Legends of the Middle Ages Part 34

The cla.s.sical romances forming this great general cycle are subdivided into several cla.s.ses or cycles. The interest of the first is mainly centered upon the heroes of Homer and Hesiod. The best-known and most popular of these mediaeval works was the "Roman de Troie," relating the siege and downfall of Troy.

Based upon post-cla.s.sical Greek and Latin writings rather than upon the great Homeric epic itself, the story, which had already undergone many changes to suit the ever-varying public taste, was further transformed by the Anglo-Norman trouvere, Benoit de Sainte-More, about 1184. He composed a poem of thirty thousand lines, in which he related not only the siege and downfall of Troy, but also the Argonautic expedition, the wanderings of Ulysses, the story of Aeneas, and many other mythological tales.

This poet, following the custom of the age, navely reproduced the manners, customs, and, in general, the beliefs of the twelfth century. There is plenty of local color in his work, only the color belongs to his own locality, and not to that of the heroes whose adventures he purports to relate. In his work the old cla.s.sical heroes are transformed into typical mediaeval knights, and heroines such as Helen and Medea, for instance, are portrayed as damsels in distress.

This prevalent custom of viewing the ancients solely from the mediaeval point of view gave rise not only to grotesque pen pictures, but also to a number of paintings, such as Gozzoli's kidnapping of Helen. In this composition, Paris, in trunk hose, is carrying off the fair Helen pickaback, notwithstanding the evident clamor raised by the a.s.sembled court ladies, who are attired in very full skirts and mediaeval headdresses.

On account of these peculiarities, and because the customs, dress, festivities, weapons, manners, landscapes, etc., of the middle ages are so minutely described, these romances have, with much justice, been considered as really original works.

[Sidenote: The Roman de Troie.] The "Roman de Troie" was quite as popular in mediaeval Europe as the "Iliad" had been in h.e.l.lenic countries during the palmy days of Greece, and was translated into every dialect. There are still extant many versions of the romance in every European tongue, for it penetrated even into the frozen regions of Scandinavia and Iceland. It was therefore recited in every castle and town by the wandering minstrels, trouveres, troubadours, minnesingers, and scalds, who thus individually and collectively continued the work begun so many years before by the Greek rhapsodists. Thus for more than two thousand years the story which still delights us has been familiar among high and low, and has served to beguile the hours for old and young.

This cycle further includes a revised and much-transformed edition of the adventures of Aeneas and of the early history of Rome. But although all these tales were first embodied in metrical romances, these soon gave way to prose versions of equally interminable length, which each relator varied and embellished according to his taste and skill.

The extreme popularity of Benoit de Sainte-More's work induced many imitations, and the numerous _chansons de gestes_, constructed on the same general plan, soon became current everywhere. Sundry episodes of these tales, having been particularly liked, were worked over, added to, and elaborated, until they a.s.sumed the proportions of romances in themselves.

Such was, for example, the case with the story of Troilus and Cressida, which was treated by countless mediaeval poets, and finally given the form in which we know it best, first by Chaucer in his "Canterbury Tales," and lastly by Shakespeare in his well-known play.

[Sidenote: Alexandre le Grant.] Another great romance of the cla.s.sical cycle is the one known as "Alexandre le Grant." First written in verse by Lambert le Cort, in a meter which is now exclusively known as Alexandrine, because it was first used to set forth the charms and describe the deeds of this hero, it was recast by many poets, and finally turned into a prose romance also.

The first poetical version was probably composed in the eleventh century, and is said to have been twenty-two thousand six hundred lines long. Drawn from many sources,--for the Greek and Latin writers had been all more or less occupied with describing the career of the youthful conqueror and the marvels he discovered in the far East,--the mediaeval writers still further added to this heterogeneous material.

The romance of "Alexandre le Grant," therefore, purports to relate the life and adventures of the King of Macedon; but as Lambert le Cort and his numerous predecessors and successors were rather inclined to draw on imagination, the result is a very extravagant tale.

In the romance, as we know it, Alexander is described as a mediaeval rather than an ancient hero. After giving the early history of Macedon, the poet tells of the birth of Alexander,--which is ascribed to divine intervention,--and dwells eloquently upon the hero's youthful prowess.

