_, including
+Irish, Scotch, Danes, Norwegians and Swedes; and the _Italian_,
+embracing all the different States from the Alps to Sicily. Each of
+these nations held its own separate convention, and cast a single vote,
+so that no measure could be carried, unless _three_ of the four nations
+were in favor of it. Germany and England advocated the reformation of
+the Church, as the first and most important question; France and Italy
+cared only to have the quarrel of the Popes settled, and finally
+persuaded England to join them. Thus the reformation was postponed, and
+that was practically the end of it.
+
+[Sidenote: 1415.]
+
+As soon as it became evident that all three of the Popes would be
+deposed by the Council, John XXIII. fled from Constance in disguise,
+with the assistance of the Hapsburg Duke, Frederick of Austria. Both
+were captured; the Pope, whose immorality had already made him infamous,
+was imprisoned at Heidelberg, and Frederick was declared to have
+forfeited his lands. Although Austria was afterwards restored to him,
+all the Hapsburg territory lying between Zurich, the Rhine and the Lake
+of Constance was given to Switzerland, and has remained Swiss ever
+since. A second Pope, Gregory XII., now voluntarily abdicated, but the
+third, Benedict XIII., refused to follow the example, and maintained a
+sort of Papal authority in Spain until his death. The Council elected a
+member of the family of Colonna, in Rome, who took the name of Martin V.
+He was no sooner chosen and installed in his office than, without
+awaiting the decrees of the Council, he began to conclude separate
+"Concordats" (agreements) with the princes. Thus the chief object of the
+Council was already thwarted, and the four nations took up the question
+of suppressing heresy.
+
+Huss, to whom the Emperor had sent a safe-conduct for the journey to and
+from Constance, and who was escorted by three Bohemian knights, was
+favorably received by the people, on the way. He reached
+Constance in November, 1414, and was soon afterwards--before any
+examination--arrested and thrown into a dungeon so foul that he became
+seriously ill. Sigismund insisted that he should be released, but the
+cardinals and bishops were so embittered against him that they defied
+the Emperor's authority. All that the latter could (or did) do for him,
+was to procure for him a trial, which began on the 7th of June, 1415.
+But instead of a trial, it was a savage farce. He was accused of the
+absurdest doctrines, among others of asserting that there were four
+Gods, and every time he attempted to speak in his own defence, his voice
+was drowned by the outcries of the bishops and priests. He offered to
+renounce any doctrine he had taught, if it were proved contrary to the
+Gospel of Christ; but this proposition was received with derision. He
+was simply offered the choice between instantly denying all that he
+held as truth or being burned at the stake as a heretic.
+
+[Sidenote: 1415. HUSS AND JEROME BURNED.]
+
+On the 6th of July, the Council assembled in the Cathedral of Constance.
+After mass had been celebrated, Huss, who had steadfastly refused to
+recant, was led before the congregation of priests and princes, and
+clothed as a priest, to make his condemnation more solemn. A bishop read
+the charges against him, but every attempt he made to speak was forcibly
+silenced. Once, however, he raised his voice and demanded the fair
+hearing which had been promised, and to obtain which he had accepted the
+Emperor's protection,--fixing his eyes sternly upon Sigismund, who could
+not help blushing with shame. The sacramental cup was then placed in
+Huss's hands, and immediately snatched from him with the words: "Thou
+accursed Judas! we take from thee this cup, wherein the blood of Christ
+is offered up for the forgiveness of sins!" to which Huss replied: "I
+trust that to-day I shall drink of this cup in the Kingdom of God." Each
+article of his priestly dress was stripped from him with a new curse,
+and when, finally, all had been removed, his soul was solemnly commended
+to the Devil; whereupon he exclaimed: "And _I_ commend it to my Lord
+Jesus Christ."
+
+Huss was publicly burned to death the same day. On arriving at the stake
+he knelt and prayed so fervently, that the common people began to doubt
+whether he really was a heretic. Being again offered a chance to
+retract, he declared in a loud voice that he would seal by his death the
+truth of all he had taught. After the torch had been applied to the
+pile, he was heard to cry out, three times, from the midst of the
+flames: "Jesus Christ, son of the Living God, have mercy upon me!" Then
+his voice failed, and in a short time nothing was left of the body of
+the immortal martyr, except a handful of ashes which were thrown into
+the Rhine.
+
+Huss's friend, Jerome, who came to Constance on the express promise of
+the Council that he should not be imprisoned before a fair hearing, was
+thrown into a dungeon as soon as he arrived, and so broken down by
+sickness and cruelty that in September, 1415, he promised to give up his
+doctrines. But he soon recovered from this weakness, declared anew the
+truth of all he had taught, and defended himself before the Council in a
+speech of remarkable power and eloquence. He was condemned, and burned
+at the stake on the 30th of May, 1416.
+
+[Sidenote: 1416.]
+
+The fate of Huss and Jerome created an instant and fierce excitement
+among the Bohemians. An address, defending them against the charge of
+heresy and protesting against the injustice and barbarity of the
+Council, was signed by four or five hundred nobles, and forwarded to
+Constance. The only result was that the Council decreed that no
+safe-conduct could be allowed to protect a heretic, that the University
+of Prague must be recognized, and the strongest measures applied to
+suppress the Hussite doctrines in Bohemia. This was a defiance which the
+Bohemians courageously accepted. Men of all classes united in
+proclaiming that the doctrines of Huss should be freely taught and that
+no Interdict of the Church should be enforced: the University, and even
+Wenzel's queen, Sophia, favored this movement, which soon became so
+powerful that all priests who refused to administer the sacrament "in
+both forms" were driven from their churches.
+
+The Council sat at Constance until May, 1418, when it was dissolved by
+Pope Martin V. without having accomplished anything whatever tending to
+a permanent reformation of the Church. The only political event of
+importance during this time was a business transaction of Sigismund's,
+the results of which, reaching to our day, have decided the fate of
+Germany. In 1411, the Emperor was in great need of ready money, and
+borrowed 100,000 florins of Frederick of Hohenzollern, the Burgrave
+(_Burggraf_, "Count of the Castle") of Nuremberg, a direct descendant of
+the Hohenzollern who had helped Rudolf of Hapsburg to the Imperial
+crown. Sigismund gave his creditor a mortgage on the territory of
+Brandenburg, which had fallen into a state of great disorder. Frederick
+at once removed thither, and, in his own private interests, undertook to
+govern the country. He showed so much ability, and was so successful in
+quelling the robber-knights and establishing order, that in 1415
+Sigismund offered to sell him the sovereignty of Brandenburg (which made
+him, at the same time, an Elector of the Empire), for the additional sum
+of 300,000 gold florins. Frederick accepted the terms, and settled
+permanently in the little State which afterwards became the nucleus of
+the kingdom of Prussia, of which his own lineal descendants are now the
+rulers.
+
+[Sidenote: 1419. ZISKA HEADS THE BOHEMIANS.]
+
+When the Council of Constance was dissolved, Sigismund hastened to
+Hungary to carry on a new war with the Turks, who were already extending
+their conquests along the Danube. The Hussites in Bohemia employed this
+opportunity to organize themselves for resistance; 40,000 of them, in
+July, 1419, assembled on a mountain to which they gave the name of
+"Tabor," and chose as their leader a nobleman who was surnamed _Ziska_,
+"the one-eyed." The excitement soon rose to such a pitch that several
+monasteries were stormed and plundered. King Wenzel arrested some of the
+ringleaders, but this only inflamed the spirit of the people. They
+formed a procession in Prague, marched through the city, carrying the
+sacramental cup at their head, and took forcible possession of several
+churches. When they halted before the city-hall, to demand the release
+of their imprisoned brethren, stones were thrown at them from the
+windows, whereupon they broke into the building and hurled the
+Burgomaster and six other officials upon the upheld spears of those
+below. The news of this event so excited Wenzel that he was stricken
+with apoplexy, and died two weeks afterwards.
+
+The Hussites were already divided into two parties, one moderate in its
+demands, called the "Calixtines," from the Latin _calix_, a chalice,
+which was their symbol, the other radical and fanatic, called the
+"Taborites," who proclaimed their separation from the Church of Rome and
+a new system of brotherly equality through which they expected to
+establish the Millennium upon earth. The exigencies of their situation
+obliged these two parties to unite in common defence against the forces
+of the Church and the Empire, during the sixteen years of war which
+followed; but they always remained separated in their religious views,
+and mutually intolerant. Ziska, who called himself "John Ziska of the
+Chalice, commander in the hope of God of the Taborites," had been a
+friend and was an ardent follower of Huss. He was an old man,
+bald-headed, short, broad-shouldered, with a deep furrow across his
+brow, an enormous aquiline nose, and a short red moustache. In his
+genius for military operations, he ranks among the great commanders of
+the world: his quickness, energy and inventive talent were marvellous,
+but at the same time he knew neither tolerance nor mercy.
+
+[Sidenote: 1420.]
+
+Ziska's first policy was to arm the Bohemians. He introduced among them
+the "thunder-guns"--small field-pieces, which had been first used at the
+battle of Agincourt, between England and France, three years before; he
+shod the farmers' flails with iron, and taught them to crack helmets and
+armor with iron maces; and he invented a system of constructing
+temporary fortresses by binding strong wagons together with iron chains.
+Sigismund does not seem to have been aware of the formidable character
+of the movement until the end of his war with the Turks, some months
+afterwards, and he then persuaded the Pope to summon all Christendom to
+a crusade against Bohemia. During the year 1420 a force of 100,000
+soldiers was collected, and Sigismund marched at their head to Prague.
+The Hussites met him with the demand for the acceptance of the following
+articles: 1.--The word of God to be freely preached; 2.--The sacrament
+to be administered in both forms; 3.--The clergy to possess no property
+or temporal authority; 4.--All sins to be punished by the proper
+authorities. Sigismund was ready to accept these articles as the price
+of their submission, but the Papal Legate forbade the agreement, and war
+followed.
+
+On the 1st of November, 1420, the "Crusaders" were totally defeated by
+Ziska, and all Bohemia was soon relieved of their presence. The dispute
+between the moderates and the radicals broke out again; the idea of a
+community of property began to prevail among the Taborites, and most of
+the Bohemian nobles refused to act with them. Ziska left Prague with his
+troops and for a time devoted himself to the task of suppressing all
+opposition through the country with fire and sword. He burned no less
+than 550 convents and monasteries, slaying the priests and monks who
+refused to accept the new doctrines; but he proceeded with equal
+severity against a new sect called the Adamites, who were endeavoring to
+restore Paradise by living without clothes. While besieging the town of
+Raby, an arrow destroyed his remaining eye, yet he continued to plan
+battles and sieges as before. The very name of the blind warrior became
+a terror throughout Germany.
+
+In September, 1421, a second Crusade of 200,000 men, commanded by five
+German Electors, entered Bohemia from the west. It had been planned that
+the Emperor Sigismund, assisted by Duke Albert of Austria, to whom he
+had given his daughter in marriage, and who was now also supported by
+many of the Bohemian nobles, should invade the country from the east at
+exactly the same time. The Hussites were thus to be crushed between the
+upper and the nether millstones. But the blind Ziska, nothing daunted,
+led his wagons, his flail-men and mace-wielders against the Electors,
+whose troops began to fly before them. No battle was fought; the 200,000
+Crusaders were scattered in all directions, and lost heavily during
+their retreat. Then Ziska wheeled about and marched against Sigismund,
+who was late in making his appearance. The two armies met on the 8th of
+January, 1422, and the Hussite victory was so complete that the Emperor
+narrowly escaped falling into their hands. It is hardly to be wondered
+that they should consider themselves to be the chosen people of God,
+after such astonishing successes.
+
+[Sidenote: 1422. DEFEAT OF THE SECOND CRUSADE.]
+
+At this juncture, Prince Witold of Lithuania, supported by king Jagello
+of Poland, offered to accept the four articles of the Hussites, provided
+they would give him the crown of Bohemia. The Moderates were all in his
+favor, and even Ziska left the Taborites when, true to their republican
+principles, they refused to accept Witold's proposition. The separation
+between the two parties of the Hussites was now complete. Witold sent
+his nephew Koribut, who swore to maintain the four articles, and was
+installed at Prague, as "Vicegerent of Bohemia." Thereupon Sigismund
+made such representations to king Jagello of Poland, that Koribut was
+soon recalled by his uncle. About the same time a third Crusade was
+arranged, and Frederick of Brandenburg (the Hohenzollern) selected to
+command it, but the plan failed from lack of support. The dissensions
+among the Hussites became fiercer than ever; Ziska was at one time on
+the point of attacking Prague, but the leaders of the moderate party
+succeeded in coming to an understanding with him, and he entered the
+city in triumph. In October, 1424, while marching against Duke Albert of
+Austria, who had invaded Moravia, he fell a victim to the plague. Even
+after death he continued to terrify the German soldiers, who believed
+that his skin had been made into a drum, and still called the Hussites
+to battle.
+
+[Sidenote: 1426.]
+
+A majority of the Taborites elected a priest, called Procopius the
+Great, as their commander in Ziska's stead; the others, who thenceforth
+styled themselves "Orphans," united under another priest, Procopius the
+Little. The approach of another Imperial army, in 1426, compelled them
+to forget their differences, and the result was a splendid victory over
+their enemies. Procopius the Great then invaded Austria and Silesia,
+which he laid waste without mercy. The Pope called a _fourth_ Crusade,
+which met the same fate as the former ones: the united armies of the
+Archbishop of Treves, the Elector Frederick of Brandenburg and the Duke
+of Saxony, 200,000 strong, were utterly defeated, and fled in disorder,
+leaving an enormous quantity of stores and munitions of war in the hands
+of the Bohemians.
+
+Procopius, who was almost the equal of Ziska as a military leader, made
+several unsuccessful attempts to unite the Hussites in one religious
+body. In order to prevent their dissensions from becoming dangerous to
+the common cause, he kept the soldiers of all sects under his command,
+and undertook fierce invasions into Bavaria, Saxony and Brandenburg,
+which made the Hussite name a terror to all Germany. During these
+expeditions one hundred towns were destroyed, more than fifteen hundred
+villages burned, tens of thousands of the inhabitants slain, and such
+quantities of plunder collected that it was impossible to transport the
+whole of it to Bohemia. Frederick of Brandenburg and several other
+princes were compelled to pay heavy tributes to the Hussites: the Empire
+was thoroughly humiliated, the people weary of slaughter, yet the Pope
+refused even to call a Council for the discussion of the difficulty.
+
+As for the Emperor Sigismund, he had grown tired of the quarrel, long
+before. Leaving the other German States to fight Bohemia, he withdrew to
+Hungary and for some years found enough to do in repelling the inroads
+of the Turks. It was not until the beginning of the year 1431, when
+there was peace along the Danube, that he took any measures for putting
+an end to the Hussite war. Pope Martin V. was dead, and his successor,
+Eugene IV., reluctantly consented to call a Council to meet at Basel.
+First, however, he insisted on a _fifth_ Crusade, which was proclaimed
+for the complete extermination of the Hussites. The German princes made
+a last and desperate effort: an army of 130,000 men, 40,000 of whom were
+cavalry, was brought together, under the command of Frederick of
+Brandenburg, while Albert of Austria was to support it by invading
+Bohemia from the south.
+
+[Sidenote: 1434. END OF THE HUSSITE WARS.]
+
+Procopius and his dauntless Hussites met the Crusaders on the 14th of
+August, 1431, at a place called Thauss, and won another of their
+marvellous victories. The Imperial army was literally cut to pieces:
+8,000 wagons, filled with provisions and munitions of war, and 150
+cannons, were left upon the field. The Hussites marched northward to the
+Baltic, and eastward into Hungary, burning, slaying and plundering as
+they went. Even the Pope now yielded, and the Hussites were invited to
+attend the Council at Basel, with the most solemn stipulations in regard
+to personal safety and a fair discussion of their demands. Sigismund, in
+the meantime, had gone to Italy and been crowned Emperor in Rome, on
+condition of showing himself publicly as a personal servant of the Pope.
+He spent nearly two years in Italy, leading an idle and immoral life,
+and went back to Germany when his money was exhausted.
+
+In 1433, finally, three hundred Hussites, headed by Procopius, appeared
+in Basel. They demanded nothing more than the acceptance of the four
+articles upon which they had united in 1420; but after seven weeks of
+talk, during which the Council agreed upon nothing and promised nothing,
+they marched away, after stating that any further negotiation must be
+carried on in Prague. This course compelled the Council to act; an
+embassy was appointed, which proceeded to Prague, and on the 30th of
+November, the same year, concluded a treaty with the Hussites. The four
+demands were granted, but each with a condition attached which gave the
+Church a chance to regain its lost power. For this reason, the Taborites
+and "Orphans" refused to accept the compact; the moderate party united
+with the nobles and undertook to suppress the former by force. A fierce
+internal war followed, but it was of short duration. In 1434, the
+Taborites were defeated, their fortified mountain taken, Procopius the
+Great and the Little were both slain, and the members of the sect
+dispersed. The Bohemian Reformation was never again dangerous to the
+Church of Rome.
+
+[Sidenote: 1437.]
+
+The Emperor Sigismund, after proclaiming a general amnesty, entered
+Prague in 1436. He made some attempt to restore order and prosperity to
+the devastated country, but his measures in favor of the Church provoked
+a conspiracy against him, in which his second wife, the Empress Barbara,
+was implicated. Being warned by his son-in-law, Duke Albert of Austria,
+he left Prague for Hungary. On reaching Znaim, the capital of Moravia,
+he felt the approach of death, whereupon, after naming Albert his
+successor, he had himself clothed in his Imperial robes and seated in a
+chair, so that, after a worthless life, he was able to die in great
+state, on the 9th of December, 1437. With him expired the Luxemburg
+dynasty, after having weakened, distracted, humiliated and almost ruined
+Germany for exactly ninety years.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+THE FOUNDATION OF THE HAPSBURG DYNASTY.
+
+(1438--1493.)
+
+Albert of Austria Chosen Emperor. --His Short Reign. --Frederick III.
+    succeeds. --His Character. --The Council of Basel. --The French
+    Mercenaries and the Swiss. --The Suabian Cities. --George Podiebrad
+    in Bohemia and John Hunyadi in Hungary. --Condition of the German
+    Empire. --Losses of the German Order. --Rise of Burgundy. --Charles
+    the Bold and his Plans. --The Battles of Grandson and Morat.
+    --Death of Charles the Bold. --Marriage of Maximilian of Hapsburg
+    and Mary of Burgundy. --Frederick III.'s Troubles. --Aid of the
+    Suabian Cities. --Maximilian's Humiliation. --Frederick's Death.
+    --The Fall of the Eastern Empire. --Gutenberg's Invention of
+    Printing.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1438. ALBERT OF HAPSBURG EMPEROR.]
+
+The German Electors seemed to be acting contrary to their usual policy,
+when, on the 18th of March, 1438, they unanimously voted for Albert of
+Austria, who became Emperor as Albert II. With him commences the
+Hapsburg dynasty, which kept sole possession of the Imperial office
+until Francis II. gave up the title of Emperor of Germany, in 1806.
+Albert II. was Duke of Austria, and, as the heir of Sigismund, he was
+also king of Hungary and Bohemia; consequently the power of his house
+was much greater than that of any other German prince; but the Electors
+were influenced by the consideration that his territories lay mostly
+outside of Germany proper, that they were in a condition which would
+demand all his time and energy, and therefore the other States and
+principalities would probably be left to themselves, as they had been
+under Sigismund. Nothing is more evident in the history of Germany, from
+first to last, than the opposition of the ruling princes to any close
+political union of a _national_ character, but it was seldom so
+selfishly and shamelessly manifested as in the fourteenth and fifteenth
+centuries.
+
+[Sidenote: 1440.]
+
+The events of Albert II.'s short reign are not important. He appears to
+have been a man of strong character, honest and well-meaning, but a new
+war with the Turks called him to Hungary soon after his accession to the
+throne, and he was obliged to leave the interests of the Empire in the
+hands of his Chancellor, Schlick, a man who shared his views but could
+not exercise the same authority over the princes. Before anything could
+be accomplished, Albert died in Hungary, in October, 1439, in the
+forty-second year of his age. He left one son, Ladislas, an infant, born
+a few days after his death.
+
+The Electors again met, and in February, 1440, unanimously chose
+Albert's cousin, Frederick of Styria and Carinthia, who, after waiting
+three months before he could make up his mind, finally accepted, and was
+crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle as Frederick III. His indolence, eccentricity
+and pedantic stiffness seemed to promise just such a wooden figure-head
+as the princes required: it is difficult to imagine any other reason for
+the selection. He was more than a servant, he was almost an abject slave
+of the Papal power, and his secretary, AEneas Sylvius (who afterwards
+became Pope as Pius II.), ruled him wholly in the interest of the Church
+of Rome, at a time when a majority of the German princes, and even many
+of the Bishops, were endeavoring to effect a reformation.
+
+The Council at Basel had not adjourned after concluding the Compact of
+Prague with the Hussites. The desire for a correction of the abuses
+which had so weakened the spiritual authority of the Church was strong
+enough to compel the members to discuss plans of reform. Their course
+was so distasteful to the Pope, Eugene IV., that he threatened to
+excommunicate the Council, which, in return, deposed him and elected
+Amadeus, Duke of Savoy, who took the name of Pope Felix V. The prospect
+of a new schism disturbed the Christian world; many of the reigning
+princes refused to support Eugene unless he would grant entire freedom
+to the Church in Germany, and he would have probably been obliged to
+yield, but for the help extended to him by Frederick III., under the
+influence of AEneas Sylvius. The latter, who was no less unscrupulous
+than cunning, succeeded in destroying the work of reform in its very
+beginning. By the Concordat of Vienna, in 1448, Frederick neutralized
+the action of the Council and restored the Papal authority in its most
+despotic form. Felix V. was forced to abdicate, and the Council of
+Basel--which had meanwhile adjourned to Lausanne--was finally
+dissolved, after a session of seventeen years.
+
+[Sidenote: 1444. ATTEMPT TO CONQUER THE SWISS.]
+
+In his political course, during this time, Frederick III. was equally
+infamous, but less successful. After making a temporary arrangement with
+Hungary and Bohemia, he determined to reconquer the former Hapsburg
+possessions from the Swiss. A quarrel between Zurich and the other
+Cantons seemed to favor his plan; but, not being able to obtain any
+troops in Germany, he applied to Charles VII. of France for 5,000 of the
+latter's mercenaries. As Charles, with the help of Joan D'Arc, the Maid
+of Orleans, had just victoriously concluded his war with England, he had
+plenty of men to spare; so, instead of 5,000, he sent 30,000, under the
+command of the Dauphin. This force marched into Switzerland, and was
+met, on the 26th of August, 1444, at St. Jacob, near Basel, by an army
+of 1600 devoted Swiss, every man of whom fell, after a battle which
+lasted ten hours. The French were so crippled and discouraged that they
+turned back and for months afterwards laid waste Baden and Alsatia; so
+that only German territory suffered by this transaction.
+
+The Suabian cities, inspired by the heroic attitude of the Swiss, now
+made another attempt to protect themselves against the encroachment of
+the reigning princes upon their ancient rights. For two years a fierce
+war was waged between them and the latter, who were headed by the
+Hohenzollern Count, Albert Achilles of Brandenburg. The struggle came to
+an end in 1450, and so greatly to the disadvantage of the cities that
+the people of Schaffhausen annexed themselves and their territory to
+Switzerland. The following year, as there was a temporary peace,
+Frederick III. undertook a journey to Italy, with an escort of 3,000
+men. His object was to be crowned Emperor at Rome, and the Pope could
+not refuse the request of such an obedient servant, especially after the
+latter had kissed his foot and appeared publicly as his groom. He was
+the last German Emperor who amused the Roman people by playing such a
+part. During the year he spent in Italy he avoided Milan, and made no
+attempt to claim, or even to sell, any of the former Imperial rights.
+
+[Sidenote: 1457.]
+
+Disturbances in Hungary and Bohemia hastened his return to Germany. Both
+countries demanded that he should give up the boy Ladislas, son of
+Albert II., whom he still kept with him. In Bohemia George Podiebrad, a
+Hussite nobleman, was at the head of the government; in Hungary the
+ruler was John Hunyadi (often called _Hunniades_ by English historians),
+one of the most heroic and illustrious characters in Hungarian annals.
+The Emperor was compelled to give up Austria at once to Ladislas, who,
+at the age of sixteen, was also chosen king of Hungary and Bohemia. But
+he died soon afterwards, in 1457, and then Matthias Corvinus, the son of
+Hunyadi, was elected king by the Hungarians, and George Podiebrad by the
+Bohemians. Even Austria, which Frederick attempted to retain, passed
+partly into the hands of his brother Albert. The German princes looked
+on well-pleased, and saw the power of the Hapsburg house diminished;
+only its old ally, the house of Hohenzollern, still exhibited an active
+friendship for Frederick III.
+
+The condition of the Empire, at this time, was most deplorable. While
+France, England and Spain were increasing their power by better
+political organization, Germany was weakened by an almost unbroken
+series of internal wars. The 340 independent Dukes, Bishops, Counts,
+Abbots, Barons and Cities, fought or made peace, leagued themselves
+together or separated, just as they pleased. So wanton became the spirit
+of destruction that Albert Achilles of Brandenburg openly declared:
+"Conflagration is the ornament of war,"--and the people described one of
+his campaigns by saying: "They can read at night, in Franconia."
+Frederick III. called a number of National Diets, but as he never
+attended any, the smaller rulers soon followed his example. Although the
+Turks began to ravage the borders of Styria and Carinthia, and carried
+away thousands of the inhabitants as slaves, he spent his time in
+Austria, quarrelling with his brother Albert, and intriguing alternately
+with the Hungarians and the Bohemians, in the attempt to secure for
+himself the crowns worn by Matthias Corvinus and George Podiebrad.
+
+Along the Baltic shore the growth of the German element was checked, and
+almost destroyed. After its crushing defeat at Tannenberg, the German
+Order not only lost its power, but its liberal and intelligent
+character. It began to impose heavy taxes on the cities, and to rule
+with greater harshness the population under its sway. The result was a
+combined revolt of the cities and the country nobility, who compelled
+the Order to grant them a constitution, guaranteeing the rights for
+which they contended. They purchased Frederick III.'s consent to this
+measure for 54,000 gold florins. Soon afterwards, however, the Order
+paid the Emperor 80,000 gold florins to withdraw his consent. Then the
+cities and nobles, exasperated at this treachery, rose again, and called
+the Poles to their help. The Order appealed to the Empire, but received
+no assistance: it was defeated and its territory overrun; West-Prussia
+was annexed to Poland, which held it for three centuries afterwards, and
+East-Prussia, detached completely from the Empire, was left as a little
+German island, surrounded by Slavonic races. The responsibility for this
+serious loss to Germany, as well as for the internal anarchy and
+barbarity which prevailed, rests directly upon the Electors, who
+selected Frederick III. precisely because they knew his character, and
+who never attempted to depose him during his long and miserable reign of
+fifty-three years.
+
+[Sidenote: 1467. THE GROWTH OF BURGUNDY.]
+
+Germany was also seriously threatened on the west, not by France, but by
+the sudden growth of a new power which was equally dangerous to France.
+This was the Duchy of Burgundy, which in the course of a hundred years
+had grown to the dimensions of a kingdom, and was now strong enough to
+throw off the dependency of the territories it embraced, to France on
+the one side, and to the German Empire on the other. The foundation of
+its growth was laid in 1363, when king John of France made his fourth
+son, called Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and the latter, by
+marrying the Countess Margaret of Flanders, extended his territory to
+the mouth of the Rhine. He died in 1404, and was succeeded by his
+grandson, Philip the Good, who extended the sway of Burgundy, by
+purchase, inheritance, or force of arms, over all Belgium and Holland,
+so that it then reached from the Rhine to the North Sea. His court was
+one of the most splendid in Europe, and during his reign of sixty-three
+years Flanders became the rival of Italy in wealth, architecture and the
+fine arts.
+
+Philip the Good died in 1467, and was succeeded by his son, Charles the
+Bold, a man whose boldness was his only virtue. He was rash, vindictive,
+and almost insanely ambitious; and the only purpose of his life seems to
+have been to extend his territory to the Alps and the Mediterranean, to
+gain possession of Lorraine and Alsatia, and thus to found a kingdom of
+Burgundy, almost corresponding to that given to Lothar by the Treaty of
+Verdun, in 843. (See Chapter XII.) He first acquired additional
+territory in Belgium, then took a mortgage on all the possessions of the
+Hapsburgs in Alsatia and Baden by making a loan to Sigismund of Tyrol.
+Frederick III. not only permitted these transactions, but met Charles at
+Treves in 1473 to arrange a marriage between the latter's only daughter,
+Mary of Burgundy, and his own son, Maximilian. During the visit, which
+lasted two months, Charles the Bold displayed so much pomp and splendor
+that the Emperor, unable to make an equal show, finally left without
+saying good-bye. The interests of Germany did not move him, but when his
+personal vanity was touched, he was capable of action.
+
+[Sidenote: 1473.]
+
+For a short time, Frederick exhibited a little energy and intelligence.
+In order to secure the alliance of the Swiss, who were equally
+threatened by the designs of Charles the Bold, he concluded a Perpetual
+Peace with them, relinquishing forever the claims of the house of
+Hapsburg to authority over any part of their territory. The cities of
+Alsatia and Baden advanced money to Sigismund of Tyrol to pay his debt,
+and when Charles the Bold nevertheless refused to give up Alsatia and
+part of Lorraine, which he had seized in the meantime, war was declared
+against him. Louis XI. of France, equally jealous of Burgundy, favored
+the movement, but took no active part in it. Although Charles was driven
+out of Alsatia, and failed to take the city of Neuss after a siege of
+ten months, he succeeded in negotiating a peace, by offering a truce of
+nine years to Louis XI. and promising his daughter's hand to Frederick's
+son, Maximilian. In this treaty the Emperor, who had persuaded
+Switzerland and Lorraine to become his allies, infamously gave them up
+to Charles the Bold's revenge.
+
+The latter instantly seized the whole of Lorraine, transferred his
+capital from Brussels to Nancy, and, considering his future kingdom
+secured, prepared first to punish the Swiss. He collected a magnificent
+army of 50,000 men, crossed the Jura, and appeared before the town of
+Grandson, on the Lake of Neufchatel. The place surrendered, on condition
+that the citizens should be allowed to leave unharmed; but Charles
+seized them, hanged a number and threw the rest into the lake. By this
+time the Swiss army, numbering 18,000, appeared before Grandson. Before
+beginning the battle, they fell upon their knees and prayed fervently;
+whereupon Charles cried out: "See, they are begging for mercy, but not
+one of them shall escape!" For several hours the fight raged fiercely;
+then the horns of the mountaineers--the "bulls of Uri and the cows of
+Unterwalden," as the Swiss called them--were heard in the distance, as
+they hastened to join their brethren. A panic seized the Burgundians,
+and after a short and desperate struggle they fled, leaving all their
+camp equipage, 420 cannon, and such enormous treasures in the hands of
+the Swiss that the soldiers divided the money by hatfuls.
+
+[Sidenote: 1476. BATTLES OF GRANDSON AND MORAT.]
+
+This grand victory occurred on the 3d of May, 1476. Charles made every
+effort to retrieve his fortunes: he called fresh troops into the field,
+reorganized his army, and on the 22d of June again met the Swiss near
+the little town and lake of Morat. The battle fought there resulted in a
+more crushing defeat than that of Grandson: 15,000 Burgundians were left
+dead upon the field. The aid which the Swiss had begged the German
+Empire to give them had not been granted, but it was not needed. Charles
+the Bold seems to have become partially insane after this overthrow of
+his ambitious plans. He refused the proffered mediation of Frederick
+III. and the Pope, and endeavored to resume the war. In the meantime
+Duke Rene of Lorraine had recovered his land, and when Charles marched
+to retake Nancy, the Swiss allied themselves with the former. A final
+battle was fought before the walls of Nancy, in January, 1477. After the
+defeat and flight of the Burgundians, the body of Charles was found on
+the field, so covered with blood and mud as scarcely to be recognized.
+
+Up to this time, the German Empire had always claimed that its
+jurisdiction extended over Switzerland, but henceforth no effort was
+ever made to enforce it. The little communities of free people, who had
+defied and humiliated Austria, and now, within a few months, crushed the
+splendid and haughty house of Burgundy, were left alone, an eye-sore to
+the neighboring princes, but a hope to their people. The Hapsburg
+dynasty, nevertheless, profited by the fall of Charles the Bold. Mary of
+Burgundy gave her hand to Maximilian, in 1477, and he established his
+court in Flanders. He was both handsome and intellectually endowed, and
+was reputed to be the most accomplished knight of his day. Louis XI. of
+France attempted to gain possession of those provinces of Burgundy
+which had French population, but was signally defeated by Maximilian in
+1479. Three years afterwards, however, when Mary of Burgundy was killed
+by a fall from her horse, the cities of Bruges and Ghent, instigated by
+France, claimed the guardianship of her two children, Philip and
+Margaret, the latter of whom was sent to Paris to be educated as the
+bride of the Dauphin. A war ensued which lasted until 1485, when
+Maximilian was reluctantly accepted as Regent of Flanders.
+
+[Sidenote: 1485.]
+
+While these events were taking place, Frederick III. was involved in a
+quarrel with Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary, who easily succeeded in
+driving him from Vienna, and then from Austria. Still the German princes
+looked carelessly on, and the weak old Emperor wandered from one to the
+other, everywhere received as an unwelcome guest. In 1486 he called a
+Diet at Frankfort, and endeavored, but in vain, to procure a union of
+the forces of the Empire against Hungary. All that was accomplished was
+Maximilian's election as King of Germany. Immediately after being
+crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle, he made a formal demand on Matthias Corvinus
+for the surrender of Austria. Before any further steps could be taken,
+he was recalled to Flanders by a new rebellion, which lasted for three
+years.
+
+Frederick III., deserted on all sides, and seeing the Hapsburg
+possessions along the frontiers of Austria and Tyrol threatened by
+Bavaria, finally appealed to the Suabian cities for help. He succeeded
+in establishing a new Suabian League, which was composed of twenty-two
+free cities, the Count of Wuertemberg and a number of independent nobles.
+A force was raised, with which he first marched to the relief of
+Maximilian, who had been taken and imprisoned at Bruges and was
+threatened with death. The undertaking was successful: Maximilian was
+released, and in 1489 his authority was established over all the
+Netherlands.
+
+The next step was to rescue Austria from the Hungarians. An interview
+between Frederick III. and Matthias Corvinus was arranged, but before it
+could take place the latter died, in April, 1490. Maximilian, with the
+troops of the Suabian League, retook Vienna, and even advanced into
+Hungary, the crown of which country he claimed for himself, but was
+forced to conclude peace at Presburg, the following year, without
+obtaining it. Austria, however, was completely restored to the house of
+Hapsburg.
+
+[Sidenote: 1493. DEATH OF FREDERICK III.]
+
+Before the year 1491 came to an end, Maximilian suffered a new
+humiliation. The last Duke of Brittany (in Western France) had died,
+leaving, like Charles the Bold of Burgundy, a single daughter, Anna, as
+his only heir. Maximilian, who had been a widower since 1482, applied
+for her hand, which she promised to him: the marriage ceremony was even
+performed by proxy. But Charles VIII. of France, although betrothed to
+Maximilian's young daughter, Margaret, now fourteen years old, saw in
+this new alliance a great danger for his kingdom; so he prevented Anna
+from leaving Brittany, married her himself, and sent Margaret home to
+Austria. Maximilian entered into an alliance with Henry VII. of England,
+secured the support of the Suabian League, and made war upon France. The
+Netherlands, nevertheless, refused to aid him; whereupon Henry VII.
+withdrew from the alliance, and the matter was settled by a treaty of
+peace in 1493, which left the duchy of Burgundy in the hands of France.
+
+Frederick III. had already given up the government of Germany (that is,
+what little he exercised) to his son. He settled at Linz and devoted his
+days to religion and alchemy. He had a habit of thrusting back his right
+foot and closing the doors behind him with it; but one day, kicking out
+too violently, he so injured his leg that the physicians were obliged to
+amputate it. This accident hastened his death, which took place in
+August, 1493. He was seventy-eight years old, and had reigned
+fifty-three years, wretchedly enough--but of this fact he was not aware.
+He evidently considered himself a great and successful monarch. All his
+books were stamped with the vowels, A. E. I. O. U.--which was a mystery
+to every one, until the meaning was discovered after his death. The
+letters are the initials of the words, _Alles Erdreich Ist Oesterreich
+Unterthan_, "All Earth is subject to Austria"!
+
+Two events occurred during Frederick's reign, one of which illustrated
+the declining power of the Roman Church, while the other, unnoticed in
+the confusion of civil war, was destined to be the chief weapon for the
+overthrow of the priestly power. The first of these was the fall of the
+Eastern Empire, when Sultan Mohammed II. conquered Constantinople in
+1453. Although this catastrophe had been long foreseen, the news of it
+nevertheless created a powerful excitement throughout Europe. One-fourth
+of the zeal expended on any one of the Crusades would have saved Turkey
+to Christendom: the German Empire, alone, could have easily repelled the
+Ottoman invasion; but each petty ruler thought only of himself, and the
+Popes were solely interested in preventing the Reformation of the
+Church. The latter, now--especially Pius II. (AEneas Sylvius)--were very
+eager for a new Crusade for the recovery of Constantinople: there was
+much talk, but no action, and finally even the talk ceased.
+
+[Sidenote: 1440.]
+
+The other event was a simple invention, which is chiefly remarkable for
+not having been made long before. The great use of cards for gambling
+first led to the employment of wooden blocks, upon which the figures
+were cut and then printed in colors. Wood-engraving, of a rude kind,
+gradually came into use, and as early as the year 1420 Lawrence Coster,
+of Harlem, in Holland, produced entire books, each page of which was
+engraved upon a single block. But John Gutenberg, of Mayence, about the
+year 1436, originated the plan of casting movable types and setting them
+together to form words. His chief difficulty was in discovering a proper
+metal of which to cast them, and a kind of ink which would give a clear
+impression. Paper made of linen had already been in use, in Germany, for
+about a hundred and thirty years.
+
+Gutenberg was poor, and therefore took a man named Fust, who had
+considerable means, as his partner. They completed the first
+printing-press in 1440, but several more years elapsed before the
+invention achieved any result. There was a quarrel between the two;
+Gutenberg withdrew, and Fust took his own assistant, Peter Schoeffer, as
+partner in the former's place. Schoeffer discovered the right
+combination of metal for the types, as well as an excellent ink. In 1457
+appeared the first printed book, a Latin psalter; in 1461 the Latin
+Bible, and two years afterwards a German Bible. These Bibles are
+masterpieces of the printer's art: they were sold at from thirty to
+sixty gold florins a copy, which was just one-tenth the cost of a
+written Bible at that time. The art was at first kept a profound secret,
+and the people supposed that the books were produced by magic, as they
+were multiplied so rapidly and sold so cheaply; but when Mayence was
+taken by Adolf of Nassau, in 1462, during one of the civil wars, the
+invention became known to the world, and printing-presses were soon
+established in Holland, Italy and England.
+
+[Sidenote: 1462. THE INVENTION OF PRINTING.]
+
+The clergy, and especially the monks, would have suppressed the art, if
+they had been able. It took away from the latter the profitable business
+of copying manuscript works, and it placed within the reach of the
+people the knowledge, of which the former had preserved the monopoly. By
+the simple invention of movable types, the darkness of centuries began
+to recede from the world: the life of the Middle Ages grew faint and
+feeble, and a mighty, irresistible change swept over the minds and
+habits of men. But the rulers of that day, great or little, were the
+last persons to suspect that any such change was at hand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+GERMANY, DURING THE REIGN OF MAXIMILIAN I.
+
+(1493--1519.)
+
+Maximilian I. as Man and Emperor. --The Diet of 1495, at Worms. --The
+    Perpetual Peace declared. --The Imperial Court. --Marriage of
+    Philip of Hapsburg to Joanna of Spain. --War with Switzerland.
+    --March to Italy. --League against Venice. --The "Holy League"
+    against France. --The Diet of 1512. --The Empire divided into Ten
+    Districts. --Revolts of the Peasants. --The "Bond-Shoe" and "Poor
+    Konrad." --Change in Military Service. --Character of Maximilian's
+    Reign. --The Cities of Germany. --Their Wealth and Architecture.
+    --The Order of the "Holy Vehm." --Other Changes under Maximilian.
+    --Last Years of his Reign. --His Death.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1493.]
+
+As Maximilian had been elected in 1486, he began to exercise the full
+Imperial power, without any further formalities, after his father's
+death. For the first time since the death of Henry VII. in 1313, the
+Germans had a popular Emperor. They were at last weary of the prevailing
+disorder and insecurity, and partly conscious that the power of the
+Empire had declined, while that of France, Spain, and even Poland, had
+greatly increased. Therefore they brought themselves to submit to the
+authority of an Emperor who was in every respect stronger than any of
+the Electors by whom he had been chosen.
+
+Maximilian had all the qualities of a great ruler, except prudence and
+foresight. He was tall, finely-formed, with remarkably handsome
+features, clear blue eyes, and blonde hair falling in ringlets upon his
+shoulders; he possessed great muscular strength, his body was developed
+by constant exercise, and he was one of the boldest, bravest and most
+skilful knights of his day. While his bearing was stately and dignified,
+his habits were simple: he often marched on foot, carrying his lance, at
+the head of his troops, and was able to forge his armor and temper his
+sword, as well as wear them. Yet he was also well-educated, possessed a
+taste for literature and the arts, and became something of a poet in
+his later years. Unlike his avaricious predecessors, he was generous
+even to prodigality; but, inheriting his father's eccentricity of
+character, he was whimsical, liable to act from impulse instead of
+reflection, headstrong and impatient. If he had been as wise as he was
+honest and well-meaning, he might have regenerated Germany.
+
+[Sidenote: 1495. PERPETUAL PEACE PROCLAIMED.]
+
+The commencement of his reign was signalized by two threatening events.
+The Turks were renewing their invasions, and boldly advancing into
+Carinthia, between Vienna and the Adriatic; Charles VIII. of France had
+made himself master of Naples, and was apparently bent on conquering and
+annexing all of Italy. Maximilian had just married Blanca Maria Sforza,
+niece of the reigning Duke of Milan, which city, with others in
+Lombardy, and even the Pope--forgetting their old enmity to the German
+Empire--demanded his assistance. He called a Diet, which met at Worms in
+1495; but many of the princes, both spiritual and temporal, had learned
+a little wisdom, and they were unwilling to interfere in matters outside
+of the Empire until something had been done to remedy its internal
+condition. Berthold, Archbishop of Mayence, Frederick the Wise of
+Saxony, John Cicero of Brandenburg, and Eberhard of the Beard, first
+Duke of Wuertemberg, with many of the free cities, insisted so strongly
+on the restoration of order, security, and the establishment of laws
+which should guarantee peace, that the Emperor was forced to comply. For
+fourteen weeks the question was discussed with the greatest earnestness:
+the opposition of many princes and nearly the whole class of nobles was
+overcome, and a Perpetual National Peace was proclaimed. By this
+measure, the right to use force was prohibited to all; the feuds which
+had desolated the land for a thousand years were ordered to be
+suppressed; and all disputes were referred to an Imperial Court,
+permanently established at Frankfort, and composed of sixteen
+Councillors. It was also agreed that the Diet should meet annually, and
+remain in session for one month, in order to insure the uninterrupted
+enforcement of its decrees. A proposition to appoint an Imperial Council
+of State (equivalent to a modern "Ministry"), of twenty members, which
+should have power, in certain cases, to act in the Emperor's name, was
+rejected by Maximilian, as an assault upon his personal rights.
+
+[Sidenote: 1496.]
+
+Although the decree of Perpetual Peace could not be carried into effect
+immediately, it was not a dead letter, as all former decrees of the kind
+had been. Maximilian bound himself, in the most solemn manner, to
+respect the new arrangements, and there were now several honest and
+intelligent princes to assist him. One difficulty was the collection of
+a government tax, called "the common penny," to support the expenses of
+the Imperial Court. Such a tax had been for the first time imposed
+during the war with the Hussites, but very little of it was then paid.
+Even now, when the object of it was of such importance to the whole
+people, several years elapsed before the Court could be permanently
+established. The annual sessions of the Diet, also, were much less
+effective than had been anticipated: princes, priests and cities were so
+accustomed to a selfish independence, that they could not yet work
+together for the general good.
+
+Before the Diet at Worms adjourned, it agreed to furnish the Emperor
+with 9,000 men, to be employed in Italy against the French, and
+afterwards against the Turks on the Austrian frontier. Charles VIII.
+retreated from Italy on hearing of this measure, yet not rapidly enough
+to avoid being defeated, near Parma, by the combined Germans and
+Milanese. In 1496 Sigismund of Tyrol died, and all the Hapsburg lands
+came into Maximilian's possession. The same year, he married his son
+Philip, then eighteen years old and accepted as Regent by the
+Netherlands, to Joanna, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of
+Castile. The other heirs to the Spanish throne died soon afterwards, and
+when Isabella followed them, in 1504, she appointed Philip and Joanna
+her successors. The pride and influence of the house of Hapsburg were
+greatly increased by this marriage, but its consequences were most
+disastrous to Germany, for Philip's son was Charles V.
+
+The next years of Maximilian's reign were disturbed, and, on the whole,
+unfortunate for the Empire. An attempt to apply the decrees of the Diet
+of Worms to Switzerland brought on a war, which, after occasioning the
+destruction of 2,000 villages and castles, and the loss of 20,000 lives,
+resulted in the Emperor formally acknowledging the independence of
+Switzerland in a treaty concluded at Basel in 1499. Then Louis XII. of
+France captured Milan, interfered secretly in a war concerning the
+succession, which broke out in Bavaria, and bribed various German
+princes to act in his interest, when Maximilian called upon the Diet to
+assist him in making war upon France. After having with much difficulty
+obtained 12,000 men, the Emperor marched to Italy, intending to replace
+the Sforza family in Milan and then be crowned by Pope Julius II. in
+Rome. But the Venetians stopped him at the outset of the expedition, and
+he was forced to return ingloriously to Germany.
+
+[Sidenote: 1508. WARS WITH VENICE AND FRANCE.]
+
+Maximilian's next step was another example of his want of judgment in
+political matters. In order to revenge himself upon Venice, he gave up
+his hostility to France, and in 1508 became a party to the League of
+Cambray, uniting with France, Spain and the Pope in a determined effort
+to destroy the Venetian Republic. The war, which was bloody and
+barbarous, even for those times, lasted three years. Venice lost, at the
+outset, Trieste, Verona, Padua and the Romagna, and seemed on the verge
+of ruin, when Maximilian suddenly left Italy with his army, offended, it
+was said, at the refusal of the French knights, to fight side by side
+with his German troops. The Venetians then recovered so much of their
+lost ground that they purchased the alliance of the Pope, and finally of
+Spain. A new alliance, called "the Holy League," was formed against
+France; and Maximilian, after continuing to support Louis XII. a while
+longer, finally united with Henry VII. of England in joining it. But
+Louis XII., who was a far better diplomatist than any of his enemies,
+succeeded, after he had suffered many inevitable losses, in dissolving
+this powerful combination. He married the sister of Henry of England,
+yielded Navarre and Naples to Spain, promised money to the Swiss, and
+held out to Maximilian the prospect of a marriage which would give Milan
+to the Hapsburgs.
+
+Thus the greater part of Europe was for years convulsed with war chiefly
+because instead of a prudent and intelligent _national_ power in
+Germany, there was an unsteady and excitable _family_ leader, whose
+first interest was the advantage of his house. After such sacrifices of
+blood and treasure, such disturbance to the development of industry, art
+and knowledge among the people, the same confusion prevailed as before.
+
+[Sidenote: 1512.]
+
+Before the war came to an end, another general Diet met at Cologne, in
+1512, to complete the organization commenced in 1495. Private feuds and
+acts of retaliation had not yet been suppressed, and the Imperial
+Council was working under great disadvantages, both from the want of
+money and the difficulty of enforcing obedience to its decisions. The
+Emperor demanded the creation of a permanent military force, which
+should be at the service of the Empire; but this was almost unanimously
+refused. In other respects, the Diet showed itself both willing and
+earnest to complete the work of peace and order. The whole Empire was
+divided into ten Districts, each of which was placed under the
+jurisdiction of a Judicial Chief and Board of Councillors, whose duty it
+was to see that the decrees of the Diet and the judgments of the
+Imperial Court were obeyed.
+
+The Districts were as follows: 1.--THE AUSTRIAN, embracing all the lands
+governed by the Hapsburgs, from the Danube to the Adriatic, with the
+Tyrol, and some territory on the Upper Rhine: Bohemia, Silesia and
+Hungary were not included. 2.--THE BAVARIAN, comprising the divisions on
+both sides of the Danube, and the bishopric of Salzburg. 3.--THE
+SUABIAN, made up of no less than 90 spiritual and temporal
+principalities, including Wuertemberg, Baden, Hohenzollern, and the
+bishoprics of Augsburg and Constance. 4.--THE FRANCONIAN, embracing the
+Brandenburg possessions, Ansbach and Baireuth, with Nuremberg and the
+bishoprics of Bamberg, Wuerzburg, &c. 5.--THE UPPER-RHENISH, comprising
+the Palatinate, Hesse, Nassau, the bishoprics of Basel, Strasburg,
+Speyer, Worms, &c., the free cities of the Rhine as far as Frankfort,
+and a number of petty States. 6.--THE ELECTORAL-RHENISH, with the
+Archbishoprics of the Palatinate, Mayence, Treves, Cologne, and the
+principality of Amberg. 7.--THE BURGUNDIAN, made up of 21 States, four
+of them dukedoms and eight countships. 8.--THE WESTPHALIAN, with the
+dukedoms of Juelich, Cleves and Berg, Oldenburg, part of Friesland, and 7
+bishoprics. 9.--THE LOWER SAXON, embracing the dukedoms of
+Brunswick-Lueneburg, Saxe-Lauenburg, Holstein and Mecklenburg, the
+Archbishoprics of Magdeburg and Luebeck, the free cities of Bremen,
+Hamburg and Luebeck, and a number of smaller States. 10.--THE UPPER
+SAXON, including the Electorates of Saxony and Brandenburg, the dukedom
+of Pomerania, the smaller States of Anhalt, Schwarzburg, Mansfeld,
+Reuss, and many others of less importance.
+
+[Sidenote: 1512. MILITARY CHANGES.]
+
+This division of Germany into districts had the external appearance of
+an orderly political arrangement; but the States, great and little, had
+been too long accustomed to having their own way. The fact that an
+independent baron, like Franz von Sickingen, could still disturb a large
+extent of territory for a number of years, shows the weakness of the new
+national power. Moreover, nothing seems to have been done, or even
+attempted, by the Diet, to protect the agricultural population from the
+absolute despotism of the landed nobility. In Alsatia, as early as 1493,
+there was a general revolt of the peasants (called by them the
+_Bond-shoe_), which was not suppressed until much blood had been shed.
+It excited a spirit of resistance throughout all Southern Germany. In
+1514, Duke Ulric of Wuertemberg undertook to replenish his treasury by
+using false weights and measures, and provoked the common people to rise
+against him. They formed a society, to which they gave the name of "Poor
+Konrad," which became so threatening that, although it was finally
+crushed by violence, it compelled the reform of many flagrant evils and
+showed even the most arrogant rulers that there were bounds to tyranny.
+
+But, although the feudal system was still in force, the obligation to
+render military service, formerly belonging to it, was nearly at an end.
+The use of cannon, and of a rude kind of musket, had become general in
+war: heavy armor for man and horse was becoming not only useless, but
+dangerous; and the courage of the soldier, not his bodily strength or
+his knightly accomplishments, constituted his value in the field. The
+Swiss had set the example of furnishing good troops to whoever would pay
+for them, and a similar class, calling themselves _Landsknechte_
+(Servants of the Country), arose in Germany. The robber-knights, by this
+time, were nearly extinct: when Frederick of Hohenzollern began to use
+artillery against their castles, it was evident that their days of
+plunder were over. The reign of Maximilian, therefore, marks an
+important turning-point in German history. It is, at the same time, the
+end of the stormy and struggling life of the Middle Ages, and the
+beginning of a new and fiercer struggle between men and their
+oppressors. Maximilian, in fact, is called in Germany "the Last of the
+Knights."
+
+[Sidenote: 1512.]
+
+The strength of Germany lay chiefly in the cities, which, in spite of
+their narrow policy towards the country, and their jealousy of each
+other, had at least kept alive and encouraged all forms of art and
+industry, and created a class of learned men outside of the Church.
+While the knighthood of the Hohenstaufen period had sunk into corruption
+and semi-barbarism, and the people had grown more dangerous through
+their ignorance and subjection, the cities had gradually become centres
+of wealth and intelligence. They were adorned with splendid works of
+architecture; they supported the early poets, painters and sculptors;
+and, when compelled to act in concert against the usurpations of the
+Emperor or the inferior rulers, whatever privileges they maintained or
+received were in favor of the middle-class, and therefore an indirect
+gain to the whole people.
+
+The cities, moreover, exercised an influence over the country population
+by their markets, fairs, and festivals. The most of them were as largely
+and as handsomely built as at present, but in times of peace the life
+within their walls was much gayer and more brilliant. Pope Pius II.,
+when he was secretary to Frederick III. as AEneas Sylvius, wrote of them
+as follows: "One may veritably say that no people in Europe live in
+cleaner or more cheerful cities than the Germans; their appearance is as
+new as if they had only been built yesterday. By their commerce they
+amass great wealth: there is no banquet at which they do not drink from
+silver cups, no dame who does not wear golden ornaments. Moreover, the
+citizens are also soldiers, and each one has a sort of arsenal in his
+own house. The boys in this country can ride before they can talk, and
+sit firmly in the saddle when the horses are at full speed: the men move
+in their armor without feeling its weight. Verily, you Germans might be
+masters of the world, as formerly, but for your multitude of rulers,
+which every wise man has always considered an evil!"
+
+During the fifteenth century a remarkable institution, called "the
+Vehm"--or, by the people, "the Holy Vehm"--exercised a great authority
+throughout Northern Germany. Its members claimed that it was founded by
+Charlemagne, to assist in establishing Christianity among the Saxons;
+but it is not mentioned before the twelfth century, and the probability
+is that it sprang up from the effort of the people to preserve their old
+democratic organization, in a secret form, after it had been overthrown
+by the reigning princes. The object of the Vehm was to enforce impartial
+justice among all classes, and for this purpose it held open courts for
+the settlement of quarrels and minor offences, while graver crimes were
+tried at night, in places known only to the members. The latter were
+sworn to secrecy, and also to implicit obedience to the judgments of the
+courts or the orders of the chiefs, who were called "Free Counts." The
+head-quarters of the Vehm were in Westphalia, but its branches spread
+over a great part of Germany, and it became so powerful during the reign
+of Frederick III. that it even dared to cite him to appear before its
+tribunal.
+
+[Sidenote: 1515. LAST YEARS OF MAXIMILIAN.]
+
+In all probability the dread of the power of the Vehm was one of the
+causes which induced both Maximilian and the princes to reorganize the
+Empire. In proportion as order and justice began to prevail in Germany,
+the need of such a secret institution grew less; but about another
+century elapsed before its courts ceased to be held. After that, it
+continued to exist in Westphalia as an order for mutual assistance,
+something like that of the Freemasons. In this form it lingered until
+1838, when the last "Free Count" died.
+
+Among the other changes introduced during Maximilian's reign were the
+establishment of a police system, and the invention of a postal system
+by Franz of Taxis. The latter obtained a monopoly of the post routes
+throughout Germany, and his family, which afterwards became that of
+Thurn and Taxis, received an enormous revenue from this source, from
+that time down to the present day. Maximilian himself devoted a great
+deal of time and study to the improvement of artillery, and many new
+forms of cannon, which were designed by him, are still preserved in
+Vienna.
+
+Although the people of Germany did not share to any great extent in the
+passion for travel and adventure which followed the discovery of America
+in 1492 and the circumnavigation of Africa in 1498, they were directly
+affected by the changes which took place in the commerce of the world.
+The supremacy of Venice in the South and of the Hanseatic League in the
+North of Europe, began slowly to decline, while the powers which
+undertook to colonize the new lands--England, Spain and Portugal--rose
+in commercial importance.
+
+[Sidenote: 1518.]
+
+The last years of Maximilian promised new splendors to the house of
+Hapsburg. In 1515 his younger grandson, Ferdinand, married the daughter
+of Ladislas, king of Bohemia and Hungary, whose only son died shortly
+afterwards, leaving Ferdinand heir to the double crown. In 1516, the
+Emperor's elder grandson, Karl, became king of Spain, Sicily and Naples,
+in addition to Burgundy and Flanders, which he held as the
+great-grandson of Charles the Bold. At a Diet held at Augsburg, in 1518,
+Maximilian made great exertions to have Karl elected his successor, but
+failed on account of the opposition of Pope Leo X. and Francis I. of
+France, whose agents were present with heavy bribes in their pockets.
+
+Disappointed and depressed, the Emperor left Augsburg, and went to
+Innsbruck, but the latter city refused to entertain him until some money
+which he had borrowed of it should be refunded. His strength had been
+failing for years before, and he always travelled with a coffin among
+his baggage. He now felt his end approaching, took up his abode in the
+little town of Wels, and devoted his remaining days to religious
+exercises. There he died, on the 11th of January, 1519, in the sixtieth
+year of his age.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+THE REFORMATION.
+
+(1517--1546.)
+
+Martin Luther. --Signs of the Coming Reformation. --Luther's Youth and
+    Education. --His Study of the Bible. --His Professorship at
+    Wittenberg. --Visit to Rome. --Tetzel's Sale of Indulgences.
+    --Luther's Theses. --His Meeting with Cardinal Cajetanus. --Escape
+    from Augsburg. --Meeting with the Pope's Nuncio. --Excitement in
+    Germany. --Luther burns the Pope's Bull. --Charles V. elected
+    German Emperor. --Luther before the Diet at Worms. --His Abduction
+    and Concealment. --He Returns to Wittenberg. --Progress of the
+    Reformation. --The Anabaptists. --The Peasants' War. --Luther's
+    Manner of Translating the Bible. --Leagues For and Against the
+    Reformation. --Its Features. --The Wars of Charles V. --Diet at
+    Speyer. --The Protestants. --The Swiss Reformer, Zwingli. --His
+    Meeting with Luther. --Charles V. returns to Germany. --The
+    Augsburg Confession. --Measures against the Protestants. --The
+    League of Schmalkalden. --The Religious Peace of Nuremberg. --Its
+    Consequences. --John of Leyden. --Another Diet. --Charles V.
+    Invades France. --The Council of Trent. --Luther's last Years.
+    --His Death and Burial.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1519. MARTIN LUTHER.]
+
+When the Emperor Maximilian died, a greater man than himself or any of
+his predecessors on the Imperial throne had already begun a far greater
+work than was ever accomplished by any political ruler. Out of the ranks
+of the poor, oppressed German people arose the chosen Leader who became
+powerful above all princes, who resisted the first monarch of the world,
+and defeated the Church of Rome after an undisturbed reign of a thousand
+years. We must therefore leave the succession of the house of Hapsburg
+until we have traced the life of Martin Luther up to the time of
+Maximilian's death.
+
+The Reformation, which was now so near at hand, already existed in the
+feelings and hopes of a large class of the people. The persecutions of
+the Albigenses in France, the Waldenses in Savoy and the Wickliffites in
+England, the burning of Huss and Jerome, and the long ravages of the
+Hussite war had made all Europe familiar with the leading doctrine of
+each of these sects--that the Bible was the highest authority, the only
+source of Christian truth. Earnest, thinking men in all countries were
+thus led to examine the Bible for themselves, and the great
+dissemination of the study of the ancient languages, during the
+fifteenth century, helped very much to increase the knowledge of the
+sacred volume. Then came the art of printing, as a most providential
+aid, making the truth accessible to all who were able to read it.
+
+[Sidenote: 1483.]
+
+The long reign of Frederick III., as we have seen, was a period of
+political disorganization, which was partially corrected during the
+reign of Maximilian. Internal peace was the first great necessity of
+Germany, and, until it had been established, the people patiently
+endured the oppressions and abuses of the Church of Rome. When they were
+ready for a serious resistance to the latter, the man was also ready to
+instruct and guide them, and the Church itself furnished the occasion
+for a general revolt against its authority.
+
+Martin Luther, the son of a poor miner, was born in the little Saxon
+town of Eisleben (not far from the Hartz), on the 10th of November,
+1483. He attended a monkish school at Magdeburg, and then became what is
+called a "wandering-scholar"--that is, one who has no certain means of
+support, but chants in the church, and also in the streets for alms--at
+Eisenach, in Thuringia. As a boy he was so earnest, studious and
+obedient, and gave such intellectual promise, that his parents stinted
+themselves in order to save enough from their scanty earnings to secure
+him a good education. But their circumstances gradually improved, and in
+1501 they were able to send him to the University of Erfurt. Four years
+afterwards he was graduated with honor, and delivered a course of
+lectures upon Aristotle.
+
+Luther's father desired that he should study jurisprudence, but his
+thoughts were already turned towards religion. A copy of the Bible in
+the library of the University excited in him such a spiritual struggle
+that he became seriously ill; and he had barely recovered, when, while
+taking a walk with a fellow-student, the latter was struck dead by
+lightning at his side. Then he determined to renounce the world, and in
+spite of the strong opposition of his father, became a monk of the
+Augustine Order, in Erfurt. He prayed, fasted, and followed the most
+rigid discipline of the order, in the hope of obtaining peace of mind,
+but in vain: he was tormented by doubt and even by despair, until he
+turned again to the Bible. A zealous study of the exact language of the
+Gospels gave him not only a firm faith, but a peace and cheerfulness
+which was never afterwards disturbed by trials or dangers.
+
+[Sidenote: 1517. TETZEL'S SALE OF INDULGENCES.]
+
+The Elector, Frederick the Wise, of Saxony, had founded a new University
+at Wittenberg, and sought to obtain competent professors for it. The
+Vicar-General of the Augustine Order, to whom Luther's zeal and ability
+were known, recommended him for one of the places, and in 1508 he began
+to lecture in Wittenberg, first on Greek philosophy, and then upon
+theology. His success was so marked that in 1510 he was sent by the
+Order on a special mission to Rome, where the corruptions of the Church
+and the immorality of the Pope and Cardinals made a profound and lasting
+impression upon his mind. He returned to Germany, feeling as he never
+had felt before, the necessity of a reformation of the Church. In 1512
+he was made Doctor of Theology, and from that time forward his
+teachings, which were based upon his own knowledge of the Bible, began
+to bear abundant fruit.
+
+In the year 1517, the Pope, Leo X., famous both for his luxurious habits
+and his love of art, found that his income was not sufficient for his
+expenses, and determined to increase it by issuing a series of
+absolutions for all forms of crime, even perjury, bigamy and murder. The
+cost of pardon was graduated according to the nature of the sin. Albert,
+Archbishop of Mayence, bought the right of selling absolutions in
+Germany, and appointed as his agent a Dominican monk of the name of
+Tetzel. The latter began travelling through the country like a pedlar,
+publicly offering for sale the pardon of the Roman Church for all
+varieties of crime. In some places he did an excellent business, since
+many evil men also purchased pardons in advance for the crimes they
+intended to commit: in other districts Tetzel only stirred up the
+abhorrence of the people, and increased their burning desire to have
+such enormities suppressed.
