EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY

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[Illustration: VENICE AND THE GRAND CANAL]

[Illustration: THE CAMPANILE AND DOGE'S PALACE, VENICE
The famous Campanile or bell tower of St. Mark's Cathedral collapsed in
1902 A.D. A new tower, faithfully copying the old monument, was completed
nine years later. The Doge's Palace, a magnificent structure of brick and
marble, is especially remarkable for the graceful arched colonnades
forming the two lower stories. The blank walls of the upper story are
broken by a few large and richly ornamented windows.]

VENETIAN POSSESSIONS

Venice also used the crusading movement for her political advantage. The
capture of Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade extended Venetian control
over the Peloponnesus, [25] Crete, Rhodes, Cyprus, and many smaller
islands in the eastern Mediterranean. Even before this time Venice had
begun to gain possessions upon the Italian mainland and along the Adriatic
coast. At the height of her power about 1400 A.D. she ruled a real empire.
[26]

VENETIAN SEA POWER

The commerce and possessions of Venice made it necessary for her to
maintain a powerful fleet. She is said to have had at one time over three
thousand merchant vessels, besides forty-five war galleys. Her ships went
out in squadrons, with men-of-war acting as a convoy against pirates. One
fleet traded with the ports of western Europe, another proceeded to the
Black Sea, while others visited Syria and Egypt to meet the caravans from
the Far East. Venetian sea power humbled Genoa and for a long time held
the Mediterranean against the Ottoman Turks.

THE "QUEEN OF THE ADRIATIC"

The greatness of Venice was celebrated by the annual ceremony of "the
wedding of the sea." The doge, (that is, "duke.") or chief magistrate,
standing in the bows of the state barge, cast a ring of gold into the
Adriatic with the proud words, "We have wedded thee, O sea, in token of
our rightful and perpetual dominion."

VENICE DESCRIBED

The visitor to modern Venice can still gain a good impression of what the
city must have looked like in the fourteenth century, when ships of every
nation crowded its quays and strangers of every country thronged its
squares or sped in light gondolas over the canals which take the place of
streets. The main highway is still the Grand Canal, nearly two miles long
and lined with palaces and churches. The Grand Canal leads to St. Mark's
Cathedral, brilliant with mosaic pictures, the Campanile, or bell tower,
and the Doge's Palace. The "Bridge of Sighs" connects the ducal palace
with the state prisons. The Rialto in the business heart of Venice is
another famous bridge. But these are only a few of the historic and
beautiful buildings of the island city.

198. GERMAN CITIES: THE HANSEATIC LEAGUE

CITIES OF SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL GERMANY

The important trade routes from Venice and Genoa through the Alpine passes
into the valleys of the Rhine and Danube were responsible for the
prosperity of many fine cities in southern and central Germany. Among them
were Augsburg, which rivaled Florence as a financial center, Nuremberg,
famous for artistic metal work, Ulm, Strassburg, and Cologne. The feeble
rule of the German kings compelled the cities to form several
confederacies for the purpose of resisting the extortionate tolls and
downright robberies of feudal lords.

CITIES OF NORTHERN GERMANY

It was the Baltic commerce which brought the cities of northern Germany
into a firm union. From the Baltic region came large quantities of dried
and salted fish, especially herring, wax candles for church services,
skins, tallow, and lumber. Furs were also in great demand. Every one wore
them during the winter, on account of the poorly heated houses. The German
cities which shared in this commerce early formed the celebrated Hanseatic
[27] League for protection against pirates and feudal lords.

MEMBERSHIP OF THE HANSEATIC LEAGUE

The league seems to have begun with an alliance of Hamburg and Luebeck to
safeguard the traffic on the Elbe. The growth of the league was rapid. At
the period of its greatest power, about 1400 A.D., there were upwards of
eighty Hanseatic cities along the Baltic coast and in the inland districts
of northern Germany.

HANSEATIC "FACTORIES"

The commercial importance of the league extended far beyond the borders of
Germany. Its trading posts, or "factories," at Bergen in Norway and
Novgorod in Russia controlled the export trade of those two countries.
Similar establishments existed at London, on the Thames just above London
Bridge, and at Bruges in Flanders. Each factory served as a fortress where
merchants could be safe from attack, as a storehouse for goods, and as a
general market.

