Outlines of Universal History Part 17

SAXON ENGLAND.--In England, by the Saxon conquest, a purely Teutonic kingdom was built up. The _Saxons_ were heathen, who had never felt the civilizing influence of Rome. The traces of the earlier state of things in the province which had long been sundered from the empire, they swept away in the progress of their conquest.

CHAPTER III. THE EASTERN EMPIRE.

RELIGIOUS DISPUTES.--While the West was beginning to recover from the shock of the barbarian invasions, society in the Eastern Empire was growing more enervated and corrupt. For a considerable period the Byzantine government was managed by the influence of women. Thus _Theodosius II_., the successor of Arcadius (408-450), was governed during his whole reign by his sister _Pulcheria_. In the East, there was an intense interest felt in the abstruse questions of metaphysical theology. The Greek mind was speculative; and eager and often acrimonious debate on such questions as were raised by _Nestorius_ respecting the two natures of the Saviour, was heard even in the shops and markets. The court meddled actively in these heated controversies, and was swayed to one party or the other by the theologians whom, for the time, it took into its favor. The emperors a.s.sumed the high prerogative of personally deciding in doctrinal disputes, and of dictating opinions to the clergy, who gradually lost their independence, and became abjectly subservient to the imperial will.

THE HIPPODROME.--The rage for doctrinal dispute in the sixth century was only exceeded by the pa.s.sions kindled in connection with the circus, or hippodrome, at Constantinople. In old Rome the compet.i.tors in the chariot-races were organized, the drivers wore their respective badges,--red, white, blue, or green,--and emperors of the baser sort, like _Caligula_ and _Caracalla_, visited the stables, and were enrolled on the lists of the rival factions. But in Constantinople the factions of the _blue_ and the _green_, not content with the contest of the race-course, were violent political parties in which courtiers and the emperor himself took sides. The animosity of the _blues_ and the _greens_ broke out in frequent b.l.o.o.d.y conflicts in the streets. Their respective adherents spread into the provinces. On one occasion, under _Justinian_, they raised a sedition called _Nika_ (from the watchword used by the combatants), which well-nigh subverted the throne. In this period the _body-guard_ of the emperor played a part resembling that of the old praetorians at Rome.

JUSTINIAN.--A new dynasty began with _Justin I_., who succeeded _Anastasius_ in 518. A peasant from _Dardania_ (Bulgaria), who to the end of life was obliged to sign his name by means of an engraved tablet, but, from being prefect of the Guard, became emperor, Justin was still not without merit as a ruler. He educated his nephew, _Justinian I_. (527-565), and made him his successor. Justinian married _Theodora_, who had been a comedian and a courtesan, and was famous for her beauty. She was the daughter of _Acacius_, who had had the care of the wild beasts maintained by one of the factions of the circus. She joined the _blues_, and it was her brave spirit that prevented _Justinian_ from taking flight when he was in imminent danger from the revolt of the _Nika_. The most important proceedings and decisions in affairs of state were determined by her will. Outwardly correct in her life, and zealous for orthodoxy, her vigor of mind and cleverness were not without service to the government; but her vindictive pa.s.sions had full indulgence. Justinian's reign was the most brilliant period in the Byzantine history after the time of Constantine. Under his despotic rule the last vestiges of republican administration were obliterated. His love of pomp and of extravagant expenditure, in connection with his costly wars, subjected the people to a crus.h.i.+ng weight of taxation.

WAR WITH PERSIA.--The brilliant achievements in war during Justinian's reign were owing to the skill and valor of his generals, especially of the hero _Belisarius_. After a hundred years of amity with Persia, war with that kingdom broke out once more under _Anastasius_ and _Justin_. _Belisarius_ saved the Asiatic provinces, and defended the empire on the east against _Cobad_, and against his successor, _Chosroes I_. (531-579), who was, perhaps, the greatest of the Persian kings of the _Sa.s.sanid_ dynasty. The "endless peace" made with him in 533 lasted but seven years. _Chosroes_ captured _Antioch_ in 540. The worst consequences of this success were again averted by _Belisarius_, who was recalled from Italy in all haste. In the treaty of 562, _Justinian_ ingloriously agreed to pay for the honor of being the protector of the Christians in Persia the annual tribute of thirty thousand pieces of gold.

CONQUEST OF AFRICA--From a military point of view the conquests of _Justinian_ in Africa, in Italy, and in Spain, were the signal events of his reign. Victory proved fatal to the barbarian conquerors in those countries. They were weakened by the southern climate, by sensual indulgence, and by strife among themselves. Justinian was ready to profit by this diminished capacity of resistance. _Gelimer_, king of the _Vandals_, had put to death _Hilderic_, a kinsman of _Theodosius I_. The emperor made this an occasion of attacking the Vandal kingdom, which was distracted by religious differences and contention. _Belisarius_ sailed to Africa with a fleet of six hundred vessels, manned with twenty thousand sailors and fifteen thousand troops. Three months after landing he gained a decisive victory, and took possession of _Africa, Sardinia_, and the _Balearic Isles_ (534). He carried _Gelimer_ as a captive to Constantinople, and presented him to _Justinian_ and _Theodora_, seated side by side in the hippodrome to receive the triumphal procession in honor of the victor. The captive ruler could only exclaim, "Vanity, vanity! All is vanity!"

