A.D. 1241
H. DENICKE[59]
Trade trusts, which have attained so large a growth in our
day, are not an original product of the present age. The
Hanseatic League, or Hansa—the word meaning a society,
union—was the first trust of which we have authentic
record. It began about A.D. 1140, but the league was not
signed until 1241. It was first called into being to protect
the property of the German merchants against the piratical
Swedes and other Norsemen, but presently became submerged in
a combination of certain cities to enlarge and control the
trade of each country with which they had commerce. So
powerful did the league become that it dominated kings,
nobles, and cities by its edicts.
Those free cities which constituted the league had the
emperor for their lord, were released from feudal
obligations, and passed their own laws, subject only to his
approval. The emperors, finding in the strength of the
cities a bulwark against the bishops and the princes,
constantly extended the municipal rights and privileges. The
Hanseatic League at one time nearly monopolized the whole
trade of Europe north of Italy.
It was an epoch of associations in which the league arose.
The Church was but a society, fighting as an army for its
liberty. Each trade had its guild, and none might practise
his trade unless he was a member of the particular guild
controlling it. The handicrafts were in the same case; and
the real or operative freemasonry was instituted, about the
same time, for the erection of ecclesiastical and palatial
buildings.
Wealth, power, pomp, and pride began to wane in the cities
of the league early in the fifteenth century, and the
movement was accelerated by the change of ocean routes of
trade due to the discovery of America, and the Cape of Good
Hope way to India. The final extinction came as late as
October, 1888, when the free cities of Hamburg and Bremen,
whose right to remain free ports had been ratified in the
imperial constitution of 1871, renounced their ancient
privileges and became completely merged in the autocratic
Fatherland.
With good reason the world's commerce is to-day accepted as one of the
most imposing and unique phenomena of our time. It is but necessary to
consult a statistical handbook in order to obtain a conception of the
gigantic figures involved in the exports and imports of the
multifarious articles of commerce to and from all countries—figures
whose magnitude precludes the possibility of forming an adequate
conception of their true significance. No less astonishing are the
means employed by traffic to-day to develop our system of credit and
our complex and useful web of communication. One fact, however, should
be borne in mind: namely, that our commerce is of comparatively modern
growth. The two factors chiefly responsible for its development were:
(1) The great voyages of discovery which began at the close of the
fifteenth century and opened a theretofore unsuspected field of
production and consumption; and (2) the utilization of steam, that
great triumph of the nineteenth century. Perhaps a brief sketch of
that earlier commercial development which immediately preceded our
extensive modern commercial network may not be unwelcome to the reader
desirous of contrasting the narrower but nevertheless fascinating
mediæval conditions of the German Hansa with those prevailing in our
present mercantile world. Let us inquire how the confederation of the
Hansa arose, and, after briefly sketching its external history, review
in greater detail its commercial and industrial methods, its art work,
domestic life, and constitution.
The development of the German Hansa may be traced to two principal
sources: (1) The associations formed by German merchants abroad, and
(2) the union established by the Low-German cities at home.
In the days of Charlemagne, Germany's eastern boundary was extended to
the Elbe, and beyond it to Holstein, but it was not until four
centuries later, that is, in the reign of Frederick Barbarossa, that
the Baltic was reached, the southern borders of which sea, now
constituting Mecklenburg, Pomerania, and Prussia, having theretofore
been inhabited chiefly by Slavonic and Lithuanian peoples. The credit
for this increase of power is due primarily to the Saxon duke Henry
the Lion, who, while the Emperor was engaged in maturing and executing
mighty plans of world conquest, developed upon this virgin soil an
extraordinary colonial activity, transplanting hither German peasants,
burghers, and priests, and with them German customs and Christian
civilization. In this way there arose about the year A.D. 1200, upon
soil wrested from the Slavs, a number of promising towns, foremost
among which was Lubeck, a place endowed by Duke Henry with municipal
rights especially designed to promote commercial intercourse and
affording liberal and far-reaching privileges to the counsellors and
burghers. Soon thereafter the rapidly developing neighboring cities of
Wismar, Rostock, Stralsund, Greifswald, Anklam, and Stettin, usually
called "the Wendish cities," became participants in the constitution
thus granted. The territory now grew rapidly. In the course of the
thirteenth century, the then pagan country of Prussia and the present
Baltic provinces of Russia were conquered by the Teutonic knights and
kindred orders and were occupied and settled. The same historical
process which took place in Greece, and in more recent times in
America, also repeated itself here: the youthful colonial offshoots
overcame the narrowing and confining influence of the mother country,
yet reacted favorably upon it by virtue of that vivifying influence,
due to more rapid and exuberant growth.
In the mean time the other countries contiguous to the North and
Baltic seas, that is, Russia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and England,
had become converted to Christianity. Some of them, indeed, had
embraced the Christian creed several centuries prior to this time. The
natural consequence was that a lively intercourse was cultivated upon
the two seas, especially after the crusades, which enterprises, by
opening new avenues of commerce and increasing the knowledge
concerning numerous articles of utility, had greatly augmented the
demands of the people of the Occident. The extraordinary development
of trade on the Baltic, indeed, vividly recalls the ancient commercial
activity on the Mediterranean; and the phrase, "a basin fruitful of
culture," often applied to the latter region, may with equal justice
be applied also to the former. In the beginning, Russians, Danes, and
Englishmen participated in the active trade conducted on the northern
littoral. Eventually, however, they were displaced by their German
rivals. As the northern nations upon their acceptance of Christianity
had once before formed their political and social institutions upon
German models, so they now, in such cities as Stockholm, Bergen,
Copenhagen, and others, became subject to the cultural and, above all,
the commercial influence of the German burgher.
It is interesting to note the manner in which this extraordinary
influence was secured. In later mediæval times all classes of the
population were compelled to rely upon self-help. In other words, they
were compelled to replace the defective or insufficient protection
afforded by the State by corporate bodies. Thus the merchants of a
Low-German German town, when in search of a common centre of trade,
pledged themselves by a solemn oath to a defensive and offensive
alliance and mutual furtherance; and wider alliances between the
various towns themselves soon followed. Of all these private
commercial associations none attained to greater importance than did
the Gothland Company, a society of Low-German merchants who visited
Gothland, the centre of commercial activity in the Baltic, for trading
purposes. Here was the seat of the mighty city of Wisby, which
contained such wealth that a Danish king once declared that the swine
there ate from silver troughs. Even at the present day the massive
ruins of the old city wall and of the eighteen churches which once
existed there bear testimony to the former magnitude and grandeur of
the city. The Gothland Company flourished chiefly during the
thirteenth century and enjoyed all the privileges of a political
power; bearing its own seal, policing the seas, and insisting upon
strict compliance on the part of all navigators of the Baltic with the
marine laws which it had created.
Parallel with this development was the formation of unions between
inland towns, caused by the depredations of robber-knights; the
menacing increase of power among the nobility; and by commercial
motives of all kinds, as, for example, the necessity of preventing
banished criminals and debtors from seeking an asylum in neighboring
communities. Along the entire region from Esthland to Holland, both of
which at that time belonged to the German crown, the municipalities
united. In the far-western part of the German empire there was the
municipal group of the Netherlands, among which such cities as
Amsterdam, Utrecht, and Deventer belonged. Farther inland was the
Rhenish-Westphalian group, consisting of Cologne, Dortmund, Munster,
and others, which cities, though somewhat distant from the sea,
nevertheless occupy a place of honor as pioneers of German marine
commerce. Between these two western groups and those in the East there
was a wide gap extending as far as the mouths of the Elbe and the
Weser. At the entrance to these rivers, however, and along the borders
of the Baltic were the great maritime communities, the chief members
of the Hanseatic League, including the before-mentioned Wendish group
and the cities of Bremen and Hamburg. Yet not these alone, although
they were in some respects the most important. Inland, the municipal
groups extended so as to embrace Berlin, then very unimportant,
Perleberg, etc., in the Mark of Brandenburg, the Saxon cities of
Magdeburg, Hanover, Luneburg, Goslar, Hildesheim, Brunswick, and
others; in the far-eastern part of the empire the six rapidly growing
cities of the Teutonic order, Kulm, Thorn, Dantzic, Elbing,
Braunsberg, and Koenigsberg; and finally, in Livonia and Esthonia,
Riga, Dorpat, Reval, and Pernau. Noteworthy was the treaty concluded
in A.D. 1241, between Hamburg and Lubeck, whereby the former assumed
control of the interests in the North Sea and the Elbe, while the
latter safeguarded those of the Baltic. This treaty between Hamburg
and Lubeck is sometimes regarded as the beginning of the Hanseatic
League. It has here been sufficiently demonstrated, however, that the
association was the result of a slow and gradual process, enforced by
conditions, and that it did not originate in the mind of any
particular statesman as a definite plan.
The two groups, the maritime and the inland municipal, had developed
independently: it now remained to unite them; and from the union thus
effected sprang the great institution of the German Hansa. The private
associations, not excepting the Gothland Company, in view of the rapid
extension of commerce and the consequent jealousy of foreign
competitors, were no longer able to afford sufficient protection to
the foreign trade—a condition which did not escape the statesmen of
Lubeck, with their marked power of initiative and political sagacity.
Thus it came, during the last decades of the thirteenth century, that
the private societies became more and more dependent upon the
municipal unions, which, under the leadership of the free and
centrally located city of Lubeck, now assumed the energetic
guardianship of maritime commerce, by reason of which they were drawn
from their hitherto isolated position and gradually became fused into
an increasingly compact union.
Already at the close of the thirteenth century the young institution
of the Hansa received its initiation in warfare in a conflict with the
kingdom of Norway, which country was compelled to purchase peace at
the price of new and greater concessions to the league. Soon
thereafter, however, the steady progress of the Hansa met with a
rebuff. Denmark, at that time the foremost power of the North, had for
more than a century endeavored to obtain the supremacy of the Baltic,
at the entrance to which it was so advantageously situated. At one
time Lubeck was for an entire decade forced into a sort of vassalage
to the energetic king Eric Menved of Denmark, although the relations
to the sister-cities of the league, which had never been entirely
severed, were subsequently restored and confirmed by new treaties.
When finally, in A.D. 1361, the Danish king Waldemar Atterdag,
inspired by rapacity and revenge, went so far as to fall upon the
metropolis of the Baltic, the Swedish city of Wisby, in the midst of
peace, and to annex it, thereby inflicting serious losses upon the
resident Low-German merchants, Lubeck once more placed herself at the
head of the Wendish cities and at the diet of Greifswald decreed war
against the ruthless invader. But the expedition proved disastrous,
owing chiefly to the tardiness of the kings of Sweden and Norway, who
had been drawn into the alliance. Nevertheless, the unfortunate
admiral of the Lubeck fleet, Johann Wittenborg, who also enjoyed the
rank of burgomaster of the Hanseatic city, was put to the axe in the
public market-place of Lubeck in expiation of his failure.
A doubtful peace was now concluded with the Danes, but was soon broken
by their renewed plunderings of Hanseatic vessels and the obstacles
placed by them upon traffic. Another passage at arms was required. The
ensuing conflict was the greatest and most glorious ever fought, not
only by the Hansa, but by Germany, upon the sea. In 1367 deputies from
the Prussian, Wendish, and Netherlandish cities assembled in the city
hall of Cologne and there prepared those memorable articles of
confederation which decreed another war with King Waldemar of Denmark;
stipulated the levying of a definite contingent of troops on the part
of the contracting cities; provided for a duty on exports to defray
the expenses of the campaign; and draughted letters of protest to the
Pope, to Emperor Charles IV, and to many of the German princes. That
auspicious day marks a turning-point in the history of the Hanseatic
League, and was fraught with high importance to the whole German
empire. The preliminary history of the Hansa here ends and its
brilliant epoch begins. The warships of the cities and their army so
thoroughly vanquished Denmark that, after two years of warfare, the
Danish royal council and the representatives respectively of the
municipalities, the nobility, and the clergy despatched a commission
of thirty-two to Stralsund to sign a treaty, ostensibly in the name of
their fugitive ruler—a treaty which may justly be said to mark the
climax in the development of the power of the burghers of Germany.
The treaty not only provided for considerable concessions in matters
of navigation and intercourse, but also conceded to the members of the
Cologne confederation, comprising about sixty Hansa cities, the right
to occupy and to fortify for a period of fifteen years the four chief
castles on Skane—Helsingborg, Malmo, Scanov, and
Falsterbo—commanding the sound, the most important maritime highway
traversed by the Hanseatic vessels.
But the most extraordinary privilege granted by this treaty was that
making the subsequent election of a king for Denmark subject to the
approval of the confederation—thus assigning to the burghers a right
such as no king or emperor of that time exercised over a foreign
state. The confederates, however, wisely declined to avail themselves
of this dangerous prerogative, not only for political reasons, but
also because of the clever negotiations of the youthful queen
Margaret, the daughter and heir of Waldemar, who, by the union of
Kalmar in 1397, became invested with the triple crown of Denmark,
Norway, and Sweden. The fact remains, however, that the Hansa for the
ensuing century and a half maintained its title as the foremost of
maritime and as one of the principal political powers—and that
entirely unaided and without the sanction of kaiser or empire.
Let us take a very general survey of this glorious period, concerning
which many interesting disclosures have recently been made, and
endeavor to obtain, if possible, a glimpse of the activity of these
busy cities and of the confederation which they formed.
As to commerce, the first task which the confederation set itself to
fulfil was the abolition of that early mediæval condition which
inclined to regard the stranger in foreign parts as devoid of rights.
The efforts of the confederation in this particular resulted in the
acquisition of hundreds of privileges, secured either singly or
conjointly by the cities. The contents of the treaties are usually the
same: (1) Protection of person and goods; (2) abolition of the law
which declared forfeit to the feudal lord such goods as, for instance,
might happen to fall from a wagon and thereby touch the ground; (3)
the abolition of the strand right, which had secured to the owner of
the shore land the jetsam and flotsam of wrecked or stranded vessels;
(4) the concession of legal procedure to the debtor; (5) liberation
from the duel and other forms of the "divine judgment" in legal
procedure; (6) the reduction of duties; (7) permission to sell at
retail, as for example, cloth and linen by the ell—a privilege
previously accorded only to natives. These are but a few of the
privileges secured, the most important of which, however, remains to
be mentioned. This was the establishment of branches and bureaus in
the most frequented commercial centres abroad. On the other hand, the
confederation never had the remotest intention of granting similar
privileges to the nations from which these concessions had been
secured, such as the English, Flemish, Norwegians, Danes, and
Russians. On the contrary. In Cologne, for example, foreign merchants
were permitted only three times a year and then for a period of three
weeks only. Never, perhaps, in history has a monopoly been so rigidly
and relentlessly enforced—a monopoly which not only rested upon the
nation at home, but which made bold incursions into the sovereignty of
foreign states in order to smother their independent trade, or, as in
Norway, utterly to stamp it out.
Of the two great avenues of trade, that indicated by the termini
Bruges and Novgorod is first deserving of mention. For centuries it
was practically used exclusively by merchants of the Hansa, who,
moreover, were forbidden to form copartnerships with foreigners, such
as Russians and Englishmen. Novgorod, well guarded against pirates and
situated in the navigable Volkhov, was at that time in a sense the
capital of the much-divided Russian empire. This city, since the day
of its founder, Rurik, had been the centre of Russian trade and
enjoyed an almost republican independence. From this point diverged
the most frequented highways of trade to the Dnieper and the Volga.
From Russia the German merchant exported chiefly fine furs, such as
beaver, ermine, and sable, and enormous quantities of wax, which
to-day, as formerly, is still obtained in the central wooded parts of
the country where apiculture is extensively prosecuted. His imports,
on the other hand, consisted of fine products of the loom, articles of
wool, linen, and silk; of boots and shoes, usually manufactured at
home of Russian leather; and finally, of beer, metal goods, and
general merchandise. It is evident, therefore, that the German
merchant provided Russia—which country was at that time industrially
in a very primitive condition—with all the necessaries required.
Bruges, in Flanders, the western terminus of the before-mentioned
highway of commerce, was during the last centuries of the Middle Ages
approximately what London is to the world of to-day. It was, beside
Venice, the actual world-mart of the Continent, a centre where
Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese, Frenchmen, and High- and
Low-Germans—a motley throng—congregated to exchange their goods.
Thither the Hanseatic merchant transported wood and other forest
products; building stones and iron, the latter being still forged in
primitive forest smithies; and copper from the rich mines of Falun,
the ore from which was usually sold or mortgaged to the Lubeck
merchants. From the Baltic countries he imported grain, and from
Scandinavia herring and cod—all natural products, in exchange for
which he sent to the respective countries his own manufactured goods.
In Bruges he represented the entire northern region, both in the
giving and the receiving of merchandise, for only through his
instrumentality could the gifts of the East, such as oil, wine,
spices, silk, and other articles of luxury, which were usually
transported through the Alpine passes and thence down the Rhine to
Bruges, be distributed among the northern nations. This applies also
to the highly prized textiles of Flanders, which in those days were
sometimes sold at fabulous prices.
The other stream of Hanseatic trade terminated at London. The German
merchant sent thither chiefly French wines and Venetian silks. It was
he who attended to this traffic—not the consumer or the producer. In
exchange for these commodities he took English wool—the output being
already at that time very extensive—transporting it to the mills of
Flanders. Such was at that time the commercial relation of Germany to
England. If the latter country to-day, by virtue of its incomparably
favorable geographical position, has become the first naval and
commercial power, it was in an economic sense at that time absolutely
dependent upon Germany, which country, after the loss of its political
supremacy, outstripped all other nations in the contest for economic
supremacy—excepting perhaps the Arabians and the republics of
Northern Italy, who controlled the trade in the Orient and the
Mediterranean. Naturally the English merchants were jealous and
frequently brought complaints before their kings and parliaments; but
the latter, despite occasional contentions, ever and again upheld the
foreign invader. The reason is not far to seek: like the kings of the
north, they could not dispense with the silver chests of the Hanseatic
towns and merchants, who on more than one occasion secured their loans
by appropriating the products of the tin mines or the duties on wool,
or by taking in pawn crown and jewels.
It is evident, therefore, that the greatest source of wealth to the
Hansa was this intermediary traffic. Several other important
commercial connections will be touched upon later. Casual mention
should here be made, however, to the trade with Scotland, Ireland,
Brabant, and France, whose annual markets were regularly attended by
the Hansa merchants. While the trade of the cities of the league found
such wide extension abroad, however, the traffic with their nearest
neighbors, the High-Germans, was very weak. Their domestic trade,
indeed, was confined chiefly to the plains of Northern Germany,
extending southward to Thuringia and eastward to the Oder and the
Vistula, where Cracow constituted the last outpost. The great
High-German communities along the Main and the Danube pursued
different political and economic interests. Being chiefly
manufacturing cities, they formed only temporary unions. Dependent
rather upon the south of Europe, they were also differentiated from
their northern brethren by their coinage, inasmuch as they accepted
gold as their standard, whereas the Low-Germans preferred silver
money, especially that of Lubeck. Of course each Hanse town formed the
nucleus of the local intercourse; and thither came noblemen and
peasant to barter the produce of the fields for the merchandise of the
city, and to invest, or probably more frequently to borrow, money.
Lubeck and Bruges were in those days the money centres of Northern
Europe, and their councillors and commercial magnates were the bankers
of kings and princes.
The methods of transportation and intercourse at that time were very
different from those of to-day. There was no postal service, no
insurance, very sparse circulation of bills, and very little of that
agency—or commission—business, which relegates to a third party the
transportation and management of goods. Trade was very largely a
matter of individual enterprise, demanding in a far greater measure
than to-day the personal superintendence of the merchant. Usually the
latter himself travelled well-armed across sand and sea to distant
lands, trusting in God and upon his strong right arm. As master of a
vessel he did not fail to interest his crew in the safety of the ship
and cargo by allotting to them part of the profits. Indeed, his
journey was far more perilous than it is to-day. Upon the public
highway he was subject to the attack of the robber barons, who held
him prisoner against heavy ransom; and in the innumerable
hiding-places of the rock-bound northern coast his course was followed
by the watch-boats of pirates. The occupations of highway robbery and
piracy were at that time still regarded among wide circles as
excusable. Dozens of feudal castles, the retreats of robber barons,
were destroyed by the soldiers of the municipalities, and dozens of
freebooting vessels were annihilated, the robbers themselves being
executed with axe or sword or thrown overboard. The piracy of that age
reached its acme in the notorious "Society of Equal Sharers" or
"Brotherhood of Victuallers." This consisted of an incongruous
aggregation of noble and plebeian blades, who, despite their excessive
brutality, nevertheless possessed some genuine knightly
characteristics, the hardihood and bravery of the true mariner, and a
boundless love of adventure. Formed during the eighth decade of the
fourteenth century for the purpose of assisting the King of Sweden
against the martial queen Margaret of Denmark, its immediate object at
that time was the supplying of victuals to the beleaguered city of
Stockholm—whence its name. When, upon the surrender of the city and
the establishment of peace, the immediate object of the society had
been fulfilled, the attraction of freebooting proved too strong for
these wild companions, whose excesses now assumed an increasingly
alarming form. For more than a half century they remained the terror
of the northern seas. Almost annually the cities were compelled to
send out vessels against them, which, however, were not always so
successful as the celebrated Bunte Kuh ("Brindled Cow") of Hamburg,
which captured the most dangerous of the piratic captains, Claus
Stoertebeker and Godeke Michel, with their followers and their
fabulous treasures, and brought them to Hamburg. Tradition has it that
for three days the public executioner stood ankle-deep in the blood of
the condemned. Nevertheless, the seafaring public did not suspect the
presence of a robber behind every bush or cliff. After all, an
undisturbed voyage was the rule rather than the exception; sensational
occurrences, of course, then, as now, playing an important part in the
reports of the time.
To these social disorders must be added elemental dangers of all
kinds, such as the tides and shallows of the North Sea—the shallow
waters contiguous to the coast being chiefly navigated—dangers
against which neither compass nor chronometer was then available. Even
buoys and lighthouses were comparatively rare or inadequate at a time
when nautical knowledge itself was still extremely defective. It was
therefore not astonishing that shipwrecks were of daily occurrence and
were of course followed by all the evils of that cruel and barbarous
"Strand law" which, despite all papal edicts and voluntary treaties,
could not be abrogated, but was actually carried out by the Archbishop
of Bremen himself.
Notwithstanding all these hinderances, the sea voyage, which, by
reason of the dangers attending it, was strictly prohibited during the
winter months, was incomparably safer and pleasanter than the journey
by land. The traveller by land was strictly confined to the prescribed
highway of travel, every deviation from which was regarded as a
defraudation of the customs and was punished by confiscation of goods.
The inconveniences to which the merchant was subjected in the way of
taxes are almost incredible. As the mediæval spirit was reflected in
the confusion of coinage—nearly every petty count and every city
eventually enjoying the privilege of a private mint—so also was the
deplorable disunion existing among the German people mirrored in the
innumerable road and water taxes. Above Hamburg, along a road about
twelve German miles in extent, there were not fewer than nine customs
stations. Fortunately the tariff was not complicated, but was levied
on the freight of the ship or wagon, or estimated by the bale or box
irrespective of value or the quality of the goods under inspection.
Upon the presented crucifix the merchant, aided occasionally by his
cojurors, solemnly swore to the correctness of his representations
concerning the goods carried by him, the oath, as is well known, being
very frequently brought into requisition in all judicial and
commercial transactions during mediæval times.
The Hansa ships were usually round-bellied, high-boarded craft with
one mast, and flew the pennant of their home port. They were
comparatively broad and built of heavy planks, and could easily be
transformed into war vessels by furnishing them with a superstructure
known as the castell ("castle") in which catapults and archers could
be placed. In size they were probably as large as the trading vessels
which cross the Baltic to-day. That they were skilfully handled is
evident from the fact that a contemporaneous report mentions a trip
from Ripen in Jutland to Amsterdam as having been successfully made in
two days. As regards the laws of navigation, a point especially
noteworthy was the talent displayed in organizing fellowship unions.
Reference is not here made to the habit of the merchants in sailing in
squadrons so much as to the peculiar institutions which regulated the
life on board—institutions which have recently been justly designated
as the most perfect expression of that executive ability which
characterized the close of German mediævalism. An account of these
institutions dating from the middle of the sixteenth century has
fortunately been preserved.
As soon as the vessel was upon the high sea the crew, which consisted
of the captain and the "ship's children," pledged itself strictly to
obey orders and equitably to divide any booty eventually secured. A
court of sheriffs was then organized, consisting of a judge, four
sheriffs, a sergeant-at-arms, a secretary, an executioner, and several
other officials. Thereupon came the proclamation of the maritime law
upon which the eventual judgment of the court was based. The tenor of
this law was as follows: It is forbidden to swear in God's name; to
mention the devil; to sleep after the hour for prayer; to handle
lights; to destroy or waste food; to meddle with the duties of the
drawer of liquor; to play at dice or cards after sunset; and to vex
the cook or annoy the crew under penalty of a monetary fine. The
following are some of the penalties inflicted for various offences:
Whoever sleeps while on guard or creates a disturbance between decks
shall be drawn under the keel of the vessel; whoever attempts to draw
weapons on board, be they long or short, shall have the respective
weapon run through his hand into the mast, so that he will have to
draw the weapon through his own hand again if he would free himself;
whoever accuses another unjustly shall pay the double fine prescribed
for the offence charged; and no one shall endeavor to take revenge
upon the executioners. Upon the completion of the voyage the court
resigned, after dispensing a general amnesty and partaking of bread
and salt in company with the rest of the crew. Upon landing, the
monetary fines which had been collected from delinquents on board were
presented to the lord of the strand for benevolent distribution.
On arriving at the end of his journey the merchant was confronted by
new difficulties. It not infrequently happened that the master of the
port visited by him had, within the time elapsed since the departure
of the vessel from home, fallen into strife with the respective Hanse
town whose ensign the vessel bore. As newspapers and despatches were
at that time unknown, it is not difficult to conjecture the
difficulties with which a merchant had to contend. Moreover, he
required an exact knowledge of local conditions and of the legal
rights accorded him, which were different in each city and always
inferior to those of the native inhabitants. To-day, as a rule, a
foreigner, wherever he may be, enjoys the full benefits of the place
he happens to visit, equally with the resident citizen. It was not so
in the days of the Hansa, and hence the constant endeavor of the
league to obtain firmly established offices or bureaus abroad. At an
early date such a bureau existed in London under the name of the
Stahlhof, another at Novgorod under the name of the St. Petershof, and
still others at smaller towns in England and the Netherlands—each
having its peculiar privileges, customs, and mercantile usages, but
all possessing in common the invaluable right of settling any
difficulty affecting the members of the league according to their own
native code. In London the representative of the league was compelled
to become an English citizen, and the entire bureau thus became
naturalized, as it were. The same was true of the Hanse bureau at
Bruges, a city in which after all, in view of the powerful competition
prevailing there, a pronounced monopoly was certain to be curbed to
some extent. Here the league merely possessed warerooms, while their
agents lived privately among the burghers. The right of holding court
in the Carmelite monastery was conceded to them; and there, too, they
administered their affairs. In Novgorod, however, the conditions were
entirely different. In view of the uncivilized condition and the
national prejudices of the Russians, the greatest care had to be
exercised in all intercourse with the natives in order that the
existence of the entire Hanseatic colony might not be endangered.
Consequently, this intercourse was regulated with great circumspection
and in all detail both by the diet of the Hanseatic League and by the
chiefs of the bureau.
It was, however, in Bergen, Norway, that northernmost station of the
Hansa, that the most interesting conditions prevailed. Here, that is,
in Norway, the German merchant, by means of money or arms, gradually
drove all competitors, including Englishmen, from the field, and in
1350 succeeded in establishing in the most favorably situated and
liveliest city of the land, Bergen, the last of his numerous
bureaus—a bureau which maintained itself, though in somewhat
deteriorated form, until the eighteenth century. This station, created
at a late period of Hanseatic expansion, bears testimony to the
colonial genius of the German merchants of the league and affords a
glimpse into their business methods. It may therefore be deserving of
a more detailed consideration.
Twenty-one farms or granges, belonging to as many Hanse towns, dotted
the shore. Each of these, surrounded by trees and lawns, covered
considerable space and included spacious granaries and dwellings, most
of which served also as warehouses. Each grange had its dock, where
ships could conveniently land and discharge their goods. The entire
space thus occupied by the Hanses was enclosed by a wall, beyond which
and running parallel with it was the so-called "Schustergasse"—a
street occupied by German artisans, who, though permanently settled
here, nevertheless remained closely in touch with their German
brethren of the bureau. Every bureau had its Schutting—a spacious,
windowless room which depended for light and air upon a hole in the
roof, which likewise served as a vent for the smoke issuing from the
hearth. It was in this room that the agents of the Hansa merchants
assembled to debate on judicial or mercantile affairs. During the long
winter evenings the families of the agents, as the assistants and
apprentices of the resident factors were pleasantly termed,
congregated here, each group at its own particular rough-hewn, wooden
table, to indulge in strong drink and pleasant gossip. When the
interests of the entire colony were to be discussed, the Ælterleute
("seniors") from every grange would meet in the Schutting belonging to
Bremen and called Zum Mantel. This assemblage was called the
"Council of Eighteen," the representative of Lubeck enjoying the
greatest distinction and wielding the greatest influence among them by
reason of the hegemony exercised by his native town. When matters of
particular importance arose, or in case of a serious dispute, the
affair at issue was usually referred to the Bergenfahrercollegium
("the town council"), or more frequently to the general convention of
the Hansa at Lubeck.
The expenses of maintaining the colony, in view of the almost monastic
simplicity of life prevailing there and the large membership, were
naturally small. In its zenith it probably numbered about three
thousand persons, who were subjected to strict laws—as strict,
indeed, as those of any camp or monastery. No woman was permitted
within the colony, and no person was permitted out of doors after
sundown, unless, indeed, he wished to run the gauntlet of the fierce
watchdogs which guarded the reservations of the settlers. The members
and employés of the Hansa who resided here were not permitted to marry
Norwegian women, in order that their special rights and privileges
might not be endangered through intermixture with the natives. How
considerable were these special rights the reader may determine from
the fact that, during the weekly markets, the members of the Hansa
bureaus had the streets barricaded by powerful fellows who permitted
no one to interfere with the valuable privilege of priority conceded
to the Hanses in the matter of barter. Naturally enough the purchasing
price of goods was arbitrarily set by the latter under these
conditions, while the fixing of the selling price, in the absence of
all competition, was a matter of course.
That the exercise of such pressure sometimes disturbed the serenity of
the Norwegian can readily be conjectured, especially when it is
considered that the average Northman is by no means indisposed to have
a little brush with his neighbor now and then. But in such an event
the Germans usually gave tit for tat, and that with a vengeance. On
one occasion they killed a bishop in the presence of the king; at
various other times they burned monasteries over the heads of the
inmates; and frequently they sheltered criminals, or demolished entire
dwellings in order to obtain kindling wood speedily and conveniently.
