EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY

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CHARLEMAGNE AND THE NORTHMEN

No part of western Europe suffered more severely from the Northmen than
France. They first appeared on the French coast toward the end of
Charlemagne's reign. A well-known legend relates that the emperor, from
window of his palace once saw the dark sails of the Vikings and wept at
the thought of the misery which these daring pirates would some day
inflict upon his realm.

THE NORTHMEN IN FRANCE

After Charlemagne's death the wars of his grandsons left the empire
defenseless, and the Northmen in consequence redoubled their attacks. They
sailed far up the Seine, the Loire, and the Garonne to plunder and murder.
Paris, then a small but important city, lay in the path of the invaders
and more than once suffered at their hands. The destruction by the
Northmen of many monasteries was a loss to civilization, for the monastic
establishments at this time were the chief centers of learning and
culture. [13]

THE NORTHMEN IN GERMANY

The heavy hand of the Northmen also descended on Germany. The rivers
Scheldt, Meuse, Rhine, and Elbe enabled them to proceed at will into the
heart of the country. Liege, Cologne, Strassburg, Hamburg, and other great
Frankish cities fell before them. Viking raiders even plundered Aachen and
stabled their horses in the church which Charlemagne had built there. [14]
Thus the ancient homeland of the Franks was laid completely waste.

ROLLO AND THE GRANT OF NORMANDY, 911 A.D.

The history of the Northmen in France began in 911 A.D., when the
Carolingian king granted to a Viking chieftain, Rollo, dominion over the
region about the lower Seine. Rollo on his part agreed to accept
Christianity and to acknowledge the French ruler as his lord. It is said,
however, that he would not kneel and kiss the king's foot as a mark of
homage, and that the follower who performed the unwelcome duty did it so
awkwardly as to overturn the king, to the great amusement of the assembled
Northmen. The story illustrates the Viking sense of independence.

DUCHY OF NORMANDY

The district ceded to Rollo developed into what in later times was known
as the duchy of Normandy. Its Scandinavian settlers, henceforth called
Normans, [15] soon became French in language and culture. It was amazing
to see how quickly the descendants of wild sea-rovers put off their
heathen ways and made their new home a Christian land, noted for its
churches, monasteries, and schools. Normandy remained practically
independent till the beginning of the thirteenth century, when a French
king added it to his possessions. [16]

THE NORMANS AND HUGH CAPET, 987 A.D.

The Normans helped to found the medieval French monarchy. During the tenth
century the old Carolingian line of rulers, which had already died out in
Germany and Italy, [17] came also to an end in France. A new dynasty was
then founded by a nobleman named Hugh Capet, who secured the aid of the
powerful Norman dukes in his efforts to gain the throne. The accession of
Hugh Capet took place in 987 A.D. His descendants reigned over France for
almost exactly eight hundred years. [18]

* * * * *

144. CONQUEST OF ENGLAND BY THE DANES; ALFRED THE GREAT

ENGLAND OVERRUN BY THE DANES

Even before Egbert of Wessex succeeded in uniting all the Anglo-Saxon
kingdoms, [19] bands of Vikings, chiefly from Denmark, had made occasional
forays on the English coast. Egbert kept the Danes at bay, but he died in
839 A.D., and from that time the real invasion of England began. The Danes
came over in large numbers, made permanent settlements, and soon
controlled all England north of the Thames.

[Illustration: ALFRED THE GREAT
A lofty bronze statue by H. Thorneycraft set up at Winchester Alfred's
ancient capital. It was dedicated in 1901 A.D. on the thousandth
anniversary of his death. The inscription reads:

"Alfred found learning dead,
And he restored it,
Education neglected
And he revived it,
The laws powerless
And he gave them force,
The Church debased,
And he raised it,
The land ravaged by a fearful enemy
From which he delivered it."]

KING ALFRED AND THE DANES

Wessex before long experienced the full force of the Danish attack. The
country at this time was ruled by Alfred, the grandson of Egbert. Alfred
came to the throne in 871 A.D., when he was only about twenty-three years
old. In spite of his youth, he showed himself the right sort of leader for
the hard-pressed West Saxons. For several years fortune favored the Danes.
Then the tide turned. Issuing from the marshes of Somersetshire, where he
had rallied his dispirited troops, Alfred suddenly fell on the enemy and
gained a signal success. The beaten Danes agreed to make peace and to
accept the religion of their conquerors.