+
+Only one man, however, dared to come out openly and condemn the Papal
+trade in sin and crime. This was Dr. Martin Luther, who, on the 31st of
+October, 1517, nailed upon the door of the Church at Wittenberg a series
+of ninety-five theses, or theological declarations, the truth of which
+he offered to prove, against all adversaries. The substance of them was
+that the pardon of sins came only from God, and could only be purchased
+by true repentance; that to offer absolutions for sale, as Tetzel was
+doing, was an unchristian act, contrary to the genuine doctrines of the
+Church; and that it could not, therefore, have been sanctioned by the
+Pope. Luther's object, at this time, was not to separate from the Church
+of Rome, but to reform and purify it.
+
+[Sidenote: 1518.]
+
+The ninety-five theses, which were written in Latin, were immediately
+translated, printed, and circulated throughout Germany. They were
+followed by replies, in which the action of the Pope was defended;
+Luther was styled a heretic, and threatened with the fate of Huss. He
+defended himself in pamphlets, which were eagerly read by the people;
+and his followers increased so rapidly that Leo X., who had summoned him
+to Rome for trial, finally agreed that he should present himself before
+the Papal Legate, Cardinal Cajetanus, at Augsburg. The latter simply
+demanded that Luther should retract what he had preached and written, as
+being contrary to the Papal bulls; whereupon Luther, for the first time,
+was compelled to declare that "the command of the Pope can only be
+respected as the voice of God, when it is not in conflict with the Holy
+Scriptures." The Cardinal afterwards said: "I will have nothing more to
+do with that German beast, with the deep eyes and the whimsical
+speculations in his head!" and Luther said of him: "He knew no more
+about the Word than a donkey knows of harp-playing."
+
+The Vicar-General of the Augustines was still Luther's friend, and,
+fearing that he was not safe in Augsburg, he had him let out of the city
+at daybreak, through a small door in the wall, and then supplied with a
+horse. Having reached Wittenberg, where he was surrounded with devoted
+followers, Frederick the Wise was next ordered to give him up. About the
+same time Leo X. declared that the practices assailed by Luther were
+doctrines of the Church, and must be accepted as such. Frederick began
+to waver; but the young Philip Melanchthon, Justus Jonas, and other
+distinguished men connected with the University exerted their influence,
+and the Elector finally refused the demand. The Emperor Maximilian, now
+near his end, sent a letter to the Pope, begging him to arrange the
+difficulty, and Leo X. commissioned his Nuncio, a Saxon nobleman named
+Karl von Miltitz, to meet Luther. The meeting took place at Altenburg in
+1519: the Nuncio, who afterwards reported that he "would not undertake
+to remove Luther from Germany with the help of 10,000 soldiers, for he
+had found ten men for him where one was for the Pope"--was a mild and
+conciliatory man. He prayed Luther to pause, for he was destroying the
+peace of the Church, and succeeded, by his persuasions, in inducing him
+to promise to keep silence, provided his antagonists remained silent
+also.
+
+[Sidenote: 1520. BURNING THE POPE'S BULL.]
+
+This was merely a truce, and it was soon broken. Dr. Eck, one of the
+partisans of the Church, challenged Luther's friend and follower,
+Carlstadt, to a public discussion in Leipzig, and it was not long before
+Luther himself was compelled to take part in it. He declared his views
+with more clearness than ever, disregarding the outcry raised against
+him that he was in fellowship with the Bohemian heretics. The struggle,
+by this time, had affected all Germany, the middle class and smaller
+nobles being mostly on Luther's side, while the priests and reigning
+princes, with a few exceptions, were against him. In order to defend
+himself from misrepresentation and justify his course, he published two
+pamphlets, one called "An Appeal to the Emperor and Christian Nobles of
+Germany," and the other, "Concerning the Babylonian Captivity of the
+Church." These were read by tens of thousands, all over the country.
+
+Pope Leo X. immediately issued a bull, ordering all Luther's writings to
+be burned, excommunicating those who should believe in them, and
+summoning Luther to Rome. This only increased the popular excitement in
+Luther's favor, and on the 10th of December, 1520, he took the step
+which made impossible any reconciliation between himself and the Papal
+power. Accompanied by the Professors and students of the University, he
+had a fire kindled outside of one of the gates of Wittenberg, placed
+therein the books of canonical law and various writings in defence of
+the Pope, and then cast the Papal bull into the flames, with the words:
+"As thou hast tormented the Lord and His Saints, so may eternal flame
+torment and consume thee!" This was the boldest declaration of war ever
+hurled at such an overwhelming authority; but the courage of this one
+man soon communicated itself to the people. The knight, Ulric von
+Hutten, a distinguished scholar, who had been crowned as poet by the
+Emperor Maximilian, openly declared for Luther: the rebellious baron,
+Franz von Sickingen, offered him his castle as a safe place of refuge.
+Frederick the Wise was now his steadfast friend, and, although the
+dangers which beset him increased every day, his own faith in the
+righteousness of his cause only became firmer and purer.
+
+[Sidenote: 1519.]
+
+By this time the question of electing a successor to Maximilian had been
+settled. When the Diet came together at Frankfort, in June, 1519, two
+prominent candidates presented themselves,--king Francis I. of France,
+and king Charles of Spain, Naples, Sicily and the Spanish possessions in
+the newly-discovered America. The former of these had no other right to
+the crown than could be purchased by the wagon-loads of money which he
+sent to Germany; the latter was the grandson of Maximilian, and also
+represented, in his own person, Austria, Burgundy and the Netherlands.
+Again the old jealousy of so much power arose among the Electors, and
+they gave their votes to Frederick the Wise, of Saxony. He, however,
+shrank from the burden of the imperial rule, at such a time, and
+declined to accept. Then Charles of Spain, who had ruined the prospects
+of Francis I. by distributing 850,000 gold florins among the members of
+the Diet, was elected without any further difficulty. The following year
+he was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle, and became Karl V. in the list of
+German Emperors. Although he reigned thirty-six years, he always
+remained a foreigner: he never even learned to speak the German language
+fluently: his tastes and habits were Spanish, and his election, at such
+a crisis in the history of Germany, was a crime from the effects of
+which the country did not recover for three hundred years afterwards.
+
+Luther wrote to the new Emperor, immediately after the election, begging
+that he might not be condemned unheard, and was so earnestly supported
+by Frederick the Wise, who had voted for Charles at the Diet, that the
+latter sent Luther a formal invitation to appear before him at Worms,
+where a new Diet had been called, specially to arrange the Imperial
+Court in the ten districts of the Empire, and to raise a military force
+to drive the French out of Lombardy, which Francis I. had seized. Luther
+considered this opportunity "a call from God:" he set out from
+Wittenberg, and wherever he passed the people flocked together in great
+numbers to see him and hear him speak. On approaching Worms, one of his
+friends tried to persuade him to turn back, but he answered: "Though
+there were as many devils in the city as tiles on the roofs, yet would I
+go!" He entered Worms in an open wagon, in his monk's dress, stared at
+by an immense concourse of people. The same evening he received visits
+from a number of princes and noblemen.
+
+[Sidenote: 1521. LUTHER AT THE DIET OF WORMS.]
+
+On the 17th of April, 1521, Luther was conducted by the Marshal of the
+Empire to the City Hall, where the Diet was in session. As he was
+passing through the outer hall, the famous knight and general, George
+von Frundsberg, clapped him upon the shoulder, with the words: "Monk,
+monk! thou art in a strait, the like of which myself and many leaders,
+in the most desperate battles, have never known. But if thy thoughts are
+just, and thou art sure of thy cause, go on in God's name, and be of
+good cheer, He will not forsake thee!" Charles V. is reported to have
+said, when Luther entered the great hall: "That monk will never make a
+heretic of me!" After having acknowledged all his writings, Luther was
+called upon to retract them. He appeared to be somewhat embarrassed and
+undecided, either confused by the splendor of the Imperial Court, or
+shaken by the overwhelming responsibility resting upon him. He therefore
+asked a little time for further consideration, and was allowed
+twenty-four hours.
+
+When he reappeared before the Diet, the next day, he was calm and firm.
+In a plain, yet most earnest address, delivered both in Latin and German
+so that all might understand, he explained the grounds of his belief,
+and closed with the solemn words: "Unless, therefore, I should be
+confuted by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures and by clear and
+convincing reasons, I cannot and will not retract, because there is
+neither wisdom nor safety in acting against conscience. Here I stand; I
+cannot do otherwise: God help me! Amen."
+
+Charles V., without allowing the matter to be discussed by the Diet,
+immediately declared that Luther should be prosecuted as a heretic, as
+soon as the remaining twenty-one days of his safe-conduct had expired.
+He was urged by many of the partisans of Rome, not to respect the
+promise, but he answered: "I do not mean to blush, like Sigismund."
+Luther's sincerity and courage confirmed the faith of his princely
+friends. Frederick the Wise and the Landgrave Philip of Hesse walked by
+his side when he left the Diet, and Duke Eric of Brunswick sent him a
+jug of beer. His followers among the nobility greatly increased in
+numbers and enthusiasm.
+
+[Sidenote: 1521.]
+
+It was certain, however, that he would be in serious danger as soon as
+he had been formally outlawed by the Emperor. A plot, kept secret from
+all his friends, was formed for his safety, and successfully carried out
+during his return from Worms to Wittenberg. Luther travelled in an open
+wagon, with only one companion. On entering the Thuringian Forest, he
+sent his escort in advance, and was soon afterwards, in a lonely glen,
+seized by four knights in armor and with closed visors, placed upon a
+horse and carried away. The news spread like wild-fire over Germany that
+he had been murdered, and for nearly a year he was lost to the world.
+His writings were only read the more: the Papal bull and the Imperial
+edict which ordered them to be burned were alike disregarded. Charles V.
+went back to Spain immediately after the Diet of Worms, after having
+transferred the German possessions of the house of Hapsburg to his
+younger brother, Ferdinand, and the business of suppressing Luther's
+doctrines fell chiefly to the Archbishops of Mayence and Cologne, and
+the Papal Legate.
+
+Luther, meanwhile, was in security in a castle called the Wartburg, on
+the summit of a mountain near Eisenach. He was dressed in a knightly
+fashion, wore a helmet, breastplate and sword, allowed his beard to
+grow, and went by the name of "Squire George." But in the privacy of his
+own chamber--all the furniture of which is preserved to this day, as
+when he lived in it--he worked zealously upon a translation of the New
+Testament into German. In the spring of 1522 he was disturbed in his
+labors by the report of new doctrines which were being preached in
+Wittenberg. His friend Carlstadt had joined a fanatical sect, called the
+Anabaptists, which advocated the abolition of the mass, the destruction
+of pictures and statues, and proclaimed the coming of God's Kingdom upon
+the Earth.
+
+The experience of the Bohemians showed Luther the necessity of union in
+his great work of reforming the Christian Church. Moreover, his enemies
+triumphantly pointed to the excesses of the Anabaptists as the natural
+result of his doctrines. There was no time to be lost: in spite of the
+remonstrance of the Elector Frederick, he left the Wartburg, and rode
+alone, as a man-at-arms, to Wittenberg, where even Melanchthon did not
+recognize him on his arrival. He began preaching, with so much power and
+eloquence, that in a few days the new sect lost all the ground it had
+gained, and its followers were expelled from the city. The necessity of
+arranging another and simpler form of divine service was made evident by
+these occurrences; and after the publication of the New Testament in
+German, in September, 1522, Luther and Melanchthon united in the former
+task.
+
+[Sidenote: 1523. THE PEASANTS' WAR.]
+
+The Reformation made such progress that by 1523, not only Saxony, Hesse
+and Brunswick had practically embraced it, but also the cities of
+Frankfort, Strasburg, Nuremberg and Magdeburg, the Augustine order of
+monks, a part of the Franciscans, and quite a large number of priests.
+Now, however, a new and most serious trouble arose, partly from the
+preaching of the Anabaptists, headed by their so-called Prophet, Thomas
+Muenzer, and partly provoked by the oppressions which the common people
+had so long endured. In the summer of 1524 the peasants of Wuertemberg
+and Baden united, armed themselves, and issued a manifesto containing
+twelve articles. They demanded the right to choose their own priests;
+the restriction of tithes to their harvests; the abolition of feudal
+serfdom; the use of the forests; the regulation of the privilege of the
+nobles to hunt and fish; and protection, in certain other points,
+against the arbitrary power of the landed nobility. They seemed to take
+it for granted that Luther would support them; but he, dreading a civil
+war and desirous to keep the religious reformation free from any
+political movement, published a pamphlet condemning their revolt. At the
+same time he used his influence on their behalf, with the reigning
+priests and princes.
+
+The excitement, however, was too great to be subdued by admonitions of
+patience and forbearance. A dreadful war broke out in 1525: the army of
+30,000 peasants ravaged a great part of Southern Germany, destroying
+castles and convents, and venting their rage in the most shocking
+barbarities, which were afterwards inflicted upon themselves, when they
+were finally defeated by the Count of Waldburg. The movement extended
+through Middle Germany even to Westphalia, and threatened to become
+general: some parts of Thuringia were held for a short time by the
+peasants, and suffered terrible ravages. Another army of 8,000, headed
+by Thomas Muenzer, was cut to pieces near Muehlhausen, in Saxony, and by
+the end of the year 1525, the rebellion was completely suppressed. In
+this short time, some of the most interesting monuments of the Middle
+Ages, among them the grand castle of the Hohenstaufens, in Suabia, had
+been levelled to the earth; whole provinces were laid waste; tens of
+thousands of men, women and children were put to the sword, and a
+serious check was given to the progress of the Reformation, through all
+Southern Germany.
+
+[Sidenote: 1525.]
+
+The stand which Luther had taken against the rebellion preserved the
+friendship of those princes who were well-disposed towards him, but he
+took no part in the measures of defence against the Imperial and Papal
+power, which they were soon compelled to adopt. He devoted himself to
+the completion of his translation of the Bible, in which he was
+faithfully assisted by Melanchthon and others. In this great work he
+accomplished even more than a service to Christianity; he created the
+modern German language. Before his time, there had been no tongue which
+was known and accepted throughout the whole Empire. The poets and
+minstrels of the Middle Ages wrote in Suabian; other popular works were
+in low-Saxon, Franconian or Alsatian. The dialect of Holland and
+Flanders had so changed that it was hardly understood in Germany; that
+of Brandenburg and the Baltic provinces had no literature as yet, and
+the learned or scientific works of the time were written in Latin.
+
+No one before Luther saw that the simplest and most expressive qualities
+of the German language must be sought for in the mouths of the people.
+With all his scholarship, he never used the theological style of
+writing, but endeavored to express himself so that he could be clearly
+understood by all men. In translating the Old Testament, he took
+extraordinary pains to find words and phrases as simple and strong as
+those of the Hebrew writers. He frequented the market-place, the
+merry-making, the house of birth, marriage or death, to learn how the
+common people expressed themselves in all the circumstances of life. He
+enlisted his friends in the same service, begging them to note down for
+him any peculiar, characteristic phrase; "for," said he, "I cannot use
+the words heard in castles and courts." Not a sentence of the Bible was
+translated until he had found the best and clearest German expression
+for it. He wrote, in 1530: "I have exerted myself, in translating, to
+give pure and clear German. And it has verily happened, that we have
+sought and questioned a fortnight, three, four weeks, for a single word,
+and yet it was not always found. In Job, we so labored, Philip
+Melanchthon, Aurogallus and I, that in four days we sometimes barely
+finished three lines."
+
+[Sidenote: 1525. LUTHER'S MARRIAGE.]
+
+Pope Leo X. died in 1521, and was succeeded by Adrian VI., the last
+German who wore the Papal crown. He admitted many of the corruptions of
+the Roman Church, and seemed inclined to reform them; but he only lived
+two years, and his successor was Clement VII., a nephew of Leo. The
+latter induced Ferdinand of Austria, the Dukes of Bavaria and several
+Bishops to unite in a league for suppressing the spread of Luther's
+doctrines. Thereupon the Elector John of Saxony (Frederick the Wise
+having died in 1525), Philip of Hesse, Albert of Brandenburg, the Dukes
+of Brunswick and Mecklenburg, the Counts of Mansfeld and Anhalt and the
+city of Magdeburg formed a counter-alliance at Torgau, in 1526. At the
+Diet held in Speyer the same year, the party of the Reformation was so
+strong that no decree against it could be passed; the question was left
+free.
+
+The organization of the Christian Church which was by this time adopted
+in Saxony, soon spread over all Northern Germany. Its principal features
+were: the abolition of the monastic orders and of priestly celibacy;
+divine service in the language of the country; the distribution of the
+Bible, in German, to all persons; the communion in both forms, for
+laymen; and the instruction of the people and their children in the
+truths of Christianity. The former possessions of the Church were given
+up to the State, and Luther, against Melanchthon's advice, even insisted
+on uniting the episcopal authority with the political, in the person of
+the reigning prince. He set the example of giving up priestly celibacy,
+by marrying, in 1525, Catharine von Bora, a nun of a noble family. This
+step created a great sensation; even many of Luther's friends condemned
+his course, but he declared that he was right, and he was rewarded by
+twenty-one years of unalloyed domestic happiness.
+
+The Emperor Charles V., during all these events, was absent from
+Germany. His first war with France was brought to a conclusion by the
+battle of Pavia, in February, 1525, when Francis I. was obliged to
+surrender, and was sent as a prisoner to Madrid. But having purchased
+his freedom the following year, by giving up his claims to Italy,
+Burgundy and Flanders, he no sooner returned to France than he
+recommenced the war,--this time in union with Pope Clement VII., who was
+jealous of the Emperor's increasing power in Italy. The old knight
+George von Frundsberg and the Constable de Bourbon--a member of the
+royal family of France, who had gone over to Charles V.'s side,--then
+united their forces, which were principally German, and marched upon
+Rome. The city was taken by storm, in 1527, terribly ravaged and the
+Pope made prisoner. Charles V. pretended not to have known of or
+authorized this movement; he liberated the Pope, who promised, in
+return, to call a Council for the Reformation of the Church. The war
+continued, however,--Venice, Genoa and England being also
+involved--until 1529, when it was terminated by the Peace of Cambray.
+
+[Sidenote: 1529.]
+
+Charles V. and the Pope then came to an understanding, in virtue of
+which the former was crowned king of Lombardy and Emperor of Rome in
+Bologna, in 1530, and bound himself to extirpate the doctrines of Luther
+in Germany. In Austria, Bavaria and Wuertemberg, in fact, the persecution
+had already commenced: many persons had been hanged or burned at the
+stake for professing the new doctrines. Ferdinand of Austria, who had
+meanwhile succeeded to the crowns of Bohemia and Hungary, was compelled
+to call a Diet at Speyer, in 1529, to take measures against the Turks,
+then victorious in Transylvania and a great part of Hungary; a majority
+of Catholics was present, and they passed a decree repeating the
+outlawry of Luther and his doctrines by the Diet of Worms. Seven
+reigning princes, headed by Saxony, Brandenburg and Hesse, and fifteen
+imperial cities, joined in a solemn protest against this measure,
+asserting that the points in dispute could only be settled by a
+universal Council, called for the purpose. From that day, the name of
+"Protestants" was given to both the followers of Luther, and the Swiss
+Reformers, under the lead of Zwingli.
+
+The history of the Reformation in Switzerland cannot be here given. It
+will be enough to say that Zwingli, who was born in the Canton of St.
+Gall, in 1484, resembled Luther in his purity of character, his earnest
+devotion to study, and the circumstance that his ideas of religious
+reform were derived from an intimate knowledge of the Bible. It was the
+passionate desire of Philip of Hesse that both branches of the
+Protestants should become united, in order to be so much the stronger to
+meet the dangers which all felt were coming. Luther, who labored and
+prayed to prevent the struggle from becoming political, and who had
+opposed even the league of the Protestant princes at Torgau, in 1526,
+was with difficulty induced to meet Zwingli. He was still busy with his
+translation of the Bible, with the preparation of a Catechism for the
+people, a collection of hymns to be used in worship, and other works
+necessary to the complete organization of the Protestant Church.
+
+[Sidenote: 1539. MEETING OF LUTHER AND ZWINGLI.]
+
+The meeting between the two Reformers finally took place in Marburg, in
+1529. Melanchthon, Jonas, and many other distinguished men were present:
+both Luther and Zwingli fully and freely compared their doctrines, but,
+although they were united on all essential points, they differed in
+regard to the nature of the Eucharist, and Luther positively refused to
+give way, or even to make common cause with the Swiss Protestants. This
+was one of several instances, wherein the great Reformer injured his
+cause through his lack of wisdom and tolerance: in small things, as in
+great, he was inflexible.
+
+So matters stood, in the beginning of 1530, when Charles V. returned to
+Germany, after an absence of nine years. He established his court at
+Innsbruck, and summoned a Diet to meet at Augsburg, in April, but it was
+not opened until the 20th of June. Melanchthon, with many other
+Protestant professors and clergymen, was present: Luther, being under
+the ban of the Empire, remained in Coburg, where he wrote his grand
+hymn, "Our Lord, He is a Tower of Strength." The Protestant princes and
+cities united in signing a Confession of Faith, which had been very
+carefully drawn up by Melanchthon, and the Emperor was obliged to
+consent that it should be read before the Diet. He ordered, however,
+that the reading should take place, not in the great hall where the
+sessions were held, but in the Bishop's chapel, and at a very early hour
+in the morning. The object of this arrangement was to prevent any but
+the members of the Diet from hearing the document.
+
+But the weather was intensely warm, and it was necessary to open the
+windows; the Saxon Chancellor, Dr. Bayer, read the Confession in such a
+loud, clear voice, that a thousand or more persons, gathered on the
+outside of the Chapel, were able to hear every word. The principles
+asserted were:--That men are justified by faith alone; that an assembly
+of true believers constitutes the Church; that it is not necessary that
+forms and ceremonies should be everywhere the same; that preaching, the
+sacraments, and infant baptism, are necessary; that Christ is really
+present in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, which should be
+administered to the congregation in both forms; that monastic vows,
+fasting, pilgrimages and the invocation of saints are useless, and that
+priests must be allowed to marry. After the Confession had been read,
+many persons were heard to exclaim: "It is reasonable that the abuses of
+the Church should be corrected: the Lutherans are right, for our
+spiritual lords have carried it with too high a hand." The general
+impression was favorable to the Protestants, and the princes who had
+signed the Confession determined that they would maintain it at all
+hazards. This "Augsburg Confession," as it was thenceforth called, was
+the foundation of the Lutheran Church throughout Germany.
+
+[Sidenote: 1530.]
+
+The Emperor ordered a refutation of the Protestant doctrines to be
+prepared by the Catholic theologians who were present, but refused to
+furnish a copy to the Protestants and prohibited them from making any
+reply. He declared that the latter must instantly return to the Roman
+Church, the abuses of which would be corrected by himself and the Pope.
+Thus the breach was made permanent between Rome and more than half of
+Germany. Charles V. procured the election of his brother Ferdinand to
+the crown of Germany, although Bavaria united with the Protestant
+princes in voting against him.
+
+The Imperial Courts in the ten districts were now composed entirely of
+Catholics, and they were ordered to enforce the suppression of
+Protestant worship. Thereupon the Protestant princes and delegates from
+the cities met at the little town of Schmalkalden, in Thuringia, and on
+the 29th of March, 1531, bound themselves to unite, for the space of six
+years, in resisting the Imperial decree. Even Luther, much as he dreaded
+a religious war, could not oppose this movement. The League of
+Schmalkalden, as it is called, represented so much military strength,
+that king Ferdinand became alarmed and advised a more conciliatory
+course towards the Protestants. Sultan Solyman of Turkey, who had
+conquered all Hungary, was marching upon Vienna with an immense army,
+and openly boasted that he would subdue Germany.
+
+It thus became impossible for Charles V. either to suppress the
+Protestants at this time, or to repel the Turkish invasion without their
+help. He was compelled to call a new Diet, which met at Nuremberg, and
+in August, 1532, concluded a Religious Peace, both parties agreeing to
+refrain from all hostilities until a General Council of the Church
+should be called. Then the Protestants contributed their share of troops
+to the Imperial army, which soon amounted to 80,000 men, commanded by
+the famous general, Sebastian Schertlin, himself a Protestant. The Turks
+were defeated everywhere; the siege of Vienna was raised, and the whole
+of Hungary might have been reconquered, but for Ferdinand's unpopularity
+among the Catholic princes.
+
+[Sidenote: 1539. THE LEAGUE OF SCHMALKALDEN.]
+
+Other cities and smaller principalities joined the League of
+Schmalkalden, the power of which increased from year to year. The
+Religious Peace of Nuremberg greatly favored the spread of the
+Reformation, although it was not very strictly observed by either side.
+In 1534 Wuertemberg, which was then held by Ferdinand of Austria, was
+conquered by Philip of Hesse, who reinstated the exiled Duke, Ulric. The
+latter became a Protestant, and thus Wuertemberg was added to the League.
+Charles V. would certainly have interfered in this case, but he had left
+Germany for another nine years' absence, and was just then engaged in a
+war with Tunis. The reigning princes of Brandenburg and Ducal Saxony
+(Thuringia), who had been enemies of the Reformation, died and were
+succeeded by Protestant sons: in 1537 the League of Schmalkalden was
+renewed for ten years more, and the so-called "holy alliances," which
+were attempted against it by Bavaria and the Archbishops of Mayence and
+Salzburg, were of no avail. The Protestant faith continued to spread,
+not only in Germany, but also in Denmark, Sweden, Holland and England.
+The first of these countries even became a member of the Schmalkalden
+League, in 1538.
+
+Out of the "Freedom of the Gospel," which was the first watch-word of
+the Reformers, smaller sects continued to arise, notwithstanding they
+met with almost as much opposition from the Protestants as the
+Catholics. The Anabaptists obtained possession of the city of Muenster in
+1534, and held it for more than a year, under the government of a Dutch
+tailor, named John of Leyden, who had himself crowned king of Zion,
+introduced polygamy, and cut off the heads of all who resisted his
+decrees. When the Bishop of Muenster finally took the city, John of
+Leyden and two of his associates were tortured to death, and their
+bodies suspended in iron cages over the door of the cathedral. About the
+same time Simon Menno, a native of Friesland, founded a quiet and
+peaceful sect which was named, after him, the Mennonites, and which
+still exists, both in Germany and the United States.
+
+[Sidenote: 1544.]
+
+While, therefore, Charles V. was carrying on his wars, alternately with
+the Barbary States, and with Francis I. of France, the foundations of
+the Protestant Church, in spite of all divisions and disturbances, were
+permanently laid in Germany. Although he had been brilliantly successful
+in Tunis, in 1535, he failed so completely before Algiers, in 1541, that
+Francis I. was emboldened to make another attempt, in alliance with
+Sultan Solyman of Turkey, Denmark and Sweden. So formidable was the
+danger that the Emperor was again compelled to seek the assistance of
+the German Protestants, and even of England. He returned to Germany for
+the second time and called a Diet to meet in Speyer, which renewed the
+Religious Peace of Nuremberg, with the assurance that Protestants should
+have equal rights before the Imperial courts, and that they would be
+left free until the meeting of a _Free_ Council of the Church.
+
+Having obtained an army of 40,000 men by these concessions, Charles V.
+marched into France, captured a number of fortresses, and had reached
+Soissons on his way to Paris, when Francis I. acknowledged himself
+defeated and begged for peace. In the Treaty of Crespy, in 1544, he gave
+up his claim to Lombardy, Naples, Flanders and Artois, while the Emperor
+gave him a part of Burgundy, and both united in a league against the
+Turks and Protestants, the allies of one and the other. In order,
+however, to preserve some appearance of fidelity to his solemn pledges,
+the Emperor finally prevailed upon the Pope, Paul III., to order an
+OEcumenical Council. It was just 130 years since the Roman Church had
+promised to reform itself. The delay had given rise to the Protestant
+Reformation, which was now so powerful that only a just and conciliatory
+course on the part of Rome could settle the difficulty. Instead of this,
+the Council was summoned to meet at Trent, in the Italian part of the
+Tyrol, the Pope reserved the government of it for himself, and the
+Protestants, although invited to attend, were thus expected to
+acknowledge his authority. They unanimously declared, therefore, that
+they would not be bound by its decrees. Even Luther, who had ardently
+hoped to see all Christians again united under a purer organization of
+the Church, saw that a reconciliation was impossible, and published a
+pamphlet entitled: "The Roman Papacy Founded by the Devil."
+
+[Sidenote: 1546. LUTHER'S LAST DAYS.]
+
+The publication of the complete translation of the Bible in 1534 was not
+the end of Luther's labors. His leadership in the great work of
+Reformation was acknowledged by all, and he was consulted by princes and
+clergymen, by scholars and jurists, even by the common people. He never
+relaxed in his efforts to preserve peace, not only among the Protestant
+princes, who could not yet overcome their old habit of asserting an
+independent authority, but also between Protestants and Catholics. Yet
+he could hardly help feeling that, with such a form of government, and
+such an Emperor, as Germany then possessed, peace was impossible: he
+only prayed that it might last while he lived.
+
+Luther's powerful constitution gradually broke down under the weight of
+his labors and anxieties. He became subject to attacks of bodily
+suffering, followed by great depression of mind. Nevertheless, the
+consciousness of having in a great measure performed the work which he
+had been called upon to do, kept up his faith, and he was accustomed to
+declare that he had been made "a chosen weapon of God, known in Heaven
+and Hell, as well as upon the earth." In January, 1546, he was summoned
+to Eisleben, the place of his birth, by the Counts of Mansfeld, who
+begged him to act as arbitrator between them in a question of
+inheritance. Although much exhausted by the fatigues of the
+winter-journey, he settled the dispute, and preached four times to the
+people. His last letter to his wife, written on the 14th of February, is
+full of courage, cheerfulness and tenderness.
+
+Two days afterwards, his strength began to fail. His friend, Dr. Jonas,
+was in Eisleben at the time, and Luther forced himself to sit at the
+table with him and with his own two sons; but it was noticed that he
+spoke only of the future life, and with an unusual earnestness and
+solemnity. The same evening it became evident to all that his end was
+rapidly approaching: he grew weaker from hour to hour, and occasionally
+repeated passages from the Bible, in German and Latin. After midnight he
+seemed to revive a little: Dr. Jonas, the Countess of Mansfeld, the
+pastor of the church at Eisleben, and his sons, stood near his bed. Then
+Jonas said: "Beloved Father, do you acknowledge Christ, the Son of God,
+our Redeemer?" Luther answered "Yes," in a strong and clear voice; then,
+folding his hands, he drew one deep sigh and died, between two and
+three o'clock on the morning of the 17th of February.
+
+[Sidenote: 1546.]
+
+After solemn services in the church at Eisleben, the body was removed on
+its way to Wittenberg. In every village through which the procession
+passed, the bells were tolled, and the people flocked together from all
+the surrounding country. The population of Halle, men and women, came
+out of the city with loud cries and lamentations, and the throng was so
+great that it was two hours before the coffin could be placed in the
+church. "Here," says an eyewitness of the scene, "we endeavored to raise
+the funeral psalm, _De profundis_ ('Out of the depths have I cried unto
+thee'); but so heavy was our grief that the words were rather wept than
+sung." On the 22d of February the remains of the great Reformer were
+given to the earth at Wittenberg, with all the honors which the people,
+the authorities and the University could render.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+FROM LUTHER'S DEATH TO THE END OF THE 16TH CENTURY.
+
+(1546--1600.)
+
+Attempt to Suppress the Protestants. --Treachery of Maurice of Saxony.
+    --Defeat and Capture of the Elector, John Frederick. --Philip of
+    Hesse Imprisoned. --Tyranny of Charles V. --The Augsburg Interim.
+    --Maurice of Saxony turns against Charles V. --The Treaty of
+    Passau. --War with France. --The Religious Peace of Augsburg. --The
+    Jesuits. --Abdication of Charles V. --Ferdinand of Austria becomes
+    Emperor. --End of the Council of Trent. --Protestantism in Germany.
+    --Weakness of the Empire. --Loss of the Baltic Provinces.
+    --Maximilian II. Emperor. --His Tolerance. --The Last Private Feud.
+    --Revolt of the Netherlands. --Death of Maximilian II. --Rudolf
+    II.'s Character. --Persecution of Protestants. --Condition of
+    Germany at the End of the 16th Century.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1546. HOSTILITIES TO THE PROTESTANTS.]
+
+The woes which the German Electors brought upon the country, when they
+gave the crown to a Spaniard because he was a Hapsburg, were only
+commencing when Luther died. Charles V. had just enough German blood in
+him to enable him to deceive the German people; he had no interest in
+them further than the power they gave to his personal rule; he used
+Germany to build up the strength of Spain, and then trampled it under
+his feet.
+
+The Council of Trent, which was composed almost entirely of Spanish and
+Italian prelates, followed the instructions of the Pope and declared
+that the traditions of the Roman Church were of equal authority with the
+Bible. This made a reconciliation with the Protestants impossible, which
+was just what the Pope desired: his plan was to put them down by main
+force. In fact, if the spirit of the Protestant faith had not already
+entered into the lives of the mass of the people, the Reformation might
+have been lost through the hesitation of some princes and the treachery
+of another. The Schmalkalden League was at this time weakened by
+personal quarrels among its members; yet it was still able to raise an
+army of 40,000 men, which was placed under the command of Sebastian
+Schertlin. Charles V. had a very small force with him at Ratisbon; the
+troops he had summoned from Flanders and Italy had not arrived; and an
+energetic movement by the Protestants could not have failed to be
+successful.
+
+[Sidenote: 1547.]
+
+But the two chiefs of the Schmalkalden League, John Frederick of Saxony
+and Philip of Hesse, showed a timidity almost amounting to cowardice in
+this emergency. In spite of Schertlin's entreaties, they refused to
+allow him to move, fearing, as they alleged, to invade the neutrality of
+Bavaria, or to excite Ferdinand of Austria against them. For months they
+compelled their army to wait, while the Emperor was constantly receiving
+reinforcements, among them 12,000 Italian troops furnished by the Pope.
+Then, when they were absolutely forced to act, a new and unexpected
+danger rendered them powerless. Maurice, Duke of Saxony (of the younger
+line), suddenly abjured the Protestant faith, declared for Charles V.,
+and took possession of the territory of Electoral Saxony, belonging to
+his cousin, John Frederick. The latter hastened home with his own
+portion of the army, and defeated and expelled Maurice, it is true, but
+in doing so, gave up the field to the Emperor. Duke Ulric of Wuertemberg
+first humbly submitted to the latter, then Ulm, Augsburg, Strasburg, and
+other cities: Schertlin was not left with troops enough to resist, and
+the Imperial and Catholic power was restored throughout Southern
+Germany, without a struggle.
+
+In the spring of 1547, Charles V. marched into Northern Germany,
+surprised and defeated John Frederick of Saxony at Muehlberg on the Elbe,
+and took him prisoner. The Elector was so enormously stout and heavy
+that he could only mount his horse by the use of a ladder; so the
+Emperor's Spanish cavalry easily overtook him in his flight. Charles V.
+now showed himself in his true character: he appointed the fierce Duke
+of Alba President of a Court which tried John Frederick and condemned
+him to death. The other German princes protested so earnestly against
+this sentence that it was not carried out, but John Frederick was
+compelled to give up the greater part of Saxony to the traitor Maurice,
+and be content with Thuringia or Ducal Saxony--the territory embraced in
+the present duchies of Meiningen, Gotha, Weimar and Altenburg. He
+steadfastly refused, however, to submit to the decrees of the Council of
+Trent, and remained firm in the Protestant faith during the five years
+of imprisonment which followed.
+
+[Sidenote: 1548. TYRANNY OF CHARLES V.]
+
+His wife, the Duchess Sibylla, heroically defended Wittenberg against
+the Emperor, but when John Frederick had been despoiled of his
+territory, she could no longer hold the city, which was surrendered.
+Charles V. was urged by Alba and others to burn Luther's body and
+scatter the ashes, as those of a heretic; but he answered, like a man:
+"I wage no war against the dead." Herein he showed the better side of
+his nature, although only for a moment. Philip of Hesse was not strong
+enough to resist alone, and finally, persuaded by his son-in-law,
+Maurice of Saxony, he promised to beg the Emperor's pardon on his knees,
+to destroy all his fortresses except Cassel, and to pay a fine of
+150,000 gold florins, on condition that he should be allowed to retain
+his princely rights. These were Charles V.'s own conditions; but when
+Philip, kneeling before him, happened (or seemed) to smile while his
+application for pardon was being read, the Emperor cried out: "Wait,
+I'll teach you to laugh!" Breaking his solemn word without scruple, he
+sent Philip instantly to prison, and the latter was kept for years in
+close confinement, both in Germany and Flanders.
+
+Charles V. was now also master of Northern Germany, except the city of
+Magdeburg, which was strongly fortified, and refused to surrender. He
+entrusted the siege of the place to Maurice of Saxony, and returned to
+Bavaria, in order to be nearer Italy. He had at last become the
+arbitrary ruler of all Germany: he had not only violated his word in
+dealing with the princes, but defied the Diet in subjecting them by the
+aid of foreign soldiers. His court, his commanders, his prelates, were
+Spaniards, who, as they passed through the German States, abused and
+insulted the people with perfect impunity. The princes were now reaping
+only what they themselves had sown; but the mass of the people, who had
+had no voice in the election,--who saw their few rights despised and
+their faith threatened with suppression--suffered terribly during this
+time.
+
+[Sidenote: 1548.]
+
+In May, 1548, the Emperor proclaimed what was called the "Augsburg
+Interim," which allowed the communion in both forms and the marriage of
+priests to the Protestants, but insisted that all the other forms and
+ceremonies of the Catholic Church should be observed, until the Council
+should pronounce its final judgment. This latter body had removed from
+Trent to Bologna, in spite of the Emperor's remonstrance, and it did not
+meet again at Trent until 1551, after the death of Pope Paul III. There
+was, in fact, almost as much confusion in the Church as in political
+affairs. A number of intelligent, zealous prelates desired a correction
+of the former abuses, and they were undoubtedly supported by the Emperor
+himself; but the Pope with the French and Spanish cardinals and bishops,
+controlled a majority of the votes of the Council, and thus postponed
+its action from year to year.
+
+The acceptance of the "Interim" was resisted both by Catholics and
+Protestants. Charles V. used all his arts,--persuasion, threats, armed
+force,--and succeeded for a short time in compelling a sort of external
+observance of its provisions. His ambition, now, was to have his son
+Philip chosen by the Diet as his successor, notwithstanding that
+Ferdinand of Austria had been elected king in 1530, and had governed
+during his brother's long absence from Germany. The Protestant Electors,
+conquered as they were, and abject as many of them had seemed, were not
+ready to comply; Ferdinand's jealousy was aroused, and the question was
+in suspense when a sudden and startling event changed the whole face of
+affairs.
+
+Maurice of Saxony had been besieging Magdeburg for a year, in the
+Emperor's name. The city was well-provisioned, admirably defended, and
+the people answered every threat with defiance and ridicule. Maurice
+grew tired of his inglorious position, sensitive to the name of
+"Traitor" which was everywhere hurled against him, and indignant at the
+continued imprisonment of Philip of Hesse. He made a secret treaty with
+Henry II. of France, to whom he promised Lorraine, including the cities
+of Toul, Verdun and Metz, in return for his assistance; and then, in the
+spring of 1552, before his plans could be divined, marched with all
+speed against the Emperor, who was holding his court in Innsbruck. The
+latter attempted to escape to Flanders, but Maurice had already seized
+the mountain-passes. Nothing but speedy flight across the Alps, in night
+and storm, attended only by a few followers, saved Charles V. from
+capture. The Council of Trent broke up and fled in terror; John
+Frederick of Saxony and Philip of Hesse were freed from their long
+confinement, and the Protestant cause gained at one blow all the ground
+it had lost.
+
+[Sidenote: 1553. ALBERT OF BRANDENBURG'S RAID.]
+
+Maurice returned to Passau, on the Danube, where Ferdinand of Austria
+united with him in calling a Diet of the German Electors. The latter,
+bishops as well as princes, admitted that the Protestants could be no
+longer suppressed by force, and agreed to establish a religious peace,
+independent of any action of the Pope and Council. The "Treaty of
+Passau," as it was called, allowed freedom of worship to all who
+accepted the Augsburg Confession, and postponed other questions to the
+decision of a German Diet. The Emperor at first refused to subscribe to
+the treaty, but when Maurice began to renew hostilities, there was no
+other course left. The French in Lorraine and the Turks in Hungary were
+making rapid advances, and it was no time to assert his lost despotism
+over the Empire.
+
+With the troops which the princes now agreed to furnish, the Emperor
+marched into France, and in October, 1552, arrived before Metz, which he
+besieged until the following January. Then, with his army greatly
+reduced by sickness and hardship, he raised the siege and marched away,
+to continue the war in other quarters. But it was four years before the
+quarrel with France came to an end, and during this time the Protestant
+States of Germany had nothing to fear from the Imperial power. The
+Margrave Albert of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, who was on the Emperor's side,
+attempted to carry fire and sword through their territories, in order to
+pay himself for his military services. After wasting, plundering and
+committing shocking barbarities in Saxony and Franconia, he was defeated
+by Maurice, in July, 1553. The latter fell in the moment of victory,
+giving his life in expiation of his former apostasy. The greater part of
+Saxony, nevertheless, has remained in the hands of his descendants to
+this day, while the descendants of John Frederick, although representing
+the elder line, possess only the little principalities of Thuringia, to
+each of which the Saxon name is attached, as Saxe-Weimar, Saxe-Gotha,
+&c.
+
+[Sidenote: 1555.]
+
+Charles V., who saw his ambitious plans for the government of the world
+failing everywhere, and whose bodily strength was failing also, left
+Germany in disgust, commissioning his brother Ferdinand to call a Diet,
+in accordance with the stipulations of the Treaty of Passau. The Diet
+met at Augsburg, and in spite of the violent opposition of the Papal
+Legate, on the 25th of September, 1555, concluded the treaty of
+Religious Peace which finally gave rest to Germany. The Protestants who
+followed the Augsburg Confession received religious freedom, perfect
+equality before the law, and the undisturbed possession of the Church
+property which had fallen into their hands. In other respects their
+privileges were not equal. By a clause called the "spiritual
+reservation," it was ordered that when a Catholic Bishop or Abbot became
+Protestant he should give up land and title in order that the Church
+might lose none of its possessions. The rights and consciences of the
+people were so little considered that they were not allowed to change
+their faith unless the ruling prince changed his. The monstrous doctrine
+was asserted that religion was an affair of the government,--that is,
+that he to whom belonged the rule, possessed the right to choose the
+people's faith. In accordance with this law the population of the
+Palatinate of the Rhine was afterwards compelled to be alternately
+Calvinistic and Lutheran, four times in succession!
+
+The Treaty of Augsburg did not include the followers of Zwingli and
+Calvin, who were getting to be quite numerous in Southern and Western
+Germany, and they were left without any recognized rights. Nevertheless,
+what the Lutherans had gained was also gained for them, in the end; and
+the Treaty, although it did not secure equal justice, gave the highest
+sanction of the Empire to the Reformation. The Pope rejected and
+condemned it, but without the least effect upon the German Catholics,
+who were no less desirous of peace than the Protestants. Moreover, their
+hopes of a final triumph over the latter were greatly increased by the
+zeal and activity of the Jesuits, who had been accepted and commissioned
+by the Church of Rome fifteen years before, who were rapidly increasing
+in numbers, and professed to have made the suppression of Protestant
+doctrines their chief task.
+
+This treaty was the last political event of Charles V.'s reign. One
+month later, to a day, he formally conferred on his son, Philip II., at
+Brussels, the government of the Netherlands, and on the 15th of January,
+1556, he resigned to him the crowns of Spain and Naples. He then sailed
+for Spain, where he retired to the monastery of St. Just and lived for
+two years longer as an Imperial monk. He was the first monarch of his
+time and he made Spain the leading nation of the world: his immense
+energy, his boundless ambition, and his cold, calculating brain
+reestablished his power again and again, when it seemed on the point of
+giving way; but he died at last without having accomplished the two
+chief aims of his life--the reunion of all Christendom under the Pope,
+and the union of Germany with the Spanish Empire. The German people,
+following the leaders who had arisen out of their own breast,--Luther,
+Melanchthon, Reuchlin and Zwingli--defeated the former of these aims:
+the princes, who had found in Charles V. much more of a despot than they
+had bargained for, defeated the latter.
+
+[Sidenote: 1558. FERDINAND OF AUSTRIA EMPEROR.]
+
+The German Diet did not meet until March, 1558, when Ferdinand of
+Austria was elected and crowned Emperor, at Frankfort. Although a
+Catholic, he had always endeavored to protect the Protestants from the
+extreme measures which Charles V. attempted to enforce, and he
+faithfully observed the Treaty of Augsburg. He even allowed the
+Protestant form of the sacrament and the marriage of priests in Austria,
+which brought upon him the condemnation of the Pope. Immediately after
+the Diet, a meeting of Protestant princes was held at Frankfort, for the
+purpose of settling certain differences of opinion which were not only
+disturbing the Lutherans but also tending to prevent any unity of action
+between them and the Swiss Protestants. Melanchthon did his utmost to
+restore harmony, but without success. He died in 1560, at the age of
+sixty-three, and Calvin four years afterwards, the last of the leaders
+of the Reformation.
+
+On the 4th of December, 1563, the Council of Trent finally adjourned,
+eighteen years after it first came together. The attempts of a portion
+of the prelates composing it to reform and purify the Roman Church had
+been almost wholly thwarted by the influence of the Popes. It adopted a
+series of articles, to each one of which was attached an anathema,
+cursing all who refused to accept it. They contained the doctrines of
+priestly celibacy, purgatory, masses for the dead, worship of saints,
+pictures and relics, absolution, fasts, and censorship of books--thus
+making an eternal chasm between Catholicism and Protestantism. At the
+close of the Council the Cardinal of Lorraine cried out: "Accursed be
+all heretics!" and all present answered: "Accursed! accursed!" until the
+building rang. In Italy, Spain and Poland, the articles were accepted at
+once, but the Catholics in France, Germany and Hungary were dissatisfied
+with many of the declarations, and the Church, in those countries, was
+compelled to overlook a great deal of quiet disobedience.
+
+[Sidenote: 1559.]
+
+At this time, although the Catholics had a majority in the Diet (since
+there were nearly 100 priestly members), the great majority of the
+German people had become Protestants. In all Northern Germany, except
+Westphalia, very few Catholic congregations were left: even the
+Archbishops of Bremen and Magdeburg, and the Bishops of Luebeck, Verden
+and Halberstadt had joined the Reformation. In the priestly territories
+of Cologne, Treves, Mayence, Worms and Strasburg, the population was
+divided; the Palatinate of the Rhine, Baden and Wuertemberg were almost
+entirely Protestant, and even in Upper-Austria and Styria the Catholics
+were in a minority. Bavaria was the main stay of Rome: her princes, of
+the house of Wittelsbach, were the most zealous and obedient champions
+of the Pope in all Germany. The Roman Church, however, had not given up
+the struggle: she was quietly and shrewdly preparing for one more
+desperate effort to recover her lost ground, and the Protestants,
+instead of perceiving the danger and uniting themselves more closely,
+were quarrelling among themselves concerning theological questions upon
+which they have never yet agreed.
+
+There could be no better evidence that the reign of Charles V. had
+weakened instead of strengthening the German Empire, than the losses and
+the humiliations which immediately followed. Ferdinand I. gave up half
+of Hungary to Sultan Solyman, and purchased the right to rule the other
+half by an annual payment of 300,000 ducats. About the same time, the
+Emperor's lack of power and the selfishness of the Hanseatic cities
+occasioned a much more important loss. The provinces on the eastern
+shore of the Baltic, which had been governed by the Order of the
+Brothers of the Sword after the downfall of the German Order, were
+overrun and terribly devastated by the Czar Ivan of Russia. The Grand
+Master of the Order appealed to Luebeck and Hamburg for aid, which was
+refused; then, in 1559, he called upon the Diet of the German Empire and
+received vague promises of assistance, which had no practical value.
+Then, driven to desperation, he turned to Poland, Sweden and Denmark,
+all of which countries took instant advantage of his necessities. The
+Baltic provinces were defended against Russia--and lost to Germany. The
+Swedes and Danes took Esthonia, the Poles took Livonia, and only the
+little province of Courland remained as an independent State, the Grand
+Master becoming its first Duke.
+
+[Sidenote: 1567. THE GRUMBACH REBELLION.]
+
+Ferdinand I. died in 1564, and was immediately succeeded by his eldest
+son, Maximilian II. The latter was in the prime of life, already popular
+for his goodness of heart, his engaging manners and his moderation and
+justice. The Protestants cherished great hopes, at first, that he would
+openly join them; but, although he so favored and protected them in
+Austria that Vienna almost became a Protestant city, he refused to leave
+the Catholic Church, and even sent his son Rudolf to be educated in
+Spain, under the bitter and bigoted influence of Philip II. His daughter
+was married to Charles IX. of France, and when he heard of the massacre
+of St. Bartholomew (in August, 1572) he cried out: "Would to God that my
+son-in-law had asked counsel of me! I would so faithfully have persuaded
+him as a father, that he certainly would never have done this thing." He
+also endeavored, but in vain, to soften the persecutions and cruelties
+of Philip II.'s reign in the Netherlands.
+
+Maximilian II.'s reign of twelve years was quiet and uneventful. Only
+one disturbance of the internal peace occurred, and it is worthy of note
+as the last feud, after so many centuries of free fighting between the
+princes. An independent knight, William von Grumbach, having been
+dispossessed of his lands by the Bishop of Wuerzburg, waylaid the latter,
+who was slain in the fight which occurred. Grumbach fled to France, but
+soon allied himself with several dissatisfied Franconian knights, and
+finally persuaded John Frederick of Saxony (the smaller Dukedom) to
+espouse his cause. The latter was outlawed by the Emperor, yet he
+obstinately determined to resist, in the hope of wresting the Electorate
+of Saxony from the younger line and restoring it to his own family. He
+was besieged by the Imperial army in Gotha, in 1567, and taken prisoner.
+Grumbach was tortured and executed, and John Frederick kept in close
+confinement until his death, twenty-eight years afterwards. His sons,
+however, were allowed to succeed him. The severity with which this
+breach of the internal peace was punished put an end forever, to petty
+wars in Germany: the measures adopted by the Diet of 1495, under
+Maximilian I., were at last recognized as binding laws.
+
+[Sidenote: 1576.]
+
+The Revolt of the Netherlands, which broke out immediately after
+Maximilian II.'s accession to the throne, had little, if any, political
+relation to Germany. Under Charles V. the Netherlands had been quite
+separated from any connection with the German Empire, and he was free to
+introduce the Inquisition there and persecute the Protestants with all
+the barbarity demanded by Rome. Philip II. followed the same policy: the
+torture, fire and sword were employed against the people until they
+arose against the intolerable Spanish rule, and entered upon that
+struggle of nearly forty years which ended in establishing the
+independence of Holland.
+
+On the 12th of October, 1576, at a Diet where he had declared his policy
+in religious matters to be simply the enforcement of the Treaty of
+Augsburg, Maximilian II. suddenly fell dead. According to the custom
+which they had now followed for 140 years, of keeping the Imperial
+dignity in the house of Hapsburg, the Electors immediately chose his
+son, Rudolf II., an avowed enemy of the Protestants. Unlike his father,
+his nature was cold, stern and despotic: he was gloomy, unsocial and
+superstitious, and the circumstance that he aided and encouraged the
+great astronomers, Kepler and Tycho de Brahe, was probably owing to his
+love for astrology and alchemy. He was subject to sudden and violent
+attacks of passion, which were followed by periods of complete
+indifference to his duties. Like Frederick III., a hundred years before,
+he concerned himself with the affairs of Austria, his direct
+inheritance, rather than with those of the Empire; and thus, although
+internal wars had been suppressed, he encouraged the dissensions in
+religion and politics, which were gradually bringing on a more dreadful
+war than Germany had ever known before.
+
+One of Rudolf II.'s first measures was to take from the Austrian
+Protestants the right of worship which his father had allowed them. He
+closed their churches, removed them from all the offices they held, and,
+justifying himself by the Treaty of Augsburg that whoever ruled the
+people should choose their religious faith, did his best to make Austria
+wholly Catholic. Many Catholic princes and priests, emboldened by his
+example, declared that the articles promulgated by the Council of Trent
+abolished the Treaty of Augsburg and gave them the right to put down
+heresy by force. When the Archbishop of Cologne became a Protestant and
+married, the German Catholics called upon Alexander of Parma, who came
+from the Netherlands with a Spanish army, took possession of the
+former's territory, and installed a new Catholic Archbishop, without
+resistance on the part of the Protestant majority of Germany. Thus the
+hate and bitterness on both sides increased from year to year, without
+culminating in open hostilities.
+
+[Sidenote: 1600. GROWTH AND CONDITION OF GERMANY.]
+
+The history of Germany, from the accession of Rudolf II. to the end of
+the century, is marked by no political event of importance. Spain was
+fully occupied in her hopeless attempt to subdue the Netherlands: in
+France Henry of Navarre was fighting the Duke of Guise; Hungary and
+Austria were left to check the advance of the Turkish invasion, and
+nearly all Germany enjoyed peace for upwards of fifty years. During this
+time, population and wealth greatly increased, and life in the cities
+and at courts became luxurious and more or less immoral. The arts and
+sciences began to flourish, the people grew in knowledge, yet the spirit
+out of which the Reformation sprang seemed almost dead. The elements of
+good and evil were strangely mixed together--intelligence and
+superstition, piety and bigotry, civilization and barbarism were found
+side by side. As formerly in her history, it appeared nearly impossible
+for Germany to grow by a gradual and healthy development: her condition
+must be bad enough to bring on a violent convulsion, before it could be
+improved.
+
+Such was the state of affairs at the end of the sixteenth century. In
+spite of the material prosperity of the country, there was a general
+feeling among the people that evil days were coming; but the most
+desponding prophet could hardly have predicted worse misfortunes than
+they were called upon to suffer during the next fifty years.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+BEGINNING OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR.
+
+(1600--1625.)
+
+Growth of the Calvinistic or "Reformed" Church. --Persecution of
+    Protestants in Styria. --The Catholic League. --The Struggle for
+    the Succession of Cleves. --Rudolf II. set aside. --His Death.
+    --Matthias becomes Emperor. --Character of Ferdinand of Styria.
+    --Revolt in Prague. --War in Bohemia. --Death of Matthias.
+    --Ferdinand besieged in Vienna. --He is Crowned Emperor.
+    --Blindness of the Protestant Princes. --Frederick of the
+    Palatinate chosen King of Bohemia. --Barbarity of Ferdinand II.
+    --The Protestants Crushed in Bohemia and Austria. --Count Mansfeld
+    and Prince Christian of Brunswick. --War in Baden and the
+    Palatinate. --Tilly. --His Ravages. --Miserable Condition of
+    Germany. --Union of the Northern States. --Christian IV. of
+    Denmark. --Wallenstein. --His History. --His Proposition to
+    Ferdinand II.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1600.]
+
+The beginning of the seventeenth century found the Protestants in
+Germany still divided. The followers of Zwingli, it is true, had
+accepted the Augsburg Confession as the shortest means of acquiring
+freedom of worship; but the Calvinists, who were now rapidly increasing,
+were not willing to take this step, nor were the Lutherans any more
+tolerant towards them than at the beginning. The Dutch, in conquering
+their independence of Spain, gave the Calvinistic, or, as it was called
+in Germany, the Reformed Church, a new political importance; and it was
+not long before the Palatinate of the Rhine, Baden, Hesse-Cassel and
+Anhalt also joined it. The Protestants were split into two strong and
+unfriendly sects at the very time when the Catholics, under the teaching
+of the Jesuits, were uniting against them.
+
+Duke Ferdinand of Styria, a young cousin of Rudolf II., began the
+struggle. Styria was at that time Protestant, and refused to change its
+faith at the command of the Duke, whereupon he visited every part of the
+land with an armed force, closed the churches, burned the hymn-books and
+Bibles, and banished every one who was not willing to become a Catholic
+on the spot. He openly declared that it was better to rule over a desert
+than a land of heretics. Duke Maximilian of Bavaria followed his
+example: in 1607 he seized the free Protestant city of Donauwoerth, on
+the Danube, on account of some quarrel between its inhabitants and a
+monastery, and held it, in violation of all laws of the Empire. A
+protest made to the Diet on account of this act was of no avail, since a
+majority of the members were Catholics. The Protestants of Southern
+Germany formed a "Union" for mutual protection, in May, 1608, with
+Frederick IV. of the Palatinate at their head; but, as they were mostly
+of the Reformed Church, they received little sympathy or support from
+the Protestant States in the North.
+
+[Sidenote: 1609. THE "SUCCESSION OF CLEVES."]
+
+Maximilian of Bavaria then established a "Catholic League" in
+opposition, relying on the assistance of Spain, while the "Protestant
+Union" relied on that of Henry IV. of France. Both sides began to arm,
+and they would soon have proceeded to open hostilities, when a dispute
+of much greater importance diverted their attention to the North of
+Germany. This was the so-called "Succession of Cleves." Duke John
+William of Cleves, who governed the former separate dukedoms of Juelich,
+Cleves and Berg, and the countships of Ravensberg and Mark, embracing a
+large extent of territory on both sides of the Lower Rhine, died in 1609
+without leaving a direct heir. He had been a Catholic, but his people
+were Protestants. John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, and Wolfgang
+William of the Bavarian Palatinate, both relatives on the female side,
+claimed the splendid inheritance; and when it became evident that the
+Catholic interest meant to secure it, they quickly united their forces
+and took possession. The Emperor then sent the Archduke Leopold of
+Hapsburg to hold the State in his name, whereupon the Protestant Union
+made an instant alliance with Henry IV. of France, who was engaged in
+organizing an army for its aid, when he fell by the dagger of the
+assassin, Ravaillac, in 1610. This dissolved the alliance, and the
+"Union" and "League," finding themselves agreed in opposing the creation
+of another Austrian State, on the Lower Rhine, concluded peace before
+any serious fighting had taken place between them.
+
+[Sidenote: 1606.]
+
+The two claimants to the succession adopted a similar policy. Wolfgang
+William became a Catholic, married the sister of Maximilian of Bavaria,
+and so brought the "League" to support him, and the Elector John
+Sigismund became a Calvinist (which almost excited a rebellion among the
+Brandenburg Lutherans), in order to get the support of the "Union." The
+former was assisted by Spanish troops from Flanders, the latter by Dutch
+troops from Holland, and the war was carried on until 1614, when it was
+settled by a division which gave John Sigismund the lion's share.
+
+Meanwhile the Emperor Rudolf II. was becoming so old, so whimsical and
+so useless, that in 1606 the princes of the house of Hapsburg held a
+meeting, declared him incapable of governing, "on account of occasional
+imbecilities of mind," and appointed his brother Matthias regent for
+Austria, Hungary and Moravia. The Emperor refused to yield, but, with
+the help of the nobility, who were mostly Protestants, Matthias
+maintained his claim. He was obliged, in return, to grant religious
+freedom, which so encouraged the oppressed Protestants in Bohemia that
+they demanded similar rights from the Emperor. In his helpless situation
+he gave way to the demand, but soon became alarmed at the increase of
+the heretics, and tried to take back his concession. The Bohemians
+called Matthias to their assistance, and in 1611 Rudolf lost his
+remaining kingdom and his favorite residence of Prague. As he looked
+upon the city for the last time, he cried out: "May the vengeance of God
+overtake thee, and my curse light on thee and all Bohemia!" In less than
+a year (on the 20th of January, 1612) he died.
+
+Matthias was elected Emperor of Germany, as a matter of course. The
+house of Hapsburg was now the strongest German power which represented
+the Church of Rome, and the Catholic majority in the Diet secured to it
+the Imperial dignity then and thenceforward. The Protestants, however,
+voted also for Matthias, for the reason that he had already shown a
+tolerant policy towards their brethren in Austria, Hungary and Bohemia.
+His first measures, as Emperor, justified this view of his character. He
+held a Diet at Ratisbon for the purpose of settling the existing
+differences between the two, but nothing was accomplished: the
+Protestants, finding that they would be outvoted, withdrew in a body and
+thus broke up the Diet. Matthias next endeavored to dissolve both the
+"Union" and the "League," in which he was only partially successful. At
+the same time his rule in Hungary was menaced by a revolt of the
+Transylvanian chief, Bethlen Gabor, who was assisted by the Turks: he
+grew weary of his task, and was easily persuaded by the other princes of
+his house to adopt his nephew, Duke Ferdinand of Styria, as his
+successor, in the year 1617, having no children of his own.
+
+[Sidenote: 1618. BEGINNING OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR.]
+
+Ferdinand, who had been carefully educated by the Jesuits for the part
+which he was afterwards to play, and whose violent suppression of the
+Protestant faith in Styria made him acceptable to all the German
+Catholics, was a man of great energy and force of character. He was
+stern, bigoted, cruel, yet shrewd, cunning and apparently conciliatory
+when he found it necessary to be so, resembling, in both respects, his
+predecessor, Charles V. of Spain. In return for being chosen by the
+Bohemians to succeed Matthias as king, he confirmed them in the
+religious freedom which they had extorted from Rudolf II., and then
+joined the Emperor in an expedition to Hungary, leaving Bohemia to be
+governed in the interim by a Council of ten, seven Catholics and three
+Protestants.
+
+The first thing that happened was the destruction of two Protestant
+churches by Catholic Bishops. The Bohemian Protestants appealed
+immediately to the Emperor Matthias, but, instead of redress, he gave
+them only threats. Thereupon they rose in Prague, stormed the Council
+Hall, seized two of the Councillors and one of their Secretaries, and
+hurled them out of the windows. Although they fell a distance of
+twenty-eight feet, they were not killed, and all finally escaped. This
+event happened on the 23d of May, 1618, and marks the beginning of the
+Thirty Years' War. After such long chronicles of violence and slaughter,
+the deed seemed of slight importance; but the hundredth anniversary of
+the Reformation (counting from Luther's proclamation against Tetzel, on
+the 31st of October, 1517) had been celebrated by the Protestants the
+year before, England was lost and France barely restored to the Church
+of Rome, the power of Spain was declining, and the Catholic priests and
+princes were resolved to make one more desperate struggle to regain
+their supremacy in Germany. Only the Protestant princes, as a body,
+seemed blind to the coming danger. Relying on the fact that four-fifths
+of the whole population of the Empire were Protestants, they still
+persisted in regarding all the political forms of the Middle Ages as
+holy, and in accepting nearly every measure which gave advantage to
+their enemies.
+
+[Sidenote: 1619.]
+
+Although the Protestants had only three Councillors out of ten, they
+were largely in the majority in Bohemia. They knew what retaliation the
+outbreak in Prague would bring upon them, and anticipated it by making
+the revolution general. They chose Count Thun as their leader,
+overturned the Imperial government, banished the Jesuits from the
+country, and entered into relations with the Protestant nobles of
+Austria, and the insurgent chief Bethlen Gabor in Hungary. The Emperor
+Matthias was willing to compromise the difficulty, but Ferdinand,
+stimulated by the Jesuits, declared for war. He sent two small armies
+into Bohemia, with a proclamation calling upon the people to submit. The
+Protestants of the North were at last aroused from their lethargy. Count
+Mansfeld marched with a force of 4,000 men to aid the Bohemians, and
+3,000 more came from Silesia; the Imperial army was defeated and driven
+back to the Danube. At this juncture the Emperor Matthias died, on the
+20th of May, 1619.