Only by means of concord among themselves and strict exclusiveness
could the Hanses for centuries maintain their position upon that
inhospitable and thinly peopled shore. The novice, who usually entered
the service of the Hansa at the age of twelve, was compelled to serve
an apprenticeship of seven years, during which his duties consisted
also in cooking, cleaning, and washing for and in waiting upon the
older clerks. Thereafter he advanced to the position of journeyman,
his inauguration being attended by festive, highly suggestive, and, to
the beholder, amusing ceremonies. These ceremonies began with a great
drinking bout arranged at the youth's expense. The next feature of the
programme was entitled Das Staupenspiel im Paradies ("the Walloping
in Paradise"), a procedure to which every apprentice was exposed
annually and to which on this occasion he bade a final farewell. This
part of the ceremony consisted in setting apart a space enclosed
within birch boughs, on entering which the blindfolded and scantily
attired youth who was to be initiated into the order of journeymen was
thoroughly trounced by "angels of paradise" in the form of lusty
companions who were usually unsparing of the rod. A festive procession
through the streets followed. It was led by two fantastically attired
youngsters who impersonated a Norwegian peasant and his wife, and
whose duty it was to play tricks upon the sightseers and to amuse
them. After a baptism in the sea the unfortunate youth who figured as
the hero of this festival was subjected to a procedure akin to that of
roasting a herring in the flue; and it is singular enough that the
records show only one case of death by suffocation consequent upon
this ordeal. Good days, however, now followed upon evil ones, and the
youthful novitiate was fêted and entertained by his companions and
made to forget the sufferings and hardships of his initiation. Many
other pastimes were indulged in by the members of the bureaus, which,
however, cannot be touched upon here. Suffice it to say that they were
characterized by the humor and roughness of the age. Despite repeated
attempts of the Hansa and of the several cities to put an end to these
sports, they nevertheless continued to be practised for centuries,
upon the rather plausible plea that they served as a wholesome
training for the mercantile youth. Never before or since, however, has
the pedagogy of the rod found so thoroughgoing an application as here.
One of the busiest centres of Hanseatic activity remains to be touched
upon: namely, the small tongue of land near Skanor and Falsterbo, and
constituting an appendage of the larger peninsula of Skane or Schonen.
The once prosperous stretch of beach here referred to is now a desert
tract of sand, the furrows and ruins on which are the only relics of
the busy commercial life once prevailing. After the herring had during
the tenth and eleventh centuries visited the Pomeranian coast in great
shoals, it changed its course to the above-mentioned region of the
Sound. The Hanses were not slow to avail themselves of this
circumstance. They succeeded in securing a practical ownership of this
most valuable district of Denmark; thereby demonstrating how
incredibly incompetent the princes of the land were at that time as
regards the utilization of their natural resources. These princes
actually granted to several German cities, and, moreover, to each
individually, the right to establish reservations here—the so-called
Vitten—consisting of fenced enclosures on the coast, within which
were erected vendors' and fish-booths, dwellings, and even churches,
all under the administration of special governors appointed by the
Germans. From this point the herring grounds were readily accessible.
The fishing lasted from July until October; and during this time
merchants, fishermen, and coopers resorted here by thousands to fish
as well as to salt, smoke, pack, and load the produce of the net. In
connection with this industry there were held in the immediate
vicinity much-frequented annual markets, the distributing centres for
home consumption. At the beginning of the fifteenth century the
capricious fish suddenly took another direction, visiting the coast of
Holland, to the people of which he thenceforth became as lucrative a
source of revenue as he had been to the Hanses. It has been said that
Amsterdam with all its wealth is built upon herrings; and a similar
statement could once be applied with equal justice to the Hansa cities
of the Baltic.
Concerning the characteristic methods of conducting trade it may be
well here to add that during the distant period here under
consideration a so-called commission business could scarcely be said
to exist; and this is true also of speculation in the narrower sense.
While buying and selling on time were not infrequent, especially in
the grain market, the transactions were upon an infinitely smaller
scale than as conducted at present, when, as the saying goes, "goods
is sold a dozen times before it is actually available." The unsound
methods at present in vogue, based as they are upon fluctuations in
price, were then scarcely known. "Goods in exchange for goods or its
equivalent in money" was the motto of the Hanseatic merchant, who,
however, was by no means always entirely guiltless of fraudulent
operations. Often enough the lowermost layers of herring in the keg
consisted of spoiled goods, and not infrequently a bale of linen had
to be returned from station to station to the place whence it was sent
in order that it might be reëxamined as to quantity and quality. In
these transactions the crafty dealer usually preferred to take
advantage of the proverbial simplicity of the Norwegian.
The scope of the Hansa trade was greater than one would imagine. It
was greater, for example, than that of the maritime towns of Germany
for the period immediately preceding the era of steam navigation,
i.e., about 1830. The fish trade was at that early period far more
brisk, partly because the herring then visited the shores of the
Baltic, and partly because the church laws relative to abstinence from
meat during the fasts were rigidly observed by all the states of
Christian Europe. A few figures will serve vividly to illustrate this
change: In 1855, 3,700 kegs of herring were imported by way of Lubeck,
as against 33,000 kegs for the period 500 years previous; and in the
year of war, 1369, despite the embargo with Denmark, a great consumer,
the exports of herring from thirty Hanseatic ports yielded a sum of
130,000,000 marks, 40,000,000 of which fell to the share of Hamburg,
then a much smaller city than Lubeck.
It is natural, in the light of these commercial conditions, that
industry, and handicraft also, must have greatly flourished. In those
days there were twice as many bakers in Lubeck as at present. The
coopers, also, in view of the great demand for herring kegs, were in
high repute, and scarcely less so the brewers, who at that time
greatly excelled their South German competitors. The beer of Hamburg
or Rostock was never absent from a northern feast. Nearly all the
cities from Livonia to the mouth of the Weser were surrounded by
gardens of hops, and Hamburg especially owed its rapid rise during the
fourteenth century chiefly to its brewers, at times five hundred or
more in number, one hundred and twenty-six of whom supplied the market
of Amsterdam alone. Not only representatives of the higher industrial
arts, such as goldsmiths, metal workers, picture carvers, paternoster
makers, and altar makers, but shoemakers and other handicraftsmen were
to be found in the Far North, which, at that time, was still somewhat
deficient in these matters. There is report of a worthy shoemaker,
who, after sojourning in Russia, repaired to Stockholm, where he
entered the service of a knight, and thence to Santiago di Compostela,
where he wrought for pilgrims.
All these trades were divided into guilds and sequestered in certain
streets or localities; and it was long before they were permitted to
participate in the city government, which rested solely in the hands
of the great landlords and merchant princes. In the fourteenth
century, however, following the example of the South German
communities, the "Rebellious Guilds" arose also in the Hanse towns and
inaugurated that far-reaching democratic movement akin to the War of
the Classes in ancient Rome. The guilds demanded a seat and a voice in
the municipal councils, and made the payment of their quota dependent
upon this concession. Most of the Northern cities experienced bloody
insurrections at this time, and the hangman was very busy. Now the
victory was with the patricians, and anon with the plebeians; and the
contest was continually renewed with changing fortune. After holding
aloof for some time the Hanseatic League finally took part in this
purely internal affair of the several cities, and always in favor of
the patrician party; in this way assuming a function originally
foreign to its purpose.
The movement was a perfectly natural and justifiable one. Though
originally subject to service and tribute on the part of bishop,
cloister, or prince, the condition of the tradesman changed with the
establishment of the principle that long unchallenged residence in a
city insured personal freedom to the individual—a privilege which in
those days of marked class discrimination was shared only by the
burgher and the monk. Among the two last-mentioned classes even the
low-born individual could rise by his own efforts: here neither
prejudice nor privilege interfered with the free exercise of native
talent. Many a poor apprentice in the bureau of Bergen eventually
became the progenitor of a long race of distinguished merchants; and
some of these families are flourishing in Europe to-day. It is but
natural that the handicraftsman, once released from his bonds, should
have desired to share these privileges, more particularly as the old
aristocratic régime constantly became more assertive and
presumptuous. It is necessary also to consider that the former social
position of the artisan should not be measured by present standards;
for the difference in the educational status of the classes was not
nearly so pronounced then as now, and the workman, moreover, was
characterized by a spirit often as chivalrous as that of the
commercial magnate. There is a well-authenticated case of a shoemaker
challenging another member of his craft to a duel—which, by the way,
had a fatal termination—without exciting either serious comment or
ridicule.
History teaches that where commerce and industry flourish, art also
secures its triumphs. The glorious Gothic cathedrals of the Hanseatic
cities bear eloquent testimony to this truth. "The Northlander who
entered the Trave or the Vistula and beheld the multitude of soaring
church spires must have felt as did once the German pilgrim to Rome,"
says a modern investigator. The principal representative and patron of
this art culture, here as elsewhere during the Middle Ages, was the
Church. But the splendid town halls as well as the few private
mansions preserved, with their step-like aggregation of gables, afford
convincing evidence alike of the solid appreciation of art as of the
love of splendor which characterized that distant generation. Certain
it is that they greatly surpassed us in the domain of Gothic
architecture. Owing to the strict adherence to the Catholic dogma a
scientific development in the modern sense was, of course, impossible
in those days; and, although most of the parish churches had their
schools also, these were commonly designed chiefly for the sons of
patricians, whose schooling usually embraced a little Latin and some
reading, writing, and singing. Not infrequently the only scholar in
the place was the town clerk, the forerunner of our present recorder.
The robust, healthy German of that day, yielding to a tendency which
has characterized our people from immemorial times, preferred the more
to surrender himself to a life of solid comfort and good cheer. The
Middle Age was one which inclined to favor the enjoyment of life. It
is but necessary to consider the variegated costumes, rich in color,
whose ultimate extravagances necessitated special dress regulations,
as well as the tournaments, the numerous archer festivals, and the
frequent masquerades, to realize that the people of that day
appreciated the good things of life. On the occasion of baptisms,
weddings, and other domestic events, great feasts were frequently
arranged in the house of the guilds or even in the town hall; and many
princely visitors were here also entertained at the expense of the
municipal budget. The administration of the cellarage of the municipal
council was also then considered a far more respectable post than now.
All these facts attest the prosperity of the Hanseatic towns. Fortunes
of one hundred thousand marks were by no means exceptional, and were
often invested in neighboring knightly estates (feofs), thereby
sometimes securing to the owner an eventual admission to the ranks of
the nobility. At one time—i.e., after the great Hanseatic war—the
city of Lubeck owned the entire dukedom of Lauenburg.
The constitution of these municipalities provided for a council
consisting of from twelve to twenty-four members who, though elected
for life, alternated in terms of office ranging from two to three
years. These members had the privilege of appointing their successors
from among the eligible families of the Hanse town. The heads of the
council consisted of from two to four burgomasters, who presided at
the meetings. The position of member of the council was a purely
honorary one. The duties comprised the administration of municipal
affairs; of military and judicial affairs; of the archives; the
exercise of police supervision over the market, the marine service,
and the guilds; and, most important of all, the administration of the
finances. They fixed the taxes, for which frequently no receipt was
given or demanded; the money on such occasions being deposited
unnoticed in a box set apart for the purpose—a proof that the payment
of taxes at that time was regarded as a point of honor by the burgher
and without suspicion by the magistrate.
The general character of the municipal life of the Hanse towns in
those days has been well compared by a modern writer to a family
household. The workman regarded himself within his circle as an
official of the city—a fact shown by the use of the word Aemter
("offices") to designate the guilds. Hence the strong municipal
patriotism which animated these burghers and which compensates in some
degree for the absence of that great political enthusiasm which is
derived from the consciousness of a united country. A quaint genre
picture of the time, preserved at Bremen, represents a native of the
latter city and another from Lubeck sitting together in a tavern and
disputing as to the comparative merits of their respective towns. The
controversy reaches its climax by one of the disputants declaring
stolidly that he too might "master such words" and taking a long and
mighty draught.
The separate towns, usually upon a request of the Lubeck council,
would send their deputies to confer jointly upon matters affecting the
league, these conferences or diets usually being held in some Wendish
city. On no occasion, however, were all the towns of the league
represented at these conferences. Their constitution was absolutely
free from all theoretical or rigid forms or ordinances. Whoever found
that his interests were especially affected by the subject under
discussion sent representatives to the diet of the league, and these
usually discharged their duties faithfully, without shirking the long
and arduous trip even during the winter season. The conferences held
in this way were probably wider in their scope than those of any other
power of the time. Usually, however, not political, but commercial,
matters were discussed. There was no common treasury. Whenever money
was required an export duty was levied, with which absolute compliance
was demanded. An infraction of the laws of the league was punishable
by a fine, and in extreme cases by exclusion from the Hansa—a
sentence necessarily involving the commercial isolation and eventual
bankruptcy of the delinquent city. Bremen, it is true, once withstood
the consequences of the Hanseatic ban for more than fifty years, but
this was before the extraordinary extension of Hanseatic power
consequent upon the Danish war. From all this it appears that the
constitution of the Hansa was a very slack but elastic one, which
easily adapted itself to the exigencies of the moment. A charter of a
Hanseatic constitution has never existed—proof in itself of the
desire to afford as much latitude as possible in the construction of
the laws. Theory is regarded as valueless; immediate facts and
interests are all in all. The supremacy of Lubeck, for example, was
never formally recognized by the other cities of the league.
Thus did the Hansa flourish until the close of the Middle Ages. With
the discovery of America and of the passage to India trade was
diverted into new channels; it became transoceanic and, not without
some culpability on the part of the Hanses themselves, fell into the
hands of the now more favorably situated countries of Western
Europe—Spain, Portugal, France, the Netherlands, and, finally,
England. Equally detrimental to the Hansa was the political
transformation wrought at this time, especially as regards the rapidly
growing power of the princes, who, with all the influence at their
command, sought to abrogate all special privileges and to foster a
levelling process in order that they alone might be exalted. One city
after another sank into utter dependence upon the sovereign rulers of
the respective provinces, who, in their turn, began to take an
interest in economic affairs, thus contributing to widen the breach
between these respective cities and the league. It was under these
circumstances that Gustavus Vasa declared of the Hansa that "Its teeth
were falling out, like those of an old woman." The Hollanders,
especially, had long been converted from allies into formidable
rivals. The most important and decisive factor of this decadence,
however, was the victorious opposition to the Hanseatic monopoly now
brought to bear by the hitherto commercially oppressed nations,
England and Russia, who simply closed the doors of the bureaus and
abrogated the privileges of the German merchants of the league. The
condition of the Hansa was akin to that of a healthy, vigorous tree,
set in poor soil and deriving its sustenance from the weakness of the
home rulers and the primitive or defective economic conditions of
foreign countries. As soon as these negative mediæval conditions were
swept away by the storms of the Reformation the tree gradually but
surely fell into decay. With this later stage there is associated the
historic tragedy of Jürgen Wullenwever, that genial and daring
democratic innovator, who, in an endeavor to conquer Denmark in order
to restore the prestige of the Hansa, was betrayed by his patrician
fellow-burghers and hanged.
The Hansa, though in a stage of increasing decrepitude, now lingered
on until the final crash came in 1630, when all the members dissolved
their allegiance to the league. Only the three Hanse towns of Hamburg,
Bremen, and Lubeck renewed the compact, which, however, to-day is
purely nominal. The Hansa had fulfilled its great historic mission. It
had impressed the stamp of German culture upon the North; given German
commerce the supremacy over that of all other nations; protected the
northern and eastern boundaries of the empire at a time when the
imperial power was impotent and the State disrupted; and maintained
and extended the prestige of the German flag in the northern seas.
Said a great German writer: "When all on land was steeped in
particularism, the Hansa, our people upon the sea, alone remained
faithful to the German spirit and to German tradition."
A.D. 1250
SIR WILLIAM MUIR
From A.D. 969 to 1171 the Arabian dynasty of caliphs called
Fatimites—because they professed to trace their descent
from Fatima, the daughter of Mahomet—reigned in Egypt.
Their downfall was due to their own decline into imbecility,
through which they fell into the hands of Turkish viziers
who, keeping their nominal masters in subserviency,
themselves assumed the actual rule.
For several generations the caliphs of Bagdad, under whose
sway the Fatimites were now reduced, had attracted to their
capital slaves from Turcoman and Mongol hordes. These slaves
they used both as bodyguards and as contingents to offset
the dominating influence of the Arab soldiery in their
affairs. In the end the slaves superseded the Arab soldiers
altogether, and from bondmen became masters of the court.
They stirred up riots and rebellion and hastened the fall of
the effete caliphate.
Under the Eyyubite dynasty in Egypt, which Saladin founded
about 1174, the same practice was followed with the same
results. The Eyyubites were strangers in Egypt, and welcomed
the support of foreign myrmidons. Slave dealers bought
children of conquered tribes in Central Asia, promising them
great fortunes in the West. These children, together with
prisoners of war from the eastern hordes, streamed into
Egypt, where they were again bought by the rulers, who thus
unwittingly prepared the way for their own destruction. The
military body created by Saladin, called mamelukes
("slaves;" literally "the possessed"), obtained ascendency
in the manner here related by Muir.
The thousands who, with uncomely names and barbarous titles, began to
crowd the streets of Cairo, occupied a position to which we have no
parallel elsewhere. Finding a weak and subservient population, they
lorded it over them. Like the children of Israel, they ever kept
themselves distinct from the people of the land—but the oppressors,
not, like them, the oppressed. Brought up to arms, the best favored
and most able of the mamelukes when freed became, at the instance of
the Sultan, emirs of ten, of fifty, of a hundred, and often, by rapid
leaps, of a thousand. They continued to multiply by the purchase of
fresh slaves who, like their masters, could rise to liberty and
fortunes.
The sultans were naturally the largest purchasers, as they employed
the revenues of the state in surrounding themselves with a host of
slaves; we read, for example, of one who bought some six thousand.
While the great mass pursued a low and servile life, the favorites of
the emirs, and specially of the crown, were educated in the arts of
peace and war, and, as pages and attendants, gradually rose to the
position of their masters—the slave of to-day, the commander, and not
infrequently the sultan of to-morrow.
From the first, insolent and overbearing, the mamelukes began, as time
passed on, to feel their power, and grew more and more riotous and
turbulent, oppressing the land by oft-repeated pillage and outrage.
Broken up into parties, each with the name of some sultan or leader,
their normal state was one of internal combat and antagonism; while,
pampered and indulged, they often turned upon their masters. Some of
the more powerful sultans were able to hold them in order, and there
were not wanting occasional intervals of quiet; but trouble and uproar
were ever liable to recur.
The Eyyubite princes settled their mamelukes, chiefly Turks and
Mongols—so as to keep them out of the city—on an island in the Nile,
whence they were called Baharites, and the first mameluke dynasty
(1260-1382) was of this race, and called accordingly. The others, a
later importation, were called Burjites, from living in the Citadel,
or quarters in the town; they belonged more to the Circassian race.
The second dynasty (1382-1517) was of these, and, like the Baharite
dynasty, bore their name. The mamelukes were for the most part
attached faithfully to their masters, and the emirs, with their
support, enriched themselves by exactions from the people, with the
unscrupulous gains of office, and with rich fiefs from the state. The
mamelukes, as a body, thus occupied a prominent and powerful position,
and often, especially in later times, forced the Sultan to bend to
their will.
Such is the people which for two centuries and a half ruled Egypt with
a rod of iron, and whose history we shall now attempt to give.
It was about the middle of the twelfth century that Nureddin and King
Amalrich both turned a longing eye toward Egypt, where, in the
decrepitude of the Fatimites, dissension and misrule prevailed. The
Caliph, in alarm, sought aid first from one and then from the other;
and each in turn entered Egypt ostensibly for its defence, but in
reality for its possession. A friendly treaty was at last concluded
with both; but it was broken by Amalrich, who invaded the country and
demanded a heavy ransom. In this extremity, the Caliph again appealed
to Nureddin, sending locks of his ladies' hair in token of alarm.
Glad of the opportunity, Nureddin despatched his general, Shirkoh, to
the rescue, before whom Amalrich, crestfallen, retired. Shirkoh,
having thus delivered the Caliph, gained his favor, and, as vizier,
assumed the administration. Soon after he died; and his nephew,
Saladin, succeeded to the vizierate. The following year the Caliph
also died; and now Saladin, who had by vigorous measures put down all
opposition, himself as sultan took possession of the throne. Thus the
Fatimite dynasty, which had for two centuries ruled over Egypt, came
to an end.
Saladin was son of a Kurdish chief called Eyyub, and hence the dynasty
is termed Eyyubite. His capital was Cairo. He fortified the city,
using the little pyramid for material, and, abandoning the luxurious
palace of the Fatimites, laid the foundations of the Citadel on the
nearest crest of the Mokattam range, and to it transferred his
residence. After a prosperous rule over Egypt and Syria of above
twenty years he died, and his numerous family fell into dissension. At
last his brother Adlil, gaining the ascendency, achieved a splendid
reign not only at home, but also in the East, from Georgia to Aden. He
died of grief at the taking of Damietta by the crusaders, and his
grandson Eyyub succeeded to the throne.
It was now that the Charizmian hordes fell upon Syria, and, with
horrible atrocities, sacked the holy city. Forming an alliance with
these barbarians, the Sultan sent the mameluke general Beibars to join
them against his uncle, the Syrian prince Ismail, between whom and the
crusaders an unholy union had prevailed. Near Joppa the combined army
of Franks and Moslems met at the hands of Beibars and the eastern
hordes, with a bloody overthrow; and thus all Syria again fell under
Egypt. To establish his power both at home and abroad, the Sultan
bought vast numbers of Turkish mamelukes; and it was he who first
established them as Baharites on the Nile. His son Turan was the last
Eyyubite sultan.
In his reign Louis IX of France invaded Egypt, and, advancing upon
Cairo, was defeated and taken prisoner. Turan allowed him to go free;
and for this act of kindness, as well as for attempts to curb their
outlawry, he was pursued and slain by the Baharite mamelukes, who
thereupon seized the government.
The leading mamelukes chose one of themselves, the emir Eibek, to be
head of the administration. He contented himself at first to govern in
the name of Eyyub's widow, who, indeed, had been in complicity with
the assassins of her stepson Turan. The Caliph of Bagdad, however,
objected to a female reigning even in name, and so Eibek married the
widow; and still further to conciliate the Eyyubites of Syria and
Kerak, elevated to the title of sultan a child of the Eyyubite stock.
This concession notwithstanding, Nasir the Eyyubite, ruler of
Damascus, advanced on Egypt, but, deserted by his Turkish slaves, was
beaten back by Eibek, who returned in triumph to the capital. He soon
found it, however, impossible to hold the turbulent mamelukes in hand,
for, with the victorious general Aktai at their head, they scorned
discipline and defied authority. Eibek, therefore, compassed the death
of Aktai, on which the Baharite emirs all rose in rebellion. They were
defeated. Many were slain and cast into prison; the rest fled to
Nasir, and eventually to Kerak. Among the latter were Beibars and
Kilawun, of whom we shall hear more hereafter.
Eibek was now undisputed Sultan, recognized as such by all the powers
around. And so he bethought him of taking a princess of Mosul for
another wife; on which the Sultana, already estranged, caused him to
be put to death; and she too, in the storm that followed, was
assassinated by the slave girls of still another wife.
Eibek's minor son was now raised by the emirs to the titular
sultanate; and Kotuz, a distinguished mameluke of Charizmian birth,
persuaded to assume the uninviting post of vicegerent. The Eyyubite
Prince of Kerak, in whose service many of the Baharite mamelukes still
remained, attempting, with their help, to seize Egypt, was twice
repulsed by Kotuz, and thus obliged to disband the Baharites, who
returned to their Egyptian allegiance.
Their return was fortunate, a time of trial being at hand. For it was
now that Holagu with his Mongol hordes, having overthrown Bagdad and
slain the last of the Abbassides, launched his savage troops on the
West. He fulminated a despatch to Nasir the Eyyubite head of Syria, in
which he claimed to be "the scourge of the Almighty, sent to execute
judgment on the ungodly nations of the earth." Nasir answered it in
like defiant terms; but, not being supported by Kotuz, had to fly from
Damascus, which was taken possession of by the Mongol tyrant.
After ravaging Syria with unheard-of barbarity, Holagu was recalled to
Central Asia by the death of Mangu. Leaving his army behind under
Ketbogha, he sent an embassy to Egypt with a letter as threatening as
that to Nasir. Kotuz, who had by this time cast the titular Sultan
aside and himself assumed the throne, summoned a council and by their
advice put the embassy to death. Then awakening to the possibilities
of the future, he roused the emirs to action by a stirring address on
the danger that threatened Egypt, their families, and their faith.
Gathering a powerful army, the Egyptians advanced to Acre, where they
found the crusaders bound by a promise to the Mongols of neutrality.
The two armies met at Ain-Jalut, and there, after a fiercely contested
battle, and mainly by the bravery of Beibars as well as of Kotuz
himself, the Mongols were beaten and Ketbogha slain. On the news
reaching Damascus, the city rose upon their barbarian tyrants, and
slew not only all the Mongols, but great numbers also of the Jews and
Christians who, during the interregnum, had raised their heads against
Islam.
Following up their victory, the Egyptians drove the Mongols out of
Syria, and pursued them beyond Emessa. Kotuz, thus master of the
country, reappointed the former governors throughout Syria, on
receiving oath of fealty, to their several posts. For his signal
service, Kotuz had led Beibars to expect Aleppo; but, suspicion
aroused of dangerous ambition on Beibars' part, he gave that leading
capital to another.
Beibars upon this, fearing the fate that might befall him at Cairo,
resolved to anticipate the danger. On the return journey, while Kotuz
was on the hunting-field alone, he begged for the gift of a Mongol
slave girl, and, taking his hand to kiss for the promised favor,
seized hold of it while his accomplices stabbed him from behind to
death. Beibars was forthwith saluted sultan, and entered Cairo with
the acclamations of the people, and with the same festive surroundings
as had been prepared for the reception of his murdered predecessor.
BEGINNING OF ENGLAND'S HOUSE OF COMMONS
A.D. 1258
JOHN LINGARD
With the loss of Normandy under King John, the barons of
Norman descent in England had become patriotic Englishmen.
They forced their monarch to sign the Magna Charta and thus
laid the foundation of English constitutional liberty.
John died in 1216 and was succeeded by his son Henry of
Winchester, a minor in his eleventh year. The celebrated
Hubert de Burgh, chief justiciar, soon became regent, and
reigned comparatively without control, even after the young
King attained his majority. But in 1232 Henry, being in need
of money, imprisoned the regent and compelled him to forfeit
the greater part of his estate.
After De Burgh's fall, King Henry III became his own master,
and was responsible for the measures of government, the wars
with foreign powers, the disputes with the Pope and with the
barons, during which the evolution of the English parliament
made important progress, chiefly through the efforts of
Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester.
One of the most important episodes of that evolution was the
"Mad Parliament"—derisively so called by the royal
partisans—at which the Provisions of Oxford, long
considered the rash innovations of an ambitious oligarchy,
were promulgated. Of this Mad Parliament it has been said,
"It would have been well for England if all parliaments had
been equally sane."
As to the opinion, repeatedly emphasized in the following
account, that De Montfort was false and ambitious, it is
well to remind the reader that other historians have looked
upon Earl Simon as a disinterested patriot of the highest
type.
It was Henry's misfortune to have inherited the antipathy of his
father to the charter of Runnymede, and to consider his barons as
enemies leagued in a conspiracy to deprive him of the legitimate
prerogatives of the crown. He watched with jealousy all their
proceedings, refused their advice, and confided in the fidelity of
foreigners more than in the affection of his own subjects. Such
conduct naturally alienated the minds of the nobles, who boldly
asserted that the great offices of state were their right, and entered
into associations for the support of their pretensions. Had the King
possessed the immense revenues of his predecessors he might perhaps
have set their enmity at defiance; but during the wars between Stephen
and Maud, and afterward between John and his barons, the royal
demesnes had been considerably diminished; and the occasional
extravagance of Henry, joined to his impolitic generosity to his
favorites, repeatedly compelled him to throw himself on the voluntary
benevolence of the nation. Year after year the King petitioned for a
subsidy, and each petition was met with a contemptuous refusal. If the
barons at last relented, it was always on conditions most painful to
his feelings. They obliged him to acknowledge his former misconduct,
to confirm anew the two charters, and to promise the immediate
dismissal of the foreigners.[60] But Henry looked only to the present
moment: no sooner were his coffers replenished than he forgot his
promises and laughed at their credulity. Distress again forced him to
solicit relief, and to offer the same conditions. Unwilling to be
duped a second time, the barons required his oath. He swore, and then
violated his oath with as much indifference as he had violated his
promise. His next applications were treated with scorn; but he
softened their opposition by offering to submit to excommunication if
he should fail to observe his engagements. In the great hall of
Westminster the King, barons, and prelates assembled; the sentence was
pronounced by the bishops with the usual solemnity; and Henry, placing
his hand on his breast, added, "So help me God, I will observe these
charters, as I am a Christian, a knight, and a king crowned and
anointed." The aid was granted, and the King reverted to his former
habits.
It was not, however, that he was by inclination a vicious man. He had
received strong religious impressions; though fond of parade, he
cautiously avoided every scandalous excess; and his charity to the
poor and attention to the public worship were deservedly admired. But
his judgment was weak. He had never emancipated his mind from the
tutelage in which it had been held in his youth, and easily suffered
himself to be persuaded by his favorites that his promises were not to
be kept, because they had been compulsory and extorted from him in
opposition to the just claims of his crown.
On the fall of Hubert de Burgh the King had given his confidence to
his former tutor, Peter the Poitevin, Bishop of Winchester. That the
removal of the minister would be followed by the dismissal of the
other officers of government, and that the favorite would employ the
opportunity to raise and enrich his relatives and friends, is not
improbable; but it is difficult to believe, on the unsupported
assertion of a censorious chronicler, that Peter could be such an
enemy to his own interest as to prevail on the King to expel all
Englishmen from his court, and confide to Poitevins and Bretons the
guard of his person, the receipt of his revenue, the administration of
justice, the custody of all the royal castles, the wardship of all the
young nobility, and the marriages of the principal heiresses. But the
ascendency of the foreigners, however great it might be, was not of
very long duration. The barons refused to obey the royal summons to
come to the council: the Earl Marshal unfurled the standard of
rebellion in Wales, and the clergy joined with the laity in censuring
the measures of government. Edmund, the new archbishop of Canterbury,
attended by several other prelates, waited on Henry. He reminded the
King that his father, by pursuing similar counsels, had nearly
forfeited the crown; assured him that the English would never submit
to be trampled upon by strangers in their own country; and declared
that he should conceive it his duty to excommunicate every individual,
whoever he might be, that should oppose the reform of the government
and the welfare of the nation. Henry was alarmed, and promised to give
him an answer in a few weeks. A parliament of the barons was called,
and Edmund renewed his remonstrance. The Poitevins were instantly
dismissed, the insurgents restored to favor, and ministers appointed
who possessed the confidence of the nation.
At the age of twenty-nine the King had married Eleanor, the daughter
of Raymond, Count of Provence. The ceremony of her coronation, the
offices of the barons, the order of the banquet, and the rejoicings of
the people are minutely described by the historian, who, in the warmth
of his admiration, declares that the whole world could not produce a
more glorious and ravishing spectacle. Eleanor had been accompanied to
England by her uncle William, Bishop-elect of Valence, who soon became
the King's favorite, was admitted into the council, and assumed the
ascendency in the administration. The barons took the first
opportunity to remonstrate; but Henry mollified their anger by adding
three of their number to the council, and, that he might be the more
secure from their machinations, obtained from the Pope a legate to
reside near his person. This was the cardinal Otho, who employed his
influence to reconcile Henry with the most discontented of the barons.
By his advice William returned to the Continent. He died in Italy, but
the King, mindful of his interests, had previously procured his
election to the see of Winchester, vacant by the death of Peter des
Roches.
The next favorites were two other uncles of the Queen, Peter de Savoy,
to whom Henry gave the honor of Richmond, and Boniface de Savoy, who,
at the death of Edmund, was chosen archbishop of Canterbury. The
natives renewed their complaints, and waited with impatience for the
return of Richard, the King's brother, from Palestine; but that Prince
was induced to espouse the cause of the foreigners, and to marry
Sanchia, another of the daughters of Raymond. But now Isabella, the
Queen-mother, dissatisfied that the family of Provence should
monopolize the royal favor, sent over her children by her second
husband, the Count de la Marche, to make their fortunes in England.
Alice, her daughter, was married to the young Earl of Warenne; Guy,
the eldest son, received some valuable presents and returned to
France; William de Valence, with the order of knighthood, obtained an
annuity and the honor of Hertford; and Aymar was sent to Oxford,
preferred to several benefices, and at last made bishop of Winchester.
