EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY

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END OF THE WAR

Though Joan was soon afterwards captured by the English, who, to their
lasting dishonor, burned her as a witch, her example nerved the French to
further resistance. The English gradually lost ground and in 1453 A.D.,
the year of the fall of Constantinople, abandoned the effort to conquer a
land much larger than their own. They retained of the French territories
only the port of Calais and the Channel Islands. [26]

EFFECTS OF THE WAR

Few wars have had less to justify them, either in their causes or in their
consequences, than this long struggle between England and France. It was a
calamity to both lands. For England it meant the dissipation abroad of the
energies which would have been better employed at home. For France it
resulted in widespread destruction of property, untold suffering, famines,
and terrible loss of life. From this time dates that traditional hostility
between the two countries which was to involve them in future conflicts.
One beneficial effect the war did have. It helped to make the two nations
conscious of their separate existence. The growth of a national feeling,
the awakening of a sentiment of patriotism, was especially marked in
France, which had fought so long for independence.

ENGLAND AFTER THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

Shortly after the conclusion of the Hundred Years' War the two branches of
the English royal family became involved in desperate struggle for the
crown. It was known as the War of the Roses, because the house of York
took as its badge a white rose and the house of Lancaster, a red rose. The
contest lasted 1485 A.D., when the Lancastrians conquered, and their
leader, Henry Tudor, ascended the throne as Henry VII. He married a
Yorkist wife, thus uniting the two factions, and founded the Tudor
dynasty. The War of the Roses arrested the progress of English freedom. It
created a demand for a strong monarchy which could keep order and prevent
civil strife between the nobles. The Tudors met that demand and ruled as
absolute sovereigns. It was more than a century before Parliament,
representing the people, could begin to win back free government. It did
this only at the cost of a revolution.

FRANCE AFTER THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

France also issued from the Hundred Years' War with an absolute
government. Strengthened by victory over the English, the French kings
were able to reduce both the nobility and the commons to impotence. During
the reign of Louis XI (1461-1483 A.D.) the royal domains were enlarged by
the addition of Anjou, Provence, and the duchy of Burgundy. His son,
Charles VIII (1483-1498 A.D.), made Brittany a possession of the French
crown. The unification of France was now almost complete.

189. UNIFICATION OF SPAIN (TO 1492 A.D.)

THE SPANISH PENINSULA

The Spanish peninsula, known to the Romans as Hispania, is sharply
separated from the rest of Europe by the Pyrenees Mountains. At the same
time the nearness of the peninsula to Africa has always brought it into
intimate relations with that continent. Just as Russia has formed a link
between Asia and Europe, so Spain has served as a natural highway from
Africa to Europe.

THE SPANISH PEOPLE

The first settlers in Spain, of whom we know anything, were the Iberians.
They may have emigrated from northern Africa. After them came the Celts,
who overran a large part of the peninsula and appear to have mingled with
the Iberians, thus forming the mixed people known as Celtiberians. In
historic times Spain was conquered by the Carthaginians, who left few
traces of their occupation, by the Romans, who thoroughly Romanized the
country, by the Visigoths, who founded a Germanic kingdom, and lastly by
the Moors, who introduced Arabian culture and the faith of Islam. [27]
These invaders were not numerous enough greatly to affect the population,
in which the Celtiberian strain is still predominant.

CHRISTIAN STATES OF SPAIN

The Moors never wholly conquered a fringe of mountain territory in the
extreme north of Spain. Here a number of small Christian states, including
Leon, Castile, Navarre, and Aragon, came into being. In the west there
also arose the Christian state of Portugal. Geographically, Portugal
belongs to Spain, from which it is separated only by artificial frontiers,
but the country has usually managed to maintain its independence.

RECOVERY OF SPAIN FROM THE MOORS

Acting sometimes singly and sometimes in concert, the Christian states
fought steadily to enlarge their boundaries at the expense of their Moslem
neighbors. The contest had the nature of a crusade, for it was blessed by
the pope and supported by the chivalry of Europe. Periods of victory
alternated with periods of defeat, but by the close of the thirteenth
century Mohammedan Spain had been reduced to the kingdom of Granada at the
southern extremity of the peninsula.

THE CID

The long struggle with the Moors made the Spanish a patriotic people,
keenly conscious of their national unity. The achievements of Christian
warriors were recited in countless ballads, and especially in the fine
_Poem of the Cid_. It deals with the exploits of Rodrigo Diaz, better
known by the title of the Cid (lord) given to him by the Moors. The Cid of
romance was the embodiment of every knightly virtue; the real Cid was a
bandit, who fought sometimes for the Christians, sometimes against them,
but always in his own interest. The Cid's evil deeds were forgotten,
however, and after his death in 1099 A.D. he became the national hero of
Spain.

