General History for Colleges and High Schools Part 41

EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE CONQUEST.--In the year 1066 Edward the Confessor died, in whose person, it will be recalled, the old English line was restored after the Danish usurpation (see p. 412). Immediately the Witan, that is, the a.s.sembly of the chief men of the nation, in accordance with the dying wish of the king, chose Harold, Earl of the West Saxons, son of the famous G.o.dwin, and the best and strongest man in all England, to be his successor.

When the news of the action of the Witan and of Harold's acceptance of the English crown was carried across the channel to William, Duke of Normandy, he was really or feignedly transported with rage. He declared that Edward, who was his cousin, had during his lifetime promised the throne to him, and that Harold had a.s.sented to this, and by solemn oath engaged to sustain him. He now demanded of Harold that he surrender to him the usurped throne, threatening the immediate invasion of the island in case he refused. King Harold answered the demand by expelling from the country the Normans who had followed Edward into the kingdom, and by collecting fleets and armies for the defence of his dominions.

While Harold was watching the southern coasts against the Normans, a Danish host appeared in the north, led by Tostig, the traitor brother of the English king, and Harold Hardrada, king of Norway. The English army in that quarter, attempting to withstand the invaders, was cut to pieces; and the important city of York fell into the hands of the Northmen. As soon as news of this disaster was borne to King Harold in the south, he instantly marched northward with his army, and at Stamford Bridge met the invaders, and there gained a decisive victory over them.

THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS (1066).--The festivities that followed the victory of Stamford Bridge were not yet ended, when a messenger from the south brought to Harold intelligence of the landing of the Normans. Hurrying southward with his army, Harold came face to face with the forces of William at Senlac, a short distance from the port of Hastings.

The battle soon opened--the battle that was to determine the fate of England. It was begun by a horseman riding out from the Norman lines and advancing alone toward the English army, tossing up his sword and skilfully catching it as it fell, and singing all the while the stirring battle-song of Charlemagne and Roland (see p. 405). The English watched with astonishment this exhibition of "careless dexterity," and if they did not contrast the vivacity and nimbleness of the Norman foe with their own heavy and clumsy manners, others at least have not failed to do so for them.

The battle once joined, the conflict was long and terrific. The day finally went against the English. Harold fell, pierced through the eye by an arrow; and William was master of the field (1066).

The conqueror now marched upon London, and at Westminster Abbey, on Christmas Day, 1066, was crowned and anointed king of England.

[ILl.u.s.tRATION: BATTLE OF HASTINGS. (From the Bayeux Tapestry.)]

THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE LAND.--Almost the first act of William after he had established his power in England was to fulfil his promise to the n.o.bles who had aided him in his enterprise, by distributing among them the unredeemed [Footnote: "When the lands of all those who had fought for Harold were confiscated, those who were willing to acknowledge William were allowed to redeem theirs, either paying money at once, or giving hostages for the payment."--Stubbs, Const. Hist. I. 258.] estates of the English who had fought at Hastings in defence of their king and country.

Large as was the number of these confiscated estates, there would have been a lack of land to satisfy all, had not subsequent uprisings against the authority of William afforded him an opportunity to confiscate almost all the soil of England as forfeited by treason.

Profiting by the lesson taught by the wretched condition of France, which country was kept in a state of constant turmoil by a host of feudal chiefs and lords many of whom were almost or quite as powerful as the king himself, William took care that in the distribution no feudatory should receive an entire s.h.i.+re, save in two or three exceptional cases. To the great lord to whom he must needs give a large fief, he granted, not a continuous tract of land, but several estates, or manors, scattered in different parts of the country, in order that there might be no dangerous concentration of property or power in the hands of the va.s.sal. He also required of all the sub-va.s.sals of the realm, in addition to their oath of allegiance to their own lord, an oath of fealty to the crown. This was a most important modification of feudal custom. On the Continent, the sub- tenant swore allegiance to his own lord simply, and was in duty bound to aid him in all his wars, even in one against the sovereign. But the oath of allegiance to himself exacted by William of all holders of fiefs, just reversed this, and made it the first duty of the sub-va.s.sal, even in the case of a war between his lord and the king, to follow and obey the king.