Associations were formed to redress the grievances of the nation:
under the decent pretext of preventing the misapplication of the
revenue, a demand was repeatedly made that the appointment of the
officers of state should be vested in the great council; and at length
the constitution was entirely overturned by the bold ambition of Simon
de Montfort, Earl of Leicester.
Simon was the younger of the two sons of the Count de Montfort, a name
celebrated in the annals of religious warfare. By the resignation of
Amauri, his brother, the constable of France, he had succeeded to the
estates of his mother Amicia, the elder of the two sisters and
coheiresses of the late Earl of Leicester: his subsequent marriage
with Eleanor, the King's sister, had brought within his view the
prospect of a crown; and his marked opposition to the extortions of
the King and the pontiffs had secured to him, though a foreigner, the
affection of the nobility, the clergy, and the people. Policy required
that the King should not provoke, nor should oppress, so formidable a
subject. But Henry did neither: he on some occasions employed the Earl
in offices of trust and importance; on others, by a succession of
petty affronts, irritated instead of subduing his spirit. Among the
inhabitants of Guienne there were many whose wavering fidelity proved
a subject of constant solicitude; and Simon had been appointed, by
patent, governor of the province for five years, with the hope that
his activity and resolution would crush the disaffected and secure the
allegiance of the natives. They were to the earl years of continual
exertion: his conduct necessarily begot enemies; and he was repeatedly
accused to the King of peculation, tyranny, and cruelty. How far the
charges were true it is impossible to determine; but his accusers were
the Archbishop of Bordeaux and the chief of the Gascon nobility, who
declared that, unless justice were done to their complaints, their
countrymen would seek the protection of a different sovereign. When
Simon appeared before his peers, he was accompanied by Richard, the
King's brother, and the earls of Gloucester and Hereford, who had
engaged to screen him from the royal resentment; and the King,
perceiving that he could not procure the condemnation of the accused,
vented his passion in intemperate language. In the course of the
altercation the word "traitor" inadvertently fell from his lips.
"Traitor!" exclaimed the earl; "if you were not a king, you should
repent of that insult."
"I shall never repent of anything so much," replied Henry, "as that I
allowed you to grow and fatten within my dominions." By the
interposition of their common friends they were parted. Henry
conferred the duchy and government of Guienne on his son Edward, but
the earl returned to the province, nor would he yield up his patent
without a considerable sum as a compensation for the remaining years
of the grant. Fearing the King's enmity, he retired into France, and
was afterward reconciled to him through the mediation of the Bishop of
Lincoln.
Though Richard had frequently joined the barons in opposing his
brother, he could never be induced to invade the just rights of the
crown. He was as much distinguished by his economy as Henry was by his
profusion; and the care with which he husbanded his income gave him
the reputation of being the most opulent prince of Europe. Yet he
allowed himself to be dazzled with the splendor of royalty, and
incautiously sacrificed his fortune to his ambition. In the beginning
of the year 1256 the archbishops of Cologne and Mainz, with the
Elector Palatine, chose him at Frankfort king of the Romans; and a few
weeks later the Archbishop of Triers, the King of Bohemia, the Duke of
Saxony, and the Marquis of Brandenburg, the other four electors, gave
their suffrages in favor of Alphonso, King of Castile. It was,
however, in an evil hour for Henry that Richard departed for Germany.
The discontented barons, no longer awed by his presence, associated to
reform the State, under the guidance of the Earl of Leicester, high
steward, the Earl of Hereford, high constable, the Earl Marshal, and
the Earl of Gloucester. The circumstances of the times were favorable
to their views. An unproductive harvest had been followed by a general
scarcity, and the people were willing to attribute their misery, not
to the inclemency of the seasons, but to the incapacity of their
governors. Henry called a great council at Westminster, and on the
third day the barons assembled in the hall in complete armor. When the
King entered, they put aside their swords; but Henry, alarmed at their
unusual appearance, exclaimed, "Am I then your prisoner?" "No, sire,"
replied Roger Bigod, "but by your partiality to foreigners, and your
own prodigality, the realm is involved in misery. Wherefore we demand
that the powers of government be delegated to a committee of barons
and prelates, who may correct abuses and enact salutary laws." Some
altercation ensued, and high words passed between the Earl of
Leicester and William de Valence, one of the King's brothers. Henry,
however, found it necessary to submit; and it was finally agreed that
he should solicit the Pope to send a legate to England and modify the
terms on which he had accepted the kingdom of Sicily; that he should
give a commission to reform the State to twenty-four prelates and
barons, of whom one-half had been already selected from his council,
the other half should be named by the barons themselves in a
parliament to be held at Oxford; and that, if he faithfully observed
these conditions, measures should be taken to pay his debts, and to
prosecute the claim of Edmund to the crown of the two Sicilies.
At the appointed day the great council, distinguished in our annals by
the appellation of the "Mad Parliament," assembled at Oxford. The
barons, to intimidate their opponents, were attended by their military
tenants, and took an oath to stand faithfully by each other, and to
treat as "a mortal enemy" every man who should abandon their cause.
The committee of reform was appointed. Among the twelve selected by
Henry were his nephew the son of Richard, two of his half-brothers,
and the great officers of state; the leaders of the faction were
included in the twelve named by the barons. Every member was sworn to
reform the state of the realm, to the honor of God, the service of the
King, and the benefit of the people; and to allow no consideration,
"neither of gift nor promise, profit nor loss, love nor hatred nor
fear," to influence him in the discharge of his duty. Each twelve then
selected two of their opponents; and to the four thus selected was
intrusted the charge of appointing fifteen persons to form the council
of state. Having obtained the royal permission, they proceeded to make
the choice with apparent impartiality. Both parties furnished an equal
number; and at their head was placed Boniface, the Archbishop of
Canterbury, who, if he were connected with the court from his
relationship to the Queen, was also known to lean to the popular
faction, through his jealousy of the superior influence of the King's
half-brothers. In reality, however, these elections proved the
declining influence of the Crown; for, while the chiefs of the
reformers were named, Henry's principal friends, his nephew and his
brothers, had been carefully excluded. In a short time the triumph of
Leicester was complete. The justiciary, the chancellor, the treasurer,
all the sheriffs, and the governors of the principal castles belonging
to the King, twenty in number, were removed, and their places were
supplied by the chiefs of the reformers, or the most devoted of their
adherents. The new justiciary took an oath to administer justice to
all persons, according to the ordinances of the committee; the
chancellor not to put the great seal to any writ which had not the
approbation of the King and the privy council, nor to any grant
without the consent of the great council, nor to any instrument
whatever which was not in conformity with the regulations of the
committee; the governors of the castles to keep them faithfully for
the use of the King, and to restore them to him or his heirs, and no
others, on the receipt of an order from the council; and at the
expiration of twelve years to surrender them loyally on the demand of
the King. Having thus secured to themselves the sovereign authority,
and divested Henry of the power of resistance, the committee began the
work of reform by ordaining: 1. That four knights should be chosen by
the freeholders of each county to ascertain and lay before the
parliament the trespasses, excesses, and injuries committed within the
county under the royal administration; 2. That a new high sheriff
should be annually appointed for each county by the votes of the
freeholders; 3. That all sheriffs, and the treasurer, chancellor, and
justiciary should annually give in their accounts; 4. And that
parliaments should meet thrice in the year, in the beginning of the
months of February, June, and October. They were, however, careful
that these assemblies should consist entirely of their own partisans.
Under the pretext of exonerating the other members from the trouble
and expense of such frequent journeys, twelve persons were appointed
as representatives of the commonalty, that is, the whole body of
earls, barons, and tenants of the Crown; and it was enacted that
whatever these twelve should determine, in conjunction with the
council of state, should be considered as the act of the whole body.
These innovations did not, however, pass without opposition. Henry,
the son of the King of the Romans, Aymar, Guy and William,
half-brothers to the King, and the Earl of Warenne, members of the
committee, though they were unable to prevent, considerably retarded,
the measures of the reformers, and nourished in the friends of the
monarch a spirit of resistance which might ultimately prove fatal to
the projects of Leicester and his associates. It was resolved to
silence them by intimidation. They were required to swear obedience to
the ordinances of the majority of the members; proposals were made to
resume all grants of the crown, from which the three brothers derived
their support; and several charges of extortion and trespass were made
in the king's courts not only against them, but also against the
fourth brother, Geoffrey de Valence. Fearing for their liberty or
lives, they all retired secretly from Oxford, and fled to Wolvesham, a
castle belonging to Aymar, as bishop-elect of Winchester. They were
pursued and surrounded by the barons: their offer to take the oath of
submission was now refused; and of the conditions proposed to them the
four brothers accepted as the most eligible, to leave the kingdom,
taking with them six thousand marks, and trusting the remainder of
their treasures and the rents of their lands to the honor of their
adversaries.
Their departure broke the spirit of the dissidents. John de Warenne
and Prince Henry successively took the oath: even Edward, the King's
eldest son, reluctantly followed their example, and was compelled to
recall the grants which he had made to his uncles of revenues in
Guienne, and to admit of four reformers as his council for the
administration of that duchy. To secure their triumph a royal order
was published that all the lieges should swear to observe the
ordinances of the council; and a letter was written to the Pope in the
name of the parliament, complaining of the King's brothers, soliciting
the deposition of the Bishop of Winchester, and requesting the aid of
a legate to coöperate with them in the important task of reforming the
state of the kingdom.
In a short time Leicester was alarmed by the approach of a dangerous
visitor, Richard, King of the Romans. That Prince had squandered away
an immense mass of treasure in Germany, and was returning to replenish
his coffers by raising money on his English estates. At St. Omer, to
his surprise, he received a prohibition to land before he had taken an
oath to observe the provisions of reform, and not to bring the King's
brothers in his suite. His pride deemed the message an insult; but his
necessities required the prosecution of his journey, and he gave a
reluctant promise to comply as soon as he should receive the King's
permission. At Canterbury Henry signified his commands, and Richard
took the oath.
Henry had been for two years the mere shadow of a king. The acts of
government, indeed, ran in his name; but the sovereign authority was
exercised without control by the lords of the council; and obedience
to the royal orders—when the King ventured to issue any orders—was
severely punished as a crime against the safety of the State. But if
he were a silent, he was not an inattentive, observer of the passing
events. The discontent of the people did not escape his notice; and he
saw with pleasure the intestine dissensions which daily undermined the
power of the faction. The earls of Leicester and Gloucester pursued
opposite interests and formed two opposite parties. Leicester,
unwilling to behold the ascendency of his rival, retired into France;
and Gloucester discovered an inclination to be reconciled to his
sovereign. But to balance this advantage Prince Edward, who had
formerly displayed so much spirit in vindicating the rights of the
crown, joined the Earl of Leicester, their most dangerous enemy; and
this unexpected connection awakened in the King's mind the suspicion
of a design to depose him and place his son on the throne. In these
dispositions of enmity, jealousy, and distrust the barons assembled in
London to meet Henry in parliament. But each member was attended by a
military guard; his lodgings were fortified to prevent a surprise; the
apprehension of hostilities confined the citizens within their houses;
and the concerns of trade with the usual intercourse of society were
totally suspended. After many attempts, the good offices of the King
of the Romans effected a specious but treacherous pacification; and
the different leaders left the parliament friends in open show, but
with the same feelings of animosity rankling in their breasts, and
with the same projects for their own aggrandizement and the depression
of their opponents.
At length Henry persuaded himself that the time had arrived when he
might resume his authority. He unexpectedly entered the council, and
in a tone of dignity reproached the members with their affected delays
and their breach of trust. They had been established to reform the
State, improve the revenue, and discharge his debts; but they had
neglected these objects, and had labored only to enrich themselves and
to perpetuate their own power. He should, therefore, no longer
consider them as his council, but employ such other remedies as he
thought proper. He immediately repaired to the Tower, which had lately
been fortified; seized on the treasure in the mint; ordered the gates
of London to be closed; compelled all the citizens above twelve years
of age to swear fealty in their respective wardmotes; and by
proclamation commanded the knights of the several counties to attend
the next parliament in arms. The barons immediately assembled their
retainers, and marched to the neighborhood of the capital; but each
party, diffident of its strength, betrayed an unwillingness to begin
hostilities; and it was unanimously agreed to postpone the discussion
of their differences till the return of Prince Edward, who was in
France displaying his prowess at a tournament. He returned in haste,
and, to the astonishment of all who were not in the secret, embraced
the interests of the barons.
Henry, however, persevered in his resolution. By repeated desertions
the party of his enemies had been reduced to the two earls of
Leicester and Gloucester, the grand justiciary, the Bishop of
Worcester, and Hugh de Montfort, whose principal dependence was on the
oath which the King and the nation had taken to observe the Provisions
of Oxford. To this argument it was replied that the same authority
which enacted the law was competent to repeal it; and that an oath
which should deprive the parliament of such right was in its own
nature unjust and consequently invalid. For greater security, however,
the King applied to Pope Alexander, who by several bulls released both
him and the nation from their oaths, on the principle that the
Provisions of Oxford were injurious to the State, and therefore
incompatible with their previous obligations. These bulls Henry
published, appointed a new justiciary and chancellor, removed the
officers of his household, revoked to himself the custody of the royal
castles, named new sheriffs in the counties, and by proclamation
announced that he had resumed the exercise of the royal authority.
This was followed by another proclamation to refute the false reports
circulated by the barons.
The King, now finding himself at liberty, was induced to visit Louis
of France; and Leicester embraced the opportunity to return to England
and reorganize the association which had so lately been dissolved. His
hopes of success were founded on the pride and imprudence of Prince
Edward, who, untaught by experience, had called around him a guard of
foreigners, and intrusted to their leaders the custody of his castles.
Such conduct not only awakened the jealousy of the barons, but
alienated the affections of the royalists. Henry, at his return, aware
of the designs of his enemies, ordered the citizens of London, the
inhabitants of the Cinque Ports, and the principal barons, and
afterward all freemen throughout the kingdom, to swear fealty not only
to himself but, in the event of his death, to his eldest son the
Prince Edward. To the second oath the Earl of Gloucester objected. He
was immediately joined at Oxford by his associates; and in a few days
the Earl of Leicester appeared at their head. With the royal banner
displayed before them, they took Gloucester, Worcester, and
Bridgenorth; ravaged without mercy the lands of the royalists, the
foreigners, and the natives who refused to join their ranks, and,
augmenting their numbers as they advanced, directed their march toward
London. In London the aldermen and principal citizens were devoted to
the King: the mayor and the populace openly declared for the barons.
Henry was in possession of the Tower; and Edward, after taking by
force one thousand marks out of the temple, hastened to throw himself
into the castle of Windsor, the most magnificent palace, if we may
believe a contemporary, then existing in Europe. The Queen attempted
to follow her son by water; but the populace insulted her with the
most opprobrious epithets, discharged volleys of filth into the royal
barge, and prepared to sink it with large stones as it should pass
beneath the bridge. The mayor at length took her under his protection
and placed her in safety in the episcopal palace near St. Paul's.
The King of the Romans now appeared again on the scene in the quality
of mediator. The negotiation lasted three weeks: but Henry was
compelled to yield to the increasing power of his adversaries; and it
was agreed that the royal castles should once more be intrusted to the
custody of the barons, the foreigners be again banished, and the
Provisions of Oxford be confirmed, subject to such alterations as
should be deemed proper by a committee appointed for that purpose.
Henry returned to his palace at Westminster; new officers of state
were selected; and the King's concessions were notified to the
conservators of the peace in the several counties.
The King now found himself sufficiently strong to take the field. He
was disappointed in an attempt to obtain possession of Dover; but
nearly succeeded in surprising the Earl of Leicester, who with a small
body of forces had marched from Kenilworth to Southwark. Henry
appeared on one side of the town, the Prince on the other; and the
royalists had previously closed the gates of the city. So imminent was
the danger that the Earl, who had determined not to yield, advised his
companions to assume the cross, and to prepare themselves for death by
the offices of religion. But the opportunity was lost by a strict
adherence to the custom of the times. A herald was sent to require him
to surrender; and in the mean while the populace, acquainted with the
danger of their favorite, burst open the gates and introduced him into
the city.
The power of the two parties was now more equally balanced, and their
mutual apprehensions inclined them to listen to the pacific
exhortations of the bishops. It was agreed to refer every subject of
dispute to the arbitration of the King of France; an expedient which
had been proposed the last year by Henry, but rejected by Leicester.
Louis accepted the honorable office, and summoned the parties to
appear before him at Amiens. The King attended in person; the earl,
who was detained at home in consequence of a real or pretended fall
from his horse, had sent his attorneys. Both parties solemnly swore to
abide by the decision of the French monarch. Louis heard the
allegations and arguments of each, consulted his court, and pronounced
judgment in favor of Henry. He annulled the Provisions of Oxford as
destructive of the rights of the crown and injurious to the interests
of the nation; ordered the royal castles to be restored; gave to the
King the authority to appoint all the officers of the state and of his
household, and to call to his council whomsoever he thought proper,
whether native or foreigner; reinstated him in the same condition in
which he was before the meeting of the "Mad Parliament," and ordered
that all offences committed by either party should be buried in
oblivion. This award was soon afterward confirmed by Pope Urban; and
the Archbishop of Canterbury received an order to excommunicate all
who, in violation of their oaths, should refuse to submit to it.
The barons had already taken their resolution. The moment the decision
was announced to them they declared that it was, on the face of it,
contrary to truth and justice, and had been procured by the undue
influence which the Queen of Louis, the sister-in-law to Henry,
possessed over the mind of her husband. Hostilities immediately
recommenced; and as every man of property was compelled to adhere to
one of the two parties, the flames of civil war were lighted up in
almost every part of the kingdom. In the North, and in Cornwall and
Devon, the decided superiority of the royalists forced the friends of
the barons to dissemble their real sentiments; the midland counties
and the marches of Wales were pretty equally divided: but in the
Cinque Ports, the metropolis, and the neighboring districts Montfort
ruled without opposition. His partisan, Thomas Fitz-Thomas, had been
intruded into the office of mayor of London; and a convention for
their mutual security had been signed by that officer and the
commonalty of the city on the one part, and the earls of Leicester,
Gloucester, and Derby, Hugh le Despenser, the grand justiciary, and
twelve barons on the other. In the different wardmotes every male
inhabitant above twelve years of age was sworn a member of the
association: a constable and marshal of the city were appointed; and
orders were given that at the sound of the great bell at St. Paul's
all should assemble in arms and obey the authority of these officers.
The efficacy of the new arrangements was immediately put to the test.
Despenser, the justiciary, came from the Tower, put himself at the
head of the associated bands, and conducted them to destroy the two
palaces of the King of the Romans, at Isleworth and Westminster, and
the houses of the nobility and citizens known or suspected to be
attached to the royal cause. The justices of the king's bench and the
barons of the exchequer were thrown into prison; the moneys belonging
to foreign merchants and bankers, which for security had been
deposited in the churches, were carried to the Tower; and the Jews, to
the number of five hundred, men, women, and children, were conducted
to a place of confinement. Out of these, Despenser selected a few of
the more wealthy, that he might enrich himself by their ransom; the
rest he abandoned to the cruelty and rapacity of the populace, who,
after stripping them of their clothes, massacred them all in cold
blood. Cock ben Abraham, who was considered the most opulent
individual in the kingdom, had been killed in his own house by John
Fitz-John, one of the barons. The murderer at first appropriated to
himself the treasure of his victim; but he afterward thought it more
prudent to secure a moiety, by making a present of the remainder to
Leicester.[61]
Henry had summoned the tenants of the crown to meet him at Oxford; and
being joined by Comyn, Bruce, and Baliol, the lords of the Scottish
borders, unfurled his standard and placed himself at the head of the
army. His first attempts were successful. Northampton, Leicester, and
Nottingham, three of the strongest fortresses in the possession of the
barons, were successively reduced; and among the captives were
reckoned Simon the eldest of Leicester's sons, fourteen other
bannerets, forty knights, and a numerous body of esquires. From
Nottingham he was recalled into Kent by the danger of his nephew
Henry, besieged in the castle of Rochester, At his approach the enemy,
who had taken and pillaged the city, retired with precipitation; and
the King, after an ineffectual attempt to secure the coöperation of
the Cinque Ports, fixed his head-quarters in the town of Lewes.
Leicester, having added a body of fifteen thousand citizens to his
army, marched from London, with a resolution to bring the controversy
to an issue. From Fletching he despatched a letter to Henry,
protesting that neither he nor his associates had taken up arms
against the King, but against the evil counsellors who enjoyed and
abused the confidence of their sovereign. Henry returned a public
defiance, which was accompanied by a message from Prince Edward and
the King of the Romans, declaring in the name of the royal barons that
the charge was false; pronouncing Montfort and his adherents perjured;
and daring the earls of Leicester and Derby to appear in the King's
court and prove their assertion by single combat. After the
observation of these forms, which the feudal connection between the
lord and the vassal was supposed to make necessary, Montfort prepared
for the battle. It was the peculiar talent of this leader to persuade
his followers that the cause in which they fought was the cause of
heaven. He represented to them that their objects were liberty and
justice; and that their opponent was a prince whose repeated violation
of the most solemn oaths had released them from their allegiance, and
had entailed on his head the curse of the Almighty. He ordered each
man to fasten a white cross on the breast and shoulder, and to devote
the next evening to the duties of religion. Early in the morning he
marched forward, and, leaving his baggage and standard on the summit
of a hill, about two miles from Lewes, descended into the plain.
Henry's foragers had discovered and announced his approach; and the
royalists in three divisions silently awaited the attack. Leicester,
having called before the ranks the Earl of Gloucester and several
other young noblemen, bade them kneel down, and conferred on them the
order of knighthood; and the Londoners, who impatiently expected the
conclusion of the ceremony, rushed with loud shouts on the enemy. They
were received by Prince Edward, broken in a few minutes, and driven
back as far as the standard. Had the Prince returned from the pursuit,
and fallen on the rear of the confederates, the victory might have
been secured. But he remembered the insults which the citizens had
offered to his mother, and the excesses of which they had lately been
guilty; the suggestions of prudence were less powerful than the thirst
of revenge; and the pursuit of the fugitives carried him with the
flower of the army four miles from the field of battle. More than
three thousand Londoners were slain; but the advantage was dearly
purchased by the loss of the victory and the ruin of the royal cause.
Leicester, who viewed with pleasure the thoughtless impetuosity of the
Prince, fell with the remainder of his forces on Henry and his
brother. A body of Scots, who fought on foot, was cut to pieces. Their
leaders, John Comyn and Robert de Bruce,[62] were made prisoners: the
same fate befell the King of the Romans; and the combat was feebly
maintained by the exertions and example of Philip Basset, who fought
near the person of Henry. But when that nobleman sank through loss of
blood, his retainers fled; the King, whose horse had been killed under
him, surrendered; and Leicester conducted the royal captive into the
priory. The fugitives, as soon as they learned the fate of their
sovereign, came back to share his captivity, and voluntarily yielded
themselves to their enemies.
When Edward returned from the pursuit, both armies had disappeared. He
traversed the field, which was strewed with the bodies of the slain
and the wounded, anxiously, but fruitlessly, inquiring after his
father. As he approached Lewes, the barons came out, and, on the first
shock, the earl Warenne, with the King's half-brothers and seven
hundred horse, fled to Pevensey, whence they sailed to the Continent.
Edward, with a strong body of veterans from the Welsh marches, rode
along the wall to the castle, and understanding that his father was a
captive in the priory, obtained permission to visit him from
Leicester. An unsuccessful attempt made by the barons against the
castle revived his hopes; he opened a negotiation with the chiefs of
the party; and the next morning was concluded the treaty known by the
name of "the Mise of Lewes." By this it was agreed that all prisoners
taken during the war should be set at liberty; that the princes Edward
and Henry should be kept as hostages for the peaceable conduct of
their fathers, the King of England and the King of the Romans; and
that all matters which could not be amicably adjusted in the next
parliament should be referred to the decision of certain arbitrators.
In the battle of Lewes about five thousand men are said to have fallen
on each side.
By this victory the royal authority was laid prostrate at the feet of
Leicester. The scheme of arbitration was merely a blind to deceive the
vulgar: his past conduct had proved how little he was to be bound by
such decisions; and the referees themselves, aware of the probable
result, refused to accept the office. The great object of his policy
was the preservation of the ascendency which he had acquired. To
Henry, who was now the convenient tool of his ambition, he paid every
exterior demonstration of respect, but never suffered him to depart
out of his custody; and, without consulting him, affixed his seal to
every order which was issued for the degradation of the royal
authority. The King of the Romans, a more resolute and dangerous
enemy, instead of being restored to liberty, was closely confined in
the castle of Wallingford, and afterward in that of Kenilworth; and
the two princes were confided to the custody of the new governor of
Dover, with instructions to allow of no indulgence which might
facilitate their escape. Instead of removing the sheriffs, a creature
of Leicester was sent to each county with the title of conservator of
the peace. This officer was empowered to arrest all persons who should
carry arms without the King's special license; to prevent all breaches
of the peace; to employ the posse comitatus to apprehend offenders;
and to cause four knights to be chosen as the representatives of the
county in the next parliament.
In that assembly a new form of government was established, to last,
unless it were dissolved by mutual consent, till the compromise of
Lewes had been carried into full execution, not only in the reign of
Henry, but also of Edward, the heir-apparent. This form had been
devised by the heads of the faction to conceal their real views from
the people; and was so contrived that they retained in their own hands
the sovereign authority, while to the superficial observer they seemed
to have resigned it to the King and his council. It was enacted that
Henry should delegate the power of choosing his counsellors to a
committee of three persons, whose proceedings should be valid,
provided they were attested by the signatures of two of the number.
The King immediately issued a writ to the Earl of Leicester, the Earl
of Gloucester, and the Bishop of Chichester, authorizing them to
appoint in his name a council of nine members; nor were they slow in
selecting for that purpose the most devoted of their adherents.
The powers given to this council were most extensive, and to be
exercised without control whenever the parliament was not sitting.
Besides the usual authority it possessed the appointment of all the
officers of state, of all the officers of the household, and of all
the governors of the royal castles. Three were ordered to be in
constant attendance on the King's person; all were to be summoned on
matters of great importance; and a majority of two-thirds was required
to give a sanction to their decisions. Hitherto the original committee
seemed to have been forgotten; but it was contrived that when the
council was so divided that the consent of two-thirds could not be
obtained, the question should be reserved for the determination of the
three electors, an artifice by which, under the modest pretence of
providing against dissension, they invested themselves with the
sovereign authority. By additional enactments it was provided that no
foreigner, though he might go or come, or reside peaceably, should be
employed under the government; that past offences should be mutually
forgiven; that the two charters, the provisions made the last year, in
consequence of the Statutes of Oxford, and all the ancient and
laudable customs of the realm, should be inviolably observed; and that
three prelates should be appointed to reform the state of the Church,
and to procure for the clergy, with the aid of the civil power if
necessary, full compensation for their losses during the late
troubles.
The earl was now in reality possessed of more extensive authority than
Henry had ever enjoyed; but he soon discovered that to retain the
object of his ambition would require the exertion of all his powers.
The cause of the captive monarch was ardently espoused by foreign
nations and by the sovereign pontiff. Adventurers from every province
of France crowded to the royal standard which Queen Eleanor had
erected at Damme in Flanders; and a numerous fleet assembled in the
harbor to transport to England the thousands who had sworn to humble
the pride of a disloyal and aspiring subject. To oppose them Leicester
had summoned to the camp on Barham downs, not only the King's military
tenants, but the whole force of the nation,[63] and, taking on himself
the command of the fleet, cruised in the narrow seas to intercept the
invaders. But the winds seemed to be leagued with the earl; the
Queen's army was detained for several weeks in the vicinity of Damme;
and the mercenaries gradually disbanded themselves, when the short
period for which they had contracted to serve was expired. At the same
time the Pontiff had commissioned Guido, Cardinal Bishop of Sabina, to
proceed to England, and take Henry under the papal protection; but,
deterred by the hint of a conspiracy against his life from crossing
the sea, he excommunicated the barons unless before the 1st of
September they should restore the King to all his rights, and at the
same time summoned four of the English prelates to appear before him
at Boulogne. After much tergiversation these obeyed, but appealed from
his jurisdiction to the equity of the Pope or a general council; and
though they consented to bring back a sentence of excommunication
against the King's enemies, they willingly suffered it to be taken
from them by the officers at Dover. Their appeal was approved by the
convocation of the clergy, and Guido, after publishing the
excommunication himself at Hesdin, returned to Rome, where he was
elevated to the chair of St. Peter by the name of Clement IV.
During the summer Leicester had been harassed with repeated
solicitations for the release of the two princes, Edward and Henry. In
the winter he pretended to acquiesce, and convoked a parliament to
meet after Christmas for the avowed purpose of giving the sanction of
the legislature to so important a measure. But the extraordinary
manner in which this assembly was constituted provoked a suspicion
that his real object was to consolidate and perpetuate his own power.
Only those prelates and barons were summoned who were known to be
attached to his party; and the deficiency was supplied by
representatives from the counties, cities, and boroughs who, as they
had been chosen through his influence, proved the obsequious ministers
of his will. Several weeks were consumed in private negotiation with
Henry and his son. Leicester was aware of the untamable spirit of
Edward, nor would he consent that the Prince should exchange his
confinement for the company of his father on any other terms than that
he should still remain under the inspection of his keepers, and evince
his gratitude for the indulgence by ceding to the earl and his heirs
the county of Chester, the castle of Pec, and the town of
Newcastle-under-Lyne; in exchange for which he should receive other
lands of the same annual value. At length the terms were settled, and
confirmed by the parliament, with every additional security which the
jealousy of the faction could devise. It was enacted "by common
consent of the King, his son Edward, the prelates, earls, barons, and
commonalty of the realm," that the charters and the ordinances should
be inviolably observed; that neither the King nor the Prince should
aggrieve the earl or his associates for their past conduct; that if
they did, their vassals and subjects should be released from the
obligation of fealty till full redress were obtained, and their
abettors should be punished with exile and forfeiture; that the
barons, whom the King had defied before the battle of Lewes, should
renew their homage and fealty; but on the express condition that such
homage and fealty should be no longer binding if he violated his
promise; that the command of the royal castles should be taken from
suspected persons and intrusted to officers of approved loyalty; that
the Prince should not leave the realm for three years, under pain of
disherison; that he should not choose his advisers and companions
himself, but receive them from the council of state; that with his
father's consent he should put into the hands of the barons for five
years, five royal castles, as securities for his behavior, and should
deliver to Leicester the town and castle of Bristol in pledge till a
full and legal transfer should be made of Chester, Pec, and Newcastle;
that both Henry and Edward should swear to observe all these articles,
and not to solicit any absolution from their oath, nor make any use of
such absolution, if it were to be pronounced by the Pope; and lastly,
that they should cause the present agreement "To be confirmed in the
best manner that might be devised, in Ireland, in Gascony, by the King
of Scotland, and in all lands subject to the King of England."
These were terms which nothing but necessity could have extorted; and
to add to their stability, they were for the most part embodied in the
form of a writ, signed by the King, and sent to the sheriffs, with
orders to publish them in the full court of each county twice every
year.
It is generally supposed that the project of summoning to parliament
the representatives of the counties, cities, and boroughs grew out of
that system of policy which the earl had long pursued, of flattering
the prejudices, and attaching to himself the affections, of the
people. Nor had his efforts proved unsuccessful. Men in the higher
ranks of life might penetrate behind the veil, with which he sought to
conceal his ambition; but by the nation at large he was considered as
the reformer of abuses, the protector of the oppressed, and the savior
of his country. Even some of the clergy, and several religious bodies,
soured by papal and regal exactions, gave him credit for the truth of
his pretensions, and preachers were found who, though he had been
excommunicated by the legate, made his virtues the theme of their
sermons, and exhorted their hearers to stand by the patron of the poor
and the avenger of the Church.[64] Within the kingdom no man dared to
dispute his authority; it was only at the extremities that a faint
show of resistance was maintained. The distant disobedience of a few
chiefs on the Scottish borders he despised or dissembled; and the open
hostilities of the lords in the Welsh marches were crushed in their
birth by his promptitude and decision. He compelled Roger de Mortimer
and his associates to throw down their arms, surrender their castles,
and abide the judgment of their peers, by whom they were condemned to
expatriate themselves, some for twelve months, others for three years,
and to reside during their exile in Ireland. They pretended to submit,
but lingered on the sea-coast, and amid the mountains of Wales, in the
hope that some new event might recall them to draw the sword and fight
again in the cause of their sovereign.