CONQUEST OF ITALY.--Professedly to avenge the wrongs of _Amalasontha_, the ambitious and intriguing daughter of _Theodoric_, who had been killed as a consequence of the disaffection of the Goths, _Belisarius_ was sent to Italy. _Sicily_ was conquered (535), and _Naples_ and _Rome_ were taken (536). _Vitiges_, the new king of the Goths, united the forces of the nation; but he was driven to shut himself up in _Ravenna_, and Ravenna surrendered (540). The Goths had offered the sovereignty of the country to _Belisarius_. The jealousy of Justinian, and war with Persia, led to the recall of Belisarius before he could complete the work of conquest. The Goths under _Totila_, a nephew of the late king, regained the greater part of Italy. Belisarius (544-549) was sent for the second time to conquer that country. He gained important successes, and recaptured Rome; but he was feebly supported by the suspicious and envious ruler at Constantinople, and was at length called home. _Na.r.s.es_, a eunuch, insignificant in person, but as crafty as he was brave, was commissioned to accomplish what Belisarius had not been allowed to effect. He entered Italy at the head of an army, made up mostly of Huns, Heruli, and other barbarians, and defeated _Totila_, who died of his wounds (552). The Ostrogothic kingdom fell. The Gothic warriors who survived had leave to quit the country with their property, they having taken an oath never to return. The Ostrogoths, as a nation, vanish from history. The EXARCHATE, or vice-royalty of the Eastern Empire, was established, with its seat at _Ravenna_. In _Spain_, Justinian obtained _Corduba, a.s.sidona, Segontia_ (554), in reward of the a.s.sistance which he had rendered to _Athanagild_ against a compet.i.tor for the throne. Constantinople was saved by _Belisarius_ from a threatened attack of the _Bulgarians_, who had crossed the Danube on the ice (559). This great general, whose form and stature and benign manners attracted the admiration of the people, as his n.o.ble but poorly requited services gave him a right to the grat.i.tude of the sovereign, was accused, in 563, of conspiracy against the life of Justinian. His property was confiscated, but his innocence was finally declared. The story that he was deprived of his eyes, and compelled to beg his bread, is not credited. He died in 565. A few months later _Justinian_ himself died at the age of eighty-three. He has been aptly compared, as to his personal character and the character of his reign, to Louis XIV. of France. Among the many structures which he reared was the temple of St. Sophia at Constantinople, and countless fortresses for the defense of the capital, of the Danube, and of other parts of the exposed frontier.

THE CIVIL LAW.--Justinian's princ.i.p.al distinction in history grows out of his relation to legislation, and to the study of the law. He caused a famous lawyer, _Tribonian_, with the aid of a body of jurists, to make those collections of ancient law which are still in force in many countries. The _Code_ included the imperial const.i.tutions and edicts in twelve books (527, 528). This was followed (533) by the _Inst.i.tutes_, embracing the principles of Roman jurisprudence, which was to be studied in the schools of _Constantinople_, _Berytus_, and _Rome_; and the _Digest_, or _Pandects_, comprising the most valuable pa.s.sages from the writings of the old jurists, that were deemed of authority. In this last work three million lines were reduced to a hundred and fifty thousand. Finally a fourth work, _The Novels_, embraced the laws of Justinian after the publication of the code (534-565). These works, taken together, form the Civil Law,--the _Corpus Juris Civilis_. They are the legacy of Rome to later times. Humane principles are incorporated into the civil law, but, likewise, the despotic system of imperialism.

THE LOMBARDS IN ITALY.--In the great "Wandering of the Nations," the German tribe of _Lombards_, or Langobards, had made their way into _Pannonia_. To the east of them, in _Dacia_, there had arisen the kingdom of the _Gepidae_, a people akin to the _Goths_. In that region, also, were the Turanian _Avars_, with whom the Lombards allied themselves, and overthrew the kingdom of the Gepidae. After the conquest of Italy, _Na.r.s.es_ had established there the Byzantine system of rule and of grinding taxation. Discontent was the natural result. The enemies of _Na.r.s.es_ at Constantinople persuaded _Justin II._ and his queen _Sophia_, who had great influence over him, that prudence demanded the recall of the able, but avaricious and obnoxious, governor. The queen was reported to have said, that "he should leave to men the exercise of arms, and return to his proper station among the women of the palace, where a distaff should be placed in the eunuch's hand." "I will spin her such a thread," Na.r.s.es is said to have replied, "as she shall not unravel her life long." He forthwith invited the _Lombards_ into Italy, an invitation which they were not both to accept. _Alboin_ was their leader, who had married the beautiful _Rosamond_, daughter of the _Gepid_ king whom he had slain. Na.r.s.es repented of his rash proceeding, but he died before he could organize a resistance to the invaders. These founded the great Lombard kingdom in the north of Italy, and the smaller Lombard states of _Spoleto_ and _Beneventum_. Ravenna,--the residence of the _Exarchs_,--Rome, Naples, and the island city of Venice, were centers of districts still remaining subject to the Greek emperor, as were also the southern points of the two peninsulas of Southern Italy, and, for the time, the three main islands. _Alboin_ was killed in 574 at the instigation of _Rosamond_, to whom, it was said, at a revel he had sent wine to drink in the skull of _Cunimund_, her father. The Lombards were not like the Goths. They formed no treaties, but seized on whatever lands they wanted, reserving to themselves all political rights. The new-comers were _Arian_ in religion, and partly heathen. There was little intermixture by marriage between the two cla.s.ses of inhabitants. _Lombard_ and _Roman_ was each governed by his own system of law. Later, especially under the kings _Liutprand_, _Rachis_, and _Aistulf_ (749-756), this antagonism was much lessened, and the Roman law gained a preponderating influence in the Lombard codes. Gradually the power of the independent Lombard duchies increased. The strength of the Lombard kingdom was thus reduced. The Lombards more and more learned the arts of civilized life from the Romans, and shared in the trading and industrial pursuits of the cities. Their gradual conversion to Catholic Christianity brought the two peoples still nearer together. It was within half a century of the Lombard conquest that _Gregory I._ (Gregory the Great) held the papal office (590-604).

