General History for Colleges and High Schools Part 46

_The Wars of the Roses_ (1455-1485).

GENERAL STATEMENT.--The Wars of the Roses is the name given to a long, shameful, and selfish contest between the adherents of the Houses of York and Lancaster, rival branches of the royal family of England. The strife, which was for place and power, was so named because the Yorkists adopted as their badge a white rose and the Lancastrians a red one.

The battle of Bosworth Field (1485) marks the close of the war. In this fight King Richard III., the last of the House of York, was overthrown and slain by Henry Tudor, the Earl of Richmond, who was crowned on the field with the diadem which had fallen from the head of Richard, and saluted as King Henry VII., the first of the Tudors.

THE EFFECTS OF THE WAR.--The most important result of the Wars of the Roses was the ruin of the baronage of England. One-half of the n.o.bility was slain. Those that survived were ruined, their estates having been wasted or confiscated during the progress of the struggle. Not a single great house retained its old-time wealth and influence.

The second result of the struggle sprung from the first. This was the great peril into which English liberty was cast by the ruin of the n.o.bility. It will be recalled that it was the barons who forced the Great Charter from King John (see p. 479), and who kept him and his successors from reigning like absolute monarchs. Now that once proud and powerful baronage were ruined, and their confiscated estates had gone to increase the influence and patronage of the king. He being no longer in wholesome fear of Parliament, for the Commons were as yet weak and timid, did pretty much as he pleased, and became insufferably oppressive and tyrannical; raising taxes, for instance, without the consent of Parliament, and imprisoning and executing persons without due process of law. For the hundred years following the Wars of the Roses the government of England was rather an absolute than a limited monarchy. Not until the final Revolution of the seventeenth century (see Chap. LV.) did the people, by overturning the throne of the Stuarts, fully recover their lost liberties.

_Growth of the English Language and Literature._

THE LANGUAGE.--From the Norman Conquest to the middle of the fourteenth century there were in use in England three languages: Norman French was the speech of the conquerors and the medium of polite literature; Old English was the tongue of the common people; while Latin was the language of the laws and records, of the church services, and of the works of the learned.

Modern English is the Old English worn and improved by use, and enriched by a large infusion of Norman-French words, with less important additions from the Latin and other languages. It took the place of the Norman-French in the courts of law about the middle of the fourteenth century. At this time the language was broken up into many dialects, and the expression "King's English" is supposed to have referred to the standard form employed in state doc.u.ments and in use at court.

EFFECT OF THE NORMAN CONQUEST ON ENGLISH LITERATURE.--The blow that struck down King Harold and his brave thanes on the field of Hastings silenced for the s.p.a.ce of about a century the voice of English literature. The tongue of the conquerors became the speech of the court, the n.o.bility, and the clergy; while the language of the despised English was, like themselves, crowded out of every place of honor. But when, after a few generations, the down-trodden race began to re-a.s.sert itself, English literature emerged from its obscurity, and with an utterance somewhat changed--yet it is unmistakably the same voice--resumes its interrupted lesson and its broken song.

CHAUCER (1328?-1400).--Holding a position high above all other writers of early English is Geoffrey Chaucer. He is the first in time, and, after Shakespeare, perhaps the first in genius, among the great poets of the English-speaking race. He is reverently called the "Father of English Poetry."

Chaucer stands between two ages, the mediaeval and the modern. He felt not only the influences of the age of Feudalism which was pa.s.sing away, but also those of the new age of learning and freedom which was dawning. It is because he reflects his surroundings so faithfully in his writings, that these are so valuable as interpreters of the period in which he lived.

Chaucer's greatest work is his _Canterbury Tales_, wherein the poet represents himself as one of a company of story-telling pilgrims who have set out from London on a journey to the tomb of Thomas Becket, at Canterbury.

[Ill.u.s.tration: STATUE OF WYCLIFFE. (From the Luther Monument at Worms.)]

WYCLIFFE AND THE REFORMATION (1324-1384).--Foremost among the reformers and religious writers of the period under review was Wycliffe, "The Morning Star of the Reformation." He gave the English people the first translation of the entire Bible in their native tongue. There was no press at that time to multiply editions of the book, but by means of ma.n.u.script copies it was widely circulated and read. Its influence was very great, and from its appearance may be dated the beginning of the Reformation in England.