THE DANELAW

Alfred's victory did not end the war. Indeed, almost to the end of his
reign, the heroic king had to face the Vikings, but he always drove them
off and even recovered some of the territory north of the Thames. The
English and Danes finally agreed to a treaty dividing the country between
them. The eastern part of England, where the invaders were firmly
established, came to be called the Danelaw, because here the Danish, and
not the Anglo-Saxon, law prevailed. In the Danelaw the Danes have left
memorials of themselves in local names [20] and in the bold, adventurous
character of the inhabitants.

[Illustration: Map, ENGLAND UNDER ALFRED THE GREAT]

CIVILIZING ACTIVITIES OF ALFRED

It was a well-nigh ruined country which Alfred had now to rule over and
build up again. His work of restoration invites comparison with that of
Charlemagne. Alfred's first care was to organize a fighting force always
ready at his call to repel invasion. He also created an efficient fleet,
which patrolled the coast and engaged the Vikings on their own element. He
had the laws of the Anglo-Saxons collected and reduced to writing, taking
pains at the same time to see that justice was done between man and man.
He did much to rebuild the ruined churches and monasteries. Alfred labored
with especial diligence to revive education among the English folk. His
court at Winchester became a literary center where learned men wrote and
taught. The king himself mastered Latin, in order that he might translate
Latin books into the English tongue. So great were Alfred's services in
this direction that he has been called "the father of English prose."

[Illustration: ALFRED'S JEWEL (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford)
A jewel of blue enamel inclosed in a setting of gold, with the words
around it "Alfred had me wrought." Found at Athelney in the seventeenth
century.]

ALFRED'S CHARACTER

Alfred alone of English rulers bears the title of "the Great." He well
deserves it, not only for what he did but for what he was. Through the
mists of ten centuries his figure still looms large. It is the figure of a
brave, patient, and modest man, who wore himself out in the service of his
people. The oft-quoted words which he added to one of his translations
form a fitting epitaph to this noble king: "My wish was to live worthily
as long as I lived, and after my life to leave to them that should come
after, my memory in good works." His wish has been fulfilled.

FROM ALFRED TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST, 901-1066 A.D.

About seventy-five years after Alfred's death the Danes renewed their
invasions. It then became necessary to buy them off with an annual tribute
called the Danegeld. Early in the eleventh century Canute, the son of a
Danish king, succeeded in establishing himself on the English throne
(1016-1035 A.D.). His dynasty did not last long, however, and at length
the old West-Saxon line was restored in the person of Edward the Confessor
(or "the Saint"). Edward had spent most of his early life in Normandy, and
on coming to England brought with him a large following of Normans, whom
he placed in high positions. During his reign (1042-1066 A.D.) Norman
nobles and churchmen gained a foothold in England, thus preparing the way
for the Norman conquest of the country.

145. NORMAN CONQUEST OF ENGLAND; WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR

HAROLD AND WILLIAM

Edward the Confessor having left no direct heirs, the choice of his
successor fell lawfully upon the Witenagemot, [21] as the national
assembly of noblemen and higher clergy was called. This body chose as
king, Harold, earl of Wessex, the leading man in England. Harold's right
to the succession was disputed by William, duke of Normandy, who declared
that the crown had been promised to him by his cousin, the Confessor.
William also asserted that Harold had once sworn a solemn oath, over a
chest of sacred relics, to support his claim to the throne on Edward's
death. When word came of Harold's election, William wrathfully denounced
him as a usurper and began to prepare a fleet and an army for the invasion
of England.

WILLIAM'S PREPARATIONS

Normandy under Duke William had become a powerful, well-organized state.
Norman knights, attracted by promises of wide lands and rich booty, if
they should conquer, formed the core of William's forces. Adventurers from
every part of France, and even from Spain and Italy, also entered his
service. The pope blessed the enterprise and sent to William a ring
containing a hair from St. Peter's head and a consecrated banner. When all
was ready in the late fall of 1066 A.D., a large fleet, bearing five or
six thousand archers, foot soldiers, and horsemen, crossed the Channel and
landed in England.

[Illustration: A SCENE FROM THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY (Museum of Bayeux,
Normandy)

The Bayeux Tapestry, which almost certainly belongs to the time of the
Norman Conquest, is a strip of coarse linen cloth, about 230 feet long by
20 inches wide, embroidered in worsted thread of eight different colors.
There are seventy-two scenes picturing various events in the history of
the Norman Conquest. The illustration given above represents an attack of
Norman cavalry on the English shield wall at the battle of Hastings.]