+
+Ferdinand lost not a day in taking the power into his own hands. But
+Austria threatened revolution, Hungary had made common cause with
+Bohemia, Count Thun was marching on Vienna, and he was without an army
+to support his claims. Count Thun, however, instead of attacking Vienna,
+encamped outside the walls and began to negotiate. Ferdinand, hard
+pressed by the demands of the Austrian Protestants, was on the very
+point of yielding--in fact, a member of a deputation of sixteen noblemen
+had seized him by the coat,--when trumpets were heard, and a body of 500
+cavalry, which had reached the city without being intercepted by the
+besiegers, appeared before the palace. This enabled him to defend the
+city, until the defeat of Count Mansfeld by another portion of his army,
+which had entered Bohemia, compelled Count Thun to raise the siege. Then
+Ferdinand hastened to Frankfort to look after his election as Emperor by
+the Diet, which met on the 28th of August, 1619.
+
+It seems almost incredible that now, knowing his character and designs,
+the three Chief Electors who were Protestants should have voted for him,
+without being conscious that they were traitors to their faith and their
+people. It has been charged, but without any clear evidence, that they
+were bribed: it is probable that Ferdinand, whose Jesuitic education
+taught him that falsehood and perjury are permitted in serving the
+Church, misled them by promises of peace and justice; but it is also
+very likely that they imagined their own sovereignty depended on
+sustaining every tradition of the Empire. The people, of course, had not
+yet acquired any rights which a prince felt himself called upon to
+respect.
+
+[Sidenote: 1620. FREDERICK V. DRIVEN FROM BOHEMIA.]
+
+Ferdinand was elected, and properly crowned in the Cathedral at
+Frankfort, as Ferdinand II. The Bohemians, who were entitled to one of
+the seven chief voices in the Diet, claimed that the election was not
+binding upon them, and chose Frederick V. of the Palatinate as their
+king, in the hope that the Protestant "Union" would rally to their
+support. It was a fatal choice and a false hope. When Maximilian of
+Bavaria, at the head of the Catholic "League," took the field for the
+Emperor, the "Union" cowardly withdrew. Frederick V. went to Bohemia,
+was crowned, and idled his time away in fantastic diversions for one
+winter, while Ferdinand was calling Spain to attack the Palatinate of
+the Rhine, and borrowing Cossacks from Poland to put down his Protestant
+subjects in Austria. The Emperor assured the Protestant princes that the
+war should be confined to Bohemia, and one of them, the Elector John
+George of Saxony, a Lutheran, openly went over to his side in order to
+defeat Frederick V., a Calvinist. The Bohemians fell back to the walls
+of Prague before the armies of the Emperor and Bavaria; and there, on
+the White Mountain, a battle of an hour's duration, in November, 1620,
+decided the fate of the country. The former scattered in all directions;
+Frederick V. left Prague never to return, and Spanish, Italian and
+Hungarian troops overran Bohemia.
+
+Ferdinand II. acted as might have been expected from his despotic and
+bigoted nature. The 8,000 Cossacks which he had borrowed from his
+brother-in-law, king Sigismund of Poland, had already closed all
+Protestant Churches and suppressed freedom of worship in Austria; he now
+applied the same measures to Bohemia, but in a more violent and bloody
+form. Twenty-seven of the chief Protestant nobles were beheaded at
+Prague in one day; thousands of families were stripped of all their
+property and banished; the Protestant churches were given to the
+Catholics, the Jesuits took possession of the University and the
+schools, until finally, as a historian says, "the quiet of a sepulchre
+settled over Bohemia." The Protestant faith was practically obliterated
+from all the Austrian realm, with the exception of a few scattered
+congregations in Hungary and Transylvania.
+
+[Sidenote: 1621.]
+
+There is hardly anywhere, in the history of the world, such an instance
+of savage despotism. A large majority of the population of Austria,
+Bohemia and Styria were Protestants; they were rapidly growing in
+intelligence, in social order and material prosperity; but the will of
+one man was allowed to destroy the progress of a hundred years, to crush
+both the faith and freedom of the people, plunder them of their best
+earnings and make them ignorant slaves for 200 years longer. The
+property which was seized by Ferdinand II., in Bohemia alone, was
+estimated at forty millions of florins! And the strength of Germany,
+which was Protestant, looked on and saw all this happen! Only the common
+people of Austria arose against the tyrant, and gallantly struggled for
+months, at first under the command of a farmer named Stephen Fadinger,
+and, when he was slain in the moment of victory, under an unknown young
+hero, who had no other name than "the Student." The latter defeated the
+Bavarian army, resisted the famous Austrian general, Pappenheim, in many
+battles, and at last fell, after the most of his followers had fallen,
+without leaving his name to history. The Austrian peasants rivalled the
+Swiss of three centuries before in their bravery and self-sacrifice: had
+they been successful (as they might have been, with small help from
+their Protestant brethren), they would have changed the course of German
+history, and have become renowned among the heroes of the world.
+
+The fate of Austria, from that day to this, was now sealed. Both
+parties--the Catholics, headed by Ferdinand II., and the Protestants,
+without any head,--next turned to the Palatinate of the Rhine, where a
+Spanish army, sent from Flanders, was wasting and plundering in the name
+of the Emperor. Count Ernest of Mansfeld and Prince Christian of
+Brunswick, who had supported Frederick V. in Bohemia, endeavored to save
+at least the Palatinate for him. They were dashing and eccentric young
+generals, whose personal reputation attracted all sorts of wild and
+lawless characters to take service under them. Mansfeld, who had been
+originally a Catholic, was partly supported by contributions from
+England and Holland, but he also took what he could get from the country
+through which he marched. Christian of Brunswick was a fantastic prince,
+who tried to imitate the knights of the Middle Ages. He was a great
+admirer of the Countess Elizabeth of the Palatinate (sister of Charles
+I. of England), and always wore her glove on his helmet. In order to
+obtain money for his troops, he plundered the bishoprics in Westphalia,
+and forced the cities and villages to pay him heavy contributions. When
+he entered the cathedral at Paderborn and saw the silver statues of the
+Apostles around the altar, he cried out: "What are you doing here? You
+were ordered to go forth into the world, but wait a bit--I'll send you!"
+So he had them melted and coined into dollars, upon which the words were
+stamped: "Friend of God, foe of priests!" He afterwards gave himself
+that name, but the soldiers generally called him "Mad Christian."
+
+[Sidenote: 1621. PRINCE CHRISTIAN OF BRUNSWICK.]
+
+Against these two, and George Frederick of Baden, who joined them,
+Ferdinand II. sent Maximilian of Bavaria, to whom he promised the
+Palatinate as a reward, and Tilly, a general already famous both for his
+military talent and his inhumanity. The latter, who had been educated by
+the Jesuits for a priest, was in the Bavarian service. He was a small,
+lean man, with a face almost comical in its ugliness. His nose was like
+a parrot's beak, his forehead seamed with deep wrinkles, his eyes sunk
+in their sockets and his cheek-bones projecting. He usually wore a dress
+of green satin, with a cocked hat and long red feather, and rode a
+small, mean-looking gray horse.
+
+Early in 1622 the Imperial army under Tilly was defeated, or at least
+checked, by the united forces of Mansfeld and Prince Christian. But in
+May of the same year, the forces of the latter, with those of George
+Frederick of Baden, were almost cut to pieces by Tilly, at Wimpfen. They
+retreated into Alsatia, where they burned and plundered at will, while
+Tilly pursued the same course on the eastern side of the Rhine. He took
+and destroyed the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg, closed the
+Protestant churches, banished the clergymen and teachers, and supplied
+their places with Jesuits. The invaluable library of Heidelberg was sent
+to Pope Gregory XV. at Rome, and remained there until 1815, when a part
+of it came back to the University by way of Paris.
+
+[Sidenote: 1623.]
+
+Frederick V., who had fled from the country, entered into negotiations
+with the Emperor, in the hope of retaining the Palatinate. He dissolved
+his connection with Mansfeld and Prince Christian, who thereupon
+offered their services to the Emperor, on condition that he would pay
+their soldiers! Receiving no answer, they marched through Lorraine and
+Flanders, laying waste the country as they went, and finally took refuge
+in Holland. Frederick V.'s humiliation was of no avail; none of the
+Protestant princes supported his claim. The Emperor gave his land, with
+the Electoral dignity, to Maximilian of Bavaria, and this act, although
+a direct violation of the laws which the German princes held sacred, was
+acquiesced in by them at a Diet held at Ratisbon in 1623. John George of
+Saxony, who saw clearly that it was a fatal blow aimed both at the
+Protestants and at the rights of the reigning princes, was persuaded to
+be silent by the promise of having Lusatia added to Saxony.
+
+By this time, Germany was in a worse condition than she had known for
+centuries. The power of the Jesuits, represented by Ferdinand II., his
+councillors and generals, was supreme almost everywhere; the Protestant
+princes vied with each other in meanness, selfishness and cowardice; the
+people were slaughtered, robbed, driven hither and thither by both
+parties: there seemed to be neither faith nor justice left in the land.
+The other Protestant nations--England, Holland, Denmark and
+Sweden--looked on with dismay, and even Cardinal Richelieu, who was then
+practically the ruler of France, was willing to see Ferdinand II.'s
+power crippled, though the Protestants should gain thereby. England and
+Holland assisted Mansfeld and Prince Christian with money, and the
+latter organized new armies, with which they ravaged Friesland and
+Westphalia. Prince Christian was on his way to Bohemia, in order to
+unite with the Hungarian chief, Bethlen Gabor, when, on the 6th of
+August, 1623, he met Tilly at a place called Stadtloon, near Muenster,
+and, after a murderous battle which lasted three days, was utterly
+defeated. About the same time Mansfeld, needing further support, went to
+England, where he was received with great honor.
+
+Ferdinand II. had in the meantime concluded a peace with Bethlen Gabor,
+and his authority was firmly established over Austria and Bohemia. Tilly
+with his Bavarians was victorious in Westphalia; all armed opposition to
+the Emperor's rule was at an end, yet instead of declaring peace
+established, and restoring the former order of the Empire, his agents
+continued their work of suppressing religious freedom and civil rights
+in all the States which had been overrun by the Catholic armies. The
+whole Empire was threatened with the fate of Austria. Then, at last, in
+1625, Brunswick, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg, Hamburg, Luebeck and Bremen
+formed a union for mutual defence, choosing as their leader king
+Christian IV. of Denmark, the same monarch who had broken down the power
+of the Hanseatic League in the Baltic and North Seas! Although a
+Protestant, he was no friend to the North-German States, but he
+energetically united with them in the hope of being able to enlarge his
+kingdom at their expense.
+
+[Sidenote: 1625. ALLIANCE WITH CHRISTIAN IV.]
+
+Christian IV. lost no time in making arrangements with England and
+Holland which enabled both Mansfeld and Prince Christian of Brunswick to
+raise new forces, with which they returned to Germany. Tilly, in order
+to intercept them, entered the territory of the States which had united,
+and thus gave Christian IV. a pretext for declaring war. The latter
+marched down from Denmark at once, but found no earnest union among the
+States, and only 7,000 men collected. He soon succeeded, however, in
+bringing together a force much larger than that commanded by Tilly, and
+was only hindered in his plan of immediate action by a fall from his
+horse, which crippled him for six weeks. The city of Hamelin was taken,
+and Tilly compelled to fall back, but no other important movements took
+place during the year 1625.
+
+Ferdinand II. was already growing jealous of the increasing power of
+Bavaria, and determined that the Catholic and Imperial cause should not
+be entrusted to Tilly alone. But he had little money, his own military
+force had been wasted by the wars in Bohemia, Austria and Hungary, and
+there was no other commander of sufficient renown to attract men to his
+standard. Yet it was necessary that Tilly should be reinforced as soon
+as possible, or his scheme of crushing the whole of Germany, and laying
+it, as a fettered slave, at the feet of the Roman Church, might fail,
+and at the very moment when success seemed sure.
+
+In this emergency, a new man presented himself. Albert of Waldstein,
+better known under his historical name of Wallenstein, was born at
+Prague in 1583. He was the son of a poor nobleman, and violent and
+unruly as a youth, until a fall from the third story of a house effected
+a sudden change in his nature. He became brooding and taciturn, gave up
+his Protestant faith, and was educated by the Jesuits at Olmuetz. He
+travelled in Spain, France and the Netherlands, fought in Italy against
+Venice and in Hungary against Bethlen Gabor and the Turks, and rose to
+the rank of Colonel. He married an old and rich widow, and after her
+death increased his wealth by a second marriage, so that, when the
+Protestants were expelled from Bohemia, he was able to purchase 60 of
+their confiscated estates. Adding these to that of Friedland, which he
+had received from the Emperor in return for military services, he
+possessed a small principality, lived in great splendor, and paid and
+equipped his own troops. He was first made Count, and then Duke of
+Friedland, with the authority of an independent prince of the Empire.
+
+[Sidenote: 1625.]
+
+Wallenstein was superstitious, and his studies in astrology gave him the
+belief that a much higher destiny awaited him. Here was the opportunity:
+he offered to raise and command a second army, in the Emperor's service.
+Ferdinand II. accepted the offer with joy, and sent word to Wallenstein
+that he should immediately proceed to enlist 20,000 men. "My army," the
+latter answered, "must live by what it can take: 20,000 men are not
+enough. I must have 50,000, and then I can demand what I want!" The
+threat of terrible ravage contained in these words was soon carried out.
+
+Wallenstein was tall and meagre in person. His forehead was high but
+narrow, his hair black and cut very short, his eyes small, dark and
+fiery, and his complexion yellow. His voice was harsh and disagreeable:
+he never smiled, and spoke only when it was necessary. He usually
+dressed in scarlet, with a leather jerkin, and wore a long red feather
+on his hat. There was something cold, mistrustful and mysterious in his
+appearance, yet he possessed unbounded power over his soldiers, whom he
+governed with severity and rewarded splendidly. There are few more
+interesting personages in German history.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+TILLY, WALLENSTEIN AND GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS.
+
+(1625--1634.)
+
+The Winter of 1625--6. --Wallenstein's Victory. --Mansfeld's Death.
+    --Tilly defeats Christian IV. --Wallenstein's Successes in Saxony,
+    Brandenburg and Holstein. --Siege of Stralsund. --The Edict of
+    Restitution. --Its Effects. --Wallenstein's Plans. --Diet at
+    Ratisbon. --Wallenstein's Removal. --Arrival of Gustavus Adolphus.
+    --His Positions and Plans. --His Character. --Cowardice of the
+    Protestant Princes. --Tilly sacks Magdeburg. --Decision of Gustavus
+    Adolphus. --Tilly's Defeat at Leipzig. --Bohemia invaded.
+    --Gustavus at Frankfort. --Defeat and Death of Tilly. --Gustavus in
+    Munich. --Wallenstein restored. --His Conditions. --He meets
+    Gustavus at Nuremberg. --He invades Saxony. --Battle of Luetzen.
+    --Death of Gustavus Adolphus. --Wallenstein's Retreat. --Union of
+    Protestant Princes with Sweden. --Protestant Successes. --Secret
+    Negotiations with Wallenstein. --His Movements. --Conspiracy
+    against him. --His Removal. --His March to Eger. --His
+    Assassination.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1626. WALLENSTEIN.]
+
+Before the end of the year 1625, and within three months after Ferdinand
+II. had commissioned Wallenstein to raise an army, the latter marched
+into Saxony at the head of 30,000 men. No important operations were
+undertaken during the winter: Christian IV. and Mansfeld had their
+separate quarters on the one side, Tilly and Wallenstein on the other,
+and the four armies devoured the substance of the lands where they were
+encamped. In April, 1626, Mansfeld marched against Wallenstein, to
+prevent him from uniting with Tilly. The two armies met at the bridge of
+the Elbe, at Dessau, and fought desperately: Mansfeld was defeated,
+driven into Brandenburg, and then took his way through Silesia towards
+Hungary, with the intention of forming an alliance with Bethlen Gabor.
+Wallenstein followed by forced marches, and compelled Gabor to make
+peace with the Emperor: Mansfeld disbanded his troops and set out for
+Venice, where he meant to embark for England. But he was already worn
+out by the hardships of his campaigns, and died on the way, in
+Dalmatia, in November, 1626, 45 years of age. A few months afterwards
+Prince Christian of Brunswick also died, and the Protestant cause was
+left without any native German leader.
+
+[Sidenote: 1628.]
+
+During the same year the cause received a second and severer blow. On
+the 26th of August Christian IV. and Tilly came together at Lutter, a
+little town on the northern edge of the Hartz, and the army of the
+former was cut to pieces, himself barely escaping with his life. There
+seemed, now, to be no further hope for the Protestants: Christian IV.
+retreated to Holstein, the Elector of Brandenburg gave up his connection
+with the Union of the Saxon States, the Dukes of Mecklenburg were
+powerless, and Maurice of Hesse was compelled by the Emperor to
+abdicate. New measures in Bohemia and Austria foreshadowed the probable
+fate of Germany: the remaining Protestants in those two countries,
+including a large majority of the Austrian nobles, were made Catholics
+by force.
+
+In the summer of 1627 Wallenstein again marched northward with an army
+reorganized and recruited to 40,000 men. John George of Saxony, who
+tried to maintain a selfish and cowardly neutrality, now saw his land
+overrun, and himself at the mercy of the conqueror. Brandenburg was
+subjected to the same fate; the two Mecklenburg duchies were seized as
+the booty of the Empire; and Wallenstein, marching on without
+opposition, plundered and wasted Holstein, Jutland and Pomerania. In
+1628 the Emperor bestowed Mecklenburg upon him: he gave himself the
+title of "Admiral of the Baltic and the Ocean," and drew up a plan for
+creating a navy out of the vessels of the Hanseatic League, and
+conquering Holland for the house of Hapsburg. After this should have
+been accomplished, his next project was to form an alliance with Poland
+against Denmark and Sweden, the only remaining Protestant powers.
+
+While the rich and powerful cities of Hamburg and Luebeck surrendered at
+his approach, the little Hanseatic town of Stralsund closed its gates
+against him. The citizens took a solemn oath to defend their religious
+faith and their political independence to the last drop of their blood.
+Wallenstein exclaimed: "And if Stralsund were bound to Heaven with
+chains, I would tear it down!" and marched against the place. At the
+first assault he lost 1,000 men; at the second, 2,000; and then the
+citizens, in turn, made sallies, and inflicted still heavier losses upon
+him. They were soon reinforced by 2,000 Swedes, and then Wallenstein
+was forced to raise the siege, after having lost, altogether, 12,000 of
+his best troops. At this time the Danes appeared with a fleet of 200
+vessels, and took possession of the port of Wolgast, in Pomerania.
+
+[Sidenote: 1629. THE EDICT OF RESTITUTION.]
+
+In spite of this temporary reverse, Ferdinand II. considered that his
+absolute power was established over all Germany. After consulting with
+the Catholic Chief-Electors (one of whom, now, was Maximilian of
+Bavaria), he issued, on the 6th of March, 1629, an "Edict of
+Restitution," ordering that all the former territory of the Roman
+Church, which had become Protestant, should be restored to Catholic
+hands. This required that two archbishoprics, twelve bishoprics, and a
+great number of monasteries and churches, which had ceased to exist
+nearly a century before, should be again established; and then, on the
+principle that the religion of the ruler should be that of the people,
+that the Protestant faith should be suppressed in all such territory.
+The armies were kept in the field to enforce this edict, which was
+instantly carried into effect in Southern Germany, and in the most
+violent and barbarous manner. The estates of 6,000 noblemen in
+Franconia, Wuertemberg and Baden were confiscated; even the property of
+reigning princes was seized; but, instead of passing into the hands of
+the Church, much of it was bestowed upon the Emperor's family and his
+followers. The Archbishoprics of Bremen and Magdeburg were given to his
+son Leopold, a boy of 15! In carrying out the measure, Catholics began
+to suffer, as well as Protestants, and the jealousy and alarm of all the
+smaller States were finally aroused.
+
+Wallenstein, while equally despotic, was much more arrogant and reckless
+than Ferdinand II. He openly declared that reigning princes and a
+National Diet were no longer necessary in Germany; the Emperor must be
+an absolute ruler, like the kings of France and Spain. At the same time
+he was carrying out his own political plans without much reference to
+the Imperial authority. Both Catholics and Protestants united in calling
+for a Diet: Ferdinand II. at first refused, but there were such signs of
+hostility on the part of Holland, Denmark, Sweden and even France, that
+he was forced to yield. The Diet met on the 5th of June, 1630, at
+Ratisbon, and Maximilian of Bavaria headed the universal demand for
+Wallenstein's removal. The Protestants gave testimony of the merciless
+system of plunder by which he had ruined their lands; the Catholics
+complained of the more than Imperial splendors of his court, upon which
+he squandered uncounted millions of stolen money. He travelled with 100
+carriages and more than 1,000 horses, kept 15 cooks for his table, and
+was waited upon by 16 pages of noble blood. Jealousy of this pomp and
+state, and fear of Wallenstein's ambitious designs, and not the latter's
+fiendish inhumanity, induced Ferdinand II. to submit to the entreaties
+of the Diet, and remove him.
+
+[Sidenote: 1630.]
+
+The Imperial messengers who were sent to his camp with the order of
+dismissal, approached him in great dread and anxiety, and scarcely dared
+to mention their business. Wallenstein pointed to a sheet covered with
+astrological characters, and quietly told them that he had known
+everything in advance; that the Emperor had been misled by the Elector
+of Bavaria, but, nevertheless, the order would be obeyed. He entertained
+them at a magnificent banquet, loaded them with gifts, and then sent
+them away. With rage and hate in his heart, but with all the external
+show and splendor of an independent sovereign, he retired to Prague,
+well knowing that the day was not far off when his services would be
+again needed.
+
+Tilly was appointed commander-in-chief of the Imperial armies. At the
+very moment, however, when Wallenstein was dismissed, and his forces
+divided among several inferior generals, the leader whom the German
+Protestants could not furnish came to them from abroad. Their ruin and
+the triumph of Ferdinand II. seemed inevitable; twelve years of war in
+its most horrible form had desolated their lands, reduced their numbers
+to less than half, and broken their spirit. Then help and hope suddenly
+returned. On the 4th of July, 1630, Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden,
+landed on the coast of Pomerania, with an army of 15,000 men. As he
+stepped upon the shore, he knelt in the sight of all the soldiers and
+prayed that God would befriend him. Some of his staff could not restrain
+their tears; whereupon he said to them: "Weep not, friends, but pray,
+for prayer is half victory!"
+
+Gustavus Adolphus, who had succeeded to the throne in 1611, at the age
+of 17, was already distinguished as a military commander. He had
+defeated the Russians in Livonia and banished them from the Baltic; he
+had fought for three years with king Sigismund of Poland, and taken
+from him the ports of Elbing, Pillau and Memel, and he was now burning
+with zeal to defend the falling Protestant cause in Germany. Cardinal
+Richelieu, in France, helped him to the opportunity by persuading
+Sigismund to accept an armistice, and by furnishing Sweden with the
+means of carrying on a war against Ferdinand II. The latter had assisted
+Poland, so that a pretext was not wanting; but when Gustavus laid his
+plans before his council in Stockholm, a majority of the members advised
+him to wait for a new cause of offence. Nevertheless, he insisted on
+immediate action. The representatives of the four orders of the people
+were convoked in the Senate-house, where he appeared before them with
+his little daughter, Christina, in his arms, asked them to swear fealty
+to her, and then bade them a solemn farewell. All burst into tears when
+he said: "perhaps for ever," but nothing could shake his resolution to
+undertake the great work.
+
+[Sidenote: 1630. GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS.]
+
+Gustavus Adolphus was at this time 34 years old; he was so tall and
+powerfully built that he almost seemed a giant; his face was remarkably
+frank and cheerful in expression, his hair light, his eyes large and
+gray and his nose aquiline. Personally, he was a striking contrast to
+the little, haggard and wrinkled Tilly and the dark, silent and gloomy
+Wallenstein. Ferdinand II. laughed when he heard of his landing, called
+him the "Snow King," and said that he would melt away after one winter;
+but the common people, who loved and trusted him as soon as they saw
+him, named him the "Lion of the North." He was no less a statesman than
+a soldier, and his accomplishments were unusual in a ruler of those
+days. He was a generous patron of the arts and sciences, spoke four
+languages with ease and elegance, was learned in theology, a ready
+orator and--best of all--he was honest, devout and conscientious in all
+his ways. The best blood of the Goths from whom he was descended beat in
+his veins, and the Germans, therefore, could not look upon him as a
+foreigner; to them he was a countryman as well as a deliverer.
+
+The Protestant princes, however, although in the utmost peril and
+humiliated to the dust, refused to unite with him. If their course had
+been cowardly and selfish before, it now became simply infamous. The
+Duke of Pomerania shut the gates of Stettin upon the Swedish army, until
+compelled by threats to open them; the Electors of Brandenburg and
+Saxony held themselves aloof, and Gustavus found himself obliged to
+respect their neutrality, lest they should go over to the Emperor's
+side! Out of all Protestant Germany there came to him a few petty
+princes whose lands had been seized by the Catholics, and who could only
+offer their swords. His own troops, however, had been seasoned in many
+battles; their discipline was perfect; and when the German people found
+that the slightest act of plunder or violence was severely punished,
+they were welcomed wherever they marched.
+
+[Sidenote: 1631.]
+
+Moving slowly, and with as much wisdom as caution, Gustavus relieved
+Pomerania from the Imperial troops, by the end of the year. He then took
+Frankfort-on-the-Oder by storm, and forced the Elector of Brandenburg to
+give him the use of Spandau as a fortress, until he should have relieved
+Magdeburg, the only German city which had forcibly resisted the "Edict
+of Restitution," and was now besieged by Tilly and Pappenheim. As the
+city was hard pressed, Gustavus demanded of John George, Elector of
+Saxony, permission to march through his territory: it was refused!
+Magdeburg was defended by 2,300 soldiers and 5,000 armed citizens
+against an army of 30,000 men, for more than a month; then, on the 10th
+of May, 1631, it was taken by storm, and given up to the barbarous fury
+of Tilly and his troops. The city sank in blood and ashes: 30,000 of the
+inhabitants perished by the sword, or in the flames, or crushed under
+falling walls, or drowned in the waters of the Elbe. Only 4,000, who had
+taken refuge in the Cathedral, were spared. Tilly wrote to the Emperor:
+"Since the fall of Troy and Jerusalem, such a victory has never been
+seen; and I am sincerely sorry that the ladies of your imperial family
+could not have been present as spectators!"
+
+Gustavus Adolphus has been blamed, especially by the admirers and
+defenders of the houses of Brandenburg and Saxony, for not having saved
+Magdeburg. This he might have done, had he disregarded the neutrality
+asserted by John George; but he had been bitterly disappointed at his
+reception by the Protestant princes, he could not trust them, and was
+not strong enough to fight Tilly with possible enemies in his rear. In
+fact, George William of Brandenburg immediately ordered him to give up
+Spandau and leave his territory. Then Gustavus did what he should have
+done at first: he planted his cannon before Berlin, and threatened to
+lay the city in ashes. This brought George William to his senses; he
+agreed that his fortresses should be used by the Swedes, and contributed
+30,000 dollars a month towards the expenses of the war. So many recruits
+flocked to the Swedish standard that both Mecklenburgs were soon cleared
+of the Imperial troops, the banished Dukes restored, and an attack by
+Tilly upon the fortified camp of Gustavus was repulsed with heavy
+losses.
+
+[Sidenote: 1631. DEFEAT OF TILLY.]
+
+Landgrave William of Hesse Cassel was the first Protestant prince who
+voluntarily allied himself with the Swedish king. He was shortly
+followed by the unwilling but helpless John George of Saxony, whose
+territory was invaded and wasted by Tilly's army. Ferdinand II. had
+given this order, meaning that the Elector should at least support his
+troops. Tilly took possession of Halle, Naumburg and other cities,
+plundered and levied heavy contributions, and at last entered Leipzig,
+after bombarding it for four days. Then John George united his troops
+with those of Gustavus Adolphus, who now commanded an army of 35,000
+men.
+
+Tilly and Pappenheim had an equal force to oppose him. After a good deal
+of cautious manoeuvring, the two armies stood face to face near
+Leipzig, on the 17th of September, 1631. The Swedes were without armor,
+and Gustavus distributed musketeers among the cavalry and pikemen.
+Banner, one of his generals, commanded his right, and Marshal Horn his
+left, where the Saxons were stationed. The army of Tilly was drawn up in
+a long line, and the troops wore heavy cuirasses and helmets: Pappenheim
+commanded the left, opposite Gustavus, while Tilly undertook to engage
+the Saxons. The battle-cry of the Protestants was "God with us!"--that
+of the Catholics "Jesu Maria!" Gustavus, wearing a white hat and green
+feather, and mounted on a white horse, rode up and down the lines,
+encouraging his men. The Saxons gave way before Tilly, and began to fly;
+but the Swedes, after repelling seven charges of Pappenheim's cavalry,
+broke the enemy's right wing, captured the cannon and turned them
+against Tilly. The Imperial army, thrown into confusion, fled in
+disorder, pursued by the Swedes, who cut them down until night put an
+end to the slaughter. Tilly, severely wounded, narrowly escaped death,
+and reached Halle with only a few hundred men.
+
+[Sidenote: 1632.]
+
+This splendid victory restored the hopes of the Protestants everywhere.
+Duke Bernard of Saxe-Weimar had joined Gustavus before the battle: in
+his zeal for the cause, his honesty and bravery, he resembled the king,
+whose chief reliance as a military leader, he soon became. John George
+of Saxony consented, though with evident reluctance, to march into
+Bohemia, where the crushed Protestants were longing for help, while the
+Swedish army advanced through Central Germany to the Rhine. Tilly
+gathered together the scattered Imperial forces left in the North,
+followed, and vainly endeavored to check Gustavus. The latter took
+Wuerzburg, defeated 17,000 men under Charles of Lorraine, who had crossed
+the Rhine to oppose him, and entered Frankfort in triumph. Here he fixed
+his winter-quarters, and allowed his faithful Swedish troops the rest
+which they so much needed.
+
+The territory of the Archbishop of Mayence, and of other Catholic
+princes, which he overran, was not plundered or laid waste: Gustavus
+proclaimed everywhere religious freedom, not retaliation for the
+barbarities inflicted on the Protestants. He soon made himself respected
+by his enemies, and his influence spread so rapidly that the idea of
+becoming Emperor of Germany was a natural consequence of his success.
+His wife, Queen Eleanor, had joined him; he held a splendid court at
+Frankfort, and required the German princes whom he had subjected to
+acknowledge themselves his dependents. The winter of 1631--32 was given
+up to diplomacy, rather than war. Richelieu began to be jealous of the
+increasing power of the Swedish king, and entered into secret
+negotiations with Maximilian of Bavaria. The latter also corresponded
+with Gustavus Adolphus, who by this time had secured the neutrality of
+the States along the Rhine, and the support of a large majority of the
+population of the Palatinate, Baden and Wuertemberg.
+
+In the early spring of 1632, satisfied that no arrangement with
+Maximilian was possible, Gustavus reorganized his army and set out for
+Bavaria. The city of Nuremberg received him with the wildest rejoicing:
+then he advanced upon Donauwoerth, drove out Maximilian's troops and
+restored Protestant worship in the churches. Tilly, meanwhile, had added
+Maximilian's army to his own, and taken up a strong position on the
+eastern bank of the river Lech, between Augsburg and the Danube.
+Gustavus marched against him, cannonaded his position for three days
+from the opposite bank, and had partly crossed under cover of the smoke
+before his plan was discovered. On the 15th of April Tilly was mortally
+wounded, and his army fled in the greatest confusion: he died a few
+days afterwards, at Ingolstadt, 73 years old.
+
+[Sidenote: 1632. WALLENSTEIN RESTORED TO POWER.]
+
+The city of Augsburg opened its gates to the conqueror and acknowledged
+his authority. Then, after attacking Ingolstadt without success, he
+marched upon Munich, which was unable to resist, but was spared, on
+condition of paying a heavy contribution. The Bavarians had buried a
+number of cannon under the floor of the arsenal, and news thereof came
+to the king's ears. "Let the dead arise!" he ordered; and 140 pieces
+were dug up, one of which contained 30,000 ducats. Maximilian, whose
+land was completely overrun by the Swedes, would gladly have made peace,
+but Gustavus plainly told him that he was not to be trusted. While the
+Protestant cause was so brilliantly victorious in the south, John George
+of Saxony, who had taken possession of Prague without the least trouble,
+remained inactive in Bohemia during the winter and spring, apparently as
+jealous of Gustavus as he was afraid of Ferdinand II.
+
+The Emperor had long before ceased to laugh at the "Snow King." He was
+in the greatest strait of his life: he knew that his trampled Austrians
+would rise at the approach of the Swedish army, and then the Catholic
+cause would be lost. Before this he had appealed to Wallenstein, who was
+holding a splendid court at Znaim, in Moravia; but the latter refused,
+knowing that he could exact better terms for his support by waiting a
+little longer. The danger, in fact, increased so rapidly that Ferdinand
+II. was finally compelled to subscribe to an agreement which practically
+made Wallenstein the lord and himself the subject. He gave the Duchies
+of Mecklenburg to Wallenstein, and promised him one of the Hapsburg
+States in Austria; he gave him the entire disposal of all the territory
+he should conquer, and agreed to pay the expenses of his army. Moreover,
+all appointments were left to Wallenstein, and the Emperor pledged
+himself that neither he nor his son should ever visit the former's camp.
+
+Having thus become absolute master of his movements, Wallenstein offered
+a high rate of payment and boundless chances of plunder to all who might
+enlist under him, and in two or three months stood at the head of an
+army of 40,000 men, many of whom were demoralized Protestants. He took
+possession of Prague, which John George vacated at his approach, and
+then waited quietly until Maximilian should be forced by necessity to
+give him also the command of the Bavarian forces. This soon came to
+pass, and then Wallenstein, with 60,000 men, marched against Gustavus
+Adolphus, who fell back upon Nuremberg, which he surrounded with a
+fortified camp. Instead of attacking him, Wallenstein took possession of
+the height of Zirndorf, in the neighborhood of the city, and strongly
+intrenched himself. Here the two commanders lay for nine weeks, watching
+each other, until Gustavus, whose force amounted to about 35,000, grew
+impatient of the delay, and troubled for the want of supplies.
+
+[Sidenote: 1632.]
+
+He attacked Wallenstein's camp, but was repulsed with a loss of 2,000
+men; then, after waiting two weeks longer, he marched out of Nuremberg,
+with the intention of invading Bavaria. Maximilian followed him with the
+Bavarian troops, and Wallenstein, whose army had been greatly diminished
+by disease and desertion, moved into Franconia. Then, wheeling suddenly,
+he crossed the Thuringian Mountains into Saxony, burning and pillaging
+as he went, took Leipzig, and threatened Dresden. John George, who was
+utterly unprepared for such a movement, again called upon Gustavus for
+help, and the latter, leaving Bavaria, hastened to Saxony by forced
+marches. On the 27th of October he reached Erfurt, where he took leave
+of his wife, with a presentiment that he should never see her again.
+
+As he passed on through Weimar to Naumburg, the country-people flocked
+to see him, falling on their knees, kissing his garments, and expressing
+such other signs of faith and veneration, that he exclaimed: "I pray
+that the wrath of the Almighty may not be visited upon me, on account of
+this idolatry towards a weak and sinful mortal!" Wallenstein's force
+being considerably larger than his own, he halted in Naumburg, to await
+the former's movements. As the season was so far advanced, Wallenstein
+finally decided to send Pappenheim with 10,000 men into Westphalia, and
+then go into winter-quarters. As soon as Gustavus heard of Pappenheim's
+departure he marched to the attack, and the battle began on the morning
+of November 6th, 1632, at Luetzen, between Naumburg and Leipzig.
+
+On both sides the troops had been arranged with great military skill.
+Wallenstein had 25,000 men and Gustavus 20,000. The latter made a
+stirring address to his Swedes, and then the whole army united in
+singing Luther's grand hymn: "Our Lord He is a Tower of Strength." For
+several hours the battle raged furiously, without any marked advantage
+on either side; then the Swedes broke Wallenstein's left wing and
+captured the artillery. The Imperialists rallied and retook it, throwing
+the Swedes into some confusion. Gustavus rode forward to rally them and
+was carried by his horse among the enemy. A shot, fired at close
+quarters, shattered his left arm, but he refused to leave the field, and
+shortly afterwards a second shot struck him from his horse. The sight of
+the steed, covered with blood and wildly galloping to and fro, told the
+Swedes what had happened; but, instead of being disheartened, they
+fought more furiously than before, under the command of Duke Bernard of
+Saxe-Weimar.
+
+[Sidenote: 1632. THE BATTLE OF LUeTZEN.]
+
+At this juncture Pappenheim, who had been summoned from Halle the day
+before, arrived on the field. His first impetuous charge drove the
+Swedes back, but he also fell, mortally wounded, his cavalry began to
+waver, and the lost ground was regained. Night put an end to the
+conflict, and before morning Wallenstein retreated to Leipzig, leaving
+all his artillery and colors on the field. The body of Gustavus Adolphus
+was found after a long search, buried under a heap of dead, stripped,
+mutilated by the hoofs of horses, and barely recognizable. The loss to
+the Protestant cause seemed irreparable, but the heroic king, in
+falling, had so crippled the power of its most dangerous enemy that its
+remaining adherents had a little breathing-time left them, to arrange
+for carrying on the struggle.
+
+Wallenstein was so weakened that he did not even remain in Saxony, but
+retired to Bohemia, where he vented his rage on his own soldiers. The
+Protestant princes felt themselves powerless without the aid of Sweden,
+and when the Chancellor of the kingdom, Oxenstierna, decided to carry on
+the war, they could not do otherwise than accept him as the head of the
+Protestant Union, in the place of Gustavus Adolphus. A meeting was held
+at Heilbronn, in the spring of 1633, at which the Suabian, Franconian
+and Rhenish princes formally joined the new league. Duke Bernard and the
+Swedish Marshal Horn were appointed commanders of the army. Electoral
+Saxony and Brandenburg, as before, hesitated and half drew back, but
+they finally consented to favor the movement without joining it, and
+each accepted 100,000 thalers a year from France, to pay them for the
+trouble. Richelieu had an ambassador at Heilbronn, who promised large
+subsidies to the Protestant side: it was in the interest of France to
+break the power of the Hapsburgs, and there was also a chance, in the
+struggle, of gaining another slice of German territory.
+
+[Sidenote: 1633.]
+
+Hostilities were renewed, and for a considerable time the Protestant
+armies were successful everywhere. William of Hesse and Duke George of
+Brunswick defeated the Imperialists and held Westphalia; Duke Bernard
+took Bamberg and moved against Bavaria; Saxony and Silesia were
+delivered from the enemy, and Marshal Horn took possession of Alsatia.
+Duke Bernard and Horn were only prevented from overrunning all Bavaria
+by a mutiny which broke out in their armies, and deprived them of
+several weeks of valuable time.
+
+While these movements were going on, Wallenstein remained idle at
+Prague, in spite of the repeated and pressing entreaties of the Emperor
+that he would take the field. He seems to have considered his personal
+power secured, and was only in doubt as to the next step which he should
+take in his ambitious career. Finally, in May, he marched into Silesia,
+easily out-generaled Arnheim, who commanded the Protestant armies, but
+declined to follow up his advantage, and concluded an armistice. Secret
+negotiations then began between Wallenstein, Arnheim and the French
+ambassador: the project was that Wallenstein should come over to the
+Protestant side, in return for the crown of Bohemia. Louis XIII. of
+France promised his aid, but Chancellor Oxenstierna, distrusting
+Wallenstein, refused to be a party to the plan. There is no positive
+evidence, indeed, that Wallenstein consented: it rather seems that he
+was only courting offers from the Protestant side, in order to have a
+choice of advantages, but without binding himself in any way.
+
+Ferdinand II., in his desperation, summoned a Spanish army from Italy to
+his aid. This was a new offence to Wallenstein, since the new troops
+were not placed under his command. In the autumn of 1633, however, he
+felt obliged to make some movement. He entered Silesia, defeated a
+Protestant army under Count Thurn, overran the greater part of Saxony
+and Brandenburg, and threatened Pomerania. In the meantime the Spanish
+and Austrian troops in Bavaria had been forced to fall back, Duke
+Bernard had taken Ratisbon, and the road to Vienna was open to him.
+Ferdinand II. and Maximilian of Bavaria sent messenger after messenger
+to Wallenstein, imploring him to return from the North without delay. He
+moved with the greatest slowness, evidently enjoying their anxiety and
+alarm, crossed the northern frontier of Bavaria, and then, instead of
+marching against Duke Bernard, he turned about and took up his
+winter-quarters at Pilsen, in Bohemia.
+
+[Sidenote: 1634. WALLENSTEIN'S CONSPIRACY.]
+
+Here he received an order from the Emperor, commanding him to march
+instantly against Ratisbon, and further, to send 6,000 of his best
+cavalry to the Spanish army. This step compelled him, after a year's
+hesitation, to act without further delay. He was already charged, at
+Vienna, with being a traitor to the Imperial cause: he now decided to
+become one, in reality. He first confided his design to his
+brothers-in-law, Counts Kinsky and Terzky, and one of his Generals,
+Illo. Then a council of war, of all the chief officers of his army, was
+called on the 11th of January, 1634; Wallenstein stated what Ferdinand
+II. had ordered, and in a cunning speech commented on the latter's
+ingratitude to the army which had saved him, ending by declaring that he
+should instantly resign his command. The officers were thunderstruck:
+they had boundless faith in Wallenstein's military genius, and they saw
+themselves deprived of glory, pay and plunder by his resignation. He and
+his associates skilfully made use of their excitement: at a grand
+banquet, the next day, all of them, numbering 42, signed a document
+pledging their entire fidelity to Wallenstein.
+
+General Piccolomini, one of the signers, betrayed all this to the
+Emperor, who, twelve days afterwards, appointed General Gallas, another
+of the signers, commander in Wallenstein's stead. At the same time a
+secret order was issued for the seizure of Wallenstein, Illo and Terzky,
+dead or alive. Both sides were now secretly working against each other,
+but Wallenstein's former delay told against him. He could not go over to
+the Protestant side, unless certain important conditions were secured in
+advance, and while his agents were negotiating with Duke Bernard, his
+own army, privately worked upon by Gallas and other agents of the
+Emperor, began to desert him. What arrangement was made with Duke
+Bernard, is uncertain; the chief evidence is that he, and Wallenstein
+with the few thousand troops who still stood by him, moved rapidly
+towards each other, as if to join their forces.
+
+[Sidenote: 1634.]
+
+On the 24th of February, 1634, Wallenstein reached the town of Eger,
+near the Bohemian frontier: only two or three more days were required,
+to consummate his plan. Then Colonel Butler, an Irishman, and two Scotch
+officers, Gordon and Leslie, conspired to murder him and his
+associates--no doubt in consequence of instructions received from
+Vienna. Illo, Terzky and Kinsky accepted an invitation to a banquet in
+the citadel, the following evening; but Wallenstein, who was unwell,
+remained in his quarters in the Burgomaster's house. Everything had been
+carefully prepared, in advance: at a given signal, Gordon and Leslie put
+out the lights, dragoons entered the banquet-hall, and the three victims
+were murdered in cold blood. Then a Captain Devereux, with six soldiers,
+forced his way into the Burgomaster's house, on pretence of bearing
+important dispatches, cut down Wallenstein's servant and entered the
+room where he lay. Wallenstein, seeing that his hour had come, made no
+resistance, but silently received his death-blow.
+
+When Duke Bernard arrived, a day or two afterwards, he found Eger
+defended by the Imperialists. Ferdinand II. shed tears when he heard of
+Wallenstein's death, and ordered 3,000 masses to be said for his soul;
+but, at the same time, he raised the assassins, Butler and Leslie, to
+the rank of Count, and rewarded them splendidly for the deed.
+Wallenstein's immense estates were divided among the officers who had
+sworn to support him, and had then secretly gone over to the Emperor.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+END OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR.
+
+(1634--1648.)
+
+The Battle of Noerdlingen. --Aid furnished by France. --Treachery of
+    Protestant Princes. --Offers of Ferdinand II. --Duke Bernard of
+    Saxe-Weimar visits Paris. --His Agreement with Louis XIII. --His
+    Victories. --Death of Ferdinand II. --Ferdinand III. succeeds.
+    --Duke Bernard's Bravery, Popularity and Death. --Banner's
+    Successes. --Torstenson's Campaigns. --He threatens Vienna. --The
+    French victorious in Southern Germany. --Movements for Peace.
+    --Wrangel's Victories. --Capture of Prague by the Swedes. --The
+    Peace of Westphalia. --Its Provisions. --The Religious Settlement.
+    --Defeat of the Church of Rome. --Desolation of Germany.
+    --Sufferings and Demoralization of the People. --Practical
+    Overthrow of the Empire. --A Multitude of Independent States.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1634. DEFEAT OF THE PROTESTANTS.]
+
+The Austrian army, composed chiefly of Wallenstein's troops and
+commanded nominally by the Emperor's son, the Archduke Ferdinand, but
+really by General Gallas, marched upon Ratisbon and forced the Swedish
+garrison to surrender before Duke Bernard, hastening back from Eger,
+could reach the place. Then, uniting with the Spanish and Bavarian
+forces, the Archduke took Donauwoerth and began the siege of the
+fortified town of Noerdlingen, in Wuertemberg. Duke Bernard effected a
+junction with Marshal Horn, and, with his usual daring, determined to
+attack the Imperialists at once. Horn endeavored to dissuade him, but in
+vain: the battle was fought on the 6th of September, 1634, and the
+Protestants were terribly defeated, losing 12,000 men, beside 6,000
+prisoners, and nearly all their artillery and baggage-wagons. Marshal
+Horn was among the prisoners, and Duke Bernard barely succeeded in
+escaping with a few followers.
+
+The result of this defeat was that Wuertemberg and the Palatinate were
+again ravaged by Catholic armies. Oxenstierna, who was consulting with
+the Protestant princes in Frankfort, suddenly found himself nearly
+deserted: only Hesse-Cassel, Wuertemberg and Baden remained on his side.
+In this crisis he turned to France, which agreed to assist the Swedes
+against the Emperor, in return for more territory in Lorraine and
+Alsatia. For the first time, Richelieu found it advisable to give up his
+policy of aiding the Protestants with money, and now openly supported
+them with French troops. John George of Saxony, who had driven the
+Imperialists from his land and invaded Bohemia, cunningly took advantage
+of the Emperor's new danger, and made a separate treaty with him, at
+Prague, in May, 1635. The latter gave up the "Edict of Restitution" so
+far as Saxony was concerned, and made a few other concessions, none of
+which favored the Protestants in other lands. On the other hand, he
+positively refused to grant religious freedom to Austria, and excepted
+Baden, the Palatinate and Wuertemberg from the provision which allowed
+other princes to join Saxony in the treaty.
+
+[Sidenote: 1635.]
+
+Brandenburg, Mecklenburg, Brunswick, Anhalt, and many free cities
+followed the example of Saxony. The most important, and--apparently for
+the Swedes and South-German Protestants--fatal provision of the treaty
+was that all the States which accepted it should combine to raise an
+army to enforce it, the said army to be placed at the Emperor's
+disposal. The effect of this was to create a union of the Catholics and
+German Lutherans against the Swedish Lutherans and German Calvinists--a
+measure which gave Germany many more years of fire and blood. Duke
+Bernard of Saxe-Weimar and the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel scorned to be
+parties to such a compact: the Swedes and South-Germans were outraged
+and indignant: John George was openly denounced as a traitor, as, on the
+Catholic side, the Emperor was also denounced, because he had agreed to
+yield anything whatever to the Protestants. France, only, enjoyed the
+miseries of the situation.
+
+Ferdinand II. was evidently weary of the war, which had now lasted
+nearly eighteen years, and he made an effort to terminate it by offering
+to Sweden three and a half millions of florins and to Duke Bernard a
+principality in Franconia, provided they would accept the treaty of
+Prague. Both refused: the latter took command of 12,000 French troops
+and marched into Alsatia, while the Swedish General Banner defeated the
+Saxons, who had taken the field against him, in three successive
+battles. The Imperialists, who had meanwhile retaken Alsatia and invaded
+France, were recalled to Germany by Banner's victories, and Duke
+Bernard, at the same time, went to Paris to procure additional support.
+During the years 1636 and 1637 nearly all Germany was wasted by the
+opposing armies; the struggle had become fiercer and more barbarous than
+ever, and the last resources of many States were so exhausted that
+famine and disease carried off nearly all of the population whom the
+sword had spared.
+
+[Sidenote: 1636. DUKE BERNARD IN PARIS.]
+
+Duke Bernard made an agreement with Louis XIII. whereby he received the
+rank of Marshal of France, and a subsidy of four million livres a year,
+to pay for a force of 18,000 men, which he undertook to raise in
+Germany. After the death of Gustavus Adolphus, the hope of the
+Protestants was centred on him; soldiers flocked to his standard at
+once, and his fortunes suddenly changed. The Swedes were driven from
+Northern Germany, with the aid of the Elector of Brandenburg, who
+surrendered to the Emperor the most important of his rights as reigning
+prince: by the end of 1637, Banner was compelled to retreat to the
+Baltic coast, and there await reinforcements. At the same time, Duke
+Bernard entered Alsatia, routed the Imperialists, took their commander
+prisoner, and soon gained possession of all the territory with the
+exception of the fortress of Breisach, to which he laid siege.
+
+On the 15th of February, 1637, the Emperor Ferdinand II. died, in the
+fifty-ninth year of his age, after having occasioned, by his policy, the
+death of 10,000,000 of human beings. Yet the responsibility of his fatal
+and terrible reign rests not so much upon himself, personally, as upon
+the Jesuits who educated him. He appears to have sincerely believed that
+it was better to reign over a desert than a Protestant people. As a man
+he was courageous, patient, simple in his tastes, and without personal
+vices. But all the weaknesses and crimes of his worst predecessors,
+added together, were scarcely a greater curse to the German people than
+his devotion to what he considered the true faith. His son, Ferdinand
+III., was immediately elected to succeed him. The Protestants considered
+him less subject to the Jesuits and more kindly disposed towards
+themselves, but they were mistaken: he adopted all the measures of his
+father, and carried on the war with equal zeal and cruelty.
+
+[Sidenote: 1638.]
+
+More than one army was sent to the relief of Breisach, but Duke Bernard
+defeated them all, and in December, 1638, the strong fortress
+surrendered to him. His compact with France stipulated that he should
+possess the greater part of Alsatia as his own independent principality,
+after conquering it, relinquishing to France the northern portion,
+bordering on Lorraine. But now Louis XIII. demanded Breisach, making its
+surrender to him the condition of further assistance. Bernard refused,
+gave up the French subsidy, and determined to carry on the war alone.
+His popularity was so great that his chance of success seemed good: he
+was a brave, devout and noble-minded man, whose strong personal ambition
+was always controlled by his conscience. The people had entire faith in
+him, and showed him the same reverence which they had manifested towards
+Gustavus Adolphus; yet their hope, as before, only preceded their loss.
+In the midst of his preparations Duke Bernard died suddenly, on the 18th
+of July, 1639, only thirty-six years old. It was generally believed that
+he had been poisoned by a secret agent of France, but there is no
+evidence that this was the case, except that a French army instantly
+marched into Alsatia and held the country.
+
+Duke Bernard's successes, nevertheless, had drawn a part of the
+Imperialists from Northern Germany, and in 1638 Banner, having recruited
+his army, marched through Brandenburg and Saxony into the heart of
+Bohemia, burning and plundering as he went, with no less barbarity than
+Tilly or Wallenstein. Although repulsed in 1639, near Prague, by the
+Archduke Leopold (Ferdinand III.'s brother), he only retired as far as
+Thuringia, where he was again strengthened by Hessian and French troops.
+In this condition of affairs, Ferdinand III. called a Diet, which met at
+Ratisbon in the autumn of 1640. A majority of the Protestant members
+united with the Catholics in their enmity to Sweden and France, but they
+seemed incapable of taking any measures to put an end to the dreadful
+war: month after month went by and nothing was done.
+
+Then Banner conceived the bold design of capturing the Emperor and the
+Diet. He made a winter march, with such skill and swiftness, that he
+appeared before the walls of Ratisbon at the same moment with the first
+news of his movement. Nothing but a sudden thaw, and the breaking up of
+the ice in the Danube, prevented him from being successful. In May,
+1641, he died, his army broke up, and the Emperor began to recover some
+of the lost ground. Several of the Protestant princes showed signs of
+submission, and ambassadors from Austria, France and Sweden met at
+Hamburg to decide where and how a Peace Congress might be held.
+
+[Sidenote: 1642. VICTORIES OF TORSTENSON.]
+
+In 1642 the Swedish army was reorganized under the command of
+Torstenson, one of the greatest of the many distinguished generals of
+the time. Although he was a constant sufferer from gout and had to be
+carried in a litter, he was no less rapid than daring and successful in
+all his military operations. His first campaign was through Silesia and
+Bohemia, almost to the gates of Vienna; then, returning through Saxony,
+towards the close of the year, he almost annihilated the army of
+Piccolomini before the walls of Leipzig. The Elector John George,
+fighting on the Catholic side, was forced to take refuge in Bohemia.
+
+Denmark having declared war against Sweden, Torstenson made a campaign
+in Holstein and Jutland in 1643, in conjunction with a Swedish fleet on
+the coast, and soon brought Denmark to terms. The Imperialist general,
+Gallas, followed him, but was easily defeated, and then Torstenson, in
+turn, followed him back through Bohemia into Austria. In March, 1645,
+the Swedish army won such a splendid victory near Tabor, that Ferdinand
+III. had scarcely any troops left to oppose their march. Again
+Torstenson appeared before Vienna, and was about commencing the siege of
+the city, when a pestilence broke out among his troops and compelled him
+to retire, as before, through Saxony. Worn out with the fatigues of his
+marches, he died before the end of the year, and the command was given
+to General Wrangel.
+
+During this time the French, under the famous Marshals, Turenne and
+Conde, had not only maintained themselves in Alsatia, but had crossed
+the Rhine and ravaged Baden, the Palatinate, Wuertemberg and part of
+Franconia. Although badly defeated by the Bavarians in the early part of
+1645, they were reinforced by the Swedes and Hessians, and, before the
+close of the year, won such a victory over the united Imperialist
+forces, not far from Donauwoerth, that all Bavaria lay open to them. The
+effect of these French successes, and of those of the Swedes under
+Torstenson, was to deprive Ferdinand III. of nearly his whole military
+strength. John George of Saxony concluded a separate armistice with the
+Swedes, thus violating the treaty of Prague, which had cost his people
+ten years of blood. He was followed by Frederick William, the young
+Elector of Brandenburg; and then Maximilian of Bavaria, in March, 1647,
+also negotiated a separate armistice with France and Sweden. Ferdinand
+III. was thus left with a force of only 12,000 men, the command of
+which, as he had no Catholic generals left, was given to a renegade
+Calvinist named Melander von Holzapfel.
+
+[Sidenote: 1645.]
+
+The chief obstacle to peace--the power of the Hapsburgs--now seemed to
+be broken down. The wanton and tremendous effort made to crush out
+Protestantism in Germany, although helped by the selfishness, the
+cowardice or the miserable jealousy of so many Protestant princes, had
+signally failed, owing to the intervention of three foreign powers, one
+of which was Catholic. Yet the Peace Congress, which had been agreed
+upon in 1643, had accomplished nothing. It was divided into two bodies:
+the ambassadors of the Emperor were to negotiate at Osnabrueck with
+Sweden, as the representative of the Protestant powers, and at Muenster
+with France, as the representative of the Catholic powers which desired
+peace. Two more years elapsed before all the ambassadors came together,
+and then a great deal of time was spent in arranging questions of rank,
+title and ceremony, which seem to have been considered much more
+important than the weal or woe of a whole people. Spain, Holland,
+Venice, Poland and Denmark also sent representatives, and about the end
+of 1645 the Congress was sufficiently organized to commence its labors.
+But, as the war was still being waged with as much fury as ever, one
+side waited and then the other for the result of battles and campaigns;
+and so two more years were squandered.
+
+After the armistice with Maximilian of Bavaria, the Swedish general,
+Wrangel, marched into Bohemia, where he gained so many advantages that
+Maximilian finally took sides again with the Emperor and drove the
+Swedes into Northern Germany. Then, early in 1648, Wrangel effected a
+junction with Marshal Turenne, and the combined Swedish and French
+armies overran all Bavaria, defeated the Imperialists in a bloody
+battle, and stood ready to invade Austria. At the same time Koenigsmark,
+with another Swedish army, entered Bohemia, stormed and took half the
+city of Prague, and only waited the approach of Wrangel and Turenne to
+join them in a combined movement upon Vienna. But before this movement
+could be executed, Ferdinand III. had decided to yield. His ambassadors
+at Osnabrueck and Muenster had received instructions, and lost no time in
+acting upon them: the proclamation of peace, after such heartless
+delays, came suddenly and put an end to thirty years of war.
+
+[Sidenote: 1648. THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA.]
+
+The Peace of Westphalia, as it is called, was concluded on the 24th of
+October, 1648. Inasmuch as its provisions extended not to Germany alone,
+but fixed the political relations of Europe for a period of nearly a
+hundred and fifty years, they must be briefly stated. France and Sweden,
+as the military powers which were victorious in the end, sought to draw
+the greatest advantages from the necessities of Germany, but France
+opposed any settlement of the religious questions (in order to keep a
+chance open for future interference), and Sweden demanded an immediate
+and final settlement, which was agreed to. France received Lorraine,
+with the cities of Metz, Toul and Verdun, which she had held nearly a
+hundred years, all Southern Alsatia with the fortress of Breisach, the
+right of appointing the governors of ten German cities, and other rights
+which practically placed nearly the whole of Alsatia in her power.
+Sweden received the northern half of Pomerania, with the cities of
+Wismar and Stettin, and the coast between Bremen and Hamburg, together
+with an indemnity of 5,000,000 thalers. Electoral Saxony received
+Lusatia and part of the territory of Magdeburg. Brandenburg received the
+other half of Pomerania, the archbishopric of Magdeburg, the bishoprics
+of Minden and Halberstadt, and other territory which had belonged to the
+Roman Church. Additions were made to the domains of Mecklenburg,
+Brunswick, and Hesse-Cassel, and the latter was also awarded an
+indemnity of 600,000 thalers. Bavaria received the Upper Palatinate
+(north of the Danube), and Baden, Wuertemberg and Nassau were restored to
+their banished rulers. Other petty States were confirmed in the position
+which they had occupied before the war, and the independence of
+Switzerland and Holland was acknowledged.
+
+In regard to Religion, the results were much more important to the
+world. Both Calvinists and Lutherans received entire freedom of worship
+and equal civil rights with the Catholics. Ferdinand II.'s "Edict of
+Restitution" was withdrawn, and the territories which had been
+secularized up to the year 1624 were not given back to the Church.
+Universal amnesty was decreed for everything which had happened during
+the war, except for the Austrian Protestants, whose possessions were not
+restored to them. The Emperor retained the authority of deciding
+questions of war and peace, taxation, defences, alliances, &c. with the
+concurrence of the Diet: he acknowledged the absolute sovereignty of the
+several Princes in their own States, and conceded to them the right of
+forming alliances among themselves or with foreign powers! A special
+article of the treaty prohibited all persons from writing, speaking or
+teaching anything contrary to its provisions.
+
+[Sidenote: 1648.]
+
+The Pope (at that time Innocent X.) declared the Treaty of Westphalia
+null and void, and issued a bull against its observance. The parties to
+the treaty, however, did not allow this bull to be published in Germany.
+The Catholics in all parts of the country (except Austria, Styria and
+the Tyrol) had suffered almost as severely as the Protestants, and would
+have welcomed the return of peace upon any terms which simply left their
+faith free.
+
+Nothing shows so conclusively how wantonly and wickedly the Thirty
+Years' War was undertaken than the fact that the Peace of 1648, in a
+religious point of view, yielded even more to the Protestants than the
+Religious Peace of Augsburg, granted by Charles V. in 1555. After a
+hundred years, the Church of Rome, acting through its tools, the
+Hapsburg Emperors, was forced to give up the contest: the sword of
+slaughter was rusted to the hilt by the blood it had shed, and yet
+religious freedom was saved to Germany. It was not zeal for the spread
+of Christian truth which inspired this fearful Crusade against
+twenty-five millions of Protestants, for the Catholics equally
+acknowledged the authority of the Bible: it was the despotic
+determination of the Roman Church to rule the minds and consciences of
+all men, through its Pope and its priesthood.
+
+Thirty years of war! The slaughters of Rome's worst Emperors, the
+persecution of the Christians under Nero and Diocletian, the invasions
+of the Huns and Magyars, the long struggle of the Guelphs and
+Ghibellines, left no such desolation behind them. At the beginning of
+the century, the population of the German Empire was about thirty
+millions: when the Peace of Westphalia was declared, it was scarcely
+more than twelve millions! Electoral Saxony, alone, lost 900,000 lives
+in two years. The population of Augsburg had diminished from 80,000 to
+18,000, and out of 500,000 inhabitants, Wuertemberg had but 48,000 left.
+The city of Berlin contained but three hundred citizens, the whole of
+the Palatinate of the Rhine but two hundred farmers. In Hesse-Cassel
+seventeen cities, forty-seven castles and three hundred villages were
+entirely destroyed by fire: thousands of villages, in all parts of the
+country, had but four or five families left out of hundreds, and landed
+property sank to about one-twentieth of its former value. Franconia was
+so depopulated that an Assembly held in Nuremberg ordered the Catholic
+priests to marry, and permitted all other men to have two wives. The
+horses, cattle and sheep were exterminated in many districts, the
+supplies of grain were at an end, even for sowing, and large cultivated
+tracts had relapsed into a wilderness. Even the orchards and vineyards
+had been wantonly destroyed wherever the armies had passed. So terrible
+was the ravage that in a great many localities, the same amount of
+population, cattle, acres of cultivated land and general prosperity, was
+not restored until the year 1848, two centuries afterwards!
+
+[Sidenote: 1648. DESOLATION OF GERMANY.]
+
+This statement of the losses of Germany, however, was but a small part
+of the suffering endured. Only two commanders, Gustavus Adolphus and
+Duke Bernard of Saxe-Weimar, preserved rigid discipline among their
+troops, and prevented them from plundering the people. All others
+allowed, or were powerless to prevent, the most savage outrages. During
+the last ten or twelve years of the war both Protestants and Catholics
+vied with each other in deeds of barbarity; the soldiers were nothing
+but highway robbers, who maimed and tortured the country people to make
+them give up their last remaining property, and drove hundreds of
+thousands of them into the woods and mountains to die miserably or live
+as half-savages. Multitudes of others flocked to the cities for refuge,
+only to be visited by fire and famine. In the year 1637, when Ferdinand
+II. died, the want was so great that men devoured each other, and even
+hunted down human beings like deer or hares, in order to feed upon them.