AFTER JUSTINIAN.--During the century and a half that followed the death of Justinian, the history of the Byzantine court and empire is an almost unbroken tale of crime and degeneracy. The cruelty of such emperors as _Phocas_ (602-610) and _Justinian II_. surpa.s.ses the brutality of Nero and Domitian. The reign of _Heraclius_ is the only refres.h.i.+ng pa.s.sage in this dreary and repulsive record. He led his armies in person in a series of campaigns against _Chosroes II_., the Persian king. At the very time when Constantinople was besieged in vain by a host of Persians and Avars, he conducted his forces into the heart of the Persian Empire; and in a great battle near _Nineveh_ in 627, he won a decisive victory. With the reign of _Heraclius_, the transient prosperity of the Greek Empire comes to an end. It was exhausted, even by its victories. Overwhelmed with taxation, it was ruined in its trade and industry. Despotism in the rulers, sensuality and baseness in rulers and subjects, undermined public and private virtue. In addition to other enemies on every side, it was attacked by the _Arabians_; and _Heraclius_ lived to see the loss of _Syria_ and of _Egypt_, and the capture of _Alexandria_, by these new a.s.sailants.

CONTROVERSY ON IMAGE WORs.h.i.+P.--The period of theological debate, when at its height in the fourth and fifth centuries, whatever extravagances of doctrinal zeal attended it, dealt with themes of grave importance; and controversy was often waged by men of high ability and moral worth. After that time, there succeeded to the tempest an intellectual stagnation, under the blighting breath of despotism, coupled with the effect of a la.s.situde, the natural sequel of the long-continued disputation. But, in the eighth and ninth centuries, a new controversy took place, which convulsed the Eastern Empire, and extended to the West. The matter in dispute was the use of images in wors.h.i.+p. Pictorial representations had been gradually introduced in the earlier centuries, but had been opposed, especially in Egypt and in the African Church. After the time of _Constantine_, they came by degrees into universal use. This formed a ground of reproach on the part of the _Mohammedans_. The warfare upon images was begun by _Leo III_., the Isaurian (717-741), a rough soldier with no appreciation of art, who issued an edict against them. The party of "image-breakers," or _iconoclasts_, had numerous adherents; and the opposite party of "image-wors.h.i.+pers," who had a powerful support from the monks in the convents, were ardent and inflexible in withstanding the imperial measures. Neither the remonstrances of _John of Damascus_, the last of the Greek Fathers, nor of the Roman bishop, made an impression on _Leo_. The agitation spread far and wide. Subsequent emperors followed in his path. At length, however, the Empress _Irene_ (780-802) restored image-wors.h.i.+p; and, in 842, the Empress _Theodora_ finally confirmed this act. In the controversy, religious motives were active, but they were mingled on both sides with political considerations. The alienation of feeling on the part of the Roman bishops was one cause of the separation of Italy from the Greek Empire.

LITERATURE AND CULTURE.--While there was a prevalence of illiteracy in the West, there continued in the Eastern Empire an interest in letters, and a respect for cla.s.sical literature. Devoted Greek monks taught the Gospel to the _Bulgarians_ and to the Slavonian tribes on its borders. _Cyril_ and _Methodius_, faithful missionaries, gave the Bible to the _Moravians_ in their own tongue. In the seventh century, _John of Damascus_ compiled from the Greek Fathers a celebrated treatise on theology. But the period of original thought in theology, as elsewhere, had pa.s.sed by. This work of the Damascene was made up chiefly of excerpts from the Fathers before him. In earlier days the church in the East had been served by erudite theologians of great talents and of great excellence, such as _Basil the Great_ (328-379), _Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory of n.a.z.ianzum_ (326-390); all of whom were liberal-minded men, strenuous defenders of orthodox doctrine, and yet not unfriendly to philosophical study. Of even wider fame was _John Chrysostom_ (347-407), a preacher of captivating eloquence and of an earnest Christian spirit, whose censure of the vices of the Byzantine court provoked the wrath of the Empress _Eudoxia_, and twice drove him into banishment. In the declining days of the empire, literary effort was mainly confined to compilations and comments. _Eusebius_, in the fourth century, had written a _History of the Church_, and a _Chronicle_, or General History; and, a century later (about 432), _Zosimus_ composed a _History_ in a spirit of antipathy to Christianity and of sympathy with the old religion. To _Procopius_ (who died about 565) we owe an interesting history of the times of _Justinian_. After the seventh century, all traces of life and spirit vanish from the pages of the Byzantine historians. In mathematics and astronomy, in architecture and mechanics, the Byzantine Greeks were the teachers of the Arabians and of the new peoples of the West. The Byzantine style of architecture was of a distinct type, and was widely diffused.

THE SLAVONIC TRIBES.--In the sixth century the _Slavonian_ tribes come into view. The _Avars_ stirred up such a commotion among those tribes as the Huns had created among the Germans. The _Slaves_ were driven to the _northwest_, where later they came into relations with Germany; and to the _southwest_, where, as conquerors and as learners, they stood, in some degree, in relation to the Eastern Empire, in the same position as that of the Germans in reference to the Western. North and East of the Adriatic arose Slavonian States, as _Servia, Croatia, Carinthia. Istria_ and _Dalmatia_, except the cities on the coast, became Slavonic. The Slaves displaced the old _Illyrian_ race. In the seventh and eighth centuries, _Macedonia_ and _Greece_ were largely occupied by Slavonians. The _Bulgarians_ were a Turanian people, who mixed with the Slavonians, and adopted their language. In 895 the _Magyars_, a Turanian people, crowded into _Dacia_ and _Pannonia_; and thus the _Bulgarians_ were confined to the lands south of the Danube. The _Magyars_ formed the kingdom of _Hungary_. The Slavonian _Russians_ were cut off from the Southern tribes of the same race.