Philip's death and the consequent reign of Alexander next claim our attention. The conquest of the world is, in this romance, introduced by the siege and submission of Rome, after which the young monarch starts upon his expedition into Asia Minor, and the conquest of Persia. The war with Porus and the fighting in India are dwelt upon at great length, as are the riches and magnificence of the East. Alexander visits Amazons and cannibals, views all the possible and impossible wonders, and in his fabulous history we find the first mention, in European literature, of the marvelous "Fountain of Youth," the object of Ponce de Leon's search in Florida many years later.

When, in the course of this lengthy romance, Alexander has triumphantly reached the ends of the earth, he sighs for new worlds to conquer, and even aspires to the dominion of the realm of the air. To wish is to obtain. A magic gla.s.s cage, rapidly borne aloft by eight griffins, conveys the conqueror through the aerial kingdom, where all the birds in turn do homage to him, and where he is enabled to understand their language, thanks to the kind intervention of a magician.

But Alexander's ambition is still insatiable; and, earth and air having both submitted to his sway, and all the living creatures therein having recognized him as master and promised their allegiance, he next proposes to annex the empire of the sea. Magic is again employed to gratify this wish, and Alexander sinks to the bottom of the sea in a peculiarly fas.h.i.+oned diving bell. Here all the finny tribe press around to do him homage; and after receiving their oaths of fealty, and viewing all the marvels of the deep, as conceived by the mediaeval writer's fancy, Alexander returns to Babylon.

Earth, air, and sea having all been subdued, the writer, unable to follow the course of Alexander's conquests any further, now minutely describes a grand coronation scene at Babylon, where, with the usual disregard for chronology which characterizes all the productions of this age, he makes the hero partic.i.p.ate in a solemn ma.s.s!

The story ends with a highly sensational description of the death of Alexander by poisoning, and an elaborate enumeration of the pomps of his obsequies.

[Sidenote: Rome la Grant.] A third order of romances, also belonging to this cycle, includes a lengthy poem known as "Rome la Grant." Here Virgil appears as a common enchanter. With the exception of a few well-known names, all trace of antiquity is lost. The heroes are now exposed to hairbreadth escapes; wonderful adventures succeed one another without any pause; and there is a constant series of enchantments, such as the Italian poets loved to revel in, as is shown in the works by Boiardo and Ariosto already mentioned.

These tales, and those on the same theme which had preceded them, gave rise to a generally accepted theory of European colonization subsequent to the Trojan war; and every man of note and royal family claimed to descend from the line of Priam.

[Sidenote: Story of Brutus.] As the Romans insisted that their city owed its existence to the descendants of Aeneas, so the French kings Dagobert and Charles the Bald claimed to belong to the ill.u.s.trious Trojan race. The same tradition appeared in England about the third century, and from Gildas and Nennius was adopted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. It is from this historian that Wace drew the materials for the metrical tale of Brutus (Brute), the supposed founder of the British race and kingdom. This poem is twenty thousand lines long, and relates the adventures and life of Brutus, the great-grandson of Aeneas.

At the time of Brutus' birth his parents were frightened by an oracle predicting that he would be the cause of the death of both parents, and only after long wanderings would attain the highest pitch of glory. This prophecy was duly fulfilled. Brutus' mother, a niece of Lavinia, died at his birth. Fifteen years later, while hunting, he accidentally slew his father; and, expelled from Italy on account of this involuntary crime, he began his wanderings.

In the course of time Brutus went to Greece, where he found the descendants of Helenus, one of Priam's sons, languis.h.i.+ng in captivity. Brutus headed the revolted Trojans, and after helping them to defeat Pandrasus, King of Greece, obtained their freedom, and invited them to accompany him to some distant land, where they could found a new kingdom.

Led by Brutus, who in the mean while had married the daughter of Pandrasus, the Trojans sailed away, and, landing on the deserted island of Leogecia, visited the temple of Diana, and questioned her statue, which gave the following oracle:

"'Brutus! there lies beyond the Gallic bounds An island which the western sea surrounds, By giants once possessed; now few remain To bar thy entrance, or obstruct thy reign.

To reach that happy sh.o.r.e thy sails employ; There fate decrees to raise a second Troy, And found an empire in thy royal line, Which time shall ne'er destroy, nor bounds confine.'"

GEOFFREY OF MONMOUTH (Giles's tr.).

Thus directed by miracle, Brutus sailed on, meeting with many adventures, and landed twice on the coast of Africa. The Pillars of Hercules once pa.s.sed, the travelers beheld the sirens, and, landing once more, were joined by Corineus, who proposed to accompany them.