It had cost Leicester some years and much labor to climb to the summit
of his greatness; his descent was rapid beyond the calculation of the
most sanguine among his enemies. He had hitherto enjoyed the
coöperation of the powerful earls of Derby and Gloucester; but, if he
was too ambitious to admit of an equal, they were too proud to bow to
a fellow-subject. Frequent altercations betrayed their secret
jealousies; and the sudden arrest and imprisonment of Derby, on a
charge of corresponding with the royalists, warned Gloucester of his
own danger. He would have shared the captivity of his friends had he
assisted at the great tournament at Northampton; but by his absence he
disconcerted the plans of his enemy, and, recalling Mortimer and the
exiles, unfurled the royal standard in the midst of his tenantry.
Leicester immediately hastened to Hereford with the King, the Prince,
and a numerous body of knights. To prevent the effusion of blood their
common friends intervened; a reconciliation was effected, and four
umpires undertook the task of reconciling their differences. But under
this appearance of friendship all was hollow and insincere. Leicester
sought to circumvent his adversary; Gloucester waited the result of a
plan for the liberation of Edward, which had been concerted through
the means of Thomas de Clare, brother to the Earl, and companion to
the Prince.
One day after dinner Edward obtained permission to take the air
without the walls of Hereford, attended by his keepers. They rode to
Widmarsh. A proposal was made to try the speed of their horses;
several matches were made and run; and the afternoon was passed in a
succession of amusements. A little before sunset there appeared on
Tulington hill a person riding on a gray charger and waving his
bonnet. The Prince, who knew the signal, bidding adieu to the company,
instantly galloped off with his friend, another knight, and four
esquires. The keepers followed; but in a short time Mortimer, with a
band of armed men, issued from a wood, received Edward with
acclamations of joy, and conducted him to his castle of Wigmore. The
next day the Prince met the Earl of Gloucester at Ludlow. They
mutually pledged themselves to forget all former injuries, and to
unite their efforts for the liberation of the King, on condition that
he should govern according to the laws, and should exclude foreigners
from his councils.
When Leicester received the news of Edward's escape, he conceived that
the prince was gone to join the Earl Warenne, and William de Valence,
who a few days before had landed with one hundred and twenty knights
on the coast of Pembrokeshire. Ignorant, however, of his real motions,
he dared not pursue him; but issued writs in the King's name, ordering
the military tenants of the Crown to assemble at first in Worcester,
and afterward in Gloucester. To these he added circular letters to the
bishops, accusing Edward of rebellion, and requesting a sentence of
excommunication against all disturbers of the peace "from the highest
to the lowest." The royalists had wisely determined to cut off his
communication with the rest of the kingdom by securing to themselves
the command of the Severn. Worcester readily opened its gates;
Gloucester was taken by storm; and the castle, after a siege of two
weeks, was surrendered on condition that the garrison should not serve
again during the next forty days. Every bridge was now broken down;
the small craft on the river was sunk or destroyed; and the fords were
either deepened or watched by powerful detachments. Leicester, caught
as it were in the toils, remained inactive at Hereford; but he awaited
the arrival of the troops whom he had summoned, and concluded with
Llewellyn of Wales a treaty of alliance, by which, for the pretended
payment of thirty thousand marks, Henry was made to resign all the
advantages which he and his predecessors had wrested from the princes
of that country. At last, reinforced by a party of Welshmen, the Earl
marched to the south, took and destroyed the castle of Monmouth, and
fixed his head-quarters at Newport. Here he expected a fleet of
transports to convey him to Bristol; but the galleys of the Earl of
Gloucester blockaded the mouth of the Avon; and Edward, with the
bravest of his knights, made an attempt on the town of Newport itself.
The part which lay on the left bank of the Usk was carried; but the
destruction of the bridge arrested the progress of the victors, and
Leicester, with his dispirited followers, escaped into Wales.
Misfortune now pressed on misfortune; and the last anchor of his hope
was broken by the defeat of his son Simon of Montfort. That young
nobleman was employed in the siege of Pevensey, on the coast of
Sussex, when he received the King's writ to repair to Worcester. On
his march he sacked the city of Winchester, the gates of which had
been shut against him, passed peaceably through Oxford, and reached
the castle of Kenilworth, the principal residence of his family. Here
he remained for some days in heedless security, awaiting the orders of
his father. Margot, a woman who in male attire performed the office of
a spy, informed the Prince that Simon lay in the priory, and his
followers in the neighboring farmhouses. Edward immediately formed the
design of surprising them in their beds; and marching from Worcester
in the evening, arrived at Kenilworth about sunrise the next morning.
Twelve bannerets with all their followers were made prisoners; and
their horses and treasures repaid the industry of the captors. Simon
alone with his pages escaped naked into the castle.
Leicester on the same day had crossed the Severn by a ford, and halted
at Kempsey, about three miles from Worcester. Happy to find himself at
last on the left bank of the river, and ignorant of the fate of his
son and the motions of the enemy, he proceeded to Evesham, with the
intention of continuing his march the next morning for Kenilworth. The
Prince had returned with his prisoners to Worcester, but left the city
in the evening, and, to mask his real design, took the road which
leads to Bridgenorth. He passed the river near Clains, and, wheeling
to the right, arrived before sunrise in the neighborhood of Evesham.
He took his station on the summit of a hill in the direction of
Kenilworth; two other divisions, under the Earl of Gloucester and
Roger de Mortimer, occupied the remaining roads. As the royalists bore
the banners of their captives, they were taken by the enemy for the
army of Simon de Montfort. But the mistake was soon discovered.
Leicester, from an eminence, surveyed their numbers and disposition,
and was heard to exclaim, "The Lord have mercy on our souls, for our
bodies are Prince Edward's." According to his custom he spent some
time in prayer, and received the sacrament. His first object was to
force his way through the division on the hill. Foiled in this
attempt, and in danger of being surrounded, he ordered his men to form
a circle, and oppose on all sides the pressure of the enemy. For a
while the courage of despair proved a match for the superiority of
numbers. The old King, who had been compelled to appear in the ranks,
was slightly wounded, and as he fell from his horse would probably
have been killed had he not cried out to his antagonist, "Hold,
fellow! I am Harry of Winchester." The Prince knew the voice of his
father, sprang to his rescue, and conducted him to a place of safety.
During his absence Leicester's horse was killed under him; and, as he
fought on foot, he asked if they gave quarter. A voice replied, "There
is no quarter for traitors." Henry de Montfort, his eldest son, who
would not leave his side, fell at his feet. His dead body was soon
covered by that of the father. The royalists obtained a complete but
sanguinary victory. Of Leicester's partisans all the barons and
knights were slain, with the exception of about ten, who were
afterward found breathing, and were cured of their wounds. The foot
soldiers of the royal army—so we are told to save the honor of the
leaders—offered to the body of the earl every indignity. His mangled
remains were afterward collected by the King's orders and buried in
the church of the abbey.
By this victory the sceptre was replaced in the hands of Henry. With
their leader, the hopes of the barons had been extinguished: they
spontaneously set at liberty the prisoners who had been detained since
the battle of Lewes, and anxiously awaited the determination of the
Parliament, which had been summoned to meet at Winchester. In that
assembly it was enacted that all grants and patents issued under the
King's seal during the time of his captivity should be revoked; that
the citizens of London, for their obstinacy and excesses, should
forfeit their charter; that the Countess of Leicester and her family
should quit the kingdom; and that the estates of all who had adhered
to the late earl should be confiscated. The rigor of the last article
was afterward softened by a declaration, in which the King granted a
free pardon to those who could show that their conduct had not been
voluntary, but the effect of compulsion. These measures, however, were
not calculated to restore the public tranquillity. The sufferers,
prompted by revenge, or compelled by want, had again recourse to the
sword; the mountains, forests, and morasses furnished them with places
of retreat; and the flames of predatory warfare were kindled in most
parts of the kingdom. To reduce these partial but successive
insurrections occupied Prince Edward the greater part of two years. He
first compelled Simon de Montfort and his associates, who had sought
an asylum in the Isle of Axholm, to submit to the award which should
be given by himself and the King of the Romans. He next led his forces
against the men of the Cinque Ports, who had long been distinguished
by their attachment to Leicester, and who since his fall had, by their
piracies, interrupted the commerce of the narrow seas, and made prizes
of all ships belonging to the King's subjects. The capture of
Winchelsea, which was carried by storm, taught them to respect the
authority of the sovereign; and their power by sea made the Prince
desirous to recall them to their duty and attach them to the crown.
They swore fealty to Henry; and in return obtained a full pardon and
the confirmation of their privileges. From the Cinque Ports Edward
proceeded to Hampshire, which, with Berkshire and the neighboring
counties, was ravaged by numerous banditti, under the command of Adam
Gordon, the most athletic man of the age. They were surprised in Alton
Wood, in Buckinghamshire. The Prince engaged in single combat with
their leader, wounded and unhorsed him, and then, in reward of his
valor, granted him his pardon. Still the garrison of Kenilworth
continued to brave the royal power, and even added contumely to their
disobedience. Having in one of their excursions taken a king's
messenger, they cut off one of his hands, and sent him back with an
insolent message to Henry. To subdue these obstinate rebels it was
necessary to summon the chivalry of the kingdom; but the strength of
the place defied all the efforts of the assailants; and the obstinacy
of Hastings the governor refused for six months every offer which was
made to him in the name of his sovereign.
There were many, even among the royalists, who disapproved of the
indiscriminate severity exercised by the parliament at Winchester; and
a possibility was suggested of granting indulgence to the sufferers,
and at the same time satisfying those who had profited by their
forfeitures. With this view a committee was appointed of twelve
prelates and barons, whose award was confirmed by the King in
parliament, and called the Dictum de Kenilworth. They divided the
delinquents into three classes. In the first were the Earl of Derby,
Hugh de Hastings, who had earned his preëminence by his superior
ferocity, and the persons who had so insolently mutilated the King's
messenger. The second comprised all who on different occasions had
drawn the sword against their sovereign; and in the third were
numbered those who, though they had not fought under the banner, had
accepted office under the authority, of Leicester. To all was given
the option of redeeming their estates by the payment to the actual
possessors of certain sums of money, to the amount of seven years'
value by delinquents of the first class, of five by those of the
second, and of two years or one year by those of the third. By many
the boon was accepted with gratitude: it was scornfully refused by the
garrison of the castle of Kenilworth and by the outlaws who had fled
to the Isle of Ely. The obstinacy of the former was subdued by famine;
and they obtained from the clemency of the King the grant of their
lives, limbs, and apparel. The latter, relying on the strength of
their asylum, gloried in their rebellion, and occasionally ravaged the
neighboring country. Their impunity was, however, owing to the perfidy
of the Earl of Gloucester, who, without the talents, aspired to the
fame and preëminence, of his deceased rival. He expressed his
disapprobation of the award; the factious inhabitants of London chose
him for their leader; and his presumption was nourished by the daily
accession of outlaws from different parts of the country. Henry
summoned his friends to the siege of the capital; and the Earl, when
he beheld from the walls the royal army, and reflected on the
consequences of a defeat, condemned his own temerity, accepted the
mediation of the King of the Romans, and on the condition of receiving
a full pardon, gladly returned to his duty, leaving at the same time
the citizens to the good pleasure of the King. His submission drew
after it the submission of the other insurgents. If Llewellyn remained
in arms, it was only with the hope of extorting more favorable terms.
The title of Prince of Wales with a right to the homage of the Welsh
chieftains satisfied his ambition; and he consented to swear fealty to
Henry, and to pay him the sum of twenty-five thousand marks. The
restoration of tranquillity allowed the King to direct his attention
to the improvement of his people. He condescended to profit by the
labors of his adversaries; and some of the most useful among the
provisions of the barons were with other laws enacted by legitimate
authority in a parliament at Marlborough. To crown this important
work, and to extinguish, if it were possible, the very embers of
discontent, the clergy were brought forward with a grant of the
twentieth of their revenues, as a fund which might enable those who
had been prevented by poverty to redeem their estates according to the
decision of the arbitrators at Kenilworth. The outlaws in the Isle of
Ely were also reduced. The King's poverty had disabled him from
undertaking offensive measures against them: but a grant of the tenth
part of the church revenues for three years, which he had obtained
from the Pope, infused new vigor into his councils; bridges were
thrown over the rivers; roads were constructed across the marshes; and
the rebels returned to their obedience on condition that they should
enjoy the benefit of the Dictum of Kenilworth, which they had so
contemptuously and obstinately refused.
A.D. 1270
JOSEPH FRANÇOIS MICHAUD
Louis IX, King of France, 1226-1270, was at once a monarch
of great ability and a man of intense religious spirit.
Naturally, in such a time as that of his reign, a man like
Louis would be a crusader. His first expedition—called the
Seventh Crusade, 1248-1254—was directed against Egypt. He
captured Damietta in 1249 and pushed into the interior, but
was defeated by the Egyptian Sultan and taken prisoner with
his entire army. He was liberated on the surrender of
Damietta and the payment of a large ransom, and in 1254 he
returned to France.
The state of Europe meanwhile had become unfavorable to
further prosecution of the crusades, and Louis was the only
monarch who longer took a serious interest in the fate of
the Christian colonies of Asia. He also wished to avenge the
honor of the French arms in Egypt, and so at length he
planned a new expedition against the Moslems in that
country. But he long kept this purpose a secret "between God
and himself." Louis consulted Pope Clement IV, who at first
tried to discourage the perilous enterprise; but finally the
Pontiff gave his approval, and while admitting no others as
yet into his designs, Louis quietly made preparation and
awaited the favorable hour.
At last, the great Parliament of France being assembled in
the hall of the Louvre, the King entered, bearing in his
hand the crown of thorns of Christ. At sight of this, the
whole assembly became aware of the monarch's intentions,
which he now fully made known, exhorting all who heard him
to take the cross. A sad surprise fell upon the reluctant
parliament; but Louis was strongly seconded by the Pope's
legate, and many of the prelates, nobles, and knights
received the cross.
Notwithstanding the deep regret which spread among his
people, who felt the need of their sovereign's presence for
keeping peace and order in the kingdom, and also feared for
his own safety—his health being greatly impaired—there was
profound respect for the motives of Louis and general
acquiescence in his determination. Among many this
resignation gave place to zealous devotion, and "the warlike
nobility of the kingdom only thought of following their King
in an expedition which was already looked upon as
unfortunate." Final preparations were accordingly made for
Louis' undertaking.
While all France was engaged in preparing for the expedition beyond
the seas, the crusade was preached in the other countries of Europe. A
council was held at Northampton, in England, in which Ottobon, the
Pope's legate, exhorted the faithful to arm themselves to save the
little that remained of the kingdom of Jerusalem; and Prince Edward
took the cross, to discharge the vow that his father, Henry III, had
made when the news reached Europe of the captivity of Louis IX in
Egypt. After the example of Edward, his brother, Prince Edmund, with
the earls of Pembroke and Warwick, and many knights and barons, agreed
to take arms against the infidels. The same zeal for the deliverance
of the holy places was manifested in Scotland, when John Baliol and
several nobles enrolled themselves under the banners of the cross.
Cataloni and Castile furnished a great number of crusaders; the King
of Portugal, and James, King of Aragon, took the cross. Doña Sancha,
one of the daughters of the Aragonese prince, had made a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem, and had died in the hospital of St. John, after devoting
many years to the service of pilgrims and the sick. James had several
times conquered the Moors, but neither his exploits against the
infidels nor the remembrance of a daughter who had fallen a martyr to
Christian charity could sustain his piety against the attacks of his
earthly passions, and his shameful connection with Berengaria
scandalized Christendom.
The Pope, to whom he communicated his design of going to the Holy
Land, replied that Jesus Christ could not accept the services of a
prince who crucified him every day by his sins. The King of Aragon, by
a strange combination of opposite sentiments, would neither renounce
Berengaria nor give up his project of going to fight against the
infidels in the East. He renewed his oath in a great assembly at
Toledo, at which the ambassadors of the Khan of Tartary and of the
King of Armenia were present. We read, in a Spanish dissertation upon
the crusades, that Alfonso the Wise, who was not able to go to the
East himself, furnished the King of Aragon with a hundred men and a
hundred thousand marvedis in gold; the Order of St. James, and other
orders of knighthood, who had often accompanied the conqueror of the
Moors in his battles, supplied him also with men and money. The city
of Barcelona offered him eighty thousand Barcelonese sols, and Majorca
fifty thousand silver sols, with two equipped vessels. The fleet,
composed of thirty large ships, and a great number of smaller craft,
in which were embarked eight hundred men-at-arms and two thousand foot
soldiers, set out from Barcelona on the 4th of September, 1268. When
they arrived off Majorca, the fleet was dispersed by a tempest; one
part of the vessels gained the coasts of Asia, another took shelter in
the ports of Sardinia, the vessel that the King of Arragon was on
board of was cast upon the coast of Languedoc.
The arrival at Ptolemais of the Aragonese crusaders, commanded by a
natural son of James, restored some hopes to the Franks of Palestine.
An envoy from the King of Aragon, according to the oriental
chronicles, repaired to the Khan of the Tartars, to announce to him
that the Spanish monarch would soon arrive with his army. But whether
he was detained by the charms of Berengaria, or whether the tempest
that dispersed his fleet made him believe that heaven was averse to
his pilgrimage, James did not arrive. His departure, in which he
appeared to despise the counsels of the holy see, had been severely
censured; and his return, which was attributed to his disgraceful
passion, met with an equal share of blame. Murmurs likewise arose
against the King of Portugal, who had levied the tenths, but did not
leave his kingdom.
All those who in Europe took an interest in the crusade, had, at this
time, their eyes directed toward the kingdom of Naples, where Charles
of Anjou was making great preparations to accompany his brother into
the East; but this kingdom, recently conquered, was doomed again to be
the theatre of a war kindled by vengeance and ambition. There fell out
in the states of Naples and Sicily, which had so often changed
masters, that which almost always takes place after a revolution:
deceived hopes were changed into hatreds; the excesses inseparable
from a conquest, the presence of an army proud of its victories, with
the too violent government of Charles, animated the people against
their new King.
Clement IV thought it his duty to give a timely and salutary warning.
"Your kingdom," he wrote to him, "at first exhausted by the agents of
your authority, is now torn by your enemies; thus the caterpillar
destroys what has escaped the grasshopper. The kingdom of Sicily and
Naples has not been wanting in men to desolate it; where now are they
that will defend it?" This letter of the Pope's announced storms ready
to break forth. Many of those who had called Charles to the throne
regretted the house of Swabia, and directed their new hopes toward
Italy, strengthening Conradin, heir of Frederick and of Conrad. This
young Prince quitted Germany with an army and advanced toward Italy,
strengthening himself in his march with the party of the Ghibellines,
and with all those whom the domination of Charles had irritated. All
Italy was in flames, and the Pope, Charles' protector, retired to
Viterbo, had no defence to afford him, except only the thunders of the
Church.
Charles of Anjou, however, now assembled his troops, and marched out
to meet his rival. The two armies met in the plain of St. Valentine,
near Aquila; the army of Conradin was cut to pieces, and the young
Prince fell into the power of the conqueror. Posterity cannot pardon
Charles for having abused his victory here so far as to condemn and
decapitate his disarmed and vanquished enemy. After this execution,
Sicily and the country of Naples were given up to all the furies of a
jealous, suspicious tyranny, for violence produces violence, and great
political crimes never come alone. It was thus that Charles got ready
for the crusade; but, on the other hand, Providence was preparing
terrible catastrophes for him. "So true it is," says a historian,
"that God as often gives kingdoms to punish those he elevates as to
chastise those whom he brings low."
While these bloody scenes were passing in Italy, Louis IX was
following up the establishment of public peace and his darling object,
the crusade, at the same time. The holy monarch did not forget that
the surest manner of softening the evils of war, as well as of his
absence, was to make good laws; he therefore issued several
ordinances, and each of these ordinances was a monument of his
justice. The most celebrated of all is the Pragmatic Sanction, which
Bossuet called the firmest support of Gallican liberties. He also
employed himself in elevating that monument of legislation which
illustrated his reign and which became a light for following ages.
The Count of Poictiers, who was to accompany his brother, was in the
mean time engaged in pacifying his provinces, and established many
regulations for maintaining public order. He, above everything,
endeavored to abolish slavery; having for a maxim "that men are born
free, and it is always wise to bring back things to their origin."
This good prince drew upon himself the benedictions of his people; and
the love of his vassals assured the duration of the laws he made.
We have said that Prince Edward, son of Henry III, had taken the oath
to combat the infidels. He had recently displayed a brilliant valor in
the civil war that had so long desolated England; and the deliverance
of his father and the pacification of the kingdom had been the reward
of his exploits. It was his esteem for the character of Louis IX, more
than the spirit of devotion, that induced him to set out for the East.
The King of France, who himself exhorted him to take the cross, lent
him seventy livres tournois for the preparations for his voyage.
Edward was to follow Louis as his vassal, and to conduct under his
banners the English crusaders, united with those of Guienne. Gaston de
Béarn, to whom the French monarch advanced the sum of twenty-five
thousand livres, prepared to follow Prince Edward to the Holy Land.
The period fixed upon for the departure of the expedition was drawing
near. By order of the legate, the curés in every parish had taken
the names of the crusaders, in order to oblige them to wear the cross
publicly, and all had notice to hold themselves in readiness to embark
in the month of May, 1270. Louis confided the administration of his
kingdom, during his absence, to Matthew, Abbot of St. Denis, and to
Simon, Sieur de Nesle; he wrote to all the nobles who were to follow
him into the Holy Land, to recommend them to assemble their knights
and men-at-arms. As religious enthusiasm was not sufficiently strong
to make men forget their worldly interests, many nobles who had taken
the cross entertained great fears of being ruined by the holy war, and
most of them hesitated to set out. Louis undertook to pay all the
expenses of their voyage, and to maintain them at his own cost during
the war—a thing that had not been done in the crusades of Louis VII
or Philip Augustus, in which the ardor of the crusaders did not allow
them to give a thought to their fortunes or to exercise so much
foresight. We have still a valuable monument of this epoch in a
charter, by which the King of France stipulates how much he is to pay
to a great number of barons and knights during the time the war beyond
the seas should last.
Early in the month of March, Louis repaired to the Church of St.
Denis, where he received the symbols of the pilgrimage and placed his
kingdom under the protection of the apostles of France. Upon the day
following this solemn ceremony, a mass for the crusade was celebrated
in the Church of Notre Dame at Paris. The monarch appeared there,
accompanied by his children and the principal nobles of his court; he
walked from the palace barefooted, carrying his scrip and staff. The
same day he went to sleep at Vincennes, and beheld, for the last time,
the spot on which he had enjoyed so much happiness in administering
justice to his people. And it was here too that he took leave of Queen
Marguerite, whom he had never before quitted—a separation rendered so
much the more painful by the sorrowful reflection it recalled of past
events and by melancholy presentiments for the future.
Both the people and the court were affected by the deepest regret; and
that which added to the public anxiety was the circumstance that
everyone was ignorant of the point to which the expedition was to be
directed: the coast of Africa was only vaguely conjectured. The King
of Sicily had taken the cross without having the least inclination to
embark for Asia; and when the question was discussed in council he
gave it as his opinion that Tunis should be the object of the first
attack. The kingdom of Tunis covered the seas with pirates, who
infested all the routes to Palestine; it was, besides, the ally of
Egypt, and might, if subdued, be made the readiest road to that
country. These were the ostensible reasons put forth; the true ones
were that it was of importance to the King of Sicily that the coasts
of Africa should be brought under European subjection, and that he did
not wish to go too far from Italy. The true reason with St. Louis, and
that which, no doubt, determined him, was that he believed it possible
to convert the King of Tunis, and thus bring a vast kingdom under the
Christian banners. The Mussulman Prince, whose ambassadors had been
several times in France, had himself given birth to this idea, by
saying that he asked nothing better than to embrace the religion of
Jesus Christ; thus, that which he had said to turn aside an invasion
was precisely the cause of the war being directed against his
territories. Louis IX often repeated that he would consent to pass the
whole of his life in a dungeon, without seeing the sun, if, by such
sacrifice, the conversion of the King of Tunis and his nation could be
brought about; an expression of ardent proselytism that has been
blamed with much bitterness, but which only showed an extreme desire
to see Africa delivered from barbarism and marching with Europe in the
progress of intelligence and civilization, which are the great
blessings of Christianity.
As Louis traversed his kingdom on his way to Aigues-Mortes, where the
army of the crusaders was to embark, he was everywhere hailed by the
benedictions of his people, and gratified by hearing their ardent
prayers for the success of his arms. The clergy and the faithful,
assembled in the churches, prayed for the King and his children and
all that should follow him. They prayed also for foreign princes and
nobles who had taken the cross and promised to go into the East, as if
they would, by that means, press them to hasten their departure.
Very few, however, responded to this religious appeal. The King of
Castile, who had taken the cross, had pretensions to the imperial
crown, nor could he forget the death of his brother Frederick,
immolated by Charles of Anjou. It was not only that the affairs of the
empire detained the German princes and nobles; the death of young
Conradin had so shocked and disgusted men's minds in Germany that no
one from that country would have consented to fight under the same
banners as the King of Sicily. So black a crime, committed amid the
preparations for a holy war, appeared to presage great calamities. In
the height of their grief or indignation, people might fear that
heaven would be angry with the Christians, and that its curse would
fall upon the arms of the crusaders.
When Louis arrived at Aigues-Mortes, he found neither the Genoese
fleet nor the principal nobles who were to embark with him; the
ambassadors of Palæologus were the only persons who did not cause
themselves to be waited for; for a great dread of the crusade was
entertained at Constantinople, and this fear was more active than the
enthusiasm of the crusaders. Louis might have asked the Greek Emperor
why, after having promised to send soldiers, he had only sent
ambassadors; but Louis, who attached great importance to the
conversion of the Greeks, contented himself with removing the
apprehensions of the envoys, and, as Clement IV died at that period,
he sent them to the conclave of the cardinals, to terminate the
reunion of the two churches.
At length the unwilling crusaders, stimulated by repeated exhortations
and by the example of Louis, set forward on their march from all the
provinces, and directed their course toward the ports of Aigues-Mortes
and Marseilles. Louis soon welcomed the arrival of the Count of
Poictiers, with a great number of his vassals; the principal nobles
brought with them the most distinguished of their knights and their
most brave and hardy soldiers; many cities likewise contributed their
supply of warriors. Each troop had its banner, and formed a separate
corps, bearing the name of a city or a province, the battalions of
Beaucaire, Carcassonne, Châlons, Perigord, etc., attracted observation
in the Christian army. These names, it is true, excited great
emulation, but they also gave rise to quarrels, which the wisdom and
firmness of Louis had great difficulty in appeasing. Crusaders arrived
from Catalonia, Castile, and several other provinces of Spain; five
hundred warriors from Friesland likewise ranged themselves with full
confidence under the standard of such a leader as Louis, saying that
their nation had always been proud to obey the kings of France.
Before he embarked, the King wrote once more to the regents of the
kingdom, to recommend them to watch carefully over public morals, to
deliver France from corrupt judges, and to render to everybody,
particularly the poor, prompt and perfect justice, so that He who
judges the judgments of men might have nothing to reproach him with.
Such were the last farewells that Louis took of France. The fleet set
sail on the 4th of July, 1270, and in a few days arrived in the road
of Cagliari. Here the council of the counts and barons was assembled
in the King's vessel, to deliberate upon the plan of the crusade.
Those who advocated the conquest of Tunis said that by that means the
passages of the Mediterranean would be opened and the power of the
mamelukes would be weakened; and that after that conquest the army
would go triumphantly into either Egypt or Palestine. Many of the
barons were not of this opinion; they said that, if the Holy Land
stood in need of prompt assistance, they ought to afford it without
delay. While they were engaged on the coast of Africa, in a country
with which they were unacquainted, the Christian cities of Syria might
all fall into the hands of the Saracens. The most redoubtable enemy of
the Christians was Beibars, the terrible Sultan of Cairo; it was him
they ought first to attack; it was into his states, into the bosom of
his capital, that the war should be carried, and not to a place two
hundred leagues from Egypt. They added to this, remembrances of the
defeats that ought to be avenged upon the very theatre of so many
disasters. Contemporary history does not say to what extent Louis was
struck with the wisdom of these last opinions; but the expedition to
Tunis flattered his most cherished hopes. It had been proposed by the
King of Sicily, whose concurrence was necessary to the success of the
crusade. It was, therefore, decided that the Genoese fleet should
direct its course toward Africa; and two days after, on the 20th of
July, it arrived in sight of Tunis and Carthage. At the sight of the
Christian fleet, the inhabitants of the coast of Africa were seized
with terror, and all who were upon the Carthage shore took flight
toward the mountains or toward Tunis. Some vessels that were in the
port were abandoned by their crews; the King ordered Florent de
Varennes, who performed the functions of admiral, to get into a boat
and reconnoitre the coast. Varennes found nobody in the port or upon
the shore; he sent word to the King that there was no time to be
lost—he must take immediate advantage of the consternation of the
enemy. But it was remembered that in the preceding expedition the
descent upon the coast of Egypt had been too precipitate; in this it
was determined to risk nothing. Inexperienced youth had presided over
the former war; now it was directed by old age and ripe manhood, and
it was resolved to wait till the morrow. The next day at dawn the
coast appeared covered with Saracens, among whom were many men on
horseback. The crusaders, nevertheless, commenced their preparations
for landing. At the approach of the Christians, the multitude of
infidels disappeared; which, according to the account of an
eyewitness, was a blessing from heaven, for the disorder was so great
that a hundred men would have been sufficient to stop the
disembarkation of the whole army. When the Christian army had landed,
it was drawn up in order of battle upon the shore, and, in accordance
with the laws of war, Pierre de Condé, almoner to the King, read with
a loud voice a proclamation by which the conquerors took possession of
the territory. This proclamation, which Louis had drawn up himself,
began by these words: "I proclaim, in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and of Louis, King of France, his sergeant," etc. The baggage,
provisions, and munitions of war were landed; a vast space was marked
out, and the Christian soldiers pitched their tents. While they were
digging ditches and raising intrenchments to protect the army from a
surprise, they took possession of the tower built on the point of the
cape, and on the following day five hundred sailors planted the
standard of the lilies upon the castle of Carthage. The village of
Marsa, which was close to the castle, fell likewise into the hands of
the crusaders; the women and the sick were placed here, while the army
remained beneath their tents. Louis still hoped for the conversion of
the King of Tunis, but this pious illusion was very quickly dissolved.