CHAPTER IV. MOHAMMEDANISM AND THE ARABIC CONQUESTS.

CONDITION OF ARABIA.--In the sixth century the influence of the Greek and of the Persian Empires, especially of the Persian, was prevalent in Arabia. It was then inhabited mostly by tribes either distinct or loosely bound together, and contained no independent state of any considerable importance. The Arabs of that day had "all the virtues and vices of the half-savage state, its revenge and its rapacity, its hospitality and its bounty." In the _Hejaz_ district--situated between fertile and more civilized _Yemen_, or Arabia Felix, in the south-west of the peninsula and the Sinaitic region,--and in _Nejd_ to the east of Hejaz, which were the two districts in which Islam and the Arabian Empire took their rise, dwelt tribes whose common sanctuary was the _Kaaba_ at _Mecca_, in the wall of which was the quadrangular black stone kissed by all devotees, and supposed to have been received from the angel Gabriel. The religion of the Arabs was polytheism in many different forms, in which idol-wors.h.i.+p was prominent; but all agreed in acknowledging one supreme G.o.d, _Allah_, in whose name solemn oaths were taken. Once in the year the tribes gathered in Mecca for their devotions; and a great fair in the vicinity, attended by a poetical contest, made the city prosperous. The town was made up of separate _Septs_, or patriarchal families, each under its own head, of which septs the _Omayyads_ were of princ.i.p.al importance, and had charge of the _Kaaba_. _Mohammed_ belonged to the _Has.h.i.+mites_, another and poorer branch of the leading tribe of _Koreish_. The _Koreis.h.i.+tes_, by their trading-journeys to Syria, had acquired more culture then others, whether Bedouins, or residents of _Medina_. At the time when _Mohammed_ was born, which was probably in 572, the religion of the Arabs had sunk into idolatry or indifference. There were three hundred and sixty images in the Kaaba. But there were some who were called _hanifs_, who were serious and earnest, and turned away from idolatrous wors.h.i.+p. Besides the _Sabian_ religion of the Persian sun-wors.h.i.+pers, the leading tenets and rites of Christianity and of Judaism, both in the degenerate types which they a.s.sumed on the Syrian borders, were not unfamiliar to Arabs dwelling in the caravan routes on the borders of the Red Sea.

CAREER OF MOHAMMED.--_Mohammed_ was early left an orphan under the care of his uncle _Abu Talib_. In his youth he tended sheep, and gathered wild berries in the desert. In his twenty-fifth year he became the commercial agent of a wealthy widow, _Khadija_, made journeys for her into Palestine and Syria,--where he may have received religious knowledge and impressions from Christian monks and Jewish rabbis,--and, after a time, married her. He is described as having a commanding presence, with piercing eyes, fluent in speech, and with pleasing ways. Eventually he came into close contact with the _hanifs_. He followed the custom of retiring for meditation and prayer to the lonely and desolate _Mount Hira._ A vivid sense of the being of one Almighty G.o.d and of his own responsibility to G.o.d, entered into his soul. A tendency to hysteria in the East a disease of men as well as of women--and to epilepsy helps to account for extraordinary states of body and mind of which he was the subject. At first he ascribed his strange ecstasies, or hallucinations, to evil spirits, especially on the occasion when an angel directed him to begin the work of prophesying. But he was persuaded by _Khadija_ that their source was from above. He became convinced that he was a prophet inspired with a holy truth and charged with a sacred commission. His wife was his first convert. His faith he called _Islam_, which signifies "resignation to the divine will." His cousin _Ali_, his friend _Abubekr_, and a few others, believed in him. There is no doubt that the materials of Mohammed's creed were drawn from Jewish and Christian sources: _Abraham_ was the _hanif_, whose pure monotheism he claimed to re-a.s.sert; but the animating spirit was from within. The sum of his doctrine was, that there is only one G.o.d, and that Mohammed is the apostle of G.o.d.

AFTER THE HEGIRA.--The _Koreis.h.i.+tes_, the rulers and the elders, persecuted him. They flung out the reproach, that his adherents were from the poor or from the rank of slaves. This provoked him to denounce them, and to threaten them with the Divine judgment and with perdition. He lost his uncle in 619: his wife had died before. He had found sympathy with his claims from pious men from _Medina_. They offered him an asylum. Thither he went in 622, the date of his _Hijira_, or flight from Mecca, from which the Mohammedan calendar is reckoned. At Medina he won influence: he was frequently resorted to as an adviser, and as a judge to settle disputes. His activity in this direction was beneficent. His injunctions respecting the rights of property, and the protection due to women, were, in the main, discreet and wholesome. Naturally and speedily he became a political leader as well as a religious reformer. This new course on which he entered made a breach between him and the _Jews_, whom he had hoped to conciliate. He drew off from fellows.h.i.+p with them, made _Friday_ the princ.i.p.al day of public wors.h.i.+p, and Mecca its princ.i.p.al seat. For the Jewish fast he subst.i.tuted the month of _Ramadan_. His plan was to cement together the Arab tribes, superseding the old tie of blood by the new bond of fellows.h.i.+p in adherence to him. The project of a holy war to conquer and to crush the idolaters, and to establish his own authority, was the means to this end. _Mecca_ was the first object of a.s.sault. He attacked and plundered a Meccan caravan in 623. The next year he defeated the _Koreis.h.i.+tes_ in the battle of _Bedr_. In the battle of _Ohod_ (625) his followers were worsted. Other conflicts ensued, with attacks on the _Jews_ in the intervals, until, in 630, he entered _Mecca_ at the head of ten thousand men, and destroyed all the idols. This event secured the adhesion of the Arabian tribes, together with the chiefs of _Yemen_ and of the other more civilized districts. Hearing that the Emperor _Heraclius_ was proposing to attack him, he went forth to meet him, but found that the rumor was false. He was preparing a new expedition against the _Greeks_ when he died, in 632.