UNION OF CASTILE AND ARAGON, 1479 A.D.

Meanwhile the separate Spanish kingdoms were coming together to form a
nation. Leon and Castile in 1230 A.D. combined into the one kingdom of
Castile, so named because its frontiers bristled with castles against the
Moors. But the most important step in the making of Spain was the marriage
of Ferdinand of Aragon to Isabella of Castile, leading in 1479 A.D. to the
union of these two kingdoms. About the same time the Castilian language
began to crowd out the other Spanish dialects and to become the national
speech.

[Illustration: Map, UNIFICATION OF SPAIN DURING THE MIDDLE AGES]

CONQUEST OF GRANADA, 1492 A.D.

The new sovereigns of Spain aimed to continue the unification of the
peninsula by the conquest of Granada. No effort was made by the Turks, who
shortly before had captured Constantinople, to defend this last stronghold
of Islam in the West. The Moors, though thrown upon their own resources,
made a gallant resistance. At least once Ferdinand wearied of the
struggle, but Isabella's determination never wavered. In 1492 A.D. Granada
surrendered, and the silver cross of the crusading army was raised on the
highest tower of the city. Moslem rule in Spain, after an existence of
almost eight centuries, now came to an end.

RULE OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA

Ferdinand and Isabella belong in the front rank of European sovereigns.
Like their contemporaries, Henry VII and Louis XI, they labored with
success to build up an absolute monarchy. Spain had found, as England and
France had found, that feudalism spelled disorder, and that only a strong
central government could keep the peace, repress crime, and foster trade
and commerce. Ferdinand and Isabella firmly established the supremacy of
the crown. By the end of the fifteenth century Spain had become a leading
European power. Its importance in the councils of Europe was soon to be
increased by the marriage of a daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella to the
heir of the Austrian house of Hapsburg.

190. AUSTRIA AND THE SWISS CONFEDERATION, 1273-1499 A.D.

RISE OF AUSTRIA

The name Austria--in German Oesterreich--means simply the eastern part of
any kingdom. It came to be applied particularly to the territory on the
Danube east of Bavaria, which Otto the Great had formed into a mark or
border province for defense against the Magyars. [28] This mark, soon to
be known as Austria, gained an important place among German states. The
frontiers were pushed down the Danube valley and the capital was finally
located at Vienna, once a Roman city. Frederick Barbarossa raised Austria
to the rank of a duchy. Rudolf of Hapsburg, who became emperor in 1273
A.D., first brought the country into the hands of the Hapsburg family.
[29]

GROWTH OF AUSTRIA UNDER THE HAPSBURGS

The Hapsburgs founded the power of the present Austrian monarchy. At the
end of the fourteenth century their dominions included a large part of
eastern Germany, [30] reaching from beyond the Danube southward to the
Adriatic. Early in the sixteenth century they secured Bohemia, a Slavic
land thrust like a wedge into German territory, as well as part of the
Magyar land of Hungary. The possession of these two kingdoms gave Austria
its special character of a state formed by the union under one ruler of
several wholly distinct nations. Meanwhile the right of election as Holy
Roman Emperor became hereditary in the Hapsburg family.

[Illustration: Map, GROWTH OF THE HAPSBURG POSSESSIONS]

SWITZERLAND

Switzerland, during the earlier period of the Middle Ages, formed a part
of the German duchy of Swabia and belonged to the Holy Roman Empire. [31]
About two-thirds of the population of Switzerland remain German in speech
and feeling, though now the country includes districts in which French or
Italian are spoken. All Swiss laws are still proclaimed in the three
languages.

SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA

Swiss history is closely bound up with that of Austria. The little
mountain communities of Schwyz, [32] Uri, and Unterwalden, on the shores
of beautiful Lake Lucerne, were possessions of the counts of Hapsburg. In
1291 A.D., the year when Rudolf of Hapsburg died, these three "Forest
Cantons" formed a confederation for resistance to their Hapsburg
overlords. Additional cantons joined the league, which now entered upon a
long struggle, dear to all lovers of liberty, against Austrian rule.
Nowhere did the old methods of feudal warfare break down more
conspicuously than in the battles gained by Swiss pikemen over the haughty
knights of Austria. The struggle closed in 1499 A.D., when Switzerland
became practically a free state. [33]

[Illustration: Map, THE SWISS CONFEDERATION, 1291-1513 A.D.]