The Mussulman Prince sent messengers to the King to inform him that he
would come and meet him at the head of a hundred thousand men, and
would require baptism of him on the field of battle; the Moorish King
added that he had caused all the Christians in his dominions to be
seized, and that every one of them should be massacred if the
Christian army presumed to insult his capital. The menaces and vain
bravadoes of the Prince of Tunis effected no change in the plans of
the crusade; the Moors, besides, inspired no fear, and they themselves
could not conceal the terror which the sight only of the Christians
created in them. Not daring to face their enemy, their scattered bands
sometimes hovered around the Christian army, seeking to surprise any
stragglers from the camp; and at others, uniting together, they poured
down toward the advanced posts, launched a few arrows, showed their
naked swords, and then depended upon the swiftness of their horses to
secure them from the pursuit of the Christians. They not unfrequently
had recourse to treachery; three hundred of them came into the camp of
the crusaders, and said they wished to embrace the Christian faith,
and a hundred more followed them announcing the same intention. After
being received with open arms, they waited for what they deemed a
favorable opportunity, and fell upon a body of the Christians, sword
in hand; but being overwhelmed by numbers, most of them were killed,
and the rest were allowed to escape. Three of the principals fell on
their knees and implored the compassion of their leaders. The contempt
the Franks had for such enemies obtained their pardon, and they were
driven out of the camp. At length the Mussulman army, now emboldened
by the inaction of the Christians, presented itself several times on
the plain. Nothing would have been more easy than to attack and
conquer it; but Louis had resolved to act upon the defensive, and to
await the arrival of the King of Sicily, before beginning the war—a
fatal resolution, which ruined everything. The Sicilian monarch, who
had advised this ill-starred expedition, was destined to complete, by
his delays, the evil he had begun by his counsels. The Mussulmans
flocked from all parts of Africa to defend the cause of Islamism
against the Christians. Preparations were carried on in Egypt to meet
the invasion of the Franks; and in the month of August, Beibars
announced by messengers that he was about to march to the assistance
of Tunis. The troops which the Sultan of Cairo maintained in the
province of Barca received orders to set forward. Thus the Moorish
army was about to become formidable; but it was not this host of
Saracens that the crusaders had most to dread. Other dangers, other
misfortunes, threatened them: the Christian army wanted water; they
had none but salted provisions; the soldiers could not endure the
climate of Africa; winds constantly prevailed, which, coming from the
torrid zone, appeared to the Europeans to be the breath of a devouring
fire. The Saracens upon the neighboring mountains raised the sand with
certain instruments made for the purpose, and the dust was carried by
the wind in burning clouds down upon the plain upon which the
Christians were encamped. At last, dysentery, that fatal malady of
warm climates, began to commit frightful ravages among the troops; and
the plague, which appears to be born of itself upon this burning, arid
sand, spread its dire contagion through the Christian army.
They were obliged to be under arms night and day; not to defend
themselves from an enemy that always fled away from them, but to guard
against surprise. A vast number of the crusaders sunk under fatigue,
famine, and disease.
It became impossible to bury the dead; the ditches of the camp were
filled with carcasses, thrown in in heaps, which added to the
corruption of the air and to the spectacle of the general desolation.
In spite of his sufferings, in spite of his griefs, Louis IX was
constantly engaged in endeavors to alleviate the situation of his
army. He gave orders as long as he had any strength left, dividing his
time between the duties of a Christian and those of a monarch. The
fever, however, increased; no longer able to attend either to his
cares for the army or to exercises of piety, he ordered the cross to
be placed before him, and, stretching out his hands, he in silence
implored Him who had suffered for all men.
The whole army was in a state of mourning—the soldiers walked about
in tears, demanding of heaven the preservation of so good a prince.
Amid the general grief, Louis turned his thoughts toward the
accomplishment of the divine laws and the destinies of France.
Philip, who was his successor to the throne, was in his tent; he
desired him to approach his bed, and in a faltering voice gave him
counsels in what manner he should govern the kingdom of his fathers.
The instructions he gave him comprise the most noble maxims of
religion and loyalty; and that which will render them forever worthy
of the respect of posterity is that they had the authority of his
example, and only recalled the virtues of his own life.
A.D. 1271
MARCO POLO
The celebrated traveller, Marco Polo, was born at Venice in
1254, and died there in 1334, His father, a Venetian
merchant, had passed many years in Tartary, where he was
hospitably treated by Kublai Khan, to whose court, at an
early age, Marco was taken, and there was received into the
Khan's service. The training he acquired there fitted him to
become a professional politician rather than a traveller, in
the ordinary sense of the word; hence his more intimate
acquaintance with the social and political systems which he
describes.
Possessing, in a high degree, the versatility and subtlety
seen in so many of his nation, and improving his new
opportunities, he soon became among the high-class Tartars
as one of themselves. He adopted their dress and manners,
and learned the four languages spoken in the Khan's
dominions, of which he left a famous description in his book
of travels.
The empire seems at this time to have been at the height of
its splendor, and historians, as well as students and
readers of history, have been fortunate in possessing the
shrewd and candid observations of Marco Polo, whose unique
narratives still preserve their simple charm, nowise
impaired by comparison with our stricter historical methods.
It is our desire to treat of the great and admirable achievements of
the Grand Khan now reigning, who is styled Kublai Khan; the latter
word implying, in our language, lord of lords, and with much propriety
added to his name; for in respect to number of subjects, extent of
territory, and amount of revenue he surpasses every sovereign that has
heretofore been or that now is in the world; nor has any other been
served with such implicit obedience by those whom he governs.
Kublai Khan is the lineal and legitimate descendant of Genghis Khan,
the first emperor, and the rightful sovereign of the Tartars. He
obtained the sovereignty by his consummate valor, his virtues, and his
prudence, in opposition to the designs of his brothers, supported by
many of the great officers and members of his own family. But the
succession appertained to him of right. It is forty-two years since he
began to reign, and he is fully eighty-five years of age. Previously
to his ascending the throne he had served as a volunteer in the army,
and endeavored to take a share in every enterprise. Not only was he
brave and daring in action, but in point of judgment and military
skill he was considered to be the most able and successful commander
that ever led the Tartars to battle. From that period, however, he
ceased to take the field in person, and intrusted the conduct of
expeditions to his sons and his captains; excepting in one instance,
the occasion of which was as follows.
A certain chief named Nayan, who, although only thirty years of age,
was kinsman to Kublai, had succeeded to the dominion of many cities
and provinces, which enabled him to bring into the field an army of
four hundred thousand horse. His predecessors, however, had been
vassals of the Grand Khan. Actuated by youthful vanity upon finding
himself at the head of so great a force, he formed, in the year 1286,
the design of throwing off his allegiance, and usurping the
sovereignty. With this view he privately despatched messengers to
Kaidu, another powerful chief, whose territories lay toward the
greater Turkey, and who, although a nephew of the Grand Khan, was in
rebellion against him, and bore him determined ill-will, proceeding
from the apprehension of punishment for former offences. To Kaidu,
therefore, the propositions made by Nayan were highly satisfactory,
and he accordingly promised to bring to his assistance an army of a
hundred thousand horse. Both princes immediately began to assemble
their forces, but it could not be effected so secretly as not to come
to the knowledge of Kublai, who, upon hearing of their preparations,
lost no time in occupying all the passes leading to the countries of
Nayan and of Kaidu, in order to prevent them from having any
information respecting the measures he was himself taking.
He then gave orders for collecting, with the utmost celerity, the
whole of the troops stationed within ten days' march of the city of
Kambalu. These amounted to three hundred and sixty thousand horse, to
which was added a body of a hundred thousand foot, consisting of those
who were usually about his person, and principally his falconers and
domestic servants. In the course of twenty days they were all in
readiness. Had he assembled the armies kept up for the constant
protection of the different provinces of Cathay, it must necessarily
have required thirty or forty days; in which time the enemy would have
gained information of his arrangements, and been enabled to effect
their junction, and to occupy such strong positions as would best suit
with their designs. His object was, by promptitude, which is ever the
companion of victory, to anticipate the preparations of Nayan, and, by
falling upon him while single, destroy his power with more certainty
and effect than after he should have been joined by Kaidu.
In every province of Cathay and of Manji,[65] as well as in other
parts of his dominions, there were many disloyal and seditious
persons, who at all times were disposed to break out in rebellion
against their sovereign, and on this account it became necessary to
keep armies in such of the provinces as contained large cities and an
extensive population, which are stationed at the distance of four or
five miles from those cities, and can enter them at their pleasure.
These armies the Grand Khan makes it a practice to change every second
year, and the same with respect to the officers who command them. By
means of such precautions the people are kept in quiet subjection, and
no movement nor innovation of any kind can be attempted. The troops
are maintained not only from the pay they receive out of the imperial
revenues of the province, but also from the cattle and their milk,
which belong to them individually, and which they send into the cities
for sale, furnishing themselves from thence, in return, with those
articles of which they stand in need. In this manner they are
distributed over the country, in various places, to the distance of
thirty, forty, and even sixty days' journey. If even the half of these
corps were to be collected in one place, the statement of their number
would appear marvellous and scarcely entitled to belief.
Having formed his army in the manner above described, the Grand Khan
proceeded toward the territory of Nayan, and by forced marches,
continued day and night, he reached it at the expiration of
twenty-five days. So prudently, at the same time, was the expedition
managed, that neither that Prince himself nor any of his dependents
were aware of it, all the roads being guarded in such a manner that no
persons who attempted to pass could escape being made prisoners. Upon
arriving at a certain range of hills, on the other side of which was
the plain where Nayan's army lay encamped, Kublai halted his troops
and allowed them two days of rest. During this interval he called upon
his astrologers to ascertain, by virtue of their art, and to declare
in presence of the whole army, to which side the victory would
incline. They pronounced that it would fall to the lot of Kublai. It
has ever been the practice of the grand khans to have recourse to
divination for the purpose of inspiriting their men.
Confident, therefore, of success, they ascended the hill with alacrity
the next morning, and presented themselves before the army of Nayan,
which they found negligently posted, without advanced parties or
scouts, while the chief himself was asleep in his tent, accompanied by
one of his wives. Upon awaking, he hastened to form his troops in the
best manner that circumstances would allow, lamenting that his
junction with Kaidu had not been sooner effected. Kublai took his
station in a large wooden castle, borne on the backs of four
elephants, whose bodies were protected with coverings of thick leather
hardened by fire, over which were housings of cloth of gold. The
castle contained many cross-bowmen and archers, and on the top of it
was hoisted the imperial standard, adorned with representations of the
sun and moon. His army, which consisted of thirty battalions of horse,
each battalion containing ten thousand men, armed with bows, he
disposed in three grand divisions; and those which formed the left and
right wings he extended in such a manner as to outflank the army of
Nayan. In front of each battalion of horse were placed five hundred
infantry, armed with short lances and swords, who, whenever the
cavalry made a show of fight, were practised to mount behind the
riders and accompany them, alighting again when they returned to the
charge, and killing, with their lances, the horses of the enemy. As
soon as the order of battle was arranged, an infinite number of wind
instruments of various kinds were sounded, and these were succeeded by
songs, according to the custom of the Tartars before they engage in
fight, which commences upon the signal given by the cymbals and drums,
and there was such a beating of the cymbals and drums, and such
singing, that it was wonderful to hear. This signal, by the orders of
the Grand Khan, was first given to the right and left wings; and then
a fierce and bloody conflict began. The air was instantly filled with
a cloud of arrows that poured down on every side, and vast numbers of
men and horses were seen to fall to the ground.
The loud cries and shouts of the men, together with the noise of the
horses and the weapons, were such as to inspire terror in those who
heard them. When their arrows had been discharged, the hostile parties
engaged in close combat with their lances, swords, and maces shod with
iron; and such was the slaughter, and so large were the heaps of the
carcasses of men, and more especially of horses, on the field, that it
became impossible for the one party to advance upon the other. Thus
the fortune of the day remained for a long time undecided, and victory
wavered between the contending parties from morning until noon; for so
zealous was the devotion of Nayan's people to the cause of their
master, who was most liberal and indulgent toward them, that they were
all ready to meet death rather than turn their backs to the enemy. At
length, however, Nayan, perceiving that he was nearly surrounded,
attempted to save himself by flight, but was presently made prisoner,
and conducted to the presence of Kublai, who gave orders for his being
put to death. This was carried into execution by enclosing him between
two carpets, which were violently shaken until the spirit had departed
from the body; the motive for this peculiar sentence being that the
sun and the air should not witness the shedding of the blood of one
who belonged to the imperial family. Those of his troops which
survived the battle came to make their submission and swear allegiance
to Kublai.
Nayan, who had privately undergone the ceremony of baptism, but never
made open profession of Christianity, thought proper, on this
occasion, to bear the sign of the cross in his banners, and he had in
his army a vast number of Christians, who were among the slain. When
the Jews and the Saracens perceived that the banner of the cross was
overthrown, they taunted the Christian inhabitants with it, saying:
"Behold the state to which your (vaunted) banners, and those who
followed them, are reduced!" On account of these derisions the
Christians were compelled to lay their complaints before the Grand
Khan, who ordered the former to appear before him, and sharply rebuked
them. "If the cross of Christ," he said, "has not proved advantageous
to the party of Nayan, the effect has been consistent with reason and
justice, inasmuch as he was a rebel and a traitor to his lord, and to
such wretches it could not afford its protection. Let none therefore
presume to charge with injustice the God of the Christians, who is
himself the perfection of goodness and of justice."
The Grand Khan, having obtained this signal victory, returned with
great pomp and triumph to the capital city of Kanbalu. This took place
in the month of November, and he continued to reside there during the
months of February and March, in which latter was our festival of
Easter. Being aware that this was one of our principal solemnities, he
commanded all the Christians to attend him, and to bring with them
their book, which contains the four gospels of the evangelists. After
causing it to be repeatedly perfumed with incense, in a ceremonious
manner, he devoutly kissed it, and directed that the same should be
done by all his nobles who were present. This was his usual practice
upon each of the principal Christian festivals, such as Easter and
Christmas; and he observed the same at the festivals of the Saracens,
Jews, and idolaters.[66] Upon being asked his motive for this conduct,
he said: "There are four great prophets who are reverenced and
worshipped by the different classes of mankind. The Christians regard
Jesus Christ as their divinity; the Saracens, Mahomet; the Jews,
Moses;[67] and the idolaters, Sogomombar-khan,[68] the most eminent
among their idols. I do honor and show respect to all the four, and
invoke to my aid whichever among them is in truth supreme in heaven."
But from the manner in which his majesty acted toward them, it is
evident that he regarded the faith of the Christians as the truest and
the best; nothing, as he observed, being enjoined to its professors
that was not replete with virtue and holiness. By no means, however,
would he permit them to bear the cross before them in their
processions, because upon it so exalted a personage as Christ had been
scourged and (ignominiously) put to death. It may perhaps be asked by
some why, if he showed such a preference to the faith of Christ, he
did not conform to it and become a Christian? His reason for not so
doing he assigned: "Wherefore should I become a Christian? The
Christians of these countries are ignorant, inefficient persons, who
do not possess the faculty of performing anything (miraculous);
whereas the idolaters can do whatever they will. When I sit at table
the cups that were in the middle of the hall come to me filled with
wine and other beverage, spontaneously and without being touched by
human hand, and I drink from them. They have the power of controlling
bad weather and obliging it to retire to any quarter of the heavens,
with many other wonderful gifts of that nature. Their idols have the
faculty of speech, and predict to them whatever is required. Should I
become a convert to the faith of Christ and profess myself a
Christian, the nobles of my court and other persons who do not incline
to that religion will ask me what sufficient motives have caused me to
receive baptism and to embrace Christianity. 'What extraordinary
powers,' they will say, 'what miracles, have been displayed by its
ministers?' Whereas, the idolaters declare that what they exhibit is
performed through their own sanctity and the influence of their idols.
"To this I shall not know what answer to make, and I shall be
considered by them as laboring under a grievous error; while the
idolaters, who by means of their profound art can effect such wonders,
may without difficulty compass my death. But let the Pontiff send
hither a hundred persons well skilled in Christian law, who being
confronted with the idolaters shall have power to coerce them, and
showing that they themselves are endowed with similar art, but which
they refrain from exercising because it is derived from the agency of
evil spirits, shall compel them to desist from practices of such a
nature in their presence. When I am witness of this I shall place them
and their religion under an interdict, and shall allow myself to be
baptized. Following my example, all my nobility will then in like
manner receive baptism, and this will be imitated by my subjects in
general." From this discourse it must be evident that if the Pope had
sent out persons duly qualified to preach the gospel, the Grand Khan
would have embraced Christianity, for which, it is certainly known, he
had a strong predilection.
The Grand Khan appoints twelve of the most intelligent among his
nobles, whose duty it is to make themselves acquainted with the
conduct of the officers and men of his army, particularly upon
expeditions and in battles, and to present their reports to him, and
he, upon being apprised of their respective merits, advances them in
his service, raising those who commanded a hundred men to the command
of a thousand, and presenting many with vessels of silver, as well as
the customary tablets or warrants of command and of government. The
tablets given to those commanding a hundred men are of silver; to
those commanding a thousand, of gold or of silver gilt; and those who
command ten thousand receive tablets of gold, bearing the head of a
lion; the former being of the weight of a hundred and twenty
saggi,[69] and these with the lion's head two hundred and twenty. At
the top of the inscription on the tablet is a sentence to this effect:
"By the power and might of the great God, and through the grace which
he vouchsafes to our empire, be the name of the Khan blessed; and let
all such as disobey (what is herein directed) suffer death and be
utterly destroyed."
The officers who hold these tablets have privileges attached to them,
and in the inscription is specified what are the duties and the powers
of their respective commands. He who is at the head of a hundred
thousand men, or the commander-in-chief of a grand army, has a golden
tablet weighing three hundred saggi, with the sentence above
mentioned, and at the bottom is engraved the figure of a lion,
together with representations of the sun and moon. He exercises also
the privileges of his high command, as set forth in this magnificent
tablet. Whenever he rides in public, an umbrella is carried over his
head, denoting the rank and authority he holds;[70] and when he is
seated, it is always upon a silver chair. The Grand Khan confers
likewise upon certain of his nobles tablets on which are represented
figures of the gerfalcon, in virtue of which they are authorized to
take with them as their guard of honor the whole army of any great
prince. They can also make use of the horses of the imperial stud at
their pleasure, and can appropriate the horses of any officers
inferior to themselves in rank.
Kublai is of the middle stature, that is, neither tall nor short; his
limbs are well formed, and in his whole figure there is a just
proportion. His complexion is fair, and occasionally suffused with
red, like the bright tint of the rose, which adds much grace to his
countenance. His eyes are black and handsome, his nose is well shaped
and prominent. He has four wives of the first rank, who are esteemed
legitimate, and the eldest born son of any one of these succeeds to
the empire upon the decease of the grand khan. They bear equally the
title of "empress," and have their separate courts. None of them has
fewer than three hundred young female attendants of great beauty,
together with a multitude of youths as pages, and other eunuchs, as
well as ladies of the bedchamber; so that the number of persons
belonging to each of their respective courts amounts to ten thousand.
The Grand Khan usually resides during three months of the
year—December, January, and February—in the great city of
Kanbalu,[71] situated toward the northeastern extremity of Cathay; and
here, on the southern side of the new city, is the site of his vast
palace, in a square enclosed with a wall and deep ditch; each side of
the square being eight miles in length, and having at an equal
distance from each extremity an entrance gate. Within this enclosure
there is, on the four sides, an open space one mile in breadth, where
the troops are stationed, and this is bounded by a second wall,
enclosing a square of six miles. The palace contains a number of
separate chambers, all highly beautiful, and so admirably disposed
that it seems impossible to suggest any improvement to the system of
their arrangement. The exterior of the roof is adorned with a variety
of colors—red, green, azure, and violet—and the sort of covering is
so strong as to last for many years.
The glazing of the windows is so well wrought and so delicate as to
have the transparency of crystal. In the rear of the body of the
palace there are large buildings containing several apartments, where
is deposited the private property of the monarch, or his treasure in
gold and silver bullion, precious stones, and pearls, and also his
vessels of gold and silver plate. Here are likewise the apartments of
his wives and concubines; and in this retired situation he despatches
business with convenience, being free from every kind of interruption.
His majesty, having imbibed an opinion from the astrologers that the
city of Kanbalu was destined to become rebellious to his authority,
resolved upon building another capital, upon the opposite side of the
river, where stand the palaces just described, so that the new and the
old cities are separated from each other only by the stream that runs
between them. The new-built city received the name of Tai-du, and all
those of the inhabitants who were natives of Cathay were compelled to
evacuate the ancient city and to take up their abode in the new. Some
of the inhabitants, however, of whose loyalty he did not entertain
suspicion, were suffered to remain, especially because the latter,
although of the dimensions that shall presently be described, was not
capable of containing the same number as the former, which was of vast
extent.
This new city is of a form perfectly square, and twenty-four miles in
extent, each of its sides being neither more nor less than six miles.
It is enclosed with walls of earth that at the base are about ten
paces thick, but gradually diminish to the top, where the thickness is
not more than three paces. In all parts the battlements are white. The
whole plan of the city was regularly laid out by line, and the streets
in general are consequently so straight that when a person ascends the
wall over one of the gates, and looks right forward, he can see the
gate opposite to him on the other side of the city. In the public
streets there are, on each side, booths and shops of every
description. All the allotments of ground upon which the habitations
throughout the city were constructed are square and exactly on a line
with each other; each allotment being sufficiently spacious for
handsome buildings, with corresponding courts and gardens. One of
these was assigned to each head of a family; that is to say, such a
person of such a tribe had one square allotted to him, and so of the
rest. Afterward the property passed from hand to hand. In this manner
the whole interior of the city is disposed in squares, so as to
resemble a chess-board, and planned out with a degree of precision and
beauty impossible to describe.
The wall of the city has twelve gates, three on each side of the
square, and over each gate and compartment of the wall there is a
handsome building; so that on each side of the square there are five
such buildings, containing large rooms, in which are disposed the arms
of those who form the garrison of the city, every gate being guarded
by a thousand men. It is not to be understood that such a force is
stationed there in consequence of the apprehension of danger from any
hostile power whatever, but as a guard suitable to the honor and
dignity of the sovereign.
A.D. 1273
WILLIAM COXE
The house of Hapsburg—-also called the house of
Austria—owes its origin and firm establishment to the most
celebrated of the Hapsburgs, a German princely family who
derived their name from Hapsburg castle, built about 1020,
on the banks of the Aare in Switzerland. This founder of the
imperial line was Rudolph, son of Albert IV, Count of
Hapsburg and Landgrave of Alsace. Rudolph was born in 1218,
and died at Germersheim, Germany, in 1291. He succeeded his
father in Hapsburg and Alsace in 1239, and in 1273 was
elected German King (Rudolph I), with the substance, though
not the title, of the imperial dignity of the Holy Roman
Empire.
It is said that the electors desired an emperor, but not the
exercise of imperial power, and that in Rudolph they saw a
candidate of comparative lowliness, from whom their
authority stood in little jeopardy. At the age of fifty-five
the new sovereign assumed his throne in the face of
difficulty and danger. He was opposed by the Spanish
claimant, Alfonso of Castile, and confronted a formidable
rival in Ottocar, King of Bohemia, whose contumacy disturbed
the reign of Rudolph from its very beginning.
Rudolph's enemies had appealed against him to Pope Gregory
X, and Rudolph in turn sought the ratification of the
Pontiff, to whom, immediately after his election, he sent
messengers with a letter imploring papal countenance. From
this moment to the day when he finally overcame Ottocar in
the field and secured the possessions which became
hereditary in the house of Hapsburg, the historian narrates
the steps whereby Rudolph advanced in his career.
Fortunately for the interests of Rudolph and the peace of Germany,
Gregory X was prudent, humane, and generous, and from a long
experience of worldly affairs had acquired a profound knowledge of men
and manners. An ardent zeal for the propagation of the Christian faith
was the leading feature of his character, and the object of his
greatest ambition was to lead an army of crusaders against the
infidels. To the accomplishment of this purpose he directed his aims,
and, like a true father of Christendom, was anxious to appease instead
of fomenting the troubles of Europe, and to consolidate the union of
the German states, which it had been the policy of his predecessors to
divide and disunite. By the most insinuating address he knew how to
conciliate the affections of those who approached him, and to bend to
his purpose the most steady opposition; and he endeavored to gain by
extreme affability and the mildness of his deportment what his
predecessors had extorted by the most extravagant pretensions.
The ambassadors of Rudolph were received with complacency by the Pope,
and obtained his sanction by agreeing, in the name of their master, to
the same conditions which Otho IV and Frederick II had sworn to
observe; by confirming all the donations of the emperors, his
predecessors, to the papal see; by promising to accept no office or
dignity in any of the papal territories, particularly in the city of
Rome, without the consent of the Pope; by agreeing not to disturb nor
permit the house of Anjou to be disturbed in the possession of Naples
and Sicily, which they held as fiefs from the Roman see; and by
engaging to undertake in person a crusade against the infidels. In
consequence of these concessions, Gregory gave the new King of the
Romans his most cordial support, refused to listen to the overtures of
Ottocar, and after much difficulty finally succeeded in persuading
Alfonso to renounce his pretensions to the imperial dignity.
An interview in October, 1275, between Rudolph and Gregory at
Lausanne, concluded his negotiations with the Roman see, and gave rise
to a personal friendship between the heads of the Church and the
empire, who were equally distinguished for their frank and amiable
qualities. In this interview Rudolph publicly ratified the articles
which his ambassadors had concluded in his name; the electors and
princes who were present followed his example, and Gregory again
confirmed the election of Rudolph, on condition that he should repair
to Rome the following year to receive the imperial crown. At the
conclusion of this ceremony the new Emperor, with his consort and the
princes of the empire, assumed the cross, and engaged to undertake a
crusade against the infidels.
During the negotiations of Rudolph with Gregory X, Ottocar had exerted
himself to shake the authority of the new chief of the empire, and to
consolidate a confederacy with the German princes. He not only
rejected with disdain all the proposals of accommodation made at the
instances of Rudolph by the judicious and conciliating Pontiff, but
prevented the clergy of Bohemia from contributing the tenths of their
revenue or preaching the crusade. He endeavored to alarm the princes
of the empire by displaying the views of the new sovereign, to recover
the imperial fiefs which they had appropriated during the interregnum,
and by his promises and intrigues succeeded in attaching to his cause
the Margrave of Baden and the counts of Freiburg, Neuburg, and
Montfort. But he secured a still more powerful partisan in Henry, Duke
of Lower Bavaria, by fomenting the disputes between him and his
brother the Count Palatine, and by ceding to him Scharding and other
places wrested from Bavaria by the Duke of Austria.
When summoned by Rudolph to do homage for his fiefs, according to the
custom of the empire, he returned a haughty answer, treating him as
Count of Hapsburg; a second summons was received with silent contempt;
on a third he sent his ambassador, the Bishop of Seccan, to the Diet
of Augsburg; and his example was followed by Henry of Bavaria. These
ministers were, however, only deputed to raise a feigned contest
relative to the vote of Henry and to protest against the election of
Rudolph. The ambassador of Henry urged the protest with moderation and
respect; but the Bishop of Seccan delivered a virulent invective
against the chief of the empire, in a style conformable to the spirit
and character of his powerful and haughty master. He declared that the
assembly in which Rudolph had been chosen was illegal; that the
arbitration of Louis of Bavaria was unprecedented; that a man
excommunicated by the Pope for plundering churches and convents was
ineligible to the imperial throne, and that his sovereign, who held
his dominions by an indisputable title, owed no homage to the Count of
Hapsburg.
As he spoke in the Latin tongue, the Emperor interrupted him with a
dignified rebuke. "Bishop," he said, "if you were to harangue in an
ecclesiastical consistory, you might use the Latin tongue; but when
discoursing upon your rights and the rights of the princes of the
empire, why do you employ a language which the greater part of those
who are present do not comprehend?" The rebuke of the sovereign justly
roused the indignation of the assembly; the princes, and particularly
the Elector Palatine, started from their seats, and were scarcely
prevented from employing violence, even by the interposition of
Rudolph; and the ambassadors, quitting the assembly, retired from
Augsburg.
The diet, irritated by this insult, passed a decree asserting the
unanimity of Rudolph's election; they declared Ottocar guilty of
contumacy; required him to restore Austria, Carinthia, and Carniola,
which he had usurped, and to do homage for the remainder of his
dominions. In case of refusal the ban of the empire was denounced
against him, and supplies of men and money were voted to support their
sovereign, to assert the imperial dignity, and to reduce the
rebellious princes to obedience. The Burgrave of Nuremberg and the
Bishop of Basel were despatched to Ottocar in the name of the diet, to
demand his instant acknowledgment of Rudolph as king of the Romans,
and the restitution of Austria, Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola.
They accordingly repaired to Prague, and delivered their message.
"Tell Rudolph," replied the spirited monarch, "that he may rule over
the territories of the empire, but I will not tamely yield those
possessions which, I have acquired at the expense of so much blood and
treasure; they are mine by marriage, by purchase, or by conquest." He
then broke out into bitter invectives against Rudolph, and after
tauntingly expressing his surprise that a petty count of Hapsburg
should have been preferred to so many powerful candidates, dismissed
the ambassadors with contempt. In the heat of his resentment he even
violated the laws of nations, and put to death the heralds who
announced to him the resolutions of the diet and delivered the ban of
the empire.
During this whole transaction Rudolph acted with becoming prudence and
extreme circumspection. He had endeavored by the mildest methods to
bring Ottocar to terms of conciliation; and when all his overtures
were received with insult and contempt, and hostilities became
inevitable, he did not seek a distant war till he had obtained the
full confirmation of the Pope and had reëstablished the peace of those
parts of the empire which bordered on his own dominions. He first
attacked the petty adherents of Ottocar, the Margrave of Baden, and
the counts of Freiburg, Montfort, and Neuburg, and, having compelled
them to do homage and to restore the fiefs which they had appropriated
during the preceding troubles, he prepared to turn his whole force
against the King of Bohemia, with a solicitude which the power and
talents of his formidable rival naturally inspired.
The contest in which Rudolph was about to engage was of a nature to
call forth all his resources and talents. Ottocar was a prince of high
spirit, great abilities, and distinguished military skill, which had
been exercised in constant warfare from his early youth. By hereditary
right he succeeded to Bohemia and Moravia, and to these territories he
had made continual additions by his crusades against the Prussians,
his contests with the kings of Hungary, and still more by his recent
acquisition of Austria, Carinthia, and Carniola.
In the tenth century Austria, with both Styria and Carniola, under the
title of a margravate, was governed by Leopold I of the house of
Bamberg. It continued in the possession of his family, and in 1156 was
erected into an independent duchy by the emperor Frederick II, and
conferred on Henry, fifth in descent from Leopold, as an indivisible
and inalienable fief; in failure of male issue it was made descendible
to his eldest daughter, and, in failure of female issue, disposable by
will. In 1245 Frederick the Warlike, last duke of the Bamberg line,
obtained a confirmation of this decree; but, dying in the ensuing year
without issue and without disposing of his territories by will, a
dispute arose relative to his succession. The claimants were his two
sisters, Margaret, widow of Henry VII, King of the Romans, and
Constantia, wife of Henry the Illustrious, Margrave of Misnia; and his
niece Gertrude, daughter of Henry, his elder brother, the wife of
Premislaus, eldest son of Wenceslaus, King of Bohemia and brother of
Ottocar. But on the plea that neither of the claimants was a daughter
of the last Duke, the Emperor Frederick II sequestrated these
territories as fiefs escheating to the empire, and transferred the
administration to Otho, Count of Werdenberg, who took possession of
the country and resided in Vienna.
As this event happened during the contest between the see of Rome and
the house of Swabia, Innocent IV, who had deposed and excommunicated
Frederick, laid Austria under an interdict, and encouraged the kings
of Bohemia and Hungary and the Duke of Bavaria to invade the country.
The Pope first patronized the claims of Margaret, and urged her to
marry a German prince; but on her application to the Emperor to bestow
the duchy on her eldest son Frederick, he supported Gertrude, who,
after the death of Premislaus, had espoused Herman, Margrave of Baden,
nephew of Otho, Duke of Bavaria, and induced the anticæsar, William of
Holland, to grant him the investiture.