+Great numbers committed suicide, to avoid a slow death by hunger: on the
+island of Ruegen many poor creatures were found dead, with their mouths
+full of grass, and in some districts attempts were made to knead earth
+into bread. Then followed a pestilence which carried off a large
+proportion of the survivors. A writer of the time exclaims: "A thousand
+times ten thousand souls, the spirits of innocent children butchered in
+this unholy war, cry day and night unto God for vengeance, and cease
+not: while those who have caused all these miseries live in peace and
+freedom, and the shout of revelry and the voice of music are heard in
+their dwellings!"
+
+[Sidenote: 1648.]
+
+In character, in intelligence and in morality, the German people were
+set back two hundred years. All branches of industry had declined,
+commerce had almost entirely ceased, literature and the arts were
+suppressed, and except the astronomical discoveries of Copernicus and
+Kepler there was no contribution to human knowledge. Even the modern
+High-German language, which Luther had made the classic tongue of the
+land, seemed to be on the point of perishing. Spaniards and Italians on
+the Catholic, Swedes and French on the Protestant side, flooded the
+country with foreign words and expressions, the use of which soon became
+an affectation with the nobility, who did their best to destroy their
+native language. Wallenstein's letters to the Emperor were a curious
+mixture of German, French, Spanish, Italian and Latin.
+
+Politically, the change was no less disastrous. The ambition of the
+house of Hapsburg, it is true, had brought its own punishment; the
+imperial dignity was secured to it, but henceforth the head of the "Holy
+Roman Empire" was not much more than a shadow. Each petty State became,
+practically, an independent nation, with power to establish its own
+foreign relations, make war and contract alliances. Thus Germany, as a
+whole, lost her place among the powers of Europe, and could not possibly
+regain it under such an arrangement: the Emperor and the Princes,
+together, had skilfully planned her decline and fall. The nobles who, in
+former centuries, had maintained a certain amount of independence, were
+almost as much demoralized as the people, and when every little prince
+began to imitate Louis XIV. and set up his own Versailles, the nobles in
+his territory became his courtiers and government officials. As for the
+mass of the people, their spirit was broken: for a time they gave up
+even the longing for rights which they had lost, and taught their
+children abject obedience in order that they might simply _live_.
+
+[Sidenote: 1648. THE GERMAN STATES.]
+
+After the Thirty Years' War, Germany was composed of nine Electorates,
+twenty-four Religious Principalities (Catholic), nine princely Abbots,
+ten princely Abbesses, twenty-four Princes with seat and vote in the
+Diet, thirteen Princes without seat and vote, sixty-two Counts of the
+Empire, fifty-one Cities of the Empire, and about one thousand Knights
+of the Empire. These last, however, no longer possessed any political
+power. But, without them, there were two hundred and three more or less
+independent, jealous and conflicting States, united by a bond which was
+more imaginary than real; and this confused, unnatural state of things
+continued until Napoleon came to put an end to it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+GERMANY, TO THE PEACE OF RYSWICK.
+
+(1648--1697.)
+
+Contemporary History. --Germany in the Seventeenth Century. --Influence
+    of Louis XIV. --Leopold I. of Austria. --Petty Despotisms. --The
+    Great Elector. --Invasions of Louis XIV. --The Elector Aids
+    Holland. --War with France. --Battle of Fehrbellin. --French
+    Ravages in Baden. --The Peace of Nymwegen. --The Hapsburgs and
+    Hohenzollerns. --Louis XIV. seizes Strasburg. --Vienna besieged by
+    the Turks. --Sobieski's Victory. --Events in Hungary. --Prince
+    Eugene of Savoy. --Victories over the Turks. --French Invasion of
+    Germany. --French Barbarity. --Death of the Great Elector. --The
+    War with France. --Peace of Ryswick. --Position of the German
+    States. --The Diet. --The Imperial Court. --State of Learning and
+    Literature.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1648.]
+
+The Peace of Westphalia coincides with the beginning of great changes
+throughout Europe. The leading position on the Continent, which Germany
+had preserved from the treaty of Verdun until the accession of Charles
+V.--nearly 700 years--was lost beyond recovery: it had passed into the
+hands of France, where Louis XIV. was just commencing his long and
+brilliant reign. Spain, after a hundred years of supremacy, was in a
+rapid decline; the new Republic of Holland was mistress of the seas, and
+Sweden was the great power of Northern Europe. In England, Charles I.
+had lost his throne, and Cromwell was at work, laying the foundation of
+a broader and firmer power than either the Tudors or the Stuarts had
+ever built. Poland was still a large and strong kingdom, and Russia was
+only beginning to attract the notice of other nations. The Italian
+Republics had seen their best days: even the power of Venice was slowly
+crumbling to pieces. The coast of America, from Maine to Virginia, was
+dotted with little English, Dutch and Swedish settlements, only a few of
+which had safely passed through their first struggle for existence.
+
+[Sidenote: 1657. ELECTION OF LEOPOLD I.]
+
+The history of Germany, during the remainder of the seventeenth
+century, furnishes few events upon which the intelligent and patriotic
+German of to-day can look back with any satisfaction. Austria was the
+principal power, through her territory and population, as well as the
+Imperial dignity, which was thenceforth accorded to her as a matter of
+habit. The provision of religious liberty had not been extended to her
+people, who were now forcibly made Catholic; the former legislative
+assemblies, even the privileges of the nobles, had been suppressed, and
+the rule of the Hapsburgs was as absolute a despotism as that of Louis
+XIV. When Ferdinand III. died, in 1657, the "Great Monarch," as the
+French call him, made an attempt to be elected his successor: he
+purchased the votes of the Archbishops of Mayence, Treves and Cologne,
+and might have carried the day but for the determined resistance of the
+Electors of Brandenburg and Saxony. Even had he been successful, it is
+doubtful whether his influence over the most of the German Princes would
+have been greater than it was in reality.
+
+Ferdinand's son, Leopold I., a stupid, weak-minded youth of eighteen,
+was chosen Emperor in 1658. Like his ancestor, Frederick III., whom he
+most resembled, his reign was as long as it was useless. Until the year
+1705 he was the imaginary ruler of an imaginary Empire: Vienna was a
+faint reflection of Madrid, as every other little capital was of Paris.
+The Hapsburgs and the Bourbons being absolute, all the ruling princes,
+even the best of them, introduced the same system into their
+territories, and the participation of the other classes of the people in
+the government ceased. The cities followed this example, and their
+Burgomasters and Councillors became a sort of aristocracy, more or less
+arbitrary in character. The condition of the people, therefore, depended
+entirely on the princes, priests, or other officials who governed them:
+one State or city might be orderly and prosperous, while another was
+oppressed and checked in its growth. A few of the rulers were wise and
+humane: Ernest the Pious of Gotha was a father to his land, during his
+long reign; in Hesse, Brunswick and Anhalt learning was encouraged, and
+Frederick William of Brandenburg set his face against the corrupting
+influences of France. These small States were exceptions, yet they kept
+alive what of hope and strength and character was left to Germany, and
+were the seeds of her regeneration in the present century.
+
+[Sidenote: 1660.]
+
+Throughout the greater part of the country the people relapsed into
+ignorance and brutality, and the higher classes assumed the stiff,
+formal, artificial manners which nearly all Europe borrowed from the
+court of Louis XIV. Public buildings, churches and schools were allowed
+to stand as ruins, while the petty sovereign built his stately palace,
+laid out his park in the style of Versailles, and held his splendid and
+ridiculous festivals. Although Saxony had been impoverished and almost
+depopulated, the Elector, John George II., squandered all the revenues
+of the land on banquets, hunting-parties, fireworks and collections of
+curiosities, until his treasury was hopelessly bankrupt. Another prince
+made his Italian singing-master prime minister, and others again
+surrendered their lives and the happiness of their people to influences
+which were still more disastrous.
+
+The one historical character among the German rulers of this time is
+Frederick William of Brandenburg, who is generally called "The Great
+Elector." In bravery, energy and administrative ability, he was the
+first worthy successor of Frederick of Hohenzollern. No sooner had peace
+been declared than he set to work to restore order to his wasted and
+disturbed territory: he imitated Sweden in organizing a standing army,
+small at first, but admirably disciplined; he introduced a regular
+system of taxation, of police and of justice, and encouraged trade and
+industry in all possible ways. In a few years a war between Sweden and
+Poland gave him the opportunity of interfering, in the hope of obtaining
+the remainder of Pomerania. He first marched to Koenigsberg, the capital
+of the Duchy of Prussia, which belonged to Brandenburg, but under the
+sovereignty of Poland. Allying himself first with the Swedes, he
+participated in a great victory at Warsaw in July, 1656, and then found
+it to his advantage to go over to the side of John Casimir, king of
+Poland, who offered him the independence of Prussia. This was his only
+gain from the war; for, by the peace of 1660, he was forced to give up
+Western Pomerania, which he had in the mean time conquered from Sweden.
+
+[Sidenote: 1667. WAR WITH LOUIS XIV.]
+
+Louis XIV. of France was by this time aware that his kingdom had nothing
+to fear from any of its neighbors, and might easily be enlarged at their
+expense. In 1667, he began his wars of conquest, by laying claim to
+Brabant, and instantly sending Turenne and Conde over the frontier. A
+number of fortresses, unprepared for resistance, fell into their hands;
+but Holland, England and Sweden formed an alliance against France, and
+the war terminated in 1668 by the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. Louis's next
+step was to ally himself with England and Sweden against Holland, on the
+ground that a Republic, by furnishing a place of refuge for political
+fugitives, was dangerous to monarchies. In 1672 he entered Holland with
+an army of 118,000 men, took Geldern, Utrecht and other
+strongly-fortified places, and would soon have made himself master of
+the country, if its inhabitants had not shown themselves capable of the
+sublimest courage and self-sacrifice. They were victorious over France
+and England on the sea, and defended themselves stubbornly on the land.
+Even the German Archbishop of Cologne and Bishop of Muenster furnished
+troops to Louis XIV. and the Emperor Leopold promised to remain neutral.
+Then Frederick William of Brandenburg allied himself with Holland, and
+so wrought upon the Emperor by representing the danger to Germany from
+the success of France, that the latter sent an army under General
+Montecuccoli to the Rhine. But the Austrian troops remained inactive;
+Louis XIV. purchased the support of the Archbishops of Mayence and
+Treves; Westphalia was invaded by the French, and in 1673 Frederick
+William was forced to sign a treaty of neutrality.
+
+About this time Holland was strengthened by the alliance of Spain, and
+the Emperor Leopold, alarmed at the continual invasions of German
+territory on the Upper Rhine, ordered Montecuccoli to make war in
+earnest. In 1674 the Diet formally declared war against France, and
+Frederick William marched with 16,000 men to the Palatinate, which
+Marshal Turenne had ravaged with fire and sword. The French were driven
+back and even out of Alsatia for a time; but they returned the following
+year, and were successful until the month of July, when Turenne found
+his death on the soil which he had turned into a desert. Before this
+happened, Frederick William had been recalled in all haste to
+Brandenburg, where the Swedes, instigated by France, were wasting the
+land with a barbarity equal to Turenne's. His march was so swift that he
+found the enemy scattered: dividing and driving them before him, on the
+18th of June, 1675, at Fehrbellin, with only 7,000 men, he attacked the
+main Swedish army, numbering more than double that number. For three
+hours the battle raged with the greatest fury; Frederick William fought
+at the head of his troops, who more than once cut him out from the ranks
+of the enemy, and the result was a splendid victory. The fame of this
+achievement rang through all Europe, and Brandenburg was thenceforth
+mentioned with the respect due to an independent power.
+
+[Sidenote: 1677.]
+
+Frederick William continued the war for two years longer, gradually
+acquiring possession of all Swedish Pomerania, including Stettin and the
+other cities on the coast. He even built a small fleet, and undertook to
+dispute the supremacy of Sweden on the Baltic. During this time the war
+with France was continued on the Upper Rhine, with varying fortunes.
+Though repulsed and held in check after Turenne's death, the French
+burned five cities and several hundred villages west of the Rhine, and
+in 1677 captured Freiburg in Baden. But Louis XIV. began to be tired of
+the war, especially as Holland proved to be unconquerable. Negotiations
+for peace were commenced in 1678, and on the 5th of February, 1679, the
+"Peace of Nymwegen" was concluded with Holland, Spain and the German
+Empire--except Brandenburg! Leopold I. openly declared that he did not
+mean to have a Vandal kingdom in the North.
+
+Frederick William at first determined to carry on the war alone, but the
+French had already laid waste Westphalia, and in 1679 he was forced to
+accept a peace which required that he should restore nearly the whole of
+Western Pomerania to Sweden. Austria, moreover, took possession of
+several small principalities in Silesia, which had fallen to Brandenburg
+by inheritance. Thus the Hapsburgs repaid the support which the
+Hohenzollerns had faithfully rendered to them for four hundred years:
+thenceforth the two houses were enemies, and they were soon to become
+irreconcilable rivals. Leopold I. again betrayed Germany in the peace of
+Nymwegen, by yielding the city and fortress of Freiburg to France.
+
+[Sidenote: 1681. THE SEIZURE OF STRASBURG.]
+
+Louis XIV., nevertheless, was not content with this acquisition. He
+determined to possess the remaining cities of Alsatia which belonged to
+Germany. The Catholic Bishop of Strasburg was his secret agent, and
+three of the magistrates of the city were bribed to assist. In the
+autumn of 1681, when nearly all the merchants were absent, attending the
+fair at Frankfort, a powerful French army, which had been secretly
+collected in Lorraine, suddenly appeared before Strasburg. Between force
+outside and treachery within the walls, the city surrendered: on the 23d
+of October Louis XIV. made his triumphant entry, and was hailed by the
+Bishop with the blasphemous words: "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant
+depart in peace, for his eyes have seen thy Saviour!" The great
+Cathedral, which had long been in the possession of the Protestants, was
+given up to this Bishop: all Protestant functionaries were deprived of
+their offices, and the clergymen driven from the city. French names were
+given to the streets, and the inhabitants were commanded, under heavy
+penalties, to lay aside their German costume, and adopt the fashions of
+France. No official claim or declaration of war preceded this robbery;
+but the effect which it produced throughout Germany was comparatively
+slight. The people had been long accustomed to violence and outrage, and
+the despotic independence of each State suppressed anything like a
+national sentiment.
+
+Leopold I. called upon the Princes of the Empire to declare war against
+France, but met with little support. Frederick William positively
+refused, as he had been shamefully excepted from the Peace of Nymwegen.
+He gave as a reason, however, the great danger which menaced Germany
+from a new Turkish invasion, and offered to send an army to the support
+of Austria. The Emperor, equally stubborn and jealous, declined this
+offer, although his own dominions were on the verge of ruin.
+
+[Sidenote: 1683.]
+
+The Turks had remained quiet during the whole of the Thirty Years' War,
+when they might easily have conquered Austria. In the early part of
+Leopold's reign they recommenced their invasions, which were terminated,
+in 1664, by a truce of twenty years. Before the period came to an end,
+the Hungarians, driven to desperation by Leopold's misrule, especially
+his persecution of the Protestants, rose in rebellion. The Turks came to
+an understanding with them, and early in 1683, an army of more than
+200,000 men, commanded by the Grand Vizier Kara Mustapha, marched up the
+Danube, carrying everything before it, and encamped around the walls of
+Vienna. There is good evidence that the Sultan, Mohammed IV., was
+strongly encouraged by Louis XIV. to make this movement. Leopold fled at
+the approach of the Turks, leaving his capital to its fate. For two
+months Count Stahremberg, with only 7,000 armed citizens and 6,000
+mercenary soldiers under his command, held the fortifications against
+the overwhelming force of the enemy; then, when further resistance was
+becoming hopeless, help suddenly appeared. An army commanded by Duke
+Charles of Lorraine, another under the Elector of Saxony, and a third,
+composed of 20,000 Poles, headed by their king, John Sobieski, reached
+Vienna about the same time. The decisive battle was fought on the 12th
+of September, 1683, and ended with the total defeat of the Turks, who
+fled into Hungary, leaving their camp, treasures and supplies to the
+value of 10,000,000 dollars in the hands of the conquerors.
+
+The deliverance of Vienna was due chiefly to John Sobieski, yet, when
+Leopold I. returned to the city which he had deserted, he treated the
+Polish king with coldness and haughtiness, never once thanking him for
+his generous aid. The war was continued, in the interest of Austria, by
+Charles of Lorraine and Max Emanuel of Bavaria, until 1687, when a great
+victory at Mohacs in Hungary forced the Turks to retreat beyond the
+Danube. Then Leopold I. took brutal vengeance on the Hungarians,
+executing so many of their nobles that the event is called "the Shambles
+of Eperies," from the town where it occurred. The Jesuits were allowed
+to put down Protestantism in their own way; the power and national pride
+of Hungary were trampled under foot, and a Diet held at Presburg
+declared that the crown of the country should thenceforth belong to the
+house of Hapsburg. This episode of the history of the time, the taking
+of Strasburg by Louis XIV., the treatment of Frederick William of
+Brandenburg, and other contemporaneous events, must be borne in mind,
+since they are connected with much that has taken place in our own day.
+
+In spite of the defeat of the Turks in 1687, they were encouraged by
+France to continue the war. Max Emanuel took Belgrade in 1689, the
+Margrave Ludwig of Baden won an important victory, and Prince Eugene of
+Savoy (a grandnephew of Cardinal Mazarin, whom Louis XIV. called, in
+derision, the "Little Abbe," and refused to give a military command)
+especially distinguished himself as a soldier. After ten years of
+varying fortune, the war was brought to an end by the magnificent
+victory of Prince Eugene at Zenta, in 1697. It was followed by the
+Treaty of Carlowitz, in 1699, in which Turkey gave up Transylvania and
+the Slavonic provinces to Austria, Morea and Dalmatia to Venice, and
+agreed to a truce of twenty-five years.
+
+[Sidenote: 1686. RENEWED WAR WITH FRANCE.]
+
+While the best strength of Germany was engaged in this Turkish war,
+Louis XIV. was busy in carrying out his plans of conquest. He claimed
+the Palatinate of the Rhine for his brother, the Duke of Orleans, and
+also attempted to make one of his agents Archbishop of Cologne. In 1686,
+an alliance was formed between Leopold I., several of the German States,
+Holland, Spain and Sweden, to defend themselves against the aggressions
+of France, but nothing was accomplished by the negotiations which
+followed. Finally, in 1688, two powerful French armies suddenly appeared
+upon the Rhine: one took possession of the territory of Treves and
+Cologne, the other marched through the Palatinate into Franconia and
+Wuertemberg. But the demands of Louis XIV. were not acceded to; the
+preparation for war was so general on the part of the allied countries
+that it was evident his conquests could not be held; so he determined,
+at least, to ruin the territory before giving it up.
+
+No more wanton and barbarous deed was ever perpetrated. The "Great
+Monarch," the model of elegance and refinement for all Europe, was
+guilty of brutality beyond what is recorded of the most savage
+chieftains. The vines were pulled up by the roots and destroyed; the
+fruit-trees were cut down, the villages burned to the ground, and
+400,000 persons were made beggars, besides those who were slain in cold
+blood. The castle of Heidelberg, one of the most splendid monuments of
+the Middle Ages in all Europe, was blown up with gunpowder; the people
+of Mannheim were compelled to pull down their own fortifications, after
+which their city was burned, Speyer, with its grand and venerable
+Cathedral, was razed to the ground, and the bodies of the Emperors
+buried there were exhumed and plundered. While this was going on, the
+German Princes, with a few exceptions (the "Great Elector" being the
+prominent one), were copying the fashions of the French Court, and even
+trying to unlearn their native language!
+
+[Sidenote: 1688.]
+
+Frederick William of Brandenburg, however, was spared the knowledge of
+the worst features of this outrage. He died the same year, after a reign
+of forty-eight years, at the age of sixty-eight. The latter years of his
+reign were devoted to the internal development of his State. He united
+the Oder and Elbe by a canal, built roads and bridges, encouraged
+agriculture and the mechanic arts, and set a personal example of
+industry and intelligence to his people while he governed them. His
+possessions were divided and scattered, reaching from Koenigsberg to the
+Rhine, but, taken collectively, they were larger than any other German
+State at the time, except Austria. None of the smaller German rulers
+before him took such a prominent part in the intercourse with foreign
+nations. He was thoroughly German, in his jealousy of foreign rule; but
+this did not prevent him from helping to confirm Louis XIV. in his
+robbery of Strasburg, out of revenge for his own treatment by Leopold I.
+When personal pride or personal interest was concerned, the
+Hohenzollerns were hardly more patriotic than the Hapsburgs.
+
+The German Empire raised an army of about 60,000 men, to carry on the
+war with France; but its best commanders, Max Emanuel and Prince Eugene,
+were fighting the Turks, and the first campaigns were not successful.
+The other allied powers, Holland, England and Spain, were equally
+unfortunate, while France, compact and consolidated under one despotic
+head, easily held out against them. In 1693, finally, the Margrave
+Ludwig of Baden obtained some victories in Southern Germany which forced
+the French to retreat beyond the Rhine. The seat of war was then
+gradually transferred to Flanders, and the task of conducting it fell
+upon the foreign allies. At the same time there were battles in Spain
+and Savoy, and sea-fights in the British Channel. Although the fortunes
+of Germany were influenced by these events, they belong properly to the
+history of other countries. Victory inclined sometimes to one side and
+sometimes to the other; the military operations were so extensive that
+there could be no single decisive battle.
+
+All parties became more or less weary and exhausted, and the end of it
+all was the Treaty of Ryswick, concluded on the 20th of September, 1697.
+By its provisions France retained Strasburg and the greater part of
+Alsatia, but gave up Freiburg and her other conquests east of the Rhine,
+in Baden. Lorraine was restored to its Duke, but on conditions which
+made it practically a French province. The most shameful clause of the
+Treaty was one which ordered that the districts which had been made
+Catholic by force during the invasion were to remain so.
+
+[Sidenote: 1697. DECLINE OF THE EMPIRE.]
+
+Nearly every important German State, at this time, had some connection
+or alliance which subjected it to foreign influence. The Hapsburg
+possessions in Belgium were more Spanish than German; Pomerania and the
+bishoprics of Bremen and Verden were under Sweden; Austria and Hungary
+were united; Holstein was attached to Denmark, and in 1697 Augustus the
+Strong of Saxony, after the death of John Sobieski, purchased his
+election as king of Poland by enormous bribes to the Polish nobles.
+Augustus the Strong, of whom Carlyle says that "he lived in this world
+regardless of expense," outdid his predecessor, John George II., in his
+monstrous imitation of French luxury. For a time he not only ruined but
+demoralized Saxony, starving the people by his exactions, and living in
+a style which was infamous as well as reckless.
+
+The National German Diet, from this time on, was no longer attended by
+the Emperor and ruling Princes, but only by their official
+representatives. It was held, permanently, in Ratisbon, and its members
+spent their time mostly in absurd quarrels about forms. When any
+important question arose, messengers were sent to the rulers to ask
+their advice, and so much time was always lost that the Diet was
+practically useless. The Imperial Court, established by Maximilian I.,
+was now permanently located at Wetzlar, not far from Frankfort, and had
+become as slow and superannuated as the Diet. The Emperor, in fact, had
+so little concern with the rest of the Empire, that his title was only
+honorary; the revenues it brought him were about 13,000 florins
+annually. The only change which took place in the political organization
+of Germany, was that in 1692 Ernest Augustus of Hannover (the father of
+George I. of England) was raised to the dignity of Elector, which
+increased the whole number of Electors, temporal and spiritual, to nine.
+
+[Sidenote: 1697.]
+
+During the latter half of the seventeenth century, learning, literature
+and the arts received little encouragement in Germany. At the petty
+courts there was more French spoken than German, and the few authors of
+the period--with the exception of Spener, Francke, and other devout
+religious writers--produced scarcely any works of value. The
+philosopher, Leibnitz, stands alone as the one distinguished
+intellectual man of his age. The upper classes were too French and too
+demoralized to assist in the better development of Germany, and the
+lower classes were still too poor, oppressed and spiritless to think of
+helping themselves. Only in a few States, chief among them Brunswick,
+Hesse, Saxe-Gotha and Saxe-Weimar, were the Courts on a moderate scale,
+the government tolerably honest, and the people prosperous.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION.
+
+(1697--1714.)
+
+New European Troubles. --Intrigues at the Spanish Court. --Leopold I.
+    declares War against France. --Frederick I. of Brandenburg becomes
+    King of Prussia. --German States allied with France. --Prince
+    Eugene in Italy. --Operations on the Rhine. --Marlborough enters
+    Germany. --Battle of Blenheim. --Joseph I. Emperor. --Victory of
+    Ramillies. --Battle of Turin. --Victories in Flanders. --Louis XIV.
+    asks for Peace. --Battle of Malplaquet. --Renewed Offer of France.
+    --Stupidity of Joseph I. --Recall of Marlborough. --Karl VI.
+    Emperor. --Peace of Utrecht. --Karl VI.'s Obstinacy. --Prince
+    Eugene's Appeal. --Final Peace. --Loss of Alsatia. --The Kingdom of
+    Sardinia.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1700. TROUBLES IN SWEDEN AND SPAIN.]
+
+The beginning of the new century brought with it new troubles for all
+Europe, and Germany--since it was settled that her Emperors must be
+Hapsburgs--was compelled to share in them. In the North, Charles XII. of
+Sweden and Peter the Great of Russia were fighting for "the balance of
+power"; in Spain king Charles II. was responsible for a new cause of
+war, simply because he was the last of the Hapsburgs in a direct line,
+and had no children! Louis XIV. had married his elder sister and Leopold
+I. his younger sister; and both claimed the right to succeed him. The
+former, it is true, had renounced all claim to the throne of Spain when
+he married, but he put forth his grandson, Duke Philip of Anjou, as the
+candidate. There were two parties at the Court of Madrid,--the French,
+at the head of which was Louis XIV.'s ambassador, and the Austrian,
+directed by Charles II.'s mother and wife. The other nations of Europe
+were opposed to any division of Spain between the rival claimants, since
+the possession of even half her territory (which still included Naples,
+Sicily, Milan and Flanders, besides her enormous colonies in America)
+would have made either France or Austria too powerful. Charles II.,
+however, was persuaded to make a will appointing Philip of Anjou his
+successor, and when he died, in 1700, Louis XIV. immediately sent his
+grandson over the Pyrenees and had him proclaimed as king Philip V. of
+Spain.
+
+[Sidenote: 1701.]
+
+Leopold I. thereupon declared war against France, in the hope of gaining
+the crown of Spain for his son, the Archduke Karl. England and Holland
+made alliances with him, and he was supported by most of the German
+States. The Elector, Frederick III. of Brandenburg (son of "the Great
+Elector"), who was a very proud and ostentatious prince, furnished his
+assistance on condition that he should be authorized by the Emperor to
+assume the title of King. Since the traditional customs of the German
+Empire did not permit another king than that of Bohemia among the
+Electors, Frederick was obliged to take the name of his detached Duchy
+of Prussia, instead of Brandenburg. On the 18th of January, 1701, he
+crowned himself and his wife at Koenigsberg, and was thenceforth called
+king Frederick I. of Prussia. But his capital was still Berlin, and thus
+the names of "Prussia" and "the Prussians"--which came from a small
+tribe of mixed Slavonic blood--were gradually transferred to all his
+other lands and their population, German, and especially Saxon, in
+character. Prince Eugene of Savoy saw the future with a prophetic glance
+when he declared: "the Emperor, in his own interest, ought to have
+hanged the Ministers who counselled him to make this concession to the
+Elector of Brandenburg!"
+
+The Elector Max Emanuel of Bavaria and his brother, the Archbishop of
+Cologne, openly espoused the cause of France. Several smaller princes
+were also bribed by Louis XIV., but one of them, the Duke of Brunswick,
+after raising 12,000 men for France, was compelled by the Elector of
+Hannover to add them to the German army. With such miserable disunion at
+home, Germany would have gone to pieces and ceased to exist, but for the
+powerful participation of England and Holland in the war. The English
+Parliament, it is true, only granted 10,000 men at first, but as soon as
+Louis XIV. recognized the exiled Stuart, Prince James, as rightful heir
+to the throne of England, the grant was enlarged to 40,000 soldiers and
+an equal number of sailors. The value of this aid was greatly increased
+by the military genius of the English commander, the famous Duke of
+Marlborough.
+
+[Sidenote: 1703. FIGHTING ALONG THE RHINE.]
+
+The war was commenced by Louis XIV. who suddenly took possession of a
+number of fortified places in Flanders, which Max Emanuel of Bavaria,
+then governor of the province, had purposely left unguarded. While the
+recovery of this territory was left to England and Holland, Prince
+Eugene undertook to drive the French out of Northern Italy. He made a
+march across the Alps as daring as that of Napoleon, transporting cannon
+and supplies by paths only known to the chamois-hunters. For nearly a
+year he was entirely successful; then, having been recalled to Vienna,
+the French were reinforced and recovered their lost ground. An important
+result of the campaign, however, was that Victor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy
+(ancestor of the present king of Italy), quarrelled with the French,
+with whom he had been allied, and joined the German side.
+
+The struggle now became more and more confused, and we cannot undertake
+to follow all its entangled episodes. France encouraged a rebellion in
+Hungary; the Archbishop of Cologne laid waste the Lower Rhine; Max
+Emanuel seized Ulm and held it for France; Marshal Villars, in 1703,
+pressed back Ludwig of Baden (who had up to that time been successful in
+the Palatinate and Alsatia), marched through the Black Forest and
+effected a junction with the Bavarian army. His plan was to cross the
+Alps and descend into Italy in the rear of the German forces which
+Prince Eugene had left there; but the Tyrolese rose against him and
+fought with such desperation that he was obliged to fall back on
+Bavaria.
+
+Marshal Villars and Max Emanuel now commanded a combined army of 60,000
+men, in the very heart of Germany. They had defeated the Austrian
+commander, and Ludwig of Baden's army was too small to take the field
+against them. But the Duke of Marlborough had been brilliantly
+victorious in Belgium and on the Lower Rhine, and he was thus able to
+march on towards the Danube. Prince Eugene hastened from Hungary with
+such troops as he could collect, and the two, with Ludwig of Baden, were
+strong enough to engage the French and Bavarians. They met on the 13th
+of August, 1704, on the plain of the Danube, near the little village of
+Blenheim. After a long and furious battle, the French left 14,000 men
+upon the field, lost 13,000 prisoners, and fled towards the Rhine in
+such haste that scarcely one-third of their army reached the river.
+Marlborough and Eugene were made Princes of the German Empire, and all
+Europe rang with songs celebrating the victory, in which Marlborough's
+name appeared as "Malbrook." His proposal to follow up the victory with
+an invasion of France was rejected by the Emperor, and the war, which
+might then have been pressed to a termination, continued for ten years
+longer.
+
+[Sidenote: 1705.]
+
+In 1705 Leopold I. relieved Germany, by his death, of the dead weight of
+his incapacity. He was succeeded by his son, Joseph I., who possessed,
+at least, a little ordinary common sense. He manifested it at once by
+making Prince Eugene his counsellor, instead of surrounding him with
+spies, as his jealous and spiteful father had done. Both sides were
+preparing for new movements, and the principal event for the year took
+place in Spain, where the Archduke, who had been conveyed to Barcelona
+by an English fleet, obtained possession of Catalonia and Aragon, and
+threatened Philip V. with the loss of his crown. The previous year,
+1704, the English had taken Gibraltar.
+
+In 1706 operations were recommenced, on a larger scale, and with results
+which were very disastrous to the plans of France. Marlborough's great
+victory at Ramillies, on the 23d of May, gave him the Spanish
+Netherlands, and enabled the Emperor to declare Max Emanuel and the
+Archbishop of Cologne outlawed. The city of Turin, held by an Austrian
+garrison, was besieged, about the same time, by the Duke of Orleans,
+with 38,000 men. Then Prince Eugene hastened across the Alps with an
+army of 24,000, was reinforced by 13,000 more under Victor Amadeus of
+Savoy, and on the 7th of September attacked the French with such
+impetuosity that they were literally destroyed. Among the spoils were
+211 cannon, 80,000 barrels of powder, and a great amount of money,
+horses and provisions. By this victory Prince Eugene became also a hero
+to the German people, and many of their songs about him are sung at this
+day. The "Prussian" troops, under Prince Leopold of Dessau, especially
+distinguished themselves: their commander was afterwards one of
+Frederick the Great's most famous generals.
+
+The first consequence of this victory was an armistice with Louis XIV.,
+so far as Italian territory was concerned: nevertheless, a part of the
+Austrian army was sent to Naples in 1707, to take possession of the
+country in the name of Spain. The Archduke Karl, after some temporary
+successes over Philip V., was driven back to Barcelona, and Louis XIV.
+then offered to treat for peace. Austria and England refused: in 1708
+Marlborough and Prince Eugene, again united, won another victory over
+the French at Oudenarde, and took the stronghold of Lille, which had
+been considered impregnable. The road to Paris was apparently open to
+the allies, and Louis XIV. offered to give up his claim, on behalf of
+Philip V., to Spain, Milan, the Spanish-American colonies and the
+Netherlands, provided Naples and Sicily were left to his grandson.
+Marlborough and Prince Eugene required, in addition, that he should
+expel Philip from Spain, in case the latter refused to conform to the
+treaty. Louis XIV.'s pride was wounded by this demand, and the
+negotiations were broken off.
+
+[Sidenote: 1708. PEACE REJECTED BY JOSEPH I.]
+
+With great exertion a new French army was raised, and Marshal Villars
+placed in command. But the two famous commanders, Marlborough and
+Eugene, achieved such a new and crushing victory in the battle of
+Malplaquet, fought on the 11th of September, 1709, that France made a
+third attempt to conclude peace. Louis XIV. now offered to withdraw his
+claim to the Spanish succession, to restore Alsatia and Strasburg to
+Germany, and to pay one million livres a month towards defraying the
+expenses of expelling Philip V. from Spain. It will scarcely be believed
+that this proposal, so humiliating to the extravagant pride of France,
+and which conceded more than Germany had hoped to obtain, was rejected!
+The cause seems to have been a change in the fortunes of the Archduke
+Karl in Spain: he was again victorious, and in 1710 held his triumphal
+entry in Madrid. Yet it is difficult to conceive what further advantages
+Joseph I. expected to secure, by prolonging the war.
+
+Germany was soon punished for this presumptuous refusal of peace. A
+Court intrigue, in England, overthrew the Whig Ministry and gave the
+power into the hands of the Tories: Marlborough was at first hampered
+and hindered in carrying out his plans, and then recalled. While keeping
+up the outward forms of her alliance with Holland and Germany, England
+began to negotiate secretly with France, and thus the chief strength of
+the combination against Louis XIV. was broken. In 1711 the Emperor
+Joseph I. died, leaving no direct heirs, and the Archduke Karl became
+his successor to the throne. The latter immediately left Spain, was
+elected before he reached Germany, and crowned in Mayence on the 22d of
+September, as Karl VI. Although, by deserting Spain, he had seemed to
+renounce his pretension to the Spanish crown, there was a general fear
+that the success of Germany would unite the two countries, as in the
+time of Charles V., and Holland's interest in the war began also to
+languish. Prince Eugene, without English aid, was so successful in the
+early part of 1712 that even Paris seemed in danger; but Marshal
+Villars, by cutting off all his supplies, finally forced him to retreat.
+
+[Sidenote: 1713.]
+
+During this same year negotiations were carried on between France,
+England, Holland, Savoy and Prussia. They terminated, in 1713, in the
+Peace of Utrecht, by which the Bourbon, Philip V., was recognized as
+king of Spain and her colonies, on condition that the crowns of Spain
+and France should never be united. England received Gibraltar and the
+island of Minorca from Spain, Acadia, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and the
+Hudson's Bay Territory from France, and the recognition of her
+Protestant monarchy. Holland obtained the right to garrison a number of
+strong frontier fortresses in Belgium, and Prussia received Neufchatel
+in Switzerland, some territory on the Lower Rhine, and the
+acknowledgment of Frederick I.'s royal dignity.
+
+Karl VI. refused to recognize his rival, Philip V., as king of Spain,
+and therefore rejected the Treaty of Utrecht. But the other princes of
+Germany were not eager to prolong the war for the sake of gratifying the
+Hapsburg pride. Prince Eugene, who was a devoted adherent of Austria, in
+vain implored them to be united and resolute. "I stand," he wrote, "like
+a sentinel (a watch!) on the Rhine; and as mine eye wanders over these
+fair regions, I think to myself how happy, and beautiful, and
+undisturbed in the enjoyment of Nature's gifts they might be, if they
+possessed courage to use the strength which God hath given them. With an
+army of 200,000 men I would engage to drive the French out of Germany,
+and would forfeit my life if I did not obtain a peace which should
+gladden our hearts for the next twenty years." With such forces as he
+could collect he carried on the war along the Upper Rhine, but he lost
+the fortresses of Landau and Freiburg. Louis XIV., however, who was now
+old and infirm, was very tired of the war, and after these successes, he
+commissioned Marshal Villars to treat for peace with Prince Eugene. The
+latter was authorized by the Emperor to negotiate: the two commanders
+met at Rastatt, in Baden, and in spite of the unreasonable stubbornness
+of Karl VI. a treaty was finally concluded on the 7th of March, 1714.
+
+[Sidenote: 1714. END OF THE WAR.]
+
+Austria received the Spanish Netherlands, Naples, Milan, Mantua and the
+Island of Sardinia. Freiburg, Old-Breisach and Kehl were restored to
+Germany, but France retained Landau, on the west bank of the Rhine, as
+well as all Alsatia and Strasburg. Thus the recovery of the latter
+territory, which Joseph I. refused to accept in 1710, was lost to
+Germany until the year 1870.
+
+By the Treaty of Utrecht, Duke Victor Amadeus of Savoy had received
+Sicily as an independent kingdom. A few years afterwards he made an
+exchange with Austria, giving Sicily for Sardinia: thus originated the
+Kingdom of Sardinia, which continued to exist until the year 1860, when
+Victor Emanuel became king of Italy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+THE RISE OF PRUSSIA.
+
+(1714--1740.)
+
+Wars of Charles XII. of Sweden. --Invasion of Saxony. --Enlargement of
+    Prussia and Hannover. --The "Pragmatic Sanction." --Sacrifices of
+    Austria. --Battle of Peterwardein. --Treaty of Passarowitz. --War
+    in Italy. --Frederick I. of Prussia. --Frederick William I. --His
+    Character and Habits. --His Policy as a Ruler. --His Giant
+    Body-Guards. --The Tobacco College. --Decay of Austria. --The other
+    German States. --First Emigration to America. --War of the Polish
+    Succession. --French Invasion. --German Disunion. --The Treaty of
+    Vienna. --Marriage of Maria Theresa. --Disastrous War with Turkey.
+    --Prussia at the Death of Frederick William I. --Austria at the
+    Death of Karl VI.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1714.]
+
+While the War of the Spanish Succession raged along the Rhine, in
+Bavaria and the Netherlands, the North of Germany was convulsed by
+another and very different struggle. The ambitious designs of Charles
+XII. of Sweden, who succeeded to the throne in 1697, aroused the
+jealousy and renewed the old hostility, of Denmark, Russia and Poland,
+and in 1700 they formed an alliance against Sweden. Denmark began the
+war, the same year, by invading Holstein-Gottorp, the Duke of which was
+the brother-in-law of Charles XII. The latter immediately attacked
+Copenhagen, and conquered a peace. A few months afterwards he crushed
+the power of Peter the Great, in the battle of Narva, and was then free
+to march against Poland. Augustus the Strong was no match for the young
+Northern hero, who compelled the Polish nobles to depose him and elect
+Stanislas Lesczinsky in his stead, then marched through Silesia into
+Saxony, in the year 1706, and from his camp near Leipzig dictated his
+own terms to Augustus.
+
+A year later, having exhausted what resources were left to the people
+after the outrageous exactions of their own Electors, Charles XII.
+evacuated Saxony with an army of 40,000 men, many of them German
+recruits, and marched through Poland on his way to the fatal field of
+Pultowa. The immediate consequences of his terrible defeat there, in
+1709, were that Peter the Great took possession of the Baltic provinces,
+and prepared to found his new capital of St. Petersburg on the Neva.
+Then Denmark and Saxony entered into an alliance with Russia, Augustus
+the Strong was again placed on the throne of Poland, and the
+Swedish-German provinces on the Baltic and the North Sea were overrun
+and ravaged by the Danish and Russian armies. Towards the end of the
+year 1714, after peace had been concluded with France, Charles XII.
+suddenly appeared in Stralsund, having escaped from his long exile in
+Turkey and travelled day and night on horseback across Europe, from the
+shores of the Black Sea. Then Prussia and Hannover, both eager to
+enlarge their dominions at the expense of Sweden, united against him. He
+had not sufficient military strength to resist them, and after his death
+at Frederickshall, in 1718, Sweden was compelled to make peace on
+conditions which forever destroyed her supremacy among the northern
+powers.
+
+[Sidenote: 1714. THE PRAGMATIC SANCTION.]
+
+By the Treaties of Stockholm, made in 1719 and 1720, Prussia acquired
+Stettin and all of Pomerania except a strip of the coast with Wismar,
+Stralsund and the island of Ruegen, paying 2,000,000 thalers to Sweden:
+Hannover acquired the territories of Bremen and Verden, paying 1,000,000
+thalers: Denmark received Schleswig, and Russia all of her conquests
+except Finland. The power of Poland, already weakened by the corruptions
+and dissensions of her nobles, began steadily to decline after this long
+and exhausting war.
+
+The collective history of the German States,--for we can hardly say
+"History of Germany" when there really was no Germany--at this time, is
+a continuous succession of wars and diplomatic intrigues, which break
+out in one direction before they are settled in another. In 1713,
+Frederick I. of Prussia died, and was succeeded by his son, Frederick
+William I.: in 1714, George I., Elector of Hannover, was made king of
+England, and about the same time the Emperor Karl VI. issued a decree
+called the "Pragmatic Sanction," establishing the order of succession to
+the throne, for his dynasty. He was led to this step by the example of
+Spain, where the failure of the direct line had given rise to thirteen
+years of European war, and by the circumstance that he himself had
+neither sons nor brothers. A daughter, Maria Theresa, was born in 1717,
+and thus the provision of the Pragmatic Sanction that the crown should
+descend to female heirs in the absence of male, preserved the succession
+in his own family, and forestalled the claim of the Elector of Bavaria
+and other princes who were more or less distantly related to the
+Hapsburgs.
+
+[Sidenote: 1714.]
+
+The Pragmatic Sanction was accepted in Austria without difficulty, as
+there was no power to dispute the Emperor's will, but it was not
+recognized by the other States of Germany and other nations of Europe
+until after twenty years of diplomatic negotiations and serious
+sacrifices on the part of Austria. Prussia received more territory on
+the Lower Rhine, the Duchies of Parma and Piacenza in Italy were given
+to Spain, and the claims of Augustus III. of Saxony and Poland were so
+strenuously supported that in 1733 the so-called "War of the Polish
+Succession" broke out. In the meantime, however, two other wars had
+occurred, and, although both of them affected Austria rather than the
+German Empire, they must be briefly described.
+
+In 1714 the Emperor Karl VI. formed an alliance with the Venetians
+against the Turks, who had taken the Morea from Venice. The command was
+given to Prince Eugene, who marched against his old enemy, determined to
+win back what remaining Hungarian or Slavonic territory was still held
+by Turkey. The Grand-Vizier, Ali, opposed him with a powerful force, and
+after various minor engagements a great battle was fought at
+Peterwardein, in August, 1716. Eugene was completely victorious: the
+Turks were driven beyond the Save and sheltered themselves behind the
+strong walls of Belgrade. Eugene followed, and, after a siege which is
+famous in military annals, took Belgrade by storm. The victory is
+celebrated in a song which the German people are still in the habit of
+singing. The war ended with the Treaty of Passarowitz, in 1718, by which
+Turkey was compelled to surrender to Austria the Banat, Servia,
+including Belgrade, and a part of Wallachia, Bosnia and Croatia.
+
+Before this treaty was concluded, a new war had broken out in Italy.
+Philip V. of Spain, incensed at not being recognized by Karl VI., took
+possession of Sardinia and Sicily, with the intention of conquering
+Naples from Austria. England, France, Holland and Austria then formed
+the "Quadruple Alliance," as it was called, for the purpose of enforcing
+the Treaty of Utrecht, and Spain was compelled to yield.
+
+[Sidenote: 1711. RISE OF PRUSSIA.]
+
+The power of Prussia, during these years, was steadily increasing.
+Frederick I., it is true, was among the imitators of Louis XIV.: he
+built stately palaces, and spent a great deal of money on showy Court
+festivals, but he did not completely exhaust the resources of the
+country, like the Electors of Saxony and the rulers of many smaller
+States. On the other hand, he founded the University of Halle in 1694,
+and commissioned the philosopher Leibnitz to draw up a plan for an
+Academy of Science, which was established in Berlin, in 1711. He was a
+zealous Protestant, and gave welcome to all who were exiled from other
+States on account of their faith. As a ruler, however, he was equally
+careless and despotic, and his government was often entrusted to the
+hands of unworthy agents. Frederick the Great said of him: "He was great
+in small matters, and little in great matters."
+
+His son, Frederick William I., was a man of an entirely different
+nature. He disliked show and ceremony: he hated everything French with a
+heartiness which was often unreasonable, but which was honestly provoked
+by the enormous, monkey-like affectation of the manners of Versailles by
+some of his fellow-rulers. While Augustus of Saxony spent six millions
+of thalers on a single entertainment, he set to work to reduce the
+expenses of his royal household. While the court of Austria supported
+40,000 officials and hangers-on, and half of Vienna was fed from the
+Imperial kitchen, he was employed in examining the smallest details of
+the receipts and expenditures of his State, in order to economize and
+save. He was miserly, fierce, coarse and brutal; he aimed at being a
+_German_, but he went back almost to the days of Wittekind for his ideas
+of German culture and character; he was a tyrant of the most savage
+kind,--but, after all has been said against him, it must be acknowledged
+that without his hard practical sense in matters of government, his
+rigid, despotic organization of industry, finance and the army,
+Frederick the Great would never have possessed the means to maintain
+himself in that struggle which made Prussia a great power.
+
+Some illustrations of his policy as a ruler and his personal habits must
+be given, in order to show both sides of his character. He had the most
+unbounded idea of the rights and duties of a king, and the aim of his
+life, therefore, was to increase his own authority by increasing the
+wealth, the order and the strength of Prussia. He was no friend of
+science, except when it could be shown to have some practical use, but
+he favored education, and one of his first measures was to establish
+four hundred schools among the people, by the money which he saved from
+the expenditures of the royal household. His personal economy was so
+severe that the queen was only allowed to have one waiting-woman. At
+this time the Empress of Germany had several hundred attendants,
+received two hogsheads of Tokay, daily, for her parrots, and twelve
+barrels of wine for her baths! Frederick William I. protected the
+industry of Prussia by imposing heavy duties upon all foreign products;
+he even went so far as to prohibit the people from wearing any but
+Prussian-made cloth, setting them the example himself. He also devoted
+much attention to agriculture, and when 17,000 Protestants were driven
+out of Upper Austria by the Archbishop of Salzburg, after the most
+shocking and inhuman persecutions, he not only furnished them with land
+but supported them until they were settled in their new homes.
+
+[Sidenote: 1725.]
+
+The organization of the Prussian army was entrusted to Prince Leopold of
+Dessau, who distinguished himself at Turin, under Prince Eugene.
+Although during the greater part of Frederick William's reign peace was
+preserved, the military force was kept upon a war footing, and gradually
+increased until it amounted to 84,000 men. The king had a singular mania
+for giant soldiers: miserly as he was in other respects, he was ready to
+go to any expense to procure recruits, seven feet high, for his
+body-guard. He not only purchased such, but allowed his agents to kidnap
+them, and despotically sent a number of German mechanics to Peter the
+Great in exchange for an equal number of Russian giants. For forty-three
+such tall soldiers he paid 43,000 dollars, one of them, who was
+unusually large, costing 9,000. The expense of keeping these guardsmen
+was proportionately great, and much of the king's time was spent in
+inspecting them. Sometimes he tried to paint their portraits, and if the
+likeness was not successful, an artist was employed to paint the man's
+face until it resembled the king's picture.
+
+Frederick William's regular evening recreation was his "Tobacco
+College," as he called it. Some of his ministers and generals, foreign
+ambassadors, and even ordinary citizens, were invited to smoke and drink
+beer with him in a plain room, where he sat upon a three-legged stool,
+and they upon wooden benches. Each was obliged to smoke, or at least to
+have a clay pipe in his mouth and appear to smoke. The most important
+affairs of State were discussed at these meetings, which were conducted
+with so little formality that no one was allowed to rise when the king
+entered the room. He was not so amiable upon his walks through the
+streets of Berlin or Potsdam. He always carried a heavy cane, which he
+would apply without mercy to the shoulders of any who seemed to be idle,
+no matter what their rank or station. Even his own household was not
+exempt from blows; and his son Frederick was scarcely treated better
+than any of his soldiers or workmen.
+
+[Sidenote: 1725. CONDITION OF GERMANY.]
+
+This manner of government was rude, but it was also systematic and
+vigorous, and the people upon whom it was exercised did not deteriorate
+in character, as was the case in almost all other parts of Germany.
+Austria, in spite of the pomp of the Emperor's court, was in a state of
+moral and intellectual decline. Karl VI. was a man of little capacity,
+an instrument in the hands of the Jesuits, and the minds of the people
+whom he ruled gradually became as stolid and dead as the latter order
+wished to make them. Their connection with Germany was scarcely felt;
+they spoke of "the Empire outside" almost as a foreign country, and the
+strength of the house of Hapsburg was gradually transferred to the
+Bohemian, Hungarian and Slavonic races which occupied the greater part
+of its territory. The industry of the country was left without
+encouragement; what little education was permitted was in the hands of
+the priests, and all real progress came to an end. But, for this very
+reason, Austria became the ideal of the German nobility, nine-tenths of
+whom were feudalists and sighed for the return of the Middle Ages:
+hundreds of them took service under the Emperor, either at court or in
+the army, and helped to preserve the external forms of his power.
+
+In most of the other German States the condition of affairs was not much
+better. Bavaria, the Palatinate, and the three Archbishops of Mayence,
+Treves and Cologne, were abject instruments in the hands of France:
+Hannover was governed by the interests of England, and Saxony by those
+of Poland. After George I. went to England, the government of Hannover
+was exercised by a council of nobles, who kept up the Court ceremonials
+just as if the Elector were present. His portrait was placed in a chair,
+and they observed the same etiquette towards it as if his real self
+were there! In Wuertemberg the Duke, Eberhard Ludwig, so oppressed the
+people that many of them emigrated to America between the years 1717 and
+1720, and settled in Pennsylvania. This was the first German emigration
+to the New World.
+
+[Sidenote: 1733.]
+
+After a peace of nineteen years, counting from the Treaty of Rastatt, or
+thirteen years from the Treaty of Stockholm, Germany--or rather the
+Emperor Karl VI.--became again involved in war. The Pragmatic Sanction
+was at the bottom of it. Karl's endless diplomacy to insure the
+recognition of this decree led him into an alliance with Russia to place
+Augustus III. of Saxony on the throne of Poland. Louis XV. of France,
+who had married the daughter of the Polish king, Stanislas Lesczinsky,
+took the latter's part. Prussia was induced to join Austria and Russia,
+but the cautious and economical Frederick William I. withdrew from the
+alliance as soon as he found that the expense to him would be more than
+the advantage. The Polish Diet was divided: the majority, influenced by
+France, elected Stanislas, who reached Warsaw in the disguise of a
+merchant and was crowned in September, 1733. The minority declared for
+Augustus III., in whose aid a Russian army was even then entering
+Poland.
+
+France, in alliance with Spain and Sardinia, had already declared war
+against Germany. The plan of operations had evidently been prepared in
+advance, and was everywhere successful. One French army occupied
+Lorraine, another crossed the Rhine and captured Kehl (opposite
+Strasburg), and a third, under Marshal Villars, entered Lombardy. Naples
+and Sicily, powerless to resist, fell into the hands of Spain. Prince
+Eugene of Savoy, now more than seventy years of age, was sent to the
+Rhine with such troops as Austria, taken by surprise, was able to
+furnish: the other German States either sympathized with France, or were
+indifferent to a quarrel which really did not concern them. Frederick
+William of Prussia finally sent 10,000 well-disciplined soldiers; but
+even with this aid Prince Eugene was unable to expel the French from
+Lorraine. In Poland, however, the plans of France utterly failed: in
+June, 1734, King Stanislas fled in the disguise of a cattle-dealer. The
+following year, 10,000 Russians appeared on the Rhine, as allies of
+Austria, and Louis XV. found it prudent to negotiate for peace.
+
+[Sidenote: 1740. DEATH OF FREDERICK WILLIAM I.]
+
+The Treaty of Vienna, concluded in October, 1735, put an end to the War
+of the Polish Succession. Francis of Lorraine, who was betrothed to Karl
+VI.'s daughter, Maria Theresa, was made Grand-Duke of Tuscany, and
+Lorraine (now only a portion of the original territory, with Nancy as
+capital) was given to the Ex-King Stanislas of Poland, with the
+condition that it should revert to France at his death. Spain received
+Naples and Sicily; Tortona and Novara were added to Sardinia, and
+Austria was induced to consent to all these losses by the recognition of
+the Pragmatic Sanction, and the annexation of the Duchies of Parma and
+Piacenza, in Italy. Prussia got nothing; and Frederick William I., who
+had been expecting to add Juelich and Berg to his possessions on the
+Lower Rhine, was so exasperated that he entered into secret arrangements
+with France in order to carry out his end. The enmity of Austria and
+Prussia was now confirmed, and it has been the chief power in German
+politics from that day to this.
+
+In 1736 Francis of Lorraine and Maria Theresa were married, and Prince
+Eugene of Savoy died, worn out with the hardships of his long and
+victorious career. The next year, the Empress Anna of Russia persuaded
+Karl VI. to unite with her in a war against Turkey, her object being to
+get possession of Azov. By this unfortunate alliance Austria lost all
+which she had gained by the Treaty of Passarowitz, twenty years before.
+There was no commander like Prince Eugene, her military strength had
+been weakened by useless and unsuccessful wars, and she was compelled to
+make peace in 1739, by yielding Belgrade and all her conquests in Servia
+and Wallachia to Turkey.
+
+On the 31st of May, 1740, Frederick William I. died, fifty-two years of
+age. He left behind him a State containing more than 50,000 square
+miles, and about 2,500,000 of inhabitants. The revenues of Prussia,
+which were two and a half millions of thalers on his accession to the
+throne, had increased to seven and a half millions annually, and there
+were nine millions in the treasury. Berlin had a population of nearly
+100,000, and Stettin, Magdeburg, Memel and other cities had been
+strongly fortified. An army of more than 80,000 men was perfectly
+organized and disciplined. There was the beginning of a system of
+instruction for the people, feudalism was almost entirely suppressed,
+and the charge of witchcraft (which, since the fifteenth century, had
+caused the execution of several hundred thousand victims, throughout
+Germany!) was expunged from the pages of the law. Although the land was
+almost wholly Protestant, there was entire religious freedom, and the
+Catholic subjects could complain of no violation of their rights.
+
+[Sidenote: 1740.]
+
+On the 24th of October, 1740, Karl VI. died, leaving a diminished realm,
+a disordered military organization, and a people so demoralized by the
+combined luxury and oppression of the government that for more than a
+century afterwards all hope and energy and aspiration seemed to be
+crushed among them. The outward show and trappings of the Empire
+remained with Austria, and kept alive the political superstitions of
+that large class of Germans who looked backward instead of forward; but
+the rude, half-developed strength, which cuts loose from the Past and
+busies itself with the practical work of its day and generation, was
+rapidly creating a future for Prussia.
+
+Frederick William I. was succeeded by his son, Frederick II., called
+Frederick the Great. Karl VI. was succeeded by his daughter, the Empress
+Maria Theresa. The former was twenty-eight, the latter twenty-three
+years old.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+THE REIGN OF FREDERICK THE GREAT.
+
+(1740--1786.)
+
+Youth of Frederick the Great. --His attempted Escape. --Lieutenant von
+    Katte's Fate. --Frederick's Subjection. --His Marriage. --His first
+    Measures as King. --Maria Theresa in Austria. --The First Silesian
+    war. --Maria Theresa in Hungary. --Prussia acquires Silesia.
+    --Frederick's Alliance with France and the Emperor Karl VII. --The
+    Second Silesian war. --Frederick alone against Austria. --Battles
+    of Hohenfriedberg, Sorr and Kesselsdorf. --War of the Austrian
+    Succession. --Peace. --Frederick as a Ruler. --His Habits and
+    Tastes. --Answers to Petitions. --Religious Freedom. --Development
+    of Prussia. --War between England and France. --Designs against
+    Prussia. --Beginning of the Seven Years' War. --Battle at Prague.
+    --Defeat at Kollin. --Victory of Rossbach. --Battle of Leuthen.
+    --Help from England. --Campaign of 1758. --Victory of Zorndorf.
+    --Surprise at Hochkirch. --Campaign of 1759. --Battle of
+    Kunnersdorf. --Operations in 1760. --Frederick victorious. --Battle
+    of Torgau. --Desperate Situation of Prussia. --Campaign of 1761.
+    --Alliance with Russia. --Frederick's Successes. --The Peace of
+    Hubertsburg. --Frederick's Measures of Relief. --His arbitrary
+    Rule. --His literary Tastes. --First Division of Poland.
+    --Frederick's last Years. --His Death.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1728. YOUTH OF FREDERICK THE GREAT.]
+
+Few royal princes ever had a more unfortunate childhood and youth than
+Frederick the Great. His mother, Sophia Dorothea of Hannover, a sister
+of George II. of England, was an amiable, mild-tempered woman who was
+devotedly attached to him, but had no power to protect him from the
+violence of his hard and tyrannical father. As a boy his chief tastes
+were music and French literature, which he could only indulge by
+stealth: the king not only called him "idiot!" and "puppy!" when he
+found him occupied with a flute or a French book, but threatened him
+with personal chastisement. His whole education, which was gained almost
+in secret, was chiefly received at the hands of French _emigres_, and
+his taste was formed in the school of ideas which at that time ruled in
+France, and which was largely formed by Voltaire, whom Frederick during
+his boyhood greatly admired, and afterward made one of his chief
+correspondents and intimates. The influence of this is most clearly to
+be traced throughout his life.
+
+[Sidenote: 1728.]
+
+His music became almost a passion with him, though it is doubtful
+whether any of the praises of his proficiency that have come down to us
+are more than the remains of the flatteries of the time. His
+compositions, which were performed at his concerts, to which leading
+musicians were often invited, do not give any evidence of the genius
+claimed for him in this respect; but it is certain that he attained a
+considerable degree of mechanical skill in playing the flute. In
+after-life his musical taste continued to influence him greatly, and the
+establishment of the opera at Berlin was chiefly due to him. His
+father's persistent opposition rather fanned than suppressed the
+eagerness which he showed in this and other studies, as a boy; and
+doubtless contributed to a thoroughness which afterward stood him in
+good stead.
+
+In 1728, when only sixteen years old, he accompanied his father on a
+visit to the court of Augustus the Strong, at Dresden, and was for a
+time led astray by the corrupt society into which he was there thrown.
+The wish of his mother, that he should marry the Princess Amelia, the
+daughter of George II., was thwarted by his father's dislike of England;
+the tyranny to which he was subjected became intolerable, and in 1730,
+while accompanying his father on a journey to Southern Germany, he
+determined to run away.
+
+His accomplice was a young officer, Lieutenant von Katte, who had been
+his bosom-friend for two or three years. A letter written by Frederick
+to the latter fell by accident into the hands of another officer of the
+same name, who sent it to the king, and the plot was thus discovered.
+Frederick had already gone on board of a vessel at Frankfort, and was on
+the point of sailing down the Rhine, when his father followed, beat him
+until his face was covered with blood, and then sent him as a prisoner
+of State to Prussia. Katte was arrested before he could escape, tried by
+a court-martial and sentenced to several years' imprisonment. Frederick
+William annulled the sentence and ordered him to be immediately
+executed. To make the deed more barbarous, it was done before the window
+of the cell in which Frederick was confined. The young Prince fainted,
+and lay so long senseless that it was feared he would never recover. He
+was then watched, allowed no implements except a wooden spoon, lest he
+might commit suicide, and only permitted to read a Bible and hymn-book.
+The officer who had him in charge could only converse with him by means
+of a hole bored through the ceiling of his cell.
+
+[Sidenote: 1731. FREDERICK'S RESTORATION.]
+
+The king insisted that he should be formally tried; but the
+court-martial, while deciding that "Colonel Fritz" was guilty, as an
+officer, asserted that it had no authority to condemn the Crown-Prince.
+The king overruled the decision, and ordered his son to be executed.
+This course excited such horror and indignation among the officers that
+Frederick was pardoned, but not released from imprisonment until his
+spirit was broken and he had promised to obey his father in all things.
+For a year he was obliged to work as a clerk in the departments of the
+Government, beginning with the lowest position and rising as he acquired
+practical knowledge. He did not appear at Court until November, 1731,
+when his sister Wilhelmine was married to the Margrave of Baireuth. The
+ceremony had already commenced when Frederick, dressed in a plain suit
+of grey, without any order or decoration, was discovered among the
+servants. The King pulled him forth, and presented him to the Queen with
+these words: "Here, Madam, our Fritz is back again!"
+
+In 1732 Frederick was forced to marry the Princess Elizabeth of
+Brunswick-Bevern, whom he disliked, and with whom he lived but a short
+time. His father gave him the castle of Rheinsberg, near Potsdam, and
+there, for the first time, he enjoyed some independence: his leisure was
+devoted to philosophical studies, and to correspondence with Voltaire
+and other distinguished French authors. During the war of the Polish
+Succession he served for a short time under Prince Eugene of Savoy, but
+had no opportunity to test or develop his military talent. Until his
+father's death he seemed to be more of a poet and philosopher than
+anything else: only the few who knew him intimately perceived that his
+mind was occupied with plans of government and conquest.
+
+When Frederick William I. died, the people rejoiced in the prospect of a
+just and peaceful rule. Frederick II. declared to his ministers, on
+receiving their oath of allegiance, that no distinction should be
+allowed between the interests of the country and the king, since they
+were identical; but if any conflict of the two should arise, the
+interests of the country must have the preference. Then he at once
+corrected the abuses of the game and recruiting laws, disbanded his
+father's body-guard of giants, abolished torture in criminal cases,
+reformed the laws of marriage, and established a special Ministry for
+Commerce and Manufactures. When he set out for Koenigsberg to receive the
+allegiance of Prussia proper, his whole Court travelled in three
+carriages. On arriving, he dispensed with the ceremony of coronation, as
+being unnecessary, and then succeeded in establishing a much closer
+political union between Prussia and Brandenburg, which, in many
+respects, had been independent of each other up to that time.
+
+[Sidenote: 1740.]
+
+The death of the Emperor Karl VI. was the signal for a general
+disturbance. Maria Theresa, as the events of her reign afterwards
+proved, was a woman of strong, even heroic, character; stately, handsome
+and winning in her personal appearance, and morally irreproachable. No
+Hapsburg Emperor before her inherited the crown under such discouraging
+circumstances, and none could have maintained himself more bravely and
+firmly than she did. The ministers of Karl VI. flattered themselves that
+they would now have unlimited sway over the Empire, but they were
+mistaken. Maria Theresa listened to their counsels, but decided for
+herself: even her husband, Francis of Lorraine and Tuscany, was unable
+to influence her judgment. The Elector Karl Albert of Bavaria, whose
+grandmother was a Hapsburg, claimed the crown, and was supported by
+Louis XV. of France, who saw another opportunity of weakening Germany.