WILLIAM TELL AND ARNOLD VON WINKELRIED

Switzerland has two heroes of her war for independence. William Tell is a
wholly mythical character, for the story of a skillful marksman who
succeeds in striking off some small object placed on a child's head is
found in England, Norway, Denmark, and other countries. The Swiss have
localized it in Uri. Another popular hero has a better claim to historical
existence. It is said that at a critical moment in the battle of Sempach,
when the Swiss with their short weapons failed to break the Austrian
ranks, Arnold von Winkelried, a man of Unterwalden, came to the rescue.
Rushing single-handed upon the enemy, he seized all the spears within
reach and turned them into his own body. He thus opened a gap in the line,
through which the Swiss pressed on to victory. Winkelried's deed might
well have been performed, though the evidence for it is very scanty.

THE SWISS CONFEDERATION

Little Switzerland, lying in the heart of the Alps and surrounded by
powerful neighbors, is one of the most interesting states in Europe. The
twenty-two communities, or cantons, which make up the Swiss Confederation,
differ among themselves in language, religion (Roman Catholic or
Protestant), and customs, according to their nearness to Germany, France,
or Italy. Nevertheless the Swiss form a patriotic and united nation. It is
remarkable that a people whose chief bond of union was common hostility to
the Austrian Hapsburgs, should have established a federal government so
strong and enduring.

191. EXPANSION OF GERMANY

LINES OF GERMAN EXPANSION

An examination of the map shows how deficient Germany is in good natural
boundaries. The valley of the Danube affords an easy road to the
southeast, a road which the early rulers of Austria followed as far as
Vienna and the Hungarian frontier. Eastward along the Baltic no break
occurs in the great plain stretching from the North Sea to the Ural
Mountains. It was in this direction that German conquests and colonization
during the Middle Ages laid the foundation of modern Prussia.

THE GERMAN AND THE SLAV

The Germans, in descending upon the Roman Empire, had abandoned much of
their former territories to the Slavs. In the reign of Charlemagne all the
region between the Elbe and the Vistula belonged to Slavic tribes. To win
it back for Germany required several centuries of hard fighting. The Slavs
were heathen and barbarous, so that warfare with them seemed to be a kind
of crusade. In the main, however, German expansion eastward was a business
venture, due to the need for free land. It was the same need which in the
nineteenth century carried the frontiers of the United States from the
Alleghanies to the Pacific.

BRANDENBURG AND POMERANIA

German expansion began early in the tenth century, when Henry the Fowler
annexed Brandenburg between the Elbe and the Oder. [34] Subsequently much
of the territory between the Oder and the Vistula, including Pomerania on
the southern coast of the Baltic, came under German control. The Slavic
inhabitants were exterminated or reduced to slavery. Their place was taken
by thousands of German colonists, who introduced Christianity, built
churches and monasteries, cleared the woods, drained the marshes, and
founded many cities destined to become centers of German trade and
culture.

PRUSSIA

Between the Vistula and the Niemen lay the lands of the Prussians, a non-
Teutonic people closely related to the Slavs. The Prussian language and
religion have disappeared, the Prussians themselves have been completely
absorbed by the Germans who settled in their country, but the Prussian
name is borne to-day by one of the great states of modern Europe.

THE TEUTONIC ORDER

The conquest and conversion of the Prussians was accomplished by the
famous order of Teutonic Knights. It had been founded in Palestine as a
military-religious order, at the time of the Third Crusade. [35] The
decline of the crusading movement left the knights with no duties to
perform, and so they transferred their activities to the Prussian
frontier, where there was still a chance to engage in a holy war.
Throughout the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the Teutonic Order
flourished, until its grand master ruled over the entire Baltic coast from
the Vistula to the gulf of Finland. The knights later had to relinquish
much of this region to the Slavs, but they sowed there the seeds of
civilization. Russia's Baltic provinces [36] are to-day the richest and
most advanced in the empire.

POLITICAL GERMANY

Germany at the close of the Middle Ages was not a united, intensely
national state, such as had been established in England, France, and
Spain. It had split into hundreds of principalities, none large, some
extremely small, and all practically independent of the feeble German
kings. [37] This weakness of the central power condemned Germany to a
minor part in the affairs of Europe, as late as the nineteenth century.
Yet Germany found some compensation for political backwardness in the
splendid city life which it developed during the later Middle Ages. The
German cities, together with those of Italy and other European lands, now
call for our attention.