BATTLE OF HASTINGS, 1066 A.D.

William at first met no resistance. Harold was far away in the north
fighting against the Norwegians, who had seized the opportunity to make
another descent on the English coast. Harold defeated them decisively and
then hurried southward to face his new foe. The two armies met near
Hastings on the road to London. All day they fought. The stout English
infantry, behind their wall of shields, threw back one charge after
another of the Norman knights. Again and again the duke rallied his men
and led them where the foe was thickest. A cry arose that he was slain. "I
live," shouted William, tearing off his helmet that all might see his
face, "and by God's help will conquer yet." At last, with the approach of
evening, Harold was killed by an arrow; his household guard died about
him; and the rest of the English took to flight. William pitched his camp
on the field of victory, and "sat down to eat and drink among the dead."

[Illustration: Map, DOMINIONS OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR]

WILLIAM BECOMES KING

The battle of Hastings settled the fate of England. Following up his
victory with relentless energy, William pressed on to London. That city,
now practically the capital of the country, opened its gates to him. The
Witenagemot, meeting in London offered the throne to William. On Christmas
Day, 1066 A.D., in Westminster Abbey the duke of Normandy was crowned king
of England.

WILLIAM'S PERSONALITY

What manner of man was William the Conqueror? Tall of stature, endowed
with tremendous strength, and brave even to desperation, he seemed an
embodiment of the old viking spirit. "No knight under heaven," men said
truly, "was William's peer." A savage temper and a harsh, forbidding
countenance made him a terror even to his closest followers. "So stern and
wrathful was he," wrote an English chronicler, "that none durst do
anything against his will." Though William never shrank from force or
fraud, from bloodshed or oppression, to carry out his ends, he yet showed
himself throughout his reign a patron of learning, a sincere supporter of
the Church, and a statesman of remarkable insight. He has left a lasting
impress on English history.

146. RESULTS OF THE NORMAN CONQUEST

NORMAN ELEMENT IN THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

The coming of the Normans to England formed the third and last installment
of the Teutonic invasion. Norman merchants and artisans followed Norman
soldiers and settled particularly in the southern and eastern parts of the
island. They seem to have emigrated in considerable numbers and doubtless
added an important element to the English population. The Normans thus
completed the work of the Anglo-Saxons and Danes in making England a
Teutonic country.

NORMAN ELEMENT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

It must be remembered, however, that the Normans in Normandy had received
a considerable intermixture of French blood and had learned to speak a
form of the French language (Norman-French). In England Norman-French
naturally was used by the upper and ruling classes--by the court, the
nobility, and the clergy. The English held fast to their own homely
language, but could not fail to pick up many French expressions, as they
mingled with their conquerors in churches, markets, and other places of
public resort. It took about three hundred years for French words and
phrases to soak thoroughly into their speech. The result was a very large
addition to the vocabulary of English. [22]

UNION OF ENGLAND AND NORMANDY

Until the Norman Conquest England, because of its insular position, had
remained out of touch with Continental Europe. William the Conqueror and
his immediate successors were, however, not only rulers of England, but
also dukes of Normandy and subjects of the French kings. Hence, the union
of England with Normandy brought it at once into the full current of
European affairs. The country became for a time almost a part of France
and profited by the more advanced civilization which had arisen on French
soil. The nobility, the higher clergy, and the officers of government were
Normans. The architects of the castles and churches, the lawyers, and the
men of letters came from Normandy. Even the commercial and industrial
classes were largely recruited from across the Channel.

ENGLAND AND THE PAPACY

The Norman Conquest much increased the pope's authority over England. The
English Church, as has been shown, [23] was the child of Rome, but during
the Anglo-Saxon period it had become more independent of the Papacy than
the churches on the Continent. William the Conqueror, whose invasion of
England took place with the pope's approval, repaid his obligation by
bringing the country into closer dependence on the Roman pontiff.

FUSION OF ENGLISH AND NORMAN

Although the Normans settled in England as conquerors, yet after all they
were near kinsmen of the English and did not long keep separate from them.
In Normandy a century and a half had been enough to turn the Northmen into
Frenchmen. So in England, at the end of a like period, the Normans became
Englishmen. Some of the qualities that have helped to make the modern
English a great people--their love of the sea and fondness for adventure,
their vigor, self-reliance, and unconquerable spirit--are doubtless
derived in good part from the Normans.