On the demise of Frederick II his son Conrad was too much occupied
with the affairs of Italy to attend to those of Germany; the imperial
troops quitted Austria, and, Herman dying, Otho of Bavaria occupied
that part of Austria which lies above the Ems. But Wenceslaus of
Bohemia, prevailing on the states to choose his eldest surviving son
Ottocar as their sovereign, under the condition that he should espouse
Margaret, expelled the Bavarians and took possession of the whole
country. Gertrude fled to Bela, King of Hungary, whose uncle Roman, a
Russian prince, she married, and ceded to him her pretensions on
Styria, on condition that he should assert her right to Austria. A war
ensued between Ottocar and the King of Hungary, in which Ottocar,
being defeated, was compelled to cede part of Styria to Stephen, son
of Bela, and a small district of that country was appropriated for the
maintenance of Gertrude. But the Hungarian governors being guilty of
the most enormous exactions the natives of Styria rose and transferred
their allegiance to Ottocar, who secured that duchy by defeating Bela
at Cressenbrum, and by the treaty of peace which followed that
victory. Ottocar had scarcely obtained possession of Styria before he
deprived Gertrude of her small pittance, and the unfortunate princess
took refuge from his tyranny in a convent of Misnia. Having thus
secured Austria and Styria, and ascended the throne of Bohemia,
Ottocar divorced Margaret, who was much older than himself; and to
acquire that right of succession of Frederick the Warlike which he had
lost by this separation from his wife he, in 1262, procured from
Richard of Cornwall the investiture of Austria, Styria, and Carniola,
as fiefs devolved to the empire. He either promised or gave
compensation to Agnes, daughter of Gertrude by Herman of Baden, and to
Henry, Margrave of Misnia, husband of Constantia.
Ottocar next purchased of Ulric, Duke of Carinthia and Carniola, who
had no issue, the right of succeeding to those duchies on his death.
In the deed of transfer, instituted December, 1268, Ulric describes
himself as without heirs; although his brother Philip, Archbishop of
Salzburg, was still living. On the death of Ulric, in 1269 or 1270,
Ottocar took possession of those duchies, defeated Philip, who
asserted his claims, and forced the natives to submit to his
authority.
By these accessions of territory, Ottocar became the most powerful
prince of Europe, for his dominions extended from the confines of
Bavaria to Raab in Hungary, and from the Adriatic to the shores of the
Baltic. On the contrary, the hereditary possessions of Rudolph were
comparatively inconsiderable, remote from the scene of contest, and
scattered at the foot of the Alps and in the mountains of Alsace and
Swabia; and though head of the empire, he was seated on a tottering
throne, and feebly supported by the princes of Germany, who raised him
to that exalted dignity to render him their chief rather in name than
in power.
Although the princes and states of the empire had voted succors, many
had failed in their promised assistance, and, had the war been
protracted, those few would have infallibly deserted a cause in which
their own interests were not materially concerned. The wise but severe
regulations of Rudolph for extirpating the banditti, demolishing the
fortresses of the turbulent barons, and recovering the fiefs which
several of the princes had unjustly appropriated, excited great
discontent. Under these circumstances the powerful and imperious
Ottocar cannot be deemed rash for venturing to contend with a petty
count of Switzerland, whom he compared to those phantoms of
sovereignty, William of Holland and Richard of Cornwall, or that he
should conclude a king of Bohemia to be more powerful than an emperor.
The event, however, showed that he had judged too hastily of his own
strength and of Rudolph's comparative weakness, and proved that, when
the reins of government were held by an able hand, the resources of
the empire were still considerable, and its enmity an object of
terror.
Rudolph derived considerable support from his sons-in-law the Electors
of Palatine and Saxony, and from the Elector of Brandenburg; the
Burgrave of Nuremberg, the nobles of Alsace and Swabia, and the
citizens and mountaineers of Switzerland. Having made the necessary
preparations, he, with a judicious policy, turned his attention to
those princes who, from the vicinity of their dominions, were in a
state of continual enmity or warfare with the King of Bohemia. He
concluded a treaty with Ladislaus, King of Hungary, and strengthened
the bond of union by betrothing his daughter to Andrew, Duke of
Slavonia and brother of Ladislaus. He entered into an alliance with
Meinhard, Count of Tyrol, which he cemented by the marriage of his
eldest son Albert with Elizabeth, daughter of Meinhard. But his views
were still more promoted by the general discontent which pervaded
every part of the Austrian dominions, and by the anathemas of Philip,
titular Duke of Carinthia and Archbishop of Salzburg, who absolved the
people of his diocese from their oath of allegiance, and exhorted them
to shake off the yoke of a tyrant and receive the chief of the empire.
The prelate made repeated exhortations to Rudolph to hasten his
expedition. He drew a hideous picture of Ottocar's oppressions;
expatiated on the discontents of the natives, and their inveterate
hatred to the Bohemians, and used all his eloquence to encourage the
King of the Romans to invade the country. "I observe," he says, "the
countenances of your adversaries pale with terror; their strength is
withered; they fear you unknown; your image is terrible in their
imaginations; and they tremble even at the very mention of your name.
How will they act, and how will they tremble when they hear the voice
of the approaching thunder, when they see the imperial eagles rushing
down on them like the flash of the lightning!"
The plan formed by Rudolph for the prosecution of the war was
calculated to divide the forces and distract the attention of Ottocar.
He himself was to penetrate into Bohemia, while his son was to invade
Austria, and Meinhard of Tyrol to make a diversion on the side of
Styria. To oppose this threatened invasion, Ottocar assembled a
considerable army, sent a reënforcement to Henry of Bavaria, augmented
the garrison of Klosterneuburg, a fortress deemed impregnable,
fortified Vienna, and despatched a considerable party of his army
toward Teppel to secure his frontier; but resigning himself to
supineness and careless security, he passed that time, which should
have been employed in repressing the discontented by his presence and
rousing the courage of his troops, in hunting and courtly diversions.
Rudolph, apprised of these dispositions, changed his plan, marched
against Henry of Bavaria, and compelled him, by force of arms, to
desert the Bohemian alliance. He meditated a reconciliation between
the Duke and his brother the Count Palatine, and, to secure his
coöperation, gave his daughter Hedwige in marriage to Otho, son of
Henry, with the promise of assigning a part of Upper Austria as a
pledge of her portion. This success opened to him a way into Austria.
Accompanied by Henry with a reënforcement of one thousand horses, he
traversed Lower Bavaria, by Ratisbon and Passau; overran that part of
Austria which lies to the south of the Danube, without resistance, was
received with joy by the natives, and rapidly marched toward Vienna.
This well-concerted expedition bore rather the appearance of a journey
than a conquest, and Ottocar, awakened from his lethargy, received the
intelligence with astonishment and terror. He now found even his ally
Henry, in whose assistance he had confided, serving with his enemies,
his Austrian territories invaded by a powerful army, the people
hailing the King of the Romans as their deliverer, and the adversary,
whom he had despised and insulted, in the very heart of his dominions.
In these circumstances he recalled his army from Teppel, and led them
through the woods and mountains of Bohemia to Drosendorf, on the
frontiers of Austria, with the hope of saving the capital. But his
troops being harassed by the fatigues of this long and difficult
march, and distressed for want of provisions, he was unable to
continue his progress, while Rudolph, advancing along the southern
bank of the Danube, made himself master of Klosterneuburg by
stratagem, and encamped under the walls of Vienna. Here, being joined
by Meinhard of Tyrol, who had overrun Styria and Carinthia, and drawn
the natives to his standard, he laid siege to the city. The garrison
and people, who were warmly attached to Ottocar and encouraged with
the hopes of speedy relief, held out for five weeks; at length the
want of provisions and the threats of Rudolph to destroy the vineyards
excited a small tumult among the people, and the governor proposed a
capitulation.
During this time the discontents in Ottocar's army increased with
their increasing distress; he was threatened by the approach of the
Hungarians toward the Austrian frontiers; he saw his own troops
alarmed, dispirited, and mutinous; and he was aware that on the
surrender of the capital Rudolph had prepared a bridge of boats to
cross the Danube and carry the war into Bohemia. In this situation,
surrounded by enemies, embarrassed by increasing difficulties,
deserted or opposed by his nobles, his haughty spirit was compelled to
bend; he sued for peace, and the conditions were arranged by the
arbitration of the Bishop of Olmuetz, the Elector Palatine, and the
Burgrave of Nuremberg. It was agreed, on the 22d of November, 1276,
that the sentence of excommunication and deprivation which had been
pronounced against Ottocar and his adherents should be revoked; that
he should renounce all his claims to Austria, Styria, Carinthia,
Carniola, and Windischmark; that he should take the oath of
allegiance, do homage for the remainder of his territories to the head
of the empire, and should receive the investiture of Bohemia, Moravia,
and his other fiefs. An article was also inserted, by which Ottocar
promised to deliver up to Ladislaus, King of Hungary, all the places
wrested from him in that kingdom. To cement this union a double
marriage was to be concluded between a son and daughter of each of the
two sovereigns; Rudolph engaged to give a portion of forty thousand
marks of silver to his daughter, and, as a pledge for the payment,
assigned to Ottocar a part of that district of Austria which lies
beyond the Danube. The peace being concluded, the city of Vienna
opened its gates and readily acknowledged the new sovereign.
Ottocar was obliged to submit to these humiliating conditions, and on
the 25th of November, the day appointed for doing homage, crossed the
Danube with a large escort of Bohemian nobles to the camp of Rudolph,
and was received by the King of the Romans, in the presence of several
princes of the empire. With a depressed countenance and broken spirit,
which he was unable to conceal from the bystanders, he made a formal
resignation of his pretensions to Austria, Styria, Carinthia, and
Carniola, and, kneeling down, did homage to his rival, and obtained
the investiture of Bohemia and Moravia, with the accustomed
ceremonies.
Rudolph, having thus secured these valuable provinces, took possession
of them as fiefs reverted to the empire, and issued a decree placing
them under the government of Louis of Bavaria as vicar-general to the
empire, in case of his death or during an interregnum. He at the same
time established his family in the Austrian dominions, by persuading
the Archbishop of Salzburg and the bishops of Passau, Freising, and
Bamberg to confer on his sons, Albert, Hartman, and Rudolph, the
ecclesiastical fiefs held by the dukes of Austria. His next care was
to maintain the internal peace of those countries by salutary
regulations; and he gained the affection of the nobles by confirming
their privileges and permitting them to rebuild the fortresses which
Ottocar had demolished. To superintend the execution of these
regulations he fixed his residence at Vienna, where he was joined by
his Queen and family.
In order to reward his retainers he was, however, compelled to lay
considerable impositions on his new subjects, and to obtain free gifts
from the bishop and clergy; and the discontents arising from these
measures probably induced Ottocar to attempt the recovery of the
territories which he had lost.
Although the King of Bohemia had taken leave of Rudolph with the
strongest professions of friendship, and at different intervals had
renewed his assurances of unalterable harmony, yet the humiliating
conditions which he had subscribed, and the loss of such valuable
provinces, filled him with resentment; his lofty spirit was still
further inflamed by his queen Cunegunda, a princess of an imperious
temper, who stimulated her husband with continual reproaches. He
accordingly raised obstacles to the execution of the treaty, and
neglected to comply with many of the conditions to which he had
agreed.
Rudolph, desirous to avoid a rupture, despatched his son Albert to
Prague, Ottocar received him with affected demonstrations of
friendship, and even bound himself by oath to fulfil the articles of
the peace. But Albert had scarcely retired from Prague before Ottocar
immured in a convent the daughter he had promised to one of the sons
of Rudolph, and sent a letter to the King of the Romans, filled with
the most violent invectives, and charging him with a perfidious
intention of renewing the war.
Rudolph returned a dignified answer to these reproaches, and prepared
for the renewal of the contest which he saw was inevitable. He
instantly reoccupied that part of Austria which he had yielded to
Ottocar as a pledge for the portion of his daughter. He also obtained
succors from the Archbishop of Salzburg, the bishops of Passau,
Ratisbon, and the neighboring prelates and princes, and collected
levies from Austria and Styria for the protection of Vienna. In an
interview at Hainburg, on the frontiers of Austria, with Ladislaus,
King of Hungary, he adopted that Prince as his son, and concluded with
him an offensive and defensive alliance. Unwilling, however, to trust
his hopes and fortune to his new subjects, many of whom were ready to
desert him, or to allies whose fidelity and attachment were doubtful,
he applied to the princes of the German empire, but had the
mortification to be disappointed in his expectations. He was joined by
a few only of the inferior princes; but many who had not taken part in
the former war were still less inclined to support him on the present
occasion; several gained by Ottocar either remained neutral or took
part against him; those who expressed an inclination to serve him
delayed sending their succors, and he derived no assistance even from
his sons-in-law the Electors of Palatine and Saxony.
On the other hand, he was threatened with the most imminent danger,
for Ottocar, who during the peace had prepared the means of gratifying
his vengeance, had formed a league with Henry of Bavaria, had
purchased either the neutrality or assistance of many of the German
princes, had drawn auxiliaries from the chiefs of Poland, Bulgaria,
Pomerania, and Magdeburg, and from the Teutonic hordes on the shores
of the Baltic. He had also excited a party among the turbulent nobles
of Hungary, and spread disaffection among his former subjects in
Austria and Styria. In June he quitted Prague, effected a junction
with his allies, directing his march toward the frontiers of Austria,
carried Drosendorf, after a short siege, by storm, and, descending
along the banks of the Taya, invested the fortress of Laa.
Rudolph, convinced that his cause would suffer by delay, waited with
great impatience the arrival of a body of troops from Alsace, under
the command of his son Albert. But as these troops did not arrive at
the appointed time he was greatly agitated and disturbed, became
pensive and melancholy, and frequently exclaimed that there was not
one in whom he could confide or on whose advice he could depend. His
household and attendants partook of his despondency. To use the words
of a contemporary chronicle, "All the family of King Rudolph ran to
confessors, arranged their affairs, forgave their enemies, and
received the communion, for a mortal danger seemed to hang over them."
The citizens of Vienna caught the contagion and began to be alarmed
for their safety. Seeing him almost abandoned by his German allies,
and without a sufficient army to oppose his adversaries, they
requested his permission to capitulate and choose a new sovereign,
that they might not be involved in his ruin. Roused from his
despondency by this address, Rudolph prevailed on the citizens not to
desert their sovereign; he confirmed their privileges, declared Vienna
an imperial city, animated them with new spirit, and obtained from
them a promise to defend the ramparts to the last extremity.
At this period he was joined by some troops from Alsace and Swabia,
and particularly by his confidant and confessor, the Bishop of Basel,
at the head of one hundred chosen horse, and a body of expert
slingers. This small but timely reënforcement revived his confidence,
and although he was privately informed that his son Albert could not
supply him with further succors, and was advised not to hazard an
engagement with an enemy so superior in number, he resolved to commit
his fortune to the decision of arms. Turning then to the chosen body
newly arrived, he addressed them with a spirit which could not fail of
inspiring them with courage, and gave at the same time the most
flattering testimony to their zeal and fidelity. "Remain," he said,
"one day at Vienna, and refresh yourselves after the fatigues of your
march, and we will then take the field. You shall be the guard of my
person, and I trust that God, who has advanced me to this dignity,
will not forsake me in the hour of danger."
Three days after the arrival of the Bishop of Basel Rudolph quitted
Vienna, marched along the southern bank of the Danube, to Hainburg,
crossed that river, and advanced to Marcheck, on the banks of the
March or Morava, where he was joined by the Styrians and Carinthians,
and the forces led by the King of Hungary. He instantly despatched two
thousand of his Hungarian auxiliaries to reconnoitre and interrupt the
operations of his adversary. They fulfilled their orders with spirit
and address, for Ottocar, roused by their insults, broke up his camp,
and marched to Jedensberg, within a short distance of Weidendorf,
whither Rudolph had advanced.
While the two armies continued in this situation, some traitors
repaired to the camp of-Rudolph and proposed to assassinate Ottocar,
but Rudolph, with his characteristic magnanimity, rejecting this
offer, apprised Ottocar of the danger with which he was threatened,
and made overtures of reconciliation. The King of Bohemia, confident
in the superiority of his force, deemed the intelligence a fabrication
and the proposals of Rudolph a proof of weakness, and disdainfully
refused to listen to any negotiation.
Finding all hopes of accommodation frustrated, Rudolph prepared for a
conflict, in which, like Cæsar, he was not to fight for victory alone,
but for life. At the dawn of day, August 26, 1278, his army was drawn
up, crossed the rivulet which gives name to Weidendorf, and approached
the camp of Ottocar. He ordered his troops to advance in a crescent,
and attack at the same time both flanks and the front of the enemy,
and then, turning to his soldiers, exhorted them to avenge the
violation of the most solemn compacts and the insulted majesty of the
empire, and by the efforts of that day to put an end to the tyranny,
the horrors, and the massacres to which they had been so long exposed.
He had scarcely finished before the troops rushed to the charge, and a
bloody conflict ensued, in which both parties fought with all the fury
that the presence and exertions of their sovereigns or the magnitude
of the cause in which they were engaged could inspire. At length the
imperial troops gained the advantage, but in the very moment of
victory the life of him on whom all depended was exposed to the most
imminent danger.
Several knights of superior strength and courage, animated by the
rewards and promises of Ottocar, had confederated either to kill or
take the King of the Romans. They rushed forward to the place where
Rudolph, riding among the foremost ranks, was encouraging and leading
his troops, and Herbot of Fullenstein, a Polish knight, giving spurs
to his horse, made the first charge. Rudolph, accustomed to this
species of combat, eluded the stroke, and, piercing his antagonist
under his beaver, threw him dead to the ground. The rest followed the
example of the Polish warrior, but were all slain, except Valens, a
Thuringian knight of gigantic stature and strength, who, reaching the
person of Rudolph, pierced his horse in the shoulder, and threw him
wounded to the ground. The helmet of the King was beaten off by the
shock, and being unable to rise under the weight of his armor he
covered his head with his shield, till he was rescued by Berchtold
Capillar, the commander of the corps of reserve, who, cutting his way
through the enemy, flew to his assistance. Rudolph mounted another
horse, and, heading the corps of reserve, renewed the charge with
fresh courage, and his troops, animated by his presence and exertions,
completed the victory.
Ottocar himself fought with no less intrepidity than his great
competitor. On the total rout of his troops he disdained to quit the
field, and, after performing incredible feats of valor, was
overpowered by numbers, dismounted, and taken prisoner. He was
instantly stripped of his armor, and killed by some Austrian and
Styrian nobles whose relations he had put to death. The discomfited
remains of his army, pursued by the victors, were either taken
prisoners, cut to pieces, or drowned in their attempts to pass the
March; and above fourteen thousand perished in this decisive
engagement.
Rudolph continued on the field till the enemy were totally routed and
dispersed. He endeavored to restrain the carnage, and sent messengers
to save the life of Ottocar, but his orders arrived too late, and when
he received an account of his death he generously lamented his fate.
He did ample justice to the valor and spirit of Ottocar; in his letter
to the Pope, after having described the contest and the resolution
displayed by both parties either to conquer or die, he adds: "At
length our troops prevailing drove the Bohemians into the neighboring
river, and almost all were either cut to pieces, drowned, or taken
prisoners. Ottocar, however, after seeing his army discomfited and
himself left alone, still would not submit to our conquering
standards, but, fighting with the strength and spirit of a giant,
defended himself with wonderful courage, until he was unhorsed and
mortally wounded by some of our soldiers. Then that magnanimous
monarch lost his life at the same time with the victory, and was
overthrown, not by our power and strength, but by the right hand of
the Most High."
The body of Ottocar, deformed with seventeen wounds, was borne to
Vienna, and, after being exposed to the people, was embalmed, covered
with a purple pall, the gift of the Queen of the Romans, and buried in
a Franciscan convent.
The plunder of the camp was immense, and Rudolph, apprehensive lest
the disputes of the booty and the hope of new spoils should occasion a
contest between his followers and the Hungarians, dismissed his
warlike but barbarous allies with acknowledgments for their services,
and pursued the war with his own forces. He took possession of Moravia
without opposition, and advanced into Bohemia as far as Colin.
The recent wars, the total defeat of the army, and the death of
Ottocar had rendered that country a scene of rapine and desolation.
Wenceslaus, his only son, was scarcely eight years of age; and the
Queen Cunegunda, a foreign princess, was without influence or power;
the turbulent nobles, who had scarcely submitted to the vigorous
administration of Ottocar, being without check or control, gave full
scope to their licentious spirit; the people were unruly and
rebellious, and not a single person in the kingdom possessed
sufficient authority to assume and direct the reins of government. In
this dreadful situation Cunegunda appealed to the compassion of
Rudolph, and offered to place her infant son and the kingdom under his
protection. In the midst of these transactions Otho, Margrave of
Brandenburg and nephew of Ottocar, marched into Bohemia at the head of
a considerable army, took charge of the royal treasures, secured the
person of Wenceslaus, and advanced against the King of the Romans.
Rudolph, weakened by the departure of the Hungarians and thwarted by
the princes of the empire, was too prudent to trust his fortune to the
chance of war; he listened therefore to overtures of peace, and an
accommodation was effected by arbitration. He was to retain possession
of the Austrian provinces, and to hold Moravia for five years, as an
indemnification for the expenses of the war; Wenceslaus was
acknowledged King of Bohemia, and during his minority the regency was
assigned to Otho; Rudolph, second son of the Emperor, was to espouse
the Bohemian princess Agnes; and his two daughters, Judith and
Hedwige, were affianced to the King of Bohemia and to Otho the Less,
brother of the Margrave. In consequence of this agreement Rudolph
withdrew from Bohemia, and in 1280 returned to Vienna in triumph.
Being delivered from the most powerful of his enemies, and relieved
from all further apprehensions by the weak and distracted state of
Bohemia, he directed his principal aim to secure the Austrian
territories for his own family. With this view he compelled Henry of
Bavaria, under the pretext of punishing his recent connection with
Ottocar, to cede Austria above the Ems, and to accept in return the
districts of Scharding, Neuburg, and Freistadt as the dowry of his
wife.
But, though master of all the Austrian territories, he experienced
great difficulties in transferring them to his family. Some claimants
of the Bamberg line still existed: Agnes, daughter of Gertrude and
wife of Ulric of Heunburg, and the two sons of Constantia by Albert of
Misnia. Those provinces were likewise coveted by Louis, Count Palatine
of the Rhine, and by his brother Henry of Bavaria, as having belonged
to their ancestors, and by Meinhard of Tyrol, from whom he had derived
such essential assistance, in virtue of his marriage with Elizabeth,
widow of the emperor Conrad and sister of the Dukes of Bavaria. The
Misnian princes, however, having received a compensation from Ottocar,
withheld their pretensions, and Rudolph purchased the acquiescence of
Agnes and her husband by a sum of money and a small cession of
territory. He likewise eluded the demands of the Bavarian princes and
of Meinhard by referring them to the decision of the German diet, In
the mean time he conciliated, by acts of kindness and liberality, his
new subjects, and obtained from the states of the duchy a declaration
that all the lands possessed by Frederick the Warlike belonged to the
Emperor, or to whomsoever he should grant them as fiefs, saving the
rights of those who within a given time should prosecute their claims.
He then intrusted his son Albert with the administration, convoked, on
August 9, 1281, a diet at Nuremberg, at which he presided in person,
and obtained a decree annulling all the acts and deeds of Richard of
Cornwall and his predecessors, since the deposition of Frederick II,
except such as had been approved by a majority of the electors. In
consequence of this decree another was passed specifically
in-validating the investiture of the Austrian provinces, which in 1262
was obtained from Richard of Cornwall by Ottocar.
Carinthia having been unjustly occupied by Ottocar, in contradiction
to the rights of Philip, Archbishop of Salzburg, brother of Ulric, the
last duke, the claims of Philip were acknowledged by Rudolph, and he
took his seat at the Diet of Augsburg as Duke of Carinthia. On the
conquest of that duchy he petitioned for the investiture, but Rudolph
delayed complying with his request under various pretences, and,
Philip dying without issue in 1279, the duchy escheated to the empire
as a vacant fief.
Rudolph, being at length in peaceable possession of these territories,
gradually obtained the consent of the electors, and at the Diet of
Augsburg, in December, 1282, conferred jointly on his two sons, Albert
and Rudolph, Austria, Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola. But at their
desire he afterward resumed Carinthia, and bestowed it on Meinhard of
Tyrol, to whom he had secretly promised a reward for his services, and
in 1286 obtained the consent of the electors to this donation. By the
request of the states of Austria (1283), he declared that duchy and
Styria an inalienable and indivisible domain to be held on the same
terms, and with the same rights and privileges, as possessed by the
ancient dukes, Leopold and Frederick the Warlike, and vested the sole
administration in Albert, assigning a specific revenue to Rudolph and
his heirs, if he did not obtain another sovereignty within the space
of four years.
A.D. 1277
CHARLES H. PEARSON
Up to the time of Edward I, Wales, which had been partially
subdued by Henry I, was a source of continual disturbance to
the English kingdom. Long before the accession of Edward,
the greater part of Welsh territory was parcelled out into
little English principalities. Under John and Henry III,
Llewelyn the Great, Prince of Wales, maintained his
independence until 1237, three years before his death, when
he submitted in order to secure the succession of his son
David. Upon David's death, in 1246, the principality of
Wales was divided between Llewelyn and Owen the Red, sons of
Griffith ap Llewelyn, David's illegitimate brother. Civil
war soon followed, and in 1224 Llewelyn made himself master
of the land.
Llewelyn might have reached absolute independence had he not
taken part with Simon de Montfort in the barons' war against
Henry III. With the defeat and death of Montfort at Evesham
(1265) the prospect of a new Welsh sovereignty vanished;
Llewelyn purchased a peace and was recognized by Henry as
prince of Wales, retaining a part of his territories.
When Llewelyn was summoned as a vassal of the English crown
to the coronation of Edward I (1274), he refused. Twice
again was he summoned to do homage to the King, but still
evaded the summons. Upon his final refusal to come to the
parliament of 1276, his lands were declared to be forfeited,
and in 1277 Edward led an army into Wales.
The whole force of the realm was summoned to meet at Worcester in
June, 1277, and so well was the command obeyed that Edward found
himself able to dispose of three armies. With the first he himself
operated along the north, opening a safe road through the Cheshire
forests, and fortifying Flint and Rhuddlan, while the ships of the
Cinque Ports hovered along the coast and ravaged Anglesey. The corps
d'armée, under the Earl of Lincoln and Roger Mortimer, besieged and
reduced Dolvorwyn castle in Montgomeryshire. The third was led into
Cardigan by Payne de Chaworth, who ravaged the country with such vigor
that the South Welsh—being probably disaffected to a prince not of
their own lineage—surrendered the castle of Stradewi and made a
general submission.
Edward had avoided the fatal errors of previous commanders, who had
risked their forces in a barren and difficult country. His blockade
was so well sustained that Llewelyn was starved, rather than beaten,
into unconditional submission.
With singular moderation, Edward had declined receiving the homage of
the southern chiefs. He now granted Llewelyn honorable terms, November
5, 1277. A fine of fifty thousand pounds was imposed to mark the
greatness of the victory, but remitted next day out of the King's
grace. Four border cantreds,[72] old possessions of the English crown,
which Llewelyn had wrested from it in the wars of the late reign, were
to be surrendered to the English King, who already occupied them.
Prisoners in the English interests were to be set free, and Llewelyn
was to come under "an honorable" safe-conduct to London and perform
homage. Edward had promised David [73] half the principality, but with
a reservation at the time that he might, if he chose, give him
compensation elsewhere. He now elected to do this, moved, it would
seem, simply by the wish not to dismember Llewelyn's dominions, and
David was made governor of Denbigh castle, married to the Earl of
Derby's daughter, and endowed with extensive estates. In every other
respect Llewelyn was tenderly dealt with. The hostages exacted were
sent back. The rent of one thousand marks stipulated for Anglesey was
remitted. When the Prince of Wales came to London to perform homage he
received the last favor of all, and was married sumptuously, at the
King's cost, to Lady Eleanor de Montfort.
There is no reason for supposing that Edward cherished any covert
plans of absorbing Wales into England. Having wiped out the dishonor
of his early years, and replaced England in its old position of
ascendency, he had no motive for reviving bitter memories or
dispossessing a great noble of his fief. The King's conduct in giving
his cousin to one who was only her equal through a usurped royalty;
the inquests held in the marches to determine border law; the
instructions to the royal judges, to judge according to local customs;
the special commission appointed when Llewelyn thought himself
aggrieved are curious evidence of fair-mindedness in a strong-willed
and almost absolute sovereign. But in one respect Edward was
ill-fitted to deal with an uncivilized people. He was overstrict for
the times even in England, where his subjects almost learned, before
he died, to regret the anarchy of his father's reign. But his officers
were nowhere harsher than in Wales, where the people, unaccustomed to
a minute legality, complained that they were worse treated than
Saracens or Jews. Old offences were raked up; wrecking was made
punishable; the legal taxes were aggravated by customary payments; and
distresses were levied on the first goods that came to hand, whether
Llewelyn's own or his subjects'.
The people of the four annexed cantreds were soon ripe for rebellion,
David was alienated from the English cause by petty quarrels with
Reginald Gray, Justice of Chester, who insisted on making him answer
before the English courts, hanged some of his vassals, and carried a
military road through his woods. The Welsh gentlemen complained that
they were removed from offices which they had purchased, brought to
justice for old offences which ought to have been condoned by the
peace, and deprived of their jurisdiction in local courts. For a time
the lady Eleanor tried to mediate between her husband and her cousin.
But it was impossible that a stern, just man like Edward, penetrated
with the most advanced doctrine of European legists and deriving his
information from English employés, should be able to understand the
position of the chief of a semibarbarous nationality, who thought
outrages on law matters to be atoned for by fines, while he brooded
with implacable rancor over every slight, real or fancied, to his own
position as prince of Wales, representative of a dynasty that had
ruled "since the time of Camber the son of Brutus."
Moreover, Llewelyn thought, perhaps unreasonably, that he had been
betrayed by Edward. He said that on the day of his marriage the
English King had forced him to subscribe a document to the effect that
he would never harbor an English exile or maintain forces against
Edward's will. There was little in all this that was not implied in
Llewelyn's position as vassal, and he himself did not complain that
the conditions had ever been offensively pressed. A king who had
granted such liberal terms as Edward might perhaps claim, with reason,
that his conquered vassal should never threaten him with hostilities.
But the offence was none the less deadly, that it was justified by the
relations of subject and sovereign.
A curious superstition precipitated an outbreak, In the time of Henry
I some Norman had fabricated the so-called prophecies of Merlin, which
were designed to reconcile the Welsh to the Norman Conquest. Henry was
designated in them as the lion of justice, and it was given as a sign
of his reign that the symbol of commerce would be split and the half
be round. The prophecy had already been fulfilled by the regulation
for breaking coin at the mint, and making the half-penny a round piece
by itself. In 1279 Edward issued the farthing as an entire coin. The
change recalled the memory of Merlin's prophecy; and the vague
oracles, that had been compiled to describe Henry's dominion over the
Saxons, were easily interpreted to mean that a Welsh prince should be
crowned at London, and retrieve what its natives regarded as the lost
dominion of the principality.
Llewelyn, it is said, consulted a witch, who assured him that he
should ride crowned through Westcheap. But the Prince of Wales also
relied on less visionary assurances. The "quo-warranto" commission was
prosecuting its labors vigorously, and had produced a widespread
discontent in England, where men said openly that the King would not
suffer them to reap their own corn or mow their grass. Llewelyn was in
correspondence with the malcontents, and received promises of support.
His brother David was easily induced to join the rebellion, and began
it on Palm Sunday, 1282, by storming the castle of Hawarden, and
making Roger de Clifford, its lord and Edward's sheriff, his prisoner.
Flint and Rhuddlan were next reduced, and the Welsh spread over the
marches, waging a war of singular ferocity, slaying, and even burning,
young and old women and sick people in the villages. The rebellion
found Edward unprepared, but he met it with equal vigor and
efficiency. Making Shrewsbury his head-quarters, and moving the
exchequer and king's bench to it, he summoned troops not only from all
England, but from Gascony.