[Illustration: Map, GERMAN EXPANSION EASTWARD DURING THE MIDDLE AGES]

STUDIES

1. On an outline map indicate (a) William the Conqueror's French dominions
and (b) additional dominions of the Plantagenet kings in France.

2. Prepare a chart showing the leading rulers mentioned in this chapter.
Arrange your material in parallel columns with dates, one column for
England, one for France, and one for the other European countries.

3. Locate the following places: Crecy; Calais; Poitiers; Salisbury;
Stirling; Edinburgh; Orleans; and Granada.

4. What happened in 987 A.D.? in 1066 A.D.? in 1215 A.D.? in 1295 A.D.? in
1346 A.D.? in 1453 A.D.? in 1485 A.D.?

5. Distinguish between a nation, a government, and a state.

6. Are unity of race, a common language, a common religion, and
geographical unity of themselves sufficient to make a nation? May a nation
arise where these bonds are lacking?

7. "The thirteenth century gave Europe the nations as we now know them."
Comment on this statement.

8. Account for the rise of national feeling in France, Spain, Scotland,
and Switzerland.

9. "Good government in the Middle Ages was only another name for a public-
spirited and powerful monarchy." Comment on this statement.

10. What advantages has trial by jury over the older forms of trial, such
as oaths, ordeals, and the judicial duel?

11. Explain the difference between a grand jury and a trial, or petty
jury.

12. Compare the extent of territory in which Roman law now prevails with
that which follows the Common law.

13. Why was the Parliament of 1295 A.D. named the "Model Parliament"?

14. Why has England been called "the mother of parliaments"?

15. Distinguish between England and Great Britain. Between Great Britain
and the United Kingdom.

16. What were the Roman names of England, Scotland, and Ireland?

17. "Islands seem dedicated by nature to freedom." How does the history of
Ireland illustrate this statement?

18. Trace on the map the main water routes in France between the
Mediterranean and the Atlantic.

19. Show that Paris occupies an exceptionally good location for a capital
city.

20. What French kings did most to form the French nation?

21. Why have queens never ruled in France?

22. Compare the Hundred Years' War and the Peloponnesian War as needless
conflicts.

23. Compare Joan of Arc's visions with those of Mohammed.

24. "Beyond the Pyrenees begins Africa." What does this statement mean?

25. Why was Spain inconspicuous in European politics before the opening of
the sixteenth century?

26. Look up in an encyclopedia the story of William Tell and prepare an
oral report upon it.

27. Why was the German system of elective rulers politically less
advantageous than the settled hereditary succession which prevailed in
England and France?

FOOTNOTES

[1] Webster, _Readings in Medieval and Modern History,_ chapter xiv, "St.
Louis"; chapter xv, "Episodes of the Hundred Years' War"; chapter xvi,
"Memoirs of a French Courtier."

[2] The name comes from that of the broom plant (Latin _planta genesta_),
a sprig of which Henry's father used to wear in his hat. The family is
also called Angevin, because Henry on his father's side descended from the
counts of Anjou in France.

[3] See page 419.

[4] Latin _verum dictum_, "a true statement."

[5] Latin _juro_, "I take an oath."

[6] See pages 475-476.

[7] See page 514.

[8] See page 461.

[9] A term which refers to all freemen in town and country below the rank
of nobles.

[10] See page 418.

[11] Made up of the chief lords and bishops.

[12] The word "parliament," from French _parler,_ "to speak," originally
meant a talk or conference. Later, the word came to be applied to the body
of persons assembled for conference.

[13] See page 407 and note 1.

[14] See page 319.

[15] See page 246.

[16] See the map, page 321.

[17] In 1603 A.D. James VI of Scotland ascended the throne of England as
James I. In 1707 A.D. the two countries adopted a plan of union which gave
them a common Parliament and one flag.

[18] See page 397.

[19] See page 403.

[20] From 987 A.D. to 1328 A.D. France had only fourteen kings. The
average length of their reigns was, therefore, something more than twenty-
four years.

[21] See pages 461, 475.

[22] Hence the name "Salic law" applied to the rule excluding women from
succession to the French throne.

[23] See page 550.

[24] Probably so called from the black armor which he wore. It may still
be seen above his tomb in Canterbury Cathedral.

[25] In French, Jeanne d'Arc.

[26] Calais went back to the French in 1558 A.D. The Channel Islands are
still English possessions.

[27] See pages 164, 169, 244, 378. The Arabs and Berbers who settled in
Spain are generally called Moors.

[28] See page 316.

[29] See page 462.