Furthermore, William denied to his feudatories the right of coining money or making laws; and by other wise restrictions upon their power, he saved England from those endless contentions and petty wars that were distracting almost every other country of Europe.

THE NORMAN SUCCESSORS OF THE CONQUEROR.--For nearly three-quarters of a century after the death of William the Conqueror, England was ruled by Norman kings. [Footnote: William II., known as Rufus "the Red" (1087- 1100); Henry I., surnamed Beauclerc, "the good scholar" (1100-1135); and Stephen of Blois (1135-1154). William and Henry were sons, and Stephen a grandson, of the conqueror.] The latter part of this period was a troublous time. The succession to the crown coming into dispute, civil war broke out. The result of the contention was a decline in the royal power, and the ascendency of the Norman barons, who for a time made England the scene of the same feudal anarchy that prevailed at this time upon the Continent. Finally, in 1154, the Norman dynasty gave place to that of the Plantagenets. Under Henry II., the first king of the new house, and an energetic and strong ruler, the barons were again brought into proper subjection to the crown, and many castles which had been built without royal permission during the preceding anarchical period, and some of which at least were little better than robbers' dens, were destroyed.

ADVANTAGES TO ENGLAND OF THE NORMAN CONQUEST.--The most important and noteworthy result of the Norman Conquest of England, was the establishment in the island of a strong centralized government. England now for the first time became a real kingdom.

A second result of the Conquest was the founding of a new feudal aristocracy. Even to this day there is a great preponderance of Norman over English blood in the veins of the n.o.bility of England.

A third result was the bringing of England into more intimate relations with the nations of continental Europe, by which means her advance in art, science, and general culture was greatly promoted.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CRUSADERS ON THE MARCH.]

CHAPTER XLII.

THE CRUSADES.

(1096-1272.)

1. INTRODUCTORY: CAUSES OF THE CRUSADES.

GENERAL STATEMENT.--The Crusades were great military expeditions undertaken by the Christian nations of Europe for the purpose of rescuing from the hands of the Mohammedans the holy places of Palestine. They were eight in number, the first four being sometimes called the Princ.i.p.al Crusades, and the remaining four the Minor Crusades. Besides these there were a Children's Crusade, and several other expeditions, which, being insignificant in numbers or results, are not usually enumerated.

CAUSES OF THE CRUSADES.--Among the early Christians it was thought a pious and meritorious act to undertake a journey to some sacred place.

Especially was it thought that a pilgrimage to the land that had been trod by the feet of the Saviour of the world, to the Holy City that had witnessed his martyrdom, was a peculiarly pious undertaking, and one which secured for the pilgrim the special favor and blessing of Heaven.

The Saracen caliphs, for the four centuries and more that they held possession of Palestine, pursued usually an enlightened policy towards the pilgrims, even encouraging pilgrimages as a source of revenue. But in the eleventh century the Seljukian Turks, a prominent Tartar tribe, zealous proselytes of Islam, wrested from the caliphs almost all their Asiatic possessions. The Christians were not long in realizing that power had fallen into new hands. Pilgrims were insulted and persecuted in every way.

The churches in Jerusalem were destroyed or turned into stables.

Now, if it were a meritorious thing to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre, much more would it be a pious act to rescue the sacred spot from the profanation of infidels. This was the conviction that changed the pilgrim into a warrior,--this the sentiment that for two centuries and more stirred the Christian world to its profoundest depths, and cast the population of Europe in wave after wave upon Asia.

Although this religious feeling was the princ.i.p.al cause of the Crusades, still there was another concurring cause which must not be overlooked.

This was the restless, adventurous spirit of the Teutonic peoples of Europe, who had not as yet outgrown their barbarian instincts. The feudal knights and lords, just now animated by the rising spirit of chivalry, were very ready to enlist in an undertaking so consonant with their martial feelings and their new vows of knighthood.

PREACHING OF PETER THE HERMIT.--The _immediate_ cause of the First Crusade was the preaching of Peter the Hermit, a native of Picardy, in France. Having been commissioned by Pope Urban II. to preach a crusade, the Hermit traversed all Italy and France, addressing everywhere, in the church, in the street, and in the open field, the crowds that flocked about him, moving all hearts with sympathy or firing them with indignation, as he recited the sufferings of their brethren at the hands of the infidels, or pictured the profanation of the holy places, polluted by the presence and insults of the unbelievers.