147. NORMAN CONQUEST OF SOUTHERN ITALY AND SICILY

NORMAN EXPANSION SOUTHWARD

The conquest of England, judged by its results, proved to be the most
important undertaking of the Normans. But during this same eleventh
century they found another field in which to display their energy and
daring. They turned southward to the Mediterranean and created a Norman
state in Italy and Sicily.

CONQUESTS OF ROBERT GUISCARD

The unsettled condition of Italy [24] gave the Normans an opportunity for
interference in the affairs of the country. The founding of Norman power
there was largely the work of a noble named Robert Guiscard ("the
Crafty"), a man almost as celebrated as William the Conqueror. He had set
out from his home in Normandy with only a single follower, but his valor
and shrewdness soon brought him to the front. Robert united the scattered
bands of Normans in Italy, who were fighting for pay or plunder, and
wrested from the Roman Empire in the East its last territories in the
peninsula. Before his death (1085 A.D.) most of southern Italy had passed
under Norman rule.

ROGER GUISCARD'S CONQUESTS

Robert's brother, Roger, crossed the strait of Messina and began the
subjugation of Sicily, then a Moslem possession. Its recovery from the
hands of "infidels" was considered by the Normans a work both pleasing to
God and profitable to themselves. By the close of the eleventh century
they had finally established their rule in the island.

KINGDOM OF THE TWO SICILIES

The conquests of the Normans in southern Italy and Sicily were united into
a single state, which came to be known as the kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
The Normans governed it for only about one hundred and fifty years, but
under other rulers it lasted until the middle of the nineteenth century,
when the present kingdom of Italy came into existence.

NORMAN CULTURE IN THE SOUTH

The kingdom of the Two Sicilies was well-governed, rich, and strong. Art
and learning flourished in the cities of Naples, Salerno, and Palermo.
Southern Italy and Sicily under the Normans became a meeting-point of
Byzantine and Arabic civilization. The Norman kingdom formed an important
channel through which the wisdom of the East flowed to the North and to
the West.

148. THE NORMANS IN EUROPEAN HISTORY

NORMAN FACULTY OF ADAPTATION

The conquests of the Normans in England, Italy, and Sicily were effected
after they had become a Christian and a French-speaking people. In these
lands they were the armed missionaries of a civilization not their own.
The Normans, indeed, invented little and borrowed much. But, like the
Arabs, they were more than simple imitators. In language, literature, art,
religion, and law what they took from others they improved and then spread
abroad throughout their settlements.

ASSIMILATION OF THE NORMANS

It seems at first sight remarkable that a people who occupied so much of
western Europe should have passed away. Normans as Normans no longer
exist. They lost themselves in the kingdoms which they founded and among
the peoples whom they subdued. Their rapid assimilation was chiefly the
consequence of their small numbers: outside of Normandy they were too few
long to maintain their identity.

NORMAL INFLUENCE

If the Normans themselves soon disappeared, their influence was more
lasting. Their mission, it has been well said, was to be leaders and
energizers of society--"the little leaven that leaveneth the whole lump."
The peoples of medieval Europe owed much to the courage and martial
spirit, the genius for government, and the reverence for law, of the
Normans. In one of the most significant movements of the Middle Ages--the
crusades--they took a prominent part. Hence we shall meet them again.

STUDIES

1. What events are associated with the following dates: 988 A.D.; 862
A.D.; 1066 A.D.; 1000 A.D.; and 987 A.D.?

2. What was the origin of the geographical names Russia, Greenland,
Finland, and Normandy?

3. Mention some of the striking physical contrasts between the Arabian and
Scandinavian peninsulas.

4. Why has the Baltic Sea been called a "secondary Mediterranean"?

5. How does it happen that the gulf of Finland is often frozen over in
winter, while even the northernmost of the Norse fiords remain open?

6. Why is an acquaintance with Scandinavian mythology, literature, and
history especially desirable for English-speaking peoples?

7. What is meant by the "berserker's rage"?

8. What names of our weekdays are derived from the names of Scandinavian
deities?

9. Compare the Arab and Scandinavian conceptions of the future state of
departed warriors.

10. What is meant by "sea-power"? What people possessed it during the
ninth and tenth centuries?

11. Compare the invasions of the Northmen with those of the Germans as to
(a) causes, (b) area covered, and (c) results.

12. What was the significance of the fact that the Northmen were not
Christians at the time when they began their expeditions?