The followers of Wycliffe became known as "Lollards" (babblers), a term applied to them in derision. They grew to be very numerous, and threatened by their excesses and imprudent zeal the peace of the state. They were finally suppressed by force.

2. FRANCE.

BEGINNING OF THE FRENCH KINGDOM.--The kingdom of France begins properly with the accession of the first of the Capetian rulers, late in the tenth century. The Merovingian and Carolingian kings were simply German princes reigning in Gaul. The Capetians held the throne for more than three centuries, when they were followed by the Valois kings. The last of the main line of the Valois family gave way to the first of the Valois-Orleans sovereigns in 1498, which date may be allowed to mark the beginning of modern French history.

We shall now direct attention to the most important transactions of the period covered by the Capetian and Valois dynasties. Our aim will be to give prominence to those matters which concern the gradual consolidation of the French monarchy.

_France under the Capetians_ (987-1328).

[Footnote: Table of the Capetian Kings:-- Hugh Capet (the Great)... 987--996 Robert II. (the Sage) ... 996-1031 Henry I.... ... ... . 1031-1060 Philip I... ... ... . 1060-1108 Louis VI. (the Fat) ... . 1108-1137 Louis VII. (the Young)... 1137-1180 Philip II. (Augustus) ... 1180-1223 Louis VIII. (Lion-hearted). 1223-1226 Louis IX. (the Saint) ... 1226-1270 Philip III. (the Hardy) . . 1270-1285 Philip IV. (the Fair) ... 1285-1314 Louis X. (the Stubborn) . . 1314-1316 Philip V. (the Tall)... . 1316-1322 Charles IV.(the Handsome) . 1322-1328]

The first Capetian king differed from his va.s.sal counts and dukes simply in having a more dignified t.i.tle; his power was scarcely greater than that of many of the lords who paid him homage as their suzerain. The fourth king of the line (Philip I.) confessed that he had grown gray while trying to capture a castle which stood within sight of Paris; and evidently he had abandoned all hope of getting possession of it, for he charged his son, to whom he one day pointed it out, to watch it well. How various events and circ.u.mstances--conquests, treaties, politic marriage alliances, and unjust encroachments--conspired to build up the power of the kings will appear as we go on.

The most noteworthy events of the Capetian period were the acquisition by the French crown of the English possessions in France, the Holy Wars for the recovery of Jerusalem, the crusade against the Albigenses, and the creation of the States-General. Of these several matters we will now speak in order.

THE ENGLISH POSSESSIONS IN FRANCE.--The issue of the battle of Hastings, in 1066, made William of Normandy king of England. He ruled that country by right of conquest. But we must bear in mind that he still held his possessions in France as a fief from the French king, whose va.s.sal he was.

This was the beginning of the possessions on the continent of the English kings. Then, when Henry, Count of Anjou, came to the English throne as the first of the Plantagenets, these territories were greatly increased by the French possessions of that prince. The larger part of Henry's dominions, indeed, was in France, almost the whole of the western coast of the country being in his hands; but for all of this he, of course, paid homage to the French king.

As was inevitable, a feeling of intense jealousy sprang up between the two sovereigns. The French king was ever watching for some pretext upon which he might deprive his rival of his possessions in France. The opportunity came when King John, in 1199, succeeded Richard the Lion-hearted upon the English throne. That odious tyrant was accused, and doubtless justly, of having murdered his nephew Arthur. Philip Augustus, who then held the French throne, as John's feudal superior, ordered him to clear himself of the charge before his French peers. John refusing to do so, Philip declared forfeited all the lands he held as fiefs of the French Crown [Footnote: This was the second condemnation of John. A year before this time (in 1202), John having refused to answer a charge of tyranny preferred by the n.o.bles of Poitou, Philip had declared his fief to be forfeited. It was in the turmoil which followed this sentence, that Arthur was taken prisoner by John and afterwards murdered.], and thereupon proceeded to seize Normandy and other possessions of John in the North of France, leaving him scarcely anything save the Duchy of Aquitaine in the South. The annexation of these large possessions to the crown of France brought a vast accession of power and patronage to the king, who was now easily the superior of any of his great va.s.sals.