THE COUNCILS OF PLACENTIA AND CLERMONT.--While Peter the Hermit had been arousing the warriors of the West, the Turks had been making constant advances in the East, and were now threatening Constantinople itself. The Greek emperor (Alexius Comnenus) sent urgent letters to the Pope, asking for aid against the infidels, representing that, unless a.s.sistance was extended immediately, the capital with all its holy relics must soon fall into the hands of the barbarians.

Urban called a great council of the Church at Placentia, in Italy, to consider the appeal (1095), but nothing was effected. Later in the same year a new council was convened at Clermont, in France, Urban purposely fixing the place of meeting among the warm tempered and martial Franks.

The Pope himself was one of the chief speakers. He was naturally eloquent, so that the man, the cause, and the occasion all conspired to achieve one of the greatest triumphs of human oratory. He pictured the humiliation and misery of the provinces of Asia; the profanation of the places made sacred by the presence and footsteps of the Son of G.o.d; and then he detailed the conquests of the Turks, until now, with all Asia Minor in their possession, they were threatening Europe from the sh.o.r.es of the h.e.l.lespont. "When Jesus Christ summons you to his defence," exclaimed the eloquent pontiff, "let no base affection detain you in your homes; whoever will abandon his house, or his father, or his mother, or his wife, or his children, or his inheritance, for the sake of my name, shall be recompensed a hundred-fold, and possess life eternal."

Here the enthusiasm of the vast a.s.sembly burst through every restraint.

With one voice they cried, _Dieu le volt! Dieu le volt!_ "It is the will of G.o.d! It is the will of G.o.d!" Thousands immediately affixed the cross to their garments, [Footnote: Hence the name Crusade given to the Holy Wars, from old French _crois_ cross.] as a pledge of their sacred engagement to go forth to the rescue of the Holy Sepulchre. The fifteenth day of August of the following year was set for the departure of the expedition.

2. THE FIRST CRUSADE (1096-1099).

MUSTERING OF THE CRUSADERS.--All Western Europe now rang with the cry, "He who will not take up his cross and follow me, is not worthy of me." The contagion of enthusiasm seized all cla.s.ses; for while the religious feelings of the age had been specially appealed to, all the various sentiments of ambition, chivalry, love of license, had also been skilfully enlisted on the side of the undertaking. The council of Clermont had declared Europe to be in a state of peace, and p.r.o.nounced anathemas against any one who should invade the possessions of a prince engaged in the holy war. By further edicts of the a.s.sembly, the debtor was released from meeting his obligations while a soldier of the Cross, and during this period the interest on his debt was to cease; and the criminal, as soon as he a.s.sumed the badge of the crusader, was by that act instantly absolved from all his sins of whatever nature.

Under such inducements princes and n.o.bles, bishops and priests, monks and anchorites, saints and sinners, rich and poor, hastened to enroll themselves beneath the consecrated banner. "Europe," says Michaud, "appeared to be a land of exile, which every one was eager to quit."

THE VANGUARD.--Before the regular armies of the crusaders were ready to move, those who had gathered about Peter the Hermit, becoming impatient of delay, urged him to place himself at their head and lead them at once to the Holy Land. Dividing command of the mixed mult.i.tudes with a poor knight, called Walter the Penniless, and followed by a throng of about 80,000 persons, among whom were many women and children, the Hermit set out for Constantinople by the overland route through Germany and Hungary.

Thousands of the crusaders fell in battle with the natives of the countries through which they marched, and thousands more perished miserably of hunger and exposure. Those that crossed the Bosporus were surprised by the Turks, and almost all were slaughtered. Thus perished the forlorn hope of the First Crusade.

MARCH OF THE MAIN BODY.--Meanwhile there were gathering in the West disciplined armies composed of men worthy to be champions of the holy cause they had espoused. G.o.dfrey of Bouillon, Duke of Lorraine, and Tancred, "the mirror of knighthood," were among the most noted of the leaders of the different divisions of the army. The expedition numbered about 700,000 men, of whom fully 100,000 were mailed knights.