+The reigning Archbishops on the Rhine were of course on the side of
+France. Poland and Saxony, united under Augustus III., at the same time
+laid claim to some territory along the northern frontier of Austria.
+
+Frederick II. saw his opportunity, and was first in the field. His
+pretext was the right of Brandenburg to four principalities in Silesia,
+which had been relinquished to Austria under the pressure of
+circumstances. The real reason was, as he afterwards confessed, his
+determination to strengthen Prussia by the acquisition of more
+territory. The kingdom was divided into so many portions, separated so
+widely from each other, that it could not become powerful and permanent
+unless they were united. He had secretly raised his military force to
+100,000 men, and in December, 1740, he marched into Silesia, almost
+before Austria suspected his purpose. His army was kept under strict
+discipline; the people were neither plundered nor restricted in their
+religious worship, and the capital, Breslau, soon opened its gates.
+Several fortresses were taken during the winter, and in April, 1741, a
+decisive battle was fought at Mollwitz. The Austrian army had the
+advantage of numbers and its victory seemed so certain that Marshal
+Schwerin persuaded Frederick to leave the field; then, gathering
+together the remainder of his troops, he made a last and desperate
+charge which turned defeat into victory. All Lower Silesia was now in
+the hands of the Prussians.
+
+[Sidenote: 1741. MARIA THERESA IN HUNGARY.]
+
+France, Spain, Bavaria and Saxony immediately united against Austria. A
+French army crossed the Rhine, joined the Bavarian forces, and marched
+to Linz, on the Danube, where Karl Albert was proclaimed Arch-Duke of
+Austria. Maria Theresa and her Court fled to Presburg, where the
+Hungarian nobles were already convened, in the hope of recovering the
+rights they had lost under Leopold I. She was forced to grant the most
+of their demands; after which she was crowned with the crown of St.
+Stephen, galloped up "the king's hill," and waved her sword towards the
+four quarters of the earth, with so much grace and spirit that the
+Hungarians were quite won to her side. Afterwards, when she appeared
+before the Diet in their national costume, with her son Joseph in her
+arms, and made an eloquent speech, setting forth the dangers which beset
+her, the nobles drew their sabres and shouted: "We will die for our
+_King_, Maria Theresa!"
+
+While the support of Hungary and Austria was thus secured, the combined
+German and French force did not advance upon Vienna, but marched to
+Prague, where Karl Albert was crowned King of Bohemia. This act was
+followed, in February, 1742, by his coronation in Frankfort as Emperor,
+under the name of Karl VII. Before this took place, Austria had been
+forced to make a secret treaty with Frederick II. The latter, however,
+declared that the conditions of it had been violated, and in the spring
+of 1742 he marched into Bohemia. He was victorious in the first great
+battle: England then intervened, and persuaded Maria Theresa to make
+peace by yielding to Prussia both Upper and Lower Silesia and the
+principality of Glatz. Thus ended the First Silesian War, which gave
+Prussia an addition of 1,200,000 to her population, with 150 large and
+small cities, and about 5,000 villages.
+
+[Sidenote: 1742.]
+
+The most dangerous enemy of Austria being thus temporarily removed, the
+fortunes of Maria Theresa speedily changed, especially since England,
+Holland and Hannover entered into an alliance to support her against
+France. George II. of England took the field in person, and was
+victorious over the French in the battle of Dettingen (not far from
+Frankfort), in June, 1743. After this Saxony joined the Austrian
+alliance, and the Landgrave of Hesse, who cared nothing for the war, but
+was willing to make money, sold an equal number of soldiers to France
+and to England. Frederick II. saw that France would not be able to stand
+long against such a coalition, and he knew that the success of Austria
+would probably be followed by an attempt to regain Silesia; therefore,
+regardless of appearances, he entered into a compact with France and the
+Emperor Karl VII., and prepared for another war.
+
+In the summer of 1744 he marched into Bohemia with an army of 80,000
+men, took Prague on the 16th of September, and conquered the greater
+part of the country. But the Bohemians were hostile to him, the
+Hungarians rose again in defence of Austria, and an army under Charles
+of Lorraine, which was operating against the French in Alsatia, was
+recalled to resist his advance. He was forced to retreat in the dead of
+winter, leaving many cannon behind him, and losing a large number of
+soldiers on the way. On the 20th of January, 1745, Karl VII. died, and
+his son, Max Joseph, gave up his pretensions to the Imperial crown, on
+condition of having Bavaria (which Austria had meanwhile conquered)
+restored to him. France thereupon practically withdrew from the
+struggle, leaving Prussia in the lurch. Frederick stood alone, with
+Austria, Saxony and Poland united against him, and a prospect of England
+and Russia being added to the number: the tables had turned, and he was
+very much in the condition of Maria Theresa, four years before.
+
+In May, 1745, Silesia was invaded with an army of 100,000 Austrians and
+Saxons. Frederick marched against them with a much smaller force, met
+them at Hohenfriedberg, and gave battle on the 4th of June. He began
+with a furious charge of Prussian cavalry at dawn, and by nine o'clock
+the enemy was utterly routed, leaving sixty-six standards, 5,000 dead
+and wounded, and 7,000 prisoners. This victory produced a great effect
+throughout Europe. England intervened in favor of peace, and Frederick
+declared that he would only fight until the possession of Silesia was
+firmly guaranteed to him; but Maria Theresa (who hated Frederick
+intensely, as she had good reason to do) answered that she would sooner
+part with the clothes on her body than give up Silesia.
+
+[Sidenote: 1745. THE SECOND SILESIAN WAR.]
+
+Frederick entered Bohemia with 18,000 men, and on the 30th of September
+was attacked, at a village called Sorr, by a force of 40,000.
+Nevertheless he managed his cavalry so admirably, that he gained the
+victory. Then, learning that the Saxons were preparing to invade Prussia
+in his rear, he garrisoned all the passes leading from Bohemia into
+Silesia, and marched into Saxony with his main force. The "Old
+Dessauer," as Prince Leopold was called, took Leipzig, and, pressing
+forwards, won another great victory on the 15th of December, at
+Kesselsdorf. Frederick, who arrived on the field at the close of the
+fight, embraced the old veteran in the sight of the army. The next day,
+the Prussians took possession of Dresden: the capital was not damaged,
+but, like the other cities of Saxony, was made to pay a heavy
+contribution. Peace was concluded with Austria ten days afterwards:
+Prussia was confirmed in the possession of all Silesia and Glatz, and
+Frederick agreed to recognize Francis of Lorraine, Maria Theresa's
+
+husband, who had already been crowned Emperor at Frankfort, as Francis
+I. Thus ended the Second Silesian War. Frederick was first called "the
+Great," on his return to Berlin, where he was received with boundless
+popular rejoicings.
+
+The "War of the Austrian Succession," as it was called, lasted three
+years longer, but its character was changed. Its field was shifted to
+Italy and Flanders: in the latter country Maurice of Saxony (better
+known as Marshal de Saxe), one of the many sons of Augustus the Strong,
+was signally successful. He conquered the greater part of the
+Netherlands for France, in the year 1747. Then Austria, although she had
+regained much of her lost ground in Northern Italy, formed an alliance
+with the Empress Elizabeth of Russia, who furnished an army of 40,000
+men. The money of France was exhausted, and Louis XV. found it best to
+make peace, which was concluded at Aix-la-Chapelle in October, 1748. He
+gave up all the conquests which France had made during the war. Austria
+yielded Parma and Piacenza to Spain, a portion of Lombardy to Sardinia,
+and again confirmed Frederick the Great in the possession of Silesia.
+
+[Sidenote: 1747.]
+
+After the Peace of Dresden, in 1745, Prussia enjoyed a rest of nearly
+eleven years. Frederick's first care was to heal the wounds which his
+two Silesian wars had made in the population and the industry of his
+people. He called himself "the first official servant of the State," and
+no civil officer under him labored half so earnestly and zealously. He
+looked upon his kingdom as a large estate, the details of which must be
+left to agents, while the general supervision devolved upon him alone.
+Therefore he insisted that all questions which required settlement, all
+changes necessary to be made, even the least infractions of the laws,
+should be referred directly to himself, so that his secretaries had much
+more to do than his ministers. While he claimed the absolute right to
+govern, he accepted all the responsibility which it brought upon him. He
+made himself acquainted with every village and landed estate in his
+kingdom, watched, as far as possible, over every official, and
+personally studied the operation of every reform. He rose at four or
+five o'clock, labored at his desk for hours, reading the multitude of
+reports and letters of complaint or appeal, which came simply addressed
+"to the King," and barely allowed himself an hour or two towards evening
+for a walk with his greyhounds, or a little practise on his beloved
+flute. His evenings were usually spent in conversation with men of
+culture and intelligence. His literary tastes, however, remained French
+all his life: his many works were written in that language, he preferred
+to speak it, and he sneered at German literature at a time when authors
+like Lessing, Klopstock, Herder and Goethe were gradually lifting it to
+such a height of glory as few other languages have ever attained.
+
+His rough, practical common-sense as a ruler is very well illustrated by
+his remarks upon the documents sent for his inspection, many of which
+are still preserved. On the back of the "Petition from the merchant
+Simon of Stettin, to be allowed to purchase an estate for 40,000
+thalers," he wrote: "40,000 thalers invested in commerce will yield
+eight per cent., in landed property only four per cent.; this man does
+not understand his own business." On the "Petition from the city of
+Frankfort-on-Oder, against the quartering of troops upon them," he
+wrote: "Why, it cannot be otherwise. Do they think I can put the
+regiment in my pocket? But the barracks shall be rebuilt." And finally,
+on the "Petition of the Chamberlain, Baron Mueller, for leave to visit
+the baths of Aix-la-Chapelle," he wrote: "What would he do there? He
+would gamble away the little money he has left, and come back like a
+beggar." The expenses of Frederick's own Court were restricted to about
+100,000 dollars a year, at a time when nearly every petty prince in
+Germany was spending from five to ten times that sum.
+
+[Sidenote: 1748. FREDERICK AS RULER.]
+
+In the administration of justice and the establishment of entire
+religious liberty, Prussia rapidly became a model which put to shame and
+disturbed the most of the other German States. Frederick openly
+declared: "I mean that every man in my kingdom shall have the right to
+be saved in his own way:" in Silesia, where the Protestants had been
+persecuted under Austria, the Catholics were now free and contented.
+This course gave him a great popularity outside of Prussia among the
+common people, and for the first time in two hundred years, the hope of
+better times began to revive among them. Frederick was as absolute a
+despot as any of his fellow-rulers of the day; but his was a despotism
+of intelligence, justice and conscience, opposed to that of ignorance,
+bigotry and selfishness.
+
+Frederick's rule, however, was not without its serious faults. He
+favored the education of his people less than his father, and was almost
+equally indifferent to the encouragement of science. The Berlin Academy
+was neglected, and another in which the French language was used, and
+French theories discussed, took its place. Prussian students were for a
+while prohibited from visiting Universities outside of the kingdom. On
+the other hand, agriculture was favored in every possible way: great
+tracts of marshy land, which had been uninhabited, were transformed into
+fertile and populous regions; canals, roads and bridges were built, and
+new markets for produce established. The cultivation of the potato, up
+to that time unknown in Germany as an article of food, was forced upon
+the unwilling farmers. In return for all these advantages, the people
+were heavily taxed, but not to such an extent as to impoverish them, as
+in Saxony and Austria. The army was not only kept up, but largely
+increased, for Frederick knew that the peace which Prussia enjoyed could
+not last long.
+
+[Sidenote: 1755.]
+
+The clouds of war slowly gathered on the political horizon. The peace of
+Europe was broken by the quarrel between England and France, in 1755, in
+regard to the boundaries between Canada and the English Colonies. This
+involved danger to Hannover, which was not yet disconnected from
+England, and the latter power proposed to Maria Theresa an alliance
+against France. The minister of the Empress was at this time Count
+Kaunitz, who fully shared her hatred of Frederick II., and determined,
+with her, to use this opportunity to recover Silesia. She therefore
+refused England's proposition, and wrote a flattering letter to Madame
+de Pompadour, the favorite of Louis XV., to prepare the way for an
+alliance between Austria and France. At the same time secret
+negotiations were carried on with Elizabeth of Russia, who was mortally
+offended with Frederick II., on account of some disparaging remarks he
+had made about her. Louis XV., nevertheless, hesitated until Maria
+Theresa promised to give him the Austrian (the former Spanish)
+Netherlands, in return for his assistance: then the compact between the
+three great military powers of the Continent was concluded, and
+everything was quietly arranged for commencing the war against Prussia
+in the spring of 1757. So sure were they of success that they agreed
+beforehand on the manner in which the Prussian kingdom should be cut up
+and divided among themselves and the other States.
+
+Through his paid agents at the different courts, and especially through
+the Crown Prince Peter of Russia, who was one of his most enthusiastic
+admirers, Frederick was well-informed of these plans. He saw that the
+coalition was too powerful to be defeated by diplomacy: his ruin was
+determined upon, and he could only prevent it by accepting war against
+such overwhelming odds. England was the only great power which could
+assist him, and Austria's policy left her no alternative: she concluded
+an alliance with Prussia in January, 1756, but her assistance,
+afterwards, was furnished in the shape of money rather than troops. The
+small States of Brunswick, Hesse-Cassel and Saxe-Gotha were persuaded to
+join Prussia, but they added very little to Frederick's strength,
+because Bavaria and all the principalities along the Rhine were certain
+to go with France, in a general German war.
+
+[Sidenote: 1756. WAR IN BOHEMIA.]
+
+Knowing when the combined movement against him was to be made,
+Frederick boldly determined to anticipate it. Disregarding the
+neutrality of Saxony, he crossed its frontier on the 29th of August,
+1756, with an army of 70,000 men. Ten days afterwards he entered
+Dresden, besieged the Saxon army of 17,000 in their fortified camp on
+the Elbe, and pushed a column forwards into Bohemia. Maria Theresa
+collected her forces, and sent an army of nearly 70,000 in all haste
+against him. Frederick met them with 20,000 men at Lobositz, on the 1st
+of October, and after hard fighting gained a victory by the use of the
+bayonet. He wrote to Marshal Schwerin: "Never have my Prussians
+performed such miracles of bravery, since I had the honor to command
+them." The Saxons surrendered soon afterwards, and Frederick went into
+winter-quarters, secure against any further attack before the spring.
+
+This was a severe check to the plans of the allied powers, and they made
+every effort to retrieve it. Sweden was induced to join them, and "the
+German Empire," through its almost forgotten Diet, declared war against
+Prussia. All together raised an armed force of 430,000 men, while
+Frederick, with the greatest exertion, could barely raise 200,000:
+England sent him an utterly useless general, the Duke of Cumberland, but
+no soldiers. He dispatched a part of his army to meet the Russians and
+Swedes, marched with the rest into Bohemia, and on the 6th of May won a
+decided but very bloody victory before the walls of Prague. The old
+hero, Schwerin, charging at the head of his troops, was slain, and the
+entire loss of the Prussians was 18,000 killed and wounded. But there
+was still a large Austrian army in Prague: the city was besieged with
+the utmost vigor for five weeks, and was on the very point of
+surrendering when Frederick heard that another Austrian army, commanded
+by Daun, was marching to its rescue.
+
+He thereupon raised the siege, hastened onwards and met Daun at Kollin,
+on the Elbe, on the 18th of June. He had 31,000 men and the Austrians
+54,000: he prepared an excellent plan of battle, then deviated from it,
+and commenced the attack against the advice of General Zieten, his chief
+commander. His haste and stubbornness were well nigh proving his ruin;
+he tried to retrieve the fortunes of the day by personally leading his
+soldiers against the Austrian batteries, but in vain,--they were
+repulsed, with a loss of 14,000 dead and wounded. That evening
+Frederick was found alone, seated on a log, drawing figures in the sand
+with his cane. He shed tears on hearing of the slaughter of all his best
+guardsmen; then, after a long silence, said: "It is a day of sorrow for
+us, my children, but have patience, for all will yet be well."
+
+[Sidenote: 1757.]
+
+The defeat at Kollin threw Frederick's plans into confusion: it was now
+necessary to give up Bohemia, and simply act on the defensive, on
+Prussian soil. Here he was met by the news of fresh disasters. His other
+army had been defeated by a much superior Russian force, and the useless
+Duke of Cumberland had surrendered Hannover to the French. But the
+Russians had retreated after their victory, instead of advancing, and
+Frederick's general, Lehwald, then easily repulsed the Swedes, who had
+invaded Pomerania. By this time a combined French and German array of
+60,000 men, under Marshal Soubise, was approaching from the west,
+confident of an easy victory and comfortable winter-quarters in Berlin.
+Frederick united his scattered and diminished forces: they only amounted
+to 22,000, and great was the amusement of the French when they learned
+that he meant to dispute their advance.
+
+After some preliminary manoeuvring the two armies approached each
+other, on the 5th of November, at Rossbach, not far from Naumburg. When
+Marshal Soubise saw the Prussian camp, he said to his officers: "It is
+only a breakfast for us!" and ordered his forces to be spread out so as
+to cut off the retreat of the enemy. Frederick was at dinner when he
+received the news of the approaching attack: he immediately ordered
+General Seidlitz to charge with his cavalry, broke up his camp and
+marshalled his infantry in the rear of a range of low hills which
+concealed his movements. The French, supposing that he was retreating,
+pressed forwards with music and shouts of triumph; then, suddenly,
+Seidlitz burst upon them with his 8,000 cavalry, and immediately
+afterwards Frederick's cannon began to play upon their ranks from a
+commanding position. They were thrown into confusion by this surprise:
+Frederick and his brother, Prince Henry, led the infantry against them,
+and in an hour and a half from the commencement of the battle they were
+flying from the field in the wildest panic, leaving everything behind
+them. Nine generals, 320 other officers and 7,000 men were made
+prisoners, and all the artillery, arms and stores captured. The
+Prussian loss was only 91 dead and 274 wounded.
+
+[Sidenote: 1757. THE BATTLE OF LEUTHEN.]
+
+The remnant of the French army never halted until it reached the Rhine.
+All danger from the west was now at an end, and Frederick hastened
+towards Silesia, which had in the mean time been occupied by a powerful
+Austrian army under Charles of Lorraine. By making forced marches, in
+three weeks Frederick effected a junction near Breslau with his
+retreating Prussians, and found himself at the head of an army of about
+32,000 men. Charles of Lorraine and Marshal Daun had united their
+forces, taken Breslau, and opposed him with a body of more than 80,000;
+but, instead of awaiting his attack, they moved forward to meet him.
+Near the little town of Leuthen, the two came together. Frederick
+summoned his generals, and addressed them in a stirring speech: "Against
+all the rules of military science," he said, "I am going to engage an
+army nearly three times greater than my own. We must beat the enemy, or
+all together make for ourselves graves before his batteries. This I
+mean, and thus will I act: remember that you are Prussians. If one among
+you fears to share the last danger with me, he may resign now, without
+hearing a word of reproof from me."
+
+The king's heroic courage was shared by his officers and soldiers. At
+dawn, on the 5th of December, the troops sang a solemn hymn, after which
+shouts of "It is again the 5th!" and "Rossbach!" rang through the army.
+Frederick called General Zieten to him, and said: "I am going to expose
+myself more than ordinarily, to-day. Should I fall, cover my body with
+your cloak, and say nothing to any one. The fight must go on and the
+enemy must be beaten." He concealed the movement of his infantry behind
+some low hills, as at Rossbach, and surprised the left flank of the
+Austrian army, while his cavalry engaged its right flank. Both attacks
+were so desperate that the Austrians struggled in vain to recover their
+ground: after several hours of hard fighting they gave way, then broke
+up and fled in disorder, losing more than 20,000 in killed, wounded and
+prisoners. The Prussian loss was about 5,000. The cold winter night came
+down on the battle-field, still covered with wounded and dying and
+resounding with cries of suffering. All at once a Prussian grenadier
+began to sing the hymn: "Now let all hearts thank God;" the regiment
+nearest him presently joined, then the military bands, and soon the
+entire army united in the grand choral of thanksgiving. Thus gloriously
+for Prussia closed the second year of this remarkable war.
+
+[Sidenote: 1758.]
+
+Frederick immediately took Breslau, with its garrison of 17,000
+Austrians, and all of Silesia except the fortress of Schweidnitz. During
+the winter Maria Theresa made vigorous preparations for a renewal of the
+war, and urged Russia and France to make fresh exertions. The reputation
+which Frederick had gained, however, brought him also some assistance:
+after the victories of Rossbach and Leuthen, there was so much popular
+enthusiasm for him in England that the Government granted him a subsidy
+of 4,000,000 thalers annually, and allowed him to appoint a commander
+for the troops of Hannover and the other allied States. Frederick
+selected Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick, who operated with so much skill
+and energy that by the summer of 1758 he had driven the French from all
+Northern Germany.
+
+Frederick, as usual, resumed his work before the Austrians were ready,
+took Schweidnitz, re-established his rule over Silesia, penetrated into
+Moravia and laid siege to Olmuetz. But the Austrian Marshal Laudon cut
+off his communications with Silesia and forced him to retreat across the
+frontier, where he established himself in a fortified camp near
+Landshut. The Russians by this time had conquered the whole of the Duchy
+of Prussia, invaded Pomerania, which they plundered and laid waste, and
+were approaching the river Oder. On receiving this news, Frederick left
+Marshal Keith in command of his camp, took what troops could be spared
+and marched against his third enemy, whom he met on the 25th of August,
+1758, near the village of Zorndorf, in Pomerania. The battle lasted from
+nine in the morning until ten at night. Frederick had 32,000 men, mostly
+new recruits, the Russian General Fermor 50,000. The Prussian lines were
+repeatedly broken, but as often restored by the bravery of General
+Seidlitz, who finally won the battle by daring to disobey Frederick's
+orders. The latter sent word to him that he must answer for his
+disobedience with his head, but Seidlitz replied: "Tell the king he may
+have my head when the battle is over, but until then I must use it in
+his service." When, late at night, the Russians were utterly defeated,
+leaving 20,000 dead upon the field--for the Prussians gave them no
+quarter--Frederick embraced Seidlitz, crying out: "I owe the victory to
+you!"
+
+[Sidenote: 1758. THE SURPRISE AT HOCHKIRCH.]
+
+The three great powers had been successively repelled, but the strength
+of Austria was not yet broken. Marshal Daun marched into Saxony and
+besieged the fortified camp of Prince Henry, thus obliging Frederick to
+hasten to his rescue. The latter's confidence in himself had been so
+exalted by his victories, that he and his entire army would have been
+lost but for the prudent watchfulness of Zieten. All except the latter
+and his hussars were quietly sleeping at Hochkirch, on the night of the
+13th of October, when the camp was suddenly attacked by Daun, in
+overwhelming force. The village was set on fire, the Prussian batteries
+captured, and a terrible fight ensued. Prince Francis of Brunswick and
+Marshal Keith were killed and Prince Maurice of Dessau severely wounded:
+the Prussians defended themselves heroically, but at nine o'clock on the
+morning of the 14th they were compelled to retreat, leaving all their
+artillery and camp equipage behind them. This was the last event of the
+campaign of 1758, and it was a bad omen for the following year.
+
+Frederick tried to negotiate for peace, but in vain. The strength of his
+army was gone; his victories had been dearly bought with the loss of all
+his best regiments. Austria and Russia reinforced their armies and
+planned, this time, to unite in Silesia, while the French, who defeated
+the Duke of Brunswick in April, 1759, regained possession of Hannover.
+Frederick was obliged to divide his troops and send an army under
+General Wedel against the Russians, while he, with a very reduced force,
+attempted to check the Austrians in Silesia. Wedel was defeated, and the
+junction of his two enemies could no longer be prevented; they marched
+against him, 70,000 strong, and took up a position at Kunnersdorf,
+opposite Frankfort-on-Oder. Frederick had but 48,000 men, after calling
+together almost the entire military strength of his kingdom, and many of
+these were raw recruits who had never smelt powder.
+
+On the 12th of August, 1759, after the good news arrived that Ferdinand
+of Brunswick had defeated the French at Minden, Frederick gave battle.
+At the end of six hours the Russian left wing gave way; then Frederick,
+against the advice of Seidlitz, ordered a charge upon the right wing,
+which occupied a very strong position and was supported by the Austrian
+army. Seidlitz twice refused to make the charge; and then when he
+yielded, was struck down, severely wounded, after his cavalry had been
+cut to pieces. Frederick himself led the troops to fresh slaughter, but
+all in vain: they fell in whole battalions before the terrible artillery
+fire, until 20,000 lay upon the field. The enemy charged in turn, and
+the Prussian army was scattered in all directions, only about 3,000
+accompanying the king in his retreat. For some days after this Frederick
+was in a state of complete despair, listless, helpless, unable to decide
+or command in anything.
+
+[Sidenote: 1759.]
+
+Prussia was only saved by a difference of opinion between Marshal Daun
+and the Russian general, Soltikoff. The latter refused to advance on
+Berlin, but fell back upon Silesia to rest his troops: Daun marched into
+Saxony, took Dresden, which the Prussians had held up to that time, and
+made 12,000 prisoners. Thus ended this unfortunate year. Prussia was in
+such an exhausted condition that it seemed impossible to raise more men
+or more money, to carry on the war. Frederick tried every means to break
+the alliance of his enemies, or to acquire new allies for himself, even
+appealing to Spain and Turkey, but without effect. In the spring of
+1760, the armies of Austria, "the German Empire," Russia and Sweden
+amounted to 280,000, to meet which he was barely able, by making every
+sacrifice, to raise 90,000. In Hannover Ferdinand of Brunswick had
+75,000, opposed by a French army of 115,000.
+
+Silesia was still the bone of contention, and it was planned that the
+Austrian and Russian armies should unite there, as before, while
+Frederick was equally determined to prevent their junction, and to hold
+the province for himself. But he first sent Prince Henry and General
+Fouque to Silesia, while he undertook to regain possession of Saxony. He
+bombarded Dresden furiously, without success, and was then called away
+by the news that Fouque with 7,000 men had been defeated and taken
+prisoners near Landshut. All Silesia was overrun by the Austrians,
+except Breslau, which was heroically defended by a small force. Marshal
+Laudon was in command, and as the Russians had not yet arrived, he
+effected a junction with Daun, who had followed Frederick from Saxony.
+On the 15th of August, 1760, they attacked him at Liegnitz with a
+combined force of 95,000 men. Although he had but 35,000, he won such a
+splendid victory that the Russian army turned back on hearing of it, and
+in a short time Silesia, except the fortress of Glatz, was restored to
+Prussia.
+
+[Sidenote: 1760. CAPTURE OF BERLIN.]
+
+Nevertheless, while Frederick was engaged in following up his victory,
+the Austrians and Russians came to an understanding, and moved suddenly
+upon Berlin,--the Russians from the Oder, the Austrians and Saxons
+combined from Lusatia. The city defended itself for a few days, but
+surrendered on the 9th of October: a contribution of 1,700,000 thalers
+was levied by the conquerors, the Saxons ravaged the royal palace at
+Charlottenburg, but the Russians and Austrians committed few
+depredations. Four days afterwards, the news that Frederick was
+hastening to the relief of Berlin compelled the enemy to leave. Without
+attempting to pursue them, Frederick turned and marched back to Silesia,
+where, on the 3d of November, he met the Austrians, under Daun, at
+Torgau. This was one of the bloodiest battles of the Seven Years' War:
+the Prussian army was divided between Frederick and Zieten, the former
+undertaking to storm the Austrian position in front, while the latter
+attacked their flank. But Frederick, either too impetuous or mistaken in
+the signals, moved too soon: a terrible day's fight followed, and when
+night came 10,000 of his soldiers, dead or wounded, lay upon the field.
+He sat all night in the village church, making plans for the morrow;
+then, in the early dawn, Zieten came and announced that he had been
+victorious on the Austrian flank, and they were in full retreat. After
+which, turning to his soldiers, Zieten cried: "Boys, hurrah for our
+King!--he has won the battle!" The men answered: "Hurrah for Fritz, our
+King, and hurrah for Father Zieten, too!" The Prussian loss was 13,000,
+the Austrian 20,000.
+
+Although Prussia had been defended with such astonishing vigor and
+courage during the year 1760, the end of the campaign found her greatly
+weakened. The Austrians held Dresden and Glatz, two important strategic
+points, Russia and France were far from being exhausted, and every
+attempt of Frederick to strengthen himself by alliance--even with Turkey
+and with Cossack and Tartar chieftains--came to nothing. In October,
+1760, George II. of England died, there was a change of ministry, and
+the four, millions of thalers which Prussia had received for three years
+were cut off. The French, under Marshals Broglie and Soubise, had been
+bravely met by Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, but he was not strong
+enough to prevent them from quartering themselves for the winter in
+Cassel and Goettingen. Under these discouraging aspects the year 1761
+opened.
+
+[Sidenote: 1761.]
+
+The first events were fortunate. Prince Ferdinand moved against the
+French in February and drove them back nearly to the Rhine; the army of
+"the German Empire" was expelled from Thuringia by a small detachment of
+Prussians, and Prince Henry, Frederick's brother, maintained himself in
+Saxony against the much stronger Austrian army of Marshal Daun. These
+successes left Frederick free to act with all his remaining forces
+against the Austrians in Silesia, under Laudon, and their Russian allies
+who were marching through Poland to unite with them a third time. But
+their combined force was 140,000 men, his barely 55,000. By the most
+skilful military tactics, marching rapidly back and forth, threatening
+first one and then the other, he kept them asunder until the middle of
+August, when they effected a junction in spite of him. Then he
+entrenched himself so strongly in a fortified camp near Schweidnitz,
+that they did not dare to attack him immediately. Marshal Laudon and the
+Russian commander, Buturlin, quarrelled, in consequence of which a large
+part of the Russian army left, and marched northwards into Pomerania.
+Then Frederick would have given battle, but on the 1st of October,
+Laudon took Schweidnitz by storm and so strengthened his position
+thereby that it would have been useless to attack him.
+
+Frederick's prospects were darker than ever when the year 1761 came to a
+close. On the 16th of December, the Swedes and Russians took the
+important fortress of Colberg, on the Baltic coast: half Pomerania was
+in their hands, more than half of Silesia in the hands of the Austrians,
+Prince Henry was hard pressed in Saxony, and Ferdinand of Brunswick was
+barely able to hold back the French. On all sides the allied enemies
+were closing in upon Prussia, whose people could no longer furnish
+soldiers or pay taxes. For more than a year the country had been hanging
+on the verge of ruin, and while Frederick's true greatness had been
+illustrated in his unyielding courage, his unshaken energy, his
+determination never to give up, he was almost powerless to plan any
+further measures of defence. With four millions of people, he had for
+six years fought powers which embraced eighty millions; but now half his
+territory was lost to him and the other half utterly exhausted.
+
+[Sidenote: 1762. PRUSSIA AGAIN SUCCESSFUL.]
+
+Suddenly, in the darkest hour, light came. In January, 1762, Frederick's
+bitter enemy, the Empress Elizabeth of Russia, died, and was succeeded
+by Czar Peter III., who was one of his most devoted admirers. The first
+thing Peter did was to send back all the Prussian prisoners of war; an
+armistice was concluded, then a peace, and finally an alliance, by which
+the Russian troops in Pomerania and Silesia were transferred from the
+Austrian to the Prussian side. Sweden followed the example of Russia,
+and made peace, and the campaign of 1762 opened with renewed hopes for
+Prussia. In July, 1762, Peter III. was dethroned and murdered, whereupon
+his widow and successor, Catharine II., broke off the alliance with
+Frederick; but she finally agreed to maintain peace, and Frederick made
+use of the presence of the Russian troops in his camp to win a decided
+victory over Daun, on the 21st of July.
+
+Austria was discouraged by this new turn of affairs; the war was
+conducted with less energy on the part of her generals, while the
+Prussians were everywhere animated with a fresh spirit. After a siege of
+several months Frederick took the fortress of Schweidnitz on the 9th of
+October; on the 29th of the same month Prince Henry defeated the
+Austrians at Freiberg, in Saxony, and on the 1st of November Ferdinand
+of Brunswick drove the French out of Cassel. After this Frederick
+marched upon Dresden, while small detachments were sent into Bohemia and
+Franconia, where they levied contributions on the cities and villages
+and kept the country in a state of terror.
+
+In the meantime negotiations for peace had been carried on between
+England and France. The preliminaries were settled at Fontainebleau on
+the 3d of November, and, although the Tory Ministry of George II. would
+have willingly seen Prussia destroyed, Frederick's popularity was so
+great in England that the Government was forced to stipulate that the
+French troops should be withdrawn from Germany. The "German Empire,"
+represented by its superannuated Diet at Ratisbon, became alarmed at its
+position and concluded an armistice with Prussia; so that, before the
+year closed, Austria was left alone to carry on the war. Maria
+Theresa's personal hatred of Frederick, which had been the motive power
+in the combination against him, had not been gratified by his ruin: she
+could only purchase peace with him, after all his losses and dangers, by
+giving up Silesia forever. It was a bitter pill for her to swallow, but
+there was no alternative; she consented, with rage and humiliation in
+her heart. On the 15th of February, 1763, peace was signed at
+Hubertsburg, a little hunting-castle near Leipzig, and the Seven Years'
+War was over.
+
+[Sidenote: 1763.]
+
+Frederick was now called "the Great" throughout Europe, and Prussia was
+henceforth ranked among the "Five Great Powers," the others being
+England, France, Austria and Russia. His first duty, as after the Second
+Silesian War, was to raise the kingdom from its weak and wasted
+condition. He distributed among the farmers the supplies of grain which
+had been hoarded up for the army, gave them as many artillery and
+cavalry horses as could be spared, practised the most rigid economy in
+the expenses of the Government, and bestowed all that could be saved
+upon the regions which had most suffered. The nobles derived the
+greatest advantage from this support, for he considered them the main
+pillar of his State, and took all his officers from their ranks. In
+order to be prepared for any new emergency, he kept up his army, and
+finally doubled it, at a great cost; but, as he only used one-sixth of
+his own income and gave the rest towards supporting this burden, the
+people, although often oppressed by his system of taxation, did not
+openly complain.
+
+Frederick continued to be sole and arbitrary ruler. He was unwilling to
+grant any participation in the Government to the different classes of
+the people, but demanded that everything should be trusted to his own
+"sense of duty." Since the people _did_ honor and trust him,--since
+every day illustrated his desire to be just towards all, and his own
+personal devotion to the interests of the kingdom,--his policy was
+accepted. He never reflected that the spirit of complete submission
+which he was inculcating weakened the spirit of the people, and might
+prove to be the ruin of Prussia if the royal power should fall into base
+or ignorant hands. In fact, the material development of the country was
+seriously hindered by his admiration of everything French. He introduced
+a form of taxation borrowed from France, appointed French officials who
+oppressed the people, granted monopolies to manufacturers, prohibited
+the exportation of raw material, and in other ways damaged the interests
+of Prussia, by trying to _force_ a rapid growth.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. FREDERICK'S POLICY AS KING.]
+
+The intellectual development of the country was equally hindered. In
+1750 Frederick invited Voltaire to Berlin, and the famous French author
+remained there nearly three years, making many enemies by his arrogance
+and intolerance of German habits, until a bitter quarrel broke out and
+the two parted, never to resume their intimacy. It is doubtful whether
+Frederick had the least consciousness of the swift and splendid rise of
+German Literature during the latter years of his reign. Although he
+often declared that he was perfectly willing his subjects should think
+and speak as they pleased, provided they _obeyed_, he maintained a
+strict censorship of the press, and was very impatient of all opinions
+which conflicted with his own. Thus, while he possessed the clearest
+sense of justice, the severest sense of duty, his policy was governed by
+his own personal tastes and prejudices, and therefore could not be
+universally just. What strength he possessed became a part of his
+government, but what weakness also.
+
+One other event, of a peaceful yet none the less of a violent character,
+marks Frederick's reign. Within a year after the Peace of Hubertsburg
+Augustus III. of Poland died, and Catharine of Russia persuaded the
+Polish nobles to elect Prince Poniatowsky, her favorite, as his
+successor. The latter granted equal rights to the Protestant sects,
+which brought on a civil war, as the Catholics were in a majority in
+Poland. A long series of diplomatic negotiations followed, in which
+Prussia, Austria, and indirectly France, were involved: the end was,
+that on the 5th of August, 1772, Frederick the Great, Catharine II. and
+Maria Theresa (the latter most unwillingly) united in taking possession
+of about one-third of the kingdom of Poland, containing 100,000 square
+miles and 4,500,000 inhabitants, and dividing it among them. Prussia
+received the territory between Pomerania and the former Duchy of
+Prussia, except only the cities of Dantzig and Thorn, with about 700,000
+inhabitants. This was the region lost to Germany in 1466, when the
+incapable Emperor Frederick III. failed to assist the German Order: its
+population was still mostly German, and consequently scarcely felt the
+annexation as a wrong, yet this does not change the character of the
+act.
+
+[Sidenote: 1786.]
+
+The last years of Frederick the Great were peaceful. He lived to see the
+American Colonies independent of England, and to send a sword of honor
+to Washington: he lived when Voltaire and Maria Theresa were dead,
+preserving to the last his habits of industry and constant supervision
+of all affairs. Like his father, he was fond of walking or riding
+through the parks and streets of Berlin and Potsdam, talking familiarly
+with the people and now and then using his cane upon an idler. His Court
+was Spartan in its simplicity, and nothing prevented the people from
+coming personally to him with their complaints. On one occasion, in the
+streets of Potsdam, he met a company of school-boys, and roughly
+addressed them with: "Boys, what are you doing here? Be off to your
+school!" One of the boldest answered: "Oh, you are king, are you, and
+don't know that there is no school to-day!" Frederick laughed heartily,
+dropped his uplifted cane, and gave the urchins a piece of money that
+they might better enjoy their holiday. The windmill at Potsdam, which
+stood on some ground he wanted for his park, but could not get because
+the miller would not sell and defied him to take it arbitrarily, stands
+to this day, as a token of his respect for the rights of a poor man.
+
+When Frederick died, on the 17th of August, 1786, at the age of
+seventy-four, he left a kingdom of 6,000,000 inhabitants, an army of
+more than 200,000 men, and a sum of 72 millions of thalers in the
+treasury. But, what was of far more consequence to Germany, he left
+behind him an example of patriotism, of order, economy and personal
+duty, which was already followed by other German princes, and an example
+of resistance to foreign interference which restored the pride and
+revived the hopes of the German people.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+GERMANY UNDER MARIA THERESA AND JOSEPH II. (1740--1790.)
+
+Maria Theresa and her Government. --Death of Francis I. --Character of
+    Joseph II. --The Partition of Poland. --The Bavarian Succession.
+    --Last Days of Maria Theresa. --Republican Ideas in Europe.
+    --Joseph II. as a Revolutionist. --His Reforms. --Visit of Pope
+    Pius VI. --Alarm of the Catholics. --Joseph among the People. --The
+    Order of Jesuits dissolved by the Pope. --Joseph II's
+    Disappointments. --His Death. --Progress in Germany. --A
+    German-Catholic Church proposed by four Archbishops. --"Enlightened
+    Despotism." --The small States. --Influence of the great German
+    Authors.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1750. MARIA THERESA.]
+
+In the Empress Maria Theresa, Frederick the Great had an enemy whom he
+was bound to respect. Since the death of Maximilian II., in 1576,
+Austria had no male ruler so prudent, just and energetic as this woman.
+One of her first acts was to imitate the military organization of
+Prussia: then she endeavored to restore the finances of the country,
+which had been sadly shattered by the luxury of her predecessors. Her
+position during the two Silesian Wars and the Seven Years' War was
+almost the same as that of her opponent: she fought to recover
+territory, part of which had been ceded to Austria and part of which she
+had held by virtue of unsettled claims. The only difference was that the
+very existence of Austria did not depend on the result, as was the case
+with Prussia.
+
+Maria Theresa, like all the Hapsburgs after Ferdinand I., had grown up
+under the influence of the Jesuits, and her ideas of justice were
+limited by her religious bigotry. In other respects she was wise and
+liberal: she effected a complete reorganization of the government,
+establishing special departments of justice, industry and commerce; she
+sought to develop the resources of the country, abolished torture,
+introduced a new criminal code,--in short, she neglected scarcely any
+important interests of the people, except their education and their
+religious freedom. Nevertheless, she was always jealous of the
+assumptions of Rome, and prevented, as far as she was able, the
+immediate dependence of the Catholic clergy upon the Pope.
+
+[Sidenote: 1765.]
+
+In 1765, her husband, Francis I. (of Lorraine and Tuscany) suddenly
+died, and was succeeded, as German Emperor, by her eldest son, Joseph
+II., who was then twenty-four years of age. He was an earnest,
+noble-hearted, aspiring man, who had already taken his mother's enemy,
+Frederick the Great, as his model for a ruler. Maria Theresa, therefore,
+kept the Government of the Austrian dominions in her own hands, and the
+title of "Emperor" was not much more than an empty dignity while she
+lived. In August, 1769, Joseph had an interview with Frederick at
+Neisse, in Silesia, at which the Polish question was discussed. The
+latter returned the visit, at Neustadt in Moravia, the following year,
+and the terms of the partition of Poland appear to have been then agreed
+upon between them. Nevertheless, after the treaty had been formally
+drawn up and laid before Maria Theresa for her signature, she added
+these words: "Long after I am dead, the effects of this violation of all
+which has hitherto been considered right and holy will be made
+manifest." Joseph, with all his liberal ideas, had no such scruples of
+conscience. He was easily controlled by Frederick the Great, who,
+notwithstanding, never entirely trusted him.
+
+In 1777 a new trouble arose, which for two years held Germany on the
+brink of internal war. The Elector Max Joseph of Bavaria, the last of
+the house of Wittelsbach in a direct line, died without leaving brother
+or son, and the next heir was the Elector Karl Theodore of the
+Palatinate. The latter was persuaded by Joseph II. to give up about half
+of Bavaria to Austria, and Austrian troops immediately took possession
+of the territory. This proceeding created great alarm among the German
+princes, who looked upon it as the beginning of an attempt to extend the
+Austrian sway over all the other States. Another heir to Bavaria, Duke
+Karl of Zweibruecken (a little principality on the French frontier), was
+brought forward and presented by Frederick the Great, who, in order to
+support him, sent two armies into the field. Saxony and some of the
+smaller States took the same side; even Maria Theresa desired peace, but
+Joseph II. persisted in his plans until both France and Russia
+intervened. The matter was finally settled in May, 1779, by giving
+Bavaria to the Elector Karl Theodore, and annexing a strip of territory
+along the river Inn, containing about 900 square miles and 139,000
+inhabitants, to Austria.
+
+[Sidenote: 1780. DEATH OF MARIA THERESA.]
+
+Maria Theresa had long been ill of an incurable dropsy, and on the 29th
+of November, 1780, she died, in the sixty-fourth year of her age. A few
+days before her death she had herself lowered by ropes and pulleys into
+the vault where the coffin of Francis I. reposed. On being drawn up
+again, one of the ropes parted, whereupon she exclaimed: "He wishes to
+keep me with him, and I shall soon come!" She wrote in her prayer-book
+that in regard to matters of justice, the Church, the education of her
+children, and her obligations towards the different orders of her
+people, she found little cause for self-reproach; but that she had been
+a sinner in making war from motives of pride, envy and anger, and in her
+speech had shown too little charity for others. She left Austria in a
+condition of order and material prosperity such as the country had not
+known for centuries.
+
+When Frederick the Great heard of her death, he said to one of his
+ministers: "Maria Theresa is dead; now there will be a new order of
+things!" He evidently believed that Joseph II. would set about indulging
+his restless ambition for conquest. But the latter kept the peace, and
+devoted himself to the interests of Austria, establishing, indeed, a new
+and most astonishing order of things, but of a totally different nature
+from what Frederick had expected. Joseph II. was filled with the new
+ideas of human rights which already agitated Europe. The short but
+illustrious history of the Corsican Republic, the foundation of the new
+nation of the United States of America, the works of French authors
+advocating democracy in society and politics, were beginning to exercise
+a powerful influence in Germany, not so much among the people as among
+the highly educated classes. Thus at the very moment when Frederick and
+Maria Theresa were exercising the most absolute form of despotism, and
+the smaller rulers were doing their best to imitate them, the most
+radical theories of republicanism were beginning to be openly discussed,
+and the great Revolution which they occasioned was only a few years off.
+
+[Sidenote: 1781.]
+
+Joseph II. was scarcely less despotic in his habits of government than
+Frederick the Great, and he used his power to force new liberties upon a
+people who were not intelligent enough to understand them. He stands
+almost alone among monarchs, as an example of a Revolutionist upon the
+throne, not only granting far more than was ever demanded of his
+predecessors, but compelling his people to accept rights which they
+hardly knew how to use. He determined to transform Austria, by a few
+bold measures, into a State which should embody all the progressive
+ideas of the day, and be a model for the world. The plan was high and
+noble, but he failed because he did not perceive that the condition of a
+people cannot be so totally changed, without a wise and gradual
+preparation for it.
+
+He began by reforming the entire civil service of Austria; but, as he
+took the reform into his own hands and had little practical knowledge of
+the position and duties of the officials, many of the changes operated
+injuriously. In regard to taxation, industry and commerce, he followed
+the theories of French writers, which, in many respects, did not apply
+to the state of things in Austria. He abolished the penalty of death,
+put an end to serfdom among the peasantry, cut down the privileges of
+the nobles, and tried, for a short time, the experiment of a free press.
+His boldest measure was in regard to the Church, which he endeavored to
+make wholly independent of Rome. He openly declared that the priests
+were "the most dangerous and most useless class in every country"; he
+suppressed seven hundred monasteries and turned them into schools or
+asylums, granted the Protestants freedom of worship and all rights
+enjoyed by Catholics, and continued his work in so sweeping a manner
+that the Pope, Pius VI., hastened to Vienna in 1782, in the greatest
+alarm, hoping to restore the influence of the Church. Joseph II.
+received him with external politeness, but had him carefully watched and
+allowed no one to visit him without his own express permission. After a
+stay of four weeks during which he did not obtain a single concession of
+any importance, the Pope returned to Rome.
+
+Not content with what he had accomplished, Joseph now went further. He
+gave equal rights to Jews and members of the Greek Church, ordered
+German hymns to be sung in the Catholic Churches and the German Bible to
+be read, and prohibited pilgrimages and religious processions. These
+measures gave the priesthood the means of alarming the ignorant people,
+who were easily persuaded that the Emperor intended to abolish the
+Christian religion. They became suspicious and hostile towards the one
+man who was defying the Church and the nobles in his efforts to help
+them. Only the few who came into direct contact with him were able to
+appreciate his sincerity and goodness. He was fond of going about alone,
+dressed so simply that few recognized him, and almost as many stories of
+his intercourse with the lower classes are told of him in Austria as of
+Frederick the Great in Prussia. On one occasion he attended a poor sick
+woman whose daughter took him for a physician: on another he took the
+plough from the hands of a peasant, and ploughed a few furrows around
+the field. If his reign had been longer, the Austrian people would have
+learned to trust him, and many of his reforms might have become
+permanent; but he was better understood and loved after his death than
+during his life.
+
+[Sidenote: 1785. JOSEPH II.'S REFORMS.]
+
+One circumstance must be mentioned, in explanation of the sudden and
+sweeping character of Joseph II.'s measures towards the Church. The
+Jesuits, by their intrigues and the demoralizing influence which they
+exercised, had made themselves hated in all Catholic countries, and were
+only tolerated in Bavaria and Austria. France, Spain, Naples and
+Portugal, one after the other, banished the Order, and Pope Clement XIV.
+was finally induced, in 1773, to dissolve its connection with the Church
+of Rome. The Jesuits were then compelled to leave Austria, and for a
+time they found refuge only in Russia and Prussia, where, through a most
+mistaken policy, they were employed by the governments as teachers.
+Their expulsion was the sign of a new life for the schools and
+universities, which were released from their paralyzing sway, and Joseph
+II. evidently supposed that the Church of Rome itself had made a step in
+advance. The Archbishop of Mayence and the Bishop of Treves were noted
+liberals; the latter even favored a reformation of the Catholic Church,
+and the Emperor had reason to believe that he would receive at least a
+moral support throughout Germany. He neither perceived the thorough
+demoralization which two centuries of Jesuit rule had produced in
+Austria, nor the settled determination of the Papal power to restore the
+Order as soon as circumstances would permit.
+
+Joseph II.'s last years were disastrous to all his plans. In Flanders,
+which was still a dependency of Austria, the priests incited the people
+to revolt; in Hungary the nobles were bitterly hostile to him, on
+account of the abolition of serfdom, and an alliance with Catharine II.
+of Russia against Turkey, into which he entered in 1788,--chiefly, it
+seems, in the hope of achieving military renown--was in every way
+unfortunate. At the head of an army of 200,000 men, he marched against
+Belgrade, but was repelled by the Turks, and finally returned to Vienna
+with the seeds of a fatal fever in his frame. Russia made peace with
+Turkey before the fortunes of war could be retrieved; Flanders declared
+itself independent of Austria, and a revolution in Hungary was only
+prevented by his taking back most of the decrees which had been issued
+for the emancipation of the people. Disappointed and hopeless, Joseph
+II. succumbed to the fever which hung upon him: he died on the 20th of
+February, 1790, only forty-nine years of age. He ordered these words to
+be engraved upon his tomb-stone: "Here lies a prince, whose intentions
+were pure, but who had the misfortune to see all his plans shattered!"
+History has done justice to his character, and the people whom he tried
+to help learned to appreciate his efforts when it was too late.
+
+[Sidenote: 1790.]
+
+The condition of Germany, from the end of the Seven Years' War to the
+close of the eighteenth century, shows a remarkable progress, when we
+contrast it with the first half of the century. The stern, heroic
+character of Frederick the Great, the strong, humane aspirations of
+Joseph II., and the rapid growth of democratic ideas all over the world,
+affected at last many of the smaller German States. Their imitation of
+the pomp and state of Louis XIV., which they had practised for nearly a
+hundred years, came to an end; the princes were now possessed with the
+idea of "an enlightened despotism"--that is, while retaining their
+absolute power, they endeavored to exercise it for the good of the
+people. There were some dark exceptions to this general change for the
+better. The rulers of Hesse-Cassel and Wuertemberg, for example, sold
+whole regiments of their subjects to England, to be used against the
+American Colonies in the War of Independence. Although many of these
+soldiers remained in the United States, and encouraged, by their
+satisfaction with their new homes, the later German emigration to
+America, the princes who sold them covered their own memories with
+infamy, and deservedly so.
+
+[Sidenote: 1790. "ENLIGHTENED DESPOTISM."]
+
+There was a remarkable movement, about the same time, among the Catholic
+Archbishops, who were also temporal rulers, in Germany. The dominions of
+these priestly princes, especially along the Rhine, showed what had
+been the character of such a form of government. There were about 1,000
+inhabitants, fifty of whom were priests and two hundred and sixty
+beggars, to every twenty-two square miles! The difference between the
+condition of their States and that of the Protestant territories
+adjoining them was much more strongly marked than it now is between the
+Protestant and Catholic Cantons of Switzerland. By a singular
+coincidence, the chief Catholic Archbishops were at this time men of
+intelligence and humane aspirations, who did their best to remedy the
+scandalous misrule of their predecessors. In the year 1786, the
+Archbishops of Mayence, Treves, Cologne and Salzburg came together at
+Ems, and agreed upon a plan of founding a national German-Catholic
+Church, independent of Rome. The priests, in their incredible ignorance
+and bigotry, opposed the movement, and even Joseph II., who had planned
+the very same thing for Austria, most inconsistently refused to favor
+it; therefore the plan failed.
+
+It must be admitted, as an apology for the theory of "an enlightened
+despotism," that there was no representative government in Europe at the
+time, where there was greater justice and order than in Prussia or in
+Austria under Joseph II. The German Empire had become a mere mockery;
+its perpetual Diet at Ratisbon was little more than a farce. Poland,
+Holland and Sweden, where there was a Legislative Assembly, were in a
+most unfortunate condition: the Swiss Republic was far from being
+republican, and even England, under George III., did not present a
+fortunate model of parliamentary government. The United States of
+America were too far off and too little known, to exercise much
+influence. Some of the smaller German States, which were despotisms in
+the hands of wise and humane rulers, thus played a most beneficent part
+in protecting, instructing and elevating the people.
+
+Baden, Brunswick, Anhalt-Dessau, Holstein, Saxe-Gotha, and especially
+Saxe-Weimar, became cradles of science and literature. Karl Augustus, of
+the last-named State, called Herder, Wieland, Goethe, Schiller and other
+illustrious authors to his court, and created such a distinguished
+circle in letters and the arts that Weimar was named "the German
+Athens." The works of these great men, which had been preceded by those
+of Lessing and Klopstock, gave an immense impetus to the intellectual
+development of Germany. It was the first great advance made by the
+people since the days of Luther, and its effect extended gradually to
+the courts of less intelligent and humane princes. Even the profligate
+Duke Karl Eugene of Wuertemberg reformed in a measure, established the
+Karl's-School where Schiller was educated, and tried, so far as he knew
+how, to govern justly. Frederick Augustus of Saxony refrained from
+imitating his dissolute and tyrannical ancestors, and his land began to
+recover from its long sufferings. As for the scores of petty States,
+which contained--as was ironically said--"twelve subjects and one Jew,"
+and were not much larger than an average Illinois farm, they were mostly
+despotic and ridiculous; but they were too weak to impede the general
+march of progress.
+
+[Sidenote: 1790.]
+
+Among the greater States, only Bavaria remained in the background.
+Although temporarily deprived of his beloved Jesuits, the Elector held
+fast to all the prejudices they had inculcated, and kept his people in
+ignorance.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+FROM THE DEATH OF JOSEPH II. TO THE END OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE.
+
+(1790--1806.)
+
+The Crisis in Europe. --Frederick William II. in Prussia. --Leopold II.
+    in Austria. --His short Reign. --Francis II. succeeds. --French
+    Claims in Alsatia. --War declared against Austria. --The Prussian
+    and Austrian Invasion of France. --Valmy and Jemappes. --THE FIRST
+    COALITION. --Campaign of 1793. --French Successes. --Hesitation of
+    Prussia. --The Treaty of Basel. --Catharine II.'s Designs. --Second
+    Partition of Poland. --Kosciusko's Defeat. --Suwarrow takes Warsaw.
+    --End of Poland. --French Invasion of Germany. --Success of the
+    Republic. --Bonaparte in Italy. --Campaign of 1796. --Austrian
+    Successes. --Bonaparte victorious. --Peace of Campo Formio. --New
+    Demands of France. --THE SECOND COALITION. --Suwarrow in Italy and
+    Switzerland. --Bonaparte First Consul. --Victories at Marengo and
+    Hohenlinden. --Peace of Luneville. --The German States
+    reconstructed. --Character of the political Changes. --Supremacy of
+    France. --Hannover invaded. --Bonaparte Emperor. --THE THIRD
+    COALITION. --French march to Vienna. --Austerlitz. --Treaty of
+    Presburg. --End of the "Holy Roman Empire."
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1790. CONDITION OF EUROPE.]
+
+The mantles of both Frederick the Great and Joseph II. fell upon
+incompetent successors, at a time when all Europe was agitated by the
+beginning of the French Revolution, and when, therefore, the greatest
+political wisdom was required of the rulers of Germany. It was a crisis,
+the like of which never before occurred in the history of the world, and
+probably never will occur again; for, at the time when it came, the
+people enjoyed fewer rights than they had possessed during the Middle
+Ages, and the monarchs exercised more power than they had claimed for at
+least fifteen hundred years before, while general intelligence and the
+knowledge of human rights were increasing everywhere. The fabrics of
+society and government were ages behind the demands of the time: a
+change was inevitable, and because no preparation had been made, it came
+through violence.
+
+[Sidenote: 1792.]
+
+Frederick the Great was succeeded by his nephew, Frederick William II.,
+whom, with unaccountable neglect, he had not instructed in the duties
+of government. The latter, nevertheless, began with changes which gave
+him a great popularity. He abolished the French system of collecting
+duties, the monopolies which were burdensome to the people, and
+lightened the weight of their taxes. But, by unnecessary interference in
+the affairs of Holland (because his sister was the wife of William V. of
+Orange), he spent all the surplus which Frederick had left in the
+Prussian treasury; he was weak, dissolute and fickle in his character;
+he introduced the most rigid measures in regard to the press and
+religious worship, and soon taught the people the difference between a
+bigoted and narrow-minded and an intelligent and conscientious king.
+
+Joseph II. was succeeded by his brother, Leopold II., who for
+twenty-five years had been Grand-Duke of Tuscany, where he had governed
+with great mildness and prudence. His policy had been somewhat similar
+to that of Joseph II., but characterized by greater caution and
+moderation. When he took the crown of Austria, and immediately
+afterwards that of the German Empire, he materially changed his plan of
+government. He was not rigidly oppressive, but he checked the evidences
+of a freer development among the people, which Joseph II. had fostered.
+He limited, at once, the pretensions of Austria, cultivated friendly
+relations with Prussia, which was then inclined to support the Austrian
+Netherlands in their revolt, and took steps to conclude peace with
+Turkey. He succeeded, also, in reconciling the Hungarians to the
+Hapsburg rule, and might, possibly, have given a fortunate turn to the
+destinies of Austria, if he had lived long enough. But he died on the
+1st of March, 1792, after a reign of exactly two years, and was
+succeeded by his son, Francis II., who was elected Emperor of Germany on
+the 5th of July, in Frankfort.
+
+By this time the great changes which had taken place in France began to
+agitate all Europe. The French National Assembly very soon disregarded
+the provisions of the Peace of Westphalia (in 1648), which had only
+ceded the possessions of _Austria_ in Alsatia to France, allowing
+various towns and districts on the West bank of the Upper Rhine to be
+held by German Princes. The entire authority over these scattered
+possessions was now claimed by France, and neither Prussia, under
+Frederick William II., nor Austria under Leopold II. resisted the act
+otherwise than by a protest which had no effect. Although the French
+queen, Marie Antoinette, was Leopold II.'s sister, his policy was to
+preserve peace with the Revolutionary party which controlled France.
+Frederick William's minister, Hertzberg, pursued the same policy, but so
+much against the will of the king, who was determined to defend the
+cause of absolute monarchy by trying to rescue Louis XVI. from his
+increasing dangers, that before the close of 1791 Hertzberg was
+dismissed from office. Then Frederick William endeavored to create a
+"holy alliance" of Prussia, Austria, Russia and Sweden against France,
+but only succeeded far enough to provoke a bitter feeling of hostility
+to Germany in the French National Assembly.
+
+[Sidenote: 1792. FRANCE AND PRUSSIA.]
+
+The nobles who had been driven out of France by the Revolution were
+welcomed by the Archbishops of Mayence and Treves, and the rulers of
+smaller States along the Rhine, who allowed them to plot a
+counter-revolution. An angry diplomatic intercourse between France and
+Austria followed, and in April, 1792, the former country declared war
+against "the king of Bohemia and Hungary," as Francis II. was styled by
+the French Assembly. In fact, war was inevitable; for the monarchs of
+Europe were simply waiting for a good chance to intervene and crush the
+republican movement in France, which, on its side, could only establish
+itself through military successes. Although neither party was prepared
+for the struggle, the energy and enthusiasm of the new men who governed
+France gained an advantage, at the start, over the lumbering slowness of
+the German governments. It was not the latter, this time, but their
+enemy, who profited by the example of Frederick the Great.
+
+Prussia and Austria, supported by some but not by all of the smaller
+States, raised two armies, one of 110,000 men under the Duke of
+Brunswick, which was to march through Belgium to Paris, while the other,
+50,000 strong, was to take possession of Alsatia. The movement of the
+former was changed, and then delayed by differences of opinion among the
+royal and ducal commanders. It started from Mayence, and consumed three
+weeks in marching to the French frontier, only ninety miles distant.
+Longwy and Verdun were taken without much difficulty, and then the
+advance ceased. The French under Dumouriez and Kellermann united their
+forces, held the Germans in check at Valmy, on the 20th of September,
+1792, and then compelled them to retrace their steps towards the Rhine.
+While the Prussians were retreating through storms of rain, their ranks
+thinned by disease, Dumouriez wheeled upon Flanders, met the Austrian
+army at Jemappes, and gained such a decided victory that by the end of
+the year all Belgium, and even the city of Aix-la-Chapelle, fell into
+the hands of the French.
+
+[Sidenote: 1793.]
+
+At the same time another French army, under General Custine, marched to
+the Rhine, took Speyer, Worms and finally Mayence, which city was made
+the head-quarters of a republican movement intended to influence
+Germany. But these successes were followed, on the 21st of January,
+1793, by the execution of Louis XVI., and on the 16th of October of
+Marie Antoinette,--acts which alarmed every reigning family in Europe
+and provoked the most intense enmity towards the French Republic. An
+immediate alliance--called the FIRST COALITION--was made by England,
+Holland, Prussia, Austria, "the German Empire," Sardinia, Naples and
+Spain, against France. Only Catharine II. of Russia declined to join,
+not because she did not favor the design of crushing France, but because
+she would thus be left free to carry out her plans of aggrandizing
+Russia at the expense of Turkey and Poland.
+
+The greater part of the year 1793 was on the whole favorable to the
+allied powers. An Austrian victory at Neerwinden, on the 18th of March,
+compelled the French to evacuate Belgium: in July the Prussians
+reconquered Mayence, and advanced into Alsatia; and a combined English
+and Spanish fleet took possession of Toulon. But there was no unity of
+action among the enemies of France; even the German successes were soon
+neutralized by the mutual jealousy and mistrust of Prussia and Austria,
+and the war became more and more unpopular. Towards the close of the
+year the French armies were again victorious in Flanders and along the
+Rhine: their generals had discovered that the rapid movements and rash,
+impetuous assaults of their new troops were very effectual against the
+old, deliberate, scientific tactics of the Germans. Spain, Holland and
+Sardinia proved to be almost useless as allies, and the strength of the
+Coalition was reduced to England, Prussia and Austria.
+
+[Sidenote: 1795. THE TREATY OF BASEL.]
+
+In 1794 a fresh attempt was made. Prussia furnished 50,000 men, who
+were paid by England, and were hardly less mercenaries than the troops
+sold by Hesse-Cassel twenty years before. In June, the French under
+Jourdan were victorious at Fleurus, and Austria decided to give up
+Belgium: the Prussians gained some advantages in Alsatia, but showed no
+desire to carry on the war as the hirelings of another country.
+Frederick William II. and Francis II. were equally suspicious of each
+other, equally weak and vacillating, divided between their desire of
+overturning the French Republic on the one side, and securing new
+conquests of Polish territory on the other. Thus the war was prosecuted
+in the most languid and inefficient manner, and by the end of the year
+the French were masters of all the territory west of the Rhine, from
+Alsatia to the sea. During the following winter they assisted in
+overturning the former government of Holland, where a new "Batavian
+Republic" was established. Frederick William II. thereupon determined to
+withdraw from the Coalition, and make a separate peace with France. His
+minister, Hardenberg, concluded a treaty at Basel, on the 5th of April,
+1795, by which Cleves and other Prussian territory west of the Lower
+Rhine was relinquished to France, and all of Germany north of a line
+drawn from the river Main eastward to Silesia, was declared to be in a
+state of peace during the war which France still continued to wage with
+Austria.