Brutus then coasted along the sh.o.r.es of the kingdom of Aquitaine and up the Loire, where his men quarreled with the inhabitants. He found himself involved in a fierce conflict, in which, owing to his personal valor and to the marvelous strength of Corineus, he came off victor in spite of the odds against him.

In this battle Brutus' nephew, Turonus, fell, and was buried on the spot where the city of Tours was subsequently built and named after the dead hero. After having subdued his foes, Brutus embarked again and landed on an island called Albion. Here he forced the giants to make way for him, and in the encounters with them Corineus again covered himself with glory.

We are told that the first germ of the nursery tale of Jack the Giant Killer is found in this poem, for Corineus, having chosen Corinea (Cornwall) as his own province, defeated there the giant Goemagot, who was twelve cubits high and pulled up an oak as if it were but a weed. Corineus, after a famous wrestling bout, flung this Goemagot into the sea, at a place long known as Lam Goemagot, but now called Plymouth.

[Sidenote: The founding of London.] Brutus pursued his way, and finally came to the Thames, on whose banks he founded New Troy, a city whose name was changed in honor of Lud, one of his descendants, to London. Brutus called the newly won kingdom Britain, and his eldest sons, Locrine and Camber, gave their names to the provinces of Locria and Cambria when they became joint rulers of their father's kingdom, while Albanact, his third son, took possession of the northern part, which he called Albania (Scotland).

Albanact was not allowed to reign in peace, however, but was soon called upon to war against Humber, King of the Huns. The latter was defeated, and drowned in the stream which still bears his name. Locrine's daughter, Sabrina, also met with a watery death, and gave her name to the Severn.

[Sidenote: King Leir.] The posterity of Brutus now underwent many other vicissitudes. There was fighting at home and abroad; and after attributing the founding of all the princ.i.p.al cities to some ruler of this line, the historian relates the story of King Leir, the founder of Leicester. As this monarch's life has been used by Shakespeare for one of his dramas,--the tragedy of "King Lear,"--and is familiar to all students of English literature, there is no need to outline Geoffrey of Monmouth's version of the tale.

The chronicler then resumes the account of Brutus' ill.u.s.trious descendants, enumerating them all, and relating their adventures, till we come to the reign of Ca.s.sivellaunus and the invasion of Britain by the Romans. Shortly after, under the reign of Cymbelinus, he mentions the birth of Christ, and then resumes the thread of his fabulous history, and brings it down to the reign of Uther Pendragon, where it has been taken up in the Arthurian cycle.

This chronicle, which gave rise to many romances, was still considered reliable even in Shakespeare's time, and many poets have drawn freely from it. The mediaeval poets long used it as a mental quarry, and it has been further utilized by some more recent poets, among whom we must count Drayton, who makes frequent mention of these ancient names in his poem "Polyolbion," and Spenser, who immortalizes many of the old legends in his "Faerie Queene."

There are, of course, many other mediaeval tales and romances; but our aim has been to enable the reader to gain some general idea of the princ.i.p.al examples, leaving him to pursue the study in its many branches if he wishes a more complete idea of the literature of the past and of the influence it has exerted and still exerts upon the writers of our own day.

ADVERTIs.e.m.e.nTS

NEW MEDIEVAL AND MODERN HISTORY

From Charlemagne to the Present Day

By SAMUEL BANNISTER HARDING, Ph.D., Professor of European History, Indiana University.

Based upon the author's "Essentials in Mediaeval and Modern History,"

prepared in consultation with ALBERT BUSHNELL HART, LL.D., Professor of History, Harvard University.

While based on the author's previous Essentials in Mediaeval and Modern History, in the present volume the plan has been so reorganized, the scope so extended, and the matter so largely rewritten, that the result is practically a new book. The present volume reflects the suggestions of many teachers who have used the previous work in their cla.s.ses. The aim of this book has been to increase the emphasis on social, industrial, and cultural topics and to enable the student to understand modern conditions and tendencies.

The narrative is brought fully up-to-date, including such recent events as the British Parliament Act of 1911, the Italian-Turkish War, and the Balkan War, 1912-1913. Each topic is made definite and concrete, and such important subjects as the unification of Italy and the unification of Germany are treated in separate chapters.

The teaching apparatus has been made as useful as possible by the arrangement and the typography of the text and by the addition of chronological tables, lists of important dates, suggestive topics and questions for the pupil to investigate, and brief directions for general reading.

Adequate ill.u.s.trations and maps are inserted profusely throughout the text.

Variety and color are imparted to the narrative by frequent quotations from the sources, and by striking characterizations from modern works.