The crusaders traversed Europe by different routes and rea.s.sembled at Constantinople. Crossing the Bosporus, they first captured Nicaea, the Turkish capital, in Bithynia, and then set out across Asia Minor for Syria. The line of their dreary march between Nicaea and Antioch was whitened with the bones of nearly one-half their number. Arriving at Antioch, the survivors captured that place, and then, after some delays, pushed on towards Jerusalem. When at length the Holy City burst upon their view, a perfect delirium of joy seized the crusaders. They embraced one another with tears of joy, and even embraced and kissed the ground on which they stood. As they pa.s.sed on, they took off their shoes, and marched with uncovered head and bare feet, singing the words of the prophet: "Jerusalem, lift up thine eyes, and behold the liberator who comes to break thy chains."

The first a.s.sault made by the Christians upon the walls of the city was repulsed; but the second was successful, and the city was in the hands of the crusaders (1099). A terrible slaughter of the infidels now took place.

For seven days the carnage went on, at the end of which time scarcely any of the Moslem faith were left alive. The Christians took possession of the houses and property of the infidels, each soldier having a right to that which he had first seized and placed his mark upon.

FOUNDING OF THE LATIN KINGDOM OF JERUSALEM.--No sooner was Jerusalem in the hands of the crusaders than they set themselves to the task of organizing a government for the city and country they had conquered. The government which they established was a sort of feudal league, known as the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. At its head was placed G.o.dfrey of Bouillon, the most valiant and devoted of the crusader knights. The prince refused the t.i.tle and vestments of royalty, declaring that he would never wear a crown of gold in the city where his Lord and Master had worn a crown of thorns. The only t.i.tle he would accept was that of "Defender of the Holy Sepulchre."

Many of the crusaders, considering their vows fulfilled, now set out on their return to their homes, some making their way back by sea and some by land. G.o.dfrey, Tancred, and a few hundred other knights, were all that stayed behind to maintain the conquests that had been made, and to act as guardians of the holy places.

3. THE SECOND CRUSADE (1147-1149).

ORIGIN OF THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD.--In the interval between the Second and the Third Crusade, the two famed religious military orders, known as the Hospitallers and the Templars, [Footnote: The Hospitallers, or Knights of St. John, took their name from the fact that the organization was first formed among the monks of the Hospital of St. John, at Jerusalem; while the Templars, or Knights of the Temple, were so called on account of one of the buildings of the brotherhood occupying the site of Solomon's Temple.] were formed. A little later, during the Third Crusade, still another fraternity, known as the Teutonic Knights was established. The objects of all the orders were the care of the sick and wounded crusaders, the entertainment of Christian pilgrims, the guarding of the holy places, and ceaseless battling for the Cross. These fraternities soon acquired a military fame that was spread throughout the Christian world. They were joined by many of the most ill.u.s.trious knights of the West, and through the gifts of the pious acquired great wealth, and became possessed of numerous estates and castles in Europe as well as in Asia.

PREACHING OF ST. BERNARD; FAILURE OF THE CRUSADE.--In the year 1146, the city of Edessa, the bulwark of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem on the side towards Mesopotamia, was taken by the Turks, and the entire population was slaughtered, or sold into slavery. This disaster threw the entire West into a state of the greatest alarm, lest the little Christian state, established at such cost of tears and suffering, should be completely overwhelmed, and all the holy places should again fall into the hands of the infidels.

The scenes that marked the opening of the First Crusade were now repeated in all the countries of the West. St. Bernard, an eloquent monk, was the second Peter the Hermit, who went everywhere, arousing the warriors of the Cross to the defence of the birthplace of their religion. The contagion of the holy enthusiasm seized not only barons, knights, and the common people, which cla.s.ses alone partic.i.p.ated in the First Crusade, but kings and emperors were now infected with the sacred frenzy. Conrad III., emperor of Germany, was persuaded to leave the affairs of his distracted empire in the hands of G.o.d, and consecrate himself to the defence of the sepulchre of Christ. Louis VII., king of France, was led to undertake the crusade through remorse for an act of great cruelty that he had perpetrated upon some of his revolted subjects. [Footnote: The act which troubled the king's conscience was the burning of thirteen hundred people in a church, whither they had fled for refuge.]

The strength of both the French and the German division of the expedition was wasted in Asia Minor, and the crusade accomplished nothing.

4. THE THIRD CRUSADE (1189-1192).