INFLUENCE OF THE HANSEATIC LEAGUE

The Hanseatic League ruled over the Baltic Sea very much as Venice ruled
over the Adriatic. In spite of its monopolistic tendencies, so opposed to
the spirit of free intercourse between nations, the league did much useful
work by suppressing piracy and by encouraging the art of navigation.
Modern Germans look back to it as proof that their country can play a
great part on the seas. The Hanseatic merchants were also pioneers in the
half-barbarous lands of northern and eastern Europe, where they founded
towns, fostered industry, and introduced comforts and luxuries previously
unknown. Such services in advancing civilization were comparable to those
performed by the Teutonic Knights. [28]

DECLINE OF THE HANSEATIC LEAGUE

After several centuries of usefulness the league lost its monopoly of the
Baltic trade and began to decline. Moreover the Baltic, like the
Mediterranean, sank to minor importance as a commercial center, after the
Portuguese had discovered the sea route to India and the Spaniards had
opened up the New World. [29] City after city gradually withdrew from the
league, till only Hamburg, Luebeck, and Bremen remained. They are still
called free and independent cities, though now they form a part of the
German Empire.

199. THE CITIES OF FLANDERS

COUNTY OF FLANDERS

In the Middle Ages the Netherlands, or "Low Countries," now divided
between Holland and Belgium, consisted of a number of feudal states,
nominally under the control of German and French kings, but really quite
independent. Among them was the county of Flanders. It included the coast
region from Calais to the mouth of the Scheldt, as well as a considerable
district in what is now northwestern France. The inhabitants of Flanders
were partly of Teutonic extraction (the Flemings) and partly akin to the
French (the Walloons).

FLANDERS AS A COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CENTER

Flanders enjoyed a good situation for commerce. The country formed a
convenient stopping place for merchants who went by sea between the
Mediterranean and the Baltic, while important land routes led thither from
all parts of western Europe. Flanders was also an industrial center. Its
middle classes early discovered the fact that by devotion to manufacturing
even a small and sterile region may become rich and populous.

FLEMISH WOOL TRADE

The leading industry of Flanders was weaving. England in the Middle Ages
raised great flocks of sheep, but lacking skilled workmen to manufacture
the wool into fine cloth, sent it across the Channel to Flanders. A
medieval writer declared that the whole world was clothed in English wool
manufactured by the Flemings. The taxes that were laid on the export of
wool helped to pay the expenses of English kings in their wars with the
Welsh, the Scotch, and the Irish. The wool trade also made Flanders the
ally of England in the Hundred Years' War, thus beginning that historic
friendship between the two countries which still endures.

[Illustration: BELFRY OF BRUGES
Bruges, the capital of West Flanders, contains many fine monuments of the
Middle Ages Among these is the belfry, which rises in the center of the
facade of the market hall. It dates from the end of the thirteenth
century. Its height is 352 feet. The belfry consists of three stories, the
two lower ones square, and the upper one, octagonal.]

[Illustration: TOWN HALL OF LOUVAIN, BELGIUM
One of the richest and most ornate examples of Gothic architecture Erected
in the fifteenth century The building consists of three stories above
which rises the lofty roof crowned with graceful towers. The interior
decoration and arrangements are commonplace.]

BRUGES, GHENT AND YPRES

Among the thriving communities of Flanders three held an exceptional
position. Bruges was the mart where the trade of southern Europe, in the
hands of the Venetians, and the trade of northern Europe, in the hands of
the Hanseatic merchants, came together. Ghent, with forty thousand
workshops, and Ypres, which counted two hundred thousand workmen within
its walls and suburbs, were scarcely less prosperous. When these cities
declined in wealth, Antwerp became the commercial metropolis of the
Netherlands.

FLANDERS AND FRANCE

During the fourteenth century Flanders was annexed by France. The Flemish
cities resisted bravely, and on more than one occasion their citizen
levies, who could handle sword and ax, as well as the loom, defeated the
French armies, thus demonstrating again that foot soldiers were a match
for mailed cavalry. Had the cities been able to form a lasting league,
they might have established an independent Flanders, but the bitter
rivalry of Ghent and Bruges led to foreign domination, lasting into the
nineteenth century. [30]

THE CITIES AND CIVILIZATION

The great cities of Flanders, Germany, and Italy, not to speak of those in
France, Spain, and England, were much more than centers of trade,
industry, and finance. Within their walls learning and art flourished to
an extent which had never been possible in earlier times, when rural life
prevailed throughout western Europe. We shall now see what the cities of
the Middle Ages contributed to civilization.

STUDIES

1. Indicate on the map some great commercial cities of the Middle Ages as
follows: four in Italy; three in the Netherlands; and six in Germany.