CHARACTER OF MOHAMMED.--From the time of the flight of Mohammed to Medina, the prophet turned more and more into the politician. Under the circ.u.mstances, this was, perhaps, an almost inevitable change. But one consequence was the bringing out of his natural vindictiveness, and the transformation of the enthusiast into the fanatic. Beginning as the prophet of Arabia, he came to think that he was the prophet of the whole world. There was a call to a wider warfare against idolatry. A crusade, partly political and partly religious, involved a mixture of craft and cruelty which exhibit his character in a new light. Yet it is probable that he always sincerely felt that his work in general was one to which he was called of G.o.d. Even the prosaic regulations and "orders of the day," which are placed in the _Koran_, if not the reproduction, in cataleptic visions, of his previous thoughts, may have been regarded by him as having a divine sanction. The extent of possible self-deception in so extraordinary a combination of qualities, it is not easy to define. His conduct was, for the most part, on a level with his precepts. There was one exception; he allowed not more than four wives to a disciple: he himself, at one time, had eleven. While _Khadija_ lived he was wedded to her alone.

THE KORAN.--The Koran is regarded as the word of G.o.d by a hundred millions of disciples. It is very unequal in style. In parts it is vigorous, and here and there imaginative, but generally its tone is prosaic. Its narrative portions are chiefly about scriptural persons, especially those of the Old Testament. Mohammed's acquaintance with these must have been indirect, from rabbinical and apocryphal sources. _Adam_, _Noah_, _Abraham_, _Moses_, and _Christ_ are acknowledged as prophets. The deity of Christ and the doctrine of the Trinity are repudiated. The miracles of Jesus are acknowledged. Mohammed does not claim for himself miraculous power. Predestination is taught, but this became a conspicuous tenet of Moslems after the death of the founder. The immortality of the soul is admitted, the pains of h.e.l.l are threatened to the wicked and to "infidels;" and a sensual paradise is promised to the faithful, although it is declared that higher spiritual joys are the lot of the most favored. The faith of Mohammed was, in substance, Judaism, the religion of the Old Testament; power being set before holiness, however, in the conception of G.o.d, and the supernatural mission of _Mohammed_ subst.i.tuted for the future Messianic reign of righteousness and peace, and coupled with the emphatic proclamation of the last judgment. The law in the Koran is a civil as well as a moral code. Notwithstanding his countenance of sensuality by his own practice, as well as by his legalizing of polygamy, and his notion of paradise, Mohammed elevated the condition of woman among the Arabs. Before there was unbridled profligacy: now there was a regulated polygamy. Severe prohibitions are uttered against thieving, usury, fraud, false witness; and alms-giving is emphatically enjoined. Strong drink and gambling were prohibited.

The gem of the Koran is "The Lord's Prayer of the Moslems:" "In the name of G.o.d, the compa.s.sionate Compa.s.sioner, the Sovereign of the day of judgment. Thee do we wors.h.i.+p, and of Thee do we beg a.s.sistance. Direct us in the right way; in the way of those to whom Thou hast been gracious, in whom there is no wrath, and who go not astray."

THE ARABIC CONQUESTS: SYRIA, PERSIA, EGYPT.--Mohammed made no provision for the succession. The _Caliphs_, or "successors,"

combined in themselves civil, military and religious authority. They united the functions of emperor and pope. _Ali_, the husband of _Fatima_, Mohammed's favorite daughter, had hoped to succeed him. But, by the older companions of the prophet, _Abubekr,_ Mohammed's father-in-law was appointed. The _s.h.i.+tes_ were supporters of Ali, while the _Sunnites_, who adhered to "the traditions of the elders," were against him. These two parties have continued until the present day; the _Persians_ being _s.h.i.+tes_, and the _Turks, Sunnites_. Mohammed, before he died, was inflamed with the spirit of conquest. Full of the fire of fanaticism, mingled with a thirst for dominion and plunder, the Arabians rapidly extended their sway. These warriors, to their credit be it said, if terrible in attack, were mild in victory. Their two princ.i.p.al adversaries were the _Eastern Empire_ and _Persia_. Mohammedanism s.n.a.t.c.hed from the empire those provinces in which the Greek civilization had not taken deep root, and it made its way into Europe. It conquered _Persia_, and became the princ.i.p.al religion of those Asiatic nations with which history mainly has to do. Mohammed had made a difference in his injunctions between heathen, apostates, and schismatics, all of whom were to embrace Islam or to perish, and Jews and Christians, to both of whom was given the choice of the Koran, tribute, or death. They must buy the right to exercise their religion, if they refused to say that "Allah is G.o.d, and Mohammed is His prophet." _Omar_ (634-644), the next caliph after _Abubekr_, and a leader distinguished alike for his military energy and his simplicity of manners and life, first brought all Arabia, which was impelled as much by a craving for booty as by religious zeal, into a cordial union under his banner. Then he carried the war beyond the Arabian borders. _Palestine_ and _Syria_ were wrested from the Greek Empire; the old cities of _Jerusalem, Antioch_, and _Damascus_ fell into the hands of the impetuous Saracens. A mosque was erected on the site of Solomon's Temple. The _Persian Empire_ was invaded, and, after a series of sanguinary battles, especially the battle of _Cadesia_ (636), followed by the battle of _Nehavend_ (641), was destroyed. _Ctesiphon_, with all its riches, was captured, and _Persepolis_ was sacked. The last king of the line of _Sa.s.sanids_, _Yezdegerd III_., having lived for many years as a fugitive, perished by the hand of an a.s.sa.s.sin (652). Meantime _Egypt_ had submitted to the irresistible invaders under _Amr_, who was aided by the Christian sect of the _Copts_, out of hostility to the Greek Orthodox Church. After a siege of fourteen months, _Alexandria_ was taken; but it is probably not true that the library was burned by _Omar's_ order. In the disorders of the times, the great collections of books had probably, for the most part, been dispersed and destroyed. Six friends of Mohammed, selected by _Omar_, chose _Othman_ (644-656) for his successor, who stirred up enmity by his pride and avarice. Under him the Christian _Berbers_ in Africa were won over to the faith of Islam, and paved the way for its further advance.