[30] The duchies of Upper and Lower Austria, Styria, Carinthia, and
Carniola, and the county of Tyrol.

[31] See the map facing page 462.

[32] From Schwyz comes the name Switzerland.

[33] The independence of the country was not formally recognized till 1648
A.D.

[34] See page 315.

[35] See page 473.

[36] Courland, Livonia, and Esthonia.

[37] See pages 319, 462.

CHAPTER XXIII

EUROPEAN CITIES DURING THE LATER MIDDLE AGES

192. GROWTH OF THE CITIES

THE CIVIC REVIVAL

Civilization has always had its home in the city. [1] The statement
applies as well to medieval times as to the present day. Nothing marks
more strongly the backwardness of the early Middle Ages than the absence
of large and flourishing cities throughout western Europe. The growth of
trade in the later Middle Ages led, however, to a civic revival beginning
in the eleventh century. This change from rural to urban life was scarcely
less significant for European history than the change from the feudal to
the national state.

CITIES OF ROMAN ORIGIN

A number of medieval cities stood on the sites, and even within the walls,
of Roman municipalities. Particularly in Italy, southern France, and
Spain, and also in the Rhine and Danube regions, it seems that some
ancient _municipia_ had never been entirely destroyed during the Germanic
invasions. They preserved their Roman names, their streets, aqueducts,
amphitheaters, and churches, and possibly vestiges of their Roman
institutions. Among them were such important centers as Milan, Florence,
Venice, Lyons, Marseilles, Paris, Vienna, Cologne, London, and York.

ORIGIN OF THE OTHER CITIES

Many medieval cities were new foundations. Some rose to importance because
of advantages of situation. A place where a river could be forded, where
two roads met, or where a good harbor existed, would naturally become the
resort of traders. Some, again, started as fortresses, behind whose
ramparts the peasants took refuge when danger threatened. A third group of
cities developed from villages on the manors. A thriving settlement was
pretty sure to arise near a monastery or castle, which offered both
protection and employment to the common people.

THE CITY AND FEUDALISM

The city at first formed part of the feudal system. It grew upon the
territory of a feudal lord and naturally owed obedience to him. The
citizens ranked not much higher than serfs, though they were traders and
artisans instead of farmers. They enjoyed no political rights, for their
lord collected the taxes, appointed officials, kept order, and punished
offenders. In short, the city was not free.

[Illustration: WALLS OF CARCASSONNE
The fortifications of Carcassonne an ancient city of southwestern France
are probably unique in Europe for completeness and strength. They consist
of a double line of ramparts protected by towers and pierced by only two
gates. A part of the fortifications is attributed to the Visigoths in the
sixth century, the remainder, including the castle, was raised during the
Middle Ages (eleventh to thirteenth centuries)]

REVOLT OF THE CITIES

But the city from the first was the decided enemy of feudalism. [2] As its
inhabitants increased in number and wealth, they became Revolt of
conscious of their strength and refused to submit the cities to
oppression. Sometimes they won their freedom by hard fighting, more often
they purchased it, perhaps from some noble who needed money to go on a
crusade. In France, England, and Spain, where the royal power was strong,
the cities obtained exemption from their feudal burdens, but did not
become entirely self-governing. In Germany and Italy, on the other hand,
the weakness of the central government permitted many cities to secure
complete independence. They became true republics, like the old Greek
city-states. [3]

CHARTERS

The contract which the citizens extorted from their lord was known as a
charter. It specified what taxes they should be required to pay and
usually granted to them various privileges, such as those of holding
assemblies, electing magistrates, and raising militia for local defense.
The revolt of the cities gradually extended over all western Europe, so
that at the end of the fourteenth century hardly any of them lacked a
charter.

CIVIC FREEDOM

The free city had no room for either slaves or serfs. All servile
conditions ceased inside its walls. The rule prevailed that anyone who had
lived in a city for the term of a year and a day could no longer be
claimed by a lord as his serf. This rule found expression in the famous
saying: "Town air renders free."

RISE OF THE "THIRD ESTATE"

The freedom of the cities naturally attracted many immigrants to them.
There came into existence a middle class of city people, between the
nobles and clergy on the one side and the peasants on the other side--what
the French call the _bourgeoisie._ [4] As we have [5] learned, the kings
of England and France soon began to summon representatives of this middle
class to sit in assemblies as the "third estate," by the side of the
nobles and the clergy, who formed the first two estates. Henceforth the
middle class, the _bourgeoisie,_ the "third estate," distinguished as it
was for wealth, intelligence, and enterprise, exerted an ever-greater
influence on European affairs.