It is possible that the foreign recruits were intended to strengthen
the King's hands against subjects of doubtful fidelity, but no real
embarrassment from the disaffected was sustained. The troops mustered
operated in two armies, which started from Rhuddlan and Worcester, and
enclosed Llewelyn, as before, from north and south. Meanwhile the
ships of the Cinque Ports reduced Anglesey, "the noblest feather in
Llewelyn's wing," as Edward joyfully observed. But the King was
faithful to his old policy of a blockade. A bridge of ships was thrown
across the Menai Straits, and the forests between Wales proper and the
English border were hewn down by an army of pioneers. The King's
banner, the golden dragon, showed that quarter would be given.
As the war lasted on, negotiations were attempted; and the Archbishop
of Canterbury, who had threatened the last sentence of the Church
against Llewelyn and his adherents, was sent over to Snowdon to hold a
conference. Llewelyn had already been warned that it was idle to
expect assistance from Rome. He was now summoned to submit at
discretion, with a hope—so expressed as to be a promise—that he and
the natives of the revolted districts would have mercy shown them. In
private he was informed that, on condition of surrendering Wales, he
should receive a county in England and a pension of one thousand
pounds a year. David was to go to the Holy Land, and not return except
by the King's permission. These terms were undoubtedly hard, but could
not be called unreasonable, as, by the subjugation of Anglesey, the
principality was reduced to the two modern counties of Merionethshire
and Carnarvonshire. Llewelyn and his barons preferred to die fighting
sword in hand for position and liberty. The Primate excommunicated
them and withdrew.
About the time of this interview, November 6th, there was a sharp
skirmish at Bangor. Some of the Earl of Gloucester's troops crossed
over before the bridge was completed, except for low-water mark, and
were surprised and routed, with the loss of their leader and fourteen
bannerets, by the Welsh. This encouraged Llewelyn to resume offensive
operations, and he poured troops into Cardigan to ravage the lands of
a Welshman in the English interest. The English forces in Radnor
marched up along the left bank of the Wye, and came in sight of the
enemy at Buelth, December 10th. Llewelyn was surprised during a
reconnaissance and killed by an English knight, Stephen de Frankton.
After a short but brilliant encounter, in which the English charged up
the brow of a hill and routed the enemy with loss, they examined the
dead bodies, and for the first time knew that Llewelyn was among the
slain. A letter was found on his person giving a list, in false names,
of the English nobles with whom he was in correspondence, but either
the cipher was undiscoverable or the matter was hushed up by the
King's discretion.
Llewelyn, dying under church ban, was denied Christian sepulture. His
head, crowned with a garland of silver ivy-leaves, was carried on the
point of a lance through London, and exposed on the battlements of the
Tower. The prophecy that he should ride crowned through London had
been fatally fulfilled.
With the death of Llewelyn the Welsh war was virtually at an end. With
all his faults of temper and judgment, he had shown himself a man of
courage and capacity, who identified his own cause with his people's.
But David, though now implicated in the rebellion beyond hope of
pardon, had fought under the English banner against his countrymen,
with the wish to dismember the principality. The Welsh cannot be
accused of fickleness if they became languid in a struggle against
overwhelming power and a king who had shown them more tenderness than
their leader for the time. David's one castle of Bere was starved into
surrender by the Earl of Pembroke, and David himself taken in a bog by
some Welsh in the English interest. His last remaining adherent, Rees
ap Walwayn, surrendered, on hearing of his lord's captivity, and was
sent prisoner to the Tower. For David himself a sadder fate was
reserved. His request for a personal interview with his injured
sovereign was refused. Edward did not care to speak with a man whom he
had no thought of pardoning. He at once summoned a parliament of
barons, judges, and burgesses to meet at Shrewsbury, September 29th,
and decide on the prisoner's fate. It is evident that Edward was
incensed in no common measure against the traitor whom, as he
expressed it, he had "taken up as an exile, nourished as an orphan,
endowed from his own lands, and placed among the lords of our palace,"
and who had repaid these benefits by a sudden and savage war.
Nevertheless, the King, from policy or from temperament, resolved to
associate the whole nation in a great act of justice on a man of
princely lineage. The sentence, which excited no horror at the time,
was probably passed without a dissentient voice. David was sentenced,
as a traitor, to be drawn slowly to the gallows; as a murderer, to be
hanged; as one who had shed blood during Passion-tide, to be
disembowelled after death; and for plotting the King's death, his
dismembered limbs were to be sent to Winchester, York, Northampton,
and Bristol. Seldom has a shameful and violent death been better
merited than by a double-dyed traitor like David, false by turns to
his country and his king; nor could justice be better honored than by
making the last penalty of rebellion fall upon the guilty Prince,
rather than on his followers.
The form of punishment in itself was mitigated from the extreme
penalty of the law, which prescribed burning for traitors. Compared
with the execution under the Tudors and Stuarts, or with the reprisal
taken after Culloden, the single sentence of death carried out on
David seems scarcely to challenge criticism. Yet it marks a decline
from the almost bloodless policy of former kings. Since the times of
William Rufus no English noble, except under John, had paid the
penalty of rebellion with life. In particular, during the late reign,
Fawkes de Breaute and the adherents of Simon de Montfort had been
spared by men flushed with victory and exasperated with a long strife.
There were some circumstances to palliate David's treachery, if, as is
probable, his charges against the English justiciary have any truth.
We may well acquit Edward of that vilest infirmity of weak minds,
which confounds strength with ferocity and thinks that the foundations
of law can be laid in blood. He probably received David's execution as
a measure demanded by justice and statesmanship, and in which the
whole nation was to be associated with its king. Never was court of
justice more formally constituted; but it was a fatal precedent for
himself, and the weaker, worse men who succeeded him. From that time,
till within the last century, the axe of the executioner has never
been absent from English history.
Edward was resolved to incorporate Wales with England. The children of
Llewelyn and David were honorably and safely disposed of in
monasteries, from which they never seem to have emerged. The great
Welsh lords who had joined the rebellion were punished with
deprivation of all their lands. Out of the conquered territory Denbigh
and Ruthyn seem to have been made into march lordships under powerful
Englishmen. Anglesey and the land of Snowdon, Llewelyn's territories
of Carnarvon and Merionethshire, with Flint, Cardigan, and
Carmarthenshire, were kept in the hands of the Crown. The Welsh
divisions of commotes were retained, and several of these constituted
a sheriffdom, which bore pretty much the same relation to an English
shire that a Territory bears to a State in the American Union. The new
districts were also brought more completely under English law than the
marches, which retained their privileges and customs.
The changes, where we can trace them, seem to have been for the
better. The blood-feud was abolished; widows obtained a dower;
bastards were no longer to inherit; and in default of heirs male in
the direct line, daughters were allowed to inherit. On the other hand,
fines were to be assessed according to local custom; compurgation was
retained for unimportant cases and inheritances were to remain
divisible among all heirs male.
The ordinance that contains these dispositions is no parliamentary
statute, but seems to have been drawn up by the King in council, March
24, 1284. It was based on the report of a commission which examined
one hundred and seventy-two witnesses. Soon afterward an inquest was
ordered to ascertain the losses sustained by the Church in Wales, with
a view to giving it compensation.
Nor did Edward neglect appeals to the national sentiment. The supposed
body of Constantine was disinterred at Carnarvon, and received
honorable burial in a church. The crown of Arthur and a piece of the
holy Cross, once the property of the Welsh princes, were added to the
King's regalia. It was probably by design that Queen Eleanor was
confined at Carnarvon, April 25, 1284, of a prince whom the Welsh
might claim as a countryman.[74] At last, having lingered for more
than a year about the principality, Edward celebrated the consummation
of his conquests, August 1, 1284, by a splendid tournament at Nefyn,
to which nobles and knights flocked from every part of England and
even from Gascony. It was even more a demonstration of strength than a
pageant.
The cost of the Welsh campaign must have been enormous, and it is
difficult to understand how Edward met it. But no sort of expedient
was spared. Commissioners were sent through England and Ireland to beg
money of clergy and laity. Next, the cities of Guienne and Gascony
were applied to; then, the money that had been collected for a crusade
was taken out of the consecrated places where it was deposited. The
treasures put in the Welsh churches were freely confiscated.
Nevertheless, the Parliament of Shrewsbury granted the King a
thirtieth, from which, however, the loans previously advanced were
deducted. In return for this the King passed the Statute of Merchants,
which made provisions for the registration of merchants' debts, their
recovery by distraint, and the debtor's imprisonment. The clergy had
at first been less compliant when the King applied to them for a
tenth. The Convocation of the Province of Canterbury, April, 1283,
replied that they were impoverished; that they still owed a fifteenth,
and that they expected to be taxed again by the Pope. They also
reminded him bitterly of the Statute of Mortmain. Ultimately the
matter was compromised by the grant of a twentieth, November, 1283.
[Illustration: King Edward I fulfills his promise of giving the Welsh
"a native prince who could not speak one word of English" Painting by
Ph. Morris.]
[Illustration.]
For a few years Wales was still an insecure portion of the English
dominion. In 1287, Rees ap Meredith, whose services to Edward had been
largely rewarded with grants of land and a noble English wife,
commenced levying war against the king's sheriff. His excuse was that
his baronial rights had been encroached upon; but as he had once
risked forfeiture by preferring a forcible entry to the execution of
the king's writ which had been granted him, we may probably assume
that he claimed powers inconsistent with English sovereignty. After
foiling the Earl of Cornwall in a costly campaign, Rees, finding
himself outlawed, fled, by the Earl of Gloucester's complicity, into
Ireland. Some years later he returned to resume his war with Robert de
Tiptoft, but this time was taken prisoner and executed at York by
Edward's orders, 1292.
More dangerous by far was the insurrection of two years later, 1294,
when the Welsh, irritated by a tax, and believing that Edward had
sailed for France, rose up throughout the crown lands and slew one of
the collectors, Roger de Pulesdon. Madoc, a kinsman of Llewelyn, was
put forward as king, and his troops burned Carnarvon castle and
inflicted a severe defeat on the English forces sent to relieve
Denbigh, November 10th. Edward now took the field in person, and
resumed his old policy of cutting down the forests as he forced his
way into the interior. The Welsh fought well, and between disease and
fighting the English lost many hundred men. Once the King was
surrounded at Conway, his provisions intercepted, and his road barred
by a flood; but his men could not prevail on him to drink out of the
one cask of wine that had been saved. "We will all share alike," he
said, "and I, who have brought you into this strait, will have no
advantage of you in food." The flood soon abated, and, reinforcements
coming up, the Welsh were dispersed. Faithful to his policy of mercy,
the King spared the people everywhere, but hanged three of their
captains who were taken prisoners. Madoc lost heart, made submission,
and was admitted to terms. Meanwhile, Morgan, another Welshman of
princely blood, had headed a war in the marches against the Earl of
Gloucester, who was personally unpopular with his vassals. Two years
before the earldom had been confiscated into the King's hands, and it
is some evidence that Edward's rule was not oppressive, by comparison
with that of his lords, that the marchmen now desired to be made
vassals of the crown. Morgan is said to have been hunted down by his
old confederate, Madoc, but it seems more probable that he was the
first to sue for peace. He was pardoned without reserve.
As there was then war with Scotland, hostages were taken from the
Welsh chiefs, and were kept in English castles for several years. But
the last lesson had proved effectual. The Welsh settled down peaceably
on their lands and generally adopted the English customs. Except a few
great lords, their gentry were still the representatives of their old
families. Only five men in all had received the last punishment of the
law for sanguinary rebellions extending over eighteen years of the
King's reign. Of any massacre of the bards, or any measures taken to
repress them, history knows nothing.
Never was conquest more merciful than Edward's, and the fault lies
with his officers, not with the King, if many years still passed
before the old quarrel between Wales and England was obliterated from
the hearts of the conquered people.
A.D. 1281
E.H. PARKER
MARCO POLO
Kublai Khan, the first of the Mongol emperors who reigned at
Peking, and Kameyama, the ninetieth emperor—as reputed—of
Japan, are supposed to have come to their respective thrones
in the same year, 1260. At this period the Japanese rulers
(mikados) were mere puppets in the hands of their
shoguns—hereditary commanders-in-chief of the army—and
the shoguns themselves were tools of the regents of the Hojo
dynasty.
Corea had lately been made tributary to the Tartar or Mongol
power, when some of the Coreans in the service of Kublai
Khan suggested to him that his way was now open to Japan,
1265. Next year Kublai selected a chief envoy whose name, as
Parker says, appears in Chinese characters precisely the
same as that of Sir Robert Hart,[75] and whom the author of
the narrative immediately following, in order to avoid
uncouth names, designates as "Hart." By this envoy Kublai
sent a letter to Japan, and this act was the beginning of
the execution of his designs against that country, formed
upon the advice of the Coreans. In this letter the Mongol
Emperor called upon Japan to return to the vassal duty which
for centuries, he claimed, she had formerly owned to China.
—EDWARD HARPER PARKER
The King of Corea, who had meanwhile been instructed to show the road
to the Mongol mission, provided it with two high officers as escort.
In 1267, however, Hart and his staff returned to Peking from their
wanderings, re injecta, faithfully accompanied by their Corean
guides, whose explanations as to why the goal had not been reached
were by no means satisfactory to Kublai. The whole party was
despatched once more to Corea, carrying with them to the King positive
instructions "to succeed better this time."
The wily King of Corea now adopted another tack. He pleaded that the
sea-route was beset with dangers to which it would be unseemly to
expose the person of an imperial envoy, but he accommodatingly sent
the Emperor's letter on to Japan by an envoy of his own. This Corean
envoy was detained half a year by the Japanese, but he had also to
return empty-handed. Meanwhile the King of Corea sent his own brother
on a special mission to Kublai, to endeavor to mollify his Tartar
majesty.
In the autumn of 1268 Hart and his former assistant colleague were
sent a third time. As a surveying party had meanwhile been examining
the sea-route by way of Quelpaert Island, the mission was enabled to
reach the Tsushima Islands this time; but the local authority would
not suffer them to land, or at least to stay, nor were the letters
accepted, as, in the opinion of the Japanese, "the phraseology was not
considered sufficiently modest." Once more the unsuccessful mission
returned to Peking, but on this occasion it was with two Japanese
"captives"—probably spies; for there is plenty of evidence that even
then the art was well understood in Japan. In the summer of 1269 it
was resolved to utilize these captives as a peg whereon to hang the
conciliatory and virtuous act of returning them. Coreans were
intrusted with this mission; but even this letter the Japanese
declined to receive, and the envoys were detained a considerable time
in the official prisons at Dazai Fu (in Chikuzen).
Early in the year 1270 a Manchu Tartar in Kublai's employ, named
Djuyaoka, who had already been employed as a kind of resident or
adviser at the court of the King of Corea, was despatched on a solemn
mission to Japan, having earnestly volunteered for his new service in
spite of his gray hairs. The King of Corea was again ordered to
assist, and a Corean in Chinese employ, named Hung Ts'a-k'iu (Marco
Polo's Von-Sanichin), was told to demonstrate with a fleet around the
Liao-Tung and Corean peninsulas. The envoy is usually called by his
adopted Chinese name of Chao Liang-Pih. The mission landed in the
spring of 1271 at an island called Golden Ford, which, according to
the Chinese characters, ought, I suppose, to be pronounced Kananari in
Japanese. Here the strangers met with a very rough reception. The
Tartar, however, kept his head well during the various attempts which
were made to frighten him; he pointed out the historical precedents to
be found in the annals of previous Chinese dynasties, and firmly
declined to surrender his credentials except at the chief seat of
government, and to the king or ruler in person. It seems that even the
Japanese now began to see that the "honest broker," Corea, was playing
false to both sides; at all events, they said that "Corea had reported
the imminence of a Chinese attack, whereas Kublai's language seemed to
deprecate war." Officials from head-quarters explained that "from
ancient times till now, no foreign envoy has ever gone east of the
Dazai Fu." The reply to this was: "If I cannot see your ruler, you had
better take him my head; but you shall not have my documents." The
Japanese pleaded that it was too far to the ruler's capital, but that
in the mean time they would send officers back with him to China. He
was thereupon sent back to await events at Tsushima, and, having
remained there a year, he arrived back in Peking in the summer of
1273. In escorting him to Tsushima, the Japanese had sent with him a
number of secondary officials to have an audience of Kublai; it
appears that the Japanese had been alarmed at the establishment of a
Mongol garrison at Kin Chow (I suppose the one near Port Arthur, then
within Corean dominions); and the Tartar envoy, during his stay in
Tsushima, now sent on these Japanese "envoys" (or spies) in advance,
advising Kublai at the same time to humor Japanese susceptibilities by
removing the Kin Chow garrison. The cabinet council suggested to
Kublai that it would be a good thing to explain to the Japanese envoys
that the occupation of Kin Chow was "only temporary," and would be
removed so soon as the operations now in process against Quelpaert
were at an end. It is related that the "Japanese interpreters"—which
probably means Chinese accompanying the Japanese—explained to Kublai
that it was quite unnecessary to go round via Corea, and that with a
good wind it was possible to reach Japan in a very short time. Kublai
said, "Then I must think it over afresh." Late in the year 1273 the
same Tartar envoy was once more sent to Japan, but it is not stated by
what route or where he first landed; this time he really reached the
Dazai Fu, or capital of Chikuzen. In the same year, and possibly in
connection with the above mission, a Chinese general, Lu T'ung, with a
force of forty thousand men in nine hundred boats, defeated one
hundred thousand Japanese—it is not stated where. I am inclined to
think, from the consonance of the word Liu and the nine hundred boats,
that this must be the affair mentioned lower down. The Manchu Tartar
envoy seems to have been a very sensible sort of man, for not only did
he bring back with him full details of the names and titles of the
Mikado and his ministers, descriptions of the cities and districts,
particulars of national customs, local products, etc., but also
strongly dissuaded Kublai from engaging in a useless war with Japan;
and he also gave some excellent advice to the celebrated Mongol
general Bayen, who was just then preparing to "finish off" the
southern provinces of China. It may not be generally known, but it is
a fact that Bayen himself, in the late autumn of 1273, had been
originally destined for the Japanese expedition, and the prisoners
captured at the first attack on Siaag-yang Fu (Marco Polo's Sa-yan Fu)
had already been handed over to him for service in Japan. The Mongol
history also gives a full copy of the letter sent to Japan on this
occasion. In it Kublai expresses his surprise at the persistent
ignoring by Japan of his successive missions; he charitably suggests
that "perhaps the fresh troubles and revolutions in Corea, which have
now once more been settled, are more to blame than your own deliberate
intentions." The menace of war was a little stronger than in the
letter of 1266, but was still decently veiled and somewhat guarded.
Before starting, the Manchu had requested that the etiquette to be
observed at his audience with the ruler might be laid down. The
cabinet council, to be on the safe side, advised: "As the relative
ranks prevailing in the country are unknown to us, we have no definite
etiquette to specify." On the other hand, both Kublai and his
ministers were much too sharp to believe in the power of the
"guard-house west of the Dazai Fu," and they came to the sensible
conclusion that the Japanese "envoys" were simply war-spies sent by
the supreme Japanese government itself.
Chinese history does not explain why, amid the conflicting counsels
exposed above, and others mentioned in biographical chapters, Kublai
decided to attack Japan at the very moment when Bayen was marching
upon South China; but, anyway, during the year 1274, large numbers of
Manchus were raised for service in Japan, and placed under General
Hung. (Sani-chin may perhaps stand for the Chinese word Tsiang-chun,
or "general.") It appears that, toward the end of that year, fifteen
thousand men in nine hundred ships made a raid upon some point in
Japan; but, although "a victory" is claimed, no details whatever are
given beyond the facts that "our army showed a lack of order; the
arrows were exhausted; we achieved nothing beyond plundering." The
three islands raided were Tsushima, Iki, and one I cannot identify,
described in Chinese as I-man.
The Japanese annals confirm the attack upon Tsushima and Iki, adding
that the enemy slew all the males and carried off all the females in
the two islands, but were unsuccessful in their advance upon the Dazai
Fu. The enemy's general, Liu Fu-heng, was slain; the enemy numbered
thirty thousand. The slain officer was, perhaps, a relative of Liu
T'ung, who served again in China.
In the year 1275 two more envoys bearing Chinese names were sent with
letters to Japan, "but they also got no reply." The Japanese annals
confirm this, and add that "they came to discuss terms of peace, but
their envoy, Tu Shi-chung—whose name corresponds—was decapitated."
This is true, but he was not decapitated until 1280, and, as is well
known to competent students, Japanese history is always open to
suspicion when it conflicts with Chinese, and too often "touches up"
from Chinese.
In 1277 some merchants from Japan appeared in China with a quantity of
gold, which they desired to exchange for copper cash. The following
year the "coast authorities"—probably meaning at Ningpo and Wenchow,
where even now, as I found in 1884, immense quantities of old Japanese
copper cash are in daily use—were instructed to permit Japanese
trade. But preparations for war still went on, and the head-quarters
of the army were fixed at Liao-yang, where General Kuropatkin fixed
his more recently. Naval preparations were particularly active during
1279, and Corea was invited to make arrangements for boats to be built
in that country, where timber was so plentiful—evidently alluding to
the Russian "concessions" on the Yalu. Large numbers of ships were
also constructed in Central China. During this year a defeated Chinese
general in Mongol employ, named Fan Wen-hu, advised that the war
against Japan should be postponed "until the result of our mission,
accompanied by the Japanese priest carrying our letters, shall be
known." When this priest was appointed, by whom, and to do what, there
is nothing to show. To a certain extent this enigmatical sentence is
supported by the Japanese annals, which announce that "in the summer
of 1279 the Mongol generals Hia Kwei and Fan Wen-hu came and sent
aides-de-camp to Dazai Fu to discuss peace, but Tokimune (the
regent) had them decapitated at Hakata in Chikuzen."
Hia Kwei was certainly another defeated Chinese general, but I do not
think he ever went to Japan. It is in the spring of 1280 that the
Chinese record the execution by the Japanese of "Tu Shi-chung," etc.
But it is quite evident that Fan Wen-hu cannot possibly have been
executed in 1279, for later on, in 1280, after Hung Ts'a-k'iu and
others had been appointed to the Japan expedition, "it was decided to
wait a little, and Fan Wen-hu was consulted as to the best means of
attack; meanwhile prisoners of war, criminals, Mussulmans, etc., were
enlisted, and volunteers were called for." It is difficult to account
for "Mussulmans" in such company, for the villanous "Saracen" Achmat
was just then at the height of his power. The King of Corea meanwhile
personally paid a visit to Peking, and gave the assurance that he was
raising thirty thousand extra soldiers to serve in the Japan war. Fan
Wen-hu was now placed in supreme command of one hundred thousand men.
"The King of Corea with ten thousand soldiers, fifteen thousand
sea-men, nine hundred war-ships, and one hundred and ten thousand
hundred-weight of grain, proceeded against Japan. Hung Ts'a-k'iu and
his colleagues were provided with weapons, Corean armor, jackets, etc.
The troops were given strict instructions not to harass the
inhabitants of Corea. Corean generals received high rank, and the King
was given extra honors."
In 1281 the generals Hung Ts'a-k'iu and Hintu (a Ouigour Turk) went in
command of a naval force of forty thousand men via "Kin Chouin Corea."
Another force of one hundred thousand men was sent across the sea from
modern Ningpo and Tinghai, the two forces arranging to meet at the
islands of Iki and Hirado.
Alouhan (a Mongol) and Fan Wen-hu received in anticipation the
honorary titles of "Left and Right Governors of Japan province"; and
when they and the other generals took leave of Kublai, the Emperor
said: "As they had sent us envoys first, we also sent envoys thither;
but then they kept our envoys, and would not let them go; hence I send
you, gentlemen, on this errand. I understand the Chinese say that when
you take another people's country, you need to get both the people and
the land. If you go and slay all the people, and only secure the land,
what use is that? There is another matter, upon which I feel truly
anxious—that is, I fear want of harmony among you, gentlemen! If the
natives of that country come to discuss any matter with you,
gentlemen, you should join your minds for one common plan, and reply
as though one mouth only had to speak."
When the army, after a week's sail from Tinghai, reached the islands
of Ku-tsi (off Masanpho) and Tsushima, some Japanese stranded
fishermen were caught and forced to sketch a map of the localities;
and meanwhile it had been agreed that the island of Iki was a better
rendezvous than "Kin Chou in Corea," on account of the then prevailing
winds. From the Japanese sailors' sketch it appeared that a little
west of the Dazai Fu was the island of Hirado, which, being surrounded
on all sides with plenty of water, afforded a good anchorage for the
ships. It was decided—subject, apparently, to Kublai's approval—to
occupy Hirado first, and then summon General Hung, etc., from Iki, to
join in a general attack. Kublai replied by the messenger in effect:
"I cannot judge here of the situation there. I presume Alouhan and his
colleagues ought to know, and they must decide for themselves."
Meanwhile Alouhan—written also Alahan—had fallen sick, and died at
Ningpo, and another Mongol, named Atahai—written also Antahai—was
sent to replace him. Now comes the sudden collapse of the whole
expedition, recorded, unfortunately, in most laconic and
unsatisfactory terms.
I give the various extracts in extenso:
1. Chapter on Japan.—"Eighth moon. The generals, having before
coming in sight of the enemy lost their entire force, got back. They
said that, 'having reached Japan, they wished to attack Dazai Fu, but
that a violent wind smashed the ships. That they were still bent on
discussing operations, when three of the commanders [Chinese names]
declined to accept their orders any more, and made off. The provincial
staff conveyed the rest of the army to Hoh P'u [probably = Masanpho],
whence they were dismissed back to their homes.' But one of the
defeated soldiers, who succeeded in escaping home, gave the following
account: 'The imperial armies in the 6th moon put to sea. In the 7th
moon they reached Hirado Island, and then moved to Five Dragon
Mountains [the Japanese pronunciation would be Go-riu Shima, or Yama,
and perhaps it means the Goto Islands]. On the 1st of the 8th moon the
wind smashed the ships. On the 5th day Fan Wen-hu and the other
generals each made selection of the soundest and best boats, and got
into them, and abandoned the soldiers, to the number of over one
hundred thousand, at the foot of the hills. The soldiers then agreed
to select the centurion Chang as general in command, and styled him
'General Chang,' submitting themselves to his orders. They were just
engaged in cutting down trees to make boats to come back in, when, on
the 7th day, the Japanese came and gave battle. All were killed except
20,000 or 30,000 who were carried off prisoners. On the 9th day these
got to the Eight Horn Islands [the Japanese pronunciation would be
Hakkaku Shima], where all the Mongols, Coreans, and men of Han
[—North China] were massacred. As it was understood that the newly
recruited army consisted of men of T'ang [= Cantonese, etc.], they
were not killed, but turned into slaves, of whom deponent was one. The
trouble arose from want of harmony and subordination in the general
staff, in consequence of which they abandoned the troops and returned.
After some time two other stragglers got back; that is out of a host
of 100,000 only three ever returned.'"
2. Chapter on the Ouigour General, Siang-wei.—"In 1281 the
sea-force of 100,000 men under Fan Wen-hu, etc., took seven days and
nights to reach Bamboo Island [the Japanese pronunciation would be
Chikushima; perhaps is another form of Tsushima], where they effected
a junction with the forces of the provincial staff from Liao-yang. It
was the intention to first attack the Dazai Fu, but there was
vacillation and indecision. On the 1st day of the 8th moon a great
typhoon raged, and 60 or 70 per cent. of the army perished. The
Emperor was furious, etc."
3. Chapter on Li T'ing, a Shan Tung man, who was on Fan Wen-hu's
staff.—"In 1281 the army encamped on Bamboo Island, but, a storm
arising, the vessels were all smashed. Li T'ing escaped ashore on a
piece of wreckage, collected the remains of the host, and returned via
Corea to Peking. Only 10 to 20 per cent. of the soldiers escaped alive
[apparently referring to the 40,000, not to the 100,000]."
4. Chapter on the Chih-Li-man-Chang-Hi.—"He accompanied Fan Wen-hu
and Li T'ing with the naval force which crossed the sea against Japan.
Chang Hi, on arrival, at once left his boats, and set to work
intrenching on the island of Hirado. He also kept his war-ships at
anchor at a cable's length from each other, so as to avoid the
destructive action of wind and waves. When the great typhoon arose in
the 8th moon, the galleons of Fan and Li were all smashed; only Chang
Hi's escaped uninjured. When Fan Wen-hu, etc., suggested going back,
Chang Hi said: 'Half the soldiers are drowned, but those who have
escaped death are all sturdy troops. Surely it is better for us to
take advantage of this moment, before they have begun to think
regretfully of home, to live on the enemy's country and advance?' Fan
Wen-hu, etc., would not agree to this and said: 'When we see the
Emperor, we will bear all the blame; you have no share in it.' Chang
Hi gave them a number of his boats. At that instant there were 4,000
soldiers encamped on Hirado Island without any boats. Chang Hi said,
'How can I bear to leave them?' And then he jettisoned all the seventy
horses in the boats in order to enable them to get back. When they got
to Peking, Fan Wen-hu, etc., were all disgraced. Only Chang Hi escaped
punishment."
5. Chapter on Ch'u Ting, an An Hwei man.—"He was with Fan Wen-hu's
force when the sudden storm arose. His craft was smashed, but Ch'u
Ting got hold of a piece of wreckage, and drifted about for three days
and three nights, until he fell in with Fan Wen-hu's ship at a certain
island, and was thus able to get to Kin Chou in Corea. The soldiers
encamped in the Hoh P'u bay also drifted in, and were collected and
taken home by him."
Chapter on Hung Tsun-k'i, alias Hung Ts'a-k'iu, a Corean of ancient
Chinese descent.—"[After recounting how Kublai placed him in charge
of the well-disposed Corean troops, how he served in the Corean and
Quelpaert campaigns, and against Japan in 1274 and 1277, the Mongol
History goes on:] In 1281, in company with Hintu [a Ouigour], he led a
naval force of 40,000 men via Kin Chou and Hoh-P'u in Corea to join
the 100,000 men coming by sea from Ningpo under Fan Wen-hu. Forces
were joined at the Iki, Hirado, and other islands of Japan; but before
the hostile forces were encountered, in the 8th month, a storm smashed
the ships, and he returned."
Extract from Japanese Riokuji, or Historical Handbook.—"In the 5th
moon of 1281 the Mongols raided us on a wholesale scale. Our troops
were unsuccessful in resisting them at Iki and Tsushima. The enemy
advanced and occupied Five Dragon Mountains in Hizen. The Hojo-tandai
led the troops bravely to the fight. The enemy retired upon Takashima.
In the intercalary 7th moon a great wind blew. The enemy's war-ships
were all broken to pieces. Our troops energetically attacked and cut
them up, the sea being covered with prostrate corpses. Of the Mongol
army of 100,000 only three men got back alive. Henceforward the
Mongols were unable to pry about our coasts again."
MARCO POLO
Of so great celebrity was the wealth of Cipango (Japan), that a desire
was excited in the breast of the grand khan Kublai, now reigning, to
make the conquest of it, and to annex it to his dominions. In order to
effect this, he fitted out a numerous fleet, and embarked a large body
of troops, under the command of two of his principal officers, one of
whom was named Abba-catan, and the other Vonsancin.[76]
The expedition sailed from the ports of Zaitun and Kinsai,[77] and,
crossing the intermediate sea, reached the island in safety; but in
consequence of a jealousy that arose between the two commanders, one
of whom treated the plans of the other with contempt and resisted the
execution of his orders, they were unable to gain possession of any
city or fortified place, with the exception of one only, which was
carried by assault, the garrison having refused to surrender.