THE OMAYYADS: CONQUEST OF AFRICA AND SPAIN.--_Othman_ was a.s.sa.s.sinated by three fanatics, and _Ali_ was then raised to the caliphate; but _Muawiyah_, representing the family of the _Omayyads_, made himself the head of an opposing party, and, after the a.s.sa.s.sination of _Ali_, became sole caliph (661). He removed the seat of the caliphate to _Damascus_. He carried the Arabian conquests as far as the _Indus_ and _Bokhara_. He created a fleet on the Mediterranean, under an "Admiral," that is, a commander on the sea. In seven successive years he menaced Constantinople with his navy. At a later time, in 717, under the caliph _Soliman_, another great attempt was made on the capital of the Greek Empire. With an army of a hundred and twenty thousand men, he traversed Asia Minor and the h.e.l.lespont, and was supported in his attack by a fleet of eighteen hundred sail. But the energetic defense, which was aided by the use of "the Greek fire,"--an artificial compound which exploded and burned with an unquenchable flame,--caused the grand expedition to fail; and the Eastern Empire had another long lease of life. The successors of _Muawiyah_ accomplished the subjugation of Africa. They were invited by the native inhabitants, who groaned under the burdens of taxation laid on them by the Greek emperors. About A.D. 700 the Arab governor, _Musa_, completed the conquest of the African dominion of the Greeks as far as the Atlantic. The amalgamation of the _Berbers_ with the other inhabitants of that region, and with the _Arabs_, resulted in the race called _Moors_. At this time the Spanish Visigothic kingdom, which had become Catholic (586-601), was much enfeebled, and a prey to discord. Under _Tarik_--from whom _Gibraltar_, or the mountain of _Tarik_ near which he landed, is named--the Arabs crossed into Spain, and for the first time found themselves face to face with the barbarians of the North. In the great battle of _Xeres de la Frontera_, near the _Guadalquivir_, in 711, which lasted for three days, the fate of the Visigothic kingdom was decided. Eight years were occupied in conquering Spain. In 720 the Saracens occupied _Septimania_ north of the Pyrenees, a dependency of the Gothic kingdom. Gaul now lay open before them. The Mohammedan power threatened to encircle Christendom, and to destroy the Church and Christianity itself. In the plains between _Tours_ and _Poitiers_, the Saracens were met by the Austrasian Franks under _Charles Martel_ (732). The impetuous charges of the Saracen cavalry were met and beaten back by the infantry of the _Franks_, which confronted them like an iron wall. The Mohammedan defeat saved Christian Europe from being trampled under foot by the Mussulman; it saved the Christian people of the _Aryan_ nations from being subjugated by the _Semitic_ disciples of the Koran. At the same time that Spain was overrun, the Turkish lands on the east of the Caspian were subdued. The old antipathy between the Iranians and Turanians, the Schiite Persians and the Sunnite Turks, was afterwards carried into Europe by the Ottoman Moslems.

THE ABBa.s.sIDES: BAGDAD.--Misgovernment embittered the faithful against the rule of the _Omayyads_ in _Damascus_, although Syria had become a source of higher culture for the Arabians: there they became acquainted with Greek learning. The adherents of _Ali_ found vigorous champions in the _Abba.s.sides_, who, as _Has.h.i.+mites_, laid claim to the caliphate. One of them, _Abul Abbas_, was made caliph by the soldiers in 750. The fierce cruelty of his party against the _Omayyads_ led to the murder of all of them except _Abderrahman_, who fled to Africa, and, in 755, founded an independent caliphate at _Cordova_. The _Abba.s.sides_ attached themselves to the _Sunnite_ creed. Under _Almansor_, the brother and successor of _Abbas, Bagdad_, a city founded by _Almansor_ (754-775) on the banks of the Tigris, was made the seat of the caliphate, and so continued until the great Mongolian invasion in 1258. Bagdad was built on the west bank of the Tigris, but, by means of bridges, stretched over to the other sh.o.r.e. It was protected by strong, double walls. It was not only the proud capital of the caliphate: it was, besides, the great market for the trade of the East, the meeting-place of many nations, where caravans from China and Thibet, from India, and from Ferghana in the modern Turkestan, met throngs of merchants from Armenia and Constantinople, from Egypt and Arabia. There trading-fleets gathered which carried the products of the North and West down the great rivers to the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. _Bagdad_ was to the caliphs what _Byzantium_ was to Constantine, or _Alexandria_ to the Ptolemies. It became the grandest city in the world. Ca.n.a.ls to the number of six hundred ran through it, and a hundred and five bridges bound its two parts together. It was furnished with many thousand mosques and as many baths. The palace of the caliphs comprised in itself all the splendor which Asiatic taste and extravagance could collect and combine in one edifice.