THE FRENCH AND THE CRUSADES.--The age of the Capetians was the age of the Crusades. These romantic expeditions, while stirring all Christendom, appealed especially to the ardent, imaginative genius of the Gallic race.

Three Capetian kings, Louis VII., Philip Augustus, and Louis IX., themselves headed several of the wild expeditions.

It is the influence of the Crusades on the French monarchy that we alone need to notice in this place. They tended very materially to weaken the power and influence of the feudal n.o.bility, and in a corresponding degree to strengthen the authority of the crown and add to its dignity. The way in which they brought about this transfer of power from the aristocracy to the king has been explained in the chapter on the Crusades (see p. 450).

CRUSADE AGAINST THE ALBIGENSES (1207-1229).--During this age of religious enthusiasm holy wars were directed as well against heretics as infidels.

In the South of France was a sect of Christians called Albigenses [Footnote: From _Albi_, the name of a city and district in which their tenets prevailed.], who had departed so far from the faith of the Church, and had embraced such dangerous social heresies, that Pope Innocent III.

felt constrained to call upon the French king and his n.o.bles to lead a crusade against them. The outcome was the almost total extirpation of the heretical sect, and the acquisition by the French crown of large and rich territories that were formerly the possessions of the Counts of Toulouse, the patrons of the heretics.

CREATION OF THE STATES-GENERAL (1302).--The event of the greatest significance in the Capetian age was the admission, in the reign of Philip the Fair, of the commons to the feudal a.s.sembly, or council, of the king.

This transaction is in French history what the first summoning of the House of Commons is in English (see p. 480).

A dispute having arisen between Philip and the Pope respecting the control of the offices and revenues of the French Church, in order to rally to his support all cla.s.ses throughout his kingdom, Philip called an a.s.sembly, to which he invited representatives of the burghers, or inhabitants of the cities (1302). The royal council had hitherto been made up of two estates only,--the n.o.bles and the clergy; now is added what comes to be known as the _Tiers etat_, or Third Estate, and henceforth the a.s.sembly is known as the _States-General_. Eventually, before the power of this Third Estate, we shall see the Church, the n.o.bility, and the monarchy all go down, through revolution; just as in England we shall see clergy, n.o.bles, and king gradually yield to the rising power of the English Commons.

_France under the House of Valois_ (1328-1498).

[Footnote: Names of the sovereigns of the main line of the House of Valois:-- Philip VI... ... ... ... 1328-1350 John (the Good)... ... ... 1350-1364 Charles V. (the Wise)... ... 1364-1380 Charles VI. (the Well-Beloved) . 1380-1422 Charles VII. (the Victorious). . 1422-1461 Louis XI. ... ... ..... 1461-1483 Charles VIII. (the Affable) . . 1483-1498]

EFFECTS UPON FRANCE OF THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR.--The chief interest of that period of French history upon which we here enter attaches to that long struggle between England and France known as the Hundred Years' War.

Having already, in connection with English affairs (see p. 484), touched upon the causes and incidents of this war, we shall here simply speak of the effects of the struggle on the French people and kingdom. Among these results must be noticed the almost complete prostration, by the successive shocks of Crecy, Poitiers, and Agincourt, of the French feudal aristocracy, which was already tottering to its fall through the undermining influences of the Crusades; the growth of the power of the king, a consequence, largely, of the ruin of the n.o.bility; and, lastly, the awakening of a feeling of nationality, and the drawing together of the hitherto isolated sections of the country by the attraction of a common and patriotic enthusiasm.

Speaking in a very general manner, we may say that by the close of the war Feudalism in France was over, and that France had become, partly in spite of the war but more largely by reason of it, not only a great monarchy, but a great nation.

LOUIS XI. AND CHARLES THE BOLD OF BURGUNDY.--The foundations of the French monarchy were greatly enlarged and strengthened by the unscrupulous measures of Louis XI. (1461-1483), who was a perfect Ulysses in cunning and deceit. His maxim was, "He who knows how to deceive, knows how to reign." The great feudal lords that still retained power and influence, he brought to destruction one after another, and united their fiefs to the royal domains. Of all the va.s.sal n.o.bles ruined by the craft and cunning of Louis, the most famous and powerful was Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, with whom the French king was almost constantly warring, and against whom he was forever intriguing. Upon the death of the duke, Louis, without clear right, seized a great part of his dominions, which were almost large and rich enough to sustain the dignity of a king. By inheritance and treaty, Louis also gained large accessions of territory in the South of France, which gave his kingdom a wide frontage upon the Mediterranean, and made the Pyrenees its southern defence.