+
+The chief cause of Prussia's change of policy seems to have been her
+fear that Russia would absorb the whole of Poland. This was probably the
+intention of Catharine II., for she had vigorously encouraged the war
+between Germany and France, while declining to take part in it. The
+Poles themselves, now more divided than ever, soon furnished her with a
+pretext for interference. They had adopted an hereditary instead of an
+elective monarchy, together with a Constitution similar to that of
+France; but a portion of the nobility rose in arms against these
+changes, and were supported by Russia. Then Frederick William II.
+insisted on being admitted as a partner in the business of interference,
+and Catharine II. reluctantly consented. In January, 1793, the two
+powers agreed to divide a large portion of Polish territory between
+them, Austria taking no active part in the matter. Prussia received the
+cities of Thorn and Dantzig, the provinces of Posen, Gnesen and Kalisch,
+and other territory, amounting to more than 20,000 square miles, with
+1,000,000 inhabitants. The only resistance made to the entrance of the
+Russian army into Poland, was headed by Kosciusko, one of the heroes of
+the American war of Independence. Although defeated at Dubienka, where
+he fought with 4,000 men against 16,000, the hopes of the Polish
+patriots centred upon him, and when they rose in 1794 to prevent the
+approaching destruction of their country, they made him Dictator. Russia
+was engaged in a war with Turkey, and had not troops enough to quell the
+insurrection, so Prussia was called upon to furnish her share. In June,
+1794, Frederick William himself marched to Warsaw, where a Russian army
+arrived about the same time: the city was besieged, but not attacked,
+owing to quarrels and differences of opinion among the commanders. At
+the end of three months, the king got tired and went back to Berlin;
+several small battles were fought, in which the Poles had the greater
+advantage, but nothing decisive happened until the end of October, when
+the Russian General Suwarrow arrived, after a forced march, from the
+seat of war on the Danube.
+
+[Sidenote: 1795.]
+
+He first defeated Kosciusko, who was taken prisoner, and then marched
+upon Warsaw. On the 4th of November the suburb of Praga was taken by
+storm, with terrible slaughter, and three days afterwards Warsaw fell.
+This was the end of Poland, as an independent nation. Although Austria
+had taken no part in the war, she now negotiated for a share in the
+Third (and last) Partition, which had been decided upon by Russia and
+Prussia, even before the Polish revolt furnished a pretext for it.
+Catharine II. favored the Austrian claims, and even concluded a secret
+agreement with Francis II. without consulting Prussia. When this had
+been made known, in August, 1795, Prussia protested violently against
+it, but without effect: Russia took more than half the remaining
+territory, Austria nearly one-quarter, and Prussia received about 20,000
+square miles more, including the city of Warsaw.
+
+After the Treaty of Basel, which secured peace to the northern half of
+Germany, Catharine II., victorious over Turkey and having nothing more
+to do in Poland, united with England and Austria against France. It was
+agreed that Russia should send both an army and a fleet, Austria raise
+200,000 men, and England contribute 4,000,000 pounds sterling annually
+towards the expenses of the war. During the summer of 1795, however,
+little was done. The French still held everything west of the Rhine, and
+the Austrians watched them from the opposite bank: the strength of both
+was nearly equal. Suddenly, in September, the French crossed the river,
+took Duesseldorf and Mannheim, with immense quantities of military
+stores, and completely laid waste the country in the neighborhood of
+these two cities, treating the people with the most inhuman barbarity.
+Then the Austrians rallied, repulsed the French, in their turn, and
+before winter recovered possession of nearly all the western bank.
+
+[Sidenote: 1796. BONAPARTE'S CAMPAIGN IN ITALY.]
+
+In January, 1796, an armistice was declared: Spain and Sardinia had
+already made peace with France, and Austria showed signs of becoming
+weary of the war. The French Republic, however, found itself greatly
+strengthened by its military successes: its minister of war, Carnot, and
+its ambitious young generals, Bonaparte, Moreau, Massena, &c., were
+winning fame and power by the continuance of hostilities, and the system
+of making the conquered territory pay all the expenses of the war (in
+some cases much more), was a great advantage to the French national
+treasury. Thus the war, undertaken by the Coalition for the destruction
+of the French Republic, had only strengthened the latter, which was in
+the best condition for continuing it at a time when the allies (except,
+perhaps, England) were discouraged, and ready for peace.
+
+The campaign of 1796 was most disastrous to Austria. France had an army
+under Jourdan on the Lower Rhine, another under Moreau--who had replaced
+General Pichegru--on the Upper Rhine, and a third under Bonaparte in
+Italy. The latter began his movement early in April; he promised his
+unpaid, ragged and badly-fed troops that he would give them Milan in
+four weeks, and he kept his word. Plunder and victory heightened their
+faith in his splendid military genius: he advanced with irresistible
+energy, passing the Po, the Adda at Lodi, subjecting the Venetian
+Republic, forming new republican States out of the old Italian Duchies,
+and driving the Austrians everywhere before him. By the end of the year
+the latter held only the strong fortress of Mantua.
+
+[Sidenote: 1797.]
+
+The French armies on the Rhine were opposed by an Austrian army of equal
+strength, commanded by the Archduke Karl, a general of considerable
+talent, but still governed by the military ideas of a former
+generation. Instead of attacking, he waited to be attacked; but neither
+Jourdan nor Moreau allowed him to wait long. The former took possession
+of the Eastern bank of the Lower Rhine: when the Archduke marched
+against him, Moreau crossed into Baden and seized the passes of the
+Black Forest. Then the Archduke, having compelled Jourdan to fall back,
+met the latter and was defeated. Jourdan returned a second time, Moreau
+advanced, and all Baden, Wuertemberg, Franconia, and the greater part of
+Bavaria fell into the hands of the French. These States not only
+submitted without resistance, but used every exertion to pay enormous
+contributions to their conquerors. One-fourth of what they gave would
+have prevented the invasion, and changed the subsequent fate of Germany.
+Frankfort paid ten millions of florins, Nuremberg three, Bavaria ten,
+and the other cities and principalities in proportion, besides
+furnishing enormous quantities of supplies to the French troops. All
+these countries purchased the neutrality of France, by allowing free
+passage to the latter, and agreeing further to pay heavy monthly
+contributions towards the expenses of the war. Even Saxony, which had
+not been invaded, joined in this agreement.
+
+Towards the end of summer the Archduke twice defeated Jourdan and forced
+him to retreat across the Rhine. This rendered Moreau's position in
+Bavaria untenable: closely followed by the Austrians, he accomplished
+without loss that famous retreat through the Black Forest which is
+considered a greater achievement than many victories in the annals of
+war. Thus, at the close of the year 1796, all Germany east of the Rhine,
+plundered, impoverished and demoralized, was again free from the French.
+This defeated Bonaparte's plan, which was to advance from Italy through
+the Tyrol, effect a junction with Moreau in Bavaria, and then march upon
+Vienna. Nevertheless, he determined to carry out his portion of it,
+regardless of the fortunes of the other French armies. On the 2d of
+February, 1797, Mantua surrendered; the Archduke Karl, who had been sent
+against him, was defeated, and Bonaparte followed with such daring and
+vigor that by the middle of April he had reached the little town of
+Leoben, in Styria, only a few days' march from Vienna. Although he had
+less than 50,000 men, while the Archduke still had about 25,000, and
+the Austrians, Styrians and Tyrolese, now thoroughly aroused, demanded
+weapons and leaders, Francis II., instead of encouraging their
+patriotism and boldly undertaking a movement which might have cut off
+Bonaparte, began to negotiate for peace. Of course the conqueror
+dictated his own terms: the preliminaries were settled at once, an
+armistice followed, and on the 17th of October, 1797, peace was
+concluded at Campo Formio.
+
+[Sidenote: 1798. THE CONGRESS OF RASTATT.]
+
+Austria gave Lombardy and Belgium to France, to both of which countries
+she had a tolerable claim; but she also gave all the territory west of
+the Rhine, which she had no right to do, even under the constitution of
+the superannuated "German Empire." On the other hand, Bonaparte gave to
+Austria Dalmatia, Istria, and nearly all the territory of the Republic
+of Venice, to which he had not the shadow of a right. He had already
+conquered and suppressed the Republic of Genoa, so that these two old
+and illustrious States vanished from the map of Europe, only two years
+after Poland.
+
+Nevertheless, the illusion of a German Empire was kept up, so far as the
+form was concerned. A Congress of all the States was called to meet at
+Rastatt, in Baden, and confirm the Treaty of Campo Formio. But France
+had become arrogant through her astonishing success, and in May, 1798,
+her ambassadors suddenly demanded a number of new concessions, including
+the annexation of points east of the Rhine, the levelling of the
+fortress of Ehrenbreitstein (opposite Coblentz), and the possession of
+the islands at the mouth of the river. At this time Bonaparte was
+absent, on his expedition to Egypt, and only England, chiefly by means
+of her navy, was carrying on the war with France. The new demands made
+at the Congress of Rastatt not only prolonged the negotiations, but
+provoked throughout Europe the idea of another Coalition against the
+French Republic. The year 1798, however, came to an end without any
+further action, except such as was secretly plotted at the various
+Courts.
+
+Early in 1799, the SECOND COALITION was formed between England, Russia
+(where Paul I. had succeeded Catharine II. in 1796), Austria, Naples and
+Turkey: Spain and Prussia refused to join. An Austrian army under the
+Archduke defeated Jourdan in March, while another, supported by Naples,
+was successful against the French in Italy. Meanwhile, the Congress
+continued to sit at Rastatt, in the foolish hope of making peace after
+the war had again begun. The approach of the Austrian troops finally
+dissolved it; but the two French ambassadors, who left for France on the
+evening of April 28th, were waylaid and murdered near the city by some
+Austrian hussars. No investigation of this outrage was ever ordered; the
+general belief is that the Court of Vienna was responsible for it. The
+act was as mad as it was infamous, for it stirred the entire French
+people into fury against Germany.
+
+[Sidenote: 1799.]
+
+In the spring of 1799, a Russian army commanded by Suwarrow arrived in
+Italy, and in a short time completed the work begun by the Austrians.
+The Roman Republic was overthrown and Pope Pius VII. restored: all
+Northern Italy, except Genoa, was taken from the French; and then,
+finding his movements hampered by the jealousy of the Austrian generals,
+Suwarrow crossed the St. Gothard with his army, fighting his way through
+the terrific gorges of the Alps. To avoid the French General, Massena,
+who had been victorious at Zurich, he was compelled to choose the most
+lofty and difficult passes, and his march over them was a marvel of
+daring and endurance. This was the end of his campaign, for the Emperor
+Paul, suspicious of Austria and becoming more friendly to France, soon
+afterwards recalled him and his troops. During the campaign of this
+year, the English army under the Duke of York, had miserably failed in
+the Netherlands, but the Archduke, although no important battle was
+fought, held the French thoroughly in check along the frontier of the
+Rhine.
+
+The end of the year, and of the century, brought a great change in the
+destinies of France. Bonaparte had returned from Egypt, and on the 9th
+of November, by force of arms, he overthrew the Government and
+established the Consulate in the place of the Republic, with himself as
+First Consul for ten years. Being now practically Dictator, he took
+matters into his own hands, and his first measure was to propose peace
+to the Coalition, on the basis of the Treaty of Campo Formio. This was
+rejected by England and Austria, who stubbornly believed that the
+fortune of the war was at last turning to their side. In Prussia,
+Frederick William II. had died in November, 1797, and was succeeded by
+his son, Frederick William III., who was a man of excellent personal
+qualities, but without either energy, ambition or clear intelligence.
+Bonaparte's policy was simply to keep Prussia neutral, and he found no
+difficulty in maintaining the peace which had been concluded at Basel
+nearly five years before. England chiefly took part in the war by means
+of her navy, and by contributions of money, so that France, with the
+best generals in the world and soldiers flushed with victory, was only
+called upon to meet Austria in the field.
+
+[Sidenote: 1799. BONAPARTE FIRST CONSUL.]
+
+At this crisis, the Archduke Karl, Austria's single good general, threw
+up his command, on account of the interference of the Court of Vienna
+with his plans. His place was filled by the Archduke John, a boy of
+nineteen, under whom was an army of 100,000 men, scattered in a long
+line from the Alps to Frankfort. Moreau easily broke through this
+barrier, overran Baden and Wuertemberg, and was only arrested for a short
+time by the fortifications of Ulm. While these events were occurring,
+another Austrian army under Melas besieged Massena in Genoa. Bonaparte
+collected a new force, with such rapidity and secrecy that his plan was
+not discovered, made a heroic march over the St. Bernard pass of the
+Alps in May, and came down upon Italy like an avalanche. Genoa,
+thousands of whose citizens perished with hunger during the siege, had
+already surrendered to the Austrians; but, when the latter turned to
+repel Bonaparte, they were cut to pieces on the field of Marengo, on the
+14th of June, 1800. This magnificent victory gave all Northern Italy, as
+far as the river Mincio, into the hands of the French.
+
+Again Bonaparte offered peace to Austria, on the same basis as before.
+An armistice was concluded, and Francis II. made signs of accepting the
+offer of peace, but only that he might quietly recruit his armies. When,
+therefore, the armistice expired, on the 25th of November, Moreau
+immediately advanced to attack the new Austrian army of nearly 90,000
+men, which occupied a position along the river Inn. On the 3d of
+December, the two met at Hohenlinden, and the French, after a bloody
+struggle, were completely victorious. There was now, apparently, nothing
+to prevent Moreau from marching upon Vienna, and the Archduke Karl, who
+had been sent in all haste to take command of the demoralized Austrians,
+was compelled to ask for an armistice upon terms very humiliating to the
+Hapsburg pride.
+
+[Sidenote: 1801.]
+
+After all its combined haughtiness and incompetency, the Court of Vienna
+gratefully accepted such terms as it could get. Francis II. sent one of
+his ministers, Cobenzl, who met Joseph Bonaparte at Luneville (in
+Lorraine), and there, on the 9th of February, 1801, peace was concluded.
+Its chief provisions were those of the Treaty of Campo Formio: all the
+territory west of the Rhine, from Basel to the sea, was given to France,
+together with all Northern Italy west of the Adige. The Duke of Modena
+received part of Baden, and the Duke of Tuscany Salzburg. Other temporal
+princes of Germany, who lost part or the whole of their territory by the
+treaty, were compensated by secularizing the dominions of the priestly
+rulers, and dividing them among the former. Thus the States governed by
+Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots or other clerical dignitaries, nearly one
+hundred in number, were abolished at one blow, and what little was left
+of the fabric of the old German Empire fell to pieces. The division of
+all this territory among the other States gave rise to new difficulties
+and disputes, which were not settled for two years longer. The Diet
+appointed a special Commission to arrange the matter; but, inasmuch as
+Bonaparte, through his Minister Talleyrand, and Alexander I. of Russia
+(the Emperor Paul having been murdered in 1801), intrigued in every
+possible way to enlarge the smaller German States and prevent the
+increase of Austria, the final arrangements were made quite as much by
+the two foreign powers as by the Commission of the German Diet.
+
+On the 27th of April, 1803, the decree of partition was issued, suddenly
+changing the map of Germany. Only six free cities were left out of
+fifty-two,--Frankfort, Hamburg, Bremen, Luebeck, Nuremberg and Augsburg:
+Prussia received three bishoprics (Hildesheim, Muenster and Paderborn),
+and a number of abbeys and cities, including Erfurt, amounting to four
+times as much as she had lost on the left bank of the Rhine. Baden was
+increased to double its former size by the remains of the Palatinate
+(including Heidelberg and Mannheim), the city of Constance, and a number
+of abbeys and monasteries: a great part of Franconia, with Wuerzburg and
+Bamberg, was added to Bavaria. Wuertemberg, Hesse-Darmstadt and Nassau
+were much enlarged, and most of the other States received smaller
+additions. At the same time the rulers of Baden, Wuertemberg,
+Hesse-Cassel and Salzburg were dignified by the new title of
+"Electors"--when they never would be called upon to elect another German
+Emperor!
+
+[Sidenote: 1803. FRENCH INVASION OF HANNOVER.]
+
+An impartial study of these events will show that they were caused by
+the indifference of Prussia to the general interests of Germany, and the
+utter lack of the commonest political wisdom in Francis II. of Austria
+and his ministers. The war with France was wantonly undertaken, in the
+first place; it was then continued with stupid obstinacy after two
+offers of peace. But except the loss of the left bank of the Rhine, with
+more than three millions of German inhabitants, Germany, though
+humiliated, was not yet seriously damaged. The complete overthrow of
+priestly rule, the extinction of a multitude of petty States, and the
+abolition of the special privileges of nearly a thousand "Imperial"
+noble families, was an immense gain to the whole country. The influence
+which Bonaparte exercised in the partition of 1803, though made solely
+with a view to the political interests of France, produced some very
+beneficial changes in Germany. In regard to religion, the Chief Electors
+were now equally divided, five being Catholic and five Protestant; while
+the Diet of Princes, instead of having a Catholic majority of twelve, as
+heretofore, acquired a Protestant majority of twenty-two.
+
+France was now the ruling power on the Continent of Europe. Prussia
+preserved a timid neutrality, Austria was powerless, the new Republics
+in Holland, Switzerland and Italy were wholly subjected to French
+influence, Spain, Denmark and Russia were friendly, and even England,
+after the overthrow of Pitt's ministry, was persuaded to make peace with
+Bonaparte in 1802. The same year, the latter had himself declared First
+Consul for life, and became absolute master of the destinies of France.
+A new quarrel with England soon broke out, and this gave him a pretext
+for invading Hannover. In May, 1803, General Mortier marched from
+Holland with only 12,000 men, while Hannover, alone, had an excellent
+army of 15,000. But the Council of Nobles, who governed in the name of
+George III. of England, gave orders that "the troops should not be
+allowed to fire, and might only use the bayonet _moderately_, in extreme
+necessity!" Of course no battle was fought; the country was overrun by
+the French in a few days, and plundered to the amount of 26,000,000
+thalers. Prussia and the other German States quietly looked on, and--did
+nothing.
+
+[Sidenote: 1804.]
+
+In March, 1804, the First Consul sent a force across the Rhine into
+Baden, seized the Duke d'Enghien, a fugitive Bourbon Prince, carried him
+into France and there had him shot. This outrage provoked a general cry
+of indignation throughout Europe. Two months afterwards, on the 18th of
+May, Bonaparte assumed the title of Napoleon, Emperor of the French: the
+Italian Republics were changed into a Kingdom of Italy, and that period
+of arrogant and selfish personal government commenced which brought
+monarchs and nations to his feet, and finally made him a fugitive and a
+prisoner. On the 11th of August, 1804, Francis II. imitated him, by
+taking the title of "Emperor of Austria," in order to preserve his
+existing rank, whatever changes might afterwards come.
+
+England, Austria and Russia were now more than ever determined to
+cripple the increasing power of Napoleon. Much time was spent in
+endeavoring to persuade Prussia to join the movement, but Frederick
+William III. not only refused, but sent an army to prevent the Russian
+troops from crossing Prussian territory, on their way to join the
+Austrians. By the summer of 1805, the THIRD COALITION, composed of the
+three powers already named and Sweden, was formed, and a plan adopted
+for bringing nearly 400,000 soldiers into the field against France.
+Although the secret had been well kept, it was revealed before the
+Coalition was quite prepared; and Napoleon was ready for the emergency.
+He had collected an army of 200,000 men at Boulogne for the invasion of
+England: giving up the latter design, he marched rapidly into Southern
+Germany, procured the alliance of Baden, Wuertemberg and Bavaria, with
+40,000 more troops, and thus gained the first advantage before the
+Russian and Austrian armies had united.
+
+The fortress of Ulm, held by the Austrian General Mack, with 25,000 men,
+surrendered on the 17th of October. The French pressed forwards,
+overcame the opposition of a portion of the allied armies along the
+Danube, and on the 13th of November entered Vienna. Francis II. and his
+family had fled to Presburg: the Archduke Karl, hastening from Italy,
+was in Styria with a small force, and a combined Russian and Austrian
+army of nearly 100,000 men was in Moravia. Prussia threatened to join
+the Coalition, because the neutrality of her territory had been violated
+by Bernadotte in marching from Hannover to join Napoleon: the allies,
+although surprised and disgracefully defeated, were far from
+appreciating the courage and skill of their enemy, and still believed
+they could overcome him. Napoleon pretended to avoid a battle and
+thereby drew them on to meet him in the field: on the 2d of December at
+Austerlitz, the "Battle of the Three Emperors" (as the Germans call it)
+occurred, and by the close of that day the allies had lost 15,000 killed
+and wounded, 20,000 prisoners and 200 cannon.
+
+[Sidenote: 1806. END OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE.]
+
+Two days after the battle Francis II. came personally to Napoleon and
+begged for an armistice, which was granted. The latter took up his
+quarters in the Palace of the Hapsburgs, at Schoenbrunn, as a conqueror,
+and waited for the conclusion of a treaty of peace, which was signed at
+Presburg on the 26th of December. Austria was forced to give up Venice
+to France, Tyrol to Bavaria, and some smaller territory to Baden and
+Wuertemberg; to accept the policy of France in Italy, Holland and
+Switzerland, and to recognize Bavaria and Wuertemberg as independent
+kingdoms of Napoleon's creation. All that she received in return was the
+archbishopric of Salzburg. She also agreed to pay one hundred millions
+of francs to France, and to permit the formation of a new Confederation
+of the smaller German States, which should be placed under the
+protectorship of Napoleon. The latter lost no time in carrying out his
+plan: by July, 1806, the _Rheinbund_ (Confederation of the Rhine) was
+entered into by seventeen States, which formed, in combination, a third
+power, independent of either Austria or Prussia.
+
+Immediately afterwards, on the 6th of August, 1806, Francis II. laid
+down his title of "Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German
+Nation," and the political corpse, long since dead, was finally buried.
+Just a thousand years had elapsed since the time of Charlemagne: the
+power and influence of the Empire had reached their culmination under
+the Hohenstaufens, but even then the smaller rulers were undermining its
+foundations. It existed for a few centuries longer as a system which was
+one-fourth fact and three-fourths tradition: during the Thirty Years'
+War it perished, and the Hapsburgs, after that, only wore the ornaments
+and trappings it left behind. The German people were never further from
+being a nation than at the commencement of this century; but the most of
+them still clung to the superstition of an Empire, until the compulsory
+act of Francis II. showed them, at last, that there was none.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+GERMANY UNDER NAPOLEON.
+
+(1806--1814.)
+
+Napoleon's personal Policy. --The "Rhine-Bund." --French Tyranny.
+    --Prussia declares War. --Battles of Jena and Auerstaedt. --Napoleon
+    in Berlin. --Prussia and Russia allied. --Battle of Friedland.
+    --Interviews of the Sovereigns. --Losses of Prussia. --Kingdom of
+    Westphalia. --Frederick William III.'s Weakness. --Congress at
+    Erfurt. --Patriotic Movements. --Revolt of the Tyrolese. --Napoleon
+    marches on Vienna. --Schill's Movement in Prussia. --Battles of
+    Aspera and Wagram. --The Peace of Vienna. --Fate of Andreas Hofer.
+    --The Duke of Brunswick's Attempt. --Napoleon's Rule in Germany.
+    --Secret Resistance in Prussia. --War with Russia. --The March to
+    Moscow. --The Retreat. --York's Measures. --Rising of Prussia.
+    --Division of Germany. --Battle of Luetzen. --Napoleon in Dresden.
+    --The Armistice. --Austria joins the Allies. --Victories of Bluecher
+    and Buelow. --Napoleon's Hesitation. --The Battle of Leipzig.
+    --Napoleon's Retreat from Germany. --Cowardice of the allied
+    Monarchs. --Bluecher crosses the Rhine.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1806.]
+
+After the peace of Presburg there was nothing to prevent Napoleon from
+carrying out his plan of dividing the greater part of Europe among the
+members of his own family, and the Marshals of his armies. He gave the
+kingdom of Naples to his brother Joseph; appointed his step-son Eugene
+Beauharnais Viceroy of Italy, and married him to the daughter of
+Maximilian I. (formerly Elector, now King) of Bavaria; made a Kingdom of
+Holland, and gave it to his brother Louis; gave the Duchy of Juelich,
+Cleves and Berg to Murat, and married Stephanie Beauharnais, the niece
+of the Empress Josephine, to the son of the Grand-Duke of Baden. There
+was no longer any thought of disputing his will in any of the smaller
+German States: the princes were as submissive as he could have desired,
+and the people had been too long powerless to dream of resistance.
+
+[Sidenote: 1806. THE "RHINE-BUND."]
+
+The "Rhine-Bund," therefore, was constructed just as France desired.
+Bavaria, Wuertemberg, Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt and Nassau united with
+twelve small principalities--the whole embracing a population of
+thirteen millions--in a Confederation, which accepted Napoleon as
+Protector, and agreed to maintain an army of 63,000 men, at the disposal
+of France. This arrangement divided the German Empire into three parts,
+one of which (Austria) had just been conquered, while another (Prussia)
+had lost all its former prestige by its weak and cowardly policy.
+Napoleon was now the recognized master of the third portion, the action
+of which was regulated by a Diet held at Frankfort. In order to make the
+Union simpler and more manageable, all the independent countships and
+baronies within its limits were abolished, and the seventeen States were
+thus increased by an aggregate territory of about 12,000 square miles.
+Bavaria took possession, without more ado, of the free cities of
+Nuremberg and Augsburg.
+
+Prussia, by this time, had agreed with Napoleon to give up Anspach and
+Bayreuth to Bavaria, and receive Hannover instead. This provoked the
+enmity of England, the only remaining nation which was friendly to
+Prussia. The French armies were still quartered in Southern Germany,
+violating at will not only the laws of the land, but the laws of
+nations. A bookseller named Palm, in Nuremberg, who had in his
+possession some pamphlets opposing Napoleon's schemes, was seized by
+order of the latter, tried by court-martial and shot. This brutal and
+despotic act was not resented by the German princes, but it aroused the
+slumbering spirit of the people. The Prussians, especially, began to
+grow very impatient of their pusillanimous government; but Frederick
+William III. did nothing, until in August, 1806, he discovered that
+Napoleon was trying to purchase peace with England and Russia by
+offering Hannover to the former and Prussian Poland to the latter. Then
+he decided for war, at the very time when he was compelled to meet the
+victorious power of France alone!
+
+Napoleon, as usual, was on the march before his enemy was even properly
+organized. He was already in Franconia, and in a few days stood at the
+head of an army of 200,000 men, part of whom were furnished by the
+Rhine-Bund. Prussia, assisted only by Saxony and Weimar, had 150,000,
+commanded by Prince Hohenlohe and the Duke of Brunswick, who hardly
+reached the bases of the Thuringian Mountains when they were met by the
+French and hurled back. On the table-land near Jena and Auerstaedt a
+double battle was fought on the 14th of October, 1806. In the first
+(Jena) Napoleon simply crushed and scattered to the winds the army of
+Prince Hohenlohe; in the second (Auerstaedt) Marshal Davoust, after some
+heavy fighting, defeated the Duke of Brunswick, who was mortally
+wounded. Then followed a season of panic and cowardice which now seems
+incredible: the French overwhelmed Prussia, and almost every defence
+fell without resistance as they approached. The strong fortress of
+Erfurt, with 10,000 men, surrendered the day after the battle of Jena;
+the still stronger fortress-city of Magdeburg, with 24,000 men, opened
+its gates before a gun was fired! Spandau capitulated as soon as asked,
+on the 24th of October, and Davoust entered Berlin the same day. Only
+General Bluecher, more than sixty years old, cut his way through the
+French with 10,000 men, and for a time gallantly held them at bay in
+Luebeck; and the young officers, Gneisenau and Schill, kept the fortress
+of Colberg, on the Baltic, where they were steadily besieged until the
+war was over.
+
+[Sidenote: 1806.]
+
+When Napoleon entered Berlin in triumph, on the 27th of November, he
+found nearly the whole population completely cowed, and ready to
+acknowledge his authority; seven Ministers of the Prussian Government
+took the oath of allegiance to him, and agreed, at once, to give up all
+of the kingdom west of the Elbe for the sake of peace! Frederick William
+III., who had fled to Koenigsberg, refused to confirm their action, and
+entered into an alliance with Alexander I. of Russia, to continue the
+war. Napoleon, meanwhile, had made peace with Saxony, which, after
+paying heavy contributions and joining the Rhine-Bund, was raised by him
+to the rank of a kingdom. At the same time he encouraged a revolt in
+Prussian Poland, got possession of Silesia, and kept Austria neutral by
+skilful diplomacy. England had the power, by prompt and energetic
+action, of changing the face of affairs, but her government did nothing.
+
+Pressing eastward during the winter, the French army, 140,000 strong,
+met the Russians and Prussians on the 8th of February, 1807, in the
+murderous battle of Eylau, after which, because its result was
+undecided, Napoleon concluded a truce of several months. Frederick
+William appointed a new Ministry, with the fearless and patriotic
+statesmen, Hardenberg and Stein, who formed a fresh alliance with
+Russia, which was soon joined by England and Sweden. Nevertheless, it
+was almost impossible to reinforce the Prussian army, and Alexander I.
+made no great exertions to increase the Russian, while Napoleon, with
+all Prussia in his rear, was constantly receiving fresh troops. Early in
+June he resumed hostilities, and on the 14th, with a much superior
+force, so completely defeated the Allies in the battle of Friedland,
+that they were driven over the river Memel into Russian territory.
+
+[Sidenote: 1807. THE PEACE OF TILSIT.]
+
+The Russians immediately concluded an armistice: Napoleon had an
+interview with Alexander I. on a raft in the river Memel, and acquired
+such an immediate influence over the enthusiastic, fantastic nature of
+the latter, that he became a friend and practically an ally. The next
+day, there was another interview, at which Frederick William III. was
+also present: the Queen, Louise of Mecklenburg, a woman of noble and
+heroic character, whom Napoleon had vilely slandered, was persuaded to
+accompany him, but only subjected herself to new humiliation. (She died
+in 1810, during Germany's deepest degradation, but her son, William I.,
+became German Emperor in 1871.) The Peace of Tilsit was declared on the
+9th of July, 1807, according to Napoleon's single will. Hardenberg had
+been dismissed from the Prussian Ministry, and Talleyrand gave his
+successor a completed document, to be signed without discussion.
+
+Prussia lost very nearly the half of her territory: her population was
+diminished from 9,743,000 to 4,938,000. A new "Grand-Duchy of Warsaw"
+was formed by Napoleon out of her Polish acquisitions. The contributions
+which had been levied and which Prussia was still forced to pay amounted
+to a total sum of three hundred million thalers, and she was obliged to
+maintain a French army in her diminished territory until the last
+farthing should be paid over. Russia, on the other hand, lost nothing,
+but received a part of Polish Prussia. A new Kingdom of Westphalia was
+formed out of Brunswick, and parts of Prussia and Hannover, and
+Napoleon's brother, Jerome, was made king. The latter, whose wife was an
+American lady, Miss Patterson of Baltimore, was compelled to renounce
+her, and marry the daughter of the new king of Wuertemberg, although, as
+a Catholic, he could not do this without a special dispensation from the
+Pope, and Pius VII. refused to give one. Thus he became a bigamist,
+according to the laws of the Roman Church. Jerome was a weak and
+licentious individual, and made himself heartily hated by his two
+millions of German subjects during his six years' rule in Cassel.
+
+[Sidenote: 1808.]
+
+Frederick William III. was at last stung by his misfortunes into the
+adoption of another and manlier policy. He called Stein to the head of
+his Ministry, and allowed the latter to introduce reforms for the
+purpose of assisting, strengthening and developing the character of the
+people. But 150,000 French troops still fed like locusts upon the
+substance of Prussia, and there was an immense amount of poverty and
+suffering. The French commanders plundered so outrageously and acted
+with such shameless brutality, that even the slow German nature became
+heated with a hate so intense that it is not yet wholly extinguished.
+But this was not the end of the degradation. Napoleon, at the climax of
+his power, having (without exaggeration) the whole Continent of Europe
+under his feet, demanded that Prussia should join the Rhine-Bund, reduce
+her standing army to 42,000 men, and, in case of necessity, furnish
+France with troops against Austria. The temporary courage of the king
+dissolved: he signed a treaty on the 8th of September, 1808, without the
+knowledge of Stein, granting nearly everything Napoleon claimed,--thus
+compelling the patriotic statesman to resign, and making what was left
+of Prussia tributary to the designs of France.
+
+At the same time Napoleon held a so-called Congress at Erfurt, at which
+all the German rulers (except Austria) were present, but the decisions
+were made by himself, with the connivance of Alexander I. of Russia. The
+latter received Finland and the Danubian Principalities. Napoleon simply
+carried out his own personal policy. He made his brother Joseph king of
+Spain, gave Naples to his brother-in-law, Murat, and soon afterwards
+annexed the States of the Church, in Italy, to France, abolishing the
+temporal sovereignty of the Pope. Every one of the smaller German States
+had already joined the Rhine-Bund, and the Diet by which they were
+governed abjectly obeyed his will. Princes, nobles, officials, and
+authors vied with each other in doing homage to him. Even the battles of
+Jena and Friedland were celebrated by popular festivals in the capitals
+of the other States: the people of Southern Germany, especially,
+rejoiced over the shame and suffering of their brethren in the North.
+Ninety German authors dedicated books to Napoleon, and the newspapers
+became contemptible in their servile praises of his rule.
+
+[Sidenote: 1809. REVOLT OF THE TYROLESE.]
+
+Austria, always energetic at the wrong time and weak when energy was
+necessary, prepared for war, relying on the help of Prussia and possibly
+of Russia. Napoleon had been called to Spain, where a part of the
+people, supported by Wellington, with an English force, in Portugal, was
+making a gallant resistance to the French rule. A few patriotic and
+courageous men, all over Germany, began to consult together concerning
+the best means for the liberation of the country. The Prussian
+Ex-minister, Baron Stein, the philosopher Fichte, the statesman and poet
+Arndt, the Generals Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, the historian Niebuhr,
+and also the Austrian minister, Count Stadion, used every effort to
+increase and extend this movement; but there was no German prince,
+except the young Duke of Brunswick, ready or willing to act.
+
+The Tyrolese, who are still the most Austrian of Austrians, and the most
+Catholic of Catholics, organized a revolt against the French-Bavarian
+rule, early in 1809. This was the first purely popular movement in
+Germany, which had occurred since the revolt of the Austrian peasants
+against Ferdinand II. nearly two hundred years before. The Tyrolese
+leaders were Andreas Hofer, a hunter named Speckbacher and a monk named
+Haspinger; their troops were peasants and mountaineers. The plot was so
+well organized that the Alps were speedily cleared of the enemy, and on
+the 13th of April, Hofer captured Innsbruck, which he held for Austria.
+When the French and Bavarian troops entered the mountain-passes, they
+were picked off by skilful riflemen or crushed by rocks and trees rolled
+down upon them. The daring of the Tyrolese produced a stirring effect
+throughout Austria; for the first time, the people came forward as
+volunteers, to be enrolled in the army, and the Archduke Karl, in a
+short time, had a force of 300,000 men at his disposal.
+
+Napoleon returned from Spain at the first news of the impending war. As
+the Rhine-Bund did not dream of disobedience, as Prussia was crippled,
+and the sentimental friendship of Alexander I. had not yet grown cold,
+he raised an army of 180,000 men and entered Bavaria by the 9th of
+April. The Archduke was not prepared: his large force had been divided
+and stationed according to a plan which might have been very successful,
+if Napoleon had been willing to respect it. He lost three battles in
+succession, the last, at Eckmuehl on the 22d of April, obliging him to
+give up Ratisbon, and retreat into Bohemia. The second Austrian army,
+which had been victorious over the Viceroy Eugene, in Italy, was
+instantly recalled, but it was too late: there were only 30,000 men on
+the southern bank of the Danube, between the French and Vienna.
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+The movement in Tyrol was imitated in Prussia by Major Schill, one of
+the defenders of Colberg in 1807. His heroism had given him great
+popularity, and he was untiring in his efforts to incite the people to
+revolt. The secret association of patriotic men, already referred to,
+which was called the _Tugendbund_, or "League of Virtue," encouraged him
+so far as it was able; and when he entered Berlin at the head of four
+squadrons of hussars, immediately after the news of Hofer's success, he
+was received with such enthusiasm that he imagined the moment had come
+for arousing Prussia. Marching out of the city, as if for the usual
+cavalry exercise, he addressed his troops in a fiery speech, revealed to
+them his plans and inspired them with equal confidence. With his little
+band he took Halle, besieged Bernburg, was victorious in a number of
+small battles against the increasing forces of the French, but at the
+end of a month was compelled to retreat to Stralsund. The city was
+stormed, and he fell in resisting the assault; the French captured and
+shot twelve of his officers. The fame of his exploits helped to fire the
+German heart; the courage of the people returned, and they began to grow
+restless and indignant under their shame.
+
+By the 13th of May, Napoleon had entered Vienna and taken up his
+quarters in the palace of Schoenbrunn. The Archduke Karl was at the same
+time rapidly approaching with an army of 75,000 men, and Napoleon, who
+had 90,000, hastened to throw a bridge across the Danube, below the
+city, in order to meet him before he could be reinforced. On the 21st,
+however, the Archduke began the attack before the whole French army had
+crossed, and the desperate battle of Aspern followed. After two days of
+bloody fighting, the French fell back upon the island of Lobau, and
+their bridge was destroyed. This was Napoleon's first defeat in Germany,
+but it was dearly purchased: the loss on each side was about 24,000.
+Napoleon issued flaming bulletins of victory which deceived the German
+people for a time, meanwhile ordering new troops to be forwarded with
+all possible haste. He deceived the Archduke by a heavy cannonade,
+rapidly constructed six bridges further down the river, crossed with his
+whole army, and on the 6th of July fought the battle of Wagram, which
+ended with the defeat and retreat of the Austrians.
+
+[Sidenote: 1809. THE DUKE OF BRUNSWICK'S ATTEMPT.]
+
+An armistice followed, and the war was concluded on the 14th of October
+by the Peace of Vienna. Francis II. was compelled to give up Salzburg
+and some adjoining territory to Bavaria; Galicia to Russia and the
+Grand-Duchy of Warsaw; and Carniola, Croatia and Dalmatia with Trieste
+to the kingdom of Italy,--a total loss of 3,500,000 of population. He
+further agreed to pay a contribution of eighty-five millions of francs
+to France, and was persuaded, shortly afterwards, to give the hand of
+his daughter, Maria Louisa, to Napoleon, who had meanwhile divorced
+himself from the Empress Josephine. The Tyrolese, who had been
+encouraged by promises of help from Vienna, refused to believe that they
+were betrayed and given up. Hofer continued his struggle with success
+after the conclusion of peace, until near the close of the year, when
+the French and Bavarians returned in force, and the movement was
+crushed. He hid for two months among the mountains, then was betrayed by
+a monk, captured, and carried in chains to Mantua. Here he was tried by
+a French court-martial and shot on the 20th of February, 1810. Francis
+II. might have saved his life, but he made no attempt to do it. Thus, in
+North and South, Schill and Hofer perished, unsustained by their kings;
+yet their deeds remained, as an inspiration to the whole German people.
+
+During the summer of 1809, the Duke of Brunswick, whose land Napoleon
+had added to Jerome's kingdom of Westphalia, made a daring attempt to
+drive the French from Northern Germany. He had joined a small Austrian
+army, sent to operate in Saxony, and when it was recalled after the
+battle of Eckmuehl, he made a desperate effort to reconquer Brunswick
+with a force of only 2,000 volunteers. The latter dressed in black, and
+wore a skull and cross-bones on their caps. The Duke took Halberstadt,
+reached Brunswick, then cut his way through the German-French forces
+closing in upon him, and came to the shore of the North Sea, where, it
+was expected, an English army would land. He and his troops escaped in
+small vessels: the English, 40,000 strong, landed on the island of
+Walcheren (on the coast of Belgium), where they lay idle until driven
+home by sickness.
+
+[Sidenote: 1810.]
+
+For three years after the peace of Vienna, Napoleon was all-powerful in
+Germany. He was married to Maria Louisa on the 2d of April, 1810; his
+son, the King of Rome, was born the following March, and Austria, where
+Metternich was now Minister instead of Count Stadion, followed the
+policy of France. All Germany accepted the "Continental Blockade," which
+cut off its commerce with England: the standing armies of Austria and
+Prussia were reduced to one-fourth of their ordinary strength; the king
+of Prussia, who had lived for two years in Koenigsberg, was ordered to
+return to Berlin, and the French ministers at all the smaller Courts
+became the practical rulers of the States. In 1810, the kingdom of
+Holland was taken from Louis Bonaparte and annexed to the French Empire;
+then Northern Germany, with Bremen, Hamburg and Luebeck, was annexed in
+like manner, and the same fate was evidently intended for the States of
+the Rhine-Bund, if the despotic selfishness of Napoleon had not put an
+end to his marvellous success. The king of Prussia was next compelled to
+suppress the "League of Virtue": Germany was filled with French spies
+(many of them native Germans), and every expression of patriotic
+sentiment was reported as treason to France.
+
+In the territory of the Rhine-Bund, there was, however, very little real
+patriotism among the people: in Austria the latter were still kept down
+by the Jesuitic rule of the Hapsburgs: only in the smaller Saxon
+Duchies, and in Prussia, the idea of resistance was fostered, though in
+spite of Frederick William III. Indeed, the temporary removal of the
+king was for awhile secretly advocated. Hardenberg and Scharnhorst did
+their utmost to prepare the people for the struggle which they knew
+would come: the former introduced new laws, based on the principle of
+the equality of all citizens before the law, their equal right to
+development, protection and official service. Scharnhorst, the son of a
+peasant, trained the people for military duty, in defiance of France: he
+kept the number of soldiers at 42,000, in accordance with the treaty,
+but as fast as they were well-drilled, he sent them home and put fresh
+recruits in their place. In this manner he gradually prepared 150,000
+men for the army.
+
+[Illustration: GERMANY under NAPOLEON, 1812.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1811.]
+
+Alexander I. of Russia had by this time lost his sentimental friendship
+for Napoleon. The seizure by the latter of the territory of the Duke of
+Oldenburg, who was his near relation, greatly offended him: he grew
+tired of submitting to the Continental Blockade, and in 1811 adopted
+commercial laws which amounted to its abandonment. Then Napoleon showed
+his own overwhelming arrogance; and his course once more illustrated the
+abject condition of Germany. Every ruler saw that a great war was
+coming, and had nearly a year's time for decision; but all submitted!
+Early in 1812 the colossal plan was put into action: Prussia agreed to
+furnish 20,000 soldiers, Austria 30,000, and the Rhine-Bund, which
+comprised the rest of Germany, was called upon for 150,000. France
+furnished more than 300,000, and this enormous military force was set in
+motion against Russia, which was at the time unable to raise half that
+number of troops. In May Napoleon and Maria Louisa held a grand Court in
+Dresden, which a crowd of reigning princes attended, and where even
+Francis I. and Frederick William III. were treated rather as vassals
+than as equals. This was the climax of Napoleon's success. Regardless of
+distance, climate, lack of supplies and all the other impediments to his
+will, he pushed forward with an army greater than Europe had seen since
+the days of Attila, but from which only one man, horse and cannon out of
+every ten returned.
+
+After holding a grand review on the battle-field of Friedland, he
+crossed the Niemen and entered Russia on the 24th of June, met the
+Russians in battle at Smolensk on the 16th and 17th of August, and after
+great losses continued his march towards Moscow through a country which
+had been purposely laid waste, and where great numbers of his soldiers
+perished from hunger and fatigue. On the 7th of September, the Russian
+army of 120,000 men met him on the field of Borodino, where occurred the
+most desperate battle of all his wars. At the close of the fight 80,000
+dead and wounded (about an equal number on each side) lay upon the
+plain. The Russians retreated, repulsed but not conquered, and on the
+14th of September Napoleon entered Moscow. The city was deserted by its
+inhabitants: all goods and treasures which could be speedily removed
+had been taken away, and the next evening flames broke out in a number
+of places. The conflagration spread so that within a week four-fifths of
+the city were destroyed: Napoleon was forced to leave the Kremlin and
+escape through burning streets; and thus the French army was left
+without winter-quarters and provisions.
+
+[Sidenote: 1812. THE RETREAT FROM RUSSIA.]
+
+After offering terms of peace in vain, and losing a month of precious
+time in waiting, nothing was left for Napoleon but to commence his
+disastrous retreat. Cut off from the warmer southern route by the
+Russians on the 24th of October, his army, diminishing day by day,
+endured all the horrors of the Northern winter, and lost so many in the
+fearful passage of the Beresina and from the constant attacks of the
+Cossacks, that not more than 30,000 men, famished, frozen and mostly
+without arms, crossed the Prussian frontier about the middle of
+December. After reaching Wilna, Napoleon had hurried on alone, in
+advance: his passage through Germany was like a flight, and he was safe
+in Paris before the terrible failure of his campaign was generally known
+throughout Europe.
+
+When Frederick William III. agreed to furnish 20,000 troops to France,
+his best generals--Bluecher, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau--and three hundred
+officers resigned. The command of the Prussian contingent was given to
+General York, who was sent to Riga during the march to Moscow, and
+escaped the horrors of the retreat. When the fate of the campaign was
+decided, he left the French with his remaining 17,000 Prussian soldiers,
+concluded a treaty of neutrality with the Russian general Diebitsch,
+called an assembly of the people together in Koenigsberg, and boldly
+ordered that all men capable of bearing arms should be mustered into the
+army. Frederick William, in Berlin, disavowed this act, but the Prussian
+people were ready for it. The excitement became so great, that the men
+who had influence with the king succeeded in having his Court removed to
+Breslau, where an alliance was entered into with Alexander I., and on
+the 17th of March, 1813, an address was issued in the king's name,
+calling upon the people to choose between victory and ruin. The measures
+which York had adopted were proclaimed for all Prussia, and the
+patriotic schemes of Stein and Hardenberg, so long thwarted by the
+king's weakness, were thus suddenly carried into action.
+
+[Sidenote: 1813.]
+
+The effect was astonishing, when we consider how little real liberty
+the people had enjoyed. But they had been educated in patriotic
+sentiments by another power than the Government. For years, the works of
+the great German authors had become familiar to them: Klopstock taught
+them to be proud of their race and name; Schiller taught them resistance
+to oppression; Arndt and Koerner gave them songs which stirred them more
+than the sound of drum and trumpet, and thousands of high-hearted young
+men mingled with them and inspired them with new courage and new hopes.
+Within five months Prussia had 270,000 soldiers under arms, part of whom
+were organized to repel the coming armies of Napoleon, while the
+remainder undertook the siege of the many Prussian fortresses which were
+still garrisoned by the French. All classes of the people took part in
+this uprising: the professors followed the students, the educated men
+stood side by side with the peasants, mothers gave their only sons, and
+the women sent all their gold and jewels to the treasury and wore
+ornaments of iron. The young poet, Theodor Koerner, not only aroused the
+people with his fiery songs, but fought in the "free corps" of Luetzow,
+and finally gave his life for his country: the _Turner_, or gymnasts,
+inspired by their teacher Jahn, went as a body into the ranks, and even
+many women disguised themselves and enlisted as soldiers.
+
+With the exception of Mecklenburg and Dessau, the States of the
+Rhine-Bund still held to France: Saxony and Bavaria especially
+distinguished themselves by their abject fidelity to Napoleon. Austria
+remained neutral, and whatever influence she exercised was against
+Prussia. But Sweden, under the Crown Prince Bernadotte (Napoleon's
+former Marshal) joined the movement, with the condition of obtaining
+Norway in case of success. The operations were delayed by the slowness
+of the Russians, and the disagreement, or perhaps jealousy, of the
+various generals; and Napoleon made good use of the time to prepare
+himself for the coming struggle. Although France was already exhausted,
+he enforced a merciless conscription, taking young boys and old men,
+until, with the German soldiers still at his disposal, he had a force of
+nearly 500,000 men.
+
+The campaign opened well for Prussia. Hamburg and Luebeck were delivered
+from the French, and on the 5th of April the Viceroy Eugene was defeated
+at Moeckern (near Leipzig) with heavy losses. The first great battle was
+fought at Luetzen, on the 2d of May, on the same field where Gustavus
+Adolphus fell in 1632. The Russians and Prussians, with 95,000 men, held
+Napoleon, with 120,000, at bay for a whole day, and then fell back in
+good order, after a defeat which encouraged instead of dispiriting the
+people. The greatest loss was the death of Scharnhorst. Shortly
+afterwards Napoleon occupied Dresden, and it became evident that Saxony
+would be the principal theatre of war. A second battle of two days took
+place on the 20th and 21st of May, in which, although the French
+outnumbered the Germans and Russians two to one, they barely achieved a
+victory. The courage and patriotism of the people were now beginning to
+tell, especially as Napoleon's troops were mostly young, physically
+weak, and inexperienced. In order to give them rest he offered an
+armistice on the 4th of June, an act which he afterwards declared to
+have been the greatest mistake of his life. It was prolonged until the
+10th of August, and gave the Germans time both to rest and recruit, and
+to strengthen themselves by an alliance with Austria.
+
+[Sidenote: 1813. ALLIANCE OF AUSTRIA.]
+
+Francis II. judged that the time had come to recover what he had lost,
+especially as England formally joined Prussia and Russia on the 14th of
+June. A fortnight afterwards an agreement was entered into between the
+two latter powers and Austria, that peace should be offered to Napoleon
+provided he would give up Northern Germany, the Dalmatian provinces and
+the Grand-Duchy of Warsaw. He rejected the offer, and so insulted
+Metternich during an interview in Dresden, that the latter became his
+bitter enemy thenceforth. The end of all the negotiations was that
+Austria declared war on the 12th of August, and both sides prepared at
+once for a final and desperate struggle. The Allies now had 800,000 men,
+divided into three armies, one under Schwarzenberg confronting the
+French centre in Saxony, one under Bluecher in Silesia, and a third in
+the North under Bernadotte. The last of these generals seemed reluctant
+to act against his former leader, and his participation was of little
+real service. Napoleon had 550,000 men, less scattered than the Germans,
+and all under the government of his single will. He was still,
+therefore, a formidable foe.
+
+[Sidenote: 1813.]
+
+Just sixteen days after the armistice came to an end, the old Bluecher
+won a victory as splendid as many of Napoleon's. He met Marshal
+Macdonald on the banks of a stream called the Katzbach, in Silesia, and
+defeated him with the loss of 12,000 killed and wounded, 18,000
+prisoners and 103 cannon. From the circumstance of his having cried out
+to his men: "Forwards! forwards!" in the crisis of the battle, Bluecher
+was thenceforth called "Marshal Forwards" by the soldiers. Five days
+before this the Prussian general Buelow was victorious over Oudinot at
+Grossbeeren, within ten miles of Berlin; and four days afterwards the
+French general Vandamme, with 40,000 men, was cut to pieces by the
+Austrians and Prussians, at Kulm on the southern frontier of Saxony.
+Thus, within a month, Napoleon lost one-fourth of his whole force, while
+the fresh hope and enthusiasm of the German people immediately supplied
+the losses on their side. It is true that Schwarzenberg had been
+severely repulsed in an attack on Dresden, on the 27th of August, but
+this had been so speedily followed by Vandamme's defeat, that it
+produced no discouragement.
+
+The month of September opened with another Prussian victory. On the 6th,
+Buelow defeated Ney at Dennewitz, taking 15,000 prisoners and 80 cannon.
+This change of fortune seems to have bewildered Napoleon: instead of his
+former promptness and rapidity, he spent a month in Dresden, alternately
+trying to entice Bluecher or Schwarzenberg to give battle. The latter
+two, meanwhile, were gradually drawing nearer to each other and to
+Bernadotte, and their final junction was effected without any serious
+movement to prevent it on Napoleon's part. Bluecher's passage of the Elbe
+on the 3d of October compelled him to leave Dresden with his army and
+take up a new position in Leipzig, where he arrived on the 13th. The
+Allies instantly closed in upon him: there was a fierce but indecisive
+cavalry fight on the 14th, the 15th was spent in preparations on both
+sides, and on the 16th the great battle began.
+
+Napoleon had about 190,000 men, the Allies 300,000: both were posted
+along lines many miles in extent, stretching over the open plain, from
+the north and east around to the south of Leipzig. The first day's fight
+really comprised three distinct battles, two of which were won by the
+French and one by Bluecher. During the afternoon a terrific charge of
+cavalry under Murat broke the centre of the Allies, and Frederick
+William and Alexander I. narrowly escaped capture: Schwarzenberg, at the
+head of a body of Cossacks and Austrian hussars, repulsed the charge,
+and night came without any positive result. Napoleon sent offers of
+peace, but they were not answered, and the Allies thereby gained a day
+for reinforcements. On the morning of the 18th the battle was resumed:
+all day long the earth trembled under the discharge of more than a
+thousand cannon, the flames of nine or ten burning villages heated the
+air, and from dawn until sunset the immense hosts carried on a number of
+separate and desperate battles at different points along the line.
+Napoleon had his station on a mound near a windmill: his centre held its
+position, in spite of terrible losses, but both his wings were driven
+back. Bernadotte did not appear on the field until four in the
+afternoon, but about 4,000 Saxons and other Germans went over from the
+French to the Allies during the day, and the demoralizing effect of this
+desertion probably influenced Napoleon quite as much as his material
+losses. He gave orders for an instant retreat, which was commenced on
+the night of the 18th. His army was reduced to 100,000 men: the Allies
+had lost, in killed and wounded, about 50,000.
+
+[Sidenote: 1813. THE BATTLE OF LEIPZIG.]
+
+All Germany was electrified by this victory; from the Baltic to the
+Alps, the land rang with rejoicings. The people considered, and justly
+so, that they had won this great battle: the reigning princes, as later
+events proved, held a different opinion. But, from that day to this, it
+is called in Germany "the Battle of the Peoples": it was as crushing a
+blow for France as Jena had been to Prussia or Austerlitz to Austria. On
+the morning of the 19th of October the Allies began a storm upon
+Leipzig, which was still held by Marshal Macdonald and Prince
+Poniatowsky to cover Napoleon's retreat. By noon the city was entered at
+several gates; the French, in their haste, blew up the bridge over the
+Elster river before a great part of their own troops had crossed, and
+Poniatowsky, with hundreds of others, was drowned in attempting to
+escape. Among the prisoners was the king of Saxony, who had stood by
+Napoleon until the last moment. In the afternoon Alexander I. and
+Frederick William entered Leipzig, and were received as deliverers by
+the people.
+
+The two monarchs, nevertheless, owed their success entirely to the
+devotion of the German people, and not at all to their own energy and
+military talent. In spite of the great forces still at their disposal,
+they interfered with the plans of Bluecher and other generals who
+insisted on a rapid and vigorous pursuit, and were at any time ready to
+accept peace on terms which would have ruined Germany, if Napoleon had
+not been insane enough to reject them. The latter continued his march
+towards France, by way of Naumburg, Erfurt and Fulda, losing thousands
+by desertion and disease, but without any serious interference until he
+reached Hanau, near Frankfort. At almost the last moment (October 14),
+Maximilian I. of Bavaria had deserted France and joined the Allies: one
+of his generals, Wrede, with about 55,000 Bavarians and Austrians,
+marched northward, and at Hanau intercepted the French. Napoleon, not
+caring to engage in a battle, contented himself with cutting his way
+through Wrede's army, on the 25th of October. He crossed the Rhine and
+reached France with less than 70,000 men, without encountering further
+resistance.
+
+[Sidenote: 1814.]
+
+Jerome Bonaparte fled from his kingdom of Westphalia immediately after
+the battle of Leipzig: Wuertemberg joined the Allies, the Rhine-Bund
+dissolved, and the artificial structure which Napoleon had created fell
+to pieces. Even then, Prussia, Russia and Austria wished to discontinue
+the war: the popular enthusiasm in Germany was taking a _national_
+character, the people were beginning to feel their own power, and this
+was very disagreeable to Alexander I. and Metternich. The Rhine was
+offered as a boundary to Napoleon: yet, although Wellington was by this
+time victorious in Spain and was about to cross the Pyrenees, the French
+Emperor refused and the Allies were reluctantly obliged to resume
+hostilities. They had already wasted much valuable time: they now
+adopted a plan which was sure to fail, if the energies of France had not
+been so utterly exhausted.
+
+Three armies were formed: one, under Buelow, was sent into Holland to
+overthrow the French rule there; another, under Schwarzenberg, marched
+through Switzerland into Burgundy, about the end of December, hoping to
+meet with Wellington somewhere in Central France; and the third under
+Bluecher, which had been delayed longest by the doubt and hesitation of
+the sovereigns, crossed the Rhine at three points, from Coblentz to
+Mannheim, on the night of New-Year, 1814. The subjection of Germany to
+France was over: only the garrisons of a number of fortresses remained,
+but these were already besieged, and they surrendered one by one, in the
+course of the next few months.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+FROM THE LIBERATION OF GERMANY TO THE YEAR 1848.
+
+(1814--1848.)
+
+Napoleon's Retreat. --Halting Course of the Allies. --The Treaty of
+    Paris. --The Congress of Vienna. --Napoleon's Return to France.
+    --New Alliance. --Napoleon, Wellington and Bluecher. --Battles of
+    Ligney and Quatrebras. --Battle of Waterloo. --New Treaty with
+    France. --European Changes. --Reconstruction of Germany.
+    --Metternich arranges a Confederation. --Its Character. --The Holy
+    Alliance. --Reaction among the Princes. --Movement of the Students.
+    --Conference at Carlsbad. --Returning Despotism. --Condition of
+    Germany. --Changes in 1830. --The Zollverein. --Death of Francis
+    II. and Frederick William III. --Frederick William IV. as King.
+    --The German-Catholic Movement in 1844. --General Dissatisfaction.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1814. NAPOLEON'S DEFENSE.]
+
+Napoleon's genius was never more brilliantly manifested than during the
+slow advance of the Allies from the Rhine to Paris, in the first three
+months of the year 1814. He had not expected an invasion before the
+spring, and was taken by surprise; but with all the courage and
+intrepidity of his younger years, he collected an army of 100,000 men,
+and marched against Bluecher, who had already reached Brienne. In a
+battle on the 29th of January he was victorious, but a second on the 1st
+of February compelled him to retreat. Instead of following up this
+advantage, the three monarchs began to consult: they rejected Bluecher's
+demand for a union of the armies and an immediate march on Paris, and
+ordered him to follow the river Marne in four divisions, while
+Schwarzenberg advanced by a more southerly route. This was just what
+Napoleon wanted. He hurled himself upon the divided Prussian forces, and
+in five successive battles, from the 10th to the 14th of February,
+defeated and drove them back. Then, rapidly turning southward, he
+defeated a part of Schwarzenberg's army at Montereau on the 18th, and
+compelled the latter to retreat.
+
+[Sidenote: 1814.]
+
+The Allies now offered peace, granting to France the boundaries of
+1792, which included Savoy, Lorraine and Alsatia. The history of their
+negotiations during the campaign shows how reluctantly they prosecuted
+the war, and what little right they have to its final success, which is
+wholly due to Stein, Bluecher, and the bravery of the German soldiers.
+Napoleon was so elated by his victories that he rejected the offer; and
+then, _at last_, the union of the allied armies and their march on Paris
+was permitted. Battle after battle followed: Napoleon disputed every
+inch of ground with the most marvellous energy, but even his victories
+were disasters, for he had no means of replacing the troops he lost. The
+last fight took place at the gates of Paris, on the 30th of March, and
+the next day, at noon, the three sovereigns made their triumphal
+entrance into the city.
+
+Not until then did the latter determine to dethrone Napoleon and restore
+the Bourbon dynasty. They compelled the act of abdication, which
+Napoleon signed at Fontainebleau on the 11th of April, installed the
+Count d'Artois (afterwards Charles X.) as head of a temporary
+government, and gave to France the boundaries of 1792. Napoleon was
+limited to the little island of Elba, Maria Louisa received the Duchy of
+Parma, and the other Bonapartes were allowed to retain the title of
+Prince, with an income of 2,500,000 francs. One million francs was given
+to the Ex-Empress Josephine, who died the same year. No indemnity was
+exacted from France; not even the works of art, stolen from the
+galleries of Italy and Germany for the adornment of Paris, were
+reclaimed! After enduring ten years of humiliation and outrage, the
+Allies were as tenderly considerate as if their invasion of France had
+been a wrong, for which they must atone by all possible concessions.
+
+In Southern Germany, where very little national sentiment existed, the
+treaty was quietly accepted, but it provoked great indignation among the
+people in the North. Their rejoicings over the downfall of Napoleon, the
+deliverance of Germany, and (as they believed) the foundation of a
+liberal government for themselves, were disturbed by this manifestation
+of weakness on the part of their leaders. The European Congress, which
+was opened on the 1st of November, 1814, at Vienna, was not calculated
+to restore their confidence. Francis II. and Alexander I. were the
+leading figures; other nations were represented by their best
+statesmen; the former priestly rulers, all the petty princes, and
+hundreds of the "Imperial" nobility whose privileges had been taken away
+from them, attended in the hope of recovering something from the general
+chaos. A series of splendid entertainments was given to the members of
+the Congress, and it soon became evident to the world that Europe, and
+especially Germany, was to be reconstructed according to the will of the
+individual rulers, without reference to principle or people.
+
+[Sidenote: 1815. NAPOLEON'S RETURN TO FRANCE.]
+
+France was represented in the Congress by Talleyrand, who was greatly
+the superior of the other members in the arts of diplomacy. Before the
+winter was over, he persuaded Austria and England to join France in an
+alliance against Russia and Prussia, and another European war would
+probably have broken out, but for the startling news of Napoleon's
+landing in France on the 1st of March, 1815. Then, all were compelled to
+suspend their jealousies and unite against their common foe. On the 25th
+of March a new alliance was concluded between Austria, Russia, Prussia
+and England: the first three agreed to furnish 150,000 men each, while
+the last contributed a lesser number of soldiers and 5,000,000 pounds
+sterling. All the smaller German States joined in the movement, and the
+people were still so full of courage and patriotic hope that a much
+larger force than was needed was soon under arms.
+
+Napoleon reached Paris on the 20th of March, and instantly commenced the
+organization of a new army, while offering peace to all the powers of
+Europe, on the basis of the treaty of Paris. This time, he received no
+answer: the terror of his name had passed away, and the allied
+sovereigns acted with promptness and courage. Though he held France,
+Napoleon's position was not strong, even there. The land had suffered
+terribly, and the people desired peace, which they had never enjoyed
+under his rule. He raised nearly half a million of soldiers, but was
+obliged to use the greater portion in preventing outbreaks among the
+population; then, selecting the best, he marched towards Belgium with an
+army of 120,000, in order to meet Wellington and Bluecher by turns,
+before they could unite. The former had 100,000 men, most of them Dutch
+and Germans, under his command: the latter, with 115,000, was rapidly
+approaching from the East. By this time--the beginning of June--neither
+the Austrians nor Russians had entered France.
+
+[Sidenote: 1815.]
+
+On the 16th of June two battles occurred. Napoleon fought Bluecher at
+Ligny, while Marshal Ney, with 40,000 men, attacked Wellington at
+Quatrebras. Thus neither of the allies was able to help the other.