2. Why does an American city have a charter? Where is it obtained? What
privileges does it confer?

3. Who comprised the "third estate" in the Middle Ages? What class
corresponds to it at the present time?

4. Why has the medieval city been called the "birthplace of modern
democracy"?

5. Compare the merchant guild with the modern chamber of commerce, and
craft guilds with modern trade unions.

6. Look up the origin of the words "apprentice," "journeyman," and
"master."

7. Why was there no antagonism between labor and capital under the guild
system?

8. Compare the medieval abhorrence of "engrossing" with the modern idea
that "combinations in restraint of trade" are wrong.

9. Why were fairs a necessity in the Middle Ages? Why are they not so
useful now? Where are they still found?

10. Compare a medieval fair with a modern exposition.

11. What would be the effect on trade within an American state if tolls
were levied on the border of every county?

12. What is meant by a "robber baron"?

13. How did the names "damask" linen, "chinaware," "japanned" ware, and
"cashmere" shawls originate?

14. Why was the purchasing power of money much greater in the Middle Ages
than it is now?

15. Why are modern coins always made perfectly round and with "milled"
edges?

16. Are modern coins "debased" to any considerable extent? What is the use
of alloys?

17. Why was the money-changer so necessary a figure in medieval business?

18. How is it easy to evade laws forbidding usury?

19. Look up in an encyclopedia the legend of the "Wandering Jew." How does
it illustrate the medieval attitude toward Jews?

20. Write out the English equivalents of the Italian words mentioned in
footnote 20.

21. Compare the Italian despots with the Greek tyrants.

22. Show that Venice in medieval times was the seaport nearest the heart
of commercial Europe.

23. Compare the Venetian and Athenian sea-empires in respect to (a)
extent, (b) duration, and (c) commercial policy.

24. Why was Venice called the "bride of the sea"?

FOOTNOTES

[1] The word "city" comes through the French from the Latin _civilitas_,
meaning citizenship, state. The word "town" (from Anglo-Saxon _tun_),
which is now often used as a synonym of city, originally meant a village
(French _ville_, Latin _villa_).

[2] See page 437.

[3] See page 81.

[4] From French _bourg,_ "town."

[5] See pages 506, 515.

[6] The visitor to Chester in England or Rothenburg in Germany finds the
old ramparts still standing and gains an excellent idea of the cramped
quarters of a medieval city. Nuremburg in southern Germany is another city
which has preserved its medieval monuments.

[7] French _couvre feu_, "cover fire."

[8] In French _hotel de ville_; in German _Rathhaus_.

[9] German _buergermeister_, from _burg_, "castle."

[10] French _maire_, from Latin _major_, "greater."

[11] Anglo-Saxon _ealdorman_ (_eald_ means "old").

[12] A map of London still shows such names as Shoe Lane, Distaff Lane,
Cornhill, and many other similar designations of streets.

[13] The civic procession in London on Lord Mayor's Day is the last
survival in England of these yearly shows.

[14] See page 336.

[15] See page 382.

[16] See pages 47-48.

[17] See page 417.

[18] See page 640.

[19] Lombard Street in London, the financial center of England, received
its name from the Italian bankers who established themselves in this part
of the city.

[20] Among the Italian words having to do with commerce and banking which
have come into general use are _conto, disconto, risico, netto, deposito,
folio_, and _bilanza_.

[21] See page 460.

[22] See page 590.

[23] See page 478.

[24] See page 248.

[25] Known in the Middle Ages as the Morea.

[26] For the Venetian possessions in 1453 A.D. see the map, page 494.

[27] From the old German _hansa_, a "confederacy."

[28] See page 526.

[29] See page 640.

[30] In 1831 A.D. the two provinces of East Flanders and West Flanders
became part of the modern kingdom of Belgium.

CHAPTER XXIV

MEDIEVAL CIVILIZATION [1]

200. FORMATION OF NATIONAL LANGUAGES

THE 12TH AND 13TH CENTURIES

The twelfth and thirteenth centuries, which in western Europe saw the rise
of national states out of the chaos of feudalism and the development of
cities, may be regarded as the central period of the Middle Ages. During
this time there flourished a civilization which is properly described as
"medieval," to distinguish it from classical civilization on the one side
and modern civilization on the other side. The various European languages
then began to assume something like their present form. A large body of
literature, in both poetry and prose, appeared. Architecture revived, and
flowered in majestic cathedrals. Education also revived, especially in the
universities with their thousands of students. These and other aspects of
medieval life will now engage our attention.