INVASION OF ITALY BY CHARLES VIII.--Charles VIII., the son of Louis XI., was the last of the direct line of the Valois. Through the favor of a long series of circ.u.mstances, the persistent policy of his predecessors, and his own politic marriage, [Footnote: He married Anne of Brittany, and thus brought that large province, which had hitherto const.i.tuted an almost independent state, under the authority of the French crown.] he found himself at the head of a state that had been gradually transformed from a feudal league into a true monarchy. The strength of this kingdom he determined to employ in some enterprise beyond the limits of France. With a standing army, created by Charles VII during the latter years of the war with England, [Footnote: The paid force of infantry and cavalry created by Charles VII in 1448, was the first standing army in Europe, and the beginning of that vast military system which now burdens the great nations of that continent with the support of several millions of soldiers constantly under arms.] at his command, he invaded Italy, intent on the conquest of Naples,--to which he laid claim on the strength of some old bequest,--proposing, with that state subdued, to lead a crusade to the East against the Turks. He reached Naples in triumph, but was soon forced, with heavy losses, to retreat into France.

This enterprise of Charles is noteworthy not only because it marks the commencement of a long series of brilliant yet disastrous campaigns carried on by the French in Italy, but also on account of Charles' army having been made up largely of paid troops instead of feudal retainers, which fact a.s.sures us that the Feudal System in France, as a governmental organization, had come to an end.

_Beginnings of French Literature._

THE TROUBADOURS.--The contact of the old Latin speech in Gaul with that of the Teutonic invaders gave rise there to two very distinct dialects. These were the _Langue d'Oc_, or Provencal, the tongue of the South of France and of the adjoining regions of Spain and Italy; and the _Langue d'Oil_, or French proper, the language of the North. [Footnote: The terms _Langue d'Oc_ and _Langue d'Oil_ arose from the use of different words for _yes_, which in the tongue of the South was _oc_, and in that of the North _oil_.]

About the beginning of the twelfth century, by which time the Provencal tongue had become settled and somewhat polished, literature in France first began to find a voice in the songs of the Troubadours, the poets of the South. It is instructive to note that it was the home of the Albigensian heresy, the land that had felt the influence of every Mediterranean civilization, that was also the home of the Troubadour literature. The Counts of Toulouse, the protectors of the heretics, were also the patrons of the poets. The same fierce persecution that uprooted the heretical faith of the Albigenses, also stilled the song of the Troubadours (see p. 493).

The verses of the Troubadours were sung in every land, and to the stimulating influence of their musical harmonies the early poetry of almost every people of Europe is largely indebted.

THE TROUVEURS.--These were the poets of Northern France, who composed in the _Langue d' Oil_, or Old French tongue. They flourished during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. While the compositions of the Troubadours were almost exclusively lyrical songs, those of the Trouveurs were epic, or narrative poems, called _romances_. They gather about three great names,--King Arthur, Alexander the Great, and Charlemagne. It will be noted that the poet story-tellers thus drew their material from the heroic legends of all the different races that blended to form the French nation, namely, the Celtic, the Graeco-Roman, and the Teutonic.

The influence of these French romances upon the springing literatures of Europe was most inspiring and helpful. Nor has their influence yet ceased.

Thus in English literature, not only did Chaucer and Spenser and all the early island-poets draw inspiration from these fountains of continental song, but the later Tennyson, in his _Idylls of the King_, has ill.u.s.trated the power over the imagination yet possessed by the Arthurian poems of the old Trouveurs.

FROISSART'S CHRONICLES.--The first really noted prose writer in French literature was Froissart (1337-1410), whose entertaining credulity and artlessness, and skill as a story-teller, have won for him the t.i.tle of the French Herodotus. Born, as he was, only a little after the opening of the Hundred Years' War, and knowing personally many of the actors in that struggle, it was fitting that he should become, as he did, the annalist of those stirring times.

3. SPAIN.