13. Show how the voyages of the Northmen vastly increased geographical
knowledge.

14. Show that the Russian people have received from Constantinople their
writing, religion, and art.

15. Mention three conquests of England by foreign peoples before 1066 A.D.
Give for each conquest the results and the approximate date.

16. On the map, page 405, trace the boundary line between Alfred's
possessions and those of the Danes.

17. Compare Alfred and Charlemagne as civilizing kings.

18. Compare Alfred's cession of the Danelaw with the cession of Normandy
to Rollo.

19. Why is Hastings included among "decisive" battles?

20. "We English are not ourselves but somebody else." Comment on this
statement.

21. What is meant by the "Norman graft upon the sturdy Saxon tree"?

22. What settlements of the Northmen most influenced European history?

23. Compare the Norman faculty of adaptation with that of the Arabs.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Webster, _Readings in Medieval and Modern History_, chapter vii, "The
Saga of a Viking"; chapter viii, "Alfred the Great"; chapter ix, "William
the Conqueror and the Normans in England."

[2] See page 67.

[3] The word perhaps comes from the old Norse _vik_, a bay, and means "one
who dwells by a bay or fiord." Another meaning assigned to Viking is
"warrior."

[4] See the illustration, page 240.

[5] The word is derived from old Norse _segya_, "to say"; compare German
_sagen_.

[6] "Hall of the slain."

[7] "Choosers of the slain."

[8] See page 312.

[9] The Icelanders in 1874 A.D. celebrated the thousandth anniversary of
the Scandinavian settlement of their island.

[10] Russia in 1862 A.D. celebrated the millenary of her foundation by
Ruric.

[11] The Norse word for "fort" is preserved in the gorod of Novgorod.

[12] See page 335.

[13] See page 358.

[14] See the illustration, page 310.

[15] "Norman" is a softened form of "Northman."

[16] In 1911 A.D. Normandy celebrated in the ancient capital of Rouen the
thousandth anniversary of its existence.

[17] See pages 315, 317.

[18] The abolition of the French monarchy dates from 1792 A.D., when Louis
XVI was deposed from the throne.

[19] See page 320.

[20] The east of England contains more than six hundred names of towns
ending in _by_ (Danish "town"), compare _by-law_, originally a law for a
special town.

[21] "Meeting of wise men." The word _gemot_ or _moot_ was used for any
kind of formal meeting.

[22] See page 556.

[23] See page 325.

[24] See page 317.

CHAPTER XVIII

FEUDALISM

149. RISE OF FEUDALISM

A DARK AGE

The ninth century in western Europe was, as we have learned, [1] a period
of violence, disorder, and even anarchy. Charlemagne for a time had
arrested the disintegration of society which resulted from the invasions
of the Germans, and had united their warring tribes under something like a
centralized government. But his work, it has been well said, was only a
desperate rally in the midst of confusion. After his death the Carolingian
Empire, attacked by the Northmen and other invaders and weakened by civil
conflicts, broke up into separate kingdoms.

DECLINE OF ROYAL AUTHORITY

Charlemagne's successors in France, Germany, and Italy enjoyed little real
authority. They reigned, but did not rule. Under the conditions of the
age, it was impossible for a king to govern with a strong hand. The
absence of good roads or of other easy means of communication made it
difficult for him to move troops quickly from one district to another, in
order to quell revolts. Even had good roads existed, the lack of ready
money would have prevented him from maintaining a strong army devoted to
his interests. Moreover, the king's subjects, as yet not welded into a
nation, felt toward him no sentiments of loyalty and affection. They cared
far less for their king, of whom they knew little, than for their own
local lords who dwelt near them.

INCREASED POWER OF THE NOBLES

The decline of the royal authority, from the ninth century onward, meant
that the chief functions of government would be more and more performed by
the nobles, who were the great landowners of the kingdom. Under
Charlemagne these men had been the king's officials, appointed by him and
holding office at his pleasure. Under his successors they tended to become
almost independent princes. In proportion as this change was accomplished
during the Middle Ages, European society entered upon the stage of
feudalism. [2]

PARALLELS TO EUROPEAN FEUDALISM

Feudalism in medieval Europe was not a unique development. Parallels to it
may be found in other parts of the world. Whenever the state becomes
incapable of protecting life and property, powerful men in each locality
will themselves undertake this duty; they will assume the burden of their
own defense and of those weaker men who seek their aid. Such was the
situation in ancient Egypt for several hundred years, in medieval Persia,
and in modern Japan until about two generations ago.