LATIN AS AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE

Throughout the Middle Ages Latin continued to be an international
language. The Roman Church used it for papal bulls and other documents.
Prayers were recited, hymns were sung, and sometimes sermons were preached
in Latin. It was also the language of men of culture everywhere in western
Christendom. University professors lectured in Latin, students spoke
Latin, lawyers addressed judges in Latin, and the merchants in different
countries wrote Latin letters to one another. All learned books were
composed in Latin until the close of the sixteenth century. This practice
has not yet been entirely abandoned by European scholars.

THE ROMANCE LANGUAGES

Each European country during the Middle Ages had also its own national
tongue. The so-called Romance languages, [2] including modern French,
Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Rumanian, were derived from the Latin
spoken by the Romanized inhabitants of the lands now known as France,
Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Rumania. Their colloquial Latin naturally
lacked the elegance of the literary Latin used by Caesar, Cicero, Vergil,
and other classical authors. The difference between the written and spoken
forms of the language became more marked from the fifth century onward, in
consequence of the barbarian invasions, which brought about the decline of
learning. Gradually in each country new and vigorous tongues arose,
related to, yet different from, the old classical Latin in pronunciation,
grammar, and vocabulary.

FRENCH

The indebtedness of the Romance languages to Latin is well illustrated by
the case of French. It contains less than a thousand words introduced by
the German invaders of Gaul. Even fewer in number are the words of Celtic
origin. Nearly all the rest are derived from Latin.

DEVELOPMENT OF FRENCH

The popular Latin of the Gallo-Romans gave rise to two quite independent
languages in medieval France. The first was used in the southern part of
the country; it was called Provencal (from Provence). The second was
spoken in the north, particularly in the region about Paris. The
unification of the French kingdom under Hugh Capet and his successors
gradually extended the speech of northern France over the entire country.
Even to-day, however, one may hear in the south of France the soft and
harmonious Provencal.

THE TEUTONIC LANGUAGES

The barbarians who poured from the wilds of central Europe into the Roman
world brought their languages with them. But the speech of the Goths,
Vandals, Burgundians, and Lombards disappeared, while that of the Franks
in Gaul, after their conversion to Christianity, gradually gave way to the
popular Latin of their subjects. The Teutonic peoples who remained outside
what had been the limits of the Roman world continued to use their native
tongues during the Middle Ages. From them have come modern German, Dutch,
Flemish, [3] and the various Scandinavian languages (Danish, Norwegian,
Swedish, and Icelandic [4]). In their earliest known forms all these
languages show unmistakable traces of a common origin.

ANGLO-SAXON

Britain was the only Roman province in the west of Europe where a Teutonic
language took root and maintained itself. Here the rough, guttural speech
of the Anglo-Saxons so completely drove out the popular Latin that only
six words were left behind by the Romans, when they abandoned the island
early in the fifth century. More Celtic words remained, words like
_cradle, crock, mop_, and _pillow_, which were names of household objects,
and the names of rivers, mountains, and lakes, which were not easily
changed by the invaders. [5] But with such slight exceptions Anglo-Saxon
was thoroughly Teutonic in vocabulary, as well as in grammar.

CHANGES IN ANGLO-SAXON

In course of time Anglo-Saxon underwent various changes. Christian
missionaries, from the seventh century onward, introduced many new Latin
terms for church offices, services, and observances. The Danes, besides
contributing some place-names, gave us that most useful word _are_, and
also the habit of using _to_ before an infinitive. The coming of the
Normans deeply affected Anglo-Saxon. Norman-French influence helped to
make the language simpler, by ridding it of the cumbersome declensions and
conjugations which it had in common with all Teutonic tongues. Many new
Norman-French words also crept in, as the hostility of the English people
toward their conquerors disappeared.

DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH

By the middle of the thirteenth century Anglo-Saxon, or English, as it may
now be called, had taken on a somewhat familiar appearance, as in these
opening words of the Lord's Prayer: "Fadir ur, that es in heven, Halud thi
nam to nevene, Thou do as thi rich rike, Thi will on erd be wrought, eek
as it is wrought in heven ay." In the poems of Geoffrey Chaucer (about
1340-1400 A.D.), especially in his _Canterbury Tales_, English wears
quite a modern aspect, though the reader is often troubled by the old
spelling and by certain words not now in use. The changes in the grammar
of English have been so extremely small since 1485 A..D.--the beginning of
the reign of Henry VII [6]--that any Englishman of ordinary education can
read without difficulty a book written more than four hundred years ago.

[Illustration: GEOFFREY CHAUCER
From an old manuscript in the British Museum, London. The only existing
portrait of Chaucer.]