+Bluecher defended himself desperately, but his horse was shot under him
+and the French cavalry almost rode over him as he lay upon the ground.
+He was rescued with difficulty, and then compelled to fall back. The
+battle between Ney and Wellington was hotly contested; the gallant Duke
+of Brunswick was slain in a cavalry charge, and the losses on both sides
+were very great, but neither could claim a decided advantage. Wellington
+retired to Waterloo the next day, to be nearer Bluecher, and then
+
+Napoleon, uniting with Ney, marched against him with 75,000 men, while
+Grouchy was sent with 36,000 to engage Bluecher. Wellington had 68,000
+men, so the disproportion in numbers was not very great, but Napoleon
+was much stronger in cavalry and artillery.
+
+The great battle of Waterloo began on the morning of the 18th of June.
+Wellington was attacked again and again, and the utmost courage and
+endurance of his soldiers barely enabled them to hold their ground: the
+charges of the French were met by an equally determined resistance, but
+the fate of the battle depended on Bluecher's arrival. The latter left a
+few corps at Wavre, his former position, in order to deceive Grouchy,
+and pushed forward through rain and across a marshy country to
+Wellington's relief. At four o'clock in the afternoon Napoleon made a
+tremendous effort to break the English centre: the endurance of his
+enemy began to fail, and there were signs of wavering along the English
+lines when the cry was heard: "The Prussians are coming!" Buelow's corps
+soon appeared on the French flank, Bluecher's army closed in shortly
+afterwards, and by eight o'clock the French were flying from the field.
+There were no allied monarchs on hand to arrest the pursuit: Bluecher and
+Wellington followed so rapidly that they stood before Paris within ten
+days, and Napoleon was left without any alternative but instant
+surrender. The losses at Waterloo, on both sides, were 50,000 killed and
+wounded.
+
+This was the end of Napoleon's interference in the history of Europe.
+All his offers were rejected, he was deserted by the French, and a
+fortnight afterwards, failing in his plan of escaping to America, he
+surrendered to the captain of an English frigate off the port of
+Rochefort. From that moment until his death at St. Helena on the 5th of
+May, 1821, he was a prisoner and an exile. A new treaty was made between
+the allied monarchs and the Bourbon dynasty of France: this time the
+treasures of art and learning were restored to Italy and Germany, an
+indemnity of 700,000,000 francs was exacted, Savoy was given back to
+Sardinia, and a little strip of territory, including the fortresses of
+Saarbrueck, Saarlouis and Landau, added to Germany. The attempt of
+Austria and Prussia to acquire Lorraine and Alsatia was defeated by the
+cunning of Talleyrand and the opposition of Alexander I. of Russia.
+
+[Sidenote: 1815. THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA.]
+
+The jealousies and dissensions in the Congress of Vienna were hastily
+arranged during the excitement occasioned by Napoleon's return from
+Elba, and the members patched together, within three months, a new
+political map of Europe. There was no talk of restoring the lost kingdom
+of Poland; Prussia's claim to Saxony (which the king, Frederick
+Augustus, had fairly forfeited) was defeated by Austria and England; and
+then, after each of the principal powers had secured whatever was
+possible, they combined to regulate the affairs of the helpless smaller
+States. Holland and Belgium were added together, called the Kingdom of
+the Netherlands, and given to the house of Orange: Switzerland, which
+had joined the Allies against France, was allowed to remain a republic
+and received some slight increase of territory; and Lorraine and Alsatia
+were lost to Germany.
+
+Austria received Lombardy and Venetia, Illyria, Dalmatia, the Tyrol,
+Salzburg, Galicia and whatever other territory she formerly possessed.
+Prussia gave up Warsaw to Russia, but kept Posen, recovered Westphalia
+and the territory on the Lower Rhine, and was enlarged by the annexation
+of Swedish Pomerania, part of Saxony, and the former archbishoprics of
+Mayence, Treves and Cologne. East-Friesland was taken from Prussia and
+given to Hannover, which was made a kingdom: Weimar, Oldenburg and the
+two Mecklenburgs were made Grand-Duchies, and Bavaria received a new
+slice of Franconia, including the cities of Wuerzburg and Bayreuth, as
+well as all of the former Palatinate lying west of the Rhine. Frankfort,
+Bremen, Hamburg and Luebeck were allowed to remain free cities: the other
+smaller States were favored in various ways, and only Saxony suffered by
+the loss of nearly half her territory. Fortunately the priestly rulers
+were not restored, and the privileges of the free nobles of the Middle
+Ages not reestablished. Napoleon, far more justly than Attila, had been
+"the Scourge of God" to Germany. In crushing rights, he had also crushed
+a thousand abuses, and although the monarchs who ruled the Congress of
+Vienna were thoroughly reactionary in their sentiments, they could not
+help decreeing that what was dead in the political constitution of
+Germany should remain dead.
+
+[Sidenote: 1815.]
+
+All the German States, however, felt that some form of union was
+necessary. The people dreamed of a Nation, of a renewal of the old
+Empire in some better and stronger form; but this was mostly a vague
+desire on their part, without any practical ideas as to how it should be
+accomplished. The German ministers at Vienna were divided in their
+views; and Metternich took advantage of their impatience and excitement
+to propose a scheme of Confederation which introduced as few changes as
+possible into the existing state of affairs. It was so drawn up that
+while it presented the appearance of an organization, it secured the
+supremacy of Austria, and only united the German States in mutual
+defence against a foreign foe and in mutual suppression of internal
+progress. This scheme, hastily prepared, was hastily adopted on the 10th
+of June, 1815 (before the battle of Waterloo), and controlled the
+destinies of Germany for nearly fifty years afterwards.
+
+The new Confederation was composed of the Austrian Empire, the Kingdoms
+of Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Wuertemberg and Hannover, the Grand-Duchies
+of Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Strelitz,
+Saxe-Weimar and Oldenburg; the Electorate of Hesse-Cassel; the Duchies
+of Brunswick, Nassau, Saxe-Gotha, Coburg, Meiningen and Hildburghausen,
+Anhalt-Dessau, Bernburg and Koethen; Denmark, on account of Holstein; the
+Netherlands, on account of Luxemburg; the four Free Cities; and eleven
+small principalities,--making a total of thirty-nine States. The Act of
+Union assured to them equal rights, independent sovereignty, the
+peaceful settlement of disputes between them, and representation in a
+General Diet, which was to be held at Frankfort, under the presidency of
+Austria. All together were required to support a permanent army of
+300,000 men for their common defence. One article required each State to
+introduce a representative form of government. All religions were made
+equal before the law, the right of emigration was conceded to the
+people, the navigation of the Rhine was released from taxes, and freedom
+of the Press was permitted.
+
+[Sidenote: 1816. THE HOLY ALLIANCE.]
+
+Of course, the carrying of these provisions into effect was left
+entirely to the rulers of the States: the people were not recognized as
+possessing any political power. Even the "representative government"
+which was assured did not include the right of suffrage; the King, or
+Duke, might appoint a legislative body which represented only a class or
+party, and not the whole population. Moreover, the Diet was prohibited
+from adopting any new measure, or making any change in the form of the
+Confederation, except by a _unanimous_ vote. The whole scheme was a
+remarkable specimen of promise to the ears of the German People, and of
+disappointment to their hearts and minds.
+
+The Congress of Vienna was followed by an event of quite an original
+character. Alexander I. of Russia persuaded Francis II. and Frederick
+William III. to unite with him in a "Holy Alliance," which all the other
+monarchs of Europe were invited to join. It was simply a declaration,
+not a political act. The document set forth that its signers pledged
+themselves to treat each other with brotherly love, to consider all
+nations as members of one Christian family, to rule their lands with
+justice and kindness, and to be tender fathers to their subjects. No
+forms were prescribed, and each monarch was left free to choose his own
+manner of Christian rule. A great noise was made about the Holy Alliance
+at the time, because it seemed to guarantee peace to Europe, and peace
+was most welcome after such terrible wars. All other reigning Kings and
+Princes, except George IV. of England, Louis XVIII. of France, and the
+Pope, added their signatures, but not one of them manifested any more
+brotherly or fatherly love after the act than before.
+
+The new German Confederation having given the separate States a fresh
+lease of life, after all their convulsions, the rulers set about
+establishing themselves firmly on their repaired thrones. Only the most
+intelligent among them felt that the days of despotism, however
+"enlightened," were over; others avoided the liberal provisions of the
+Act of Union, abolished many political reforms which had been introduced
+by Napoleon, and oppressed the common people even more than his
+satellites had done. The Elector of Hesse-Cassel made his soldiers wear
+powdered queues, as in the last century; the King of Wuertemberg
+court-martialled and cashiered the general who had gone over with his
+troops to the German side at the battle of Leipzig; and in Mecklenburg
+the liberated people were declared serfs. The introduction of a
+legislative assembly was delayed, in some States even wholly
+disregarded. Baden and Bavaria adopted a Constitution in 1818,
+Wuertemberg and Hesse-Darmstadt in 1819, but in Prussia an imperfect form
+of representative government for the provinces was not arranged until
+1823. Austria, meanwhile, had restored some ancient privileges of the
+same kind, of little practical value, because not adapted to the
+conditions of the age; the people were obliged to be content with them,
+for they received no more.
+
+[Sidenote: 1817.]
+
+No class of Germans were so bitterly disappointed in the results of
+their victory and deliverance as the young men, especially the thousands
+who had fought in the ranks in 1813 and 1815. At all the Universities
+the students formed societies which were inspired by two ideas--Union
+and Freedom: fiery speeches were made, songs were sung, and free
+expression was given to their distrust of the governments under which
+they lived. On the 18th of October, 1817, they held a grand Convention
+at the Wartburg--the castle near Eisenach, where Luther lay
+concealed,--and this event occasioned great alarm among the reactionary
+class. The students were very hostile to the influence of Russia, and
+many persons who were suspected of being her secret agents became
+specially obnoxious to them. One of the latter was the dramatic author,
+Kotzebue, who was assassinated in March, 1819, by a young student named
+Sand. There is not the least evidence that this deed was the result of a
+widespread conspiracy; but almost every reigning prince thereupon
+imagined that his life was in danger.
+
+A Congress of Ministers was held at Carlsbad the same summer, and the
+most despotic measures against the so-called "Revolution" were adopted.
+Freedom of the Press was abolished; a severe censorship enforced; the
+formation of societies among the students and turners was prohibited,
+the Universities were placed under the immediate supervision of
+government, and even Commissioners were appointed to hear what the
+Professors said in their lectures! Many of the best men in Germany,
+among them the old teacher, Jahn, and the poet Arndt, were deprived of
+their situations, and placed under a form of espionage. Hundreds of
+young men, who had perpetrated no single act of resistance, were thrown
+into prison for years, others forced to fly from the country, and every
+manifestation of interest in political subjects became an offence. The
+effort of the German States, now, was to counteract the popular rights,
+guaranteed by the Confederation, by establishing an arbitrary and savage
+police system; and there were few parts of the country where the people
+retained as much genuine liberty as they had enjoyed a hundred years
+before.
+
+[Sidenote: 1830. REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS.]
+
+The History of Germany, during the thirty years of peace which followed,
+is marked by very few events of importance. It was a season of gradual
+reaction on the part of the rulers, and of increasing impatience and
+enmity on the part of the people. Instead of becoming loving families,
+as the Holy Alliance designed, the States (except some of the little
+principalities) were divided into two hostile classes. There was
+material growth everywhere: the wounds left by war and foreign
+occupation were gradually healed; there was order, security for all who
+abstained from politics, and a comfortable repose for such as were
+indifferent to the future. But it was a sad and disheartening period for
+the men who were able to see clearly how Germany, with all the elements
+of a freer and stronger life existing in her people, was falling behind
+the political development of other countries.
+
+The three Days' Revolution of 1830, which placed Louis Philippe on the
+throne of France, was followed by popular uprisings in some parts of
+Germany. Prussia and Austria were too strong, and their people too well
+held in check, to be affected; but in Brunswick the despotic Duke, Karl,
+was deposed, Saxony and Hesse-Cassel were obliged to accept co-rulers
+(out of their reigning families), and the English Duke, Ernest Augustus,
+was made Viceroy of Hannover. These four States also adopted a
+constitutional form of government. The German Diet, as a matter of
+course, used what power it possessed to counteract these movements, but
+its influence was limited by its own laws of action. The hopes and
+aspirations of the people were kept alive, in spite of the system of
+repression, and some of the smaller States took advantage of their
+independence to introduce various measures of reform.
+
+[Sidenote: 1840.]
+
+As industry, commerce and travel increased, the existence of so many
+boundaries, with their custom-houses, taxes and other hindrances, became
+an unendurable burden. Bavaria and Wuertemberg formed a customs union in
+1828, Prussia followed, and by 1836 all of Germany except Austria was
+united in the _Zollverein_ (Tariff Union), which was not only a great
+material advantage, but helped to inculcate the idea of a closer
+political union. On the other hand, however, the monarchical reaction
+against liberal government was stronger than ever. Ernest Augustus of
+Hannover arbitrarily overthrew the constitution he had accepted, and
+Ludwig I. of Bavaria, renouncing all his former professions, made his
+land a very nest of absolutism and Jesuitism. In Prussia, such men as
+Stein, Gneisenau and Wilhelm von Humboldt had long lost their influence,
+while others of less personal renown, but of similar political
+sentiments, were subjected to contemptible forms of persecution.
+
+In March, 1835, Francis II. of Austria died, and was succeeded by his
+son, Ferdinand I., a man of such weak intellect that he was in some
+respects idiotic. On the 7th of June, 1840, Frederick William III. of
+Prussia died, and was also succeeded by his son, Frederick William IV.,
+a man of great wit and intelligence, who had made himself popular as
+Crown-Prince, and whose accession the people hailed with joy, in the
+enthusiastic belief that better days were coming. The two dead monarchs,
+each of whom had reigned forty-three years, left behind them a better
+memory among their people than they actually deserved. They were both
+weak, unstable and narrow-minded; had they not been controlled by
+others, they would have ruined Germany; but they were alike of excellent
+personal character, amiable, and very kindly disposed towards their
+subjects so long as the latter were perfectly obedient and reverential.
+
+There was no change in the condition of Austria, for Metternich remained
+the real ruler, as before. In Prussia, a few unimportant concessions
+were made, an amnesty for political offences was declared, Alexander von
+Humboldt became the king's chosen associate, and much was done for
+science and art; but in their main hope of a liberal reorganization of
+the government, the people were bitterly deceived. Frederick William IV.
+took no steps towards the adoption of a Constitution; he made the
+censorship and the supervision of the police more severe; he interfered
+in the most arbitrary and bigoted manner in the system of religious
+instruction in the schools; and all his acts showed that his policy was
+to strengthen his throne by the support of the nobility and the civil
+service, without regard to the just claims of the people.
+
+[Sidenote: 1844. THE GERMAN-CATHOLIC MOVEMENT.]
+
+Thus, in spite of the external quiet and order, the political atmosphere
+gradually became more sultry and disturbed, all over Germany. In 1844, a
+Catholic priest named Ronge, disgusted with the miracles alleged to have
+been performed by the so-called "Holy Coat" (of the Saviour) at Treves,
+published addresses to the German People, which created a great
+excitement. He advocated the establishment of a German-Catholic Church,
+and found so many followers that the Protestant king of Prussia became
+alarmed, and all the influence of his government was exerted against the
+movement. It was asserted that the reform was taking a political and
+revolutionary character, because, under the weary system of repression
+which they endured, the people hailed any and every sign of mental and
+spiritual independence. Ronge's reform was checked at the very moment
+when it promised success, and the idea of forcible resistance to the
+government began to spread among all classes of the population.
+
+There were signs of impatience in all quarters; various local outbreaks
+occurred, and the aspects were so threatening that in February, 1847,
+Frederick William IV. endeavored to silence the growing opposition by
+ordering the formation of a Legislative Assembly. But the _provinces_
+were represented, not the people, and the measure only emboldened the
+latter to clamor for a direct representation. Thereupon, the king closed
+the Assembly, after a short session, and the attempt was probably
+productive of more harm than good. In most of the other German States,
+the situation was very similar: everywhere there were elements of
+opposition, all the more violent and dangerous, because they had been
+kept down with a strong hand for so many years.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+THE REVOLUTION OF 1848 AND ITS RESULTS.
+
+(1848--1861.)
+
+The Revolution of 1848. --Events in Berlin. --Alarm of the Diet. --The
+    Provisional Assembly. --First National Parliament. --Divisions
+    among the Members. --Revolt in Schleswig-Holstein. --Its End.
+    --Insurrection in Frankfort. --Condition of Austria. --Vienna
+    taken. --The War in Hungary. --Surrender of Goergey. --Uprising of
+    Lombardy and Venice. --Abdication of Ferdinand I. --Frederick
+    William IV. offered the Imperial Crown of Germany. --New Outbreaks.
+    --Dissolution of the Parliament. --Austria renews the old Diet.
+    --Despotic Reaction everywhere. --Evil Days. --Lessons of 1848.
+    --William I. becomes Regent in Prussia. --New Hopes. --Italian
+    Unity. --William I. King.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1848.]
+
+The sudden breaking out of the Revolution of February, 1848, in Paris,
+the flight of Louis Philippe and his family, and the proclamation of the
+Republic, acted in Germany like a spark dropped upon powder. All the
+disappointments of thirty years, the smouldering impatience and sense of
+outrage, the powerful aspiration for political freedom among the people,
+broke out in sudden flame. There was instantly an outcry for freedom of
+speech and of the press, the right of suffrage, and a constitutional
+form of government, in every State. Baden, where Struve and Hecker were
+already prominent as leaders of the opposition, took the lead: then, on
+the 13th of March the people of Vienna rose, and after a bloody fight
+with the troops compelled Metternich to give up his office as Minister,
+and seek safety in exile.
+
+In Berlin, Frederick William IV. yielded to the pressure on the 18th of
+March, but, either by accident or rashness, a fight was brought on
+between the soldiers and the people, and a number of the latter were
+slain. Their bodies, lifted on planks, with all the bloody wounds
+exposed, were carried before the royal palace and the king was compelled
+to come to the window and look upon them. All the demands of the
+revolutionary party were thereupon instantly granted. The next day
+Frederick William rode through the streets, preceded by the ancient
+Imperial banner of black, red and gold, swore to grant the rights which
+were demanded, and, with the concurrence of the other princes, to put
+himself at the head of a movement for German Unity. A proclamation was
+published which closed with the words: "From this day forward, Prussia
+becomes merged in Germany." The soldiers were removed from Berlin, and
+the popular excitement gradually subsided.
+
+[Sidenote: 1848. A NATIONAL PARLIAMENT CALLED.]
+
+Before these outbreaks occurred, the Diet at Frankfort had caught the
+alarm, and hastened to take a step which seemed to yield something to
+the general demand. On the 1st of March, it invited the separate States
+to send special delegates to Frankfort, empowered to draw up a new form
+of union for Germany. Four days afterwards, a meeting which included
+many of the prominent men of Southern Germany was held at Heidelberg,
+and it was decided to hold a Provisional Assembly at Frankfort, as a
+movement preliminary to the greater changes which were anticipated. This
+proposal received a hearty response: on the 31st of March quite a large
+and respectable body, from all the German States, came together in
+Frankfort. The demand of the party headed by Hecker that a Republic
+should be proclaimed, was rejected; but the principle of "the
+sovereignty of the people" was adopted, Schleswig and Holstein, which
+had risen in revolt against the Danish rule, were declared to be a part
+of Germany, and a Committee of Fifty was appointed, to cooperate with
+the old Diet in calling a National Parliament.
+
+There was great rejoicing in Germany over these measures. The people
+were full of hope and confidence; the men who were chosen as candidates
+and elected by suffrage, were almost without exception persons of
+character and intelligence, and when they came together, six hundred in
+number, and opened the first National Parliament of Germany, in the
+church of St. Paul, in Frankfort, on the 18th of May, 1848, there were
+few patriots who did not believe in a speedy and complete regeneration
+of their country. In the meantime, however, Hecker and Struve, who had
+organized a great number of republican clubs throughout Baden, rose in
+arms against the government. After maintaining themselves for two weeks
+in Freiburg and the Black Forest, they were defeated and forced to take
+refuge in Switzerland. Hecker went to America, and Struve, making a
+second attempt shortly afterwards, was taken prisoner.
+
+[Sidenote: 1848.]
+
+The lack of practical political experience among the members soon
+disturbed the Parliament. The most of them were governed by theories,
+and insisted on carrying out certain principles, instead of trying to
+adapt them to the existing circumstances. With all their honesty and
+genuine patriotism, they relied too much on the sudden enthusiasm of the
+people, and undervalued the actual strength of the governing classes,
+because the latter had so easily yielded to the first surprise. The
+republican party was in a decided minority; and the remainder soon
+became divided between the "Small-Germans," who favored the union of all
+the States, except Austria, under a constitutional monarchy, and the
+"Great-Germans," who insisted that Austria should be included. After a
+great deal of discussion, the former Diet was declared abolished on the
+28th of June; a Provisional Central Government was appointed, and the
+Archduke John of Austria--an amiable, popular and inoffensive old
+man--was elected "Vicar-General of the Empire." This action was accepted
+by all the States except Austria and Prussia, which delayed to commit
+themselves until they were strong enough to oppose the whole scheme.
+
+The history of 1848 is divided into so many detached episodes, that it
+cannot be given in a connected form. The revolt which broke out in
+Schleswig-Holstein early in March, was supported by enthusiastic German
+volunteers, and then by a Prussian army, which drove the Danes back into
+Jutland. Great rejoicing was occasioned by the destruction of the Danish
+frigate _Christian VIII._ and the capture of the _Gefion_, at
+Eckernfoerde, by a battery commanded by Duke Ernest II. of Coburg-Gotha.
+But England and Russia threatened armed intervention; Prussia was forced
+to suspend hostilities and make a truce with Denmark, on terms which
+looked very much like an abandonment of the cause of Schleswig-Holstein.
+
+This action was accepted by a majority of the Parliament at
+Frankfort,--a course which aroused the deepest indignation of the
+democratic minority and their sympathizers everywhere throughout
+Germany. On the 18th of September barricades were thrown up in the
+streets of Frankfort, and an armed mob stormed the church where the
+Parliament was in session, but was driven back by Prussian and Hessian
+troops. Two members, General Auerswald and Prince Lichnowsky, were
+barbarously murdered in attempting to escape from the city. This lawless
+and bloody event was a great damage to the national cause: the two
+leading States, Prussia and Austria, instantly adopted a sterner policy,
+and there were soon signs of a general reaction against the Revolution.
+
+[Sidenote: 1849. END OF THE HUNGARIAN WAR.]
+
+The condition of Austria, at this time, was very critical. The uprising
+in Vienna had been followed by powerful and successful rebellions in
+Lombardy, Hungary and Bohemia, and the Empire of the Hapsburgs seemed to
+be on the point of dissolution. The struggle was confused and made more
+bitter by the hostility of the different nationalities: the Croatians,
+at the call of the Emperor, rose against the Hungarians, and then the
+Germans, in the Legislative Assembly held at Vienna, accused the
+government of being guided by Slavonic influences. Another furious
+outbreak occurred, Count Latour, the former minister of war, was hung to
+a lamp-post, and the city was again in the hands of the revolutionists.
+Kossuth, who had become all-powerful in Hungary, had already raised an
+army, to be employed in conquering the independence of his country, and
+he now marched rapidly towards Vienna, which was threatened by the
+Austrian general Windischgraetz. Almost within sight of the city, he was
+defeated by Jellachich, the Ban of Croatia: the latter joined the
+Austrians, and after a furious bombardment, Vienna was taken by storm.
+Messenhauser, the commander of the insurgents, and Robert Blum, a member
+of the National Parliament, were afterwards shot by order of
+Windischgraetz, who crushed out all resistance by the most severe and
+inhuman measures.
+
+Hungary, nevertheless, was already practically independent, and Kossuth
+stood at the head of the government. The movement was eagerly supported
+by the people: an army of 100,000 men was raised, including cavalry
+which could hardly be equalled in Europe. Kossuth was supported by
+Goergey, and the Polish generals, Bern and Dembinski; and although the
+Hungarians at first fell back before Windischgraetz, who marched against
+them in December, they gained a series of splendid victories in the
+spring of 1849, and their success seemed assured. Austria was forced to
+call upon Russia for help, and the Emperor Nicholas responded by
+sending an army of 140,000 men. Kossuth vainly hoped for the
+intervention of England and France in favor of Hungary: up to the end of
+May the patriots were still victorious, then followed defeats in the
+field and confusion in the councils. The Hungarian government and a
+large part of the army fell back to Arad, where, on the 11th of August,
+Kossuth transferred his dictatorship to Goergey, and the latter, two days
+afterwards, surrendered at Vilagos, with about 25,000 men, to the
+Russian general Ruediger.
+
+[Sidenote: 1849.]
+
+This surrender caused Goergey's name to be execrated in Hungary, and by
+all who sympathized with the Hungarian cause throughout the world. It
+was made, however, with the knowledge of Kossuth, who had transferred
+his power to the former for that purpose, while he, with Bem, Dembinski
+and a few other followers, escaped into Turkey. In fact, further
+resistance would have been madness, for Haynau, who had succeeded to the
+command of the Austrian forces, was everywhere successful in front, and
+the Russians were in the rear. The first judgment of the world upon
+Goergey's act was therefore unjust. The fortress of Comorn, on the
+Danube, was the last post occupied by the Hungarians. It surrendered,
+after an obstinate siege, to Haynau, who then perpetrated such
+barbarities that his name became infamous in all countries.
+
+In Italy, the Revolution broke out in March, 1848. Marshal Radetzky, the
+Austrian Governor in Milan, was driven out of the city: the Lombards,
+supported by the Sardinians under their king, Charles Albert, drove him
+to Verona: Venice had also risen, and nearly all Northern Italy was thus
+freed from the Austrian yoke. In the course of the summer, however,
+Radetzky achieved some successes, and thereupon concluded an armistice
+with Sardinia, which left him free to undertake the siege of Venice. On
+the 12th of March, 1849, Charles Albert resumed the war, and on the 23d,
+in the battle of Novara, was so ruinously defeated that he abdicated the
+throne of Sardinia in favor of his son, Victor Emanuel. The latter, on
+leaving the field, shook his sword at the advancing Austrians, and cried
+out: "There shall yet be an Italy!"--but he was compelled at the time to
+make peace on the best terms he could obtain. In August, Venice also
+surrendered, after a heroic defence, and Austria was again supreme in
+Italy as in Hungary.
+
+[Sidenote: 1850. DISSOLUTION OF THE PARLIAMENT.]
+
+During this time, the National Parliament in Frankfort had been
+struggling against the difficulties of its situation. The democratic
+movement was almost suppressed, and there was an earnest effort to
+effect a German Union; but this was impossible without the concurrence
+of either Austria or Prussia, and the rivalry of the two gave rise to
+constant jealousies and impediments. On the 2d of December, 1848, the
+Viennese Ministry persuaded the idiotic Emperor Ferdinand to abdicate,
+and placed his nephew, Francis Joseph, a youth of eighteen, upon the
+throne. Every change of the kind begets new hopes, and makes a
+government temporarily popular; so this was a gain for Austria.
+Nevertheless, the "Small-German" party finally triumphed in the
+Parliament. On the 28th of March, 1849, Frederick Wilhelm IV. of Germany
+was elected "Hereditary Emperor of Germany." All the small States
+accepted the choice: Bavaria, Wuertemberg, Saxony and Hannover refused;
+Austria protested, and the king himself, after hesitating for a week,
+declined.
+
+This was a great blow to the hopes of the national party. It was
+immediately followed by fierce popular outbreaks in Dresden, Wuertemberg
+and Baden: in the last of these States the Grand-Duke was driven away,
+and a provisional government instituted. Prussia sent troops to suppress
+the revolt, and a war on a small scale was carried on during the months
+of June and July, when the republican forces yielded to superior power.
+This was the end of armed resistance: the governments had recovered from
+their panic, the French Republic, under the Prince-President Louis
+Napoleon, was preparing for monarchy, Italy and Hungary were prostrate,
+and nothing was left for the earnest and devoted German patriots, but to
+save what rights they could from the wreck of their labors.
+
+The Parliament gradually dissolved, by the recall of some of its
+members, and the withdrawal of others. Only the democratic minority
+remained, and sought to keep up its existence by removing to Stuttgart;
+but, once there, it was soon forcibly dispersed. Prussia next endeavored
+to create a German Confederation, based on representation: Saxony and
+Hannover at first joined, a convention of the members of the
+"Small-German" party, held at Gotha, accepted the plan, and then the
+small States united, while Saxony and Hannover withdrew and allied
+themselves with Bavaria and Wuertemberg in a counter-union. The adherents
+of the former plan met in Berlin in 1850: on the 1st of September,
+Austria declared the old Diet opened at Frankfort, under her presidency,
+and twelve States hastened to obey her call. The hostility between the
+two parties so increased that for a time war seemed to be inevitable:
+Austrian troops invaded Hesse-Cassel, an army was collected in Bohemia,
+while Prussia, relying on the help of Russia, was quite unprepared. Then
+Frederick William IV. yielded: Prussia submitted to Austria in all
+points, and on the 15th of May, 1851, the Diet was restored in
+Frankfort, with a vague promise that its Constitution should be amended.
+
+[Sidenote: 1852.]
+
+Thus, after an interruption of three years, the old machine was put upon
+the old track, and a strong and united Germany seemed as far off as
+ever. A dismal period of reaction began. Louis Napoleon's violent
+assumption of power in December, 1851, was welcomed by the German
+rulers, all of whom greeted the new Emperor as "brother"; a Congress
+held in London in May, 1852, confirmed Denmark in the possession of
+Schleswig and Holstein; Austria abolished her Legislative Assembly, in
+utter disregard of the provisions of 1815, upon which the Diet was
+based; Hesse-Cassel, with the consent of Austria, Prussia and the Diet,
+overthrew the constitution which had protected the people for twenty
+years; and even Prussia, where an arbitrary policy was no longer
+possible, gradually suppressed the more liberal features of the
+government. Worse than this, the religious liberty which Germany had so
+long enjoyed, was insidiously assailed. Austria, Bavaria and Wuertemberg
+made "Concordats" with the Pope, which gave the control of schools and
+marriages among the people into the hands of the priests. Frederick
+William IV. did his best to acquire the same despotic power for the
+Protestant Church in Prussia, and thereby assisted the designs of the
+Church of Rome, more than most of the Catholic rulers.
+
+Placed between the disguised despotism of Napoleon III. and the open and
+arrogant despotism of Nicholas of Russia, Germany, for a time, seemed to
+be destined to a similar fate. The result of the Crimean war, and the
+liberal policy inaugurated by Alexander II. in Russia, damped the hopes
+of the German absolutists, but failed to teach them wisdom. Prussia was
+practically governed by the interests of a class of nobles, whose absurd
+pride was only equalled by their ignorance of the age in which they
+lived. With all his wit and talent, Frederick William IV. was utterly
+blind to his position, and the longer he reigned the more he made the
+name of Prussia hated throughout the rest of Germany.
+
+[Sidenote: 1857. WILLIAM I. REGENT OF PRUSSIA.]
+
+But the fruits of the national movement in 1848 and 1849 were not lost.
+The earnest efforts of those two years, the practical experience of
+political matters acquired by the liberal party, were an immense gain to
+the people. In every State there was a strong body of intelligent men,
+who resisted the reaction by all the legal means left them, and who,
+although discouraged, were still hopeful of success. The increase of
+general intelligence among the people, the growth of an independent
+press, the extension of railroads which made the old system of passports
+and police supervision impossible,--all these were powerful agencies of
+progress; but only a few rulers of the smaller States saw this truth,
+and favored the liberal side.
+
+In October, 1857, Frederick William IV. was stricken with apoplexy, and
+his brother, Prince William, began to rule in his name. The latter, then
+sixty years old, had grown up without the least prospect that he would
+ever wear the crown: although he possessed no brilliant intellectual
+qualities, he was shrewd, clear-sighted, and honest, and after a year's
+experience of the policy which governed Prussia, he refused to rule
+longer unless the whole power were placed in his hands. As soon as he
+was made Prince Regent, he dismissed the feudalist Ministry of his
+brother and established a new and more liberal government. The hopes of
+the German people instantly revived: Bavaria was compelled to follow the
+example of Prussia, the reaction against the national movement of 1848
+was interrupted everywhere, and the political horizon suddenly began to
+grow brighter.
+
+The desire of the people for a closer national union was so intense,
+that when, in June, 1859, Austria was defeated at Magenta and Solferino,
+a cry ran through Germany: "The Rhine must be defended on the Mincio!"
+and the demand for an alliance with Austria against France became so
+earnest and general, that Prussia would certainly have yielded to it, if
+Napoleon III. had not forestalled the movement by concluding an instant
+peace with Francis Joseph. When, in 1860, all Italy rose, and the
+dilapidated thrones of the petty rulers fell to pieces, as the people
+united under Victor Emanuel, the Germans saw how hasty and mistaken had
+been their excitement of the year before. The interests of the Italians
+were identical with theirs, and the success of the former filled them
+with fresh hope and courage.
+
+[Sidenote: 1861.]
+
+Austria, after her defeat and the overwhelming success of the popular
+uprising in Italy, seemed to perceive the necessity of conceding more to
+her own subjects. She made some attempts to introduce a restricted form
+of constitutional government, which excited without satisfying the
+people. Prussia continued to advance slowly in the right direction,
+regaining her lost influence over the active and intelligent liberal
+party throughout Germany. On the 2d of January, 1861, Frederick William
+IV. died, and William I. became King. From this date a new history
+begins.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+THE STRUGGLE WITH AUSTRIA; THE NORTH-GERMAN UNION.
+
+(1861--1870.)
+
+Reorganization of the Prussian Army. --Movements for a new Union.
+    --Reaction in Prussia. --Bismarck appointed Minister. --His
+    Unpopularity. --Attempt of Francis Joseph of Austria. --War in
+    Schleswig-Holstein. --Quarrel between Prussia and Austria.
+    --Alliances of Austria with the smaller States. --The Diet.
+    --Prussia declares War. --Hannover, Hesse and Saxony invaded.
+    --Battle of Langensalza. --March into Bohemia. --Preliminary
+    Victories. --Halt in Gitchin. --Battle of Koeniggraetz. --Prussian
+    Advance to the Danube. --Peace of Nikolsburg. --Bismarck's Plan.
+    --Change in popular Sentiment. --Prussian Annexations. --Foundation
+    of the North-German Union. --The Luxemburg Affair.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1861. WILLIAM I., KING.]
+
+The first important measure which the government of William I. adopted
+was a thorough reorganization of the army. Since this could not be
+effected without an increased expense for the present and a prospect of
+still greater burdens in the future, the Legislative Assembly of Prussia
+refused to grant the appropriation demanded. The plan was to increase
+the time of service for the reserve forces, to diminish that of the
+militia, and enforce a sufficient amount of military training upon the
+whole male population, without regard to class or profession. At the
+same time a Convention of the smaller States was held in Wuerzburg, for
+the purpose of drawing up a new plan of union, in place of the old Diet,
+the provisions of which had been violated so often that its existence
+was becoming a mere farce.
+
+Prussia proposed a closer military union under her own direction, and
+this was accepted by Baden, Saxe-Weimar and Coburg-Gotha: the other
+States were still swayed by the influence of Austria. The political
+situation became more and more disturbed; William I. dismissed his
+liberal ministry and appointed noted reactionists, who carried out his
+plan for reorganizing the army in defiance of the Assembly. Finally, in
+September, 1862, Baron Otto von Bismarck-Schoenhausen, who had been
+Prussian ambassador in St. Petersburg and Paris, was placed at the head
+of the Government. This remarkable man, who was born in 1813, in
+Brandenburg, was already known as a thorough conservative, and
+considered to be one of the most dangerous enemies of the liberal and
+national party. But he had represented Prussia in the Diet at Frankfort
+in 1851, he understood the policy of Austria and the general political
+situation better than any other statesman in Germany, and his course,
+from the first day of receiving power, was as daring as it was skilfully
+planned.
+
+[Sidenote: 1863.]
+
+Even Metternich was not so heartily hated as Bismarck, when the latter
+continued the policy already adopted, of disregarding the will of the
+people, as expressed by the Prussian Assembly. Every new election for
+this body only increased the strength of the opposition, and with it the
+unpopularity of Prussia among the smaller States. The appropriations for
+the army were steadfastly refused, yet the government took the money and
+went on with the work of reorganization. Austria endeavored to profit by
+the confusion which ensued: after having privately consulted the other
+rulers, Francis Joseph summoned a Congress of German Princes to meet in
+Frankfort, in August, 1863, in order to accept an "Act of Reform," which
+substituted an Assembly of Delegates in place of the old Diet, but
+retained the presidency of Austria. Prussia refused to attend, declaring
+that the first step towards reform must be a Parliament elected by the
+people, and the scheme failed so completely that in another month
+nothing more was heard of it.
+
+Soon afterwards, Frederick VII. of Denmark died, and his successor,
+Christian IX., Prince of Gluecksburg, accepted a constitution which
+detached Schleswig from Holstein and incorporated it with Denmark. This
+was in violation of the treaty made in London in 1852, and gave Germany
+a pretext for interference. On the 7th of December, 1863, the Diet
+decided to take armed possession of the Duchies: Austria and Prussia
+united in January, 1864, and sent a combined army of 43,000 men under
+Prince Frederick Karl and Marshal Gablenz against Denmark. After several
+slight engagements the Danes abandoned the "Dannewerk"--the fortified
+line across the Peninsula,--and took up a strong position at Dueppel.
+Here their entrenchments were stormed and carried by the Prussians, on
+the 18th of April: the Austrians had also been victorious at Oeversee,
+and the Danes were everywhere driven back. England, France and Russia
+interfered, an armistice was declared, and an attempt made to settle the
+question. The negotiations, which were carried on in London for that
+purpose, failed; hostilities were resumed, and by the 1st of August,
+Denmark was forced to sue for peace.
+
+[Sidenote: 1866. AUSTRIA AND PRUSSIA AT WAR.]
+
+On the 30th of October, the war was ended by the relinquishment of the
+Duchies to Prussia and Austria, not to Germany. The Prince of
+Augustenburg, however, who belonged to the ducal family of Holstein,
+claimed the territory as being his by right of descent, and took up his
+residence at Kiel, bringing all the apparatus of a little State
+Government, ready made, along with him. Prussia demanded the acceptance
+of her military system, the occupancy of the forts, and the harbor of
+Kiel for naval purposes. The Duke, encouraged by Austria, refused: a
+diplomatic quarrel ensued, which lasted until the 1st of August, 1865,
+when William I. met Francis Joseph at Gastein, a watering-place in the
+Austrian Alps, and both agreed on a division, Prussia to govern in
+Schleswig and Austria in Holstein.
+
+Thus far, the course of the two powers in the matter had made them
+equally unpopular throughout the rest of Germany. Austria had quite lost
+her temporary advantage over Prussia, in this respect, and she now
+endeavored to regain it by favoring the claims of the Duke of
+Augustenburg in Holstein. An angry correspondence followed, and early in
+1866 Austria began to prepare for war, not only at home, but by secretly
+canvassing for alliances among the smaller States. Neither she, nor the
+German people, understood how her policy was aiding the deep-laid plans
+of Bismarck. The latter had been elevated to the rank of Count, he had
+dared to assert that the German question could never be settled without
+the use of "blood and steel" (which was generally interpreted as
+signifying the most brutal despotism), and an attempt to assassinate him
+had been made in the streets of Berlin. When, therefore, Austria
+demanded of the Diet that the military force of the other States should
+be called into the field against Prussia on account of the invasion of
+Holstein by Prussian troops, only Oldenburg, Mecklenburg, the little
+Saxon principalities and the three free cities of the North voted
+against the measure!
+
+[Sidenote: 1866.]
+
+This vote, which was taken on the 14th of June, 1866, was the last act
+of the German Diet. Prussia instantly took the ground that it was a
+declaration of war, and set in motion all the agencies which had been
+quietly preparing for three or four years. The German people were
+stunned by the suddenness with which the crisis had been brought upon
+them. The cause of the trouble was so slight, so needlessly provoked,
+that the war seemed criminal: it was looked upon as the last desperate
+resource of the absolutist, Bismarck, who, finding the Prussian Assembly
+still five to one against him, had adopted this measure to recover by
+force his lost position. Few believed that Prussia, with nineteen
+millions of inhabitants, could be victorious over Austria and her
+allies, representing fifty millions, unless after a long and terrible
+struggle.
+
+Prussia, however, had secured an ally which, although not fortunate in
+the war, kept a large Austrian army employed. This was Italy, which
+eagerly accepted the alliance in April, and began to prepare for the
+struggle. On the other hand, there was every probability that France
+would interfere in favor of Austria. In this emergency, the Prussian
+Government seemed transformed: it stood like a man aroused and fully
+alive, with every sense quickened and every muscle and sinew ready for
+action. The 14th of June brought the declaration of war: on the 15th,
+Saxony, Hannover, Hesse-Cassel and Nassau were called upon to remain
+neutral, and allowed twelve hours to decide. As no answer came, a
+Prussian army from Holstein took possession of Hannover on the 17th,
+another from the Rhine entered Cassel on the 19th, and on the latter day
+Leipzig and Dresden were occupied by a third. So complete had been the
+preparations that a temporary railroad bridge was made, in advance, to
+take the place of one between Berlin and Dresden, which it was evident
+the Saxons would destroy.
+
+The king of Hannover, with 18,000 men, marched southward to join the
+Bavarians, but was so slow in his movements that he did not reach
+Langensalza (fifteen miles north of Gotha) until the 23d of June.
+Rejecting an offer from Prussia, a force of about 9,000 men was sent to
+hold him in check. A fierce battle was fought on the 27th, in which the
+Hannoverians were victorious, but, during their delay of a single day,
+Prussia had pushed on new troops with such rapidity that they were
+immediately afterwards compelled to surrender. The soldiers were sent
+home, and the king, George V., betook himself to Vienna.
+
+[Sidenote: 1866. BATTLE OF KOeNIGGRAeTZ.]
+
+All Saxony being occupied, the march upon Austria followed. There were
+three Prussian armies in the field: the first, under Prince Frederick
+Karl, advanced in a south-eastern direction from Saxony, the second,
+under the Crown-Prince, Frederick William, from Silesia, and the third,
+under General Herwarth von Bittenfeld, followed the course of the Elbe.
+The entire force was 260,000 men, with 790 pieces of artillery. The
+Austrian army, now hastening towards the frontier, was about equal in
+numbers, and commanded by General Benedek. Count Clam-Gallas, with
+60,000 men, was sent forward to meet Frederick Karl, but was defeated in
+four successive small engagements, from the 27th to the 29th of June,
+and forced to fall back upon Benedek's main army, while Frederick Karl
+and Herwarth, whose armies were united in the last of the four battles,
+at Gitchin, remained there to await the arrival of the Crown-Prince.
+
+The latter's task had been more difficult. On crossing the frontier, he
+was faced by the greater part of Benedek's army, and his first battle,
+on the 27th, at Trautenau, was a defeat. A second battle at the same
+place, the next day, resulted in a brilliant victory, after which he
+advanced, achieving further successes at Nachod and Skalitz, and on the
+30th of June reached Koeniginhof, a short distance from Gitchin. King
+William, Bismarck, Moltke and Roon arrived at the latter place on the 2d
+of July, and it was decided to meet Benedek, who with Clam-Gallas was
+awaiting battle near Koeniggraetz, without further delay. The movement was
+hastened by indications that Benedek meant to commence the attack before
+the army of the Crown-Prince could reach the field.
+
+On the 3d of July the great battle of Koeniggraetz was fought. Both in its
+character and its results, it was very much like that of Waterloo.
+Benedek occupied a strong position on a range of low hills beyond the
+little river Bistritz, with the village of Sadowa as his centre. The
+army of Frederick Karl formed the Prussian centre, and that of Herwarth
+the right wing: their position only differed from that of Wellington, at
+Waterloo, in the circumstance that they must attack instead of resist,
+and keep the whole Austrian army engaged until the Crown-Prince, like
+Bluecher, should arrive from the left and strike Benedek on the right
+flank. The battle began at eight in the morning, and raged with the
+greatest fury for six hours: again and again the Prussians hurled
+themselves on the Austrian centre, only to be repulsed with heavier
+losses. Herwarth, on the right, gained a little advantage; but the
+Austrian rifled cannon prevented a further advance. Violent rains and
+marshy soil delayed the Crown-Prince, as in Bluecher's case at Waterloo:
+the fate of the day was very doubtful until two o'clock in the
+afternoon, when the smoke of cannon was seen in the distance, on the
+Austrian right. The army of the Crown-Prince had arrived! Then all the
+Prussian reserves were brought up; an advance was made along the whole
+line: the Austrian right and left were broken, the centre gave way, and
+in the midst of a thunderstorm the retreat became a headlong flight.
+Towards evening, when the sun broke out, the Prussians saw Koeniggraetz
+before them: the King and Crown-Prince met on the battle-field, and the
+army struck up the same old choral which the troops of Frederick the
+Great had sung on the field of Leuthen.
+
+[Sidenote: 1866.]
+
+The next day the news came that Austria had made over Venetia to France.
+This seemed like a direct bid for alliance, and the need of rapid action
+was greater than ever. Within two weeks the Prussians had reached the
+Danube, and Vienna was an easy prey. In the meantime, the Bavarians and
+other allies of Austria had been driven beyond the river Main, Frankfort
+was in the hands of the Prussians, and a struggle, which could only have
+ended in the defeat of the former, commenced at Wuerzburg. Then Austria
+gave way: an armistice, embracing the preliminaries of peace, was
+concluded at Nikolsburg on the 27th of July, and the SEVEN WEEKS' WAR
+came to an end. The treaty of peace, which was signed at Prague on the
+23d of August, placed Austria in the background and gave the leadership
+of Germany to Prussia.
+
+It was now seen that the possession of Schleswig-Holstein was not the
+main object of the war. When Austria was compelled to recognize the
+formation of a North-German Confederation, which excluded her and her
+southern allies, but left the latter free to treat separately with the
+new power, the extent of Bismarck's plans became evident. "Blood and
+steel" had been used, but only to destroy the old constitution of
+Germany, and render possible a firmer national Union, the guiding
+influence of which was to be Prussian and Protestant, instead of
+Austrian and Catholic.
+
+[Sidenote: 1867. THE NORTH-GERMAN UNION.]
+
+An overwhelming revulsion of feeling took place. The proud,
+conservative, feudal party sank almost out of sight, in the enthusiastic
+support which the nationals and liberals gave to William I. and
+Bismarck. It is not likely that the latter had changed in character:
+personally, his haughty aristocratic impulses were no doubt as strong as
+ever; but, as a statesman, he had learned the great and permanent
+strength of the opposition, and clearly saw what immense advantages
+Prussia would acquire by a liberal policy. The German people, in their
+indescribable relief from the anxieties of the past four years--in their
+gratitude for victory and the dawn of a better future--soon came to
+believe that he had always been on their side. Before the year 1866 came
+to an end, the Prussian Assembly accepted all the past acts of the
+Government which it had resisted, and complete harmony was
+reestablished.
+
+The annexation of Hannover, Hesse-Cassel, Nassau, Schleswig-Holstein and
+the City of Frankfort added nearly 5,000,000 more to the population of
+Prussia. The Constitution of the "North-German Union," as the new
+Confederation was called, was submitted to the other States in December,
+and accepted by all on the 9th of February, 1867. Its parliament,
+elected by the people, met in Berlin immediately afterwards to discuss
+the articles of union, which were finally adopted on the 16th of April,
+when the new Power commenced its existence. It included all the German
+States except Bavaria, Wuertemberg and Baden, twenty-two in number, and
+comprising a population of more than thirty millions, united under one
+military, postal, diplomatic and financial system, like the States of
+the American Union. The king of Prussia was President of the whole, and
+Bismarck was elected Chancellor. About the same time Bavaria, Wuertemberg
+and Baden entered into a secret offensive and defensive alliance with
+Prussia, and the policy of their governments, thenceforth, was so
+conciliatory towards the North-German Union, that the people almost
+instantly forgot the hostility created by the war.
+
+[Sidenote: 1867.]
+
+In the spring of 1867, Napoleon III. took advantage of the circumstance
+that Luxemburg was practically detached from Germany by the downfall of
+the old Diet, and offered to buy it of Holland. The agreement was nearly
+concluded, when Bismarck in the name of the North-German Union, made
+such an energetic protest that the negotiations were suspended. A
+conference of the European Powers in London, in May, adjudged Luxemburg
+to Holland, satisfying neither France nor Germany; but Bismarck's
+boldness and firmness gave immediate authority to the new Union. The
+people, at last, felt that they had a living, acting Government, not a
+mere conglomeration of empty forms, as hitherto.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+
+THE WAR WITH FRANCE, AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE.
+
+(1870--1871.)
+
+Changes in Austria. --Rise of Prussia. --Irritation of the French.
+    --Napoleon III.'s Decline --War demanded. --The Pretext of the
+    Spanish Throne. --Leopold of Hohenzollern. --The French Ambassador
+    at Ems. --France declares War. --Excitement of the People.
+    --Attitude of Germany. --Three Armies in the Field. --Battle of
+    Woerth. --Advance upon Metz. --Battles of Mars-la-Tour and
+    Gravelotte. --German Residents expelled from France. --Mac Mahon's
+    March northwards. --Fighting on the Meuse. --Battle of Sedan.
+    --Surrender of Napoleon III. and the Army. --Republic in France.
+    --Hopes of the French People. --Surrenders of Toul. Strasburg and
+    Metz. --Siege of Paris. --Defeat of the French Armies. --Battles of
+    Le Mans. --Bourbaki's Defeat and Flight into Switzerland.
+    --Surrender of Paris. --Peace. --Losses of France. --The German
+    Empire proclaimed. --William I. Emperor.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1869. CHANGES IN AUSTRIA.]
+
+The experience of the next three years showed how completely the new
+order of things was accepted by the great majority of the German people.
+Even in Austria, the defeat at Koeniggraetz and the loss of Venetia were
+welcomed by the Hungarians and Slavonians, and hardly regretted by the
+German population, since it was evident that the Imperial Government
+must give up its absolutist policy or cease to exist. In fact, the
+former Ministry was immediately dismissed: Count Beust, a Saxon and a
+Protestant, was called to Vienna, and a series of reforms was
+inaugurated which did not terminate until the Hungarians had won all
+they demanded in 1848, and the Germans and Bohemians enjoyed full as
+much liberty as the Prussians.
+
+The Seven Weeks' War of 1866, in fact, was a phenomenon in history; no
+nation ever acquired so much fame and influence in so short a time, as
+Prussia. The relation of the king, and especially of the statesman who
+guided him, Count Bismarck, towards the rest of Germany, was suddenly
+and completely changed. Napoleon III. was compelled to transfer Venetia
+to Italy, and thus his declaration in 1859 that "Italy should be free,
+from the Alps to the Adriatic," was made good,--but not by France. While
+the rest of Europe accepted the changes in Germany with equanimity, if
+not with approbation, the vain and sensitive people of France felt
+themselves deeply humiliated. Thus far, the policy of Napoleon III. had
+seemed to preserve the supremacy of France in European politics. He had
+overawed England, defeated Russia, and treated Italy as a magnanimous
+patron. But the best strength of Germany was now united under a new
+Constitution, after a war which made the achievements at Magenta,
+Solferino and in the Crimea seem tame. The ostentatious designs of
+France in Mexico came also to a tragic end in 1867, and her disgraceful
+failure there only served to make the success of Prussia, by contrast,
+more conspicuous.
+
+[Sidenote: 1869.]
+
+The opposition to Napoleon III. in the French Assembly made use of these
+facts to increase its power. His own success had been due to good luck
+rather than to superior ability: he was now more than sixty years old,
+he had become cautious and wavering in his policy, and he undoubtedly
+saw how much would be risked in provoking a war with the North-German
+Union; but the temper of the French people left him no alternative. He
+had certainly meant to interfere in 1866, had not the marvellous
+rapidity of Prussia prevented it. That France had no shadow of right to
+interfere, was all the same to his people: they held him responsible for
+the creation of a new political Germany, which was apparently nearly as
+strong as France, and that was a thing not to be endured. He yielded to
+the popular excitement, and only waited for a pretext which might
+justify him before the world in declaring war.
+
+Such a pretext came in 1870. The Spaniards had expelled their Bourbon
+Queen, Isabella, in 1868, and were looking about for a new monarch from
+some other royal house. Their choice fell upon Prince Leopold of
+Hohenzollern, a distant relation of William I. of Prussia, but also
+nearly connected with the Bonaparte family through his wife, who was a
+daughter of the Grand-Duchess Stephanie Beauharnais. On the 6th of July,
+Napoleon's minister, the Duke de Gramont, declared to the French
+Assembly that this choice would never be tolerated by France. The French
+ambassador in Prussia, Benedetti, was ordered to demand of King William
+that he should prohibit Prince Leopold from accepting the offer. The
+king answered that he could not forbid what he had never advised; but,
+immediately afterwards (on the 12th of July), Prince Leopold voluntarily
+declined, and all cause of trouble seemed to be removed.
+
+[Sidenote: 1870. FRANCE INSISTS ON WAR.]
+
+The French people, however, were insanely bent upon war. The excitement
+was so great, and so urgently fostered by the Empress Eugenie, the Duke
+de Gramont, and the army, that Napoleon III. again yielded. A dispatch
+was sent to Benedetti: "Be rough to the king!" The ambassador, who was
+at the baths of Ems, where William I. was also staying, sought the
+latter on the public promenade and abruptly demanded that he should give
+France a guarantee that no member of the house of Hohenzollern should
+ever accept the throne of Spain. The ambassador's manner, even more than
+his demand, was insulting: the king turned upon his heel, and left him
+standing. This was on the 13th of July: on the 15th the king returned to
+Berlin, and on the 19th France formally declared war.
+
+It was universally believed that every possible preparation had been
+made for this step. In fact, Marshal Le Boeuf assured Napoleon III.
+that the army was "more than ready," and an immediate French advance to
+the Rhine was anticipated throughout Europe. Napoleon relied upon
+detaching the Southern German States from the Union, upon revolts in
+Hesse and Hannover, and finally, upon alliances with Austria and Italy.
+The French people were wild with excitement, which took the form of
+rejoicing: there was a general cry that Napoleon I.'s birthday, the 15th
+of August, must be celebrated in Berlin. But the German people, North
+and South, rose as one man: for the first time in her history, Germany
+became one compact, _national_ power. Bavarian and Hannoverian, Prussian
+and Hessian, Saxon and Westphalian joined hands and stood side by side.
+The temper of the people was solemn, but inflexibly firm: they did not
+boast of coming victory, but every one was resolved to die rather than
+see Germany again overrun by the French.
+
+This time there were no alliances: it was simply Germany on one side and
+France on the other. The greatest military genius of our day, Moltke,
+had foreseen the war, no less than Bismarck, and was equally prepared.
+The designs of France lay clear, and the only question was to check
+them in their very commencement. In eleven days, Germany had 450,000
+soldiers, organized in three armies, on the way, and the French had not
+yet crossed the frontier! Further, there was a German reserve force of
+112,000, while France had but 310,000, all told, in the field. By the 2d
+of August, on which day King William reached Mayence, three German
+armies (General Steinmetz on the North with 61,000 men, Prince Frederick
+Karl in the centre with 206,000, and the Crown-Prince Frederick William
+on the South with 180,000) stretched from Treves to Landau, and the line
+of the Rhine was already safe. On the same day, Napoleon III. and his
+young son accompanied General Frossard, with 25,000 men, in an attack
+upon the unfortified frontier town of Saarbrueck, which was defended by
+only 1800 Uhlans (cavalry). The capture of this little place was
+telegraphed to Paris, and received with the wildest rejoicings; but it
+was the only instance during the war when French troops stood upon
+German soil--unless as prisoners.
+
+[Sidenote: 1870.]
+
+On the 4th the army of the Crown-Prince crossed the French frontier and
+defeated Marshal Mac Mahon's right wing at Weissenburg. The old castle
+was stormed and taken by the Bavarians, and the French repulsed, after a
+loss of about 1,000 on each side. Mac Mahon concentrated his whole force
+and occupied a strong position near the village of Woerth, where he was
+again attacked on the 6th. The battle lasted thirteen hours and was
+fiercely contested: the Germans lost 10,000 killed and wounded, the
+French 8,000, and 6,000 prisoners; but when night came Mac Mahon's
+defeat turned into a panic. Part of his army fled towards the Vosges
+mountains, part towards Strasburg, and nearly all Alsatia was open to
+the victorious Germans. On the very same day, the army of Steinmetz
+stormed the heights of Spicheren near Saarbrueck, and won a splendid
+victory. This was followed by an immediate advance across the frontier
+at Forbach, and the capture of a great amount of supplies.
+
+Thus, in less than three weeks from the declaration of war, the attitude
+of France was changed from the aggressive to the defensive, the field of
+war was transferred to French soil, and all Napoleon III.'s plans of
+alliance were rendered vain. Leaving a division of Baden troops to
+invest Strasburg, the Crown-Prince pressed forward with his main army,
+and in a few days reached Nancy, in Lorraine. The armies of the North
+and Centre advanced at the same time, defeated Bazaine on the 14th of
+August at Courcelles, and forced him to fall back upon Metz. He
+thereupon determined, after garrisoning the forts of Metz, to retreat
+still further, in order to unite with General Trochu, who was organizing
+a new army at Chalons, and with the remnants of Mac Mahon's forces.
+Moltke detected his plans at once, and the army of Frederick Karl was
+thereupon hurried across the Moselle, to get into his rear and prevent
+the junction.
+
+[Illustration: METZ AND VICINITY.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1870. GERMAN ADVANCE UPON METZ.]
+
+The struggle between the two commenced on the 16th, near the village of
+Mars-la-Tour, where Bazaine, with 180,000 men, endeavored to force his
+way past Frederick Karl, who had but 120,000, the other two German
+armies being still in the rear. For six hours the latter held his
+position under a murderous fire, until three corps arrived to reinforce
+him. Bazaine claimed a victory, although he lost the southern and
+shorter road to Verdun; but Moltke none the less gained his object. The
+losses were about 17,000 killed and wounded on each side.
+
+After a single day of rest, the struggle was resumed on the 18th, when
+the still bloodier and more desperate battle of Gravelotte was fought.
+The Germans now had about 200,000 soldiers together, while Bazaine had
+180,000, with a great advantage in his position on a high plateau. In
+this battle, the former situation of the combatants was changed: the
+German lines faced eastward, the French westward--a circumstance which
+made defeat more disastrous to either side. The strife began in the
+morning and continued until darkness put an end to it: the French right
+wing yielded after a succession of heroic assaults, but the centre and
+left wing resisted gallantly until the very close of the battle. It was
+a hard-won victory, adding 20,000 killed and wounded to the German
+losses, but it cut off Bazaine's retreat and forced him to take shelter
+behind the fortifications of Metz, the siege of which, by Prince
+Frederick Karl with 200,000 men, immediately commenced, while the rest
+of the German army marched on to attack Mac Mahon and Trochu at Chalons.
+
+[Sidenote: 1870.]
+
+There could be no question as to the bravery of the French troops in
+these two battles. In Paris the Government and people persisted in
+considering them victories, until the imprisonment of Bazaine's army
+proved that their result was defeat. Then a wild cry of rage rang
+through the land: France had been betrayed, and by whom, if not by the
+German residents in Paris and other cities? The latter, more than
+100,000 in number, including women and helpless children, were expelled
+from the country under circumstances of extreme barbarity. The French
+people, not the Government, was responsible for this act: the latter was
+barely able to protect the Germans from worse violence.
+
+Mac Mahon had in the meantime organized a new army of 125,000 men in the
+camp at Chalons, where, it was supposed, he would dispute the advance on
+Paris. This was his plan, in fact, and he was with difficulty persuaded
+by Marshal Palikao, the Minister of War, to give it up and undertake a
+rapid march up the Meuse, along the Belgian frontier, to relieve Bazaine
+in Metz. On the 23d of August, the Crown-Prince, who had already passed
+beyond Verdun on his way to Chalons, received intelligence that the
+French had left the latter place. Detachments of Uhlans, sent out in all
+haste to reconnoitre, soon brought the astonishing news that Mac Mahon
+was marching rapidly northwards. Gen. Moltke detected his plan, which
+could only be thwarted by the most vigorous movement on the part of the
+German forces. The front of the advance was instantly changed, reformed
+on the right flank, and all pushed northwards by forced marches.
+
+[Sidenote: 1870. MAC MAHON'S MARCH.]
+
+Mac Mahon had the outer and longer line, so that, in spite of the
+rapidity of his movements, he was met by the extreme right wing of the
+German army on the 28th of August, at Stenay on the Meuse. Being here
+held in check, fresh divisions were hurried against him, several small
+engagements followed, and on the 31st he was defeated at Beaumont by the
+Crown-Prince of Saxony. The German right was thereupon pushed beyond the
+Meuse and occupied the passes of the Forest of Ardennes, leading into
+Belgium. Meanwhile the German left, under Frederick William, was rapidly
+driving back the French right and cutting off the road to Paris. Nothing
+was left to Mac Mahon but to concentrate his forces and retire upon the
+small fortified city of Sedan. Napoleon III., who had left Metz before
+the battle of Mars-la-Tour, and did not dare to return to Paris at such
+a time, was with him.
+
+The Germans, now numbering 200,000, lost no time in planting batteries
+on all the heights which surround the valley of the Meuse, at Sedan,
+like the rim of an irregular basin. Mac Mahon had 112,000 men, and his
+only chance of success was to break through the wider ring which
+inclosed him, at some point where it was weak. The battle began at five
+o'clock on the morning of September 1st. The principal struggle was for
+the possession of the villages of Bazeilles and Illy, and the heights of
+Daigny. Mac Mahon was severely wounded, soon after the fight began; the
+command was then given to General Ducrot and afterwards to General
+Wimpffen, who knew neither the ground nor the plan of operations. The
+German artillery fire was fearful, and the French infantry could not
+stand before it, while their cavalry was almost annihilated during the
+afternoon, in a succession of charges on the Prussian infantry.
+
+By three o'clock it was evident that the French army was defeated:
+driven back from every strong point which was held in the morning,
+hurled together in a demoralized mass, nothing was left but surrender.
+General Lauriston appeared with a white flag on the walls of Sedan, and
+the terrible fire of the German artillery ceased. Napoleon III. wrote to
+King William: "Not having been able to die at the head of my troops, I
+lay my sword at your Majesty's feet,"--and retired to the castle of
+Bellevue, outside of the city. Early the next morning he had an
+interview with Bismarck at the little village of Donchery, and then
+formally surrendered to the King at Bellevue.
+
+[Sidenote: 1870.]
+
+During the battle, 25,000 French soldiers had been taken prisoners: the
+remaining 83,000, including 4,000 officers, surrendered on the 2d of
+September: 400 cannon, 70 _mitrailleuses_, and 1,100 horses also fell
+into the hands of the Germans. Never before, in history, had such a host
+been taken captive. The news of this overwhelming victory electrified
+the world: Germany rang with rejoicings, and her emigrated sons in
+America and Australia joined in the jubilee. The people said: "It will
+be another Seven Weeks' War," and this hope might possibly have been
+fulfilled, but for the sudden political change in France. On the 4th
+(two days after the surrender), a revolution broke out in Paris, the
+Empress Eugenie and the members of her government fled, and a Republic
+was declared. The French, blaming Napoleon alone for their tremendous
+national humiliation, believed that they could yet recover their lost
+ground; and when one of their prominent leaders, the statesman Jules
+Favre, declared that "not one foot of soil, not one stone of a fortress"
+should be yielded to Germany, the popular enthusiasm knew no bounds.