THE EASTERN CALIPHATE.--Deprived of the western extremity of their empire, the _Abba.s.sides_ still ruled over _Asia_ and _Africa_. In their luxurious and splendid court, the caliphs, served by a vast retinue of officers with the _Vizier_ at their head, copied the magnificence of the ancient Persians. The most famous of the caliphs of Bagdad is _Harun-al-Ras.h.i.+d_, or "Aaron the Just" (786-809). His name is familiar even to children as the wonderful hero of the "Arabian Nights." His reign, like that of _Solomon_ in ancient Judaea, was considered in after times the golden age of the caliph dominion. As in the case of _Charlemagne_, poetry and romance invested his character and reign with all that can give glory and honor to a king and a sage. Brilliant pictures were drawn of the boundless wealth and luxury of his court, and of his admirable piety and wisdom. About him there was a.s.sembled a host of jurists, linguists, and poets. Three hundred scholars traveled at his expense through different lands. Righteous judgments were ascribed to him, and oracular sayings. He was made the ideal ruler of Oriental fancy. His real character fell much below the later popular conception. He behaved like an Eastern despot towards all his kindred who stood in his way. The Persian family of _Barmecides_ he exterminated, when his pa.s.sionate attachment to one of them turned to hatred on account of an obscure affair connected with the harem. Stories told by Western chroniclers of his relations with _Charlemagne_ require to be sifted. The Greek emperor _Nicephorus_, who had rashly defied him, he addressed as the "Roman dog." Nine times _Harun_ invaded the Greek Empire, left its provinces wasted as by a hurricane, and extorted from it a tribute which he obliged the emperors, who repented of their daring, to pay in coin stamped with his image. His best distinction is in the liberal patronage which he, no doubt, extended to learning. In this he was imitated by his son _Al Mamun_ (813-833), who founded numerous schools, and expended vast sums in behalf of science and letters. The caliphate was weakened by the introduction of the _Turks_, somewhat as the Roman Empire fared from its relations with the Germans. _Motasem_ (833-842), the eighth of the Abba.s.sides, brought in a Turkish guard of forty thousand slaves, purchased in _Tartary_. These soldiers, instead of remaining servants, became lawless masters, and disposed of the throne as the praetorians at Rome had done. The palace of the caliphs was filled with violence. Revolution and anarchy, kept up during two centuries, broke the caliphate into fragments. Conspiracies and insurrections were the order of the day. _Africa_ had detached itself in the time of _Harun-al-Ras.h.i.+d_. In _Asia_ various independent dynasties arose, formed mostly by Turkish governors of provinces.

THE TURKISH EMIRS.--In the eleventh century, the _Seljukian Turks_ despoiled the Arabs of their sovereignty in the East. The caliph at _Bagdad_ gave up all his temporal power to _Togrul Bey_ (1058), and retained simply the spiritual heads.h.i.+p over orthodox Mussulmans. To the Turk who bore the t.i.tle _Emir al Omra_, was given the military command. He was what the Mayor of the Palace had been among the Franks. In 1072 his son, _Malek Shah_, made _Ispahan_ his capital, and governed Asia from China to the vicinity of Constantinople.

THE FATIMITE CALIPHATE.--In the ninth and tenth centuries the _Aglabites_ (800-909), whose capital was _Cairoan_ (in Tunis), were dominant in the Western Mediterranean, established themselves, in their marauding expeditions, in _Corsica, Sardinia_, and _Sicily_, and several times attacked Italy. In 909 they, with the _Edrisites_, adherents of _Ali_, in _Fez_, formed, under a Fatimite chief, _Moez_, with Egypt, the African Caliphate, the seat of which was at _Cairo_ (968). The Fatimite caliphs extended their power over Syria. The most famous of the caliphs of _Cairo_ was _Hakem_ (996-1020), a monster of cruelty, who claimed to be the incarnation of Deity. These caliphs claimed to be the descendants of _Ali_ and of _Fatima_. Their dynasty was extinguished by _Saladin_ in 1171.

THE CALIPHS OF CORDOVA.--In Spain the caliphs of _Cordova_ allowed to the Christians freedom of wors.h.i.+p and their own laws and judges. The mingling of the conquerors with the conquered gave rise to a mixed _Mozarabic_ population. The _Franks_ conquered the country as far as the _Ebro_ (812). Under _Mohammed I_. (852), the Saracen governors of the provinces sought to make themselves independent; but the most brilliant period of the caliphate of Cordova followed, under _Abderrahman III_. (912-961). In the eleventh century there was anarchy, produced by the African guard of the caliphs, which played a part like that of the Turkish guard at _Bagdad_, and by reason of the rebellion of the governors. In 1031 the last descendant of the _Omayyads_ was deposed, and in 1060 the very t.i.tle of caliph vanished. The caliphate gave place to numerous petty Moslem kingdoms. The African Mussulmans came to their help, and thus gave the name of _Moors_ to the Spanish Mohammedans. Their language and culture, however, remained Arabic. The Arabian conquests had moved like a deluge to the _Indus_, to the borders of _Asia Minor_, and to the _Pyrenees_. In Syria they were not generally resisted by the people. Egypt, for the same reason, was an easy conquest. It took the Moslems sixty years to conquer _Africa_. In three years nearly all Spain was theirs; and it was not until seven hundred years after this time that they were utterly driven out of that country.