Directions were given for putting the whole to the sword, and in
obedience thereto the heads of all were cut off, excepting of eight
persons, who, by the efficacy of a diabolical charm, consisting of a
jewel or amulet introduced into the right arm, between the skin and
the flesh, were rendered secure from the effects of iron, either to
kill or wound, Upon this discovery being made, they were beaten with a
heavy wooden club, and presently died.[78]
It happened, after some time, that a north wind began to blow with
great force, and the ships of the Tartars, which lay near the shore of
the island, were driven foul of each other. It was determined
thereupon, in a council of the officers on board, that they ought to
disengage themselves from the land; and accordingly, as soon as the
troops were re-embarked, they stood out to sea. The gale, however,
increased to so violent a degree that a number of the vessels
foundered. The people belonging to them, by floating upon pieces of
the wreck, saved themselves upon an island lying about four miles from
the coast of Cipango.
The other ships, which, not being so near to the land, did not suffer
from the storm, and in which the two chiefs were embarked, together
with the principal officers, or those whose rank entitled them to
command a hundred thousand or ten thousand men, directed their course
homeward, and returned to the Grand Khan.
Those of the Tartars who remained upon the island where they were
wrecked, and who amounted to about thirty thousand men, finding
themselves left without shipping, abandoned by their leaders, and
having neither arms nor provisions, expected nothing less than to
become captives or to perish; especially as the island afforded no
habitations where they could take shelter and refresh themselves. As
soon as the gale ceased and the sea became smooth and calm, the people
from the main island of Cipango came over with a large force, in
numerous boats, in order to make prisoners of these shipwrecked
Tartars, and, having landed, proceeded in search of them, but in a
straggling, disorderly manner. The Tartars, on their part, acted with
prudent circumspection, and, being concealed from view by some high
land in the centre of the island, while the enemy were hurrying in
pursuit of them by one road, made a circuit of the coast by another,
which brought them to the place where the fleet of boats was at
anchor. Finding these all abandoned, but with their colors flying,
they instantly seized them, and, pushing off from the island, stood
for the principal city of Cipango, into which, from the appearance of
the colors, they were suffered to enter unmolested.[79]
Here they found few of the inhabitants besides women, whom they
retained for their own use, and drove out all others. When the King
was apprised of what had taken place, he was much afflicted, and
immediately gave directions for a strict blockade of the city, which
was so effectual that not any person was suffered to enter or to
escape from it during six months that the siege continued. At the
expiration of this time the Tartars, despairing of succor, surrendered
upon the condition of their lives being spared.
These events took place in the course of the year 1264.[80] The Grand
Khan having learned some years after that the unfortunate issue of the
expedition was to be attributed to the dissension between the two
commanders, caused the head of one of them to be cut off; the other he
sent to the savage island of Zorza,[81] where it is the custom to
execute criminals in the following manner. They are wrapped round both
arms, in the hide of a buffalo fresh taken from the beast, which is
sewed tight. As this dries, it compresses the body to such a degree
that the sufferer is incapable of moving or in any manner helping
himself, and thus miserably perishes.
A.D. 1282
MICHELE AMARI[82]
Under Frederic II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Sicily
had been governed wisely. His son Conrad succeeded him as
King of Sicily in 1250, but went to Germany, where his crown
was being contested by William of Holland, leaving his
illegitimate brother Manfred to administer Sicily. Conrad
and his brother Henry died in 1254. Manfred continued to
rule Sicily as regent for his nephew Conradin, son of
Conrad, but in 1258, upon a rumor of Conradin's death,
assumed the crown.
Pope Alexander IV and his successor Urban IV, a Frenchman,
would not recognize Manfred as ruler. Urban offered the
Sicilian crown to a brother of Louis IX of France, Charles,
Count of Anjou, who promised to hold Sicily as a fief of the
holy see. Charles was compelled to conquer his new kingdom,
and with a large army of Frenchmen invaded Sicily. Manfred
was defeated and slain in a sanguinary battle at Grandella,
near Benevento, and Charles soon made himself master of the
kingdom. Young Conradin was still living, but was defeated
at Tagliacozzo in 1268, and was beheaded at Naples by order
of Charles.
The French earned the scarcely veiled hatred of the
Sicilians by their tyranny and cruelties, and a conspiracy
arose to give the crown to Pedro, King of Aragon, who had
married Constance, daughter of Manfred. Charles of Anjou was
not ignorant of the fact that his throne was in danger, nor
was he totally unprepared. The overthrow of the French power
in Sicily, however, was precipitated by an incident at
Palermo on Easter Monday, the 30th of March, 1282, which led
to the wholesale massacre known to history as the "Sicilian
Vespers," because of its commencement at the hour of
vespers.
The Sicilians endured the French yoke—though cursing it—until the
spring of 1282. The military preparations of the King of Aragon were
not yet completed, nor, even if partially known in Sicily, could they
inspire any immediate hope. The people were overawed by the immense
armaments of Charles destined against Constantinople; and forty-two
royal castles, either in the principal cities or in situations of
great natural strength, served to keep the island in check. A still
greater number were held by French feudatories; the standing troops
were collected and in arms; and the feudal militia, composed in great
part of foreign subfeudatories, waited only the signal to assemble. In
such a posture of affairs, which the foresight of the prudent would
never have selected for an outbreak, the officers of Charles continued
to grind down the Sicilian people, satisfied that their patience would
endure forever.
New outrages shed a gloom over the festival of Easter at Palermo, the
ancient capital of the kingdom, detested by the strangers more than
any other city as being the strongest and the most deeply injured.
Messina was the seat of the King's viceroy in Sicily, Herbert of
Orleans; Palermo was governed by the Justiciary of Val di Mazzara,
John of St. Remigio, a minister worthy of Charles. His subalterns,
worthy both of the Justiciary and of the King, had recently launched
out into fresh acts of rapine and violence. But the people submitted.
It even went so far that the citizens of Palermo, seeking comfort from
God amid their worldly tribulations, and having entered a church to
pray, in that very church, on the days sacred to the memory of the
Saviour's passion, and amid the penitential rites, were exposed to the
most cruel outrages. The ban-dogs of the exchequer searched out among
them those who had failed in the payment of the taxes, dragged them
forth from the sacred edifice, manacled, and bore them to prison,
crying out, insultingly, before the multitude attracted to the spot,
"Pay, faterini, pay!" And the people still submitted.
The Monday after Easter, which fell on the 30th of March, there was a
festival at the Church of Santo Spirito. On that occasion a heinous
outrage against the liberties of the Sicilians afforded the impulse,
and the patience of the people gave way.
Half a mile from the southern wall of the city, on the brink of the
ravine of Oreto, stands a church dedicated to the Holy Ghost,
concerning which the Latin fathers have not failed to record that on
the day on which the first stone of it was laid, in the twelfth
century, the sun was darkened by an eclipse. On one side of it were
the precipice and the river; on the other, the plain extending to the
city, which in the present day is in great part divided by walls and
dotted with gardens; while a square enclosure of moderate size, shaded
by dusky cypresses, honeycombed with tombs, and adorned with urns and
other sepulchral monuments, surrounds the church. This is a public
cemetery, laid out toward the end of the eighteenth century, and
fearfully filled in three weeks by the dire pestilence which
devastated Sicily in 1837. On the Tuesday following Easter, at the
hour of vespers, religion and custom drew crowds of people to this
cheerful plain, then carpeted with the flowers of spring. Citizens,
wending their way toward the church, divided into numerous groups.
They walked, sat in clusters, spread the tables, or danced upon the
grass; and—whether it were a defect or a merit of the Sicilian
character—threw off, for the moment, the recollection of their
sufferings.
Suddenly the followers of the Justiciary appeared among them, and
every bosom thrilled with a shudder of disgust. The strangers came
with their usual insolent demeanor, as they said, to maintain
tranquillity; and for this purpose they mingled with the groups,
joined in the dances, and familiarly accosted the women; pressing the
hand of one, taking unwarranted liberties with others; addressing
indecent words and gestures to those more distant, until some
temperately admonished them to depart, in God's name, without
insulting the women; and others murmured angrily; but the hot-blooded
youths raised their voices so fiercely that the soldiers said to one
another, "These insolent paterini must be armed, that they dare thus
to answer," and replied to them with the most offensive insults,
insisting, with great insolence, on searching them for arms, and even
here and there striking them with sticks or thongs. Every heart
already throbbed fiercely on either side, when a young woman, of
singular beauty and of modest and dignified deportment, appeared with
her husband and relations, bending her steps toward the church.
Drouet, a Frenchman, impelled either by insolence or license,
approached her as if to examine her for concealed weapons; seized her
and searched her bosom. She fell fainting into her husband's arms,
who, in a voice almost choked with rage, exclaimed, "Death, death to
the French!" At the same moment a youth burst from the crowd which had
gathered round them, sprang upon Drouet, disarmed and slew him; and
probably, at the same moment, paid the penalty by the loss of his own
life, leaving his name unknown and the mystery forever
unsolved—whether it were love for the injured woman, the impulse of a
generous heart, or the more exalted flame of patriotism that prompted
him thus to give the signal of deliverance.
Noble example has a power far beyond that of argument or eloquence to
rouse the people; and the erstwhile abject slaves awoke at length from
their long bondage. "Death, death to the French!" they cried; and the
cry—say the historians of the time—reechoed, like the voice of God,
through the whole country, and found an answer in every heart.
Above the corpse of Drouet were heaped those of the slain on either
side. The crowd expanded itself, closed in, and swayed hither and
thither in wild confusion. The Sicilians, with sticks, stones, and
knives, rushed with desperate ferocity upon their fully armed
opponents. They sought for them and hunted them down. Fearful
tragedies were enacted amid the preparations for festivity, and the
overthrown tables were drenched with blood. The people displayed their
strength and conquered. The struggle was brief, and great the
slaughter of the Sicilians; but of the French there were two
hundred—and two hundred fell!
Breathless, covered with blood, brandishing the plundered weapons, and
proclaiming the insult and its vengeance, the insurgents rushed toward
the tranquil city, "Death to the French!" they shouted, and as many as
they found were put to the sword. The example, the words, the
contagion of passion, in an instant aroused the whole people. In the
heat of the tumult Roger Mastrangelo, a nobleman, was chosen—or
constituted himself—their leader. The multitude continued to
increase; dividing into troops they scoured the streets, burst open
doors, searched every nook, every hiding-place, and shouting "Death to
the French!" smote them and slew them, while those too distant to
strike added to the tumult by their applause. On the outbreak of this
sudden uproar the Justiciary had taken refuge in his strong palace;
the next moment it was surrounded by an enraged multitude crying aloud
for his death; they demolished the defences and rushed furiously in,
but the Justiciary escaped them. Favored by the confusion and the
closing darkness, he succeeded, though wounded in the face, in
mounting his horse unobserved, with only two attendants, and fled with
all speed. Meanwhile the slaughter continued with increased ferocity;
even the darkness of night failed to arrest it, and it was resumed the
next day more furiously than ever. Nor did it finally cease because
the thirst for vengeance was slaked, but because victims were wanting
to appease it. Two thousand French perished in this first outbreak.
Even Christian burial was denied them, but pits were afterward dug to
receive their despised remains, and tradition still points out a
column surmounted by an iron cross, raised by compassionate piety on
one of these spots, probably long after the perpetration of the deed
of vengeance.
Tradition, moreover, relates that the sound of a word, like the
Shibboleth of the Hebrews, was the cruel test by which the French
were distinguished in the massacre; and that, if there were found a
suspicious or unknown person, he was compelled, with a sword to his
throat, to pronounce the word ciciri, and the slightest foreign
accent was the signal for his death. Forgetful of their own character,
and as if stricken by fate, the gallant warriors of France neither
fled nor united nor defended themselves. They unsheathed their swords
and presented them to their assailants, imploring, as if in emulation
of each other, to be the first to die. Of one common soldier it is
recorded that, having concealed himself behind a wainscot, and being
dislodged at the sword's point, he resolved not to die unavenged, and,
springing forth with a wild cry upon the ranks of his enemies, slew
three of them before he himself perished. The insurgents broke into
the convents of the Minorites and Preaching Friars, and slaughtered
all the monks whom they recognized as French. Even the altars afforded
no protection; tears and prayers were alike unheeded; neither old men,
women, nor infants were spared. The ruthless avengers of the ruthless
massacre of Agosta swore to root out the seed of the French oppressors
throughout the whole of Sicily; and this vow they cruelly fulfilled,
slaughtering infants at their mothers' breasts and after them the
mothers themselves, not sparing even pregnant women, but, with a
horrible refinement of cruelty, ripping up the bodies of Sicilian
women who were with child by French husbands, and dashing against the
stones the fruit of the mingled blood of the oppressors and the
oppressed. This general massacre of all who spoke the same language,
and these heinous acts of cruelty, have caused the Sicilian Vespers to
be classed among the most infamous of national crimes.
The very atrocity of the Vespers proved the salvation of Sicily, by
cutting off all possibility of compromise. On that same bloodstained
night of the 31st of March, the people of Palermo assembled in
parliament, and, divided between the triumph of vengeance and terror
at their own daring act, advanced still more decidedly in the path
they had chosen. They abolished monarchy, and resolved to establish a
commonwealth under the protection of the Church of Rome. They were
moved to this determination by deadly hatred against Charles and his
government, and the recollection of the stern rule of the Swabian
dynasty on the one hand, and, on the other, by grateful remembrance of
the liberty enjoyed in 1254; by the example of the Tuscan and Lombard
republics, and by the natural pride of a powerful city, which having
freed itself from a detested yoke confided in its own strength. The
name of the Church was added in order to disarm the wrath of the Pope,
to tempt his ambition, or to justify the rebellion under the pretext
that in driving out their more immediate but criminal ruler they
contemplated no infraction of loyalty to the suzerain from whom he
held his power. Roger Mastrangelo, Henry Barresi, and Niccoloso of
Ortoleva (knights), and Niccolo of Ebdemonia were proclaimed captains
of the people with five counsellors. By the glare of torchlight on the
bloody ground, amid the noise and throng of the armed multitude, and
with all the sublime pomp of tumult, the republican magistrates were
inaugurated. Trumpets and Moorish kettle-drums sounded, and thousands
upon thousands of voices uttered the joyous cry of "The Republic and
Liberty!" The ancient banner of the city—a golden eagle in a red
field—was unfolded to wave amid new glories; and in homage to the
Church the keys of St. Peter were quartered upon it.
At midnight, John of St. Remigio stayed his rapid flight at Vicari, a
castle thirty miles distant from the capital; where, knocking loudly
and hurriedly, he was with difficulty recognized by the garrison,
half-drunk from the celebration of the same festival which had bred so
fearful a slaughter in Palermo. Having admitted him, they were
transfixed with amazement at seeing their Justiciary at so
unreasonable an hour, unescorted, breathless, and covered with blood.
John refused all explanation at the time, but the next morning at
daybreak he called to arms all the French of the neighborhood—a
feudal militia well inured to warfare—and breaking silence urged them
to resist, and perhaps to avenge, the fate of their comrades. It was
not long before the forces of Palermo, which had set out at dawn in
pursuit of the fugitive—whose traces they had discovered—arrived at
full speed beneath the walls of Vicari, and surrounded the city in
disorder, impatient for the assault; but not perceiving how it was to
be made, they had recourse to threats, and demanded immediate
surrender, promising to the inhabitants the safety of their persons,
and to John and his followers permission, on laying down their arms,
to embark for Aigues-Mortes, in Provence. They, however, disdaining
such conditions, and regarding the mob of assailants with contempt,
made a vigorous sortie. At first military discipline obtained the
advantage, and the Sicilians gave way, but the tide of battle was
turned by a power beyond that of human skill, by the spirit which had
given birth to the Vespers, and which suddenly blazed up again in the
scattered squadrons. They paused—they looked at one another,
"Death—death to the French!" they cried, and rushing upon them with
irresistible fury, they drove back the veteran warriors into the
fortress, defeated and in confusion. After this it was in vain that
the French proposed terms of surrender. Heedless of the rules of war
the young archers of Cacamo shot the Justiciary as he presented
himself upon the walls, and, seeing him fall, the whole multitude
rushed to the assault, occupied the fortress, put the garrison to the
sword, and flung their corpses, piecemeal, to the dogs and to the
vultures. This done, the host returned to Palermo.
Meanwhile, the fame of what had occurred spread rapidly from town to
town, and the first in that neighborhood to rise was Corleone, as
chief in population and importance, and also because of its numerous
Lombard inhabitants, who held the names of Angevins and Guelfs in
abhorrence, and of the intolerable burdens imposed upon it by the near
neighborhood of the royal farms. This city, afterward surnamed the
Valiant, boldly following the example of the capital, sent William
Basso, William Corto, and Giugliono de Miraldo as orators to Palermo,
to propose terms of alliance and fraternity between the two cities;
mutual assistance in arms, forces, and money; reciprocal privileges of
citizenship, and enfranchisement from all burdens laid upon such as
were not citizens. It is not known whether the idea of the league
originated with the republican rulers of Palermo or with the patriots
of Corleone; but whichever may have been the case, it clearly exhibits
the preponderance in those early days of the municipal tendency, and
the exchange of feudal relations for the federal union of communities,
the banner under which the revolution spread itself throughout the
entire island. The assembled people of Palermo, with one voice,
accepted the terms, and by their desire, on the 3d of April, they were
sworn to on the Gospels by the captains and counsellors of the city,
with the deputies of Corleone, and officially registered among the
public acts; Palermo binding herself, moreover, to assist her ally in
the destruction of the strong fortress of Calata Mauro.
Meanwhile, one Boniface, elected captain of the people of Corleone,
went forth with three thousand men to scour the surrounding country.
The royal farms were plundered and devastated; the herds, which had
been carefully fattened for the army of the East, were confiscated to
the service of the Sicilian revolution; the castles of the French were
stormed, their houses sacked, and the massacre so ruthless that,
according to Saba Malaspina, it seemed as if every man either had the
death of a father, son, or brother to revenge, or firmly believed that
the slaughter of a Frenchman was an act well pleasing to God. Thus, in
a very few days, the movement propagated itself many miles around
owing to the similarity of sentiments, the force of example, and the
energy of the insurgents. In many places it assumed a character which
must be inexplicable to those who, in spite of all that has been
already stated, would persist in regarding these tumultuous outbreaks
as the result of conspiracy; while the people showed the utmost
readiness to put the foreigners to the sword, yet they feared to
disown the name of King Charles. Their hesitation lasted but a few
days, for they were carried away by the impulse of universal feeling
and by the strength of the rebels; so that all, by degrees, declared
themselves elected chiefs to lead their forces against the French, and
captains of the people whom they sent to the capital, the fame of
whose example had roused their courage, and which was now the centre
of all their confidence, of all their hopes.
This first nucleus of the representatives of the nation being thus
assembled in Palermo, they became imbued with the same valor which in
one short night had raised a popular tumult to the dignity of a
revolution. They were further encouraged by the manly energy of the
people, who, mingled with insurgents from the surrounding towns,
traversed the city to and fro, eagerly relating to one another the
outrages they had suffered, and crying aloud, "Death rather than the
yoke of the French!" So that no sooner were the syndics of the greater
part of Val di Mazzara assembled in parliament, than they agreed to
the establishment of the republican form of government conducted in
the name of the Church. The people without responded with loud
acclamations and shouts of "The Republic and Liberty!" All encouraged
each other to venture everything, when Roger Mastrangelo, bent on
urging them on so far that all retreat should be cut off and that they
might be able to control the course of events, rose and boldly thus
addressed the assembly:
"Citizens! I hear daring words and solemn oaths, but I see no symptoms
of action, as if the blood that has been shed were the seal of victory
rather than the provocation to a long and deadly struggle. Do you know
Charles and his thousands of executioners, and can you yet amuse
yourselves with the decoration of banners? Not far distant on the
mainland are armies and navies ready for the Grecian war: there are
the French panting for vengeance, and in a few days they will burst
upon us. If they find our ports open for their disembarkation; if our
inertness or our faults favor their progress they will soon spread
throughout the whole of Sicily; they will subdue the irresolute people
by force of arms, deceive them with reports of our unhappy divisions,
seduce them with promises, and drag them back to the shameful yoke of
bondage or drive them to raise their parricidal weapons against
ourselves. You have sworn to die or to be free, and you will become
slaves and will not all die—for the butchers will at length be
weary—and will reserve the herd of survivors to exercise upon them
their despotic will. Sicilians! remember the days of Conradin. To halt
now will be destruction; to pursue our course, glory, and deliverance.
Our forces are sufficient to raise the whole country as far as
Messina, and Messina must not belong to the foe; we share the same
origin, the same language, the same past glory and present shame, the
same experience that slavery and misery are the result of division.
"All Sicily is stained with the blood of the strangers. She is strong
in the courage of her sons, in the ruggedness of her mountains, in the
protection of the seas, which are her bulwarks. Who then shall set
foot upon her soil, except to find in it a yawning grave? Christ, who
preached liberty to mankind, who inspired you to effect this blessed
deliverance, now extends to you his almighty hand—if you will but act
like men in your own defence. Citizens, captains of the people, it is
my counsel that messengers be sent to all the other towns inviting
them to unite with us for the maintenance of the commonwealth, that by
force of arms, by daring, and by rapidity of action we should aid the
weak, determine the doubtful, and combat the froward. For this
purpose, let us divide into three bands which may simultaneously
traverse the whole island, then let a general parliament mature our
counsels, unite our views, and regulate the form of government; for I
call God to witness that Palermo aspires, not to dominion, but seeks
only liberty for all, and for herself the glory of being foremost in
peril."
"And the people of Corleone," replied Boniface, "will follow the
fortunes of this noble city—the fortress and ornament of Sicily.
Corleone sends hither three thousand of her warriors to conquer or to
die with you. But if our fate be to perish, let all those perish with
us who would take part with the stranger in the day of the deliverance
of Sicily. Thou, Roger, valiant in fight and sage in counsel, thou
hast spoken words of safety. Henceforward he who lingers is a traitor
to his country; let us arm ourselves and go forth."
"Forward, forward!" thundered the voice of the people in answer to his
words, and with marvellous celerity the messengers were despatched;
the forces assembled and sent forth in three divisions—one to the
left toward Cefalu, one to the right upon Calatafimi, and the third
toward the centre of the island, through Castro Giovanni. They
displayed the banner of the commonwealth with the keys of St. Peter
depicted around them, and their fame went before them, awakening hope
and desire in all hearts. Hence every city and town unhesitatingly
renounced its allegiance to Charles with a degree of unity which was
admirable—except in regard to the slaughter of the French.
They were hunted down in the mountains and forests, assaulted and
vanquished in the castles, and pursued with such fury that even to
those who had escaped from the hands of the Sicilians life became a
burden; and from the most impregnable fortresses, from the remotest
hiding-places, they gave themselves up into the hands of the people
who summoned them to die. Some even precipitated themselves from the
towers of their strongholds. A very few, aided either by fortune or by
their own valor, escaped with their lives, but were despoiled of
everything, and these sought refuge in Messina. But the fate of
William Porcelet merits especial remembrance. He was Lord or Governor
of Calatafimi, and, amid the unbridled iniquity of his countrymen, was
distinguished for justice and humanity. On the day of vengeance, in
the full flush of its triumph and fury, the Palermitan host appeared
at Calatafimi, and not only spared the life of William and of his
family, but treated him with distinguished honor and sent him back to
Provence—a fact which goes to prove, that for the excesses committed
by the people, ample provocation had not been wanting.
Meanwhile the great object toward which every effort was directed was
to gain over Messina to the cause of the revolution, for all
comprehended the importance of her situation, of her seaport, and of
the powerful and wealthy city herself—obviously marked out as the
key-stone of the war—as well as the pressing necessity of obtaining
her alliance or of making a desperate effort to subdue her by force of
arms. Negotiations were therefore commenced. Of those which were
private and the most efficacious no record has been handed down to us;
but of those publicly conducted, a letter is still extant, dated from
Palermo, the 13th of April, and despatched by messengers to Messina,
which begins thus: "The Palermitans to the noble citizens of the
illustrious city of Messina, bondsmen under Pharaoh in dust and
mire—greeting, and deliverance from the servile yoke by the arm of
liberty.
"Rise!" continues the epistle. "Rise, O daughter of Zion, and reassert
thy former strength; … cease thy lamentations, which only awaken
contempt; take thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and unbind the
fetters from thy neck." It proceeds to speak of Charles as a Nero, a
wolf, a lion, and a ferocious dragon; then reverting to Messina, it
exclaims: "The voice of God says to thee, 'Take up thy bed and walk!'
for thou art whole." And again it exhorts her citizens "to struggle
with the old serpent, and, being regenerate, like new-born babes to
suck the milk of liberty, to seek justice, and to fly from calamity
and ignominy."
While the Palermitans sought to gain over the citizens by these
Biblical metaphors, Herbert of Orleans strengthened himself with
foreign arms and with the support of the Messinese nobles—who by
abuses and oppression had exalted themselves above their
fellow-citizens, and therefore now resolutely sided with the Vicar.
But first he sent seven Messinese galleys to attack Palermo under the
command of Richard de Riso, who in 1268 had dared with a few vessels
to confront the whole Pisan fleet, and who was now to lose in civil
war his honor as a citizen and his reputation as a leader; for uniting
with four galleys from Amalfi, under the command of Matthew del
Giudice and Roger of Salerno, he proceeded to blockade the port of
Palermo, and, as he was unable to effect anything else, approached the
walls and caused the name of Charles to be shouted aloud, together
with insults and menaces to the citizens. They, however, with the
long-suffering of conscious strength, replied that "they would neither
return the insults nor his blows; the Messinese and Palermitans were
brothers; the French oppressors their only enemies, and they would do
better to turn their arms against the tyrants." With these words they
hoisted the standard of the cross of Messina upon the walls beside the
eagle of Palermo.
The city of Messina—or rather those who wielded the municipal
authority—in order to prove their loyalty, on the 15th of April sent
five hundred cross-bowmen, under the command of Chiriolo, a knight of
Messina, to garrison Taormina and prevent its occupation by the
insurgents. The people, on the other hand, felt their Sicilian blood
boil as they received the news of the rising in Palermo and in the
other cities, of the progress of the insurgents through the island,
and of the slaughter and flight of the French, heightened by many
false or exaggerated reports; and when they beheld the fugitives enter
Messina, destitute and terror-stricken, they began to murmur and show
animosity against the soldiers of Herbert. These, feeling themselves
no longer safe in the city, withdrew—some to the castle of
Matagrifone, some to the royal palace where Herbert resided. The
latter, in an evil hour, decided on a display of energy. He sent
ninety horsemen under Micheletto Gatta to occupy the defences of
Taormina, as if unable to repose confidence in the Messinese garrison,
and the latter, seeing them approach in such arrogant and almost
hostile guise, and incited by a citizen named Bartholomew, received
them with a cry of insulting defiance and a shower of arrows. The
contest being thus engaged, forty of the French remained on the field.
The rest fled precipitately for refuge to the castle of Scaletta; and
the Sicilians, tearing down the banners of Charles, marched upon
Messina to compel her to join the rebellion. In the city thousands
were willing, but none had courage, for the work, till a man of the
people—Bartholomew Maniscalco by name—conspired with several others
to give the signal of action. Meanwhile, forces were preparing to
repulse the insurgents from Taormina, and the more prudent of the
citizens deplored the impending effusion of the blood of their
brethren. The people were on the alert, nor did the conspirators hold
back.
Perhaps the entrance into the port of a Palermitan galley, and the
slaughter by her crew of a few French who had fallen into their hands,
hastened the event. It was the 28th of April when, from the midst of
the tumultuous crowd, broke forth the cries of "Death to the French!
Death to those who side with them!" and the massacre commenced. The
victims, however, were but few, as the previous threatening aspect of
the people had cleared the city of the greater number of the French.
Maniscalco meanwhile, with his confederates, hoisted the cross of
Messina in the place of the detested banner of Anjou; for a brief
space he was captain of the people, but owing either to his own
modesty or to the influence of the more powerful citizens, which
always prevailed in the industrial city of Messina, that same night,
by their advice, he resigned the government to Baldwin Mussone, a
noble returned but a few hours before, with Matthew and Baldwin de
Riso, from the court of King Charles. On the following day, the
municipal council having been assembled in form, Mussone was hailed
captain by the entire people; and calling on the sacred name of
Christ, the republic was proclaimed, under the protection of the
Church. The gonfalon, or great banner of the city, was displayed with
the utmost pomp. The judges Raynald de Limogi and Nicoloso Saporito,
the historian Bartholomew of Neocastro, and Peter Ansalone were
elected as counsellors of the new government; and all the public
officers, even to the executioners, were likewise elected—as if to
show that henceforward the sword of justice was to rule in place of
disorder and violence. But it was yet too soon for so complete a
revolution.
On the 30th of April the galleys were recalled from Palermo, whither
messengers of friendship and alliance were despatched in their stead.
Herbert, feeling himself no longer secure in the castle, had recourse
to the old manoeuvre of fomenting divisions, but with no better
success. He despatched Matthew, a member of the family of Riso—which
from consciousness of guilt had allied itself with him—to endeavor to
gain over Baldwin Mussone. Matthew accordingly sought him and in
presence of all the other counsellors admonished him, using the
arguments of a crooked policy, to reflect on the great power of the
King, and that this insane tumult would deprive Messina of the
advantages that would naturally accrue to her from the rebellion of
Palermo. What were the Palermitans to him that he should share their
madness? In what had Charles injured him or his city? "How is it
possible," continued he, "that thou who wast but yesterday loyal to
the King, a friend to us, and the companion of our journey, shouldst
have secretly nourished such hatred in thy heart? and now, far from
restraining the people from rushing to their ruin, shouldst spur them
wildly on? For thy own sake, for that of thy country, return to thy
senses—it is yet time."
But Baldwin, with a clearer comprehension of the honor and interests
of the city, which were identical with those of Sicily, answered him
indignantly, and neither counsellors nor citizens hesitated for a
moment whether to prostitute Messina to the stranger or bid her share
the freedom of the sister-cities of the island. Rejecting, therefore,
these deceptive arguments, Baldwin, in the presence of Matthew de
Riso, solemnly renewed his oath to maintain the liberty of Sicily or
perish, and exhorted him to join in support of the same sacred cause.
In conclusion, he desired him to return to Herbert, and offer him
security for his own life and that of his soldiers, if leaving their
arms, horses, and accoutrements, they would sail direct for
Aigues-Mortes in Provence, binding themselves not to touch anywhere on
the Sicilian or other neighboring coasts. The Viceroy agreed to these
terms, but had no sooner traversed half the strait with two vessels
than he broke them, and full of hostile designs landed in Calabria in
order to join Peter of Catanzaro, who being advised of what was going
forward had embarked before them with his Calabrians, abandoning his
horses and baggage to the fury of the people. Theobald de Messi,
castellan of the fortress of Matagrifone, and Micheletto—with those
who had taken refuge at Scaletta—subsequently surrendered, with all
their followers, on the terms granted to the Viceroy. The former,
having embarked on board a small vessel, set sail several times, but
was driven into port by contrary winds or adverse fate. The latter was
shut up in the castle, and his soldiers in the palace, to protect them
from the fury of the multitude. But these precautions availed not to
save them. On the 7th of May the galleys returned from Palermo,
bringing captive with them two of those of Amalfi which had
accompanied them in the expedition, and the crew, inflamed either by
example or indignation at the unnatural and useless attempt in which
they had been employed against their fellow-countrymen, loudly
demanded French blood to slake their thirst for vengeance. The
citizens, meanwhile, were no less exasperated by Herbert's breach of
faith; so that, as the galley of Natale Pancia, entering the port,
grazed the vessel of Theobald de Messi, the crew, on a signal from the
shore, sprang upon her deck, seized and bound the prisoners and flung
them overboard to perish.
On beholding this spectacle the former fury blazed up afresh within
the city; the mob, rushing to the palace, massacred the soldiers taken
at Scaletta; the alarm-bells rang; the few partisans of the French
concealed themselves in terror; the armed and bloodstained people
poured in torrents through the streets, even the rulers of the city
made no attempt to quell their fury; for Neocastro, who undoubtedly
shared in their counsels, writes that they, on the contrary, advanced
the more boldly in the path of revolution when they beheld the
multitude so inextricably engaged.