[Illustration: ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT
From an old manuscript now in the possession of the British Museum. The
shrine of Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, was a celebrated resort
for (Proofer's Note: Remainder of text unavailable)]

ENGLISH AS A WORLD-LANGUAGE

What in medieval times was the speech of a few millions of Englishmen on a
single small island is now spoken by at least one hundred and fifty
millions of people all over the world. English is well fitted for the role
of a universal language, because of its absence of inflections and its
simple sentence-order. The great number of one-syllabled words in the
language also makes for ease in understanding it. Furthermore, English has
been, and still is, extremely hospitable to new words, so that its
vocabulary has grown very fast by the adoption of terms from Latin,
French, and other languages. These have immensely increased the
expressiveness of English, while giving it a position midway between the
very different Romance and Teutonic languages.

201. DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL LITERATURES

LATIN HYMNS

Medieval literature, though inferior in quality to that of Greece and
Rome, nevertheless includes many notable productions. In the twelfth and
the thirteenth centuries Latin hymns reached their perfection. The sublime
_Dies Irae_ ("Day of Wrath") presents a picture of the final judgment of
the wicked. The pathetic _Stabat Mater_, which describes the sorrows of
Mary at the foot of the Cross, has been often translated and set to music.
These two works were written by a companion and biographer of St. Francis
of Assisi. St. Bernard's _Jesu Dulcis Memoria_ ("Jesus, the Very Thought
of Thee") forms part of a beautiful hymn nearly two hundred lines in
length. Part of another hymn, composed by a monk of Cluny, has been
rendered into English as "Jerusalem the Golden." Latin hymns made use of
rhyme, then something of a novelty, and thus helped to popularize this
poetic device.

LATIN STUDENTS' SONGS

Very unlike the hymns in character were the Latin songs composed by
students who went from one university to another in search of knowledge
and adventure. Far from home, careless and pleasure-seeking, light of
purse and light of heart the wandering scholars of the Middle Ages
frequented taverns, as well as lecture rooms, and knew the wine-bowl even
better than books. Their songs of love, of dancing, drinking, and gaming,
reflect the jovial side of medieval life.

SONGS OF THE TROUBADOURS

Still another glimpse of gay society is afforded by the songs of the
troubadours. These professional poets flourished in the south of France,
but many of them traveled from court to court in other countries. Their
verses, composed in the Provencal language, were always sung to the
accompaniment of some musical instrument, generally the lute. Romantic
love and deeds of chivalry were the two themes which most inspired the
troubadours. They, too, took up the use of rhyme, using it so skillfully
as to become the teachers of Europe in lyric poetry.

THE FRENCH EPIC

If southern France was the native home of the lyric, northern France gave
birth to epic or narrative verse. Here arose many poems, describing the
exploits of mythical heroes or historic kings. For a long time the poems
remained unwritten and were recited by minstrels, who did not hesitate to
modify and enlarge them at will. It was not until late in the eleventh
century that any epics were written down. They enjoyed high esteem in
aristocratic circles and penetrated all countries where feudalism
prevailed.

THE CHARLEMAGNE LEGEND

Many of the French epics centered about the commanding personality of
Charlemagne. After his death he became a figure of legend. He was said to
have reigned one hundred and twenty-five years, to have made a pilgrimage
to Jerusalem, and to have risen from the dead to lead the First Crusade.
Angels inspired his actions. His sword contained the point of the lance
which pierced the Savior's side. His standard was the banner of St. Peter.
Though history shows that Charlemagne had little contact with the Moslems,
in the popular mind he stood forth as the great champion of Christianity
against Islam.

SONG OF ROLAND

The oldest, and at the same time the finest, epic connected with
Charlemagne is the Song of Roland. [7] The poem centers around Roland, one
of the twelve peers of France. When leading the rearguard of Charlemagne's
army out of Spain, Roland is suddenly attacked by the treacherous Moors.
He slays the enemy in heaps with his good sword, Durendal, and only after
nearly all the Franks have perished sounds his magic horn to summon aid.
Charlemagne, fifteen leagues distant, hears its notes and returns quickly.
But before help arrives, Roland has fallen. He dies on the field of
battle, with his face to the foe, and a prayer on his lips that "sweet
France" may never be dishonored. This stirring poem appealed strongly to
the martial Normans. A medieval chronicler relates that just before the
battle of Hastings a Norman minstrel rode out between the lines, tossing
his sword in air and catching it again, as he chanted the song "of Roland
and of Charlemagne, of Oliver and many a brave vassal who lost his life at
Roncesvalles."