+
+But it was too late. The great superiority of the military organization
+of Prussia had been manifested against the regular troops of France, and
+it could not be expected that new armies of volunteers, however brave
+and devoted, would be more successful. The army of the Crown-Prince
+marched on towards Paris without opposition, and on the 17th of
+September came in sight of the city, which was defended by an outer
+circle of powerful detached fortresses, constructed during the reign of
+Louis Philippe. Gen. Trochu was made military governor, with 70,000
+men--the last remnant of the regular army--under his command. He had
+barely time to garrison and strengthen the forts, when the city was
+surrounded, and the siege commenced.
+
+For two months thereafter, the interest of the war is centred upon
+sieges. The fortified city of Toul, in Lorraine, surrendered on the 23d
+of September, Strasburg, after a six weeks' siege, on the 28th, and thus
+the two lines of railway communication between Germany and Paris were
+secured. All the German reserves were called into the field, until,
+finally, more than 800,000 soldiers stood upon French soil. After two or
+three attempts to break through the lines Bazaine surrendered Metz on
+the 28th of October. It was another event without a parallel in military
+history. There Marshals of France, 6,000 officers, 145,000 unwounded
+soldiers, 73 eagles, 854 pieces of artillery, and 400,000 Chasse-pot
+rifles, were surrendered to Prince Frederick Karl!
+
+[Sidenote: 1870. NEW FRENCH ARMIES.]
+
+After these successes, the capture of Paris became only a question of
+time. Although the Republican leader, Gambetta, escaped from the city in
+a balloon, and by his fiery eloquence aroused the people of Central and
+Southern France, every plan for raising the siege of Paris failed. The
+French volunteers were formed into three armies--that of the North,
+under Faidherbe; of the Loire, under Aurelles de Paladine (afterwards
+under Chanzy and Bourbaki); and of the East, under Keratry. Besides, a
+great many companies of _francs-tireurs_, or independent sharp-shooters,
+were organized to interrupt the German communications, and they gave
+much more trouble than the larger armies. About the end of November a
+desperate attempt was made to raise the siege of Paris. General Paladine
+marched from Orleans with 150,000 men, while Trochu tried to break the
+lines of the besiegers on the eastern side. The latter was repelled,
+after a bloody fight: the former was attacked at Beaune la Rolande, by
+Prince Frederick Karl, with only half the number of troops, and most
+signally defeated. The Germans then carried on the winter campaign with
+the greatest vigor, both in the Northern provinces and along the Loire,
+and Trochu, with his four hundred thousand men, made no further serious
+effort to save Paris.
+
+Frederick Karl took Orleans on the 5th of December, advanced to Tours,
+and finally, in a six days' battle, early in January, 1871, at Le Mans,
+literally cut the Army of the Loire to pieces. The French lost 60,000 in
+killed, wounded and prisoners. Faidherbe was defeated in the North, a
+week afterwards, and the only resistance left was in Burgundy, where
+Garibaldi (who hastened to France after the Republic was proclaimed) had
+been successful in two or three small engagements, and was now replaced
+by Bourbaki. The object of the latter was to relieve the fortress of
+Belfort, then besieged by General Werder, who, with 43,000 men,
+awaited his coming in a strong position among the mountains.
+Notwithstanding Bourbaki had more than 100,000 men, he was forced to
+retreat after a fight of three days, and then General Manteuffel, who
+had been sent in all haste to strengthen Werder, followed him so closely
+that on the 1st of February, all retreat being cut off, his whole army
+of 83,000 men crossed the Swiss frontier, and after suffering terribly
+among the snowy passes of the Jura, were disarmed, fed and clothed by
+the Swiss government and people. Bourbaki attempted to commit suicide,
+but only inflicted a severe wound, from which he afterwards recovered.
+
+[Illustration: The German EMPIRE 1871.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1871. SURRENDER OF PARIS.]
+
+The retreat into Switzerland was almost the last event of the _Seven
+Months' War_, as it might be called, and it was as remarkable as the
+surrenders of Sedan and Metz. All power of defence was now broken:
+France was completely at the mercy of her conquerors. On the 28th of
+January, after long negotiations between Bismarck and Jules Favre, the
+forts around Paris capitulated and Trochu's army became prisoners of
+war. The city was not occupied, but, for the sake of the half-starved
+population, provisions were allowed to enter. The armistice, originally
+declared for three weeks, was prolonged until March 1st, when the
+preliminaries of peace were agreed upon, and hostilities came to an end.
+
+By the final treaty of Peace, which was concluded at Frankfort on the
+10th of May, 1871, France gave up Alsatia with all its cities and
+fortresses except Belfort, and _German_ Lorraine, including Metz and
+Thionville, to Germany. The territory thus transferred contained about
+5,500 square miles and 1,580,000 inhabitants. France also agreed to pay
+an indemnity of _five thousand millions_ of francs, in instalments,
+certain of her departments to be occupied by German troops, and only
+evacuated by degrees, as the payments were made. Thus ended this
+astonishing war, during which 17 great battles and 156 minor engagements
+had been fought, 22 fortified places taken, 385,000 soldiers (including
+11,360 officers) made prisoners, and 7,200 cannon and 600,000 stand of
+arms acquired by Germany. There is no such crushing defeat of a strong
+nation recorded in history.
+
+[Sidenote: 1871.]
+
+Even before the capitulation of Paris the natural political result of
+the victory was secured to Germany. The cooperation of the three
+Southern States in the war removed the last barrier to a union of all,
+except Austria, under the lead of Prussia. That which the great
+majority of the people desired was also satisfactory to the princes: the
+"North-German Union" was enlarged and transformed into the "German
+Empire," by including Bavaria, Wuertemberg and Baden. It was agreed that
+the young king of Bavaria, Ludwig II., as occupying the most important
+position among the rulers of the three separate States, should ask King
+William to assume the Imperial dignity, with the condition that it
+should be hereditary in his family. The other princes and the free
+cities united in the call; and on the 18th of January, 1871, in the
+grand hall of the palace of Versailles, where Richelieu and Louis XIV.
+and Napoleon I. had plotted their invasions of Germany, the king
+formally accepted the title of Emperor, and the German States were at
+last united as one compact, indivisible Nation.
+
+The Emperor William concluded his proclamation to the German People with
+these words: "May God permit us, and our successors to the Imperial
+crown, to give at all times increase to the German Empire, not by the
+conquests of war, but by the goods and gifts of peace, in the path of
+national prosperity, freedom and morality!" After the end of the war was
+assured, he left Paris, and passed in a swift march of triumph through
+Germany to Berlin, where the popular enthusiasm was extravagantly
+exhibited. Four days afterwards he called together the first German
+Parliament (since 1849), and the organization of the new Empire was
+immediately commenced. It was simply, in all essential points, a renewal
+of the North-German Union. The Imperial Government introduced a general
+military, naval, financial, postal and diplomatic system for all the
+States, a uniformity of weights, measures and coinage,--in short, a
+thoroughly national union of locally independent States, all of which
+are embraced in a name which is no longer merely geographical--GERMANY.
+Here, then, the History of the Race ceases, and that of the Nation
+begins.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+
+THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE.
+
+(1871--1893.)
+
+The First German Parliament by Direct Vote. --The Political Factions.
+    --The Ultramontane Party in Opposition to the Government.
+    --Struggle with the Church of Rome. --"Kulturkampf." --Falk
+    appointed Minister of Culture. --His first Success. --Animosity of
+    the Pope. --The Jesuits expelled from Germany. --The May Laws.
+    --The Roman Catholic Clergy rebel. --Civil Marriage made requisite.
+    --The "Bundesrath." --Meeting of the Three Emperors. --Armaments.
+    --Peace secured by Diplomacy. --Financial Questions. --Bismarck
+    obliged to look to the Ultramontanes for Parliamentary Support. --A
+    conciliatory Policy towards the Roman Church. --Falk resigns. --The
+    Social-Democrats, and the Attacks on the Life of William I. --The
+    Exceptional Law. --Party Dissensions. --A higher Protective Policy
+    introduced. --New Taxes. --The Opening of Parliament in 1881.
+    --Scheme of the Government for bettering the Condition of the
+    Workingmen. --The Colonial Question. --War-Clouds. --France finds a
+    Sympathizer in Russia. --The Triple Alliance. --The Military
+    Budget. --The Dissolution of Parliament. --The Government gains a
+    Victory by new Elections. --Ludwig II. of Bavaria and his tragic
+    End. --The Death of Emperor William I. --Fatal Disease of the
+    Crown-Prince. --The Latter as Frederick III. --His Death. --His
+    Successor, William II. --Resignation of Bismarck. --General Caprivi
+    made Chancellor. --The German-English Agreement. --The Triple
+    Alliance renewed. --New commercial Treaties. --Withdrawal of the
+    School Bill. --A new Army Bill rejected and Parliament dissolved.
+    --New Elections result in victory for the Government.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1871. FIRST SESSION OF PARLIAMENT.]
+
+After many a dark and gloomy century, the dream of a united Germany was
+realized. The outer pile stood complete before the awakening nation and
+an astonished world; now there remained to be done the patient,
+painstaking work of consolidating the federation of States in all
+particulars, making the different parts one within as well as without.
+
+On the 21st of March, 1871, the first German Parliament, elected by the
+direct vote of the people, met at Berlin, the capital of the federation,
+and the political parties took their stand. Bismarck, Prince, Chancellor
+of the Empire, acknowledged as the first statesman of Europe, saw the
+advantage of a liberal policy, which secured for the Government the
+support of the Nationals and the Liberals, and with them a sufficient
+majority to carry out its plans. At the same time the Chancellor had to
+reckon with an opposition that was threatening to German unity. Chief
+among it were the Ultramontanes (or Papal party), so called because they
+looked beyond the Alps for their sovereign guide--the Church of Rome.
+They formed the Centre party, and around them all the dissatisfied
+elements grouped themselves--the Particularists, who still held on to
+their petty provincial interests; the Poles from Eastern Prussia; the
+Danes from northern Schleswig; the Social-Democrats; and later the
+representatives of Alsatia and Lorraine. On the utmost right sat the old
+feudal nobility, which was reactionary at the outset. Although diverging
+far apart in aims and purposes, these different factions joined hands
+against the Federal Government whenever their interests were concerned,
+and thus at times constituted a powerful foe.
+
+[Sidenote: 1872.]
+
+It soon became evident that the chief battle to maintain union and
+freedom had to be fought with the Ultramontanes, who were inspired by
+the counsel of the Vatican and upheld by the authority actually wielded
+in Germany by the Roman Catholic Church. The concessions made to it in
+Prussia by the romantic spirit of Frederick William IV. had borne their
+bitter fruit, and the Protestant kingdom had become even more a foothold
+for the Church of Rome than Catholic Bavaria. On the same day on which
+France declared war against Germany the Papal power sounded another
+war-trumpet by proclaiming the Dogma of Papal Infallibility. Germany had
+been the victor in the combat with France; it now had to encounter the
+other foe in defence of the best life of the nation--an untrammelled
+conscience, free schools, the sway of reason, and the light of science.
+
+The task of fighting a state within the state, which confronted the
+Federal Government and the nation at the very outset, was hard and
+bitter on both sides. It took place in Parliament as well as in the
+Prussian and Bavarian Assemblies, and as a struggle for the preservation
+of the blessings of modern civilization it has been designated
+"Kulturkampf," a fight for culture.
+
+In the beginning of 1872 the Chancellor knew himself sufficiently
+supported by the National-Liberals in Parliament and in the Prussian
+Assembly to take up the combat with the Roman Church and its adherents
+in both political bodies. He caused the reactionary Minister of
+Culture, von Muehler, to resign his office, and invited Adalbert Falk, a
+statesman of keen insight and fearless energy, to take his place. Falk
+undertook to define the boundaries between the State and the Church by a
+series of laws, and his first success was in carrying through the
+Prussian Assembly a bill that made the public schools independent of the
+Church, and gave their supervision to the State. The Pope's answer to
+this measure was his refusal to receive the Emperor's ambassador,
+Cardinal Hohenlohe, who had been nominated for diplomatic representation
+at the Vatican on account of his conciliatory spirit. At this period
+Bismarck made his famous declaration, "To Canossa _we_ do not go!" The
+conflict waxed hotter, and from all parts of Germany the enlightened
+portions of the people sent petitions to Parliament, asking it to
+exclude from the precincts of the Empire the Jesuits, who were known to
+be the Pope's advisers, and as such were at the root of the evil. The
+demand was granted. A bill to that effect was introduced into
+Parliament, and, after much passionate debate, became a law. Before the
+close of the year every member of the Society of Jesus had to leave
+Germany, and all institutions belonging to that organization were
+closed.
+
+[Sidenote: 1873. THE MAY LAWS.]
+
+The year 1873 brought about the important legislation by which the lines
+between the competencies of State and Church were conclusively defined.
+It was designed primarily to benefit Prussia, but its effect in the end
+was of advantage to the whole of Germany. The bills destined to restrict
+the undue power of the Roman Catholic Church, in spite of violent
+opposition on the part of the Ultramontanes and the reactionary Feudals,
+were carried through the Prussian Assembly in the month of May, and
+hence are called the "May laws." They were met by open rebellion on the
+part of the Prussian episcopacy. The Catholic clergy closed the doors of
+their seminaries to the Government supervisors; they published protests
+of every form against legislation that had not the sanction of the Papal
+See; they omitted to make announcement to the provincial governments of
+newly appointed curates or beneficiaries, and demonstrated in every way
+their insubordination to the lay authorities. In accordance with the new
+laws, these rebellious acts were punished by the withdrawal of dotations
+that had been granted by the State to Roman Catholic seminaries or
+schools, and the latter in some instances were closed. The curates
+appointed without consent of the head authorities were forbidden to
+officiate, and their religious functions declared to be null and void.
+Then the rebellious prelates were fined or imprisoned, and, as a last
+resort, declared to be out of office, while the endowments of their
+dioceses were administered by lay officials.
+
+[Sidenote: 1874.]
+
+In 1874 civil marriage was made obligatory by law, first in Prussia, and
+then, after receiving also the sanction of Parliament, throughout the
+Empire. With this measure a powerful weapon was wrenched from the hands
+of the clergy, and another blow was dealt. Other measures followed,
+under protests from Pope and clergy, and hot debating was continued in
+the legislative bodies, until, in 1876, matters of another nature and
+more momentous importance forced themselves to the front.
+
+The work for organization and reform, up to this time, had progressed in
+various directions, and the proposed measures for cementing German unity
+had received more or less ready support in Parliament and the Assemblies
+of the different States. The latter had their representatives at Berlin,
+who were nominated by their respective sovereigns. They met in a body
+called the Bundesrath--the Counsel of the Federation. Any step taken by
+the Federal Government towards legislation affecting the whole of the
+Empire had to be laid before and agreed to by the Bundesrath before it
+could be introduced into Parliament. Thus the rights of the States were
+preserved, and the reigning Princes were made still to feel their
+importance, which tended to create harmony between them and the Empire.
+
+While the interior growth of the latter was of a healthy and steady
+nature, the genius of the great statesman, Prince Bismarck, was busy
+likewise in allaying the fears and, in a measure, mollifying the envy
+and jealousies of neighboring powers. In September, 1872, the Emperors
+of Germany, Austria, and Russia met at Berlin, to renew assurances of
+friendship and thus convince the world of their peaceable intentions.
+The cordial relations between the reigning families of Germany and Italy
+were strengthened by visits from court to court, and even Denmark was
+somewhat pacified in regard to its loss of Schleswig-Holstein. But
+France still frowned at a distance, and was preparing for revenge. The
+meeting of the three Emperors gave her additional offence, and she
+strove to reorganize and enlarge her army. This called forth
+counter-movements in Germany, where the reorganization of the army--even
+before the late wars a pet project of William I.--had been agreed to by
+Parliament. A prudent diplomacy, and the friendly demonstrations of
+Alexander II. to the German Emperor and his Chancellor, dispelled for a
+time the rising war-clouds, and the peaceful work of interior
+organization was continued.
+
+[Sidenote: 1882. REVISION OF THE MAY LAWS.]
+
+After the Roman Church had been restricted to its lawful boundaries, the
+most important questions looming up were those in reference to financial
+matters. The income of the Empire proved insufficient to cover the
+enormous outlay for necessary changes and reforms to be perfected, while
+at the same time influences were brought about to forward a higher
+protective policy than had been adhered to hitherto. In order to bring
+about an increased tariff, and such taxation as the financial situation
+required, the Chancellor had to look for the support of other parties
+than the Nationals and the Liberal-Conservatives. He took it where it
+was offered, and here the Ultramontanes or Centre party saw their
+opportunity. The consequence was a tacit compromise with the latter. The
+contest with the Vatican faltered; a conciliatory policy was adopted in
+matters concerning the Catholic Church, and Falk, seeing his work
+crippled, resigned his office, in 1879, to make room for a reactionary
+Minister of Culture. In 1882 a revision of the May laws took place; the
+refractory bishops were allowed to return, the ecclesiastical
+institutions were reopened, salaries were paid once more to the clergy
+by the State, and other restitutions were made, for all of which the
+Pope only acceded to the demand that new appointments of ecclesiastics
+should be announced in due form to the German Government.
+
+At this period the political situation was aggravated by the agitation
+of the Social-Democrats, and by what seemed to be its direct outgrowth,
+the repeated murderous attempts on the life of the Emperor William I. in
+May and June, 1878. These startling events opened the eyes of the people
+to a danger in their very midst--a danger threatening society and all
+its most sacred institutions. To avert it, the Chancellor at once caused
+a bill to be drawn up for an exceptional law, meant to suppress all
+aggressive movements of the Social-Democrats and reduce them to silence.
+When it was laid before Parliament, it found no favor with the
+majority, and was rejected; whereupon the Chancellor, in the name of the
+Emperor, declared Parliament to be dissolved. The new elections did not
+bring about any considerable change; but a majority was obtained, and
+the exceptional law was established for two years and a half, which
+period afterwards was prolonged several times.
+
+[Sidenote: 1881.]
+
+The steady inner growth of the first eight or nine years had now been
+checked by party dissension and political discord, brought on chiefly by
+the financial difficulties, in which the new Empire found itself
+involved, and the steady demand from centres of industry and agriculture
+for higher protective measures. These demands, being favored by the
+Chancellor, were gaining the upper hand: customs were increased, a new
+duty was raised on cereals, and a considerable tax was put upon spirits.
+All this made it easy for the Radicals to agitate and alarm the masses
+of the people, and in consequence the parliamentary elections of 1881
+gave a majority to the extreme Liberals in opposition to the Government.
+When the new Parliament convened, the venerable Emperor, William I.,
+opened it in person, and read a message the tenor of which was more than
+usually solemn, pointing with great emphasis to the social evils of the
+time, and the best remedies for healing them. The sequel of this message
+was a project of great magnitude, which the Federal Government
+introduced into Parliament for the purpose of bettering the conditions
+of the laboring classes. To carry it out required successive bills and
+years of indefatigable work, incessant debating, and many a hard
+struggle with opposition, until at present the whole system is in
+working order. It comprises a series of insurances for laborers, to
+secure them from losses by sickness, accidents, invalidity, and age.
+These insurances are obligatory, and the cost of them is borne jointly
+by the Government, the employers, and the laborers themselves.
+
+About this time the colonial question also caused a clashing of parties.
+To open new channels of commerce and enterprise, certain mercantile
+houses had acquired large tracts of land on foreign continents, and now
+asked the protection of the Empire for their efforts. Germany, now a
+first-class power and in possession of a growing navy, needed
+coaling-stations in foreign waters, new lines of steamers to connect
+directly with Africa and eastern Asia, and an outlet for her rapidly
+multiplying population, which she would rather colonize under her own
+flag than lose by emigration to other countries. The Federal Government
+therefore took up this matter in its own interest, and asked Parliament
+for appropriations and subsidies to carry out those enlarged plans. The
+demand was received on the part of the Liberals and Radicals with
+violent opposition; but, in the end, the decision, with the assistance
+of the Centre party, was in favor of the Government.
+
+[Sidenote: 1882. THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE.]
+
+In the meantime fresh war-clouds were gathering on the political
+horizon, on account of the accumulation of Russian troops on the
+frontiers of Germany and Austria. The violent death of Alexander II. of
+Russia had deprived Germany of a friend whom his successor, Alexander
+III., did not mean to replace. His sympathies were with the growing
+Pan-slavistic party, which through its press was exciting hatred against
+all that was German. Thus France felt herself drawn towards Russia, and
+both the Republic and the semi-barbarian Empire stood ready at any
+moment to make common cause for the ruin of Germany. This constant
+menace and its attendant rivalry in armament could not but be a
+misfortune, not merely for Germany but for all the powers concerned. To
+avert the danger of war as long as possible, the deep insight of the
+great man at the helm of the Federal Government of Germany had led him
+to take an important step in good time. As early as 1879 he had created
+a counterpoise to the threatening attitude of France and Russia by
+concluding an alliance for defensive purposes between Germany and
+Austria, which a few years later was joined by Italy, and, as the
+"Triple Alliance," has been the wedge to keep apart the hostile powers
+in the East and the West, securing peace thereby.
+
+In 1886 the time approached for a new military budget. The armaments of
+both Russia and France had reached such enormous dimensions that the
+German Government could not but know the military forces of the Empire
+to be no longer on an equal footing with the hostile powers.
+Consequently, it now asked Parliament not only for a new septennial
+budget for military purposes, as twice before since 1874, but also for
+appropriations to raise a larger contingent of soldiers (one per cent.
+of the whole population, which, according to the last census, made
+41,000 men more than at that time), and additional sums for
+fortifications, barracks, arms, etc. Thereupon ensued another
+parliamentary contest. The opposition proved themselves not sufficiently
+patriotic to take a large view, and, in concert with the Centre, the
+Liberals demanded that the contingent of soldiers should be diminished
+and the budget granted for three years only. After much passionate
+debate, and in spite of Bismarck's weighty eloquence, the motion of the
+Government was carried in a crippled condition and by only a small
+majority. Then Parliament was once more dissolved, and new elections
+took place about a month afterwards (21st of February, 1887), which made
+evident the temper of the people, since the Liberals and
+Social-Democrats were heavy losers. Only half of their former number was
+returned to Parliament. The military bill was now carried by a large
+majority of Conservatives and Nationals, and financial as well as other
+matters of importance were brought to a quick issue.
+
+[Sidenote: 1887.]
+
+The almost miraculous rise of a united Germany, and its wonderful inner
+growth, had its reverses in the tragical events that took place in the
+royal houses of Bavaria and Prussia, during 1886 and 1888. King Ludwig
+II. of Bavaria, a man of superior intellectual qualities and gifted with
+great charms, had been a victim of late years to mental hallucinations,
+which at last began to endanger the finances and constitutional rights
+of the country. It became necessary to declare him insane and to
+establish a regency in his name. This and his confinement to his lonely
+castle of Berg led the king to drown himself in the lake bordering the
+grounds. His corpse and that of his attendant physician were found where
+the gravel bottom of the shallow water gave evidence of a struggle
+having taken place. Since the successor of Ludwig II., his younger
+brother, Otto, was a confirmed maniac, the regency still remained with
+Prince Luitpold, the uncle of both these unfortunate kings. He was
+imbued with the national idea of German unity, and continued the same
+wise and liberal policy that governed the actions of Ludwig II. in his
+best days--a policy which earned for him the fame of being called one of
+the founders of a united German Empire.
+
+Early in 1888 the Emperor, nearly ninety-one years old, showed signs of
+declining vitality, and in March the end was at hand. It was peaceful,
+though clouded by a great sorrow which filled the last months of his
+life. There was a vacant place among the members of his family who
+surrounded his death-bed. His son, the Crown-Prince, now fifty-six years
+of age, was detained by a fatal disease at San Remo, in Italy. William
+I., beloved by the German people as no sovereign before him had been,
+died on the 9th of March, and his son and heir, Frederick III., began
+his reign of ninety-nine days. Sick as he was, and deprived of speech in
+consequence of his cruel disease, his inborn sense of duty caused him to
+set out for Berlin as soon as the news of the old Emperor's death
+reached him. His proclamation to the people and his rescript to Prince
+Bismarck are evidences of the noble and patriotic spirit that animated
+him; but he was too ill, and his reign was too short, to determine what
+he would have been to Germany had he lived. He died on the 15th of June,
+1888, and almost his last words to his son and successor were: "Learn to
+suffer without complaint."
+
+[Sidenote: 1888. WILLIAM II.]
+
+William II., born on the 27th of January, 1859, now became Emperor of
+Germany. Many were the doubts with which he was seen to succeed to the
+throne. He was young in years, in view of the heavy responsibilities
+awaiting him; impulsive, where a steady head was required; and a soldier
+with all his heart. Nevertheless, there was nothing to indicate during
+the first years of his reign that the "old course" had been abandoned.
+The first important event took place in March, 1890, when the startling
+news was heard that Prince Bismarck had sent his resignation to the
+Emperor, and that it had been accepted. For a moment the fate of Germany
+seemed to hang in suspense; but the public mind soon recovered from the
+shock it had received, and the most thoughtful of people realized that a
+young ruler, imbued with modern ideas, and with an individuality all his
+own, could not be expected to remain in harmony with or to be guided by
+a statesman who, however great and wise, was growing old and in a
+measure incapable of seeing a new light in affairs of internal policy.
+On March 29th the ex-Chancellor left Berlin to retire to his estates.
+Along his drive to the railway station he received the spontaneous
+ovations of an immense concourse of people, who by their enthusiastic
+cheers showed their appreciation for the creator of the new Germany.
+
+[Sidenote: 1890.]
+
+The Emperor nominated General Caprivi Chancellor of the Empire in place
+of Bismarck. It was a good choice, since William II. evidently meant in
+future to be his own chancellor. He was of too vivacious a nature to
+accept a policy of State and Empire made ready to his hands. He had
+knowledge, and ideas of his own which he expected to carry out. The
+first serious dissension between the Emperor and Bismarck seems to have
+turned upon the question of Socialism. Bismarck was in favor of
+combating it with the utmost vigor, in order to avert the dangers
+threatening to State and society; the Emperor, on the contrary, was for
+conciliatory measures; for listening to the demands of the laboring
+classes, and remedying by arbitration and further legislation the evils
+of which they complained. The repressive measures hitherto resorted to,
+and the new ones proposed, were abandoned, and thus far there is no
+cause to condemn this "new course." Although the dangers from Socialism
+have not grown less, it is no longer necessary for the enemy of social
+order and justice to hide his face, and by that much it is easier to
+fight him and to strike at the right spot.
+
+Another event of note which took place in the same year, is the
+German-English agreement of July 1st, by which the respective limits of
+colonial possessions in Africa were regulated, and Germany became the
+possessor of the island of Helgoland as a compensation for the lion's
+share secured in Africa by England. The only value Germany derives from
+this acquisition will show itself in a future war, when the fortified
+island-rock may serve as an outpost, disputing the advance of hostile
+war ships toward the northern coast of Germany.
+
+In the following year the Triple Alliance was renewed, and had the
+wholesome effect of stopping various rumors of war. Besides, Russia, who
+had exchanged uncommon civilities with France, was in no condition to go
+to war, crippled as she was by the dreadful suffering of her people
+through famine consequent upon the failure of crops. Still another
+incentive was furnished for France and Russia to remain at peace by an
+understanding between England and Italy to keep intact the _status quo_
+in the Mediterranean. Although not a treaty in the literal sense of the
+word, it was sufficient to raise the prestige of the Triple Alliance,
+and thus to strengthen its pacific tendencies.
+
+[Sidenote: 1892. THE ARMY BILL.]
+
+But the most important feature of internal policy is to be found in the
+new commercial treaties which Germany contracted, first with the two
+other powers of the Triple Alliance--Austria-Hungary and Italy--and
+then with Belgium and Switzerland, as the most favored nations. The
+treaties were planned and carefully drafted to bring relief to the
+industrial classes by opening fresh channels for the exports of the
+country; but inasmuch as the tariff was lowered by them on the
+necessities of life, they also favored the rest of the population and
+especially the laboring classes. These treaties were ratified in
+Parliament by a large majority.
+
+In the spring of the year (April 24th) Germany lost one of her greatest
+men, the Field-Marshal Count Moltke, who had lived more than ninety
+years in the full enjoyment of his powers. Another man, who also had
+been prominent in his way, Windthorst, had died just one month before
+Moltke, but he was missed only by the Roman Catholic Centre party, who
+lost in him their ablest leader.
+
+The following year a bill was laid before the Prussian Assembly
+purporting to reform the public schools, but introducing at the same
+time such clauses as would render both public and private schools
+confessional. The bill was no sooner made public than it became evident
+that only the ultra Conservatives and the Centre or Ultramontane party
+were in favor of it, while the other parties, and behind them their
+constituents, declared themselves extremely opposed to it. In
+consequence of this bill the whole of Germany became greatly agitated;
+numerous protests were sent to the Assembly and the Minister of Culture,
+and men of note and intellect put in print their ominous warnings. All
+this resulted in the withdrawal of the bill and the resignation of the
+Minister of Culture, Count Zedlitz. But before the end of the year a new
+army measure began to stir afresh the minds of politicians and people.
+In his speech delivered before Parliament on November 23d, Caprivi
+explained that new sacrifices in money and taxation were necessary, in
+order to make the German army efficient to fight enemies "on two
+fronts." He went on to demonstrate that, although no war was in sight,
+France had surpassed Germany in her military organization and numbers,
+while Russia was continually perfecting her strategical railway system,
+and locating her best troops on her western frontier. To keep up an
+equal footing with her neighbors, it was necessary for Germany to add
+83,894 men to the present number of soldiers. In order to do this the
+existing obligation to serve in the army would have to be extended to
+every one capable of carrying arms. The cost was estimated at
+$16,700,000 for the first year, and $16,000,000 for every year
+succeeding. As a compensation for the heavy burdens to be imposed, the
+Government offered to reduce the time for active service from three to
+two years.
+
+[Sidenote: 1893.]
+
+There was from the first a widespread doubt among the people of the
+necessity for such heavy sacrifices as were entailed by this bill, and
+the possibility of carrying it successfully through Parliament. The body
+deferred dealing with it until the following year, when the fate of the
+bill was adversely decided on the 6th of May by a majority of
+forty-eight out of three hundred and seventy-two votes. Parliament was
+at once dissolved, and new elections were ordered to take place on the
+15th of June. In the interval some unexpected splits favoring the
+Government's cause occurred in the Centre party and among the Liberals,
+or Radicals--a name now more befitting. As the election proceeded, it
+became more and more evident that the opposition was losing and the
+Government gaining ground.
+
+[Sidenote: 1893. THE ARMY BILL.]
+
+The newly elected Parliament was opened on July 4th, and the Army bill,
+in a slightly modified form, was passed without delay after the third
+reading by a majority of sixteen out of three hundred and eighty-six
+votes. Small as this majority seems, it was a decided victory for the
+Government, since the latter had abstained throughout the elections from
+influencing them in any way. The ultimate passage of the bill, however,
+leaves the implied financial problem still unsolved. The outlook is not
+cheerful. Although an objective view of recent events is out of the
+question, there is room for doubting that the future of Germany will be
+tranquil. Owing to the general depression in industrial and agricultural
+fields, the financial question is sure to engender bitterness and
+strife. Nor is there any encouragement to be gained when we consider the
+numerous factions into which the parliamentary representation of the
+Empire is divided at the present time. What with the proportionately
+large gain of the Social-Democrats during the late elections, the
+numerically powerful Centrists acting in the interest of Roman
+Catholicism, the Particularists asserting themselves again, and the
+Anti-Semites with their socialistic affinities, it would seem inevitable
+that great struggles are yet to come. But we might hopefully say that
+Germany, in the evolution of her national growth, is just now passing
+through a trying period of change, the mists of which will be swept away
+in time, when by a clearer apprehension of parliamentary life and
+practice, and the exercise of a more concentrated patriotism, she will
+be strong, indeed, in freedom and in Unity.
+
+
+
+
+CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE
+
+=OF GERMAN HISTORY.=
+
+The history of Germany is generally divided into Five Periods, as
+follows:
+
+    I.--From the earliest accounts to the empire of Charlemagne.
+
+   II.--From Charlemagne to the downfall of the Hohenstaufens.
+
+  III.--From the Interregnum to the Reformation.
+
+   IV.--From the Reformation to the Peace of Westphalia.
+
+    V.--From the Peace of Westphalia to the present time.
+
+Some historians subdivide these periods, or change their limits; but
+there seems to be no other form of division so simple, natural, and
+easily borne in the memory. While retaining it, however, in the
+chronological table which follows, we shall separate the different
+dynasties which governed the German Empire, up to the time of the
+Interregnum, which is removed, by an irregular succession during two
+centuries, from the permanent rule of the Hapsburg family.
+
+  FIRST PERIOD. (B. C. 103--A. D. 768.)
+
+  =Primitive History.=
+
+  B. C.
+
+         113. The Cimbrians and Teutons invade Italy.
+
+         102. Marius defeats the Teutons.
+
+         101. Marius defeats the Cimbrians.
+
+          58. Julius Caesar defeats Ariovistus.
+
+      55--53. Caesar twice crosses the Rhine.
+
+       12--9. Campaigns of Drusus in Northern Germany.
+
+  A. D.
+
+           9. Defeat of Varus by Hermann.
+
+      14--16. Campaigns of Germanicus.
+
+          21. Death of Hermann.
+
+          69. Revolt of Claudius Civilis.
+
+          98. Tacitus writes his "Germania."
+
+    166--181. War of the Marcomanni against Marcus Aurelius.
+
+    200--250. Union of the German tribes under new names.
+
+         276. Probus invades Germany.
+
+         358. Julian defeats the Alemanni.
+
+    358--378. Bishop Ulfila converts the Goths to Christianity.
+
+  =The Migrations of the Races.=
+
+         375. The coming of the Huns.
+
+         378. The Emperor Valens defeated by the Visigoths.
+
+         395. Theodosius divides the Roman Empire.
+
+         396. Alaric's invasion of Greece.
+
+         403. Alaric meets Stilicho in Italy.
+
+         406. Stilicho defeats the German hordes at Fiesole.
+
+         410. Alaric takes Rome.
+
+         411. Alaric dies in Southern Italy.
+
+         412. Ataulf leads the Visigoths to Gaul.
+
+         429. The Vandals, under Geiserich, invade Africa.
+
+         449. The Saxons and Angles settle in England.
+
+         450. March of Attila to Gaul; battle of Chalons.
+
+         452. Attila in Italy.
+
+         455. Rome devastated by Geiserich and the Vandals.
+
+         476. The Roman Empire overthrown by Odoaker.
+
+    481--511. Chlodwig, King of the Franks.
+
+         486. End of the Roman rule in Gaul.
+
+         493. Theodoric and his Ostrogoths conquer Italy.
+
+         500. Chlodwig defeats the Burgundians.
+
+         526. Death of Theodoric the Great.
+
+    527--565. Reign of Justinian.
+
+         527. The Franks conquer Thuringia.
+
+         532. The Franks conquer Burgundy.
+
+         534. Belisarius overthrows the Vandal power in Africa.
+
+         552. Extermination of the Ostrogoths by Narses.
+
+  =Kingdom of the Franks.=
+
+    558--561. Reign of Clotar, King of the Franks.
+
+         568. Alboin leads the Longobards to Italy.
+
+    590--604. Spread of Christianity under Pope Gregory the Great.
+
+    590--597. Wars of Fredegunde and Brunhilde.
+
+         613. Murder of Brunhilde.
+
+    613--622. Clotar II., King of the Franks.
+
+         650. Pippin of Landen, steward to the royal household.
+
+         687. Pippin of Heristall.
+
+         711. The Saracens conquer Spain from the Visigoths.
+
+         732. Karl Martel defeats the Saracens at Tours.
+
+         741. Death of Karl Martel; Pippin the Short.
+
+         745. Winfried (Bonifacius), Archbishop of Mayence.
+
+         752. Pippin the Short becomes King of the Franks.
+
+         754. Pippin founds the temporal power of the Popes.
+
+         755. Bonifacius slain in Friesland.
+
+         768. Death of Pippin; his sons, Karl and Karloman.
+
+  SECOND PERIOD. (768--1254.)
+
+  =The Carolingian Dynasty.=
+
+         771. Karl (Charlemagne) sole ruler.
+
+    772--803. His wars with the Saxons.
+
+    774--775. March to Italy; overthrow of the Lombard kingdom.
+
+    777--778. Charlemagne's invasion of Spain.
+
+         788. Tassilo, Duke of Bavaria, deposed.
+
+         789. War with the Wends, east of the Elbe.
+
+         791. War with the Avars, in Hungary.
+
+         800. Charlemagne crowned Emperor in Rome.
+
+         814. Death of Charlemagne.
+
+    814--840. Ludwig the Pious.
+
+         843. Partition of Verdun.
+
+    843--876. Ludwig the German.
+
+         879. The kingdom of Arelat (Lower Burgundy) founded.
+
+    884--887. Karl the Fat unites France and Germany.
+
+    887--899. Arnulf of Carinthia.
+
+         891. Arnulf defeats the Norsemen in Belgium.
+
+    900--911. Ludwig the Child.
+
+    911--918. Konrad I., the Frank, King of Germany.
+
+    911--918. Wars with the Hungarians.
+
+  =The Saxon Emperors.=
+
+    919--936. King Henry I., of Saxony (the Fowler).
+
+         928. Victory over the Wends.
+
+         933. Great victory over the Hungarians, near Merseburg.
+
+         933. Upper and Lower Burgundy united as one kingdom.
+
+    936--973. Otto I., the Great.
+
+         939. Otto subjects the German Dukes.
+
+         952. Rebellion against his rule.
+
+         955. The Hungarians defeated on the Lech.
+
+         962. Otto renews the empire of Charlemagne.
+
+    973--983. Otto II.
+
+         982. His defeat by the Saracens.
+
+   983--1002. Otto III.; decline of the imperial power.
+
+  1002--1024. Henry II.; increasing power of the bishops.
+
+        1016. The Normans settle in Southern Italy.
+
+  =The Frank Emperors.=
+
+  1024--1039. Konrad II., Emperor.
+
+        1026. His visit to Rome; friendship with Canute the Great.
+
+  1033. Burgundy attached to the German Empire.
+
+  1039--1056. Henry III.; Poland, Bohemia, and Hungary, subject to the
+        empire.
+
+        1046. Synod of Sutri; Henry III. removes three Popes.
+
+        1046. The "Congregation of Cluny;" the "Peace of God."
+
+        1054. Pope Leo IX. captured by the Normans.
+
+  1056--1106. Henry IV.
+
+        1062. Henry IV.'s abduction by Bishop Hanno.
+
+        1073. Revolt of the Saxons.
+
+        1073. Hildebrand becomes Pope as Gregory VII.
+
+        1076. Henry IV. deposes the Pope, and is excommunicated.
+
+        1077. Henry IV.'s humiliation at Canossa.
+
+        1081. Death of the Anti-King, Rudolf of Suabia.
+
+        1084. Henry IV. in Rome; ravages of the Normans.
+
+        1085. Death of Pope Gregory VII.
+
+        1092. Revolt of Konrad, son of Henry IV.
+
+        1095. The first Crusade.
+
+        1099. Jerusalem taken by Godfrey of Bouillon.
+
+        1105. Rebellion of Henry, son of Henry IV.
+
+  1106--1125. Henry V.
+
+        1111. He imprisons Pope Paschalis II.
+
+        1113. Defeat of the Saxons.
+
+        1115. He is defeated by the Saxons.
+
+        1118. Orders of knighthood founded.
+
+        1122. The Concordat of Worms.
+
+        1125. Rise of the Hohenstaufens.
+
+  1125--1137. Lothar of Saxony, Emperor.
+
+        1134. The North-mark given to Albert the Bear.
+
+        1138. Henry the Proud, Duke of Bavaria and Saxony.
+
+  =The Hohenstaufen Emperors.=
+
+  1138--1152. King Konrad III.; Guelphs and Ghibellines.
+
+        1142. Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony.
+
+        1142. Albert the Bear, Margrave of Brandenburg.
+
+        1147. The second Crusade.
+
+  1152--1190. Frederick I., Barbarossa.
+
+        1163. Union of the Lombard cities.
+
+        1176. Barbarossa's defeat at Legnano.
+
+        1177. Reconciliation with the Pope at Venice.
+
+        1179. Otto of Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria.
+
+        1181. Henry the Lion banished.
+
+        1183. The Peace of Constance.
+
+        1190. The third Crusade; death of Barbarossa; foundation of the
+              German Order.
+
+  1190--1197. Henry VI. (receives also Naples and Sicily).
+
+        1192. Richard of the Lion-Heart imprisoned.
+
+        1195. Death of Henry the Lion.
+
+  1197--1208. Philip of Suabia; Otto IV. of Brunswick rival Emperor;
+        civil wars.
+
+        1208. Murder of Philip of Suabia.
+
+        1212. Frederick II., Hohenstaufen, comes to Germany.
+
+  1215--1250. Frederick II.'s reign.
+
+        1226. The German Order occupies Prussia.
+
+        1227. Frederick II. excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX.
+
+        1228. The fifth Crusade, led by Frederick II.
+
+        1235. Rebellion of Frederick's son, Henry.
+
+        1237. Frederick II.'s victory at Cortenuovo.
+
+        1245. Pope Innocent IV. excommunicates the Emperor.
+
+        1247. Death of Henry Raspe, Anti-Emperor.
+
+        1250. Foundation of the Hanseatic League.
+
+  1250--1254. Konrad IV.
+
+        1254. Union of cities of the Rhine.
+
+        1256. Death of William of Holland, Anti-Emperor.
+
+        1266. Battle of Benevento; death of King Manfred.
+
+        1268. Konradin's march to Italy, defeat, and execution.
+
+  THIRD PERIOD. (1254--1517.)
+
+  =Emperors of Various Houses.=
+
+        1256. Richard of Cornwall and Alfonso of Castile elected.
+
+  1273--1291. Rudolf of Hapsburg, Emperor.
+
+        1278. Defeat of King Ottokar of Bohemia.
+
+  1291--1298. Adolf of Nassau.
+
+        1291. Union of three Swiss Cantons.
+
+        1298. Albert of Austria defeats and slays Adolf of Nassau.
+
+  1298--1308. Albert I. of Austria.
+
+        1308. He is murdered by John Parricida.
+
+  1308--1313. Henry VII. of Luxemburg.
+
+        1308. The Papacy removed from Rome to Avignon.
+
+        1310. Henry VII.'s son, John, King of Bohemia.
+
+        1313. Henry VII. poisoned in Italy.
+
+  1314--1347. Ludwig the Bavarian.
+
+  1314--1330. Frederick of Austria, Anti-Emperor.
+
+        1315. Battle of Morgarten.
+
+        1322. Ludwig's victory at Muehldorf.
+
+        1324. He gets possession of Brandenburg.
+
+        1327. His journey to Rome; Pope John XXII. deposed.
+
+        1338. Convention of German princes at Rense.
+
+        1344. Invention of gunpowder.
+
+        1346. The Pope declares Ludwig deposed, and appoints Karl IV. of
+              Bohemia.
+
+        1347. Death of Ludwig the Bavarian.
+
+  1347--1378. Karl IV. (Luxemburg).
+
+        1348. Guenther of Schwarzburg, Anti-Emperor.
+
+        1356. Proclamation of "The Golden Bull."
+
+        1363. Tyrol annexed to Austria.
+
+        1368. The Hanseatic League defeats Waldemar III. of Denmark.
+
+        1373. Karl IV. acquires Brandenburg.
+
+        1377. War of Suabian cities with Count Eberhard.
+
+  1378--1418. Schism in the Catholic Church.
+
+  1378--1400. Wenzel of Bohemia (Luxemburg).
+
+        1386. Battle of Sempach.
+
+        1388. War of the Suabian cities.
+
+        1400. Wenzel deposed.
+
+  1400--1410. Rupert of the Palatinate.
+
+        1409. The Council of Pisa.
+
+        1410. The German Order defeated by the Poles.
+
+        1411. Three Emperors and three Popes at the same time.
+
+        1411. Frederick of Hohenzollern receives Brandenburg.
+
+  1411--1437. Sigismund of Bohemia.
+
+  1414--1418. The council at Constance.
+
+        1415. Martyrdom of Huss.
+
+        1418. End of the schism; Martin V., Pope.
+
+  1419--1436. The Hussite wars; Ziska; Procopius.
+
+  1431--1449. Council of Basel.
+
+        1437. Death of Sigismund.
+
+  =The Hapsburg Emperors.=
+
+  1438--1439. Albert II. of Austria; beginning of the uninterrupted
+        succession of the Hapsburgs.
+
+  1440--1493. Frederick III.
+
+        1444. Battle of St. James.
+
+        1450. Invention of printing.
+
+        1453. Constantinople taken by the Turks.
+
+        1466. Treaty of Thorn; Prussia tributary to Poland.
+
+        1474. War with Charles the Bold of Burgundy.
+
+        1476. Battles of Grandson and Morat.
+
+        1477. Death of Charles the Bold; marriage of Maximilian of
+              Austria and Mary of Burgundy.
+
+  1486--1525. Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony.
+
+  1493--1516. Maximilian I.
+
+        1495. Perpetual peace declared; the imperial court.
+
+        1512. Division of Germany into districts.
+
+  FOURTH PERIOD. (1517--1648.)
+
+  =The Reformation.=
+
+        1483. Martin Luther born.
+
+        1502. He enters the University of Erfurt.
+
+        1508. Is appointed professor at Wittenberg.
+
+        1510. Luther's journey to Rome.
+
+        1517. Luther nails his ninety-five theses, against the sale of
+              indulgences, to the church-door in Wittenberg.
+
+        1518. Interview with Cajetanus in Augsburg.
+
+        1519. Interview with Miltitz in Altenburg.
+
+        1520. Luther burns the Pope's Bull.
+
+  1520--1556. Charles V., Emperor.
+
+        1521. Luther at the Diet of Worms; his concealment.
+
+        1522. His return to Wittenberg.
+
+        1524. Ferdinand of Austria and the Bavarian dukes unite against
+              the Reformation.
+
+        1525. The Peasants' War.
+
+  1525--1532. John the Steadfast, Elector of Saxony.
+
+        1525. Albert of Brandenburg joins the Reformers; end of the
+              German Order; battle of Pavia.
+
+        1526. Ferdinand of Austria inherits Hungary and Bohemia.
+
+        1526. The League of Torgau.
+
+        1527. War of Charles V. against Francis I. and the Pope; Rome
+              taken by the Constable de Bourbon.
+
+        1529. Peace of Cambray; Diet of Speyer; the name of
+              "Protestants;" Luther meets Zwingli; Vienna besieged by
+              the Turks; Charles V. crowned at Bologna.
+
+        1530. Diet of Augsburg; the "Augsburg Confession."
+
+        1531. League of Schmalkalden.
+
+        1532. Religious Peace of Nuremberg.
+
+  1532--1554. John Frederick, Elector of Saxony.
+
+        1534. Duke Ulric of Wuertemberg joins the Protestants.
+
+  1536--1538. Charles V.'s third war with Francis I.
+
+        1540. Ignatius Loyola founds the Order of Jesuits.
+
+  1542--1544. Charles V.'s fourth war with Francis I.
+
+  1545--1563. The Council of Trent.
+
+        1546. Death of Luther; the Schmalkalden War; treachery of
+              Maurice of Saxony.
+
+        1547. Battle of Muehlberg; capture of John Frederick of Saxony;
+              Philip of Hesse imprisoned.
+
+        1548. The Augsburg "Interim."
+
+        1552. Maurice of Saxony marches against Charles V.; Henry II. of
+              France takes Toul, Metz, and Verdun.
+
+        1553. Death of Maurice of Saxony.
+
+        1555. The religious Peace of Augsburg.
+
+        1556. Abdication of Charles V.
+
+  1556--1564. Ferdinand I.
+
+        1558. Death of Charles V.
+
+        1560. Death of Melanchthon.
+
+  1564--1579. Maximilian II.
+
+        1567. Grumbach's rebellion.
+
+  1576--1612. Rudolf II.
+
+        1581. Rise of the Netherlands against Spain.
+
+        1606. Rudolf II.'s brother, Matthias, rules in Austria.
+
+        1608. The "Protestant Union" founded.
+
+        1609. The "Catholic League" founded; "War of the Succession of
+              Cleves."
+
+  1612--1619. Matthias, Emperor.
+
+        1614. End of the "War of the Succession of Cleves."
+
+  =The Thirty Years' War.=
+
+  1618. Outbreak in Prague.
+
+  1619--1637. Ferdinand II.; Frederick V. of the Palatinate chosen King
+        of Bohemia.
+
+        1620. Battle near Prague; flight of Frederick V.
+
+        1622. Victories of Tilly in Baden.
+
+        1623. Tilly defeats Prince Christian of Brunswick.
+
+        1624. Union of the northern states.
+
+        1625. Christian IV. of Denmark appointed commander; Wallenstein
+              enters the field.
+
+        1626. Defeat of Mansfeld by Wallenstein: defeat of Christian IV.
+              by Tilly.
+
+        1628. Wallenstein's siege of Stralsund.
+
+        1629. The "Edict of Restitution."
+
+        1630. Diet in Ratisbon; Wallenstein removed: Richelieu helps the
+              Protestants; Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden lands in Germany.
+
+        1631. Tilly destroys Magdeburg; Gustavus Adolphus defeats Tilly
+              and marches to Frankfort.
+
+        1632. Death of Tilly; Gustavus Adolphus in Munich; his attack on
+              Wallenstein's camp; battle of Luetzen, and death.
+
+        1633. Union of Protestants under Oxenstierna.
+
+        1634. Murder of Wallenstein; defeat of the Protestants at
+              Noerdlingen.
+
+        1635. Saxony concludes a "separate peace."
+
+        1636. Victories of Baner.
+
+  1637--1657. Ferdinand III.
+
+        1638. Duke Bernard of Weimar victorious in Alsatia.
+
+        1639. Death of Duke Bernard.
+
+        1640. Diet at Ratisbon.
+
+        1642. Victories of the Swedish general, Torstenson.
+
+        1643. Torstenson's campaign in Denmark.
+
+        1645. Torstenson's victories in Bohemia; his march to Vienna;
+              the French generals, Turenne and Conde, in Germany.
+
+        1648. Protestant victories; Koenigsmark takes Prague.
+
+        1648. The Peace of Westphalia.
+
+  FIFTH PERIOD. (1648--1892.)
+
+  1640--1688. Frederick William of Brandenburg, the "Great Elector."
+
+  1643--1715. Louis XIV., King of France.
+
+  1655--1660. War of Sweden and Poland.
+
+        1656. Battle of Warsaw.
+
+  1657--1705. Leopold I.
+
+        1660. The Duchy of Prussia independent of Poland.
+
+  1667--1668. Louis XIV.'s invasion of the Spanish Netherlands; the
+        Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle.
+
+  1672--1678. Louis XIV.'s war against Holland.
+
+        1673. The "Great Elector" assists Holland.
+
+        1675. The battle of Fehrbellin.
+
+        1676. The Elector conquers Pomerania.
+
+        1678. The Peace of Nymwegen.
+
+        1681. Strasburg taken by Louis XIV.
+
+        1683. Siege of Vienna by the Turks; John Sobieski.
+
+        1687. The shambles of Eperies.
+
+  1688--1713. Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg.
+
+  1689--1697. Attempts of Louis XIV. to obtain the Palatinate.
+
+        1697. Peace of Ryswick; Prince Eugene of Savoy defeats the Turks
+              at Zenta; Augustus the Strong of Saxony becomes King of
+              Poland.
+
+        1699. Peace of Carlowitz.
+
+        1701. Prussia is made a kingdom.
+
+  1701--1714. War of the Spanish Succession.
+
+        1704. Battle of Blenheim.
+
+  1705--1711. Joseph I.
+
+        1706. Victories of Marlborough at Ramillies and Prince Eugene at
+              Turin.
+
+        1706. Charles XII. of Sweden in Saxony.
+
+        1708. Battle of Oudenarde.
+
+        1709. Battle of Malplaquet.
+
+  1711--1740. Karl VI.
+
+  1713--1740. Frederick William I., King of Prussia.
+
+        1713. The Peace of Utrecht.
+
+        1714. The Peace of Rastatt; the Elector George of Hannover
+              becomes King George I. of England.
+
+        1717. Taking of Belgrade by Prince Eugene.
+
+        1718. Treaty of Passarowitz.
+
+        1720. Treaty of Stockholm; Prussia acquires Pomerania.
+
+  1733--1735. War of the Polish Succession.
+
+        1740. Death of Karl VI.
+
+  =The Age of Frederick the Great.=
+
+        1712. Frederick born, in Berlin.
+
+        1730. His attempted flight; execution of Katte.
+
+        1740. Succeeds to the throne as Frederick II. of Prussia.
+
+  1740--1742. First Silesian War.
+
+  1741--1748. War of the Austrian Succession.
+
+  1742--1745. Karl VII. (of Bavaria), Emperor.
+
+        1742. Peace of Breslau; Prussia gains Silesia.
+
+        1743. Battle of Dettingen.
+
+        1744. East Friesland annexed to Prussia.
+
+  1744--1745. Second Silesian War.
+
+        1745. Battles of Hohenfriedberg, Sorr, and Kesselsdorf; Peace of
+              Dresden; death of Karl VII.
+
+  1745--1765. Francis I. of Lorraine.
+
+        1748. Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle.
+
+        1750. Voltaire comes to Berlin.
+
+  1756--1763. The Seven Years' War.
+
+        1756. Frederick's successes in Saxony and Bohemia.
+
+        1757. Frederick's victory at Prague; defeat at Kollin; victories
+              at Rossbach and Leuthen.
+
+        1758. Ferdinand of Brunswick defeats the French; siege of
+              Olmuetz; victory of Zorndorf; surprise of Hochkirch.
+
+        1759. Battles of Minden and Kunnersdorf; misfortunes of Prussia.
+
+        1760. Battle of Liegnitz; taking of Berlin; victory of Torgau.
+
+        1761. Frederick hard pressed; losses of Prussia.
+
+        1762. Death of Elizabeth of Russia; alliance with Czar Peter
+              III.; Catharine II.; Prussian successes.
+
+        1763. The Peace of Hubertsburg.
+
+  1765--1790. Joseph II.
+
+        1769. Interview of Frederick the Great and Joseph II.
+
+        1772. First partition of Poland.
+
+  1774--1782. American War of Independence.
+
+        1778. Troubles with the Bavarian succession.
+
+        1780. Death of Maria Theresa.
+
+        1786. Death of Frederick the Great.
+
+  1786--1797. Frederick William II., King of Prussia.
+
+        1787. Prussia interferes in Holland.
+
+  1788--1791. Austria joins Russia against Turkey.
+
+        1790. Death of Joseph II.
+
+  =Wars with the French Republic and Napoleon.=
+
+  1789. Beginning of the French Revolution.
+
+  1790--1792. Leopold II.
+
+        1792. France declares war against Austria and Prussia.
+
+        1792. Campaign in France; battles of Valmy and Jemappes.
+
+  1792--1835. Francis II.
+
+        1793. Second partition of Poland; the first Coalition; successes
+              of the Allies.
+
+        1794. France victorious in Belgium; Prussia victorious on the
+              Upper Rhine.
+
+        1795. Third and last partition of Poland; Prussia makes peace
+              with France.
+
+        1796. Bonaparte in Italy; Jourdan defeated in Germany; Moreau's
+              retreat.
+
+        1797. Peace of Campo Formio.
+
+  1797--1840. Frederick William III., King of Prussia.
+
+        1798. Congress of Rastatt; Bonaparte in Egypt.
+
+        1799. The second Coalition; Suwarrow in Italy; Bonaparte First
+              Consul.
+
+        1800. Battles of Marengo and Hohenlinden.
+
+        1801. Peace of Luneville; France extends to the Rhine.
+
+        1803. Reconstruction of Germany; French invasion of Hannover.
+
+        1804. Duke d'Enghien shot; Napoleon, Emperor.
+
+        1805. The third Coalition; battle of Austerlitz; defeat of
+              Austria and Russia; Peace of Presburg.
+
+        1806. The "Rhine-Bund" established; Francis II. gives up the
+              imperial crown: battle of Jena; all Prussia in the hands
+              of Napoleon.
+
+        1807. Battles of Eylau and Friedland; Peace of Tilsit; Jerome
+              Bonaparte made King of Westphalia.
+
+        1808. Napoleon and Alexander I. in Erfurt; Joseph Bonaparte,
+              King of Spain.
+
+        1809. Austria begins war with France; revolts of Hofer and
+              Schill; Napoleon marches to Vienna; battles of Aspern and
+              Wagram; Peace of Schoenbrunn.
+
+        1810. Marriage of Napoleon and Maria Louisa; annexation of
+              Holland and Northern Germany to France.
+
+        1812. Germany compelled to unite with Napoleon against Russia;
+              battle of Borodino; burning of Moscow; the retreat;
+              General York's alliance with Russia.
+
+        1813. The War of Liberation; Frederick William III. yields to
+              the pressure; the army of volunteers; battles of Luetzen
+              and Bautzen; armistice; the fifth Coalition; Austria joins
+              the Allies; victories of the Katzbach, Kulm, and
+              Dennewitz; great battle of Leipzig; Napoleon's retreat;
+              battle of Hanan; Germany liberated.
+
+        1814. The campaign in France; the Allies enter Paris; Napoleon's
+              abdication; the Congress of Vienna.
+
+        1815. Napoleon's return from Elba; the new German Confederation;
+              battles of Ligny and Waterloo; end of Napoleon's rule;
+              second Peace of Paris; the "Holy Alliance."
+
+  =Germany in the Nineteenth Century.=
+
+        1817. The Students' Convention at the Wartburg.
+
+        1819. The conference at Carlsbad.
+
+        1823. A "provincial" representation in Prussia.
+
+        1830. The July Revolution in France; outbreaks in Germany.
+
+        1834. The Zollverein established.
+
+  1835--1848. Ferdinand I., Emperor of Austria.
+
+  1840--1861. Frederick William IV., King of Prussia.
+
+        1848. Revolution in Germany; conflicts in Austria, Prussia, and
+              Baden; war in Schleswig-Holstein; the National Parliament
+              at Frankfort; insurrection in Hungary and Italy;
+              bombardment of Vienna; Francis Joseph, Emperor.
+
+        1849. Frederick William IV. rejects the imperial crown; civil
+              war in Baden; Austria calls upon Russia for help;
+              surrender of Goergey; subjection of Italy.
+
+        1850. Troubles in Hesse and Holstein; end of the National
+              Parliament in Germany.
+
+        1851. Restoration of the Diet; Louis Napoleon, Emperor.
+
+        1852. Conference at London concerning Schleswig-Holstein.
+
+  1853--1856. War of England and France against Russia.
+
+        1858. William, Prince of Prussia, regent.
+
+        1859. War of France and Sardinia against Austria; battles of
+              Magenta and Solferino.
+
+        1861. William I., King of Prussia.
+
+        1862. Bismarck, Prime-Minister; political troubles in Prussia;
+              congress of princes at Frankfort.
+
+        1863. Continued rivalry of Austria and Prussia.
+
+        1864. War in Schleswig-Holstein; Denmark gives up the duchies;
+              the Prince of Augustenburg in Holstein.
+
+        1865. Agreement of Gastein; Schleswig and Holstein divided
+              between Austria and Prussia.
+
+        1866. Austria prepares for war; the German Diet dissolved.
+
+        1866. Battle of Langensalza; invasion of Saxony and Bohemia;
+              battle of Koeniggraetz; the war on the Main; truce of
+              Nikolsburg; annexation of Hannover, Hesse-Cassel, Nassau,
+              and Frankfort to Prussia; the Peace of Prague.
+
+        1867. Establishment of the North-German Union; the question of
+              Luxemburg; hostility of France.
+
+        1869. OEcumenical Council in Rome.
+
+        1870. France declares war against Prussia; all the German
+              states, except Austria, unite; battles of Weissenburg
+              and Woerth; the German armies move on Metz; battles of
+              Courcelles, Mars-la-Tour, and Gravelotte; the battle of
+              Sedan, and surrender of Napoleon III.; the Republic
+              declared in Paris; capitulation of Strasburg and Metz;
+              siege of Paris; the war on the Loire and in the northern
+              provinces.
+
+        1871. Victories of Prince Frederick Karl at Le Mans; Bourbaki's
+              repulse by Werder; surrender of Paris; Bourbaki's retreat
+              into Switzerland; William I. of Prussia proclaimed Emperor
+              of Germany; the Peace of Frankfort; foundation of the new
+              German Empire.
+
+        1872. Beginning of conflict between the German Government and
+              the Roman Church; Falk made Minister of Culture; the
+              Jesuits banished from Germany.
+
+        1873. The boundaries defined between State and Church; the May
+              laws.
+
+        1874. Civil marriage made obligatory.
+
+        1876. The _Kulturkampf_ beginning to lag.
+
+        1878. Two murderous attempts on the life of Emperor William I.;
+              the exceptional law against the Social-Democrats put in
+              force.
+
+        1879. Falk resigns; appointment of reactionary Minister of
+              Culture; Alliance with Austria.
+
+        1881. Emperor William I. opens Parliament; legislation for
+              bettering the condition of the working classes.
+
+        1882. Revision of the May laws; Triple Alliance.
+
+        1886. Warlike attitude of Russia and France; death of Ludwig II.
+              of Bavaria.
+
+        1887. Parliamentary conflict in regard to the military budget;
+              dissolution of Parliament; new elections result in favor
+              of the Government.
+
+        1888. Death of Emperor William I.; Frederick III., Emperor; his
+              reign of ninety-nine days; his death; succession of
+              William II.
+
+        1890. Bismarck resigns the Chancellorship; General Caprivi
+              succeeds him; German-English agreement.
+
+        1891. Renewal of Triple Alliance; new commercial treaties.
+
+        1892. Introduction of a new military bill.
+
+        1893. Defeat of army bill; dissolution of Parliament; the bill
+              carried as a result of new elections.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes
+
+Italic phrases are enclosed with underlines [_] in the text version and
+bold phrases are enclosed by equal signs [=].
+
+Sidenotes replace page headings from the original. They are moved to the
+nearest following paragragh break.
+
+Images are moved to the nearest paragraph break to make the text more
+readable.
+
+The following are used interchangeably:
+
+  grand-sons grandsons
+  Eugenie Eugenie
+  Gunther Guenther
+  Luneville Luneville
+  Cooperation Cooperation
+
+Page xxx
+
+(text to be searched). Action taken.
+
+Page 113
+
+(the name is written). Changed from 'writen' to 'written'.
+
+Page 165
+
+(he met Pope Adrian IV.,). Changed 'Adrain' to 'Adrian'.
+
+Page 246
+
+(--Change in Military Service.). Changed 'Servive' to 'Service'.
+
+Page 344
+
+(1734, King Stanislas). Changed 'king' to King'.
+
+Page 356
+
+(at the different courts,). Was 'differents courts' in original.
+
+Page 379
+
+(Longwy). As in original.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A History of Germany, by Bayard Taylor
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