THE MOSLEM GOVERNMENT--The Moslem civilization rested on the Koran. Grammar, lexicography, theology, and law stood connected at first with the study and understanding of the Sacred Book. The _Caliph_ was the fountain of authority. There was a fixed system of taxation, the poll-tax and land-tax being imposed only on non-Moslem subjects. All Moslems received a yearly pension, a definite sum determined by their rank. The empire was divided into provinces, each governed by a _Prefect_, who was a petty sovereign, subject only to the _Caliph_. The _Generals_ were appointed by the caliph, by the prefects, or by the _Vizier_, who was the prime minister. The _Judges (cadis)_ were appointed by the same officers. There was a court of appeal over which the caliph presided. There were inspectors of the markets, who were also censors of morals. The _Imam_ had for his function to recite the public prayers in the mosque. The leader of the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca was an officer of the highest dignity.

THEOLOGY: LAW: LITERATURE.--The Mohammedans entered into discussions of theology, which gave rise to differences, and to schools and sects. The nature of the Deity, predestination, the future life, were subjects of profound and subtle inquiry. More than once, pantheistic doctrine was broached by speculative minds, such as _Avicenna_ and _Averrhoes_. In Persia, _Sufism_, a form of mysticism, made great progress. It extolled the unselfish love of G.o.d, and a contemplative and ascetic life. _Law_ was studied; and on the basis of the _Koran_, and of reasonings upon it, systems of jurisprudence were created. _Science_ and _Literature_ kept pace with legal studies. _Poetry_ flourished through the whole period of the Eastern caliphate. There were, also, Persian poets who hold an important place in the history of literature, of whom _Firdousi_ (about 940 to 1020) and _Saadi_ (who died in 1291) are the most eminent. Under the _Abba.s.sides_ in Syria, through Christian scholars and by translations, the Arabians became acquainted with the Greek authors. They cultivated geography. The Moslems were students of astronomy, and carried the study of mathematics, which they learned from the Greeks and Hindus, very far. But they apparently felt no interest in the poets, orators, and historians of antiquity. In the study of _Aristotle_, and in metaphysical philosophy, they were proficients. Medicine, also, they cultivated with success. They delved in _Alchemy_ in the search for the trans.m.u.tation of metals.

COMMERCE AND THE ARTS.--The Moslems engaged actively in commerce. They acquired much skill in various branches of mechanical art. The weapons of _Damascus_ and of _Toledo_, the silks of _Granada_, the saddles of _Cordova_, the muslins, silks, and carpets of the Moslem dominions in the East, were highly prized in Christian countries. They manufactured paper. Forbidden to represent the human form in painting and sculpture, their distinction in the fine arts is confined to architecture. Peculiar to them is the _Arabesque_ ornamentation found in their edifices: the idea of the arch was borrowed from the Byzantine style. One of their most famous monuments is the mosque at _Cordova_. The ruins of the _Alhambra_, in Spain, a palace and a fortress, ill.u.s.trate the richness and elegance of the Saracenic style of building.

THE ARABIAN MIND.--Neither in architecture, nor in any other department, were the Arabs in a marked degree original. They invented nothing. They were quick to learn, and to a.s.similate what they learned. They were apt interpreters and critics, but they produced no works marked by creative genius. Many of the scholars at the court of the caliphs were Christians and Jews. Yet _Bagdad, Samarcand, Cairo, Grenada, Cordova_, were centers of intellectual activity and of learning when the nations of Western Europe had not escaped from the barbarism resulting from the Teutonic invasions.

LITERATURE.--Lives of Mohammed by MUIR, SPRENGER (German), Irving: _Encycl. Brit._, Art. _Mohammedanism_; Kuenen, _National Religions and Universal Religions;_ Noldeke, _Gesch. d. Quorans_ (1860); Muir, _The Coran_ (1878); R. B. Smith, _Mohammed and Mohammedanism_ (1875); Stobart, _Islam and its Founder_; Ockley, _History of the Saracens_ (sixth edition, 1857); FREEMAN, _History and Conquests of the Saracens_ (1870).

THE CARLOVINGIAN HOUSE

PIPIN of Heristal, _d._ 714.

| +--Charles Martel, _d._ 741.

| +--PIPIN the Short, king 752-768.

| +--CHARLEMANGE, 768-814 (emperor 800).

| | | +--Pipin, King of Italy, _d._ 810.

| | | | | +--BERNARD, _d._ 818.

| | | +--Charles, King of Franconia.

| | | +--LOUIS the Pious, 814-840.

| | | | LOTHARINGIA | | | +--LOTHAR I, 843-855.

| | | | | +--LOUIS II, 855-875 | | | | | | | +--Hermingarde, _m._ | | | BOSO I, King of Provence, 879-887 | | | | | | | +--LOUIS, 887-905 (emperor 901) _m._ Eadgifu, | | | daughter of Edward the Elder | | | | | +--Lothar II, _d._ 869.

| | | | | +--Charles, _d._ 863 | | | | GERMANY | | | +--LOUIS the German, 843-876.

| | | | | +--CARLOMAN, _d._ 880.

| | | | | | | +--ARNULF, King of Germany, 887-899 (emperor 896).

| | | | | | | +--LOUIS the Child, 900-911.

| | | | | +--LOUIS the Younger. d 880.

| | | | | +--CHARLES the Fat (emperor 881-887), _d._ 888.

| | | | FRANCE | | | +--CHARLES the Bald, 843-877 (emperor 875).

| | | +--LOUIS II, 877-879.

| | | +--LOUIS III, 879-882 | | | +--Carloman, 879-884 | | | +--CHARLES the Simple, _m._ Eadgifu, | daughter of Edward the Elder | | | +--LOUIS IV (D'Outremer), 936-954.